Optimal Nutrition for Endurance Exercise: A Systematic Review

Introduction As fatigue in endurance events correlates with depletion of muscle glycogen, the traditional approach to nutritional support has been carbohydrate loading. However, there has been recent interest in improving athletic endurance performance by novel diets in the days to weeks prior to endurance events, the pre-event meal, and during exercise. Methods We searched PubMed and SCOPUS for randomized trials published from 1992-2017 with a primary endpoint of endurance performance. We identified 407 citations which were examined against our inclusion criteria of randomization or crossover allocation to diet and for which a primary outcome was endurance performance. Results Twenty full text articles met our inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. In the days to weeks prior to testing, one trial of a high-fat diet versus carbohydrate improved performance, the others were neutral. There was no benefit of substituting protein for carbohydrate during this time period, but almond intake did result in ergogenic benefits. In the pre-event meal, fat only showed ergogenic benefits when combined with carbohydrate intake. A single study suggested that vegetable-derived nitrates did provide benefit. During endurance events, partial substitution of carbohydrates with protein had varying results on performance and should be further examined. Conclusion Carbohydrates remain the best fuel source both before and during events for overall endurance performance compared to other macronutrients, including water. Partial substitution of carbohydrate with fat and protein immediately before and during events warrants further investigation. Additional trials on nitrates and almond consumption are also needed

Digital image registration method based upon binary boundary maps

A relatively fast method is presented for matching or registering the digital data of imagery from the same ground scene acquired at different times, or from different multispectral images, sensors, or both. It is assumed that the digital images can be registed by using translations and rotations only, that the images are of the same scale, and that little or no distortion exists between images. It is further assumed that by working with several local areas of the image, the rotational effects in the local areas can be neglected. Thus, by treating the misalignments of local areas as translations, it is possible to determine rotational and translational misalignments for a larger portion of the image containing the local areas. This procedure of determining the misalignment and then registering the data according to the misalignment can be repeated until the desired degree of registration is achieved. The method to be presented is based upon the use of binary boundary maps produced from the raw digital imagery rather than the raw digital data

15N Values in Crassostrea virginica Shells Provides Early Direct Evidence for Nitrogen Loading to Chesapeake Bay

Crassostrea virginica is one of the most common estuarine bivalves in the United States? east coast and is frequently found in archaeological sites and sub-fossil deposits. Although there have been several sclerochronological studies on stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in the shells of this species, less is known about ?15N values within their shells, which could be a useful paleoenvironmental proxy to assess estuarine nitrogen dynamics. Modern C. virginica samples were collected in Chesapeake Bay for comparison with archaeological shells from nearby sites ranging in age from ~100 to 3,200 years old. Left valves were sampled by milling the hinge area and the resulting powder was analyzed for %N and ?15N values. Comparison of ?15N values between C. virginica shells shows relatively constant values from ~1250 BC to ~1800 AD. After ~1800 AD, there are rapid increases in 15N enrichment in the shells, which continue to increase in value up to the modern shell values. The increase in ?15N values is evidence of early anthropogenic impact in Chesapeake Bay. These results corroborate the observation that coastal nitrogen pollution occurred earlier than the 19th century and support the use of oyster shell ?15N values as a useful environmental proxy

Centuries of Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Age Variation Within Archaeological Mesodesma donacium Shells From Southern Peru

Mollusk shells provide brief (\u3c5 yr per shell) records of past marine conditions, including marine radiocarbon reservoir age (R) and upwelling. We report 21 14C ages and R calculations on small (~2 mg) samples from 2 Mesodesma donacium (surf clam) shells. These shells were excavated from a semi-subterranean house floor stratum 14C dated to 7625 ± 35 BP at site QJ-280, Quebrada Jaguay, southern Peru. The ranges in marine 14C ages (and thus R) from the 2 shells are 530 and 170 14C yr; R from individual aragonite samples spans 130 ± 60 to 730 ± 170 14C yr. This intrashell 14C variability suggests that 14C dating of small (time-slice much less than 1 yr) marine samples from a variable-R (i.e. variable-upwelling) environment may introduce centuries of chronometric uncertainty

Revisions to the Cenozoic stratigraphy of Harney Basin, southeastern Oregon

ABSTRACT Harney Basin in southeastern Oregon has persisted as a site of deposition during essentially all of late Cenozoic time; the basin is filled with a sequence of continental volcanic, volcaniclastic, and tuffaceous sedimentary rocks derived from voluminous and widespread basaltic and rhyolitic volcanism. Many rock units are confined to small areas of Harney Basin, whereas others extend beyond the limits of the basin. Included among the latter are a few thick prisms of basalt and related palagonite tuffs, and several late Miocene ash-flow tuffs that cover tens of thousands of square kilometers in eastern Oregon. The ash-flow tuffs, which represent unique time-stratigraphic marker horizons, occur in lithologic sequences within a number of neighboring depositional basins, where they have been given various formal and informal formational names. In order to clarify the stratigraphic nomenclature of Harney Basin and adjacent regions, three of the ash-flow tuffs the Devine Canyon Ash-flow Tuff, the Prater Creek Ash-flow Tuff, and the Rattlesnake Ash-flow Tuff are redefined as formations. In this report their distribution and relations to other stratigraphic units are described, and the terminology of other formational units of which they formerly were a part is revised

State of Utah Space Environment & Contamination Study (SUSpECS) MISSE-6 Payload to Investigate Their Effects on Electron Emission and Resistivity of Spacecraft Materials

A study of the effects of prolonged exposure to the space environment and of charge-enhanced contamination on the electron emission and resistivity of spacecraft materials, the State of Utah Space Environment & Contamination Study (SUSpECS), is planned for flight aboard the MISSE-6 payload. The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE-6) program is designed to characterize the performance of candidate new space materials over the course of approximately four to eight month exposure periods on-orbit on the International Space Station, with a target flight date of mid-2006. The study is conducted by the Utah State University Materials Physics Group, in cooperation with the USU Get-Away Special Program and ATK Thiokol. Electron emission and transport properties of materials are key in determining the likelihood of deleterious spacecraft charging effects and are essential parameters in modeling these effects with engineering tools like NASCAP-2K code. While preliminary ground-based studies have shown that contamination can lead to catastrophic charging effects under certain circumstances, little direct information is presently available on the effects of sample deterioration and contamination on emission properties for materials flown in space. Approximately 40 samples will be mounted on panels on both the ram and wake sides of the ISS. They have been carefully chosen to provide needed information for different ongoing studies and a broad cross-section of prototypical materials used on the exteriors of spacecrafts. Much of the pre-flight testing has already been done in conjunction with previous studies through the NASA Space Environments and Effects Program and other projects. The materials will be tested for resistivity and dielectric strength, and for electron-, ion-, and photon-induced electron emission yield curves and emission spectra. Characterization measurements include optical and electron microscopy, reflection spectroscopy, resistivity and Auger electron spectroscopy. In addition, studies of the service life of composite and ceramic materials of the ATK Thermal Protection Systems and Lightweight Structure System