Precision of 1-RM prediction equations in non-competitive subjects performing strength training

The purpose of this study was to assess the precision of the 1-RM prediction equations proposed by Adams (1994), Baechle and Groves (2000), Brzycki (1993), Epley (1985), Lander (1985) and O’Conner et al. (1989) for strength assessment in fitness programs. Thirty one healthy regular strength training male practitioners (mean ± SD: 21.8 ± 4.0 years of age; 75.9 ± 8.4 kg of weight; and 178.1 ± 6.4 cm of height) performed two tests on the bench press exercise: (a) maximum test - determination of the 1-RM load; and (b) submaximum test - determination of the load matching 4 to 10 maximum repetitions. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) found no significant difference (p > .05) between maximum load determination through prediction equations or through the 1-RM test. The coefficient of determination (r2) varied from .94 to .96. The prediction equations had small standard error of estimate (2.7 to 3.2 kg). Results indicate that the 1-RM prediction equations could be used to determine the maximum load at the bench press exercise in subjects with low strength training experience

Repeatability and reproducibility of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging of the liver

As the burden of liver disease reaches epidemic levels, there is a high unmet medical need to develop robust, accurate and reproducible non-invasive methods to quantify liver tissue characteristics for use in clinical development and ultimately in clinical practice. This prospective cross-sectional study systematically examines the repeatability and reproducibility of iron-corrected T1 (cT1), T2*, and hepatic proton density fat fraction (PDFF) quantification with multiparametric MRI across different field strengths, scanner manufacturers and models. 61 adult participants with mixed liver disease aetiology and those without any history of liver disease underwent multiparametric MRI on combinations of 5 scanner models from two manufacturers (Siemens and Philips) at different field strengths (1.5T and 3T). We report high repeatability and reproducibility across different field strengths, manufacturers, and scanner models in standardized cT1 (repeatability CoV: 1.7%, bias -7.5ms, 95% LoA of -53.6 ms to 38.5 ms; reproducibility CoV 3.3%, bias 6.5 ms, 95% LoA of -76.3 to 89.2 ms) and T2* (repeatability CoV: 5.5%, bias -0.18 ms, 95% LoA -5.41 to 5.05 ms; reproducibility CoV 6.6%, bias -1.7 ms, 95% LoA -6.61 to 3.15 ms) in human measurements. PDFF repeatability (0.8%) and reproducibility (0.75%) coefficients showed high precision of this metric. Similar precision was observed in phantom measurements. Inspection of the ICC model indicated that most of the variance in cT1 could be accounted for by study participants (ICC = 0.91), with minimal contribution from technical differences. We demonstrate that multiparametric MRI is a non-invasive, repeatable and reproducible method for quantifying liver tissue characteristics across manufacturers (Philips and Siemens) and field strengths (1.5T and 3T)

Fitomassa de adubos verdes e controle de plantas daninhas em diferentes densidades populacionias de leguminosas.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a fitomassa de calopogônio, mucuna-preta, mucunarajada,feijão-de-porco, guandu de porte alto, Crotalaria spectabilis e C. breviflora sob diferentes densidades de semeadura (10, 20, 40, 80 e 160 sementes viáveis m-2), e o crescimento de plantas daninhas nessas densidades, em área de tabuleiros costeiros. O experimento foi desenvolvido de maio a agosto de 1996, no Campo Experimental “Antônio Martins”(EMDAGRO/Embrapa-CPATC), em Lagarto, SE. O número de plantas vivas na floração (NPVF) e a matéria seca da parte aérea das leguminosas (MSPA) foram determinados quando, em cada espécie, cerca de 50% das plantas floresceram. Maiores incrementos de MSPA, em resposta ao adensamento populacional, foram observados em C. spectabilis e C. breviflora, seguidas pelo calopogônio, mucuna-preta e mucuna-rajada. Em relação ao feijão-de-porco, a resposta foi negativa, enquanto com o guandu não houve influência. Quanto ao NPVF, as respostas ao adensamento foram lineares e positivas em C. spectabilis, C. breviflora e calopogônio, e quadráticas com ponto de máxima em feijão-de-porco,guandu e mucuna-rajada. Embora nenhum modelo tenha sido ajustado para expressar a relação entre NPVF e adensamento na semeadura de mucuna-preta, a sobrevivência dessa espécie foi reduzida em todas as densidades. Maiores inibições de plantas daninhas ocorreram nas parcelas de mucuna-preta e feijão-de-porco

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a measurement of D*+/- meson production in jets from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is based on a data sample recorded with the ATLAS detector with an integrated luminosity of 0.30 pb^-1 for jets with transverse momentum between 25 and 70 GeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta| < 2.5. D*+/- mesons found in jets are fully reconstructed in the decay chain: D*+ -> D0pi+, D0 -> K-pi+, and its charge conjugate. The production rate is found to be N(D*+/-)/N(jet) = 0.025 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for D*+/- mesons that carry a fraction z of the jet momentum in the range 0.3 < z < 1. Monte Carlo predictions fail to describe the data at small values of z, and this is most marked at low jet transverse momentum.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (22 pages total), 5 figures, 1 table, matches published version in Physical Review

Effect of sodium and nitrogen on yield function of irrigated maize in Southern Portugal

Salinization and nitrate leaching are two of the leading threats to the environment of the European Mediterranean regions. Inefficient use of water and fertilizers has led to a nitrate increase in the aquifers and reduction in crop yields caused by salts. In this study, a triple emitter source irrigation system delivers water, salt (Na+), and fertilizer (N) applications to maize (Zea mays L.). The objective of the study was to evaluate the combined effect of saline water and nitrogen application on crop yields in two different textured soils of Alentejo (Portugal) and to assess if increasing salinity levels of the irrigation water can be compensated by application of nitrogen while still obtaining acceptable crop yield. Maximum yield was obtained from both soils with an application of 13 g m−2 of nitrogen. Yield response to Na+ application was different in the two studied soils and depended on the total amount of Na+ or irrigation water applied. No significant interaction was found between nitrogen and sodium, but a positive effect on maize yield was observed in the medium textured soil for amounts of Na+ less than 905 g m−2 when applied in the irrigation water

Strategies to Improve the Targeting of Retinal Cells by Non-Viral Gene Therapy Vectors

Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the financial support of Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia (PTDC/BTM/ORG/28121/2017 and EXPL/BTM-ORG/0500/2021 to GS). iNOVA4Health\u2014UID/Multi/04462/2020, a program financially supported by Funda\u00E7\u00E3o para a Ci\u00EAncia e Tecnologia/Minist\u00E9rio da Educa\u00E7\u00E3o e Ci\u00EAncia, through national funds and co-funded by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement is also acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Bitoque, Fernandes, Oliveira and Silva.Retinal diseases lead to severe vision loss and are currently a major cause of vision impairment in industrialized countries. The significant number of genetic defects of the retina underlying these disorders, coupled to the absence of effective treatments, require new therapeutic solutions. Recent gene therapy developments in the field of ophthalmic research reveal the great potential of this approach. In recent years, non-viral vectors have been extensively studied due to their properties such as large gene packaging capacity and low immunogenicity. Hitherto, their development and optimisation for retinal gene therapy have been hindered by their inability to directly target retinal cells. The goal of this review is to summarize the most promising strategies to direct non-viral vectors for retinal cells to avoid off-target effects and promote their specific uptake, gene expression and overall efficiency.publishersversionpublishe

EFEITOS DA DISTRIBUIÇÃO DE BACCHARIS DRACUNCULIFOLIA (ASTERACEAE) NA ABUNDÂNCIA E NO PARASITISMO DE GALHAS DE NEOPELMA BACCHARIDIS (HOMOPTERA: PSYLLIDAE)

No sistema Baccharis dracunculifolia/ Neopelma baccharidis, os efeitos dos aspectos populacionais da planta hospedeira na abundância das galhas e seus parasitóides ainda são pobremente estudados. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os efeitos da densidade populacional de B. dracunculifolia no ataque e no parasitismo do galhador N. baccharidis. Neste sentido, quatro populações da planta hospedeira, localizadas na Serra do Cipó, foram escolhidas aleatoriamente. Em cada uma destas populações foram selecionadas, aleatoriamente, 20 plantas, sendo que a densidade das plantas foi estimada contando-se o número vizinhos existentes em um raio de três metros das plantas selecionadas. A abundância de galhas não variou entre as populações que estavam colonizadas pelo herbívoro (F = 1,389, p = 0,260, n = 46). Além disto, a taxa de ataque do galhador também não foi afetada pela densidade da planta hospedeira (r2 = 0,026, p = 0,282, n = 45). O parasitismo das galhas de N. baccharidis não mostrou relação com a densidade de plantas (r2 = 0,094, p = 0,069, n = 36), mas foi afetada pela densidade de galhas por planta (r2 = 0,387, p = 0,001, n = 36). Portando, estes resultados sugerem que outros fatores tais como a dinâmica entre a colonização e a extinção da planta hospedeira e do galhador são mais importantes que a densidade populacional da planta ou o ataque de parasitóides na dinâmica populacional de N. baccaridis

Nail lacquer films’ surface energies and in vitro water-resistance and adhesion do not predict their in vivo residence

The in vivo residence of nail lacquers (which are ideal topical drug carriers for the treatment of nail diseases) determines their frequency of application, and is thereby expected to influence patient adherence and success of treatment. Thus in vitro measurements to indicate lacquers’ in vivo residence are routinely conducted during formulation development. However the literature on in vitro-in vivo correlations is severely limited. Thus, the aim of the work discussed in this paper was to investigate correlations between in vivo residence and in vitro film resistance to water, in vitro film adhesion and surface energy of lacquer films. In vivo measurements were conducted on fingernails in six volunteers. Seven commercially available nail lacquers were tested in commonly-used measurements. Correlations between in vivo residence and in vitro water resistance and adhesion were found to be extremely poor. The surface energies of the lacquer films (which were between 33 and 39 mJ/m2) were also not predictive of in vivo residence. High density polyethylene (HDPE) sheet – whose surface energy was determined to be similar to that of the human nailplate – was found to be a suitable model for the nailplate (when investigating surface energy) and was used in a number of experiments

Search for supersymmetry in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum and one isolated lepton in sqrt{s} = 7 TeV pp collisions using 1 fb-1 of ATLAS data

We present an update of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing jets, missing transverse momentum, and one isolated electron or muon, using 1.04 fb^-1 of proton-proton collision data at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in the first half of 2011. The analysis is carried out in four distinct signal regions with either three or four jets and variations on the (missing) transverse momentum cuts, resulting in optimized limits for various supersymmetry models. No excess above the standard model background expectation is observed. Limits are set on the visible cross-section of new physics within the kinematic requirements of the search. The results are interpreted as limits on the parameters of the minimal supergravity framework, limits on cross-sections of simplified models with specific squark and gluino decay modes, and limits on parameters of a model with bilinear R-parity violation.Comment: 18 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 9 figures, 4 tables, final version to appear in Physical Review