eine randomisiert-kontrollierte Studie

In dieser Studie wurde die Wirksamkeit der Aderlass-Therapie auf den Blutdruck untersucht. In anderen Studien hatte es deutliche Hinweise darauf gegeben, dass Aderlass-Therapie oder Blutspende das kardiovaskuläre Risiko und den Blutdruck senken kann. Dieser Effekt wurde in der vorliegenden Studie erstmals mittels 24- Stunden-Blutdruckmessung überprüft. Hierzu wurde eine monozentrische, randomisiertkontrollierte Interventionsstudie über acht Wochen mit parallelem Gruppenvergleich durchgeführt. Verglichen wurde eine Interventionsgruppe (Aderlass-Gruppe) mit einer Kontrollgruppe (Warte-Gruppe). Die Teilnehmenden der Interventionsgruppe erhielten zwei Aderlässe von ca. 500 ml Volumen im Abstand von sechs Wochen. Die Teilnehmenden der Kontrollgruppe erhielten das Angebot nach Studienende zur Ader gelassen zu werden (Wartelisten-Design), während des Beobachtungszeitraums erfolgte keine Intervention. Die Abschlussuntersuchung erfolgte acht Wochen nach der Einschlussuntersuchung. Hauptzielparameter war die Entwicklung der Werte der 24-Stunden-Blutdruckmessung im Vergleich zwischen Interventions- und Kontrollgruppe nach acht Wochen und zwei Aderlässen. Sekundäre Zielparameter waren systolischer Blutdruck in Ruhe (Mittelwert aus drei Messungen), diastolischer Blutdruck in Ruhe (Mittelwert aus drei Messungen), Herzfrequenz in Ruhe (Mittelwert aus drei Messungen), Serum-Ferritin, Hämatokrit, Serum-Eisen, Triglyceride, LDL- Cholesterin und HDL-Cholesterin. Es wurden definierte Ein- bzw. Ausschlusskriterien verwendet, beispielsweise sollte der Ausgangsblutdruck der Teilnehmenden zwischen 140 und 159 mmHg systolisch und zwischen 90 und 99 mmHg diastolisch liegen und aktuell nicht medikamentös behandelt sein. Es wurden insgesamt 60 Personen in die Studie eingeschlossen und randomisiert den Gruppen zugeordnet. Hiervon durchliefen 25 in der Interventions- und 28 in der Kontrollgruppe die Studie protokollgerecht. Insgesamt spiegelten sich die günstigen Effekte aus Vorstudien in dieser Studie nicht deutlich wider. In der Subgruppenanalyse zeigen sich jedoch interessante Tendenzen hinsichtlich der Wirksamkeit bei verschiedenen Personengruppen, eingeteilt nach initialem Ferritin-Wert, BMI, Alter und Geschlecht.This study is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of phlebotomy therapy for arterial hypertension. In previous studies strong indications had been found for phlebotomy or blood donation being beneficial to cardiovascular risk or arterial hypertension. This effect was inspected for the first time via 24-h ambulatory blood pressure measurement in this two-armed monocentric, randomized controlled intervention study over eight weeks. An intervention group (phlebotomy group) was compared to a control group (waiting group). The intervention group participants had the first phlebotomy initially and another after an interval of six weeks, each constituting a volume of approximately 500 ml. The control group participants were offered a phlebotomy after the end of the study period (waiting list design). During the observation period, no intervention was conducted in the control group. The final examination took place eight weeks after the initial one. Primary endpoint was the 24-h ambulatory blood pressure measurement in the control and intervention groups after eight weeks. Secondary endpoints included systolic blood pressure at rest (mean of a series of three measurements), diastolic blood pressure at rest (mean of a series of three measurements), heart rate at rest (mean of a series of three measurements), serum ferritin, hematocrit, serum iron, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol (= low density lipoprotein) and HDL cholesterol (= high density lipoprotein). Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined and applied. For example, the systolic blood pressure of participants at the outset of the study had to be between 140 and 159 mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure had to be between 90 and 99 mmHg. Hypertension had not to be currently treated by the application of medicines. In total 60 people were included in this study and were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Of these, 25 individuals from the intervention group and 28 individuals from the control group went through the study in accordance with the above mentioned protocol. Overall, the positive effects identified in previous studies were not demonstrably reflected in this study. The 24-h ambulatory blood pressure decreased by 0.16 ±7.2 mmHg (systolic) and 1.32 ±4.82 mmHg (diastolic) in the intervention group and by 0.68 ±5.22 mmHg (systolic) and 0.29 ±3.87 mmHg (diastolic) in the control group. However, the subgroup analysis showed interesting tendencies regarding the effectiveness on different groups, classified by serum ferritin, BMI, age and sex

Evolved Galaxies at z > 1.5 from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey: The Formation Epoch of Massive Stellar Systems

We present spectroscopic evidence from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS) for a significant population of color-selected red galaxies at 1.3 < z < 2.2 whose integrated light is dominated by evolved stars. Unlike radio-selected objects, the z > 1.5 old galaxies have a sky density > 0.1 per sq. arcmin. Conservative age estimates for 20 galaxies with z > 1.3; = 1.49, give a median age of 1.2 Gyr and = 2.4. One quarter of the galaxies have inferred z_f > 4. Models restricted to abundances less than or equal to solar give median ages and z_f of 2.3 Gyr and 3.3, respectively. These galaxies are among the most massive and contribute approximately 50% of the stellar mass density at 1 < z < 2. The derived ages and most probable star formation histories suggest a high star-formation-rate (300-500 solar masses per year) phase in the progenitor population. We argue that most of the red galaxies are not descendants of the typical z=3 Lyman break galaxies. Galaxies associated with luminous sub-mm sources have the requisite star formation rates to be the progenitor population. Our results point toward early and rapid formation for a significant fraction of present day massive galaxies.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication, ApJ Letter

“VIVEM DE LAVOURAS”: A ESTRUTURA AGRÁRIA EM SÃO JOSÉ DO TAQUARI, AO FINAL DO SÉCULO XVIII

ResumoEste artigo aborda o contexto de criação da freguesia de São José do Taquari e a estrutura produtiva da região, ao final do período colonial brasileiro. A inserção econômica do Continente do Rio Grande de São Pedro no mercado interno de abastecimento colonial se deu por meio da pecuária desenvolvida nas estâncias, do cultivo de lavouras e mais tarde dos complexos charqueadores. Taquari não se caracterizou como região de economia pecuarista, pois, o número de animais declarados por seus moradores na Relação de Moradores de 1784 foi muito inferior se comparado com outras freguesias, como, por exemplo, Triunfo e Santo Amaro, nas quais essa atividade representava a principal forma de inserção econômica nos circuitos mercantis. A freguesia de Taquari foi habitada por pequenos produtores, que acessaram a terra por meios de formas não mercantilizadas e utilizaram o trabalho familiar, via agregamento, como um recurso importante para o aumento dos níveis produtivos da agricultura e sua reprodução social.AbstractThis paper approaches the context of creation of the people of São José do Taquari and the productive structure of the region, at the end of the Brazilian colonial period. The economic integration of the continent of Rio Grande de São Pedro into the intern market of colonial supply was through the livestock grown in the farms, the cultivation of crops and later the complex charqueadores. Taquari was not characterized as a region of livestock economy, since the number of animals declared by its residents in the Relation of Residents of 1784 was much lower when compared with other villages, such as, for example, Triunfo and Santo Amaro, in which this activity represented the main form of economic insertion in the colonial mercantile circuits. The parish of Taquari was inhabited by small producers, who accessed land through non-mercantile forms and used family labor, through aggregation, as an important resource for increasing the productive levels of agriculture

Outbreak of Shigella sonnei in a rural hotel in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain

Shigella sonnei is a significant cause of gastroenteritis in both developing and industrialized countries. Knowledge of the diversity and antimicrobial susceptibility of the bacterium may be helpful in the management of both individual cases and outbreaks. This study was undertaken to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of an outbreak of diarrhea due to S. sonnei. The outbreak involved 14 of 28 (50%) tourists in a small rural hotel in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain. All of the S. sonnei isolates recovered had the same antimicrobial susceptibility and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns, suggesting that the outbreak was produced by a single strain. [Int Microbiol 2005; 8(2):133-136

The Effects of Day Care Participation on Parent-Infant Interaction at Home

This study assessed how parents who placed their children in a high-quality infant and toddler program were, over time, influenced by three salient features of the center: its child-centered focus, its social orientation, and its support for men in nurturing roles

The Effects of Day Care Participation on Parent-Infant Interaction at Home

This study assessed how parents who placed their children in a high-quality infant and toddler program were, over time, influenced by three salient features of the center: its child-centered focus, its social orientation, and its support for men in nurturing roles

The organization of interaction design pattern languages alongside the design process

This work explores the possibility of taking the structural characteristics of approaches to interaction design as a basis for the organization of interaction design patterns. The Universal Model of the User Interface (Baxley, 2003) is seen as well suited to this; however, in order to cover the full range of interaction design patterns the model had to be extended slightly. Four existing collections of interaction design patterns have been selected for an analysis in which the patterns have been mapped onto the extended model. The conclusion from this analysis is that the use of the model supports the process of building a pattern language, because it is predictive and helps to complete the language. If several pattern writers were to adopt the model, a new level of synergy could be attained among these pattern efforts. A concluding vision would be that patterns could be transferred freely between pattern collections to make them as complete as possibl

Mental models for web objects: Where do users expect to find the most frequent objects in online shops, news portals, and company web pages?

In interface development, it is crucial to reflect the users' expectations and mental models. By meeting users' expectations, errors can be prevented and the efficiency of the interaction can be enhanced. Applying these guidelines to website development reveals the need to know where users expect to find the most common web objects like the search field, home button or the navigation. In a preliminary online study with 136 participants, the most common web objects were identified for three web page types: online shops, news portals, and company web pages. These objects were used for the main study, which was conducted with 516 participants. In an online application, prototypical websites had to be constructed by the participants. Data analysis showed that Internet users have distinct mental models for different web page types (online shop, news portal, and company web page). Users generally agree about the locations of many, but not all, web objects. These mental models are robust to demographic factors like gender and web expertise. This knowledge could be used to improve the perception and usability of website

Cosmic Star Formation History and its Dependence on Galaxy Stellar Mass

We examine the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) and its dependence on galaxy stellar mass over the redshift range 0.8 < z < 2 using data from the Gemini Deep Deep Survey (GDDS). The SFR in the most massive galaxies (M > 10^{10.8} M_sun) was six times higher at z = 2 than it is today. It drops steeply from z = 2, reaching the present day value at z ~ 1. In contrast, the SFR density of intermediate mass galaxies (10^{10.2} < M < 10^{10.8} M_sun) declines more slowly and may peak or plateau at z ~ 1.5. We use the characteristic growth time t_SFR = rho_M / rho_SFR to provide evidence of an associated transition in massive galaxies from a burst to a quiescent star formation mode at z ~ 2. Intermediate mass systems transit from burst to quiescent mode at z ~ 1, while the lowest mass objects undergo bursts throughout our redshift range. Our results show unambiguously that the formation era for galaxies was extended and proceeded from high to low mass systems. The most massive galaxies formed most of their stars in the first ~3 Gyr of cosmic history. Intermediate mass objects continued to form their dominant stellar mass for an additional ~2 Gyr, while the lowest mass systems have been forming over the whole cosmic epoch spanned by the GDDS. This view of galaxy formation clearly supports `downsizing' in the SFR where the most massive galaxies form first and galaxy formation proceeds from larger to smaller mass scales.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ