1,449 research outputs found
Fruit and vegetable intake and body adiposity among populations in Eastern Canada: The Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow's Health Study
Objectives The prevalence of obesity among populations in the Atlantic provinces is the highest in Canada. Some studies suggest that adequate fruit and vegetable consumption may help body weight management. We assessed the associations between fruit and vegetable intake with body adiposity among individuals who participated in the baseline survey of the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (Atlantic PATH) cohort study.Methods We carried out a cross-sectional analysis among 26 340 individuals (7979 men and 18 361 women) aged 35–69 years who were recruited in the baseline survey of the Atlantic PATH study. Data on fruit and vegetable intake, sociodemographic and behavioural factors, chronic disease, anthropometric measurements and body composition were included in the analysis.Results In the multivariable regression analyses, 1 SD increment of total fruit and vegetable intake was inversely associated with body mass index (−0.12 kg/m2; 95% CI −0.19 to –0.05), waist circumference (−0.40 cm; 95% CI −0.58 to –0.23), percentage fat mass (−0.30%; 95% CI −0.44 to –0.17) and fat mass index (−0.14 kg/m2; 95% CI −0.19 to –0.08). Fruit intake, but not vegetable intake, was consistently inversely associated with anthropometric indices, fat mass, obesity and abdominal obesity.Conclusions Fruit and vegetable consumption was inversely associated with body adiposity among the participant population in Atlantic Canada. This association was primarily attributable to fruit intake. Longitudinal studies and randomised trials are warranted to confirm these observations and investigate the underlying mechanisms
The Flare-energy Distributions Generated by Kink-unstable Ensembles of Zero-net-current Coronal Loops
It has been proposed that the million degree temperature of the corona is due
to the combined effect of barely-detectable energy releases, so called
nanoflares, that occur throughout the solar atmosphere. Alas, the nanoflare
density and brightness implied by this hypothesis means that conclusive
verification is beyond present observational abilities. Nevertheless, we
investigate the plausibility of the nanoflare hypothesis by constructing a
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that can derive the energy of a nanoflare from
the nature of an ideal kink instability. The set of energy-releasing
instabilities is captured by an instability threshold for linear kink modes.
Each point on the threshold is associated with a unique energy release and so
we can predict a distribution of nanoflare energies. When the linear
instability threshold is crossed, the instability enters a nonlinear phase as
it is driven by current sheet reconnection. As the ensuing flare erupts and
declines, the field transitions to a lower energy state, which is modelled by
relaxation theory, i.e., helicity is conserved and the ratio of current to
field becomes invariant within the loop. We apply the model so that all the
loops within an ensemble achieve instability followed by energy-releasing
relaxation. The result is a nanoflare energy distribution. Furthermore, we
produce different distributions by varying the loop aspect ratio, the nature of
the path to instability taken by each loop and also the level of radial
expansion that may accompany loop relaxation. The heating rate obtained is just
sufficient for coronal heating. In addition, we also show that kink instability
cannot be associated with a critical magnetic twist value for every point along
the instability threshold
Adiposity Measures and Plasma Adipokines in Females with Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis
The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between adipokines and adiposity in individuals with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis in the Atlantic PATH cohort. Using a nested case-control analysis, participants in the Atlantic PATH cohort with rheumatoid or osteoarthritis were matched for measures of adiposity with participants without a history of arthritis. Both measured and self-reported data were used to examine disease status, adiposity, and lifestyle factors. Immunoassays were used to measure plasma markers. BMI was positively correlated with percentage body fat, fat mass index (FMI), and a change in BMI from 18 years of age in all 3 groups. There were no statistical differences between levels of plasma adipokines; adiponectin levels were 6.6, 7.9, and 8.2 μg/ml, leptin levels were 10.3, 13.7, and 11.5 ng/ml, and resistin levels were 10.0, 12.1, and 10.8 ng/ml in participants without arthritis, with rheumatoid arthritis, and with osteoarthritis, respectively. Those with higher levels of adiponectin were more likely to have osteoarthritis (but not rheumatoid arthritis). No association was found between arthritis types and leptin or resistin. This study demonstrates differences in measures of adiposity and adipokines in specific types of arthritis and highlights the need for more research targeting specific adipokines during arthritic disease progression
Influence of temperature and relative humidity on survival and fecundity of three tsetse strains
Background: Tsetse flies occur in much of sub-Saharan Africa where they are vectors of trypanosomes that cause human and animal African trypanosomosis. The sterile insect technique (SIT) is currently used to eliminate tsetse fly populations in an area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) context in Senegal and Ethiopia. Three Glossina palpalis gambiensis strains [originating from Burkina Faso (BKF), Senegal (SEN) and an introgressed strain (SENbkf)] were established and are now available for use in future AW-IPM programmes against trypanosomes in West Africa. For each strain, knowledge of the environmental survival thresholds is essential to determine which of these strains is best suited to a particular environment or ecosystem, and can therefore be used effectively in SIT programmes. Methods: In this paper, we investigated the survival and fecundity of three G. p. gambiensis strains maintained under various conditions: 25 °C and 40, 50, 60, and 75 % relative humidity (rH), 30 °C and 60 % rH and 35 °C and 60 % rH. Results: The survival of the three strains was dependent on temperature only, and it was unaffected by changing humidity within the tested range. The BKF strain survived temperatures above its optimum better than the SEN strain. The SENbkf showed intermediate resistance to high temperatures. A temperature of about 32 °C was the limit for survival for all strains. A rH ranging from 40 to 76 % had no effect on fecundity at 25–26 °C. Conclusions: We discuss the implications of these results on tsetse SIT-based control programmes. (Résumé d'auteur
Linear Response, Validity of Semi-Classical Gravity, and the Stability of Flat Space
A quantitative test for the validity of the semi-classical approximation in
gravity is given. The criterion proposed is that solutions to the
semi-classical Einstein equations should be stable to linearized perturbations,
in the sense that no gauge invariant perturbation should become unbounded in
time. A self-consistent linear response analysis of these perturbations, based
upon an invariant effective action principle, necessarily involves metric
fluctuations about the mean semi-classical geometry, and brings in the
two-point correlation function of the quantum energy-momentum tensor in a
natural way. This linear response equation contains no state dependent
divergences and requires no new renormalization counterterms beyond those
required in the leading order semi-classical approximation. The general linear
response criterion is applied to the specific example of a scalar field with
arbitrary mass and curvature coupling in the vacuum state of Minkowski
spacetime. The spectral representation of the vacuum polarization function is
computed in n dimensional Minkowski spacetime, and used to show that the flat
space solution to the semi-classical Einstein equations for n=4 is stable to
all perturbations on distance scales much larger than the Planck length.Comment: 22 pages: This is a significantly expanded version of gr-qc/0204083,
with two additional sections and two new appendices giving a complete,
explicit example of the semi-classical stability criterion proposed in the
previous pape
Energy-Momentum Tensor of Particles Created in an Expanding Universe
We present a general formulation of the time-dependent initial value problem
for a quantum scalar field of arbitrary mass and curvature coupling in a FRW
cosmological model. We introduce an adiabatic number basis which has the virtue
that the divergent parts of the quantum expectation value of the
energy-momentum tensor are isolated in the vacuum piece of , and
may be removed using adiabatic subtraction. The resulting renormalized
is conserved, independent of the cutoff, and has a physically transparent,
quasiclassical form in terms of the average number of created adiabatic
`particles'. By analyzing the evolution of the adiabatic particle number in de
Sitter spacetime we exhibit the time structure of the particle creation
process, which can be understood in terms of the time at which different
momentum scales enter the horizon. A numerical scheme to compute as a
function of time with arbitrary adiabatic initial states (not necessarily de
Sitter invariant) is described. For minimally coupled, massless fields, at late
times the renormalized goes asymptotically to the de Sitter invariant
state previously found by Allen and Folacci, and not to the zero mass limit of
the Bunch-Davies vacuum. If the mass m and the curvature coupling xi differ
from zero, but satisfy m^2+xi R=0, the energy density and pressure of the
scalar field grow linearly in cosmic time demonstrating that, at least in this
case, backreaction effects become significant and cannot be neglected in de
Sitter spacetime.Comment: 28 pages, Revtex, 11 embedded .ps figure
Why Does Inflation Start at the Top of the Hill?
We show why the universe started in an unstable de Sitter state. The quantum
origin of our universe implies one must take a `top down' approach to the
problem of initial conditions in cosmology, in which the histories that
contribute to the path integral, depend on the observable being measured. Using
the no boundary proposal to specify the class of histories, we study the
quantum cosmological origin of an inflationary universe in theories like trace
anomaly driven inflation in which the effective potential has a local maximum.
We find that an expanding universe is most likely to emerge in an unstable de
Sitter state, by semiclassical tunneling via a Hawking-Moss instanton. Since
the top down view is forced upon us by the quantum nature of the universe, we
argue that the approach developed here should still apply when the framework of
quantum cosmology will be based on M-Theory.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figur
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