Most Popular Books by Daniel Kraus

In a future much nearer than you think, where scientific experimentation is exploited for commercial profit, unwisely under-supervised cutting-edge technology creates a menace that threatens the very fabric of human existence. Wrath is the story of a lab rat instilled with human genes whose supersized intelligence helps him to engineer his escape into the world outside the lab: a world vastly ill-equipped to deal with the menace he represents. Modified through advances that have boosted his awareness of humankind''s cruelty in the name of science, and endowed with a rat''s natural proclivity to procreate regularly, Sammy has the potential to sire a rodent army capable of viciously overwhelming the human race.

The Canadian Mountain Assessment provides a first-of-its-kind look at what we know, do not know, and need to know about mountain systems in Canada. The assessment is based on insights from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit knowledges of mountains, as well as findings from an extensive assessment of pertinent academic literature. Its inclusive knowledge co-creation approach brings these multiple forms of evidence together in ways that enhance our collective understanding of mountains in Canada, while also respecting and maintaining the integrity of different knowledge systems. The Canadian Mountain Assessment is a text-based document, but also includes a variety of visual materials as well as access to video recordings of oral knowledges shared by Indigenous individuals from mountain areas in Canada. The assessment is the result of over three years of work, during which time the initiative played an important role in connecting and cultivating relationships between mountain knowledge holders from across Canada. It is the outcome of contributions from more than 80 Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals and contains six chapters: Introduction Mountain Environments Mountains as Homelands Gifts of the Mountains Mountains Under Pressure Desirable Mountain Futures By way of these chapters, the Canadian Mountain Assessment aims to enhance appreciation for the diversity and significance of mountains in Canada, to clarify challenges and opportunities for mountain systems in the country, and to motivate and inform new research, relationships, and actions that support the realization of desirable mountain futures. More broadly, the Canadian Mountain Assessment provides insights into applied reconciliation efforts in a knowledge assessment context and seeks to inspire similar knowledge co-creation efforts in and beyond Canada.

Abstract: Rationale: To establish a spatially exact co-registration procedure between in vivo multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and (immuno)histopathology of soft tissue sarcomas (STS) to identify imaging parameters that reflect radiation therapy response of STS. Methods: The mpMRI-Protocol included diffusion-weighted (DWI), intravoxel-incoherent motion (IVIM), and dynamic contrast-enhancing (DCE) imaging. The resection specimen was embedded in 6.5% agarose after initial fixation in formalin. To ensure identical alignment of histopathological sectioning and in vivo imaging, an ex vivo MRI scan of the specimen was rigidly co-registered with the in vivo mpMRI. The deviating angulation of the specimen to the in vivo location of the tumor was determined. The agarose block was trimmed accordingly. A second ex vivo MRI in a dedicated localizer with a 4 mm grid was performed, which was matched to a custom-built sectioning machine. Microtomy sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Immunohistochemical staining was performed with anti-ALDH1A1 antibodies as a radioresistance and anti-MIB1 antibodies as a proliferation marker. Fusion of the digitized microtomy sections with the in vivo mpMRI was accomplished through nonrigid co-registration to the in vivo mpMRI. Co-registration accuracy was qualitatively assessed by visual assessment and quantitatively evaluated by computing target registration errors (TRE). Results: The study sample comprised nine tumor sections from three STS patients. Visual assessment after nonrigid co-registration showed a strong morphological correlation of the histopathological specimens with ex vivo MRI and in vivo mpMRI after neoadjuvant radiation therapy. Quantitative assessment of the co-registration procedure using TRE analysis of different pairs of pathology and MRI sections revealed highly accurate structural alignment, with a total median TRE of 2.25 mm (histology - ex vivo MRI), 2.22 mm (histology - in vivo mpMRI), and 2.02 mm (ex vivo MRI - in vivo mpMRI). There was no significant difference between TREs of the different pairs of sections or caudal, middle, and cranial tumor parts, respectively. Conclusion: Our initial results show a promising approach to obtaining accurate co-registration between histopathology and in vivo MRI for STS. In a larger cohort of patients, the method established here will enable the prospective identification and validation of in vivo imaging biomarkers for radiation therapy response prediction and monitoring in STS patients via precise molecular and cellular correlation

"The Graveyard Girls face off against a sentient house while they struggle to keep their friendship alive"--

In this thesis, an introduction to Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) combining both theory and application is presented. The basis of the NMPC is described to give a general idea how this process control strategy works. For this purpose, two test casestudies are implemented. The first one is a simple two tanks in series to get acquainted with open-source platform the JModelica.org and the Optimica extension.Finally, a more complex example, which consists of solving a start-up problem of a steam boiler using the JModelica framework, is provided. The results demonstrate the effort saved in solving an optimal control problem when using the JModelica framework in comparison to individual, case-specifically arranged solutions.

Many loan commitment contracts contain a material adverse change clause which allows banks to renege or step back from their commitment based on rather subjective claims regarding the borrowers'' prospective financial situation. While this sounds like an attractive option for banks, empirical evidence shows that, despite its frequent appearance in contracts, the clause is rarely invoked (cf. Sufi, 2009; Ivashina and Scharfstein, 2010). In the present paper, we argue that this is due to the fact that, in combination with appropriate pricing on the spot loan market, the clause is essentially an effective means to screen the borrowers'' riskiness. In particular, it renders loan commitment contracts comparably more expensive for high-risk borrowers, thereby directing them to the spot loan market. Low-risk borrowers, in turn, are still attracted to loan commitment contracts as for them the implicit extra cost is lower. Thus, in equilibrium, there is no need for banks to step back from earlier promises. Moreover, we show that the presence of the clause increases welfare as it decreases credit rationing for low-risk entrepreneurs and reduces total loan costs.