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Gain in knowledge in experimental fields of research is mostly achieved using commercial hardware platforms. The linked costs however can limit a broad access by scientists and in the specific case of mechanical ventilation the pandemic demonstrated that further and collective research is essential and necessary. This contribution presents the modular design and implementation of a research platform which is based on STM32 Nucleo boards and Simulink®. The hardware required such as the pneumatic circuit are covered as well as the software architecture in which clinician related settings are processed for control references. The core functionality of mandatory volume controlled (VCV) and pressure controlled ventilation (PCV) while ensuring a positive end-expiratory pressure for the patient (PEEP)$(\text{PEEP})$ is evaluated and the foundational software models are published in a repository.

This article presents a hardware-in-the-loop system that can simulate a patient’s physiological responses to mechanical ventilation. The system includes a hardware platform with a mechatronic lung that can physically simulate the respiratory mechanics. A computational patient model replicates the pressure/volume behaviour of the lungs and the impaired gas exchange. Based on current ventilator settings, the model calculates signal curves, which are then transmitted to the physically existing sensors. This enables the test bench to reproduce the pressure/volume behaviour of the lungs and the gas exchange of a simulated patient on mechanical ventilation. In the future, the hardware-in-the-loop system could play an important role in testing and validating highly automated functions in mechanical ventilation and represent an alternative to animal testing.

Objective: To compare the implementation of collaborative dementia care management (cDCM) across two settings regarding patients’ characteristics, unmet needs, and the impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and costs. Methods: This analysis was based on data from the DCM:IMPact study, implementing cDCM in a physician network (n= 22 practices) and two day care centers (DCC) for community-dwelling persons with dementia over 6 months in Germany. Participants completed comprehensive assessments at baseline and 6 months after, soliciting sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, unmet needs, HRQoL and healthcare resource utilization. Patient characteristics and unmet needs were analyzed descriptively, and the impact of cDCM on costs and HRQoL was assessed using multivariable regression models. Results: At baseline, patients from the physician network (n= 46) exhibited more pronounced neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI mean score 14 versus 10, p= 0.075), were more frequently diagnosed with dementia (76% versus 56%, p= 0.040), were less likely assigned a care level by the long-term care insurance (63% versus 91%, p≤ 0.001) to access formal care services and had more unmet needs (12.8 versus 11.0, p≤ 0.001), especially for social care services than DCC patients (n= 57). After 6 months, the adjusted means indicated that cDCM implemented in the physician network was more effective [EQ-5D-5L utility score; 0.061; 95% confidence interval (CI) − 0.032 to 0.153] and less costly (− 5950€; 95% CI − 8415€ to − 3485€) than cDCM implemented in DCC. Conclusions: Patients and the healthcare system may benefit more when cDCM is implemented in physician networks. However, patient characteristics indicated two samples with specific conditions and various unmet needs using different ways of accessing healthcare, demonstrating the need for cDCM in both settings, which must be considered when implementing cDCM to integrate the respective sectors efficiently. Trial Registration: German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00025074. Registered 16 April 2021—retrospectively registered.

AbstractConsider a financial market with nonnegative semimartingales which does not need to have a numéraire. We are interested in the absence of arbitrage in the sense that no self-financing portfolio gives rise to arbitrage opportunities, where we are allowed to add a savings account to the market. We will prove that in this sense the market is free of arbitrage if and only if there exists an equivalent local martingale deflator which is a multiplicative special semimartingale. In this case, the additional savings account relates to the finite-variation part of the multiplicative decomposition of the deflator.

AbstractThis paper proposes a shift in the valuation and production of long-term annuities, away from the classical risk-neutral methodology towards a methodology using the real-world probability measure. The proposed production method is applied to three examples of annuity products, one having annual payments linked to a mortality index and the savings account and the others having annual payments linked to a mortality index and an equity index with a guarantee that is linked to the same mortality index and the savings account. Out-of-sample hedge simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed less-expensive production method. In contrast to classical risk-neutral production, which revolves around the savings account as reference unit, the long-term best-performing portfolio, the numéraire portfolio of the equity market, is employed as the fundamental reference unit in the production of the annuity. The numéraire portfolio is the strictly positive, tradable portfolio that when used as denominator or benchmark makes all benchmarked non-negative portfolios supermartingales. Under real-world valuation, the initial benchmarked value of a benchmarked contingent claim equals its real-world conditional expectation. The proposed real-world valuation and production can lead to significantly lower values of long-term annuities and their less-expensive production than suggested by the risk-neutral approach.

Background: Collaborative care models for people living with dementia (PwD) have been developed and evaluated, demonstrating safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness. However, these studies are based on heterogeneous study populations and primary care settings, limiting the generalizability of the results. Therefore, this study aims to implement and evaluate collaborative care across various healthcare settings and patient populations.Objective: To describe the study design of this multicenter implementation trial.Methods: This single-arm, multicenter, longitudinal implementation study will be conducted in five different healthcare settings, including 1) physicians’ networks, 2) dementia networks, 3) counselling centers, 4) hospitals, and 5) ambulatory care services. Eligibility criteria are: having a formal dementia diagnosis or having been screened positive for dementia and living community-dwelling. The staff of each healthcare setting identifies patients, informs them about the study, and invites them to participate. Participants will receive a baseline assessment followed by collaborative individualized dementia care management, comprising proven safe, effective, and cost-effective modules. Over six months, specially-qualified nurses will assess patients’ unmet needs, transfer them to individualized care plans, and address them, cooperating with various healthcare providers. A follow-up assessment is conducted six months after baseline. Approximately 60–100 PwD per setting per year are expected to participate. Differences across settings will be assessed regarding acceptability, demand, implementation success and barriers, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness.Results: We expect that acceptability, demand, implementation success and barriers, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness will vary by patients’ sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and unmet needs in each setting.Conclusion: The results will provide evidence highlighting differences in the implementation of collaborative care in various healthcare settings and demonstrating the settings with the highest need, best conditions for a successful implementation, and highest (cost-)effectiveness, as well as the population group that benefits most from collaborative care.Trial registration: German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00025074. Registered 16 April 2021-retrospectively registered.

Background: Previous studies revealed that low-value medication (LvM), drugs that provide little or no benefit but have the potential to cause harm, are associated with hospitalizations in dementia. Recommended medications, referred to as high-value medication (HvM), can be used alternately. However, the effect of LvM and HvM on hospitalizations is uncertain.Objective: To determine the prevalence of LvM and HvM in hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients living with dementia (PwD) and the odds for hospital referrals in PwD receiving LvM or HvM.Methods: The analysis was based on 47,446 PwD who visited a general practitioner practice between 2017 and 2019. Different guidelines were used to elicit LvM and HvM, resulting in 185 LvM and HvM related recommendations. Of these, 117 recommendations (83 for LvM, 34 for HvM) were categorized into thirteen therapy classes. The association of hospital referrals issued by general practitioners and receiving LvM or HvM was assessed using multiple logistic regression models.Results: 20.4% of PWD received LvM. Most frequently prescribed LvM were non-recommended sedatives and hypnotics, analgesics, and antidepressants. Recommended HvM were 3.4 (69.9%) more frequently prescribed than LvM. Most commonly prescribed HvM were recommended antihypertensives, antiplatelet agents, and antiarrhythmics. Both receiving LvM and receiving HvM were associated with higher odds for hospital referrals. When receiving LvM were compared to HvM, no significant differences could be found in hospital referrals.Conclusion: LvM is highly prevalent but did not cause more likely hospital referrals than HvM. Further research should focus on acute hospitalizations, not only on planned hospital referrals.

Municipal sewage sludge is a sink for wastewater-borne phosphorus (P) and a source for P recovery. Many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) employ the enhanced biological P removal (EBPR) which relies on the ability of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) to store P in the biomass. Inversion of EBPR may provide a tool for on-site P recovery from activated sludge (AS). Key features of anaerobic P release and the metabolism of acclimated PAOs are well known from laboratory experiments. However, uncertainty persists regarding the behavior of non-acclimated sludge which hampers the practical implementation of P recovery. In this light, we revisited the effects of volatile fatty acid supplementation (formate, acetate, propionate, and butyrate) on the anaerobic P re-dissolution from non-acclimated AS of a full-scale WWTP. All supplementations induced P re-dissolution but the highest re-dissolution was observed with acetate (1.54–1.68 mmol P L−1) with a Pyield/VFAconsumedratio of 0.45. For AS with 6.3 gTSSL−1, a supplementation level of 200 mg L−1acetate was most efficient. Recovery amounted to 21–24% of total P within 300 min. Surprisingly, P re-dissolution continued even after acetate had been fully consumed. From the energetic viewpoint, this seems contradictory. Therefore, we integrated the process stoichiometry with known metabolic pathways accounting for the main electron, energy, carbon and P flows for the acetate-induced P re-dissolution. Results show that induction of anaerobiosis in AS from the EBPR process is, indeed, a viable technical option for P recovery. Yet, efficiency needs to be improved since P re-dissolution was either limited by acetate uptake capacity or by available polyphosphate.

Optimizing the positive end-expiratory pressure remains challenging for any clinician treating a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome. This paper presents an approach to automate a PEEP titration maneuver and identify the best PEEP according to maximal compliance. The respiratory system was modeled by a single-compartment model, and parameters were estimated using multiple linear regression. A classifier identified the best PEEP using the scaled relative change in compliance between PEEP levels based on empirical data from previous manual PEEP titrations. An experimental system allows the in vivo testing of the automated PEEP titration, including additional safety measures. The complete system was tested in a single animal experiment and correctly identified the best PEEP. The introduced system is a step closer towards an automated, standardized PEEP optimization and closed-loop control of mechanical ventilation.

AimWe aimed to systematically analyse the videos of acute injuries in professional men’s football and describe typical injury patterns.MethodsInjuries were registered with the German statutory accident insurance for professional athletes as part of occupational accident reporting. Following each season (2014–2017), video footage of the two highest divisions in German male football was searched for moderate and severe acute match injuries. Two raters then independently assessed the injuries for: game situation, player and opponent behaviour, referee decision, and injury mechanisms.ResultsThe total data set included 7493 acute injuries. Of these, 857 (11%) were moderate or severe match injuries. The video search yielded 345 (40%) clearly identifiable injuries and of those 170 (49%) were contact injuries. We describe nine typical injury patterns: one each for head and shoulder injuries, two for thigh and ankle, and three for knee injuries. The nine patterns are called: (1) Head-to-head injury. (2) Collision-and-fall shoulder injury. (3) Sprinter’s thigh injury. (4) Perturbation-and-strain thigh injury. (5) Tackle knee injury. (6) Tackle-and-twist knee injury. (7) Non-contact knee injury. (8) Attacked ankle injury. (9) Collision-and-twist ankle injury. Thigh injuries occurred primarily in non-contact situations (44/81), mostly while the player was sprinting (23/44). Knee injuries were often caused by direct external impact (49/84)—mainly suffered by the tackler during a tackle (17/49).ConclusionThe nine common injury patterns in football differed substantially in their mechanisms and causes.

AimWe aimed to identify patterns and mechanisms of injury situations in men’s professional handball by means of video match analysis.MethodsModerate and severe injuries (absence of >7 days) sustained in competition in one of six seasons (2010 to 2013 and 2014 to 2017) in men’s professional handball were prospectively analysed with a newly developed standardised observation form. Season 2013 to 2014 was excluded because of missing video material.Results580 injuries were identified: 298 (51.4%) contact injuries, 151 (26.0%) indirect contact injuries and 131 (22.6%) non-contact injuries. Head (87.5%), hand (83.8%), shoulder (70.2%) and ankle (62.9%) injuries were mainly sustained during direct contact. Typical contact injuries included collision with an opponent’s upper extremity or torso, and ankle injuries mainly consisted of foot-to-foot collisions. A large proportion (41.7%) of knee injuries were caused by indirect contact, whereas thigh injuries mainly occurred (56.4%) through non-contact mechanism. Wing (56.9%) and pivot (58.4%) players had the highest proportion of contact injuries, whereas backcourt players had a high proportion of indirect contact injuries (31.5%) and goalkeepers of non-contact injuries (48.9%). The injury proportion of foul play was 28.4%. Most injuries occurred in the central zone between the 6-metre and 9-metre lines (26.1%) and during the last 10 min of each match half (OR 1.71, p=0.016).ConclusionsIn men’s professional handball in a league setting, contact — but not foul play — was the most common mechanism associated with moderate and severe injuries. Head, hand, shoulder and ankle injury were mainly sustained during direct contact.

AbstractWe introduce and study the notion of sure profits via flash strategies, consisting of a high-frequency limit of buy-and-hold trading strategies. In a fully general setting, without imposing any semimartingale restriction, we prove that there are no sure profits via flash strategies if and only if asset prices do not exhibit predictable jumps. This result relies on the general theory of processes and provides the most general formulation of the well-known fact that, in an arbitrage-free financial market, asset prices (including dividends) should not exhibit jumps of a predictable direction or magnitude at predictable times. We furthermore show that any price process is always right-continuous in the absence of sure profits. Our results are robust under small transaction costs and imply that, under minimal assumptions, price changes occurring at scheduled dates should only be due to unanticipated information releases.

•Information on the perceived circumstances of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the French population.•Selective perception of at-risk situation and protective measures•A typology of profiles based on compliance with protective measures and perceived knowledge about the virus.•This study shows that a qualitative survey is very insightful in terms of shedding light on uncertainties arising from a large quantitative survey about the at-risk exposures and circumstances of infection of COVID-19 cases administered by questionnaire.•It highlights the need to improve communication on mode of transmission of the virus and protective measures.

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have become a viable alternative to heart transplantation in heart failure therapy. In clinical practice, rotary blood pumps used as LVADs are operated at a constant rotational speed and thus do not adapt to the varying demand of the patient. This paper presents a robust control approach for automatic adaptation of the blood pump speed to the blood flow demand of the patient’s body, which enables a defined load sharing between an LVAD and the native ventricle. Robust stability was checked using a detailed model of the human cardiovascular system with uncertainties that describe the most important native physiological control loops as well as a range of pathologies. The robust assistance controller was tested in an in vivosetup and was able to stabilize the cardiovascular system after myocardial infarction.

•The chapel of Kerfons in Brittany, recognized as a Historic Monument since 1910, showcases a remarkable flamboyant Gothic rood screen made of polychrome wood.•Recent 3D scanning using laser scanners revealed previously unknown plans and orthophotographs, shedding light on archaeological mysteries surrounding the chapel's positioning and roof edges.•The UAV survey conducted around the sculpted statues and exterior elements contributes to the preservation of the chapel and encourages similar digitization approaches for other buildings with limited funding.

Hintergrund: Im Rahmen einer randomisierten kontrollierten Interventionsstudie (RCT) wurden durch eine Kooperation zwischen Hausärzten und Bewegungstherapeuten chronisch kranken und mobilitätseingeschränkten Älteren in der Praxis Kraft-, Gleichgewichts- und Beweglichkeitsübungen vermittelt (HOMEfit-Studie). Die Intervention dauerte jeweils zwölf Wochen und umfasste Beratungstermine mit einem Bewegungstherapeuten in der Hausarztpraxis und per Telefon. Die Hausärzte sollten die Patienten motivieren. Die vorliegende Arbeit analysiert die Erfahrungen und Einstellungen der beteiligten Hausärzte. Methoden: Die Hausärzte wurden nach ihrer Teilnahme mittels Fragebogen und in Fokusgruppen zu ihren Einstellungen zu Bewegung im Alter allgemein und zu ihren Erfahrungen mit dem Programm befragt. Die Transkripte wurden in einem multidisziplinären Team inhaltsanalytisch ausgewertet. Ergebnisse: Bewegung wurde von den Hausärzten als effektives Mittel zum Erhalt der körperlichen Funktionsfähigkeit angesehen. Gegen eine umfassende Aktivitätsberatung im Praxisalltag sprachen vorwiegend Zeitmangel und mangelnde Kenntnis der aktuellen Empfehlungen zu körperlicher Aktivität im Alter. Das Programm und die Zusammenarbeit mit den Bewegungstherapeuten wurden positiv aufgenommen. Der tatsächliche Nutzen wurde als eher gering bewertet. Die Nachhaltigkeit wurde meist als fehlend eingeschätzt, eine Weiterführung des Programms wurde deshalb als erforderlich angesehen. Schlussfolgerungen: Das HOMEfit-Programm wurde von den Hausärzten als sinnvoll und praktikabel empfunden und als geeignet angesehen, Barrieren einer Aktivitätsberatung im Praxisalltag zu überwinden. Allerdings müsste das Programm über die zwölf Wochen hinaus weitergeführt werden und mit Folgeangeboten wie regelmäßigen Treffen oder lokalen Angeboten vernetzt werden.

ABSTRACTNovel crops for energy production are perceived as a promising option for promoting biodiversity in agrarian landscapes. The biodiversity effects of three novel energy crops on the composition of the carabid beetle and arachnid assemblages at two sites in Northeast Germany were investigated and compared to maize. Species diversity was calculated using different diversity indices to illuminate three aspects of biodiversity: infrequency, heterogeneity, and the dominance structure of the species composition. We also calculated the diversity of habitat preferences of these two animal groups. The number of species and the biodiversity were highest in energy crops and lowest in maize. The vegetation structure explained >50% of the variance in species data. We concluded that the biodiversity effects of the novel energy plants can be attributed to the increased complexity of the vegetation structure. The investigations confirmed that the novel energy plants can contribute substantially to enhance the biodiversity of invertebrate assemblages in biomass feedstock cultures.EDITED BYGraciela Rusch

Kettle holes are small depressional wetlands and because of the high variability of site factors they are potential hotspots of biodiversity in the monotone arable land. We investigated eight kettle holes and two agrarian reference biotopes for carabid beetles and spiders. The animals were captured with pitfall traps from May to August 2005, along with surveys of the soil and vegetation. We asked whether each kettle hole has specific ecological properties which match with characteristic carabid beetle and spider coenoses and whether they represent isolated biotopes. Differences in the composition of ecological and functional groups of carabid beetles and spiders between the plots were tested with an ANOVA. The impact of the soil variables and vegetation structure on the distribution of species was analyzed with a Redundancy Analysis. The assemblage similarities between the kettle hole plots were calculated by the Wainstein-Index. Ecological groups and habitat preferences of carabid beetles had maximal expressions in seven different kettle holes whereas most of the ecological characteristics of the spiders had maximal expression in only two kettle holes. High assemblage similarity values of carabid beetle coenoses were observed only in a few cases whereas very similar spider coenoses were found between nearly all of the kettle holes. For carabid beetles, kettle holes represent much more isolated habitats than that for spiders. We concluded that kettle holes have specific ecological qualities which match with different ecological properties of carabid beetles and spiders and that isolation effects affect carabid beetles more than spiders.

Hypokalemia may accelerate kidney function decline. Both hypo- and hyperkalemia can cause sudden cardiac death. However, little is known about the relationship between serum potassium and death or the occurrence of kidney failure requiring replacement therapy (KRT). We investigated this relationship in older people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4-5.

We consider the inverse refractor and the inverse reflector problem. The task is to design a free-form lens or a free-form mirror that, when illuminated by a point light source, produces a given illumination pattern on a target. Both problems can be modeled by strongly nonlinear second-order partial differential equations of Monge–Ampère type. In [Math. Models Methods Appl. Sci.25, 803 (2015)MMMSEU0218-202510.1142/S0218202515500190], the authors have proposed a B-spline collocation method, which has been applied to the inverse reflector problem. Now this approach is extended to the inverse refractor problem. We explain in depth the collocation method and how to handle boundary conditions and constraints. The paper concludes with numerical results of refracting and reflecting optical surfaces and their verification via ray tracing.

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to model the dependency among log-returns when security account prices are expressed in units of a well diversified world stock index. The dependency in log-returns of currency denominations of the index is modeled using time-varying copulae, aiming to identify the best fitting copula family. The Student-t copula turns generally out to be superior to e.g. the Gaussian copula, where the dependence structure relates to the multivariate normal distribution. It is shown that merely changing the distributional assumption for the log-returns of the marginals from normal to Student-t leads to a significantly better fit. The Student-5 copula with Student-t marginals is able to better capture dependent extreme values than the other models considered. Furthermore, the paper applies copulae to the estimation of the Value-at-Risk and the expected shortfall of a portfolio constructed of savings accounts of different currencies. The proposed copula-based approach allows to split market risk into general and specific market risk, as defined in regulatory documents. The paper demonstrates that the approach performs clearly better than the RiskMetrics approach, a widely used methodology for Value-at-Risk estimation.

The analysis of humoral immune responses is of great importance for basic and clinical research. Mapping the structural requirements of epitope recognition with modified tumor‐associated carbohydrate antigens allows both the development of biomarkers and the design of synthetic anticancer vaccines. For this purpose, double‐tailed hydrocarbon/fluorocarbon membrane anchors have been prepared and conjugated to a TNdipeptide. Furthermore, a novel hydrophobized MUC1 tandem repeat glycopeptide antigen was fully assembled on a solid support and its specific binding to different mouse anti‐MUC1 antibodies was demonstrated through ELISA, QCM, and SPR measurements. Such functional fluorous MUC1 antigens are of great interest for specific glycan (micro‐)array formats and allow a detailed analyses of serum antibodies obtained from immunization studies. In addition, the intriguing characteristics of fluorous surfactants, for example, their strong self‐association tendency, might stimulate the use of novel fluorous‐tagged antigen conjugates in the development of multivalent micellar glycopeptide vaccines.

SummaryAn understanding of fire history is important in determining appropriate fire management regimes for biodiversity conservation in fire-prone ecosystems, such as the dry eucalypt forests of temperate Australia. We tested whether ring counts and evidence of fire in the stumps of felled eucalypts could be used to construct fire chronologies in the dry forests of south-eastern Tasmania. Given that the dates of fires derived from this method were consistent with other evidence of fire years, we constructed chronologies for 13 sites in the region. We applied a conversion factor for fires per decade per site based on the relationship between fire detection and sample size for all sites. Between 1740 and 1819 when indigenous people were managing the region, decadal fire frequency averaged 0.7. Between 1820 and 1849 fires were very infrequent in the region, with a mean decadal fire frequency of 0.4. An upward transition to a higher fire frequency took place between the 1840s and 1850s. Between 1850 and 1909 decadal fire frequency varied between 0.8 and 1.2 then sharply increased again. Between 1910 and 1989 it varied between 1.3 and 1.7. Extensive fire years were strongly related to annual precipitation <0.75 standard deviations below the mean. Variation in annual precipitation, however, could not explain the sharp transitions in decadal fire frequency that took place in 1820, 1850, 1910 and 1990 and the constancy of fire frequency between these dates. The relationships of these transitions to land use changes are described.

We present the SpineWeb framework for the topological analysis of the Cosmic Web and the identification of its walls, filaments, and cluster nodes. Based on the watershed segmentation of the cosmic density field, the SpineWeb method invokes the local adjacency properties of the boundaries between the watershed basins to trace the critical points in the density field and the separatrices defined by them. The separatrices are classified into walls and the spine, the network of filaments and nodes in the matter distribution. Testing the method with a heuristic Voronoi model yields outstanding results. Following the discussion of the test results, we apply the SpineWeb method to a set of cosmological N-body simulations. The latter illustrates the potential for studying the structure and dynamics of the Cosmic Web.

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) contains among a large number of mediators hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a marker of airway inflammation and oxidative stress. Similarly EBC pH also changes in respiratory diseases. It was the aim of our investigation to prove if hydrogen peroxide release and changes in pH of EBC changes with exercise. EBC was collected from 100 litres exhaled air along with samples of arterialized blood of 16 healthy subjects (9 males, 7 females, age 23 ± 1 years). EBC hydrogen peroxide was analyzed with EcoCheck amperometer (FILT, Berlin). The rate of H2O2release was calculated from the concentration and collection time. pH and PCO2in blood and in EBC were measured with the Radiometer blood gas analyzer, EBC was equilibrated with a gas mixture (5% CO2in O2). The bicarbonate concentration was calculated according to the law of mass action for CO2and HCO3-(pK = 6.1). H2O2concentration in EBC was 190 ± 109 nmol/l, and H2O2release at rest was 31.0 ± 18.3 pmol/min. At maximal exercise, the H2O = concentration in EBC increased to 250 ± 120 nmol/l, and H2O2release significantly increased at maximal exercise to 84.4 ± 39.9 pmol/min (P < 0.01). At rest pH of the CO2equilibrated EBC was at 6.08 ± 0.23 and the [HCO3-] was 1.03 ± 0.40 mmol/l. At maximum exercise, pH 6.18 ± 0.17 and [HCO3-] 1.23 ± 0.30 mmol/l remained almost unaltered. The rate of H2O2release in EBC increased during exhausting exercise (external load: 300 Watt) by a factor of 2, whereas the pH and the bicarbonate concentration of the EBC, equilibrated with 5% CO2at 37°C were not significantly altered. It has to be proven by further experiments whether there is a linear relationship between the rates of H2O2release in EBC in graded submaximal exercise.

Der vorliegende Bericht beschreibt ein vom Bundesministerium für Gesundheit gefördertes Vorhaben zum «Leuchtturmprojekt Demenz» im Themenfeld 1 «Therapie und Pflegemaßnahmen: Wirksamkeit unter Alltagsbedingungen». Hierbei handelt es sich um eine multizentrische randomisierte Interventionsstudie, die den Einfluss von Sport (multimodale sportliche Aktivität) unter kontrollierten Bedingungen auf die kognitive Entwicklung von Alzheimer-Patienten im frühen Stadium prüft. In einem zweiarmigen Design werden je 150 Patienten mit früher AD unter Verum- bzw. Kontroll-Bedingungen untersucht. Die Verum-Gruppe erhält ein spezifisches sportliches Trainingsprogramm. In der Kontrollgruppe werden lediglich Dehnungsübungen durchgeführt. Primäre Endpunkte der Studie sind die kognitive Leistung der Patienten sowie deren Alltagskompetenz im Verlauf. Die gesundheitsbezogene Lebensqualität der Patienten sowie etwaige Verhaltensstörungen und depressive Symptome werden als sekundäre Endpunkte erfasst. Darüber hinaus werden die Angehörigen zur krankheitsbezogenen Belastung befragt und auf depressive Symptome untersucht. Angelehnt an die Hypothesen der «Initiative Demenzversorgung in der Allgemeinmedizin» (IDA) sollen entsprechende nicht-medikamentöse Versorgungsangebote dazu beitragen, dass Patienten länger in ihrem gewohnten häuslichen Umfeld leben. Im Sinne der Nachhaltigkeit der zu erwartenden Ergebnisse wird ein «Do it yourself»-Manual erstellt, mit dem das Trainingsprogramm auch ohne professionelle Anleitung, z. B. im Rahmen von Selbsthilfegruppen durchgeführt werden kann. Die weitere Implementierung (z. B. in Internetforen und weiteren Medien) wird durch einen Beirat der lokalen Krankenkassen, Gesundheitsämter und der Deutschen Alzheimer-Gesellschaft unterstützt.

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to document some empirical facts related to log-returns of diversified world stock indices when these are denominated in different currencies. Motivated by earlier results, we have obtained the estimated distribution of log-returns for a range of world stock indices over long observation periods. We expand previous studies by applying the maximum likelihood ratio test to the large class of generalized hyperbolic distributions, and investigate the log-returns of a variety of diversified world stock indices in different currency denominations. This identifies the Student-tdistribution with about four degrees of freedom as the typical estimated log-return distribution of such indices. Owing to the observed high levels of significance, this result can be interpreted as a stylized empirical fact.

In Australia and overseas, park managers have long expressed concern about human waste management, especially along popular overnight walking tracks. Within Australia, states have implemented Minimal Impact Bushwalking guidelines (MIB) for day and overnight park users. In Tasmania, these guidelines advise walkers to bury their toilet waste in a hole approximately 15 cm deep and 100 m away from campsites or water sources. Data presented in this paper show that these guidelines are not being followed. A number of deposits of poorly buried human waste were found within 50 m of a popular hut in one national park. The impact of nutrient additions from human urine and faeces on soils and vegetation was limited to within a few metres of the hut. Human faecal contamination was detected in small pools near the hut. Management options for influencing the behaviour of overnight walkers are discussed within the framework of a ‘limits to acceptable change’ model.

This paper introduces a new estimation technique for discretely observed diffusion processes. Transform functions are applied to transform the data to obtain good and easily calculated estimators of both the drift and diffusion coefficients. Consistency and asymptotic normality of the resulting estimators is investigated. Power transforms are used to estimate the parameters of affine diffusions, for which explicit estimators are obtained.

This paper proposes a class of complete financial market models, the benchmark models, with security price processes that exhibit intensity-based jumps. The benchmark or reference unit is chosen to be the growth-optimal portfolio. Primary security account prices, when expressed in units of the benchmark, turn out to be local martingales. In the proposed framework an equivalent risk-neutral measure need not exist. Benchmarked fair derivative prices are obtained as conditional expectations of future benchmarked prices under the real-world probability measure. This concept of fair pricing generalizes the classical risk-neutral approach and the actuarial present-value pricing methodology.

A large landslide occurred November 21, 2000 at Paatuut, facing the Vaigat Strait onthe west coast of Greenland. 90 million m3(260 million tons) of mainly basalticmaterial slid very rapidly (average velocity 140 km/h) down from 1,000–1,400 maltitude. Approximately 30 million m3(87 million tons) entered the sea, creatinga tsunami with an run-up height of 50 m close to the landslide and 28 m at Qullissat,an abandoned mining town opposite Paatuut across the 20 km wide Vaigat strait. Theevent was recorded seismically, allowing the duration of the slide to be estimated tocirca 80 s and also allowing an estimate of the surface-wave magnitude of the slideof 2.3. Terrain models based on stereographic photographs before and after the slidemade it possible to determine the amount of material removed, and the manner ofre-deposition. Simple calculations of the tsunami travel times are in good correspondencewith the reports from the closest populated village, Saqqaq, 40 km from Paatuut, whererefracted energy from the tsunami destroyed a number of boats. Landslides are notuncommon in the area, due to the geology with dense basaltic rocks overlying poorlyconsolidated sedimentary rocks, but the size of the Paatuut slide is unusual. Based onthe observations it is likely at least 500 years since an event with a tsunami of similarproportions occurred. The triggering of the Paatuut slide is interpreted to be caused byweather conditions in the days prior to the slide, where re-freezing melt water inpre-existing cracks could have caused failure of the steep mountain side.

The paper presents a consistent approach to the modeling of general and specific market risk as defined in regulatory documents. It compares the statistically based beta-factor model with a class of benchmark models that use a broadly based index as major building block for modeling. The investigation of log-returns of stock prices that are expressed in units of the market index reveals that these are likely to be Student t distributed. A corresponding discrete time benchmark model is used to calculate Value-at-Risk for equity portfolios.

Tempo, Tesa und Nivea — Markennamen sind in aller Munde. Was hinter den schillernden Produktnamen unserer modernen Waren- und Konsumwelt steckt, ist nicht nur für den Sprachwissenschaftler aufschlussreich

This paper introduces a benchmark approach for the modelling of continuous, complete financial markets, when an equivalent risk-neutral measure does not exist. This approach is based on the unique characterization of a benchmark portfolio, the growth optimal portfolio, which is obtained via a generalization of the mutual fund theorem. The discounted growth optimal portfolio with minimum variance drift is shown to follow a Bessel process of dimension four. Some form of arbitrage can be explicitly modelled by arbitrage amounts. Fair contingent claim prices are derived as conditional expectations under the real world probability measure. The Heath-Jarrow-Morton forward rate equation remains valid despite the absence of an equivalent risk neutral measure.

bersicht:  Im vorliegenden Artikel wird der Einflu verschiedener Sorten von Elektroblech auf die Gesamtverluste und den Wirkungsgrad von Asynchronmotoren untersucht. Es wird ein Verfahren zur Ermittlung der Eisenverluste vorgestellt, das ausgehend von einer transienten zweidimensionalen Finite-Elemente-Rechnung die spezifischen Eisenverluste je Element fr den Stator und den Rotor berechnet. Hierbei werden sowohl der Einflu der Oberwellen der Induktion auf die spezifischen Eisenverluste als auch die Drehmagnetisierung und der Schnittkanteneffekt bercksichtigt. Das Verfahren wird auf zwei verschiedene handelsbliche Asynchronmotoren angewandt, und die Ergebnisse der Verlustberechnung werden bewertet.

The GaAs(001), (110), (111)A, (1¯1¯1¯)B, (112)A, (1¯1¯2¯)B, (113) A, (1¯1¯3¯)B, (114)A and (1¯1¯4¯)B surfaces were prepared by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) and analyzed in situ by photoelectron spectroscopy of the Ga and As 3d core levels using synchrotron radiation. An overview of the results is given. For each surface also a brief summary of its structure is added. It is shown how surface core-level shifts (SCLS) act as a tool supporting the structure evaluation of these surfaces. The (001) and (110) surfaces are touched only briefly for comparison. The (111) surfaces are discussed more deeply. The high-index surfaces can be characterized as follows: (113)A exhibits a low-energy surface and a new type of reconstruction which consists of As-dimer zig-zag chains; (112)A and (1¯1¯2¯)B are heavily faceted and (114)A and (1¯1¯4¯)B are quite well understood in analogy to the (001) surface.

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is often applied by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) whereby phosphorus (P) is accumulated in the activated sludge (AS) biomass. The German Sewage Sludge Ordinance demands that large WWTPs recycle P from their process streams by 2029. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of an acetate-mediated P re-dissolution from non-acclimated AS of three full-scale WWTPs. All AS exhibited enhanced P re-dissolution during acetate uptake and followed kinetics typical of EBPR systems. Re-dissolution efficiency differed depending on the WWTP operation mode. The highest P re-dissolution yield (56% of total P) was obtained for pure EBPR sludge. Lower re-dissolution rates of 19–22% were observed in the AS from WWTPs that employed additional chemical P removal, probably due to shortage of intracellular polyphosphate. Pure EBPR systems may be suited for the implementation of a re-dissolution based strategy for P recycling from AS where P depleted AS could potentially be returned to the biological treatment stage.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPAA) and -gonadal (HPGA) axis modification and cognitive impairments have been reported in elderly subjects and related to physical training status. The aim of this study was to investigate if HPAA and HPGA regulation are altered in elderly distance runners (RUN; n = 8; age: 68.9?4.2 yrs; training: 65?20km/wk over the last 20yrs; means?SD) or are affected in elderly sedentary individuals (SED; n = 11; age: 69.1?2.6yrs) by an aerobic training over 20 weeks (3 times/week, 30-60 min walking), respectively. The protocol included assessment of the hormone profile in basal non-suppressed state as well as evaluation of hormonal responses to dexamethasone (DEX, 1.5 mg) induced adrenal suppression, to post-DEX combined corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH; 0.7?g/kg) and luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH, 0.7?g/kg) stimulation and to exercise challenge (30 min cycle ergometry at 65 % VO 2max). Mental functions influenced by HPAA and HPGA activity were also assessed in RUN aind SED before (SED-PRE) and after (SED-POST) the training program. Basal and post-DEX plasma concentrations of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), Cortisol (CSL), luteinizing hormome (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and testosterone (T) did not differ between RUN and SED-PRE. Basal plasma free T concentration was significantly lower in RUN (RUN: 10.23?2.41 pg?ml -1vs. SED-PRE: 16.6?5.59 pg?ml -1). During releasing hormone challenge test after DEX administration (DEX/RH), no differences. were found between RUN and SED-PRE in plasma ACTH, LH, FSH and T response. During this stimulation test, plasima CSL was significantly higher in RUN than in SED-PRE after 90min (RUN: 5.86?3.65 ?g?dl -1vs. SED-PRE: 2.74?2.09 ?g?dl -1). Differences in plasma CSL concentrations between groups w/ere not induced by 30-min exercise challenge. Basal hormone profile was not altered by training in SED. During DEX/RH only plasma ACTH concentration was significantly higher in SED-POST compared to SED-PRE. Long and short-term memory function did not differ between RUN, SED-PRE and SED-POST. Our data suggest that following post-DEX CRH/LHRH challenge elderly endurance athletes reveal-in the absence of altered peak values-a pattern of prolonged secretion of glucocorticoids. However, the high interindividual variability of plasma ACTH and CSL concentrations shows that reduced corticotropic sensitivity to negative feedback is not always induced by chronic exercise stress. Lower plasma free T concentrations in RUN compared to SED are not caused by modified LH synthesis-secretion capacity.

The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has been shown to modulate various physiological and psychological functions such as fatigue. Altered regulation of the serotonergic system has been suggested to play a role in response to exercise stress. In the present study, the influence was investigated of acute endurance exercise and short-term increase in the amount of training on the concentrations of the 5-HT precursor tryptophan (TRP), of prolactin (PRL) and of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in the blood, as well as on the binding of [ 3H]ketanserin to the serotonin-2A (5-HT 2A) receptors on platelets. Nine healthy endurance-trained men were tested the day before (I) and after (II) a 9-day training programme. Samples of venous blood were drawn after an overnight fast and following 5?h of cycling. Fasted and post-exercise plasma concentrations of free TRP, BCAA and free TRP:BCAA ratio did not differ between I and II. A significant decrease of plasma BCAA ( P?2A receptor [ 3H]ketanserin binding sites at I and II ( P?3H]ketanserin for these binding sites were unaffected by an increase in the amount of training. The present results support the hypothesis that acute endurance exercise may increase 5-HT availability. This was reflected in the periphery by increased concentration of the 5-HT precursor free TRP, by increased plasma PRL concentration, and by a reduction of 5-HT 2A receptors on platelets. It remains to be resolved whether these alterations in the periphery occur in parallel with an increase in the availability of 5-HT in the brain.