Effect of supplemental phytonutrients on impairment of the flow-mediated brachialartery vasoactivity after a single high-fat meal

AbstractObjectivesOur objective was to determine if long-term daily administration of phytonutrient supplements can prevent the immediate adverse impact of a high-fat meal and increase the production of nitric oxide.BackgroundIngestion of a high-fat meal impairs flow-mediated vasodilation of the brachial artery for at least 4 h; however, co-ingestion of vitamin antioxidants or a green salad has been shown to prevent this effect.MethodsFlow-mediated brachial artery reactivity test (BART) both before and 3 h after a 900 calorie 50 g fat meal was evaluated in 38 healthy volunteers (age 36.4 ± 10.1 years). Subjects were randomized to four weeks of daily supplementation with a powdered fruit vegetable juice concentrate (Juice Plus [JP]) along with a complex supplement providing nutritional antioxidants and various herbal extracts (Vineyard [V]), JP alone, or a matching placebo. At three and four weeks, BART was repeated both before and after the high-fat meal. Serum nitrate/nitrite concentrations were measured at baseline and at four weeks.ResultsFour weeks of the JP-V combination blunted the detrimental effect of the high-fat meal (−47.5 ± 23.4% at baseline vs. −1.7 ± 9.7% at four weeks [p < 0.05]). Four weeks of JP alone had a similar beneficial effect (−45.1 ± 19.7% at baseline vs. −16.6 ± 10.3% at four weeks [p < 0.05]), whereas there was no substantial effect of the placebo. In the subjects treated with supplements, concentrations of serum nitrate/nitrite increased from 78 ± 39 to 114 ± 62 μm/l (p < 0.02).ConclusionsDaily ingestion of modest amounts of a fruit/vegetable juice concentrate with or without adjunctive phytonutrient supplementation can reduce the immediate adverse impact of high-fat meals on flow-mediated vasoactivity and increase nitrate/nitrite blood concentration

Leadership and Trust in Partially Distributed Software Development Teams

Partially distributed teams (PDTs) are common as organizations collaborate across distances. A PDT has at least one collocated subteam and at least two geographically dispersed subteams. We describe a large-scale experiment that examines student global PDTs working on software requirements for an emergency MIS; the teams comprised one U.S. subteam and one Dutch subteam. Leadership configuration was varied so that some teams had only a team leader; some had only subteam leaders; and some had both. However most teams chose to select subteam leaders, regardless of instructions. Trust has been found to be important for team functioning in traditional and virtual teams. This paper focuses on the experimental results related to leadership and trust in PDTs. Results indicate that while there is no evidence that trust varies by leadership configuration, the type of leader (subteam/team) matters and that trust is associated with leader effectiveness and perceptions of team and subteam performance

Characterizing Width Uniformity by Wave Propagation

This work describes a novel image analysis approach to characterize the uniformity of objects in agglomerates by using the propagation of normal wavefronts. The problem of width uniformity is discussed and its importance for the characterization of composite structures normally found in physics and biology highlighted. The methodology involves identifying each cluster (i.e. connected component) of interest, which can correspond to objects or voids, and estimating the respective medial axes by using a recently proposed wavefront propagation approach, which is briefly reviewed. The distance values along such axes are identified and their mean and standard deviation values obtained. As illustrated with respect to synthetic and real objects (in vitro cultures of neuronal cells), the combined use of these two features provide a powerful description of the uniformity of the separation between the objects, presenting potential for several applications in material sciences and biology.Comment: 14 pages, 23 figures, 1 table, 1 referenc

Moat: A Virtual Private Network Appliance and Services Platform

Vakava onnettomuus, sairaus tai aivoinfarkti voi aiheuttaa tilan, jossa ihminen ei pysty liikkumaan eikä puhumaan. Usein kyky liikuttaa silmiä kuitenkin säilyy, vaikka ihminen olisi muuten täysin halvaantunut. Silmien liikettä ja katseen suuntaa voidaan tällöin hyödyntää kommunikaatiossa. Lääkäri voi esimerkiksi pyytää potilasta katsomaan ylös myöntymisen merkiksi. Vammautuneen henkilön eteen voidaan myös asettaa läpinäkyvä kommunikaatiotaulu, johon on kiinnitetty kuvia tai kirjaimia. Taulun avulla on mahdollista muodostaa sanoja ja lauseita katsomalla kirjaimia yksi kerrallaan. Keskustelukumppani tulkitsee viestin seuraamalla kommunikaatiotaulun toiselta puolelta henkilön katseen suuntaa. Kommunikaatiotaulua kehittyneempi menetelmä on katseenseurantalaite, joka mahdollistaa itsenäisen kirjoittamisen ja tietokoneen ohjaamisen katseella. Katseenseurantalaitteessa on tyypillisesti videokamera, joka kuvaa käyttäjän silmän liikkeitä. Tietokoneen ohjelma tulkitsee katseen suunnan ja päättelee, mihin kohtaan näytöllä käyttäjä kulloinkin katsoo. Yksinkertaisimmillaan näytöllä on kuva näppäimistöstä ja käyttäjä kirjoittaa silmillään katsomalla näppäimistön kirjaimia. Jotta tietokone erottaisi, milloin käyttäjä haluaa valita katsomansa kohteen, käyttäjän pitää katsoa kirjainta riittävän pitkään. Pitkä viive auttaa ehkäisemään virhevalintoja, mutta hidastaa samalla kommunikaatiota. Katseeseen perustuvia tekstinsyöttöjärjestelmiä on kehitetty muutaman vuosikymmenen ajan ja niiden käyttö kommunikaation apuvälineenä on yleistynyt viime vuosina. Katseella kirjoittamista ei kuitenkaan ole juurikaan tutkittu. Väitöskirja tarjoaa perusteellisen katsauksen aiheen tutkimukseen ja eri tapoihin käyttää katsetta tekstin tuottamiseen ja kommunikointiin. Työssä esitellään uusia tapoja tehostaa katseella kirjoittamista yksinkertaisten käyttöliittymäratkaisujen avulla. Väitöskirja tarjoaa tutkimustuloksiin perustuvia konkreettisia esimerkkejä ja ohjeita siitä, kuinka katseella kirjoittamisen miellyttävyyttä ja nopeutta voidaan parantaa huolellisen käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun avulla. Käyttäjätutkimukset osoittavat, että esimerkiksi ohjelman tarjoama palaute vaikuttaa merkittävästi kirjoitusnopeuteen ja virheiden määrään. Vastaavasti mahdollisuus säätää valintaan vaadittavaa viivettä mahdollistaa katsekirjoituksen nopean ja tehokkaan oppimisen.Text entry by eye gaze is used by people with severe motor disabilities. An eye tracking device follows the user s eye movements, and a computer program analyzes the gaze behavior. To type by gaze, the user typically points at the characters on an on-screen keyboard by looking at them and selects them by means of dwell time, a prolonged gaze that separates an intentional command from casual viewing. The basic methods for producing text by gaze have been researched and in real-world use since the early 1980s; however, the design issues have not been studied in detail. Until recently, assistive eye tracking systems were used mostly by a small number of people who were totally paralyzed and for whom gaze control was a necessity and the only option. The technology and its usability have improved considerably, and several new systems have appeared on the market, making the technology available for a much wider group of users with varying need and abilities. Today, the eye tracker can be considered an optional assistive device worth considering since it provides easy and fast access to information technology by gaze alone. This thesis provides an extensive review of the research conducted in the area of gaze-based text entry. It summarizes results from several experiments that study various aspects of text entry by gaze. Results show that small improvements in the interface design can lead to significant improvements in user performance and satisfaction. For example, adding a simple "click" that confirms the selection by gaze can significantly improve the text entry speed over that of plain visual feedback. The improvement is small, but the effect accumulates in the repetitive task of text entry. An overview of different design solutions and guidelines derived from the research results are given. It is hoped that the thesis will provide a useful starting point for developers, researchers, and assistive technology professionals wishing to gain deeper insight into gaze-based text entry

X-RHex: A Highly Mobile Hexapedal Robot for Sensorimotor Tasks

We report on the design and development of X-RHex, a hexapedal robot with a single actuator per leg, intended for real-world mobile applications. X-RHex is an updated version of the RHex platform, designed to offer substantial improvements in power, run-time, payload size, durability, and terrain negotiation, with a smaller physical volume and a comparable footprint and weight. Furthermore, X-RHex is designed to be easier to build and maintain by using a variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for a majority of its internals. This document describes the X-RHex architecture and design, with a particular focus on the new ability of this robot to carry modular payloads as a laboratory on legs. X-RHex supports a variety of sensor suites on a small, mobile robotic platform intended for broad, general use in research, defense, and search and rescue applications. Comparisons with previous RHex platforms are presented throughout, with preliminary tests indicating that the locomotive capabilities of X-RHex can meet or exceed the previous platforms. With the additional payload capabilities of X-RHex, we claim it to be the first robot of its size to carry a fully programmable GPU for fast, parallel sensor processing

Universal Formulae for Percolation Thresholds

A power law is postulated for both site and bond percolation thresholds. The formula writes $p_c=p_0[(d-1)(q-1)]^{-a}d^{\ b}$, where $d$ is the space dimension and $q$ the coordination number. All thresholds up to $d\rightarrow \infty$ are found to belong to only three universality classes. For first two classes $b=0$ for site dilution while $b=a$ for bond dilution. The last one associated to high dimensions is characterized by $b=2a-1$ for both sites and bonds. Classes are defined by a set of value for $\{p_0; \ a\}$. Deviations from available numerical estimates at $d \leq 7$ are within $\pm 0.008$ and $\pm 0.0004$ for high dimensional hypercubic expansions at $d \geq 8$. The formula is found to be also valid for Ising critical temperatures.Comment: 11 pages, latex, 3 figures not include

Collaborative Evolution of a Dynamic Scenario Model for the Interaction of Critical Infrastructures

ABSTRACT This paper reviews current work on a model of the cascading effects of Critical Infrastructure (CI) failures during disasters. Based upon the contributions of 26 professionals, we have created a reliable model for the interaction among sixteen CIs. An internal CI model can be used as a core part of a number of larger models, each of which are tailored to a specific disaster in a specific location