University of Duisburg-Essen

About: University of Duisburg-Essen is a education organization based out in Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 16072 authors who have published 39972 publications receiving 1109199 citations.

Baseline recruitment and analyses of nonresponse of the Heinz Nixdorf recall study: Identifiability of phone numbers as the major determinant of response

Abstract: The Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study is an ongoing population-based prospective cardiovascular cohort study of the Ruhr area in Germany. This paper focuses on the recruitment strategy and its response results including a comparison of participants of the baseline examination with nonparticipants. Random samples of the general population were drawn from residents' registration offices including men and women aged 45-74 years. We used a multimode contact approach including an invitational letter, a maximum of two reminder letters and phone calls for the recruitment of study subjects. Nonparticipants were asked to fill in a short questionnaire. We calculated proportions of response, contact, cooperation and recruitment efficacy to characterize the participation. Overall, 4487 eligible subjects participated in our study. Although the elderly (65-75 years) had the highest contact proportion, the cooperation proportion was the lowest among both men and women. The recruitment efficacy proportion was highest among subjects aged 55-64 years. The identifiability of the phone number of study subjects was an important determinant of response. The recruitment efficacy proportion among subjects without an identified phone number was 11.4% as compared to 65.3% among subjects with an identified phone number. The majority of subjects agreed to participate after one invitational letter only (52.6%). A second reminding letter contributed only very few participants to the study. Nonparticipants were more often current smokers than participants and less often belonged to the highest social class. Living in a regular relationship with a partner was more often reported among participants than nonparticipants.

Biodegradation: Updating the Concepts of Control for Microbial Cleanup in Contaminated Aquifers

Abstract: Biodegradation is one of the most favored and sustainable means of removing organic pollutants from contaminated aquifers but the major steering factors are still surprisingly poorly understood. Growing evidence questions some of the established concepts for control of biodegradation. Here, we critically discuss classical concepts such as the thermodynamic redox zonation, or the use of steady state transport scenarios for assessing biodegradation rates. Furthermore, we discuss if the absence of specific degrader populations can explain poor biodegradation. We propose updated perspectives on the controls of biodegradation in contaminant plumes. These include the plume fringe concept, transport limitations, and transient conditions as currently underestimated processes affecting biodegradation.

Food-Related Impulsivity in Obesity and Binge Eating Disorder—A Systematic Update of the Evidence

Abstract: The specific eating pattern of Binge Eating Disorder (BED) patients has provoked the assumption that BED might represent a phenotype within the obesity spectrum that is characterized by increased impulsivity. Following the guidelines of the PRISMA statement (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses), we here provide a systematic update on the evidence on food-related impulsivity in obese individuals, with and without BED, as well as normal-weight individuals. We separately analyzed potential group differences in the impulsivity components of reward sensitivity and rash-spontaneous behavior. Our search resulted in twenty experimental studies with high methodological quality. The synthesis of the latest evidence consolidates conclusions drawn in our initial systematic review that BED represents a distinct phenotype within the obesity spectrum that is characterized by increased impulsivity. Rash-spontaneous behavior in general, and specifically towards food, is increased in BED, while food-specific reward sensitivity is also increased in obese individuals without BED, but potentially to a lesser degree. A major next step for research entails the investigation of sub-domains and temporal components of inhibitory control in BED and obesity. Based on the evidence of impaired inhibitory control in BED, affected patients might profit from interventions that address impulsive behavior.

Effort-Reward Imbalance at Work and Incident Coronary Heart Disease: A Multicohort Study of 90,164 Individuals.

Abstract: Background: Epidemiologic evidence for work stress as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is mostly based on a single measure of stressful work known as job strain, a combination of high deman ...

The helium dimer potential from a combined density functional theory and symmetry-adapted perturbation theory approach using an exact exchange–correlation potential

Abstract: Starting with an analytic representation of the electron density from a Hylleraas wavefunction we have obtained an analytic representation of the exchange–correlation potential of the helium atom. This, essentially exact, exchange–correlation potential has been employed to test a recently developed approach, named DFT-SAPT, which combines symmetry-adapted perturbation theory of intermolecular interaction energies with a density functional theory description of the interacting monomers. In DFT-SAPT all of the second-order contributions including the exchange corrections are determined from coupled-perturbed density functional theory. Comparison of the results for the helium dimer to previous high-quality supermolecular and intermolecular perturbation theory results demonstrates the success of the new approach.