Influence of berry growth and growth regulators on the development of grape peduncles in Vitis vinifera L.

Removal of grape berries (cv. Roter Gutedel) after setting (10 d after anthesis) had just a slight effect on the subsequent health of the peduncle. But if younger berries of flowers were removed before this stage the peduncle formed abscission layers along its length, and/or it died. Treatment of deflowered peduncles with a-naphthalene acetic acid (NAi\) prevented peduncle abscission and death; it is suggested that auxins produced by flowers have a hormonal role in maintaining normal development of the peduncle. Treatment with 2-chloroethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (CCC), benzyladenine (BA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) or 3-indolebutyric acid (IBA) did not give these effects. The lack of effect of the latter two compounds (auxins) is possibly due to their catabolism.Treatment with gibberellic acid (GA) resembled NAA in that it also maintained the health of deflowered peduncles, but GA had the additional effect of causing prolonged development of metaxylem. Gibberellin produced by developing berries may also have a hormonal role in peduncle development. The occurrence of grape peduncle necrosis (stiellaehme), which appears associated with a gibberellin deficiency during setting, supports this idea

Stochastic to deterministic crossover of fractal dimension for a Langevin equation

Using algorithms of Higuchi and of Grassberger and Procaccia, we study numerically how fractal dimensions cross over from finite-dimensional Brownian noise at short time scales to finite values of deterministic chaos at longer time scales for data generated from a Langevin equation that has a strange attractor in the limit of zero noise. Our results suggest that the crossover occurs at such short time scales that there is little chance of finite-dimensional Brownian noise being incorrectly identified as deterministic chaos.Comment: 12 pages including 3 figures, RevTex and epsf. To appear Phys. Rev. E, April, 199

Kongenitale Nävi im Kindesalter

Zusammenfassung: Nävi stellen kongenitale hamartomatöse Fehlbildungen unterschiedlicher Bestandteile der Haut dar. Am häufigsten treten kongenitale melanozytäre Nävi (CMN) auf, gefolgt von Nävi epithelialen Ursprungs (epidermale und organoide Nävi). Insbesondere große CMN können zu schwerwiegenden Komplikationen führen, und das Management der Betroffenen stellt ab Geburt eine Herausforderung dar. Entgegen früheren Annahmen ist das Risiko einer malignen Entartung von CMN insgesamt als eher gering anzusehen, steigt jedoch in speziellen Situationen relevant an. Nicht zu vernachlässigen sind mögliche extrakutane Symptome im Falle einer ZNS-Beteiligung, und frühe bildgebende Untersuchungen gehören heute zur Routinediagnostik. Chirurgische Maßnahmen haben noch immer einen hohen Stellenwert in der Behandlung von CMN, die Indikation dazu ist jedoch von Fall zu Fall individuell abzuwägen. Nicht zuletzt leiden die Patienten häufig stark an der ästhetischen Beeinträchtigung durch ihr Muttermal, sodass in der Behandlung auch diesem Punkt Rechnung getragen werden muss. Der Naevus sebaceus ist der häufigste Vertreter der epithelialen Nävi. In 2-13% treten darin Zusatztumoren auf, und eine frühe chirurgische Exzision ist in den meisten Fällen nicht zuletzt auch aus ästhetischen Überlegungen sinnvoll. Epidermale Nävi erfordern bei generalisierter Ausdehnung Zusatzuntersuchungen zum Ausschluss von assoziierten ophthalmologischen, kardialen oder neurologischen Fehlbildunge

Test your surrogate data before you test for nonlinearity

The schemes for the generation of surrogate data in order to test the null hypothesis of linear stochastic process undergoing nonlinear static transform are investigated as to their consistency in representing the null hypothesis. In particular, we pinpoint some important caveats of the prominent algorithm of amplitude adjusted Fourier transform surrogates (AAFT) and compare it to the iterated AAFT (IAAFT), which is more consistent in representing the null hypothesis. It turns out that in many applications with real data the inferences of nonlinearity after marginal rejection of the null hypothesis were premature and have to be re-investigated taken into account the inaccuracies in the AAFT algorithm, mainly concerning the mismatching of the linear correlations. In order to deal with such inaccuracies we propose the use of linear together with nonlinear polynomials as discriminating statistics. The application of this setup to some well-known real data sets cautions against the use of the AAFT algorithm.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Randomized trial comparing the i-gel™ and Magill tracheal tube with the single-use ILMA™ and ILMA™ tracheal tube for fibreoptic-guided intubation in anaesthetized patients with a predicted difficult airway

Background The i-gel™ is a single-use supraglottic airway device (SAD) that allows fibreoptic-guided tracheal intubation through the device. Until now, no prospective data for this procedure are available. Therefore, in a prospective randomized controlled trial, we evaluated fibreoptic-guided tracheal intubation with a standard Rüsch™ PVC tracheal tube (TT) through the i-gel™ compared with the single-use ILMA™ (sILMA™) TT through the sILMA™ in patients with a predicted difficult airway. Methods With ethics committee approval and written informed consent, 160 patients were randomly assigned to either SAD. After placement of the SAD, a fibreoptic bronchoscope was introduced into the trachea as a railroad for the TT. Primary outcome variable was the first-attempt fibreoptic-guided intubation success rate. Secondary variables included time for insertion and intubation, airway leak pressures, fibreoptic view, and adverse events. Data are presented as mean (sd) or percentages. A P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Fibreoptic-guided intubation was successful at the first attempt in 76 patients (96%) using the i-gel™ and in 71 patients (90%) using the sILMA™ (P=0.21). Most of the failed intubations were rescued by conventional laryngoscopy. Airway leak pressure was higher for the sILMA™. There were no problems during removal of either type of SAD. Conclusions Fibreopic-guided tracheal intubation through the i-gel™ using a standard Rüsch™ Magill TT is successful and an alternative to the sILMA™ with the sILMA™ T

Erfahrungen bei der Messung der Ergebnisqualität in der interventionellen Schmerztherapie

BACKGROUND There is a growing interest in patient-related outcome measurement. In this field questionnaires on touch screens are becoming more common. This study was designed to identify problems in usability and feasibility of a web-based questionnaire. STUDY PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS Patients who underwent a lumbar infiltration were recruited in 5 centers and 50 patients participated of which half were older than 62 years. One third of the patients had basically no former experience with computers or touch screens. The outcome was assessed before treatment and during follow-up on a simple web-based patient questionnaire, the Activity Index. Results were presented graphically and discussed during consultation. Patients, nurses and doctors were asked for standardized feedback. RESULTS Of the patients 84% completed the questionnaire in up to 6 min. An adapted form of the system usability scale (SUS) achieved an acceptance score of 71.8%. Problems in handling occurred mostly in older patients (>65 years). The system was scored with 72.9% and 78.5% in efficiency and handling, respectively, by the nurses. The attending physicians rated the usefulness and comprehensibility of the graphical representation of the results on average as 83.3% and both were scored neutral to positive; however, an average of 11.6% rated some aspects of the report to be suboptimal. CONCLUSION This web-based questionnaire is the first of its kind to be evaluated in everyday practice of interventional pain therapy for lumbar back pain. The vast majority of the patients were able to efficiently complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire was highly acceptable to patients, nurses and doctors. We found some usability problems but mainly in the older age group

Beziehungen zwischen Klimafaktoren und dem Stiellähmebefall bei Riesling x Sylvaner

Correlations between climatic factors and the occurrence of stiellaehme on Riesling x SylvanerAt Wädenswil, correlations between climatic factors and the occurrence of grape peduncle necrosis (stiellaehme) of Riesling x Sylvaner were investigated. In a long-term programm (1976-1984), the percentage frequency of stiellaehme observed in a particular plot was correlated with the mean 13.30-hour-temperature (T13 .30) and the amount of precipitation determined for five periods of grapevine development (03-19: before bud hurst ('Wollstadium') until beginning of flowering; 19-25: flowering period; 25-35: first phase of berry growth; 35-36: veraison; 36-38: second phase of berry growth). Only for the flowering period significant correlations to the occurrence of stiellaehme exist, with correlation coefficients of r = -0.94 for the mean 13.30-hour-temperature and r = 0.79 for the precipitation. For the flowering period, other climatic factors gave significantcorrelations as well: two additional mean temperatures (daily maxima and daily mean), the sum of the 13.30-hour-temperatures above 15 °C and the mean duration of sunshine. The correlations of precipitation, duration of sunshine and the sum of the temperature above 15 °C are not causal because these values are highly correlated with the mean temperatures.In a short-term programme (1984), the flowering periods and the occurrence of stiellaehme in 659 grapes from 28 vines were recorded. The influence of climatic factors on the frequency of stiellaehme was investigated in one year by group comparison of grapes exposed to various weather conditions. Only the mean temperatures lead to significant correlations e. g. the mean 13.30-hourtemperature with r = -0.98. The equations of the regression lines from the long and short-term programmes are not identical, suggesting that factors other than temperature exert an influence.Nevertheless, the results clearly show that the level of stiellaehme is largely determined by the mean temperature during the flowering period. The data suggest that during the flowering period an irreversible metabolic process occurs in the flowers/berries, the effects of which are apparent only after veraison

Winterzwiebeln: Anbau IP oder Bio

Bei der Sorte Radar führt das Stecken von «grossen» Steckzwiebeln zu einem höheren Ertrag in beiden Anbausystemen, IP und Bio. Auch wird der Anteil an grossen und Metzgerzwiebeln gesteigert, besonders ausgeprägt unter IP-Bedingungen. Dies ging einher mit einer leichten Zunahme (<6%) der Schossneigung bei «grossen» Steckzwiebeln und frühem Stecktermin

Bessere Verlaufsdokumentation bei Patienten mit lumboradikulären Schmerzsyndromen: Der modifizierte NASS-Fragebogen

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Zweck dieser Studie war es, ein zuverlässiges und einfach anzuwendendes Instrument zur Erfassung des Krankheitsverlaufs und des Therapieerfolgs bei Rückenschmerzpatienten mit lumboradikulären Syndromen vorzustellen. Methodik: Es wurden Daten von Patienten, welche sich einer Mikrodiskektomie wegen lumboradikulärem Syndrom unterzogen, in die Studie eingeschlossen und mittels des 17-teiligen NASS-Fragebogens (North American Spine Society) in Form eines Interviews vor und nach dem operativen therapeutischen Eingriff befragt. Außerdem wurden die demographischen Daten und Komorbiditäten erhoben. Über die Auswertung der Effektstärke bzw. Standardized Response Mean konnten die Fragen mit der stärksten Veränderung (vorher/nachher) für das Behandlungsergebnis ausgewählt werden. Ergebnisse: Es konnten die Datensätze von 139Patienten ausgewertet werden. Aus den 3Dimensionen Schmerz, neurologische Symptome und Beeinträchtigung im Alltag wurden jeweils diejenigen Fragen mit der höchsten Veränderung ausgewählt (hohe E.S. bzw. S.R.M.). In Abstimmung mit der klinischen Relevanz ergab sich schließlich die Auswahl von 8Fragen als konzentrierte Kurzform des NASS-Fragebogens. Schlussfolgerung: In dem von uns vorgestellten Instrument eines kurzen und aussagekräftigen Fragebogens sehen wir eine nützliche und in der Klinik einfach einzusetzende Möglichkeit zur verbesserten Dokumentation bei Patienten mit lumboradikulären Syndromen, insbesondere auch zur Effektmessung therapeutischer Interventionen im Sinne einer patientenorientierten Ergänzung der klinischen Befunderhebung und Diagnostik. Dieses neue Instrument könnte helfen, die Qualitätssicherung bei der konservativen und interventionellen Schmerzbehandlung der Patienten mit lumboradikulären Schmerzsyndromen zu verbesser