Influence of body mass and skinfolds on skin temperature through infrared thermography

Thermal response of skin temperature (Tsk) has been studied during exercise and immediately after (Merla, 2010). However, more studies about the influence of exercise on Tsk through the time are required to understand the impact of physical activity on thermoregulatory system and metabolis

Reliability and reproductibility of skin temperature of overweight subjects by an infrared thermograpy software designed for human beings

The technical improvement and new applications of Infrared Thermography (IRT) with healthy subjects should be accompanied by results about the reproducibility of IRT measurements in different popula-tion groups. In addition, there is a remarkable necessity of a larger supply on software to analyze IRT images of human beings. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: firstly, to investigate the reproducibility of skin temperature (Tsk) on overweight and obese subjects using IRT in different Regions of Interest (ROI), moments and side-to-side differences (?T); and secondly, to check the reliability of a new software called Termotracker®, specialized on the analysis of IRT images of human beings. Methods: 22 overweight and obese males (11) and females (11) (age: 41,51±7,76 years; height: 1,65±0,09 m; weight: 82,41±11,81 Kg; BMI: 30,17±2,58 kg/m²) were assessed in two consecutive thermograms (5 seconds in-between) by the same observer, using an infrared camera (FLIR T335, Sweden) to get 4 IRT images from the whole body. 11 ROI were selected using Termotracker® to analyze its reproducibility and reliability through Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Coefficient of Variation (CV) values. Results: The reproducibility of the side-to-side differences (?T) between two consecutive thermograms was very high in all ROIs (Mean ICC = 0,989), and excellent between two computers (Mean ICC = 0,998). The re-liability of the software was very high in all the ROIs (Mean ICC = 0,999). Intraexaminer reliability analysing the same subjects in two consecutive thermograms was also very high (Mean ICC = 0,997). CV values of the different ROIs were around 2%. Conclusions: Skin temperature on overweight subjects had an excellent reproducibility for consecutive ther-mograms. The reproducibility of thermal asymmetries (?T) was also good but it had the influence of several factors that should be further investigated. Termotracker® reached excellent reliability results and it is a relia-ble and objective software to analyse IRT images of humans beings

The BINGO Project IX: Search for Fast Radio Bursts -- A Forecast for the BINGO Interferometry System

The Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) radio telescope will use the neutral Hydrogen emission line to map the Universe in the redshift range $0.127 \le z \le 0.449$, with the main goal of probing BAO. In addition, the instrument optical design and hardware configuration support the search for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). In this work, we propose the use of a BINGO Interferometry System (BIS) including new auxiliary, smaller, radio telescopes (hereafter \emph{outriggers}). The interferometric approach makes it possible to pinpoint the FRB sources in the sky. We present here the results of several BIS configurations combining BINGO horns with and without mirrors ($4$ m, $5$ m, and $6$ m) and 5, 7, 9, or 10 for single horns. We developed a new {\tt Python} package, the {\tt FRBlip}, which generates synthetic FRB mock catalogs and computes, based on a telescope model, the observed signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) that we used to compute numerically the detection rates of the telescopes and how many interferometry pairs of telescopes (\emph{baselines}) can observe an FRB. FRBs observed by more than one baseline are the ones whose location can be determined. We thus evaluate the performance of BIS regarding FRB localization. We found that BIS will be able to localize 23 FRBs yearly with single horn outriggers in the best configuration (using 10 outriggers of 6 m mirrors), with redshift $z \leq 0.96$; the full localization capability depends on the number and the type of the outriggers. Wider beams are best to pinpoint FRB sources because potential candidates will be observed by more baselines, while narrow beams look deep in redshift. The BIS can be a powerful extension of the regular BINGO telescope, dedicated to observe hundreds of FRBs during Phase 1. Many of them will be well localized with a single horn + 6 m dish as outriggers.(Abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, submitted to A&

The effect of a breakfast’s glycaemic index and type of hydration on metabolism and cycling performance: a crossover, randomized, controlled clinical trial

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of the glycaemic index of breakfast on metabolic parameters and performance of cyclists with different types of hydration (water or isotonic beverage). Twelve male recreational cyclists participated in four experimental trials where they consumed either a high glycaemic index (HGI) or low glycaemic index (LGI) meal, 30 min before exercise on a cycle ergometer. Exercise was performed at 70% maximal oxygen uptake for 90 min followed by a 6 km performance. During each trial, 3 mL.kg-1 body mass of either water or isotonic beverage was provided. The postprandial glycaemic response and areas under the blood glucose curve 30 min after ingestion were higher after the consumption of the HGI meals than that after the consumption of the LGI meals. The glycaemic response and carbohydrate oxidation during the trials with isotonic beverage consumption were higher than that in trials with water consumption during exercise (p<0.05). There was no significant difference on exercise performance among all trials (p=0.409). This study demonstrated that, despite significant metabolic changes, neither LGI nor HGI meals consumed for breakfast, 30 min before exercise on a cycle ergometer, affect subsequent cycling performance.El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar desayunos con diferentes índices glucémicos y efecto del tipo de hidratación (agua o bebida isotónica) sobre los parámetros metabólicos y el rendimiento de los ciclistas. Doce ciclistas recreativos de sexo masculino participaron en cuatro pruebas experimentales en las que consumieron un desayuno de alto índice glucémico (AGI) o de bajo índice glucémico (BGI), 30 minutos antes del ejercicio en un cicloergómetro. El ejercicio se realizó a un 70%VO2max durante 90 minutos, seguido de 6 km al menor tiempo posible. Durante cada prueba, se suministraron 3 mL.kg-1 de masa corporal de agua o de bebida isotónica. La respuesta glucémica postprandial y las áreas bajo la curva de glucosa en sangre 30 min después de la ingesta fueron mayores tras el desayuno de AGI que tras el desayuno con BGI. La respuesta glucémica y la oxidación de carbohidratos durante los ensayos con consumo de bebidas isotónicas fueron mayores que en los ensayos con consumo de agua durante el ejercicio (p<0,05). No hubo diferencias significativas en el rendimiento del ejercicio entre todos los ensayos (p=0,409). Este estudio demostró que, a pesar de los cambios metabólicos significativos, ni las comidas BGI ni AGI consumidas en el desayuno, 30 min antes del ejercicio en cicloergómetro afectan al rendimiento final del ciclismo

The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics

A global genome database of all of Earth’s species diversity could be a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. However, regardless of the major advances in genome sequencing technologies, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. To contribute to a more complete planetary genomic database, scientists and institutions across the world have united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), which plans to sequence and assemble high-quality reference genomes for all ∼1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species through a stepwise phased approach. As the initiative transitions into Phase II, where 150,000 species are to be sequenced in just four years, worldwide participation in the project will be fundamental to success. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) seeks to implement a new decentralised, accessible, equitable and inclusive model for producing high-quality reference genomes, which will inform EBP as it scales. To embark on this mission, ERGA launched a Pilot Project to establish a network across Europe to develop and test the first infrastructure of its kind for the coordinated and distributed reference genome production on 98 European eukaryotic species from sample providers across 33 European countries. Here we outline the process and challenges faced during the development of a pilot infrastructure for the production of reference genome resources, and explore the effectiveness of this approach in terms of high-quality reference genome production, considering also equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned during this pilot provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational and national genomic resource projects