1,616 research outputs found
Nationwide Survey Reveals High Prevalence of Non-Swimmers among Children with Congenital Heart Defects
Background: Physical activity is important for children with congenital heart defects (CHD), not only for somatic health, but also for neurologic, emotional, and psychosocial development. Swimming is a popular endurance sport which is in general suitable for most children with CHD. Since we have previously shown that children with CHD are less frequently physically active than their healthy peers, we hypothesized that the prevalence of non-swimmers is higher in CHD patients than in healthy children. Methods: To obtain representative data, we performed a nationwide survey in collaboration with the German National Register of Congenital Heart Defects (NRCHD) and the Institute for Sport Sciences of the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). The questionnaire included questions capturing the prevalence of swimming skills and the timing of swim learning and was part of the “Motorik-Modul” (MoMo) from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS). A representative age-matched subset of 4569 participants of the MoMo wave two study served as a healthy control group. Results: From 894 CHD-patients (mean age of 12.5 ± 3.1 years), the proportion of non-swimmers in children with CHD was significantly higher (16% versus 4.3%; p < 0.001) compared to healthy children and was dependent on CHD severity: Children with complex CHD had an almost five-fold increased risk (20.4%) of being unable to swim, whereas in children with simple CHD, the ability to swim did not differ significantly from their healthy reference group (5.6% vs. 4.3% non-swimmers (p = not significant). Conclusions: According to our results, one in five patients with complex CHD are non-swimmers, a situation that is concerning in regard of motoric development, inclusion and integration, as well as prevention of drowning accidents. Implementation of swim learning interventions for children with CHD would be a reasonable approach
Cilostazol promotes blood vessel formation and bone regeneration in a murine non-union model
Non-unions represent a major complication in trauma and orthopedic surgery. Many factors contribute to bone
regeneration, out of which an adequate vascularization has been recognized as crucial. The phosphodiesterase-3
(PDE-3) inhibitor cilostazol has been shown to exert pro-angiogenic and pro-osteogenic effects in a variety of
preclinical studies. Hence, we herein investigated the effects of cilostazol on bone regeneration in an atrophic
non-union model in mice. For this purpose, a 1.8 mm femoral segmental defect was stabilized by pin-clip fixation
and the animals were treated daily with 30 mg/kg body weight cilostazol or saline (control) per os. At 2, 5 and 10
weeks after surgery the healing of femora was analyzed by X-ray, biomechanics, photoacoustic imaging, and
micro-computed tomography (µCT). To investigate the cellular composition and the growth factor expression of
the callus tissue additional histological, immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses were performed.
Cilostazol-treated animals showed increased bone formation within the callus, resulting in an enhanced bending
stiffness when compared to controls. This was associated with a more pronounced expression of vascular
endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a higher number of CD31-positive microvessels and an increased oxygen
saturation within the callus tissue. Furthermore, cilostazol induced higher numbers of tartrate-resistant acidic
phosphate (TRAP)-positive osteoclasts and CD68-positive macrophages. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that cilostazol is a promising drug candidate for the adjuvant treatment of atrophic non-unions in clinical
practice
THE ALMA SPECTROSCOPIC SURVEY IN THE HUBBLE ULTRA DEEP FIELD: CONTINUUM NUMBER COUNTS, RESOLVED 1.2 mm EXTRAGALACTIC BACKGROUND, AND PROPERTIES OF THE FAINTEST DUSTY STAR-FORMING GALAXIES
We present an analysis of a deep (1σ = 13 μJy) cosmological 1.2 mm continuum map based on ASPECS, the ALMA Spectroscopic Survey in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. In the 1 arcmin2 covered by ASPECS we detect nine sources at significance at 1.2 mm. Our ALMA-selected sample has a median redshift of , with only one galaxy detected at z > 2 within the survey area. This value is significantly lower than that found in millimeter samples selected at a higher flux density cutoff and similar frequencies. Most galaxies have specific star formation rates (SFRs) similar to that of main-sequence galaxies at the same epoch, and we find median values of stellar mass and SFRs of and yr−1, respectively. Using the dust emission as a tracer for the interstellar medium (ISM) mass, we derive depletion times that are typically longer than 300 Myr, and we find molecular gas fractions ranging from ~0.1 to 1.0. As noted by previous studies, these values are lower than those using CO-based ISM estimates by a factor of ~2. The 1 mm number counts (corrected for fidelity and completeness) are in agreement with previous studies that were typically restricted to brighter sources. With our individual detections only, we recover 55% ± 4% of the extragalactic background light (EBL) at 1.2 mm measured by the Planck satellite, and we recover 80% ± 7% of this EBL if we include the bright end of the number counts and additional detections from stacking. The stacked contribution is dominated by galaxies at z\sim 1\mbox{--}2, with stellar masses of (1–3) × 1010 M . For the first time, we are able to characterize the population of galaxies that dominate the EBL at 1.2 mm
Controlling a magnetic Feshbach resonance with laser light
The capability to tune the strength of the elastic interparticle interaction
is crucial for many experiments with ultracold gases. Magnetic Feshbach
resonances are a tool widely used for this purpose, but future experiments
would benefit from additional flexibility such as spatial modulation of the
interaction strength on short length scales. Optical Feshbach resonances offer
this possibility in principle, but suffer from fast particle loss due to
light-induced inelastic collisions. Here we show that light near-resonant with
a molecular bound-to-bound transition can be used to shift the magnetic field
at which a magnetic Feshbach resonance occurs. This makes it possible to tune
the interaction strength with laser light and at the same time induce
considerably less loss than an optical Feshbach resonance would do
Combined Analysis of the Binary-Lens Caustic-Crossing Event MACHO 98-SMC-1
We fit the data for the binary-lens microlensing event MACHO 98-SMC-1 from 5
different microlensing collaborations and find two distinct solutions
characterized by binary separation d and mass ratio q: (d,q)=(0.54,0.50) and
(d,q)=(3.65,0.36), where d is in units of the Einstein radius. However, the
relative proper motion of the lens is very similar in the two solutions, 1.30
km/s/kpc and 1.48 km/s/kpc, thus confirming that the lens is in the Small
Magellanic Cloud. The close binary can be either rotating or approximately
static but the wide binary must be rotating at close its maximum allowed rate
to be consistent with all the data. We measure limb-darkening coefficients for
five bands ranging from I to V. As expected, these progressively decrease with
rising wavelength. This is the first measurement of limb darkening for a
metal-poor A star.Comment: 29 pages + 9 figures + 2 tables, submitted to Ap
An overview of the higher level classification of Pucciniomycotina based on combined analyses of nuclear large and small subunit rDNA sequences
Mycologia, Vol. 98, nº6In this study we provide a phylogenetically
based introduction to the classes and orders of Pucciniomycotina (5Urediniomycetes), one of three subphyla of Basidiomycota. More than 8000 species of Pucciniomycotina have been described including putative saprotrophs and parasites of plants, animals and fungi. The overwhelming majority of these(,90%) belong to a single order of obligate plant
pathogens, the Pucciniales (5Uredinales), or rust fungi. We have assembled a dataset of previously published and newly generated sequence data from two nuclear rDNA genes (large subunit and small subunit) including exemplars from all known major groups in order to test hypotheses about evolutionary
relationships among the Pucciniomycotina. The
utility of combining nuc-lsu sequences spanning the entire D1-D3 region with complete nuc-ssu sequences
for resolution and support of nodes is discussed. Our study confirms Pucciniomycotina as a monophyletic
group of Basidiomycota. In total our results support eight major clades ranked as classes (Agaricostilbomycetes, Atractiellomycetes, Classiculomycetes,Cryptomycocolacomycetes,Cystobasidiomycetes, Microbotryomycetes,Mixiomycetes and Pucciniomycetes) and 18 orders
Observational and Dynamical Characterization of Main-Belt Comet P/2010 R2 (La Sagra)
We present observations of comet-like main-belt object P/2010 R2 (La Sagra)
obtained by Pan-STARRS 1 and the Faulkes Telescope-North on Haleakala in
Hawaii, the University of Hawaii 2.2 m, Gemini-North, and Keck I telescopes on
Mauna Kea, the Danish 1.54 m telescope at La Silla, and the Isaac Newton
Telescope on La Palma. An antisolar dust tail is observed from August 2010
through February 2011, while a dust trail aligned with the object's orbit plane
is also observed from December 2010 through August 2011. Assuming typical phase
darkening behavior, P/La Sagra is seen to increase in brightness by >1 mag
between August 2010 and December 2010, suggesting that dust production is
ongoing over this period. These results strongly suggest that the observed
activity is cometary in nature (i.e., driven by the sublimation of volatile
material), and that P/La Sagra is therefore the most recent main-belt comet to
be discovered. We find an approximate absolute magnitude for the nucleus of
H_R=17.9+/-0.2 mag, corresponding to a nucleus radius of ~0.7 km, assuming an
albedo of p=0.05. Using optical spectroscopy, we find no evidence of
sublimation products (i.e., gas emission), finding an upper limit CN production
rate of Q_CN<6x10^23 mol/s, from which we infer an H2O production rate of
Q_H2O<10^26 mol/s. Numerical simulations indicate that P/La Sagra is
dynamically stable for >100 Myr, suggesting that it is likely native to its
current location and that its composition is likely representative of other
objects in the same region of the main belt, though the relatively close
proximity of the 13:6 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter and the (3,-2,-1)
three-body mean-motion resonance with Jupiter and Saturn mean that dynamical
instability on larger timescales cannot be ruled out.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A
Improving the Performance of Supported Ionic Liquid Phase Catalysts for the Ultra-Low-Temperature Water Gas Shift Reaction Using Organic Salt Additives
The water gas shift reaction (WGSR) is catalyzed by supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) systems containing homogeneous Ru complexes dissolved in ionic liquids (ILs). These systems work at very low temperatures, that is, between 120 and 160 °C, as compared to >200 °C in the conventional process. To improve the performance of this ultra-low-temperature catalysis, we investigated the influence of various additives on the catalytic activity of these SILP systems. In particular, the application of methylene blue (MB) as an additive doubled the activity. Infrared spectroscopy measurements combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculations excluded a coordinative interaction of MB with the Ru complex. In contrast, state-of-the-art theoretical calculations elucidated the catalytic effect of the additives by non-covalent interactions. In particular, the additives can significantly lower the barrier of the rate-determining step of the reaction mechanism via formation of hydrogen bonds. The theoretical predictions, thereby, showed excellent agreement with the increase of experimental activity upon variation of the hydrogen bonding moieties in the additives investigated
Probing Quantum Capacitance in a 3D Topological Insulator
We measure the quantum capacitance and probe thus directly the electronic density of states of the high mobility, Dirac type two-dimensional electron system, which forms on the surface of strained HgTe. Here we show that observed magnetocapacitance oscillations probe-in contrast to magnetotransport-primarily the top surface. Capacitance measurements constitute thus a powerful tool to probe only one topological surface and to reconstruct its Landau level spectrum for different positions of the Fermi energy
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