Obesity-related venous thromboembolism

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), a collective term for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a common and multicausal disease. Obesity is a major and likely causal risk factor for VTE. However, to what extent obesity contributes to VTE risk in the general population and the mechanism of obesity-related VTE remain poorly understood. The overall aim of this thesis was (i) to determine the risk of VTE attributed to obesity at population level and (ii) to reveal biomarkers of obesity-related VTE. The study population in all papers was recruited from the 4th-7th surveys of the Tromsø Study (enrolment: 1994-2016), a population-based cohort study. Paper II also included participants from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT 2). Exposure information was obtained at survey inclusion through self-administered questionnaires, physical examination, and blood samples. Incident VTE events during follow-up were registered and objectively validated. In paper I, to assess the VTE risk attributed to overweight and obesity, we calculated the population attributable fraction (PAF) using a cohort design and repeated measurements of body mass index (BMI). The PAF of incident VTE due to overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) was 24.6% (12.9% was attributed to overweight and 11.7% to obesity). In paper II, the joint effect of obesity and established prothrombotic genotypes (rs8176719 in ABO, rs6025 in F5, rs1799963 in F2, rs2066865 in FGG, and rs2036914 in F11) on VTE risk was investigated. Using a case-cohort design, it was observed that the combination of obesity and prothrombotic genotypes, assessed either individually or as a genetic risk score, had an additive effect on VTE risk (i.e., no biological interaction). However, the combination of obesity and some prothrombotic genotypes appeared to have a supra-additive effect on the risk of DVT and unprovoked VTE. In papers III and IV, a nested case-control design was used to investigate whether plasma leptin and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were associated with VTE risk and their potential to mediate the VTE risk in obesity. The VTE risk increased with increasing levels of leptin, and particularly of PAI-1. Additional adjustment for BMI markedly attenuated risk estimates for leptin, while PAI-1 remained associated with VTE. In a mediation analysis, PAI-1 mediated almost 15% of the VTE risk in obesity, while no apparent mediation was observed for leptin. In conclusion, the main findings of this thesis indicate that obesity is a major risk factor for VTE at population level and that PAI-1 levels mediate part of the VTE risk in obesity

Low-Energy Properties of Antiferromagnetic Spin-1/2 Heisenberg Ladders with an Odd Number of Legs

An effective low-energy description for multi-leg spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladders with an odd number of legs is proposed. Using a newly developed Monte Carlo loop algorithm and exact diagonalization techniques, the uniform and staggered magnetic susceptibility and the entropy are calculated for ladders with 1, 3, and 5 legs. These systems show a low-temperature scaling behavior similar to spin-1/2 chains with longer ranged unfrustrated exchange interactions. The spinon velocity does not change as the number of legs increases, but the energy scale parameter decreases markedly.Comment: 4 pages and 5 figure

VOCAL DEVELOPMENT AS A MAIN CONDITION IN EARLY SPEECH AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

The objective of this research is the evident positive vocal development in pre-lingual deaf children, who underwent a Cochlea Implantation in early age. The presented research compares the vocal speech expressions of three hearing impaired children and two children with normal hearing from 10 months to 5 years. Comparisons of the spontaneous vocal expressions were conducted by sonagraphic analyses. The awareness of the own voice as well as the voices of others is essential for the child’s continuous vocal development from crying to speech. Supra-segmental factors, such as rhythm, dynamics and melody play a very important role in this development

Effect of Hund's rule coupling on SU(4) spin-orbital system

We investigate the ground-state property of a one-dimensional two-orbital Hubbard model at quarter filling by numerical techniques such as the density-matrix renormalization group method and the exact diagonalization. When the Hund's rule coupling $J$ is zero, the model is SU(4) symmetric. In fact, both spin and orbital correlations have a peak at $q=\pi/2$, indicating an SU(4) singlet state with a four-site periodicity. On the other hand, with increasing $J$, it is found that the peak position of the orbital correlation changes to $q=\pi$, while that of the spin correlation remains at $q=\pi/2$. We briefly discuss how the SU(4) symmetry is broken by $J$.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of ICM2006 (August 20-25, 2006, Kyoto

OntoWiki 1.0: 10 years of development - what's new in OntoWiki

In this demonstration (with supportive poster) we present the semantic data wiki OntoWiki, which was released in version 1.0 just recently. We focus on the changes introduced to the tool in the latest release and showcase the generic data wiki, improvements we made with regard to the documentation as well as three success stories where OntoWiki was adapted and deployed

Numerical Methods versus Asymptotic Expansion for Torsion of Hollow Elastic Beams

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Phase diagram of three-leg ladders at strong coupling along the rungs

A phase diagram of the t-J three-leg ladder as a function of hole dopping is derived in the limit where the coupling parameters along the rungs, $t_{\perp}$ and $J_{\perp}$, are taken to be much larger than those along the legs, $t_{||}$ and $J_{||}$ At large exchange coupling along the rungs, $J_{\perp}/t_{\perp}> 3 / \sqrt{2}$, there is a transition from a low-dopping Luttinger liquid phase into a Luther-Emery liquid at a critical hole concentration $n_{crit}\approx 1/3$. In the opposite case, $J_{\perp}/t_{\perp}< 3 / \sqrt{2}$, there as a sequence of three Luttinger liquid phases (LLI, LLII and LLIII) as a function of hole dopping.Comment: 9 pages, 15 figure

Ist ein kommunales Konjunkturprogramm sinnvoll?

In seiner Regierungserklärung vom 14. März 2003 kündigte Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder unter anderem zinsgünstige Kreditprogramme für bestimmte kommunale Investitionsvorhaben an. Nach Ansicht von Prof. Dr. Helmut Seitz, Universität Frankfurt/Oder, handelt es sich hierbei »um ein reines Zinsverbilligungsprogramm für kommunale Infrastrukturprojekte ... Die Erwartung zu hegen, dass sich mit diesem Programm bei einem Subventionswert von 2 q je Einwohner in den nächsten Jahren eine spürbare Belebung der kommunalen Investitionsaktivität, geschweige denn der Konjunktur, bewerkstelligen lässt, ist sicherlich völlig überzogen.« Prof. Dr. Gunnar Schwarting, Städtetag Rheinland-Pfalz, sieht die Gefahr, dass das Programm nur zu einer Umfinanzierung bestehender Kreditrahmen und damit lediglich zu Mitnahmeeffekten führt. Auch Dr. Birgit Frischmuth, Deutscher Städtetag, äußert sich skeptisch: »Mit einem Kreditprogramm der Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau wird das Ziel einer wirksamen Soforthilfe für die Kommunen verfehlt. ... Es gibt keine Alternative zu einer Gemeindefinanzreform.« Für Prof. Dr. Horst Zimmermann, Universität Marburg, dagegen »ist eine kurzfristige Stärkung der Einnahmen der Städte sinnvoll. ... Das Fazit lautet daher, dass ein kommunales Konjunkturprogramm derzeit durchaus Sinn macht.