Association between Physical Activity and Sleep Difficulties among Adolescents in Germany: The Role of Socioeconomic Status

We examined sleep difficulties among adolescents in Germany and the association with physical activity (PA). Furthermore, we analyzed whether the association varied with the socioeconomic status (SES) among adolescent girls and boys in Germany. Using data from the German Health Interview Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) study (Wave 2), 6599 adolescents aged 11 to 17 years were included in the analyses. We conducted sex-stratified logistic regression analyses. Dependent variables were unrecommended sleep duration (defined as a duration of sleep that does not meet the recommended duration), sleep-onset difficulties, trouble sleeping, and daytime sleepiness. Most adolescent girls and boys reported sleep difficulties. While no associations between PA and sleep difficulties were observed, a significant interaction between PA and SES was found for sleep duration in boys and daytime sleepiness in girls. Thus, adolescents with low SES had fewer sleep difficulties if they met the recommendation for PA, compared with those in other SES groups. In Germany, a large proportion of adolescents have sleep difficulties. We found that the experience of sleep difficulties varied according to PA, sex, and the family SES. Future sleep promotion programs should consider these differences.Peer Reviewe

Susto - ein universelles Culture-Bound Syndrom?

Das spanische Wort Susto bedeutet Schreck. Im lateinamerikanischen Raum werden auch die Folgen eines traumatischen Erlebnisses als Susto oder Espanto bezeichnet. Die Folge können eine Reihe von physischen oder psychischen Erkrankungen sein. In der Diplomarbeit wird das Phänomen Susto erläutert. Weiters wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob die Kategorie Culture-Bound Syndrom - also eine Störung, die nur in einer bestimmten Kultur vorkommt - für Susto sinnvoll ist, oder ob es sich um ein Phänomen handelt, das weltweit zu finden ist. Die Arbeit endet mit dem Kapitel "Susto als Chance" und zeigt auf welche Möglichkeiten eine ganzheitliche Konzeption und Behandlung von Krankheiten bietet und wie das Wissen um Susto weltweit bei der Behandlung von traumatischen Störungen hilfreich sein könnte.Susto is the Spanish word for fright. In Latin-America the consequences of a traumatic experience are called Susto as well, in some areas they are also named Espanto. Susto can cause all sorts of physical diseases or psychological disorders. In the thesis the phenomenon Susto is explained. Further on I discuss wether the category of Culture-Bound Syndromes - which stands for illness that can be found only in certain cultures - is adequate in the case of Susto, or if it is an illness that can be found all over the world. In the final chapter "Susto as an opportunity" it is shown what are the possibilities that open up if there is an holistic concept and treatment of illnesses and how the knowledge of the phenomenon Susto can be used to treat traumatic disorders all over the world

Simulation of the Electromagnetic Field of Types Electron Microscopes

Import 11/07/2012Tato diplomová práce je zaměřena na simulaci elektromagnetického pole typové čočky elektronového mikroskopu. První část je věnována teoretickému rozboru, kde jsou vysvětleny základní zákony, rovnice a veličiny pro elektromagnetické pole. Následující část je zaměřena na princip elektronového mikroskopu a elektromagnetických čoček. V praktické části je zahrnuta simulace elektromagnetického pole smyšlené čočky, která byla navržena podle dostupné literatury. Simulace bude provedena v programu ANSYS v 12.1, kde naměříme a znázorníme intenzitu magnetického pole a hustotu magnetického toku. Závěrečná část obsahuje zhodnocení poznatků a naměřených výsledků, které byly získány na základě experimentu.This dissertation focuses on a simulation of an elctromagnetic field of an electron microscope lens type. The first portion is dedicated to a theoretical analysis, where the basic laws, equations and quantities for an electromagnetic pole are explained. The following portion is focused on the principle of an electron microscope and electromagnetic lenses. In the practical portion, the simulation of an electromagnetic field of a fabricated lens is summarized, which was proposed according to information from available luterature. The simulation will be carried out in the ANSYS program at 12.1, where we will measure and draw the intensity of the magnetic field and density of the magnetic flow. The conclusion includes an evaluation of the findings and the measured results attained on the basis of the experiment.410 - Katedra elektroenergetikyvelmi dobř

Evaluation of the impact of repurposing used electric vehicle batteries for residential energy storage systems

Electric vehicles could provide a solution to several major challenges caused by the transportation sector. However, the cost of electric vehicles is a substantial barrier to overcome. As batteries make up a significant part of this cost, one solution is to create a resale value for the used battery. At the end of its life in the electric vehicle, it is expected that the battery will retain 80% of its originally manufactured capacity. This reduced capacity renders the battery unfit for automobile applications but still provides value for stationary applications such as home energy storage. Previous studies have suggested the economic benefit of home energy storage is small, but these studies also lack diversity in experimental scenarios. Therefore, this thesis proposes a varied boundary condition approach to model the environmental and economic effects of home energy storage battery reuse from electric vehicles and the additive effects of different control schemes. Some of the variations of boundary conditions in this study involve scenarios such as including solar power or the presence of an electric vehicle. Some of the varying control schemes involve repurposing home energy storage to also provide the capabilities of fast-charging electric vehicles or analyzing the self-sufficiency that this home energy storage system provides. The results from this analysis suggest the battery reuse benefits are heavily dependent on the varying scenarios and control schemes, but overall the results agree with past studies in regard to the economic benefits of home energy storage not outweighing the associated costs. However, the results also demonstrate that it is possible to significantly increase the household’s self-sufficiency and that from an economic and environmental perspective, it is far better to reuse electric vehicle batteries in lieu of new batteries for home energy storage solutions.M.S

The Search For The Role Of An Elementary Principal

THE SEARCH FOR THE ROLE OF AN ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALDawn Rattay-Nicolaus, Ed.D.University of Pennsylvania, 2004This dissertation examines the role of the elementary principal in the context of the school in creating and maintaining effective educational programs that add to the success of the whole school environment. It further attempts to investigate the commonalities of qualities among elementary school principals and investigate how elementary school principals incorporate professional development into their supervisory practices and evaluate professional development in regard to instruction. Thus, this research will strengthen the existing body of knowledge concerning the leadership role of the principal in creating and maintaining effective educational evnironments for students and to identify qualities of an effective principal. The nature of this study was descriptive; the methodology used was qualitative guided by the themes of narrative inquiry. Five elementary principals from The Principals Academy of Western Pennsylvania were interviewed. The major findings demonstrated that many educational reforms require teachers and administrators to transform their roles and take on new responsibilities. All five elementary school principals identified more with characteristics of instructional leaders, even though the literature cited supports the idea that principals need to move from instructional to transformational. Perhaps, some of the principals interviewed or even all would move to being a transformational leader if they had their own professional development provided for them. Funding limits some of the elementary school principals in incorporating professional development into their supervisory practices. However, innovative ways of incorporating professional development were also discussed. Finally, the evaluation component was examined, and the conclusion was more evaluation of educational programs by principals is needed

Strength–duration relationship for intra- versus 3 extracellular stimulation with microelectrodes

Abstract—Chronaxie, a historically introduced excitability time parameter for electrical stimulation, has been assumed to be closely related to the time constant of the cell membrane. Therefore, it is perplexing that significantly larger chronaxies have been found for intracellular than for extracellular stimulation. Using compartmental model analysis, this controversy is explained on the basis that extracellular stimulation also generates hyperpolarized regions of the cell membrane hindering a steady excitation as seen in the intracellular case. The largest inside/outside chronaxie ratio for microelectrode stimulation is found in close vicinity of the cell. In the case of monophasic cathodic stimulation, the length of the primarily excited zone which is situated between the hyperpolarized regions increases with electrode–cell distance. For distant electrodes this results in an excitation process comparable to the temporal behavior of intracellular stimulation. Chronaxie also varies along the neural axis, being small for electrode positions at the nodes of Ranvier and axon initial segment and larger at the soma and dendrites. As spike initiation site can change for short and long pulses, in some cases strength–duration curves have a bimodal shape, and thus, they deviate from a classical monotonic curve as described by the formulas of Lapicque or Weis