5,076 research outputs found
Is altitude training an efficient treatment for obesity?
Worldwide, about half the adult population is considered overweight as defined by a body mass index (BMI - calculated by body weight divided by height squared) ratio in excess of 25 kg.m-2. Of these individuals, half are clinically obese (with a BMI in excess of 30) and these numbers are still increasing, notably in developing countries such as those of the Middle East region. Obesity is a disorder characterised by increased mass of adipose tissue (excessive fat accumulation) that is the result of a systemic imbalance between food intake and energy expenditure.
Although factors such as family history, sedentary lifestyle, urbanisation, income and family diet patterns determine obesity prevalence, the main underlying causes are poor knowledge about food choice and lack of physical activity3. Current obesity treatments include dietary restriction, pharmacological interventions and ultimately, bariatric surgery. The beneficial effects of physical activity on weight loss through increased energy expenditure and appetite modulation are also firmly established. Another viable option to induce a negative energy balance, is to incorporate hypoxia per se or combine it with exercise in an individual's daily schedule.
This article will present recent evidence suggesting that combining hypoxic exposure and exercise training might provide a cost-effective strategy for reducing body weight and improving cardio-metabolic health in obese individuals. The efficacy of this approach is further reinforced by epidemiological studies using large-scale databases, which evidence a negative relationship between altitude of habitation and obesity. In the United States, for instance, obesity prevalence is inversely associated with altitude of residence and urbanisation, after adjusting for temperature, diet, physical activity, smoking and demographic factors
Near-field properties of plasmonic nanostructures with high aspect ratio
Using the Green's dyad technique based on cuboidal meshing, we compute the
electromagnetic field scattered by metal nanorods with high aspect ratio. We
investigate the effect of the meshing shape on the numerical simulations. We
observe that discretizing the object with cells with aspect ratios similar to
the object's aspect ratio improves the computations, without degrading the
convergency. We also compare our numerical simulations to finite element method
and discuss further possible improvements
Polarization state of the optical near-field
The polarization state of the optical electromagnetic field lying several
nanometers above complex dielectric structures reveals the intricate
light-matter interaction that occurs in this near-field zone. This information
can only be extracted from an analysis of the polarization state of the
detected light in the near-field. These polarization states can be calculated
by different numerical methods well-suited to near--field optics. In this
paper, we apply two different techniques (Localized Green Function Method and
Differential Theory of Gratings) to separate each polarisation component
associated with both electric and magnetic optical near-fields produced by
nanometer sized objects. The analysis is carried out in two stages: in the
first stage, we use a simple dipolar model to achieve insight into the physical
origin of the near-field polarization state. In the second stage, we calculate
accurate numerical field maps, simulating experimental near-field light
detection, to supplement the data produced by analytical models. We conclude
this study by demonstrating the role played by the near-field polarization in
the formation of the local density of states.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Lazy Abstraction-Based Controller Synthesis
We present lazy abstraction-based controller synthesis (ABCS) for
continuous-time nonlinear dynamical systems against reach-avoid and safety
specifications. State-of-the-art multi-layered ABCS pre-computes multiple
finite-state abstractions of varying granularity and applies reactive synthesis
to the coarsest abstraction whenever feasible, but adaptively considers finer
abstractions when necessary. Lazy ABCS improves this technique by constructing
abstractions on demand. Our insight is that the abstract transition relation
only needs to be locally computed for a small set of frontier states at the
precision currently required by the synthesis algorithm. We show that lazy ABCS
can significantly outperform previous multi-layered ABCS algorithms: on
standard benchmarks, lazy ABCS is more than 4 times faster
Logic Programming and Logarithmic Space
We present an algebraic view on logic programming, related to proof theory
and more specifically linear logic and geometry of interaction. Within this
construction, a characterization of logspace (deterministic and
non-deterministic) computation is given via a synctactic restriction, using an
encoding of words that derives from proof theory.
We show that the acceptance of a word by an observation (the counterpart of a
program in the encoding) can be decided within logarithmic space, by reducing
this problem to the acyclicity of a graph. We show moreover that observations
are as expressive as two-ways multi-heads finite automata, a kind of pointer
machines that is a standard model of logarithmic space computation
Polarizing Double Negation Translations
Double-negation translations are used to encode and decode classical proofs
in intuitionistic logic. We show that, in the cut-free fragment, we can
simplify the translations and introduce fewer negations. To achieve this, we
consider the polarization of the formul{\ae}{} and adapt those translation to
the different connectives and quantifiers. We show that the embedding results
still hold, using a customized version of the focused classical sequent
calculus. We also prove the latter equivalent to more usual versions of the
sequent calculus. This polarization process allows lighter embeddings, and
sheds some light on the relationship between intuitionistic and classical
connectives
KMOS LENsing Survey (KLENS) : morpho-kinematic analysis of star-forming galaxies at
We present results from the KMOS lensing survey-KLENS which is exploiting
gravitational lensing to study the kinematics of 24 star forming galaxies at
with a median mass of and median
star formation rate (SFR) of . We find that 25% of
these low-mass/low-SFR galaxies are rotation dominated, while the majority of
our sample shows no velocity gradient. When combining our data with other
surveys, we find that the fraction of rotation dominated galaxies increases
with the stellar mass, and decreases for galaxies with a positive offset from
the main sequence. We also investigate the evolution of the intrinsic velocity
dispersion, , as a function of the redshift, , and stellar mass,
, assuming galaxies in quasi-equilibrium (Toomre Q parameter equal
to 1). From the relation, we find that the redshift evolution of
the velocity dispersion is mostly expected for massive galaxies (). We derive a relation, using
the Tully-Fisher relation, which highlights that a different evolution of the
velocity dispersion is expected depending on the stellar mass, with lower
velocity dispersions for lower masses, and an increase for higher masses,
stronger at higher redshift. The observed velocity dispersions from this work
and from comparison samples spanning appear to follow this relation,
except at higher redshift (), where we observe higher velocity dispersions
for low masses () and lower velocity
dispersions for high masses () than
expected. This discrepancy could, for instance, suggest that galaxies at
high- do not satisfy the stability criterion, or that the adopted
parametrisation of the specific star formation rate and molecular properties
fail at high redshift.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 21 pages, 10 figure
Multi-Modal Courtship in the Peacock Spider, Maratus volans (O.P.-Cambridge, 1874)
The peacock spider, Maratus volans, has one of the most elaborate courtship displays in arthropods. Using regular and high-speed video segments captured in the lab, we provide detailed descriptions of complete male courtship dances. As research on jumping spiders has demonstrated that males of some species produce vibrations concurrently with visual displays, we also used laser vibrometry to uncover such elements for this species. Our recordings reveal and describe for the first time, that M. volans males use vibratory signals in addition to complex body ornaments and motion displays. The peacock spider and other closely related species are outstanding study organisms for testing hypotheses about the evolution and functional significance of complex displays, thus, this descriptive study establishes a new model system for behavioral ecology, one that certainly stands to make important contributions to the field
Short- or long-rest intervals during repeated-sprint training in soccer?
The present study compared the effects of two repeated-sprint training (RST) programs, differing in duration of the between-sprint rest intervals, on various soccer-related exercise performances. For 5 weeks during the competitive season, twenty-nine young trained male soccer players either replaced two of their habitual fitness conditioning sessions with RST characterized by short (5-15; n = 9) or long (5-30; n = 10) rest intervals, or served as control (n = 10). The 5-15 and 5-30 protocols consisted of 6 repetitions of 30-m (~5 s) straight-line sprints interspersed with 15 s or 30 s of passive recovery, respectively. 5-15 improved 200-m sprint time (2.0±1.5%; p<0.05) and had a likely positive impact on 20-m sprint performance, whereas 5-30 lowered the 20-m sprint time (2.7±1.6%; p<0.05) but was only possibly effective for enhancing the 200-m sprint performance. The distance covered during the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 2 increased following 5-15 (11.4±5.0%; p<0.05), which was possibly better than the non-significant 6.5% enhancement observed in 5-30. Improvements in the total time of a repeated-sprint ability test were possibly greater following 5-30 (3.6±0.9%; p<0.05) compared to 5-15 (2.6±1.1%; p<0.05). Both RST interventions led to similar beneficial (p<0.05) reductions in the percentage decrement score (~30%) of the repeated-sprint ability test as well as in blood lactate concentration during submaximal exercise (17-18%). No changes occurred in the control group. In soccer players, RST over a 5-week in-season period is an efficient means to simultaneously develop different components of fitness relevant to match performance, with different benefits induced by shorter compared to longer rest intervals
Development Of Innovating Na Leak Detector On Pipes
International audienceWithin the ASTRID reactor project, CEA, EDF and AREVA NP, have launched a RetD program focused on the low leak rates detection of sodium on pipes. This program is focused on the development of innovating detectors, multilayer-type and Optic Fiber, involving tests in the FUTUNa sodium loop. This loop is designed to produce very accurate sodium leak rates within a range around 1cm/min, the tests being performed at different temperature (up to 550DC) on large-diameter pipe mock-ups (D 800 mm) at ambient atmosphere. This paper presents the first series of tests carried out with various materials of the first and second layer of the detector. The results are compared and discussed as well as the observations made after removing the mock-ups. The most interesting result of the overall tests is a detection time less than 2 hours for the two types of detectors
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