How accurate are adolescents in portion-size estimation using the computer tool young adolescents' nutrition assessment on computer (YANA-C)?

Computer-administered questionnaires have received increased attention for large-scale population research on nutrition. In Belgium-Flanders, Young Adolescents' Nutrition Assessment on Computer (YANA-C) has been developed. In this tool, standardised photographs are available to assist in portion-size estimation. The purpose of the present study is to assess how accurate adolescents are in estimating portion sizes of food using YANA-C. A convenience sample, aged 11-17 years, estimated the amounts of ten commonly consumed foods (breakfast cereals, French fries, pasta, rice, apple sauce, carrots and peas, crisps, creamy veloute, red cabbage, and peas). Two procedures were followed: (1) short-term recall: adolescents (n 73) self-served their usual portions of the ten foods and estimated the amounts later the same day; (2) real-time perception: adolescents (n 128) estimated two sets (different portions) of pre-weighed portions displayed near the computer. Self-served portions were, on average, 8 % underestimated; significant underestimates were found for breakfast cereals. French fries, peas, and carrots and peas. Spearman's correlations between the self-served and estimated weights varied between 0.51 and 0.84, with an average of 0.72. The kappa statistics were moderate (> 0.4) for all but one item. Pre-weighed portions were, on average, 15% underestimated, with significant underestimates for fourteen of the twenty portions. Photographs of food items can serve as a good aid in ranking subjects; however, to assess the actual intake at a group level, underestimation must be considered

Can organic arable and silvoarable micro-farms contribute to biodiversity conservation? A survey of wild bees community structure in the Brabant Wallon province (Belgium)

Agricultural intensification has led to the simplification and homogeneization of landscapes, threatening farm-land biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services in the process (Newbold et al. 2015; Potts et al. 2016).Several options have been put forward to mitigate these adverse impacts, including the agri-environmentalschemes (AES, particularly “sown wildflower strips”, see Geslin et al. 2017), the promotion of organic agri-culture and the increase of in-site plant diversity. The latter aspect is also expected to contribute to the sustainable intensification of production while reducing conventional agricultural inputs (pesticides, fertilizers,renting pollinators, etc.) and/or to optimize and stabilize ecosystem services in time and space (Lichtenberg etal. 2017).In this context, we examined the contribution of organic diversified micro-farms (defined here as productionsites of less than 2 hectares with high in-site plant diversity) to the conservation of wild bees in a networkof production farms located in the Brabant Wallon province of Belgium

M & L Jaargang 13/2

GeneriekGeert Van der Linden Kasseiwegen in de Vlaamse Ardennen, zeldzaam edelgesteente. [Cobbled roads in the Flemish Ardennes, a precious stone.]Rik Vanwalleghem De aantrekkelijkheid van het schaarse. [The attractivity of rare things (annex to: Cobbled roads in the Flemish Ardennes).Winterse toestanden durven wel eens onder de allesverhullende asfaltbekledingen aan hun bestaan herinneren. In de Vlaamse Ardennen behoren kasseiwegen dank zij recente beschermingsmaatregelen daarentegen tot de dagelijkse realiteit, tot grote vreugde overigens van wielersportfanaten.Hoe kinderkoppen en fietsbanden zich intussen tot elkaar verhouden, vertellen ons uit onverdachte hoek landschapsdeskundige Geert Van der Linden en sportredacteur Rik Vanwalleghem.Christina Ceulemans, Daniel De Jonghe en Vera Vereecken Textielvondsten in Limburg. [Discoveries of textile fabrics in Limburg.]Wetenschappelijk onderzoek van Maaslandse reliek-collecties leidden de jongste jaren tot de ontdekking van onvermoede historische textielfragmenten.Bijzonder suggestief zijn hierbij de rijkelijk gestoffeerde reliekschedels uit Tongeren, Sint-Truiden en Herkenrode. De gecoördineerde aanpak door Christina Ceulemans, Daniël De Jonghe en Vera Vereecken opent meteen veelbelovende perspectieven.Marc Mees - Den schoonen constighen eyseren boom. De smeedijzeren boom van Sint-Gummarus uit de Kluizekerk te Lier. [The wrought-iron tree of Saint-Gummarus at the Kluizekerk in Lier.]Toegepast op bomen lijkt het materiaal allesbehalve evident, zelfs in Lier waar Lodewijk Van Boeckel ooit nog de smeedkunst tot zeldzame hoogten tilde.Naar aanleiding van diens restauratie door Aimé Stroobants, wist Marc Mees de Boom van Sint-Gummarus alvast in een vernieuwd daglicht te plaatsen (of is \u27kaarslicht\u27 hier méér op zijn plaats?).Elie Degrande m.m.v. Miek Goossens Gewelfbouw. [Vaulted construction.]Slechts uitzonderlijk kijkt M&L over de landsgrenzen heen. De eenmalige heropbouw van éen volledig kerkgewelf in het Nederlandse Ubbingen, stelde het Brugse Vrij Technisch Instituut nochtans in staat een uitzonderlijke ervaring op te doen.Aan de hand van eigen werkdocumenten, maakt Elie Degrande ons hiervan deelgenoot.SummaryM&L Binnenkran

Growth Mechanism of a Hybrid Structure Consisting of a Graphite Layer on Top of Vertical Carbon Nanotubes

Graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are both carbon-based materials with remarkable optical and electronic properties which, among others, may find applications as transparent electrodes or as interconnects in microchips, respectively. This work reports on the formation of a hybrid structure composed of a graphitic carbon layer on top of vertical CNT in a single deposition process. The mechanism of deposition is explained according to the thickness of catalyst used and the atypical growth conditions. Key factors dictating the hybrid growth are the film thickness and the time dynamic through which the catalyst film dewets and transforms into nanoparticles. The results support the similarities between chemical vapor deposition processes for graphene, graphite, and CNT

Ecological, environmental, and management data indicate apple production is driven by wild bee diversity and management practices

Climate, landscape composition, management practice, and wild bee pollination are all variables thought to play significant roles in commercial apple production. However, how these variables affect production efficiency under field-realistic conditions has not been investigated at large geographical scales. We combined intensive standardized field surveys (using netting and pan traps) with structural equation models to explore the relative impact of biotic and abiotic variables on bee diversity, apple yield and fruit quality, and their ability to represent reliable proxies of apple production. Here we show that apple yields are mainly driven by management practice, without evidence for a significantly superior contribution by managed honey bees. Total wild bee diversity, while negatively correlated with honey bee dominance, promoted apple quality by enhancing seed set number. Our study demonstrates that even across a broad geographical range there is potential to harness wild bee diversity as nature-based solution and as a substitute to an exclusive reliance on honey bees in the context of commercial apple production

Galactic Core-Collapse Supernovae at IceCube: “Fire Drill” Data Challenges and follow-up

The next Galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make astrophysical measurements using neutrinos, gravitational waves, and electromagnetic radiation. CCSNe local to the Milky Way are extremely rare, so it is paramount that detectors are prepared to observe the signal when it arrives. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a gigaton water Cherenkov detector below the South Pole, is sensitive to the burst of neutrinos released by a Galactic CCSN at a level >10σ. This burst of neutrinos precedes optical emission by hours to days, enabling neutrinos to serve as an early warning for follow-up observation. IceCube\u27s detection capabilities make it a cornerstone of the global network of neutrino detectors monitoring for Galactic CCSNe, the SuperNova Early Warning System (SNEWS 2.0). In this contribution, we describe IceCube\u27s sensitivity to Galactic CCSNe and strategies for operational readiness, including "fire drill" data challenges. We also discuss coordination with SNEWS 2.0

All-Energy Search for Solar Atmospheric Neutrinos with IceCube

The interaction of cosmic rays with the solar atmosphere generates a secondary flux of mesons that decay into photons and neutrinos – the so-called solar atmospheric flux. Although the gamma-ray component of this flux has been observed in Fermi-LAT and HAWC Observatory data, the neutrino component remains undetected. The energy distribution of those neutrinos follows a soft spectrum that extends from the GeV to the multi-TeV range, making large Cherenkov neutrino telescopes a suitable for probing this flux. In this contribution, we will discuss current progress of a search for the solar neutrino flux by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory using all available data since 2011. Compared to the previous analysis which considered only high-energy muon neutrino tracks, we will additionally consider events produced by all flavors of neutrinos down to GeV-scale energies. These new events should improve our analysis sensitivity since the flux falls quickly with energy. Determining the magnitude of the neutrino flux is essential, since it is an irreducible background to indirect solar dark matter searches

TXS 0506+056 with Updated IceCube Data

Past results from the IceCube Collaboration have suggested that the blazar TXS 0506+056 is a potential source of astrophysical neutrinos. However, in the years since there have been numerous updates to event processing and reconstruction, as well as improvements to the statistical methods used to search for astrophysical neutrino sources. These improvements in combination with additional years of data have resulted in the identification of NGC 1068 as a second neutrino source candidate. This talk will re-examine time-dependent neutrino emission from TXS 0506+056 using the most recent northern-sky data sample that was used in the analysis of NGC 1068. The results of using this updated data sample to obtain a significance and flux fit for the 2014 TXS 0506+056 "untriggered" neutrino flare are reported