Multimodal Supervised Exercise Training Is Effective in Improving Long Term Walking Performance in Patients with Symptomatic Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a multimodal supervised exercise training (SET) program on walking performance for 12 months in patients with symptomatic lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). Consecutive patients with Fontaine stage II PAD participating in the SET program of our hospital were retrospectively investigated. Walking performance, assessed using a treadmill with measures of the pain-free and maximal walking distance (PFWD, MWD, respectively), and 6 min walking distance (6MWD), were tested before and following SET, as well as at 6 and 12 months after SET completion. Ninety-three symptomatic patients with PAD (65.0 ± 1.1 y) were included in the study. Following SET, the walking performance significantly improved (PFWD: +145%, p ≤ 0.001; MWD: +97%, p ≤ 0.001; 6MWD: +15%, p ≤ 0.001). At 6 months, PFWD (+257%, p ≤ 0.001), MWD (+132%, p ≤ 0.001), and 6MWD (+11%, p ≤ 0.001) remained significantly improved compared with the pre-SET condition. At 12 months, PFWD (+272%, p ≤ 0.001), MWD (+130%, p ≤ 0.001), and 6MWD (+11%, p ≤ 0.001) remained significantly improved compared with the pre-training condition. The walking performance remained significantly improved in both women and men for up to 12 months (p ≤ 0.001). Multimodal SET is effective at improving walking performance in symptomatic patients with PAD, with improvements lasting up to 12 months

Improvement in 6-Minute Walking Distance after Supervised Exercise Training Is Related to Changes in Quality of Life in Patients with Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between supervised exercise training (SET)-induced changes in treadmill performance and 6 min walking distance, and changes in general (physical and mental) self-perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in symptomatic patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). This is an observational study investigating Fontaine stage II PAD patients participating in 3-month SET. Before and following SET, treadmill performance (pain-free (PFWD) and maximal (MWD)), and 6 min walking distance (6MWD) were assessed. Self-perceived HRQoL was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Ankle- and toe-brachial indexes were also measured. One-hundred forty-seven patients with PAD were included (64.9 ± 9.6 y, 70% men). After SET, PFWD (+102%, p ≤ 0.001), MWD (+87%, p ≤ 0.001), and 6MWD (+14%, p ≤ 0.001) significantly increased. All eight SF-36 subscale scores significantly improved following SET (p ≤ 0.04). SET significantly improved physical and mental component summaries of the SF-36 (p ≤ 0.001). Larger increases in 6MWD were associated with greater improvements in physical (β = 0.19; p = 0.02) and mental (β = 0.24; p = 0.005) component summaries of the SF-36. No significant relationship was observed between changes in treadmill performance and changes in physical and mental component summaries of the SF-36. These results show that improvements in 6MWD following SET are related to improvements in general self-perceived HRQoL in patients with symptomatic lower extremity PAD. On the contrary, changes in treadmill performance were not related to improvements in HRQoL. These results suggest that the 6 min walking test is an essential outcome measure to assess overall patient functional status following interventions in patients with PAD

Time-course evolution of functional performance during a 3-month supervised exercise training program in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease.

Functional performance is impaired in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). The effects of a supervised exercise training (SET) program on functional performance have yet to be clearly determined. The aim was to investigate the time-course evolution of functional performance during a 3-month SET program. Patients with chronic symptomatic PAD participating in a 3-month SET program were investigated. Six-minute walking distance (6MWD), the stair climbing test (SCT), and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) were assessed before SET, after the first and second months of SET, and following the SET program. The ankle- and toe-brachial indices were measured before and after the SET program. Ninety patients with PAD (age 65.4 ± 10.2 years) were analyzed. The 6MWD significantly improved after the first (+7%, p ⩽ 0.001) and second months (+13%, p ⩽ 0.001) and following SET (+14%, p ⩽ 0.001) compared to before the SET program. The 6MWD significantly improved after the 2nd month (+6%, p ⩽ 0.001) and following SET (+7%, p ⩽ 0.001) compared to after the first month of the SET program. The SPPB score and SCT performance significantly improved after the first (SPPB score: +9%, p ⩽ 0.001; SCT: +17%, p ⩽ 0.001) and second months (SPPB score: +11%, p ⩽ 0.001; SCT: +24%, p ⩽ 0.001) and following SET (SPPB score: +12%, p ⩽ 0.001; SCT: +25%, p ⩽ 0.001) compared to before the SET program. No significant differences were observed following SET compared to the second month of the SET program. Vascular parameters did not change significantly. A 3-month SET program improves several components of functional performance, and adaptations mainly occur during the 1st and 2nd months of the SET program

Telemedicine for cardiac surgery candidates

Background: Cardiac surgery is generally well or over-represented in many Western countries. Since the southern part of Switzerland relies on 300 km distance centers for cardiac surgery, we started a project of telemedicine for the distant evaluation of cardiac surgery candidates. We report our experience of the results of the diagnosis made by telemedicine and by direct scrutiny of coronary angiograms. Methods: Coronary angiography was performed at the distant hospital by an invasive cardiology team. Teletransmission of images was performed using three Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) lines by direct transmission of recent recording. A total of 98 cases were reviewed (87 aorto-coronary bypass candidates, seven valvular and four congenital heart disease). We further performed a prospective blinded comparison of 47 consecutive cases with severe coronary artery disease (CAD) with respect to localization and number of significant coronary lesions, obtained by direct scrutiny of the original angiograms and the evaluation obtained with the teletransmitted images. Results: In 89 cases of the 98 analyzed (91%) correct diagnosis and surgical approach could be established by distant transmission. In nine cases (9%, all aortocoronary bypass candidates) definitive diagnosis and treatment was feasible only by direct scrutiny of the original angiograms. Five critically ill patients were urgently referred to the surgical care center based on the correct distant diagnosis. The blinded comparison of distant diagnosis and direct scrutiny of angiograms in defining 1-2-3 vessel CAD was good: r=0.87, P≪0.01. Conclusion: Initial experience using non-sophisticated telemedical transmission of angiograms of cardiac surgery candidates seems to be a promising facility for distantly located center

Prevalence and risk factors for thromboembolic complications in IBD patients

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients have an increased risk of venous thromboembolic complications (VTEC) such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism when compared to the non-IBD population. However, studies assessing VTEC prevalence in IBD as well as analyses of VTEC associated risk factors are scarce. We aimed to assess VTEC prevalence in IBD patients and to identify associated risk factors. Methods: Data from patients enrolled in the Swiss IBD Cohort Study (SIBDCS) were analyzed. Since 2006 the SIBDCS collects data on a large sample of IBD patients from hospitals and private practices across Switzerland. Results: A  total of 90/2284 (3.94%) IBD patients suffered from VTEC. Of these, 45/1324 (3.4% overall; 2.42% with DVT, 1.51% with PE) had CD, and 45/960 (4.7% overall; 3.23% with DVT, 2.40% with PE) presented with UC

Walking performances and muscle oxygen desaturation are increased after supervised exercise training in Takayasu arteritis: a case report and a review of the literature.

Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a rare chronic inflammatory vasculitis predominantly affecting the aorta and its main branches. Takayasu arteritis has been shown to increase cardiovascular risk. Supervised exercise training (SET) is a well-recognized and effective therapeutic tool improving walking performances in patients with chronic atherosclerotic disease; however, the effects of SET, and the underlying mechanisms, remain poorly documented in TAK patients. We reviewed the literature and investigated the effects of a 12-week SET programme on walking performances, physical function, and calf muscle oxygen saturation (StO <sub>2</sub> ; assessed by near-infrared spectroscopy) during exercise in a 28-year-old man with TAK and symptoms of arterial lower limb claudication. The literature review evidences only two recent publications suggesting that exercise training is effective and well-tolerated in patients with arteritis. The treadmill pain-free (+22%) and maximal (+273%) walking distance, 6-min walking distance (+66%), and physical function of lower extremities (+20%) following SET were significantly improved in our patient. Moreover, we observed a greater muscle oxygen desaturation (increased oxygen extraction) during exercise. Following SET, the increased oxygen extraction may be related to improved microvascular milieu leading to a better match between muscle oxygen supply and demand during exercise. These new results may contribute to mechanistic insights in peripheral adaptations following exercise training in TAK patients and may help to explain, at least partly, the increased walking performances. Although more studies are needed to better explore the impact of exercise training, these results suggest that exercise should be recommended in TAK patients

An Affordable Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Concept for Rehabilitation Applications

In recent decades, many researchers have focused on the design and development of exoskeletons. Several strategies have been proposed to develop increasingly more efficient and biomimetic mechanisms. However, existing exoskeletons tend to be expensive and only available for a few people. This paper introduces a new gravity-balanced upper-limb exoskeleton suited for rehabilitation applications and designed with the main objective of reducing the cost of the components and materials. Regarding mechanics, the proposed design significantly reduces the motor torque requirements, because a high cost is usually associated with high-torque actuation. Regarding the electronics, we aim to exploit the microprocessor peripherals to obtain parallel and real-time execution of communication and control tasks without relying on expensive RTOSs. Regarding sensing, we avoid the use of expensive force sensors. Advanced control and rehabilitation features are implemented, and an intuitive user interface is developed. To experimentally validate the functionality of the proposed exoskeleton, a rehabilitation exercise in the form of a pick-and-place task is considered. Experimentally, peak torques are reduced by 89% for the shoulder and by 84% for the elbow

Modelling crop hail damage footprints with single-polarization radar: the roles of spatial resolution, hail intensity, and cropland density

Hail represents a major threat to agriculture in Switzerland, and assessments of current and future hail risk are of paramount importance for decision-making in the insurance industry and the agricultural sector. However, relating observational information on hail with crop-specific damage is challenging. Here, we build and systematically assess an open-source model to predict hail damage footprints for field crops (wheat, maize, barley, rapeseed) and grapevine from the operational radar product Maximum Expected Severe Hail Size (MESHS) at different spatial resolutions. To this end, we combine the radar information with detailed geospatial information on agricultural land use and geo-referenced damage data from a crop insurer for 12 recent hail events in Switzerland. We find that for field crops model skill gradually increases when the spatial resolution is reduced from 1 km down to 8 km. For even lower resolutions, the skill is diminished again. In contrast, for grapevine, decreasing model resolution below 1 km tends to reduce skill, which is attributed to the different spatial distribution of field crops and grapevine in the landscape. It is shown that identifying a suitable MESHS thresholds to model damage footprints always involves trade-offs. For the lowest possible MESHS threshold (20 mm) the model predicts damage about twice as often as observed (high frequency bias and false alarm ratio), but it also has a high probability of detection (80 %). The frequency bias decreases for larger thresholds and reaches an optimal value close to 1 for MESHS thresholds of 30–40 mm. However, this comes at the cost of a substantially lower probability of detection (around 50 %), while overall model skill, as measured by the Heidke skill score (HSS), remains largely unchanged (0.41–0.44). We argue that, ultimately, the best threshold therefore depends on the relative costs of a false alarm versus a missed event. Finally, the frequency of false alarms is substantially reduced and skill is improved (HSS = 0.54) when only areas with high cropland density are considered. Results from this simple, open-source model show that modelling of hail damage footprints to crops from single-polarization radar in Switzerland is skilful and is best done at 8 km resolution for field crops and 1 km for grapevine.</p

Impact of Climate Change on Voltinism and Prospective Diapause Induction of a Global Pest Insect – Cydia pomonella (L.)

Global warming will lead to earlier beginnings and prolongation of growing seasons in temperate regions and will have pronounced effects on phenology and life-history adaptation in many species. These changes were not easy to simulate for actual phenologies because of the rudimentary temporal (season) and spatial (regional) resolution of climate model projections. We investigate the effect of climate change on the regional incidence of a pest insect with nearly worldwide distribution and very high potential for adaptation to season length and temperature – the Codling Moth, Cydia pomonella. Seasonal and regional climate change signals were downscaled to the hourly temporal scale of a pest phenology model and the spatial scale of pest habitats using a stochastic weather generator operating at daily scale in combination with a re-sampling approach for simulation of hourly weather data. Under future conditions of increased temperatures (2045–2074), the present risk of below 20% for a pronounced second generation (peak larval emergence) in Switzerland will increase to 70–100%. The risk of an additional third generation will increase from presently 0–2% to 100%. We identified a significant two-week shift to earlier dates in phenological stages, such as overwintering adult flight. The relative extent (magnitude) of first generation pupae and all later stages will significantly increase. The presence of first generation pupae and later stages will be prolonged. A significant decrease in the length of overlap of first and second generation larval emergence was identified. Such shifts in phenology may induce changes in life-history traits regulating the life cycle. An accordingly life-history adaptation in photoperiodic diapause induction to shorter day-length is expected and would thereby even more increase the risk of an additional generation. With respect to Codling Moth management, the shifts in phenology and voltinism projected here will require adaptations of plant protection strategies to maintain their sustainability

Process-based modelling of the nutritive value of forages: a review

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