Selbstbewusstsein in kognitiven Systemen

Beckermann A. Selbstbewusstsein in kognitiven Systemen. In: Peschl M, ed. Die Rolle der Seele in der Kognitionswissenschaft und der Neurowissenschaft. Der Begriff der Seele. Vol 3. Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann; 2005: 171-187

COVID-19 pneumonia and the masquerades

During the COVID-19 pandemic, chest CT is frequently used to help with the diagnosis. The classic CT patterns of COVID-19 pneumonia are well-published and recognised among radiologists. However, when there are pre-existing conditions particularly in the elderly population that could mask or result in similar patterns of disease, then the diagnosis is more difficult. This imaging essay highlights the commonly encountered situations including patients with heart failure, other possible infections particularly in the immunodeficient, and when there is trauma to the thorax. We illustrate imaging clues available to the radiologist to either make the diagnosis or at least reduce the differential diagnosi

Comparison of cohesive powder flowability measured by Schulze Shear Cell, Raining Bed Method, Sevilla Powder Tester and new Ball Indentation Method

Poor powder flow leads to many problems during manufacturing and can lead to inaccurate dosing and off-specification products. Powder flowability is commonly assessed under relatively high applied loads using shear cells by characterising the unconfined yield strength at a range of applied loads. For applied stresses below 1 kPa, it becomes increasingly difficult to obtain reliable values of the unconfined yield strength. The bulk cohesion and tensile strength of the powder are then obtained by extrapolating the yield locus to zero and negative loads, respectively. However, the reliability of this approximation for a given material is not known. To overcome this limitation, techniques such as the Raining Bed Method, Sevilla Powder Tester and the newly-developed Ball Indentation Method may be used. In this paper, we report our measurement results of the tensile strength of glass beads, α-lactose monohydrate and various sizes of fluid catalytic cracking powders determined by the Sevilla Powder Tester and Raining Bed Method and compare them with those inferred from the Schulze Shear Cell. The results of the latter are also compared with those of the Ball Indentation Method. The outcome suggests that in the case of shear cell tests, the extrapolation of the yield locus to lower or negative loads is unsafe. The ball indentation method enables the characterisation of highly cohesive powders at very low compressive loads; however extrapolation to negative loads is still not reliable. In contrast, the Sevilla Powder Tester and Raining Bed Methods are able to characterise the tensile strength directly, but high bulk cohesion poses difficulties as the internal bed failure needs to be analysed in order to reliably estimate the tensile strength. These methods provide a better understanding of powder flow behaviour at low stresses, thus enabling a greater control of manufacturing processes

Lung cancer prediction by Deep Learning to identify benign lung nodules

INTRODUCTION: Deep Learning has been proposed as promising tool to classify malignant nodules. Our aim was to retrospectively validate our Lung Cancer Prediction Convolutional Neural Network (LCP-CNN), which was trained on US screening data, on an independent dataset of indeterminate nodules in an European multicentre trial, to rule out benign nodules maintaining a high lung cancer sensitivity. METHODS: The LCP-CNN has been trained to generate a malignancy score for each nodule using CT data from the U.S. National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), and validated on CT scans containing 2106 nodules (205 lung cancers) detected in patients from from the Early Lung Cancer Diagnosis Using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (LUCINDA) study, recruited from three tertiary referral centers in the UK, Germany and Netherlands. We pre-defined a benign nodule rule-out test, to identify benign nodules whilst maintaining a high sensitivity, by calculating thresholds on the malignancy score that achieve at least 99 % sensitivity on the NLST data. Overall performance per validation site was evaluated using Area-Under-the-ROC-Curve analysis (AUC). RESULTS: The overall AUC across the European centers was 94.5 % (95 %CI 92.6-96.1). With a high sensitivity of 99.0 %, malignancy could be ruled out in 22.1 % of the nodules, enabling 18.5 % of the patients to avoid follow-up scans. The two false-negative results both represented small typical carcinoids. CONCLUSION: The LCP-CNN, trained on participants with lung nodules from the US NLST dataset, showed excellent performance on identification of benign lung nodules in a multi-center external dataset, ruling out malignancy with high accuracy in about one fifth of the patients with 5-15 mm nodules

Сенсибилизация к аллергенам клещей домашней пыли у детей

ДЫХАТЕЛЬНАЯ ГИПЕРЧУВСТВИТЕЛЬНОСТЬАЛЛЕРГОЗЫ РЕСПИРАТОРНЫЕГИПЕРСЕНСИБИЛИЗАЦИЯ РЕСПИРАТОРНАЯРЕСПИРАТОРНАЯ АЛЛЕРГИЯАЛЛЕРГЕНЫКЛЕЩИ ПЫЛЕВЫЕ ДОМАШНИЕDERMATOPHAGOIDES PTERONYSSINUSDERMATOPHAGOIDES FARINAEСЕНСИБИЛИЗАЦИЯ БИОЛОГИЧЕСКАЯСЕНСИБИЛИЗАЦИЯ К АЛЛЕРГЕНАМДЕТИОБЗОР ЛИТЕРАТУРЫАллергические заболевания представляют серьезную проблему современной медицины. Сенсибилизация к ингаляционным аллергенам является одним из ключевых факторов формирования респираторных аллергозов. Среди аэроаллергенов важное значение играют аллергенные компоненты домашней пыли – клещи Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus и Dermatophagoides farinae, составляющие до 90% акарофауны жилых помещений. В формировании сенсибилизации к клещам домашней пыли также предполагается роль индивидуальных источников аллергенов. Сенсибилизация к мажорным компонентам аллергена клещей домашней пыли ассоциируется с риском развития бронхиальной астмы, к минорным (Der p 10) – риском развития перекрестных реакций с тропомиозином других беспозвоночных, тропомиозином человека. Аллергены клещей домашней пыли (Der p 2 и Der f 2) могут быть ответственны за симптомы оральной клещевой анафилаксии, а также способствовать развитию сенсибилизации к бактериальным антигенам Staphylococcus aureus и Escherichia coli. В 1 части статьи изложены биология и источники клеща домашней пыли. Представлена классификация аллергенов, пути сенсибилизации и распространенность сенсибилизации к клещу домашней пыли у детей.Allergic diseases are a serious problem in modern medicine. Sensitization to inhalation allergens is one of the key factors in the formation of respiratory allergoses. Among aeroallergens, allergenic components of domestic dust play an important role – mites Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae, that make up to 90% of the acarofauna of residential premises. In the formation of sensitization to domestic dust mites, the role of individual sources of allergens is also considered. Sensitization to the major components of the domestic dust mite allergens is associated with the risk of developing bronchial asthma, to minor ones (Der p 10) – the risk of cross-reactions with tropomyosin of other invertebrates, human tropomyosin. Domestic dust mite allergens (Der p 2 and Der f 2) may be responsible for the symptoms of oral tick-born anaphylaxis as well as for the development of sensitization to bacterial antigens of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Part 1 of this article outlines biology and sources of the domestic dust mite. The classification of allergens, sensitization pathways and the prevalence of sensitization to domestic dust mite in children are presented

The theory of brain-sign: a physical alternative to consciousness

Consciousness and the mind are prescientific concepts that begin with Greek theorizing. They suppose human rationality and reasoning placed in the human head by (in Christian terms) God, who structured the universe he created with the same kind of underlying characteristics. Descartes' development of the model included scientific objectivity by placing the mind outside the physical universe. In its failure under evidential scrutiny and without physical explanation, this model is destined for terminal decline. Instead, a genuine biological and physical function for the brain phenomenon can be developed. This is the theory of brain-sign. It accepts the causality of the brain as its physical characteristics, already under scientific scrutiny. What is needed is a new neurophysiological mapping language that specifies the relation of the structure and operation of the brain to organismic action in the world. Still what is lacking is an account of how neurophysiologies in different organisms communicate on dynamic, i.e. unpredictable, tasks. It is this evolved capacity that has emerged as brain-sign. Thus rather than mentality being an inner epistemological parallel world suddenly appearing in the head, brain-sign, as the neural sign of the causal status of the brain, facilitates the communicative medium of otherwise isolated organisms. The biogenesis of the phenomenon emerges directly from the account of the physical brain, and functions as a monistic feature of organisms in the physical world. This new paradigm offers disciplinary compatibility, and genuine development in behavioral and brain sciences

Über eine Klasse polynomialer Scharen selbstadjungierter Operatoren im Hilbertraum

HEK293A cells expressing either mouse MOG (mMOG) or rat MOG (rMOG) C terminally tagged with EGFP. (DOCX 2792 kb

ICTs connecting global citizens, global dialogue and global governance. A call for needful designs

Humankind is on the transition to a supra-system of humanity, according to which social relationships – that organise the common good – are re-organised such that global challenges are kept below the threshold of a self-inflicted breakdown. In order to succeed, three conditions are imperative: (1) Global governance needs a global conscience that orients towards the protection of the common good. (2) Such global governance needs a global dialogue on the state of the common good and the ways to proceed. (3) Such a global dialogue needs global citizens able to reflect upon the current state of the common good and the ways to proceed to desired states. Each of these imperatives is about a space of possibilities. Each space nests the following one such that they altogether form the scaffolding along which institutions can emerge that realise the imperatives when proper nuclei are introduced in those spaces. Such nuclei would already support each other. However, the clue is to further their integration by Information and Communication Technologies. An information platform shall be launched that could cover any task on any of the three levels, entangled with the articulation of cooperative action from the local to the global, based on the cybersubsidiarity model. This model is devised to ensure the percolation of meaningful information throughout the different organisational levels.2019-2

Neurological update: MOG antibody disease

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody disease (MOG-AD) is now recognised as a nosological entity with specific clinical and paraclinical features to aid early diagnosis. Although no age group is exempt, median age of onset is within the fourth decade of life, with optic neuritis being the most frequent presenting phenotype. Disease course can be either monophasic or relapsing, with subsequent relapses most commonly involving the optic nerve. Residual disability develops in 50–80% of patients, with transverse myelitis at onset being the most significant predictor of long-term outcome. Recent advances in MOG antibody testing offer improved sensitivity and specificity. To avoid misdiagnosis, MOG antibody testing should be undertaken in selected cases presenting clinical and paraclinical features that are felt to be in keeping with MOG-AD, using a validated cell-based assay. MRI characteristics can help in differentiating MOG-AD from other neuroinflammatory disorders, including multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica. Cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal bands are uncommon. Randomised control trials are limited, but observational open-label experience suggests a role for high-dose steroids and plasma exchange in the treatment of acute attacks, and for immunosuppressive therapies, such as steroids, oral immunosuppressants and rituximab as maintenance treatment

An architecture for flexible manufacturing systems based on task-driven agents

Abstract During the last decades significant changes in the buying behavior of customers can be observed. While in former days price sensitivity lead to more uniformed products, in present days manifold high-quality products and customization with reasonable prices and rapid delivery are demanded. As a consequence, the industry asks for manufacturing systems which allow for fast ramp-up, multi-variant production and rapid adaptability. In this environment, several scientific approaches such as agent-based and holonic manufacturing systems have been investigated within the last years. In order to cover all aspects of the foreseen future demands, the architectures for such systems are very complex and the system’s entities are characterized by very flexible behavior. Hence, the efforts for their implementation are rather high and the systems tend to exhibit non-deterministic behavior. Furthermore, the top down approach of most systems leads to a complete re-organization of the factory management. As a consequence the acceptance for such systems in real industrial environment at present day is very limited. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to develop an architecture for flexible manufacturing systems which allows for easy take-up in the industry. It is based on a bottom-up approach with a new kind of flexible, intelligent shop-floor components called Manufactrons. The architecture covers all layers of traditional factory organization with special emphasis on the shop floor organization. The approach and results are based on the research activities of the European Research Project XPRESS in which representatives of three major industry branches collaborated in order to find a solution for their future demands on flexible manufacturing systems. The architecture has been implemented in the context of XPRESS in aerospace, automotive and electrical industry. The tests show the feasibility of the approach. The capability for a smooth integration of the new approach into existing manufacturing environment has successfully been demonstrated.Tiivistelmä Viime vuosikymmeninä asiakkaiden ostokäyttäytyminen on muuttunut merkittävästi. Ennen asiakkaiden hintatietoisuus johti yhtenäisiin tuotteisiin, kun taas nykyään vaaditaan moninaisempia tuotteita ja muokattavuutta kohtuulliseen hintaan. Samaan aikaan odotetaan korkealaatuisia tuotteita ja nopeaa toimitusta. Nämä seikat ovat aiheuttaneet tuotantoteollisuudelle uusia haasteita. Reagoidakseen nopeasti asiakkaiden vaatimuksiin tuotannonsuunnittelussa on alettu keskittymään korkealaatuisten tuotemuunnelmien määrän kasvattamiseen. Tämän vuoksi tarvitaan tuotantojärjestelmiä, jotka mahdollistavat nopean Ramp Up -prosessin, moneenmuuntuvan tuotannon ja nopean mukautuvuuden. Tätä aihetta on viime vuosina lähestytty esimerkiksi agentteihin perustuvien ja holonisten tuotantojärjestelmien kautta. Kuitenkin näihin tulevaisuuden haasteisiin pystytään vastaamaan vain kompleksisilla arkkitehtuureilla ja järjestelmän entiteeteille ominaisia ovat hyvin mukautuvat käyttäytymismallit. Näiden toteuttamiseen tarvitaan paljon työtä ja järjestelmillä on tapana käyttäytyä epä-deterministisesti. Lisäksi ylhäältä alas lähestymistapa johtaa usein tehtaan täydelliseen uudelleenorganisointiin, minkä vuoksi lähestymistapaa ei suosita oikeissa teollisuusympäristöissä. Tämän väitöstyön tarkoituksena on kehittää mukautuville tuotantojärjestelmille arkkitehtuuri, joka mahdollistaa järjestelmien helpon käyttöönoton teollisuudessa. Arkkitehtuuri perustuu alhaalta ylös -lähestymistapaan ja sisältää uudenlaisen joustavan ja älykkään tuotantotilakomponentin, manufactronin. Arkkitehtuuri kattaa kaikki perinteisen tehdasorganisaation kerrokset keskittyen kuitenkin erityisesti tuotantotilojen organisointiin. Lähestymistapa ja tulokset perustuvat Euroopan Unionin XPRESS-tutkimusprojektiin. Projektissa tehtiin yhteistyötä kolmen suuren teollisuushaaran kanssa tarkoituksena löytää joustava tuotantojärjestelmäratkaisu tulevaisuutta varten. Arkkitehtuuria sovellettiin XPRESS-projektissa lentokone-, auto- ja elektoniikkateollisuuteen ja testit osoittivat lähestymistavan soveltuvuuden. Myös lähestymistavan sujuva integrointi olemassa oleviin teollisuusjärjestelmiin osoitettiin onnistuneesti