University of Duisburg-Essen

About: University of Duisburg-Essen is a education organization based out in Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 16072 authors who have published 39972 publications receiving 1109199 citations.

A journey to highly dynamic, self-adaptive service-based applications

Abstract: Future software systems will operate in a highly dynamic world. Systems will need to operate correctly despite of unespected changes in factors such as environmental conditions, user requirements, technology, legal regulations, and market opportunities. They will have to operate in a constantly evolving environment that includes people, content, electronic devices, and legacy systems. They will thus need the ability to continuously adapt themselves in an automated manner to react to those changes. To realize dynamic, self-adaptive systems, the service concept has emerged as a suitable abstraction mechanism. Together with the concept of the service-oriented architecture (SOA), this led to the development of technologies, standards, and methods to build service-based applications by flexibly aggregating individual services. This article discusses how those concepts came to be by taking two complementary viewpoints. On the one hand, it evaluates the progress in software technologies and methodologies that led to the service concept and SOA. On the other hand, it discusses how the evolution of the requirements, and in particular business goals, influenced the progress towards highly dynamic self-adaptive systems. Finally, based on a discussion of the current state of the art, this article points out the possible future evolution of the field.

Implications of Placebo and Nocebo Effects for Clinical Practice: Expert Consensus.

Abstract: Background: Placebo and nocebo effects occur in clinical or laboratory medical contexts after administration of an inert treatment or as part of active treatments and are due to psychobiological mechanisms such as expectancies of the patient. Placebo and nocebo studies have evolved from predominantly methodological research into a far-reaching interdisciplinary field that is unravelling the neurobiological, behavioural and clinical underpinnings of these phenomena in a broad variety of medical conditions. As a consequence, there is an increasing demand from health professionals to develop expert recommendations about evidence-based and ethical use of placebo and nocebo effects for clinical practice. Methods: A survey and interdisciplinary expert meeting by invitation was organized as part of the 1st Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS) conference in 2017. Twenty-nine internationally recognized placebo researchers participated. Results: There was consensus that maximizing placebo effects and minimizing nocebo effects should lead to better treatment outcomes with fewer side effects. Experts particularly agreed on the importance of informing patients about placebo and nocebo effects and training health professionals in patient-clinician communication to maximize placebo and minimize nocebo effects. Conclusions: The current paper forms a first step towards developing evidence-based and ethical recommendations about the implications of placebo and nocebo research for medical practice, based on the current state of evidence and the consensus of experts. Future research might focus on how to implement these recommendations, including how to optimize conditions for educating patients about placebo and nocebo effects and providing training for the implementation in clinical practice.

Open-Circuit Voltages Exceeding 1.26 V in Planar Methylammonium Lead Iodide Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract: We demonstrate open-circuit voltages exceeding 1.26 V for inverted planar CH3NH3PbI3 solar cells fabricated using a combination of lead acetate and PbCl2 precursors leading to smooth films and large grain sizes. Surface recombination is suppressed by careful optimization of the PTAA hole transport and PCBM electron transport layers. Suppression of bulk and surface recombination is verified by absolute photoluminescence measurements with external quantum efficiencies of ∼5% in complete cells. In addition, we find exceptionally long photoluminescence lifetimes in full cells and in layer stacks involving one or two contact layers. Numerical simulations reveal that these long photoluminescence lifetimes are only possible with extremely low recombination velocities at the interfaces between absorber and contact materials.

Anaerobic Microbial Degradation of Hydrocarbons : from Enzymatic Reactions to the Environment

Abstract: Hydrocarbons are abundant in anoxic environments and pose biochemical challenges to their anaerobic degradation by microorganisms. Within the framework of the Priority Program 1319, investigations fun