DASCH: Data and Service Center for the Humanities

Research data in the humanities needs to be sustainable, and access to digital resources must be possible over a long period. Only if these prerequisites are fulfilled can research data be used as a source for other projects. In addition, reliability is a fundamental requirement so that digital sources can be cited, reused, and quoted. To address this problem, we present our solution: the Data and Service Center for the Humanities located in Switzerland. The centralized infrastructure is based on flexible and extendable software that is in turn reliant on modern technologies. Such an approach allows for the straightforward migration of existing research project databases with limited life spans in the humanities. We will demonstrate the basic concepts behind this proposed solution and our first experiences in the application thereof

Implementing a Video Framework based on IIIF: A Customized Approach from Long-Term Preservation Video Formats to Conversion on Demand

This paper addresses the issue of elaborating a structure for digital video assets based on the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) concepts for the use in archival environments. With a view to tailoring a solution to fit the end user's needs, the dissemination copies of video material could be automatically converted on demand from their master files. Such a reduced data structure simplifies access to digital video sources but leads as well to simplified preservation due to reduced data volume and data complexity. Dissemination copies do not require specific dispositions for digital archiving anymore. Memory institutions would greatly benefit from a technology that can be integrated into a Web-based infrastructure. In such a way video content can for example be embedded into flexible Virtual Research Environments which allow scholars to work and cite more accurately video resources using IIIF

Experimente mit dem Remote Atomic Force Microscope (RAFM)

In dieser Arbeit wird ein fernsteuer- und programmierbares Raster-Kraft Mikroskop (RAFM) vorgestellt. Das Ger¨at ist mit einer hochpr¨azisen Robotik ausger¨ustet, die es erlaubt, Proben automatisch und ferngesteuert mit einer Toleranz von weniger als 1.5 μm zu positionieren. Eine einfache Programmiersprache erlaubt es, das Instrument zu programmieren, um komplexe Messabl¨aufe automatisch ablaufen zu lassen. Neben der Beschreibung der entwickelten Hard- und Software, werden in der Arbeit Resultate aus programmierten Langzeitexperimenten auf AlO2 Sinterkeramik vorgestellt. In unterschiedlichen Reibungsexperimenten wurden Ver¨anderungen der Spitzengeometrie von bis zu sechsWinkelgrad gemessen. Dieser Verschleiss der Messspitze wird unter dem Aspekt der maximal m¨oglichen Abbildungsleistung diskutiert. In einer analytischen Betrachtung der Kontaktgeometrie von Spitze und Oberfl¨achen, wird ein Frequenzverhalten belegt, dass einem Tiefpass ¨ahnlich ist. Der Einsatz der Robotik als L¨angenaktuator im Mikrometerbereich erlaubt das automatische Akquirieren von sehr grossen Oberfl¨achenbereichen von bis zu 14 mm2 mit Aufl¨osungen bis 25 nm. Das Instrument verf¨ugt ¨uber eine kollaborativ ausgelegte Steuer- und Messsoftware, die eine dezentrale Bedienung des Ger¨ats ¨uber das Internet erlaubt. In Kombination mit einem aus der Luftfahrt stammenden Ausbildungskonzept stellt das RAFM eine optimale Plattform f¨ur die Ausbildung im Bereich der Nanotechnologie dar. In einer Usability Study mit unterschiedlichen Benutzern aus dem universit¨aren und gymnasialen Umfeld wird die hohe Qualit¨at des Ger¨ats als Lehrmittel best¨atigt

DASCH: Data and Service Center for the Humanities

Research data in the humanities needs to be sustainable, and access to digital resources must be possible over a long period. Only if these prerequisites are fulfilled can research data be used as a source for other projects. In addition, reliability is a fundamental requirement so that digital sources can be cited, reused, and quoted. To address this problem, we present our solution: the Data and Service Center for the Humanities located in Switzerland. The centralized infrastructure is based on flexible and extendable software that is in turn reliant on modern technologies. Such an approach allows for the straightforward migration of existing research project databases with limited life spans in the humanities. We will demonstrate the basic concepts behind this proposed solution and our first experiences in the application thereo

Pseudoaneurysm in the iliac fossa after renal transplantation—treatment with ultrasound-guided thrombin injection

We report the case of a 57-year-old female who developed a large pseudoaneurysm of the right circumflex iliac artery 15 months after renal transplantation. Minimal invasive treatment was successfully performed with ultrasound-guided thrombin injection using the B-flow mod

Float, explode or sink: postmortem fate of lung-breathing marine vertebrates

What happens after the death of a marine tetrapod in seawater? Palaeontologists and neontologists have claimed that large lung-breathing marine tetrapods such as ichthyosaurs had a lower density than seawater, implying that their carcasses floated at the surface after death and sank subsequently after leakage of putrefaction gases (or ‘‘carcass explosions''). Such explosions would thus account for the skeletal disarticulation observed frequently in the fossil record. We examined the taphonomy and sedimentary environment of numerous ichthyosaur skeletons and compared them to living marine tetrapods, principally cetaceans, and measured abdominal pressures in human carcasses. Our data and a review of the literature demonstrate that carcasses sink and do not explode (and spread skeletal elements). We argue that the normally slightly negatively buoyant carcasses of ichthyosaurs would have sunk to the sea floor and risen to the surface only when they remained in shallow water above a certain temperature and at a low scavenging rate. Once surfaced, prolonged floating may have occurred and a carcass have decomposed gradually. Our conclusions are of significance to the understanding of the inclusion of carcasses of lung-breathing vertebrates in marine nutrient recycling. The postmortem fate has essential implications for the interpretation of vertebrate fossil preservation (the existence of complete, disarticulated fossil skeletons is not explained by previous hypotheses), palaeobathymetry, the physiology of modern marine lung-breathing tetrapods and their conservation, and the recovery of human bodies from seawate

Transport Infrastructure Surveillance and Monitoring by Electromagnetic Sensing: The ISTIMES Project

The ISTIMES project, funded by the European Commission in the frame of a joint Call “ICT and Security” of the Seventh Framework Programme, is presented and preliminary research results are discussed. The main objective of the ISTIMES project is to design, assess and promote an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-based system, exploiting distributed and local sensors, for non-destructive electromagnetic monitoring of critical transport infrastructures. The integration of electromagnetic technologies with new ICT information and telecommunications systems enables remotely controlled monitoring and surveillance and real time data imaging of the critical transport infrastructures. The project exploits different non-invasive imaging technologies based on electromagnetic sensing (optic fiber sensors, Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite platform based, hyperspectral spectroscopy, Infrared thermography, Ground Penetrating Radar-, low-frequency geophysical techniques, Ground based systems for displacement monitoring). In this paper, we show the preliminary results arising from the GPR and infrared thermographic measurements carried out on the Musmeci bridge in Potenza, located in a highly seismic area of the Apennine chain (Southern Italy) and representing one of the test beds of the project

KEYNOTE-061: Phase 3 study of pembrolizumab vs paclitaxel for previously treated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (G/GEJ) cancer.

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Activin A Induces Langerhans Cell Differentiation In Vitro and in Human Skin Explants

Langerhans cells (LC) represent a well characterized subset of dendritic cells located in the epidermis of skin and mucosae. In vivo, they originate from resident and blood-borne precursors in the presence of keratinocyte-derived TGFβ. Ιn vitro, LC can be generated from monocytes in the presence of GM-CSF, IL-4 and TGFβ. However, the signals that induce LC during an inflammatory reaction are not fully investigated. Here we report that Activin A, a TGFβ family member induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines and involved in skin morphogenesis and wound healing, induces the differentiation of human monocytes into LC in the absence of TGFβ. Activin A-induced LC are Langerin+, Birbeck granules+, E-cadherin+, CLA+ and CCR6+ and possess typical APC functions. In human skin explants, intradermal injection of Activin A increased the number of CD1a+ and Langerin+ cells in both the epidermis and dermis by promoting the differentiation of resident precursor cells. High levels of Activin A were present in the upper epidermal layers and in the dermis of Lichen Planus biopsies in association with a marked infiltration of CD1a+ and Langerin+ cells. This study reports that Activin A induces the differentiation of circulating CD14+ cells into LC. Since Activin A is abundantly produced during inflammatory conditions which are also characterized by increased numbers of LC, we propose that this cytokine represents a new pathway, alternative to TGFβ, responsible for LC differentiation during inflammatory/autoimmune conditions