3,010 research outputs found
Lactobacillus fermentum (PCCÂź) supplementation and gastrointestinal and respiratory-tract illness symptoms: a randomised control trial in athletes
BACKGROUND Probiotics purportedly reduce symptoms of gastrointestinal and upper respiratory-tract illness by modulating commensal microflora. Preventing and reducing symptoms of respiratory and gastrointestinal illness are the primary reason that dietary supplementation with probiotics are becoming increasingly popular with healthy active individuals. There is a paucity of data regarding the effectiveness of probiotics in this cohort. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a probiotic on faecal microbiology, self-reported illness symptoms and immunity in healthy well trained individuals. METHODS Competitive cyclists (64 males and 35 females; age 35 ± 9 and 36 ± 9 y, VO2max 56 ± 6 and 52 ± 6 ml.kg-1.min-1, mean ± SD) were randomised to either probiotic (minimum 1 Ă 109 Lactobacillus fermentum (PCCÂź) per day) or placebo treatment for 11 weeks in a double-blind, randomised, controlled trial. The outcome measures were faecal L. fermentum counts, self-reported symptoms of illness and serum cytokines. RESULTS Lactobacillus numbers increased 7.7-fold (90% confidence limits 2.1- to 28-fold) more in males on the probiotic, while there was an unclear 2.2-fold (0.2- to 18-fold) increase in females taking the probiotic. The number and duration of mild gastrointestinal symptoms were ~2-fold greater in the probiotic group. However, there was a substantial 0.7 (0.2 to 1.2) of a scale step reduction in the severity of gastrointestinal illness at the mean training load in males, which became more pronounced as training load increased. The load (durationĂseverity) of lower respiratory illness symptoms was less by a factor of 0.31 (99%CI; 0.07 to 0.96) in males taking the probiotic compared with placebo but increased by a factor of 2.2 (0.41 to 27) in females. Differences in use of cold and flu medication mirrored these symptoms. The observed effects on URTI had too much uncertainty for a decisive outcome. There were clear reductions in the magnitude of acute exercise-induced changes in some cytokines. CONCLUSION L. fermentum may be a useful nutritional adjunct for healthy exercising males. However, uncertainty in the effects of supplementation on URTI and on symptoms in females needs to be resolved. TRIAL REGISTRATION The trial was registered in the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12611000006943).The study was funded by Christian Hansen A/S, Probiomics and the Australian Institute of Sport
AnsĂ€tze fĂŒr die Verbesserung von PPS-Systemen durch Fuzzy-Logik
Ziel dieses Arbeitsberichts ist es, die Teilbereiche von Produktionsplanungs- und -steuerungssystemen (PPS-Systemen) zu identifizieren, die unter Beachtung der Interdependenzen zu anderen Teilbereichen mit einem Fuzzy-Ansatz modelliert und dadurch in ihrer Effizienz gesteigert werden können. Nach einer kurzen EinfĂŒhrung in die Fuzzy-Logik werden zunĂ€chst AnsĂ€tze fĂŒr den Einsatz der Fuzzy-Logik innerhalb der Datenstrukturen der Produktionsplanung und -steuerung dargestellt. Danach werden die Funktionen von PPS-Systemen systematisch auf diesbezĂŒgliche Potentiale untersucht, wobei zwischen originĂ€rer und derivativer Verwendung der Fuzzy-Logik unterschieden wird, und Nutzeffekte sinnvoller 'VerunschĂ€rfungen' aufgezeigt werden. Der Arbeitsbericht schlieĂt mit einem Ausblick
Theoretical evolution of optical strong lines across cosmic time
We use the chemical evolution predictions of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with our latest theoretical stellar population synthesis, photoionization, and shock models to predict the strong line evolution of ensembles of galaxies from z = 3 to th
Testing Gravity with Pulsars in the SKA Era
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will use pulsars to enable precise
measurements of strong gravity effects in pulsar systems, which yield tests of
gravitational theories that cannot be carried out anywhere else. The Galactic
census of pulsars will discover dozens of relativistic pulsar systems, possibly
including pulsar -- black hole binaries which can be used to test the "cosmic
censorship conjecture" and the "no-hair theorem". Also, the SKA's remarkable
sensitivity will vastly improve the timing precision of millisecond pulsars,
allowing probes of potential deviations from general relativity (GR). Aspects
of gravitation to be explored include tests of strong equivalence principles,
gravitational dipole radiation, extra field components of gravitation,
gravitomagnetism, and spacetime symmetries.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, to be published in: "Advancing Astrophysics with
the Square Kilometre Array", Proceedings of Science, PoS(AASKA14)04
Measurement properties of UCLA Activity Scale for hip and knee arthroplasty patients and translation and cultural adaptation into Danish
Background and purpose â The UCLA Activity Scale (UCLA) is a questionnaire assessing physical activity level from 1 (low) to 10 (high) in patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty (HA/KA). After translation and cultural adaptation, we evaluated the measurement properties of the Danish UCLA. Patients and methods â After dual panel translation, cognitive interviews were performed among 55âHA/KA patients. An orthopedic surgeon and a physiotherapist estimated UCLA scores for 80âKA patients based on short interviews. Measurement properties were evaluated in 130âHA and 134âKA patients preoperatively and 1-year postoperatively. Results â To suit Danish patients of today, several adaptations were required. Prior to interviews, 4 patients were excluded, and 11 misinterpreted the answer options. Examiners rated the remaining 65 patients (mean age 67 years) 0.2â1.6 UCLA levels lower than patients themselves. The 130âHA and 134âKA patients (mean age 71/68 years) changed from 4.3 (SD 1.9)/4.5 (1.8) preoperatively to 6.6 (1.8)/6.2 (1.0) at 1-year follow-up. 103 (79%) HA and 89 (66%) KA patients reported increased activity. Effect sizes were large (1.2/0.96). Knee patients reaching minimal important change (MIC, â„ 8 Oxford Knee Score points) had higher 1-year UCLA scores than patients not reaching MIC. Interpretation â Original scale development was undocumented. Content validity was questionable, and there was discrepancy between patient and examiner estimates. UCLA appears valuable for measuring change in self-reported physical activity on a group level. 4 out of 5âHA patients and 2 out of 3âKA patients were more physically active 1 year after joint replacement surgery
Optical Structure and Proper-Motion Age of the Oxygen-rich Supernova Remnant 1E 0102-7219 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
We present new optical emission-line images of the young SNR 1E 0102-7219
(E0102) in the SMC obtained with the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).
E0102 is a member of the oxygen-rich class of SNRs showing strong oxygen, neon
, and other metal-line emissions in its optical and X-ray spectra, and an
absence of H and He. The progenitor of E0102 may have been a Wolf-Rayet star
that underwent considerable mass loss prior to exploding as a Type Ib/c or
IIL/b SN. The ejecta in this SNR are fast-moving (V > 1000 km/s) and emit as
they are compressed and heated in the reverse shock. In 2003, we obtained
optical [O III], H-alpha, and continuum images with the ACS Wide Field Camera.
The [O III] image captures the full velocity range of the ejecta, and shows
considerable high-velocity emission projected in the middle of the SNR that was
Doppler-shifted out of the narrow F502N bandpass of a previous Wide Field and
Planetary Camera 2 image from 1995. Using these two epochs separated by ~8.5
years, we measure the transverse expansion of the ejecta around the outer rim
in this SNR for the first time at visible wavelengths. From proper-motion
measurements of 12 ejecta filaments, we estimate a mean expansion velocity for
the bright ejecta of ~2000 km/s and an inferred kinematic age for the SNR of
\~2050 +/- 600 years. The age we derive from HST data is about twice that
inferred by Hughes et al.(2000) from X-ray data, though our 1-sigma error bars
overlap. Our proper-motion age is consistent with an independent optical
kinematic age derived by Eriksen et al.(2003) using spatially resolved [O III]
radial-velocity data. We derive an expansion center that lies very close to
X-ray and radio hotspots, which could indicate the presence of a compact
remnant (neutron star or black hole).Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, to appear
in 20 April 2006 issue. Full resolution figures are posted at:
http://stevenf.asu.edu/figure
Methotrexate Use and Monitoring in Patients with Psoriasis:A Consensus Report Based on a Danish Expert Meeting
Incidental vertebral fracture prediction using neuronal network-based automatic spine segmentation and volumetric bone mineral density extraction from routine clinical CT scans.
OBJECTIVES
To investigate vertebral osteoporotic fracture (VF) prediction by automatically extracted trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) from routine CT, and to compare the model with fracture prevalence-based prediction models.
METHODS
This single-center retrospective study included patients who underwent two thoraco-abdominal CT scans during clinical routine with an average inter-scan interval of 21.7 ± 13.1 months (range 5-52 months). Automatic spine segmentation and vBMD extraction was performed by a convolutional neural network framework (anduin.bonescreen.de). Mean vBMD was calculated for levels T5-8, T9-12, and L1-5. VFs were identified by an expert in spine imaging. Odds ratios (ORs) for prevalent and incident VFs were calculated for vBMD (per standard deviation decrease) at each level, for baseline VF prevalence (yes/no), and for baseline VF count (n) using logistic regression models, adjusted for age and sex. Models were compared using Akaike's and Bayesian information criteria (AIC & BIC).
RESULTS
420 patients (mean age, 63 years ± 9, 276 males) were included in this study. 40 (25 female) had prevalent and 24 (13 female) had incident VFs. Individuals with lower vBMD at any spine level had higher odds for VFs (L1-5, prevalent VF: OR,95%-CI,p: 2.2, 1.4-3.5,p=0.001; incident VF: 3.5, 1.8-6.9,p<0.001). In contrast, VF status (2.15, 0.72-6.43,p=0.170) and count (1.38, 0.89-2.12,p=0.147) performed worse in incident VF prediction. Information criteria revealed best fit for vBMD-based models (AIC vBMD=165.2; VF status=181.0; count=180.7).
CONCLUSIONS
VF prediction based on automatically extracted vBMD from routine clinical MDCT outperforms prediction models based on VF status and count. These findings underline the importance of opportunistic quantitative osteoporosis screening in clinical routine MDCT data
Warm Dust and Spatially Variable PAH Emission in the Dwarf Starburst Galaxy NGC 1705
We present Spitzer observations of the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1705
obtained as part of SINGS. The galaxy morphology is very different shortward
and longward of ~5 microns: short-wavelength imaging shows an underlying red
stellar population, with the central super star cluster (SSC) dominating the
luminosity; longer-wavelength data reveals warm dust emission arising from two
off-nuclear regions offset by ~250 pc from the SSC. These regions show little
extinction at optical wavelengths. The galaxy has a relatively low global dust
mass (~2E5 solar masses, implying a global dust-to-gas mass ratio ~2--4 times
lower than the Milky Way average). The off-nuclear dust emission appears to be
powered by photons from the same stellar population responsible for the
excitation of the observed H Alpha emission; these photons are unassociated
with the SSC (though a contribution from embedded sources to the IR luminosity
of the off-nuclear regions cannot be ruled out). Low-resolution IRS
spectroscopy shows moderate-strength PAH emission in the 11.3 micron band in
the eastern peak; no PAH emission is detected in the SSC or the western dust
emission complex. There is significant diffuse 8 micron emission after scaling
and subtracting shorter wavelength data; the spatially variable PAH emission
strengths revealed by the IRS data suggest caution in the interpretation of
diffuse 8 micron emission as arising from PAH carriers alone. The metallicity
of NGC 1705 falls at the transition level of 35% solar found by Engelbracht and
collaborators; the fact that a system at this metallicity shows spatially
variable PAH emission demonstrates the complexity of interpreting diffuse 8
micron emission. A radio continuum non-detection, NGC 1705 deviates
significantly from the canonical far-IR vs. radio correlation. (Abridged)Comment: ApJ, in press; please retrieve full-resolution version from
http://www.astro.wesleyan.edu/~cannon/pubs.htm
Fluctuations and differential contraction during regeneration of Hydra vulgaris tissue toroids
We studied regenerating bilayered tissue toroids dissected from Hydra
vulgaris polyps and relate our macroscopic observations to the dynamics of
force-generating mesoscopic cytoskeletal structures. Tissue fragments undergo a
specific toroid-spheroid folding process leading to complete regeneration
towards a new organism. The time scale of folding is too fast for biochemical
signalling or morphogenetic gradients which forced us to assume purely
mechanical self-organization. The initial pattern selection dynamics was
studied by embedding toroids into hydro-gels allowing us to observe the
deformation modes over longer periods of time. We found increasing mechanical
fluctuations which break the toroidal symmetry and discuss the evolution of
their power spectra for various gel stiffnesses. Our observations are related
to single cell studies which explain the mechanical feasibility of the folding
process. In addition, we observed switching of cells from a tissue bound to a
migrating state after folding failure as well as in tissue injury.
We found a supra-cellular actin ring assembled along the toroid's inner edge.
Its contraction can lead to the observed folding dynamics as we could confirm
by finite element simulations. This actin ring in the inner cell layer is
assembled by myosin- driven length fluctuations of supra-cellular
{\alpha}-actin structures (myonemes) in the outer cell-layer.Comment: 19 pages and 8 figures, submitted to New Journal of Physic
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