A graphical, rule based robotic interface system

The ability of a human to take control of a robotic system is essential in any use of robots in space in order to handle unforeseen changes in the robot's work environment or scheduled tasks. But in cases in which the work environment is known, a human controlling a robot's every move by remote control is both time consuming and frustrating. A system is needed in which the user can give the robotic system commands to perform tasks but need not tell the system how. To be useful, this system should be able to plan and perform the tasks faster than a telerobotic system. The interface between the user and the robot system must be natural and meaningful to the user. A high level user interface program under development at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, is described. A graphical interface is proposed in which the user selects objects to be manipulated by selecting representations of the object on projections of a 3-D model of the work environment. The user may move in the work environment by changing the viewpoint of the projections. The interface uses a rule based program to transform user selection of items on a graphics display of the robot's work environment into commands for the robot. The program first determines if the desired task is possible given the abilities of the robot and any constraints on the object. If the task is possible, the program determines what movements the robot needs to make to perform the task. The movements are transformed into commands for the robot. The information defining the robot, the work environment, and how objects may be moved is stored in a set of data bases accessible to the program and displayable to the user

Put Evaluation into Practice: The Collaborative Residency Life Cycle

A residency is a conceptual space that typically sits within the physical space and networks of an organisation. The residency itself is intangible, yet exists through a structure of time, discussion, thought, action and proclamation. The residency provides space for creative practitioners to develop ideas within a supported environment, outside of their usual context. It enables immersion within different culture, exploration of practice with new people and a safe space to take risks. Practiced worldwide, the residency has become an invaluable resource for artists and the development of new work - but is its potential much greater? As producing organisations, can we work together to connect our individual residency spaces? Can we use this connection to increase value to artists and the development of art? Can we offer a more diverse cultural contribution? Can we open up our practice to new audiences? And in this unpredictable, global financial climate, can we offer greater stability by combining (often limited) resources?These were the leading questions that we posed ourselves five years ago. What happens if we go back to these outcomes and use them as a format for evaluating existing collaborative projects and testing and setting up new collaborative residencies? In this paper we will present the background, development and outcomes of our previous experience with collaborative residencies. At the same time we will focus on what we have termed the Collabora-tive Residency Life Cycle, a model that can serve as a means to start thinking and developing new collaborative residencies. At ISEA2018 we aim to test the model with the audience and exist-ing labs and individual artists/practitioners in Durban as well as the wider region of South Afric

Investigating the role of p73 proteins in controlling the tumor microenvironment

Cancer is a multifactorial disease governed by oncogenes and tumor suppressors that not only impact on the behavior of the cancer cells but also influence many processes in the surrounding tumor microenvironment. The most studied tumor suppressor family is the p53 family, which consists of the transcription factors p53, p63 and p73. While p53 is the most frequently mutated gene in the cancer genome, for both p63 and p73, a shift in the balance between different isoforms has been discovered and this deregulation of protein levels has been linked to tumor progression and survival. P73 can be transcribed from two separate promoters resulting in a tumor suppressing, full-length isoform (TAp73), and a N-terminally truncated version (ΔNp73), which lacks the transactivation domain and thus possesses oncogenic properties. Furthermore, alternative splicing in the C-terminus results in a number of additional isoforms. P73 has been shown to be able to support and overtake many processes p53 is regulating. However, p73 isoforms have also been shown to have p53-independent functions. Understanding how different p53 family members regulate tumor development and progression is essential for identifying possible treatment strategies. In this thesis we identified several previously unknown roles for p73 isoforms in controlling the tumor microenvironment. Firstly, we discovered that loss of TAp73 results in a NF-κB-dependent upregulation of pro-inflammatory factors in breast cancer. Furthermore, this led to a concurrent increase in tumor-promoting macrophage infiltration. Secondly, we identified a role for ΔNp73 in the regulation of activating NK cell ligand expression on cancer cells. However, we observed a concomitant upregulation of inhibitory NK cell ligands upon loss of ΔNp73, leaving NK cell-mediated killing of tumor cells unaffected. Thirdly, a correlation between high levels of ΔNp73 and HIF-1α protein was observed. We demonstrate that ΔNp73 increases HIF-1α protein stability by interfering with the expression of genes of the ECV complex, normally involved in proteasomal degradation of HIF-1α. Finally, we further strengthen the involvement of ΔNp73 in the process of multidrug resistance. ΔNp73 was found to promote elevated expression of ABC transporters, ABCB1 and ABCB5, in breast cancer and melanoma, thereby supporting the efflux of drugs from the cancer cells and increasing their resistance to drug treatments. Taken together, these findings highlight the significant contributions of p73 isoforms on tumor progression and aid in unravelling the complex interactions of this network

Vulnerability-attention analysis for space-related activities

Techniques for representing and analyzing trouble spots in structures and processes are discussed. Identification of vulnerable areas usually depends more on particular and often detailed knowledge than on algorithmic or mathematical procedures. In some cases, machine inference can facilitate the identification. The analysis scheme proposed first establishes the geometry of the process, then marks areas that are conditionally vulnerable. This provides a basis for advice on the kinds of human attention or machine sensing and control that can make the risks tolerable

Evaluation eines Trainingsprogramms zum Aufbau von LehrerInnenkompetenzen (TALK) anhand qualitativer Daten aus Fokusgruppen

Technische und gesellschaftliche Veränderungsprozesse führen zu rasch ändernden Qualifikationsanforderungen. Die Förderung von LLL und Aufbau von Bildungsmotivation sind daher europaweit zunehmend zentrale Ziele im Bildungsbereich. Neuere Forschungsergebnisse zeigen aber, dass Lehrkräfte der motivationalen Situation vieler SchülerInnen sowie deren Lernkompetenzen kein sehr gutes "Zeugnis" ausstellen. Zudem sehen viele Lehrkräfte nur eingeschränkt Möglichkeiten, Motivation und LLL in ihrem Unterricht und in ihren Schulen zu integrieren (Spiel & Schober, 2002). TALK bietet eine Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis mit dem Ziel ein wissenschaftlich fundiertes und evaluiertes Trainingsprogramm für Lehrkräfte zur Förderung von Bildungsmotivation und Lebenslangem Lernen zu schaffen. Bisher wurde der Transfer von LehrerInnenfortbildungen nicht ausreichend erhoben. Ziel dieser Arbeit war hier die Erfassung des Transfers im engeren und weiteren Sinne auf der Mikro, Meso- und Makroebene des österreichischen Bildungssystems. Die Daten wurden im Rahmen des Trainings mittels Fokusgruppen erhoben, transkribiert und nach der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring (2007) ausgewertet. Auf Klassen- und Schulebene konnten die umgesetzten Trainingsinhalte von TALK sowie die Stolpersteine, die Vernetzung in den Schulteams und der persönliche Profit erfasst werden. Auf schulischer und politischer Ebene konnten Vorschläge für transferunterstützende Maßnahmen zur besseren Umsetzung der TALK-Inhalte erhoben werden

"Leidige Tröster seid ihr alle" (Hiob 16/2)? - oder die Frage nach dem Bedarf heilpädagogischer Unterstützung für Mütter von Kindern mit so genannter "Behinderung"

Vorliegende Diplomarbeit setzt sich damit auseinander, wie Mütter von Kindern mit so genannter „Behinderung“ die Situation rund um die Geburt und die ersten Wochen/Monate danach subjektiv erlebten bzw. welche (in/formelle) Unterstützung ihnen dabei zuteil wurde. Der theoretische Teil der Arbeit enthält neben begrifflichen Erläuterungen zunächst die Auseinandersetzungen mit Schwangerschaftsphantasien von Müttern und ihre Bedeutung für die frühe Mutter-Kind-Beziehung. Um die Situation von betroffenen Müttern innerhalb des für die Untersuchung vorgegebenen Zeitrahmens zu beleuchten, werden folgend die Themenkomplexe „Geburt“, „Diagnosevermittlung“ und „Herausforderungen der ersten Wochen/Monate“ aus multidisziplinärer Sicht erörtert. Spezifika von Verarbeitungsprozessen in dieser Zeit werden anhand der Auseinandersetzung mit Trauerprozessen thematisiert bzw. mögliche Unterstützungsformen anhand informeller Sozialer Unterstützung wie auch formeller Frühförderung vorgestellt. Der empirische Teil der Arbeit widmet sich zunächst Fragen zum Forschungsdesign und anschließend der empirisch-qualitativen Untersuchung. Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen multiple Herausforderungen der Mütter in dieser ersten Zeit und weisen auf äußerst different zum Einsatz kommende Unterstützung hin.The present diploma thesis explores how mothers of children with a so called “disability” subjec-tively experience the situation before and during the birth as well as the following weeks and months. The thesis also explores which forms of formal or informal support these mothers are provided with to help them through the experience. In addition to an explanation of the vocabulary, the theoretical part of the paper first examines the pregnancy phantasies of mothers and their meaning for the early mother-child-relationship. In order to fully illuminate the situation of said affected mothers within the time frame of the study, the topics of “birth”, “delivery of the diagnosis” and “challenges of the first few weeks/months” are discussed from a multidisciplinary point of view. The specifics of the coping processes during this time are explored by examining the grief processes, and possible forms of support are introduced based on informal social support as well as formal early childhood support. The empirical part of the paper is dedicated primarily to questions about the research design, and afterwards the empirical-qualitative research. The results of the analysis show multiple challenges mothers have to face during this early stage, and indicate the very different forms of support in use

Precision and normal values of cerebral blood volume in preterm neonates using time-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy

AIM To investigate cerebral blood volume (CBV) in preterm neonates using time-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy. METHODS In this prospective observational study, time-resolved near-infrared spectroscopy measurements of CBV using tNIRS-1 were performed in 70 preterm neonates. For measurements, a sensor was placed for a duration of 1 min, followed by four further reapplications of the sensor, overall five measurements. RESULTS In this study, 70 preterm neonates with a mean ± SD gestational age of 33.4 ± 1.7 weeks and a birthweight of 1931 ± 398 g were included with a postnatal age of 4.7 ± 2.0 days. Altogether, 2383 CBV values were obtained with an overall mean of 1.85 ± 0.30 mL/100 g brain. A total of 95% of the measured CBV values varied in a range from -0.31 to 0.33 from the overall individual mean. Taking the deviation of the mean of each single application for each patient, this range reduced from -0.07 to 0.07. The precision of the measurement defined as within-variation in CBV was 0.24 mL/100 g brain. CONCLUSION The overall mean CBV in stable preterm neonates was 1.85 ± 0.30 mL/100 g brain. The within-variation in CBV was 0.24 mL/100 g brain. Based on the precision obtained by our data, CBV of 1.85 ± 0.30 mL/100 g brain may be assumed as normal value for this cohort

The Pioneer Advantage: Filling the blank spots on the map of genome diversity in Europe

Documenting genome diversity is important for the local biomedical communities and instrumental in developing precision and personalized medicine. Currently, tens of thousands of whole-genome sequences from Europe are publicly available, but most of these represent populations of developed countries of Europe. The uneven distribution of the available data is further impaired by the lack of data sharing. Recent whole-genome studies in Eastern Europe, one in Ukraine and one in Russia, demonstrated that local genome diversity and population structure from Eastern Europe historically had not been fully represented. An unexpected wealth of genomic variation uncovered in these studies was not so much a consequence of high variation within their population, but rather due to the “pioneer advantage.” We discovered more variants because we were the first to prospect in the Eastern European genome pool. This simple comparison underscores the importance of removing the remaining geographic genome deserts from the rest of the world map of the human genome diversity

Using automatic programming for simulating reliability network models

This paper presents the development of an automatic programming system for assisting modelers of reliability networks to define problems and then automatically generate the corresponding code in the target simulation language GPSS/PC