3,403 research outputs found
P93 THE PREDICTIVE VALUE OF MOLECULAR MARKERS OF BONE METABOLISM IN EARLY KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS
Diagnostic and prognostic value of bone biomarkers in progressive knee osteoarthritis: a 6-year follow-up study in middle-aged subjects
SummaryObjectiveTo determine the value of bone markers in early-stage progressive knee osteoarthritis (OA), a population-based cohort of middle-aged subjects with chronic knee complaints was followed over 6 years (two consecutive two 3-year periods).MethodsTibiofemoral (TF) and patellofemoral (PF) radiographs were graded in 128 subjects (mean age at baseline 45 ± 6.2 years) in 2002, 2005 and 2008. Bone formation was assessed by the serum concentration of procollagen type I amino-terminal propeptide (sPINP); bone resorption by the level of the C-terminal cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen (sCTx-I); and bone mineralization by the values of osteocalcin (sOC) by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. A novel marker of bone resorption, urinary osteocalcin midfragments (uMidOC), was assayed using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).ResultsSeveral diagnostic associations were found between the bone markers (PINP, OC, MidOC) and progressive OA expressed by TF osteophytosis. The increasing output of MidOC demonstrated several-fold higher risk for progressive TF osteophytosis [odds ratio (OR) 5.32; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.41–20.06, P = 0.014] than other bone markers. The values of PINP had prognostic value for subsequent more severely expressed knee OA progression [r(s) = 0.460, P = 0.005].ConclusionsBone metabolism is activated in early-stage knee OA. OA progression was preceded by the enhanced bone formation (by PINP) and accompanied by the activation of bone formation (by PINP), non-collagenous bone resorption (by MidOC), as well as by changes in mineralization (by OC). All three bone markers had diagnostic value, and one of them, PINP, had also a predictive value for knee OA progression, especially for progressive osteophytosis
105 KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS PROGRESSION DURING 6 YEARS FOLLOW-UP: THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF BONE AND CARTILAGE BIOMARKERS
Potential of different composts to improve soil fertility
Composts can influence soil fertility and plant health. These influences can be positive or negative, depending of the quality of the composts. Some practitioners already make use of the positive effects on plant health. For example, they use composts to protect their plants against soil borne diseases in substrate, or to detoxify and reactivate soil after steaming. In order to estimate the potential of Swiss composts to influence
soil fertility and plant health positively, we analyzed one hundred composts representative of the different composting systems and qualities available on the market.
The organic substance and the nutrient content of the composts varied greatly between the composts; the materials of origin were the major factor influencing these values. The respiration rate and enzyme activities also varied greatly, particularly in the youngest composts. These differences become smaller when the composts become more mature. Maturity, the degradation stage of the organic matter, depended not only on the age of the compost, but also on the management of the process. The N-mineralization potential from compost added to soil showed that a high proportion of young composts immobilized the nitrogen in the soil. This problem was hardly correlated with the materials of origin, but with the management of the first stage of the composting
process. Especially composts which had become too dry in this period lost their ammonia-nitrogen, and hence immobilized nitrogen in the soil. Also composts with a low NO3/NH4 ratio, as a rough indicator for an immature compost, immobilized nitrogen in the soil. By contrast, the phytotoxicity of the composts varied very much also in matured composts, showing that the storage of the compost plays a decisive role. While the
majority of compost protected cucumber plants against Pythium ultimum, only a few composts suppressed Rhizoctonia solani in basil. With respect to disease suppression, the management of the maturation process seems to play a major role.
In conclusion, big differences in compost quality and of their impact on soil fertility and on plant health were observed. The management of the composting process seems to influence the quality of the composts to a higher extent than the materials of origin or the composting system. More attention should be paid to biological quality of composts, in order to produce composts with more beneficial effects on crops
Alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in SDSS-DR8
We study the alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in
SDSS-DR8 and, using these data, we discuss evolution scenarios for different
types of galaxies. We defined a vector field of the direction of anisotropy of
the local environment of galaxies. We summed the unit direction vectors of all
close neighbours of a given galaxy in a particular way to estimate this field.
We found the alignment angles between the spin axes of disc galaxies, or the
minor axes of elliptical galaxies, and the direction of anisotropy. The
distributions of cosines of these angles are compared to the random
distributions to analyse the alignment of galaxies. Sab galaxies show
perpendicular alignment relative to the direction of anisotropy in a sparse
environment, for single galaxies and galaxies of low luminosity. Most of the
parallel alignment of Scd galaxies comes from dense regions, from 2...3 member
groups and from galaxies with low luminosity. The perpendicular alignment of S0
galaxies does not depend strongly on environmental density nor luminosity; it
is detected for single and 2...3 member group galaxies, and for main galaxies
of 4...10 member groups. The perpendicular alignment of elliptical galaxies is
clearly detected for single galaxies and for members of < 11 member groups; the
alignment increases with environmental density and luminosity. We confirm the
existence of fossil tidally induced alignment of Sab galaxies at low z. The
alignment of Scd galaxies can be explained via the infall of matter to
filaments. S0 galaxies may have encountered relatively massive mergers along
the direction of anisotropy. Major mergers along this direction can explain the
alignment of elliptical galaxies. Less massive, but repeated mergers are
possibly responsible for the formation of elliptical galaxies in sparser areas
and for less luminous elliptical galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Noncommuting spherical coordinates
Restricting the states of a charged particle to the lowest Landau level
introduces a noncommutativity between Cartesian coordinate operators. This idea
is extended to the motion of a charged particle on a sphere in the presence of
a magnetic monopole. Restricting the dynamics to the lowest energy level
results in noncommutativity for angular variables and to a definition of a
noncommuting spherical product. The values of the commutators of various
angular variables are not arbitrary but are restricted by the discrete
magnitude of the magnetic monopole charge. An algebra, isomorphic to angular
momentum, appears. This algebra is used to define a spherical star product.
Solutions are obtained for dynamics in the presence of additional angular
dependent potentials.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex4 fil
Influence of application strategy of coconut soap on the development of sooty blotch on apple
Sooty blotch causes heavy losses in Swiss organic apple production. In 2000 and 2001 a late season application strategy with coconut soap (Biofa Cocana RF) was evaluated. Coconut soap reduced disease occurrence in ali experiments. However, the efficacy was much higher in 2000 than in 2001, probably due to a much higher disease pressure in 2001
Flux- and volume-limited groups/clusters for the SDSS galaxies: catalogues and mass estimation
We provide flux-limited and volume-limited galaxy group and cluster
catalogues, based on the spectroscopic sample of the SDSS data release 10
galaxies. We used a modified friends-of-friends (FoF) method with a variable
linking length in the transverse and radial directions to identify as many
realistic groups as possible. The flux-limited catalogue incorporates galaxies
down to m_r = 17.77 mag. It includes 588193 galaxies and 82458 groups. The
volume-limited catalogues are complete for absolute magnitudes down to M_r =
-18.0, -18.5, -19.0, -19.5, -20.0, -20.5, and -21.0; the completeness is
achieved within different spatial volumes, respectively. Our analysis shows
that flux-limited and volume-limited group samples are well compatible to each
other, especially for the larger groups/clusters. Dynamical mass estimates,
based on radial velocity dispersions and group extent in the sky, are added to
the extracted groups. The catalogues can be accessed via http://cosmodb.to.ee
and the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center (CDS).Comment: 16 pages, 18 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A&
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