Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
"Eigentlich geht es mir gut" Entwicklung eines Serious Game zur patientenzentrierten Gesprächsführung

Dieser Beitrag präsentiert ein webbasiertes Serious Game, das Studierenden in medizinischen Studiengängen die Möglichkeit gibt, Arzt-PatientenGespräche in Form von Rollenspielen mit simulierten Patienten selbständig und systematisch zu trainieren. Der Phase der Immersion (Rollenspiel) folgt dabei eine Phase der distanzierten Reflexion, um den lernförderlichen Perspektivenwechsel zu unterstützen. Die Reflexion wird durch einen Mitschnitt des Gesprächs sowie durch Feedback bezüglich des Kommunikationsverhaltens des Spielers basierend auf bestehenden Modellen der Arzt-Patienten-Kommunikation sowie allgemeiner Gesprächsführung angeregt. Die Analyse erfolgt mit Hilfe eines flexiblen MultiAgentensystems.
β1-Integrin Impacts Rad51 Stability and DNA Double-Strand Break Repair by Homologous Recombination

ABSTRACT The molecular mechanisms underlying resistance to radiotherapy in breast cancer cells remain elusive. Previously, we reported that elevated β1-integrin is associated with enhanced breast cancer cell survival postirradiation, but how β1-integrin conferred radioresistance was unclear. Ionizing radiation (IR) induced cell killing correlates with the efficiency of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair, and we found that nonmalignant breast epithelial (S1) cells with low β1-integrin expression have a higher frequency of S-phase-specific IR-induced chromosomal aberrations than the derivative malignant breast (T4-2) cells with high β1-integrin expression. In addition, there was an increased frequency of IR-induced homologous recombination (HR) repairosome focus formation in T4-2 cells compared with that of S1 cells. Cellular levels of Rad51 in T4-2 cells, a critical factor in HR-mediated DSB repair, were significantly higher. Blocking or depleting β1-integrin activity in T4-2 cells reduced Rad51 levels, while ectopic expression of β1-integrin in S1 cells correspondingly increased Rad51 levels, suggesting that Rad51 is regulated by β1-integrin. The low level of Rad51 protein in S1 cells was found to be due to rapid degradation by the ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP). Furthermore, the E3 ubiquitin ligase RING1 was highly upregulated in S1 cells compared to T4-2 cells. Ectopic β1-integrin expression in S1 cells reduced RING1 levels and increased Rad51 accumulation. In contrast, β1-integrin depletion in T4-2 cells significantly increased RING1 protein levels and potentiated Rad51 ubiquitination. These data suggest for the first time that elevated levels of the extracellular matrix receptor β1-integrin can increase tumor cell radioresistance by decreasing Rad51 degradation through a RING1-mediated proteasomal pathway.
An explicit congestion control algorithm for Named Data Networking

As a typical information-centric networking architecture, Named Data Networking (NDN) has attracted wide research attentions in recent years. Since NDN transport has new features of multi-source and multi-path, the implicit congestion detection mechanism of the traditional TCP protocol based on a single source and a single path is no longer suitable for NDN. In this paper, we propose a novel NDN congestion control algorithm based on explicit congestion feedback - ECP (Explicit Control Protocol). It detects the network congestion status proactively by monitoring the length of outgoing Interest queue at the intermediate nodes, and sends explicit feedback to the receiver. The receiver then correspondingly adjusts the sending rate of Interests to control the returning rate of Data, thus realizing the congestion control of the network. Simulation results based on ndnSIM show that ECP performs better in terms of throughput and application delay compared with implicit congestion control algorithms.
When cancer cannot be cured: A qualitative study on relationship changes in couples facing advanced melanoma

Abstract Objective: The aim of this qualitative study was to gain a deeper understanding about couples' relationship changes over time (the first six months) after one partner is diagnosed with an incurable advanced melanoma (stage III or IV). Method: In semistructured interviews, eight patients and their partners were asked separately about potential changes in their relationship since diagnosis. The same questions were asked again six months later, but focusing on relationship changes over the preceding six months. Some 32 audiotaped interviews were analyzed applying qualitative content analysis. Results: At baseline (t1), relationship changes were mostly reported in terms of caring, closeness/distance regulation, and communication patterns. While changes in caregiving and distance/closeness regulation remained main issues at six months follow-up (t2), greater appreciation of the relationship and limitations in terms of planning spare time also emerged as major issues. Unexpectedly, 50% of patients and partners reported actively hiding their negative emotions and sorrows from their counterparts to spare them worry. Furthermore, qualitative content analysis revealed relationship changes even in those patients and partners who primarily reported no changes over the course of the disease. Significance of results: Our findings revealed a differentiated and complex picture about relationship changes over time, which also might aid in the development of support programs for couples dealing with advanced cancer, focusing on the aspects of caring, closeness/distance regulation, and communication patterns.
Softwaregestützte Modellierung von Geschäftsmodellen - Vergleich und Weiterentwicklungsperspektiven am Beispiel der Business Model Canvas

Zur Modellierung von neuen Geschäftsmodellen wie z. B. im Bereich E-Carsharing, der Batterienachnutzung, neuer Ladeinfrastrukturen, der Stromerzeugung oder der Versorgungsdienstleitungen, werden geeignete Werkzeuge benötigt. Diese sollen den Konstruktionsprozess unterstützen und somit die Entwicklung von (kreativen) Lösungen ermöglichen. Dieser Beitrag analysiert daher, welche Funktionen bestehender Softwarewerkzeuge für eine effiziente Konstruktion und flexible Gestaltung von Geschäftsmodellen – am Beispiel der Business Model Canvas – zur Verfügung stehen. Dazu wird ein Toolvergleich durchgeführt, um anhand des Ist-Zustandes zu untersuchen, welche Gestaltungsoptionen und Weiterentwicklungsperspektiven bestehen. Vergleichsmerkmale leiten wir aus dem allgemeinen Konstruktionsprozess sowie weiterer (neuer) Modellierungsansätze her. Insgesamt wurden elf Werkzeuge auf Basis der konzeptualisierten Merkmale klassifiziert. Vor allem Konzepte der Anpassbarkeit der Modellierungsvorlage, der Berücksichtigung potenzieller Relationen zwischen den Elementen, der Kollaboration im Team sowie die Unterstützung des Konstruktionsprozesses durch gezielte Impulse, Beispiele oder Hilfen werden nicht ausreichend adressiert und sind Bestandteil der Forschungsagenda.
Estrogen Restores Multisynaptic Boutons in the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex while Promoting Working Memory in Aged Rhesus Monkeys

Humans and nonhuman primates are vulnerable to age- and menopause- related decline in working memory, a cognitive function reliant on area 46 of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). We showed previously that presynaptic mitochondrial number and morphology in monkey dlPFC neurons correlate with working memory performance. The current study tested the hypothesis that the types of synaptic connections these boutons form are altered with aging and menopause in rhesus monkeys and that these metrics may be coupled with mitochondrial measures and working memory. Using serial section electron microscopy, we examined the frequencies and characteristics of nonsynaptic, single-synaptic, and multisynaptic boutons (MSBs) in the dlPFC. In contrast to our previous observations in the monkey hippocampal dentate gyrus, where MSBs comprised ∼40% of boutons, the vast majority of dlPFC boutons were single-synaptic, whereas MSBs constituted a mere 10%. The frequency of MSBs was not altered by normal aging, but decreased by over 50% with surgical menopause induced by ovariectomy in aged monkeys. Cyclic estradiol treatment in aged ovariectomized animals restored MSB frequencies to levels comparable to young and aged premenopausal monkeys. Notably, the frequency of MSBs positively correlated with working memory scores, as measured by the average accuracy on the delayed response (DR) test. Furthermore, MSB incidence positively correlated with the number of healthy straight mitochondria in dlPFC boutons and inversely correlated with the number of pathological donut-shaped mitochondria. Together, our data suggest that MSBs are coupled to cognitive function and mitochondrial health and are sensitive to estrogen. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many aged menopausal individuals experience deficits in working memory, an executive function reliant on recurrent firing of prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons. However, little is known about the organization of presynaptic inputs to these neurons and how they may be altered with aging and menopause. Multisynaptic boutons (MSBs) were of particular interest, because they form multiple synapses and can enhance coupling between presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons. We found that higher MSB frequency correlated with better working memory performance in rhesus monkeys. Additionally, aged surgically menopausal monkeys experienced a 50% loss of MSBs that was restored with cyclic estradiol treatment. Together, our findings suggest that hormone replacement therapy benefits cognitive aging, in part by retaining complex synaptic organizations in the PFC.
Psychological flexibility mediates change in intuitive eating regulation in acceptance and commitment therapy interventions

Abstract Objective Despite the promising results related to intuitive eating, few studies have attempted to explain the processes encouraging this adaptive eating behaviour. The focus of the present study was on exploring mechanisms of change in intuitive eating and weight in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions. Mediation provides important information regarding the treatment processes and theoretical models related to specific treatment approaches. The study investigates whether psychological flexibility, mindfulness skills and sense of coherence mediated the interventions’ effect on intuitive eating and weight. Design Secondary analysis of a randomized control trial. Mediation analysis compared two ACT interventions – face-to-face (in a group) and mobile (individually) – with a control group using a latent difference score model. Settings Data were collected in three Finnish towns. Subjects The participants were overweight or obese (n 219), reporting symptoms of perceived stress. Results The effect of the interventions on participants’ (i) BMI, (ii) intuitive eating and its subscales, (iii) eating for physical rather than emotional reasons and (iv) reliance on internal hunger and satiety cues was mediated by changes in weight-related psychological flexibility in both ACT groups. Conclusions These findings suggest that ACT interventions aiming for lifestyle changes mediate the intervention effects through the enhanced ability to continue with valued activities even when confronted with negative emotions and thoughts related to weight.
A Mighty Dataset for Stress-Testing Question Answering Systems

The general goal of semantic question answering systems is to provide correct answers to natural language queries, given a number of structured datasets. The increasing broad deployment of question answering (QA) systems in everyday life requires a comparable and reliable rating of how well QA systems perform and how scalable they are. In order to achieve this, we developed a massive dataset of more than 2 million natural language questions and their SPARQL queries for the DBpedia dataset. We combined natural language processing and linked open data to automatically generate this large amount of valid question-query pairs. Our aim is to assist the benchmarking or scoring of QA systems in terms of answering questions in a range of languages, retrieving answers from heterogeneous sources or answering massive amounts of questions within a limited time. This dataset represents an ideal choice for stress-testing systems’ scalability, speed and correctness. As such it has already been included into the Large-scale QA task of the Question Answering Over Linked Data (QALD) Challenge and the HOBBIT project Question Answering Benchmark.
Fabrication, Distortion, and Metrology of Shrink Fit Electrical Connections

MORRISSEY, PATRICK DESMOND. Fabrication, Distortion, and Metrology of Shrink Fit Electrical Connections. (Under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey W. Eischen) The fabrication of pulsed-power experiments on systems such as ATLAS at Los Alamos National Labs requires assembly of shrink fit or press fit joints. These joints are used to carry large electrical currents on the order of several megamperes for Z-pinch cylindrical implosions of thin-walled cylinders. The joints, which represent the shrink fit or press fit interfaces between cylindrical components (1100 aluminum liners and copper glide planes), are also called on to support mechanical stresses. As a result, the integrity of these joints is critical to the success of the mission. The analytical challenge for investigating these components lies in the presence of a partial shrink fit, that is, a shrink fit in which the length of contact between mating cylinders does not equal the entire length of at least one of the components. Such a design leads to stress distributions that are impossible to calculate using standard shrink fit theory that is analytically tractable. Arguably more important, however, is the varying radial deflection profile along the length of the liner that results from the partial shrink fit. For the success of these experiments, uniform implosions are deemed to be highly beneficial; thus, determining how to predict and compensate for liner deflection profiles is crucial. The primary issues at hand include the following: mechanics of the interference fits, physical description of the contact surfaces between the liner and glide planes, joint void (gap) description, and material property effects. Furthermore, for the shrink fit design of ATLAS Generation I, liner geometry alterations were investigated for potential performance improvement, particularly for the elimination of joint interface gaps and lower stress magnitudes. For the modified ATLAS design that included components designed to compress and distort other elements (Generation II), effects of localized geometry modifications were investigated for the same purposes. Composite liners, i.e., liners with two constituent materials, were also examined, along with potential problems such as cylindrical out-of-roundness on the precision scale. To investigate these issues, finite element analysis models have been created and compared to experimental data. A measurement technique has been developed to compare radial deflection profiles of diamond turned thin-walled shrink fit test specimens to finite element models of corresponding geometry. Verification of the computer generated finite element models with experimental results could provide tremendous aid in accurately predicting the shape, deflection, and stress distribution of such cylindrical elements. FABRICATION, DISTORTION, AND METROLOGY OF SHRINK FIT ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS
Extreme dentition does not prevent diet and tooth diversification within combtooth blennies (Ovalentaria: Blenniidae)

The dentition of fishes can be quite striking and is often correlated with a specific diet. Combtooth blennies have long incisiform oral teeth, unlike most actinopterygians. It has been suggested that the long tooth morphology is an adaptation for detritivory, but given the diversity of diets (detritus, coral polyps, polychaetes, and pieces of other fishes), are blenny teeth indeed monomorphic? Or does tooth variation associated with diet still exist at this extreme? To explore tooth and diet diversification, we used a new phylogenetic hypothesis of Blenniidae, measured tooth shape, number, and mode of attachment, and quantified blenniid diet. The ancestral diet of blennies contained detritus and diversified into many different diets, including almost exclusively detritivory. Our results reveal a dental cline that may be constrained by tooth shape, but has not prevented diet diversification. Ancestral state reconstruction of tooth morphologies suggests that the ancestor of blennies had many unattached teeth and featured transitions to fewer attached teeth, with several transitions back to attached or unattached teeth. The dentition of blenniids is not monotypic; rather it is diverse and small changes in tooth shape are accompanied by changes in size, number, attachment, and often diet.
Using Relational Adjectives for Extracting Hyponyms from Medical Texts

We expose a method for extracting hyponyms and hypernyms from analytical definitions, focusing on the relation observed between hypernyms and relational adjectives (e.g., cardiovascular disease). These adjectives introduce a set of specialized features according to a categorization proper to a particular knowledge domain. For detecting these sequences of hypernyms associated to relational adjectives, we perform a set of linguistic heuristics for recognizing such adjectives from others (e.g. psychological/ugly disorder). In our case, we applied linguistic heuristics for identifying such sequences from medical texts in Spanish. The use of these heuristics allows a trade-off between precision & recall, which is an important advance that complements other works.
Prior ingestion of exogenous ketone monoester attenuates the glycaemic response to an oral glucose tolerance test in healthy young individuals

The recent development of exogenous ketone supplements allows direct testing of the metabolic effects of elevated blood ketones without the confounding influence of widespread changes experienced with ketogenic diets or prolonged fasting. In the present study, we determined the effect of (R)‐3‐hydroxybutyl (R)‐3‐hydroxybutyrate ketone monoester on the glycaemic response and insulin sensitivity index during a 2 h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in humans. The results obtained show that consuming a ketone monoester supplement 30 min prior to an OGTT reduced the glycaemic response and markers of insulin sensitivity without affecting insulin secretion. The findings of the present study provides evidence that ketone supplements could have therapeutic potential for future application as a glucose‐lowering nutritional supplement.
Aortic hemodynamics in postmenopausal women following cessation of hormone therapy

Central (aortic) blood pressure and aortic pulse wave characteristics are measures of cardiovascular health, predictive of cardiovascular mortality. Previous studies have compared aortic hemodynamics in women who do and do not take menopausal hormone therapy, but characteristics of these parameters following cessation of treatment have not been defined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to define aortic pulse wave characteristics in postmenopausal women with and without a history of menopausal hormone therapy use. Pulse wave analysis was conducted on 67 women who had participated in the randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS), 3 years subsequent to the four‐year treatment period. Treatment was oral conjugated equine estrogen (0.45 mg/day; n = 18); transdermal 17β‐estradiol (50 μg/day; n = 23) each with oral micronized progesterone (Prometrium 200 mg); and placebo pills and patch (n = 26). At post‐treatment, median age (60 years) and body mass index (27 kg/m2) did not differ across prior treatment assignment. Aortic blood pressures (median systolic 115 mm Hg and diastolic 76 mm Hg) and augmentation index (median 33%) did not differ among women across prior treatment assignment. These results suggest that these doses and formulations of menopausal hormone therapy had no long‐term effects on central vascular function 3 years after cessation of treatment.
Tolerance of triazole‐based fungicides by biocontrol agents used to control Fusarium head blight in wheat in Argentina

Fusarium head blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum species complex is a devastating disease that causes extensive yield and quality losses to wheat around the world. Fungicide application and breeding for resistance are among the most important tools to counteract FHB. Biological control is an additional tool that can be used as part of an integrated management of FHB. Bacillus velezensisRC 218, Brevibacillus sp. RC 263 and Streptomyces sp. RC 87B were selected by their potential to control FHB and deoxynivalenol production. The aim of this work was to test the tolerance of these biocontrol agents to triazole‐based fungicides such as prothioconazole, tebuconazole and metconazole. Bacterial growth was evaluated in Petri dishes using the spread plating technique containing the different fungicides. Bacillus velezensisRC 218 and Streptomyces sp. RC 87B showed better tolerance to fungicides than Brevibacillus sp. RC 263. Complete growth inhibition was observed at concentrations of 20 μg ml−1 for metconazole, 40 μg ml−1 for tebuconazole and 80 μg ml−1 for prothioconazole. The results obtained indicate the possibility of using these biocontrol agents in combination with fungicides as part of an integrated management to control FHB of wheat.
Linear Prediction-Based Online Dereverberation and Noise Reduction Using Alternating Kalman Filters

Multichannel linear prediction-based dereverberation in the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) domain has been shown to be highly effective. Using this framework, the desired dereverberated multichannel signal is obtained by filtering the noise-free reverberant signals using the estimated multichannel autoregressive (MAR) coefficients. To use such methods in the presence of noise, especially in the case of online processing, remains a challenging problem. Existing sequential enhancement structures, which first remove the noise and then estimate the MAR coefficients, suffer from a causality problem as both the optimal noise reduction and dereverberation stages depend on the current output of each other. To address this problem, an algorithm that consists of two alternating Kalman filters to estimate the noise-free reverberant signals and the (MAR) coefficients is proposed. The causality of the estimation procedure is important when dealing with time-variant acoustic scenarios, where the MAR coefficients are time-varying. The proposed method is evaluated using simulated and measured acoustic impulse responses and is compared to a method based on the same signal model. In addition, a method to control the reverberation reduction and noise reduction independently is derived.
Aesthetical Attributes for Segmenting Arabic Word

The connected allograph representing calligraphic Arabic word does not appear individually in any calligraphic resource but in association with other letters all adapted to each other. The graphic segmentation of the word by respecting aesthetical attributes indicating the grapheme of every letter is far from being an obvious task. The question consists in discovering every letter constituting the word, points of cutting which separate its grapheme from other constituents of word's shape. The obtained segment must be a complete drawing of the represented letter. This segmentation according to contextual graphic and qualitative criteria connecting the attached allograph will have to satisfy typographic constraints varying in conformity with the possibilities offered by the wanted technology. In this paper, we develop an approach for segmenting Arabic word from which the purpose is to extract graphemes respecting the design of Arabic letters such as it is in the calligraphic literature. The procedure bases itself on the principle that the Arabic connected letters have a common part included in the cursive area, which must not be lost during the process of cutting.