| 1. |
- Jung, Christian, et al.
(author)
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A comparison of very old patients admitted to intensive care unit after acute versus elective surgery or intervention
- 2019
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In: Journal of critical care. - : W B SAUNDERS CO-ELSEVIER INC. - 0883-9441 .- 1557-8615. ; 52, s. 141-148
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: We aimed to evaluate differences in outcome between patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) after elective versus acute surgery in a multinational cohort of very old patients (80 years; VIP). Predictors of mortality, with special emphasis on frailty, were assessed.Methods: In total, 5063 VIPs were induded in this analysis, 922 were admitted after elective surgery or intervention, 4141 acutely, with 402 after acute surgery. Differences were calculated using Mann-Whitney-U test and Wilcoxon test. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to assess associations with mortality.Results: Compared patients admitted after acute surgery, patients admitted after elective surgery suffered less often from frailty as defined as CFS (28% vs 46%; p < 0.001), evidenced lower SOFA scores (4 +/- 5 vs 7 +/- 7; p < 0.001). Presence of frailty (CFS >4) was associated with significantly increased mortality both in elective surgery patients (7% vs 12%; p = 0.01), in acute surgery (7% vs 12%; p = 0.02).Conclusions: VIPs admitted to ICU after elective surgery evidenced favorable outcome over patients after acute surgery even after correction for relevant confounders. Frailty might be used to guide clinicians in risk stratification in both patients admitted after elective and acute surgery.
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| 2. |
- Richards, Stephen, et al.
(author)
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The genome of the model beetle and pest Tribolium castaneum.
- 2008
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In: Nature. - 1476-4687. ; 452:7190, s. 949-55
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Tribolium castaneum is a representative of earth’s most numerous eukaryotic order, a powerful model organism for the study of generalized insect development, and also an important pest of stored agricultural products. We describe its genome sequence here. This omnivorous beetle has evolved an ability to interact with a diverse chemical environment as evidenced by large expansions in odorant and gustatory receptors, as well as p450 and other detoxification enzymes. Developmental patterns in Tribolium are more representative of other arthropods than those found in Drosophila, a fact represented in gene content and function. For one, Tribolium has retained more ancestral genes involved in cell-cell communication than Drosophila, and some are expressed in the growth zone crucial for axial elongation in short germ development. Systemic RNAi in T. castaneum appears to use mechanisms distinct from those found in C. elegans, but nevertheless offers similar power for the elucidation of gene function and identification of targets for selective insect control.
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| 3. |
- Aktas, Özge, 1987-, et al.
(author)
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First observation of γ-ray transitions in 111Mo
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In: Physical Review C. Nuclear Physics. - 0556-2813 .- 1089-490X.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Excited states in the extremely neutron-rich nuclei 109Mo and 111Mo have been studied following nucleon knock-out reactions. Seven $\gamma$-ray transitions, some of them in prompt mutual coincidence, have been identified for the first time in 11Mo using the DALI2 and MINOS detector systems at the BigRIPS and ZeroDegree electromagnetic fragments separator at the RIBF, RIKEN, Japan. Total Routhian surface (TRS) and Particle- Plus Rotor calculations have been performed to investigate the predicted shape coexistence and its effect on the structure of nuclei in this region of the nuclear chart. Following the results of the calculations, theoretical level schemes are proposed for positive and negative parity states and compared with the experimental findings.
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| 4. |
- Aktas, Özge, et al.
(author)
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Single-particle structures in 85,87Ge
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In: Physical Review C. Nuclear Physics. - 0556-2813 .- 1089-490X.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gamma-ray transitions have been identified for the first time in the extremely neutron-rich (N =Z + 25) nucleus 87 Ge following nucleon knockout reactions studied at the RIBF, RIKEN, Japan.New γ-ray transitions from excited states in 85 Ge were also observed and placed in a tentative levelscheme. The exclusive parallel momentum distribution was measured for the 1/2 + state for theneutron knockout reaction leading to 85 Ge which is compared with calculated distorted wave impulseapproximation (DWIA) distributions. The 85,87 Ge results are compared with large-scale shell-modelcalculations and potential energy surface calculations based on the total Routhian surface formalism.
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| 5. |
- Borg, Markus, et al.
(author)
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The AIQ Meta-Testbed : Pragmatically Bridging Academic AI Testing and Industrial Q Needs
- 2021
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In: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. - Cham : Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. - 1865-1348 .- 1865-1356. - 9783030658533 ; 404, s. 66-77
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AI solutions seem to appear in any and all application domains. As AI becomes more pervasive, the importance of quality assurance increases. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on what artificial intelligence means and interpretations range from simple statistical analysis to sentient humanoid robots. On top of that, quality is a notoriously hard concept to pinpoint. What does this mean for AI quality? In this paper, we share our working definition and a pragmatic approach to address the corresponding quality assurance with a focus on testing. Finally, we present our ongoing work on establishing the AIQ Meta-Testbed.
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| 6. |
- Ebrahimi-Fakhari, Darius, et al.
(author)
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Defining the clinical, molecular and imaging spectrum of adaptor protein complex 4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia
- 2020
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In: Brain. - OXFORD ENGLAND : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 143:10, s. 2929-2944
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bi-allelic loss-of-function variants in genes that encode subunits of the adaptor protein complex 4 (AP-4) lead to prototypical yet poorly understood forms of childhood-onset and complex hereditary spastic paraplegia: SPG47 (AP4B1), SPG50 (AP4M1), SPG51 (AP4E1) and SPG52 (AP4S1). Here, we report a detailed cross-sectional analysis of clinical, imaging and molecular data of 156 patients from 101 families. Enrolled patients were of diverse ethnic backgrounds and covered a wide age range (1.0-49.3 years). While the mean age at symptom onset was 0.8 +/- 0.6 years [standard deviation (SD), range 0.2-5.0], the mean age at diagnosis was 10.2 +/- 8.5 years (SD, range 0.1-46.3). We define a set of core features: early-onset developmental delay with delayed motor milestones and significant speech delay (50% non-verbal); intellectual disability in the moderate to severe range; mild hypotonia in infancy followed by spastic diplegia (mean age: 8.4 +/- 5.1 years, SD) and later tetraplegia (mean age: 16.1 +/- 9.8 years, SD); postnatal microcephaly (83%); foot deformities (69%); and epilepsy (66%) that is intractable in a subset. At last follow-up, 36% ambulated with assistance (mean age: 8.9 +/- 6.4 years, SD) and 54% were wheelchair-dependent (mean age: 13.4 +/- 9.8 years, SD). Episodes of stereotypic laughing, possibly consistent with a pseudobulbar affect, were found in 56% of patients. Key features on neuroimaging include a thin corpus callosum (90%), ventriculomegaly (65%) often with colpocephaly, and periventricular white-matter signal abnormalities (68%). Iron deposition and polymicrogyria were found in a subset of patients. AP4B1-associated SPG47 and AP4M1-associated SPG50 accounted for the majority of cases. About two-thirds of patients were born to consanguineous parents, and 82% carried homozygous variants. Over 70 unique variants were present, the majority of which are frameshift or nonsense mutations. To track disease progression across the age spectrum, we defined the relationship between disease severity as measured by several rating scales and disease duration. We found that the presence of epilepsy, which manifested before the age of 3 years in the majority of patients, was associated with worse motor outcomes. Exploring genotype-phenotype correlations, we found that disease severity and major phenotypes were equally distributed among the four subtypes, establishing that SPG47, SPG50, SPG51 and SPG52 share a common phenotype, an 'AP-4 deficiency syndrome'. By delineating the core clinical, imaging, and molecular features of AP-4-associated hereditary spastic paraplegia across the age spectrum our results will facilitate early diagnosis, enable counselling and anticipatory guidance of affected families and help define endpoints for future interventional trials.
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| 7. |
- John, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Searching for optimal models: Comparing two encoding approaches
- 2019
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In: Journal of Object Technology. - : AITO - Association Internationale pour les Technologies Objets. - 1660-1769. ; 18:3, s. 1-22
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE) is about solving software development problems by formulating them as optimization problems. In the last years, combining SBSE and Model-Driven Engineering (MDE), where models and model transformations are treated as key artifacts in the development of complex systems, has become increasingly popular. While search-based techniques have often successfully been applied to tackle MDE problems, a recent line of research investigates how a model-driven design can make optimization more easily accessible to a wider audience. In previous model-driven optimization efforts, a major design decision concerns the way in which solutions are encoded. Two main options have been explored: a model-based encoding representing candidate solutions as models, and a rule-based encoding representing them as sequences of transformation rule applications. While both encodings have been applied to different use cases, no study has yet compared them systematically. To close this gap, we evaluate both approaches on a common set of optimization problems, investigating their impact on the optimization performance. Additionally, we discuss their differences, strengths, and weaknesses laying the foundation for a knowledgeable choice of the right encoding for the right problem.
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| 8. |
- Thaler, Bernhard, et al.
(author)
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Optimal design and operation of maritime energy systems based on renewable methanol and closed carbon cycles
- 2022
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In: Energy Conversion and Management. - : Elsevier BV. - 0196-8904. ; 269
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The phasing out of fossil fuels in the shipping sector is of key importance for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Synthetic fuels based on renewable energy are a promising option for a sustainable maritime sector, with renewable methanol being one of the most widely considered energy carriers. However, the availability of renewable methanol is still limited and the costs associated with it are significantly higher than for conventional fuels, also because fuel synthesis must rely on carbon dioxide as a resource. Through the use of onboard carbon capture, the release of carbon dioxide during combustion can be avoided, and this closed cycle reduces the need for carbon sources. This paper investigates such a scenario by analyzing overall ship energy systems that use internal combustion engines with connected pre-combustion and post-combustion carbon capture technologies. The effect of these technologies on the techno-economic performance of a fully renewable energy system is investigated by setting up a mixed-integer optimization framework for the optimal design and operation of ship propulsion systems. The propulsion demand for the chosen case study consists of a typical operational profile of a ferry operating in the Baltic Sea. Comparison of the capture cases to a system solely based on renewable methanol reveals significant cost advantages of the closed carbon cycle systems. The baseline scenario has nearly 20% lower annual costs, with total capture rates of 90% in the post-combustion case and around 40% in the pre-combustion case. An extensive sensitivity analysis shows that these cost advantages are robust against various technological and economic boundary conditions. In the pre-combustion case, process heat demand reduction in combination with increased engine heat supply might enable higher capture rates beyond 90%. The results indicate that combining renewable fuels with onboard carbon capture creates opportunities for cost-effective, sustainable shipping.
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| 9. |
- Wimmer, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Mn-Rich MnSb2Te4 : A Topological Insulator with Magnetic Gap Closing at High Curie Temperatures of 45-50 K
- 2021
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In: Advanced Materials. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0935-9648 .- 1521-4095. ; 33:42
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ferromagnetic topological insulators exhibit the quantum anomalous Hall effect, which is potentially useful for high-precision metrology, edge channel spintronics, and topological qubits. The stable 2+ state of Mn enables intrinsic magnetic topological insulators. MnBi2Te4 is, however, antiferromagnetic with 25 K Neel temperature and is strongly n-doped. In this work, p-type MnSb2Te4, previously considered topologically trivial, is shown to be a ferromagnetic topological insulator for a few percent Mn excess. i) Ferromagnetic hysteresis with record Curie temperature of 45-50 K, ii) out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy, iii) a 2D Dirac cone with the Dirac point close to the Fermi level, iv) out-of-plane spin polarization as revealed by photoelectron spectroscopy, and v) a magnetically induced bandgap closing at the Curie temperature, demonstrated by scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), are shown. Moreover, a critical exponent of the magnetization beta approximate to 1 is found, indicating the vicinity of a quantum critical point. Ab initio calculations reveal that Mn-Sb site exchange provides the ferromagnetic interlayer coupling and the slight excess of Mn nearly doubles the Curie temperature. Remaining deviations from the ferromagnetic order open the inverted bulk bandgap and render MnSb2Te4 a robust topological insulator and new benchmark for magnetic topological insulators.
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