Nuclear imaging and semi-invasive electrocardiography in CRT

Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) is a promising treatment option in patients with chronic heart failure. In this article the roles of semi-invasive esophageal left-heart electrocardiography and functional cardiac nuclear imaging in the field of CRT are highlighted, as the combination of both could be a favourable diagnostic approach in special cardiac situations. Also original esophageal left heart electrogram data of exemplary CRT patients is presented

Einflussfaktoren des Studienerfolges im betriebswirtschaftlichen Studium: Eine empirische Untersuchung

Was beeinflusst den Studienerfolg eines betriebswirtschaftlichen Studiums in Form der erreichten Abschlussnote? Aus der Perspektive der Studierenden, der staatlichen Hochschulpolitik und der Hochschulen sind dabei unterschiedliche Einflussfaktoren von Bedeutung: Die Note der Hochschulzugangsberechtigung, das Alter und Geschlecht des Studierenden, die Entscheidungen des Studierenden hinsichtlich der Studienschwerpunkte und der Studiendauer (Semesterzahl) oder die Frage, ob systematische Notenunterschiede zwischen dem klassischen Diplom- und dem Bachelorabschluss existieren. Diese Aspekte sind Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Regressionsanalyse. Sie basiert auf einem Datensatz von 263 auswertbaren Antworten ehemaliger Studierender (Alumni) des Fachbereichs Betriebswirtschaft (BW) der Ernst-Abbe-Fachhochschule (EAFH) Jena. Zentrale Ergebnisse sind: Erstens hängt die Note der Hochschulzugangsberechtigung eng mit der Studienabschlussnote zusammen: Bessere Noten bei der Zugangsberechtigung sind mit besseren Studienabschlussnoten verbunden. Zweitens existiert kein Zusammenhang von Alter oder Geschlecht des Studierenden und seiner Abschlussnote. Drittens zeigt sich, dass die Schwerpunktwahl zum Teil einflussreich ist, während die kurze Dauer des Studiums (gemessen an der Einhaltung der Regelstudienzeit) in jedem Fall mit einer besseren Abschlussnote einhergeht. Dies kann mittels der Endogenität von Schwerpunktwahl und Dauer des Studiums auf Grund des Entscheidungsverhaltens der Studierenden erklärt werden. Viertens hat die Art des Abschlusses (Bachelor oder Diplom) bzw. dessen Aktualität keinen Einfluss.Studying business economics: An empirical analysis of determinants and predictors of grades This paper is concerned with the factors that influence a students success, ie grade, in studying business economics. As to students, universities and higher education policy, different aspects play a role, e.g. student's record in the final year of high school, student's decisions as to majors, demographic factors (age and sex), the time length of studies, the influence of university reform (the introduction of Bachelor and Master degrees instead of the old diploma) or the question of grade inflation. The regression analysis relies on a data set of 263 questionnaires of alumni of the department of business economics at Ernst-Abbe-University of Applied Sciences Jena. These former students graduated between 1996 and 2011. The empirical findings suggest, that: First, high school records are good predictors of university grades. Second, age and gender do not influence students grade achievement. Third, the decisions as to majors reveals a mixed result on grades but the number of years spent at the university clearly influences grades: students that fail to finish their studies in accordance with suggested 3.5 and 4 year plans exhibit a lower grade outcome. The paper provides an explanation based on the endogenity of students decisions with respect to these both aspects of their studies. Finally, there is no evidence that university reform is related to grade achievement and that a kind of grade inflation has taken place during the last 15 years

Text Entry Performance and Situation Awareness of a Joint Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Display and Smartphone System

Optical see-through head-mounted displays (OST HMDs) are a popular output medium for mobile Augmented Reality (AR) applications. To date, they lack efficient text entry techniques. Smartphones are a major text entry medium in mobile contexts but attentional demands can contribute to accidents while typing on the go. Mobile multi-display ecologies, such as combined OST HMD-smartphone systems, promise performance and situation awareness benefits over single-device use. We study the joint performance of text entry on mobile phones with text output on optical see-through head-mounted displays. A series of five experiments with a total of 86 participants indicate that, as of today, the challenges in such a joint interactive system outweigh the potential benefits.Comment: To appear in IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics On page(s): 1-17 Print ISSN: 1077-2626 Online ISSN: 1077-262

Isolation of an Osmium(III) Hydrido Complex

Synthesis and characterization of [OsH(PNP)(bipy)]+ (PNP=N(CHCHPtBu2)2) are reported, as the second osmium(III) hydrido complex next to [OsH(en)2(py)]2+. While the osmium(II) precursor, [OsH(PNP)(bipy)], exhibits two reversible oxidations in the cyclic voltammogram, the product from 2‐electron oxidation could not be isolated due to rapid decay. Thermochemical examinations attribute the stability of the osmium(III) hydride to both thermodynamic and kinetic reasons. In contrast, the high estimated acidity of [OsH(PNP)(bipy)]2+ presumably leads to rapid decay.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659Fonds der Chemischen Industrie http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100018992Peer Reviewe

Immunological substrates of depressive symptoms in patients with severe obesity: An exploratory study

In this pilot study, we explored the immune phenotype of patients with severe obesity and comorbid depressive symptoms compared to non-depressed patients with obesity and normal-weight controls. Immune cell subsets were analysed by flow cytometry and depressive symptoms assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Cell frequencies were correlated with depressive symptom scores and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Patients with obesity and comorbid depression showed significantly lower numbers of circulating cytotoxic natural killer cells, dendritic cells and CD8(+) effector memory T cells, compared to normal-weight controls. Regulatory T cells and CD4(+) central memory T cells were increased compared to non-depressed patients with obesity and compared to normal-weight controls, respectively. Frequencies of cytotoxic natural killer cells and CD4(+) central memory T cells significantly correlated with PHQ-9 scores, but not with WHR. Reduced numbers of dendritic cells were observed in both patient groups with obesity and correlated with PHQ-9 scores and WHR. These findings provide evidence for an altered immune composition in comorbid obesity and depression, supporting a pathobiological overlap between the two disorders