Usage of complementary medicine across Switzerland. Results of the Swiss Health Survey 2007

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY: This study investigated the use among the Swiss adult population and regional dissemination of various methods of complementary medicine (CM) provided by physicians or therapists in Switzerland. METHODS: Data of the Swiss Health Survey 2007 were used, which comprised a telephone interview followed by a written questionnaire (18,760 and 14,432 respondents, respectively) and included questions about people's state of health, health insurance and usage of health services. Users and non-users of CM were compared using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The most popular CM methods were homeopathy, osteopathy, acupuncture and shiatsu/foot reflexology. 30.5% of women and 15.2% of men used at least one CM method in the 12 months preceding the survey. Lake Geneva region and central Switzerland had more CM users than the other regions. Women, people between 25 and 64 years of age and people with higher levels of education were more likely to use CM. 53.5% of the adult population had a supplemental health insurance for CM treatments. 32.9% of people with such an insurance used CM during the 12 months preceding the survey, and so did 12.0% of people without additional insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Almost one fourth of the Swiss adult population had used CM within the past 12 months. User profiles were comparable to those in other countries. Despite a generally lower self-perceived health status, elderly people were less likely to use CM

Feedback of observed interannual vegetation change: a regional climate model analysis for the West African monsoon

West Africa is a hot spot region for land–atmosphere coupling where atmospheric conditions and convective rainfall can strongly depend on surface characteristics. To investigate the effect of natural interannual vegetation changes on the West African monsoon precipitation, we implement satellite-derived dynamical datasets for vegetation fraction (VF), albedo and leaf area index into the Weather Research and Forecasting model. Two sets of 4-member ensembles with dynamic and static land surface description are used to extract vegetation-related changes in the interannual difference between August–September 2009 and 2010. The observed vegetation patterns retain a significant long-term memory of preceding rainfall patterns of at least 2 months. The interannual vegetation changes exhibit the strongest effect on latent heat fluxes and associated surface temperatures. We find a decrease (increase) of rainy hours over regions with higher (lower) VF during the day and the opposite during the night. The probability that maximum precipitation is shifted to nighttime (daytime) over higher (lower) VF is 12 % higher than by chance. We attribute this behaviour to horizontal circulations driven by differential heating. Over more vegetated regions, the divergence of moist air together with lower sensible heat fluxes hinders the initiation of deep convection during the day. During the night, mature convective systems cause an increase in the number of rainy hours over these regions. We identify this feedback in both water- and energy-limited regions of West Africa. The inclusion of observed dynamical surface information improved the spatial distribution of modelled rainfall in the Sahel with respect to observations, illustrating the potential of satellite data as a boundary constraint for atmospheric models

Towards an automated estimation of vegetation cover fractions on multiple scales: Examples of Eastern and Southern Africa

Vegetation cover is one of the key parameters for monitoring the state and dynamics of ecosystems. African semi-arid landscapes are especially prone to degradation due to climate change and increased anthropogenic impact on different spatial and temporal scales. In this study, a multiscale method is applied to monitor vegetation cover by deriving sub-pixel percentages of woody vegetation, herbaceous vegetation and soil. The approach is comparatively applied to two semi-arid savannas, one in Namibia and one in Kenya. The results in eastern and southern Africa demonstrate the applicability of the method to different semiarid ecosystems and to different types of remote sensing data. The presented analysis could show that continuous cover mapping is a highly suitable concept for semi-arid ecosystems, as these show gradual transitions rather than distinct borders between land cover types. Different spatial patterns of vegetation cover depending on land use practices and intensities could be revealed

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: Surgical excision versus Mohs surgery

The purpose of this project was to compare the recurrence rates of dermatofibrsarcoma protuberans (DFSP) treated with surgical excision (SE) and Mohs surgery (MS) at Yale. Patients were identified through the dermatopathology laboratory database and stratified by treatment. The following information was collected: age at onset, sex, disease state (primary presentation versus recurrence), tumor site, preoperative tumor size, postoperative defect size, excisional margin, duration of follow-up, and recurrence after treatment. Of the 30 patients, 14 were in the SE group, and 16 were in the MS group. There were no recurrences in the SE group, and there was 1 recurrence (6%) in the MS group, which occurred 37 months post-operatively. The average area of the tumors were 12.1 cm2 ± 16.1 (SE) and 5.3 cm2 ± 5.9 (MS), and the mean excisional margins were 3.8 cm ± 1.6 (SE) and 1.4 cm± 0.5 (MS). The mean duration of follow-up in the SE group was 33 months ± 41 (range: 1-116 months), and the mean duration of follow-up in the MS group was 26 months ± 25 (range: 2 to 69 months.) Although the MS group had a higher recurrence rate than the SE group, using the recurrence rates to make meaningful conclusions about the efficacy of the two treatment modalities is limited by the small n, lack of randomization to either procedure, and duration of follow-up. Once these issues are addressed, recurrence rates must also be adjusted for patient and tumor characteristics, that are associated with higher recurrence rates

Lack of association between genetic polymorphisms in IGF1 and IGFBP3 with twin births in a Brazilian population (Cândido Godói, Rio Grande do Sul)

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) is an important peptide hormone involved in the reproduction and fetal development of mammals, and it is suggested that it may influence the human twinning rate. This study aimed to test such possible association, investigating the genetic polymorphisms IGF1 (CA)n and IGFBP3 rs2854744 in the population from Candido Godoi (CG), a small city located in the South of Brazil that has a high prevalence of twin births. A case-control study was performed comprising a total of 39 cases (representing about 40% of the mothers of twins who were born in CG after 1995) and 214 controls (mothers of non-twin children), 97 of whom were living in CG while 117 were living in Porto Alegre. DNA was extracted from blood leucocytes and genotyping was performed. According to the statistical analyses, there was no significant difference in the frequencies of both studied genetic polymorphisms when comparing case group with control group. Thus, our results pointed to a lack of association between IGF1 (CA)n and IGFBP3 rs2854744 polymorphisms and twin births in CG, but further investigations in other populations with different characteristics must be performed to confirm the role of IGF-I in human twinning

Transmissions of Serial Homeopathic Dilutions of Copper Sulfate, Hypericum perforatum, and Sulfur

Homeopathic remedies are produced by potentising, that is, the serial logarithmic dilution and succussion of a mother tincture. Techniques like ultraviolet spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, calorimetry, or thermoluminescence have been used to investigate their physical properties. In this study, homeopathic centesimal (c) potencies (6c to 30c) of copper sulfate, Hypericum perforatum, and sulfur as well as succussed water controls were prepared. Samples of these preparations were exposed to external physical factors like heat, pressure, ultraviolet radiation, or electromagnetic �elds to mimic possible everyday storage conditions. e median transmissions from 190 nm to 340 nm and 220 nm to 340 nm were determined by ultraviolet light spectroscopy on �ve measurement days distributed over several months. Transmissions of controls and potencies of sulfur di�ered signi�cantly on two of �ve measurement days and aer exposure to physical factors. Transmissions of potencies exposed to ultraviolet light and unexposed potencies of copper sulfate and Hypericum perforatum di�ered signi�cantly. Potency levels 6c to 30c were also compared, and wavelike patterns of higher and lower transmissions were found. e Kruskal-Wallis test yielded signi�cant di�erences for the potency levels of all three substances. Aiming at understanding the physical properties of homeopathic preparations, this study con�rmed and expanded the �ndings of previous studies

Coherent long-range transfer of angular momentum between magnon Kittel modes by phonons

We report ferromagnetic resonance in the normal configuration of an electrically insulating magnetic bilayer consisting of two yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films epitaxially grown on both sides of a 0.5-mm-thick nonmagnetic gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) slab. An interference pattern is observed and it is explained as the strong coupling of the magnetization dynamics of the two YIG layers either in phase or out of phase by the standing transverse sound waves, which are excited through a magnetoelastic interaction. This coherent mediation of angular momentum by circularly polarized phonons through a nonmagnetic material over macroscopic distances can be useful for future information technologies