Integrating Pointing Gesture Detection for enhancing Brainstorming Meetings using Kinect and PixelSense

AbstractMicrosoft PixelSense is able to detect multitouch input and tagged objects as well, which makes it suitable to be used in net-based brainstorming sessions within small teams. However, any gestures above the table cannot be detected, which makes net-based brainstorming sessions less intuitive. Thus, we present a solution how Kinect can be used together with PixelSense to overcome this limitation without interference between the two devices

Thrombingenerierung bei Patienten mit Lungenkarzinom: Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr. med. an der Medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Leipzig

Thrombingenerierung bei Patienten mit Lungenkarzinom Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Dr. med an der Medizinischen Fakultät der Universität Leipzig eingereicht von: Philipp Sinn geb. am 03.11.1985 in Kaltenkirchen angefertigt in der Abteilung Pneumologie; Department für Innere Medizin, Neurologie und Dermatologie am Universitätsklinikum Leipzig Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Seyfarth Ko-Betreuer: Prof. Dr. Sirak Petros Beschluss über die Verleihung des Doktorgrades vom:   Bibliographische Beschreibung Sinn, Philipp Thrombingenerierung bei Patienten mit Lungenkarzinom Universität Leipzig, Dissertation 86 S., 49 Lit., 24 Abb., 23 Tab. Referat: Thrombembolische Komplikationen sind bei onkologischen Patienten allgemein und bei Pati-enten mit Lungenkarzinom im Besonderen eine häufige Komplikation. Das Phänomen einer tumorassozierten Thrombose ist in der Medizin schon lange als Trousseau-Syndrom bekannt. Die Interaktion zwischen Tumorerkrankung und Hämostase ist Gegenstand intensiver medi-zinischer Forschung. Die Expression von tissue factor und die Freisetzung von prokoagulatori-schen Mikropartikeln durch den Tumor scheinen hier von herausragender Bedeutung zu sein. Tissue factor ist im zellbasierten Gerinnungsmodell der Ausgangspunkt der Koagulation und die Generierung von Thrombin ihr geschwindigkeitsbestimmender Schritt. Die Analyse der Thrombingenerierung im Plasma ist daher ein vielversprechender Ansatz, um mehr über die funktionellen Veränderungen des hämostaseologischen Gleichgewichts bei Tumorpatienten zu erfahren. In einer prospektiven Studie wurden Plasmaproben von 100 Patienten mit neu diagnostizier-tem Lungenkarzinom aquiriert und ein Thrombingenerierungsassay durchgeführt. Es erfolgte ein Vergleich mit den Werten gesunder Probanden. Dieser zeigte, dass die Thrombingene-rierung bei Patienten mit Lungenkarzinom hauptsächlich schneller abläuft als bei Gesunden. Darüber hinaus wurde eine Verlaufsbeobachtung über 12 Monate durchgeführt. Eine Assoziation zwischen den Parametern der Thrombingenerierungskurve und dem Auftreten throm-bembolischer Komplikationen im Krankheitsverlauf wurde mittels ROC-Analyse geprüft, oh-ne dass diese nachgewiesen werden konnte. Detailliertes Wissen über das Wechselspiel von Tumorerkrankung und Hämostase ist not-wendig, um in Zukunft jene Patienten mit hohem thrombembolischen Risiko früher identifi-zieren zu können und gegebenenfalls sogar einen weiteren Ansatzpunkt zu haben, für die Eindämmung der Tumorerkrankung

Scale-up of decanter centrifuges for the particle separation and mechanical dewatering in the minerals processing industry by means of a numerical process model

Decanter centrifuges are frequently used for thickening, dewatering, classification, or degritting in the mining industry and various other sectors. Their use in an industrial process chain requires a sufficiently accurate prediction of the product and the machine behaviour. For this purpose, experiments on a smaller pilot-scale are carried out for scale-up of a decanter centrifuge, which is usually a major challenge. Predicting the process behaviour of decanter centrifuges from laboratory tests is rather difficult. Basically, there are two common ways of scale-up: First, via analytical methods and the law of similarity, which often requires an enormous experimental effort. Second, using numerical models, which demands a mathematically and physically precise description of the multiple processes running simultaneously in such machines. This article provides an overview of both methods for scale-up of a decanter centrifuge. The concept of a previous developed numerical approach is introduced. Pros and cons of both scale-up methods are compared and further discussed. Experiments on lab-scale, pilot-scale, and industrial-scale decanter centrifuges with two different finely dispersed calcium carbonate water suspensions were carried out and simulations were done to investigate and prove the scale-up capability and transferability of the numerical approach

Autonomous Processes in Particle Technology

Battery materials, pharmaceuticals, solar cells, coffee powder, 3D printed components, etc., all these products have in common that they are predominantly made of particles. Ensuring high product quality with optimal raw material and energy utilization is only possible with extensive and many years of experience in the operation of such processes. This unsatisfactory situation is due to the complexity of particulate products, which still hinders extensive automation and autonomous process control. The challenge is to couple the respective basic operations with characterization devices, process dynamics and modern control algorithms to form a closed loop for process control. As a result, some day it should be possible to set the desired property profiles of particulate products with the most energy- and raw material-efficient operation possible with a “push of a button”

Grey box modelling of decanter centrifuges by coupling a numerical process model with a neural network

Continuously operating decanter centrifuges are often applied for solid-liquid separation in the chemical and mining industries. Simulation tools can assist in the configuration and optimisation of separation processes by, e.g., controlling the quality characteristics of the product. Increasing computation power has led to a renewed interest in hybrid models (subsequently named grey box model), which combine parametric and non-paramteric models. In this article, a grey box model for the simulation of the mechanical dewatering of a finely dispersed product in decanter centrifuges is discussed. Here, the grey box model consists of a mechanistic model (as white box model) presented in a previous research article and a neural network (as black box model). Experimentally determined data is used to train the neural network in the area of application. The mechanistic approach considers the settling behaviour, the sediment consolidation, and the sediment transport. In conclusion, the settings of the neural network and the results of the grey box model and white box model are compared and discussed. Now, the overall grey box model is able to increase the accuracy of the simulation and physical effects that are not modelled yet are integrated by training of a neural network using experimental data

In-Orbit Demonstration of an In-Space Manufactured Selfie Stick forSmallSats

The poster presents a demonstration mission of an in-space manufacturing technology to extrude tube-shaped photopolymer boom structures for satellites. On the end of the boom a camera will be mounted to simulate a payload and to observe the manufacturing process. The boom is manufactured in a continuous motion and therefore higher manufacturing speeds are archivable than by comparable additive manufacturing methods. The photopolymer curing mechanism makes the process energy- and packaging efficient which enables in-space manufacturing also for small satellites. In-space manufacturing will be one of the key technologies for the future space economy. Large and lightweight structures can be manufactured on demand, to safe volume and costs at launch. Compared to deployable structures, which are commonly used on spacecraft, in-space manufacturing enables a large scalability and low development costs. The demonstrator will be mounted on the upper stage of the HyImpulse SL1 rocket which is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2025

Increased Cell-Free DNA Plasma Concentration Following Liver Transplantation Is Linked to Portal Hepatitis and Inferior Survival

Donor organ quality is crucial for transplant survival and long-term survival of patients after liver transplantation. Besides bacterial and viral infections, endogenous damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) can stimulate immune responses. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is one such DAMP that exhibits highly proinflammatory effects via DNA sensors. Herein, we measured cfDNA after liver transplantation and found elevated levels when organs from resuscitated donors were transplanted. High levels of cfDNA were associated with high C-reactive protein, leukocytosis as well as granulocytosis in the recipient. In addition to increased systemic immune responses, portal hepatitis was observed, which was associated with increased interface activity and a higher numbers of infiltrating neutrophils and eosinophils in the graft. In fact, the cfDNA was an independent significant factor in multivariate analysis and increased concentration of cfDNA was associated with inferior 1-year survival. Moreover, cfDNA levels were found to be decreased significantly during the postoperative course when patients underwent continuous veno-venous haemofiltration. In conclusion, patients receiving livers from resuscitated donors were characterised by high postoperative cfDNA levels. Those patients showed pronounced portal hepatitis and systemic inflammatory responses in the short term leading to a high mortality. Further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical relevance of cfDNA clearance by haemoadsorption and haemofiltration in vitro and in vivo

Pulmonary cancers across different histotypes share hybrid tuft cell/ionocyte-like molecular features and potentially druggable vulnerabilities

Tuft cells are chemosensory epithelial cells in the respiratory tract and several other organs. Recent studies revealed tuft cell-like gene expression signatures in some pulmonary adenocarcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas (SQCC), small cell carcinomas (SCLC), and large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNEC). Identification of their similarities could inform shared druggable vulnerabilities. Clinicopathological features of tuft cell-like (tcl) subsets in various lung cancer histotypes were studied in two independent tumor cohorts using immunohistochemistry (n = 674 and 70). Findings were confirmed, and additional characteristics were explored using public datasets (RNA seq and immunohistochemical data) (n = 555). Drug susceptibilities of tuft cell-like SCLC cell lines were also investigated. By immunohistochemistry, 10–20% of SCLC and LCNEC, and approximately 2% of SQCC expressed POU2F3, the master regulator of tuft cells. These tuft cell-like tumors exhibited “lineage ambiguity” as they co-expressed NCAM1, a marker for neuroendocrine differentiation, and KRT5, a marker for squamous differentiation. In addition, tuft cell-like tumors co-expressed BCL2 and KIT, and tuft cell-like SCLC and LCNEC, but not SQCC, also highly expressed MYC. Data from public datasets confirmed these features and revealed that tuft cell-like SCLC and LCNEC co-clustered on hierarchical clustering. Furthermore, only tuft cell-like subsets among pulmonary cancers significantly expressed FOXI1, the master regulator of ionocytes, suggesting their bidirectional but immature differentiation status. Clinically, tuft cell-like SCLC and LCNEC had a similar prognosis. Experimentally, tuft cell-like SCLC cell lines were susceptible to PARP and BCL2 co-inhibition, indicating synergistic effects. Taken together, pulmonary tuft cell-like cancers maintain histotype-related clinicopathologic characteristics despite overlapping unique molecular features. From a therapeutic perspective, identification of tuft cell-like LCNECs might be crucial given their close kinship with tuft cell-like SCLC

DNA methylation profiling identifies two distinct subgroups in breast cancers with low hormone receptor expression, mainly associated with HER2 amplification status

Background Current clinical guidelines suggest that breast cancers with low hormone receptor expression (LowHR) in 1–10% of tumor cells should be regarded as hormone receptor positive. However, clinical data show that these patients have worse outcome compared to patients with hormone receptor expression above 10%. We performed DNA methylation profiling on 23 LowHR breast cancer specimens, including 13 samples with HER2 amplification and compared our results with a reference breast cancer cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas to clarify the status for this infrequent but important patient subgroup. Results In unsupervised clustering and dimensionality reduction, breast cancers with low hormone receptor expression that lacked HER2 amplification usually clustered with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) reference samples (8/10; “LowHR TNBC-like”). In contrast, most specimens with low hormone receptor expression and HER2 amplification grouped with hormone receptor positive cancers (11/13; “LowHR HRpos-like”). We observed highly similar DNA methylation patterns of LowHR TNBC-like samples and true TNBCs. Furthermore, the Ki67 proliferation index of LowHR TNBC-like samples and clinical outcome parameters were more similar to TNBCs and differed from LowHR HRpos-like cases. Conclusions We here demonstrate that LowHR breast cancer comprises two epigenetically distinct groups. Our data strongly suggest that LowHR TNBC-like samples are molecularly, histologically and clinically closely related to TNBC, while LowHR HRpos-like specimens are closely related to hormone receptor positive tumors