Induced gamma band responses predict recognition delays during object identification

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Coding of visual object features and feature conjunctions in the human brain

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Induced gamma-band activity is related to the time point of object identification

Peer reviewedPostprin

Topology of dynamical lattice configurations including results from dynamical overlap fermions

We investigate how the topological charge density in lattice QCD simulations is affected by violations of chiral symmetry in different fermion actions. To this end we compare lattice configurations generated with a number of different actions including first configurations generated with exact overlap quarks. We visualize the topological profiles after mild smearing. In the topological charge correlator we measure the size of the positive core, which is known to vanish in the continuum limit. To leading order we find the core size to scale linearly with the lattice spacing with the same coefficient for all actions, even including quenched simulations. In the subleading term the different actions vary over a range of about 10 %. Our findings suggest that non-chiral lattice actions at current lattice spacings do not differ much for this specific observable related to topology, both among themselves and compared to overlap fermions.Comment: 7 pages, talk presented at The XXIX International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory - Lattice 2011, July 10-16, 2011, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe, Californi

Product development in app business: A corporate project of the moovel Group GmbH (Ltd)

The aim of this master thesis is to describe the development of an in-app survey feature with the goal to widen the service range of the mobility app provider moovel Group GmbH. The theory of product development, according to Harry Igor Ansoff, is combined with the modern and structured process of Design Thinking. This leads to new ways to design and develop products or services. The thesis is structured in the Design Thinking steps itself to guarantee a precise workflow. First, the topics app business, digital marketing, growth strategies and Design Thinking are explained in detail. Secondly, by means of interviews the requirements on the survey feature are defined. In the analysis part, different suppliers of the technical base of the feature are examined. In the next phase the content of the survey is evaluated and a clickable prototype is designed. In the last phase the prototype is tested by real users. According to their feedback the survey feature was finalised. In order to not exceed the framework of this thesis, the technical side of the project, regarding development and engineering processes, is not considered.O objetivo desta tese de mestrado é descrever o desenvolvimento de um recurso de pesquisa In-app, que tem como foco ampliar a gama de serviços do provedor de aplicações para mobilidade Moovel Group GmbH. A teoria do desenvolvimento de produtos, de acordo com Harry Igor Ansoff, é combinada com o processo moderno e estruturado de Design Thinking, o que leva a novas formas de projetar e desenvolver produtos ou serviços. A tese, por si mesma, também está estruturada nas etapas do Design Thinking, de forma a garantir um fluxo de trabalho preciso. Na primeira fase, os tópicos app business, Marketing digital, Estratégias de crescimento e Design Thinking são explicados em detalhe. Em seguida, são definidos os requisitos relativos à característica do inquérito, através de entrevistas. Uma análise é então realizada para os diferentes fornecedores da base técnica da característica. Na fase seguinte, o conteúdo da pesquisa é avaliado e um protótipo clicável é projetado. Na última fase, o protótipo é testado por usuários reais. De acordo com o seu feedback, a funcionalidade do inquérito é então finalizada. A fim de não exceder o âmbito desta tese, o lado técnico do projeto, em relação aos processos de desenvolvimento e engenharia, não é considerado

An embedded process perspective

It remains a dogma in cognitive neuroscience to separate human attention and memory into distinct modules and processes. Here we propose that brain rhythms reflect the embedded nature of these processes in the human brain, as evident from their shared neural signatures: gamma oscillations (30–90 Hz) reflect sensory information processing and activated neural representations (memory items). The theta rhythm (3–8 Hz) is a pacemaker of explicit control processes (central executive), structuring neural information processing, bit by bit, as reflected in the theta-gamma code. By representing memory items in a sequential and time-compressed manner the theta-gamma code is hypothesized to solve key problems of neural computation: (1) attentional sampling (integrating and segregating information processing), (2) mnemonic updating (implementing Hebbian learning), and (3) predictive coding (advancing information processing ahead of the real time to guide behavior). In this framework, reduced alpha oscillations (8–14 Hz) reflect activated semantic networks, involved in both explicit and implicit mnemonic processes. Linking recent theoretical accounts and empirical insights on neural rhythms to the embedded-process model advances our understanding of the integrated nature of attention and memory – as the bedrock of human cognition

Reduced CD40L expression on ex vivo activated CD4+T-lymphocytes from patients with excellent renal allograft function measured with a rapid whole blood flow cytometry procedure

Background: The CD40-CD40L (CD154) costimulatory pathway plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of kidney allograft rejection. In renal transplant biopsies, CD4+ CD40L+ graft-infiltrating cells were detected during chronic rejection in contrast to acute rejection episodes. Using a rapid noninvasive FACS procedure, we were able to demonstrate CD40L upregulation in peripheral blood of patients with chronic renal allograft dysfunction. Materials and Methods: Whole blood from recipients of renal allografts was stimulated with PMA and ion-omycin and measured by flow cytometry. Patients were assigned to three groups based on transplant function. Group 1: 26 patients with excellent renal transplant function; group 2: 28 patients with impaired transplant function; group 3: 14 patients with chronic allograft dysfunction and group 4: 8 healthy controls. Results: The median percentage +/-SEM of CD4+/ CD40L+ cells stimulated ex vivo at 10 ng/ml PMA was as follows: group 1: 28.3 +/- 4.1%; group 2: 18.4 +/- 2.4%; group 3: 50.1 +/- 5.0% and group 4: 40.4 +/- 3.4%. Subdivisions of groups 2 and 3 resulted in different CD40L expression patterns. Patients with increased serum creatinine since the initial phase after transplantation ( groups 2a and 3a) revealed a higher percentage of CD4+ CD40L+ cells than patients showing a gradual increase over time ( groups 2b and 3b). Consequently, patients of group 3a exhibited a significantly reduced transplant function compared with those of group 3b. Conclusion: After PMA + ionomycin stimulation, patients with excellent kidney graft function displayed significantly reduced expression of CD40L surface molecules on CD4+ cells early after transplantation. Those with a chronic dysfunction of the renal graft showed significantly more CD4+ cells expressing CD40L compared to the other transplanted groups. These results demonstrate that the percentage of CD4+ CD40L+ cells stimulated ex vivo in peripheral blood may be a valuable marker for chronic allograft nephropathy. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Spreading the word or reducing the term spread? Assessing spillovers from euro area monetary policy

As a consequence of asset purchases by the European Central Bank (ECB), longer-term yields in the euro area decline, and spreads between euro area long-term yields narrow. To assess spillovers of these recent financial developments, we use a Bayesian variant of the global vector autoregressive (BGVAR) model with stochastic volatility and propose a novel mixture of zero impact and sign restrictions that we impose on the cross-section of the data. Both shocks generate positive and significant spillovers to industrial production in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) and other non-euro area EU member states. These effects are transmitted via the financial channel (mainly through interest rates and equity prices) and outweigh costs of appreciation pressure on local currencies vis-á-vis the euro (trade channel). While these results represent general trends, we also find evidence for both cross-country heterogeneity of effects within the euro area and region-specific spillovers thereof.Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Serie

A Qualitative Review of Balance and Strength Performance in Healthy Older Adults: Impact for Testing and Training

A continuously greying society is confronted with specific age-related health problems (e.g., increased fall incidence/injury rate) that threaten both the quality of life of fall-prone individuals as well as the long-term sustainability of the public health care system due to high treatment costs of fall-related injuries (e.g., femoral neck fracture). Thus, intense research efforts are needed from interdisciplinary fields (e.g., geriatrics, neurology, and exercise science) to (a) elucidate neuromuscular fall-risk factors, (b) develop and apply adequate fall-risk assessment tools that can be administered in clinical practice, and (c) develop and design effective intervention programs that have the potential to counteract a large number of fall-risk factors by ultimately reducing the number of falls in the healthy elderly. This paper makes an effort to present the above-raised research topics in order to provide clinicians, therapists, and practitioners with the current state-of-the-art information