Liquid meal composition, postprandial satiety hormones, and perceived appetite and satiety in obese women during acute caloric restriction

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare postprandial satiety regulating hormone responses (pancreatic polypeptide (PP) and peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY)) and visual analog scale- (VAS) assessed perceived appetite and satiety between liquid high-protein (HP) and high-carbohydrate (HC) meals in obese women during acute (24-h) caloric restriction. DESIGN: Eleven obese premenopausal women completed two conditions in random order in which they consumed 1500 calories as six 250-calorie HP meals or six 250-calorie HC meals over a 12-h period. Blood samples were taken at baseline and every 20 min thereafter and analyzed for PP and PYY concentrations. At these same points, perceived hunger and fullness were assessed with a VAS. The incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was used to compare postprandial responses. RESULTS: THE 12-H PP AND PYY IAUC WERE GREATER (P0.05) DURING THE HP CONDITION (PP: 4727±1306 pg/ml×12 h, PYY: 1373±357 pg/ml×12 h) compared with the HC condition (PP: 2300±528 pg/ml×12 h, PYY: 754±246 pg/ml×12 h). Perceived hunger and fullness were not different between conditions (P>0.05). The greatest changes in PYY and perceived fullness occurred after the morning meals during both conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that in obese women during acute caloric restriction before weight loss, i) liquid HP meals, compared with HC meals, result in greater postprandial PP and PYY concentrations, an effect not associated with differential appetite or satiety responses, and ii) meal-induced changes in PYY and satiety are greatest during the morning period, regardless of dietary macronutrient composition

Development of selective, ultra-fast multiple co-sensitization to control dye loading in dye-sensitized solar cells

Enhancing the spectral response of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) is essential to increasing device efficiency and a key approach to achieve this is co-sensitization (i.e. the use of multiple dyes to absorb light from different parts of the solar spectrum). However, precise control of dye loading within DSC mesoporous metal oxide photo-anodes is non-trivial especially for very rapid processing (minutes). This is further complicated by dyes having very different partition (Kd) and molar extinction (ε) coefficients which strongly influence dye uptake and spectral response, respectively. Here, we present a highly versatile, ultra-fast (ca. 5 min) desorption and re-dyeing method for dye-sensitized solar cells which can be used to precisely control dye loading in photo-electrode films. This method has been successfully applied to re-dye, partially desorb and re-dye and selectively desorb and re-dye photo-electrodes using examples of a Ru-bipy dye (N719) and also organic dyes (SQ1 and D149) giving η up to 8.1% for a device containing the organic dye D149 and re-dyed with the Ru dye N719. The paper also illustrates how this method can be used to rapidly screen large numbers of dyes (and/or dye combinations) and also illustrates how it can also be used to selectively study dye loading

Assessment of wind speeds along the damage path of the Alonsa, Manitoba EF4 tornado on 3 August 2018

Given the impracticality of attempting to directly measure wind speeds in tornadoes, wind speed estimation typically relies on the assessment of damage to structures and vegetation using classifications described in the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale. The advent of technology enabling the collection of large amounts of data, including detailed ground, drone, and aerial imagery, has led to a growth in research on non-conventional approaches for estimating tornado wind speeds. Research methods focused on defining the tornadic wind field based on forensic analysis of damage observations have shown promise for improving tornado assessments in a quantitative manner. In this study, novel methods for collecting forensic data following tornadoes are presented. Data from the Alonsa, MB tornado are applied to estimating the wind field along the damage path using treefall pattern analysis and threshold debris flight speed calculations. Comparison of the resulting wind speed estimates show reasonable agreement, with maximum speeds from both methods in the EF5 range. These research methods yield higher wind speeds than the maximum value obtained from the conventional EF-Scale assessment, which is in the low-end of the EF4 range based on a wood-frame house with sub-standard construction that was swept entirely from its foundation. Further work is still needed to make these methods operational for routine tornado intensity estimates

A study of dye anchoring points in half-squarylium dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

This paper reports the synthesis of a series of new half-squaraine dyes (Hf-SQ) based around a common chromophoric unit consisting of linked indoline and squaric acid moieties. Carboxylate groups have been incorporated onto this core structure at four different points to study the influence of the anchoring group position on dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) device performance. Dyes have been linked to TiO2 directly through the squaric acid moiety, through a modified squaric acid unit where a vinyl dicyano group has replaced one carbonyl, via an alkyl carboxylate attached to the indole N or through a carboxylate attached to the 4 position of a benzyl indole. Contact angle measurements have been studied to investigate the hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties of the dyes and the results have been compared to N719 and Z907. Full characterization data of all the dyes and synthetic intermediates are reported including single-crystal X-ray structural analysis for dye precursors; the indole (2a) and the half-squarylium esters (3a) and (6b), as well as the dyes (4c), (8) and (12). Dye colours range from yellow to red/brown in solution (λmax range from 430 to 476 nm) with ε ranging from 38 000 to 133 100 M−1 cm−1. The performance of the dyes in DSCs shows the highest efficiency yet reported for a Hf-SQ dye (η = 5.0%) for 1 cm2 devices with a spectral response ranging from 400 to 700 nm depending on the dye substituents. Co-sensitization of half-squarylium dye (7b) with squaraine dye (SQ2) resulted in a broader spectral response and an improved device efficiency (η = 6.1%). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and cyclic voltammetry have been used to study the influence of linker position on dye HOMO–LUMO levels and the data has been correlated with I–V and EQE data

Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?

Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance

Examining the validity of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire (AEQ) within a Portuguese sport setting

Sport psychology literature suggests that understanding engagement levels is pivotal to promote positive sporting experiences among athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire among Portuguese sport athletes. Two distinct samples of Portuguese athletes from different competitive levels were collected, and the results of a confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a good fit of the model to the data. A review of the psychometric properties indicated that all factors showed good composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. In addition, a multi-groups analysis showed the invariance of the model in two independent samples providing evidence of cross validity. Implications of these results for scholars and coaches are discussed and guidelines for future studies are suggested

Layered control architectures in robots and vertebrates

We revieiv recent research in robotics, neuroscience, evolutionary neurobiology, and ethology with the aim of highlighting some points of agreement and convergence. Specifically, we com pare Brooks' (1986) subsumption architecture for robot control with research in neuroscience demonstrating layered control systems in vertebrate brains, and with research in ethology that emphasizes the decomposition of control into multiple, intertwined behavior systems. From this perspective we then describe interesting parallels between the subsumption architecture and the natural layered behavior system that determines defense reactions in the rat. We then consider the action selection problem for robots and vertebrates and argue that, in addition to subsumption- like conflict resolution mechanisms, the vertebrate nervous system employs specialized selection mechanisms located in a group of central brain structures termed the basal ganglia. We suggest that similar specialized switching mechanisms might be employed in layered robot control archi tectures to provide effective and flexible action selection