431 research outputs found
A cross-sectional study of 2550 amateur cyclists shows lack of knowledge regarding relevant sports nutrition guidelines
Background: Amateur cyclists use a wide variety of supplements and nutritional substances to increase performance in addition to their training.Objectives: The intended nutritional supplement use, carbohydrate (CHO) use and hydration practices of amateur cyclists before, during and after endurance cycling were analysed. Evidence of ignorance regarding the use of sports supplements and CHO, as well as the disregard of hydration strategy was hypothesised.Methods: Amateur cyclists, of all age and sex groups, were requested to complete an online survey anonymously on the 2013 Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge website, a few days before the event.Results: Responses were received from 2 550 out of 30 640 race entrants (8%); representing a distribution of 75% males, 25% females, with the majority between 25 to 45 years old. Nutritional supplements were used by 59% of respondents, with 77% dose adherence, and 29% with supplement ingredient knowledge. Half of the respondents (48%) planned to carbo-load two-three days before the event, while only five percent used professional advice to scientifically calculate their carbo-loading requirements. CHO were consumed by 81% during the event. Hydration preferences during the race were sports drinks (59%) and water (22%); and after the race 45% preferred a sports drink and 40% water. Ingredients, taste, colour, and temperature were criteria used to choose a sports drink. Only 18% of respondents knew to use both colour of urine and thirstiness to determine post-race fluid requirements.Conclusion: The authors concluded that amateur cyclists had insufficient knowledge regarding nutritional supplement ingredients and usage, CHO requirements and carbo-loading practices, and hydration strategies before, during and after the event.Keywords: ergogenic aids, nutritional supplements, carbohydrate us
Resonant tunneling through ultrasmall quantum dots: zero-bias anomalies, magnetic field dependence, and boson-assisted transport
We study resonant tunneling through a single-level quantum dot in the
presence of strong Coulomb repulsion beyond the perturbative regime. The level
is either spin-degenerate or can be split by a magnetic field. We, furthermore,
discuss the influence of a bosonic environment. Using a real-time diagrammatic
formulation we calculate transition rates, the spectral density and the
nonlinear characteristic. The spectral density shows a multiplet of Kondo
peaks split by the transport voltage and the boson frequencies, and shifted by
the magnetic field. This leads to zero-bias anomalies in the differential
conductance, which agree well with recent experimental results for the electron
transport through single-charge traps. Furthermore, we predict that the sign of
the zero-bias anomaly depends on the level position relative to the Fermi level
of the leads.Comment: 27 pages, latex, 21 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The 2-Channel Kondo Model I: Review of Experimental Evidence for its Realization in Metal Nanoconstrictions
Certain zero-bias anomalies (ZBAs) in the voltage, temperature and magnetic
field dependence of the conductance of quenched Cu point contacts
have previously been interpreted to be due to non-magnetic 2-channel Kondo
(2CK) scattering from near-degenerate atomic two-level tunneling systems (Ralph
and Buhrman, 1992; Ralph et al. 1994), and hence to represent an experimental
realization of the non-Fermi-liquid physics of the T=0 fixed point of the
2-channel Kondo model. In this, the first in a series of three papers
(I,II,III) devoted to 2-channel Kondo physics, we present a comprehensive
review of the quenched Cu ZBA experiments and their 2CK interpretation,
including new results on ZBAs in constrictions made from Ti or from metallic
glasses. We first review the evidence that the ZBAs are due to electron
scattering from stuctural defects that are not static, but possess internal
dynamics. In order to distinguish between several mechanisms proposed to
explain the experiments, we then analyze the scaling properties of the
conductance at low temperature and voltage and extract from the data a
universal scaling function . The theoretical calculation of the
corresponding scaling function within the 2CK model is the subject of papers II
and III. The main conclusion of our work is that the properties of the ZBAs,
and most notably their scaling behavior, are in good agreement with the 2CK
model and clearly different from several other proposed mechanisms.Comment: 35 pages RevTeX, 19 encapsulated postscript figures; this final
published version features two additional authors, an additional section
reviewing recent experiments on Ti nanoconstrictions that agree very well
with the 2-channel Kondo model, 6 new figures (and is much shorter the
previous 53 page version, due to reformatting
Expanding the spectrum of EWSR1-NFATC2-rearranged benign tumors a common genomic abnormality in vascular malformation/hemangioma and simple bone cyst
A simple bone cyst (SBC) is a cystic bone lesion predominantly affecting young males. The cyst is lined by a fibrous membrane and filled with serosanguinous fluid. EWSR1/FUS-NFATC2 rearrangements were recently identified in SBC. We here report exactly the same rearrangement in 3 lesions diagnosed as vascular malformations of 2 elderly patients. In total, through Archer FusionPlex, fluorescence in situ hybridization and/or reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction the EWSR1-NFATC2 rearrangement was identified in 6 of 9 SBC, 3 of 12 benign vascular tumors, and none of 5 aneurysmal bone cyst lacking USP6 fusion. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization, it was apparent that amplification of the fusion, as seen in EWSR1-NFATC2 round cell sarcomas, was absent, and that in the vascular tumors the fusion was present both in the lining cells as well as in the surrounding spindle cells. Of note, not all of the spaces in the vascular malformations were lined by endothelial cells. Aggrecan was positive in all cases but was not specific. NKX2-2 and NKX3-1 staining were negative in all cases. Thus, even though the overlap between the 2 entities is limited to the presence of few thick-walled cysts lacking endothelial lining in the benign vascular malformations, the spectrum of benign tumors containing NFATC2 fusions should be expanded and contains not only SBC in the young, but also vascular malformation/hemangioma in elderly patients.Molecular tumour pathology - and tumour geneticsMTG
Determining the feasibility of harvesting invasive alien plant species for energy
Woody invasive alien plants (IAPs) are a threat to South Africa’s water resources, biodiversity and land
productivity. The impacts of IAPs were the main reason for the South African government to embark on a
natural resource management public works programme called Working for Water (WfW), which was aimed
at controlling IAPs in a cost-effective yet labour-intensive way. At the same time, the high biomass of these
species presents opportunities for synergies between the clearing of IAPs and the generation of biomassbased
energy. The purpose of this study was to determine the cost of harvesting and extracting, chipping, and
transporting the biomass, and also to determine the financial and economic feasibility of such an exercise
from a commercial perspective. Sampling of the biomass was done at 31 representative sites within the
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The cost of the operation was carefully monitored,
documented and reported at each stage, and compared to the cost of replacing the thermal coal currently
used by industry within this municipality. The project proved to be financially viable, but only when the
energy entrepreneur forms a partnership with the WfW programme, and then only under specific conditions.
The project has, however, very high socio-economic returns with respect to a reduction in environmental
externalities and job creation.Working for Water and the Industrial Development Corporationhttp://www.sajs.co.zahb201
Determining the feasibility of harvesting invasive alien plant species for energy
Woody invasive alien plants (IAPs) are a threat to South Africa’s water resources, biodiversity and land
productivity. The impacts of IAPs were the main reason for the South African government to embark on a
natural resource management public works programme called Working for Water (WfW), which was aimed
at controlling IAPs in a cost-effective yet labour-intensive way. At the same time, the high biomass of these
species presents opportunities for synergies between the clearing of IAPs and the generation of biomassbased
energy. The purpose of this study was to determine the cost of harvesting and extracting, chipping, and
transporting the biomass, and also to determine the financial and economic feasibility of such an exercise
from a commercial perspective. Sampling of the biomass was done at 31 representative sites within the
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The cost of the operation was carefully monitored,
documented and reported at each stage, and compared to the cost of replacing the thermal coal currently
used by industry within this municipality. The project proved to be financially viable, but only when the
energy entrepreneur forms a partnership with the WfW programme, and then only under specific conditions.
The project has, however, very high socio-economic returns with respect to a reduction in environmental
externalities and job creation.Working for Water and the Industrial Development Corporationhttp://www.sajs.co.zahb201
Axial Correlation Functions in the epsilon-Regime: a Numerical Study with Overlap Fermions
We present simulation results employing overlap fermions for the axial
correlation functions in the epsilon-regime of chiral perturbation theory. In
this regime, finite size effects and topology play a dominant role. Their
description by quenched chiral perturbation theory is compared to our numerical
results in quenched QCD. We show that lattices with a linear extent L > 1.1 fm
are necessary to interpret the numerical data obtained in distinct topological
sectors in terms of the epsilon-expansion. Such lattices are, however, still
substantially smaller than the ones needed in standard chiral perturbation
theory. However, we also observe severe difficulties at very low values of the
quark mass, in particular in the topologically trivial sector.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, final version published in JHE
Characteristics of Abnormal Diffusivity in Normal-Appearing White Matter Investigated with Diffusion Tensor MR Imaging in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex
Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector
A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results
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