Effect of a patient engagement tool on positive airway pressure adherence: analysis of a German healthcare provider database

Objective/background: This study investigated the addition of a real-time feedback patient engagement tool on positive airway pressure (PAP) adherence when added to a proactive telemedicine strategy. Patients/methods: Data from a German healthcare provider (ResMed Healthcare Germany) were retrospectively analyzed. Patients who first started PAP therapy between 1 September 2009 and 30 April 2014, and were managed using telemedicine (AirView™; proactive care) or telemedicine + patient engagement tool (AirView™ + myAir™; patient engagement) were eligible. Patient demographics, therapy start date, sleep- disordered breathing indices, device usage hours, and therapy termination rate were obtained and compared between the two groups. Results: The first 500 patients managed by telemedicine-guided care and a patient engagement tool were matched with 500 patients managed by telemedicine-guided care only. The proportion of nights with device usage ≥4 h was 77 ± 25% in the patient engagement group versus 63 ± 32% in the proactive care group (p < 0.001). Therapy termination occurred less often in the patient engagement group (p < 0.001). The apnea-hypopnea index was similar in the two groups, but leak was significantly lower in the patient engagement versus proactive care group (2.7 ± 4.0 vs 4.1 ± 5.3 L/min; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Addition of a patient engagement tool to telemonitoring-guided proactive care was associated with higher device usage and lower leak. This suggests that addition of an engagement tool may help improve PAP therapy adherence and reduce mask leak

Wandering maidens in the Acropolis Propylaia: some considerations on the spatial setting of the cults of the Charites, Artemis and Hermes, their administration and related cult images

This paper aims to develop a holistic view on the cults of the Charites, Artemis and Hermes which can plausibly be located in the Acropolis Propylaia. Based on the combined analysis of the spatial and architectural setting, which changed in the course of the erection of the Mnesiklean Propylaia in 437–432 BC, along with the imagery and textual evidence for these cults, I propose that due to the altered spatial distribution and the rotated building axes, initially separate cults were fused together. Consequently, iconographical shifts occur in the modes of depiction of these three divinities. The Charites, who were attached in Archaic imagery to Hermes, in the Classical period become iconographically intertwined with Artemis. The iconographic shift is detectable especially in the new cult images1 for Hermes Propylaios and Artemis Epipyrgidia with the Charites, which had been created by the sculptor Alkamenes, presumably by order of the Athenian state. This article should not be seen as a contribution to the analysis of copies (Kopienkritik) for known statue types or an architectural study; instead, its focus lies in the concepts of visualization of divine images, which were developed for a highly specific spatial setting in the cultic landscape of the Athenian Acropolis

Destination ‘Heimat’:: Tourist Discourses and the Construction of an Austrian Homeland in Popular 1950s Austrian Movies

Tourismus ist nicht (nur) eine gefällige und marktkonforme Darstellung von Land und Leuten, sondern erlaubt auch Einblicke in die Prozesse der nationalen und kulturellen Identitätskonstruktion. Basierend auf einem diskursiven Verständnis touristischer Narrative und Praktiken analysiere ich in diesem Artikel, wie zwei populäre österreichische Nachkriegsfilme, Der Hofrat Geiger (1952) und Echo der Berge / Der Förster vom Silberwald (1954), den touristischen Habitus als Voraussetzung für die Wiederrichtung einer österreichischen Heimat darstellen. Die physische und mentale Mobilität der „Touristen“ denen es gelingt, im Fremden jeweils auch das Eigene zu erkennen, wird dabei zum Modell für ein Nachkriegsösterreich, das sich seine Idee von Heimat als ein von Deutschland unabhängiges Konzept neu zusammenbauen muss. Anhand einer detaillierten Diskussion der Filme zeige ich, dass Tourismus nicht einfach ein Oberflächenphänomen ist, sondern nuancierte Einblicke in kulturelle und nationale Identitätskonstruktionen ermöglicht, die auch zu vergleichenden Studien mit anderen ‚belasteten’ Nationalidentitäten führen können

Wandering Maidens in the Akropolis Propylaia: Some Considerations on the Spatial Setting of the Cults of the Charites, Artemis, and Hermes, Their Administration and Related Cult Images

This paper aims to develop a holistic view on the cults of the Charites, Artemis and Hermes which can plausibly be located in the Acropolis Propylaia. Based on the combined analysis of the spatial and architectural setting, which changed in the course of the erection of the Mnesiklean Propylaia in 437–432 BC, along with the imagery and textual evidence for these cults, I propose that due to the altered spatial distribution and the rotated building axes, initially separate cults were fused together. Consequently, iconographical shifts occur in the modes of depiction of these three divinities. The Charites, who were attached in Archaic imagery to Hermes, in the Classical period become iconographically intertwined with Artemis. The iconographic shift is detectable especially in the new cult images1 for Hermes Propylaios and Artemis Epipyrgidia with the Charites, which had been created by the sculptor Alkamenes, presumably by order of the Athenian state. This article should not be seen as a contribution to the analysis of copies (Kopienkritik) for known statue types or an architectural study; instead, its focus lies in the concepts of visualization of divine images, which were developed for a highly specific spatial setting in the cultic landscape of the Athenian Acropolis

Determining the prevalence and predictors of sleep disordered breathing in patients with chronic heart failure: rationale and design of the SCHLA-HF registry

BACKGROUND: The objective of the SCHLA-HF registry is to investigate the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced left ventricular systolic function (HF-REF) and to determine predictors of SDB in such patients. METHODS: Cardiologists in private practices and in hospitals in Germany are asked to document patients with HF-REF into the prospective SCHLA-HF registry if they meet predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Screening was started in October 2007 and enrolment was completed at the end of May 2013. After enrolment in the registry, patients are screened for SDB. SDB screening is mainly undertaken using the validated 2-channel ApneaLink™ device (nasal flow and pulse oximetry; ResMed Ltd., Sydney, Australia). Patients with a significant number of apneas and hypopneas per hour recording time (AHI ≥15/h) and/or clinical symptoms suspicious of SDB will be referred to a cooperating sleep clinic for an attended in-lab polysomnography with certified scoring where the definite diagnosis and, if applicable, the differentiation between obstructive and central sleep apnea will be made. Suggested treatment will be documented. DISCUSSION: Registries play an important role in facilitating advances in the understanding and management of cardiovascular disease. The SCHLA-HF registry will provide consistent data on a large group of patients with HF-REF that will help to answer questions on the prevalence, risk factors, gender differences and stability of SDB in these patients by cross-sectional analyses. Further insight into the development of SDB will be gained by extension of the registry to include longitudinal data

Heterosis effects in Fleckvieh-Pinzgauer crosses

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A Didactic Journey from Statistical Physics to Thermodynamics

This paper offers a pedestrian guide from the fundamental properties of entropy to the axioms of thermodynamics, which are a consequence of the axiom of statistical physics. It also dismantles flawed concepts, such as assigning physical meaning to Lagrange multipliers and numerous others. This work also provides a comprehensive understanding of the Legendre transform via geometrical, mathematical and physical insights, as well as its connection to the experimental setup. The central result of this paper is the comprehensive formalisation of key concepts, including ensembles, variable dependencies, potentials and natural variables. Furthermore, the framework of thermodynamics, the state function and the Euler inequality are rigorously proven from the axiom of statistical physics.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Genetic disequilibria between the αS1-, β-, κ-casein and the β-lactoglobulin loci of the Bavarian Brown and Bavarian Simmental cattle

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Hitler und England. Ein Essay zur nationalsozialistischen Außenpolitik 1920 bis 1940

Hitlers Außen- und Kriegspolitik gehört zu den wichtigsten Feldern zeitgeschichtlicher Forschung. So herrscht an Arbeiten zum Thema kein Mangel. Doch vermögen ein frischer Blick und noch nicht genügend genutzte Quellen - wie die Goebbels-Tagebücher - immer wieder neue Gesichtspunkte zu finden, neue Aspekte aufzuspüren und neue Erkenntnisse zu gewinnen. Der hier vorgelegte Essay sucht die bislang vernachlässigten Ursprünge des England-Bildes aufzuhellen, das den Programmatiker Hitler dazu brachte, ein Bündnis mit Großbritannien als Kernpunkt nationalsozialistischer Außenpolitik zu sehen. Auf solcher Basis kann die Entwicklung beleuchtet werden, die den Reichskanzler Hitler vom Werben um England über die Verachtung Englands bis zum Krieg mit England geführt hat