Impact of Nordic walking on health outcomes in older women

There are a number of factors that contribute to the accelerated rate of aging, one of which is physical activity. The increasing proportion of elderly and senile people in the Russian Federation requires urgent implementation of the elderly generation subprogram within the framework of the Demography federal project. In this regard, the problems of maintaining health and the development of methodological approaches to assessing the health of people in the older age group are especially significant.Objective: evaluation of anthropometry, stabilometry and biochemical parameters in the dynamics of Nordic walking in elderly womenMaterials and methods: 30 women were examined, mean age 69.0 (63.0–71.5) years. Examination by a therapist and a neurologist, biochemical blood tests, stabilometry, anthropometry, osteodensitometry (ODM) were carried out. Training loads of Nordic walking (NW) for 3 months were carried out according to the generally accepted method 3 times a week.Results: According to the biochemical analysis of blood, a statistically significant increase in the level of phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase (AP), total protein, as well as a decrease in the level of calcium and total cholesterol were revealed. When considering anthropometry data, there was a statistically significant decrease in body weight, BMI, body fat mass according to the Durnin — Womersley method, SBP and an increase in the cardiovascular index. According to the results of computer stabilometry — a statistically significant increase in the average position of the CP in the sagittal plane with open and closed eyes.Conclusion: 1. The use of NW as a training factor to achieve active longevity in the elderly leads to an improvement in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, due to a statistically significant decrease in body weight, a decrease in SBP by an average of 15 mm Hg. art., as well as the level of total cholesterol. 2. With regular NW exercises for 3 months, the functional stability indicators in the sagittal plane are corrected both with open and closed eyes

Combining ability and response to CMS in reverse diploid maize lines developed at VIR

Abstract. Hybrid maize breeding requires constant renewal of the source material. In this regard, broadening of genetic variation in parental lines is one of the primary tasks in heterotic hybrid breeding programs. The use of reverse diploid inbred lines derived from a tetraploid population is considered as an innovative approach to achieve this goal.Results. The investigated material comprised 106 reverse diploid (rediploid) inbred lines originating from diploid plants selected in segregating selfed progenies of triploid populations and consequently subjected to inbreeding, while triploid populations resulted from a cross between plants of a tetraploid population with a broad genetic basis and a diploid line. The use of a system of crosses with 37 sterile testers belonging to different FAO maize maturity groups allowed the evaluation of the rediploid lines’ combining ability and the response to M and C types of CMS. Field tests were conducted in 2019 in the steppe zone of Kabardino-Balkaria. Forty-six lines (43.3%) with the combining ability ranging from ultra-high to good, and 78 lines (73.6%) maintaining the CMS character were identified. Among them, 59 lines (55.7%) were maintainers for the M type CMS, 15 lines (14.1%)  for C type CMS, and 4 lines maintained sterility for both CMS types. Sixteen lines (15.1%) restored pollen fertility of the forms with M type CMS, 11 lines (10.4%) were restorers for the C-type and one line turned out to be a universal restorer for both CMS types. Ranking by the “sprout - flowering of ears” interstage period duration showed that most of the lines (66.0%) with the ability to maintain sterility or restore male fertility of M and C CMS types, as well as with the combining ability from ultrahigh to good (32.6%) fell into the group with the flowering period duration of 51-55 days. According to the results of the harvested grain moisture assessment, the hybrids ♀(РГС246с × OL213) × ♂92с5986·2·3, ♀714М  ×  ♂1/67-1 and ♀714М  ×  ♂92н136-4, with the values of 13, 6%, 13.9%, 14.0%, respectively, were identified. The hybrids ♀714М × ♂1/67- 1 and ♀(OL563С × KL1392) × ♂92с0653 2 1 2 were characterized by the maximum value of the selection index, i.e. 5.03 and 5.13, respectively.Conclusions. The results of the studies showed the breeding value of rediploid lines as an initial material for hybrid maize breeding

Technical Design Report for the PANDA Solenoid and Dipole Spectrometer Magnets

This document is the Technical Design Report covering the two large spectrometer magnets of the PANDA detector set-up. It shows the conceptual design of the magnets and their anticipated performance. It precedes the tender and procurement of the magnets and, hence, is subject to possible modifications arising during this process.Comment: 10 pages, 14MB, accepted by FAIR STI in May 2009, editors: Inti Lehmann (chair), Andrea Bersani, Yuri Lobanov, Jost Luehning, Jerzy Smyrski, Technical Coordiantor: Lars Schmitt, Bernd Lewandowski (deputy), Spokespersons: Ulrich Wiedner, Paola Gianotti (deputy

Physics Performance Report for PANDA: Strong Interaction Studies with Antiprotons

To study fundamental questions of hadron and nuclear physics in interactions of antiprotons with nucleons and nuclei, the universal PANDA detector will be built. Gluonic excitations, the physics of strange and charm quarks and nucleon structure studies will be performed with unprecedented accuracy thereby allowing high-precision tests of the strong interaction. The proposed PANDA detector is a state-of-the art internal target detector at the HESR at FAIR allowing the detection and identification of neutral and charged particles generated within the relevant angular and energy range. This report presents a summary of the physics accessible at PANDA and what performance can be expected.Comment: 216 page

Optimization of symmetrical free-shape non-imaging concentrators for LED light source applications

Successful design of LED light sources requires application of principles of non-imaging optics and their integration into optical design software. We propose some design tools for CPC-like concentrators, which are flexible to cover both different LED types and diverse applications of LED for illumination. The methods are based on the optimization using standard ray-tracing either according to the edge-ray principle (with special ray aiming and integration over the projected images) or a Monte-Carlo procedure (with number of rays, sufficient for resolving concentrator features). The algorithms take skew rays into consideration, what results in 5...15% higher efficiency compared to concentrators designed according to the theoretical CPC equation. The specifics of optimization algorithms (compared with conventional imaging optical design algorithms) are discussed. We also propose different optimization criteria, specific for diverse light source configurations. Examples of solid and hollow concentrators, optimized for efficiency or light intensity were manufactured by single point diamond turning. Measured characteristics of devices are in good agreement with the design goals

Micro-optics for LED light sources

Modern LEDs form the basis for highly efficient Iight sources for a vast number of applications, such as general illumination, image projection, measurement, microscopy, etc. In addition to the emitter, the Iight source comprises both a primary and a secondary optics system, responsible for gathering the Iight emission close to the Chip facet and for beam shaping and thus. also for intensity distribution in the image plane, respectively. Secondary optics with tandem arrays enable the realisation of miniaturized Iight sources for homogeneous illumination of circular or rectangular areas, or even of line foci, all with high brightness

Non-pharmaceutical rehabilitation of chronic heart failure patients

Hypoxia therapy was administered to 100 patients with coronary heart disease and Functional Class I-III heart failure. Control group consisted of 50 patients. The treatment resulted in improved myocardial work capacity, coronary reserve, and quality of life

Freeform beam shaping

Arbitrary intensity distributions for e.g. illumination purpose can be obtained by means of freeform shaping the light sources with arbitrary state of coherence. In this contribution we develop corresponding design methods, especially at design algorithm for beam shaping of extended light sources is described for the first time