Mobilität und Sicherheit im Alter (MoSi), ein neues Trainingsprogramm zur Verbesserung der Mobilität und Gangsicherheit bei Senioren

Erworben im Rahmen der Schweizer Nationallizenzen (http://www.nationallizenzen.ch)Einleitung: „Mobilität und Sicherheit im Alter (MoSi)©“ ist ein neues Interventionsprogramm speziell für gangunsichere Menschen im höheren Lebensalter, oder Personen welche bereits Stürze erlitten haben. Methode: An der Studie nahmen 165 selbständig lebende ältere Personen, über 65 Jahre teil.Die Studienteilnehmer wurden vor und nach der 5 wöchigen Intervention untersucht.Das Trainingsprogramm beinhaltete verschiedene Elemente des Kraft- und Gleichgewichttrainings, Stretching, Reaktions- und Koordinationsschulung. Außerdem erhielten die Teilnehmer Informationen wie sie Sturzgefahren erkennen und vermeiden, bzw. wie sie sich nach einem Sturz selbst helfen können. Darüber hinaus wurden sie für das selbstständige Üben zu Hause angeleitet. Das Trainingsprogramm fand ambulant statt und beinhaltete 10 Trainingseinheiten. Ergebnisse: Nach Einschätzung der Teilnehmer verbesserten sich: Gang bei 94 Personen (66%), Gangsicherheit bei 94 Personen (66%), Kraft bei 92 Personen (65%), Gleichgewicht bei 88 Personen (62%), Sicherheitsgefühl bei 87 Personen (61%), Leistungsfähigkeit bei 100 Personen (70%) und Wohlbefinden bei 90 Personen (63%). Auswertungen der „Berg Balance Skala“ und des Balancetest der „Tinetti Balance Skala“ zeigten signifikante (p<0,001) Verbesserungen. Beim „Timed Up and Go Test“ und der Gangprobe der „Tinetti Balance Skala“ ergaben sich nur bei sehr gangunsicheren Personen signifikante Verbesserungen (p<0,05). Beim „Repeated Chair Stands Test“ zeigten sich dagegen keine signifikanten Veränderungen. 137 (95%) der Teilnehmer wollten die Übungen zu Hause fortsetzen, 112 (79%) gerne auch unter therapeutischer Aufsicht. Diskussion: Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass das von uns entwickelte Interventionsprogramm die Mobilität und Gangsicherheit von älteren Personen subjektiv und objektiv verbesserte, wobei besonders gangunsichere Personen profitierten. Die Intervention hatte einen sehr guten Motivationseffekt, dies zeigte sich an der hohen Bereitschaft der Teilnehmer zuhause weiter zu üben. Weiterhin führte das Training dazu, dass die Teilnehmer auch andere Faktoren wie die Leistungsfähigkeit und das Wohlbefinden als verbessert ansahen. Schlussfolgerung: Obwohl Endpunkte wie die Reduktion des Sturzrisikos noch nicht belegt sind, kann das von uns entwickelte Trainingsprogramm zur Verbesserung wichtiger Faktoren für einen sicheren Gang für selbstständig lebende ältere Menschen empfohlen werden. Es ist ambulant durchführbar und zeigt bereits nach wenigen Wochen eine signifikante Wirkung. Aufgrund seiner Kompaktheit ist das Training vor allem auch für ältere Personen geeignet, die langdauernde Programme, wie sie in verschiedenen Studien entwickelt wurden, scheuen

Slave to the rhythm: seasonal signals in otolith microchemistry reveal age of eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)

Annual growth zones in cod otoliths from the eastern Baltic stock are less discrete than in other cod stocks leading to biased age reading, which recently led to a failure of age-based assessment in the eastern Baltic cod stock. In this study, we explored the applicability of minor and trace element patterns in cod otoliths for age determination. By first identifying elements of interest in a stock without ageing problems, western Baltic cod, we then tested their applicability on another stock without ageing problems, North Sea cod, and finally applied this knowledge to estimate age of eastern Baltic cod. In western Baltic cod, matching patterns with respect to occurrence of minima and maxima in both otolith opacity and element concentrations were found for Cu, Zn, and Rb, and inverse patterns with Mg and Mn. No match was found for Pb, Ba, and Sr. In the test stock, the North Sea cod, the same patterns in Cu, Zn, Rb, Mg, and Mn signals occurred. All eastern Baltic cod with low visual contrast between growth zones exhibited clearly defined synchronous cycles in Cu, Zn, Rb and Pb. Using a combined finite differencing method and structural break models approach, the statistical significance of the local profile minima were identified, based on which their age could be estimated. Despite extensive environmental differences between the three areas examined, the element concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Rb were strongly correlated in all individuals with similar correlations in all three areas, suggesting that the incorporation mechanisms are the same for these elements and independent of environmental concentrations

Stability estimates for resolvents, eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of elliptic operators on variable domains

We consider general second order uniformly elliptic operators subject to homogeneous boundary conditions on open sets $\phi (\Omega)$ parametrized by Lipschitz homeomorphisms $\phi$ defined on a fixed reference domain $\Omega$. Given two open sets $\phi (\Omega)$, $\tilde \phi (\Omega)$ we estimate the variation of resolvents, eigenvalues and eigenfunctions via the Sobolev norm $\|\tilde \phi -\phi \|_{W^{1,p}(\Omega)}$ for finite values of $p$, under natural summability conditions on eigenfunctions and their gradients. We prove that such conditions are satisfied for a wide class of operators and open sets, including open sets with Lipschitz continuous boundaries. We apply these estimates to control the variation of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions via the measure of the symmetric difference of the open sets. We also discuss an application to the stability of solutions to the Poisson problem.Comment: 34 pages. Minor changes in the introduction and the refercenes. Published in: Around the research of Vladimir Maz'ya II, pp23--60, Int. Math. Ser. (N.Y.), vol. 12, Springer, New York 201

Poisson-Nernst-Planck Systems for Narrow Tubular-like Membrane Channels

We study global dynamics of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) system for flows of two types of ions through a narrow tubular-like membrane channel. As the radius of the cross-section of the three-dimensional tubular-like membrane channel approaches zero, a one-dimensional limiting PNP system is derived. This one-dimensional limiting system differs from previous studied one-dimensional PNP systems in that it encodes the defining geometry of the three-dimensional membrane channel. To justify this limiting process, we show that the global attractors of the three-dimensional PNP systems are upper semi-continuous to that of the limiting PNP system. We then examine the dynamics of the one-dimensional limiting PNP system. For large Debye number, the steady-state of the one-dimensional limiting PNP system is completed analyzed using the geometric singular perturbation theory. For a special case, an entropy-type Lyapunov functional is constructed to show the global, asymptotic stability of the steady-state

Conception and pilot testing of a self-management health application for patients with pollen-related allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma-the APOLLO app

Abstract It has been shown that pollen information services are an important self-management tool for patients with pollen-related allergic rhinitis (AR) and allergic asthma (AA). This study aimed to design an online application for patients with AR and AA, which supports patients to better manage their disease as well as to evaluate the app and present the first results of the pilot study. The pollen data were obtained from the electronic pollen information network of Bavaria, Germany. Participants were asked to fill in their allergy-related complaints in the app over a 60-day period. Subsequently, the app was evaluated. Indices and diagrams visualized the participants’ individual complaints as well as the daily pollen concentration in the air. In order to motivate participants to complete the app on a daily basis, we used elements of gamification. Two thirds of the participants (N = 46) reported feeling better informed about pollen counts and their allergy when using the app. The app's simple and comprehensible design was rated positively. More than 80% of the participants would recommend the app to their family and friends. The app can be a tool for patients with AR and AA to better understand their disease

Grain legumes in mixed stands with false flax (Camelina sativa) in organic farming under Pannonian site conditions

In drei aufeinander folgenden Versuchsjahren wurden die Körnerleguminosen Linse (Lens culinaris), Platterbse (Lathyrus sativus) und Futtererbse (Pisum sativum) als Reinsaat und in unterschiedlichen Mischungsverhältnissen gemeinsam mit Leindotter (Camelina sativa) in einem Feldversuch auf den ökologisch bewirtschafteten Versuchsflächen der Universität für Bodenkultur Wien im pannonischen Klimagebiet geprüft. Ziel dieses Versuchs war zu überprüfen, ob unter trockenen Standortbedingungen eine Körnerleguminosen-Leindotter-Mischkultur trotz der erhöhten Konkurrenzsituation zwischen den Mischungspartnern vorteilhaft ist. Dafür wurden die optimalen Saatmengen von Leindotter und Körnerlegumi­nosen als Mischungspartner unter den pannonischen Bedingungen ermittelt. Die Witterungsverhältnisse waren in den drei Versuchsjahren sehr unterschiedlich und beeinflussten die Ertragsdaten der Mischkulturen. Unter den günstigen Witterungsbedingungen im ersten Versuchsjahr zeigten die Mischungen von Leindotter-Linse und Leindotter-Platterbse ertragliche Vorteile. Im Mittel über die drei Versuchsjahre war eine Leindotter-Linsen Mischung von 25:75 Prozentanteilen die Mischung mit dem günstigsten Mischungseffekt. Leindotter in den Mischkulturen erzielte durchschnittlich 6&nbsp;dt ha–1 in den Mischungen mit Linsen sowie in den Mischungen mit Platt- und Futtererbse bei hohem Leindotteranteil. In Summe war der positive Effekt der substitutiven Lein­dotter-Linse und Leindotter-Platterbse Mischungen in den günstigen, feuchten Jahren größer als der negative Effekt im ungünstigen, trockenen Jahr. Diese Leindotter-Körnerleguminosen Mischungen werden deshalb sowohl für das Trockengebiet Ostösterreichs als auch für klimatisch ähnliche Gebiete in Ungarn oder Mitteldeutschland empfohlen.The grain legumes lens (Lens culinaris), grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) and field pea (Pisum sativum) were examined as pure crops and in different mixing ratios with false flax (Camelina sativa) on organically cultivated fields of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, in the Pannonian region in three consecutive vegetation periods. The aim of this study was to test whether a mixed stand of grain legume and false flax shows advantages compared to the pure crops despite an increased competition between the partners in the mixture under the dry conditions. Therefore, the optimum seed density for the partners in the mixed stand under the Pannonian conditions was identified. The weather conditions varied widely within the three vegetation periods and influenced the yield of the mixtures. Under the favourable weather conditions in the first experimental year, the mixed stands of lens-false flax and grass pea-false flax showed benefits in yield. On average across three very different years, a mixture of false flax : lens at 25:75 percent had the most positive mixture cropping effect. An average of 0.6&nbsp;t ha–1 false flax was achieved in mixed stands with lentils and in mixtures with grass pea and field pea with high false flax percentage. In general, the positive effect of the substitutive lens-false flax and grass pea-false flax mixed stands was higher in the favourable, wet years than the negative effect in the unfavourable, dry year. We therefore recommend these grain legume-false flax mixed stands for the dry regions in Eastern Austria and for climatically similar regions in Hungary or Central Germany

The mixed problem for the Laplacian in Lipschitz domains

We consider the mixed boundary value problem or Zaremba's problem for the Laplacian in a bounded Lipschitz domain in R^n. We specify Dirichlet data on part of the boundary and Neumann data on the remainder of the boundary. We assume that the boundary between the sets where we specify Dirichlet and Neumann data is a Lipschitz surface. We require that the Neumann data is in L^p and the Dirichlet data is in the Sobolev space of functions having one derivative in L^p for some p near 1. Under these conditions, there is a unique solution to the mixed problem with the non-tangential maximal function of the gradient of the solution in L^p of the boundary. We also obtain results with data from Hardy spaces when p=1.Comment: Version 5 includes a correction to one step of the main proof. Since the paper appeared long ago, this submission includes the complete paper, followed by a short section that gives the correction to one step in the proo

Modelling avalanches in martensites

Solids subject to continuous changes of temperature or mechanical load often exhibit discontinuous avalanche-like responses. For instance, avalanche dynamics have been observed during plastic deformation, fracture, domain switching in ferroic materials or martensitic transformations. The statistical analysis of avalanches reveals a very complex scenario with a distinctive lack of characteristic scales. Much effort has been devoted in the last decades to understand the origin and ubiquity of scale-free behaviour in solids and many other systems. This chapter reviews some efforts to understand the characteristics of avalanches in martensites through mathematical modelling.Comment: Chapter in the book "Avalanches in Functional Materials and Geophysics", edited by E. K. H. Salje, A. Saxena, and A. Planes. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45612-6_

Net primary production annual maxima in the North Atlantic projected to shift in the 21st century

Shifts in the day of peak net primary production (NPP) were detected in different biogeochemical provinces of the North Atlantic (25–65° N). Most provinces displayed a shift toward earlier peak NPP, with the largest change points in the 21st century and in the northern parts of the domain. Furthermore, the occurrences of the first day with a mixed-layer depth (MLD) shallower than 40 m and the day of peak NPP are positively correlated over most of the domain. As was the case for the day of peak NPP, the largest change points for the day of MLD shallower than 40 m occur around or after the year 2000. Daily output from two fully coupled CMIP6 Earth system models, EC-Earth3-CC and NorESM2-LM, for the period 1750–2100 and under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, were used for the analysis. The ESM NPP data were compared with estimates derived from Carbon, Absorption and Fluorescence Euphotic-resolving (CAFE) satellite-based data. The ESMs showed significant differences from the CAFE model, though the timing of peak NPP was well captured for most provinces. The largest change points in the day of peak NPP occur earlier in EC-Earth3-CC than in NorESM2-LM. Although SSP5-8.5 is a scenario with very high warming, EC-Earth3-CC generates change points for most provinces in the early part of the 21st century, before the warming has deviated far from lower-emissions scenarios. NorESM2-LM displays the largest change points centered around the mid 21st century, with two out of eight provinces displaying the largest change point before the year 2050. The early timing of the detected shifts in some provinces in both ESMs suggests that similar shifts could already have been initiated or could start in the near future. This highlights the need for long-term monitoring campaigns in the North Atlantic.</p