940 research outputs found
Muscle mass to visceral fat ratio is an important predictor of the metabolic syndrome in college students
This study aimed to evaluate the associations between the muscle mass to visceral fat (MVF) ratio and cardiometabolic risk factors in a large population of college students in Colombia and to propose cut-off points of this index for the metabolic syndrome (MetS). A total of 1464 young adults recruited from the FUPRECOL (Asociación de la Fuerza Prensil con Manifestaciones Tempranas de Riesgo Cardiovascular en Jóvenes y Adultos Colombianos) study were categorised into four groups based on their MVF ratio. Muscle mass and visceral fat level of the participants were measured using a bioelectrical impedance analysis. Cardiometabolic risk factors including lifestyle characteristics, anthropometry, blood pressure and biochemical parameters were assessed. The prevalence of moderate to severe obesity, hypertension and the MetS was higher in subjects in quartile (Q)1 (lower MVF ratio) (P less than 0·001). ANCOVA revealed that the subjects in Q1 had higher cardiometabolic disturbances, including altered anthropometry, blood pressure, muscle strength and biochemical parameters after adjusting for age and sex compared with young adults in higher MVF ratio quartiles (P less than 0·001). Muscular mass and physical activity levels were significantly lower in subjects with a lower MVF ratio (P less than 0·001). The receiver operating characteristic curve analyses indicated that in men the best MVF ratio cut-off point for detecting the MetS was 18·0 (AUC 0·83, sensitivity 78 % and specificity 77 %) and for women, the MVF ratio cut-off point was 13·7 (AUC 0·85, sensitivity 76 % and specificity 87 %). A lower MVF ratio is associated with a higher risk cardiometabolic profile in early adulthood, supporting that the MVF ratio could be used as a complementary screening tool that may help clinicians identify young adults at high cardiometabolic risk. © The Authors 2018
Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight
From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions
A step-up converter with large voltage gain and low voltage rating on capacitors
Step-up converters are widely used in many applications, such as renewable energy generation with photovoltaic panels and fuel cell stacks. In many cases, the required voltage gain is larger for those applications than a traditional boost converter can achieve. Several large-voltage gain converters have been recently studied. This paper introduces a converter topology in which the voltage gain is larger than a traditional boost converter. The main advantages of the proposed topology are: (i) it provides a large voltage gain without the use of an extreme duty cycle; (ii) its capacitors require a smaller voltage to be sustained compared with other, similar state-of-the-art converters; (iii) the voltage among the ground input and output is not pulsating; and (iv) it can be synthesized with commercial, off-the-shelf half-bridge packed transistors. The proposed converter can be employed in different applications, such as distributed generation and microgrids. This paper presents the steady-state analysis of the proposed converter in the continuous conduction mode, a short comparison with similar topologies, and their voltage on capacitors. Computer-based simulation results are provided to verify the principle of the proposed converter in different operating conditions
Search for and Using Genetic Programming Event Selection
We apply a genetic programming technique to search for the double Cabibbo
suppressed decays and .
We normalize these decays to their Cabibbo favored partners and find
\Lambda_c^+ \to p K^+ \pi^-\Lambda_c^+ \to p K^-
\pi^+ and D_s^+ \to K^+ K^+
\pi^-D_s^+ \to K^+ K^- \pi^+ where
the first errors are statistical and the second are systematic. Expressed as
90% confidence levels (CL), we find and respectively.
This is the first successful use of genetic programming in a high energy
physics data analysis.Comment: 10 page
A Non-parametric Approach to the D+ to K*0bar mu+ nu Form Factors
Using a large sample of D+ -> K- pi+ mu+ nu decays collected by the FOCUS
photoproduction experiment at Fermilab, we present the first measurements of
the helicity basis form factors free from the assumption of spectroscopic pole
dominance. We also present the first information on the form factor that
controls the s-wave interference discussed in a previous paper by the FOCUS
collaboration. We find reasonable agreement with the usual assumption of
spectroscopic pole dominance and measured form factor ratios.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, and 2 tables. We updated the previous version by
changing some words, removing one plot, and adding two tables. These changes
are mostly stylisti
Measurement of the branching ratio of the decay D^0 -> \pi^-\mu^+\nu relative to D^0 -> K^-\mu^+\nu
We present a new measurement of the branching ratio of the Cabibbo suppressed
decay D^0\to \pi^-\mu^+\nu relative to the Cabibbo favored decay D^0\to
K^-\mu^+\nu and an improved measurement of the ratio
|\frac{f_+^{\pi}(0)}{f_+^{K}(0)}|. Our results are 0.074 \pm 0.008 \pm 0.007
for the branching ratio and 0.85 \pm 0.04 \pm 0.04 \pm 0.01 for the form factor
ratio, respectively.Comment: 13pages, 3 figure
Study of the D^0 \to pi^-pi^+pi^-pi^+ decay
Using data from the FOCUS (E831) experiment at Fermilab, we present new
measurements for the Cabibbo-suppressed decay mode . We measure the branching ratio .
An amplitude analysis has been performed, a first for this channel, in order to
determine the resonant substructure of this decay mode. The dominant component
is the decay , accounting for 60% of the decay rate.
The second most dominant contribution comes from the decay , with a fraction of 25%. We also study the
line shape and resonant substructure. Using the helicity formalism for the
angular distribution of the decay , we measure
a longitudinal polarization of %.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figures. accepted for publication in Physical Review
Study of the decay asymmetry parameter and CP violation parameter in the Lambdac+ --> Lambda pi+ decay
Using data from the FOCUS (E831) experiment at Fermilab, we present a new
measurement of the weak decay-asymmetry parameter alpha(Lambdac) in Lambdac -->
Lambda pi decay. Comparing particle with antiparticle decays, we obtain the
first measurement of the CP violation parameter : A =
[alpha(Lambdac)+alpha(antiLambda_c)]/[alpha(Lambdac)-alpha(antiLambda_c)]. We
obtain alpha(Lambdac)=-0.78+-0.16+-0.13 and A = -0.07+-0.19+-0.12 where errors
are statistical and systematic.Comment: 18 pages, to be submitted to Phys. Lett. B For a list of the FOCUS
collaboration, see http://www-focus.fnal.gov/authors.htm
Application of Genetic Programming to High Energy Physics Event Selection
We review genetic programming principles, their application to FOCUS data
samples, and use the method to study the doubly Cabibbo suppressed decay D+ ->
K+ pi+ pi- relative to its Cabibbo favored counterpart, D+ -> K- pi+ pi+. We
find that this technique is able to improve upon more traditional analysis
methods. To our knowledge, this is the first application of the genetic
programming technique to High Energy Physics data.Comment: 39 page
Search for T Violation in Charm Meson Decays
Using data from the FOCUS (E831) experiment, we have searched for T violation
in charm meson decays using the four-body decay channels , , and . The T violation asymmetry is obtained using triple-product
correlations and assuming the validity of the CPT theorem. We find the
asymmetry values to be
,
, and
.
Each measurement is consistent with no T violation. New measurements of the
CP asymmetries for some of these decay modes are also presented.Comment: 17 pages,6 figures,submitted to Phys.Lett.
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