The problem of obesity in historical perspective

Zjawisko nadmiernej masy ciała towar zyszy człowiekowi od czasów prehistor ycznych. Na przestrzeni wieków problematyka otyłości podlegała jednak zróżnicowany m interpretacjom. Historyczne dowody wskazują, że początkowo nadmierną masę ciała traktowano jako symbol bogactwa, dobrobytu i zadowalającego statusu społecznego. Proces medykalizacji otyłości następował stopniowo. Znaczący postęp w zrozumieniu przyczyn i konsekwencji otyłości dokonał się w ciągu ostatnich 20 lat, głównie dzięki odkryciu leptyny i innych biologicznie aktywnych białek wydzielanych przez tkankę tłuszczową. W niniejszej pracy przedstawiono najważniejsze etapy rozwoju wiedzy o otyłości, w tym kształtowanie się jej definicji, metod diagnostycznych i terapeutycznych, a także wskazano współczesne kierunki badań nad tkanką tłuszczową.The phenomenon of excessive body weight has accompanied man sin ce prehistoric times. However, over the centuries, the problem of obesity was subject to dif ferent interpretations. Historical evidences suggest that, at first, excessive body weight was regarded as a symbol of wealth, prosperity and satisfactory social status. The process of medicalization of obesity has occurred gradually over time. A significant progress in under standing the causes and consequences of obesity has been made over the last 20 years, mainly due to the discovery of leptin and other biologically active proteins that are secreted by adipose tissue. This paper presents the most impor tant stages about development of obesity knowledge, including t he formation of obesity definition, diagnostic and therapeutic methods. In addition, current lines of research on adipose tissue have been presented

The effect on amplitude of accommodation, positive relative accommodation and negative relative accommodation when their test sequence is varied

The problem was to determine the effect on the magnitude of the amplitude of accommodation, positive relative accommodation and negative relative accommodation when their test sequence is varied. The solution of this problem would enable clinicians to better determine the best possible testing sequence for examination

Long-term exposure to air pollution from road traffic and cardiovascular disease with a focus on exposure modeling

Air pollution is an important environmental health factor contributing to the burden of disease. From a public health point of view cardiovascular effects of long-term exposure are predominant, primarily coronary events and stroke. However, sub-types of disease have not been well investigated and few studies have been conducted in areas with lower air pollution levels. The role of timing of exposure is also unclear. In epidemiological studies different types of models are used to estimate exposure of study participants. It is therefore important to understand if modeled levels are similar for different model types. Furthermore, there is a need to develop better modeling techniques, and it has been proposed to combine models into so called hybrid models. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the relation between individual long-term air pollution exposure from road traffic and the risk of coronary events and stroke in an area with comparatively low exposure levels, while considering timing of exposure. Furthermore a comparison of dispersion modeling (DM) and land use regression (LUR) was done in several study areas and a hybrid model based on DM and LUR was developed for Stockholm. From four cohorts in Stockholm County, 20070 individuals were followed for an average of 12 years. Information on covariates was available from questionnaires and interviews from the time of recruitment. Air pollution exposure from traffic was assessed at residential addresses during follow-up using dispersion modeled levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), as a marker of exhaust emissions, and particles with an aerodynamic diameter of <10 μm (PM10), as a marker of road dust. A suggestive association between road traffic exposure at the recruitment address and cardiovascular disease incidence was seen. For NOx the hazard ratio for stroke and coronary events per 20μg/m3 was 1.16 (0.83 -1.61) and 1.02 (0.82-1.27), respectively. Corresponding hazard ratios for PM10 were 1.14 (0.68-1.90) and 1.14 (0.87- 1.49), respectively, per 10μg/m3. Results did not appear to be modified by covariates, disease sub-types or exposure time windows. LUR models and DMs were compared in 4 to 13 European study areas depending on the pollutant. At study addresses, the median Pearson correlation (range) for annual mean concentrations of NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were: 0.75 (0.19–0.89), 0.39 (0.23–0.66) and 0.29 (0.22–0.81). A hybrid model was developed for Stockholm for 93 bi-weekly NOx observations using DM estimates, LUR variables, stationary monitoring and individual meteorological factors. The hybrid model explained NOx levels at monitoring stations better (R2 =89%) than the LUR and DM models (R2 =58% and R2 =68%, respectively). In conclusion, our results suggest an elevated risk of coronary events and stroke related to traffic air pollution exposures in Stockholm County, however, no modification by time window of exposure could be detected. On average, estimates from LUR and DMs correlate well for NO2 but less so for particulates. To combine DM and LUR seems promising for increasing the quality of the exposure assessment

Resonant Coupling in the Heteronuclear Alkali Dimers for Direct Photoassociative Formation of X(0,0) Ultracold Molecules

Promising pathways for photoassociative formation of ultracold heteronuclear alkali metal dimers in their lowest rovibronic levels (denoted X(0,0)) are examined using high quality ab initio calculations of potential energy curves currently available. A promising pathway for KRb, involving the resonant coupling of the $2 ^1\Pi$ and $1 ^1\Pi$ states just below the lowest excited asymptote (K($4s$)+Rb($5p_{1/2}$)), is found to occur also for RbCs and less promisingly for KCs as well. The resonant coupling of the $3 ^1 \Sigma ^+$ and $1 ^1\Pi$ states, also just below the lowest excited asymptote, is found to be promising for LiNa, LiK, LiRb, and less promising for LiCs and KCs. Direct photoassociation to the $1 ^1\Pi$ state near dissociation appears promising in the final dimers, NaK, NaRb, and NaCs, although detuning more than 100 cm$^{-1}$ below the lowest excited asymptote may be required.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, Submitted to Journal of Physical Chemistry

Age-Differential Effects of Job Characteristics on Job Attraction: A Policy-Capturing Study

Based on an integration of job design and lifespan developmental theories, Truxillo et al. (2012) proposed that job characteristics interact with employee age in predicting important work outcomes. Using an experimental policy-capturing design, we investigated age-differential effects of four core job characteristics (i.e., job autonomy, task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job) on job attraction (i.e., individuals' rating of job attractiveness). Eighty-two employees between 19 and 65 years (Mage = 41, SD = 14) indicated their job attraction for each of 40 hypothetical job descriptions in which the four job characteristics were systematically manipulated (in total, participants provided 3,280 ratings). Results of multilevel analyses showed that the positive effects of task variety, task significance, and feedback from the job were stronger for younger compared to older employees, whereas we did not find significant age-differential effects of job autonomy on job attraction. These findings are only partially consistent with propositions of Truxillo et al.'s (2012) lifespan perspective on job design