Wavelet analysis of EEG signals as a tool for the investigation of the time architecture of cognitive processes

Cognitive processes heavily rely on a dedicated spatio-temporal architecture of the underlying neural system - the brain. The spatial aspect is substantiated by the modularization as it has been brought to light in much detail by recent sophisticated neural imaging investigations. The time aspect is less well investigated although the role of time is prominent in several approaches to understanding the organization of the information processing in the brain. By way of example we mention (i) the synchronization hypothesis for the resolution of the binding problem, cf. [5] [4], [3] and the efforts to relate the information contained in observed spike rates back to the neuronal mechanisms underlying the cognitive event. In particular, in Refs. [1], [2] Amit et. al. tried to bridge the gap between the Miyashita data [10] and the hypothesis that associative memory is realized by the (strange) attractor states of dynamical systems

Little Boxes: A Dynamic Optimization Approach for Enhanced Cloud Infrastructures

The increasing demand for diverse, mobile applications with various degrees of Quality of Service requirements meets the increasing elasticity of on-demand resource provisioning in virtualized cloud computing infrastructures. This paper provides a dynamic optimization approach for enhanced cloud infrastructures, based on the concept of cloudlets, which are located at hotspot areas throughout a metropolitan area. In conjunction, we consider classical remote data centers that are rigid with respect to QoS but provide nearly abundant computation resources. Given fluctuating user demands, we optimize the cloudlet placement over a finite time horizon from a cloud infrastructure provider's perspective. By the means of a custom tailed heuristic approach, we are able to reduce the computational effort compared to the exact approach by at least three orders of magnitude, while maintaining a high solution quality with a moderate cost increase of 5.8% or less

Technologische Fundierung der Produktionsfunktion vom Typ D mit Hilfe von Verbrauchs- und Erzeugungsfunktionen

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Nonlinear principal component analysis

We study the extraction of nonlinear data models in high-dimensional spaces with modified self-organizing maps. We present a general algorithm which maps low-dimensional lattices into high-dimensional data manifolds without violation of topology. The approach is based on a new principle exploiting the specific dynamical properties of the first order phase transition induced by the noise of the data. Moreover we present a second algorithm for the extraction of generalized principal curves comprising disconnected and branching manifolds. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated for both one- and two-dimensional principal manifolds and also for the case of sparse data sets. As an application we reveal cluster structures in a set of real world data from the domain of ecotoxicology

Weighing the Galactic dark matter halo: a lower mass limit from the fastest halo star known

The mass of the Galactic dark matter halo is under vivid discussion. A recent study by Xue et al. (2008, ApJ, 684, 1143) revised the Galactic halo mass downward by a factor of ~2 relative to previous work, based on the line-of-sight velocity distribution of ~2400 blue horizontal-branch (BHB) halo stars. The observations were interpreted in a statistical approach using cosmological galaxy formation simulations, as only four of the 6D phase-space coordinates were determined. Here we concentrate on a close investigation of the stars with highest negative radial velocity from that sample. For one star, SDSSJ153935.67+023909.8 (J1539+0239 for short), we succeed in measuring a significant proper motion, i.e. full phase-space information is obtained. We confirm the star to be a Population II BHB star from an independent quantitative analysis of the SDSS spectrum - providing the first NLTE study of any halo BHB star - and reconstruct its 3D trajectory in the Galactic potential. J1539+0239 turns out as the fastest halo star known to date, with a Galactic rest-frame velocity of 694$^{+300}_{-221}$ km/s (full uncertainty range from Monte Carlo error propagation) at its current position. The extreme kinematics of the star allows a significant lower limit to be put on the halo mass in order to keep it bound, of M_halo$\ge1.7_{-1.1}^{+2.3}\times10^{12}$ Msun. We conclude that the Xue et al. results tend to underestimate the true halo mass as their most likely mass value is consistent with our analysis only at a level of 4%. However, our result confirms other studies that make use of the full phase-space information.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. ApJ, accepte

Kontextbasierte Eventerkennung in der Logistik mit drahtloser Sensornetztechnologie

Eine lückenlose Echtzeitüberwachung von Logistikprozessen erlaubt es Events frühzeitig zu erkennen und auf diese angemessen zu reagieren und eröffnet das Potential Haftungsfragen leichter zu klären und Versicherungsprämien zu senken. Mittels drahtloser Sensornetz-technologie wird eine entsprechende Echtzeiterkennung von und -benachrichtigung über Events in Logistikprozessen möglich. Diese muss aber sowohl kosten- und energieeffizient als auch kundenorientiert realisiert werden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird hierzu das Konzept der „übertragungsrelevanten Events“ vorgestellt und zur konkreten Umsetzung ein Scoresheet-basiertes Verfahren entwickelt. Die Effizienz und Vorteilhaftigkeit dieses Verfahrens im Vergleich zu anderen Verfahren zur Eventerkennung und -benachrichtigung im Rahmen einer Echtzeitüberwachung von Logistikprozessen wird mittels Simulations-experimenten gezeigt

Aktuelle Epidemiologie von Bordetella parapertussis-Infektionen in Deutschland

Keuchhusten wird in den meisten Fällen durch Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) verursacht, seltener auch durch B. parapertussis. Seit 2013 besteht gemäß § 6 Infektionsschutzgesetz (IfSG) eine bundesweite Meldepflicht für den Krankheitsverdacht, die Erkrankung und den Tod durch B. pertussis oder B. parapertussis (sog. Arztmeldepflicht) sowie für den direkten Nachweis der beiden Erreger und den indirekten Nachweis von B. pertussis (§ 7 IfSG, sog. Labormeldepflicht). Im Zuge der COVID-19-Pandemie und den damit verbundenen Infektionsschutzmaßnahmen war ein deutlicher Rückgang der Keuchhustenfallzahlen in Deutschland zu beobachten. Während die B. per-tussis-Fallzahlen derzeit weiterhin unter dem präpandemischen Niveau verbleiben, lässt sich seit dem vierten Quartal 2022 eine deutliche Zunahme von B. parapertussis-Erkrankungen beobachten, die die präpandemischen Fallzahlen übertrifft. Ursachen hierfür sind wahrscheinlich u. a. ein Nachholeffekt nach der COVID-19-Pandemie, ein verändertes Diagnostikverhalten und das Fehlen einer ausreichend wirksamen Impfung.Peer Reviewe

COVID-19 infection in patients with history of pediatric heart transplant in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

COVID-19 is a heterogenous infection-asymptomatic to fatal. While the course of pediatric COVID-19 infections is usually mild or even asymptomatic, individuals after adult heart transplantation are at high risk of a severe infection. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter survey of 16 pediatric heart transplant centers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to evaluate the risk of a severe COVID-19 infection after pediatric heart transplantation between 02/2020 and 06/2021. Twenty-six subjects (11 male) with a median age of 9.77 years at time of transplantation and a median of 4.65 years after transplantation suffered from COVID-19 infection. The median age at time of COVID-10 infection was 17.20 years. Fourteen subjects had an asymptomatic COVID-19 infection. The most frequent symptoms were myalgia/fatigue (n = 6), cough (n = 5), rhinitis (n = 5), and loss of taste (n = 5). Only one subject showed dyspnea. Eleven individuals needed therapy in an outpatient setting, four subjects were hospitalized. One person needed oxygen supply, none of the subjects needed non-invasive or invasive mechanical ventilation. No specific signs for graft dysfunction were found by non-invasive testing. In pediatric heart transplant subjects, COVID-19 infection was mostly asymptomatic or mild. There were no SARS-CoV-2 associated myocardial dysfunction in heart transplant individuals

Human security and the rise of the social

As the concept of human security has become part of the mainstream discourse of international politics it should be no surprise that both realist and critical approaches to international theory have found the agenda wanting. This article seeks to go beyond both the realist and biopolitical critiques by situating all three – political realism, biopolitics and human security – within the history and theory of the modern rise of the social realm from late eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Human security is the further expansion of social forms of governance under capitalism, more specifically a form of socialpolitik than realpolitik or biopolitics. Drawing on the work of historical sociologist Robert Castel and political theorist Hannah Arendt, the article develops an alternative framework with which to question the extent to which ‘life’ has become the subject of global intervention through the human security agenda