Body image perception and body composition: assessment of perception inconsistency by a new index

BACKGROUND: A correct perception of the body image, as defined by comparison with actual anthropometric analyses, is crucial to ensure the best possible nutritional status of each individual. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) represents a leading technique to assess body composition parameters and, in particular, the fat mass. This study examined the self-perception of body image at various levels of adiposity proposing a new index. METHODS: We investigated 487 young Italian adults (mean age of males: 21.9 ± 2.4 years; mean age of females: 21.0 ± 2.2 years). Each subject could choose, on the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, the silhouette that he/she considered most resembling his/her perceived body image as well as his/her ideal body image. On each subject, we performed anthropometric measurements and determined the values of Fat mass and  út with BIA. A new index, FAIFAT (Feel fat status minus Actual fat status Inconsistency), was developed to evaluate possible fat status perception inconsistencies by BIA. RESULTS: Based on ideal and feel body image comparison, women showed higher dissatisfaction than men and preferred slimmer silhouettes. FAIFAT values indicated that the fat status perception was correct in the majority of the examined individuals and only three subjects showed a serious misperception. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that FAIFAT is an appropriate index for assessing the perceived fat status from the body image when compared with data obtained by BIA. In a population, the use of this index will allow the correct identification of groups at risk for eating disorders

A Simplified Analytical Model for Evaluating the Noncavitating Performance of Axial Inducers

The present paper describes an analytical model for the preliminary prediction of the noncavitating flow field and performance of helical inducers. The proposed model is based on the traditional troughflow theory approximations with empirical corrections for outlet flow deviation and hydraulic losses due to inlet incidence effects and friction in the blade channels. Unlike most classical models, it allows – even if under still rather restrictive assumptions – for the prediction of the radial and circumferential flow velocity fields at the inducer exit section and for the approximate evaluation of the head coefficient as a function of the flow coefficient in terms of the static pressure rise generated by the inducer. The results are presented of the model validation by comparison with the experimental data obtained for several inducers tested in different facilities worldwide

Financial management information system : an empirical evidence

This study aims to determine the factors that affect the effectiveness of financial information systems implemented by private universities in the educational process, through the dimensions of manager role, knowledge manager, and technological sophistication. The research uses quantitative and descriptive approaches. The population in this study is Private Universities in Cimahi, Indonesia. Testing of research data is done through validity test with Rank Spearman correlation coefficient and reliability test with Cronbach Alpha coefficient. Meanwhile, to analyze the data multiple descriptive regression analysis (multiple regression analysis) is used. The results showed what has been done then it concluded that the role of managers, knowledge owned by managers and the sophistication of information technology owned by private universities can affected the performance of the university. The role of manager and the technological sophistication significantly influence the effectiveness of financial information systems while managers’ knowledge has no significant effect. The most important recommendation of this research is the importance of reconsidering the selection of technical specifications that meet the needs of more and more data in addition to ongoing training for financial managers.peer-reviewe

A New Cavitation Test Facility at Centrospazio

The present paper illustrates the result of the trade-offs between operational requirements and practical limitations leading the final design of the CPTF (Cavitating Pump Test Facility), the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility) and the related TCT (Thermal Cavitation Tunnel). The CPTF is an experimental apparatus specifically designed for the performance analysis of turbopumps in fluid dynamic and inertial/thermal cavitation similarity conditions. The apparatus, operating in water up to 90°C, is capable of controlling the pump’s operational conditions and carrying out the measurement of the steady and/or unsteady flow parameters (pressure, velocity, temperature) at the inlet and discharge of full-scale cavitating/noncavitating turbopumps for space propulsion applications. More generally, the CPTF is designed as a flexible, versatile and inexpensive facility that can be readily be adapted to carry out detailed experimental investigations on practically any kind of fluid dynamic phenomena relevant to high performance turbopumps. The CPRTF is currently being completed under ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) funding and consists in an upgraded version of the CPTF capable of carrying out the measurement of the steady and unsteady rotodynamic forces exerted by the flow on whirling impellers of cavitating/noncavitating turbopumps using an especially designed rotating dynamometer. To this purpose the CPRTF can operate the pump under forced whirl conditions on a circular orbit with assigned eccentricity and angular speed. The TCT is a small-scale water tunnel that can be installed on the suction line of the CPTF, with the specific capability of running tests under thermal cavitation similarity conditions. The main operational requirements and development choices that led to the final configurations of the CPTF, CPRTF and TCT are illustrated and their performance in testing cavitating/noncavitating turbopumps and hydrofoils under fluid dynamic and thermal cavitation similarity are illustrated. Experimental results are presented to document the present capabilities of the facility in a number of typical configurations and operational conditions

Experimental Activities on Liquid Propellant Turbopumps at Centrospazio

The present paper reviews recent experimental activities at Centrospazio on cavitation in liquid propellant turbopumps. These activities have been carried out in a dedicated, low-cost, versatile and easily instrumentable test facility, designed in 1996 under ESA (European Space Agency) funding and later refined and realized in 1999-2000 under a 1998/99 Fundamental Research contract by ASI (Italian Space Agency). The first part of the paper describes the characteristics and performance of the three alternative configurations of the facility: the CPTF (Cavitating Pump Test Facility), for general experimentation on cavitating/non-cavitating turbopumps under fluid dynamic and thermal cavitation similarity; the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility), capable of investigating rotordynamic fluid forces under forced vibration experiments on turbopump rotors of adjustable eccentricity and sub-synchronous or super-synchronous whirl speeds; and the TCT (Thermal Cavitation Tunnel), specifically designed for the investigation of 2D or 3D cavitating flows over test bodies in thermal cavitation similarity conditions. The second part of the paper presents some recent results of cavitation tests on helical inducers and hydrofoils. Future activities in this field at Centrospazio are illustrated

Experimental Characterization of the Cavitation Instabilities in the Avio “FAST2” Inducer

The present paper illustrates the main results of an experimental campaign conducted using the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility) at Alta S.p.A. The tests were carried out on the FAST2 inducer, a two-bladed axial pump designed and manufactured by Avio S.p.A. using the criteria followed for VINCI180 inducer. The transparent inlet section of the facility was instrumented by several piezoelectric pressure transducers located at three axial stations: inducer inlet, outlet and at the middle of the axial chord of the blades. For each axial station at least two transducers were mounted at a given angular spacing, in order to cross-correlate their signals for coherence and phase analysis. The most interesting detected instabilities were: a cavitation auto-oscillation at about 5÷12 Hz, a high order cavitation surge having a frequency of about 4.4W and a rotating stall at about 0.31W. Some experiments were carried out under forced vibration cond..

Thermal Cavitation Experiments on a NACA 0015 Hydrofoil

The present paper illustrates the main results of an experimental campaign conducted in the Thermal Cavitation Tunnel of the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility) at Centrospazio. Experiments were carried out on a NACA 0015 hydrofoil at various incidence angles, cavitation numbers and freestream temperatures, in order to investigate the characteristics of cavitation instabilities and the impact of thermal cavitation effects. Measured cavity length, surface pressure coefficients and unsteady pressure spectra are in good agreement with the data available in the open literature and suggest the existence of a strong correlation between the onset of the various forms of cavitation and instabilities, the thermal cavitation effects, and the effects induced by the presence of the walls of the tunnel. Further analytical investigations will be carried out in order to provide a better interpretation of the above results

Setup of a High-Speed Optical System for The Characterization of Cavitation Instabilities in Space Rocket Turbopumps

The present paper illustrates the set-up and the preliminary results of an experimental investigation of cavitation flow instabilities carried out by means of a high-speed camera on a three bladed inducer in the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility) at Alta S.p.A. The brightness thresholding technique adopted for cavitation recognition is described and implemented in a semi-automatic algorithm. In order to test the capabilities of the algorithm, the mean frontal cavitating area has been computed under different operating conditions. The tip cavity length has also been evaluated as a function of time. Inlet pressure signal and video acquisitions have been synchronized in order to analyze possible cavitation fluid-dynamic instabilities both optically and by means of pressure fluctuation analysis. Fourier analysis showed the occurrence of a cavity length oscillation at ..

Recovery of a medieval Brucella melitensis genome using shotgun metagenomics

Shotgun metagenomics provides a powerful assumption-free approach to the recovery of pathogen genomes from contemporary and historical material. We sequenced the metagenome of a calcified nodule from the skeleton of a 14th-century middle-aged male excavated from the medieval Sardinian settlement of Geridu. We obtained 6.5-fold coverage of a Brucella melitensis genome. Sequence reads from this genome showed signatures typical of ancient or aged DNA. Despite the relatively low coverage, we were able to use information from single-nucleotide polymorphisms to place the medieval pathogen genome within a clade of B. melitensis strains that included the well-studied Ether strain and two other recent Italian isolates. We confirmed this placement using information from deletions and IS711 insertions. We conclude that metagenomics stands ready to document past and present infections, shedding light on the emergence, evolution, and spread of microbial pathogens

Dynamical response of the "GGG" rotor to test the Equivalence Principle: theory, simulation and experiment. Part I: the normal modes

Recent theoretical work suggests that violation of the Equivalence Principle might be revealed in a measurement of the fractional differential acceleration $\eta$ between two test bodies -of different composition, falling in the gravitational field of a source mass- if the measurement is made to the level of $\eta\simeq 10^{-13}$ or better. This being within the reach of ground based experiments, gives them a new impetus. However, while slowly rotating torsion balances in ground laboratories are close to reaching this level, only an experiment performed in low orbit around the Earth is likely to provide a much better accuracy. We report on the progress made with the "Galileo Galilei on the Ground" (GGG) experiment, which aims to compete with torsion balances using an instrument design also capable of being converted into a much higher sensitivity space test. In the present and following paper (Part I and Part II), we demonstrate that the dynamical response of the GGG differential accelerometer set into supercritical rotation -in particular its normal modes (Part I) and rejection of common mode effects (Part II)- can be predicted by means of a simple but effective model that embodies all the relevant physics. Analytical solutions are obtained under special limits, which provide the theoretical understanding. A simulation environment is set up, obtaining quantitative agreement with the available experimental data on the frequencies of the normal modes, and on the whirling behavior. This is a needed and reliable tool for controlling and separating perturbative effects from the expected signal, as well as for planning the optimization of the apparatus.Comment: Accepted for publication by "Review of Scientific Instruments" on Jan 16, 2006. 16 2-column pages, 9 figure