A KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF ROWING PERFORMANCE DURING A 2000M ERGOMETER TEST

The aim of this study was to investigate how force, velocity and power change during a maximum 2000m-rowing test, and to examine the relationship between 2-D joint kinematics and performance. Ten male rowers performed a 2000m test, which was analysed in five periods, considering also the mean final results. One-way ANOVA for repeated measures showed that force, velocity and power changed significantly along the 2000m test. Hip, and elbow joint kinematic parameters remained unchanged throughout the test but knee’s angular displacement and angular position at the catch, changed significantly during the 2000m test. A stepwise multiple regression analysis evidenced that the knee angular position at the catch is in relationship with time to finish the 2000m rowing and remained the single predictor of performance

Zonage du Bresil a partir d'une serie temporelle d'images modis.

Zoneamento do Brasil a partir de uma série temporal de imagens MODIS . A cartografia das paisagens envolvem geralmente a combinação de informações ambientais e informações sobre as atividades humanas. A qualidade da carta de paisagem resultante depende fortemente da expertise e do método utilizado, assim como da qualidade dos dados que foram usados na sua elaboração. As séries temporais das imagens de satélite aportam uma visão objetiva do território a diferentes datas. Estas imagens podem ser segmentadas para estratificar o espaço em zonas radiometricamente homogêneas. O objetivo deste trabalho é testar este método de estratificação a diferentes escalas espaciais, no Brasil e na região do estado do Maranhão e avaliar as estratificações de forma não supervisionada. Para tanto, uma segmentação orientada à objeto foi realizada utilizando-se o software eCognition a partir de valores dos índices de vegetação EVI (Enhaced Vegetation Index) e de índices de textura advindos de uma série temporal de imagens MODIS com resolução espacial de 250m. Diferentes variáveis radiométricas e diferentes escalas de segmentação foram testadas e avaliadas através de dois indicadores estatísticos. A segmentação obtida foi, então, comparada visualmente aos zoneamentos existentes (GAEZ da FAO e zoneamento agroecológico da Embrapa)

Linking bayesian belief networks and GIS to assess the ecosystem integrity in the brazilian Amazon.

Deforestation and climate change heavily impact the ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest threatening its resilience and the sustainability of many human activities. Land protection may prevent ecosystems and their services to deteriorate from the pressures of agricultural expansion, population growth and wood harvesting. In the Brazilian Amazon land protection occurs in several forms such as environmental conservation, setting biodiversity priority areas and the delineation of indigenous lands. Still, the effects are not clear as understanding of the ecosystems is incomplete and responses to human actions are highly uncertain. Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) are models that probabilistically represent correlative and causal relationships among variables. BBNs have been successfully applied to natural resource management to address environmental management problems and to assess the impact of alternative management measures. By training the probabilistic relationships using field data, Remote Sensing data and GIS data the BBN can provide information on the ecosystems: the ecosystem integrity and their likely response to climate change or alternative management actions. An increasing number of studies train and apply BBNs with evidence originating from GIS data; a cumbersome and error prone soft-linking method requiring manual conversion of data files between the BBN and GIS software systems. This paper presents the full integration of a BBN software system within an existing GIS based Discussion Support System (DSS) illustrated by the case of the ecosystem integrity of the Brazilian amazon. The full integration speeds up the processing and thereby allows doing multiple runs within a short period of time such as a stakeholder workshop. Each consecutive run is based upon insights from a previous one. Furthermore, the DSS provides the management of different options, visualize spatial summaries and trade-offs between different impact indicators and see regional differences

Human cachexia induces changes in mitochondria, autophagy and apoptosis in the skeletal muscle

Cachexia is a wasting syndrome characterized by the continuous loss of skeletal muscle mass due to imbalance between protein synthesis and degradation, which is related with poor prognosis and compromised quality of life. Dysfunctional mitochondria are associated with lower muscle strength and muscle atrophy in cancer patients, yet poorly described in human cachexia. We herein investigated mitochondrial morphology, autophagy and apoptosis in the skeletal muscle of patients with gastrointestinal cancer-associated cachexia (CC), as compared with a weight-stable cancer group (WSC). CC showed prominent weight loss and increased circulating levels of serum C-reactive protein, lower body mass index and decreased circulating hemoglobin, when compared to WSC. Electron microscopy analysis revealed an increase in intermyofibrillar mitochondrial area in CC, as compared to WSC. Relative gene expression of Fission 1, a protein related to mitochondrial fission, was increased in CC, as compared to WSC. LC3 II, autophagy-related (ATG) 5 and 7 essential proteins for autophagosome formation, presented higher content in the cachectic group. Protein levels of phosphorylated p53 (Ser46), activated caspase 8 (Asp384) and 9 (Asp315) were also increased in the skeletal muscle of CC. Overall, our results demonstrate that human cancer-associated cachexia leads to exacerbated muscle-stress response that may culminate in muscle loss, which is in part due to disruption of mitochondrial morphology, dysfunctional autophagy and increased apoptosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing quantitative morphological alterations in skeletal muscle mitochondria in cachectic patients

EP20.01: Twin pregnancy birth in a new non-tertiary hospital

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio