Effect of Prehabilitation in Form of Exercise and/or Education in Patients Undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty on Postoperative Outcomes-A Systematic Review.

Background and Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to determine whether prehabilitation before total hip arthroplasty, in the form of exercise therapy, education alone, or both together, improves postoperative outcomes, such as physical functioning, compared with no intervention. Materials and Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in the online databases PubMed, PEDro and Cochrane Library using the following search keywords: "prehabilitation", "preoperative care", and "total hip replacement". Results: A total of 400 potentially relevant studies were identified. After title, abstract and full-text screening, 14 studies fulfilled all inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Patients who completed exercise-based prehabilitation before their operation showed significant postoperative improvements compared with no intervention in the following tests: six-minute walk test, Timed Up and Go test, chair-rise test, and stair climbing. For various other assessments, such as the widely used Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and Barthel Index, no significant differences in outcomes regarding exercise therapy were reported in the included studies. Education alone had no effect on postoperative outcomes. Conclusions: Prehabilitation in the form of a prehabilitation exercise therapy is an effective prehabilitation measure with regard to postoperative physical functioning, while prehabilitation in the form of education has no significant effects. No negative effects of prehabilitation on the outcomes examined were reported

GrassPlot v. 2.00 : first update on the database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). Following a previous Long Database Report (Dengler et al. 2018, Phyto-coenologia 48, 331–347), we provide here the first update on content and functionality of GrassPlot. The current version (GrassPlot v. 2.00) contains a total of 190,673 plots of different grain sizes across 28,171 independent plots, with 4,654 nested-plot series including at least four grain sizes. The database has improved its content as well as its functionality, including addition and harmonization of header data (land use, information on nestedness, structure and ecology) and preparation of species composition data. Currently, GrassPlot data are intensively used for broad-scale analyses of different aspects of alpha and beta diversity in grassland ecosystems

Square Foot Project gestartet : Wandel der Grünlanddiversität in der Schweiz über ein Jahrhundert

Die Grasländer Mitteleuropas sind von grosser ökologischer und ökonomischer Bedeutung. Ihre Artenvielfalt hat sich unter dem Einfluss des Menschen verändert und ist drastisch zurückgegangen. Mit der Auswertung eines weltweit einmaligen Datensatzes historischer Vegetationsaufnahmen zielt das Projekt darauf, diesen Wandel über mehr als ein Jahrhundert zu quantifizieren und seine Treiber zu identifizieren

Imposing Higher-Level Structure in Polyphonic Music Generation Using Convolutional Restricted Boltzmann Machines and Constraints

We introduce a method for imposing higher-level structure on generated, polyphonic music. A Convolutional Restricted Boltzmann Machine (C-RBM) as a generative model is combined with gradient des- cent constraint optimisation to provide further control over the generation process. Among other things, this allows for the use of a “template” piece, from which some structural properties can be extracted, and transferred as constraints to the newly generated material. The sampling pro- cess is guided with Simulated Annealing to avoid local optima, and to find solutions that both satisfy the constraints, and are relatively stable with respect to the C-RBM. Results show that with this approach it is possible to control the higher-level self-similarity structure, the meter, and the tonal properties of the resulting musical piece, while preserving its local musical coherence

Sonication for Diagnosis of Catheter-Related Infection Is Not Better Than Traditional Roll-Plate Culture: A Prospective Cohort Study With 975 Central Venous Catheters

This prospective randomized controlled study with 975 nontunneled central venous catheters (CVCs) showed that the semiquantitative roll-plate culture technique (SQC) was as accurate as the sonication method for diagnosis of catheter-related infections. Sonication is difficult to standardize, whereas SQC is simpler, faster, and as reliable as the sonication method for culturing CVC

Erfolgreiche extensive Bekämpfung des invasiven Adlerfarns

Am Fuss des Calanda-Massivs bei Chur wurde der invasive Adlerfarn (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn)) zwischen 2008 und 2017 jährlich im Juni durch Ausreissen resp. Mähen bekämpft. Ziel der Untersuchung war es zu prüfen, wie gut sich der Adlerfarn mit nur einem mechanischen Eingriff pro Jahr, welcher die schutzwürdige Vegetation möglichst wenig beeinträchtigt, schwächen lässt. Dafür wurden jeweils Ende August auf den insgesamt 40 1m2 grossen Versuchs- und Kontrollflächen verschiedene Fitness-Parameter des Adlerfarns erfasst. Der zehn Jahre dauernde Bekämpfungsversuch zeigte, dass sowohl Ausreissen als auch Mähen den Adlerfarn erheblich geschwächt haben. Dabei war die Methode Ausreissen und Abführen des Schnittguts effektiver als Mähen und Liegenlassen des Schnittguts, vermutlich weil beim Ausreissen mehr Adlerfarnbiomasse entfernt wird als beim Mähen