Stable and habitable systems with two giant planets

We have studied planetary systems which are similar to the Solar System and built up from three inner rocky planets (Venus, Earth, Mars) and two outer gas giants. The stability of the orbits of the inner planets is discussed in the cases of different masses of the gas planets. To demonstrate the results stability maps were made and it was found that Jupiter could be four times and Saturn could be three times more massive while the orbits of the inner planets stay stable. Similar calculations were made by changing the mass of the Sun. In this case the position of the rocky planets and the extension of the liquid water habitable and the UV habitable zones were studied for different masses of the Sun. It was found that the orbits of the planets were stable for values greater than 0.33 M_Sun where M_Sun is the mass of the Sun and at lower masses of the Sun (at about 0.8 M_Sun) only Venus, but for higher mass values (at about 1.2 M_Sun) Earth and also Mars are located in both habitable zones.Comment: 8 page

Herbal medicines for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease

© 2014 The Cochrane Collaboration. This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: The primary objectives are to assess the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines for the treatment of patients with IBD

The luminosities of the brightest cluster galaxies and brightest satellites in SDSS groups

We show that the distribution of luminosities of Brightest Cluster Galaxies in an SDSS-based group catalog suggests that BCG luminosities are just the statistical extremes of the group galaxy luminosity function. This latter happens to be very well approximated by the all-galaxy luminosity function (restricted to Mr<-19.9), provided one uses a parametrization of this function that is accurate at the bright end. A similar analysis of the luminosity distribution of the Brightest Satellite Galaxies suggests that they are best thought of as being the second brightest pick from the same luminosity distribution of which BCGs are the brightest. I.e., BSGs are not the brightest of some universal satellite luminosity function, in contrast to what Halo Model analyses of the luminosity dependence of clustering suggest. However, we then use mark correlations to provide a novel test of these order statistics, showing that the hypothesis of a universal luminosity function (i.e. no halo mass dependence) from which the BCGs and BSGs are drawn is incompatible with the data, despite the fact that there was no hint of this in the BCG and BSG luminosity distributions themselves. We also discuss why, since extreme value statistics are explicitly a function of the number of draws, the consistency of BCG luminosities with extreme value statistics is most clearly seen if one is careful to perform the test at fixed group richness N. Tests at, e.g., fixed total group luminosity Ltot, will generally be biased and may lead to erroneous conclusions.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures; v2 -- Revised to match version accepted in MNRAS. Includes a new section on using mark correlations to test extreme value statistic

Serologic response to culture filtrate antigens of Mycobacterium ulcerans during Buruli ulcer disease.

Buruli ulcer (BU) is an emerging necrotic skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. To assess the potential for a serodiagnostic test, we measured the humoral immune response of BU patients to M. ulcerans antigens and compared this response with delayed-type hypersensitivity responses to both Burulin and PPD. The delayed-type hypersensitivity response generally supported the diagnosis of BU, with overall reactivity to Burulin in 28 (71.8%) of 39 patients tested, compared with 3 (14%) of 21 healthy controls. However, this positive skin test response was observed primarily in patients with healed or active disease, and rarely in patients with early disease (p=0.009). When tested for a serologic response to M. ulcerans culture filtrate, 43 (70.5%) of 61 BU patients had antibodies to these antigens, compared with 10 (37.0%) of 27 controls and 4 (30. 8%) of 13 tuberculosis patients. There was no correlation between disease stage and the onset of this serum antibody response. Our findings suggest that serologic testing may be useful in the diagnosis and surveillance of BU

Efficacy of cupping therapy in patients with the fibromyalgia syndrome-a randomised placebo controlled trial

© 2016 The Author(s). This study aimed to test the efficacy of cupping therapy to improve symptoms and quality of life in patients diagnosed with the fibromyalgia syndrome. Participants were randomly assigned to cupping therapy, sham or usual care. Cupping was administered five times at twice weekly intervals on the upper and lower back. The primary outcome measure was pain intensity at day 18. Secondary outcomes included functional disability, quality of life, fatigue and sleep quality as well as pressure pain sensitivity, satisfaction and safety at day 18 and 6 months. Altogether 141 patients were included in this study (139 females, 55.8 ± 9.1 years). After 18 days patients reported significant less pain after cupping compared to usual care (difference-12.4; 95% CI:-18.9;-5.9, p < 0.001) but not compared to sham (difference-3.0; 95% CI:-9.9, 3.9, p = 0.396). Further effects were found for quality of life compared to usual care. Patients were mildly satisfied with cupping and sham cupping; and only minor side effects were observed. Despite cupping therapy being more effective than usual care to improve pain intensity and quality of life, effects of cupping therapy were small and comparable to those of a sham treatment, and as such cupping cannot be recommended for fibromyalgia at the current time

Treatment of multiple adjacent RT 1 gingival recessions with the modified coronally advanced tunnel (MCAT) technique and a collagen matrix or palatal connective tissue graft: 9-year results of a split-mouth randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate t he long-term outcomes following treatment of RT 1 multiple adjacent gingival recessions (MAGR) using the modified coronally advanced tunnel (MCAT) with either a collagen matrix CM or a connective tissue graft (CTG). MATERIAL AND METHODS Sixteen of the original 22 subjects included in a randomized, controlled split-mouth clinical trial were available for the 9-year follow-up (114 sites). Recessions were randomly treated by means of MCAT + CM (test) or MCAT + CTG (control). Complete root coverage (CRC), mean root coverage (MRC), gingival recession depth (GRD), probing pocket depth (PD), keratinized tissue width (KTW), and thickness (KGT) were compared with baseline values and with the 12-month results. RESULTS After 9 years, CRC was observed in 2 patients, one in each group. At 9 years, MRC was 23.0 ± 44.5% in the test and 39.7 ± 35.1% in the control group (p = 0.179). The MRC reduction compared to 12 months was - 50.1 ± 47.0% and - 48.3 ± 37.7%, respectively. The upper jaw obtained 31.92 ± 43.0% of MRC for the test and 51.1 ± 27.8% for the control group (p = 0.111) compared to the lower jaw with 8.3 ± 46.9% and 20.7 ± 40.3%. KTW and KGT increased for both CM and CTG together from 2.0 ± 0.7 to 3.1 ± 1.0 mm (< 0.0001). There were no statistically significant changes in PD. CONCLUSION The present results indicate that (a) treatment of MAGR using MCAT in conjunction with either CM or CTG is likely to show a relapse over a period of 9 years, and (b) the outcomes obtained in maxillary areas seem to be more stable compared to the mandibular ones. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The mean root coverage at 12 months could not be fully maintained over 9 years. On a long-term basis, the results seem to be less stable in the mandible as compared to maxillary areas

Effects of an Integrative Mind-Body-Medicine Group Program on Breast Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy: An Observational Study.

Background: Breast cancer is one of the leading cancers in women in the Western world. Cancer treatment, especially chemotherapy, is often associated with physical and psychosocial side effects. Objective: To improve the quality of life and manage side effects, a new integrative mind-body-medicine group concept for breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy was developed and pilot tested. Methods: Breast cancer patients participated in a 66 hours mind-body-medicine group program tailored to the needs of cancer patients during chemotherapy. The program was integrated into standard care encompassing mindfulness training, yoga, moderate exercise, nutrition, complementary self-help strategies, cognitive restructuring, and acupuncture. Quality of life (EORTC QLQ-C30), depression and anxiety (HADS), stress (PSS-10), and fatigue (BFI) were assessed before and after the program, as well as satisfaction and safety. Analyses were carried out on exploratory basis with paired samples t-tests. Results: Fifty-seven female patients, aged 51.3±10.5 years, with breast cancer diagnoses were enrolled. After completing the program, global EORTC quality of life was improved (D=9.5; 95%-CI=[2.9|16.1]; p=.005), although the EORTC-symptom scales assessing fatigue (D=9.9; 95%-CI=[1|18.8]; p=.030), nausea (D=7.1; 95%- CI=[0.6|13.6]; p=.031), and dyspnea (D=12.5; 95%-CI=[2.9|22.1]; p=.011) were found to be increased. Stress (D=-3.5; 95%-CI=[-5|-2.1]; p=.000), anxiety (D=-3.8; 95%-CI=[-4.9|-2.7]; p=.000) and depression (D=-3.9; 95%-CI=[-4.9|-2.8]; p=.000) were also found to be significantly reduced. Regarding the severity of (D=0.2; 95%- CI=[-0.8|0.5]; p=.644) and the impairment due to fatigue (D=0.1; 95%-CI=[-0.8|0.6]; p=.696), no significant worsening was observed. Patients were satisfied with the program. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Breast cancer patients benefit from an integrative mind-body-medicine group program during chemotherapy regarding the quality of life and psychological symptoms. Randomized controlled trials are warranted

Strain-free bulk-like GaN grown by hydride-vapor-phase-epitaxy on two-step epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN template

Crack-free bulk-like GaN with high crystalline quality has been obtained by hydride-vapor-phase-epitaxy (HVPE)growth on a two-step epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN template on sapphire. During the cooling down stage, the as-grown 270-μm-thick GaN layer was self-separated from the sapphire substrate. Plan-view transmission electron microscopyimages show the dislocation density of the free-standing HVPE-GaN to be ∼2.5×10 exp 7  cm exp −2 on the Ga-polar face. A low Ga vacancy related defect concentration of about 8×10 exp 15 cm exp−3 is extracted from positron annihilation spectroscopy data. The residual stress and the crystalline quality of the material are studied by two complementary techniques. Low-temperature photoluminescence spectra show the main neutral donor bound exciton line to be composed of a doublet structure at 3.4715 (3.4712) eV and 3.4721 (3.4718) eV for the Ga- (N-) polar face with the higher-energy component dominating. These line positions suggest virtually strain-free material on both surfaces with high crystalline quality as indicated by the small full width at half maximum values of the donor bound exciton lines. The E1(TO) phonon mode position measured at 558.52 cm exp −1 (Ga face) by infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry confirms the small residual stress in the material, which is hence well suited to act as a lattice-constant and thermal-expansion-coefficient matched substrate for further homoepitaxy, as needed for high-quality III-nitride device applications.Peer reviewe