Background and Objectives: Acculturation is associated with excessive weight gain among immigrants to the U.S. Whether dietary factors mediate this association is unclear. This study aimed to examine whether overall diet quality or specific component(s) of diet quality mediate the association between acculturation and Body Mass Index (BMI) among Mexican American (MA) men and women. Material and Methods: This is a secondary data analysis using dietary intake data from 24-hour dietary recalls, measured height and weight, and self-reported acculturation from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles 1999-2000 to 2011-2012. A total of 6848 MA adults (≥20 yrs) with reliable dietary recall status and body measures were included in the study. Path analyses was performed in Mplus with complex survey design effects adjusted. Results: HEI components of whole grains and sodium were found to play meditating roles in the acculturation-BMI association, and their effects on BMI were opposing [indirect effect were -0.01 (SE 0.00) and 0.02 (0.01), respectively]. In gender-specific analysis, sodium [0.01 (0.00)] was a significant mediator only in MA men; whereas, whole grains [-0.01 (0.00)] was a significant mediator only in MA women. Conclusions: HEI components of whole grains and sodium appeared to be significant dietary mediators in the acculturation-BMI association. Understanding the variations of dietary components and their relationship with acculturation as well as BMI is useful for developing dietary interventions and obesity reduction.

The primary and proven therapy, in cases of celiac disease (CD), is a rigorous gluten-free diet. However, there are reports of its negative effects in the form of nutritional deficiencies, obesity and adverse changes in body composition. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of a gluten free diet (GFD) on the body composition of children with CD. In a case-controlled study (n = 41; mean age 10.81 y; SD = 3.96) children with CD, in various stages of treatment, underwent medical assessment. The control group consisted of healthy children and adolescents, strictly matched for gender and age in a 1:1 case-control manner. More than half of the examined children (n = 26) followed a GFD. CD children had significantly higher mean values of the fat free mass (FFM% = 80.68 vs. 76.66, p = 0.015), and total body water (TBW% = 65.22 vs. 60.47, p = 0.012), and lower mean values of the fat mass (FM% = 19.32 vs. 23.34, p = 0.015). Children who were on a GFD presented slightly higher, but not statistically significant, mean values of FM and FFM, than children who did not follow dietary recommendations (FM [kg] = 7.48 vs. 5.24, p = 0.064; FM% = 20.81 vs. 16.73, p = 0.087; FFM [kg] = 28.19 vs. 22.62, p = 0.110). After minimum one year of a GFD, CD children showed significantly higher values of FFM [kg] (p = 0.001), MM [kg] (p < 0.001), TBW [L] (p < 0.001) and BCM [kg] (p < 0.001). Furthermore, CD children who were on a GFD presented significantly higher weight (p = 0.034) and body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.021) increase. The children adhering to a GFD demonstrate a tendency towards higher indices of selected body composition components.

During the period January 2014 – October 2018, four strong earthquakes occurred in the Ionian Sea, Greece. A rich aftershock sequence followed each event of them. More analytically, according to the manual solutions of National Observatory of Athens, the first event (K1), occurred on 26 January 2014 in Kefallinia Island with magnitude M_L = 5.8, which was followed by another in the same region (K2) on 3 February 2014 with magnitude M_L = 5.7. The third event occurred on 17 November 2015, M_L = 6.0 in Lefkas Island (L1) and the last on 25 October 2018, M_L = 6.6 in Zande Island (Z1). The first three of these earthquakes caused moderate structural damages mainly in houses and produced particular unrest to the local population. This work presents first the calculation of the source parameters of the strong events as well as for all earthquakes with magnitude M_L > 4.0, using the methodology of the Moment tensor inversion and secondary data from permanent GPS stations were analyzed to confirm the findings from seismological data and to investigate the displacement due to the earthquakes.

Magnetometric Resistivity(MMR) Method, which can use the power supply method of the traditional apparent resistivity method to measure the magnetic field. At present, the application research abroad is relatively extensive, but the domestic(China) research on the application of the MMR method is very few, and it is not even well-known. This paper is based on the MMR theoretical method under the point source DC condition, combined with the abnormal potential method and the modified Biot-Savart law, and using the three-dimensional numerical calculation method of the finite difference method to calculate the abnormal potential field, electric field, and magnetic field on the matlab2018a platform. Calculate, realize the multi-physics simulation in the electromagnetic field through Matlab platform programming, and verify the correctness of the algorithm by the spherical anomaly model with an analytical solution. Through the visual simulation of the three-dimensional data volume of the multi-physics field in the electromagnetic field, we can better understand the response mechanism of the electromagnetic field under DC conditions and grasp their three-dimensional spatial distribution rules. It is hoped that the research in this article can help the research of MMR Personnel better use this method for exploration.

In March 2020, several mass gathering events were related to the Falles festival in Borriana (Spain), resulting in a 536 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases outbreak among participants. Our objective was to estimate anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies persistence six months after and factors associated with antibody response. A prospective population-based cohort study was carried out by the Public Health Center of Castellon and the Emergency and Clinical Analysis and Microbiology Services of Hospital de la Plana in Vila-real. In October 2020, sero-epidemiologic study to estimate the persistence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by a electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) was implemented. We enrolled 484 (90.2%) of the 536 members of the initial outbreak cohort and detected persistent antibodies in 479 (99%) without re-infection episodes. Five participants had a negative antibody test. Factors associated with a negative result were a lower body mass index (BMI), and less contact with other COVID-19 cases. Among the 469 participants with two ECLIA tests, 96 (20.5%) had an increase of antibodies and 373 (79.5%) a decline. Increased antibodies were associated with older age, higher BMI, more severe illness, and low current smokers. After a COVID-19 infection, a high proportion of cases maintained detectable anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

We reveal the significance of plasmonic nanoparticle’s (NP) shape and its surface morphology en route to an efficient self-assembled plasmonic nanoparticle cluster. A simplified model is simulated in the form of free-space dimer and trimer nanostructures (NPs in shape of sphere, cube, and disk). A ~ 200 % to ~ 125% raise in near field strength (gap mode enhancement) is observed for spherical NPs in comparison with cubical NPs (from 2 nm to 8 nm gap sizes). Full-width three-quarter maximum reveals better broad-spectral optical performance in a range of ~ 100 nm (dimer) and ~ 170 nm (trimer) from spherical NPs as compared to a cube (~ 60 nm for dimer and trimer). These excellent properties for sphere-based nanostructures are merited from its dipole mode characteristics.

Recent research has shown that the sensorimotor system plays a significant role in a variety of cognitive processes. In this paper, we will review recent studies performed in our lab (Body Action Language Lab, BALLAB) or in labs with which we collaborate, showing the involvement of the sensorimotor system at different levels. With the purpose of expounding on this aspect, we focus on studies that highlight two main characteristics of the involvement of the sensorimotor systems. First, we concentrate on the flexibility of sensorimotor grounding during interaction with objects. We report evidence showing how social context and current situations influence affordance activation. We then focus on the tactile and kinesthetic involvement in body-object interaction. Second, we illustrate flexible sensorimotor grounding in word use. We review studies showing that not only concrete words, like “bottle,” but also abstract words, like “freedom,” “thinking,” and “perhaps,” are grounded in the sensorimotor system. We report evidence showing that abstract words activate sensory modalities and involve the mouth effector more than concrete words due to their privileged relationship with language, both outer and inner speech. We discuss the activation of the mouth sensorimotor system in light of studies on adults (e.g., studies employing articulatory suppression), children (e.g., studies on the effects of pacifier use on word acquisition and processing), and infants (e.g. studies on emergence of new words). Finally, we pinpoint possible mechanisms at play in the acquisition and use of abstract concepts. We argue that with abstract concepts, we rely more on other people to learn or negotiate the meaning of words; we have called this mechanism social metacognition.Social metacognition is bidirectionally linked to our sensorimotor system. On the one hand, linguistic explanations constitute a primary source of grounding that may be re-enacted when retrieving a concept, for example through inner speech. On the other hand, it leads us to feel closer and be more synchronous in movement with others, who can help us understand the meaning of very complex words. Overall, we show that the sensorimotor system provides a grounding basis not only for objects and concrete words but also for more abstract and concrete ones. We conclude by arguing that future research should address and deepen two different and interrelated aspects concerning the involvement of the sensorimotor system during object and word processing. First, the sensorimotor system is flexibly modulated by the context, as studies on affordances reveal. Second, the sensorimotor system can be involved at different levels, and its role can be integrated and flanked by that of other systems, like the linguistic one, as studies on abstract concepts clearly show. We urge future research aimed at unravelling the role of the sensorimotor system in cognition to fully explore the complexity of this intricate-and sometimes slippery-relation.

The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) held a virtual event, the LBDA Biofluid/Tissue Biomarker Symposium, on January 25, 2021, to present advances in biomarkers for Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), which includes Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's Disease Dementia (PDD). The meeting featured eight internationally known scientists from Europe and the United States and attracted over 200 scientists and physicians from academic centers, the National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical industry. Methods for confirming and quantifying the presence of Lewy body and Alzheimer pathology as well as novel biomarkers were discussed.

Disease-related data and information collected by physicians, patients, and researchers seem insignificant at first glance. Still, the same unorganized data contain valuable information that is often hidden. The task of data mining techniques is to extract patterns to classify the data accurately. One of the various Data mining and its methods have been used often to diagnose various diseases. In this study, a machine learning (ML) technique based on distributed computing in the Apache Spark computing space is used to diagnose diabetics or hidden pattern of the illness to detect the disease using a large dataset in real-time. Implementation results of three ML techniques of Decision Tree (DT) technique or Random Forest (RF) or Support Vector Machine (SVM) in the Apache Spark computing environment using the Scala programming language and WEKA show that RF is more efficient and faster to diagnose diabetes in big data.

Empirical Colebrook equation from 1939 is still accepted as an informal standard to calculate friction factor during the turbulent flow (4000 < Re < 10⁸) through pipes from smooth with almost negligible relative roughness (ε/D→0) to the very rough (up to ε/D = 0.05) inner surface. The Colebrook equation contains flow friction factor λ in implicit logarithmic form where it is, aside of itself; λ, a function of the Reynolds number Re and the relative roughness of inner pipe surface ε/D; λ = f (λ, Re, ε/D). To evaluate the error introduced by many available explicit approximations to the Colebrook equation, λ ≈ f(Re, ε/D), it is necessary to determinate value of the friction factor λ from the Colebrook equation as accurate as possible. The most accurate way to achieve that is using some kind of iterative methods. Usually classical approach also known as simple fixed point method requires up to 8 iterations to achieve the high level of accuracy, but does not require derivatives of the Colebrook function as here presented accelerated Householder’s approach (3^rd order, 2^nd order: Halley’s and Schröder’s method and 1^st order: Newton-Raphson) which needs only 3 to 7 iteration and three-point iterative methods which needs only 1 to 4 iteration to achieve the same high level of accuracy. Strategies how to find derivatives of the Colebrook function in symbolic form, how to avoid use of the derivatives (Secant method) and how to choose optimal starting point for the iterative procedure are shown. Householder’s approach to the Colebrook’s equations expressed through the Lambert W-function is also analyzed. One approximation to the Colebrook equation based on the analysis from the paper with the error of no more than 0.0617% is shown.

In recent years, several Ultrawideband (UWB) localization systems have already been proposed and evaluated for accurate position estimation of pedestrians. However, most of them are evaluated for a particular wearable sensor position; hence the accuracy obtained is subject to a given wearable sensor position. In this paper, we study the effects of body wearable sensor positions i.e., chest, arm, ankle, wrist, thigh, fore-head, hand, on the localization accuracy. The conclusion drawn is that the fore-head is the best, and the chest is the worst body sensor location for tracking a pedestrian. While the fore-head position is able to set an error lower than 0.35 m (90th percentile), the chest is able to set 4 m. The reason for such a contrast in the performance lies in the fact that in NLOS situations, the chest as an obstacle is larger in size and thickness than any other part of the human body, which the UWB signal needs to overcome to reach the target wearable sensor. And so, the large errors arise due to the signal arriving at the target wearable sensor from reflections of a nearby object or a wall in the environment.

Background Telomere shortening is related to aging and unfavourable health outcomes. Obesity and metabolic diseases are important factors for accelerating aging. This study aimed to find out the association between obesity, metabolic disease, and telomere length in metabolically healthy adults. Methods 237 adults were enrolled with written consents at a health promotion centre of a tertiary hospital from February 2014 to March 2015. After excluding 99 subjects who met the exclusion criterion, a total of 130 metabolically healthy subjects were selected for final analysis. The subjects were divided into quartile groups according to the telomere lengths of their oral mucosal cells. Results The subjects consisted of 66 (50.8%) males with a mean age of 58.59 years. The body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) increased significantly along with the quartile groups (Q1, 23.00; Q2, 23.96; Q3, 23.70; Q4, 25.20; P-for trend=0.008). Waist circumference (WC, P-for trend=0.022), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR, P-for trend=0.005), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR, P=0.001) also increased along with the quartile groups. Obesity prevalence (BMI ≥25 kg/m2), abdominal obesity (WC ≥90 cm for men, ≥85 cm for women), WHR 〉1.0 for men or 〉0.85 for women, and WHtR ≥0.5 increased significantly as the telomere length increased (P-for trend <0.05). After adjusting for covariates, the ORs for each obesity markers increased as the telomere length increased (P-for trend <0.05); and the ORs of WHtR were especially meaningful (Q1, 1.00; Q2, 2.53; Q3, 2.97; Q4, 7.81; P-for trend = 0.001). There were no significant trends for metabolic syndrome and its components along with the prevalence of fatty liver disease. Conclusion Obesity markers and telomere length had significant positive correlation despite the established theory. The obesity paradox may exist in metabolically healthy adults with regard to telomere length, However, further studies with larger sample sizes for the association between obesity and telomere length are needed.

Objective: To assess the effects of chronic walnut consumption on body weight and adiposity in elderly individuals. Methods: The Walnuts And Healthy Aging study is a dual-center (Barcelona, Spain and Loma Linda University [LLU]), 2-year randomized parallel trial. This report concerns only the LLU cohort. Healthy elders (mean age 69 y, 67% women) were randomly assigned to walnut (n = 183) or control diets (n = 173). Subjects in the walnut group received packaged walnuts (28–56 g/d), equivalent to ≈15% of daily energy requirements, to incorporate into their habitual diet, while those in the control group abstained from walnuts. Adiposity was measured periodically, and data were adjusted for in-trial changes in self-reported physical activity. Results: After 2 years, body weight significantly decreased (P = 0.031), while body fat significantly increased (P = 0.0001). However, no significant differences were observed between the control and walnut groups regarding body weight (−0.6 kg and −0.4 kg, respectively, P = 0.67) or body fat (+0.9% and +1.3%, respectively, P = 0.53). Lean body mass, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio remained essentially unchanged. Sensitivity analyses were consistent with the findings of primary analysis. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that walnuts can be incorporated into the daily diet of healthy elders without concern for adverse effects on body weight or body composition.

Background A body composition monitor (BCM) has a role not only in determining over-hydration (OH) but also as an aid to nutritional assessment. For dialysis patient-specific clinical applications of BCM, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between body composition parameters and OH in healthy Chinese individuals. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 314 healthy individuals with a mean age of 45.7±13.1 years. BCM measurements were performed while the subjects were fasting. Results The mean OH level was 0.379±0.81 L. Lean tissue index (LTI) and Lean tissue mass (LTM) were significantly higher in males (p<0.001), while fat tissue index (FTI) was significantly higher in females (p<0.001). In univariate correlation analysis, FTI, Fat, and ATM had a negative correlation with OH in females and all subjects (p<0.05), while LTM and BCM had a positive correlation in all subjects (p<0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between phase angle (PhA) and OH in males, females, and all subjects (r=-0.634, p<0.001; r=-0.666, p<0.001; r=-0.484, p<0.001, respectively). In multivariate linear regression analysis, PhA (b=-1.266, p<0.001), LTM (b=0.987, p<0.001), age (b=-0.307, p<0.001) were independent predictors of OH. Conclusions This study demonstrated that age, LTM and especially PhA, had important roles in predicting OH in healthy Chinese individuals. In the future, PhA may aid in clinical assessment by helping to titrate dry weight among hemodialysis patients with malnutrition.

This article is a tribute to Lewis Wolpert on the occasion of the recent 50th anniversary of the publication of his article ‘Positional Information and the Spatial Pattern of Differentiation’. This tribute relates to another of his ideas: his early ‘Progress Zone’ timing model for limb development. Recent evidence is reviewed that a mechanism sharing features with this model patterns the main body axis in early vertebrate development. This tribute celebrates the golden era of Developmental Biology.

Currently, algae arouse a growing interest in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic area due to the fact that they have a great diversity of bioactive compounds with the potential for pharmacological, cosmetic, and nutraceutical applications. Many of these bioactive compounds are secondary metabolites whose amounts in the algae vary with varying environmental conditions. Free radicals and other active oxygen derivatives are recognized as a natural by-product of aerobic metabolism. However, reactive oxygen species directly participate in mechanisms related to various pathological states such as cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's, among others. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease resulting from changes in glucose metabolism and/or deficient production/action of insulin. This review has as its main objective to reveal the potential antioxidant and antidiabetic capacity of algae extracts.

Background Children often suffer the nonspecific musculosceletal pain as reported in literature. Aim To determine relationship between body weights with development of musculoskeletal pain and to determine whether growing in body height is associated with musculoskeletal pain in schoolchildren. Subjects/ Methods A prospective longitudinal study included 1315 school children aged 7-14 years (652 boys and 663 girls) and was performed in 13 elementary schools in B&H. Child body height and body weight were measured. The survey of perception of musculoskeletal pain in different body regions of subjects was conducted by adjusted Nordic Musculosceletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Results The highest prevalence of an overweight and obesity in the 10th year 35.7% and the lowest frequency 17.8% in the 14th year was. In the age 14th obesity was’nt found. Boys have more prevalence of overweight. Using logistic regression model, we found that school children with normal BMI were protected with increased body height of acute lower back pain (β= -0.089, 95%CI, -9.730- -0.023, P< 0.049), and increased body height was protector of obese school children of acute upper back pain (β= -0.356, 95%CI, -14.077- -3.878, P< 0.001) and chronic lower back pain (β= -0.356, 95%CI, -14.077- -3.878, P< 0.001). Conclusion Schoolchildren with normal weight more often have had musculosceletal pain than those with overweight or obesity. This can be associated with intense physical growth period in height, especially. The assumption is that the increase in height changes the relationship between excessive BMI and musculoskeletal pain in children of school age.

We propose a method for the estimation of the spectral response of a photodetector, using only the variation of the temperature of a black body source without the need of an expensive monochromator or a circular filter. The proposed method is suitable especially for infrared detectors in which the cut – off wavelength and the responsivity vs. wavelength is not exactly known. The method provides a rough estimation of the curve S(l) solving a Fredholm integral equation of the first kind. The precision of this technique depends on the number of temperatures at which the detector output is measured. Some example is given in order to better explain the proposed technique.

This article attempts to propose a mathematical model and potential explanation regarding the unavoidable impact of a rigid body's peculiar shape on the seamless flow over it. The solid body completely immersed in a Newtonian fluid and respectively has a relative open circuit flow on it will typically experience various observable phenomena. These typical phenomena in laminar flow are explained using the proposed theory rather than conventional approximations or several partial theories. This article respectively represents an understanding of the laminar flow over a rigid body's external surface with due respect to its distinctive shape and size. To formulate a more realistic and simplified mathematical model for open circuit laminar flow over a body, a mathematical model is proposed based on the historical data of aerodynamics and theoretical mechanics. This mathematical model is intended to properly estimate forces on the continuous surface of the body in a laminar flow, to properly explain, understand and predict various phenomena like flow separation, flow transition, down-wash, stalling at the higher angle of attack, stalling velocity and how cambered airfoil can typically generate lift at a zero incidence angle. Most of all a mathematical model and the mechanism of streamline formation in an open-circuit laminar with respect to the shape and size of the body are illustrated.

Astragalus bone is one of the most important fossil records as it can reconstruct the prehistoric life. Respectively, this study aims to model the body mass, habitat preference, and population density of prehistoric bovid Duboisia santeng (Dubois 1891) in eastern Java island in the early Pleistocene. The astragali from 9 specimens were used to estimate the body mass and population density. Likewise regression models are used to analyze the relationship between astragalus lateral length, width, and body mass compared to the astragalus of extant Bovid species. The result revealed the body mass average was 60.3 kg (95%CI: 58.9-61.7) and this indicates the D. santeng belongs to large herbivores. While the population density was estimated at about 5.39 individuals per km2 (95% CI: 3.18-7.6).

Vibration suppression in a field of frequencies and the creation of band gaps which do not allow the propagation of the waves is studied in this paper by means of microstructures designed through topology optimization. Topology optimization is formulated in frequency domain. Band gap design is based on Floquet-Bloch theory and genetic optimization. The result is appealing in view of modern 3D printing techniques.

Jumping side volley has created breathtaking moments and cherished memories for us. Regrettably, a scientific study on the skill has not been found in literature. Relying on talent of athletes to improvise on the fly can hardly be considered a viable learning strategy. This study targets to fill the gap by quantifying factors contributing to develop its coaching method. Using 3D motion capture (12-cameras, 200Hz) and full-body biomechanical modeling, our study aimed to identify elements that govern entrainment of the skill by examining jumping, kicking and falling phases of its execution. Given the rarity of players who have acquired this skill, we found five subjects for the study. Twenty-three trials were captured and quantified. The results unveil the following key elements: 1) the control of trunk rotation during the jumping, 2) the angle between thighs upon take-off, 3) the whip-like control of the kicking leg during airborne, 4) timing between ball motion and limbs’ coordination, and 5) damping mechanism during falling. An accurate kick can only be achieved through repetitive training. This underlines the need for athletes to master a safe landing technique that minimizes risk of injury during practice. Therefore, training should begin with learning a safe falling technique.

Various risks and uncertainties are strengthening the downside of the global economy. This paper aims to estimate the impact of US-China conflict and the WTO Appellate Body's shutdown on global logistics demand and to show the seriousness of the situation. Existing literature studies on protectionism or US-China trade conflict, with a focus on the effects of specific issues or impact on bilateral relations. No research has considered the adverse effects of the WTO Appellate Body's shutdown. This paper considers both US-China conflict and the installation of new NTBs in other countries due to weakened WTO function, and tries to suggest that the combination of tariffs and NTBs can severely reduce international trade and the demand for maritime logistics services, making this paper differs from previous studies. This paper suggests that a catastrophe could occur in global maritime logistics, based on quantitative estimates for the impact of global protectionism. Finally, underlining that the international trade order should not seriously be damaged, this paper proposes that countries around the world should seriously discuss this issue at the 12th WTO Trade Ministers' Meeting in Kazakhstan June 2020.

Even though materialistic atoms are having independent existence in this current accelerating universe, they are not allowing scientists and engineers to explore the secrets of gravity at atomic scale. This may be due to incomplete unification paradigm, inadequacy of known physics and technological difficulties etc. In this challenging scenario, one fundamental question to be answered is: Is Newtonian gravitational constant having a physical existence? We would like to suggest that, it’s a man created empirical constant and is having no physical existence. Clearly speaking, it’s not real but virtual. For understanding the secrets of large scale gravitational effects, scientists consider it as a physical constant. In the same way, each atomic interaction can be allowed to have its own gravitational constant. With further study, their magnitudes can be refined for a better understanding of the nature. Thinking in this way, we tried to fit the Newtonian gravitational constant. It’s estimated value seems to be 6.679855x10^(-11) m3/kg/sec2. Proceeding further, the famous radiation constants can be shown to be complex or secondary physical constants. By considering proton neutron stability, nuclear binding energy, nuclear charge radii, neutron life time, Fermi’s weak coupling constant and strong coupling constant, we are trying to understand the validity of the proposed three atomic gravitational constants. It needs further study.

The article introduces a new solution approach to grid-connected single-stage three-phase PV inverter whereby a dc-link voltage can successfully achieve the desired performance. As a single-stage, the variable output of perturb and observe maximum power point tracking (P&O based-MPPT) is fully utilized as dc-link voltage reference in inverter control scheme. As a result, it is challenging for the dc-link voltage to preserve energy balance by tracking its variable dc-link voltage reference under unpredictable environmental changes. To overcome this challenge, an adaptive reference proportional-integral (ARPI) controller, self-tuning, is designed and implemented to compel the dc-link voltage tracking its voltage reference to be equal as closely as possible; hence, the capability of the dc-link under abnormal events substantially guarantees the best energy balance and transient performance enhancement. To verify the validity of the method, simulation results for multiple events scenarios on 250 KW single-stage grid-connected PV systems show the effectiveness of the ARPI controller compared with PI controller.

Background/Goals: The gut hormone PYY secreted from intestinal L-cells has been implicated in the mechanisms of satiation via Y2-receptor (Y2R) signaling in the brain and periphery and is a major candidate for mediating the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery on appetite and body weight. Methods: Here we assessed the role of Y2R signaling in the response to low- and high-fat diets and its role in the effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery on body weight, body composition, food intake, energy expenditure and glucose handling, in global Y2R-deficient (Y2RKO) and wildtype mice made obese on high-fat diet. Results: Both male and female Y2RKO mice responded normally to low- and high-fat diet in terms of body weight, body composition, fasting levels of glucose and insulin, as well as glucose and insulin tolerance for up to 30 weeks of age. Contrary to expectations, obese Y2RKO mice also responded similarly to RYGB compared to WT mice for up to 20 weeks after surgery, with initial hypophagia, sustained body weight loss, and significant improvements in fasting insulin, glucose tolerance, HOMA-IR, and liver weight compared to sham-operated mice. Furthermore, non-surgical Y2RKO mice weight-matched to RYGB showed the same improvements in glycemic control as Y2RKO mice with RYGB that were similar to WT mice. Conclusions: PYY signaling through Y2R is not required for the normal appetite-suppressing and body weight-lowering effects of RYGB in this global knockout mouse model. Potential compensatory adaptations of PYY signaling through other receptor subtypes or other gut satiety hormones such as GLP-1 remain to be investigated.

The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between the shape of the anterior-posterior curvature of the spine and body composition in school-children. The study included 257 children, aged 11-12. Correct spinal curvature was established in 106 (41.08%) subjects. Other types included: decreased kyphosis and correct lordosis - 40 participants (15.50%), correct kyphosis and decreased lordosis - 24 individuals (9.30%), increased kyphosis and correct lordosis - 17 subjects (6.59%), correct kyphosis and increased lordosis - 22 children (8.53%), decreased kyphosis and decreased lordosis - 32 people (12.40%), decreased kyphosis and increased lordosis - 4 of the examined subjects (1.55%), increased kyphosis and lordosis - 13 people (5.04%). In addition, 134 (51.94%) demonstrated scoliotic posture and 8 (3.10%) scoliosis. There were significant relationships between the shape of the anterior-posterior curvatures and body composition in school-children. Those with a strong body build (predominance of mesomorphs) were generally characterised by the correct formation of these curvatures. In contrast, lean people (with the predominance of ectomorphic factors) were more likely to experience abnormalities. No correlations with body composition were observed in the group with scoliotic posture or scoliosis.

Pure orbital blowout fractures occur within the confines of the internal orbital wall. Restoration of orbital form and volume is paramount to prevent functional and esthetic impairment. The anatomical peculiarity of the orbit has encouraged surgeons to develop implants with customized features to restore its architecture. This has resulted in worldwide clinical demand for patient-specific implants (PSIs) designed to fit precisely in the patient's unique anatomy. Fused filament fabrication (FFF) three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has enabled the fabrication of implant-grade polymers such as Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), paving the way for a more sophisticated generation of biomaterials. This study evaluates the FFF 3D printed PEEK orbital mesh customized implants with a metric considering the relevant design, biomechanical, and morphological parameters. The performance of the implants is studied as a function of varying thicknesses and porous design constructs through a finite element (FE) based computational model and a decision matrix based statistical approach. The maximum stress values achieved in our results predict the high durability of the implants, and the maximum deformation values were under one-tenth of a millimeter (mm) domain in all the implant profile configurations. The circular patterned implant (0.9 mm) had the best performance score. The study demonstrates that compounding multi-design computational analysis with 3D printing can be beneficial for the optimal restoration of the orbital floor.

In order to solve the labor-intensive and time-consuming problem in the process of measuring yak body ruler and weight in yak breeding industry in Qinghai Province, a non-contact method for measuring yak body ruler and weight was proposed in this experiment, and key technologies based on semantic segmentation, binocular ranging and neural network algorithm were studied to boost the development of yak breeding industry in Qinghai Province. Main conclusions: (1) Study yak foreground image extraction, and implement yak foreground image extraction model based on U-net algorithm; select 2263 yak images for experiment, and verify that the accuracy of the model in yak image extraction is over 97%. (2) Develop an algorithm for estimating yak body ruler based on binocular vision, and use the extraction algorithm of yak body ruler related measurement points combined with depth image to estimate yak body ruler. The final test shows that the average estimation error of body height and body oblique length is 2.6%, and the average estimation error of chest depth is 5.94%. (3) Study the yak weight prediction model; select the body height, body oblique length and chest depth obtained by binocular vision to estimate the yak weight; use two algorithms to establish the yak weight prediction model, and verify that the average estimation error of the model for yak weight is 10.7% and 13.01% respectively.

This study describes all the properties of high T_c cuprates by introducing rotating holes that are created by angular momentum conservations on a 2D CuO₂ surface, and which have a different mass from that of a normal hole because of the magnetic field energy induced by the rotation. This new particle called a macroscopic Boson describes the doping dependences of pseudo-gap temperature and the transition temperature at which an anomaly metal phase appears and describes the origin of the pseudo-gap. Furthermore, this study introduces a new model to handle many-body interactions, which results in a new statistic equation. This statistic equation describing many-body interactions accurately explains why high T_c cuprates have significantly high critical temperatures. Moreover a partition function of macroscopic Bosons describes all the properties of anomaly metal phase, which sufficiently agree with experiments, using the result from our previous study [1] that analytically describes the doping dependence of T_c. By introducing a macroscopic Boson and the new statistical model for many-body interactions, this study uncovered the mystery of high T_c cuprates, which have been a challenge for many researchers. An important point is that, in this study, pure analytical calculations are consistently conducted, which agree with experimental data well (i.e., they do not use numerical calculations or fitting methods but use many actual physical constants).

The Equator Principle is the goal of promoting the harmonious development of my country's economy and society. It promotes the green transformation and upgrading of the industrial structure by strictly controlling the flow of commercial bank funds, so as to achieve the goal of environmental protection and the coordinated development of the national economy. This paper uses factor analysis to reduce the dimensions of 10 financial indicators and non-financial indicators that measure the operating performance and development potential of joint-stock commercial banks, and then compares the comprehensive operating performance, liquidity, and safety of Industrial Bank and comparable banks. And the level of profitability, analyze the difference in comprehensive operating performance of joint-stock commercial banks joining the Equator Principles compared with commercial banks that have not joined the Equator Principles. The results of the study found that joining the Equator Principles of joint-stock commercial banks can improve comprehensive operating performance in the short term. In the long run, the development trend of Industrial Bank will be similar to that of comparable banks in the same category. Joining the Equator Principles of Industrial Bank can improve its liquidity and profitability, but it will not in the long run. Conducive to the improvement of the asset quality of joint-stock commercial banks. In this regard, the government, enterprises and financial institutions should work together to help commercial banks achieve an effective balance between operating performance and social responsibility, so as to achieve the goals of "carbon peak" and "carbon neutral".

Background: Adiposity rebound (AR) refers to the second rise of the BMI curve that usually occurs physiologically between 5 and 7 years of age. AR timing has a great impact on children´s health, being the early adiposity rebound (EAR) associated with the development of metabolic disease later in life. Aim: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of EAR in a cohort of preterm newborns. Secondary outcomes evaluated if some determinants such as (1) gender (male/female), (2) type of delivery (caesarean/vaginal), (3) birth weight (SGA/NGA/LGA), (4) type of feeding (5) duration of breastfeeding, (6) timing of introduction of solid food, (7) parental education and (8) parental pre-pregnancy BMI can influence EAR in this cohort. Tertiary aim was to evaluate the prevalence of obesity or overweight at 7 years of age in children according to early versus timely AR. Methods: This is a perspective, population-based longitudinal study, where infants born preterm were evaluated at birth and at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 24 months and 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years of gestational-corrected age. Weight and height data were analyzed, and BMI was calculated. AR was assessed in the growth trajectory in a body mass index (BMI) plot. Results: Of the 250 preterm newborns included, 100 completed the 7 years follow-up and entered in the final analysis. The prevalence of EAR in our cohort of preterm newborns was 54%. EAR was associated with being LGA at birth. No other factors were associated to EAR. Early adiposity rebounders have a significant higher BMI at 7 years compared to children with timely AR (17.2 ±2.7 vs 15.6 ± 2.05, p=0.021). No significant differences were found in the prevalence of obesity or overweight at 7 years of age in children with early or timely AR (29% vs 14% p=0.202). Conclusions: Clinical management of preterm infants should focus on reducing excess weight gain to prevent long-term metabolic risk. Others neonatal factors are not associated to an higher risk of EAR.

Inspired by amazing result obtained by Semay [1], this study revisits generalised Kepler's third law of an n-body system from the perspective of dimension analysis. To be compatible with Semay's quantum n-body result, this letter reports a conjecture which had not be included in author's early publication [2] but formulated in the author's research memo. The new conjecture for quantum N-body system is proposed as follows: Tq|Eq|^3/2 = πG/√2[(Σ^N_i=1 Σ^N_j=i+1 m_im_j)³/(Σ^N_k=1 m_k)]^1/2. This formulae is, of course, consistent with the Kepler's third law of 2-body system, and exact same as Semay's quantum result for identical bodies.

The Australian dairy sheep industry is small and mostly based on a natural grass grazing system which can limit productivity. The current study tested different plant oil-infused and rumen protected polyunsaturated fats and their interactions with sire breeds to improve lactation traits and body condition score (BCS) of ewes grazing low quality pastures. It was hypothesised that supplementing lactating ewe diets plant-derived polyunsaturated oils will improve milk production and composition without compromising BCS. Sixty ewes (n=10/treatment) in mid-lactation, balanced by sire breed, parity, milk yield, body condition score, and liveweight were supplemented with: 1) control: wheat-based pellets without oil inclusion; wheat-based pellets including 2) canola oil (CO); 3) rice bran oil (RBO); 4) flaxseed oil (FSO), 5); safflower oil (SFO) and 6) rumen protected fat containing eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (RPO). Except for the control group, all supplementary diets included the same level of 50 ml/kg DM of oil and all diets were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Experimental animals were grazed in the same paddock with ad libitum access to pasture, hay and water during the 10-week study. RPO was the most effective diet that enhanced milk, fat and protein yields by approximately 30, 13, and 31% respectively (P<0.0001). Significant increase in milk production was also observed in CO, RBO, and SFO (P<0.0001). Breed significantly influenced animal performance with higher milk yield recorded for crossbred Awassi x East Friesian (AW x EF) (578 g/day) vs purebred Awassi (452 g/day) (P<0.0001). This study provides empirical evidence for the use of rumen-protected and plant-derived oil-infused pellets as supplements under low quality pasture grazing conditions, to improve production performance of purebred Awassi and crossbred AW x EF ewes.

The Colebrook equation ζ is implicitly given in respect to the unknown flow friction factor λ ; λ=ζ(Re,ε*,λ) which cannot be expressed explicitly in exact way without simplifications and use of approximate calculus. Common approach to solve it is through the Newton-Raphson iterative procedure or through the fixed-point iterative procedure. Both requires in some case even eight iterations. On the other hand numerous more powerful iterative methods such as three-or two-point methods, etc. are available. The purpose is to choose optimal iterative method in order to solve the implicit Colebrook equation for flow friction accurately using the least possible number of iterations. The methods are thoroughly tested and those which require the least possible number of iterations to reach the accurate solution are identified. The most powerful three-point methods require in worst case only two iterations to reach final solution. The recommended representatives are Sharma-Guha-Gupta, Sharma-Sharma, Sharma-Arora, Džunić-Petković-Petković; Bi-Ren-Wu, Chun-Neta based on Kung-Traub, Neta, and Jain method based on Steffensen scheme. The recommended iterative methods can reach the final accurate solution with the least possible number of iterations. The approach is hybrid between iterative procedure and one-step explicit approximations and can be used in engineering design for initial rough, but also for final fine calculations.

Eating disorder (ED) symptoms often co-occur with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). This comorbidity is consistent with evidence that trait negative urgency increases risk for both of these phenomena. We previously found that impaired late-stage negative emotional response inhibition (i.e., negative emotional action termination or NEAT) might represent a neurocognitive mechanism for heightened negative urgency among people with NSSI history. The current study evaluated whether relations between negative urgency and ED symptoms similarly reflect deficits in this neurocognitive process. One hundred and five community adults completed an assessment of ED symptoms, negative urgency, and an emotional response inhibition task. Results indicated that, contrary to predictions, negative urgency and NEAT contributed independent variance to the prediction of ED symptoms, while controlling for demographic covariates and NSSI history. Worse NEAT was also uniquely associated with restrictive eating, after accounting for negative urgency. Our findings suggest that difficulty inhibiting ongoing motor responses triggered by negative emotional reactions (i.e., NEAT) may be a shared neurocognitive characteristic of ED symptoms and NSSI. However, negative urgency and NEAT dysfunction capture separate variance in the prediction of ED-related cognitions and behaviors, distinct from the pattern of results we previously observed in NSSI.

Single-layer core corrugated sandwich panels generally consist of a corrugated core and two layers of panels, while multi-layer core corrugated sandwich panels are formed by stacking multiple layers of panels with multiple layers of core layers. In this study, integrated multilayer core corrugated sandwich panels with different shapes of corrugated cores (triangular, trapezoidal, and rectangular) and the different number of core layers were fabricated using 3D printing technology, and the mechanical behavior of such multilayer core corrugated sandwich panels under quasi-static three-point bending was investigated using experiments and numerical simulations. The effects of core shape and number of core layers on the bending deformation process, damage mode, load carrying capacity, and bending energy dissipation capacity of multilayer core sandwich panels are discussed. Parametric design of multilayer triangular core corrugated sandwich panels was also carried out by finite element software ABAQUS. It was found that a new multilayer corrugated sandwich panel with a multi-layer core is better than the single core shape multilayer corrugated sandwich panel in terms of bending load capacity, energy dissipation capacity and deformation capacity can be obtained through the combination design of different core shapes.

Tumor growth, progression, and therapy resistance are crucial factors in the prognosis of cancer. Properties of three-dimensional tumor-like organoids (tumoroids) more closely resemble in vivo tumors compared to two-dimensionally cultured cells and are therefore effectively used for assays and drug screening. We here established a repurposed drug for novel anticancer research and therapeutics using a tumoroid-based screening system. We screened 6 pharmacologically active compounds by using an original tumoroid-based multiplex phenotypic screening system with matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) promoter-driven fluorescence reporter for the evaluation of both tumoroid formation and progression. The effects of one of the hit compounds were examined on tumor formation and progression in vitro and in vivo. Antiparkinson drug benztropine was the most effective compound uncovered by the screen. Benztropine significantly inhibited in vitro tumoroid formation, cancer cell survival, and MMP9 promoter activity. Benztropine also reduced the activity of oncogenic signaling transducers and trans-activators for MMP9, including STAT3, NF-κB, and β-catenin, and properties of cancer stem cells / cancer-initiating cells. Benztropine and GBR-12935 directly targeted the dopamine transporter DAT/SLC6A3, whose genetic alterations such as amplification were correlated with poor prognosis for cancer patients. Benztropine also inhibited tumor growth, circulating tumor cell (CTC) number, and rate of metastasis in a tumor allograft model in mice. In conclusion, we propose the repurposing of benztropine for anticancer research and therapeutics that can suppress tumor progression, CTC, and metastasis of aggressive cancers by reducing key pro-tumorigenic factors.

This paper proposes a contact force controller for a constrained flexible manipulator in three-dimensional motion. This controller used the conversion formula obtained empirically and experimental results showed the effectiveness of the proposed contact force controller. First, the manipulator was operated with the tip of the second link restrained, then, time response of the root strain, joint angles and contact force were used to derive the relational between the three quantities. The effectiveness of the relational expression was verified by conducting a target contact force tracking experiment by inputting the angle from the relational expression. The contact force control using the strain feedback method was proposed with the strain amount estimated from the target contact force as the target value, and its effectiveness was verified by experiments. From the results obtained, controller using the strain feedback method was designed for the purpose of controlling the contact force at the tip of a flexible manipulator with two links and three degrees of freedom that performs three-dimensional spatial motion, and its effectiveness was shown by comparison with the contact force feedback method.

The monitoring of maternal and child health, using wearable devices made with wireless sensor technologies, is expected to reduce maternal and child death rates. Wireless sensor technologies have been used in wireless sensor networks to enable the acquisition of data for monitoring machines, smart cities, transportation, asset tracking, and tracking of human activity. Applications based on wireless body area network (WBAN) have been used in healthcare for measuring and monitoring of patient health and activity through integration with wearable devices. Wireless sensors used in WBAN can be cost-effective, enable remote availability, and can be integrated with electronic health record (EHR) management systems. Interoperability of WBAN sensor data with other linked data has the potential to improve health for all, including maternal and child health through the improvement of data access, data quality and healthcare access. This paper presents a survey of the state-of-the-art techniques for managing WBAN sensor data interoperability. The findings in this study will provide reliable support to enable policymakers and health care providers to take action to enhance the use of e-health to improve maternal-child health and reduce the mortality rates of women and children.

Regular physical activity is a very important factor in the healthy development of an individual and an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. However, today's population still suffers from insufficient amount of exercise caused mainly by technical progress and often inappropriate conditions for practicing sports. In relation to this, we are grappling with a steady increase in obesity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, conditions for regular physical activity became even more unfavourable, with the declaration of a state of emergency and anti-pandemic measures leading to the closure of sports grounds and sporting competitions. In our research survey, we attempted to determine whether there would be changes in physical activity and BMI before and after the situation caused by the COVID-19 disease in upper primary school pupils in the Czech Republic. Using a questionnaire survey of a sample of children (n =1456), we found that already before the pandemic, 69% of the observed sample had not met the recommended amount of physical activity and only 67% of the sample was of normal weight. After the end of the anti-pandemic measures, the observed values deteriorated even more. There was a significant decrease in children with normal weight (by 7.5%) and an increase in children with Class 1 obesity. At the same time, we saw a significant decrease in children doing sports.

Developed countries have shown a time trend towards a younger age at menarche (AAM), which is associated with increased risk of later obesity and non-communicable diseases. We aimed to assess whether a time trend in AAM with associated disease risk is also present in Mexico. For this, we used data of 30,826 women from the Mexican National Health Survey (2000). Linear and log binomial regression was used for nutritional and disease outcomes, whereas Welch-ANOVA was used to test for a time trend. AAM decreased over time (p < 0.001), with a maximal difference of 0.99 years between the 1920s (13.6 years) and 1980s (12.6 years). AAM (in years) was negatively associated with weight (β = -1.01 kg; 95 % CI -1.006, -1,004) and BMI (β = -1.01 kg/m2; -1.007, -1.006), and positively with height (β = 0.18 cm; 0.112, 0.231). AAM was associated with diabetes (RR = 0.95; 0.93, 0.98) and hypercholesterolemia (RR = 0.93; 0.90, 0.95), but not with hypertension, breast cancer or arthritis. In Mexico, AAM decreased significantly during the 20th century. AAM was inversely associated with adult weight and BMI, and positively with height. Women with a later AAM had a lower risk of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia.

Adiposity is associated with adverse health conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. The combination of resistance exercise and creatine supplementation has been shown to decrease body fat % in adults ≥ 50 years of age. However, the effects in adults < 50 years of age is unknown. To address this limitation, we systematically reviewed the literature and performed several meta-analyses comparing studies that included resistance exercise and creatine supplementation to resistance exercise and placebo. Twelve studies were included involving 266 participants. Adults (< 50 years of age) that supplemented with creatine and performed resistance exercise experienced a significant reduction in body fat % (-1.19%, p=0.006) and a non-significant reduction in absolute fat mass (-0.09 kg, p=0.88). Collectively, the combination of resistance exercise and creatine supplementation produces a very small reduction in body fat % in adults < 50 years of age.

This study explored intraindividual multidimensional profiles integrating psychosocial factors, namely, body image and satisfaction, weight-related self-stigma, positivity, and happiness, and behavioural-lifestyle factors, namely, adherence to a healthy diet, among Spanish adults with overweight or obesity. We further aimed to investigate the association of excess weight (i.e., measured body mass index, BMI) with the abovementioned multidimensional configurations. A convenience sample of adult individuals with excessive weight completed self-reports regarding the study variables, and their weight and height were measured. With a perspective centered on the individual, a cluster analysis established three distinct intraindividual psychosocial and diet-related profiles: a group of healthy individuals with excess weight; a group of individuals who were negatively affected by their excessive weight and showed the most distressed profile; and a group of dysfunctional individuals who seemed to be excessively unrealistic and optimistic regarding their excessive weight and unhealthy lifestyles. Furthermore, individuals in the affected cluster had higher obesity. The results showed that there are specific psychosocial and lifestyle profiles in the adult population with excess weight and that there are relationships among psychological, behavioural, and body-composition factors. For clinical application purposes, it is important to account for the heterogeneity within individuals who are obese and to individualize the interventions, with a focus from weight change to individual's overall well-being.

This research is aimed at determining the characteristics of the current level of entrepreneurial potential of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) countries, the ability to overcome the consequences of extraordinary events, such as COVID-19 and prospects for the return to an accelerated development once the destabiliser of the economic system, the coronavirus pandemic, has ceased. Eurostat, World Bank and the World Economic Forum data for 2015-2019 were used for the purpose of the research. The research was divided into three stages, i.e. assessment of economic development on the basis of a synthetic ratio of economic anchor development, for which a relative benchmark method based on spatial median (so-called L1 median or Weber point) was used, identification of conditions for the development of entrepreneurial capacity and statistical analysis showing the correlation between economic anchor measures and selected factors of the 3SI countries economic development. Our study found that the entrepreneurial capacity of the 3SI countries in 2015-2019 was determined by nine characteristics, belonging to six areas, i.e. local economy, demographic situation, social situation, trade exchange, innovation and tourism economy. The entrepreneurial potential of the 3SI countries was spatially diversified, and its development was determined, among others, by the entrepreneurial activity of residents (entrepreneurship index) and the conditions for running a business.

A single qubit may be represented on the Bloch sphere or similarly on the 3-sphere S3. Our goal is to dress this correspondence by converting the language of universal quantum computing (UQC) to that of 3-manifolds. A magic state and the Pauli group acting on it define a model of UQC as a positive operator-valued measure (POVM) that one recognizes to be a 3-manifold M3. More precisely, the d-dimensional POVMs defined from subgroups of finite index of the modular group PSL(2, Z) correspond to d-fold M3- coverings over the trefoil knot. In this paper, one also investigates quantum information on a few ‘universal’ knots and links such as the figure-of-eight knot, the Whitehead link and Borromean rings, making use of the catalog of platonic manifolds available on the software SnapPy. Further connections between POVMs based UQC and M3’s obtained from Dehn fillings are explored.

The use of spirocycles in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry has been booming in the last two decades. This has clearly translated in the landscape of approved drugs. Among two dozen clinically used medicines containing a spirocycle, 50% have been approved in the 21st century. The present review focuses on the notable synthetic routes to such drugs invented in industry and academia and is intended to serve as a useful reference source of synthetic as well as general drug information for researchers engaging in the design of new spirocyclic scaffolds for medicinal use or embarking upon analog syntheses inspired by the existing approved drugs.

The present study has been done using the Survey Research. The research sample scale equals 400 people, besides its statistical population is included the 15-year population and most of the city of Kerman in 2020. The method of multistage-cluster-stratified sampling was used in five districts of the city of Kerman, moreover the results have been analyzed by SPSS and AMOSS16 software, and only is one model fitted with reality among five models of designed path. The results of analysis of path diagram indicate that other coefficients of the path all of them are significant except the direct impact of one's image of the body on sport-based cultural capital and social class on the tendency toward the public sport. Other results of the study suggest that sport-based socio-economic capital leaves an indirect effect on sport-based cultural capital by which the tendency of citizens toward the sport grows up. At that showing athletic advertisements in the media are effective on the tendency of citizens to public sport.

This paper presents a study on the idle vibration reduction of a diesel sport utility vehicle (SUV). To reduce idle vibration, the transmission paths of vibration from the engine to the driver seat floor were investigated with the vehicle components related to idle vibration. Furthermore, operational deflection shape (ODS) tests were conducted to visualize the vibration shapes during engine idling. Experimental modal analyses were performed to obtain the natural frequencies and mode shapes. Through the ODS and modal tests, the vibration characteristics of the diesel SUV during idling were identified. Considering these vibration characteristics, a multi-body dynamic model for the diesel SUV described by differential equations of motion was established to evaluate the idle vibration. To implement the dynamic model effectively, the equivalent stiffnesses and damping coefficients included in the model were determined experimentally or analytically. The established dynamic model was verified by comparing the natural frequencies and idle vibration levels between simulations. Using this dynamic model, we analyzed the effects of various design variables on idle vibration and obtained an optimal design for reducing the idle vibration level. Finally, we present a design guide to reduce the idle vibration for diesel SUVs.

Background: Different drugs damage the frontal cortices, particularly the prefrontal areas involved in both emotional and cognitive functions, with a consequence of decoding emotion deficits for people with substance abuse. The present study aims to explore the cognitive impairments in drug abusers through facial, body and disgust emotion recognition, expanding the investigation of emotions, processing, measuring accuracy and response velocity. Method: We enrolled 13 addicted to cocaine and 12 alcohol patients attending treatment services in Italy, comparing them with 33 matched controls. Facial emotion and body posture recognition tasks, a disgust rating task, and the Barrat Impulsivity Scale were included in the experimental assessment. Results: We found that emotional processes are differently influenced by cocaine and alcohol, suggesting that these substances impact diverse cerebral systems. Conclusion: The contribution made by the duration of consumption on emotional processing seems far less important than for cognitive processes. Drug abusers seem to be slower on elaboration of emotions and, in particular, of disgust emotion. Considering that the participants were not impaired in cognition, our data support the hypothesis that emotional impairments emerge independently from damage to cognitive functions.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of transduser design and its elements, and their materials on temperature in deeper layers of tissues measurement results. A digital modeling was performed to evaluate the influence of the properties of transduser design elements. Experimental research was carried out. Revealed that the accuracy, similar to that of an invasive method using needle probes, can be achieved by measuring the temperature in deeper muscle layers using the proposed transducer.

Studying the two famous old problems that why the moon can move around the Sun and why the orbit of the Moon around the Earth cannot be broken off by the Sun under the condition that calculating with F=GMm/R^2, the attractive force of the Sun on the Moon is almost 2.2 times that of the Earth. We found that the planet and moon are unified as one single gravitational unit which results in that the Sun cannot have the force of F=GMm/R^2 on the moon. The moon is moved by the gravitational unit orbiting around the Sun. It could indicate that the gravitational field of the moon is limited inside the unit and the gravitational fields of both the planet and moon is unified as one single field interacting with the Sun. The findings are further clarified by reestablishing Newton’s repulsive gravity.

Reconstructing ancestral species is a challenging endeavour: fossils are often scarce or enigmatic, and inferring ancestral characters based on novel molecular approaches (e.g. comparative genomics or developmental genetics) has long been controversial. A key philosophical challenge pertinent at present is the lack of a theoretical framework capable of evaluating inferences of homology made through integration of multiple kinds of evidence (e.g. molecular, developmental, or morphological). Here, I present just such a framework. I start with a brief history and critical assessment of attempts at inferring morphological homology through developmental genetics. I then bring attention to a recent model of homology, namely Character Identity Mechanisms (DiFrisco, Love, & Wagner, 2020), intended partly to elucidate the relationships between morphological characters, developmental genetics, and homology. I utilise and build on this model to construct the evaluative framework mentioned above, which judges the epistemic value of evidence of each kind in each particular case based on three proposed criteria: effectiveness, admissibility, and informativity, as well as providing a generalised guideline on how it can be scientifically operationalised. I then point out the evolution of the eumetazoan body plan as a case in point where the application of this framework can yield satisfactory results, both empirically and conceptually. I will conclude with a discussion on some potential implications for more general philosophy of biology and philosophy of science, especially surrounding evidential integration, models and explanation, and reductionism.

Researchers in different disciplines studied liver’s genetic expression of organogenesis in embryogenesis; however, organogenesis has not been studied as an independent and a complementary process during adult liver regeneration. This paper reviewed studies and extracted information related to organogenesis in adult liver regeneration because of organogenesis’ important role in cancer and tissue regeneration.

This study explored intraindividual multidimensional profiles integrating psychosocial factors, namely, body image and satisfaction, weight-related self-stigma, positivity, and happiness, and behavioural-lifestyle factors, namely, adherence to a healthy diet, among Spanish adults with overweight or obesity. We further aimed to investigate the association of excess weight (i.e., measured body mass index, BMI) with the abovementioned multidimensional configurations. A convenience sample of adult individuals with excessive weight completed self-reports regarding the study variables, and their weight and height were measured. With a perspective centred on the individual, a cluster analysis established three distinct intraindividual psychosocial and diet-related profiles: a group of healthy individuals with excess weight; a group of individuals who were negatively affected by their excessive weight and showed the most distressed profile; and a group of dysfunctional individuals who seemed to be excessively unrealistic and optimistic regarding their excessive weight and unhealthy lifestyles. Furthermore, individuals in the affected cluster had higher obesity. The results showed that there are specific psychosocial and lifestyle profiles in the adult population with excess weight and that there are relationships among psychological, behavioural, and body-composition factors. For clinical application purposes, it is important to account for the heterogeneity within individuals who are obese.

Multispectral remote sensing data may contain component images which are heavily corrupted by noise and pre-filtering (denoising) procedure is often applied to enhance these component images. To do this, one can use reference images – component images having relatively high quality and which are similar to the image subject to pre-filtering. Here we study the following problems: how to select component images that can be used as references (e.g., for the Sentinel multispectral remote sensing data) and how to perform the actual denoising. We demonstrate that component images of the same resolution as well as component images of a better resolution can be used as references. Examples of denoising of real-life images demonstrate high efficiency of the proposed approach.

Neuronal lesion or injury is a traditional approach to investigate neural circuit. Is any new neural pathway or new neurodegeneration related central nerve system injury? Spinal disc herniation can cause the spinal cord injury. However, the histological examination is still lack. It happened that a case of spinal disc herniation of a 10-year old dog was examined with NADPH diaphorase (N-d) histology. We did not find the N-d neurodegenerative aberrant in the tissue of the mid-rostral lumber segment besides the metamorphoses by the compression of the disc herniation. However, the severe neuropathological changes majorly occurred in the lumbosacral spinal cord. We found more diverse neurodegenerative alterations: the aging-related N-d body (ANB), megaloneurite and N-d homogeneous formazan globule in the lumbosacral spinal cord. We also found that a new circuit pathway (intermedial collateral pathway) showed by a megaloneurite between the lateral collateral pathway and the medial collateral pathway. The enormous notch caused by spinal disc herniation located at the mid-rostral lumber segments. The aging-related neurodegeneration occurred the specific lumbosacral segments. The homogeneous formazan globule was round or oval homogeneous N-d positivity which distributed in the gray matter and dorsal column. In the medulla oblongata, ANBs were revealed in the gracile nucleus, nucleus reticularis lateralis (ventrolateral spinal trigeminal nucleus) and middle of the spinal trigeminal nucleus.

How does the human neurophysiological system self-organize to achieve optimal phase relationships among joints and limbs, such as in the composite rhythms of butterfly and front crawl swimming, drumming, or dancing? We conducted a systematic review of literature relating to CNS control of phase among joint/limbs in continuous rhythmic activities. SCOPUS and Web of Science were searched using keywords ‘Phase AND Rhythm AND Coordination’. This yielded 998 matches from which 23 papers were extracted for inclusion based on screening criteria. The empirical evidence arising from in-vivo, fictive, in-vitro, and modelling of neural control in humans, other species, and robots indicates that the control of movement is facilitated and simplified by innervating muscle synergies by way of spinal central pattern generators (CPGs). These typically behave like oscillators enabling stable repetition across cycles of movements. This approach provides a foundation to guide the design of empirical research in human swimming and other limb independent activities. For example, future research could be conducted to explore whether the two-layer CPG model proposed by Saltiel et al [1] to explain locomotion in cats might also explain the complex relationships among the cyclical motions in human swimming.

In the paper, an improved smart meter data-based three-stage algorithm to calculate the power/energy losses in the three-phase networks with the voltage level below 0.4 kV (low voltage - LV) is presented. In the first stage, a loading function of input data was built having as main feature the working at the same time with files from the database of smart metering system (SMS) containing the hourly electricity records, and files including the characteristic load profiles established by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for the consumers with standard energy meters depending the following factors: consumption class, day and season. In the second stage, a function which is based on the work with the structure vectors was implemented to identify easy the configuration of analysed networks. In the third stage, an improved version of forward/backward sweep-based algorithm was proposed to calculate fast the power/energy losses to three-phase LV distribution networks in balanced and unbalanced regime. A real LV rural distribution network from a pilot zone belonging to a Distribution Network Operator (DNO) from Romania was used to confirm the accuracy of the proposed approach. The comparison with the results obtained using the DigSilent PowerFactory Simulation Package certified the performance of the algorithm, the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) being 0.94%.

Higher body weight is known to negatively impact plasma vitamin C status. However, despite this well-documented inverse association, recommendations on daily vitamin C intakes by health authorities worldwide do not include particular reference values for people of higher body weight. This suggests that people of higher body weight and people with obesity may be insufficient in vitamin C in spite of ingesting the amounts recommended by their health authorities. The current preliminary investigation sought to estimate how much additional vitamin C people with higher body weights need to consume in order to attain a comparable vitamin C status to that of a lower weight person consuming an average Western vitamin C intake. Data from two published vitamin C dose-concentration studies were used to generate the relationship: a detailed pharmacokinetic study with seven healthy non-smoking men and a multiple depletion-repletion study with 68 healthy non-smoking men of varying body weights. Our estimates suggest that an additional intake of 10 mg vitamin C/day is required for every 10 kg increase in body weight to attain a comparable plasma concentration to a 60 kg individual with a vitamin C intake of ~110 mg/day, which is the daily intake recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Thus, individuals weighing e.g. 80 and 90 kg will need to consume ~130 and 140 mg vitamin C/day, respectively. People with obesity will likely need even higher vitamin C intakes. As poor vitamin C status is associated with increased risk of several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, these findings may have important public health implications. As such, dose-finding studies are required to determine optimal vitamin C intakes for overweight and obese people.

Wireless Body Area Networks are composed of sensor nodes that may be implanted in the body or worn on it. A node is composed of a sensing unit, a processor and a radio unit. One of the nodes, the sink, acts as a gateway between the body area network and other networks such as the Internet. We propose a routing protocol that constructs paths between nodes such that the final network topology is a tree rooted at the sink. The protocol's aim is to increase network lifetime and reliability, and to adapt to network conditions dynamically. Moreover, the protocol enables communications between nodes and sink both in the upstream direction, from nodes to sink, and in the downstream direction from sink to nodes. When the network tree is constructed, a node chooses its parent, i.e., next hop to sink, by using one of various criteria. Namely, these are the number of hops between parent and sink, energy level of parent, received signal strength from parent, number of current parent's children, and a fuzzy logic function that combines multiple criteria. Moreover, as time progresses the tree structure may dynamically change to adapt to conditions such as the near-depletion of a routing node's energy. Simulation results show improvements in network lifetime and energy consumption over the older version of the protocol.

This case study examined changes in body composition, resting metabolic rate (RMR), aerobic capacity, and daily physical activity in a patient who had ulcerative colitis who underwent ileal pouch‒anal anastomosis (IPAA) surgery. Body composition, RMR, and VO2 peak were assessed prior to, 4, 8, and 16 weeks after IPAA surgery. Daily physical activity data was extracted from a wrist-worn activity tracker preoperatively and 16 months postoperatively. At baseline, total body mass was 95.3 kg; body fat, 11.6 %; lean body mass, 81.1 kg; RMR, 2,416 kcal/d; and V̇O2peak, 42.7 mL/kg/min. All values decreased from baseline at 4 weeks postoperatively, body mass was 85.2 kg (-10.5%); body fat, 10.9% (-6.0%); lean body mass, 73.1 kg (-9.9%); RMR 2,210 kcal/d (-8.5%) and V̇O2peak, 25.5 mL/kg/min (-40.3%). At 16 weeks postoperatively, most parameters were near their baseline levels (within 1%-7%); exceptions were V̇O2peak, which was 20.4% below baseline, and RMR, which increased to nearly 20% above baseline. After the patient had an IPAA surgery, his total and lean body masses, RMR, and aerobic capacity were markedly decreased. Daily physical activity decreased postoperatively and likely contributed to the decreased aerobic capacity, which may take longer to recover compared to body composition and RMR parameters.

Virtual human body models contribute to designing safe and user-friendly products through virtual prototyping. Anthropometric biomechanical models address different physiques using average dimensions. In designing personal protective equipment, biomechanical models with the correct geometry and shape shall play a role. The presented study shows the variations of subject-specific anthropometric dimensions from the average for the different population groups in the Czech Republic and China as a background for the need for personalized human body models. The study measures a set of clothing industry dimensions of Czech children, Czech teens, Czech adults and Chinese adults and compares them to the corresponding age average, which is represented by a scaled anthropometric human body model. The cumulative variation of clothing industry dimensions increases the farer is the population group from the average. It is smallest for the Czech adults 7.54% ± 6.63%, Czech teens report 7.93% ± 6.25% and Czech children differ 9.52% ± 6.08%. Chinese adults report 10.86% ± 11.11%. As the variations of the particular clothing industry dimensions from the average prove the necessity of having personalized subject-specific models, the personalization of particular body segments using the measured clothing industry dimensions leading to a subject-specific virtual model is addressed. The developed personalization algorithm results in the continuous body surface desired for contact applications for assessing body behavior and injury risk under impact loading.

Within the scope of observed materialistic physical systems, without addressing the roots of H-Bar and big G, it is impossible to construct a workable model of final unification. With reference to our earlier proposed three large atomic gravitational constants, it is possible to reform and compactify the 10 dimensional String theory to 3+1 dimensions

Objective On the eve of the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo research focus has shifted on the core temperature responses of elite athletes competing in the heat. In the absence of the field data of core temperature during Olympic sailing competition aim of the present study was to identify core temperature response during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Test Event. Methods Four elite athletes from Olympic sailing (177.5±5.2 cm, 71.1±7.4 kg, body mass index 22.5±1.4 kg/m2, 24.8±3.7 yrs, VO2max 50.6±7.2 mL/min/kg)): 2 males and 2 females participated in the study. Core temperature was recorded using e-Celsius ingestible capsules, heart rate using a heart rate monitor. Ambient conditions in direct sunlight were measured using portable meteo station. Results Core temperature was recorded at water environment via an ingestible capsule in 4 sailors during the training (T), and competition (C), respectively. Ambient conditions in direct sunlight were hot and humid: during training temperature were 30.9°C±1.7°C and relative humidity 81.4%±2.8%, corresponding to a wet-bulb globe temperature of 41°C±4°C and during competition temperature was 31.2°C±2.3°C and relative humidity 87.2%±4.4%, corresponding to a wet-bulb globe temperature of 45.2°C±8.9°C. Core temperature increased during training reaching higher peak values (38.6°C±0.4°C) and during competition (38.9°C±0.4°C). The highest temperature recorded was 39.4°C (C). Conclusion The current study provides unique information into the core temperature parameters under heat stress in elite Olympic sailors during training and race event.

Because imbalanced power will cause the loss of the propulsion motor of the railway vehicle, and the increase in temperature will shorten the service life of the electric vehicle. Not only this, but also increase the cost of electricity and maintenance. In the past, the industry only focused on methods to improve power quality such as load capacity, relay setting, and harmonic resolution. Now, the consider of three-phase unbalance rate (TPUR) must be applied. I propose special transformers wiring (STW) to improve the three unbalance rates and provide different transformer wiring methods. According to the IEEE Committee, in the future, power companies will need to install balanced relay stations to improve three-phase unbalance rate. the internal regulations of Taipower must be less than 4.5% (voltage unbalance rate (NPSUR)of 2.5% and motor temperature rise of 12.5%). the derivation of the transformer "three-phase unbalance rate" model is the focus of the railway system. This research is based on the model derivation of different wiring methods to improve the hot problem caused by the three-phase imbalance and improve the service life of the train. And pointed out that Scott, Le-Blanc, Modified-Woodbridge three wiring methods can be applied to future railway system routes to improve the three-phase unbalance rate, in line with the IEEE standard of less than 2%.

Recent evidence suggests that among behavioral-lifestyle factors, adherence to a healthy dietary pattern such as the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) is linked not only to better psychological health and mental positive status but also to increased subjective well-being (SWB). Nevertheless, this association has been unexplored among individuals with excessive weight. This study explored whether adherence to the MedDiet and the intake of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables (FV) are associated with increased happiness and life satisfaction among Spanish adults with overweight or obesity when weight, body image, and body satisfaction are also considered. A convenience sample of adult individuals with excessive weight completed self-reports on the study variables, and weight and BMI were measured by bioimpedance. No evidence of a relationship with SWB indicators was obtained for MedDiet global indicators, probably due to the low adherence to a healthy diet by these individuals. In contrast, FV intake, as a powerful indicator of healthy eating, was associated with life satisfaction when BMI and body image dimensions were considered, among which body satisfaction also had a key role. Moreover, life satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between FV consumption and happiness. Our findings are expected to make a relevant contribution to knowledge on the positive correlates or protective factors for overall well-being in obesity, including dietary habits and body appreciation. Our results may inform obesity management actions focused on inclusive, positive aesthetic models and promoting a healthy lifestyle for happiness in obesity.

One challenging problem is the representation of three-dimensional datasets that vary with time. These datasets can be though as a cloud of points that gradually deforms. But point-wise variations lack of information about the overall deformation pattern, and more importantly, about the extreme deformation locations inside the cloud. The present article applies a technique in computational mechanics to derive the strain-rate state of a time-dependent and three-dimensional data distribution, by which one can characterize its main trends of shift. Indeed, the tensorial analysis methodology is able to determine the global deformation rates in the entire dataset. With the use of this technique, one can characterize the significant fluctuations in a reduced multivariate description of an urban system and identify the possible causes of those changes: calculating the strain-rate state of a PCA-based multivariate description of an urban system, we are able to describe the clustering and divergence patterns between the districts of the city and to characterize the temporal rate in which those variations happen.

The use of whole-body vibration (WBV) for therapeutic purposes is far from being standardized and only very recently an empirical foundation for reporting guidelines for human WBV studies has been published. Controversies about safety and therapeutic dosage stll exist. The present study aimed to investigate the metabolic and mechanical effects of low-intensity WBV in according to the ISO 2631 norm on subjects with obesity. 41 obese subjects (BMI≥ 35 kg/mˆ2) were recruited to participate in a 3-week multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation program including fitness training and WBV training. During WBV the posture was monitored with an optoelectronic system with 6 infrared cameras (Vicon, Vicon Motion System, Oxford, UK). The primary endpoints were: variation in body composition, factors of the metabolic syndrome, functional activity (sit-to-stand and 6-min walking test), muscle strength, and quality of life. Secondary endpoints were: modification of irisin, testosterone, growth hormone, IGF1 levels. We observed significant changes in salivary irisin levels, Group 2 (p&lt;0.01) as compared to the control group, while muscle strength, function, and other metabolic and hormonal factors did not change after a 3-week low-intensity WBV training respect control group. Future studies are needed to deeper investigate the potential metabolic effect of low-intensity WBV in managing weight.

Recent improvements in deepfake creation have made deepfake videos more realistic. Moreover, open-source software has made deepfake creation more accessible, which reduces the barrier to entry for deepfake creation. This could pose a threat to the people’s privacy. There is a potential danger if the deepfake creation techniques are used by people with an ulterior motive to produce deepfake videos of world leaders to disrupt the order of countries and the world. Therefore, research into the automatic detection of deepfaked media is essential for public security. In this work, we propose a deepfake detection method using upper body language analysis. Specifically, a many-to-one LSTM network was designed and trained as a classification model for deepfake detection. Different models were trained by varying the hyperparameters to build a final model with benchmark accuracy. We achieved 94.39% accuracy on the deepfake test set. The experimental results showed that upper body language can effectively detect deepfakes.

There is growing recognition of the adverse effects of body image dissatisfaction (BID) and eating disorder (ED) symptoms on adolescent health. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of ED symptoms, BID, and their relationship in adolescents from public schools in Southern Brazil. A total of 782 schoolchildren (male: n=420, female: n=362); age: 15 ± 0,4 years) answered a self-administrated questionnaire to identify sociodemographic data. Children´s Figure Rating Scale was adopted to identify body image and Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was applied to investigate ED symptoms. Inferential statistics and hierarchical model-controlled logistic regression were used for association between variables. Most of the schoolchildren reported being satisfied with their bodies. However, we observed a higher prevalence of dissatisfaction among girls for being overweight and thinness among boys. Female students and students from schools located in the central area of the city showed higher chances of developing ED symptoms, and the absence of symptoms of ED appeared to act as a protective factor against BID in schoolchildren. Results of this study show the need to reflect on these factors that influence the development of ED and non-acceptance of their own body in a population concerned with their physical appearance.

There are no studies that quantitatively compare life histories among scorpion species. Statistical procedures applied to 94 scorpion species indicate that those with larger bodies do not necessarily have larger litters or longer life cycles, opposite to some theoretical predictions.

Concretizing the mechanisms of Bergmann rule, we found saw-tooth pattern in body size variation in ground beetle Pterostichus oblongopunctatus. We sampled beetles in 2010 – 2018 at the forest undisturbed plots on the broad territory in Russia. Investigating regions covered territory, extending to 3 degrees latitude and 19 degrees longitude. We measured six traits in every of 3294 caught individual. ANOVA showed that latitude, and sex affected significantly body size of the species studied. Mean values of each trait changed significantly from one studied region to another in females and males as well. Sexual size dimorphism in species was female-biased. We performed models in R to estimate the steepness of body size variation in both sexes. In overwhelming majority of cases that parameter was equal in both sexes. So the hypothesis, that male′s variation is steeper in latitude gradient was not confirmed.

To predict how the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, we developed a systematic method for predicting disease outcomes. In the method, we evaluate how personal disease outcomes are mainly affected by viral concentration and exposure time and four defense mechanisms: human innate immunity/host response, acquired immune response, inflammation resolution and micro circulation, and the available space in the thorax cage. By considering how pandemic measures affect viral exposure and those mechanisms, we found many pandemic measures are misused or abused to deliver long-term adverse impacts. We noted that lifestyles have been changed as a result of movement restriction measures. By using the method, we found that altered lifestyles are predicted to raise infection rate, disability and death risks in the future. We show that a person can use personal, environmental, emotional factors to reduce infection rate and death risk. To prove the validity of this finding, we extensively examined medical research models, holistic and reductionist models, epidemiological models, disease risk factors, etc, and found that population methods are unfit for studying holistic health, statistical population does not exist in most clinical trials, mathematical models were misused for studying disease properties for a population, mathematical equations for modeling personal diseases are beyond human ability to solve, statistical models are misused, population-derived treatments are inherently dangerous to patients, vaccines have limited benefits due to unique lung structure and rapid RNA mutation, and immune system damage is caused by fast viral replication rate. We found that altering biological properties to improve the defense mechanisms could prevent a super majority of deaths and prevent the virus from reaching a point to damage the immune system. For vulnerable persons, such measure is a viable strategy for surviving from the pandemic. As a whole, holistic personalized medicine is more powerful than population-based reductionist treatment by one to several orders of magnitudes. We urge people do their parts to force the medical establishment to abandon population treatment models that are responsible for failure of medicine and dissemination of misleading and factually wrong information on the effectiveness of medical treatments.

Mexico shows a high prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents. Geographical location and cultural environment could play a role in the promotion of healthy lifestyles in terms of physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and nutrition. The purpose of this study was to assess rural and urban differences in body composition (BC), physical fitness (PF), PA and nutritional status of adolescents from the state of Jalisco (Mexico). The study involved 469 students aged 13-17 years (55.0% girls) from 8 high schools. BC was analyzed by bioimpedance, and PF by standardized field tests. Objective measurements of PA and SB were taken in a subsample (n=240). Energy intake (EI) was calculated from two 24h recalls. Rural residents presented a higher prevalence of overweight, waist circumference, trunk fat mass, regional fat free mass and muscle handgrip strength (all p&lt;0.05, ηp2&lt;0.06). Cardiorespiratory fitness was similar among participants, whereas urban adolescents showed higher muscle power, speed-agility and flexibility scores (all p&lt;0.05, ηp2&lt;0.07). Overall lifestyle behavior in urban adolescents was more sedentary (p&lt;0.05, ηp2= 0.11). EI was similar in both locations. In conclusion, urban Mexican adolescents presented a generally higher sedentary behavior and better fitness and fatness profile than their rural peers.

The present work aims to characterize the mechanical behavior of a new composite material for the conservation and development of the vast historical and architectural heritage that is particularly vulnerable to environmental and seismic actions. The new composite consists of natural hydraulic lime (NHL) -based mortar, reinforced by sisal short fibers randomly oriented in the mortar matrix. The NHL-based mortar ensures the chemical-physical compatibility with the original feature of the historical masonry structures (mostly in stone and clay) aiming to pursue both the effectiveness and durability of the intervention. The use of vegetable fibers (i.e. the sisal one) is an exciting challenge for the construction industry since they require a lower degree of industrialization for their processing, and therefore, their costs are also low, as compared to the most common synthetic/metal fibers. Beams of sisal-composite sizing 160x40x40 mm3 with a central notch are tested in three-point bending, aiming to evaluate both their bending strength and fracture energy. Also, tensile tests and compressive tests were performed on the composite samples, while water retention test and slump test were performed on the fresh mix. Finally, the tensile tests on the Sisal strand were carried out to evaluate the tensile strength of both strand and wire. A final comparison with unreinforced mortar specimens shows that the proposed composite ensures great workability and good performances in term of ductility and strength and it can be considered a promising alternative to the classic fiber-reinforcing systems.

The hybrid bond graph has been studied in depth for scalar bond graphs, but how does this translate to the multi-bond graph? Here, the controlled junction – used to model structural switching such as contact – is extended to the multi-bond case. This is a simple process, assuming that all bonds switch simultaneously (which makes physical sense). A controlled 0-junction is applied to multi-bond graph of a car, which can lose contact with the ground in cornering. Dynamic causality features, but this can be accommodated using an equational submodel in 20-Sim (in a manner similar to that used with scalar bond graphs). The junction is proposed for subsequent work to develop a validated multi-body dynamics car model in cornering.

The oral administration of (R)-3-hydroxybutyl-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, allows inducing a beneficial level of blood ketone bodies without the adverse effects due to the adhesion to a ketogenic diet. Several studies documented the therapeutic effectiveness of the (R)-3-hydroxybutyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate in treating neurodegenerative diseases as well as its boosting activity of athletic and cognitive performances during prolonged physical exercises. Further studies considering this ketone body ester for therapy of other pathologies are also underway. In the present work, we describe the synthesis of (R)-3-hydroxybutyl-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate through the enantioselective transesterification of racemic ethyl 3-hydroxybutyrate with (R)-1,3-butanediol catalyzed by immobilized Candida antarctica lipase B (CAL-B). The enantiopure (R)-1,3-butanediol was in turn obtained from the kinetic resolution of the racemate by CAL-B catalyzed acetylation with vinyl acetate. The economy of the synthetic procedure has been improved by recycling the unreacted (S) enantiomers of the ethyl 3-hydroxybutyrate and 1,3-buatnediol after stereochemical inversion achieved by tosylation and SN2 with ammonium acetate. The overall procedure allows to incorporate up to 70% of the starting racemic reagents into the final product.

Manual measurement of rock discontinuities is time-consuming and subjective according to the experience of the surveyor. This work proposes a three-dimensional laser scanning-based method for the semi-automatic identification of rock discontinuities. Multisite cloud scanning is performed with real-time kinematic (RTK)-assisted orientation to estimate the rock fracturing degree; then, discontinuity orientations are extracted with the man–machine interactive method or automatic method. The proposed method was applied to actual examples to illustrate its accuracy at identifying rock discontinuities. The sensitivity of the identification accuracy to different parameters was investigated.

The bipolar mitotic spindle drives accurate chromosome segregation by capturing the kinetochore and pulling each set of sister chromatids to the opposite poles. In this review, we describe recent findings on the multiple pathways leading to bipolar spindle formation in fission yeast and discuss these results from a broader perspective. Roles of four mitotic kinesins (Kinesin-5, Kinesin-6, Kinesin-12 and Kinesin-14) in spindle assembly are depicted, and how a group of microtubule-associated proteins, sister chromatid cohesion and the kinetochore collaborates with these motors is shown. We have paid special attention to the molecular pathways that render otherwise essential Kinesin-5 to become non-essential: how cells build bipolar mitotic spindles without the need for Kinesin-5 and where the alternate forces come from are considered. We highlight the force balance for bipolar spindle assembly and explain how outward and inward forces are generated by various ways, in which the proper fine-tuning of microtubule dynamics plays a crucial role. Overall, these new pathways have illuminated remarkable plasticity and adaptability of spindle mechanics. Kinesin molecules are regarded as prospective targets for cancer chemotherapy and many specific inhibitors have been developed. However, several hurdles have arisen against their clinical implementation. This review provides insight into possible strategies to overcome these challenges.

The tumor organoid (tumoroid) model in three-dimensional (3D) culture systems has been developed to reflect more closely the in vivo tumors than 2D-cultured tumor cells. Notably, extracellular vesicles (EVs) are efficiently collectible from the culture supernatant of gel-free tumoroids. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 3 is a multi-functional factor playing crucial roles in tumor progression. However, roles of MMP3 within tumor growth and EVs have not unveiled. Here, we investigated the protumorigenic roles of MMP3 on integrities of tumoroids and EVs. We generated MMP3-knockout (KO) cells using the CRISPR/Cas9 system from rapidly metastatic LuM1 tumor cells. Moreover, we established fluorescent cell lines with palmitoylation signal-fused fluorescent proteins (tdTomato and enhanced GFP). Then we confirmed the exchange of EVs between cellular populations and tumoroids. LuM1-tumoroids released large EVs (300-1000 nm) and small EVs (50-200 nm) while the knockout of MMP3 resulted in the additional release of broken EVs from tumoroids. The loss of MMP3 leads to a significant reduction in tumoroid size and to the development of the necrotic area within tumoroids. MMP3 and CD9 (a category-1 EV marker tetraspanin protein) were significantly down-regulated in MMP3-KO cells and their EV fraction. These weakened phenotypes by MMP3 KO were markedly rescued by the addition of MMP3-rich EVs or conditioned medium (CM) collected from LuM1-tumoroids, which caused a dramatic rise in the expression of MMP3, CD9, and Ki-67 (a marker of proliferating cells) in the MMP3-null/CD9-low tumoroids. Notably, MMP3 enriched in tumoroids-derived EVs and CM deeply penetrated into recipient MMP3-KO tumoroids, resulting in a remarkable enlargement of solid tumoroids, while MMP3-null EVs did not. These data demonstrate that EVs can mediate molecular transfer of MMP3 resulting in increasing the proliferation and CD9+ tumorigenesis, indicating crucial roles of MMP3 in tumor progression.

Despite the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) being the gold standard in evaluating clinical presentations of arrythmias of various kinds, several notable limitations, namely in accuracy and localization, have recently garnered concern with respect to administering appropriate therapeutic measures. The following text puts these limitations under the spotlight, highlighting the difficulty and challenging nature of standard ECG analysis and therapeutic measures, while simultaneously showing a novel body surface electrocardiographic mapping system that utilizes 3D spatial imaging and pinpoint localization algorithms in order to compensate for the shortcomings of the standard ECG, thereby providing higher precision data collection. We provide a brief overview of the novel device in a selection of arrhythmic demographics, along with its validity and reliability, while illustrating the benefits and positive outcomes of its utility.

TThe passion of bodybuilding athletes for a symmetric, lean, heavily muscled body leads them to carry out exhausting exercise programs and restrictive eating regimens, sometimes resulting in disordered eating behaviors. This study investigates potential exacerbators on the development of disordered eating in bodybuilding and strength athletes. The study involved 103 Cypriot bodybuilding athletes of both sexes, performing at three levels: professional, recreational and strength athletes. The Eating Attitude Test 26 (EAT-26) and The Three Factor Eating Question-naire (TFEQ-R21) were used to evaluate disordered eating and eating behaviors respectively. The current study was performed under the auspices of the Hellenic Center of Education & Treatment of Eating Disorders (KEADD). The degree of deviation between the perceived ideal body weight and the actual body weight was associated with increased risk of eating disorder. Athletes who desired a lower body weight recorded higher scores on EAT-26 overall, (p=0.001), and the subscales of dieting (p=0.01) and bulimia. (p=0.001). Cognitive restraint and emotional eating scales of TFEQ-R21 were more pronounced in the non-professional athletes. (p=0.01). The emotional eating score was higher in women. There is a need for appropriate sport-specific, gender-specific preventive intervention to deescalate the risk of eating disorder, in both profes-sional and non-professional bodybuilding athletes.

This study is centred on Insecurity and Electoral Administration in Nigeria. Elections are the leading mechanism for selecting governments and a cardinal feature of democratisation. The quest for fair representation, development, good governance, inclusiveness and a true sense of belonging has been the driving force for election. The conduct of credible elections remains one of the thorny and fundamental issues in a democracy. The trajectory of electoral administration in Nigeria is long and tortuous; it precedes independence and is punctuated by the elite's scheming and cunning, electoral fraud, gimmicks and violence. Nigeria has had its fair share of insecurity from diverse sources such as banditry, insurgency, recurring violent religious crises, ethnic, resource and poverty-induced militancy, and crises occasioned by the clamour for self-determination. This has left the electoral management body in a quandary and has undoubtedly imperilled the administration of elections in Nigeria and equally accentuated the temerity for a holistic approach in reversing the trend and engendering the right atmosphere for the administration of elections. This study depends mainly on secondary sources and uses qualitative means in data analysis. It is revealed in this study that violence and various degrees of interruptions have taken the front burner in the democratisation process and are one of the dangerous dimensions in electoral administration; electoral politics remains one of the remarkable principal bases of clashes, political failure and social dislocation, Elections and their administration are some of the most complicated, time-sensitive activities undertaken by any country which will be exacerbated by insecurity. Democratic elections are successful when the electorate can make informed decisions; when faith in the process is sustained; when fraud is disincentivised, detected and punished. When insecurity is whittled down, mitigated or eradicated. The need for electoral security can never be overemphasised.

In this paper, I give readers an idea of what some scholars are interested in, what I found interesting, and what may be of future interest in the philosophy of emotion. I begin with a brief overview of the general topics of interests in the philosophy of emotion. I then discuss what I believe to be some of the most interesting topics in the contemporary discourse, including questions about how philosophy can inform the science of emotion, conceptions of the mind and the mind-body problem, concerns about perception, cognition, and emotion, along with questions about the place of 4E approaches and meta-semantic pluralist approaches in the embodied cognitive tradition. Finally, I discuss the emerging field of cultural evolution, the import of a dual-inheritance theory in this emerging field, and I propose a possible way to integrate the frameworks of dual-inheritance theory and meta-semantic pluralism to demonstrate at least one way in which the philosophy of emotion can contribute to the emerging field of cultural evolution.

In the present work we revise and extend the Characteristic Crystallographic Element (CCE) norm, an algorithm used to simultaneously detect radial and orientational similarity of computer-generated structures with respect to specific reference crystals and local symmetries. Based on the identification of point group symmetry elements, the CCE descriptor is able to gauge local structure with high precision and finely distinguish between competing morphologies. As test cases we use computer-generated monomeric and polymer systems of spherical particles interacting with the hard-sphere and square-well attractive potentials. We demonstrate that the CCE norm is able to detect and differentiate, between others, among: hexagonal close packed (HCP), face centered cubic (FCC), hexagonal (HEX) and body centered cubic (BCC) crystals as well as non-crystallographic fivefold (FIV) local symmetry in bulk 3-D systems; triangular (TRI), square (SQU) and honeycomb (HON) crystals, as well as pentagonal (PEN) local symmetry in thin films of one-layer thickness (2-D systems). The descriptor is general and can be applied to identify the symmetry elements of any point group for arbitrary atomic or particulate system in two or three dimensions, in the bulk or under confinement.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) has no cure. Earlier, we showed that partial inhibition of mitochondrial complex I (MCI) with small molecule CP2 induces adaptive stress response activating multiple neuroprotective mechanisms. Chronic treatment reduced inflammation, improved synaptic and mitochondrial functions, and blocked neurodegeneration in symptomatic APP/PS1 mice, a translational model of AD. Here, using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBFSEM) and three-dimensional (3D) EM reconstructions combined with Western blot analysis and next-generation RNA sequencing, we demonstrate that CP2 treatment also restores mitochondrial morphology and mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum (ER) communication in the APP/PS1 mouse brain. Using 3D EM volume reconstructions, we show that mitochondria in AD dendrites exist primarily as mitochondria-on-a-string (MOAS). Compared to other morphological phenotypes, MOAS are extensively enveloped in the ER membranes forming multiple mitochondria-ER contact sites (MERCS) known to contribute to abnormal lipid and calcium homeostasis. CP2 treatment specifically reduced MOAS formation, consistent with improved energy homeostasis in the brain, with concomitant reduction in MERCS, ER stress, and improved lipid homeostasis. These data provide novel information on the role MOAS play in AD and additional support for further development of partial MCI inhibitors as disease modifying strategy for AD.

Since the beginning of the mass immunization with COVID-19 vaccines of patients with multiple sclerosis, many data on the efficacy and safety of these vaccines have been produced. Considering that MS is an autoimmune disease whose pathology can be explained by an altered immune system and that some DMTs seem to be able to decrease the antibody response against COVID-19 vaccines, we carried out this retrospective study with the aim to evaluate the safety in terms of AEFIs occurrence and the antibody response after the third dose of COVID-19 vaccines in people with MS. Third doses were administered from October 2021 to January 2022. Two hundred and ten patients (64.8% female; mean age: 46 years) received the third dose of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine and were included in the study. The majority of patients (n=193) were diagnosed with RRMS and EDSS values were ≤3.0 in 72.4% of them. DMTs most commonly used by included patients were interferon Beta 1-a, dimethyl fumarate, natalizumab and fingolimod. Overall, 160 patients (68.8% female) experienced 294 AEFIs, of which about 90% were classified as short-term, while 9.2% were classified as long-term. The most commonly reported following the booster dose were pain at the injection site, flu-like symptoms, headache, fever and fatigue. Regarding the immune response, consistently with literature data, we found that patients receiving ocrelizumab and fingolimod had lower IgG titer than patients receiving other DMTs.

(1) Background: Reduced magnesium (Mg) levels may be associated with a faster de-cline in renal function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of serum and uri-nary Mg levels with body composition and inflammatory markers; (2) Methods: Lon-gitudinal study with patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing non-dialysis treatment in stages 3A, 3B and 4. Venous samples were collected after a 12-hour night fast. Body composition was evaluated by Double X-Ray Emission Absorptiometry and Air Displacement Plethysmog-raphy; (3) Results: The sample consisted of 134 patients. In the adjusted linear regression model, uric acid, percentage of lean mass and ali-mentar intake of Mg were positively associated with the sergic Mg. Triglyceride levels, WC and fat mass percentage were negatively associated with serum Mg. For the Mg urinal, in the adjusted model, the eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate), IL (interleukin 6), food intake of Mg and the percentage of lean mass showed a positive correlation.; (4) Conclusions: Serum Mg levels were positively associated with lean mass and negatively with total and central body fat and urinary Mg was positively associated with IL6 and lean mass.

In this work, we analytically describe a superconducting transition in a non-equilibrium state taking into account many-body interactions; the obtained transition temperatures indicate the presence of superconductivity at room temperatures.First, we consider many-body interactions and discuss the case of locally thermal equilibrium with many-body interactions; in this section, we derive statistical equations that describe many-body interactions at locally thermal equilibrium state. Then, the same theory is used to derive a many-body statistical equation that is expanded to include the case of non-equilibrium states; in this case a transition temperature is derived. Moreover, a wave function of an Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen pair (EPR pair) is calculated according to the Lorentz conservation, and a specific condensation is observed and the Meissner effect is found to be present.Furthermore, considering the Lorentz conservations, relativistic energy, and Boltzmann statistics, algorithms are presented to calculate charge density, current density, and internal local energy. We note that these calculations do not require a specific code but instead utilize the software Microsoft Excel.We present plots showing the charge density and current density vs. the applied electric potential, which demonstrate the practical applicability of the theory. Moreover, internal local energy was found to be close to zero for sufficiently large electric potentials at room temperature.In the discussion section, the universally induced superconducting current is derived, which can be employed as the renewable energy.This paper describes non-equilibrium and EPR-pair type superconductivity, with the complete consideration of many-body interactions.

This article aims to systematically review the available evidence concerning the relationship between basal metabolism (BM), body composition (BC), and physical activity (PA) with central obesity. The search strategy was carried out using Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, and SciELO following the PRISMA guidelines. The STROBE checklist and the Jadad scale for quality assessment were also used. A total of 1382 studies were initially identified being 25 publications eligible for systematic data extraction. Individual studies showed that adults with waist circumference (WC) above 88 cm in women and above 102 in men had a higher risk of metabolic alterations related to high absolute energy expenditure and less maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max). Participants with central obesity presented a high percentage of body fat (BF%) between 30.6% and 41.6%. Most of the PA intervention studies reported reductions in WC between 1.3 and 5.8 cm. In conclusion, there is a direct relationship between the components of BM with central obesity and a direct association between central obesity and BF%. PA is a protective factor that needs to be promoted to reduce WC and control central obesity as a public health problem. PROSPERO ID registration: CRD42021232917.

The present paper deals with an improvement of the strengthening technique consisting in the combined use of straps—made of stainless steel ribbons—and CFRP strips, to increase the out-of-plane strength of masonry walls. The straps of both the previous and the new combined technique pass from one face to the opposite face of the masonry wall through some holes made along the thickness, giving rise to a three-dimensional net of loop-shaped straps, closed on themselves. The new technique replaces the stainless steel ribbons with steel wire ropes, which form closed loops around the masonry units and the CFRP strips as in the previous technique. A turnbuckle for each steel wire rope allows the closure of the loops and provides the desired pre-tension to the straps. The mechanical coupling—given by the frictional forces—between the straps and the CFRP strips placed on the two faces of the masonry wall gives rise to an I-beam behavior of the facing CFRP strips, which begin to resist the load as if they were the two flanges of the same I-beam. Even the previous combined technique exploits the ideal I-beam mechanism, but the greater stiffness of the steel wire ropes compared to the stiffness of the steel ribbons makes the constraint between the facing CFRP strips stiffer. This gives the reinforced structural element greater stiffness and delamination load. In particular, the experimental results show that the maximum load achievable with the second combined technique is much greater than the maximum load provided by the CFRP strips. Even the ultimate displacement turns out to be increased, allowing us to state that the second combined technique improves both strength and ductility. Since the CFRP strips of the combined technique run along the vertical direction of the wall, the ideal I-beam mechanism is particularly useful to counteract the hammering actions provided by the floors on the perimeter walls, during an earthquake. Lastly, after the building went out of service, the box-type behavior offered by the three-dimensional net of straps prevents the building from collapsing, acting as a device for safeguarding life.

Congenital breast asymmetry represents a particular challenge to the classical techniques of plastic surgery due to a young group of patients. This study compares traditional breast augmentation using silicone implants to the more innovative lipograft technique regarding long-term results. To achieve this, we not only captured subjective parameters like satisfaction with outcome and symmetry, but also objective parameters such as breast volume and anthropometric measurements. Objective examination was performed manually and by using the Vectra® H2 photogrammetry scanning system. Patients who underwent implant augmentation and lipograft both showed no significant differences in patient´s satisfaction with surgical outcome (p = 0.55) and symmetry (p = 0.69). Furthermore, a breast symmetry of 93 % in both groups was reported. Likewise, no statistically significant volume difference between left and right breast was observed in both groups (p<0.41). However, on average, lipograft patients needed 1.3 procedures more until the desired result was achieved. In contrast, patients treated with implant-based breast augmentation usually need several implant changes during their life. In conclusion, both methods should be considered for patients with congenital breast asymmetry.

The part of this article dealing with topological insulators and topological superconductors was first written about two years ago - the ideas in the part about the topological universe originated six years ago or more. It’s rather strange that I never put the two parts together in writing before. My belief in unification is unshakeable - I’ve been convinced for years that the universe must be composed of topology. Since Earth is part of the cosmos, entanglement means it must have topological materials. The reverse is also true: topological materials on Earth are well known to science - so in a unification, space and time inevitably possess topological composition. Topological materials (topological insulators, topological superconductors) can be less mystifying if they’re related to the paradigm-shifting deterministic view of quantum mechanics which is described in the universal topology (the “rubber-sheet geometry” of the cosmos): see my previous submission “Hypothesis of Quantum Gravity - Resulting from a Static, Topological Universe Resulting from the Positives and Negatives of the Steady State and Big Bang Theories" at https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202105.0239/v1 (the first section of this present article is a quick summary of the relevant parts).

The lordosis of the haemal part of the vertebral column is a frequent abnormality in reared fish. Haemal lordosis develops during the late larval and early juvenile period, mainly due to the high swimming activity of the fish in the rearing tanks. In the present study we examined whether haemal lordosis recovers during the growth of European sea bass. Furthermore, we aimed to develop simple morphometric indices (PrAn1 and PrAn2) that could link the severity of lordosis at the juvenile stage with fish morphological quality at harvesting. At 111 days post-hatching (dph, 53±4 mm standard length, SL), 600 seabass juveniles with lordotic (L, 200 fish) or normal (N, 400 fish) external morphology were selected and introduced in a common tank. At 150 dph (75±7 mm SL), 350 fish were randomly selected, pit-tagged and transferred in a sea cage for on-growing up to 502 dph (234±16 mm SL). The morphological examination of the fish at 150 and 502 dph revealed that the 60% (46 out of 77) of L juveniles turned into normal phenotype by the end of on-growing period. Interestingly, 56% of the fish with recovered external morphology (N-Rec) presented either a completely normal vertebral column (31%) or minor abnormalities of individual vertebrae (25%). Following the results of geometric morphometric analysis, the differences in the body shape between N-Rec and N fish were not significant (p&gt;0.05, canonical variate analysis). The examined morphometric indices were effective in discriminating the normal fish from the 58% (PrAn1) to 65% (PrAn2) of lordotic juveniles. Results are discussed with respect to the mechanism of lordosis recovery, as well as to their application for the quality control and cull out of the abnormal fish in the commercial hatcheries.

In order to enhance the gain of antenna suitable for the airplane mounted platform, a conformal tightly coupled antenna array is investigated in this paper. Especially, three-dimensional (3-D) inkjet printing technique is used to implement the conformal property. The printing of antenna substrate and radiation layer is implemented by combining the fused deposition modelling and microdroplet injection molding technologies based on the existing 3-D printer. Here, through a unique combination of 3-D and 2-D inkjet printing of dielectric material and metallic ink, respectively, we demonstrate a monolithically integrated to a nonplanar antenna for the first time. Antenna measurements show that the complete characterization of this new process in terms of minimum feature sizes and achievable conductivities. This antenna configuration offers a high-gain performance with low-cost and rapid fabrication technique by using 3-D printing. The voltage standing wave ratio and radiation patterns are tested after adding the newly designed feed structure. Results shown the design process much efficient. Both antenna element and the array with good properties, which are in very good agreement with the specially mounted platform.

Three body systems in which one of the bodies is ejected without escaping the binary system have previously been studied in various restricted forms. However, none of these studies dwells on the problem in a general setting. Thus, to study this phenomenon qualitatively, we try to expand this problem's scope to unequal mass systems and generalize them by considering various configurations of fixed initial points with precisely calculated initial velocities, some zero velocity models and some optimized models. We will see the use of terminology similar to the previous studies done in this domain but incorporate different analytical and evaluation methods.

This paper presents the experimental implementations of the mathematical models and algorithms developed in Part I. Two experiments are carried out. The first experiment aims at the determinations of the correction coefficients of the mathematical model. The dot grid target is measured and the measurement data are processed by our developed and validated algorithms introduced in Part I. The values of the coefficients are indicated and analysed. Uncertainties are evaluated with implementation of the Monte Carlo method. The second experiment measures a different area of the dot grid target. The measurement results are corrected according to the coefficients determined in the first experiment. The mean residual between the measured points and their corresponding certified values reduced 29.6% after the correction. The sum of squared errors reduced 47.7%. The methods and the algorithms for raw data processing, such as data partition, fittings of dots’ centres, K-means clustering, etc., are the same for both two experiments. The experimental results demonstrate that our method for the correction of the errors produced by the movement of lateral stage of confocal microscope is meaningful and practicable.

Introduction: Body size is correlated with many aspects of an animal species' natural history, such as life span, abundance, dispersal capacity and diet breadth. However, contrasting trends have been reported for the relationship between body size and these ecological traits. Methods: Butterfly species from fruit-feeding guilds were used to investigate whether body size correlates with species abundances, dispersal, permanence, and diet breadth in a Neotropical savanna in Brazil (Cerrado). We used Blomberg’s K and Phylogenetic Generalized Least Squares models (PGLS) to measure phylogenetic signal strength in species traits, and to estimate size-dispersal-diet breadth associations while taking shared ancestry into account. Results: 539 individuals from 27 species were captured, and 190 individuals were recaptured, representing a 35% recapture rate. We found that body size negatively influenced butterfly abundance. In contrast, body size was positively associated with dispersal levels, distance traveled, number of traps visited, individual permanence, and diet breadth. These results indicate that larger butterflies have a greater proportion of dispersing individuals over longer distances, as they permanence were detected over longer periods than their smaller relatives. Moreover, larger butterflies are more generalized, based on the number of host plant families and genera they consume. Smaller butterflies demand fewer resources, which is reflected in their higher survival in small patches, and may explain their lower dispersal ability, and higher diet specialization. Nevertheless, lower dispersal ability, if not compensated by large population sizes, may threaten small-bodied species inhabiting environments with intense deforestation rates, such as the Cerrado. Conclusions: Body size positively influences dispersal and diet breadth in the fruit-feeding butterflies collected in this study.

The paper is a kind of a small guide book through the textures and structures of river deposits in valleys. It presents principles of the flument systems with morphological river terraces and fluments (terrace bodies), different stages of the morphological terraces, structure of the flument, texture of terrace flights, terrace stacks and terrace rows. Special topics deal with flument overlaps and insight into the valley ground.