Abdominal T-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the gamma/delta type in a patient with selective immunoglobulin A deficiency

A 28-year-old man presented with selective immunoglobulin A deficiency and severe diarrhea responding to a gliadin-free diet. Biopsy samples of the small intestine showed dense T-cell infiltrations in the lamina propria and a slight increase of intraepithelial T-lymphocytes. No clonal rearrangement of the T-cell receptor c-beta chain genes was detectable by Southern blotting. Four years later, at the age of 32, the patient was hospitalized again with liver failure, abdominal lymphadenopathy, pancytopenia, and recurrent bacterial infections. Retrospective polymerase chain reaction analysis of formalin-fixed tissues of the intestinal biopsy samples obtained 4 years earlier showed monoclonal T-cell receptor gamma-chain gene rearrangement. Lymphoid cells of the peripheral blood showed an immunophenotype of CD3-positive gamma/delta T cells with a negativity for CD4 and CD8. A clonally rearranged T-cell receptor delta chain gene and a germline configuration of the c-beta chain genes was found by Southern blotting. Cytogenetics showed an abnormal karyotype with unbalanced translocations t(1;5) and t(9;13). The patient died of extensive lung infiltrations by gamma/delta T cells; autopsy showed a peripheral T-cell lymphoma of the gamma/delta type in the enlarged abdominal lymph nodes. This is the first report of an abdominal T-cell lymphoma of the gamma/delta type in a patient with selective immunoglobulin A deficiency.     

Supporting casual interactions between board games on public tabletop displays and mobile devices

As more interactive surfaces enter public life, casual interactions from passersby are bound to increase. Most of these users can be expected to carry a mobile phone or PDA, which nowadays offers significant computing capabilities of its own. This offers new possibilities for interaction between these users’ private displays and large public ones. In this paper, we present a system that supports such casual interactions. We first explore a method to track mobile phones that are placed on a horizontal interactive surface by examining the shadows which are cast on the surface. This approach detects the presence of a mobile device, as opposed to any other opaque object, through the signal strength emitted by the built-in Bluetooth transceiver without requiring any modifications to the devices’ software or hardware. We then go on to investigate interaction between a Sudoku game running in parallel on the public display and on mobile devices carried by passing users. Mobile users can join a running game by placing their devices on a designated area. The only requirement is that the device is in discoverable Bluetooth mode. After a specific device has been recognized, a client software is sent to the device which then enables the user to interact with the running game. Finally, we explore the results of a study which we conducted to determine the effectiveness and intrusiveness of interactions between users on the tabletop and users with mobile devices.     

Pick-by-vision: there is something to pick at the end of the augmented tunnel

We report on the long process of exploring, evaluating and refining augmented reality-based methods to support the order picking process of logistics applications. Order picking means that workers have to pick items out of numbered boxes in a warehouse, according to a work order. To support those workers, we have evaluated different HMD-based visualizations in six user studies, starting in a laboratory setup and continuing later in an industrial environment. This was a challenging task, as we had to conquer different kinds of navigation problems from very coarse to very fine granularity and accuracy. The resulting setup consists of a combined and adaptive visualization to precisely and efficiently guide the user even if the actual picking target is not always in the field of view of the HMD.     

Abilities of some antioxidants to stabilize soybean oil in industrial use conditions

Antioxidants, chelators, and alcohols were screened at 0.01 and 1.28% by weight for their ability to delay viscosity increase in soybean oil in the presence of metallic colloidal copper and iron at 105°C with air flowing through the sample. Most substances did not significantly enhance the effect of the natural tocopherols in the soybean oil at 0.01%. A few substances were mildly prooxidant, and a few delayed the increase in viscosity significantly. TBHQ at 0.01% was the best antioxidant of those tested. At 1.28% ascorbyl palmitate, BHT, hydroquinone, and TBHQ increased the stability significantly. Again, TBHQ was the most effective. As measured by viscosity increase to 150 CP, TBHQ increased stability about five times over that of soybean oil controls.     

Optically based direct manipulation for augmented reality

Augmented reality (AR) constitutes a very powerful three-dimensional user interface for many “hands-on” application scenarios. To fully exploit the AR paradigm, the computer must not only augment the real world, but also accept feedback from it. In this paper, we present an optical approach for collecting such feedback by analyzing video sequences to track users and the objects they work with. Our system can be set up in any room after quickly placing a few known optical targets in the scene. We present two demonstration scenarios to illustrate the overall concept and potential of our approach and then discuss the research issues involved.     

A rapid prototyping software infrastructure for user interfaces in ubiquitous augmented reality

Recent user interface concepts, such as multimedia, multimodal, wearable, ubiquitous, tangible, or augmented-reality-based (AR) interfaces, each cover different approaches that are all needed to support complex human–computer interaction. Increasingly, an overarching approach towards building what we call ubiquitous augmented reality (UAR) user interfaces that include all of the just mentioned concepts will be required. To this end, we present a user interface architecture that can form a sound basis for combining several of these concepts into complex systems. We explain in this paper the fundamentals of DWARFs user interface framework (DWARF standing for distributed wearable augmented reality framework) and an implementation of this architecture. Finally, we present several examples that show how the framework can form the basis of prototypical applications.     

Method for the Thermal Characterization of PCM Systems in the Volume Range from 100 ml to 1000 ml

The storage of latent heat in phase change materials (PCM) is of great interest in many applications, for example in building applications. However, there is no standard method for the determination of the thermophysical properties of application-sized PCM specimens, i.e., specimens with sizes around 100 ml to 1000 ml. In order to close this metrological gap, a commercially available heat flow meter was modified to perform enthalpy measurements. The feasibility of this method was proven by performing comparative measurements on a stainless steel specimen using both the standard method DSC and the modified heat flow meter. Furthermore, measurements on a gypsum board with microencapsulated PCM were performed with the heat flow meter in order to determine the enthalpy. The coincidence with literature values is within ±4% which demonstrates that this method is a good choice for performing measurements on application-sized PCM specimens.     

Evaluation of an Augmented Reality Supported Picking System Under Practical Conditions

Order picking is one of the most important process steps in logistics. Because of their flexibility, human beings cannot be replaced by machines. But if workers, in order, picking systems are equipped with a head-mounted display, Augmented Reality can improve the information visualization. In this paper, the development of such a system—called Pick-by-Vision—is presented. The system is evaluated in a user study performed in a real storage environment. Important logistics figures as well as the subjective strain were measured. The results show that a Pick-by-Vision system can considerably improve industrial order picking processes.     

Welding of high thicknesses using a fibre optic laser up to 30 kW

The industrial applications of high-power fibre optic lasers include welding, 2D and 3D cutting, remote cutting and welding, brazing and surface treatments. The availability of fibre optic lasers with power outputs in excess of 10 kW might allow the development of novel fields of application in the welding of high thickness pieces: shipbuilding and offshore industries, pipe and cable manufacture and other heavy industry sectors. Carrying the beam by fibre optics allows high flexibility, even for the production of very large pieces, such as in the shipbuilding sector. This study describes the laser welding of high thickness pieces using a 30 kW laser and a 200 μm diameter fibre. On the one hand, such lasers allow a weld penetration depth of over 30 mm in a single pass, and very high process speeds for thinner materials on the other. Combining lasers with conventional arc welding techniques (hybrid welding) allows further optimization of weld quality and makes it possible to weld butt joints with a ‘gap’ of up to 1 mm. This paper presents the most recent results from very high-power fibre optic laser welding along with new applications in the manufacturing sector.