Organische Dünger in Topfkulturen auf dem Prüfstand - wie steht es mit der Stickstofffreisetzung?

Matching nitrogen demand of plants and N release of organic fertilizers with respect to amount and timing is one key for successful cultivation of organic ornamentals. Thereby for plants with a low to moderate N demand growers can add the fertilizer as complete preplant application (CPA). For plants with a high N demand splitting fertilization in a reduced preplant application combined with an additional fertigation (RPA+F) is preferable. Aim of the current research was the investigation of N release of organic fertilizers in incubation experiments. Results of the incubation experiment were linked to a pot trial with pelargonium. Incubation experiments reveal that most fertilizers release about 40 to 50 % of total N and most nitrogen is released within the first 21 days. Only for sheep wool a delay of N release up to ten days was found. CPA using sheep wool and RPA+F (irrespective of fertilizer) give the best results. The delayed release pattern of sheep wool seems to match best N demand of plants

Testing and Modeling Ethernet Switches and Networks for Use in ATLAS High-level Triggers

The ATLAS second level trigger will use a multi-layered LAN network to transfer 5 Gbyte/s detector data from ~1500 buffers to a few hundred processors. A model of the network has been constructed to evaluate its performance. A key component of the network model is a model of an individual switch, reproducing the behavior measured in real devices. A small number of measurable parameters are used to model a variety of commercial Ethernet switches. Using parameters measured on real devices, the impact on the overall network performance is modeled. In the Atlas context, both 100 Mbit and Gigabit Ethernet links are required. A system is described which is capable of characterizing the behavior of commercial switches with the required number of nodes under traffic conditions resembling those to be encountered in the Atlas experiment. Fast Ethernet traffic is provided by a high density, custom built tester based on FPGAs, programmed in Handel-C and VHDL, while the Gigabit Ethernet traffic is generated using Alteon NICs with custom firmware. The system is currently being deployed with 32 100Mbit ports and 16 Gigabit ports, and will be expanded to ~256 nodes of 100 Mbit and ~50 GBE nodes

Sleep During Pregnancy: The nuMoM2b Pregnancy and Sleep Duration and Continuity Study

Study Objectives: To characterize sleep duration, timing and continuity measures in pregnancy and their association with key demographic variables. Methods: Multisite prospective cohort study. Women enrolled in the nuMoM2b study (nulliparous women with a singleton gestation) were recruited at the second study visit (16-21 weeks of gestation) to participate in the Sleep Duration and Continuity substudy. Women <18 years of age or with pregestational diabetes or chronic hypertension were excluded from participation. Women wore a wrist activity monitor and completed a sleep log for 7 consecutive days. Time in bed, sleep duration, fragmentation index, sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and sleep midpoint were averaged across valid primary sleep periods for each participant. Results: Valid data were available from 782 women with mean age of 27.3 (5.5) years. Median sleep duration was 7.4 hours. Approximately 27.9% of women had a sleep duration of 9 hours. In multivariable models including age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, insurance status, and recent smoking history, sleep duration was significantly associated with race/ethnicity and insurance status, while time in bed was only associated with insurance status. Sleep continuity measures and sleep midpoint were significantly associated with all covariates in the model, with the exception of age for fragmentation index and smoking for wake after sleep onset. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the relationship between sleep and important demographic characteristics during pregnancy

Tumor Microvessel Density as a Prognostic Marker in High-Risk Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated on ECOG-ACRIN E2805

Purpose—Increased vascularity is a hallmark of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Microvessel density (MVD) is one measurement of tumor angiogenesis; however, its utility as a biomarker of outcome is unknown. ECOG-ACRIN 2805 (E2805) enrolled 1,943 resected high-risk RCC patients randomized to adjuvant sunitinib, sorafenib, or placebo. We aimed to determine the prognostic and predictive role of MVD in RCC. Experimental Design—We obtained pretreatment primary RCC nephrectomy tissues from 822 patients on E2805 and constructed tissue microarrays. Using quantitative immunofluorescence, we measured tumor MVD as the area of CD34-expressing cells. We determined the association with disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), treatment arm, and clinicopathologic variables. Results—High MVD (above the median) was associated with prolonged OS for the entire cohort (p = 0.021) and for patients treated with placebo (p = 0.028). The association between high MVD and OS was weaker in patients treated with sunitinib or sorafenib (p = 0.060). MVD was not associated with DFS (p = 1.00). On multivariable analysis, MVD remained independently associated with improved OS (p = 0.013). High MVD correlated with Fuhrman grade 1–2 (p \u3c 0.001), clear cell histology (p \u3c 0.001), and absence of necrosis (p \u3c 0.001) but not with gender, age, sarcomatoid features, lymphovascular invasion, or tumor size. Conclusions—High MVD in resected high-risk RCC patients is an independent prognostic, rather than predictive, biomarker of improved OS. Further studies should assess whether incorporating MVD into clinical models will enhance our ability to predict outcome and if low MVD can be used for selection of high-risk patients for adjuvant therapy trials

Movement of Walleyes in Lakes Erie and St. Clair Inferred from Tag Return and Fisheries Data

Lake Erie walleyes Sander vitreus support important fisheries and have been managed as one stock, although preliminary tag return and genetic analyses suggest the presence of multiple stocks that migrate among basins within Lake Erie and into other portions of the Great Lakes. We examined temporal and spatial movement and abundance patterns of walleye stocks in the three basins of Lake Erie and in Lake St. Clair with the use of tag return and sport and commercial catchâ perâ unit effort (CPUE) data from 1990 to 2001. Based on summer tag returns, western basin walleyes migrated to the central and eastern basins of Lake Erie and to Lake St. Clair and southern Lake Huron, while fish in the central and eastern basins of Lake Erie and in Lake St. Clair were primarily caught within the basins where they were tagged. Seasonal changes in sport and commercial effort and CPUE in Lake Erie confirmed the walleye movements suggested by tag return data. Walleyes tagged in the western basin but recaptured in the central or eastern basin of Lake Erie were generally larger (or older) than those recaptured in the western basin of Lake Erie or in Lake St. Clair. Within spawning stocks, female walleyes had wider ranges of movement than males and there was considerable variation in movement direction, minimum distance moved (mean distance between tagging sites and recapture locations), and mean length among individual spawning stocks. Summer temperatures in the western basin often exceeded the optimal temperature (20â 23°C) for growth of large walleyes, and the migration of western basin walleyes might represent a sizeâ dependent response to warm summer temperatures. Cooler temperatures and abundant softâ rayed fish probably contributed to an energetically favorable foraging habitat in the central and eastern basins that attracted large walleyes during summer.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141620/1/tafs0539.pd

Aspiration therapy for the treatment of obesity: 4-year results of a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundThe AspireAssist is the first Food and Drug Administration-approved endoluminal device indicated for treatment of class II and III obesity.ObjectivesWe earlier reported 1-year results of the PATHWAY study. Here, we report 4-year outcomes.SettingUnited States-based, 10-center, randomized controlled trial involving 171 participants with the treatment arm receiving Aspiration Therapy (AT) plus Lifestyle Therapy and the control arm receiving Lifestyle Therapy (2:1 randomization).MethodsAT participants were permitted to continue in the study for an additional year up to a maximum of 5 years providing they maintained at least 10% total weight loss (TWL) from baseline at each year end. For AT participants who continued the study, 5 medical monitoring visits were provided at weeks 60, 68, 76, 90, and 104 and thereafter once every 13 weeks up to week 260. Exclusion criteria were a history of eating disorder or evidence of eating disorder on a validated questionnaire. Follow-up weight, quality of life, and co-morbidities were compared with the baseline levels. In addition, rates of serious adverse event, persistent fistula, withdrawal, and A-tube replacement were reported. All analyses were performed using a per-protocol analysis.ResultsOf the 82 AT participants who completed 1 year, 58 continued to this phase of the trial. Mean baseline body mass index of these 58 patients was 41.6 ± 4.5 kg/m2. At the end of first year (at the beginning of the follow-up study), these 58 patients had a body mass index of 34.1 ± 5.4 kg/m2 and had achieved an 18.3 ± 8.0% TWL. On a per protocol basis, patients experienced 14.2%, 15.3%, 16.6%, and 18.7% TWL at 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, respectively (P &lt; .01 for all). Forty of 58 patients (69%) achieved at least 10% TWL at 4 years or at time of study withdrawal. Improvements in quality of life scores and select cardiometabolic parameters were also maintained through 4 years. There were 2 serious adverse events reported in the second through fourth years, both of which resolved with removal or replacement of the A tube. Two persistent fistulas required surgical repair, representing approximately 2% of all tube removals. There were no clinically significant metabolic or electrolytes disorders observed, nor any evidence for development of any eating disorders.ConclusionsThe results of this midterm study have shown that AT is a safe, effective, and durable weight loss alternative for people with class II and III obesity and who are willing to commit to using the therapy and adhere to adjustments in eating behavior

Prescription and Other Medication Use in Pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To characterize prescription and other medication use in a geographically and ethnically diverse cohort of women in their first pregnancy. METHODS: In a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of nulliparous women followed through pregnancy from the first trimester, medication use was chronicled longitudinally throughout pregnancy. Structured questions and aids were used to capture all medications taken as well as reasons they were taken. Total counts of all medications taken including number in each category and class were captured. Additionally, reasons the medications were taken were recorded. Trends in medications taken across pregnancy and in the first trimester were determined. RESULTS: Of the 9,546 study participants, 9,272 (97.1%) women took at least one medication during pregnancy with 9,139 (95.7%) taking a medication in the first trimester. Polypharmacy, defined as taking at least five medications, occurred in 2,915 (30.5%) women. Excluding vitamins, supplements, and vaccines, 73.4% of women took a medication during pregnancy with 55.1% taking one in the first trimester. The categories of drugs taken in pregnancy and in the first trimester include the following: gastrointestinal or antiemetic agents (34.3%, 19.5%), antibiotics (25.5%, 12.6%), and analgesics (23.7%, 15.6%, which includes 3.6%; 1.4% taking an opioid pain medication). CONCLUSION: In this geographically and ethnically diverse cohort of nulliparous pregnant women, medication use was nearly universal and polypharmacy was common