The Relationship of Physical Activity and Fruit and Vegetable Intake on Pulse Wave Velocity

Arterial stiffness has been found to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Those who consume a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and participate in habitual physical activity may experience reduced arterial stiffness, thereby decreasing the risk of CVD. Purpose: To examine the relationship of fruit intake, vegetable intake, and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on arterial stiffness in college students. Methods: 19 college students (age 19.8±1.1 yr, height 166.1±9.6 cm, weight 73.1±18.0 kg) completed a modified Dietary Guidelines for American Index (DGAI) questionnaire for 10 days. MVPA was assessed via accelerometery for an average of 12.7±4.66 days. Arterial stiffness was then measured using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). While supine, a cuff was placed around the right thigh and inflated. Concurrently, a tonometer was placed over the carotid artery and data were obtained from both carotid and femoral waveforms after 10 consecutive seconds. Results: Participants completed the DGAI for an average of 9.1±1.9 days, and the average servings per day of fruits and vegetables was 2.1±1.2 and 2.1±1.2, respectively. The average servings per day of fruits and vegetables combined was 4.2±2.02. Participants engaged in 42.0±17.9 min/day of MVPA. The average blood pressure was 126±13/72±9 mmHg and PWV was 5.1±0.99 m/s. Pearson correlation found no significant relationship between total fruit and vegetable servings/day and PWV (p=.68). A multiple regression was run to predict PWV from fruit servings/day, vegetable servings/day, and MVPA/day. There were no significant differences in the three variables combined in predicting PWV (F (3,15)= .893, p=0.467, R=0.389). Conclusion: While most participants did not obtain the recommended 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables, it had no affect on arterial stiffness. However, participants achieved the recommended amounts of MVPA. It is possible that the onset of CVD has not yet been recognized due to the age and physical activity levels of the sample

Transport Properties of a spinon Fermi surface coupled to a U(1) gauge field

With the organic compound $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_2$-Cu$_2$(CN)$_3$ in mind, we consider a spin liquid system where a spinon Fermi surface is coupled to a U(1) gauge field. Using the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, we derive the Quantum Boltzmann Equation (QBE) for this system. In this system, however, one cannot a priori assume the existence of Landau quasiparticles. We show that even without this assumption one can still derive a linearized equation for a generalized distribution function. We show that the divergence of the effective mass and of the finite temperature self-energy do not enter these transport coefficients and thus they are well-defined. Moreover, using a variational method, we calculate the temperature dependence of the spin resistivity and thermal conductivity of this system.Comment: 12 page

The role of non-scholar organisations in environmental education: a case study from Portugal

The aim of this study was to identify, characterise, collect and systematise data on initiatives of environmental education in Portugal. Currently, there is no integrated governmental program on environmental education in this country, but only unrelated voluntary initiatives. Although surveys indicated a growing concern by young people on environmental issues, systematic studying on the issue was lacking. The field seemed to be characterised by wide diversity and disperse voluntary action by non-governmental agents and self-mobilised teachers. In the context of the Decade Dedicated to Education for Sustainable Development of UNESCO, governmental and non-governmental organisations dedicated to the environment now have a new opportunity to enhance and coordinate contributions to make environmental issues a priority for the next generation

Forage Nutritive Value Changes in a Stratified Canopy of a Mixed Cool-Season Grass Sward Affected by Season

The seasonal pattern of herbage growth rate is an important determinant on forage system productivity. Pasture stocking rates and supplemental feed requirements are influenced by the dynamic balance between forage growth and the amount of herbage available. There is limited in-formation regarding vertical distribution patterns (layers within the sward) in nutritive value in cool-season grasses, especially for vegetative herbage (Burner and Belesky 2004). More complete information could support decisions regarding cutting schedules, residual mass and heights to meet nutritional value targets, and timing of pasture allocation. The objective of this study was to characterize the vertical distribution of nutritive value components within a grass sward and the relationship between days past clipping over time on NDF and NDFD. This information was then used to determine the effect that forage canopy removal will have on the nutritive value of the remained forage

Tempo Perception Across Cultures: The Beat is All It Takes

Dancing to music is a human universal that relies on beat perception. Listeners may infer the “tempo” or speed of music from: the time interval between beats; the density of events; higher-level features of musical temporal organization (the meter). The “Gabbling Foreigner Illusion” is the observation that listeners perceive unfamiliar languages as being faster than familiar ones. Even when music is the same speed, listeners tap faster to unfamiliar music. Does culture background impact how we perceive musical tempo

Maximum Valency Lattice Gas Models

We study lattice gas models with the imposition of a constraint on the maximum number of bonds (nearest neighbor interactions) that particles can participate in. The critical parameters, as well as the coexistence region are studied using the mean field approximation and the Bethe-Peierls approximation. We find that the reduction of the number of interactions suppresses the temperature-density region where the liquid and gas phases coexist. We confirm these results from simulations using the histogram reweighting method employing grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations

Quantum decoherence of a charge qubit in a spin-fermion model

We consider quantum decoherence in solid-state systems by studying the transverse dynamics of a single qubit interacting with a fermionic bath and driven by external pulses. Our interest is in investigating the extent to which the lost coherence can be restored by the application of external pulses to the qubit. We show that the qubit evolution under various pulse sequences can be mapped onto Keldysh path integrals. This approach allows a simple diagrammatic treatment of different bath excitation processes contributing to qubit decoherence. We apply this theory to the evolution of the qubit coupled to the Andreev fluctuator bath in the context of widely studied superconducting qubits. We show that charge fluctuations within the Andreev-fluctuator model lead to a 1/f noise spectrum with a characteristic temperature depedence. We discuss the strategy for suppression of decoherence by the application of higher-order (beyond spin echo) pulse sequences.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; extended version (accepted to Phys. Rev. B

Outcomes of Advancing Women Faculty in Engineering and Technology at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Retrospective Analysis of ADVANCE-PAID Participants

Keeping up with their historic missions, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have selected and granted progressively more number of degrees to women over the past few decades. From 1993 to 2006, the number of black women undergrads receiving degrees at HBCUs increased by 24%. For example, in 2002, 75% of black women awarded doctorates in Biology had baccalaureate origins from HBCUs. In 2006, data revealed that there were 900 black women faculty in STEM disciplines at HBCUs and 2,810 black women faculty at non-HBCUs. They accounted for 22% and 2% of the faculty at HBCUs and non-HBCUs. The ADVANCE-PAID project, Advancing Women Faculty in Engineering and Technology at HBCUs, was a collaboration between Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University that received National Science Foundation funding from September 2009 through August 2014. The project implemented four key activities: (1) annual workshops; (2) seed grants to support research efforts; (3) professional career coaching; and (4) weekly writing groups. Forty-seven women faculty from 14 HBCUs attended at least one annual workshop, 13 from 9 HBCUs received seed grants,11 from 9 HBCUs participated in career coaching, and between 4 and 6 women attended weekly writing groups. A retrospective analysis was conducted to determine the long-term impacts of the four activities. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with past participants to determine the impact activities had on their careers. Current faculty rank and position of each participant were compared to the rank and position held when they initially participated in ADVANCE-PAID activities. Surveys were sent to participants to assess how this project impacted their success, informed their decision or interest in pursuing administration, and how the various activities helped them overall. Group averages were compared by activity or combination of activities

Oscillator Strengths and Damping Constants for Atomic Lines in the J and H Bands

We have built a line list in the near-infrared J and H bands (1.00-1.34, 1.49-1.80 um) by gathering a series of laboratory and computed line lists. Oscillator strengths and damping constants were computed or obtained by fitting the solar spectrum. The line list presented in this paper is, to our knowledge, the most complete one now available, and supersedes previous lists.Comment: Accepted, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, tentatively scheduled for the Sep. 1999 Vol. 124 #1 issue. Text and tables also available at http://www.iagusp.usp.br/~jorge