Robust acoustic and semantic modeling in a telephone-based spoken dialog system

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Diss., 2009

Analysis and removal of code clones in software product lines

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Informatik, Diss., 2013

Die Notwendigkeit von Unterstützungsangeboten für Geschwister von chronisch kranken und/ oder behinderten Kindern : eine retrospektive Einschätzung der Betroffenen

Introduction: It is a big challenge that devolopes in a family with the birth ofdisabled or handycapped child. The siblings of the disabled or handicapped child aredealt with issues like sufferings, sickness, weakness and even death. Furthermorethey have to take part in assisting and care of the disabled or challenged child. Theexperience they make as they grow up with a disabled or handycapped sibling is aburden more than a challenge lies on the support service options they are entitled.The choices are from the representatives of social organisations to professional help.Aim of this work is to analyse the necessity of support services for the siblings of thedisabled or handycapped child. To achieve this, a retrospective analysis of the peoplewho were affected by such a situation is necessary.Material and Methods: Structured, guidelined, problem centered personnalinterviews with affected siblings. The method was chosen against the background ofadequate affected siblings with necessary informations, knowledge and experience.Nine interviewees were selected and requested for cooperation per e-mail. FourInterviews were done personnally and five through telephone.Result: All the interviewees had disabled or handicapped or diseased siblings. Someof the interviewees knew there was something not in order with thier sibling beforethier preschool age. Some of them noticed thier siblings as "different" through theinteractions with other schoolmates. All the interviewees except the ones who werementally challenged siblings were well informed by their parents about the situation.The limitations of the siblings were very complex. The interviewees had a lot oflimitations and obligations for themselves because of the disability of their siblings.All but one of the interviewees could atleast think of one nice experience with thiermentally or physically challenged sibling. There was also negative experiences withanxiety, anger and rag

Sabbatical stay at CREVER, University Rovira i Virgili

A three-year research proposal of international impact and quality was developed between the author and CREVER researchers, taking into account the infrastructure and research lines already being carried out at CREVER. The project is related to the study of new mixtures in thermal activated systems, by the addition of a third component to help the heat transfer processes. The project proposes the use of water and lithium nitrate as absorbents in ternary ammonia mixtures, varying the concentration with the objective of optimising the mixture for solar air conditioning purposes. Also, the research proposal will promote an intensive collaboration in the following years between CREVER and The Centro de Investigación en Energía-UNAM, Mexico.

Physiotherapy practice in the private sector: organizational characteristics and models.

BACKGROUND: Even if a large proportion of physiotherapists work in the private sector worldwide, very little is known of the organizations within which they practice. Such knowledge is important to help understand contexts of practice and how they influence the quality of services and patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to: 1) describe characteristics of organizations where physiotherapists practice in the private sector, and 2) explore the existence of a taxonomy of organizational models. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional quantitative survey of 236 randomly-selected physiotherapists. Participants completed a purpose-designed questionnaire online or by telephone, covering organizational vision, resources, structures and practices. Organizational characteristics were analyzed descriptively, while organizational models were identified by multiple correspondence analyses. RESULTS: Most organizations were for-profit (93.2%), located in urban areas (91.5%), and within buildings containing multiple businesses/organizations (76.7%). The majority included multiple providers (89.8%) from diverse professions, mainly physiotherapy assistants (68.7%), massage therapists (67.3%) and osteopaths (50.2%). Four organizational models were identified: 1) solo practice, 2) middle-scale multiprovider, 3) large-scale multiprovider and 4) mixed. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide a detailed description of the organizations where physiotherapists practice, and highlight the importance of human resources in differentiating organizational models. Further research examining the influences of these organizational characteristics and models on outcomes such as physiotherapists' professional practices and patient outcomes are needed.

Expression of the alpha 1b-adrenergic receptor and G protein subunits in mammalian cell lines using the Semliki Forest virus expression system.

Semliki Forest virus (SFV) vectors have been efficiently used for rapid high level expression of several G protein-coupled receptors. Here we describe the use of SFV vectors to express the alpha 1b-adrenergic receptor (AR) alone or in the presence of the G protein alpha q and/or beta 2 and gamma 2 subunits. Infection of baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells with recombinant SFV-alpha 1b-AR particles resulted in high specific binding activity of the alpha 1b-AR (24 pmol receptor/mg protein). Time-course studies indicated that the highest level of receptor expression was obtained 30 hours post-infection. The stimulation of BHK cells, with epinephrine led to a 5-fold increase in inositol phosphate (IP) accumulation, confirming the functional coupling of the receptor to G protein-mediated activation of phospholipase C. The SFV expression system represents a rapid and reproducible system to study the pharmacological properties and interactions of G protein coupled receptors and of G protein subunits.

Raising the Level of Moral Thinking among Managers Will Not Help. Kohlberg's Conventionality and Systemic Ethical Flaws in Business

Business ethicists often assume that unethical behavior arises when individuals deviate from the norms and responsibilities that are institutionalized to frame economic activities. People's greed motivates them to violate the rules of the game. In Kohlberg's terms, it is assumed that such actors make decisions in a preconventional way and act opportunistically. In this article, we propose an alternative interpretation of deviant behavior, arguing that such behavior does not result from a lack of conventional moral guidance but rather from the fact that characteristics attributed to preconventional morality by Kohlberg - the purely incentive and punishment driven opportunistic morality - have become the conventionalized morality. The prevailing norms that economic actors have internalized as their yardstick are those of the preconventional Homo economicus. Not the deviation from, but the compliance with the rules of the game explains many forms of harmful and illegal decisions made in corporations.

Promoting hospital-based smoking cessation services at major Swiss hospitals: a before and after study.

Whether a 1-year nationwide, government supported programme is effective in significantly increasing the number of smoking cessation clinics at major Swiss hospitals as well as providing basic training for the staff running them. We conducted a baseline evaluation of hospital services for smoking cessation, hypertension, and obesity by web search and telephone contact followed by personal visits between October 2005 and January 2006 of 44 major public hospitals in the 26 cantons of Switzerland; we compared the number of active smoking cessation services and trained personnel between baseline to 1 year after starting the programme including a training workshop for doctors and nurses from all hospitals as well as two further follow-up visits. At base line 9 (21%) hospitals had active smoking cessation services, whereas 43 (98%) and 42 (96%) offered medical services for hypertension and obesity respectively. Hospital directors and heads of Internal Medicine of 43 hospitals were interested in offering some form of help to smokers provided they received outside support, primarily funding to get started or to continue. At two identical workshops, 100 health professionals (27 in Lausanne, 73 in Zurich) were trained for one day. After the programme, 22 (50%) hospitals had an active smoking cessation service staffed with at least 1 trained doctor and 1 nurse. A one-year, government-supported national intervention resulted in a substantial increase in the number of hospitals allocating trained staff and offering smoking cessation services to smokers. Compared to the offer for hypertension and obesity this offer is still insufficient.

An interpretation of the deep seismic lines from the Penninic Alps of Valais (Switzerland)

The upper part of three deep seismic lines running across the Penninic Swiss Alps of Valais have been studied. Numerous reflectors illustrate the nappe structure of this internal part of the orogen. These reflectors, even at great depths (20-25 km), can be correlated with outcropping geological features and are most likely produced by lithological boundaries rather than by mylonites zones, which are hardly reflective in such an environment. Our interpretations, largely constrained by projections of the outcropping geology, have improved our knowledge of the deep structure of this segment of the Alpine belt, enhancing the importance of the backfolding and the crustal scale deformation phase which produced the Rawil-Valpelline depression and the Aar-Toce culmination. Furthermore we have here the possibility of correlating seismic patterns produced by ductile folds with the outcropping structures.

Using information from telephone panel surveys to predict reasons for refusal

One of the key problems in conducting surveys is convincing people to participate.¦However, it is often difficult or impossible to determine why people refuse. Panel surveys¦provide information from previous waves that can offer valuable clues as to why people¦refuse to participate. If we are able to anticipate the reasons for refusal, then we¦may be able to take appropriate measures to encourage potential respondents to participate¦in the survey. For example, special training could be provided for interviewers¦on how to convince potential participants to participate.¦This study examines different influences, as determined from the previous wave,¦on refusal reasons that were given by the respondents in the subsequent wave of the¦telephone Swiss Household Panel. These influences include socio-demography, social¦inclusion, answer quality, and interviewer assessment of question understanding and¦of future participation. Generally, coefficients are similar across reasons, and¦between-respondents effects rather than within-respondents effects are significant.¦While 'No interest' reasons are easier to predict, the other reasons are more situational. Survey-specific issues are able to distinguish¦different reasons to some extent.

Immune regulation and function of the NOD-like receptors NLRC5 and NLRP3

AbstractThe vertebrate immune system is composed of the innate and the adaptive branches. Innate immune cells represent the first line of defense and detect pathogens through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), detecting evolutionary conserved pathogen- and danger- associated molecular patterns. Engagement of these receptors initiates the inflammatory response, but also instructs antigen-specific adaptive immune cells. NOD-like receptors (NLRs) are an important group of PRRs, leading to the production of inflammatory mediators and favoring antigen presentation to Τ lymphocytes through the regulation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules.In this work we focused our attention on selected NOD-like receptors (NLRs) and their role at the interface between innate and adaptive immunity. First, we describe a new regulatory mechanism controlling IL-1 production. Our results indicate that type I interferons (IFNs) block NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasome activity and interfere with LPS-driven proIL-Ια and -β induction. As type I IFNs are produced upon viral infections, these anti-inflammatory effects of type I IFN could be relevant in the context of superinfections, but could also help explaining the efficacy of IFN-β in multiple sclerosis treatment.The second project addresses the role of a novel NLR family member, called NLRC5. The function of this NLR is still matter of debate, as it has been proposed as both an inhibitor and an activator of different inflammatory pathways. We found that the expression of this protein is restricted to immune cells and is positively regulated by IFNs. We generated Nlrc5-deficient mice and found that this NLR plays an essential role in Τ, NKT and, NK lymphocytes, in which it drives the expression of MHC class I molecules. Accordingly, we could show that CD8+ Τ cell-mediated killing of target lymphocytes lacking NLRC5 is strongly impaired. Moreover, NLRC5 expression was found to be low in many lymphoid- derived tumor cell lines, a mechanism that could be exploited by tumors to escape immunosurveillance.Finally, we found NLRC5 to be involved in the production of IL-10 by CD4+ Τ cells, as Nlrc5- deficient Τ lymphocytes produced less of this cytokine upon TCR triggering. In line with these observations, Mrc5-deficient CD4+ Τ cells expanded more than control cells when transferred into lymphopenic hosts and led to a more rapid appearance of colitis symptoms. Therefore, our work gives novel insights on the function of NLRC5 by using knockout mice, and strongly supports the idea that NLRs direct not only innate, but also adaptive immune responses.

Identification and characterization of novel molecular mechanisms involved in initiation and progression of myelination

Schwann cells synthesize a large amount of membrane that form a specialized structure called myelin that surrounds axons and facilitate the transmission of electrical signal along neurons in peripheral nervous system (PNS). Previous studies demonstrated that both Schwann cell differentiation and de-differentiation (in the situation of a nerve injury or demyelinating disease) are regulated by cell-intrinsic regulators including several transcription factors. In particular, the de-differentiation of mature Schwann cells is driven by the activation of multiple negative regulators of myelination including Sox2, c-Jun, Notch and Pax3, all usually expressed in immature Schwann cells and suppressed at the onset of myelination. In order to identify new regulators of myelination involved in the development of the PNS, we analyzed the gene-expression profiling data from developing PNS and from three models of demyelinating neuropathies. This analysis led to the identification of Sox4, a member of the Sox family of transcription factors, as a potential candidate. To characterize the molecular function of Sox4 in PNS, we generated two transgenic lines of mice, which overexpress Sox4 specifically in Schwann cells. Detailed analysis of these mice showed that the overexpression of Sox4 in Schwann cells causes a delay in progression of myelination between post-natal day 2 (P2) and P5. Our in vitro analysis suggested that Sox4 cDNA can be overexpressed while the protein translation is tightly regulated. Interestingly, we observed that Sox4 protein is stabilized in nerves of the CMT4C mouse, a model of the human neuropathy. We therefore crossed Sox4 transgenic mice with CMT4C mice and we observed that Sox4 overexpression exacerbated the neuropathy phenotype in these mice. While recognized as being crucial for the normal function of both neurons and myelinating glial cells, the processes that regulate the beginning of myelination and the nature of the neuro-glial cross-talk remains mostly unknown. In order to gain insight into the molecular pathways involved in the interactions between neurons and associated glial cells, we developed a neuron-glia co-culture system based on microfluidic chambers and successfully induced myelination in this system by ascorbic acid. Importantly, we observed that in addition to acting on Schwann cells, ascorbic acid also modulate neuronal/axonal NRG1/ErbB2-B3 signalling. The experimental setting used in our study thus allowed us to discover a novel phenomena of propagation for myelination in vitro. The further characterization of this event brought us to identify other compounds able to induce myelination: ADAMs secretases inhibitor GM6001 and cyclic-AMP. The results generated during my thesis project are therefore not only important for the advancement of our understanding of how the PNS works, but may also potentially help to develop new therapies aiming at improvement of PNS myelination under disease conditions. - Les cellules de Schwann synthétisent une grande quantité de membrane formant une structure spécialisée appelée myéline qui entoure les axones et facilite la transmission du signal électrique le long des neurones du système nerveux périphérique (SNP). Des études antérieures ont démontré que la différenciation et la dédifférenciation des cellules de Schwann (dans la situation d'une lésion nerveuse ou d'une maladie démyélinisante) sont régulées par des régulateurs cellulaires intrinsèques, incluant plusieurs facteurs de transcription. En particulier, la dédifférenciation des cellules de Schwann matures est contrôlée par l'activation de plusieurs régulateurs négatifs de la myélinisation dont Sox2, c-Jun, Notch et Pax3, tous habituellement exprimés dans des cellules de Schwann immatures et supprimés au début de la myélinisation. Afin d'identifier de nouveaux régulateurs de myélinisation impliqués dans le développement du SNP, nous avons analysé le profil d'expression génique durant le développement du SNP ainsi que dans trois modèles de neuropathies démyélinisantes. Cette analyse a mené à l'identification de Sox4, un membre de la famille des facteurs de transcription Sox, comme étant un candidat potentiel. Dans le but de caractériser la fonction moléculaire de Sox4 dans le SNP, nous avons généré deux lignées transgéniques de souris qui surexpriment Sox4 spécifiquement dans les cellules de Schwann. L'analyse détaillée de ces souris a montré que la surexpression de Sox4 dans les cellules de Schwann provoque un retard dans la progression de la myélinisation entre le jour postnatal 2 (P2) et P5. Notre analyse in vitro a suggéré que l'ADNc de Sox4 peut être surexprimé alors que la traduction des protéines est quand à elle étroitement régulée. De façon intéressante, nous avons observé que la protéine Sox4 est stabilisée dans les nerfs des souris CMT4C, un modèle de neuropathie humaine. Nous avons donc croisé les souris transgéniques Sox4 avec des souris CMT4C et avons observé que la surexpression de Sox4 exacerbe le phénotype de neuropathie chez ces souris. Bien que reconnus comme étant cruciaux pour le fonctionnement normal des neurones et des cellules gliales myélinisantes, les processus qui régulent le début de la myélinisation ainsi que la nature des interactions neurone-glie restent largement méconnus. Afin de mieux comprendre les mécanismes moléculaires impliqués dans les interactions entre les neurones et les cellules gliales leur étant associés, nous avons développé un système de co-culture neurone-glie basé sur des chambres microfluidiques et y avons induit avec succès la myélinisation avec de l'acide ascorbique. Étonnamment, nous avons remarqué que, en plus d'agir sur les cellules de Schwann, l'acide ascorbique module également la voie de signalisation neuronale/axonale NRG1/ErbB2-B3. Le protocole expérimental utilisé dans notre étude a ainsi permis de découvrir un nouveau phénomène de propagation de la myélinisation in vitro. La caractérisation plus poussée de ce phénomène nous a menés à identifier d'autres composés capables d'induire la myélinisation: L'inhibiteur de sécrétases ADAMs GM6001 et l'AMP cyclique. Les résultats obtenus au cours de mon projet de thèse ne sont donc pas seulement importants pour l'avancement de notre compréhension sur la façon dont le SNP fonctionne, mais peuvent aussi potentiellement aider à développer de nouvelles thérapies visant à l'amélioration de la myélinisation du SNP dans des conditions pathologiques.

"How I Do It"-Radical Right Colectomy with Side-to-Side Stapled Ileo-Colonic Anastomosis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Standardization of surgical technique helps to reproduce excellent clinical outcomes, especially in teaching institutions. We aim to describe in detail our established approach for oncological right colectomy. TECHNIQUE: The right colon is mobilized in a five-step latero-inferior approach starting off with (1) the terminal ileum, visualizing the duodenum and the head of pancreas. (2) The ascending colon is dissected from the retroperitoneum, and takedown of the hepatic flexure is completed coming retrograde from the transverse colon (3). (4) Transection of the remaining retroperitoneal attachments completes exposure of the duodenum and mobilization of the right colon. (5) Ileocolic vessels are dissected out and divided close to their origin, and the mesocolon is divided. We then establish intestinal continuity by use of a side-to-side stapled technique. (1) The arms of a linear cutting stapler are inserted via transverse incisions at the anti-mesenteric sides of the terminal ileum and the transverse colon (tenia) and fired. (2) The enterotomy site is closed by removal of the specimen using a second transverse firing of the linear cutting stapler. An important final step is the (3) reinforcement of the anastomotic ends and the crossing of the staple lines; an omental patch and closure of the mesenteric window are optional. CONCLUSION: The suggested standardized five-step lateral-to-medial dissection of the right colon and the three-step side-to-side stapled technique for ileo-colonic anastomosis are easy to learn and to reproduce. Careful adherence to pivotal technical details will help to obtain an optimal oncological outcome and a consistently low leak rate around 2 %.