193 research outputs found
Impact of Plasma Kynurenine Level on Functional Capacity and Outcome in Heart Failure - Results From Studies Investigating Co-morbidities Aggravating Heart Failure (SICA-HF).
No full textBACKGROUND
Kynurenine is a circulating metabolite from the essential amino acid tryptophan. Accelerated degradation of kynurenine in skeletal muscle has been reported to provide an anti-inflammatory effect. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between blood kynurenine and muscle mass/function in patients with heart failure (HF), in whom diseased muscle mass/function plays a pathophysiological role.Methods and Results:Plasma kynurenine was assessed in 249 patients with HF (67±11 years, 21% women) and in 45 controls from the SICA-HF study. Kynurenine was higher in 173 HF patients with reduced ejection fraction (EF) and in 76 patients with preserved EF than controls (3.5±1.5, 3.4±1.3, and 2.4±1.1 μmol/L, P<0.001). In HF patients, kynurenine had an inverse association with handgrip strength (r=-0.26, P<0.01), peak oxygen consumption (r=-0.29, P<0.01), 6-min walk distance (r=-0.23, P<0.01), and had a positive association with kidney and liver function parameters. No correlation was observed between kynurenine and lean mass. On multivariable linear regression analysis, a significant association was noted between kynurenine and peak oxygen consumption even after adjustment for age, gender, BMI, and hemoglobin (β=-0.23, P<0.001). Patients with higher kynurenine were at higher risk of death (adjusted HR, 1.46 per 1 μmol/L, P<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
In stable HF patients, plasma kynurenine was inversely correlated with muscle strength and functional capacity as well as with liver and kidney function
Bone status in men with heart failure: results from the Studies Investigating Co‐morbidities Aggravating Heart Failure
No full textAim
To assess bone status expressed as hip bone mineral density (BMD) in men with heart failure (HF).
Methods and results
A total of 141 male patients with HF underwent dual energy X-ray absorptiometry to assess their BMD. We analysed markers of bone metabolism. Patients were classified as lower versus higher BMD according to the median hip BMD (median = 1.162 g/cm2). Survival was assessed over 8 years of follow-up. Patients with lower BMD were older (71 ± 10 vs. 66 ± 9 years, p = 0.004), more likely to be sarcopenic (37% vs. 7%, p < 0.001) and to have lower peak oxygen consumption (absolute peak VO2 1373 ± 480 vs. 1676 ± 447 ml/min, p < 0.001), had higher osteoprotegerin and osteocalcin levels (both p < 0.05) compared to patients with higher BMD. Among 47 patients with repeated BMD assessments, a significant reduction in BMD was noted over 30 months of follow-up. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, serum osteocalcin remained independently related with lower BMD (odds ratio [OR] 1.738, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.136–2.660, p = 0.011). Hip BMD and serum osteoprotegerin were independent predictors of impaired survival on Cox proportional hazard analysis (hazard ratio [HR] 0.069, 95% CI 0.011–0.444, p = 0.005, and HR 0.638, 95% CI 0.472–0.864, p = 0.004, respectively).
Conclusions
Patients with HF lose BMD over time. Markers of bone turnover can help in identifying patients at risk with osteocalcin being an independent marker of lower hip BMD and osteoprotegerin an independent predictor of death. HF patients with increased osteocalcin and osteoprotegerin may benefit from BMD assessment as manifest osteoporosis seems to be too late for clinically meaningful intervention in HF.FP7/2007‐2013 Ideas: European Research Counci
Musikstädte as real and imaginary soundscapes: urban musical images as literary motifs in twentieth-century German modernism
No full textPhDThis study examines German literary images of musical life as part of the wider sound identity of the modern German city at the turn of the twentieth century. Focussing on a forty-year period from 1890 to 1930, synonymous with the emergence of the modern German metropolis as an aesthetic object, the project assesses, compares and contrasts how musical life in the Musikstädte was perceived and portrayed by writers in an increasingly noisy urban environment. How does urban musical life influence and condition city writings? What are the differences and similarities between the writings on various musical cities? Can an urban textual sound identity be derived from these differences and similarities? The approach employed to answer these questions is a new, cross-disciplinary one to urban sound in literature, moving beyond reading the key sounds of the urban soundscape using urban musicology, sensorial anthropology and cultural poetics towards a literary contextualisation of the urban aural experience.
The literary motifs of the symphony, the gramophone and urban noise are put under the spotlight through the analysis of a wide range of modernist works by authors who have a special relationship with music. At the centre of this analysis are the Kaffeehausliteratur authors Hermann Bahr, Alfred Polgar and Peter Altenberg, the then Munich-based author Thomas Mann and the lesser known René Schickele. The analysis of these particular works is framed in the music-geographical context of the Musikstadt and literary underpinnings of this topos, ranging from Ingeborg Bachmann to Hans Mayer and, once again, Thomas Mann. In analysing these texts, the methodological approach devised by Strohm, who identifies the blending of a range of urban sounds as a definition of urban space and identity, is applied. His ideas combine historical literary
analysis, musical history and urban sociology. They are rarely used in the analysis of the auditory environment.Arts and Humanities Research Council
Westfield TrustWestfield Trust Studentship
Arts and Humanities Reseach Council (AHRC
Möglichkeiten der Strukturierung von Hedgefondsportfolios
Full text linkThe year 2000 started the evolution of the German market for Structured Products with incorporated Hedge Fund exposures. This paper provides an extensive commentary on this fast growing segment. Our analysis suggests that the market for existing products is affected by significant heterogeneity. This heterogeneity relates to amongst others the underlying product and cost structure, the performance and the investment style. The diversity and flexibility that enables the investor to acquire a tailor-made and portfolio-optimized asset allocation, has proven to remain attractive, despite the events of recent years. A new investment act ('Investmentmodernisierungsgesetz') was implemented in Germany in 2004. This means that direct investments in (Fund of) Hedge Funds now compete against Structured Products. However our analysis concludes that these product groups coexist. One reason is the innovation power of financial engineers who continuously create new structured products with specific features. --Hedgefonds,Structured Products,Index Certificates,Constant Proportion Portfolio Insurance,Indizes
The dynamics of short- and long-term CDS-spreads of banks
Full text linkThis paper studies 'Stylised Facts' and 'Determinants' of short-and long-term CDS-spreads of banks. As short-term spreads we choose 6M-, as long-term spreads we choose 5Y-spreads. In the section 'Stylised Facts' we found that the correlation between short-and long-term spreads for the total period is high (97%). However, the correlation in sub-periods varies across all possible correlations. Particularly, spreads can have negative correlation. In contrast to [Covitz and Downing, 2007], we find high positive (Covitz/Downing: high negative) correlation for turbulent market circumstances. In the section 'Deteminants' we confirm the Merton-factors (stock price, stock price volatility, interest rate level) for the 5Y-segment, but not for the 6M-segment. Furthermore, we do not find any empirical support that short-term spreads are particularly sensitive to illiquidity factors. In that sense, we also contrast [Covitz and Downing, 2007]. --Liquidity,insolvency,banks
Cross currency swap valuation
Full text linkCross currency swaps are powerful instruments to transfer assets or liabilities from one currency into another. The market charges for this a liquidity premium, the cross currency basis spread, which should be taken into account by the valuation methodology. We describe and compare two valuation methods for cross currency swaps which are based upon using two different discounting curves. The first method is very popular in practice but inconsistent with single currency swap valuation methods. The second method is consistent for all swap valuations but leads to mark-to-market values for single currency off market swaps, which can be quite different to standard valuation results. --interest rate swap,cross currency swap,basis spread
Access to finance and venture capital for industrial SMEs
Full text linkSMEs play a crucial role for European economies. The numbers show the high importance of SMEs for national economies. Accordingly, it is no surprise that the regulatory framework SMEs are imbedded in is the subject of an important political discussion. In the discussion it is frequently mentioned by representatives of SMEs as well as associations of SMEs, that the access to finance for SMEs is still inferior. Based on the importance of SMEs for national economies and the discussion on the accessibility of financial resources for SMEs, it is the main objective of this study to provide solid data on the access of SMEs to financial resources. To provide the data, the study is focusing on four main issues. First of all, the importance of SMEs for national economies will be shown. After that the financing of SMEs in selected countries will be analysed. Then the availability of venture capital for SMEs will be discussed. Finally the tax regimes and the influence of the tax system on the access to finance for SMEs will be analysed. Since there is still a large variety among the tax systems of the European Union member states, the study has focused on Austria, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom. --SME,financial structure,venture capital,tax framework,accounting standards
Gold in the investment portfolio
Full text linkThe paper examines the key drivers of gold investment. Since 2000 the gold price has risen drastically, making gold an interesting add-on to a portfolio. As gold futures have negative roll returns, gold pool accounts are characterized by high credit risk and physical possession of gold means high transaction costs, Xetra-Gold might be the most efficient way to enter the market. Xetra-Gold is a product created by the Deutsche Börse in 2007, which is handled like a security but can be exchanged into physical gold any time. In the portfolio context gold has had a positive impact on Euro and USD portfolios between 2000 and 2006 due to considerable returns and low correlation to other assets. However, this has not been true for almost all other periods, the correlation was always low but the returns of gold were almost zero, overriding the positive diversification effect. --Investing in gold,gold in the portfolio,correlation of gold,returns of gold,Xetra-Gold
The (apparent) sacubitril/valsartan sex interaction in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: not the result of relaxin effects but of BNP action?!
Full text linkEinführung in das Kapitalstrukturmanagement
Full text linkThis paper gives an overview of the capital requirements for banks. Regulatory capital is analyzed, followed by the discussion of economic capital. These ideas are used to explain risk adjusted performance measures. --Regulatorisches Kapital,ökonomisches Kapital,RAROC,RORAC
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