University of Southern Denmark

About: University of Southern Denmark is a education organization based out in Odense, Syddanmark, Denmark. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Randomized controlled trial. The organization has 11928 authors who have published 37918 publications receiving 1258559 citations. The organization is also known as: SDU.

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in the oxygen-deficient waters off northern Chile

Abstract: We investigated the pathways of N2 production in the oxygen-deficient water column of the eastern tropical South Pacific off Iquique, Chile, at 20uS, through short anoxic incubations with 15N-labelled nitrogen compounds. The location was characterized by steep chemical gradients, with oxygen decreasing to below detection at ,50-m depth, while nitrite reached 6 mmol L21 and ammonium was less than 50 nmol L21. Ammonium was oxidized to N2 with no lag phase during the incubations, and when only NH þ was 15N-labeled, 15N appeared in the form of 14N15N, whereas 15N15N was not detected. Likewise, nitrite was reduced to N2 at rates similar to the rates of ammonium oxidation, and when only NO 2 was 15N-labeled, 15N appeared mainly as 14 N 15 N, whereas 15 N 15 N appeared in only one incubation. These observations indicate that ammonium was oxidized and nitrite was reduced through the anammox reaction, whereas denitrification was generally not detected and, therefore, was a minor sink for nitrite. Anammox rates were highest, up to 0.7 nmol N2 L 21 h 21 , just below the oxycline, whereas rates were undetectable, ,0.2 nmol N2 L21 h21, deeper in the oxygen-deficient zone. Instead of complete denitrification to N2, oxidation of organic matter during the incubations may have been coupled to reduction of nitrate to nitrite. This process was evident from strong increases in nitrite concentrations toward the end of the incubations. The results point to anammox as an active process in the major open-ocean oxygen-deficient zones, which are generally recognized as important sites of denitrification. Still, denitrification remains the simplest explanation for most of the nitrogen deficiency in these zones.

Boosted objects: a probe of beyond the standard model physics

Abstract: We present the report of the hadronic working group of the BOOST2010 workshop held at the University of Oxford in June 2010. The first part contains a review of the potential of hadronic decays of highly boosted particles as an aid for discovery at the LHC and a discussion of the status of tools developed to meet the challenge of reconstructing and isolating these topologies. In the second part, we present new results comparing the performance of jet grooming techniques and top tagging algorithms on a common set of benchmark channels. We also study the sensitivity of jet substructure observables to the uncertainties in Monte Carlo predictions.

Discovery and Characterization of Alamandine A Novel Component of the Renin–Angiotensin System

Abstract: Rationale: The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is a key regulator of the cardiovascular system, electrolyte, and water balance. Here, we report identification and characterization of alamandine, a new heptapeptide generated by catalytic action of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 angiotensin A or directly from angiotensin-(1–7). Objective: To characterize a novel component of the RAS, alamandine. Methods and Results: Using mass spectrometry we observed that alamandine circulates in human blood and can be formed from angiotensin-(1–7) in the heart. Alamandine produces several physiological actions that resemble those produced by angiotensin-(1–7), including vasodilation, antifibrosis, antihypertensive, and central effects. Interestingly, our data reveal that its actions are independent of the known vasodilator receptors of the RAS, Mas, and angiotensin II type 2 receptor. Rather, we demonstrate that alamandine acts through the Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptor, member D. Binding of alamandine to Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptor, member D is blocked by D-Pro 7 -angiotensin-(1–7), the Mas-related G-protein–coupled receptor, member D ligand β-alanine and PD123319, but not by the Mas antagonist A-779. In addition, oral administration of an inclusion compound of alamandine/β-hydroxypropyl cyclodextrin produced a long-term antihypertensive effect in spontaneously hypertensive rats and antifibrotic effects in isoproterenol-treated rats. Alamandine had no noticeable proliferative or antiproliferative effect in human tumoral cell lines. Conclusions: The identification of these 2 novel components of the RAS, alamandine and its receptor, provides new insights for the understanding of the physiological and pathophysiological role of the RAS and may help to develop new therapeutic strategies for treating human cardiovascular diseases and other related disorders.

Aquatic exercise for the treatment of knee and hip osteoarthritis.

Abstract: Background Osteoarthritis is a chronic disease characterized by joint pain, tenderness, and limitation of movement. At present, no cure is available. Thus only treatment of the person's symptoms and treatment to prevent further development of the disease are possible. Clinical trials indicate that aquatic exercise may have advantages for people with osteoarthritis. This is an update of a published Cochrane review. Objectives To evaluate the effects of aquatic exercise for people with knee or hip osteoarthritis, or both, compared to no intervention. Search methods We searched the following databases up to 28 April 2015: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; the Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2014), MEDLINE (from 1949), EMBASE (from 1980), CINAHL (from 1982), PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), and Web of Science (from 1945). There was no language restriction. Selection criteria Randomized controlled clinical trials of aquatic exercise compared to a control group (e.g. usual care, education, social attention, telephone call, waiting list for surgery) of participants with knee or hip osteoarthritis. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of the included trials. We analysed the pooled results using standardized mean difference (SMD) values. Main results Nine new trials met the inclusion criteria and we excluded two earlier included trials. Thus the number of participants increased from 800 to 1190 and the number of included trials increased from six to 13. Most participants were female (75%), with an average age of 68 years and a body mass index (BMI) of 29.4. Osteoarthritis duration was 6.7 years, with a great variation of the included participants. The mean aquatic exercise duration was 12 weeks. We found 12 trials at low to unclear risk of bias for all domains except blinding of participants and personnel. They showed that aquatic exercise caused a small short term improvement compared to control in pain (SMD −0.31, 95% CI −0.47 to −0.15; 12 trials, 1076 participants) and disability (SMD −0.32, 95% CI −0.47 to −0.17; 12 trials, 1059 participants). Ten trials showed a small effect on quality of life (QoL) (SMD −0.25, 95% CI −0.49 to −0.01; 10 trials, 971 participants). These effects on pain and disability correspond to a five point lower (95% CI three to eight points lower) score on mean pain and mean disability compared to the control group (scale 0 to 100), and a seven point higher (95% CI 0 to 13 points higher) score on mean QoL compared with control group (scale 0 to 100). No included trials performed a radiographic evaluation. No serious adverse events were reported in the included trials with relation to aquatic exercise. Authors' conclusions There is moderate quality evidence that aquatic exercise may have small, short-term, and clinically relevant effects on patient-reported pain, disability, and QoL in people with knee and hip OA. The conclusions of this review update does not change those of the previous published version of this Cochrane review.