Transitions to fatherhood in East Germany in the 1990s : psychological determinants of childbearing and the meaning of entering into parenthood for young adults from Rostock ; an event-history and qualitative composite investigation within the Rostock longitudinal survey

East Germany, men, fertility, first births, event history analysis, problem-centered interviews, methodical integration, triangulation, social psychology, gender

Determinants of Functional and Structural Properties of Large Arteries in Healthy Individuals

Background: Changes in the properties of large arteries correlate with higher cardiovascular risk. Recent guidelines have included the assessment of those properties to detect subclinical disease. Establishing reference values for the assessment methods as well as determinants of the arterial parameters and their correlations in healthy individuals is important to stratify patients. Objective: To assess, in healthy adults, the distribution of the values of pulse wave velocity, diameter, intima-media thickness and relative distensibility of the carotid artery, in addition to assessing the demographic and clinical determinants of those parameters and their correlations. Methods: This study evaluated 210 individuals (54% women; mean age, 44 ± 13 years) with no evidence of cardiovascular disease. The carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was measured with a Complior® device. The functional and structural properties of the carotid artery were assessed by using radiofrequency ultrasound. Results: The means of the following parameters were: pulse wave velocity, 8.7 ± 1.5 m/s; diameter, 6,707.9 ± 861.6 μm; intima-media thickness, 601 ± 131 μm; relative distensibility, 5.3 ± 2.1%. No significant difference related to sex or ethnicity was observed. On multiple linear logistic regression, the factors independently related to the vascular parameters were: pulse wave velocity, to age (p < 0.01) and triglycerides (p = 0.02); intima-media thickness, to age (p < 0.01); diameter, to creatinine (p = 0.03) and age (p = 0.02); relative distensibility, to age (p < 0.01) and systolic and diastolic blood pressures (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). Pulse wave velocity showed a positive correlation with intima media thickness (p < 0.01) and with relative distensibility (p < 0.01), while diameter showed a positive correlation with distensibility (p = 0.03). Conclusion: In healthy individuals, age was the major factor related to aortic stiffness, while age and diastolic blood pressure related to the carotid functional measure. The carotid artery structure was directly related to aortic stiffness, which was inversely related to the carotid artery functional property.

Enhancing the performance of spread spectrum techniques in different applications

Spread spectrum, Automotive Radar, Indoor Positioning Systems, Ultrasonic and Microwave Imaging, super resolution technique and wavelet transform

Emotional modulation of memory encoding and performance monitoring

Performance monitoring, ERN, CRN, Pe, Memory, Llist learning, Emotion, IAPS, N2, Reinforcement Learning Hypothesis, Conflict Monitoring Hypothesis

Firing activities of auditory cortical neurons during categorical task performance in behaving monkeys

Category, frequency contour, monkey, auditory cortex, neuron, spike

Left Atrial Volume Determinants in Patients with Non-Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background:Left atrial volume (LAV) is a predictor of prognosis in patients with heart failure.Objective:We aimed to evaluate the determinants of LAV in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).Methods:Ninety patients with DCM and left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction ≤ 0.50 were included. LAV was measured with real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (eco3D). The variables evaluated were heart rate, systolic blood pressure, LV end-diastolic volume and end-systolic volume and ejection fraction (eco3D), mitral inflow E wave, tissue Doppler e´ wave, E/e´ ratio, intraventricular dyssynchrony, 3D dyssynchrony index and mitral regurgitation vena contracta. Pearson´s coefficient was used to identify the correlation of the LAV with the assessed variables. A multiple linear regression model was developed that included LAV as the dependent variable and the variables correlated with it as the predictive variables.Results:Mean age was 52 ± 11 years-old, LV ejection fraction: 31.5 ± 8.0% (16-50%) and LAV: 39.2±15.7 ml/m2. The variables that correlated with the LAV were LV end-diastolic volume (r = 0.38; p < 0.01), LV end-systolic volume (r = 0.43; p < 0.001), LV ejection fraction (r = -0.36; p < 0.01), E wave (r = 0.50; p < 0.01), E/e´ ratio (r = 0.51; p < 0.01) and mitral regurgitation (r = 0.53; p < 0.01). A multivariate analysis identified the E/e´ ratio (p = 0.02) and mitral regurgitation (p = 0.02) as the only independent variables associated with LAV increase.Conclusion:The LAV is independently determined by LV filling pressures (E/e´ ratio) and mitral regurgitation in DCM.

Theory and measurement of social intelligence as a cognitive performance construct

Social intelligence

Performance of Surgical Risk Scores to Predict Mortality after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

AbstractBackground:Predicting mortality in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains a challenge.Objectives:To evaluate the performance of 5 risk scores for cardiac surgery in predicting the 30-day mortality among patients of the Brazilian Registry of TAVI.Methods:The Brazilian Multicenter Registry prospectively enrolled 418 patients undergoing TAVI in 18 centers between 2008 and 2013. The 30-day mortality risk was calculated using the following surgical scores: the logistic EuroSCORE I (ESI), EuroSCORE II (ESII), Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) score, Ambler score (AS) and Guaragna score (GS). The performance of the risk scores was evaluated in terms of their calibration (Hosmer–Lemeshow test) and discrimination [area under the receiver–operating characteristic curve (AUC)].Results:The mean age was 81.5 ± 7.7 years. The CoreValve (Medtronic) was used in 86.1% of the cohort, and the transfemoral approach was used in 96.2%. The observed 30-day mortality was 9.1%. The 30-day mortality predicted by the scores was as follows: ESI, 20.2 ± 13.8%; ESII, 6.5 ± 13.8%; STS score, 14.7 ± 4.4%; AS, 7.0 ± 3.8%; GS, 17.3 ± 10.8%. Using AUC, none of the tested scores could accurately predict the 30-day mortality. AUC for the scores was as follows: 0.58 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49 to 0.68, p = 0.09] for ESI; 0.54 (95% CI: 0.44 to 0.64, p = 0.42) for ESII; 0.57 (95% CI: 0.47 to 0.67, p = 0.16) for AS; 0.48 (95% IC: 0.38 to 0.57, p = 0.68) for STS score; and 0.52 (95% CI: 0.42 to 0.62, p = 0.64) for GS. The Hosmer–Lemeshow test indicated acceptable calibration for all scores (p > 0.05).Conclusions:In this real world Brazilian registry, the surgical risk scores were inaccurate in predicting mortality after TAVI. Risk models specifically developed for TAVI are required.

Analysis of the European Union's performance as an international mediator in the South Caucasus with respect to peace building in the region : ENP and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Geistes-, Sozial- und Erziehungswiss., Diss., 2009

Analysis, design, optimization and realization of compact high performance printed RF filters

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik, Diss., 2010

Molecular determinants for the subcellular distribution of the synapto-nuclear protein messenger Jacob

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Naturwiss., Diss., 2010

Modeling, evaluation and predicting of IT human resources performance

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Informatik, Diss., 2012

Efficiency, corporate governance and performance of European commercial banks

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Wirtschaftswiss., Diss., 2013

Untersuchung der Auswirkung der MAC-Zugriffsverfahren im IEEE 802.11 auf die L4-Performance in mobilen IP-Netzen

Gegenstand der hier vorliegenden Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der Auswirkung der MAC-Zugriffsverfahren CSMA/CA auf das Transportschicht-Protokoll in WLAN-Netzen. Zum Erreichen des Ziels dieser Arbeit wurde es zuerst nachgewiesen, dass CSMA/CA zum TCP-Retransmission führen könnte. Dann die kumulative Verteilung der OWDs auf jedem Szena-rio analysiert. Am Ende wurde die kumulative Verteilung der Abstände zwischen den Spitzenwerten der OWD nach der Datenverarbeitung auf jedem Szenario analysiert.

Improving TCP Performance on CSMA/CA Connections

In IP networks, most of packets, that have been dropped, are recovered after the expiration of retransmission timeouts. These can result in unnecessary retransmissions and needless reduction of congestion window. An inappropriate retransmission timeout has a huge impact on TCP performance. In this paper we have proved that CSMA/CA mechanism can cause TCP retransmissions due to CSMA/CA effects. For this we have observed three wireless connections that use CSMA/CA: with good link quality, poor link quality and in presence of cross traffic. The measurements have been performed using real devices. Through tracking of each transmitted packet it is possible to analyze the relation between one-way delay and packet loss probability and the cumulative distribution of distances between peaks of OWDs. The distribution of OWDs and the distances between peaks of OWDs are the most important parameters of tuning TCP retransmission timeout on CSMA/CA networks. A new perspective through investigating the dynamical relation between one-way delay and packet loss ratio depending on the link quality to enhance the TCP performance has been provided.