455 research outputs found
Anemia Control in Kidney Transplant Recipients Using Once-Monthly Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator: A Prospective, Observational Study
In a multicenter, prospective, observational study of 279 kidney transplant recipients with anemia, the efficacy and safety of once-monthly continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (C.E.R.A.) were assessed to a maximum of 15 months. The main efficacy variable was the proportion of patients achieving a hemoglobin level of 11-12 g/dL at each of visits between months 7 and 9. At study entry, 224 patients (80.3%) were receiving erythropoiesis stimulating agent (ESA) therapy including darbepoetin alfa (98), epoetin beta (61), and C.E.R.A. (45). The mean (SD) time between C.E.R.A. applications was 34.0 (11.9) days. Among 193 patients for whom efficacy data were available, mean (SD) hemoglobin was 11.1 (0.99) g/dL at study entry, 11.5 (1.1) g/dL at month 7, 11.6 (1.3) g/dL at month 9, and 11.4 (1.1) g/dL at month 15. During months 7–9, 20.7% of patients had all hemoglobin values within the range 11-12 g/dL and 64.8% were within 10–13 g/dL. Seven patients (2.5%) discontinued C.E.R.A. due to adverse events or serious adverse events. In this observational trial under real-life conditions, once-monthly C.E.R.A. therapy achieved stable hemoglobin levels in stable kidney transplant recipients with good tolerability, and with no requirement for any dose change in 43% of patients
Light-mediated strong coupling between a mechanical oscillator and atomic spins one meter apart
Engineering strong interactions between quantum systems is essential for many
phenomena of quantum physics and technology. Typically, strong coupling relies
on short-range forces or on placing the systems in high-quality electromagnetic
resonators, restricting the range of the coupling to small distances. We use a
free-space laser beam to strongly couple a collective atomic spin and a
micromechanical membrane over a distance of one meter in a room-temperature
environment. The coupling is highly tunable and allows the observation of
normal-mode splitting, coherent energy exchange oscillations, two-mode thermal
noise squeezing and dissipative coupling. Our approach to engineer coherent
long-distance interactions with light makes it possible to couple very
different systems in a modular way, opening up a range of opportunities for
quantum control and coherent feedback networks.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure
Enhancements of gravity wave amplitudes at midlatitudes during sudden stratospheric warmings in 2008
Water vapor transport in the lower mesosphere of the subtropics: a trajectory analysis
The Institute of Applied Physics operates an airborne microwave radiometer AMSOS that measures the rotational transition line of water vapor at 183.3 GHz. Water vapor profiles are retrieved for the altitude range from 15 to 75 km along the flight track. We report on a water vapor enhancement in the lower mesosphere above India and the Arabian Sea. The measurements took place on our flight from Switzerland to Australia and back in November 2005 conducted during EC- project SCOUT-O3. We find an enhancement of up to 25% in the lower mesospheric H<sub>2</sub>O volume mixing ratio measured on the return flight one week after the outward flight. The origin of the air is traced back by means of a trajectory model in the lower mesosphere and wind fields from ECMWF. During the outward flight the air came from the Atlantic Ocean around 25 N and 40 W. On the return flight the air came from northern India and Nepal around 25 N and 90 E. Mesospheric H<sub>2</sub>O measurements from Aura/MLS confirm the transport processes of H<sub>2</sub>O derived by trajectory analysis of the AMSOS data. Thus the large variability of H<sub>2</sub>O VMR during our flight is explained by a change of the winds in the lower mesosphere. This study shows that trajectory analysis can be applied in the mesosphere and is a powerful tool to understand the large variability in mesospheric H<sub>2</sub>O
Diffusion based degradation mechanisms in giant magnetoresistive spin valves
Spin valve systems based on the giant magnetoresistive (GMR) effect as used
for example in hard disks and automotive applications consist of several
functional metallic thin film layers. We have identified by secondary ion mass
spectrometry (SIMS) two main degradation mechanisms: One is related to oxygen
diffusion through a protective cap layer, and the other one is interdiffusion
directly at the functional layers of the GMR stack. By choosing a suitable
material as cap layer (TaN), the oxidation effect can be suppressed.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. to be published in Appl. Phys. Let
Risks to Young Volunteers in International Social Projects
Background: The number of young volunteers in international social projects has increased significantly with governmental and non-governmental project support. This paper investigates the hypothesis that the preventative medical advice currently given prior to departure is inadequate because the risk profile of young persons (<30 years) differs from that of the general population. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed with participants of international social projects. A specific questionnaire was developed; inclusion criteria were age between 18 and 30 years at departure and a duration with the project of at least 6 months. Results: One hundred and fifty-three data sets could be evaluated. Fifty-three percent were females; the destinations were as follows: 65.4% to Asia, 14.4% to Africa, and 10.5% to Latin America. The mean age was 20 years. Ninety percent of the participants received some kind of advice in travel medicine prior to departure. The vaccination rate was quite good, but pertussis (13.7%), yellow fever (80%), typhoid fever (54%), and rabies (49.7%) should be improved when travelling to high-risk regions. Food is a very important potential source of problems as 66% receive catering by the project, 56.2% from street stalls, and 44% were regularly invited to dine with locals. In Africa, only two-thirds of the participants of projects had regular access to safe water and the sanitary facilities were also poor; 51.7% of respondents reported new sexual contacts (one to more than six new partners). In most cases, condoms were used, but there were two unintended pregnancies. Conclusions: We conclude that young people need to be targeted with specialized advice for health and safety while abroad. This should highlight age-specific risks compared to advice for a more general population. Vaccination status should be improved for some regions and disease
Social Game Environmental Management
Was ist soziales spielen? Warum ist es heutzutage so beliebt? Welche Mechaniken stecken hinter dem Erfolg? Weiterhin behandelt der Bericht eine neue Spielidee, die eine umwelttechnische Komponente für Bildungszwecke beinhaltet.What is social gaming? Why it is so popular nowadays? Which are the mechanics behind the success? The report deals also with the creative creation of a new game idea with an environment technical content for an educational matter
Readout system and testbeam results of the RD50-MPW2 HV-CMOS pixel chip
The RD50-CMOS group aims to design and study High Voltage CMOS (HVCMOS) chips
for use in a high radiation environment. Currently, measurements are performed
on RD50-MPW2 chip, the second prototype developed by this group. The active
matrix of the prototype consists of 8x8 pixels with analog front end. Details
of the analog front end and simulations have been already published earlier.
This contribution focuses on the Caribou based readout system of the active
matrix. Each pixel of the active matrix can be readout one after the other.
Relevant aspects of hardware, firmware and software are introduced. As a first
stage, firmware for a standalone setup is introduced and details on data flow
are given. Afterwards, a second stage of the firmware capable of synchronizing
with other detectors and accepting triggers is presented, focusing on operation
of the chip in combination with a tracking telescope to measure efficiency and
residuals.Comment: Published under licence in Journal of Physics: Conference Series by
IOP Publishing Ltd. CC-BY Content from this work may be used under the terms
of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Any further
distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the
title of the work, journal citation and DO
Thalamic stimulation for tremor. Subtle changes in episodic memory are related to stimulation per se and not to a microthalamotomy effect
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of unilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventrointermediate (Vim) thalamic nucleus on neuropsychological functioning comparing stimulation-on with stimulation-off conditions. Nine patients [five patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD), two patients with essential tremor (ET) and 2 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS)] underwent comprehensive neuropsychological testing for cognitive functions, including general mental impairment, aphasia, agnosia, executive and constructional abilities, learning, memory, cognitive processing speed and attention as well as depression. The neuropsychological assessments were performed at least 6 months postoperatively (mean 9 months). Testing in the stimulation-on and stimulation-off condition was obtained within a period of 3 to 4 weeks. Unilateral DBS resulted in improvement of tremor in all patients. There were no significant differences between the stimulation-on and the stimulation-off condition with the exception of a decrement of word-recall in the short delay free-recall subtest of the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Subgroup analysis indicated that the impairment in word-recall was related to left-sided thalamic stimulation. Our study confirms that chronic unilateral DBS is a safe method with regard to cognitive function. The subtle changes in episodic memory are related to stimulation per se and not to a microthalamotomy effect
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