Validation of Practical Tools to Identify Walking Cadence to Reach Moderate Intensity

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(4): 1244-1253, 2019. It is recommended that adults get at minimum 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in bouts of 10 minutes or greaterevery week. Walking cadence (steps per minute) is one easy way to estimate intensity required, however tools that claim to quantify walking intensity via walking cadence have not been validated in adults. We aimed to validate: 1- the accuracy of walking cadence measurement by the Piezo RxD pedometer, Polar Stride Sensor Bluetooth Smart foot pod, and Garmin Ant+ foot pod at different speeds and slopes and 2- the ability of the Piezo RxD to identify bouts of walking at moderate intensity using walking cadence. Inclusion criteria included being aged 19+ and the ability to reach moderate intensity when walking without incline as determined by a treadmill cardiorespiratory fitness test to determine 40% of VO2reserve. Walking cadence measured from the three tools was compared to a manual count of walking cadence during a series of walking stages at several speeds (2.5-5.5 km/h) and inclines (0-15%). The ability of the Piezo RxD to quantify a 10-minute bout was determined by walking for 12 minutes at 40% of VO2reserve measured by indirect calorimetry. All correlations between manual walking cadence counts and all devices were significant regardless of speed (r ranging from 0.469 to 0.999; p£0.05) and slope (r ranging from 0.887 to 0.996; p£0.05). The Piezo RxD was able to correctly measure a 10-minute bout of walking at moderate intensity for 50 of 51 participants. We found that all walking cadence devices provided accurate measurements of walking cadence. The Piezo RxD is an effective tool to quantify bouts of walking done at a minimum of moderate intensity

Forgetful maps between Deligne-Mostow ball quotients

We study forgetful maps between Deligne-Mostow moduli spaces of weighted points on P^1, and classify the forgetful maps that extend to a map of orbifolds between the stable completions. The cases where this happens include the Livn\'e fibrations and the Mostow/Toledo maps between complex hyperbolic surfaces. They also include a retraction of a 3-dimensional ball quotient onto one of its 1-dimensional totally geodesic complex submanifolds

Quantum renormalization group of XYZ model in a transverse magnetic field

We have studied the zero temperature phase diagram of XYZ model in the presence of transverse magnetic field. We show that small anisotropy (0 =< Delta <1) is not relevant to change the universality class. The phase diagram consists of two antiferromagnetic ordering and a paramagnetic phases. We have obtained the critical exponents, fixed points and running of coupling constants by implementing the standard quantum renormalization group. The continuous phase transition from antiferromagnetic (spin-flop) phase to a paramagnetic one is in the universality class of Ising model in transverse field. Numerical exact diagonalization has been done to justify our results. We have also addressed on the application of our findings to the recent experiments on Cs_2CoCl_4.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, new references added to the present versio

Excitation Spectra and Thermodynamic Response of Segmented Heisenberg Spin Chains

The spectral and thermodynamic response of segmented quantum spin chains is analyzed using a combination of numerical techniques and finite-size scaling arguments. Various distributions of segment lengths are considered, including the two extreme cases of quenched and annealed averages. As the impurity concentration is increased, it is found that (i) the integrated spectral weight is rapidly reduced, (ii) a pseudo-gap feature opens up at small frequencies, and (iii) at larger frequencies a discrete peak structure emerges, dominated by the contributions of the smallest cluster segments. The corresponding low-temperature thermodynamic response has a divergent contribution due to the odd-site clusters and a sub-dominant exponentially activated component due to the even-site segments whose finite-size gap is responsible for the spectral weight suppression at small frequencies. Based on simple scaling arguments, approximate low-temperature expressions are derived for the uniform susceptibility and the heat capacity. These are shown to be in good agreement with numerical solutions of the Bethe ansatz equations for ensembles of open-end chains.Comment: RevTex, 9 pages with 6 figure

Fabry disease with atypical phenotype identified by massively parallel sequencing in early-onset kidney failure

Background. The cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unknown in ∼20% of patients with kidney failure. Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) can be a valuable diagnostic tool in patients with unexplained CKD, with a diagnostic yield of 12%–56%. Here, we report the use of MPS to establish a genetic diagnosis in a 24-year-old index patient who presented with hypertension, nephrotic-range proteinuria and kidney failure of unknown origin. Additionally, we describe a second family with the same mutation presenting with early-onset CKD. Results. In Family 1, MPS identified a known pathogenic variant in GLA (p.Ile319Thr), and plasma globotriaosylsphingosine and α-galactosidase A activity were compatible with the diagnosis of Fabry disease (FD). Segregation analysis identified three other family members carrying the same pathogenic variant who had mild or absent kidney phenotypes. One family member was offered enzyme therapy. While FD could not be established with certainty as the cause of kidney failure in the index patient, no alternative explanation was found. In Family 2, the index patient had severe glomerulosclerosis and a kidney biopsy compatible with FD at the age of 30 years, along with cardiac involvement and a history of acroparesthesia since childhood, in keeping with a more classical Fabry phenotype. Conclusion. These findings highlight the large phenotypic heterogeneity associated with GLA mutations in FD and underline several important implications of MPS in the work-up of patients with unexplained kidney failure.</p

Improvement of the banana “Musa acuminata” reference sequence using NGS data and semi-automated bioinformatics methods

Recent advances in genomics indicate functional significance of a majority of genome sequences and their long range interactions. As a detailed examination of genome organization and function requires very high quality genome sequence, the objective of this study was to improve reference genome assembly of banana (Musa acuminata)

Alignment of galaxy spins in the vicinity of voids

We provide limits on the alignment of galaxy orientations with the direction to the void center for galaxies lying near the edges of voids. We locate spherical voids in volume limited samples of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using the HB inspired void finder and investigate the orientation of (color selected) spiral galaxies that are nearly edge-on or face-on. In contrast with previous literature, we find no statistical evidence for departure from random orientations. Expressed in terms of the parameter c, introduced by Lee & Pen to describe the strength of such an alignment, we find that c<0.11(0.13) at 95% (99.7%) confidence limit within a context of a toy model that assumes a perfectly spherical voids with sharp boundaries.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; v2 discussion expanded, references fixed, matches version accepted by JCA

Fabry disease with atypical phenotype identified by massively parallel sequencing in early-onset kidney failure

Background. The cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unknown in ∼20% of patients with kidney failure. Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) can be a valuable diagnostic tool in patients with unexplained CKD, with a diagnostic yield of 12%–56%. Here, we report the use of MPS to establish a genetic diagnosis in a 24-year-old index patient who presented with hypertension, nephrotic-range proteinuria and kidney failure of unknown origin. Additionally, we describe a second family with the same mutation presenting with early-onset CKD. Results. In Family 1, MPS identified a known pathogenic variant in GLA (p.Ile319Thr), and plasma globotriaosylsphingosine and α-galactosidase A activity were compatible with the diagnosis of Fabry disease (FD). Segregation analysis identified three other family members carrying the same pathogenic variant who had mild or absent kidney phenotypes. One family member was offered enzyme therapy. While FD could not be established with certainty as the cause of kidney failure in the index patient, no alternative explanation was found. In Family 2, the index patient had severe glomerulosclerosis and a kidney biopsy compatible with FD at the age of 30 years, along with cardiac involvement and a history of acroparesthesia since childhood, in keeping with a more classical Fabry phenotype. Conclusion. These findings highlight the large phenotypic heterogeneity associated with GLA mutations in FD and underline several important implications of MPS in the work-up of patients with unexplained kidney failure.</p