A system for automating the interpretation of Analytical Ultracentrifuge data

In order to accelerate the development of knowledge about protein associations, further improvements to acquisition, sharing, and analysis of Analytical Ultracentrifugation (AU) data must be made. XML data formats have been defined to allow complete exchange of the information associated with an AU experiment. Extensible formats to record solution identity, instrument setup parameters, acquired data, and analysis of that data have been developed. A normalized relational database to allow storage and searching of this data has also been created. A computer program called PANDaS (Protein Association Network Data Server) was built to interact with any software conforming to the data exchange standard. Conforming software will be able to access centrifuge data with the complete context required for analysis. It is also possible to import existing data files to the database and convert them to the exchange format using the import tool described in this dissertation. Aggregation of multiple analysis results through PANDaS allows for machine-assisted interpretation of results from heterogeneous analysis techniques and multiple experiments. This common data exchange format and attendant software are necessary underpinnings that enable the diverse developers of AU analysis software to collaborate more effectively. Such collaboration facilitates the construction of a system of interacting software tools that will improve our understanding of molecular associations as the effectors of interesting biology

AIM Research Intersection: Instrument for traffic detection and behavior assessment for a complex urban intersection

The Research Intersection as part of Test field AIM (Application Platform for Intelligent Mobility) is a field instrument for detection and assessment of traffic behavior for a complex urban intersection in the city of Braunschweig, Germany. It serves as tool for the purpose of analyzing natural traffic behavior and phenomena, e.g. in safety related traffic situations, based on empirically observed trajectories. Thus, the facility can be used for a number of applications in the field of intelligent mobility services

The Effects of Integrative In-Patient Treatment on Patients’ Quality of Life: A Meta-Analysis

Background. In the last decades, several hospitals have adopted this concept of integrative medicine for the treatment of chronic and acute states of illnesses in in-patient treatment. The aim of this paper was to summarize the current evidence for a possible effectiveness of integrative on-patient treatment in patients’ quality of life by means of a meta-analysis. Material and Methods. The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, PsycInfo, PsycLit CCMED, and CAMbase were screened to find articles. We also screened publisher databases to find relevant information. Articles were included if patients were treated in a hospital. To guarantee comparability SF-36 was the predefined outcome measure for patients’ quality of life. Data of pre/posteffects on the mental and physical scores of the SF-36 were extracted and effect sizes were calculated and entered into a random effect meta-analysis. Results. Eight articles published between 2003 and 2010 were included in the final meta-analysis. Random effect meta-analysis of the eight studies revealed an overall effect size of 0.37 (95% CI: [0.28; 0.45]) in the physical score and 0.38 (95% CI: [0.30; 0.45]) in the mental score of the SF-36. I2 statistics indicate a high heterogeneity in the effects in both the physical and mental scores of the SF-36 (I2 = 91.8%, P<0.001, resp.; I2 = 86.7%, P<0.001). Discussion. This meta-analysis might help to rediscover the importance of integrative in-patient treatment for patients, physicians, and stakeholders

Associated factors and consequences of risk of bias in randomized controlled trials of yoga: A systematic review

© 2015 Cramer et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background: Bias in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of complementary therapy interventions seems to be associated with specific factors and to potentially distort the studies' conclusions. This systematic review assessed associated factors of risk of bias and consequences for the studies' conclusions in RCTs of yoga as one of the most commonly used complementary therapies. Methods: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, IndMED and the Cochrane Library were searched through February 2014 for yoga RCTs. Risk of selection bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool and regressed to a) publication year; b) country of origin; c) journal type; and d) impact factor using multiple logistic regression analysis. Likewise, the authors' conclusions were regressed to risk of bias. Results: A total of 312 RCTs were included. Impact factor ranged from 0.0 to 39.2 (median = 1.3); 60 RCT (19.2%) had a low risk of selection bias, and 252 (80.8%) had a high or unclear risk of selection bias. Only publication year and impact factor significantly predicted low risk of bias; RCTs published after 2001 (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 12.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.7, 94.0; p<0.001) and those published in journals with impact factor (adjusted OR = 2.6; 95%CI = 1.4, 4.9; p = 0.004) were more likely to have low risk of bias. The authors' conclusions were not associated with risk of bias. Conclusions: Risk of selection bias was generally high in RCTs of yoga; although the situation has improved since the publication of the revised CONSORT statement 2001. Pre-CONSORT RCTs and those published in journals without impact factor should be handled with increased care; although risk of bias is unlikely to distort the RCTs' conclusions

Zum Stand der lehramtlichen Entwicklungsethik

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How Energy Industry Special Interests Affect Renewable Portfolio Standard Adoption Rates: an Empirical Study

This study explores how special interest spending from the oil and gas industry affects the adoption of Renewable Portfolio Standards. These energy policies have been adopted in 29 states across the US, making them a popular policy choice for promoting renewable energy development. I created a hazard model including both spending variables as well as political and energy potential variables to see if oil and gas industry spending would influence the adoption of these renewable portfolio standards between 1998 and 2010. The model showed no effect on adoption rates due to oil and gas industry spending, but rather significant effects came from the party of the state legislature, and how much wind energy potential was in the state. While measuring direct effects of campaign spending is always difficult, in this case it was clear that direct industry spending on gubernatorial races did not have an effect on adoption, but that doesn’t rule out other methods of spending on the issue of renewable portfolio standards

Observations of Hydraulic Controls on the Olentangy River, Columbus, Ohio

The Lower Olentangy River in Columbus, Ohio has a sharp change in slope and width near the crossing of the Henderson Rd. bridge. This sudden change in morphology had not been directly addressed, but previous studies suggest that these changes are results of the low-head dam near North Broadway, three kilometers downstream. The water surface elevation (WSE) is modeled by solving a gradually varied flow equation with input data collected by 16 stream gages in 2014, a nearby USGS gage station, and bathymetry data collected with a depth sounder in 2015. Two WSE profiles are computed, one using observed water elevation at the dam as a boundary condition, and the second using a boundary condition representing water elevation without the dam. The simulations using observed and lowered boundary conditions converge 2.2 and 1.7 km upstream at low and high flow. The effect of the dam does not extend to the sharp change in slope. At low flow, widths increase 15.5% in the influence of the dam, but at high flow width decreases by 1.65%. Bathymetry data show a 22.9% decrease in bed slope downstream of Henderson Rd., which contributes to the decreasing slope and increasing width.NASA JPL grant NNX13AD96GNo embarg