Myocardial perfusion and regression of coronary artery disease in patients on a regimen of intensive physical exercise and low fat diet

AbstractThis intervention program tested the applicability and effects of intensive physical exercise and a low fat diet on progression of coronary atherosclerotic lesions and stress-induced myocardial ischemia in patients with stable angina pectoris. Eighteen patients participated in this program for 1 year; they consumed a low fat, low cholesterol diet (< 20 energy % fat, cholesterol < 200 mg/day) and exercised for >3 h/week. Change in coronary morphology was assessed by angiography and digital image processing; stress-induced myocardial ischemia was measured by thallium-201 scintigraphy. Results were compared with those in patients receiving “usual care.”In the intervention group, significant regression of coronary atherosclerotic lesions was noted in 7 of the 18 patients: no change or progression was present in 11 patients. In patients receiving usual care, regression was detected in only 1, with no change or progression in 11 patients (different from intervention, p < 0.05). There was a significant reduction in stress-induced myocardial ischemia, which was not limited to patients with regression of coronary atherosclerotic lesions. Thus, regular physical exercise and a low fat diet may retard progression of coronary artery disease; however, improvement of myocardial perfusion may be achieved independently from regression of stenotic lesions

The Vjosa River corridor: a model of natural hydro-morphodynamics and a hotspot of highly threatened ecosystems of European significance

Context: Large near-natural rivers have become rare in Europe, a fact reflected in the high conservation status of many riverine ecosystems. While the Balkan still harbors several intact river corridors, most of these are under pressure from planned hydropower constructions. Unfortunately, there is little information available on the hydromorphodynamics and biota of Balkan rivers under threat. Objectives: We present a synthesis of research on the Vjosa in Southern Albania. Here, longitudinal continuity in water flow, undisturbed sediment transport and intact fluvial dynamics are still maintained, but threatened by two large dams planned in its downstream section. We intend to provide a first multidisciplinary inventory of this river system as an example of the knowledge base required for sound water management decisions in the Balkans. Methods: Based on field work of a multidisciplinary consortium of scientists from Albania and other countries conducted from 2017 onwards, we summarize the most important findings on geomorphology of the riverine landscape, habitat turnover rates, vegetation ecology and selected animal taxa. Results: We found evidence that significant areas (86%) of the river corridor are covered by habitats listed in Annex 1 of the European Union Habitats Directive. These are associated with a high number of threatened biota. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the value of the Vjosa as one of the few remaining reference sites for dynamic floodplains in Europe and as a natural laboratory for interdisciplinary research. We emphasize that such multidisciplinary studies are a prerequisite for informed evaluation of potential impacts caused by hydropower plants

Optimales Gatewaydesign mit genetischem Algorithmus und ganzzahliger linearer Programmierung

Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit liegt in dem optimalen Design eines Gateways für FPGAs (engl. Field Programmable Gate Arrays). Dazu werden verschiedene Realisierungsalternativen aufgezeigt und eine neue, auf kombinatorischen Algorithmen basierende Methode vorgestellt. Durch Anwendung der entwickelten Methodik wird das Problem des Hardware/Software-CoDesigns gelöst und eine optimale Gatewaystruktur für das jeweilige System erstellt. Grundlage dafür bildet ein Modell zur Gatewaysynthese auf Systemebene, welches auf einem bipartiten Graphen beruht. Eine Kombination aus evolutionärem/genetischem Algorithmus (GA) und ganzzahliger linearer Programmierung (engl. integer linear programming, ILP) optimiert diesen Graphen. Diese Algorithmenkombination ermöglicht die Bestimmung einer optimalen Gatewayarchitektur mit optimaler Hard- und Softwareverteilung. Die korrekte Anwendung des Verfahrens auf unterschiedliche Problemstellungen, Problemgrößen und Anzahl an Optimierungskriterien sowie eine Performanceanalyse der einzelnen Algorithmen und die Anwendung auf eine reale Problemstellung runden diese Dissertation ab

Sonification of a streaming-server logfile

Presented at the 21st International Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD2015), July 6-10, 2015, Graz, Styria, Austria.This paper presents the sonification of a multimedia streaming server based on its log file. The server is used at a technical university to provide lecture recordings. Due to the large number of datapoints and various data categories it’s a promising approach to use sonification as a display method instead of the traditional visual representation. The SuperCollider script allows to simulate a realtime scenario as well as to monitor a past period of time