L'exercice des droits politiques des membres de la Cinquième Suisse : quelles différences avec les Suisses de l'intérieur ?

En quoi la participation à la vie démocratique des citoyens de la Cinquième Suisse se distingue-t-elle des citoyens suisses ? Cette publication montre l'évolution démographique, la répartition spatiale et la structure de la Cinquième Suisse. Ce travail s'intéresse également à identifier les dissimilitudes entre l'étendue des droits politiques des citoyens de la Cinquième Suisse et de la Suisse, les dissemblances dans les canaux de vote et dans la procédure pour accéder à l'exercice du droit de vote. Sur la base des résultats des votations fédérales de 2004 à 2010 et des résultats des élections du Conseil national 2007, cette publication met également en lumière les différences des résultats entre le comportement politique des Suisses de l'étranger et de leurs compatriotes résidant en Suisse. La participation, la force des partis, le vote électronique, les mots d'ordre des partis et la thématique des votations sont des thèmes abordés dans cette analyse empirique. Worin unterscheidet sich die Beteiligung am demokratischen Leben der Bürgerinnen und Bürger der Fünften Schweiz von demjenigen der Schweizer Staatsbürgerinnen und Bürger ? Diese Publikation zeigt die demografische Entwicklung sowie die räumliche Verteilung und Struktur der Fünften Schweiz auf. Im Rahmen der Arbeit werden auch das unterschiedliche Ausmass der politischen Rechte, welche die Bürgerinnen und Bürger der Fünften Schweiz und diejenigen der Schweiz ausüben, und die Unterschiede bei den Abstimmungskanälen sowie im Verfahren zur Ausübung des Stimmrechts aufgezeigt. Auf die Resultate der Eidgenössischen Abstimmungen von 2004 bis 2010 und die Resultate der Nationalratswahlen 2007 gestützt, befasst sich diese Publikation zudem mit den unterschiedlichen Resultaten bezüglich des politischen Verhaltens der Auslandschweizerinnen und Auslandschweizer und ihrer in der Schweizlebenden Landsleute. Die Beteiligung, die Stärke der Parteien, das elektronische Abstimmen, die Parteilosungen und die Abstimmungsthematiken sind Themen, die im Rahmen dieser empirischen Analyse behandelt werden

First Blood Vessels in the Avian Neural Tube Are Formed by a Combination of Dorsal Angioblast Immigration and Ventral Sprouting of Endothelial Cells

AbstractWe studied the early pattern of neural tube (NT) vascularization in quail embryos and chick–quail chimeras. Angioblasts appeared first in the dorsal third at Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stage 19 as single, migrating cells. Their distribution did not correspond to a segmental pattern. After this initial dorsal immigration, endothelial sprouts invaded the NT on either side of the floor plate (HH stage 21). These cells remained continuous with their arterial vascular sources, connected to the venous perineural vascular plexus at HH-stage 22, and formed the first perfused vessels of the NT at HH-stage 23. The same pattern of angiotrophic vascularization was observed in a craniocaudal sequence starting caudal to the rhombencephalic NT. Extremely long filopodia were observed on sprouting cells, extending toward the central canal and the mantle layer. The exclusively extraneuroectodermal origin of angioblastic cells was demonstrated with chick–quail chimeras. Following replacement of quail NT by chick NT graft, angioblast and sprout distribution in chimeras was the same as in controls. We conclude that the NT receives its first blood vessels by a combination of two different processes, dorsal immigration of isolated migrating angioblastic cells and ventral sprouting of endothelial cells, which derive from perfused vessels. The dorsal invasive angioblasts contribute to the developing intraneural vascular plexus after having traversed the neural tube. The initial distribution of blood vessels within the neuroepithelium corresponds to intrinsic random motility of angioblastic cells; a more regular pattern is seen later. The floor plate apparently prohibits connections between sprouts in both NT sides, whereas in the dorsal NT, such a separating effect on the migrating angioblasts does not exist

Patient characteristics differently affect early cup and stem loosening in THA: a case-control study on 7,535 patients

We postulated that certain patient characteristics have different effects on early THA component loosening. With two matched case-control studies we assessed 3,028 cups and 5,224 stems. Loosening was defined using signs of mechanical component failure on routine follow-up radiographs or revision for aseptic loosening. Women and men had similar cup-loosening odds, but women had lower odds for stem loosening (p < 0.0001). Odds for cup loosening decreased by 2.1% per additional year of age (p = 0.0004), those for stem loosening by 2.4% (p < 0.0001). Each additional kilogram of weight decreased cup loosening odds by 1.3% (p = 0.0051). Each additional unit of BMI increased stem loosening odds (p = 0.0109). Charnley classes B and C were protective factors against loosening of both components. There were no risk differences for the various main diagnoses. Certain patient characteristics differently affected early cup and stem loosening, although some characteristics had the same protective or harmful effect on component surviva

Percutaneous cement augmentation for the treatment of depression fractures of the tibial plateau

The management of insufficiency fractures of the tibial plateau in osteoporotic patients can be very challenging, since it is difficult to achieve a stable fixation, an essential condition for the patients' early mobilization. We present a minimally invasive technique for the treatment of proximal tibial plateau fractures, "tibiaplasty”, using percutaneous polymethylmethacrylate augmentation. Five osteoporotic patients (7 fractures) with a non-traumatic insufficiency tibial plateau fracture were treated with this technique at the authors' institution from 2006 to 2008. The patients' median age was 79 (range 62-88) years. The intervention was performed percutaneously under general or spinal anesthesia; after the intervention, immediate full weight bearing was allowed. The technique was feasible in all patients and no complications related to the intervention were observed. All patients reported a relevant reduction in pain, were able to mobilize with full weight bearing and would undergo the operation again. No secondary loss of reduction or progression of arthrosis was observed in radiological controls; no revision surgery was required. Our initial results indicate that tibiaplasty is a good treatment option for the management of insufficiency in tibial plateau fractures in osteoporotic patients. The technique is minimally invasive, safe and allows immediate mobilization without restrictions. In our group of patients, we found excellent early to mid-term result

Surgeon experience with dynamic intraligamentary stabilization does not influence risk of failure

Purpose: Studies on dynamic intraligamentary stabilization (DIS) of acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures reported failure rates similar to those of conventional ACL reconstruction. This study aimed to determine whether surgeon experience with DIS is associated with revision rates or patient-reported outcomes. The hypothesis was that more experienced surgeons achieved better outcomes following DIS due to substantial learning curve. Methods: The authors prospectively enrolled 110 consecutive patients that underwent DIS and evaluated them at a minimum of 2 years. The effects of independent variables (surgeon experience, gender, age, adjuvant procedures, tear location, preinjury Tegner score, time from injury to surgery, and follow-up) on four principal outcomes (revision ACL surgery, any re-operation, IKDC and Lysholm score) were analyzed using univariable and multivariable regressions. Results: From the 110 patients enrolled, 14 patients (13%) were lost to follow-up. Of the remaining 96 patients, 11 underwent revision ACL surgery, leaving 85 patients for clinical assessment at a mean of 2.2 +/- 0.4 years (range 2.0-3.8). Arthroscopic reoperations were performed in 26 (27%) patients, including 11 (11%) revision ACL surgeries. Multivariable regressions revealed: (1) no associations between the reoperation rate and the independent variables, (2) better IKDC scores for 'designer surgeons' (b = 10.7; CI 4.9-16.5; p < 0.001), higher preinjury Tegner scores (b = 2.5, CI 0.8-4.2; p = 0.005), and younger patients (b = 0.3, CI 0.0-0.6; p = 0.039), and (3) better Lysholm scores for 'designer surgeons' (b = 7.8, CI 2.8-12.8; p = 0.005) and preinjury Tegner score (b = 1.9, CI 0.5-3.4; p = 0.010). Conclusion: Surgeon experience with DIS was not associated with rates of revision ACL surgery or general re-operations. Future, larger-scaled studies are needed to confirm these findings. Patients operated by 'designer surgeons' had slightly better IKDC and Lysholm scores, which could be due to better patient selection and/or positively biased attitudes of both surgeons and patients

The wide range of factors contributing to wind resource assessment accuracy in complex terrain

Understanding the uncertainties of wind resource assessments (WRAs) is key to reducing project risks, and this is particularly challenging in mountainous terrain. In the academic literature, many complex flow sites have been investigated, but they all focus on comparing wind speeds from selected wind directions and do not focus on the overall annual energy production (AEP). In this work, the importance of converting wind speed errors into AEP errors when evaluating wind energy projects is highlighted by comparing the results of seven different WRA workflows at five complex terrain sites. Although a systematic study involving the investigation of all possible varying parameters is not within the scope of this study, the results allow some of the different factors that could lead to this discrepancy being identified. The wind speed errors are assessed by comparing simulation results to wind speed measurements at validation locations. This is then extended to AEP estimations (without wake effects), showing that wind profile prediction accuracy does not translate directly or linearly to AEP accuracy. This is due to the specific conditions at the site, to differences in workflow set-ups between the sites and to differences in workflow AEP calculation methods. The results demonstrate the complexity of the combined factors contributing to WRA errors – even without including wake effects and other losses. This means that the wind model that produces the most accurate wind predictions for a certain wind direction over a certain time period does not always result in the most suitable model for the AEP estimation of a given complex terrain site. In fact, the large number of steps within the WRA process often lead to the choice of wind model being less important for the overall WRA accuracy than would be suggested by only looking at wind speeds. It is therefore concluded that it is vitally important for researchers to consider overall AEP – and all the steps towards calculating it – when evaluating simulation accuracies of flow over complex terrain. Future work will involve a systematic study of all the factors that could contribute to this effect.</p

Capacitive crosstalk in gate-based dispersive sensing of spin qubits

In gate-based dispersive sensing, the response of a resonator attached to a quantum dot gate is detected by a reflected radio-frequency signal. This enables fast readout of spin qubits and tune up of arrays of quantum dots, but comes at the expense of increased susceptibility to crosstalk, as the resonator can amplify spurious signals and induce fluctuations in the quantum dot potential. We attach tank circuits with superconducting NbN inductors and internal quality factors $Q_{\mathrm{i}}$>1000 to the interdot barrier gate of silicon double quantum dot devices. Measuring the interdot transition in transport, we quantify radio-frequency crosstalk that results in a ring-up of the resonator when neighbouring plunger gates are driven with frequency components matching the resonator frequency. This effect complicates qubit operation and scales with the loaded quality factor of the resonator, the mutual capacitance between device gate electrodes, and with the inverse of the parasitic capacitance to ground. Setting qubit frequencies below the resonator frequency is expected to substantially suppress this type of crosstalk.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, supplementary informatio

Outcome and patients' satisfaction after functional treatment of acute lateral ankle injuries at emergency departments versus family doctor offices

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In some Western countries, more and more patients seek initial treatment even for minor injuries at emergency units of hospitals. The initial evaluation and treatment as well as aftercare of these patients require large amounts of personnel and logistical resources, which are limited and costly, especially if compared to treatment by a general practitioner. In this study, we investigated whether outsourcing from our level 1 trauma center to a general practitioner has an influence on patient satisfaction and compliance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This prospective, randomized study, included n = 100 patients who suffered from a lateral ankle ligament injury grade I-II (16, 17). After radiological exclusion of osseous lesions, the patients received early functional treatment and were shown physical therapy exercises to be done at home, without immobilization or the use of stabilizing ortheses. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups of 50 patients each: Group A (ER): Follow-up and final examination in the hospital's emergency unit. Group B (GP): Follow-up by general practitioner, final examination at hospital's emergency unit. The patients were surveyed regarding their satisfaction with the treatment and outcome of the treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Female and male patients were equally represented in both groups. The age of the patients ranged from 16 – 64 years, with a mean age of 34 years (ER) and 35 years (GP). 98% (n = 98) of all patients were satisfied with their treatment, and 93% (n = 93) were satisfied with the outcome. For these parameters no significant difference between the two groups could be noted (p = 0.7406 and 0.7631 respectively). 39% of all patients acquired stabilizing ortheses like ankle braces (Aircast, Malleoloc etc.) on their own initiative. There was a not significant tendency for more self-acquired ortheses in the group treated by general practicioners (p = 0,2669).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients who first present at the ER with a lateral ankle ligament injury grade I-II can be referred to a general practitioner for follow-up treatment without affecting patient satisfaction regarding treatment and treatment outcome.</p

A taxonomic backbone for the global synthesis of species diversity in the angiosperm order caryophyllales

The Caryophyllales constitute a major lineage of flowering plants with approximately 12?500 species in 39 families. A taxonomic backbone at the genus level is provided that reflects the current state of knowledge and accepts 749 genera for the order. A detailed review of the literature of the past two decades shows that enormous progress has been made in understanding overall phylogenetic relationships in Caryophyllales. The process of re-circumscribing families in order to be monophyletic appears to be largely complete and has led to the recognition of eight new families (Anacampserotaceae, Kewaceae, Limeaceae, Lophiocarpaceae, Macarthuriaceae, Microteaceae, Montiaceae and Talinaceae), while the phylogenetic evaluation of generic concepts is still well underway. As a result of this, the number of genera has increased by more than ten percent in comparison to the last complete treatments in the “Families and genera of vascular plants” series. A checklist with all currently accepted genus names in Caryophyllales, as well as nomenclatural references, type names and synonymy is presented. Notes indicate how extensively the respective genera have been studied in a phylogenetic context. The most diverse families at the generic level are Cactaceae and Aizoaceae, but 28 families comprise only one to six genera. This synopsis represents a first step towards the aim of creating a global synthesis of the species diversity in the angiosperm order Caryophyllales integrating the work of numerous specialists around the world. © 2015 BGBM Berlin