203,584 research outputs found
Diaper dermatitis prevalence and severity : global perspective on the impact of caregiver behavior
Objectives
To compare prevalence and severity of diaper dermatitis (DD) in infants and toddlers (babies) across three countries (China, USA, and Germany), including diapered skin measures and caregiver practices.
Methods
A cross‐sectional study of 1791 babies (~600 from each country) was recruited at each clinical site. Based on regional toilet‐training habits, exclusively diaper‐wearing infants were recruited between ages 2‐8 months in China and 2‐18 months in the USA and Germany. DD was measured, as well as skin pH, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), and relative humidity (RH) in the diapered region. Caregiver habits were collected via a questionnaire and included information on hygienic practices.
Results
Diaper dermatitis was highest in the perianal area, followed by the intertriginous, genital, and buttock regions. In general, DD was significantly lower in babies in China, highest in Germany, and intermediate in the USA. This rank ordering of DD by geography was also observed in baby age 2‐8 months. The lower DD observed in China was associated with lower skin pH and TEWL on diapered skin and decreased RH in the diaper. Chinese caregivers had the highest rate of prophylactic topical product usage, the most robust cleaning of the diapered area, lack of cleansing after urine‐only diaper changes, and Chinese infants spent the least time in an overnight diaper.
Conclusions
These data suggest caregiver behaviors including prophylactic use of topical products, thorough cleaning after stooling and reduced time in an overnight diaper are associated with less DD, lower superficial skin pH, and enhanced skin barrier
Statistical-dynamical downscaling for wind energy potentials: evaluation and applications to decadal hindcasts and climate change projections
A statistical–dynamical downscaling (SDD) approach for the regionalization of wind energy output (Eout) over Europe with special focus on Germany is proposed. SDD uses an extended circulation weather type (CWT) analysis on global daily mean sea level pressure fields with the central point being located over Germany. Seventy-seven weather classes based on the associated CWT and the intensity of the geostrophic flow are identified. Representatives of these classes are dynamically downscaled with the regional climate model COSMO-CLM. By using weather class frequencies of different data sets, the simulated representatives are recombined to probability density functions (PDFs) of near-surface wind speed and finally to Eout of a sample wind turbine for present and future climate. This is performed for reanalysis, decadal hindcasts and long-term future projections. For evaluation purposes, results of SDD are compared to wind observations and to simulated Eout of purely dynamical downscaling (DD) methods.
For the present climate, SDD is able to simulate realistic PDFs of 10-m wind speed for most stations in Germany. The resulting spatial Eout patterns are similar to DD-simulated Eout. In terms of decadal hindcasts, results of SDD are similar to DD-simulated Eout over Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, and Benelux, for which high correlations between annual Eout time series of SDD and DD are detected for selected hindcasts. Lower correlation is found for other European countries. It is demonstrated that SDD can be used to downscale the full ensemble of the Earth System Model of the Max Planck Institute (MPI-ESM) decadal prediction system.
Long-term climate change projections in Special Report on Emission Scenarios of ECHAM5/MPI-OM as obtained by SDD agree well to the results of other studies using DD methods, with increasing Eout over northern Europe and a negative trend over southern Europe. Despite some biases, it is concluded that SDD is an adequate tool to assess regional wind energy changes in large model ensembles
Current trends in the surgical management of Dupuytren’s disease in Europe: an analysis of patient charts
Introduction: Dupuytren's disease (DD) causes progressive digital flexion contracture and is more common in men of European descent. Methods: Orthopaedic and plastic surgeons in 12 European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK) with >3 and <30 years experience reviewed the medical charts of five consecutive patients they had treated surgically for DD in 2008. Descriptive statistics are reported. Results: In total, 3,357 patient charts were reviewed. Mean (standard deviation) patient age was 61.9 (10.2) years; 81% were men. At the time of the procedure, 11% of patients were at Tubiana stage Ia (0-20° total flexion); 30%, stage Ib (21-45°); 34%, stage II (46-90°); 17%, stage III (91-135°); and 5%, stage IV (&135°). Percutaneous needle fasciotomy was performed in 10%, fasciotomy in 13%, fasciectomy in 69% and dermofasciectomy (DF) in 6% of patients. After surgery, fingers improved a mean of 1.9 Tubiana stages, and 54% of patients had no nodules or contracture. The rate of reported complications during the procedure was 4% overall (11% in patients undergoing DF). The most common postoperative complications reported were haematoma (8%), wound healing complications (6%) and pain (6%). No postoperative complications were reported in 77% of patients. Conclusions: In this European study of more than 3,000 patients with DD, most patients were diagnosed at Tubiana stage I or II, the majority received fasciectomy and more than half had no nodules or contracture remaining after surgery
Charge Symmetry Breaking in dd->4He{\pi}0 with WASA-at-COSY
Charge symmetry breaking (CSB) observables are a suitable experimental tool
to examine effects induced by quark masses on the nuclear level. Previous high
precision data from TRIUMF and IUCF are currently used to develop a consistent
description of CSB within the framework of chiral perturbation theory. In this
work the experimental studies on the reaction dd->4He{\pi}0 have been extended
towards higher excess energies in order to provide information on the
contribution of p-waves in the final state. For this, an exclusive measurement
has been carried out at a beam momentum of p=1.2 GeV/c using the WASA-at-COSY
facility. The total cross section amounts to sigma(tot) = (118 +- 18(stat) +-
13(sys) +- 8(ext)) pb and first data on the differential cross section are
consistent with s-wave pion production.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Search for eta-mesic 4He in the dd->3He n pi0 and dd->3He p pi- reactions with the WASA-at-COSY facility
The search for 4He-eta bound states was performed with the WASA-at-COSY
facility via the measurement of the excitation function for the dd->3He n pi0
and dd->3He p pi- processes. The beam momentum was varied continuously between
2.127 GeV/c and 2.422 GeV/c, corresponding to the excess energy for the dd->4He
eta reaction ranging from Q=-70 MeV to Q=30 MeV. The luminosity was determined
based on the dd->3He n reaction and quasi-free proton-proton scattering via
dd->pp n_spectator n_spectator reactions. The excitation functions determined
independently for the measured reactions do not reveal a structure which could
be interpreted as a narrow mesic nucleus. Therefore, the upper limits of the
total cross sections for the bound state production and decay in
dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He n pi0 and dd->(4He-eta)_bound->3He p pi- processes
were determined taking into account the isospin relation between both the
channels considered. The results of the analysis depend on the assumptions of
the N* momentum distribution in the anticipated mesic-4He. Assuming as in the
previous works, that this is identical with the distribution of nucleons bound
with 20 MeV in 4He, we determined that (for the mesic bound state width in the
range from 5 MeV to 50 MeV) the upper limits at 90% confidence level are about
3 nb and about 6 nb for npi0 and ppi- channels, respectively. However, based on
the recent theoretical findings of the N*(1535) momentum distribution in the
N*-3He nucleus bound by 3.6 MeV, we find that the WASA-at-COSY detector
acceptance decreases and hence the corresponding upper limits are 5 nb and 10
nb for npi0 and ppi- channels respectively.Comment: This article will be submitted to JHE
Carbon Pricing: A Comparison between Germany and the United Kingdom
Climate change is a global problem that almost every country – 191 parties had signed the Paris Agreement - has committed to undertake. The European Union (EU) has been one of the pioneers in implementing policies that tackle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In 2005, the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was launched as the first carbon market. Despite the EU ETS evolving throughout the years, the United Kingdom (UK) implemented an additional policy. In 2013, the UK introduced a Carbon Price Floor (CPF). This paper examines the impact of carbon pricing on GHG emissions during phase III of the EU ETS (2017-2020) in Germany and the UK. Electricity generated by nuclear and renewable sources are considered in the analysis. There are two research questions. First, is the impact of carbon pricing in these two countries, measured by using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model for panel data. The results show that the UK has been more successful in reducing GHG emissions because of the CPF implementation. Second, whether the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) – a policy within the EU ETS – acted as a Carbon Price Floor (CPF) for Germany. Using a model of Differences in Differences (DD), this paper showed that the MSR significantly reduced the CO2 emissions of Germany.
Keywords: Carbon price; EU ETS; CO2 emissions; carbon price floor; market stability reserve; differences in differences.Climate change is a global problem that almost every country – 191 parties had signed the Paris Agreement - has committed to undertake. The European Union (EU) has been one of the pioneers in implementing policies that tackle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). In 2005, the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) was launched as the first carbon market. Despite the EU ETS evolving throughout the years, the United Kingdom (UK) implemented an additional policy. In 2013, the UK introduced a Carbon Price Floor (CPF). This paper examines the impact of carbon pricing on GHG emissions during phase III of the EU ETS (2017-2020) in Germany and the UK. Electricity generated by nuclear and renewable sources are considered in the analysis. There are two research questions. First, is the impact of carbon pricing in these two countries, measured by using an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model for panel data. The results show that the UK has been more successful in reducing GHG emissions because of the CPF implementation. Second, whether the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) – a policy within the EU ETS – acted as a Carbon Price Floor (CPF) for Germany. Using a model of Differences in Differences (DD), this paper showed that the MSR significantly reduced the CO2 emissions of Germany.
Keywords: Carbon price; EU ETS; CO2 emissions; carbon price floor; market stability reserve; differences in differences
Recommended from our members
The Domestic Politics of International Cooperation: Germany and the European Debt Crisis
Search for the eta-mesic 4He with WASA-at-COSY detector
An exclusive measurement of the excitation function for the dd->3Heppi-
reaction was performed at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-Juelich with the
WASA-at-COSY detection system. The data were taken during a slow acceleration
of the beam from 2.185 GeV/c to 2.400 GeV/c crossing the kinematic threshold
for the eta meson production in the dd->4He-eta reaction at 2.336 GeV/c. The
corresponding excess energy with respect to the 4He-eta system varied from
-51.4MeV to 22MeV. The integrated luminosity in the experiment was determined
using the dd->3Hen reaction. The shape of the excitation function for the
dd->3Heppi- was examined. No signal of the 4He-eta bound state was observed. An
upper limit for the cross-section for the bound state formation and decay in
the process dd->(4He-eta)bound->3Heppi- was determined on the 90% confidence
level and it varies from 20nb to 27nb for the bound state width ranging from
5MeV to 35MeV, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Dark decay of holograms in photorefractive polymers
The decay of holograms stored in photorefractive polymer composites based on poly(N-vinyl-carbazole) with and without extrinsic deep traps is investigated. The photorefractive phase shift is identified as one of the key parameters determining the dark decay dynamics. This has important implications for all kinds of photorefractive imaging applications including holographic data storage. A trade off will be required between accepting a certain degree of hologram distortion due to two-beam coupling on the one hand and achieving high hologram stability during idle periods in the dark with the external field applied on the other
- …