Open Access

Echinoderm skeletons are described within a hierarchical framework ranging from complete organisms to the ultrastructural level. They consist of numerous elements which can be isolated, connected by soft tissue or locked together in rigid structures. The top level considers skeletons as a whole with all associated elements and the basic symmetry of the echinoderms. The next level deals with the structural analysis and modeling of echinoids with respect to the growth parameters and stress resistance of the corona. The flexibility and movement has also been studied for the stalks and arms of recent and fossil crinoids. The next level deals with the elaborate morphology and types of symmetry found in single skeletal elements. The numerous types of stereom architectures found within the elements of all echinoderms are highly correlated to specific functions. A high number of recent studies concern the last hierarchical level on ultrastructure and biomineralization. Lightweight aspects of the skeleton are especially present at the level of conjoined plates, single elements and the stereom.

The paper presents the design of a baseband pi/4-DQPSK complex wavelet packet modulation CWPM transceiver and the results of its FPGA implementation. The design uses 8-point Discrete Wavelet Packet Transform (DWPT) and its inverse as core processing modules. All modules have been designed using VHDL programming language together with the Altera software tools Quartus II 9.1 and ModelSim 6.5b. The transceiver was implemented on a Cyclone III board.

It is know that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) actively secretemultiple biologically-active factors during their process of differentiation which gives rise to a variey of cytotypes including bone and fatcells. It is also acknowledged that the chemokines secreted throughoutMSC differentiation may play an important role in the development and growth of tumor cells, although literature data appear somewhat indeterminate due to the contradictory evidence often found.

When an abrupt parametric fault occurs in a system, active fault tolerant control (FTC) aims at reconstructing the system input after the fault has been isolated and estimated so that the fault is compensated and the system output follows a desired trajectory despite the fault.

Background: Falls and fall-related injuries are a serious public health issue. Exercise programs can effectively reduce fall risk in older people. The iStoppFalls project developed an Information and Communication Technology-based system to deliver an unsupervised exercise program in older people’s homes. The primary aims of the iStoppFalls randomized controlled trial were to assess the feasibility (exercise adherence, acceptability and safety) of the intervention program and its effectiveness on common fall risk factors. Methods: A total of 153 community-dwelling people aged 65+ years took part in this international, multicentre, randomized controlled trial. Intervention group participants conducted the exercise program for 16 weeks, with a recommended duration of 120 min/week for balance exergames and 60 min/week for strength exercises. All intervention and control participants received educational material including advice on a healthy lifestyle and fall prevention. Assessments included physical and cognitive tests, and questionnaires for health, fear of falling, number of falls, quality of life and psychosocial outcomes. Results: The median total exercise duration was 11.7 h (IQR = 22.0) over the 16-week intervention period. There were no adverse events. Physiological fall risk (Physiological Profile Assessment, PPA) reduced significantly more in the intervention group compared to the control group (F1,127 = 4.54, p = 0.035). There was a significant three-way interaction for fall risk assessed by the PPA between the high-adherence (>90 min/week; n = 18, 25.4 %), low-adherence (<90 min/week; n = 53, 74.6 %) and control group (F2,125 = 3.12, n = 75, p = 0.044). Post hoc analysis revealed a significantly larger effect in favour of the high-adherence group compared to the control group for fall risk (p = 0.031), postural sway (p = 0.046), stepping reaction time (p = 0.041), executive functioning (p = 0.044), and quality of life (p for trend = 0.052). Conclusions: The iStoppFalls exercise program reduced physiological fall risk in the study sample. Additional subgroup analyses revealed that intervention participants with better adherence also improved in postural sway, stepping reaction, and executive function.

Was ist dran am Hype um die Cloud? Während Gartner Research bereits von einem Abwärts trend spricht, sehen Prof. Alda und Prof. Bonne von der Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg viele gewinnbringende Anwendungsszenarien in der Praxis. Insbesondere auf den Finance- und Accounting-Bereich lassen sich die positiven Vorteile einer Cloud- Lösung übertragen.

The latest advances in the field of smart card technologies allow modern cards to be more than just simple security tokens. Recent developments facilitate the use of interactive components like buttons, displays or even touch-sensors within the card's body thus conquering whole new areas of application. With interactive functionalities the usability aspect becomes the most important one for designing secure and popularly accepted products. Unfortunately, the usability can only be tested fully with completely integrated hence expensive smart card prototypes. This restricts severely application specific research, case studies of new smart card user interfaces and the optimization of design aspects, as well as hardware requirements by making usability and acceptance tests in smart card development very costly and time-consuming. Rapid development and simulation of smart card interfaces and applications can help to avoid this restriction. This paper presents a rapid development process for new smart card interfaces and applications based on common smartphone technology using a tool called SCUID^Sim. We will demonstrate the variety of usability aspects that can be analyzed with such a simulator by discussing some selected example projects.

Hintergrund: Ziel der Reha-QM-Outcome- Studie ist die Überprüfung der Effektivität stationärer Heilbehandlungen auf der Basis von Befragungsdaten, Routinedaten der Rentenversicherung und von Qualitätskennzahlen der beteiligten Einrichtungen, sowie die Untersuchung der Zusammenhänge zwischen diesen drei Datenbereichen. Methodik: Die Studie beinhaltet Selbstangaben der Patienten (schriftliche 1-Punkt-Nachbefragung 1 Jahr nach der Reha), Daten aus der Rehabilitations-Statistik-Datenbank (RSD) sowie Qualitätskennzahlen der Einrichtungen aus einem verbundinternen Kennzahlensystem. Stichprobe: Die Stichprobe umfasste n = 7.616 Versicherte der DRV Baden-Württemberg, die im Jahr 2011 in n = 21 Verbundkliniken behandelt wurden. An der katamnestischen Befragung beteiligten sich n = 4.161 dieser Rehabilitanden (Rücklaufquote 55%), RSD-Datensätze konnten für n = 3.720 Versicherte, die sich an der Katamnese beteiligten, eindeutig zugeordnet werden. Die Stichprobe kann als weitgehend repräsentativ für die Grundgesamtheit der ausgewählten Versicherten angesehen werden. Ergebnisse: Die Ergebnisse 1 Jahr nach stationärer Rehabilitation weisen trotz eher schwieriger Ausgangsbedingungen (gesundheitlich, sozialmedizinisch und beruflich deutlich belastete und in der Regel chronifizierte Patienten) in eine positive Richtung. Der Nutzen der Rehabilitation, die Zielerreichung und die Zufriedenheit mit dem Ergebnis werden positiv eingeschätzt. Die Prä-Post-Effektstärken der erhobenen Skalen liegen für die Gesamtstichprobe im mittleren Bereich (ES = 0,40 – 0,60), in einzelnen Indikationsbereichen (Psychosomatik) auch deutlich höher (ES = 1,2 für die Skala GB10). Die Return-to-Work-Quoten liegen zwischen 75% (Zeitpunktquote) und 83% (kumulative Zeitverlaufsquote). Die durchschnittliche Beitragszahlung aus Erwerbstätigkeit schwächt sich im ersten Jahr nach Rehabilitation insgesamt nur leicht ab, die subjektiven Patienteneinschätzungen korrespondieren dabei mit dieser gut. Auch hinsichtlich Qualitätskennzahlen ergeben sich deutliche Zusammenhänge mit der Rehabilitandenzufriedenheit und dem Reha-Erfolg. Folgerungen: Es lassen sich Potenziale für das interne Qualitätsmanagement und Impulse für Verbesserungsprozesse in den Kliniken ableiten. Die Einbeziehung aller drei Datenebenen offeriert einen neuen Blickwinkel und neue Analysemöglichkeiten. Eine gemeinsame Betrachtung der drei Datenebenen, wie in der Reha-QS-Outcome-Studie erstmals realisiert, hat sich als praktikabel erwiesen. Ziel einer mittelfristigen Implementierung der Methodik in die Routine ist die Intensivierung der Zusammenarbeit zwischen Kliniken und belegendem Rehabilitationsträger im Sinne einer Win-Win-Situation.