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A New Approach to Understanding Cancer-Related Fatigue: Leveraging the 3P Model to Facilitate Risk Prediction and Clinical Care
Get PDFA major gap impeding development of new treatments for cancer-related fatigue is an inadequate understanding of the complex biological, clinical, demographic, and lifestyle mechanisms underlying fatigue. In this paper, we describe a new application of a comprehensive model for cancer-related fatigue: the predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating (3P) factors model. This model framework outlined herein, which incorporates the emerging field of metabolomics, may help to frame a more in-depth analysis of the etiology of cancer-related fatigue as well as a broader and more personalized set of approaches to the clinical treatment of fatigue in oncology care. Included within this review paper is an in-depth description of the proposed biological mechanisms of cancer-related fatigue, as well as a presentation of the 3P model’s application to this phenomenon. We conclude that a clinical focus on organization risk stratification and treatment around the 3P model may be warranted, and future research may benefit from expanding the 3P model to understand fatigue not only in oncology, but also across a variety of chronic conditions
A Molecular Approach to Understanding the Role of Diet in Cancer-Related Fatigue: Challenges and Future Opportunities
Get PDFCancer-related fatigue (CRF) is considered one of the most frequent and distressing symptoms for cancer survivors. Despite its high prevalence, factors that predispose, precipitate, and perpetuate CRF are poorly understood. Emerging research focuses on cancer and treatment-related nutritional complications, changes in body composition, and nutritional deficiencies that can compound CRF. Nutritional metabolomics, the novel study of diet-related metabolites in cells, tissues, and biofluids, offers a promising tool to further address these research gaps. In this position paper, we examine CRF risk factors, summarize metabolomics studies of CRF, outline dietary recommendations for the prevention and management of CRF in cancer survivorship, and identify knowledge gaps and challenges in applying nutritional metabolomics to understand dietary contributions to CRF over the cancer survivorship trajectory
Preliminary Investigation of Possible Biochar Use as Carbon Source in Polyacrylonitrile Electrospun Fiber Production
Get PDFElectrospinning with consequent thermal treatment consists in a carbon fiber production method that spins a polymer solution to create fibers with diameters around a few hundred nanometers. The thermal treatments are used for the cyclization and then carbonization of the material at 1700 °C for one hour. The unique structure of micro- and nano-carbon fibers makes them a promising material for various applications ranging from future battery designs to filtration. This work investigated the possibility of using milled gasification biochar, derived from a 20 kW fixed-bed gasifier fueled with vine pruning pellets, as an addictive in the preparation of electrospinning solutions. This study outlined that solvent cleaning and the consequent wet-milling and 32 µm sifting are fundamental passages for biochar preparation. Four different polyacrylonitrile-biochar shares were tested ranging from pure polymer to 50–50% solutions. The resulting fibers were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray and infrared spectroscopy. Results from the morphological analysis showed that biochar grains dispersed themselves well among the fiber mat in all the proposed shares. All the tested solutions, once carbonized, exceeded 97%wt. of carbon content. At higher carbonization temperatures, the inorganic compounds naturally showing in biochar such as potassium and calcium disappeared, resulting in an almost carbon-pure fiber matrix with biochar grains in between
The Covid 19 Pandemic and its Effects on Agile Software Development
Get PDFCompanies worldwide have enabled their employees to work remotely as a consequence of the Covid 19 pandemic. Software development is a human-centered discipline and thrives on teamwork. Agile methods are focusing on several social aspects of software development. Software development teams in Germany were mainly co-located before the pandemic. This paper aims to validate the findings of existing studies by expanding on an existing multiple-case study. Therefore, we collected data by conducting semi-structured interviews, observing agile practices, and viewing project documents in three cases. Based on the results, we can confirm the following findings: 1) The teams rapidly adapted the agile practices and roles, 2) communication is more objective within the teams, 3) decreased social exchange between team members, 4) the expectation of a combined approach of remote and onsite work after the pandemic, 5) stable or increased (perceived) performance and 6) stable or increased well-being of team members
Kontextualisierung von Kleidungsstücken des Moritz-Projekts mit Wikidata
Get PDFIm Rahmen der zunehmenden Digitalisierung in Kulturerbeeinrichtungen gewinnt die Kontextualisierung digitaler Sammlungen mittels Linked Open Data (LOD) an Bedeutung. So auch für das Forschungsprojekt Moritz aus Buxtehude, in dem die historische Kleidersammlung des Moritz von Sachsen-Lauenburg interdisziplinär erforscht wird. Für die Kontextualisierung historischer Kleidung gibt es bisher jedoch keine etablierten Metadatenstandards oder Plattformen. Um eine niedrigschwellige Möglichkeit aufzuzeigen, wie Kulturerbeeinrichtungen die Metadaten ihrer Kleidungssammlungen als LOD veröffentlichen können, wird geprüft, inwiefern Wikidata sich hierfür anbietet. Dazu wird zunächst ein Wikidata-Schema für Kleidungsstücke entwickelt, welches anschließend durch die Erfassung von acht exemplarischen Objekten des Forschungsprojekts Moritz aus Buxtehude getestet und optimiert wird. Ergebnisse sind ein Wikidata-Property-Schema zur Erfassung von Kleidungsstücken, konkrete Handlungsempfehlungen für die Erfassung der weiteren Moritz-Objekte und ähnlicher Sammlungen, sowie Beispiele für Visualisierungen der kontextualisierten Objektdaten mit Hilfe von Wikidata. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit zeigen, dass sich historische Kleidungsstücke mit geringem finanziellen, technischen und personellen Aufwand kontextualisieren lassen. Um das Potenzial voll auszuschöpfen, bedarf es allerdings weiterhin der engen Zusammenarbeit und des Engagements von Fachexpert:innen aus dem Kulturerbesektor und Informationswissenschaftler:innen bzw. der Wikidata-Community
Investigation and implementation of image super-resolution using CNNs applied to OCR
Get PDFRecent developments in the field of deep learning have shown promising advances for a wide range of historically difficult computer vision problems. Using advanced deep learning techniques, researchers manage to perform high-quality single-image super-resolution, i.e., increasing the resolution of a given image without major losses in image quality, usually encountered when using traditional approaches such as standard interpolation. This thesis examines the process of deep learning super-resolution using convolutional neural networks and investigates whether the same deep learning models can be used to increase OCR results for low-quality text images
Application of a Realistic Evaluation Approach on Three Public Health Programs Aiming at Prevention of Obesity
Get PDFRich literature abounds concerning the clinical effectiveness of programs aiming to produce weight gain/obesity prevention outcomes. However, there is very little evidence on how these outcomes are produced, and what interplay of factors made those programs effective (or not) in the environment that produced those effects. This study aims to describe the application of realistic evaluation in the field of obesity prevention, as an approach to unravel those components that influence the capacity of a program to produce its effects and to examine its significance in an effort to understand those components. The concepts of critical realism have informed the development of an interview topic guide, while three European programs were selected as case studies after a rigorous selection process. In total, 26 in-depth semi-structured interviews were taken, paired with personal observation and secondary data research. Several grounded context-mechanisms-outcomes (CMO) configurations were described within the respective context of each location, with the mechanisms introduced from each project resulting in distinctive outcomes. This study highlights the potential of realistic evaluation as a comprehensive framework to explain in which contextual circumstances of each program’s effects are produced, how certain underlying mechanisms produce those effects, and how to explicitly connect the context and the acting mechanisms into distinct outcome patterns, which will ultimately form unique configuration sets for each of the analyzed projects
Fernwartung und OT-Security - Anforderungen und Implementierungsansätze
Get PDFDie technische Betreuung von Produktionsanlagen durch den Anlagenhersteller oder einen Dienstleister ist in der Industrie häufig anzutreffen. Die Durchführung solcher Wartungsarbeiten erfolgt zum Großteil vor Ort an der jeweiligen Anlage. Mit der Fernwartung gibt es jedoch die Möglichkeit, die jeweiligen Arbeiten aus der Ferne durchzuführen. Unternehmen stellen sich bei der Einrichtung einer Fernwartungslösung die Frage, wie ein solches System zu planen ist. Der vorliegende Artikel beleuchtet daher, welche Anforderungen an Fernwartungssysteme zu stellen sind, welche Fernwartungskonzepte es gibt, was allgemein bei dem Einsatz eines Fernwartungssystems insbesondere aus Sicht der OT-Security zu beachten ist und wie die NOA Verification of Request bei der Fernwartung einzusetzen ist.Technical support for production plants is frequently provided by the plant manufacturer or a service provider. For the most part, such maintenance work is carried out on site at the plant in question. With remote maintenance, however, there is the option of performing the work remotely. This article considers what requirements need to be met by remote maintenance systems, and what remote maintenance concepts are available. We also consider what should generally be taken into account when using a remote maintenance system, particularly from the point of view of OT security, and how the NOA Verification of Request should be used for remote maintenance
UX Poker: Estimating the Influence of User Stories on User Experience in Early Stage of Agile Development
Get PDFAgile methods are used more and more frequently to develop products by reducing development time. Requirements are typically written in user stories or epics. In this paper, a new method called UX Poker is presented. This is a method to estimate the impact of a user story on user experience before development. Thus, there is the opportunity that the product backlog can also be sorted according to the expected UX. To evaluate UX Poker, a case study was conducted with four agile teams. Besides, a workshop followed by a questionnaire was conducted with all four agile teams. The goal of being able to estimate the UX even before development was achieved. Using UX Poker to create another way to sort the product backlog can be considered achieved in this first evaluation. The results show that UX Poker can be implemented in a real- life application. Additionally, during the use of UX Poker, it was found that a shared understanding of UX began. The participants clarified in the team discussion about UX Poker what related to influence the user stories had on UX and what UX meant for their product
Entwurf eines einheitlichen Energieinformationsmodells für die Übertragung von Energieinformationen auf Basis von industriell genutzten Kommunikationsstandards
No full textDas Monitoring von Energiebedarfen und die aktive Beeinflussung der eingesetzten Energiemenge mit Hilfe eines Lastmanagements spielen in industriellen Anlagen eine zunehmend wichtige Rolle. Um diese Aufgaben zu erfüllen, können in Energiemanagementsystemen sogenannte Energiemanagementfunktionalitäten verwendet werden. Energiemanagementfunktionalitäten basieren dabei auf sogenannten Energieinformationen, die bidirektional zwischen der Feldebene und den Applikationen des Energiemanagementsystems ausgetauscht werden. Die Besonderheit der Energieinformationen besteht darin, dass diese aufgrund der unterschiedlichen industriell genutzten Kommunikationsstandards jeweils eigene Semantiken und Syntax aufweisen. Diese semantischen Unterschiede erschweren eine Vereinheitlichung der Energieinformationen und führen zu einem hohen Engineering-Aufwand, wenn Energieinformationen unterschiedlicher Kommunikationsstandards genutzt werden sollen. Um dieses Problem zu lösen und um den Engineering-Aufwand reduzieren zu können, stellt dieser Beitrag den Entwurf eines einheitlichen Energieinformationsmodells vor, mit dem die Energieinformationen verschiedener industriell genutzter Kommunikationsstandards vereinheitlicht werden können