Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Migrants Participating in the PEP Family Heart Study, Nuremberg

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of cardiovascularrisk factors in adults and their children from the 3 majorgroups of migrants participating in the PEP Family Heart Study 11 andto compare the cardio-metabolic risk profiles between migrants andGerman participants.Methods: In this community-based cross-sectional study, anthropometricdata, blood pressure and lipid profiles of migrants (480 children,363 adults) from Turkey (TUR), Eastern Europe (EEU) and Germanimmigrants from the former Soviet Union (GFSU) were comparedwith age- and gender adjusted German (GER) residents (3253 children,2491 adults).Results: The profile of risk factors differed considerably regardingspecificity and frequency. The prevalence of ≥3 risk factors was asfollows: in GFSU men 62%, women 36%, boys 19% and girls 17%; inTUR men 57%, women 30%, 15% boys and 6% girls; in GER men48%, women 19%, boys 4% and girls 6%; for EEU men 38%, women25% and 0% in children. No risk factor was present in GFSU men13%, women 25%, boys 38% and girls 42%; TUR men 13%, women28%, boys 27% and girls 22 %; GER men16%, women 45%, boys 46%and girls 41%; EEU men 17%, women 42 %, boys 29% and girls 27%.About 50% of the adults from Turkey and Eastern Europe were currentsmokers and one third of women and half of men from these twocountries were overweight.Conclusions: The implementation of primary care measures for theprevention of cardiovascular disease in migrants is necessary, and itshould consider the ethnic differences and the heterogeneous risk profile

Neurocysticercosis with a single brain lesion in Germany: a case report

Neurocysticercosis is rare in Western Europe and a high degree of physician awareness is necessary for diagnosis. We describe a case of Neurocysticercosis with a single brain lesion acquired in Germany in which only surgical removal and subsequent histological examination allowed diagnosis whereas diagnostic investigation yielded no pathological findings

A three-country study on the components of the metabolic syndrome

Abstract Objectives. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) among representative samples of children and adolescents from B razil, I ran and G ermany ( BIG study). Methods. We report the data of a total number of 4 473 children (mean age 7.7 years; 2 218 boys,) and 6 800 adolescents (mean age 12.6 years; 3 409 boys) who participated in three large national studies. Anthropometric measures, blood pressure (BP) and lipid profi le were assessed, fasting plasma glucose was determined in German and Iranian participants. Results. With few exceptions, the mean of the components of the metabolic syndrome was higher in boys than in girls. The main ethnic differences were the high prevalence of low HDL-C levels in Iranian and Brazilian youths compared with German youths (34% vs.7%, respectively, pϽ0.05) and of increased triglycerides (10% vs. 1%, respectively, pϽ0.05). Furthermore the prevalence of high BP was lowest (Ͻ1%) in Iranian than in Brazilian and German children (6%). Both in children and adolescents, the prevalence of the MetS was signifi cantly higher in Iranian than in German children (1% vs.0.1%, respectively, pϽ0.05) and adolescents (2% vs.0.5%, respectively, pϽ0.05). TG to HDL-C ratio had signifi cant correlations with waist circumference and body mass index in Iranian and German children of both genders; these correlations were signifi cant among both genders of adolescents in the three ethnic groups. Conclusion. While the prevalence of abdominal adiposity was nearly similar, Iranian and Brazilian youths had considerably higher prevalence of dyslipidemia than German youths. Future longitudinal studies should seek the clinical importance of these ethnic differences

The Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector at the European XFEL

The Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector (AGIPD) is an x-ray imager, custom designed for the European x-ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL). It is a fast, low noise integrating detector, with an adaptive gain amplifier per pixel. This has an equivalent noise of less than 1 keV when detecting single photons and, when switched into another gain state, a dynamic range of more than 10$^4$ photons of 12 keV. In burst mode the system is able to store 352 images while running at up to 6.5 MHz, which is compatible with the 4.5 MHz frame rate at the European XFEL. The AGIPD system was installed and commissioned in August 2017, and successfully used for the first experiments at the Single Particles, Clusters and Biomolecules (SPB) experimental station at the European XFEL since September 2017. This paper describes the principal components and performance parameters of the system.Comment: revised version after peer revie

Megapixels @ Megahertz -- The AGIPD High-Speed Cameras for the European XFEL

The European XFEL is an extremely brilliant Free Electron Laser Source with a very demanding pulse structure: trains of 2700 X-Ray pulses are repeated at 10 Hz. The pulses inside the train are spaced by 220 ns and each one contains up to $10^{12}$ photons of 12.4 keV, while being $\le 100$ fs in length. AGIPD, the Adaptive Gain Integrating Pixel Detector, is a hybrid pixel detector developed by DESY, PSI, and the Universities of Bonn and Hamburg to cope with these properties. It is a fast, low noise integrating detector, with single photon sensitivity (for $\text{E}_{\gamma} \ge 6$ keV) and a large dynamic range, up to $10^4$ photons at 12.4 keV. This is achieved with a charge sensitive amplifier with 3 adaptively selected gains per pixel. 352 images can be recorded at up to 6.5 MHz and stored in the in-pixel analogue memory and read out between pulse trains. The core component of this detector is the AGIPD ASIC, which consists of $64 \times 64$ pixels of $200 {\mu}\text{m} \times 200 {\mu}\text{m}$. Control of the ASIC's image acquisition and analogue readout is via a command based interface. FPGA based electronic boards, controlling ASIC operation, image digitisation and 10 GE data transmission interface AGIPD detectors to DAQ and control systems. An AGIPD 1 Mpixel detector has been installed at the SPB experimental station in August 2017, while a second one is currently commissioned for the MID endstation. A larger (4 Mpixel) AGIPD detector and one to employ Hi-Z sensor material to efficiently register photons up to $\text{E}_{\gamma} \approx 25$ keV are currently under construction.Comment: submitted to the proceedings of the ULITIMA 2018 conference, to be published in NIM

Chinese students in a UK business school: hearing the student voice in reflective teaching and learning practice.

This paper presents the outcomes of a study carried out in 2001-2002 with nine postgraduate students from China, enrolled on taught master's programmes in a UK university business school. The aims of the research were to explore the development of the students' orientations to learning during their year of study in the UK, and to explore how the researcher's interactions with the study group contributed to her professional reflections and influenced her academic practice. The main conclusions of the project were that participants' underlying approaches to learning did not change substantially over the year, owing to the culturally implicit nature of UK academic conventions and that they experienced high levels of emotional isolation and loneliness, which affected their academic confidence