3,719 research outputs found
Empowering and assisting natural human mobility: The simbiosis walker
Full text linkThis paper presents the complete development of the Simbiosis Smart Walker. The device is equipped with a set of sensor subsystems to acquire user-machine interaction forces and the temporal evolution of user's feet during gait. The authors present an adaptive filtering technique used for the identification and separation of different components found on the human-machine interaction forces. This technique allowed isolating the components related with the navigational commands and developing a Fuzzy logic controller to guide the device. The Smart Walker was clinically validated at the Spinal Cord Injury Hospital of Toledo - Spain, presenting great acceptability by spinal chord injury patients and clinical staf
Supplementary movies of the dynamic rupture and tsunami models published in Ulrich et al. (2019)
No full text<p>Supplementary movies of the dynamic rupture and tsunami models published in Ulrich et al. (2019)</p>
<p>movie_Sulawesi_SR-cp.mov: Absolute slip rate (m/s) across the fault network during the earthquake. Author: Thomas Ulrich</p>
<p>movie_Sulawesi_wavefield-cp.mov: Absolute slip rate (m/s) and wavefield (absolute particle velocity in m/s) across the fault network during the earthquake. Author: Thomas Ulrich</p>
<p>SulawesiTanioka.mp4: Sea surface height (m) predicted by the tsunami scenario. Author: Stefan Vater</p>
<p>reference: Ulrich, T., Vater, S., Madden, E. H., Behrens, J., van Dinther, Y., van Zelst, I., Fielding, E. J., Liang, C. & Gabriel, A. A. (2019). Coupled, Physics-based Modeling Reveals Earthquake Displacements are Critical to the 2018 Palu, Sulawesi Tsunami. doi: 10.31223/osf.io/3bwqa.</p>
Selecting SAT Encodings for Pseudo-Boolean and Linear Integer Constraints
Full text linkMany constraint satisfaction and optimisation problems can be solved effectively by encoding them as instances of the Boolean Satisfiability problem (SAT). However, even the simplest types of constraints have many encodings in the literature with widely varying performance, and the problem of selecting suitable encodings for a given problem instance is not trivial. We explore the problem of selecting encodings for pseudo-Boolean and linear constraints using a supervised machine learning approach. We show that it is possible to select encodings effectively using a standard set of features for constraint problems; however we obtain better performance with a new set of features specifically designed for the pseudo-Boolean and linear constraints. In fact, we achieve good results when selecting encodings for unseen problem classes. Our results compare favourably to AutoFolio when using the same feature set. We discuss the relative importance of instance features to the task of selecting the best encodings, and compare several variations of the machine learning method
Ulrich Becher: An Introduction to the Life and Writings of this Contemporary German Author
No full textv, 29 p.Originally I had intended to treat all of his epic, lyric,
and dramatic works which were available to me. As my research
progressed, I realized, however, that a detailed investigation
of Becher's philosophy, literary form and imagery would be
impossible within the limitations of a thesis. Instead, I
chose to introduce this contemporary German author to an
English-speaking audience through a survey of his life and
works, followed by an analysis of three narratives representing
the three periods of Ulrich Becher's writing
DeSSciphering systemic sclerosis : the skin and its thickness
Full text linkSystemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare, clinically heterogeneous, severe multisystem disorder characterised by autoimmunity, fibrosis and vasculopathy [Rodnan et al., 1979; Gabrielli et al., 2009]. It is one of the most disabling and disfiguring diseases among the systemic diseases and compared to other rheumatic diseases, SSc is associated with a high loss of life expectancy [Mok et al., 2011].
Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) as an abnormality of the microcirculation is the initial and heralding symptom of SSc in over 95% of patients. Skin sclerosis and internal organ involvement then mostly manifest with a variable temporal interval after the onset of RP [Walker et al., 2007; Varga et al., 2012]. Aside from the skin, multiple organ systems can be damaged by fibrotic and/or vascular complications including the gastrointestinal tract, the pulmonary parenchyma and circulation, the heart, kidney and the joints [Medsger, 1997; Gabrielli et al., 2009]. Although skin fibrosis is the cardinal feature of the disease, the progressive deterioration of internal organs determines the clinical outcome [Walker et al., 2007; Domsic et al., 2014; Nihtyanova et al., 2014].
The aims of this thesis are (1) to map the time after disease onset in terms of RP to the onset of organ manifestations in SSc and to identify predictors of an early onset of manifestations; (2) to assess the effect of smoking on the manifestation and worsening of SSc organ manifestations and (3) to assess the level of functional ability and to identify factors associated with disability.
This thesis is based on the largest worldwide database for SSc, the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR) registry. By today, more than 15,000 SSc patients are followed prospectively in more than 200 expert centres within the EUSTAR network.
We found that organ manifestations exhibit rapid kinetics early after the onset of RP, implying that there is only a short ‘window of opportunity’ to prevent incident organ damage. Furthermore, in every organ system, half of all organ manifestations become evident rather early in the disease, i.e. within the first two years. This implies that severe complications, for instance pulmonary hypertension and interstitial lung disease, are not restricted to late disease. Risk factors, such as the SSc subtype, autoantibody profile and the patient's sex do modify the cumulative incidences of the organ manifestations but do not substantially modify the steep increase in organ complication rates during the first two years after RP onset. These results are of great importance for clinicians, who need to counsel, risk stratify and treat SSc patients early on after the diagnosis. Furthermore, the findings are of great significance for the design of therapeutics aimed to ‘widen’ the still very narrow ‘window of opportunity’.
We demonstrated that the known adverse effect of smoking on the bronchial airways and alveoli is also observed in SSc patients. However, we did not observe robust adverse effects of smoking on the progression of SSc-specific pulmonary or cutaneous manifestations. This finding argues against a major role of tobacco-associated free radicals, vasoconstrictor and immunomodulatory effects in the pathogenesis of SSc vasculopathy and fibrosis.
Regarding the functional ability, we found that there is a major difference between the factors driving patient perceived levels of disability and those emphasized by physicians in their disease evaluation. The patients perceive dyspnoea, gastrointestinal symptoms, pain, muscle weakness and the presence of digital ulcers as the main factors driving their level of disability. These results that objective disease severity measures as assessed by the physicians do not correlate with patient-perceived disability indicate that the many and multi-faced aetiologies of disability and quality of life in SSc are poorly understood and are therefore a clarion call to further research
Séminaire de l'IAO : Ulrich Theobald
No full text"Rough Terrain : Tactics and Technical Issues in Alpine Warfare in the High Qing Period" Jeudi 27 octobre 2016, Salle de réunion de l’IAO (R66), de 14h à 15h30 Ulrich Theobald (Ph.D. 2009) is a senior lecturer at the Department for Chinese and Korean Studies of the University of Tübingen, Germany. He is specializing in the economic, military, monetary and administrative history of late imperial China, and author of "War Finance and Logistics in Late Imperial China : A Study of the Second Jinc..
Louis-Sébastien Mercier et ses deux nouveaux Paris
No full textUlrich Ricken : Louis-Sebastien Mercier and his two Descriptions of a
New Paris.
In a semantic analysis of Louis-Sebastien Mercier 's Nouveau Paris (1798) and L'An 2440 (1771), the author compares the vocabulary used by the author in these two works to contrast present and past. In L'An 2440, the contrast between contemporary society and an idealised future is expressed by polarities which oppose a positive present to a negative past (corresponding to Mercier's own day). In the Nouveau Paris, on the contrary, the comparison is most frequently between a negative present and a negative past, in which the new society created by the Revolution is seen to be simply a continuation of the old, and very far from the society predicted by Mercier in L'An 2440.Ricken Ulrich. Louis-Sébastien Mercier et ses deux nouveaux Paris. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°7, 1975. pp. 301-313
Interview with Cathy Ulrich
Full text linkThis spring, the students in UND’s ENGL 414 workshop (The Art of Writing Fiction) read a collection of micro and flash fictions titled Ghosts of You, by Cathy Ulrich. With its use of second person and a penchant for turning tropes of crime fiction on their heads, this book is a must read. Three ENGL 414 students had the opportunity to interview the author via email to discuss Cathy Ulrich’s intentions in Ghosts of You, as well as her own personal writing techniques. To borrow from how each story in Ghosts of You begins, “The thing about being the [interviewer] is you set the plot in motion.” Floodwal
Value-added services and their management in hospitals
Full text linkWagner U. Value Added Services und deren Management im Krankenhaus. Bielefeld (Germany): Bielefeld University; 2005.Identical services are difficult to position in a market economy. The health sector in the German speaking countries is more and more developing to a market, and the services are more or less identical, of unknown quality, since there is not the same tradition of quality assurance and management like in the Anglo-American or Scandinavian countries or the Netherlands. Until there are valid and reliable quality data and also if there will be more or less equal quality data and prices, the competition can be fought through other services. Industry knows and practises value-added services to promote their goods. These are offered voluntarily and help to sell the main product. But what are the comparative services in a service branch like the health setting? How can these services be defined and managed? Can these services on the one hand side be useful for the single institutions to maximize profit and secure the own existence? On the other side - how can these services be useful in a public health perspective, add value to the system? That's the content of this work, which was accepted by Bielefeld University School of Public Health, WHO Collaborating Center, as a doctoral dissertation in summer 2005.Unternehmen des Güter produzierenden Sektors zeigen sich offen gegenüber den Entwicklungen des Marktes, indem sie mit zusätzlichen nutzenstiftenden Leistungen versuchen, den Wert und damit den Absatz ihrer Primärprodukte zu sichern und zu fördern. Dieses Instrumentarium erlaubt es ihnen, sich besser im Markt zu positionieren und aktiv Kundennähe zu praktizieren.
Kunden davon zu überzeugen, sich loyal gegenüber einem Anbieter zu verhalten, ist das Ziel solcher Anstrengungen, denn loyale Kunden sind zwar fordernde, aber i.d.R. profitable Kunden. Nicht nur für Einrichtungen der Gesundheitsversorgung wären solche Leistungen vorteilhaft (z.B. um sich im Markt zu positionieren), sondern auch aus Public Health Perspektive könnte es ein bedenkenswertes Konzept sein, da diese Leistungen nicht nur die anbietenden Einrichtungen klientelorientiert weiterentwickeln, sondern auch gesamtsystemoptimierende Wirkung entfalten können.
Es wird damit die Aufnahme einer komplett neuen Leistungskategorie für stationäre Leistungserbringer im Gesundheitswesen vorgeschlagen, welche es zu managen gilt: Value Added Services (VAS)
Examining mode of experience: implications for linear trail design and conflict management
Full text linkJacob and Schreyer (1980) define mode of experience (e.g. the degree to which participants experience an environment as focused or unfocused) as one of four major factors underlying outdoor recreation conflict. To discover the degree to which mountain bikers and hikers focus in the environment and to identify the key environmental elements and cognitive processes relevant to creating the mode of experience and underlying conflict, Visitor Employed Photography, VEP, and follow-up interviews were combined to explore mountain bikers' and hikers' perceptual experiences.
Twelve mountain bikers (7 males, 5 females) rode about four and one half miles of the Lake Bryan East Loop Trail and 12 hikers (6 males, 6 females) hiked about 1.5 miles. Each participant was given a digital camera and tape recorder and was instructed to stop and take a picture of whatever they were looking at right when they heard music play.
Findings indicate that mountain bikers tended to concentrate on Trail Corridor elements while forming or creating their Path/Line to travel while hikers tended to look around, scan, or take in full views of Wildlife, Vegetation, and Noises.
Combined analyses suggested that mountain bikers photographed On-Trail Tread-Specific and Path/Line perceptions while hikers photographed Off/Off Distant-Views of Vegetation and Noises. Consensus existed among both for photographing On Distant at Trail Corridor elements down the Path/Line; On Distant at Trail Corridor elements Panoramic Forward; and at the Edge of Specific Vegetation elements.
Interview findings indicated that participants rely on complex cognitive processes that involve focusing on many areas of the trail at one time. The participant's cue formation processes, foreground/background formation, goals, sequencing, and dynamic movement influenced their mode of experience.
Using the findings, this paper presents a graphic representation of mode of experience accounting for the changes participants experience; discusses lingering appraisals' affects on participants' future perceptions during linear trail experiences; discusses conflict mitigation using trail design techniques; provides design suggestions for diminishing hiker and mountain biker conflicts; suggests an adapted ROS, Recreation Opportunity Spectrum, to manage trails for setting based outcomes from a mode of experience perspective; and discusses integrating user participation in management decisions
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