Probabilistic graphical model identifies clusters of EEG patterns in recordings from neonates.

Objectives: In this paper we introduce a novel method for the evaluation of neonatal brain function via multivariate EEG (electroencephalography) signal processing and embedding into a probabilistic graph, the so called Chow-Liu tree.

Methods: Using 28 EEG recordings of preterm and term neonate infants the complex features of the EEG signals were constructed in the form of a Chow-Liu tree. The trees were embedded into a 3 dimensional Euclidean space.

Additive Manufacturing of Information Carriers Based on Shape Memory Polyester Urethane.

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are stimuli-responsive materials, which are able to retain an imposed, temporary shape and recover the initial, permanent shape through an external stimulus like heat. In this work, a novel manufacturing method is introduced for thermoresponsive quick response (QR) code carriers, which originally were developed as anticounterfeiting technology. Motivated by the fact that earlier manufacturing processes were sometimes too time-consuming for production, filaments of a polyester urethane (PEU) with and without dye were extruded and processed into QR code carriers using fused filament fabrication (FFF).

Computational Analysis of Nonuniform Expansion in Polyurethane Foams.

This paper computationally investigates heterogeneity in the distribution of foam fraction in chemically expanding blown polyurethane foam. The experimentally observed disparity in the volumes of expanded foam when an equal mass of the foaming mixture was injected into tubes of different dimensions motivated this study. To understand this phenomenon, attributed to local variations in the thermal and rheological properties of the expanding system, we explore available data from free-rise foam-expansion experiments in different geometries.

Dose-guided patient positioning in proton radiotherapy using multicriteria-optimization.

Proton radiotherapy (PT) requires accurate target alignment before each treatment fraction, ideally utilizing 3D in-room X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. Typically, the optimal patient position is determined based on anatomical landmarks or implanted markers. In the presence of non-rigid anatomical changes, however, the planning scenario cannot be exactly reproduced and positioning should rather aim at finding the optimal position in terms of the actually applied dose.

Control of Spin-Wave Propagation using Magnetisation Gradients.

We report that in an in-plane magnetised magnetic film the in-plane direction of a propagating spin wave can be changed by up to 90 degrees using an externally induced magnetic gradient field. We have achieved this result using a reconfigurable, laser-induced magnetisation gradient created in a conversion area, in which the backward volume and surface spin-wave modes coexist at the same frequency. Shape and orientation of the gradient control the conversion efficiency.

3-D Modelling and Experimental Comparison of Reactive Flow in Carbonates under Radial Flow Conditions.

We use a two-scale continuum model to simulate reactive flow and wormhole formation in carbonate rocks under 3-D radial flow conditions. More specifically, we present a new structure-property relationship based on the fractal geometry theory, to describe the evolution of local permeability, pore radius, and specific area with porosity variation. In the numerical calculation, to improve the convergence rate, the heterogeneous medium in question is extended by adding a thin layer of homogeneous porous medium to its inlet.

Multi-criterial patient positioning based on dose recalculation on scatter-corrected CBCT images.

Background And Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and potential advantages of dose guided patient positioning based on dose recalculation on scatter corrected cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) image data.

Material And Methods: A scatter correction approach has been employed to enable dose calculations on CBCT images. A recently proposed tool for interactive multicriterial dose-guided patient positioning which uses interpolation between pre-calculated sample doses has been utilized.

Round Robin Study: Molecular Simulation of Thermodynamic Properties from Models with Internal Degrees of Freedom.

Thermodynamic properties are often modeled by classical force fields which describe the interactions on the atomistic scale. Molecular simulations are used for retrieving thermodynamic data from such models, and many simulation techniques and computer codes are available for that purpose. In the present round robin study, the following fundamental question is addressed: Will different user groups working with different simulation codes obtain coinciding results within the statistical uncertainty of their data? A set of 24 simple simulation tasks is defined and solved by five user groups working with eight molecular simulation codes: DL_POLY, GROMACS, IMC, LAMMPS, ms2, NAMD, Tinker, and TOWHEE.

A novel method for interactive multi-objective dose-guided patient positioning.

In intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), 3D in-room imaging data is typically utilized for accurate patient alignment on the basis of anatomical landmarks. In the presence of non-rigid anatomical changes, it is often not obvious which patient position is most suitable. Thus, dose-guided patient alignment is an interesting approach to use available in-room imaging data for up-to-date dose calculation, aimed at finding the position that yields the optimal dose distribution.

The Tara Oceans voyage reveals global diversity and distribution patterns of marine planktonic ciliates.

Illumina reads of the SSU-rDNA-V9 region obtained from the circumglobal Tara Oceans expedition allow the investigation of protistan plankton diversity patterns on a global scale. We analyzed 6,137,350 V9-amplicons from ocean surface waters and the deep chlorophyll maximum, which were taxonomically assigned to the phylum Ciliophora. For open ocean samples global planktonic ciliate diversity is relatively low (ca.

Quantification of Hepcidin-related Iron Accumulation in the Rat Liver.

Hepcidin was originally detected as a liver peptide with antimicrobial activity and it functions as a central regulator in the systemic iron metabolism. Consequently suppression of hepcidin leads to iron accumulation in the liver. AbbVie developed a monoclonal antibody ([mAb]; repulsive guidance molecule [RGMa/c] mAb) that downregulates hepcidin expression by influencing the RGMc/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)/neogenin receptor complex and causes iron deposition in the liver.

Multiscale modeling of lithium ion batteries: thermal aspects.

The thermal behavior of lithium ion batteries has a huge impact on their lifetime and the initiation of degradation processes. The development of hot spots or large local overpotentials leading, e.g.

A new mathematical approach for handling DVH criteria in IMRT planning.

The appropriate handling of planning criteria on the cumulative dose-volume histogram (DVH) is a highly problematic issue in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plan optimization. The nonconvexity of DVH criteria and globality of the resulting optimization problems complicate the design of suitable optimization methods, which feature numerical efficiency, reliable convergence and optimality of the results. This work examines the mathematical structure of DVH criteria and proves the valuable properties of isotonicity/antitonicity, connectedness, invexity and sufficiency of the KKT condition.

Analyzing the quality robustness of chemotherapy plans with respect to model uncertainties.

Mathematical models of chemotherapy planning problems contain various biomedical parameters, whose values are difficult to quantify and thus subject to some uncertainty. This uncertainty propagates into the therapy plans computed on these models, which poses the question of robustness to the expected therapy quality. This work introduces a combined approach for analyzing the quality robustness of plans in terms of dosing levels with respect to model uncertainties in chemotherapy planning.

Breast cancer therapy planning - a novel support concept for a sequential decision making problem.

Breast cancer is the most common carcinosis with the largest number of mortalities in women. Its therapy comprises a wide spectrum of different treatment modalities a breast oncologist decides about for the individual patient case. These decisions happen according to medical guide lines, current scientific publications and experiences acquired in former cases.

Molecular simulation of the hydrodynamics of water in contact with hydrophilized poly(vinylidene fluoride) surfaces.

Modeling electro-kinetic effects of aqueous solutions on charged polymer surfaces constitute great challenges. The interplay of water pH and salt concentration with surface charges at the nanoscale and macroscopic collective hydrodynamics leads to a rich phenomenology, including the hydrophobic/hydrophilic nature of the polymer surface. The present work aimed at contributing to the modeling of these phenomena for a specific system: Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), including a surface functionalization by carboxylic groups.

Time-dependent gene expression analysis of the developing superior olivary complex.

The superior olivary complex (SOC) is an essential auditory brainstem relay involved in sound localization. To identify the genetic program underlying its maturation, we profiled the rat SOC transcriptome at postnatal days 0, 4, 16, and 25 (P0, P4, P16, and P25, respectively), using genome-wide microarrays (41,012 oligonucleotides (oligos)). Differences in gene expression between two consecutive stages were highest between P4 and P16 (3.

Contact angle hysteresis and meniscus corrugation on randomly heterogeneous surfaces with mesa-type defects.

The results of a numerical study of the various characteristics of the static contact of a liquid meniscus with a flat but heterogeneous surface, consisting of two types of homogeneous materials, forming regularly and randomly distributed microscopic defects are presented. The solutions for the meniscus shape are obtained numerically using the full expression of the system free energy functional. The goal is to establish how the magnitude and the limits of the hysteresis interval of the equilibrium contact angle, the Cassie's angle, and the contact line (CL) roughness exponent are related to the parameters, characterizing the heterogeneous surface-the equilibrium contact angles on the two materials and their fractions.

The critical spot eraser-a method to interactively control the correction of local hot and cold spots in IMRT planning.

Common problems in inverse radiotherapy planning are localized dose insufficiencies like hot spots in organs at risk or cold spots inside targets. These are hard to correct since the optimization is based on global evaluations like maximum/minimum doses, equivalent uniform doses or dose-volume constraints for whole structures. In this work, we present a new approach to locally correct the dose of any given treatment plan.

A continuous-time adaptive particle filter for estimations under measurement time uncertainties with an application to a plasma-leucine mixed effects model.

Background: When mathematical modelling is applied to many different application areas, a common task is the estimation of states and parameters based on measurements. With this kind of inference making, uncertainties in the time when the measurements have been taken are often neglected, but especially in applications taken from the life sciences, this kind of errors can considerably influence the estimation results. As an example in the context of personalized medicine, the model-based assessment of the effectiveness of drugs is becoming to play an important role.

Visualization of Flow Behavior in Earth Mantle Convection.

A fundamental characteristic of fluid flow is that it causes mixing: introduce a dye into a flow, and it will disperse. Mixing can be used as a method to visualize and characterize flow. Because mixing is a process that occurs over time, it is a 4D problem that presents a challenge for computation, visualization, and analysis.

Simulation of FIB-SEM images for analysis of porous microstructures.

Focused ion beam nanotomography-scanning electron microscopy tomography yields high-quality three-dimensional images of materials microstructures at the nanometer scale combining serial sectioning using a focused ion beam with SEM. However, FIB-SEM tomography of highly porous media leads to shine-through artifacts preventing automatic segmentation of the solid component. We simulate the SEM process in order to generate synthetic FIB-SEM image data for developing and validating segmentation methods.

Comparative analysis of Pareto surfaces in multi-criteria IMRT planning.

In the multi-criteria optimization approach to IMRT planning, a given dose distribution is evaluated by a number of convex objective functions that measure tumor coverage and sparing of the different organs at risk. Within this context optimizing the intensity profiles for any fixed set of beams yields a convex Pareto set in the objective space. However, if the number of beam directions and irradiation angles are included as free parameters in the formulation of the optimization problem, the resulting Pareto set becomes more intricate.

SACA: Software Assisted Call Analysis--an interactive tool supporting content exploration, online guidance and quality improvement of counseling dialogues.

Objective: Nearly 30,000 individual inquiries are answered annually by the telephone cancer information service (CIS, KID) of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). The aim was to develop a tool for evaluating these calls, and to support the complete counseling process interactively.

Methods: A novel software tool is introduced, based on a structure similar to a music score.

Trade-off bounds for the Pareto surface approximation in multi-criteria IMRT planning.

One approach to multi-criteria IMRT planning is to automatically calculate a data set of Pareto-optimal plans for a given planning problem in a first phase, and then interactively explore the solution space and decide on the clinically best treatment plan in a second phase. The challenge of computing the plan data set is to ensure that all clinically meaningful plans are covered and that as many clinically irrelevant plans as possible are excluded to keep computation times within reasonable limits. In this work, we focus on the approximation of the clinically relevant part of the Pareto surface, the process that constitutes the first phase.