The anearobic digestion of organic matter in sugar-beet mud

Storage of sugar-beet mud in the traditional way, i.e., direct dewatering after pumping the slurry in storage basins, may cause odor nuisance because of digestion of organic substances. In order to prevent these bad odor problems the mud should remain submerged during the digestion period. No production of malodorous compounds was observed in this way, also not when after 1 yr of submersion the basins were dewatered and the mud began to ripen. Experiments were performed with small mud fields, barrels and pots in order to gain insight in the anaerobic digestion processes and to develop methods to optimize these. During these experiments the mud was subjected to a number of different treatments. No essential difference exists between the digestion process in dewatered and submerged mud. The digestion rate of the produced volatile fatty acids (VFA) depends on the growth rate of the bacteria responsible for the conversion of VFA into CH4 and CO2. This growth rate seems to be controlled in the pot experiment by the amount of available NH4-N. Treatment of the mud, for instance inoculation with old ripened mud or addition of carbonates, is only successful when the environmental conditions in the mud are very unfavorable for methane production (high VFA concentrations and low pH)

The relation between hyperinflation and daily activity in COPD patients

Although we did not find any relation between DH and PA, SH could be a useful marker to indicate reduced PA. Many patients used a decreased tidal volume and pursed-lips breathing to counteract DH. Different correlations between SH and PA were found to be present between subjects who either were or were not engaged in an exercise-training program. Therefore, this stratification should also be investigated in future studies

Adherence to Blended or Face-to-Face Smoking Cessation Treatment and Predictors of Adherence:Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Blended face-to-face and web-based treatment is a promising way to deliver smoking cessation treatment. Since adherence has been shown to be an indicator of treatment acceptability and a determinant for effectiveness, we explored and compared adherence and predictors of adherence to blended and face-to-face alone smoking cessation treatments with similar content and intensity.Objective: The objectives of this study were (1) to compare adherence to a blended smoking cessation treatment with adherence to a face-to-face treatment; (2) to compare adherence within the blended treatment to its face-to-face mode and web mode; and (3) to determine baseline predictors of adherence to both treatments as well as (4) the predictors to both modes of the blended treatment.Methods: We calculated the total duration of treatment exposure for patients (N=292) of a Dutch outpatient smoking cessation clinic who were randomly assigned either to the blended smoking cessation treatment (n=130) or to a face-to-face treatment with identical components (n=162). For both treatments (blended and face-to-face) and for the two modes of delivery within the blended treatment (face-to-face vs web mode), adherence levels (ie, treatment time) were compared and the predictors of adherence were identified within 33 demographic, smoking-related, and health-related patient characteristics.Results: We found no significant difference in adherence between the blended and the face-to-face treatments. Participants in the blended treatment group spent an average of 246 minutes in treatment (median 106.7% of intended treatment time, IQR 150%-355%) and participants in the face-to-face group spent 238 minutes (median 103.3% of intended treatment time, IQR 150%-330%). Within the blended group, adherence to the face-to-face mode was twice as high as that to the web mode. Participants in the blended group spent an average of 198 minutes (SD 120) in face-to-face mode (152% of the intended treatment time) and 75 minutes (SD 53) in web mode (75% of the intended treatment time). Higher age was the only characteristic consistently found to uniquely predict higher adherence in both the blended and face-to-face groups. For the face-to-face group, more social support for smoking cessation was also predictive of higher adherence. The variability in adherence explained by these predictors was rather low (blended R2=0.049; face-to-face R2=0.076). Within the blended group, living without children predicted higher adherence to the face-to-face mode (R2=0.034), independent of age. Higher adherence to the web mode of the blended treatment was predicted by a combination of an extrinsic motivation to quit, a less negative attitude toward quitting, and less health complaints (R2=0.164).Conclusions: This study represents one of the first attempts to thoroughly compare adherence and predictors of adherence of a blended smoking cessation treatment to an equivalent face-to-face treatment. Interestingly, although the overall adherence to both treatments appeared to be high, adherence within the blended treatment was much higher for the face-to-face mode than for the web mode. This supports the idea that in blended treatment, one mode of delivery can compensate for the weaknesses of the other. Higher age was found to be a common predictor of adherence to the treatments. The low variance in adherence predicted by the characteristics examined in this study suggests that other variables such as provider-related health system factors and time-varying patient characteristics should be explored in future research

Augmenting outpatient alcohol treatment as usual with online approach bias modification training: A double-blind randomized controlled trial

Previous research shows that automatic tendency to approach alcohol plays a causal role in problematic alcohol use and can be retrained by Approach Bias Modification (ApBM). ApBM has been shown to be effective for patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) in inpatient treatment. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of adding an online ApBM to treatment as usual (TAU) in an outpatient setting compared to receiving TAU with an online placebo training. 139 AUD patients receiving face-to-face or online treatment as usual (TAU) participated in the study. The patients were randomized to an active or placebo version of 8 sessions of online ApBM over a 5-week period. The weekly consumed standard units of alcohol (primary outcome) was measured at pre-and post-training, 3 and 6 months follow-up. Approach tendency was measured pre-and-post ApBM training. No additional effect of ApBM was found on alcohol intake, nor other outcomes such as craving, depression, anxiety, or stress. A significant reduction of the alcohol approach bias was found. This research showed that approach bias retraining in AUD patients in an outpatient treatment setting reduces the tendency to approach alcohol, but this training effect does not translate into a significant difference in alcohol reduction between groups. Explanations for the lack of effects of ApBM on alcohol consumption are treatment goal and severity of AUD. Future ApBM research should target outpatients with an abstinence goal and offer alternative, more user-friendly modes of delivering ApBM training

Study of the lineshape of the chi(c1) (3872) state

A study of the lineshape of the chi(c1) (3872) state is made using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV with the LHCb detector. Candidate chi(c1)(3872) and psi(2S) mesons from b-hadron decays are selected in the J/psi pi(+)pi(-) decay mode. Describing the lineshape with a Breit-Wigner function, the mass splitting between the chi(c1 )(3872) and psi(2S) states, Delta m, and the width of the chi(c1 )(3872) state, Gamma(Bw), are determined to be (Delta m=185.598 +/- 0.067 +/- 0.068 Mev,)(Gamma BW=1.39 +/- 0.24 +/- 0.10 Mev,) where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. Using a Flatte-inspired model, the mode and full width at half maximum of the lineshape are determined to be (mode=3871.69+0.00+0.05 MeV.)(FWHM=0.22-0.04+0.13+0.07+0.11-0.06-0.13 MeV, ) An investigation of the analytic structure of the Flatte amplitude reveals a pole structure, which is compatible with a quasibound D-0(D) over bar*(0) state but a quasivirtual state is still allowed at the level of 2 standard deviations

Measurement of the CKM angle γγ in B±→DK±B^\pm\to D K^\pm and B±→Dπ±B^\pm \to D π^\pm decays with D→KS0h+h−D \to K_\mathrm S^0 h^+ h^-

A measurement of $CP$-violating observables is performed using the decays $B^\pm\to D K^\pm$ and $B^\pm\to D \pi^\pm$, where the $D$ meson is reconstructed in one of the self-conjugate three-body final states $K_{\mathrm S}\pi^+\pi^-$ and $K_{\mathrm S}K^+K^-$ (commonly denoted $K_{\mathrm S} h^+h^-$). The decays are analysed in bins of the $D$-decay phase space, leading to a measurement that is independent of the modelling of the $D$-decay amplitude. The observables are interpreted in terms of the CKM angle $\gamma$. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $9\,\text{fb}^{-1}$ collected in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $7$, $8$, and $13\,\text{TeV}$ with the LHCb experiment, $\gamma$ is measured to be $\left(68.7^{+5.2}_{-5.1}\right)^\circ$. The hadronic parameters $r_B^{DK}$, $r_B^{D\pi}$, $\delta_B^{DK}$, and $\delta_B^{D\pi}$, which are the ratios and strong-phase differences of the suppressed and favoured $B^\pm$ decays, are also reported

Study of the doubly charmed tetraquark T+cc

Quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong force, describes interactions of coloured quarks and gluons and the formation of hadronic matter. Conventional hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and quark-antiquark pairs, respectively. Particles with an alternative quark content are known as exotic states. Here a study is reported of an exotic narrow state in the D0D0π+ mass spectrum just below the D*+D0 mass threshold produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The state is consistent with the ground isoscalar T+cc tetraquark with a quark content of ccu⎯⎯⎯d⎯⎯⎯ and spin-parity quantum numbers JP = 1+. Study of the DD mass spectra disfavours interpretation of the resonance as the isovector state. The decay structure via intermediate off-shell D*+ mesons is consistent with the observed D0π+ mass distribution. To analyse the mass of the resonance and its coupling to the D*D system, a dedicated model is developed under the assumption of an isoscalar axial-vector T+cc state decaying to the D*D channel. Using this model, resonance parameters including the pole position, scattering length, effective range and compositeness are determined to reveal important information about the nature of the T+cc state. In addition, an unexpected dependence of the production rate on track multiplicity is observed