Inkjet Printed Bandpass Filters and Filtennas using Silver Nanoparticle Ink on Flexible Substrate

This paper presents an inkjet printed CPW filtenna designed at 5.8 GHz. The proposed structure consists of a CPW pseudo-interdigital bandpass filter and a CPW inset-fed antenna. The bandpass filter is fabricated using inkjet printing technology. The structure is printed on flexible Kapton substrate with polyimide film using silver nanoparticle ink. The filter is then used to suppress the spurious harmonics of the antenna. Measurements from the fabrication confirm the accuracy of the design method and the simulation results

Monitoring the internal and external loads of young team handball players during competition

This study aimed to examine the internal- and external-training-load (ITL and ETL, respectively) during a match of young handball players. Field testing included heart-rate monitoring (memory belt, Suunto) as a marker of ITL and accelerometry (motion-biosensor, Actical Respironcis, Philips) as a marker of ETL. Time motion analysis data were obtained by recording the player's game activities and later analysed with the Matlab software package. T-test and Pearson-product-moment correlation coefficient were used to examine the differences and the relationship between variables collected in the study. The t-test analysis did not show significant differences between the total distance covered (2216.42-2135.42 m), steps conducted (1829.25-1829.83 steps), steps per minute (91.46-91.49 steps/min), energy expenditure (92.24-90.87 METS), time spent in higher intensity zones calculated by motion biosensor (13.08-12.75 minutes), training-load calculated by Edwards TRIMP method (91.54-88.56 scores) in the first and in the second half of the match. Physical activity variables show no significant correlations with the data assessed by heart rate monitors. Similar results in monitored training-load variables in the first and second halves are connected with the game intensity, which was consistent throughout the match. The lack of correlations between ITL and ETL variables indicates that accelerometry is not suitable for the assessment of metabolic training load in intermittent activities, such as handball. ITL measures used in this study are more suitable for controlling load during training and competition, while the ETL parameters used are more appropriate for better understanding players activity in periods in which the players do not train; other activities can influence players fatigue and training and competition performance

The Genetic Signature of Perineuronal Oligodendrocytes

Oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system can be categorized as precursors, myelin-forming, and non-myelinating perineuronal cells. The function of perineuronal oligodendrocytes is unknown; it was proposed that following injury, they may remyelinate denuded axons. We investigated these cells' potential. A combination of cell-specific tags, microarray technology and bioinformatics tools to identify gene expression differences between these subpopulations allowed us to capture the genetic signature of perineuronal oligodendrocytes. Here we report that perineuronal oligodendrocytes are configured for a dual role. As cells that embrace neuronal somata, they integrate a repertoire of transcripts designed to create their own code for communicating with neurons. But they maintain a reservoir of untranslated transcripts encoding the major myelin proteins for - we speculate - a demyelinating episode. We posit that the signature molecules, PDGFR-[alpha][beta] cytokine PDGF-CC, and transcription factor Pea3, used - among others - to define the non-myelinating phenotype, may be critical for mounting a myelinating programme during demyelination. Harnessing this capability is of therapeutic value for diseases such as multiple sclerosis. This is the first molecular characterization of an elusive neural cell

Toward prevention of doping in youth sport: Cross-sectional analysis of correlates of doping tendency in swimming

Doping is recognized as one of the most important problems in sports, but a limited number of studies have investigated doping problems in youth athletes. This study aimed to evaluate doping tendency (potential doping behavior (PDB)) and correlates of PDB in youth age swimmers. The participants were 241 competitive swimmers (131 females; 15.3 ± 1.1 years of age, all under 18 years old). Variables included predictors and PDB (criterion). Predictors consisted of sociodemographic factors (gender and age), sport-related variables (i.e., experience in swimming and sport achievement), variables explaining coaching strategy and training methodology, consumption of dietary supplements (DS), knowledge about doping, and knowledge about sports nutrition and DS (KSN). In addition to the descriptive statistics and differences between genders, a multinomial regression using PDB as the criterion (negative-, neutral-, or positive-PDB, with a negative-PDB as the reference value) was calculated to define associations between predictors and criterion. With only 71% of swimmers who declared negative-PDB results indicated an alarming figure. Boys with better KSN were more negatively oriented toward positive-PDB (OR: 0.77, 95%CI: 0.60–0.95). In girls, lower competitive achievement was evidenced as a risk factor for neutral-PDB (OR: 0.39, 95%CI: 0.24–0.63). Also, higher neutral-PDB (OR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.81–0.96) and positivePDB (OR: 0.90, 95%CI: 0.83–0.99) were identified in girls who began with intensive training in younger age. Because of the alarming figures of PDB, there is an evident need for the development of systematic antidoping educational programs in youth swimming. In doing so, focus should be placed on girls who began intensive training at an earlier age and those who did not achieve high competitive results

Relative and absolute chronologies of Belovode and Pločnik

The chronology of the sites of Belovode and Pločnik has been discussed several times in the past two decades since excavations were renewed at each site (Arsenijević and Živković 1998; Šljivar 1996; Šljivar and Jacanović 1996a; Šljivar and Kuzmanović Cvetković 1997a), though not in detail and rarely integrating the relative and the absolute chronological sequences. Chronologies from both sites have been published (Whittle et al. 2016), drawing upon eight radiocarbon dates from the two trenches then existing for Belovode (Trenches 7 and 8) and nine radiocarbon dates from three trenches for Pločnik (Trenches 14, 15 and 16). These dates were allegedly focussing on the dating of metallurgical finds, however, the nature of those finds was not known at the time, so the best guess was to date materials from the spits, which only adds to the doubt on the chronological precision achieved. The seriation and ceramic sequences of both sites resulting from this project are discussed in detail elsewhere in this volume (see Chapters 12, 13, 27 and 28) and in this chapter will be used only to illustrate relative chronology compared to other chronologies used for Vinča culture (see Chapter 4). The identical spit and context excavation methodology employed on both sites enables us to compare chronologically sensitive pottery forms to other relevant sites of the period. This chapter presents 29 new radiocarbon dates from throughout the excavated sequences: 17 from Trench 18 at Belovode and 12 from Trench 24 at Pločnik. The systematic excavations, relative ceramic sequences and the intensity of radiocarbon dating enables a far more precise modelling of dates for the identifiable activity horizons at both sites

Analysis of the relationship between tobacco smoking and physical activity in adolescence: a gender specific study

Background and Objective: Although smoking and the physical activity level (PAL) are important determinants of health status in adolescence, there is a lack of information on the relationship between smoking and PAL in early adolescence. The objective of this study was to evaluate the gender-specific relationship between smoking and PAL in 14-to-16-year-old adolescents. Materials and Methods: The sample included 650 adolescents (337 girls, 14.7 ± 0.5 years at first testing wave) from Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the first testing wave, participants were tested using struc-tured questionnaires. Second testing was commenced after approximately 20 months (16.4 ± 0.6 years). The variables were age, gender, socioeconomic status, living environment, cigarette smoking (predictors), and PAL (criterion). Predictors were measured at the first wave, and criterion at the first-wave and second-wave. Results: For girls, smoking was negatively correlated to PAL at the first-wave (OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.55–0.95) and at the second-wave (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.71–0.96). No significant association between smoking and PAL was found for boys. Results suggest that adolescent boys and girls do not follow the equal trajectories when it comes to relationships between smoking and PAL. Conclusions: In developing promotional public health actions related to a decrease of smoking and increase of PAL, a gender-specific approach is highly recommended. Further studies analyzing the cause–effect relationship between consumption of other types of psychoactive substances and PAL in this age group are warranted

What drives athletes toward dietary supplement use: Objective knowledge or self-perceived competence? Cross-sectional analysis of professional team-sport players from Southeastern Europe during the competitive season

BackgroundIssues related to knowledge of nutrition and dietary supplementation(DS) are understudied in professional athletes. This study aimed to examine the possible association between knowledge of nutrition and DS (KN&DS) and dietary supplement use (DSU) among professional athletes involved in team sports.MethodsThe sample comprised professional team-sport athletes (N=912, age: 22.113.37years, 356 females) involved in four Olympic sports: basketball (N=228), soccer (N=324), volleyball (N=154), and handball (N=206). The participants were tested by previously validated questionnaires to examine their self-perceived competence on nutrition and DS (S/KN&DS), their objectively evaluated (tested) KN&DS (O/KN&DS), sociodemographic and sport-specific variables (predictors), and DSU (criterion). Associations between the predictors and the criterion (No-DSU - Irregular-DSU - Regular-DSU) were determined by multinomial regression analysis for the total sample and separately for the studied sports.ResultsDSU was found to be less prevalent in older and more successful players. The O/KN&DS and S/KN&DS were positively correlated with DSU, but S/KN&DS was a stronger predictor of DSU than O/KN&DS. Sport-specific associations between predictors and criterion were identified, with stronger correlations in sports with a higher prevalence of DSU.Conclusions Due to the low correlations between O/KN&DS and S/KN&DS in the studied players, this study highlights the necessity for more frequent monitoring of biomarkers of nutritional status and its usage by coaches and practitioners to provide quantitative instruction

Characterisation of chemical component migration in automotive paint by synchrotron infrared imaging

Synchrotron infrared chemical imaging was employed to examine and assess the extent of interlayer component migration within multilayer automotive paint samples, with a particular emphasis on the cross-linking additive melamine. Two dimensional infrared chemical images revealed that melamine consistently diffuses in select paint samples from the underlying basecoat into the outermost clear coat layer. Pigments from the basecoat were also found to migrate into the adjoining layers. This is significant as the relative abundance of both melamine and pigments will vary greatly depending upon the region of the layer analysed. This component migration will undoubtedly impact the information gleaned from a questioned sample via library searching software or multivariate statistics. As a result, appropriate analytical protocols will need to be utilised to mitigate the effects of interlayer pigment and melamine diffusion, so as to afford a true representation of the composition of the coating for forensic identification purposes