0000000000854687
AUTHOR
Thomas Meyer
Associations of NT-proBNP and parameters of mental health in depressed coronary artery disease patients
Natriuretic peptides (NP) are involved in the regulation of blood pressure and blood volume, and are elevated in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). They are used as markers for illness severity, but their role in mental health is not well understood. Recently, A-type NP (ANP) has been associated with reduced anxiety in studies on cardiac patients; however, this study is the first to assess this effect for B-type NP (BNP) and for further dimensions of well-being and mental health. Depression, anxiety, and distress are more common in CAD patients than in the general population and are most likely not only influenced by psychological adaptation but also by neurobiological processes. …
Estimation of volume fraction and gravimetric moisture of winter wheat based on microwave attenuation: a field scale study
A considerable amount of water can be stored in vegetation, especially in regions experiencing large quantities of precipitation (mid-latitudes). In this context, an accurate estimate of the actual water status of the vegetation could lead to an improved understanding of the effect of plant water on the water budget. In this study, we developed and validated a novel approach to retrieve the vegetation volume fraction (δ) (i.e., volume percentage of solid plant material of a canopy in air) and the gravimetric vegetation water content (m g ) (i.e., amount of water per wet biomass) for winter wheat. The estimation was based on the attenuation of L-band microwave measurements through vegetation…
Towards Estimation of Seasonal Water Dynamics of Winter Wheat from Ground-Based L-Band Radiometry
The vegetation optical depth (VOD) parameter contains information on plant water content and biomass, and can be estimated alongside soil moisture from currently operating satellite radiometer missions, such as SMOS (ESA) and SMAP (NASA). The estimation of water fluxes, such as plant water uptake (PWU) and transpiration rate (TR), from these Earth system parameters (VOD, soil moisture) requires assessing potential (suction tension) gradients of water and flow resistances in the soil, the vegetation and the atmosphere, yet it remains an elusive challenge especially on global scale. Here, we used a field-scale experiment to test mechanistic models for the estimation of seasonal water fluxes (…
Effect of high-caloric nutrition on serum neurofilament light chain levels in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Recent publications showed that circulating neurofilaments (Nfs) may be used as a diagnostic biomarker distinguishing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) from ALS mimics with high sensitivity and specificity.1–3 Furthermore, it has been shown that patients with higher Nf levels show faster disease progression1 and shorter survival.2 3 Nf levels remain rather stable during the course of disease.2 Current literature suggests that the diagnostic value of neurofilament light chains (NfL) and phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chains in cerebrospinal fluid is about equal, whereas in blood NfL seems to be superior.4 In this study, we investigated the effect of a high-caloric fatty diet (HCFD) on …
Automated and Rapid Seal Wear Classification Based on Acoustic Emission and Support Vector Machine
Seal wear in hydraulic cylinders results in fluid leakage, and instability of the piston rod movement. Therefore, regular inspection of seals is required using automated approaches to improve productivity and to reduce unscheduled maintenance. In literature, successful attempts have been made using acoustic emission-based condition monitoring to classify the seal wear. However, limited attempts have been made to implement automated approaches to classify seal wear using acoustic emission features. Therefore, this article presents an automated approach for rapid and computationally economical diagnosis of seal wear using acoustic emission. The experiments were performed at varying pressure c…
Lifestyle interventions targeting dietary habits and exercise in bipolar disorder: A systematic review.
Abstract Background Bipolar disorder (BD) is a serious mental illness associated with a high risk of medical comorbidities, long-term disability and premature death. This systematic review examined the current literature on therapeutic interventions targeting nutrition, physical activity and wellness in BD and collecting health-related measures such as mood and course of illness. Methods Scopus (all databases), Pubmed and Ovid Medline were systematically searched with no language or year restrictions, up to June 2015, for studies focusing on lifestyle interventions in BD. Search terms were related to bipolar disorder, nutrition, physical activity, wellbeing, psychosocial interventions and c…
Longitudinal relationship between B-type natriuretic peptide and anxiety in coronary heart disease patients with depression.
Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) suffer from physical limitations, but also from psychological distress. Natriuretic peptides may be involved in the neurobiological processes that modulate psychological adaptation, as they are increased in heart disease and seem to have an anxiolytic-like function. Longitudinal data on this association are scarce.To assess the relationship between NT-proBNP and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), we used secondary data from a multicenter trial from baseline to 24 months. Patients (N = 308, 80.8% male, mean age 60.1 years) had stable CHD and moderate levels of depression (HADS ≥8).Multiple linear regression adjusted for age, sex…
Pathways fostering mobility to higher education for vulnerable immigrants in France, Switzerland and Canada
In this article we wish to clarify not only if, but also how – through which institutional settings – higher education is accessed by students from vulnerable immigrant groups in France, Switzerland and Canada. We are interested in the possible educational mobility that immigrant youths can experience arising from country-specific educational policies designed to increase the enrolment in higher education, particularly the flow from upper-secondary vocational educational tracks to higher education ones. We analyse using panel data in each country the accessibility of different pathways to higher education while taking into account the characteristics of the students. In terms of educational…