Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Die Rechenbrücke - ein fachbereichsübergreifendes Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojekt

"Eigentlich fehlen unseren Studierenden vor allem Rechenfertigkeiten aus der Sekundarstufe I, bevor sie mit dem Ingenieurstudium beginnen konnen. " Dieses Zitat eines Mathematikprofessors beschreibt die Ausgangssituation an der Fachhochschule Munster zur Initiierung eines fachbereichsubergreifenden Bruckenangebots im Bereich Mathematik. Das Projekt Rechenbrucke baut auf Erfahrungen mit diversen Unterstutzungskonzepten an der Hochschule auf und nutzt von Anfang an mathematikdidaktische Expertise zur Etablierung eines neuen, umfassenden Konzepts, das nachfolgend vorgestellt wird. Daruber hinaus konnen erste Evaluationsergebnisse aus der Pilotstudie prasentiert werden. 10.11. 2014 | Ronja Kurten, Gilbert Greefrath, Thilo Harth & Martin Pott-Langemeyer (Munster)
Altered renal hemodynamics in mice overexpressing the parathyroid hormone (PTH)/PTH-related peptide type 1 receptor in smooth muscle.

PTH-related protein (PTHrP) is an autocrine/paracrine peptide expressed in renal tubules and vasculature and may play an important role in regulating overall renal function. To evaluate the potential role of endogenous PTHrP in the control of renal hemodynamics, we performed clearance measurements in transgenic (TG) mice in which the SMP8 alpha-actin promoter was used to drive overexpression of the PTH/PTHrP type 1 receptor in smooth muscle. In protocol I, responses to acute saline volume expansion (SVE, 0.75 microl/min.g body weight) were measured in TG and nontransgenic (NTG) mice. Mean arterial pressure was significantly lower in TG mice throughout the experiment, and it decreased comparably in both groups in response to SVE. SVE significantly increased effective renal plasma flow in both groups of mice, but the increase was greater in TG than in NTG. Glomerular filtration rate decreased in response to SVE in NTG but did not change in TG animals. In protocol II, renal responses to angiotensin II (ANG II) infusion were determined (0.5 ng/min.g body weight). Baseline arterial pressure was again significantly lower in TG, compared with NTG mice, and TG mice had a blunted pressor response to ANG II. Also, ANG II decreased effective renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate in both groups of animals, but the reductions were less in TG than in NTG mice. Our findings indicate that smooth-muscle-specific overexpression of the PTH/PTHrP type 1 receptor resulted in augmentation of the vasodilatory response to SVE and attenuation of the vasoconstrictor response to ANG II. We conclude that endogenous PTHrP can act as an endogenous vasorelaxant factor to modulate renal responses to vasoactive stimuli.
Dronedarone produces early regression of myocardial remodelling in structural heart disease

Background and aims Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in hypertension is associated with a greater risk of sustained supraventricular/atrial arrhythmias. Dronedarone is an antiarrhythmic agent that was recently approved for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. However, its effect on early regression of LVH has not been reported. We tested the hypothesis that short-term administration of dronedarone induces early regression of LVH in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs). Methods Ten-month-old male SHRs were randomly assigned to an intervention group (SHR-D), where animals received dronedarone treatment (100 mg/kg) for a period of 14 days, or to a control group (SHR) where rats were given vehicle. A third group with normotensive control rats (WKY) was also added. At the end of the treatment with dronedarone we studied the cardiac anatomy and function in all the rats using transthoracic echocardiogram, cardiac metabolism using the PET/CT study (2-deoxy-2[18F]fluoro-D-glucose) and cardiac structure by histological analysis of myocyte size and collagen content. Results The hypertensive vehicle treated SHR rats developed the classic cardiac pattern of hypertensive cardiomyopathy as expected for the experimental model, with increases in left ventricular wall thickness, a metabolic shift towards an increase in glucose use and increases in myocyte and collagen content. However, the SHR-D rats showed statistically significant lower values in comparison to SHR group for septal wall thickness, posterior wall thickness, ventricular mass, glucose myocardial uptake, size of left ventricular cardiomyocytes and collagen content. All these values obtained in SHR-D rats were similar to the values measured in the normotensive WKY control group. Conclusion The results suggest by three alternative and complementary ways (analysis of anatomy and cardiac function, metabolism and histological structure) that dronedarone has the potential to reverse the LVH induced by arterial hypertension in the SHR model of compensated ventricular hypertrophy.
Smart Pipes—Instrumented Water Pipes, Can This Be Made a Reality?

Several millions of kilometres of pipes and cables are buried beneath our streets in the UK. As they are not visible and easily accessible, the monitoring of their integrity as well as the quality of their contents is a challenge. Any information of these properties aids the utility owners in their planning and management of their maintenance regime. Traditionally, expensive and very localised sensors are used to provide irregular measurements of these properties. In order to have a complete picture of the utility network, cheaper sensors need to be investigated which would allow large numbers of small sensors to be incorporated into (or near to) the pipe leading to so-called smart pipes. This paper focuses on a novel trial where a short section of a prototype smart pipe was buried using mainly off-the-shelf sensors and communication elements. The challenges of such a burial are presented together with the limitations of the sensor system. Results from the sensors were obtained during and after burial indicating that off-the-shelf sensors can be used in a smart pipes system although further refinements are necessary in order to miniaturise these sensors. The key challenges identified were the powering of these sensors and the communication of the data to the operator using a range of different methods.
PREDICTION OF TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENT OVER SOUTH AFRICA USING GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM AND NEURAL NETWORKS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) makes it possible to study the dynamics of the ionosphere by supplementing ionospheric studies carried out using various techniques including ionosondes, incoherent scatter radars and low earth orbit satellites. Total electron content derived from GPS data (GPS TEC) is a key parameter characterising the ionosphere. Its time evolution provides an indication of ionospheric variability. Temporal and spatial total electron content (TEC) variations have significant effects on radio communications, applications involving navigational systems, GPS surveying and space weather. The analysis presented in this paper compared predicted Neural Network predictions of TEC with TEC values from the IRI-2001 version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), validating GPS TEC with ionosonde TEC (ITEC) and assessing the performance of the NN model during equinoxes and solstices.
Dose-dependent neuroprotection by 17β-estradiol after cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Objective:Despite recent advances in the treatment of cardiac arrest, neurologic outcome remains poor. 17β-Estradiol (E2) has been widely shown to reduce damage after experimental brain injury. The present study determined whether E2 also improves neuronal survival after experimental cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation and if any protection is dose-dependent. Design:A randomized trial. Setting:A research laboratory. Subjects:Male C57Bl/6 mice weighing 20–25 g. Interventions:Mice were randomized into one of six groups, receiving treatment with 0.5, 2.5, 12.5, 25, or 50 &mgr;g of E2 or vehicle 1.5 mins after return of spontaneous circulation. Ten minutes after induction of cardiac arrest (by KCl injection), cardiopulmonary resuscitation was initiated (with chest compressions, intravenous epinephrine, and ventilation with 100% O2). Additional animals of each E2-treated group were used for plasma estradiol-level analysis. Brains were removed for quantification of injury in the hippocampus and caudoputamen on day 3. Measurements and Main Results:The E2 0.5 group had physiologic estrogen levels 60 min after injection (mean ± se, 28 ± 5 pg/mL), whereas the E2 50 group still showed supraphysiologic levels 360 min after administration (245 ± 32 pg/mL). Hippocampal damage was not altered with E2 treatment. Only posttreatment with the lowest E2 dose (E2 0.5) resulted in attenuated neuronal injury in the rostral and caudal caudoputamen (34 ± 11% and 27 ± 11%), in comparison with vehicle (68 ± 5, p < .05; 63 ± 4%, p < .001). Higher E2 doses did not affect brain injury. Conclusions:We conclude that E2 has a critical dosing effect on neuronal survival, physiologic levels of E2 are neuroprotective after cardiac arrest/cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and acute exposure is sufficient for brain resuscitation.
TASA: Tag-Free Activity Sensing Using RFID Tag Arrays

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) has attracted considerable attention in recent years for its low cost, general availability, and location sensing functionality. Most existing schemes require the tracked persons to be labeled with RFID tags. This requirement may not be satisfied for some activity sensing applications due to privacy and security concerns and uncertainty of objects to be monitored, e.g., group behavior monitoring in warehouses with privacy limitations, and abnormal customers in banks. In this paper, we propose TASA-Tag-free Activity Sensing using RFID tag Arrays for location sensing and frequent route detection. TASA relaxes the monitored objects from attaching RFID tags, online recovers and checks frequent trajectories by capturing the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) series for passive RFID tag arrays where objects traverse. In order to improve the accuracy for estimated trajectories and accelerate location sensing, TASA introduces reference tags with known positions. With the readings from reference tags, TASA can locate objects more accurately. Extensive experiment shows that TASA is an effective approach for certain activity sensing applications.
Making meaning of refugee resettlement experiences: The acculturation attitudes of Liberian women

The adjustment and acculturation process of single Liberian mothers resettled as refugees in the United States was examined in this qualitative study. Liberian experiences largely have been left out of refugee studies, a field that recently has taken a turn away from a problem-focused, policy-oriented approach to a more culturally aware constructivist approach. The refugees’ post-immigration experiences, attitudes, and behaviors were the focus of the research. Ten Liberian single mothers who resettled in the US between the years of 2004 and 2006 were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol. Transcripts were created from these interviews that were analyzed by a four person reflecting team. A phenomenological approach was used to structure the transcripts, breaking them down into experiences, behaviors, and attitudes. The structured data was used to create a rich description of Liberian women’s acculturation in the US. The reflecting team used the description and the original transcripts to identify five dominant themes (opportunity/progress, responsibility, family reunification, relationships as resources, spirituality) and two variant themes (conflict and cultural maintenance). Understanding the acculturation process of Liberian women will help counselors create culturally appropriate services for a group “triply-marginalized” (Goodkind & Deacon, 2004) by their ethnic, economic, and gender statuses.
Mobile learning and biotechnology education via remote labs: Deployment-based study on real time shared resources

With recent advances in ICT, virtual and remote laboratories have become ubiquitous as a complementary tool allowing student users to access a mobile platform and utilize real-time shared equipment over the internet. In this paper, we explore the role of biotechnology remotely controlled labs in augmenting student education via allowing real time shared resources. We deployed 23 virtual laboratories with 218 virtual experiments in biotechnology to provide an online laboratory experience that allowed students and teachers to share and augment conceptual and practical knowledge. Student users reported high usability and repeatability of experimental process and suggested virtual labs as complementing tool for augmenting student's perception in an active learning scenario. Hybrid approaches in mobile learning indicated student users preferred a blended learning role via classrooms. We also observed that performance in examinations improved with those students using remote labs. We also evaluated the role of virtual labs as a teaching tool for university teachers.
Neutrophils to the ROScue: Mechanisms of NADPH Oxidase Activation and Bacterial Resistance

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by NADPH oxidase play an important role in antimicrobial host defense and inflammation. Their deficiency in humans results in recurrent and severe bacterial infections, while their unregulated release leads to pathology from excessive inflammation. The release of high concentrations of ROS aids in clearance of invading bacteria. Localization of ROS release to phagosomes containing pathogens limits tissue damage. Host immune cells, like neutrophils, also known as PMNs, will release large amounts of ROS at the site of infection following the activation of surface receptors. The binding of ligands to G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), toll-like receptors, and cytokine receptors can prime PMNs for a more robust response if additional signals are encountered. Meanwhile, activation of Fc and integrin directly induces high levels of ROS production. Additionally, GPCRs that bind to the bacterial-peptide analog fMLP, a neutrophil chemoattractant, can both prime cells and trigger low levels of ROS production. Engagement of these receptors initiates intracellular signaling pathways, resulting in activation of downstream effector proteins, assembly of the NADPH oxidase complex, and ultimately, the production of ROS by this complex. Within PMNs, ROS released by the NADPH oxidase complex can activate granular proteases and induce the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Additionally, ROS can cross the membranes of bacterial pathogens and damage their nucleic acids, proteins, and cell membranes. Consequently, in order to establish infections, bacterial pathogens employ various strategies to prevent restriction by PMN-derived ROS or downstream consequences of ROS production. Some pathogens are able to directly prevent the oxidative burst of phagocytes using secreted effector proteins or toxins that interfere with translocation of the NADPH oxidase complex or signaling pathways needed for its activation. Nonetheless, these pathogens often rely on repair and detoxifying proteins in addition to these secreted effectors and toxins in order to resist mammalian sources of ROS. This suggests that pathogens have both intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms to avoid restriction by PMN-derived ROS. Here, we review mechanisms of oxidative burst in PMNs in response to bacterial infections, as well as the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens thwart restriction by ROS to survive under conditions of oxidative stress.
Genome-wide association study of rheumatoid arthritis in the Spanish population: KLF12 as a risk locus for rheumatoid arthritis susceptibility.

OBJECTIVE To identify new genes associated with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), using a 2-stage genome-wide association study. METHODS Following a liability-based study design, we analyzed 317,503 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 400 patients with RA and 400 control subjects. We selected a group of candidate SNPs for replication in an independent group of 410 patients with RA and 394 control subjects. Using data from the 3 previous genome-wide association studies in RA, we also looked for genomic regions showing evidence of common association signals. Finally, we analyzed the presence of genome-wide epistasis using the binary test implemented in the PLINK program. RESULTS We identified several genomic regions showing evidence of genome-wide association (P < 1 x 10(-5)). In the replication analysis, we identified KLF12 SNP rs1324913 as the most strongly associated SNP (P = 0.01). In our study, we observed that this SNP showed higher significance than PTPN22 SNP rs2476601, in both the genome-wide association studies and the replication analyses. Furthermore, the integration of our data with those from previous genome-wide association studies showed that KLF12 and PTPRT are the unique loci that are commonly associated in 3 different studies (P = 0.004 and P = 0.002 for KLF12 in the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium study and the Brigham and Women's Rheumatoid Arthritis Sequential Study genome-wide association study, respectively). The genome-wide epistasis analysis identified several SNP pairs close to significance after multiple test correction. CONCLUSION The present genome-wide association study identified KLF12 as a new susceptibility gene for RA. The joint analysis of our results and those from previous genome-wide association studies showed genomic regions with a higher probability of being genuine susceptibility loci for RA.
Persistence of the Gypsy Moth Pheromone, Disparlure, in the Environment in Various Climates

Mating disruption techniques are used in pest control for many species of insects, yet little is known regarding the environmental persistence of these pheromones following their application and if persistence is affected by climatic conditions. We first studied the persistent effect of ground applications of Luretape® GM in Lymantria dispar (L) mating disruption in VA, USA in 2006. The removal of Luretape® GM indicated that the strong persistent effect of disparlure in the environment reported by previous studies is produced by residual pheromone in the dispensers as opposed to environmental contamination. In 2010 and 2011, we evaluated the efficacy of two formulations, Disrupt® II and SPLAT GMTM, in VA and WI, USA, which presented different climatic conditions. In plots treated in WI and VA, male moth catches in pheromone-baited traps were reduced in the year of treatment and one year after the pheromone applications relative to untreated controls. However, similar first- and second-year effects of pheromone treatments in VA and WI suggest that the release rate over one and two years was the same across markedly different climates. Future applications that use liquid or biodegradable formulations of synthetic pheromones could reduce the amount of persistence in the environment.
Dense Tracking and Mapping with a Quadrocopter

In this paper, we present an approach for acquiring textured 3D models of room-sized indoor spaces using a quadrocopter. Such room models are for example useful for architects and interior designers as well as for factory planners and construction man- agers. The model is internally represented by a signed distance function (SDF) and the SDF is used to directly track the camera with respect to the model. Our solution enables accurate position control of the quadrocopter, so that it can automatically follow a pre-defined flight pattern. Our system provides live feedback of the acquired 3D model to the user. The final model consisting of a textured 3D triangle mesh can be saved in several standard CAD file formats. (Less)
On the Lakatosian apple of discord in the history and methodology of economics

While economic methodologists seem to be increasingly dissatisfied with Lakatos's criteria of appraisal, many (internalist) historians of economic thought continue to rely on typically Lakatosian categories in order to identify portions of economic analysis whose historical development is to be 'rationally' reconstructed. This historiographic approach, however, prevents economists from realizing that Lakatosian novel facts may be 'new' not only because previously unknown, but even because previously inexistent. To deny this possibility is tantamount to believing in an incredibly strong version. of methodological monism according to which social sciences deal with a subject-matter as immutable over time as that of natural science.
New approach for moving point detection: Application to video space-time description

Local space time points detection and description have recently emerged as a major research in based video analysis content in video surveillance and event detection applications. Several works extend tow dimensional descriptor to the temporal dimension. Most of the existing methods consider the video as a spatio-temporal volume and then describe the volumetric region around the salient point in 3D. However, this representation requires a high operational complexity. In this works we propose a new approach to describe motion using a simple 2D representation of the video. Our method is based on tracked feature points in image sequence. The main challenge in motion description is how to detect the local motion information. In this paper we aim to describe motion around moving point without the need to extend them on the 3D dimension. To show the efficiency and accuracy of our approach, we perform action recognition experiments on the KTH and Weizmann databases using the bag of words approach. We have obtained impressive results for action recognition.
Use of 3 tools to assess nutrition risk in the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND Identifying patients at nutrition risk proves difficult in the intensive care unit (ICU) due to the nature of critical illness. No consensus exists on the most appropriate method to identify these patients. Traditional screens and assessments are often limited due to their subjective nature. The purpose of the quality improvement project was to compare proportions of ICU patients deemed at nutrition risk using 3 different tools. MATERIAL AND METHODS A convenience sample of 294 patients admitted to the ICU was used. Patients were assessed using the institution's routine nutrition screening method, the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), and the NUTrition Risk in Critically ill (NUTRIC) score. Information was collected on demographics, severity of illness, hospital and ICU length of stay (LOS), and disposition. Descriptive statistics were used to examine counts/proportions of risk categories; means ± SD were used to summarize demographic and clinical variables. RESULTS A total of 139 patients (47%) were deemed at nutrition risk or malnourished by at least 1 tool. Patients identified were older and had a lower body mass index, more weight loss, more fat and muscle wasting, more fluid accumulation, and lower average handgrips than those not at nutrition risk; they also had longer hospital and ICU LOS, higher rates of requiring further rehabilitation upon discharge, and higher mortality during hospitalization. CONCLUSION Traditional screening and assessment tools did not uniformly identify patients as malnourished or at nutrition risk in the ICU and therefore may be inappropriate for use in this population. Inclusion of physical assessment, functional status, and severity of illness may be useful in predicting nutrition risk in the ICU.
Supernatants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa induce the Pseudomonas‐specific antibiotic elafin in human keratinocytes

Abstract: Elafin is a skin‐derived serine‐protease inhibitor. It is thought to be important to prevent human leukocyte elastase‐mediated tissue damage and might play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the human epidermis. Recent studies have provided evidence for an antimicrobial activity of elafin against P. aeruginosa. As gram‐negative infections typically occur in barrier‐disrupted skin we were interested to determine whether supernatants of the gram‐negative bacteria P. aeruginosa and Escherichia coli were capable of inducing elafin expression.