1,187 research outputs found

    Changes in lower limb muscle function and muscle mass following exercise-based interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease : a review of the English-language literature

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    Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients often experience lower limb muscle dysfunction and wasting. Exercise-based training has potential to improve muscle function and mass, but literature on this topic is extensive and heterogeneous including numerous interventions and outcomemeasures. This reviewuses a detailed systematic approach to investigate the effect of this wide range of exercise-based interventions on muscle function and mass. PUBMED and PEDro databases were searched. In all, 70 studies (n = 2504 COPD patients) that implemented an exercise-based intervention and reported muscle strength, endurance, or mass in clinically stable COPD patients were critically appraised. Aerobic and/or resistance training, high-intensity interval training, electrical or magnetic muscle stimulation, whole-body vibration, andwater-based training were investigated. Muscle strength increased in 78%, muscle endurance in 92%, and muscle mass in 88% of the cases where that specific outcome was measured. Despite large heterogeneity in exercise-based interventions and outcome measures used, most exercise-based trials showed improvements in muscle strength, endurance, and mass in COPD patients. Which intervention(s) is (are) best for which subgroup of patients remains currently unknown. Furthermore, this literature review identifies gaps in the current knowledge and generates recommendations for future research to enhance our knowledge on exercise-based interventions in COPD patients

    The First Dynamical Mass Measurement in the HR 8799 System

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    HR 8799 hosts four directly imaged giant planets, but none has a mass measured from first principles. We present the first dynamical mass measurement in this planetary system, finding that the innermost planet HR~8799~e has a mass of 9.61.8+1.9MJup9.6^{+1.9}_{-1.8} \, M_{\rm Jup}. This mass results from combining the well-characterized orbits of all four planets with a new astrometric acceleration detection (5σ\sigma) from the Gaia EDR3 version of the Hipparcos-Gaia Catalog of Accelerations. We find with 95\% confidence that HR~8799~e is below 13MJup13\, M_{\rm Jup}, the deuterium-fusing mass limit. We derive a hot-start cooling age of 4216+2442^{+24}_{-16}\,Myr for HR~8799~e that agrees well with its hypothesized membership in the Columba association but is also consistent with an alternative suggested membership in the β\beta~Pictoris moving group. We exclude the presence of any additional \gtrsim5-MJupM_{\rm Jup} planets interior to HR~8799~e with semi-major axes between \approx3-16\,au. We provide proper motion anomalies and a matrix equation to solve for the mass of any of the planets of HR~8799 using only mass ratios between the planets.Comment: Accepted to ApJ Letter

    Introduction to the Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Project Children's Drawings of Gods: Presentation of the Project and of this Book

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    This introduction presents the project Children’s Drawings of Gods, relating its history from its origins through the present day. Following this recount- ing, we explain the organisation of this volume, introduce its parts and subparts, and briefly describe the content of each chapter

    L’interdisciplinarité en partage : collaborer pour innover. Le projet «dessins de Dieu»

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    Cette contribution révèle le double enjeu de la recherche interdisciplinaire qui réside de manière complémentaire dans l’avancement du dialogue entre les disciplines et dans la co- production de nouvelles méthodes et techniques d’analyse. Au travers d’une méta-analyse d’un projet de recherche interdisciplinaire et multiculturel sur les représentations que les enfants se font d’agents surnaturels (i.e. des figures de «dieux»), nous étudions les enjeux épistémologiques et méthodologiques qui surgissent lorsque plusieurs regards disciplinaires sont convoqués pour le traitement, l’analyse et l’interprétation d’un corpus de dessins d’enfant numérisés. En nous basant sur l’observation participante, la documentation et l’autoréflexivité des chercheurs impliqués dans la dynamique du projet, nous montrons comment le processus interdisciplinaire se met en place, avec ses points de convergence, ses potentialités mais aussi ses difficultés au regard des divers horizons épistémiques et culturels impliqués

    Images at the crossroads between computer vision and the human and social sciences: An inter- and transdisciplinary project of drawings of gods

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    The project “Drawings of gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children’s Representations of Supernatural Agents” (Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), grant number: CR11I1_156383) is an inter- and transdisciplinary project which aims to discover novel patterns in children’s representation of gods using the mixed-method (children’s drawings, narratives and questionnaires). Unlike previous studies mostly conducted within Western Christian context, this project is based on data from a larger diversity of countries and religious traditions (currently, 6’500 drawings from eight countries) and seeks to contribute to the lack of research in culture and interfaith variation of children’s representations. Primarily rooted in developmental psychology and psychology of religion, the project largely integrates religious studies, sociology and computer sciences to gain more insight into the complexity and diversity of children’s representations of supernatural agents. Three types of digital tools were developed to ensure the effective implementation of the project. Firstly, in order to make the collected drawings accessible to the whole interdisciplinary team of researchers, including international partners, an online database was created (http://ddd.unil.ch/). Secondly, the annotation tool “Gauntlet” was designed and created to meet the special needs of this research (https://d2d.vital-it.ch). Thirdly, project specific computer vision and image processing methods, such as colour detection, were developed to deal with the large amounts of data. One of the main challenges of the project is a necessity to test, rethink and rework the created digital tools to respond to specific needs of the interdisciplinary project and the unique character of children’s drawings. This required considerable time investment, financial resources and new skills on the part of researchers. We were faced with different types of problems, from the standardization of the quality of the scanned data to the architectural problems of the database, in order to better deal with the complexity and variety of collected data. Indeed, the digital tools considerably altered the research practices of humanities scholars. Key readings: Darbellay, F.; Vinck, D.; Cocco, C.; Dessart, G.; Dandarova Robert, Z. & Brandt, P.-Y. (2018), 'L'interdisciplinarité en partage: collaborer pour innover. Le projet “dessins de Dieu”', InnovatiO (5), http://innovacs-innovatio.upmf-grenoble.fr/index.php?id=437. Cocco, C.; Dessart, G.; Serbaeva, O.; Brandt, P.-Y.; Vinck, D. & Darbellay, F. (2018), 'Potentialités et difficultés d'un projet en humanités numériques (DH): confrontation aux outils et réorientations de recherche', Digital Humanities Quarterly 12(4), http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/12/1/000359/000359.html. Dandarova Robert, Z.; Dessart, G.; Serbaeva, O.; Puzdriac, C.; Khodayarifard, M.; Zardkhaneh, S. A.; Zandi, S.; Petanova, E.; Ladd, K. L. & Brandt, P.-Y. (2016), 'A Web-based Database for Drawings of Gods', Archive for the Psychology of Religion 38(3), 345-352, http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15736121-12341326

    App-Based Coaching to Prevent Addictive Behaviors among Young Adults

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    Abstract: Background: Vocational students have an increased risk to engage in health-risk behaviors compared to same-aged peers. To date, evidence-based digital prevention approaches that address multiple health-risk behaviors are rare. Method: The randomized-controlled trial (RCT) “Prevention of at-risk substance and Internet use disorders among vocational students” (PARI) investigates the efficacy of an app-based prevention approach compared to a waitlist-control condition. The aim is to prevent substance-related and behavioral addictions and improve life skills. An existing app (ready4life) was adapted under consideration of focus groups with teachers, prevention experts, and students. A Delphi expert group rated the quality of the approach. The efficacy of the modified ready4life app is currently being tested in a RCT. The proactive recruitment takes place in German vocational schools. After participating in an app-based screening (T0), participants get individualized feedback and will be cluster-randomized per class to the intervention group (IG; n=1.250) or control group (CG; n=1.250). The IG chooses two out of six modules: Social competence, stress management, cannabis, tobacco, alcohol, social media/gaming. The CG receives information on how to improve health behaviors. Follow-ups are conducted after 6 months (T1) and 12 months (T2). Conclusion: This RCT provides data on a multibehavioral prevention approach for vocational students. Final results are expected in 2023

    Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of an e-health stepped care approach for the treatment of internet use disorders versus a placebo condition: the SCAPIT study

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    Introduction Excessive internet use can lead to problems for some individuals. The WHO has introduced Gaming Disorder in the International Classification of Diseases-11 (ICD-11). Previous research has shown that other internet applications can cause serious mental health problems as well. It is important to provide measures of prevention, early intervention and therapy for internet use disorders (IUDs). Methods and analysis The study ‘Stepped Care Approach for Problematic Internet use Treatment’ is a randomised, two-arm, parallel-group, observer-blind trial. The aim of the study is to investigate if a stepped care approach is effective to reduce symptom severity for IUD. The sample is primarily recruited online with a focus on employees in companies with support of health insurances. After screening, the stepped care approach depends on the success of the previous step—that is, the successful reduction of criteria—and comprise: (1) app-intervention with questionnaires and feedback, (2) two telephone counsellings (duration: 50 min) based on motivational interviewing, (3) online therapy over 17 weeks (15 weekly group sessions, eight individual sessions) based on cognitive–behavioural therapy. A follow-up is conducted after 6 months. A total of 860 participants will be randomised. Hierarchical testing procedure is used to test the coprimary endpoints number of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition and ICD-11 criteria. Primary analysis will be performed with a sequential logit model. Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the Ethics Committees of the Universities of Lübeck (file number: 21-068), Mainz (file number: 2021-15907) and Berlin (file number: 015.2021). Results will be reported in accordance to the CONSORT statement. If the approach is superior to the control condition, it may serve as part of treatment for IUD. Trial registration number DRKS00025994
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