Search

The intracellular bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila (L.p.) manipulates eukaryotic host ubiquitination machinery to form its replicative vacuole. While nearly 10% of L.p.'s ∼330 secreted effector proteins are ubiquitin ligases or deubiquitinases, a comprehensive measure of temporally resolved changes in the endogenous host ubiquitinome during infection has not been undertaken. To elucidate how L.p. hijacks host cell ubiquitin signaling, we generated a proteome-wide analysis of changes in protein ubiquitination during infection. We discover that L.p. infection increases ubiquitination of host regulators of subcellular trafficking and membrane dynamics, most notably ∼40% of mammalian Ras superfamily small GTPases. We determine that these small GTPases undergo nondegradative ubiquitination at the Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV) membrane. Finally, we find that the bacterial effectors SidC/SdcA play a central role in cross-family small GTPase ubiquitination, and that these effectors function upstream of SidE family ligases in the polyubiquitination and retention of GTPases in the LCV membrane. This work highlights the extensive reconfiguration of host ubiquitin signaling by bacterial effectors during infection and establishes simultaneous ubiquitination of small GTPases across the Ras superfamily as a novel consequence of L.p. infection. Our findings position L.p. as a tool to better understand how small GTPases can be regulated by ubiquitination in uninfected contexts.

Intracellular bacterial pathogens have evolved to survive in a distinctly hostile environment. Intravacuolar pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila (L.p.) reside within a membrane bound compartment in their host cell, reshaping host materials into a new, protected organelle. The molecular mechanisms employed by L.p. during early infection to defend its vacuole are not entirely understood. As host cells uptake the bacterium by phagocytosis, L.p. must avoid classical trafficking of its phagosome through the endolysosomal pathway or attack by autophagy, which would ultimately lead to destruction of the bacterium in the lysosome. In this work, we set out to define how L.p. manipulates host regulatory proteins to defend its vacuole, termed the Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV), from these threats during early infection. First, we explore the interaction of Rab5, the master regulator of the early endosomal compartment which is required for phagosome maturation, with the LCV. We determine that Rab5 associates with the LCV and is both mono- and polyubiquitinated during infection. This ubiquitination is dependent on two families of secreted bacterial proteins, SidC/SdcA and the SidE family of effectors. Finally, we find that SidE family dependent polyubiquitination is necessary for retention of Rab5 at the LCV membrane. Next, we recognized the unique opportunity presented by Rab5, as this host protein localizes to both the WT and avirulent strain LCV. We determine that Rab5 associated with the WT LCV has a distinctive morphology and stability that is dependent on the SidE family of effectors rather than host regulators. Finally, we discover that L.p. infection induces a burst of ubiquitination of both host and bacterial proteins, and that SidC/SdcA play a central role in this burst. We propose a new role of SidC/SdcA as a metaeffector, which regulates the activity of other as yet unknown bacterial proteins. Taken together, our findings suggest a model in which ubiquitin

A hallmark of Parkinsons disease is the specific degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Interestingly, not all of these neurons are affected to the same extent. Studies revealed that neurons located more ventrally within the substantia nigra pars compacta have a higher prevalence to degenerate than those located in the dorsal tier. The underlying reasons for this selective neuronal vulnerability are still unknown. The aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of molecular differences between these two neuronal subpopulations that may explain the selective neuronal vulnerability within the human substantia nigra. For this purpose, the neurons from the ventral as well as dorsal tier of the substantia nigra were specifically isolated out of neuropathologically unremarkable human substantia nigra sections with laser microdissection. Following, their proteome was analyzed by data independent acquisition mass spectrometry. The samples were analysed donor-specifically and not pooled for this purpose. A total of 5,391 proteins were identified in the substantia nigra. Of these, 2,453 proteins could be quantified in 100% of the dorsal tier samples. 1,629 could be quantified in 100% of the ventral tier samples. Nine proteins were differentially regulated with a log2 value ≥0.5 and a Qvalue ≤0.05. Of these 7 were higher abundant in the dorsal tier and 2 higher in the ventral tier. These proteins are associated with the cytoskeleton, neuronal plasticity, or calcium homeostasis. With these findings a deeper understanding can be gained of the selective neuronal vulnerability within the substantia nigra and of protective mechanisms against neurodegeneration in specific neuronal subpopulations.

Image restoration and compression are critical components in image processing. The inter-channel correlation analysis for natural color images has shown higher correlations for red/green and green/blue channels than for red/blue channels. In addition, green channel prior is a general characteristic of many types of distorted color images. In this dissertation, the inter-channel correlation-driven approaches are proposed and investigated for multiple image restoration and compression tasks., Bildwiederherstellung und -komprimierung sind wichtige Komponenten der Bildverarbeitung. Die Analyse der Korrelation zwischen den Kanälen bei natürlichen Farbbildern hat gezeigt, dass die Korrelationen zwischen den Kanälen Rot/Grün und Grün/Blau höher sind als zwischen den Kanälen Rot/Blau. In dieser Dissertation werden die korrelationsgesteuerten Ansätze für mehrere Bildwiederherstellungs- und Komprimierungsaufgaben vorgeschlagen und untersucht.

In this thesis, we propose to tackle the real-time 6D SLAM problem by leveraging range, magnetic, and inertial sensing in a coarse-to-fine manner. The content of this work is divided into two main subsections: robust attitude and heading estimation in an indoor environment using a multi-sensor fusion approach, and low-latency 6D ego-motion estimation and mapping techniques using LiDAR-based systems. We have validated the proposed methods through a series of extensive experiments., Wir schlagen vor, das Echtzeit-6D-SLAM-Problem anzugehen, indem wir die Entfernungs-, Magnet- und Trägheitserfassung auf grobe bis feine Weise nutzen. Es ist in zwei Hauptunterabschnitte unterteilt: robuste Lage- und Kursschätzung in einer Innenumgebung unter Verwendung einer Multi-Sensor-Fusion und 6D-Ego-Motion-Schätzung und Mapping-Techniken mit niedriger Latenzzeit unter Verwendung von LiDAR-Systemen. Wir haben die vorgeschlagenen Methoden durch umfangreiche Experimente validiert.

English abstract: This thesis contributes to the new research paradigm on the neutrality of small states during World War I. Prior to this, neutrality was characterized by the logic of realist theory as a refuge for weak states. In political historiography, characterized by methodological nationalism as each country's own history told in relationship to one or more great powers. I have shed light on how Denmark and the other neutral small states acted diplomatically during this period with a new look at previously used source material. This is done by including the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in an analysis of trade policy negotiations and agreements with the great powers. The analysis stands on three pillars; 1) Denmark and the Netherlands accepted that it was necessary to outsource parts of trade policy to private actors to remain neutral. This was a legitimate move within international law, albeit somewhat risky in that they ceded the monopoly on an essential area of foreign policy to actors they could not control. 2) The Danish trade policy agreement created a rift with Norway and Sweden, who saw it as disloyal to neutral cooperation. Examples of this cooperation were the Swedish initiatives on the postal parcel issue and the attempt at a conference for neutrals. These two examples show how relatively easy it was for great powers to intimidate neutrals away from cooperation, but the support for the conference initiative shows that there was a desire from the neutrals for greater cooperation. 3) In this cooperation there was a high level of knowledge sharing. The Tonnage question is an example of this, where there was an intensive correspondence where the four countries presented their expected position to each other. Examples like this show how the neutral small states shared knowledge, which enabled them to adopt similar strategies in negotiations with the major powers. 6 It is shown how the neutral states acted during the war. For Denmark, it w, English abstract: This thesis contributes to the new research paradigm on the neutrality of small states during World War I. Prior to this, neutrality was characterized by the logic of realist theory as a refuge for weak states. In political historiography, characterized by methodological nationalism as each country's own history told in relationship to one or more great powers. I have shed light on how Denmark and the other neutral small states acted diplomatically during this period with a new look at previously used source material. This is done by including the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in an analysis of trade policy negotiations and agreements with the great powers. The analysis stands on three pillars; 1) Denmark and the Netherlands accepted that it was necessary to outsource parts of trade policy to private actors to remain neutral. This was a legitimate move within international law, albeit somewhat risky in that they ceded the monopoly on an essential area of foreign policy to actors they could not control. 2) The Danish trade policy agreement created a rift with Norway and Sweden, who saw it as disloyal to neutral cooperation. Examples of this cooperation were the Swedish initiatives on the postal parcel issue and the attempt at a conference for neutrals. These two examples show how relatively easy it was for great powers to intimidate neutrals away from cooperation, but the support for the conference initiative shows that there was a desire from the neutrals for greater cooperation. 3) In this cooperation there was a high level of knowledge sharing. The Tonnage question is an example of this, where there was an intensive correspondence where the four countries presented their expected position to each other. Examples like this show how the neutral small states shared knowledge, which enabled them to adopt similar strategies in negotiations with the major powers. 6 It is shown how the neutral states acted during the war. For Denmark, it w

English abstract: This thesis contributes to the new research paradigm on the neutrality of small states during World War I. Prior to this, neutrality was characterized by the logic of realist theory as a refuge for weak states. In political historiography, characterized by methodological nationalism as each country's own history told in relationship to one or more great powers. I have shed light on how Denmark and the other neutral small states acted diplomatically during this period with a new look at previously used source material. This is done by including the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in an analysis of trade policy negotiations and agreements with the great powers. The analysis stands on three pillars; 1) Denmark and the Netherlands accepted that it was necessary to outsource parts of trade policy to private actors to remain neutral. This was a legitimate move within international law, albeit somewhat risky in that they ceded the monopoly on an essential area of foreign policy to actors they could not control. 2) The Danish trade policy agreement created a rift with Norway and Sweden, who saw it as disloyal to neutral cooperation. Examples of this cooperation were the Swedish initiatives on the postal parcel issue and the attempt at a conference for neutrals. These two examples show how relatively easy it was for great powers to intimidate neutrals away from cooperation, but the support for the conference initiative shows that there was a desire from the neutrals for greater cooperation. 3) In this cooperation there was a high level of knowledge sharing. The Tonnage question is an example of this, where there was an intensive correspondence where the four countries presented their expected position to each other. Examples like this show how the neutral small states shared knowledge, which enabled them to adopt similar strategies in negotiations with the major powers. 6 It is shown how the neutral states acted during the war. For Denmark, it w, English abstract: This thesis contributes to the new research paradigm on the neutrality of small states during World War I. Prior to this, neutrality was characterized by the logic of realist theory as a refuge for weak states. In political historiography, characterized by methodological nationalism as each country's own history told in relationship to one or more great powers. I have shed light on how Denmark and the other neutral small states acted diplomatically during this period with a new look at previously used source material. This is done by including the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in an analysis of trade policy negotiations and agreements with the great powers. The analysis stands on three pillars; 1) Denmark and the Netherlands accepted that it was necessary to outsource parts of trade policy to private actors to remain neutral. This was a legitimate move within international law, albeit somewhat risky in that they ceded the monopoly on an essential area of foreign policy to actors they could not control. 2) The Danish trade policy agreement created a rift with Norway and Sweden, who saw it as disloyal to neutral cooperation. Examples of this cooperation were the Swedish initiatives on the postal parcel issue and the attempt at a conference for neutrals. These two examples show how relatively easy it was for great powers to intimidate neutrals away from cooperation, but the support for the conference initiative shows that there was a desire from the neutrals for greater cooperation. 3) In this cooperation there was a high level of knowledge sharing. The Tonnage question is an example of this, where there was an intensive correspondence where the four countries presented their expected position to each other. Examples like this show how the neutral small states shared knowledge, which enabled them to adopt similar strategies in negotiations with the major powers. 6 It is shown how the neutral states acted during the war. For Denmark, it w

BackgroundBioaugmentation is considered a sustainable and cost-effective methodology to recover contaminated environments, but its outcome is highly variable. Predation is a key top-down control mechanism affecting inoculum establishment, however, its effects on this process have received little attention. This study focused on the impact of trophic interactions on bioaugmentation success in two soils with different pollution exposure histories. We inoculated a 13C-labelled pollutant-degrading consortium in these soils and tracked the fate of the labelled biomass through stable isotope probing (SIP) of DNA. We identified active bacterial and eukaryotic inoculum-biomass consumers through amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA genes coupled to a novel enrichment factor calculation.ResultsInoculation effectively increased PAH removal in the short-term, but not in the long-term polluted soil. A decrease in the relative abundance of the inoculated genera was observed already on day 15 in the long-term polluted soil, while growth of these genera was observed in the short-term polluted soil, indicating establishment of the inoculum. In both soils, eukaryotic genera dominated as early incorporators of 13C-labelled biomass, while bacteria incorporated the labelled biomass at the end of the incubation period, probably through cross-feeding. We also found different successional patterns between the two soils. In the short-term polluted soil, Cercozoa and Fungi genera predominated as early incorporators, whereas Ciliophora, Ochrophyta and Amoebozoa were the predominant genera in the long-term polluted soil.ConclusionOur results showed differences in the inoculum establishment and predator community responses, affecting bioaugmentation efficiency. This highlights the need to further study predation effects on inoculum survival to increase the applicability of inoculation-based technologies.

The civil procedural system plays a significant role as for the enforcement of substantive law in society. By ensuring lower costs and efficiency, the threshold for initiating procedures to assert one’s right may be brought down. Normally when losing a case, the individual is obliged to pay the costs for their own legal representative, but some companies provide risk associated agreements whereby the costs are cut if losing, and an additional fee is added if the action is affirmed. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the regulations governing litigation costs when applied to risk associated agreements. In disputes related to smaller amounts, initiated by a private individual, such agreements have a good chance of resulting in compensable litigation costs due to the low burden of proof that applies since 2022. In other cases, the conditions are more limited, and the greater part of the risk associated fee is unlikely to be covered by a losing counterparty. The terms of the agreement can affect the outcome, especially concerning matters of affiliation to the dispute. The risk associated agreement’s impact on individuals’ incentives to bring an action to court can also vary based on the fee levels and the initial prognosis of succeeding.

In this work, we developed a direct strategy to fabricate Palladene (i. e. Palladium metallene) aerogels and propose a temperature-dependent growth mechanism. Besides the typical three-dimensional networks and wrinkled surface morphologies, the as-prepared Palladene50 aerogel is endowed with abundant Pd2+. The as-prepared Palladene50 aerogel exhibits an excellent mass activity in the formic acid oxidation reaction and a good half-wave potential in the oxygen reduction reaction in comparison with Pd/C and a Pd aerogel. This work expands the range of metal aerogels from the perspective of the building block units and demonstrates a direct approach to fabricate highly promising bifunctional electrocatalysts for fuel cells.

Large-Language Models such as ChatGPT have the potential to revo- lutionize academic teaching in physics in a similar way the electronic calculator, the home computer or the internet did. AI models are patient, produce answers tailored to a student’s needs and are accessible whenever needed. Those involved in academic teaching are facing a number of questions: Just how reliable are pub- licly accessible models in answering, how does the question’s language affect the models’ performance and how well do the models perform with more difficult tasks beyond retrieval? To adress these questions, we benchmark a number of publicly available models on the mlphys101 dataset, a new set of 823 university level MC5 questions and answers released alongside this work. While the original questions are in English, we employ GPT-4 to translate them into various other languages, followed by revision and refinement by native speakers. Our findings indicate that state-of-the-art models perform well on questions involving the replication of facts, definitions, and basic concepts, but struggle with multi-step quantitative reason- ing. This aligns with existing literature that highlights the challenges LLMs face in mathematical and logical reasoning tasks. We conclude that the most advanced current LLMs are a valuable addition to the academic curriculum and LLM pow- ered translations are a viable method to increase the accessibility of materials, but their utility for more difficult quantitative tasks remains limited. The dataset is available in English here only and will be removed, once the mlphys101 publication was accepted and released to the public.

The civil procedural system plays a significant role as for the enforcement of substantive law in society. By ensuring lower costs and efficiency, the threshold for initiating procedures to assert one’s right may be brought down. Normally when losing a case, the individual is obliged to pay the costs for their own legal representative, but some companies provide risk associated agreements whereby the costs are cut if losing, and an additional fee is added if the action is affirmed. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the regulations governing litigation costs when applied to risk associated agreements. In disputes related to smaller amounts, initiated by a private individual, such agreements have a good chance of resulting in compensable litigation costs due to the low burden of proof that applies since 2022. In other cases, the conditions are more limited, and the greater part of the risk associated fee is unlikely to be covered by a losing counterparty. The terms of the agreement can affect the outcome, especially concerning matters of affiliation to the dispute. The risk associated agreement’s impact on individuals’ incentives to bring an action to court can also vary based on the fee levels and the initial prognosis of succeeding.

A didactical dataset to learn supervised classification It was obtained from university level students measuring candy that was mixed and distributed in bowls to them. The goal of this dataset creation was to expose the students to the data taking process. Further, the dataset is meant for classificatio

Controlling and minimising background contamination is crucial for maintaining a high quality of samples in human biomonitoring targeting organic chemicals. We assessed the contamination of three previous types and one newly introduced medical-grade type of sample tubes used for storing human body fluids at the German Environmental Specimen Bank. Aqueous extracts from these tubes were analysed by non-targeted liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) before and after a dedicated cleaning procedure. After peak detection using MZmine, Bayesian hypothesis testing was used to group peaks into those originating either from instrumental and laboratory background contamination, or actual tube contaminants, based on if their peak height was reduced, increased or not affected by the cleaning procedure. For all four tube types 80–90% of the 2475 peaks (1549 in positive and 926 in negative mode) were assigned to laboratory/instrumental background, which we have to consider as potential sample tube contaminants. Among the tube contaminants, results suggest a considerable difference in the contaminant peak inventory and the absolute level of contamination among the different sample tube types. The cleaning procedure did not affect the largest fraction of peaks (50–70%). For the medical grade tubes, the removal of contaminants by the cleaning procedure was strongest compared to the previous tubes, but in all cases a small fraction increased in intensity after cleaning, probably due to a release of oligomers or additives. The identified laboratory background contaminants were mainly semi-volatile polymer additives such as phthalates and phosphate esters. A few compounds could be assigned solely as tube-specific contaminants, such as N,N-dibutylformamide and several constituents of the oligomeric light stabiliser Tinuvin-622. A cleaning procedure before use is an effective way to standardise the used sample tubes and minimises the background contamination, a

Correspondence estimation on point clouds is a fundamental problem in point cloud registration. This thesis proposes several deep learning-based approaches for generating more reliable correspondences and learning more powerful descriptors. The effectiveness of these approaches is evaluated through direct measurement of correspondence quality and their application in the task of point cloud registration., Die Schätzung von Korrespondenzen auf Punktwolken ist ein grundlegendes Problem bei der Registrierung von Punktwolken. In dieser Arbeit werden mehrere auf Deep Learning basierende Ansätze zur Erzeugung zuverlässigerer Korrespondenzen und zum Erlernen leistungsfähigerer Deskriptoren vorgeschlagen. Die Wirksamkeit dieser Ansätze wird durch direkte Messung der Korrespondenzqualität und ihre Anwendung bei der Registrierung von Punktwolken bewertet.

In this perspective, the authors give their view on the developments and experiences on communicating on (nano)materials safety. We would like to share our experiences with the scientific community in order to make them useful for future communication activities. We present the longterm work of the science communication projects DaNa, DaNa2.0 and DaNa4.0, running from 2009-2023. Starting in the early 2000s with the beginnings of nanotechnology research, communication on the safety of nanomaterials with the public was still very new and faced the projects with many challenges. Today, science communication is indispensable for the dissemination of scientific findings and a fact-based approach like the DaNa "Knowledge Base Materials" creates a trustworthy dialogue with the public. This long-term project series has made a significant contribution to communication on the safety of nanomaterials, perhaps even the largest among publicly funded project series worldwide.

We consider the aeroelastic simulation of flexible mechanical structures submerged in subsonic fluid flows at low Mach numbers. The nonlinear kinematics of flexible bodies are described in the total Lagrangian formulation and discretized by finite elements. The aerodynamic loads are computed using the unsteady vortex-lattice method wherein a free wake is tracked over time. Each implicit time step in the dynamic simulation then requires solving a nonlinear equation system in the structural variables with additional aerodynamic load terms. Our focus here is on the efficient numerical solution of this system by accelerating the Newton algorithm. The particular structure of the aeroelastic nonlinear system suggests the structural derivative as an approximation to the full derivative in the linear Newton system. We investigate and compare two promising algorithms based in this approximation, a quasi-Newton type algorithm and a novel inexact Newton algorithm. Numerical experiments are performed on a flexible plate and on a wind turbine. Our computational results show that the approximation can indeed accelerate the Newton algorithm substantially. Surprisingly, the theoretically preferable inexact Newton algorithm is much slower than the quasi-Newton algorithm, which motivates further research to speed up derivative evaluations.

As learned image codecs (LICs) become more prevalent, their low coding efficiency for out-of-distribution data becomes a bottleneck for some applications. To improve the performance of LICs for screen content (SC) images without breaking backwards compatibility, we propose to introduce parameterized and invertible linear transformations into the coding pipeline without changing the underlying baseline codec's operation flow. We design two neural networks to act as prefilters and postfilters in our setup to increase the coding efficiency and help with the recovery from coding artifacts. Our end-to-end trained solution achieves up to 10% bitrate savings on SC compression compared to the baseline LICs while introducing only 1% extra parameters., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

Hand-Object Interactions (HOIs) are conditioned on spatial and temporal contexts like surrounding objects, previous actions, and future intents (for example, grasping and handover actions vary greatly based on objects proximity and trajectory obstruction). However, existing datasets for 4D HOI (3D HOI over time) are limited to one subject interacting with one object only. This restricts the generalization of learning-based HOI methods trained on those datasets. We introduce ADL4D, a dataset of up to two subjects interacting with different sets of objects performing Activities of Daily Living (ADL) like breakfast or lunch preparation activities. The transition between multiple objects to complete a certain task over time introduces a unique context lacking in existing datasets. Our dataset consists of 75 sequences with a total of 1.1M RGB-D frames, hand and object poses, and per-hand fine-grained action annotations. We develop an automatic system for multi-view multi-hand 3D pose annotation capable of tracking hand poses over time. We integrate and test it against publicly available datasets. Finally, we evaluate our dataset on the tasks of Hand Mesh Recovery (HMR) and Hand Action Segmentation (HAS).

In this work, we investigate single-anchor positioning with multi-antenna transceivers in sparse millimeter-wave channels, focusing on the effect of imperfect transmitter and receiver time synchronization. We study how single-bounce non-line-of-sight paths can be used to jointly estimate the target’s position and the synchronization error and improve positioning accuracy, conducting a theoretical performance analysis and developing novel algorithms for positioning and reference signal optimization., In dieser Arbeit wird die Einzelanker-Positionierung mit Mehrantennen-Transceivern in spärlichen Millimeterwellen-Kanälen mit Fokus auf die Auswirkungen einer unvollkommenen Sender- und Empfänger-Zeitsynchronisation untersucht. Es wird untersucht, wie mehrere Einfachreflektionspfade ohne direkte Sichtverbindung verwendet werden können, um die Position des Ziels und den Synchronisationsfehler zu schätzen und die Positionierungsgenauigkeit zu verbessern. Eine theoretische Leistungsanalyse wird durchgeführt und neuartige Algorithmen zur Positionierung und Referenzsignaloptimierung werden entwickelt.

In this paper, we analyze the discrete inf-sup condition and related error estimates for a modified Hilbert transformation as used in the space-time discretization of time-dependent partial differential equations. It turns out that the stability constant depends linearly on the finite element mesh parameter, but in most cases, we can show optimal convergence. We present a series of numerical experiments which illustrate the theoretical findings.

We present a monolithic finite element formulation for (nonlinear) fluid-structure interaction in Eulerian coordinates. For the discretization we employ an unfitted finite element method based on inf-sup stable finite elements. So-called ghost penalty terms are used to guarantee the robustness of the approach independently of the way the interface cuts the finite element mesh. The resulting system is solved in a monolithic fashion using Newton's method. Our developments are tested on a numerical example with fixed interface.

With the rapid proliferation of textual data, predicting long texts has emerged as a significant challenge in the domain of natural language processing. Traditional text prediction methods encounter substantial difficulties when grappling with long texts, primarily due to the presence of redundant and irrelevant information, which impedes the model's capacity to capture pivotal insights from the text. To address this issue, we introduce a novel approach to long-text classification and prediction. Initially, we employ embedding techniques to condense the long texts, aiming to diminish the redundancy therein. Subsequently,the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) embedding method is utilized for text classification training. Experimental outcomes indicate that our method realizes considerable performance enhancements in classifying long texts of Preferential Trade Agreements. Furthermore, the condensation of text through embedding methods not only augments prediction accuracy but also substantially reduces computational complexity. Overall, this paper presents a strategy for long-text prediction, offering a valuable reference for researchers and engineers in the natural language processing sphere., Comment: AI4TS Workshop@AAAI 2024 accepted publication

We consider a distributed optimal control problem subject to a parabolic evolution equation as constraint. The control will be considered in the energy norm of the anisotropic Sobolev space $[H_{0;,0}^{1,1/2}(Q)]^\ast$, such that the state equation of the partial differential equation defines an isomorphism onto $H^{1,1/2}_{0;0,}(Q)$. Thus, we can eliminate the control from the tracking type functional to be minimized, to derive the optimality system in order to determine the state. Since the appearing operator induces an equivalent norm in $H_{0;0,}^{1,1/2}(Q)$, we will replace it by a computable realization of the anisotropic Sobolev norm, using a modified Hilbert transformation. We are then able to link the cost or regularization parameter $\varrho>0$ to the distance of the state and the desired target, solely depending on the regularity of the target. For a conforming space-time finite element discretization, this behavior carries over to the discrete setting, leading to an optimal choice $\varrho = h_x^2$ of the regularization parameter $\varrho$ to the spatial finite element mesh size $h_x$. Using a space-time tensor product mesh, error estimates for the distance of the computable state to the desired target are derived. The main advantage of this new approach is, that applying sparse factorization techniques, a solver of optimal, i.e., almost linear, complexity is proposed and analyzed. The theoretical results are complemented by numerical examples, including discontinuous and less regular targets. Moreover, this approach can be applied also to optimal control problems subject to non-linear state equations.

We propose, analyze, and test new robust iterative solvers for systems of linear algebraic equations arising from the space-time finite element discretization of reduced optimality systems defining the approximate solution of hyperbolic distributed, tracking-type optimal control problems with both the standard $L^2$ and the more general energy regularizations. In contrast to the usual time-stepping approach, we discretize the optimality system by space-time continuous piecewise-linear finite element basis functions which are defined on fully unstructured simplicial meshes. If we aim at the asymptotically best approximation of the given desired state $y_d$ by the computed finite element state $y_{\varrho h}$, then the optimal choice of the regularization parameter $\varrho$ is linked to the space-time finite element mesh-size $h$ by the relations $\varrho=h^4$ and $\varrho=h^2$ for the $L^2$ and the energy regularization, respectively. For this setting, we can construct robust (parallel) iterative solvers for the reduced finite element optimality systems. These results can be generalized to variable regularization parameters adapted to the local behavior of the mesh-size that can heavily change in the case of adaptive mesh refinements. The numerical results illustrate the theoretical findings firmly.

Deformable gripper jaws are widely applied in robot grasping applications to better resist external disturbances. Grasping with such jaws results in nonplanar surface contacts if the jaws deform to the nonplanar local geometry of an object. This thesis proposes nonplanar frictional surface contact models, which estimate the force and torque that a deformable gripper jaw can exert on the object via a nonplanar surface contact. Based on the proposed models, this thesis further presents efficient algorithms to predict physical grasp success and to plan grasps for previously unseen objects., Verformbare Greifbacken werden häufig bei Robotergreifanwendungen eingesetzt, um äußeren Störungen besser zu widerstehen. Das Greifen mit solchen Backen führt zu nichtplanaren Oberflächenkontakten, wenn sich die Greifbacken an die nichtplanare lokale Geometrie eines Objektes anpassen. Um die Kraft und das Drehmoment abzuschätzen, die eine verformbare Greifbacke bei einem nichtplanaren Reibungsflächenkontakt auf das Objekt ausüben kann, präsentiert diese Arbeit zwei Reibungsflächenkontaktmodelle und Ihre Applikationen zur Grifferfolgsvorhersage und Greifplanung.

To allow for the incorporation of touch in internet applications, we introduce four methods forming a signal processing pipeline for vibrotactile signals. First, we present two lossy codecs for signal data reduction. Then, we present methods to evaluate the perceptual quality of compressed signals. Next, we develop a neural network-based quality enhancement method. Finally, we investigate the behavior of vibrotactile actuators used to display signals to a human user., Für die Übertragung des Tastsinns, stellen wir vier Methoden vor, die eine Signalverarbeitungspipeline für vibrotaktile Signale bilden. Zunächst stellen wir zwei verlustbehaftete Codecs vor. Wir präsentieren Methoden zur Bewertung der Wahrnehmungsqualität komprimierter Signale. Wir entwickeln eine auf einem neuronalen Netz basierende Methode zur Qualitätsverbesserung. Schließlich untersuchen wir das Verhalten von vibrotaktilen Aktoren, die zur Wiedergabe von Signalen verwendet werden.

This thesis proposes a multipath fingerprinting-based localization approach that, in contrast to the state-of-the-art, retains its accuracy even when there are moving objects or changes in the indoor environment. To reduce the system cost and increase accuracy, a fast database look-up algorithm, a novel privacy-protection scheme, a virtual transmitter-based fingerprint interpolation and 3D environment reconstruction algorithms are additionally designed for the proposed localization approach., Diese Dissertation beschreibt einen Lokalisierungsansatz basierend auf dem Multipath-Fingerprinting-Konzept, der im Gegensatz zum Stand der Technik seine Genauigkeit auch bei sich bewegenden Objekten oder Veränderungen in Innenräumen beibehält. Weiterhin werden ein schneller Datenbank-Lookup-Algorithmus, ein neuartiges Datenschutz-Schema, ein virtueller-Sender-basierter Interpolation-Algorithmus und ein 3D-Umgebungsrekonstruktions-Algorithmus vorgestellt.

In this dissertation, we investigate assistive teleoperation and apply it to liquid handling and pouring. It covers three topics. The first topic focuses on manipulator motion planning. Second, we discuss shared autonomy in the presence of network discontinuity. The dissertation ends with a method for training robots to pour liquids. We have validated the proposed methods through a series of extensive experiments., In dieser Dissertation untersuchen wir assistive Teleoperation und wenden sie auf Liquid Handling und Gießen an. Es behandelt drei Themen. Das erste Thema konzentriert sich auf die Manipulatorbewegungsplanung. Zweitens diskutieren wir gemeinsame Autonomie in Gegenwart von Netzwerkdiskontinuitäten. Die Dissertation endet mit einer Methode zum Trainieren von Robotern zum Ausgießen von Flüssigkeiten. Wir haben die vorgeschlagenen Methoden durch eine Reihe umfangreicher Experimente validiert.

Autonomous robotic platforms often need to rely on LiDAR-based SLAM for localization and navigation. In visual inspection tasks, for example, robots can leverage the knowledge about the inspection object, i.e., its geometry. This thesis proposes methods to improve LiDAR-SLAM accuracy by creating a static initial map or by leveraging knowledge about a 3D reference object. The effectiveness of the methods is confirmed in experiments with simulated and real data of visual inspection scenarios., Autonome Roboterplattformen müssen sich häufig zur Lokalisierung und Navigation auf LiDAR-SLAM verlassen. Bei visuellen Inspektionsaufgaben können Roboter das Vorwissen über das Inspektionsobjekt, wie z. B. seine Geometrie nutzen. Diese Arbeit schlägt Methoden zur Verbesserung der LiDAR-SLAM-Genauigkeit vor, indem eine statische Anfangskarte erstellt oder das Vorwissen über ein 3D-Referenzobjekt genutzt wird. Die Wirksamkeit der Methoden wird mit simulierten und realen Daten bestätigt.

Failures of autonomous vehicles are inevitable. One possible solution to cope with these failures is teleoperated driving, where a human operator controls the vehicle from a remote environment. In this thesis, adaptive video streaming for teleoperated driving is investigated to provide the operator with the best possible situation awareness when controlling the vehicle from remote. A teledriving framework for the adaptation of individual camera views based on the current traffic situation is developed. Additionally, a preprocessing filter concept is proposed that allows for individual rate/quality adaptation while considering the hardware limitations of autonomous vehicles., Gelegentliches Versagen von autonomen Fahrzeugen ist unvermeidbar. Eine möglicher Lösungsansatz für diese Fehler ist teleoperiertes Fahren, wobei ein menschlicher Operator das Fahrzeug aus der Ferne steuert. In dieser Dissertation wird die adaptive Videoübertragung beim teleoperierten Fahren untersucht, um den Operator mit dem bestmöglichen Situationsbewustsein beim Fernsteuern des Fahrzeuges auszustatten. Ein Teleoperation-Framework zur Adaption individueller Kameraansichten basierend auf der aktuellen Verkehrsituation wird entwickelt. Zusätzlich wird ein Filterkonzept zur Vorverarbeitung vorgestellt, welches die individuelle Raten- und Qualitäts-Adaptation ermöglicht und gleichzeitig die Hardwarelimitierungen von autonomen Fahrzeugen berücksichtigt.

Failures in autonomous systems are inevitable. In applications such as autonomous driving, such failures can have critical consequences. Failure prediction is a potential solution. In this dissertation, the concept of failures in autonomous systems and how to predict them is thoroughly investigated. A failure prediction framework for both system-level and component-level failures is developed. Finally, several applications of failure prediction for correcting or avoiding failures are proposed., Versagen autonomer Systeme ist unvermeidbar. In Anwendungen wie autonomem Fahren kann dies kritische Konsequenzen haben. Versagens-Prädiktion ist eine mögliche Lösung. In dieser Dissertation wird das Versagen autonomer Systeme sowie die Vorhersage davon umfassend untersucht. Ein Framework zur Vorhersage von Versagen sowohl auf Systemebene als auch auf Komponentenebene wird entwickelt. Zusätzlich werden mehrere Anwendungen vorgeschlagen, mit denen Versagen korrigiert oder vermieden werden kann.

In the version of this article initially published, the affiliation for Nazli Başak appeared incorrectly. Nazli Başak is at Koç University, School of Medicine, KUTTAM-NDAL, Istanbul, Turkey, and not Bogazici University. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

Die funktionelle Bildgebung der Expression der Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) stellt aufgrund ihrer bedeutsamen Rolle bei pathophysiologischen Prozessen, insbesondere bei der Tumorprogression, einen wichtigen Forschungsansatz dar. Als nichtinvasive, bildgebende Methode bietet die PET (Positronen-Emissions-Tomographie) unter Ausnutzung von radiomarkierten Molekülen eine Möglichkeit, zeitlich und räumlich molekulare Prozesse abzubilden und zu verfolgen. Das Radionuklid Fluor-18 wird wegen seiner nahezu optimalen kernphysikalischen und chemischen Eigenschaften für die PET verwendet. Aufgrund der hohen Anforderungen, die an einen Radiotracer für die Bildgebung mittels PET gestellt werden, ist es bisher nicht gelungen, eine geeignete radiomarkierte Verbindung für die Visualisierung der COX-2-Expression in vivo zu entwickeln. Insbesondere die Spezifität, Selektivität und Affinität sowie die metabolische Stabilität eines Radiotracers sind wesentliche Parameter, die über den Erfolg der Verbindung in vivo entscheiden. Basierend auf den bisherigen Erkenntnissen bei der Entwicklung radiomarkierter selektiver COX-2-Inhibitoren verfolgte diese Arbeit zwei Strategien der Radiotracerentwicklungen. Als potente Zielverbindungen wurden aus der Stoffklasse mit tricyclischer Kernstruktur das Pyrrolo[3,2,1-hi]indol PI (1-(4-Fluorphenyl)-2-(4-methansulfonyl)phenyl-pyrrolo[3,2,1-hi]indol) und das 1,2-Dihydropyrrolo[3,2,1-hi]indol DHPI (5-Fluorphenyl-4-(4-methansulfonyl)phenyl-1,2-dihydropyrrolo[3,2,1-hi]indol) ausgewählt. Die Radiosynthese von [18F]PI gelang in einer manuellen Cu(II)-vermittelten 18F-Fluorierung ausgehend vom entsprechenden Arylboronsäurepinakolester. Die Radiosynthese von [18F]DHPI erfolgte automatisiert über eine Zwei-Stufen/ Ein-Topf-Reaktion bestehend aus einer 18F-Fluorierung und anschließender intramolekularer McMurry-Reaktion. Der Radiotracer [18F]DHPI wurde umfassend hinsichtlich seiner radiopharmakologischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Trotz seiner hohen Stabilität in vi

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is characterized by low levels of lactobacilli and overgrowth of potential pathogens in the female genital tract. Current antibiotic treatments often fail to treat BV in a sustained manner, and > 50% of women experience recurrence within 6 months post-treatment. Recently, lactobacilli have shown promise for acting as probiotics by offering health benefits in BV. However, as with other active agents, probiotics often require intensive administration schedules incurring difficult user adherence. Three-dimensional (3D)-bioprinting enables fabrication of well-defined architectures with tunable release of active agents, including live mammalian cells, offering the potential for long-acting probiotic delivery. One promising bioink, gelatin alginate has been previously shown to provide structural stability, host compatibility, viable probiotic incorporation, and cellular nutrient diffusion. This study formulates and characterizes 3D-bioprinted Lactobacillus crispatus-containing gelatin alginate scaffolds for gynecologic applications. Different weight to volume (w/v) ratios of gelatin alginate were bioprinted to determine formulations with highest printing resolution, and different crosslinking reagents were evaluated for effect on scaffold integrity via mass loss and swelling measurements. Post-print viability, sustained-release, and vaginal keratinocyte cytotoxicity assays were conducted. A 10:2 (w/v) gelatin alginate formulation was selected based on line continuity and resolution, while degradation and swelling experiments demonstrated greatest structural stability with dual genipin and calcium crosslinking, showing minimal mass loss and swelling over 28 days. 3D-bioprinted L. crispatus-containing scaffolds demonstrated sustained release and proliferation of live bacteria over 28 days, without impacting viability of vaginal epithelial cells. This study provides in vitro evidence for 3D-bioprinted scaffolds as a novel

Objective: The branching behavior of vascular trees is often characterized using Murray's law. We investigate its validity using synthetic vascular trees generated under global optimization criteria. Methods: Our synthetic tree model does not incorporate Murray's law explicitly. Instead, we show that its validity depends on properties of the optimization model and investigate the effects of different physical constraints and optimization goals on the branching exponent that is now allowed to vary locally. In particular, we include variable blood viscosity due to the Fåhræus–Lindqvist effect and enforce an equal pressure drop between inflow and the micro-circulation. Using our global optimization framework, we generate vascular trees with over one million terminal vessels and compare them against a detailed corrosion cast of the portal venous tree of a human liver. Results: Murray's law is fulfilled when no additional constraints are enforced, indicating its validity in this setting. Variable blood viscosity or equal pressure drop lead to different optima but with the branching exponent inside the experimentally predicted range between 2.0 and 3.0. The validation against the corrosion cast shows good agreement from the portal vein down to the venules. Conclusion: Not enforcing Murray's law increases the predictive capabilities of synthetic vascular trees, and in addition reduces the computational cost. Significance: The ability to study optimal branching exponents across different scales can improve the functional assessment of organs.

International regulations on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as well as strong market demand for zero-emission transport calls for a radical change in the shipping industry. Measures such as hull form optimization, use of alternative fuels and efficient machinery systems, new coatings, and smart routing have already improved the energy efficiency of the world fleet and to some extent its GHG emissions. However, it is far from enough. To make the drastic leap that we need in order to meet the climate challenges, we must turn to emission-free energy sources. One such promising and well-proven zero-emission propulsion system for shipping is wind propulsion. Using wind to power cargo vessels restarted on a commercial scale about a decade ago. Currently, there are 25+ wind-assisted vessels in commercial trade. They are equipped with technologies like Flettner rotors, wings or kites, which gives fuel reductions in the magnitude of 1-20 %. Although these are significant fuel savings, this is still not enough to effectively respond to the challenges for zero GHG emissions of the maritime industry. With the goal of demonstrating that even higher energy reduction and drastic reduction of emissions is possible, 11 representatives of the European maritime industry and research community have recently joined forces in the large scale EU-funded project Orcelle, led by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean. The current paper will present the project’s ambition, scope of work and expected outcome., QC 20240711

Hypoalbuminemia has been considered as a cause of gallbladder wall thickening in humans and dogs. Recent study revealed that gallbladder wall thickening in dogs with hypoalbuminemia may not be associated with serum albumin/plasma levels within 48 h of ultrasound study. However, gallbladder wall edema may change within 48 h, and the ultrasonographic features of gallbladder wall thickening in dogs with hypoalbuminemia have not been reported. The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between serum albumin levels within 24 h of ultrasound and gallbladder wall thickening, and to describe the ultrasonographic features of thickened gallbladder walls in dogs with hypoalbuminemia. 37 hypoalbuminemic dogs with gallbladder ultrasound images were retrospectively included. Ultrasound studies were reviewed, and gallbladder wall thickness, layering appearance, echogenicity, echotexture, distribution, evidence of gallbladder mucocele, and presence of peritoneal effusion were recorded. Additionally, serum albumin levels within 24 h of ultrasound study and the administerd sedation were recorded. The prevalence of gallbladder wall thickening in dogs with hypoalbuminemia was 13.5%. The 3-layer appearance of the gallbladder wall was observed in 4 dogs, and a single-layer gallbladder wall thickening in one dog. Diffuse thickening was observed in all 5 dogs. The serum albumin level of dogs with gallbladder wall thickening was not different (p = 0.14) from dogs without thickening. Gallbladder wall thickening was not common, occurring only with mild hypoalbuminemia, and was commonly associated with a 3-layer appearance and considered as gallbladder wall subserosal edema. Causes other than hypoalbuminemia may be responsible for thickening of the gallbladder wall in dogs with hypoalbuminemia.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of iohexol on standardized quantitative urine culture results in dogs. The authors hypothesized that the presence of iohexol in inoculated urine samples would result in lower bacterial concentrations (CFU/mL) and, therefore, decrease culture sensitivity. SAMPLE Urine samples were aseptically collected during cystoscopy from a single client-owned dog untreated with antimicrobials. PROCEDURES An experimental controlled study. The urine sample was divided into 38 aliquots (0.5 mL each) that were used as negative controls or inoculated with an equal amount of Escherichia coli (105 CFU/mL). Different volumes (0.1 and 0.5 mL) of contrast or saline were added to the aliquots and quantitative culture results were compared. Two different incubation times between the preparation of aliquots and culture were evaluated (15 minutes and 24 hours). RESULTS All aliquots from samples inoculated with E. coli (positive controls and iohexol-group) had the same reported quantitative result (104 CFU/mL). No growth was reported for the negative controls. Iohexol did not show any anti-E. coli properties in canine urine cultures for dilutions up to 1:2 contrast:urine and concentrations up to 120 mgI/mL. No difference was reported when iohexol was incubated with inoculated urine for 15 minutes or 24 hours. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Based on the experimental in vitro conditions described, administration of iohexol before the collection of urine during urologic procedures does not negatively impact the isolation and growth of E. coli.

Item does not contain fulltext, The vast majority of human genes encode multiple isoforms through alternative splicing, and the temporal and spatial regulation of those isoforms is critical for organismal development and function. The spliceosome, which regulates and executes splicing reactions, is primarily composed of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) that consist of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) and protein subunits. snRNA gene transcription is initiated by the snRNA-activating protein complex (SNAPc). Here, we report ten individuals, from eight families, with bi-allelic, deleterious SNAPC4 variants. SNAPC4 encoded one of the five SNAPc subunits that is critical for DNA binding. Most affected individuals presented with delayed motor development and developmental regression after the first year of life, followed by progressive spasticity that led to gait alterations, paraparesis, and oromotor dysfunction. Most individuals had cerebral, cerebellar, or basal ganglia volume loss by brain MRI. In the available cells from affected individuals, SNAPC4 abundance was decreased compared to unaffected controls, suggesting that the bi-allelic variants affect SNAPC4 accumulation. The depletion of SNAPC4 levels in HeLa cell lines via genomic editing led to decreased snRNA expression and global dysregulation of alternative splicing. Analysis of available fibroblasts from affected individuals showed decreased snRNA expression and global dysregulation of alternative splicing compared to unaffected cells. Altogether, these data suggest that these bi-allelic SNAPC4 variants result in loss of function and underlie the neuroregression and progressive spasticity in these affected individuals.

Methamphetamine (METH) is a concerning drug of abuse that produces strong psychostimulant effects. The use of this substance, along with the insufficient removal in the sewage treatment plants, leads to its occurrence in the environ-ment at low concentrations. In this study, brown trout (Salmo trutta fario) were exposed to 1 mu g/L of METH as environ-mental relevant concentration for 28 days in order to elucidate the complex effects resulting from the drug, including behaviour, energetics, brain and gonad histology, brain metabolomics, and their relations. Trout exposed to METH displayed lowered activity as well as metabolic rate (MR), an altered morphology of brain and gonads as well as changes in brain metabolome when compared to controls. Increased activity and MR were correlated to an increased incidence of histopathology in gonads (females -vascular fluid and gonad staging; males -apoptotic spermatozoa and peritubular cells) in exposed trout compared to controls. Higher amounts of melatonin in brain were detected in ex-posed fish compared to controls. Tyrosine hydroxylase expression in locus coeruleus was related to the MR in exposed fish, but not in the control. Brain metabolomics indicated significant differences in 115 brain signals between control and METH exposed individuals, described by the coordinates within the principal component analyses (PCA) axes. These coordinates were subsequently used as indicators of a direct link between brain metabolomics, physiology, and behaviour -as activity and MR varied according to their values. Exposed fish showed an increased MR correlated with the metabolite position in PC1 axes, whereas the control had proportionately lower MR and PC1 coordinates. Our findings emphasize the possible complex disturbances in aquatic fauna on multiple interconnected levels (metabolism, physiology, behaviour) as a result of the presence of METH in aquatic environments. Thus, these outcomes can be useful in the development of AOP's (Adve

Sustained vaginal administration of antibiotics or probiotics has been proposed to improve treatment efficacy for bacterial vaginosis. 3D printing has shown promise for development of systems for local agent delivery. In contrast to oral ingestion, agent release kinetics can be fine-tuned by the 3D printing of specialized scaffold designs tailored for particular treatments while enhancing dosage effectiveness via localized sustained release. It has been challenging to establish scaffold properties as a function of fabrication parameters to obtain sustained release. In particular, the relationships between scaffold curing conditions, compressive strength, and drug release kinetics remain poorly understood. This study evaluates 3D printed scaffold formulation and feasibility to sustain the release of metronidazole, a commonly used antibiotic for BV. Cylindrical silicone scaffolds were printed and cured using three different conditions relevant to potential future incorporation of temperature-sensitive labile biologics. Compressive strength and drug release were monitored for 14d in simulated vaginal fluid to assess long-term effects of fabrication conditions on mechanical integrity and release kinetics. Scaffolds were mechanically evaluated to determine compressive and tensile strength, and elastic modulus. Release profiles were fitted to previous kinetic models to differentiate potential release mechanisms. The Higuchi, Korsmeyer-Peppas, and Peppas-Sahlin models best described the release, indicating similarity to release from insoluble or polymeric matrices. This study shows the feasibility of 3D printed silicone scaffolds to provide sustained metronidazole release over 14d, with compressive strength and drug release kinetics tuned by the fabrication parameters.

The BICEP/Keck series of experiments target the cosmic microwave background at degree-scale resolution from the South Pole. Over the next few years, the “Stage-3” BICEP Array (BA) telescope will improve the program’s frequency coverage and sensitivity to primordial B-mode polarization by an order of magnitude. The first receiver in the array, BA1, began observing at 30/40 GHz in early 2020. The next two receivers, BA2 and BA3, are currently being assembled and will map the southern sky at frequencies ranging from 95 to 150 GHz. Common to all BA receivers is a refractive, on-axis, cryogenic optical design that focuses microwave radiation onto a focal plane populated with antenna-coupled bolometers. High-performance antireflective coatings up to 760 mm in aperture are needed for each element in the optical chain, and must withstand repeated thermal cycles down to 4 K. Here, we present the design and fabrication of the 30/40 GHz anti-reflection coatings for the recently deployed BA1 receiver, with indices matched to its various polyethylene, nylon and alumina optical components. We describe an epoxy coating technique designed for alumina optics, which achieves better than 80% transmission at room temperature. For polyethylene optical elements, we present a new heat-compression approach that allows low-density polytetrafluoroethylene AR layers to reach sub-percent reflected power. We describe the planned use of these methods for the next BA cryostats, which may inform technological choices for future small-aperture telescopes of the CMB-S4 experiment.

The execution of scheduled railway operations is characterized by continuous monitoring and systematic adjustment of the existing schedule to the occurrence of stochastic events. The adjustment of the schedule can be referred to as the “Conflict Detection & Conflict Resolution” (CDCR) process. Caused by propagating conflicts between plan adjustments and the initially planned schedule, CDCR is a highly complex process. Due to complexity, a series of decision-support tools mostly relying on heuristic methods have been developed to assist dispatchers in real-time. This article aims to identify strategic enhancement potentials for improving existing schedule adjustment approaches by integrating different methods (e.g., machine learning methods). A decomposition method is utilized to identify the processes during schedule adjustment that could benefit from applying hybrid methodologies, resulting in a much more efficient and effective search space exploration. At the outset the processes of generating a set of conflict resolution alternatives and selecting the best-fitting alternative to the actual operating situation have been early identified as potential processes that would benefit from incorporating hybrid methods (e.g., machine learning and heuristic methods). This study utilizes an actual decision-support tool applied within a real scenario to derive concrete evidence regarding the extent to which hybrid methods can be integrated and used to solve complex problems within the real-time adjustment of railway schedules by means of their actual implementation in an existing process. The knowledge and experience gained from the experimental research, acting as a proof of concept, are then translated into general guidelines for further use in improving existing approaches used in decision-support tools for the CDCR., QC 20230927