Automatisierung von Demontageprozessen am Beispiel von Altautos - DEMON. Neuronale und wissensbasierte Objekterkennung, Vermessung und Hindernisrepraesentation Abschlussbericht

Intelligent systems solve complex tasks and integrate information collection action planning. Available systems, however, are not able to act intelligent and human like. The aim of the program was to develop autonomous robots, which are able to perceive, learn, plan and act in natural environment. In the project DEMON an intelligent and autonomous disassembly automata was developed. Especially because of the visual sensors the disassembly robot is able to adapt to varying conditions. Not only during the final presentation it was shown, that the system is able to react due to changes in the surrounding and to lan specific actions. The disassembly of different wheels (size, number of nuts) without collisions has been shown under varying conditions (illumination, position, pose). Recently developed methods for contour and grey value based neural object recognition in combination with knowledge based approaches and a steroscopic strategy for object measurement were integrated in the system. With the concrete application of automated disassembly of used cars we have shown, that the described system can provide functions in the disposal of used cars and so in the protection of our environment. Because of the modular technique of the different components in the developed system more applications are possible and so the system is not restricted on disassembly processes. (orig.) -SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: F00B819 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman

Impact of choice, timing, sequence and combination of broad-spectrum antibiotics on the outcome of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Recent data link the incidence of intestinal GvHD (iGvHD) after allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (aSCT) to exposure with piperacillin-tazobactam or imipenem-cilastatin. To assess relevance of timing, duration, sequence and combination of antibiotic treatment in this setting, we applied a time-dependent model to our aSCT cohort. Patients from the prospective Cologne Cohort of Neutropenic Patients (CoCoNut) undergoing aSCT from January 2007 to April 2013 were included into a time-dependent multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model with backward-stepwise selection. In 399 eligible patients, cumulative antibiotic exposure (hazard ratio (HR) 2.46; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.59-3.81; P < 0.001) and exposure to sequential treatment with penicillin derivatives and carbapenems (HR 6.22, 95% CI 1.27-30.31), but not to the individual classes, were associated with iGvHD at day 100. Glycopeptides were assessed as a risk factor (HR 3.73, 95% CI 1.51-9.19), but not considered independent, since their use was dependent on previous exposure to penicillin derivatives and carbapenems. Patients with iGvHD presented with increased non-relapse mortality at day 365 (HR 3.51; 95% CI 2.10-5.89; P < 0.001). We identified sequential exposure to penicillin derivatives and carbapenems as well as overall exposure to antibiotics as independent risk factors for iGVHD. Confirmation of these findings in larger, prospective cohorts is necessary

VHE Middleware - Middleware for Virtual Home Environments Schlussbericht

Available from TIB Hannover: F03B536+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEBundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung, Berlin (Germany)DEGerman

Ertragsschaetzung an landwirtschaftlichen Kulturpflanzenbestaenden mit Hilfe der Fernerkundungstechnik Abschlussbericht

Available from TIB Hannover: FR 5272+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Ertragsschaetzung an landwirtschaftlichen Kulturpflanzenbestaenden mit Hilfe der Fernerkundungstechnik Abschlussbericht

Available from TIB Hannover: FR 5272+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Nerve Growth Factor and Nociception: From Experimental Embryology to New Analgesic Therapy

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is central to the development and functional regulation of sensory neurons that signal the first events that lead to pain. These sensory neurons, called nociceptors, require NGF in the early embryo to survive and also for their functional maturation. The long road from the discovery of NGF and its roles during development to the realization that NGF plays a major role in the pathophysiology of inflammatory pain will be reviewed. In particular, we will discuss the various signaling events initiated by NGF that lead to long-lasting thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia in animals and in man. It has been realized relatively recently that humanized function blocking antibodies directed against NGF show remarkably analgesic potency in human clinical trials for painful conditions as varied as osteoarthritis, lower back pain, and interstitial cystitis. Thus, anti-NGF medication has the potential to make a major impact on day-to-day chronic pain treatment in the near future. It is therefore all the more important to understand the precise pathways and mechanisms that are controlled by NGF to both initiate and sustain mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. Recent work suggests that NGF-dependent regulation of the mechanosensory properties of sensory neurons that signal mechanical pain may open new mechanistic avenues to refine and exploit relevant molecular targets for novel analgesics