An Application-Layer RESTful Sleepy Nodes Implementation For Internet of Things Systems

Two of the main issues in wireless industrial Internet of Things applications are interoperability and network lifetime. In this work we extend a semantic interoperability platform and introduce an application-layer sleepy nodes protocol that can leverage on information stored in semantic repositories. We propose an integration platform for managing the sleep states and an application layer protocol based upon the Constraint Application Layer protocol. We evaluate our system on windowing based task allocation strategies, aiming for lower overall energy consumption that results in higher network lifetime.

Prediction of Trabecular Bone Anisotropy from Quantitative Computed Tomography using Supervised Learning and a Novel Morphometric Feature Descriptor

Patient-specific biomechanical models including local bone mineral density and anisotropy have gained importance for assessing musculoskeletal disorders. However the trabecular bone anisotropy captured by high-resolution imaging is only available at the peripheral skeleton in clinical practice. In this work, we propose a supervised learning approach to predict trabecular bone anisotropy that builds on a novel set of pose invariant feature descriptors. The statistical relationship between trabecular bone anisotropy and feature descriptors were learned from a database of pairs of high resolution QCT and clinical QCT reconstructions. On a set of leave-one-out experiments, we compared the accuracy of the proposed approach to previous ones, and report a mean prediction error of 6% for the tensor norm, 6% for the degree of anisotropy and 19◦ for the principal tensor direction. These findings show the potential of the proposed approach to predict trabecular bone anisotropy from clinically available QCT images.

CODE ultra-rapid product series for the IGS

CODE, the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, is a joint venture of the following four institutions: Astronomical Institute, University of Bern (AIUB), Bern, Switzerland; Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland; Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany; Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie, Technische Universität München (IAPG, TUM), Munich, Germany. It acts as a global analysis center of the International GNSS Service (IGS). The operational computations are performed at AIUB using the latest development version of the Bernese GNSS Software. In this context an ultra-rapid solution series is generated considering GPS and GLONASS satellites. It is updated several times per day and contains 24 hours of observed and 24 hours of predicted orbit interval. More details are available in: Lutz, S., G. Beutler, S. Schaer, R. Dach, A. Jäggi; 2014: CODE's new ultra-rapid orbit and ERP products for the IGS. GPS Solutions. DOI 10.1007/s10291-014-0432-2

CODE repro2 product series for the IGS

CODE, the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, is a joint venture of the following four institutions: • Astronomical Institute, University of Bern (AIUB), Bern, Switzerland • Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland • Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany • Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie, Technische Universität München (IAPG, TUM), Munich, Germany It acts as a global analysis center of the International GNSS Service (IGS, Dow et al, 2009). The operational computations are performed at AIUB using the latest development version of the Bernese GNSS Software (Dach et al., 2015). In this context the contribution to the IGS repro02 effort is generated considering only the GPS satellites between 1994 and 2001 as well as the GPS and GLONASS satellites from 2002 to the end of 2013.

CODE rapid product series for the IGS

CODE, the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, is a joint venture of the following four institutions: Astronomical Institute, University of Bern (AIUB), Bern, Switzerland;Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland; Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany; Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie, Technische Universität München (IAPG, TUM), Munich, Germany. It acts as a global analysis center of the International GNSS Service (IGS). The operational computations are performed at AIUB using the latest development version of the Bernese GNSS Software (Dach et al., 2015). In this context a rapid solution series is generated considering all active GPS and GLONASS satellites. It contains 24 hours of observed orbits and published at the day after the observations.

CODE final product series for the IGS

CODE, the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, is a joint venture of the following four institutions:Astronomical Institute, University of Bern (AIUB), Bern, Switzerland; Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland; Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany; Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie, Technische Universität München (IAPG, TUM), Munich, Germany. It acts as a global analysis center of the International GNSS Service (IGS). The operational computations are performed at AIUB using the latest development version of the Bernese GNSS Software. In this context a final solution series is generated considering all active GPS and GLONASS satellites. It is published in daily files with a delay of about two weeks.

CODE product series for the IGS-MGEX project

CODE, the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, is a joint venture of the following four institutions: Astronomical Institute, University of Bern (AIUB), Bern, Switzerland; Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland; Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany; Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie, Technische Universität München (IAPG, TUM), Munich, Germany. It acts as a global analysis center of the International GNSS Service (IGS). The operational computations are performed at AIUB using the latest development version of the Bernese GNSS Software. In this context a multi-GNSS solution is generated considering all active GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou (expect for GEOs), and QZSS satellites as a contribution to the IGS-MGEX project. The results are published with a delay of about two weeks.

Non-rigid Free-Form 2D-3D Registration Using Statistical Deformation Model

This paper presents a non-rigid free-from 2D-3D registration approach using statistical deformation model (SDM). In our approach the SDM is first constructed from a set of training data using a non-rigid registration algorithm based on b-spline free-form deformation to encode a priori information about the underlying anatomy. A novel intensity-based non-rigid 2D-3D registration algorithm is then presented to iteratively fit the 3D b-spline-based SDM to the 2D X-ray images of an unseen subject, which requires a computationally expensive inversion of the instantiated deformation in each iteration. In this paper, we propose to solve this challenge with a fast B-spline pseudo-inversion algorithm that is implemented on graphics processing unit (GPU). Experiments conducted on C-arm and X-ray images of cadaveric femurs demonstrate the efficacy of the present approach.

Una bella roba. ‘Novellare’ als Erzählkonzept in Boccaccios ›Decameron‹

Der narrative Entwurf von Boccaccios ›Decameron‹ und Boccaccios theoretische Reflexionen über das Erzählen stehen klar im Fluchtpunkt der horazischen Lehre des prodesse et delectare. Vor diesem Horizont entwickelt Boccaccio sein Konzept des novellare, das einerseits ein ‚Wiedererzählen’ (analog zu mhd. erniuwen) beinhaltet und andererseits zu einer neuen Autonomie des Erzählens vorstößt. Beobachten lässt sich dieser Vorgang des Erneuerns weniger in Boccaccios theoretischen Ausführungen (etwa im Schlusswort des ›Decameron‹ oder in den ›Genealogie deorum gentilium‹) als in seiner dichterischen Praxis. Als Schlüsseltext wird im Vortrag die Novelle von der duldsamen Griselda herangezogen, die das ›Decameron‹ beschließt und die mit den Worten una bella roba endet. Das ‚schöne Kleid’ ist einerseits traditionelle Dichtungsmetapher (im Horizont des investire bzw. integumentum), andererseits intradiegetischer Bestandteil des Erzähl-‚Stoffs’ der Novelle. Bei Boccaccio dürfte das Gewand der Griselda, zusammen mit deren wiederholt thematisierter Nacktheit, dazu dienen, eine in die Novelle verpackte stoische Lehre zu vergegenwärtigen, diese in eine Erzählung ‚einzukleiden’. Das Kleid der Griselda wird so zur ‚Pathosformel’ (in der Begrifflichkeit A. Warburgs) bzw. zum ‚Faltenwurf’ (in der Begrifflichkeit G. Didi-Hubermans), mithin zur Verkörperung eines ‚neuen Erzählens’, das sich (im Gegensatz etwa zu Dante) von metaphysischen Entwürfen emanzipiert und in der Autonomie sprachlicher Kunstfertigkeit, bis an die Grenzen des Erzählbaren gehend und didaktische Ansprüche überwindend, die Möglichkeiten literarischer Darstellung ausreizt. Von den Zeitgenossen wurde dieses Experiment zwar wahrgenommen, in seinen Dimensionen aber nur ansatzweise erkannt. Symptomatisch für diese Form der Rezeption ist Petrarcas lateinische Übersetzung der ›Griselda‹-Novelle (›Seniles‹, XVII,3), wobei der Verfasser – seinerseits die Kleidermetaphorik bemühend – das Übersetzen als ein stilo alio retexere auffasst und seine Version den (wohl vorwiegend männlich intendierten Lesern) als auf Gott hin orientierte Lehre anempfiehlt: ut legentes ad imitandam saltem femine constantiam excitarem, ut [...] hoc prestare Deo nostro audeant. Diese Rückführung von Boccaccios erzählerischem Wagnis ins Didaktische zeigt sich auch in der Rezeption von Petrarcas Übersetzung, durch welche die Novelle im Europa des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts weite Verbreitung fand: In einer der Haupthandschriften von Chaucers ›Canterbury Tales‹, dem Hengwrt Manuscript (Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales), wird die auf der ›Griselda‹-Novelle aufbauende Erzählung des Scholaren (›The Clerk’s Tale‹) mit Bestandteilen aus Petrarcas Übersetzung glossiert; in einer Handschrift aus dem Besitz des Nürnberger Humanisten Hartmann Schedel (München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 504) wird Petrarcas Konzept des stilo alio retexere erläutert als: claram facere, nudare [...], aperire, wobei hier die in Boccaccios Novelle intradiegetisch enthaltene Spannung von ‚Einkleidung’ und ‚Nacktheit’ auf einer lehrhaften Ebene fortwirkt.

CODE final product series for the IGS

CODE, the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe, is a joint venture of the following four institutions:Astronomical Institute, University of Bern (AIUB), Bern, Switzerland; Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland; Federal Agency of Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), Frankfurt a. M., Germany; Institut für Astronomische und Physikalische Geodäsie, Technische Universität München (IAPG, TUM), Munich, Germany. It acts as a global analysis center of the International GNSS Service (IGS). The operational computations are performed at AIUB using the latest development version of the Bernese GNSS Software. In this context a final solution series is generated considering all active GPS and GLONASS satellites. It is published in daily files with a delay of about two weeks.

Publication activities of German junior researchers in academic medicine: which factors impact impact factors?

Previous studies have shown medical students in Germany to have little interest in research while at the same time there is a lack of physician scientists. This study’s aim is to investigate factors influencing publication productivity of physicians during and after finishing their medical doctorate. We conducted a PubMed search for physicians having received their doctoral degree at Ludwig-Maxmilians-University Munich Faculty of Medicine between 2011 and 2013 (N = 924) and identified the appropriate impact factor (IF) for each journal the participants had published in. Gender, age, final grade of the doctorate, participation in a structured doctoral study program and joint publication activities between graduate and academic supervisor were defined as factors. For analyses we used nonparametric procedures. Men show significantly more publications than women. Before their doctoral graduation men publish 1.98 (SD ± 3.64) articles on average, women 1.15 (±2.67) (p < 0.0001, d = 0.27). After completion of the doctorate (up to 06/2015), 40 % of men still publish, while only 24.3 % of women (p < 0.0001, φ = 0.17) continue to publish. No differences were found concerning the value of IFs. Similar results were found regarding the variable ‘participation in a structured doctoral study program’. Until doctoral graduation, program participants publish 2.82 (±5.41) articles, whereas participants doing their doctorate individually only publish 1.39 (±2.87) articles (p < 0.0001, d = 0.46). These differences persist in publication activities after graduation (45.5 vs. 29.7 %, p = 0.008, φ = 0.09). A structured doctorate seems to have positive influence on IFs (4.33 ± 2.91 vs. 3.37 ± 2.82, p = 0.006, d = 0.34). Further significant results concern the variables ‘final grade’ and ‘age’: An early doctoral graduation and an excellent or very good grade for the doctoral thesis positively influence publication productivity. Finally, joint publication activities between the graduate and his/her academic supervisor result in significantly higher IFs (3.64 ± 3.03 vs. 2.84 ± 2.25, p = 0.007, d = 0.28). The study’s results support the assumption about women’s underrepresentation in science as well as the relevance of structured doctoral study programs for preparing and recruiting young academics in medicine for scientific careers. Promoting women and further development of structured doctoral study programs are highly recommended.