The impact of a ten-week physical exercise program on health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A prospective randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND Improving health-related quality of life is a primary target of therapy for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Physical activity has been demonstrated to improve health-related quality of life in several patient populations with chronic disease. There are very few studies investigating the effects of physical activity on health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of 10 weeks of moderate physical activity on health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS Thirty patients with mild to moderate IBD (Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) \textless220 or Rachmilewitz Index (RI) \textless11) were randomized 1:1 to either supervised moderate-intensity running thrice a week for 10 weeks or a control group who were not prescribed any exercise. Health-related quality of life, symptoms, and inflammation were assessed at baseline and after 10 weeks. RESULTS Participants were 41 ± 14 years (73% female), had a body mass index of 22.8 ± 4.1 kg/m(2), and an average CDAI or RI of 66.8 ± 42.4 and 3.6 ± 3.1. No adverse events occurred during the 10-week training period. Health-related quality of life, reported as IBDQ total score, improved 19% in the intervention group and 8% in the control group. Scores for the IBDQ social sub-scale were significantly improved in the intervention group compared with controls (\textgreekDIBDQsocial = 6.27 ± 5.46 vs. 1.87 ± 4.76, p = 0.023). CONCLUSION Patients suffering from moderately active IBD are capable of performing symptom-free regular endurance exercise. Our data support the assumption that PA is feasible in IBD patients. PA may furthermore improve quality of life through improvements in social well-being, and may, therefore, be a useful adjunct to IBD therapy

Comparative analysis of ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes in the water column and sediment-water interface of two lakes and the Baltic Sea

The functional gene amoA was used to compare the diversity of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in the water column and sediment-water interface of the two freshwater lakes Plusssee and Schöhsee and the Baltic Sea. Nested amplifications were used to increase the sensitivity of amoA detection, and to amplify a 789-bp fragment from which clone libraries were prepared. The larger part of the sequences was only distantly related to any of the cultured AOB and is considered to represent new clusters of AOB within the Nitrosomonas/Nitrosospira group. Almost all sequences from the water column of the Baltic Sea and from 1-m depth of Schöhsee were related to different Nitrosospira clusters 0 and 2, respectively. The majority of sequences from Plusssee and Schöhsee were associated with sequences from Chesapeake Bay, from a previous study of Plusssee and from rice roots in Nitrosospira-like cluster A, which lacks sequences from Baltic Sea. Two groups of sequences from Baltic Sea sediment were related to clonal sequences from other brackish/marine habitats in the purely environmental Nitrosospira-like cluster B and the Nitrosomonas-like cluster. This confirms previous results from 16S rRNA gene libraries that indicated the existence of hitherto uncultivated AOB in lake and Baltic Sea samples, and showed a differential distribution of AOB along the water column and sediment of these environment

Community shift of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria along an anthropogenic pollution gradient from the Pearl River Delta to the South China Sea

The phylogenetic diversity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing beta-proteobacteria (beta-AOB) was analyzed along an anthropogenic pollution gradient from the coastal Pearl River Delta to the South China Sea using the ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) gene. Along the gradient from coastal to the open ocean, the phylogenetic diversity of the dominant genus changed from Nitrosomonas to Nitrosospira, indicating the niche specificity by these two genera as both salinity and anthropogenic influence were major factors involved. The diversity of bacterial amoA gene was also variable along the gradient, with the highest in the deep-sea sediments, followed by the marshes sediments and the lowest in the coastal areas. Within the Nitrosomonas-related clade, four distinct lineages were identified including a putative new one (A5-16) from the different sites over the large geographical area. In the Nitrosospira-related clade, the habitat-specific lineages to the deep-sea and coastal sediments were identified. This study also provides strong support that Nitrosomonas genus, especially Nitrosomonas oligotropha lineage (6a) could be a potential bio-indicator species for pollution or freshwater/wastewater input into coastal environments. A suite of statistical analyses used showed that water depth and temperature were major factors shaping the community structure of beta-AOB in this study area

Investigation of turbulent structures in the edge of magnetized plasmas

Steigende Energiekosten und der fortschreitende Klimawandel werden bestehende Konflikte verschärfen und neue hervorrufen. Energiesparen und die Erschließung neuer Technologien können den Ursachen dieser Konflikte entgegen wirken. Neben den erneuerbaren Energiequellen kann auch die Kernfusion helfen diesen Herausforderungen zu begegnen. Um zukünftige Fusionskraftwerke kleiner und leistungsfähiger bauen zu können muss der magnetische Einschluss verbessert und die Belastung der Reaktorwände reduziert werden. Dazu ist ein besseres Verständnis turbulenter Transportprozesse in magnetisierten Plasmen nötig. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden die Eigenschaften und die Dynamik turbulenter Dichtestrukturen ("Blobs"), sowie deren Wechselwirkung mit Scherströmungen untersucht. Es wurden Langmuir-Sondenmessungen am Tokamak ASDEX Upgrade und im Stellarator TJ-K durchgeführt und mit GEMR-Simulationen der Plasmaturbulenz verglichen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass Blobs in ASDEX Upgrade an der letzten geschlossenen Flussfläche entstehen. Sie propagieren senkrecht zum Magnetfeld in radialer und poloidaler Richtung. Die poloidale ExB-Drift hängt vom radialen Verlauf des Plasmapotentials ab. Dieses wird wiederum durch die Elektronentemperatur vor der elektrisch leitenden Wand bestimmt. In der komplexen Abschälschicht (SOL) eines Divertortokamaks kann dies aufgrund inhomogener Verbindungslängen zur Wand eine Scherströmung hervorrufen, wie die experimentellen Ergebnisse zeigen. Blobs können eine solche Scherströmung kaum unverändert durchqueren. Die Untersuchung zeigt, wie Blobs durch eine Scherströmung hindurch Teilchen und Energie austauschen können, ohne dabei ihre Form und Geschwindigkeit wesentlich zu verändern. Die Dynamik der Strukturen ist jedoch unterschiedlich zwischen den beiden Seiten der Scherströmung. Auf der dem Plasmazentrum zugewandten Seite dominiert die parallele Driftwellendynamik, d.h. Dichte und Potential der Blobs sind etwa in Phase. Außerhalb der Scherströmung wird die Dynamik aufgrund der kürzeren Verbindungslängen vom Austauschmechanismus dominiert. Die damit verbundene Ladungstrennung führt zu einer deutlichen Phasenverschiebung zwischen der positiven Dichtestörung und einem positiven Monopol im Potential. Entgegen der Erwartung zeigt sich im Potential keine dipolartige Struktur. Floatingpotentialmessungen deuten zwar auf kohärente Maxima und Minima hin, letztere konnten hier jedoch auf den Einfluss kohärenter Elektronentemperaturfluktuationen zurückgeführt werden.Rising energy cost and progressing climate change will exacerbate existing and give birth to new conflicts. Energy savings and the development of new technologies can counteract the reasons for these conflicts. Beside renewable energy sources, nuclear fusion can help to meet this challenge. To build future fusion power plants smaller and more efficient, the magnetic confinement must be improved and the load on plasma facing components reduced. To this end, better understanding is required of turbulent transport processes in magnetized plasmas. Within the frame of the present work, the properties and dynamics of turbulent density structures ("blobs") have been investigated, as well as their interaction with shear flows. Langmuir-probe measurements have been conducted in the tokamak ASDEX Upgrade and in the stellarator TJ-K, and compared with GEMR plasma turbulence simulations. It has been shown, that blobs are generated at the last closed flux surface (LCFS) of ASDEX Upgrade. They propagate perpendicular to the magnetic field lines in the radial and poloidal directions. The poloidal ExB-drift depends on the radial variation of the plasma potential. The latter is given by the electron temperature profile in front of the electrically conducting wall. Experimental results show, that this can lead to a shear layer inside the scrape-off layer (SOL) of a divertor tokamak due to inhomogeneous connection lengths to the wall. Blobs can hardly cross such a shear layer unchanged. This investigation shows how blobs can exchange particles and energy across a shear layer without changing their shapes and velocities substancially. However, the dynamics of the structures are different between both sides of the shear layer. Parallel drift-wave dynamics are dominant on the plasma core side, i.e. density and potential of the blobs are in phase. Outside of the shear layer, the interchange mechanism dominates due to shorter parallel connection lengths to the wall. The poloidal charge separation leads to a significant phase shift between the positive density perturbation and a positive monopol in the plasma potential. Contrary to the common expectation, the potential has no dipol-like structure. Floating potential measurements may indicate coherent maxima and minima, but the latter have been traced back to coherent electron temperature fluctuations

Virtual power plant demonstration platform

The Virtual Power Plant Neckar-Alb is a demonstration platform for operation, optimization and control of distributed energy resources, which are able to produce, store or consume electric energy. A heterogeneous set of distributed energy devices has been installed at the Campus of Reutlingen University by the Reutlingen Energy Centre (REZ) of the School of Engineering. The distributed energy devices have been combined to local microgrids and connected to an operative central power plant with additional participants. The demonstration platform serves students, researchers and industry experts for education and investigation of new technologies, devices and software

Digital twin of distributed energy devices

A digital twin - a replica of energy devices - was established in the computing environment of MATLAB and Simulink. It simulates continuously their operation and is time synchronized and connected to the cenral energy management and control system of a virtual power plant. The model can be used as a platform for testing device performance in various conditions, working schedules and new optimization options

Virtuelles Kraftwerk Neckar-Alb: eine Demonstrations- und Versuchsanlage

Ein virtuelles Kraftwerk ist ein Verbund von Energieanlagen, koordiniert von einem gemeinsamen Leitsystem, um eine bessere Ausnutzung wetterabhängiger Energiequellen oder die gemeinsame Vermarktung von erzeugtem Strom zu ermöglichen. Der Demonstrator Virtuelles Kraftwerk Neckar-Alb ist eine Demonstrationsplattform für Forschung und Lehre, die Anlagen auf dem Campus der Hochschule Reutlingen und verteilte Anlagen in der Region Neckar-Alb integriert

Öffentliche E-Ladestationen extern gemeinschaftsdienlich betreiben lassen : E-Mobilität und virtuelles Kraftwerk in der Praxis

Externe Ladeinfrastruktur kann rechtskonform aus dem Stromnetz einer öffentlichen Liegenschaft versorgt werden. Bisher war die Vorgabe, die Versorgung über einen eigenen (neuen) Netzanschlusspunkt zu realisieren. Die hier vorgestellte Lösung ist ökologisch, wirtschaftlich und technisch deutlich günstiger und dient als Muster für die weitere Erschließung landeseigenen Parkraums in ganz Baden-Württemberg. Ein virtuelles Kraftwerk ermöglicht den gemeinschaftsdienlichen Betrieb