Once-daily budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler in adults with moderate persistent asthma

AbstractPatients with moderate persistent asthma (n = 523; mean FEV1 77.4%) not fully controlled with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS; 400–1000 μg/day) were randomized to receive either once-daily budesonide/formoterol (160/4.5 μg, two inhalations); or twice-daily budesonide/formoterol (160/4.5 μg, one inhalation); or budesonide (400 μg) once-daily for 12 weeks. Once-daily dosing was administered in the evening and twice-daily dosing was administered in the morn-ing and evening. All patients received twice-daily budesonide (200 μg) during a 2-week run-in. Compared with budesonide alone, change in mean morning and evening peak expiratory flow was greater in the once-daily budesonide/formoterol group (27 and 17 1 min−1, respectively; P<0.001) and twice-daily budesonide/formoterol group (23 and 24 1 min−1, respectively; P<0.001). Night awakenings, symptom-free days, reliever-use-free days and asthma-control days were all improved during once-daily budesonide/formoterol therapy vs. budesonide (P≤0.05). Similar improvements were also seen with twice-daily budesonide/formoterol (P≤0.05). The risk of a mild exacerbation was reduced after once- and twice-daily budesonide/formoterol vs. budesonide (38% and 35%, respectively; P<0.002). All treatments were well tolerated. Budesonide/formoterol, once- or twice-daily, in a single inhaler improved asthma symptoms and exacerbations compared with budesonide. In the majority of patients with moderate persistent asthma requiring ICS and long-actingβ -agonists, once-daily formoterol/budesonide provided sustained efficacy over 24 h, similar to twice-daily dosing

A survey of tourist preference for forests and attitudes towards ecological and social forest services

Ispitivanje sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi provedeno je tijekom dviju ljetnih sezona na otoku Korčuli. Ispitanici su bili domaći i strani turisti koji su izabrali hrvatsku obalu za odredište svoga godišnjeg odmora. Otok se nalazi u srednjodalmatinskom arhipelagu, južno od Splita, a sjeverno od Dubrovnika. Poznato je turističko odredište, koje ostvari i do milijun noćenja po sezoni. Uz to, Korčula je jedan od najšumovitijih otoka, s više od 60 % površine obrasle šumom. Cilj ispitivanja bio je dobiti uvid u stavove i sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi i ekološkim i socijalnim uslugama šuma. Anketa je ponuđena ispitanicima na samostalno ispunjavanje po slobodnom izboru i bez vremenskoga ograničenja. Anketa je bila opširna, s više grupa pitanja različitih mogućnosti odgovora. Grupe pitanja obrađivale su: socioekonomski status ispitanika, sklonosti za boravkom u šumi i različitim aktivnostima, odnos prema okolišu i razlozi dolaska na odmor u odabrano odredište. Radi raznolike turističke populacije, anketa je ponuđena na hrvatskom i sedam stranih jezika (engleski, njemački, talijanski, slovenski, poljski, češki i mađarski). Rezultati su ukazali na značajnu sklonost turista za boravkom u prirodi i šumi, visoku svijest ispitanika o okolišnim vrijednostima i prepoznavanje šume kao značajnog činitelja krajobraza i okoliša općenito, za čije su čuvanje i obnovu spremni dodatno izdvojiti od 1,5 do 3,5% na cijenu smještaja, čime bi se sakupila značajna svota novca namijenjena zaštiti i obnovi šuma.The preference of tourists for forests was surveyed during two summer seasons on the island of Kor~ula. The respondents were Croatian and foreign tourists who chose the Croatian coast as a holiday destination. The island is situated in the Central Dalmatian archipelago south of Split and north of Dubrovnik. It is a renowned tourist resort that achieves up to one million overnight stays per season. Over 60% of the area of Kor~ula is covered with forests, which ranks this island among one of the most forested in the Adriatic. The goal of the survey was to test the attitudes and preferences of tourists for forests and for ecological and social forest services. Tourists were asked to fill in the questionnaire at their choice and with no time limit. The extensive questionnaire consisted of several groups of questions and offered different possibilities of answers. The groups of questions included the following the socio-economic status of the respondents, the preference for forests and different activities in forests, attitudes towards the environment and the reasons for spending a holiday in a chosen destination. In order to include different tourist populations in the survey, the questionnaire was printed in Croatian and in 7 foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Check and Hungarian). The results showed significant preference of tourists for forests and the nature, a keen awareness of environmental values and the perception of a forest as an important landscape and environmental factor in general. Tourists were prepared to pay an additional 1.5 to 3.5% on the cost of accommodation in order to contribute to the means intended for the preservation and regeneration of forests

A survey of tourist preference for forests and attitudes towards ecological and social forest services

Ispitivanje sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi provedeno je tijekom dviju ljetnih sezona na otoku Korčuli. Ispitanici su bili domaći i strani turisti koji su izabrali hrvatsku obalu za odredište svoga godišnjeg odmora. Otok se nalazi u srednjodalmatinskom arhipelagu, južno od Splita, a sjeverno od Dubrovnika. Poznato je turističko odredište, koje ostvari i do milijun noćenja po sezoni. Uz to, Korčula je jedan od najšumovitijih otoka, s više od 60 % površine obrasle šumom. Cilj ispitivanja bio je dobiti uvid u stavove i sklonosti turista za boravak u šumi i ekološkim i socijalnim uslugama šuma. Anketa je ponuđena ispitanicima na samostalno ispunjavanje po slobodnom izboru i bez vremenskoga ograničenja. Anketa je bila opširna, s više grupa pitanja različitih mogućnosti odgovora. Grupe pitanja obrađivale su: socioekonomski status ispitanika, sklonosti za boravkom u šumi i različitim aktivnostima, odnos prema okolišu i razlozi dolaska na odmor u odabrano odredište. Radi raznolike turističke populacije, anketa je ponuđena na hrvatskom i sedam stranih jezika (engleski, njemački, talijanski, slovenski, poljski, češki i mađarski). Rezultati su ukazali na značajnu sklonost turista za boravkom u prirodi i šumi, visoku svijest ispitanika o okolišnim vrijednostima i prepoznavanje šume kao značajnog činitelja krajobraza i okoliša općenito, za čije su čuvanje i obnovu spremni dodatno izdvojiti od 1,5 do 3,5% na cijenu smještaja, čime bi se sakupila značajna svota novca namijenjena zaštiti i obnovi šuma.The preference of tourists for forests was surveyed during two summer seasons on the island of Kor~ula. The respondents were Croatian and foreign tourists who chose the Croatian coast as a holiday destination. The island is situated in the Central Dalmatian archipelago south of Split and north of Dubrovnik. It is a renowned tourist resort that achieves up to one million overnight stays per season. Over 60% of the area of Kor~ula is covered with forests, which ranks this island among one of the most forested in the Adriatic. The goal of the survey was to test the attitudes and preferences of tourists for forests and for ecological and social forest services. Tourists were asked to fill in the questionnaire at their choice and with no time limit. The extensive questionnaire consisted of several groups of questions and offered different possibilities of answers. The groups of questions included the following the socio-economic status of the respondents, the preference for forests and different activities in forests, attitudes towards the environment and the reasons for spending a holiday in a chosen destination. In order to include different tourist populations in the survey, the questionnaire was printed in Croatian and in 7 foreign languages (English, German, Italian, Slovenian, Polish, Check and Hungarian). The results showed significant preference of tourists for forests and the nature, a keen awareness of environmental values and the perception of a forest as an important landscape and environmental factor in general. Tourists were prepared to pay an additional 1.5 to 3.5% on the cost of accommodation in order to contribute to the means intended for the preservation and regeneration of forests

Leading-order determination of the gluon polarisation from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering data

Using a novel analysis technique, the gluon polarisation in the nucleon is re-evaluated using the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry measured in the cross section of semi-inclusive single-hadron muoproduction with photon virtuality $Q^2>1~({\rm GeV}/c)^2$. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV/$c$ polarised muon beam impinging on a polarised $^6$LiD target. By analysing the full range in hadron transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$, the different $p_{\rm T}$-dependences of the underlying processes are separated using a neural-network approach. In the absence of pQCD calculations at next-to-leading order in the selected kinematic domain, the gluon polarisation $\Delta g/g$ is evaluated at leading order in pQCD at a hard scale of $\mu^2= \langle Q^2 \rangle = 3 ({\rm GeV}/c)^2$. It is determined in three intervals of the nucleon momentum fraction carried by gluons, $x_{\rm g}$, covering the range $0.04 \!<\! x_{ \rm g}\! <\! 0.28$~ and does not exhibit a significant dependence on $x_{\rm g}$. The average over the three intervals, $\langle \Delta g/g \rangle = 0.113 \pm 0.038_{\rm (stat.)}\pm 0.036_{\rm (syst.)}$ at $\langle x_{\rm g} \rangle \approx 0.10$, suggests that the gluon polarisation is positive in the measured $x_{\rm g}$ range.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Multiplicities of charged pions and unidentified charged hadrons from deep-inelastic scattering of muons off an isoscalar target

Multiplicities of charged pions and unidentified hadrons produced in deep-inelastic scattering were measured in bins of the Bjorken scaling variable $x$, the relative virtual-photon energy $y$ and the relative hadron energy $z$. Data were obtained by the COMPASS Collaboration using a 160 GeV muon beam and an isoscalar target ($^6$LiD). They cover the kinematic domain in the photon virtuality $Q^2$ > 1(GeV/c$)^2$, $0.004 < x < 0.4$, $0.2 < z < 0.85$ and $0.1 < y < 0.7$. In addition, a leading-order pQCD analysis was performed using the pion multiplicity results to extract quark fragmentation functions

Measurement of azimuthal hadron asymmetries in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering off unpolarised nucleons

Spin-averaged asymmetries in the azimuthal distributions of positive and negative hadrons produced in deep inelastic scattering were measured using the CERN SPS longitudinally polarised muon beam at 160 GeV/c and a (LiD)-Li-6 target. The amplitudes of the three azimuthal modulations cos phi(h), cos 2 phi(h) and sin phi(h) were obtained binning the data separately in each of the relevant kinematic variables x, z or p(T)(h), and binning in a three-dimensional grid of these three variables. The amplitudes of the cos phi(h) and cos 2 phi(h) modulations show strong kinematic dependencies both for positive and negative hadrons

Multiplicities of charged kaons from deep-inelastic muon scattering off an isoscalar target

Precise measurements of charged-kaon multiplicities in deep inelastic scattering were performed. The results are presented in three-dimensional bins of the Bjorken scaling variable x, the relative virtual-photon energy y, and the fraction z of the virtual-photon energy carried by the produced hadron. The data were obtained by the COMPASS Collaboration by scattering 160 GeV muons off an isoscalar 6LiD target. They cover the kinematic domain View the MathML source in the photon virtuality, 0.0045 GeV/c2 in the invariant mass of the hadronic system. The results from the sum of the z -integrated K+ and K 12 multiplicities at high x point to a value of the non-strange quark fragmentation function larger than obtained by the earlier DSS fit

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

Measurement of azimuthal hadron asymmetries in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering off unpolarised nucleons

Spin-averaged asymmetries in the azimuthal distributions of positive and negative hadrons produced in deep inelastic scattering were measured using the CERN SPS longitudinally polarised muon beam at 160 GeV/c and a (LiD)-Li-6 target. The amplitudes of the three azimuthal modulations cos phi(h), cos 2 phi(h) and sin phi(h) were obtained binning the data separately in each of the relevant kinematic variables x, z or p(T)(h), and binning in a three-dimensional grid of these three variables. The amplitudes of the cos phi(h) and cos 2 phi(h) modulations show strong kinematic dependencies both for positive and negative hadrons