Factors associated with walking, moderate and vigorous physical activities in adolescents

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between a set of variables (adolescents' gender, age, economic level, nutritional status, and fathers' educational level) and physical activity practices. The sample consisted of 578 students from a public school, aged between 11 and 16 years. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, version 8, short form) was applied in order to measure their physical activity practices. Chi-square, independent t test and one-way ANOVA were implemented. Thirteen percent of adolescents were physically inactive and no significant difference was found between gender (p > .05). Compared to boys, girls spent more time in walking (p = .019) and vigorous activities (p = .017). Adolescents aged 14-16 years spent more time in walking compared with those aged 11-12 years (p = .026) and 13-year-olds (p = .006). There was a positive association between economic level and time spent in moderate physical activity (p = .034)

Entanglement transformation at absorbing and amplifying four-port devices

Dielectric four-port devices play an important role in optical quantum information processing. Since for causality reasons the permittivity is a complex function of frequency, dielectrics are typical examples of noisy quantum channels, which cannot preserve quantum coherence. To study the effects of quantum decoherence, we start from the quantized electromagnetic field in an arbitrary Kramers--Kronig dielectric of given complex permittivity and construct the transformation relating the output quantum state to the input quantum state, without placing restrictions on the frequency. We apply the formalism to some typical examples in quantum communication. In particular we show that for entangled qubits the Bell-basis states $|\Psi^\pm>$ are more robust against decoherence than the states $|\Phi^\pm>$.Comment: 12 pages, revtex, 10 eps figures, minor corrections in Appendi

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Isolation of Salmonella enterica in opossum (Didelphis aurita and Didelphis albiventris) of the São Paulo State, Brazil

No Brasil, não há relato de estudos de Salmonella em gambás, sendo assim, este trabalho tem por objetivo determinar a frequência de isolamento de Salmonella enterica em gambás (D. aurita e D. albiventris) no Estado de São Paulo. No período de janeiro de 2005 a dezembro de 2006, foram necropsiados 106 D. aurita e 40 D. albiventris e colhidos fragmentos de intestinos delgado, grosso e suabe da cloaca. As amostras foram plaqueadas diretamente em ágar Mac Conkey, paralelamente suspendidas nos caldos Rappaport-Vassiliadis e Tetrationato e posteriormente plaqueados em ágar XLT4. As colônias sugestivas de Salmonella foram confirmadas através de provas bioquímicas e sorotipagem. Encontrou-se Salmonella enterica em 17,0% (18/106) dos D. aurita. Destes, 50% apresentaram positividade no intestino delgado (ID), 88,9% no intestino grosso (IG) e 66,7% na cloaca. Da espécie S. enterica, as subespécies encontradas foram: diarizonae (11,1%) houtenae e enterica (5,5% cada um); enquanto da subespécie S. enterica enterica os sorotipos foram Newport (83,3%), Typhimurium e Cerro (5,5% cada um). Nos D. albiventris, 17,5% (7/40) eram positivos, sendo que se encontraram 42,8% no ID, 85,7% no IG e 71,4% na cloaca. O sorotipo mais prevalente também foi Newport (71,4%), seguido por Typhimurium, Bareilly e Thompson (14,3% cada um). Através dos resultados obtidos neste estudo pode-se comprovar a presença de Salmonella enterica no trato intestinal de gambás no Brasil.In Brazil there is not report of Salmonella in opossum, so then, the objective of this study is to determine the isolation frequency of Salmonella enterica in opossum in São Paulo State, Brazil. From January 2005 to December 2006, 106 D. aurita and 40 D. albiventris were necropsied and samples from small and large intestine and cloacal swab were collected. These samples were submitted to direct plating in Mac Conkey agar and parallel suspension in Rappaport-Vassiliadis and Tetrationate broths with posterior streaking in XLT4 agar. The characterization of the isolates was done through biochemical tests and serotyping. Salmonella enterica was found in 17.0% (18/106) of the D. aurita; 50% presented the bacteria in the small intestine (SI), 88.9% in the large intestine (LI) and 66.7% in the cloaca. Of the S. enterica were found the subspecies: diarizonae (11.1%), enterica and houtenae (5.5% each); and the serotypes of the S. enterica enterica were Newport (83.3%), Typhimurium and Cerro (5.5% each). In the D. albiventris 17.5% (7/40) were positive; 42.8% in the SI, 85.7% in the LI and 71.4% in the cloaca. Newport (71.4%) was also the most frequent serotype and the second were Typhimurium, Bareilly and Thompson (14.3% each). The presence of Salmonella enterica in the intestines of opossums in Brazil was proved

New Alloying Systems for Sintered Steels: Critical Aspects of Sintering Behavior

Oxygen-sensitive alloying elements such as Mn, Si, and Cr have a high potential for improving the properties of low alloyed sintered steels while reducing the alloying cost. However, it is necessary to find a way for avoiding, or at least minimizing, the oxidation of these elements especially during the early stages of the sintering cycle. In this study Mn, Si, and Cr were introduced in the form of a master alloy powder designed to be mixed with the iron base powder and provide the final composition of the steel during the sintering process. The reduction/oxidation phenomena taking place during the heating stage were studied by thermogravimetry, dilatometry, and mass spectroscopy, using either reducing (H2) or inert (Ar) atmospheres. The results show how the difference in chemical activity between base iron powder and master alloy causes the so called "internal-getter" effect, by which the reduction of less stable iron oxides leads to oxidation of the elements with higher affinity for oxygen. This effect can be somehow minimized when sintering in H2, since the iron oxides are reduced at lower temperatures at which the reactivity of the elements in the master alloy is lower. However, H2 concentration in the processing atmosphere needs to be carefully adapted to the specific composition of the materials being processed in order to minimize decarburization by methane formation during sintering.Höganäs AB Sweden, financial support provided through the Höganäs Chair IVPublicad

Effects of proteolytic digestion on the cyanotoxins microcystin-LR and cylindrospermopsin: the importance in integrating the bioaccessibility in human health risk assessment

The occurrence and proliferation of toxic cyanobacterial blooms are an emergent environmental concern worldwide. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), a potent hepatotoxin, is the most documented and studied cyanotoxin. The cytotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) has been recognized of increased concern due to the invasive nature of its main producer, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. Previous studies have shown that edible aquatic organisms, especially bivalves, can accumulate high levels of these cyanotoxins. MC-LR and CYN are stable at a wide range of temperatures and pHs, thus the knowledge of the influence of human digestion on its concentration in food is required to achieve a more accurate health risk assessment. The aim of this study was to assess the MC-LR and CYN bioaccessibility in edible bivalves. Clams (C. fluminea) fed MC-LR-producing M. aeruginosa and mussels (M. galloprovincialis) fed CYN-producing C. raciborskii were subjected to an in vitro digestion model adapted from Maulvault et al. (2011) and Versantvoort et al. (2005). Bioaccessibility of MC-LR and CYN were then assessed by LC-MS/MS. The bioaccessibility of MC-LR after proteolytic digestion was reduced to 83%, potentially because of its degradation by pancreatic enzymes. The in vitro digestion with salivary and gastrointestinal juices considerably decreased the CYN availability in uncooked and steamed mussels. Our results suggest that risk assessment based on MC-LR and CYN concentration in raw products might not be representative of true human exposure, once bioaccessibility strongly reduces the potential toxicological risks. Thus, the incorporation of the bioaccessibility of these cyanotoxins in the human exposure estimation would be of particular relevance to the application of more forceful management measures.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Measurement-induced nonlinearity in linear optics

Published versio

Completely monotone outer approximations of lower probabilities on finite possibility spaces

Drawing inferences from general lower probabilities on finite possibility spaces usually involves solving linear programming problems. For some applications this may be too computationally demanding. Some special classes of lower probabilities allow for using computationally less demanding techniques. One such class is formed by the completely monotone lower probabilities, for which inferences can be drawn efficiently once their Möbius transform has been calculated. One option is therefore to draw approximate inferences by using a completely monotone approximation to a general lower probability; this must be an outer approximation to avoid drawing inferences that are not implied by the approximated lower probability. In this paper, we discuss existing and new algorithms for performing this approximation, discuss their relative strengths and weaknesses, and illustrate how each one works and performs

Solid-liquid phase equilibrium of trans-cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid in water and organic solvents: Experimental and modelling studies

The solubility of the trans isomers of cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid was measured in water and seven organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 2-butanone, ethyl acetate and acetonitrile), at 298.2 K and 313.2 K, using the analytical shake-flask technique. The melting temperatures and enthalpies of the solutes were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, while solute solid structures were identified by powder and single X-ray diffraction. The NRTL-SAC model was applied to calculate the solubility of trans-cinnamic acid and trans-ferulic acid in pure solvents. For trans-p-coumaric acid, the NRTL-SAC was combined with the Reference Solvent Approach, as the solute melting properties could not be determined. The global average relative deviations (ARD) were 32% and 41%, in the correlation and prediction stages, respectively. The Abraham solvation model was also applied. The global ARD were 20% for correlation and 29% for predictions, which can be considered very satisfactory results for these semi-predictive models.This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020 & UIDP/ 50011/2020, and CIMO-Mountain Research Center, UIDB/00690/ 2020, both financed by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology/MCTES. We also acknowledge the support of the projects “AIProcMat@N2020 - Advanced Industrial Processes and Materials for a Sustainable Northern Region of Portugal 2020”, with the reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER- 000006, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); and project AllNat - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030463, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Program (COMPETE2020-POCI) and national funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal). S. M. Vilas-Boas thanks the financial support provided by FCT PhD grant (SFRH/BD/138149/ 2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Potential alternative feed sources for ruminant feeding from the biodiesel production chain by-products

This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition, fractionation of nitrogen compounds and carbohydrates, digestibility parameters, gas production kinetics and ruminal fermentation of fruit seed cakes. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three fruit seed cakes (treatments) and four replications. The cakes were made of seeds of custard apple (Annona squamosa), soursop (Annona muricata) and passion fruit (Passiflora edulis), which were collected in a biodiesel plant. The passion fruit seed cake presented the highest content of dry matter, neutral detergent fibre crude protein (NDFcp), acid detergent fibre (ADF), lignin and total carbohydrates (P<0.05). The custard apple seed cake presented high proportions of crude protein, condensed tannins and digestible energy (P<0.05). The soursop seed cake presented higher values for ether extract and total digestible nutrients (P<0.05). For potential degradability, the authors detected a difference between the custard apple, soursop and passion fruit seed cakes. The total volume of gases was higher for custard apple and soursop seed cakes. Custard apple seed cake presented higher proportions of in vitro degradation parameters (P<0.05). Thus this cake could provide greater nutrient levels when supplied in ruminant diets, followed by soursop seed cake and passion fruit seed cake. Keywords: alternative food, by-products, ruminant feeding, seed cake, semi-ari