The most common reason for spinal surgery in elderly patients is lumbar spinal stenosis(LSS). For LSS, treatment decisions based on clinical and radiological information as well as personal ...experience of the surgeon shows large variance. Thus a standardized support system is of high value for a more objective and reproducible decision. In this work, we develop an automated algorithm to localize the stenosis causing the symptoms of the patient in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). With 22 MRI features of each of five spinal levels of 321 patients, we show it is possible to predict the location of lesion triggering the symptoms. To support this hypothesis, we conduct an automated analysis of labeled and unlabeled MRI scans extracted from 788 patients. We confirm quantitatively the importance of radiological information and provide an algorithmic pipeline for working with raw MRI scans.
This paper explores how informal learning can be assessed in the work environment which bears difficulties, as informal learning is largely invisible and people lack awareness of informal learning. ...We perform an exploratory case study involving 24 healthcare professionals representing small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in six healthcare networks in the UK. We use the existing revalidation procedure as implemented by the National Health Service (NHS) England to discuss our results. Our results comprise a description of six indicators, three of which can be used to assess informal learning activities and three of which can be used to assess informal learning outcomes. Our findings stress the importance of the social context of informal learning at the workplace. Finally, we discuss the implementation of these indicators to support informal social learning.
This paper explores how informal learning can be assessed in the work environment which bears difficulties, as informal learning is largely invisible and people lack awareness of informal learning. ...We perform an exploratory case study involving 24 healthcare professionals representing small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in six healthcare networks in the UK. We use the existing revalidation procedure as implemented by the National Health Service (NHS) England to discuss our results. Our results comprise a description of six indicators, three of which can be used to assess informal learning activities and three of which can be used to assess informal learning outcomes. Our findings stress the importance of the social context of informal learning at the workplace. Finally, we discuss the implementation of these indicators to support informal social learning.
Treibhausgasemissionen führen zu deutlicher globaler Erwärmung.
Die globalen Treibhausgasemissionen (THG-Emissionen) steigen weiterhin entlang des „Business As Usual“-Pfads und werden sich, wenn sich ...dieser Trend fortsetzt, bis zur Mitte des Jahrhunderts verdoppelt haben (GEA, 2012; IEA, 2012) (sehr hohes Vertrauen). Eine Stabilisierung des Anstiegs der globalen Jahresmitteltemperatur unter 2°C bis zum Ende des Jahrhunderts (im Vergleich zum vorindustriellem Temperaturniveau) erfordert jedoch bis zur Mitte des Jahrhunderts eine Reduktion der globalen THG-Emissionen um zumindest 50 % der derzeitigen Emissionen im globalen Durchschnitt bzw. um bis zu 90 % in industrialisierten Ländern (IPCC, 2007e) (hohes Vertrauen).
Globale Erwärmung um 4°C führt zu drastischen
Two new phases YbCu4.4 and YbCu4.25 are found as a result of careful phase diagram investigations. Between the congruent and peritectic formation of YbCu4.5 and YbCu3.5, respectively, the phases ...YbCu4.4 and YbCu4.25 are formed peritectically at 934(2)degC and 931(3)degC. Crystal growth was realised using a Bridgman technique and single crystalline grains of about 50-100 10^{-6}m were analyzed by electron diffraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Due to the only slight differences in both compositions and formation temperatures the growth of larger single crystals of a defined superstructure is challenging. The compounds YbCu4.4 and YbCu4.25 fit in Cerny`s (J. Solid State Chem. 174 (2003) 125) building principle {(RECu5)n(RECu2)} where RE = Yb with n = 4 and 3. YbCu4.4 and YbCu4.25 base on AuBe5/MgCu2-type substructures and contain approximately 4570 and 2780 atoms per unit cell. The new phases close the gap in the series of known copper-rich rare earth compounds for n = 1, 2 (DyCu3.5, DyCu4.0) and n = 5 (YbCu4.5, DyCu4.5).
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