Future-proofing the through-life engineering service systems

Future-proofing through-life engineering service systems (TESS) is crucial for ensuring their reliable, long and economical whole lives. The TESS are typically composed of high value industrial products and engineering services organised around them. Future-proofing can broadly be achieved by enabling disruption and change management capabilities. However, understanding of TESS future-proofing is limited, which is also important due to the recent industry 4.0 advancements. This paper contributes by presenting (1) a concept of TESS future-proofing, (2) a framework of TESS future-proofing, and (3) examples of the framework application at: (i) management level via change prediction method (CPM), and (ii) operational level via industrial augmented reality (AR)

Augmented reality : focusing on photonics in industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 (or 4th industrial revolution) facilitates horizontal and vertical digital information flow along value chains up to the end-customer and is highly relevant in a broad variety of industries. Augmented reality (AR) is a key technology in Industry 4.0, which connects the virtual and real-world environments using such digital information flows. In doing so, the technology relies upon the systems that includes hardware and software components. Particularly, optics and photonics are of much importance in the display and processing of information in these systems. However, a particular challenge is that the AR-based systems have not been adopted in the industry as much as other technologies even after several decades of their existence. Based on review of academic literature, an industrial survey and experiments conducted in the industry, this article aims to identify success factors and challenges of AR systems and metrics of photonic components that can form the basis of an AR* framework for photonics-based system design for future research

Labour market effects of currency appreciation : the case of Switzerland

Recent work on labour market effects of globalization has generated both academic and populist interests. However, this work has focussed exclusively on the manufacturing sector. Moreover, general equilibrium effects of globalization have received little attention. This study contributes to filling both these gaps by examining the general equilibrium effects of external exposure on the labor market in Switzerland. We exploit exogenous exchange rate movements to identify trade-induced shocks across all sectors of the Swiss economy and transpose industry-level exposure to the municipal level, using detailed employment data on the entirety of Swiss firms. We find strong evidence for three channels of employment effects of currency appreciation - negative employment growth induced by increasing export uncompetitiveness and higher import competition, and positive employment growth induced by cheaper availability of foreign inputs. The combined average effect of the three channels on employment is found to be negative in our preferred results, with significant heterogeneity across municipalities

k-strip: A novel segmentation algorithm in k-space for the application of skull stripping

Objectives: Present a novel deep learning-based skull stripping algorithm for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that works directly in the information rich k-space. Materials and Methods: Using two datasets from different institutions with a total of 36,900 MRI slices, we trained a deep learning-based model to work directly with the complex raw k-space data. Skull stripping performed by HD-BET (Brain Extraction Tool) in the image domain were used as the ground truth. Results: Both datasets were very similar to the ground truth (DICE scores of 92\%-98\% and Hausdorff distances of under 5.5 mm). Results on slices above the eye-region reach DICE scores of up to 99\%, while the accuracy drops in regions around the eyes and below, with partially blurred output. The output of k-strip often smoothed edges at the demarcation to the skull. Binary masks are created with an appropriate threshold. Conclusion: With this proof-of-concept study, we were able to show the feasibility of working in the k-space frequency domain, preserving phase information, with consistent results. Future research should be dedicated to discovering additional ways the k-space can be used for innovative image analysis and further workflows.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2 table

Experimental treatment of stroke in spontaneously hypertensive rats by CD34+ and CD34- cord blood cells

Human umbilical cord blood as a source of stem cells has recently been reported in experimental treatment of cerebral disorders. However, little is known about the nature of cells and cellular mechanisms leading to neurofunctional improvement. Here we investigated the potential of separated CD34+ versus CD34- human umbilical cord blood cells (HUCBC) to promote functional recovery following stroke. The experiments were performed in spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats, known for a risk profile comparable to stroke patients

Une analyse écologique orientée vers des processus d’un système riverain dynamique: la rivière Allier aval (France)

International audienceRiparian ecosystems are highly dynamic ecosystems subjected to hydrogeomorphological processes. Their geomorphological, sedimentological and hydrological heterogeneity makes them one of the richest ecosystems in terms of species diversity. In addition, riparian zones also provide numerous ecosystem functions and services to society. In the European context, the lower river Allier (France) is one of the last remaining rivers with laterally dynamic sections. Its historical evaluation has shown repeated river bed displacements during the last century. Spatio-temporal processes on a highly mobile river section of the lower river Allier have been studied analysing the mosaic of vegetation types and successional phases as well as physical habitat parameters. Understanding riparian ecosystem functioning and evolution in natural or nearly natural systems is essential for river restoration practices in highly degraded rivers. This understanding may lead to the establishment of better sustainable river rehabilitation targets that consider societal needs and natural processes.Les écosystèmes riverains sont des écosystèmes dynamiques soumis aux processus hydrogéomorphologiques avec une forte hétérogénéité géomorphologique, sédimentologique et hydrologique et de nombreux services écosystémiques rendus à la société. Ils font partie des écosystèmes les plus riches en termes de diversité des espèces. Dans le contexte européen, la rivière Allier aval est une des dernières rivières avec des sections à forte mobilité latérale. L'analyse historique a démontré cette forte mobilité latérale des chenaux durant le siècle dernier. Des processus spatio-temporels d'une section de rivière très mobile ont été étudiés à travers l'analyse de la mosaïque des types de végétation, les phases de succession, ainsi que les paramètres physiques des habitats. Comprendre le fonctionnement et l'évolution des écosystèmes riverains dans des systèmes naturels ou proche de l'état naturel est essentiel pour la restauration des cours d'eau très dégradées, afin de permettre la mise en place de stratégies de réhabilitions durables qui considèrent les besoins de la société et les processus naturels

Spirometry reference equations for central European populations from school age to old age.

Spirometry reference values are important for the interpretation of spirometry results. Reference values should be updated regularly, derived from a population as similar to the population for which they are to be used and span across all ages. Such spirometry reference equations are currently lacking for central European populations. To develop spirometry reference equations for central European populations between 8 and 90 years of age. We used data collected between January 1993 and December 2010 from a central European population. The data was modelled using "Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape" (GAMLSS). The spirometry reference equations were derived from 118'891 individuals consisting of 60'624 (51%) females and 58'267 (49%) males. Altogether, there were 18'211 (15.3%) children under the age of 18 years. We developed spirometry reference equations for a central European population between 8 and 90 years of age that can be implemented in a wide range of clinical settings

Preoperative fibrinogen/CRP score predicts survival in upper urothelial tract carcinoma patients undergoing radical curative surgery

Purpose Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) represents an often aggressive malignancy associated with poor prognosis. Therefore, finding reliable prognostic biomarkers in patients undergoing curative surgery for improved risk stratification is crucial. We evaluated the prognostic value of the Fibrinogen/C-reactive protein (FC)-score in a cohort of surgically treated UTUC patients. Methods 170 patients with radiologically and histologically verified UTUC who underwent radical curative surgery between 1990 and 2020, were included. The FC-score was calculated for each patient, with patients receiving 1 point each if Fibrinogen and/or CRP levels were elevated above the 25th or 75th percentile, respectively. Patients were divided into three subgroups according to their FC-score of 0, 1 or 2 point(s). Kaplan–Meier analysis, uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were implemented. We determined cancer-specific survival (CSS) as primary endpoint, whereas overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were considered secondary endpoints. Results High FC-score (2 points) was significantly associated with adverse histological features such as vascular invasion (OR = 4.08, 95%CI 1.18–14.15, p = .0027) and tumour necrosis (OR = 6.67, 95%CI 1.35–32.96, p = 0.020). Both, uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models showed the FC-score as a significant predictor for CSS (univariable analysis: FC-score = 1: HR = 1.90, 95%CI 0.92–3.93, p = 0.085 | FC-score = 2: HR = 2.86, 95%CI 1.22–6.72, p = 0.016). Furthermore, in univariable analysis, patients with higher FC-score had significantly shorter OS (FC-score = 1: HR = 1.32, 95%CI 0.70–2.49, p = 0.387 | FC-score = 2: HR = 2.19, 95%CI 1.02–4.67, p = 0.043). However, this did not prevail in multivariable analysis. Conclusion The FC-score represents a novel potential biomarker in patients with UTUC undergoing radical curative surgery