Expression of SV2 in the developing chick cerebellum: comparison with Calbindin and AMPA glutamate receptors 2/3

The well-organized cerebellum is an ideal model to investigate the developmental appearance and localization of pre- and postsynaptic structures. One of the synaptic proteins abundant in the central nervous system and localized in presynaptic vesicle membranes is the synaptic vesicle protein 2 (SV2). SV2 was shown to be involved in priming and modulating synaptic vesicles and having an effect in epileptic diseases. So far there are no data available describing the developmental localization of this protein in the cerebellum. We followed the expression pattern of SV2 and compared it with the expression of the neuronal calcium-binding protein Calbindin and the AMPA glutamate receptor subunits 2/3 (GluR 2/3), both shown to be early expressed in the developing chick cerebellum predominantly in Purkinje cells. We detected the expression of SV2 in presynaptic terminals (mainly from climbing and mossy fibers) as soon as they are formed at embryonic day 16 in the inner molecular layer. Purkinje cells express Calbindin and GluR 2/3 in the soma and postsynaptically in the primary dendrites at this stage. With ongoing development, the pattern of SV2 expression follows the development of Purkinje cell dendrites in the molecular layer, suggesting a synaptic refinement of labeled climbing and later parallel fibers

Using Semantic Web Services for AI-Based Research in Industry 4.0

The transition to Industry 4.0 requires smart manufacturing systems that are easily configurable and provide a high level of flexibility during manufacturing in order to achieve mass customization or to support cloud manufacturing. To realize this, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods find their way into manufacturing shop floors. For using AI methods in the context of Industry 4.0, semantic web services are indispensable to provide a reasonable abstraction of the underlying manufacturing capabilities. In this paper, we present semantic web services for AI-based research in Industry 4.0. Therefore, we developed more than 300 semantic web services for a physical simulation factory based on Web Ontology Language for Web Services (OWL-S) and Web Service Modeling Ontology (WSMO) and linked them to an already existing domain ontology for intelligent manufacturing control. Suitable for the requirements of CPS environments, our pre- and postconditions are verified in near real-time by invoking other semantic web services in contrast to complex reasoning within the knowledge base. Finally, we evaluate our implementation by executing a cyber-physical workflow composed of semantic web services using a workflow management system.Comment: Submitted to ISWC 202

Exponential Modular Multilevel Converter for Low Voltage Applications

This paper presents the structure and control of a single phase Exponential Modular Multilevel Converter (EMMC), which works as a bidirectional AC/DC converter. In addition to the main H-bridge converter, it uses series connected H-bridges with DC link capacitors. The nominal voltage rating of the capacitors is increased with each module by factor of two. In this manner, the number of output voltage levels exponentially increases with the number of series connected H-bridges. By using low-voltage MOSFETs it is possible to achieve a very high efficiency, especially at partial loading. The high number of voltage levels reduces the output voltage THD, while using a low switching frequency. Thus, the required grid filter size can be substantially reduced. Furthermore, the additional capacitor modules increase the nominal output voltage at the AC side, so that the flow of the active and reactive power can be dynamically adjusted. Therefore, the EMMC could be used, for instance, as a vehicle charger directly connected to the grid

Mesh Denoising and Inpainting using the Total Variation of the Normal

In this paper we present a novel approach to solve surface mesh denoising and inpainting problems. The purpose is not only to remove noise while preserving important features such as sharp edges, but also to fill in missing parts of the geometry. A discrete variant of the total variation of the unit normal vector field serves as a regularizing functional to achieve this goal. In order to solve the resulting problem, we present a novel variant of the split Bregman (ADMM) iteration. Numerical examples are included demonstrating the performance of the method with some complex 3D geometries

Controlling patient participation during robot-assisted gait training

Background The overall goal of this paper was to investigate approaches to controlling active participation in stroke patients during robot-assisted gait therapy. Although active physical participation during gait rehabilitation after stroke was shown to improve therapy outcome, some patients can behave passively during rehabilitation, not maximally benefiting from the gait training. Up to now, there has not been an effective method for forcing patient activity to the desired level that would most benefit stroke patients with a broad variety of cognitive and biomechanical impairments. Methods Patient activity was quantified in two ways: by heart rate (HR), a physiological parameter that reflected physical effort during body weight supported treadmill training, and by a weighted sum of the interaction torques (WIT) between robot and patient, recorded from hip and knee joints of both legs. We recorded data in three experiments, each with five stroke patients, and controlled HR and WIT to a desired temporal profile. Depending on the patient's cognitive capabilities, two different approaches were taken: either by allowing voluntary patient effort via visual instructions or by forcing the patient to vary physical effort by adapting the treadmill speed. Results We successfully controlled patient activity quantified by WIT and by HR to a desired level. The setup was thereby individually adaptable to the specific cognitive and biomechanical needs of each patient. Conclusion Based on the three successful approaches to controlling patient participation, we propose a metric which enables clinicians to select the best strategy for each patient, according to the patient's physical and cognitive capabilities. Our framework will enable therapists to challenge the patient to more activity by automatically controlling the patient effort to a desired level. We expect that the increase in activity will lead to improved rehabilitation outcome

Which Cost Components Influence the Cost of Palliative Care in the Last Hospitalization? A Retrospective Analysis of Palliative Care vs. Usual Care at a Swiss University Hospital.

CONTEXT Although the number of studies on the economic impact of palliative care (PC) is growing, the great majority report costs from North America. OBJECTIVES We aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of PC hospital cost components from the perspective of a European mixed funded health care system by identifying cost drivers of PC and quantifying their effect on hospital costs compared to usual care (UC). METHODS We performed a retrospective, observational analysis examining cost data from the last hospitalization of patients who died at a large academic hospital in Switzerland comparing patients receiving PC versus UC. RESULTS Total hospital costs were similar in PC and UC with a mean difference of CHF -2'777 [95% confidence interval (CI) -12'713 to 8'506, p=0.60]. Average costs per day decreased by CHF -3'224 [95% CI -3'811 to -2'631, p<0.001] for PC patients with significant reduction of costs for diagnostic intervention and medication. Higher cost components for PC patients were catering, room, nursing, social counselling and non-medical therapists. In sensitivity analyses, when we restricted PC exposure to 3 days from admission, total costs and average costs per day were significantly lower for PC. CONCLUSION Studies measuring the impact of PC on hospital costs should analyze various cost components beyond total costs in order to understand wanted and potentially unwanted cost-reducing effects. An international definition of a set of cost components, specific for cost-impact PC studies, may help avoid superficial and potentially dangerous cost discussions

Mechanisms of action and processes of yoga-based group intervention for inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders–A longitudinal qualitative study

Background: Research exploring the effects of yoga therapy (YT) on individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) is scarce. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore possible mechanisms of actions and processes, as well as adverse effects of a novel yoga-based group intervention (YoGI) for in-patients with SSD in a German university hospital setting. Material and methods: A longitudinal qualitative study was integrated into a rater-blinded randomized controlled trial, exploring the impact of a 4-week YoGI as add-on treatment. In-depth interviews were conducted with participants receiving YoGI (n = 19) in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) and a control group (n = 14) which only received TAU. Interviews were conducted at baseline (n = 33) and 4 weeks post-intervention (N = 28) to assess the participant's experiences and how they changed over time. The interviews (N = 61) were audio-taped, translated, coded, and analyzed by means of inductive thematic analysis. Separate case summaries were prepared for each participant to analyze longitudinal changes within subjects. The research team members collaboratively discussed the final list of themes and subcodes. Rater-based questionnaires, such as the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), and Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) were administered at baseline to assess clinical outcomes. Results: At baseline, participants reported a desire to improve their stress- and symptom management. A minority of participants expressed reservations toward yoga, and several psychosocial barriers were named, including worries about symptom exacerbation. At post-intervention, four mechanisms of change became evident from the interviews: (1) acquiring competence in relaxation, (2) increased interoceptive awareness, (3) feeling connected, and (4) a sense of spiritual wellbeing. A small number of participants reported difficulties with YoGI. Conclusion: Generally, YoGI positively influenced participants' experiences of their inpatient stay, regarding distress, self- and body awareness, social connectedness, and spiritual wellbeing. However, participants also illuminated necessary adjustments to improve the intervention. YoGI will therefore be adapted and further developed in an iterative process based on a participant involvement approach. The efficacy regarding outcomes and processes needs to be investigated in a future larger-scaled randomized controlled trial

Thickness‐dependent Ru exchange spring at La0.7Sr0.3MnO3-SrRuO3 interface

The conducting oxide ferromagnets SrRuO3 (SRO) and La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) form a Ru exchange spring at a coherent low-interdiffusion interface grown on TiO2-terminated SrTiO3(STO)(001) substrates as SRO(d)/LSMO/STO(001) bilayers. Field- and temperature-dependent magnetization data with systematically varied thickness d of SRO from 7 to 18 unit cells (uc) indicate a thickness of 10–14 uc of the exchange spring which governs magnetic switching and causes thickness-dependent field-cooling effects. Mn L3 edge X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) data reveal the dominating in-plane orientation of interfacial spins. In low magnetic fields, noncoplanar, topologically nontrivial spin textures arise and can be switched, driven by the Zeeman energy of the LSMO layer.Publikationsfond ML

Molecular spectroscopy for ground-state transfer of ultracold RbCs molecules

We perform one- and two-photon high resolution spectroscopy on ultracold samples of RbCs Feshbach molecules with the aim to identify a suitable route for efficient ground-state transfer in the quantum-gas regime to produce quantum gases of dipolar RbCs ground-state molecules. One-photon loss spectroscopy allows us to probe deeply bound rovibrational levels of the mixed excited (A1{\Sigma}+ - b3{\Pi}0) 0+ molecular states. Two-photon dark state spectroscopy connects the initial Feshbach state to the rovibronic ground state. We determine the binding energy of the lowest rovibrational level |v"=0,J"=0> of the X1{\Sigma}+ ground state to be DX 0 = 3811.5755(16) 1/cm, a 300-fold improvement in accuracy with respect to previous data. We are now in the position to perform stimulated two-photon Raman transfer to the rovibronic ground state.Comment: Submitted to PCCP themed issue: Physics and Chemistry of Cold Molecule

Five-dimensional Black Hole and Particle Solution with Non-Abelian Gauge Field

We study the 5-dimensional Einstein-Yang-Mills system with a cosmological constant. Assuming a spherically symmetric spacetime, we find a new analytic black hole solution, which approaches asymptotically "quasi-Minkowski", "quasi anti-de Sitter", or "quasi de Sitter" spacetime depending on the sign of a cosmological constant. Since there is no singularity except for the origin which is covered by an event horizon, we regard it as a localized object. This solution corresponds to a magnetically charged black hole. We also present a singularity-free particle-like solution and a non-trivial black hole solution numerically. Those solutions correspond to the Bartnik-McKinnon solution and a colored black hole with a cosmological constant in the 4-dimensions. We analyze their asymptotic behaviors, spacetime structures and thermodynamical properties. We show that there is a set of stable solutions if a cosmological constant is negative.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figures, submitted to PR