Frequency-Weighted Balancing Related Controller Reduction

OpenAIRE

Varga, Andras; Anderson, Brian D.O.

2002-01-01

The efficient solution of a class of controller approximation problems by using frequency-weighted balancing related model reduction approaches is considered. It is shown that for certain standard performance and stability enforcing frequency-weights, the computation of the frequency-weighted controllability and observability grammians can be done by solving reduced order Lyapunov equations regardless the controller itself is stable or unstable. The new approach can be used in conjunction wit...

Effect of psychological distress on weight concern and weight control behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Roohafza, Hamidreza; Kabir, Ali; Sadeghi, Masoumeh; Shokouh, Pedram; Aalaei-Andabili, Seyed Hossein; Mehrabi, Yadollah; Sarrafzadegan, Nizal

2014-09-01

Obesity is associated with chronic disorders like coronary artery diseases, metabolic syndrome, cancers, and psychiatric disorders. Stress may contribute to weight gain by disrupting weight concern, and lead to uncontrolled eating behavior. This study aimed to investigate the effects of stress on weight concern and control behaviors in normal weight and obese adults. A total of 9544 subjects were selected by multi-stage random sampling from three provinces in central Iran. Information related to weight concern and control behavior was registered in normal weight and obese participants. Psychological distress was measured by a 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and subjects were divided into high and low stress groups. Logistic regression was used for analysis. The mean age of participants was 38.7 ± 15.5 years and 50% (4772) of them were males. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for age, sex and education of high stress to low stress level for weight concern, weight control behavior and acceptable physical activity behavior was more than 1; but the OR was less than 1 for waist circumference, obesity and healthy diet behavior. Among obese participants, higher levels of stress were associated with lower weight concern with OR, 95%CI: 0.821, (0.682 - 0.988), lower acceptable physical activity with OR = 0.833, 95%CI: (0.624 - 0.912), but higher rates of healthy diet behavior with OR = 1.360, 95% CI: (1.040 - 1.780). Individuals with high stress level have lower weight concern and lower physical activity; therefore, they are prone to weight gain and obesity. It could be concluded that stress management should be considered as a crucial component of obesity prevention and control programs.

Lifetime modelling with a Weibull law: comparison of three Bayesian Methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billy, F.; Remy, E.; Bousquet, N.; Celeux, G.

2006-01-01

For a nuclear power plant, being able to estimate the lifetime of important components is strategic. But data is usually insufficient to do so. Thus, it is relevant to use expertise, together with data, in order to assess the value of lifetime on the grounds of both sources. The Bayesian frame and the choice of a Weibull law to model the random time for replacement are relevant. They have been chosen for this article. Two indicators are computed : the mean lifetime of any component and the mean residual lifetime of a given component, after it has been controlled. Three different Bayesian methods are compared on three sets of data. The article shows that the three methods lead to coherent results and that uncertainties are strongly reduced. The method developed around PMC has two main advantages: it models a conditional dependence of the two parameters of the Weibull law, which enables more coherent results on the prior; it has a parameter that weights the strength of the expertise. This last point is very important to do lifetime assessments, because then, expertise is not used to increase too small samples as much as to do a real extrapolation, far beyond what data itself say. (authors)

Design of Boiler Welding for Improvement of Lifetime and Cost Control

OpenAIRE

Thong-On, Atcharawadi; Boonruang, Chatdanai

2016-01-01

Fe-2.25Cr-1Mo a widely used material for headers and steam tubes of boilers. Welding of steam tube to header is required for production of boiler. Heat affected zone of the weld can have poor mechanical properties and poor corrosion behavior leading to weld failure. The cost of material used for steam tube and header of boiler should be controlled. This study propose a new materials design for boiler welding to improve the lifetime and cost control, using tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of F...

Associations of body weight perception and weight control behaviors with problematic internet use among Korean adolescents.

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Park, Subin; Lee, Yeeun

2017-05-01

We examined the association of body mass index (BMI), body weight perception, and weight control behaviors with problematic Internet use in a nationwide sample of Korean adolescents. Cross-sectional data from the 2010 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey collected from 37,041 boys and 33,655 girls in middle- and high- schools (grades 7-12) were analyzed. Participants were classified into groups based on BMI (underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese), body weight perception (underweight, normal weight, and overweight), and weight control behavior (no weight control behavior, appropriate weight control behavior, inappropriate weight control behavior). The risk of problematic Internet use was assessed with the Korean Internet Addiction Proneness Scale for Youth-Short Form. Both boys and girls with inappropriate weight control behavior were more likely to have problematic Internet use. Underweight, overweight, and obese boys and girls were more likely to have problematic Internet use. For both boys and girls, subjective perception of underweight and overweight were positively associated with problematic Internet use. Given the negative effect of inappropriate weight control behavior, special attention needs to be given to adolescents' inappropriate weight control behavior, and an educational intervention for adolescents to control their weight in healthy ways is needed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Schizophrenia and weight management: a systematic review of interventions to control weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, G; Soundy, A A; Lloyd, K

2003-11-01

Weight gain is a frequent side effect of antipsychotic medication which has serious implications for a patient's health and well being. This study systematically reviews the literature on the effectiveness of interventions designed to control weight gain in schizophrenia. A systematic search strategy was conducted of major databases in addition to citation searches. Study quality was rated. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Five of eight pharmacological intervention studies reported small reductions in weight (weight). All behavioural (including diet and/or exercise) interventions reported small reductions in, or maintenance of, weight. Weight loss may be difficult but it is not impossible. Given the inconsistent results, the widespread use of pharmacological interventions cannot be recommended. Both dietary and exercise counselling set within a behavioural modification programme is necessary for sustained weight control.

Prevalence of overweight misperception and weight control behaviors among normal weight adolescents in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathleen S. Talamayan

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Weight perceptions and weight control behaviors have been documented with underweight and overweight adolescents, yet limited information is available on normal weight adolescents. This study investigates the prevalence of overweight misperceptions and weight control behaviors among normal weight adolescents in the U.S. by sociodemographic and geographic characteristics. We examined data from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS. A total of 9,714 normal weight U.S. high school students were included in this study. Outcome measures included self-reported height and weight measurements, overweight misperceptions, and weight control behaviors. Weighted prevalence estimates and odds ratios were computed. There were 16.2% of normal weight students who perceived themselves as overweight. Females (25.3% were more likely to perceive themselves as overweight than males (6.7% (p < 0.05. Misperceptions of overweight were highest among white (18.3% and Hispanic students (15.2% and lowest among black students (5.8%. Females (16.8% outnumbered males (6.8% in practicing at least one unhealthy weight control behavior (use of diet pills, laxatives, and fasting in the past 30 days. The percentage of students who practiced at least one weight control behavior was similar by ethnicity. There were no significant differences in overweight misperception and weight control behaviors by grade level, geographic region, or metropolitan status. A significant portion of normal weight adolescents misperceive themselves as overweight and are engaging in unhealthy weight control behaviors. These data suggest that obesity prevention programs should address weight misperceptions and the harmful effects of unhealthy weight control methods even among normal weight adolescents.

Weight Control: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... loss medications Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Body Weight Diets Eating Disorders Exercise and Physical Fitness Nutrition Obesity Weight Loss Surgery National Institutes of Health The primary NIH organization for research on Weight Control is the National Institute of ...

Weight Control: Attitudes of Dieters and Change Agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Parham, Ellen S.; And Others

1991-01-01

Survey explores attitudes toward weight loss/weight control among 2 groups of change agents--40 dietitians and 42 fitness instructors--and among 96 people trying to lose weight. Significant differences were found in terms of importance in weight control of diet, drugs, exercise, religion, and will power; in importance of being of normal weight;…

Optimizing weight control in diabetes: antidiabetic drug selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S Kalra

2010-08-01

Full Text Available S Kalra1, B Kalra1, AG Unnikrishnan2, N Agrawal3, S Kumar41Bharti Hospital, Karnal; 2Amrita Institute of Medical Science, Kochi; 3Medical College, Gwalior; 4Excel Life Sciences, Noida, IndiaDate of preparation: 18th August 2010Conflict of interest: SK has received speaker fees from Novo Nordisk, sanofi-aventis, MSD, Eli Lilly, BMS, and AstraZeneca.Clinical question: Which antidiabetic drugs provide optimal weight control in patients with type 2 diabetes?Results: Metformin reduces weight gain, and may cause weight loss, when given alone or in combination with other drugs. Pioglitazone and rosiglitazone use is associated with weight gain. Use of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1 analogs, liraglutide and exenatide, is associated with weight loss. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4 inhibitors are considered weight-neutral. Results with insulin therapy are conflicting. Insulin detemir provides weight control along with glycemic control.Implementation: • Weight gain is considered an inevitable part of good glycemic control using conventional modalities of treatment such as sulfonylureas.• Use of metformin, weight-sparing insulin analogs such as insulin detemir, and liraglutide, should be encouraged as monotherapy, or in combination with other drugs.Keywords: weight control, diabetes

Motivation, self-determination, and long-term weight control.

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Pedro J; Silva, Marlene N; Mata, Jutta; Palmeira, António L; Markland, David

2012-03-02

This article explores the topics of motivation and self-regulation in the context of weight management and related behaviors. We focus on the role of a qualitative approach to address motivation--not only considering the level but also type of motivation--in weight control and related behaviors. We critically discuss the operationalization of motivation in current weight control programs, present a complementary approach to understanding motivation based on self-determination theory, and review empirical findings from weight control studies that have used self-determination theory measures and assessed their association with weight outcomes. Weight loss studies which used Motivational Interviewing (MI) are also reviewed, considering MI's focus on enhancing internal motivation. We hypothesize that current weight control interventions may have been less successful with weight maintenance in part due to their relative disregard of qualitative dimensions of motivation, such as level of perceived autonomy, often resulting in a motivational disconnect between weight loss and weight-related behaviors. We suggest that if individuals fully endorse weight loss-related behavioral goals and feel not just competent but also autonomous about reaching them, as suggested by self-determination theory, their efforts are more likely to result in long-lasting behavior change.

Tropical High Cloud Fraction Controlled by Cloud Lifetime Rather Than Clear-sky Convergence

Science.gov (United States)

Seeley, J.; Jeevanjee, N.; Romps, D. M.

2016-12-01

Observations and simulations show a peak in cloud fraction below the tropopause. This peak is usually attributed to a roughly co-located peak in radiatively-driven clear-sky convergence, which is presumed to force convective detrainment and thus promote large cloud fraction. Using simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium forced by various radiative cooling profiles, we refute this mechanism by showing that an upper-tropospheric peak in cloud fraction persists even in simulations with no peak in clear-sky convergence. Instead, cloud fraction profiles seem to be controlled by cloud lifetimes — i.e., how long it takes for clouds to dissipate after they have detrained. A simple model of cloud evaporation shows that the small saturation deficit in the upper troposphere greatly extends cloud lifetimes there, while the large saturation deficit in the lower troposphere causes condensate to evaporate quickly. Since cloud mass flux must go to zero at the tropopause, a peak in cloud fraction emerges at a "sweet spot" below the tropopause where cloud lifetimes are long and there is still sufficient mass flux to be detrained.

Agreement Between Actual and Perceived Body Weight in Adolescents and Their Weight Control Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sun Mi Shin

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Background : To investigate the agreements between actual and perceived body weight status among adolescents and to identify the associations of disagreements with their weight control behaviors. Methods : This study used the secondary data of a sample survey (n=13,871 of the Seoul Student Health Examination among middle and high schools in 2010. Agreements between actual (underweight, normal, overweight, and obese, according to 2007 Korean National Growth Charts and perceived body weight status (underweight, normal, overweight, and obese were examined using Chi-square and Cohen’s kappa agreement, and then multinomial logistic regression including gender, grade, and attempt of weight control or method of weight control was done. Results : Agreements between actual and perceived body weight status were only 45.2%, and disagreements were up to 54.8%, including mild over- (20.4%, severe over- (1.8%, mild under- (29.5%, and severe under-estimation (3.1%. The kappa coefficient of agreement was only 0.19. The odds ratios on severe over-estimated perception were 1.59 (95% CI, 1.22-2.07 in female subjects, 1.78 (95% CI, 1.36-2.34 in diet control behaviors, and 1.53 (95% CI, 1.18-2.00 in exercise. The odds ratios on severe under-estimated perception were only 0.40 (95% CI, 0.32–0.50 in female subjects but 5.77 (95% CI, 3.68-9.06 in taking medication. Conclusion : There were associations of body weight control behaviors with disagreements of actual and perceived weight status. Therefore, further study is needed to identify the weight disagreement-related factors and to promote the desired weight control behaviors for adolescents.

Motivation, self-determination, and long-term weight control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teixeira Pedro J

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract This article explores the topics of motivation and self-regulation in the context of weight management and related behaviors. We focus on the role of a qualitative approach to address motivation - not only considering the level but also type of motivation - in weight control and related behaviors. We critically discuss the operationalization of motivation in current weight control programs, present a complementary approach to understanding motivation based on self-determination theory, and review empirical findings from weight control studies that have used self-determination theory measures and assessed their association with weight outcomes. Weight loss studies which used Motivational Interviewing (MI are also reviewed, considering MI's focus on enhancing internal motivation. We hypothesize that current weight control interventions may have been less successful with weight maintenance in part due to their relative disregard of qualitative dimensions of motivation, such as level of perceived autonomy, often resulting in a motivational disconnect between weight loss and weight-related behaviors. We suggest that if individuals fully endorse weight loss-related behavioral goals and feel not just competent but also autonomous about reaching them, as suggested by self-determination theory, their efforts are more likely to result in long-lasting behavior change.

Motivation, self-determination, and long-term weight control

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

This article explores the topics of motivation and self-regulation in the context of weight management and related behaviors. We focus on the role of a qualitative approach to address motivation - not only considering the level but also type of motivation - in weight control and related behaviors. We critically discuss the operationalization of motivation in current weight control programs, present a complementary approach to understanding motivation based on self-determination theory, and review empirical findings from weight control studies that have used self-determination theory measures and assessed their association with weight outcomes. Weight loss studies which used Motivational Interviewing (MI) are also reviewed, considering MI's focus on enhancing internal motivation. We hypothesize that current weight control interventions may have been less successful with weight maintenance in part due to their relative disregard of qualitative dimensions of motivation, such as level of perceived autonomy, often resulting in a motivational disconnect between weight loss and weight-related behaviors. We suggest that if individuals fully endorse weight loss-related behavioral goals and feel not just competent but also autonomous about reaching them, as suggested by self-determination theory, their efforts are more likely to result in long-lasting behavior change. PMID:22385818

Weight suppression predicts total weight gain and rate of weight gain in outpatients with anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Frances A; Boden, Joseph M; Jordan, Jennifer; McIntosh, Virginia V W; Bulik, Cynthia M; Joyce, Peter R

2015-11-01

The present study sought to replicate the finding of Wildes and Marcus, Behav Res Ther, 50, 266-274, 2012 that higher levels of weight suppression at pretreatment predict greater total weight gain, faster rate of weight gain, and bulimic symptoms amongst patients admitted with anorexia nervosa. Participants were 56 women with anorexia nervosa diagnosed by using strict or lenient weight criteria, who were participating in a randomized controlled psychotherapy trial (McIntosh et al., Am J Psychiatry, 162, 741-747, 2005). Thirty-five women completed outpatient treatment and post-treatment assessment. Weight suppression was the discrepancy between highest lifetime weight at adult height and weight at pretreatment assessment. Outcome variables were total weight gain, rate of weight gain, and bulimic symptoms in the month prior to post-treatment assessment [assessed using the Eating Disorders Examination (Fairburn et al., Binge-Eating: Nature, Assessment and Treatment. New York: Guilford, 1993)]. Weight suppression was positively associated with total weight gain and rate of weight gain over treatment. Regression models showed that this association could not be explained by covariates (age at onset of anorexia nervosa and treatment modality). Weight suppression was not significantly associated with bulimic symptoms in the month prior to post-treatment assessment, regardless of whether bulimic symptoms were examined as continuous or dichotomous variables. The present study reinforces the previous finding that weight suppression predicts total weight gain and rate of weight gain amongst patients being treated for anorexia nervosa. Methodological issues may explain the failure of the present study to find that weight suppression predicts bulimic symptoms. Weight suppression at pretreatment for anorexia nervosa should be assessed routinely and may inform treatment planning. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prediction of the lifetime productive and reproductive performance of Holstein cows managed for different lactation durations, using a model of lifetime nutrient partitioning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaillard, Charlotte; Martin, O; Blavy, P

2016-01-01

The GARUNS model is a lifetime performance model taking into account the changing physiological priorities of an animal during its life and through repeated reproduction cycles. This dynamic and stochastic model has been previously used to predict the productive and reproductive performance...... of various genotypes of cows across feeding systems. In the present paper, we used this model to predict the lifetime productive and reproductive performance of Holstein cows for different lactation durations, with the aim of determining the lifetime scenario that optimizes cows' performance defined...... by lifetime efficiency (ratio of total milk energy yield to total energy intake) and pregnancy rate. To evaluate the model, data from a 16-mo extended lactation experiment on Holstein cows were used. Generally, the model could consistently fit body weight, milk yield, and milk components of these cows...

Weighing every day matters: daily weighing improves weight loss and adoption of weight control behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinberg, Dori M; Bennett, Gary G; Askew, Sandy; Tate, Deborah F

2015-04-01

Daily weighing is emerging as the recommended self-weighing frequency for weight loss. This is likely because it improves adoption of weight control behaviors. To examine whether weighing every day is associated with greater adoption of weight control behaviors compared with less frequent weighing. Longitudinal analysis of a previously conducted 6-month randomized controlled trial. Overweight men and women in Chapel Hill, NC, participated in the intervention arm (N=47). The intervention focused on daily weighing for weight loss using an e-scale that transmitted weights to a study website, along with weekly e-mailed lessons and tailored feedback on daily weighing adherence and weight loss progress. We gathered objective data on self-weighing frequency from the e-scales. At baseline and 6 months, weight change was measured in the clinic and weight control behaviors (total items=37), dietary strategies, and calorie expenditure from physical activity were assessed via questionnaires. Calorie intake was assessed using an online 24-hour recall tool. We used χ(2) tests to examine variation in discrete weight control behaviors and linear regression models to examine differences in weight, dietary strategies, and calorie intake and expenditure by self-weighing frequency. Fifty-one percent of participants weighed every day (n=24) over 6 months. The average self-weighing frequency among those weighing less than daily (n=23) was 5.4±1.2 days per week. Daily weighers lost significantly more weight compared with those weighing less than daily (mean difference=-6.1 kg; 95% CI -10.2 to -2.1; P=0.004). The total number of weight control behaviors adopted was greater among daily weighers (17.6±7.6 vs 11.2±6.4; P=0.004). There were no differences by self-weighing frequency in dietary strategies, calorie intake, or calorie expenditure. Weighing every day led to greater adoption of weight control behaviors and produced greater weight loss compared with weighing most days of the

Local Measurement of Fuel Energy Deposition and Heat Transfer Environment During Fuel Lifetime Using Controlled Calorimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Don W. Miller; Andrew Kauffmann; Eric Kreidler; Dongxu Li; Hanying Liu; Daniel Mills; Thomas D. Radcliff; Joseph Talnagi

2001-01-01

A comprehensive description of the accomplishments of the DOE grant titled, ''Local Measurement of Fuel Energy Deposition and Heat Transfer Environment During Fuel Lifetime using Controlled Calorimetry''

FUNDUS AUTOFLUORESCENCE LIFETIMES AND CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY.

Science.gov (United States)

Dysli, Chantal; Berger, Lieselotte; Wolf, Sebastian; Zinkernagel, Martin S

2017-11-01

To quantify retinal fluorescence lifetimes in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and to identify disease specific lifetime characteristics over the course of disease. Forty-seven participants were included in this study. Patients with central serous chorioretinopathy were imaged with fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence, optical coherence tomography, and fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) and compared with age-matched controls. Retinal autofluorescence was excited using a 473-nm blue laser light and emitted fluorescence light was detected in 2 distinct wavelengths channels (498-560 nm and 560-720 nm). Clinical features, mean retinal autofluorescence lifetimes, autofluorescence intensity, and corresponding optical coherence tomography (OCT) images were further analyzed. Thirty-five central serous chorioretinopathy patients with a mean visual acuity of 78 ETDRS letters (range, 50-90; mean Snellen equivalent: 20/32) and 12 age-matched controls were included. In the acute stage of central serous chorioretinopathy, retinal fluorescence lifetimes were shortened by 15% and 17% in the respective wavelength channels. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that fluorescence lifetimes were significantly influenced by the disease duration (P autofluorescence lifetimes, particularly in eyes with retinal pigment epithelial atrophy, were associated with poor visual acuity. This study establishes that autofluorescence lifetime changes occurring in central serous chorioretinopathy exhibit explicit patterns which can be used to estimate perturbations of the outer retinal layers with a high degree of statistical significance.

Control Chart on Semi Analytical Weighting

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, G. S.; Oliveira, C. C.; Silva, T. B. S. C.; Stellato, T. B.; Monteiro, L. R.; Marques, J. R.; Faustino, M. G.; Soares, S. M. V.; Ulrich, J. C.; Pires, M. A. F.; Cotrim, M. E. B.

2018-03-01

Semi-analytical balance verification intends to assess the balance performance using graphs that illustrate measurement dispersion, trough time, and to demonstrate measurements were performed in a reliable manner. This study presents internal quality control of a semi-analytical balance (GEHAKA BG400) using control charts. From 2013 to 2016, 2 weight standards were monitored before any balance operation. This work intended to evaluate if any significant difference or bias were presented on weighting procedure over time, to check the generated data reliability. This work also exemplifies how control intervals are established.

Simulation to coating weight control for galvanizing

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Junsheng; Yan, Zhang; Wu, Kunkui; Song, Lei

2013-05-01

Zinc coating weight control is one of the most critical issues for continuous galvanizing line. The process has the characteristic of variable-time large time delay, nonlinear, multivariable. It can result in seriously coating weight error and non-uniform coating. We develop a control system, which can automatically control the air knives pressure and its position to give a constant and uniform zinc coating, in accordance with customer-order specification through an auto-adaptive empirical model-based feed forward adaptive controller, and two model-free adaptive feedback controllers . The proposed models with controller were applied to continuous galvanizing line (CGL) at Angang Steel Works. By the production results, the precise and stability of the control model reduces over-coating weight and improves coating uniform. The product for this hot dip galvanizing line does not only satisfy the customers' quality requirement but also save the zinc consumption.

Self-perception of body weight status and weight control practices among adolescents in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zainuddin, Ahmad Ali; Manickam, Mala A; Baharudin, Azli; Omar, Azahadi; Cheong, Siew Man; Ambak, Rashidah; Ahmad, Mohamad Hasnan; Ghaffar, Suhaila Abdul

2014-09-01

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents is rising rapidly in many countries, including Malaysia. This article aims to present the associations between body mass index-based body weight status, body weight perception, and weight control practices among adolescents in Malaysia. The Malaysia School Based Nutrition Survey 2012, which included a body weight perception questionnaire and anthropometric measurements, was conducted on a representative sample of 40 011 students from Standard 4 until Form 5, with a 90.5% response rate. Comparing actual and perceived body weight status, the findings show that 13.8% of adolescents underestimated their weight, 35.0% overestimated, and 51.2% correctly judged their own weight. Significantly more normal weight girls felt they were overweight, whereas significantly more overweight boys perceived themselves as underweight. The overall appropriateness of weight control practices to body weight was 72.6%. Adolescents attempting to lose or gain weight need to have better understanding toward desirable behavioral changes. © 2014 APJPH.

Using Positive Deviance for Determining Successful Weight-Control Practices

Science.gov (United States)

Stuckey, Heather L.; Boan, Jarol; Kraschnewski, Jennifer L.; Miller-Day, Michelle; Lehman, Erik B.; Sciamanna, Christopher N.

2013-01-01

Based on positive deviance (examining the practices of successful individuals), we identified five primary themes from 36 strategies that help to maintain long-term weight loss (weight control) in 61 people. We conducted in-depth interviews to determine what successful individuals did and/or thought about regularly to control their weight. The themes included weight-control practices related to (a) nutrition: increase water, fruit, and vegetable intake, and consistent meal timing and content; (b) physical activity: follow and track an exercise routine at least 3×/week; (c) restraint: practice restraint by limiting and/or avoiding unhealthy foods; (d) self-monitor: plan meals, and track calories/weight progress; and (e) motivation: participate in motivational programs and cognitive processes that affect weight-control behavior. Using the extensive data involving both the practices and practice implementation, we used positive deviance to create a comprehensive list of practices to develop interventions for individuals to control their weight. PMID:20956609

The association of lifetime physical inactivity with bladder and renal cancer risk: A hospital-based case-control analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannioto, Rikki; Etter, John Lewis; Guterman, Lauren Beryl; Joseph, Janine M; Gulati, Nicholas R; Schmitt, Kristina L; LaMonte, Michael J; Nagy, Ryan; Minlikeeva, Albina; Szender, James Brian; Moysich, Kirsten B

2017-08-01

Recreational physical inactivity has been gaining recognition as an independent epidemiological exposure of interest in relation to cancer endpoints due to evidence suggesting that it may associate with cancer independent of obesity. In the current analyses, we examined the associations of lifetime recreational physical inactivity with renal and bladder cancer risk. In this hospital-based case-control study, we identified N=160 renal cancer patients, N=208 bladder cancer patients, and N=766 age frequency-matched controls without cancer. Participants self-reporting never participating in any regular/weekly recreational physical activity throughout their lifetime were classified as physically inactive. Utilizing unconditional multivariable logistic regression analyses, we estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to represent the associations between lifetime physical inactivity and renal and bladder cancer risk. In multivariable logistic regression models, we observed significant positive associations between lifetime recreational physical inactivity and renal cancer and bladder cancer risk: odds ratio=1.77 (95% CI: 1.10-2.85) and odds ratio=1.73 (95% CI: 1.13-2.63), respectively. Similar associations also persisted among individuals who were not obese for both renal and bladder cancer: odds ratio=1.75 (95% CI: 1.03-2.98) and odds ratio=1.70 (95% CI: 1.08-2.69), respectively. In this case-control study, we observed evidence of a positive association between renal and bladder cancer with lifetime recreational physical inactivity. These data add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that physical inactivity may be an important independent risk factor for cancer. However, additional studies using a larger sample and prospectively collected data are needed to substantiate the current findings. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gender and Socioeconomic Status in Relation to Weight Perception and Weight Control Behavior in Korean Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hee-Kyung Joh

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Aim: In Korea, obesity is more prevalent among men and lower socioeconomic groups. To explain this obesity disparity, we compared weight perception and weight control behavior across gender and socioeconomic status (SES. Methods: We analyzed data from 16,260 participants aged 20 years or older in a nationally representative cross-sectional survey. SES indicators included education and income levels. Weight under-perception was defined when participants considered themselves lighter than their measured BMI status. Either no active or inappropriate weight control (i.e., trying to gain weight in obese individuals was considered to be unhealthy patterns. Multivariate prevalence ratios were calculated using log-binomial regressions. Results: Men had a higher prevalence of weight under-perception (24.5 vs. 11.9% and unhealthy patterns of weight control behavior (57 vs. 40% than women. Low education level was associated with weight under-perception (ptrend = 0.022 in men, ptrend trend trend = 0.047 in men, ptrend Conclusion: Weight perception and weight control behavior significantly varied by gender and SES. Public actions should be directed toward improving perception and behavior of high-risk populations.

Changes in weight control behaviors and hedonic hunger during a 12-week commercial weight loss program.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neil, Patrick M; Theim, Kelly R; Boeka, Abbe; Johnson, Gail; Miller-Kovach, Karen

2012-12-01

Greater use of key self-regulatory behaviors (e.g., self-monitoring of food intake and weight) is associated with greater weight loss within behavioral weight loss treatments, although this association is less established within widely-available commercial weight loss programs. Further, high hedonic hunger (i.e., susceptibility to environmental food cues) may present a barrier to successful behavior change and weight loss, although this has not yet been examined. Adult men and women (N=111, body mass index M±SD=31.5±2.7kg/m(2)) were assessed before and after participating in a 12-week commercial weight loss program. From pre- to post-treatment, reported usage of weight control behaviors improved and hedonic hunger decreased, and these changes were inversely associated. A decrease in hedonic hunger was associated with better weight loss. An improvement in reported weight control behaviors (e.g., self-regulatory behaviors) was associated with better weight loss, and this association was even stronger among individuals with high baseline hedonic hunger. Findings highlight the importance of specific self-regulatory behaviors within weight loss treatment, including a commercial weight loss program developed for widespread community implementation. Assessment of weight control behavioral skills usage and hedonic hunger may be useful to further identify mediators of weight loss within commercial weight loss programs. Future interventions might specifically target high hedonic hunger and prospectively examine changes in hedonic hunger during other types of weight loss treatment to inform its potential impact on sustained behavior change and weight control. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of depressive and eating disorders on short- and long-term course of weight after surgical and nonsurgical weight loss treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Legenbauer, Tanja; Petrak, Frank; de Zwaan, Martina; Herpertz, Stephan

2011-01-01

To investigate the influence of depressive and eating disorders on short- and long-term weight loss after surgical and non-surgical weight-reduction treatment. Covariations between the disorders were considered. In a longitudinal naturalistic study, current diagnoses at baseline and lifetime diagnoses of depressive and eating disorders were assessed in participants who were undertaking a very-low-calorie diet (n = 250) and in bariatric surgery patients (n = 153). Lifetime diagnosis of a mental disorder was defined as presence of a mental disorder only in the past. Body weight was measured at baseline, 1 year after baseline, and 4 years after baseline. Mental comorbidity was assessed through use of standardized interviews at baseline. A structural equation modeling procedure was applied to test the associations between course of weight and mental disorders. Analyses were based on the intention to treat samples. Missing values were replaced by use of multiple imputation procedures. Neither depression nor eating disorders were associated with weight changes at the 1-year follow-up, but a specific effect emerged for bariatric surgery patients after 4 years: depression (current and lifetime) predicted smaller body mass index loss, whereas lifetime diagnosis of eating disorder was associated with greater weight loss. Individuals who report depressive disorders prior to bariatric surgery should be monitored more closely in order to identify patients who would benefit from additional therapy with the goal of improving weight-loss outcome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development and Application of Coating Weight Control Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jin Hyoung [Dongbu Steel, Incheon (Korea, Republic of)

2010-08-15

Precise coating weight control is very important issue on quality and minimizing operating costs on continuous galvanizing line. These days, many steel making companies are having a new understanding of cost importance by rise raw material prices and customers requirement for cost reduction. Dongbu steel also meets these situations and decided to develop the technologies. Dongbu Steel developed Integrated coating weight control system jointly with Objective Control Ltd. and installed 2CGL and 4CGL. Several technological functions were developed and realized to achieve true hands-off operation and maximum cost benefit by combining model-based preset and dynamic prediction models. We also installed it on 1 CGL on April, 2008. This paper will present the interface, functions and application result of the integrated coating weight control system including Zn saving and coating weight uniformity.

Weight-related concerns and weight-control behaviors among overweight adolescents in Delhi, India: A cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shrivastav Radhika

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Obesity is emerging as a public health problem among adolescents in India. The aim of this study was to describe specific weight-related concerns among school-going youth in Delhi, India and to assess the prevalence of weight control behaviors, including healthy and unhealthy ones. Differences by weight status, gender, grade level, and school-type (a proxy for SES in this setting are considered. Methods This study is cross-sectional by design. A sample of eighth and tenth graders (n = 1818 enrolled in Private (middle-high SES and Government (low SES schools (n = 8 in Delhi, India participated. All students' height and weight were measured. Students participated in a survey of weight-related concerns and weight-control behaviors, as well. Mixed-effects regression models were used to test for differences in weight-related concerns and weight-control behaviors across key factors of interest (i.e., weight status, gender, grade level, and SES. Results The combined prevalence of obesity and overweight was 16.6%, overall. Controlling one's weight was important to overweight and non-overweight youth, alike (94.2% v. 84.8%, p p Conclusions Interventions to promote healthy weight control should be pertinent to and well-received by school-going youth in India. Healthy weight control practices need to be explicitly encouraged and unhealthy practices reduced. Future interventions should address issues specific to body image, too, as body dissatisfaction was not uncommon among youth.

Genetic test feedback with weight control advice: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meisel Susanne F

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Genetic testing for risk of weight gain is already available over the internet despite uncertain benefits and concerns about adverse emotional or behavioral effects. Few studies have assessed the effect of adding genetic test feedback to weight control advice, even though one of the proposed applications of genetic testing is to stimulate preventive action. This study will investigate the motivational effect of adding genetic test feedback to simple weight control advice in a situation where weight gain is relatively common. Methods/design First-year university students (n = 800 will be randomized to receive either 1 their personal genetic test result for a gene (FTO related to weight gain susceptibility in addition to a leaflet with simple weight control advice (‘Feedback + Advice’ group, FA, or 2 only the leaflet containing simple weight control advice (‘Advice Only’ group, AO. Motivation to avoid weight gain and active use of weight control strategies will be assessed one month after receipt of the leaflet with or without genetic test feedback. Weight and body fat will be measured at baseline and eight months follow-up. We will also assess short-term psychological reactions to the genetic test result. In addition, we will explore interactions between feedback condition and gene test status. Discussion We hope to provide a first indication of the clinical utility of weight-related genetic test feedback in the prevention context. Trial registration Current controlled trials ISRCTN91178663

Efficacy of lifestyle modification for long-term weight control.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadden, Thomas A; Butryn, Meghan L; Byrne, Kirstin J

2004-12-01

A comprehensive program of lifestyle modification induces loss of approximately 10% of initial weight in 16 to 26 weeks, as revealed by a review of recent randomized controlled trials, including the Diabetes Prevention Program. Long-term weight control is facilitated by continued patient-therapist contact, whether provided in person or by telephone, mail, or e-mail. High levels of physical activity and the consumption of low-calorie, portion-controlled meals, including liquid meal replacements, can also help maintain weight loss. Additional studies are needed of the effects of macronutrient content (e.g., low-fat vs. low-carbohydrate diets) on long-term changes in weight and health. Research also is needed on effective methods of providing comprehensive weight loss control to the millions of Americans who need it.

Employers should disband employee weight control programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Alfred; Khanna, Vikram; Montrose, Shana

2015-02-01

American corporations continue to expand wellness programs, which now reach an estimated 90% of workers in large organizations, yet no study has demonstrated that the main focus of these programs-weight control-has any positive effect. There is no published evidence that large-scale corporate attempts to control employee body weight through financial incentives and penalties have generated savings from long-term weight loss, or a reduction in inpatient admissions associated with obesity or even long-term weight loss itself. Other evidence contradicts the hypothesis that population obesity rates meaningfully retard economic growth or manufacturing productivity. Quite the contrary, overscreening and crash dieting can impact employee morale and even harm employee health. Therefore, the authors believe that corporations should disband or significantly reconfigure weight-oriented wellness programs, and that the Affordable Care Act should be amended to require such programs to conform to accepted guidelines for harm avoidance.

Weight self-regulation process in adolescence: the relationship between control weight attitudes, behaviors and body weight status

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jordi ePich

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Adolescents’ self-control weight behaviors were assessed (n= 1961; 12-17 years old; 2007-2008 in the Balearic Islands, Spain. The study analyzed the relationships between body weight status, body image and self-weight concern, and actual attempts to lose weight by restrained eating and/or increased exercising. In terms of regulatory focus theory (RFT, we considered that efforts to lose or to maintain weight (successful or failed would be motivated either by a promotion focus (to show an attractive body, a prevention focus (to avoid social rejection of fatness, or both. Results showed that 41% of overweight boys and 25% of obese boys stated that they had never made any attempt to lose weight, and 13% and 4% in females. Around half of overweight boys and around a quarter of obese boys stated that they were Not at all concerned about weight gain, and girls’ percentages decreased to 13% and 11% respectively. By contrast 57% of normal weight girls monitored their weight and stated that they had tried to slim at least once. Weight self-regulation in females attempted to combine diet and exercise, while boys relied almost exclusively on exercise. Apparent lack of consciousness of body weight status among overweight boys, and more important, subsequent absence of behaviors to reduce their weight clearly challenges efforts to prevent obesity. We argue that several causes may be involved in this outcome, including unconscious emotional (self-defense and cognitive (dissonance mechanisms driven by perceived social stigmatization of obesity. The active participation of social values of male and female body image (strong vs. pretty and the existence of social habituation to overweight are suggested. A better knowledge of psychosocial mechanisms underlying adolescent weight self-control may improve obesity epidemics.

Teasing and weight-control behaviors in adolescent girls

OpenAIRE

Leme, Ana Carolina B.; Philippi, Sonia Tucunduva

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between weight teasing, body satisfaction and weight control behaviors. METHODS: Cross-sectional study based on adaptation and validity research of a North American questionnaire for adolescent girls about physical activity, nutrition, body image, perceptions, and behaviors. The variables used to conduct the study were weight control behaviors, body satisfaction and presence of teasing by family members. Descriptive analyses were carried out by chi-s...

On frequency-weighted coprime factorization based controller reduction

OpenAIRE

Varga, Andras

2003-01-01

We consider the efficient solution of a class of coprime factorization based controller approximation problems by using frequency-weighted balancing related model reduction approaches. It is shown that for some special stability enforcing frequency-weights, the computation of the frequency-weighted controllability and observability grammians can be done by solving reduced order Lyapunov equations. The new approach can be used in conjunction with accuracy enhancing square-root and balancing-fr...

Weight change in control group participants in behavioural weight loss interventions: a systematic review and meta-regression study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waters Lauren

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Unanticipated control group improvements have been observed in intervention trials targeting various health behaviours. This phenomenon has not been studied in the context of behavioural weight loss intervention trials. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-regression of behavioural weight loss interventions to quantify control group weight change, and relate the size of this effect to specific trial and sample characteristics. Methods Database searches identified reports of intervention trials meeting the inclusion criteria. Data on control group weight change and possible explanatory factors were abstracted and analysed descriptively and quantitatively. Results 85 trials were reviewed and 72 were included in the meta-regression. While there was no change in control group weight, control groups receiving usual care lost 1 kg more than control groups that received no intervention, beyond measurement. Conclusions There are several possible explanations why control group changes occur in intervention trials targeting other behaviours, but not for weight loss. Control group participation may prevent weight gain, although more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Motivation, self-determination, and long-term weight control

OpenAIRE

Teixeira, Pedro J; Silva, Marlene N; Mata, Jutta; Palmeira, António L; Markland, David

2012-01-01

Abstract This article explores the topics of motivation and self-regulation in the context of weight management and related behaviors. We focus on the role of a qualitative approach to address motivation - not only considering the level but also type of motivation - in weight control and related behaviors. We critically discuss the operationalization of motivation in current weight control programs, present a complementary approach to understanding motivation based on self-determination theor...

How College Students Search the Internet for Weight Control and Weight Management Information: An Observational Study

Science.gov (United States)

Senkowski, Valerie; Branscum, Paul

2015-01-01

Background: Few studies have attempted to examine how young adults search for health information on the Internet, especially information related to weight control and weight management. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine search strategies that college students used for finding information related to weight control and weight…

molecular weight control of a batch suspension polymerization reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahrokhi, M.; Fanaei, M. A.

2002-01-01

This paper concerns molecular weight control of a batch polymerization reactor where suspension polymerization of methyl methylacrylate (MMA) takes place. For this purpose, a cascade control structure with two control loops has been selected. The slave loop is used for temperature control using on-line temperature measurements, and the master loop controls the average molecular weights based on its estimated values. Two different control algorithms namely proportional-integral (PI) controller and globally linearizing controller (GLC) have been used for temperature control. An estimator, which has the structure of an extended Kalman filter(EKF), is used for estimating monomer conversion and average molecular weights of polymer using reactor temperature measurements. The performance of proposed control algorithm is evaluated through simulation and experimental studies. The results indicate that a constant average molecular weight cannot be achieved in case of strong gel effect. However, the polydispersity of product will be lower in comparison to isothermal operation. It is also shown that in case of mo dek mismatch, the performance of cascade control is superior compared to the case where only reactor temperature is controlled based on desired temperature trajectory obtained through cascade strategy

Relationship between Personalities Attributes (Neuroticism, Psychoticsism and Self-efficacy in Weight Control with People’s Weight

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Zakiei

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Today, overweight is a damaging agent that threats general health and mental states. So, the current research was done with the aim of specifying the relationship between personality attributes (neuroticism, psychoticism, self-efficacy in weight control with people’s weight. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive - correlational study. The sample concluded of all of students in Razi university of Kermanshah in year 2015-2016; of them 459 people were selected with stochastic random sampling method. The research tools were self-efficacy of lifestyle that effects on weight and Eisenck personality questionnaires. Results: The results showed that there is a negative significant relationship between weight with neuroticism and psychotics (p<0.001, but there was no significant relationship between neuroticism and weight. Also, the results showed that the components of self-efficacy in weight control can predict weight of people. Based on this, overeating with impact factor equal to 0.001, diet with 0.28 and oral inhibition with -0.13 of impact factor can predict weight of people. Conclusion: Due to the results, psycho personality and self-efficacy have roles in weight control of people.

Lifetime physical activity and female stress urinary incontinence.

Science.gov (United States)

Nygaard, Ingrid E; Shaw, Janet M; Bardsley, Tyler; Egger, Marlene J

2015-07-01

We sought to estimate whether moderate/severe stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in middle-aged women is associated with overall lifetime physical activity (including leisure, household, outdoor, and occupational), as well as lifetime leisure (recreational), lifetime strenuous, and strenuous activity during the teen years. Recruitment for this case-control study was conducted in primary-care-level family medicine and gynecology clinics. A total of 1538 enrolled women ages 39-65 years underwent a Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification examination to assess vaginal support. Based on Incontinence Severity Index scores, cases had moderate/severe and controls had no/mild SUI. We excluded 349 with vaginal descent at/below the hymen (pelvic organ prolapse), 194 who did not return questionnaires, and 110 with insufficient activity data for analysis. In all, 213 cases were frequency matched 1:1 by age group to controls. Physical activity was measured using the Lifetime Physical Activity Questionnaire, in which women recall activity from menarche to present. We created separate multivariable logistic regression models for activity measures. SUI odds increased slightly with overall lifetime activity (odds ratio [OR], 1.20 per 70 additional metabolic equivalent of task-h/wk; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.41), and were not associated with lifetime strenuous activity (OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.99-1.25). In quintile analysis of lifetime leisure activity, which demonstrated a nonlinear pattern, all quintiles incurred about half the odds of SUI compared to reference (second quintile; P = .009). Greater strenuous activity in teen years modestly increased SUI odds (OR, 1.37 per 7 additional h/wk; 95% CI, 1.09-1.71); OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.15-2.66 in sensitivity analysis adjusting for measurement error. The predicted probability of SUI rose linearly in women exceeding 7.5 hours of strenuous activity/wk during teen years. Teen strenuous activity had a similar effect on SUI odds when

Propellantless Attitude Control of Solar Sail Technology Utilizing Reflective Control Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Munday, Jeremy

2016-01-01

Solar sails offer an opportunity for a CubeSatscale, propellant-free spacecraft technology that enables long-term and long-distance missions not possible with traditional methods. Solar sails operate using the transfer of linear momentum from photons of sunlight reflected from the surface of the sail. To propel the spacecraft, no mechanically moving parts, thrusters, or propellant are needed. However, attitude control, or orientation, is still performed using traditional methods involving reaction wheels and propellant ejection, which severely limit mission lifetime. For example, the current state of the art solutions employed by upcoming missions couple solar sails with a state of the art propellant ejection gas system. Here, the use of the gas thruster has limited the lifetime of the mission. To solve the limited mission lifetime problem, the Propellantless Attitude Control of Solar Sail Technology Utilizing Reflective Control Devices project team is working on propellantless attitude control using thin layers of material, an optical film, electrically switchable from transparent to reflective. The technology is based on a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC), which allows this switch upon application of a voltage. This technology removes the need for propellant, which reduces weight and cost while improving performance and lifetime.

Weight-Control Methods, 3-Year Weight Change, and Eating Behaviors: A Prospective Nationwide Study of Middle-Aged New Zealand Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Sook Ling; Gray, Andrew; Haszard, Jillian; Horwath, Caroline

2016-08-01

The effectiveness of women's weight-control methods and the influences of dieting on eating behaviors remain unclear. Our aim was to determine the association of various weight-control methods at baseline with weight change to 3 years, and examine the association between baseline weight-control status (trying to lose weight, trying to prevent weight gain or no weight-control attempts) and changes in intuitive eating and binge eating at 3 years. A nationally representative sample of 1,601 New Zealand women (40 to 50 years) was recruited and completed a self-administered questionnaire at baseline regarding use of variety of weight-control methods. Information on demographic characteristics, weight, height, food habits, binge eating, and intuitive eating were collected at baseline and 3 years. Linear and logistic regression models examined associations between both weight status and weight-control methods at baseline and weight change to 3 years; and baseline weight-control status and change in intuitive eating from baseline to 3 years and binge eating at 3 years. χ(2) tests were used to cross-sectionally compare food habits across the weight status categories at both baseline and 3 years. Trying to lose weight and the use of weight-control methods at baseline were not associated with change in body weight to 3 years. There were a few differences in the frequency of consumption of high-energy-density foods between those trying to lose or maintain weight and those not attempting weight control. Trying to lose weight at baseline was associated with a 2.0-unit (95% CI 0.7 to 3.4, P=0.003) reduction in intuitive eating scores by 3 years (potential range=21 to 105), and 224% (odds ratio=3.24; 95% CI 1.69 to 6.20; Pfoods. Dieting may reduce women's ability to recognize hunger and satiety cues and place women at increased risk of binge eating. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Health literacy and parent attitudes about weight control for children.

Science.gov (United States)

Liechty, Janet M; Saltzman, Jaclyn A; Musaad, Salma M

2015-08-01

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between parental health literacy and parent attitudes about weight control strategies for young children. Parental low health literacy has been associated with poor child health outcomes, yet little is known about its relationship to child weight control and weight-related health information-seeking preferences. Data were drawn from the STRONG Kids Study, a Midwest panel survey among parents of preschool aged children (n = 497). Parents endorsed an average of 4.3 (SD =2.8) weight loss strategies, 53% endorsed all three recommended weight loss strategies for children, and fewer than 1% of parents endorsed any unsafe strategies. Parents were most likely to seek child weight loss information from healthcare professionals but those with low (vs. adequate) health literacy were significantly less likely to use the Internet or books and more likely to use minister/clergy as sources. Poisson and logistic regressions showed that higher health literacy was associated with endorsement of more strategies overall, more recommended strategies, and greater odds of endorsing each specific recommended strategy for child weight control, after adjusting for parent age, education, race/ethnicity, income, marital status, weight concern, and child BMI percentile. Findings suggest that health literacy impacts parental views about child weight loss strategies and health information-seeking preferences. Pediatric weight loss advice to parents should include assessment of parent attitudes and prior knowledge about child weight control and facilitate parent access to reliable sources of evidence-informed child weight control information. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A method for determining weights for excess relative risk and excess absolute risk when applied in the calculation of lifetime risk of cancer from radiation exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walsh, Linda [Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Department of Radiation Protection and Health, Oberschleissheim (Germany); University of Manchester, The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, Manchester (United Kingdom); Schneider, Uwe [University of Zurich, Vetsuisse Faculty, Zurich (Switzerland); Radiotherapy Hirslanden AG, Aarau (Switzerland)

2013-03-15

Radiation-related risks of cancer can be transported from one population to another population at risk, for the purpose of calculating lifetime risks from radiation exposure. Transfer via excess relative risks (ERR) or excess absolute risks (EAR) or a mixture of both (i.e., from the life span study (LSS) of Japanese atomic bomb survivors) has been done in the past based on qualitative weighting. Consequently, the values of the weights applied and the method of application of the weights (i.e., as additive or geometric weighted means) have varied both between reports produced at different times by the same regulatory body and also between reports produced at similar times by different regulatory bodies. Since the gender and age patterns are often markedly different between EAR and ERR models, it is useful to have an evidence-based method for determining the relative goodness of fit of such models to the data. This paper identifies a method, using Akaike model weights, which could aid expert judgment and be applied to help to achieve consistency of approach and quantitative evidence-based results in future health risk assessments. The results of applying this method to recent LSS cancer incidence models are that the relative EAR weighting by cancer solid cancer site, on a scale of 0-1, is zero for breast and colon, 0.02 for all solid, 0.03 for lung, 0.08 for liver, 0.15 for thyroid, 0.18 for bladder and 0.93 for stomach. The EAR weighting for female breast cancer increases from 0 to 0.3, if a generally observed change in the trend between female age-specific breast cancer incidence rates and attained age, associated with menopause, is accounted for in the EAR model. Application of this method to preferred models from a study of multi-model inference from many models fitted to the LSS leukemia mortality data, results in an EAR weighting of 0. From these results it can be seen that lifetime risk transfer is most highly weighted by EAR only for stomach cancer. However

Overweight Adolescents’ Self-Perceived Weight and Weight Control Behaviour: HBSC Study in Finland 1994–2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristiina Ojala

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Overweight and perception of being overweight, may lead adolescent to lose weight. The aim of the present study was to investigate overweight adolescents’ self-perceived weight, body dissatisfaction, and weight control behaviour during 1994–2010 in Finland. Methods. The country-representative, cross-sectional data of 15-year olds were obtained from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC study, conducted in 1994 (=1194; males: 48%, 1998 (=1545; 49%, 2002 (=1745; 50%, 2006 (=1670; 47%, and 2010 (=2082; 48%. Results. The majority of overweight boys (62–69% and girls (89–100% assessed themselves as too fat, and their body image was lower than in nonoverweight adolescents. The highest prevalence of current weight controlling was found in 2006 in males (18% and in 2010 in females (39%. Conclusion. The phenomena were current and gender differences notable, but there was no statistically significant difference in overweight adolescents’ self-perceived weight, body dissatisfaction, or weight control behaviour between survey years.

Octanol reduces end-plate channel lifetime

Science.gov (United States)

Gage, Peter W.; McBurney, Robert N.; Van Helden, Dirk

1978-01-01

1. Post-synaptic effects of n-octanol at concentrations of 0·1-1 mM were examined in toad sartorius muscles by use of extracellular and voltage-clamp techniques. 2. Octanol depressed the amplitude and duration of miniature end-plate currents and hence depressed neuromuscular transmission. 3. The decay of miniature end-plate currents remained exponential in octanol solutions even when the time constant of decay (τD) was decreased by 80-90%. 4. The lifetime of end-plate channels, obtained by analysis of acetylcholine noise, was also decreased by octanol. The average lifetime measured from noise spectra agreed reasonably well with the time constant of decay of miniature end-plate currents, both in control solution and in octanol solutions. 5. Octanol caused a reduction in the conductance of end-plate channels. Single channel conductance was on average about 25 pS in control solution and 20 pS in octanol. 6. In most cells the normal voltage sensitivity of the decay of miniature end-plate currents was retained in octanol solutions. The lifetime of end-plate channels measured from acetylcholine noise also remained voltage-sensitive in octanol solutions. In some experiments in which channel lifetime was exceptionally reduced the voltage sensitivity was less than normal. 7. In octanol solutions, τD was still very sensitive to temperature changes in most cells although in some the temperature sensitivity of τD was clearly reduced. Changes in τD with temperature could generally be fitted by the Arrhenius equation suggesting that a single step reaction controlled the decay of currents both in control and in octanol solutions. In some cells in which τD became less than 0·3 ms, the relationship between τD and temperature became inconsistent with the Arrhenius equation. 8. As the decay of end-plate currents in octanol solutions remains exponential, and the voltage and temperature sensitivity can be unchanged even when τD is significantly reduced, it seems likely that

The association of lifetime physical inactivity with head and neck cancer: a hospital-based case-control analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Platek, Alexis J; Cannioto, Rikki A; Etter, John Lewis; Kim, Jae; Joseph, Janine M; Gulati, Nicholas R; Schmitt, Kristina L; Callahan, Emily; Khachatryan, Edgar; Nagy, Ryan; Minlikeeva, Albina; Brian Szender, J; Singh, Anurag K; Danziger, Iris; Moysich, Kirsten B

2017-10-01

Despite mounting epidemiological evidence suggesting an inverse association between recreational physical activity and cancer risk, evidence associated with head and neck cancer is scant. We conducted a case-control analysis to examine the associations of lifetime physical inactivity with the risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We utilized data from the Patient Epidemiology Data System at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). Participants included 246 patients with HNSCC and 504 cancer-free controls who received medical services at RPCI between 1990 and 1998. Participants were considered physically inactive if they did not participate in any regular, weekly recreational physical activity throughout their lifetime, prior to diagnosis. Multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) representing the association between lifetime physical inactivity and HNSCC risk. We observed a significant positive association between recreational physical inactivity and HNSCC risk (OR = 2.73, 95% CI 1.87-3.99, p physical inactivity associates with HNSCC independent of BMI. In addition, physical inactivity may be a modifiable risk factor among never smokers. These data add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that physical inactivity may be an independent risk factor for cancer.

In control of weight: the relationship between facets of control and weight restriction.

Science.gov (United States)

Donovan, Caroline L; Penny, Rhiannon

2014-01-01

This study explored the moderating effects of body dissatisfaction (BD) on the relationships between various constructs of control and weight restricting and control behaviours (WRCBs). Participants were 167 female undergraduates who completed self-report measures of control, BD and WRCBs. It was found that higher external locus of control (LOC) was related to less dieting and exercise and that LOC was unrelated to purging. In addition, higher levels of general self-control were found to be related to higher levels of purging when BD was high but not low, and higher general self-control was associated with greater dieting and exercise behaviour. Finally, higher 'self-control as self-esteem' was strongly associated with greater dieting and exercise behaviour at both high and low levels of BD, whilst 'self-control as self-esteem' was related to purging only when BD was high. The results of this research suggest that different constructs of control have differential effects on WRCBs. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Frequency weighted model predictive control of wind turbine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klauco, Martin; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad; Mirzaei, Mahmood

2013-01-01

This work is focused on applying frequency weighted model predictive control (FMPC) on three blade horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). A wind turbine is a very complex, non-linear system influenced by a stochastic wind speed variation. The reduced dynamics considered in this work are the rotatio...... predictive controller are presented. Statistical comparison between frequency weighted MPC, standard MPC and baseline PI controller is shown as well.......This work is focused on applying frequency weighted model predictive control (FMPC) on three blade horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT). A wind turbine is a very complex, non-linear system influenced by a stochastic wind speed variation. The reduced dynamics considered in this work...... are the rotational degree of freedom of the rotor and the tower for-aft movement. The MPC design is based on a receding horizon policy and a linearised model of the wind turbine. Due to the change of dynamics according to wind speed, several linearisation points must be considered and the control design adjusted...

'Fit Moms/Mamás Activas' internet-based weight control program with group support to reduce postpartum weight retention in low-income women: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Phelan, Suzanne; Brannen, Anna; Erickson, Karen; Diamond, Molly; Schaffner, Andrew; Muñoz-Christian, Karen; Stewart, Ana; Sanchez, Teresa; Rodriguez, Vanessa C; Ramos, Dalila I; McClure, Linda; Stinson, Caro; Tate, Deborah F

2015-02-25

High postpartum weight retention is a strong independent risk factor for lifetime obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes in women. Interventions to promote postpartum weight loss have met with some success but have been limited by high attrition. Internet-based treatment has the potential to overcome this barrier and reduce postpartum weight retention, but no study has evaluated the effects of an internet-based program to prevent high postpartum weight retention in women. Fit Moms/Mamás Activas targets recruitment of 12 Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program clinics with a total of 408 adult (>18 years), postpartum (internet-based weight loss intervention. The intervention includes: monthly face-to-face group sessions; access to a website with weekly lessons, a web diary, instructional videos, and computer-tailored feedback; four weekly text messages; and brief reinforcement from WIC counselors. Participants are assessed at baseline, six months, and 12 months. The primary outcome is weight loss over six and 12 months; secondary outcomes include diet and physical activity behaviors, and psychosocial measures. Fit Moms/Mamás Activas is the first study to empirically examine the effects of an internet-based treatment program, coupled with monthly group contact at the WIC program, designed to prevent sustained postpartum weight retention in low-income women at high risk for weight gain, obesity, and related comorbidities. This trial was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (identifier: NCT01408147 ) on 29 July 2011.

Executive function in weight loss and weight loss maintenance: a conceptual review and novel neuropsychological model of weight control.

Science.gov (United States)

Gettens, Katelyn M; Gorin, Amy A

2017-10-01

Weight loss maintenance is a complex, multifaceted process that presents a significant challenge for most individuals who lose weight. A growing body of literature indicates a strong relationship between cognitive dysfunction and excessive body weight, and suggests that a subset of high-order cognitive processes known as executive functions (EF) likely play an important role in weight management. Recent reviews cover neuropsychological correlates of weight status yet fail to address the role of executive function in the central dilemma of successful weight loss maintenance. In this paper, we provide an overview of the existing literature examining executive functions as they relate to weight status and initial weight loss. Further, we propose a novel conceptual model of the relationships between EF, initial weight loss, and weight loss maintenance, mapping specific executive functions onto strategies known to be associated with both phases of the weight control process. Implications for the development of more efficacious weight loss maintenance interventions are discussed.

Nuclear lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caraca, J.M.G.

1976-01-01

The importance of the results obtained in experiments of measurement of lifetimes for a detailed knowledge of nuclear structure is referred. Direct methods of measurement of nuclear lifetimes are described, namely, electronic methods, recoil-distance method, doppler shift atenuation method and blocking-method. A brief reference is made to indirect methods for measurement of life-times

Body Weight Perception, Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors, and Suicidal Ideation among Korean Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dong-Sik; Cho, Youngtae; Cho, Sung-Il; Lim, In-Sook

2009-01-01

Background: This study examined the mediating function of body weight perception (BWP) in the relation between body mass index (BMI) and unhealthy weight control behaviors (UWCBs; eg, fasting, using diet pills, or laxatives), and between BMI and suicidal ideation. It also explored the correlation between exposure to multiple UWCBs and suicidal…

A qualitative study of successful adolescent and young adult weight losers: implications for weight control intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Chad D; Duraccio, Kara M; Hunsaker, Sanita L; Rancourt, Diana; Kuhl, Elizabeth S; Jelalian, Elissa; Wing, Rena R

2014-12-01

Our study aims to provide an in-depth analysis of behavioral strategies, psychological factors, and social contributors to adolescent weight loss and weight loss maintenance among participants in the Adolescent Weight Control Registry (AWCR). Qualitative analyses were conducted using semi-structured interview data from 40 participants from the AWCR who successfully lost ≥10 lbs and maintained their weight loss for at least one year. In contrast to existing literature, our findings suggest that primary motivating factors for adolescent weight loss may be intrinsic (e.g., desire for better health, desire to improve self-worth) rather than extrinsic. In addition, life transitions (e.g., transition to high school) were identified as substantial motivators for weight-related behavior change. Peer and parental encouragement and instrumental support were widely endorsed as central to success. The most commonly endorsed weight loss maintenance strategies included attending to dietary intake and physical activity levels, and making self-corrections when necessary. Results from this study highlight considerations for future adolescent weight control treatment development.

Temperature behavior and annealing of insulated gate transistors subjected to localized lifetime control by proton implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mogro-Campero, A.; Love, R.P.; Chang, M.F.; Dyer, R.F.

1987-01-01

Localized lifetime control by proton implantation can result in a considerable improvement (as much as an order of magnitude or more) in the trade-off between device turn-off time and forward voltage when compared with the unlocalized method of electron irradiation. The physical mechanisms responsible for the qualitative temperature dependences are identified: MOS channel resistance for forward voltage, carrier capture cross-section for turn-off time, and generation and diffusion components of leakage current. Since no catastrophic or unrecoverable behavior is observed, normal device operation within the tested temperature range is possible. Isothermal annealing curves of turn-off time measured after annealing, and corresponding to a few hours annealing time, reveal that a constant turn-off time is reached after about an hour. The constant value increases with temperature, but is still below the unimplanted value after 4 h at 525 0 C. The turn-off time was verified to be constant even after 24 h of annealing at 200 0 C. Lifetime control by proton implantation seems to be more thermally stable than that caused by electron irradiation. (author)

"I am a fat baby, who moved to a fat child, who moved to a fat teenager, who moved to a fat adult": Women's reflections of a lifetime of body and weight concern.

Science.gov (United States)

Pila, Eva; Solomon-Krakus, Shauna; Egelton, Kara; Sabiston, Catherine M

2018-01-01

The present study explored how women aged 50-65 years reflect and make meaning of a lifetime of body and weight struggles. Seven purposefully selected women with longstanding body image challenges participated in interviews and reflected on their perceptions, thoughts, and emotions around their body and weight since childhood. Findings revealed consistent and consuming concerns about the body; prevalent body-related self-conscious emotions; influential social experiences that impact physical self-perceptions; and enduring impacts of weight bias, stigma, and discrimination. Collectively, these findings provide support for the stability of body disturbances and highlight the need to explore the unique body-related narratives of women in midlife.

Lifetime measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fossan, D.B.; Warburton, E.K.

1974-01-01

Lifetime measurements are discussed, concentrating on the electronic technique, the recoil distance method (RDM), and the Doppler shift attenuation method (DSAM). A brief review of several indirect timing techniques is given, and their specific advantages and applicability are considered. The relationship between lifetimes of nuclear states and the nuclear structure information obtained from them is examined. A short discussion of channeling and microwave methods of lifetime measurement is presented. (23 figures, 171 references) (U.S.)

Costs and expected gain in lifetime health from intensive care versus general ward care of 30,712 individual patients: a distribution-weighted cost-effectiveness analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindemark, Frode; Haaland, Øystein A; Kvåle, Reidar; Flaatten, Hans; Norheim, Ole F; Johansson, Kjell A

2017-08-21

Clinicians, hospital managers, policy makers, and researchers are concerned about high costs, increased demand, and variation in priorities in the intensive care unit (ICU). The objectives of this modelling study are to describe the extra costs and expected health gains associated with admission to the ICU versus the general ward for 30,712 patients and the variation in cost-effectiveness estimates among subgroups and individuals, and to perform a distribution-weighted economic evaluation incorporating extra weighting to patients with high severity of disease. We used a decision-analytic model that estimates the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained (ICER) from ICU admission compared with general ward care using Norwegian registry data from 2008 to 2010. We assigned increasing weights to health gains for those with higher severity of disease, defined as less expected lifetime health if not admitted. The study has inherent uncertainty of findings because a randomized clinical trial comparing patients admitted or rejected to the ICU has never been performed. Uncertainty is explored in probabilistic sensitivity analysis. The mean cost-effectiveness of ICU admission versus ward care was €11,600/QALY, with 1.6 QALYs gained and an incremental cost of €18,700 per patient. The probability (p) of cost-effectiveness was 95% at a threshold of €22,000/QALY. The mean ICER for medical admissions was €10,700/QALY (p = 97%), €12,300/QALY (p = 93%) for admissions after acute surgery, and €14,700/QALY (p = 84%) after planned surgery. For individualized ICERs, there was a 50% probability that ICU admission was cost-effective for 85% of the patients at a threshold of €64,000/QALY, leaving 15% of the admissions not cost-effective. In the distributional evaluation, 8% of all patients had distribution-weighted ICERs (higher weights to gains for more severe conditions) above €64,000/QALY. High-severity admissions gained the most, and were more

Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging in Stargardt Disease: Potential Marker for Disease Progression

OpenAIRE

Dysli Chantal; Wolf Sebastian; Hatz Katja; Zinkernagel Martin

2016-01-01

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to describe autofluorescence lifetime characteristics in Stargardt disease (STGD) using fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) and to investigate potential prognostic markers for disease activity and progression. METHODS Fluorescence lifetime data of 16 patients with STGD (mean age, 40 years; range, 22-56 years) and 15 age-matched controls were acquired using a fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscope based on a Heidelberg Eng...

Characterization of Initial Parameter Information for Lifetime Prediction of Electronic Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhigang; Liu, Boying; Yuan, Mengxiong; Zhang, Feifei; Guo, Jiaqiang

2016-01-01

Newly manufactured electronic devices are subject to different levels of potential defects existing among the initial parameter information of the devices. In this study, a characterization of electromagnetic relays that were operated at their optimal performance with appropriate and steady parameter values was performed to estimate the levels of their potential defects and to develop a lifetime prediction model. First, the initial parameter information value and stability were quantified to measure the performance of the electronics. In particular, the values of the initial parameter information were estimated using the probability-weighted average method, whereas the stability of the parameter information was determined by using the difference between the extrema and end points of the fitting curves for the initial parameter information. Second, a lifetime prediction model for small-sized samples was proposed on the basis of both measures. Finally, a model for the relationship of the initial contact resistance and stability over the lifetime of the sampled electromagnetic relays was proposed and verified. A comparison of the actual and predicted lifetimes of the relays revealed a 15.4% relative error, indicating that the lifetime of electronic devices can be predicted based on their initial parameter information.

Characterization of Initial Parameter Information for Lifetime Prediction of Electronic Devices.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhigang Li

Full Text Available Newly manufactured electronic devices are subject to different levels of potential defects existing among the initial parameter information of the devices. In this study, a characterization of electromagnetic relays that were operated at their optimal performance with appropriate and steady parameter values was performed to estimate the levels of their potential defects and to develop a lifetime prediction model. First, the initial parameter information value and stability were quantified to measure the performance of the electronics. In particular, the values of the initial parameter information were estimated using the probability-weighted average method, whereas the stability of the parameter information was determined by using the difference between the extrema and end points of the fitting curves for the initial parameter information. Second, a lifetime prediction model for small-sized samples was proposed on the basis of both measures. Finally, a model for the relationship of the initial contact resistance and stability over the lifetime of the sampled electromagnetic relays was proposed and verified. A comparison of the actual and predicted lifetimes of the relays revealed a 15.4% relative error, indicating that the lifetime of electronic devices can be predicted based on their initial parameter information.

An interation of lifetime monitoring of steam generators in power control systems; Integration der Lebensdauerueberwachung von Dampferzeugern in die Kraftwerksleittechnik

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kunze, Ulrich; Pels Leusden, Christoph; Spinner, Ralf [Siemens AG, Erlangen (Germany). Energy Sector; Hackstein, Holger [Siemens AG, Offenbach am Main (Germany). Energy Sector; Walz, Horst [Siemens AG, Karlsruhe (Germany). Energy Sector

2008-07-01

The substantial cost-relevant requirements of the operation of power stations are a highly flexible operation, efficient maintenance, a high efficiency and a high availability. Computer-assisted procedures are indispensable for the continuous monitoring of lifetime consumption and for the condition-dependent maintenance of the boiler. The fatigue monitoring system (FMS) offers all possibilities of the control system. The authors of the contribution under consideration report on an integration of life time monitoring of steam generators into the power station control technology. The technical fundamentals for the computation of the boiler lifetime as well as the fundamentals of integration philosophy and their conversion are presented. Subsequently, a configuration exemplarily is presented, and its results are described.

Plastic surgery improves long-term weight control after bariatric surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Balagué, Nicolas; Combescure, Christophe; Huber, Olivier; Pittet-Cuénod, Brigitte; Modarressi, Ali

2013-10-01

The positive impact of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on weight, comorbidities, and health-related quality of life is well documented. However, 50 percent of patients regain some of the lost weight after 2 years with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and present a mean weight regain of 10 to 15 percent after several years, partially losing the previously obtained benefits. The authors hypothesize that body contouring could decrease weight regain, leading to better long-term weight control after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In a matched control study, variations in weight for 98 patients with body contouring after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass were compared with those of 102 matched control patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass alone. Data were collected prospectively at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and then yearly until 7 years. After a massive mean weight loss of 45.2 kg during the first 2 years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass alone presented a higher continuous mean weight regain than those with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and body contouring (1.78 kg/year versus 0.51 kg/year of weight regain, respectively; p = 0.001). After 7 years, patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass presented significantly higher mean weight regain than patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and body contouring (i.e., 10.8 percent versus 3.6 percent mean weight gain, respectively; p weight of 2.04 kg by body contouring, the weight regain was 22.9 kg for patients with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass alone and only 6.2 kg for those with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and body contouring. The authors demonstrated that patients with body contouring present better long-term weight control after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Therefore, body contouring must be considered as a reconstructive operation in the treatment of morbid obesity. Therapeutic, III.

Overestimation of own body weights in female university students: associations with lifestyles, weight control behaviors and depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Miso; Lee, Hongmie

2010-12-01

The study aimed to analyze the lifestyles, weight control behavior, dietary habits, and depression of female university students. The subjects were 532 students from 8 universities located in 4 provinces in Korea. According to percent ideal body weight, 33 (6.4%), 181 (34.0%), 283 (53.2%), 22 (4.1%) and 13 (2.5%) were severely underweight, underweight, normal, overweight and obese, respectively, based on self-reported height and weight. As much as 64.1% and only 2.4%, respectively, overestimated and underestimated their body weight status. Six overweight subjects were excluded from overestimation group for the purpose of this study, resulting in overestimation group consisting of only underweight and normal weight subjects. Compared to those from the normal perception group, significantly more subjects from the overestimation group were currently smoking (P = 0.017) and drank more often than once a week (P = 0.015), without any significant differences in dietary habits. Despite similar BMIs, subjects who overestimated their own weight statuses had significantly higher weight dissatisfaction (P = 0.000), obesity stress (P = 0.000), obsession to lose weight (P = 0.007) and depression (P = 0.018). Also, more of them wanted to lose weight (P = 0.000), checked their body weights more often than once a week (P = 0.025) and had dieting experiences using 'reducing meal size' (P = 0.012), 'reducing snacks' (P = 0.042) and 'taking prescribed pills' (P = 0.032), and presented 'for a wider range of clothes selection' as the reason for weight loss (P = 0.039), although none was actually overweight or obese. Unlike the case with overestimating one's own weight, being overweight was associated with less drinking (P = 0.035) and exercising more often (P = 0.001) and for longer (P = 0.001) and healthier reasons for weight control (P = 0.002), despite no differences in frequency of weighing and depression. The results showed that weight overestimation, independent of weight status

Use of probabilistic weights to enhance linear regression myoelectric control.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Lauren H; Kuiken, Todd A; Hargrove, Levi J

2015-12-01

Clinically available prostheses for transradial amputees do not allow simultaneous myoelectric control of degrees of freedom (DOFs). Linear regression methods can provide simultaneous myoelectric control, but frequently also result in difficulty with isolating individual DOFs when desired. This study evaluated the potential of using probabilistic estimates of categories of gross prosthesis movement, which are commonly used in classification-based myoelectric control, to enhance linear regression myoelectric control. Gaussian models were fit to electromyogram (EMG) feature distributions for three movement classes at each DOF (no movement, or movement in either direction) and used to weight the output of linear regression models by the probability that the user intended the movement. Eight able-bodied and two transradial amputee subjects worked in a virtual Fitts' law task to evaluate differences in controllability between linear regression and probability-weighted regression for an intramuscular EMG-based three-DOF wrist and hand system. Real-time and offline analyses in able-bodied subjects demonstrated that probability weighting improved performance during single-DOF tasks (p linear regression control. Use of probability weights can improve the ability to isolate individual during linear regression myoelectric control, while maintaining the ability to simultaneously control multiple DOFs.

Positive and negative dimensions of weight control motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stotland, S; Larocque, M; Sadikaj, G

2012-01-01

This study examined weight control motivation among patients (N=5460 females and 547 males) who sought weight loss treatment with family physicians. An eight-item measure assessed the frequency of thoughts and feelings related to weight control "outcome" (e.g. expected physical and psychological benefits) and "process" (e.g. resentment and doubt). Factor analysis supported the existence of two factors, labeled Positive and Negative motivation. Positive motivation was high (average frequency of thoughts about benefits was 'every day') and stable throughout treatment, while Negative motivation declined rapidly and then stabilized. The determinants of changes in the Positive and Negative dimensions during treatment were examined within 3 time frames: first month, months 2-6, and 6-12. Maintenance of high scores on Positive motivation was associated with higher BMI and more disturbed eating habits. Early reductions in Negative motivation were greater for those starting treatment with higher weight and more disturbed eating habits, but less depression and stress, while later reductions in Negative motivation were predicted by improvements in eating habits, weight, stress and perfectionism. Clinicians treating obesity should be sensitive to fluctuations in both motivational dimensions, as they are likely to play a central role in determining long-term behavior and weight change. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An approach for longer lifetime MCFCs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsumoto, Masaru; Tatsumi, Masahiko; Hayano, Takuro [MCFC Research Association, Tokyo (Japan)] [and others

1996-12-31

For entering into commercialization of MCFC power plants in the beginning of the 21st century, we will devote to research for increasing lifetime as long as 40,000 hours with cell performance decay rate of 0.25 %/1000hrs as the target in FY 1999. This paper will discuss on our approach for longer lifetime MCFCs through electrolyte-loss management and NiO precipitation management as well as micro-structural control of electrodes and matrix plates. Cell voltage decay rate will be estimated by simulation through series of experiments on accelerated conditions.

Comprehensive entropy weight observability-controllability risk ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Decision making for water resource planning is often related to social, economic and environmental factors. There are various methods for making decisions about water resource planning alternatives and measures with various shortcomings. A comprehensive entropy weight observability-controllability risk analysis ...

Access Request Trustworthiness in Weighted Access Control Framework

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Lun-wei; LIAO Xiang-ke; WANG Huai-min

2005-01-01

Weighted factor is given to access control policies to express the importance of policy and its effect on access control decision. According to this weighted access control framework, a trustworthiness model for access request is also given. In this model, we give the measure of trustworthiness factor to access request, by using some idea of uncertainty reasoning of expert system, present and prove the parallel propagation formula of request trustworthiness factor among multiple policies, and get the final trustworthiness factor to decide whether authorizing. In this model, authorization decision is given according to the calculation of request trustworthiness factor, which is more understandable, more suitable for real requirement and more powerful for security enhancement than traditional methods. Meanwhile the finer access control granularity is another advantage.

Analysis of Orbital Lifetime Prediction Parameters in Preparation for Post-Mission Disposal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ha–Yeon Choi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric drag force is an important source of perturbation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO orbit satellites, and solar activity is a major factor for changes in atmospheric density. In particular, the orbital lifetime of a satellite varies with changes in solar activity, so care must be taken in predicting the remaining orbital lifetime during preparation for post-mission disposal. In this paper, the System Tool Kit (STK® Long-term Orbit Propagator is used to analyze the changes in orbital lifetime predictions with respect to solar activity. In addition, the STK® Lifetime tool is used to analyze the change in orbital lifetime with respect to solar flux data generation, which is needed for the orbital lifetime calculation, and its control on the drag coefficient control. Analysis showed that the application of the most recent solar flux file within the Lifetime tool gives a predicted trend that is closest to the actual orbit. We also examine the effect of the drag coefficient, by performing a comparative analysis between varying and constant coefficients in terms of solar activity intensities.

Lifetime physical inactivity is associated with increased risk for Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Etter, John Lewis; Cannioto, Rikki; Soh, Kah Teong; Alquassim, Emad; Almohanna, Hani; Dunbar, Zachary; Joseph, Janine M; Balderman, Sophia; Hernandez-Ilizaliturri, Francisco; Moysich, Kirsten B

2018-03-27

Although physical activity is a well-established risk factor for several cancer types, studies evaluating its association with lymphoma have yielded inconclusive results. In such cases where physical activity is not clearly associated with cancer risk in a dose-dependent manner, investigators have begun examining physical inactivity as an independent exposure of interest. Associations of self-reported, lifetime physical inactivity with risk of developing Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were evaluated in a hospital-based case control study using data from the Patient Epidemiology Data System at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Participants included 87 patients with HL and 236 patients with NHL as well as 348 and 952 cancer-free controls, respectively. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models were fit to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) estimating the association between physical inactivity and lymphoma risk. We observed significant, positive associations between lifetime recreational physical inactivity and risk of both HL (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.15-3.15) and NHL (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.01-1.82). The current analysis provides evidence for a positive association between physical inactivity and risk of both HL and NHL. These results add to a growing body of research suggesting that lifetime physical inactivity may be an important independent, modifiable behavioral risk factor for cancer. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of pharmacologically induced retinal degeneration on retinal autofluorescence lifetimes in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dysli, Chantal; Dysli, Muriel; Zinkernagel, Martin S; Enzmann, Volker

2016-12-01

Fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) was used to investigate retinal autofluorescence lifetimes in mouse models of pharmacologically induced retinal degeneration over time. Sodium iodate (NaIO 3 , 35 mg/kg intravenously) was used to induce retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) degeneration with subsequent loss of photoreceptors (PR) whereas N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU, 45 mg/kg intraperitoneally) was employed for degeneration of the photoreceptor cell layer alone. All mice were measured at day 3, 7, 14, and 28 after the respective injection of NaIO 3 , MNU or NaCl (control). Fluorescence lifetime imaging was performed using a fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscope (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Fluorescence was excited at 473 nm and fluorescence lifetimes were measured in a short and a long spectral channel (498-560 nm and 560-720 nm). Corresponding optical coherence tomography (OCT) images were consecutively acquired and histology was performed at the end of the experiments. Segmentation of OCT images and histology verified the cell type-specific degeneration process over time. Retinal autofluorescence lifetimes increased from day 3 to day 28 in mice after NaIO 3 treatment. Finally, at day 28, fluorescence lifetimes were prolonged by 8% in the short and 61% in the long spectral channel compared to control animals (p = 0.21 and p = 0.004, respectively). In mice after MNU treatment, the mean retinal autofluorescence lifetimes were already decreased at day 3 and retinal lifetimes were finally shortened by 27% in the short and 51% in the long spectral channel at day 28 (p = 0.0028). In conclusion, degeneration of the RPE with subsequent photoreceptor degeneration by NaIO 3 lead to longer mean fluorescence lifetimes of the retina compared to control mice, whereas during specific degeneration of the photoreceptor layer induced by MNU shorter lifetimes were measured. Therefore, short retinal fluorescence lifetimes may originate

Predicting sample lifetimes in creep fracture of heterogeneous materials

Science.gov (United States)

Koivisto, Juha; Ovaska, Markus; Miksic, Amandine; Laurson, Lasse; Alava, Mikko J.

2016-08-01

Materials flow—under creep or constant loads—and, finally, fail. The prediction of sample lifetimes is an important and highly challenging problem because of the inherently heterogeneous nature of most materials that results in large sample-to-sample lifetime fluctuations, even under the same conditions. We study creep deformation of paper sheets as one heterogeneous material and thus show how to predict lifetimes of individual samples by exploiting the "universal" features in the sample-inherent creep curves, particularly the passage to an accelerating creep rate. Using simulations of a viscoelastic fiber bundle model, we illustrate how deformation localization controls the shape of the creep curve and thus the degree of lifetime predictability.

Simulation of lifetime radon exposures using observation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janssen, I.; Stebbings, J.H.

1990-01-01

The frequency distribution of lifetime risk of radon-induced lung cancer is a function of the frequency distribution of lifetime radon exposure, which differs from the frequency distribution of radon in homes because of residential mobility. Cumulative personal exposures are averages of a variable number of house radon values, weighted according to duration of occupancy and recency of residence. We simulated a distribution of individual, cumulative Working Level Month (WLM) exposures using observed residence histories from lung cancer cases from Eastern Pennsylvania and (basement) Working Levels (WL) from a survey of Reading Prong, Pennsylvania. The measurements for basement-level houses have a higher skewed distribution, well-approximated by a Gamma distribution with small shape parameter for this high-radon area, where 30% of the houses have basement radon levels that exceed 9 pCi/ell. Using the BEIR IV model and assuming a 50% occupancy factor, we assigned either lifetime residence in a single house or a real residence history at random for women randomly selected from the age distribution of female lung cancer cases. Averaging over houses reduces the exposure of the most highly exposed 5% of the population but increases it for 95%: the upper 25% attains lifetime exposure of ≥ 74 WLM, yielding a relative risk (RR) ≥ 2.1. Ignoring mobility and basing the calculations on the distribution of radon in houses, the corresponding values would be 48.0 WLM and a RR of 1.7. The 50th percentile of the population has an estimated WLM exposure of 34.6 (RR = 1.5); this estimate would be 16.8 (RR = 1.2) if we assume one house per lifetime

Azadioxatriangulenium: a long fluorescence lifetime fluorophore for large biomolecule binding assay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sørensen, Thomas Just; Thyrhaug, Erling; Szabelski, Mariusz; Gryczynski, Ignacy; Gryczynski, Zygmunt; Luchowski, Rafal; Laursen, Bo W

2013-01-01

Of the many optical bioassays available, sensing by fluorescence anisotropy has great advantages as it provides a sensitive, instrumentally simple, ratiometric method of detection. However, it is hampered by a severe limitation, as the emission lifetime of the label needs to be comparable to the correlation lifetime (tumbling time) of the biomolecule which is labelled. For proteins of moderate size this is on the order of 20–200 ns, which due to practical issues currently limits the choice of labels to the dansyl-type dyes and certain aromatic dyes. These have the significant drawback of UV/blue absorption and emission as well as an often significant solvent sensitivity. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of a new fluorescent label for high molecular weight biomolecule assay based on the azadioxatriangulenium motif. The NHS ester of the long fluorescence lifetime, red-emitting fluorophore: azadioxatriangulenium (ADOTA-NHS) was conjugated to anti-rabbit Immunoglobulin G (antiIgG). The long fluorescence lifetime was exploited to determine the correlation time of the high molecular weight antibody and its complex with rabbit Immunoglobulin G (IgG) with steady-state fluorescence anisotropy and time-resolved methods: solution phase immuno-assay was performed following either steady-state or time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. By performing a variable temperature experiment it was determined that the binding of the ligand resulted in an increase in correlation time of more than 75%, and an increase in the steady-state anisotropy of 18%. The results show that the triangulenium class of dyes can be used in anisotropy assay to detect binding events involving biomolecules of far larger size than what is possible with most other red-emitting organic dyes. (paper)

Azadioxatriangulenium: a long fluorescence lifetime fluorophore for large biomolecule binding assay

Science.gov (United States)

Just Sørensen, Thomas; Thyrhaug, Erling; Szabelski, Mariusz; Luchowski, Rafal; Gryczynski, Ignacy; Gryczynski, Zygmunt; Laursen, Bo W.

2013-06-01

Of the many optical bioassays available, sensing by fluorescence anisotropy has great advantages as it provides a sensitive, instrumentally simple, ratiometric method of detection. However, it is hampered by a severe limitation, as the emission lifetime of the label needs to be comparable to the correlation lifetime (tumbling time) of the biomolecule which is labelled. For proteins of moderate size this is on the order of 20-200 ns, which due to practical issues currently limits the choice of labels to the dansyl-type dyes and certain aromatic dyes. These have the significant drawback of UV/blue absorption and emission as well as an often significant solvent sensitivity. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of a new fluorescent label for high molecular weight biomolecule assay based on the azadioxatriangulenium motif. The NHS ester of the long fluorescence lifetime, red-emitting fluorophore: azadioxatriangulenium (ADOTA-NHS) was conjugated to anti-rabbit Immunoglobulin G (antiIgG). The long fluorescence lifetime was exploited to determine the correlation time of the high molecular weight antibody and its complex with rabbit Immunoglobulin G (IgG) with steady-state fluorescence anisotropy and time-resolved methods: solution phase immuno-assay was performed following either steady-state or time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. By performing a variable temperature experiment it was determined that the binding of the ligand resulted in an increase in correlation time of more than 75%, and an increase in the steady-state anisotropy of 18%. The results show that the triangulenium class of dyes can be used in anisotropy assay to detect binding events involving biomolecules of far larger size than what is possible with most other red-emitting organic dyes.

Positron annihilation lifetime study of oxide dispersion strengthened steels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krsjak, V.; Szaraz, Z.; Hähner, P.

2012-01-01

A comparative positron annihilation lifetime study has been performed on various commercial ferritic and ferritic/martensitic oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels. Both as-extruded and recrystallized materials were investigated. In the materials with recrystallized coarse-grained microstructures, only the positron trapping at small vacancy clusters and yttria nanofeatures was observed. Materials which had not undergone recrystallization treatment clearly showed additional positron trapping which is associated with dislocations. Dislocation densities were calculated from a two-component decomposition of the positron lifetime spectra by assuming the first component to be a superposition of the bulk controlled annihilation rate and the dislocation controlled trapping rate. The second component (which translates into lifetimes of 240–260 ps) was found to be well separated in all those ODS materials. This paper presents the potentialities and limitations of the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, and discusses the results of the experimental determination of the defect concentrations and sensitivity of this technique to the material degradation due to thermally induced precipitation of chromium-rich α′ phases.

An automatic controlled apparatus of target chamber for atomic spectra and level lifetime measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Mengchun; Yang Zhihu

1998-01-01

An automatically controlled apparatus of target chamber was made to measure spectra of the excited atoms and lifetime of the excited levels. The hardware is composed of nine parts including a computer and a step-motor, while the software consists of three branch programs. The maximum movable distance of target position is 65 cm with a step-length of 8.3 μm and a precision of +- 18 μm per 2 mm. On account of simple structure and double protection, the apparatus exhibits flexibility and reliability in years service

Association of adult weight gain and nonalcoholic fatty liver in a cross-sectional study in Wan Song Community, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W.-J. Zhang

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Our objective was to examine associations of adult weight gain and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD. Cross-sectional interview data from 844 residents in Wan Song Community from October 2009 to April 2010 were analyzed in multivariate logistic regression models to examine odds ratios (OR and 95% confidence intervals (CI between NAFLD and weight change from age 20. Questionnaires, physical examinations, laboratory examinations, and ultrasonographic examination of the liver were carried out. Maximum rate of weight gain, body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, and alanine transaminase were higher in the NAFLD group than in the control group. HDL-C in the NAFLD group was lower than in the control group. As weight gain increased (measured as the difference between current weight and weight at age 20 years, the OR of NAFLD increased in multivariate models. NAFLD OR rose with increasing weight gain as follows: OR (95%CI for NAFLD associated with weight gain of 20+ kg compared to stable weight (change <5 kg was 4.23 (2.49-7.09. Significantly increased NAFLD OR were observed even for weight gains of 5-9.9 kg. For the “age 20 to highest lifetime weight” metric, the OR of NAFLD also increased as weight gain increased. For the “age 20 to highest lifetime weight” metric and the “age 20 to current weight” metric, insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR increased as weight gain increased (P<0.001. In a stepwise multivariate regression analysis, significant association was observed between adult weight gain and NAFLD (OR=1.027, 95%CI=1.002-1.055, P=0.025. We conclude that adult weight gain is strongly associated with NAFLD.

Remaining Useful Lifetime Prognosis of Controlled Systems: A Case of Stochastically Deteriorating Actuator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danh Ngoc Nguyen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the case of automatic controlled system which deteriorates during its operation because of components’ wear or deterioration. Depending on its specific closed-loop structure, the controlled system has the ability to compensate for disturbances affecting the actuators which can remain partially hidden. The deterioration modeling and the Remaining Useful Lifetime (RUL estimation for such closed-loop dynamic system have not been addressed extensively. In this paper, we consider a controlled system with Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller. It is assumed that the actuator is subject to shocks that occur randomly in time. An integrated model is proposed to jointly describe the state of the controlled process and the actuator deterioration. Only the output of the controlled system is available to assess its health condition. By considering a Piecewise Deterministic Markov Process, the RUL of the system can be estimated by a two-step approach. In the first step referred as the “Diagnosis” step, the system state is estimated online from the available monitoring observations by using a particle filtering method. In the second step referred as the “Prognosis” step, the RUL is estimated as a conditional reliability by Monte Carlo simulation. To illustrate the approach, a simulated tank level control system is used.

Nuclear lifetime measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guillaume, Georges

Three direct techniques of lifetime measurement are emphasized: electronic methods and two methods based on the Doppler effect (the recoil distance methods or RDM, the Doppler shift attenuation methods or DSAM). Said direct methods are concerned with the direct measurement of the radioactive decay constants of nuclear excited states. They allow lifetimes of nucleus bound states whose deexcitations occur by electromagnetic transitions, to be determined. Other methods for measuring lifetimes are also examined: microwave techniques and those involving the blocking effect in crystals (direct methods) and also various indirect methods of obtaining lifetimes (γ resonance scattering, capture reactions, inelastic electron and nucleus scattering, and Coulomb deexcitation) [fr

Lipidomic profiling of di- and tri-acylglycerol species in weight-controlled mice.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brenee S King

Full Text Available Weight control by dietary calorie restriction (DCR or exercise has been shown to prevent cancer in various models. However, the mechanisms as to how weight control is beneficial are not well understood. While previous reports have investigated the effects of weight control on total lipid levels or lipid composition within cellular membranes, there has been little work surrounding changes to individual lipids following weight control interventions. In this study, using a model of skin carcinogenesis centered on the tumor promotion stage, CD-1 mice were randomly assigned into 4 groups: ad libitum and sedentary (control, ad libitum with exercise (AL+Exe, exercise with pair feeding of a diet isocaloric with control (PF+Exe, and sedentary with 20% DCR compared to control. After ten weeks, body weight and body fat percentages significantly decreased in the PF+Exe and DCR groups but not AL+Exe when compared with sedentary controls. Murine skin and plasma samples were obtained for analysis. Lipidomics using electrospray ionization MS/MS was employed to profile triacylglycerol (TG and diacylglycerol (DG species. Both plasma and tissue TG species containing fatty acid chains with length 18:1 were significantly decreased following DCR when compared to sedentary control animals. In regards to DG, the most significant changes occurred in the plasma. DG species containing fatty acids with lengths 16:1 or 18:1 were significantly decreased in PF+Exe and DCR groups when compared to sedentary controls. Due to the significant role of TG in energy storage and DG in cellular signaling, our findings of the effects of weight control on individual TG and DG species in plasma and skin tissue following exposure to a tumor promoter, may provide insight into the mechanism of weight control on cancer prevention.

Family Food Choices: A Guide to Weight and Diabetes Control.

Science.gov (United States)

Indian Health Service (PHS/HSA), Rockville, MD.

Written for American Indians who have diabetes, this folder explains diabetes and outlines a weight control program and diet. The folder discusses the five things diabetics can do to help control their disease: lose weight, watch the amount and kind of fat eaten, eat more food with fiber, avoid sugar, and avoid alcohol. Charts for foods containing…

Hadronization, spin and lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossman, Yuval; Nachshon, Itay

2008-01-01

Measurements of lifetimes can be done in two ways. For very short lived particles, the width can be measured. For long lived ones, the lifetime can be directly measured, for example, using a displaced vertex. Practically, the lifetime cannot be extracted for particles with intermediate lifetimes. We show that for such cases information about the lifetime can be extracted for heavy colored particles that can be produced with known polarization. For example, a t-like particle with intermediate lifetime hadronizes into a superposition of the lowest two hadronic states, T* and T (the equivalent of B* and B). Depolarization effects are governed by time scales that are much longer than the hadronization time scale, Λ QCD -1 . After a time of order 1/Δm, with Δm≡m(T*)-m(T), half of the initial polarization is lost. The polarization is totally lost after a time of order 1/Γ γ , with Γ γ = Γ(T* → Tγ). Thus, by comparing the initial and final polarization, we get information on the particle's lifetime.

On researching erosion-corrosion wear in pipelines: the rate and residual lifetime estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baranenko, V.I.; Yanchenko, Yu.A.; Gulina, O.M.; Dokukin, D.A.

2010-01-01

To base the normative document on calculation of pipelines erosive-corrosive wear (ECW) rate and residual lifetime this research of ECW regularities for pearlitic steel NPP pipelines was performed. The estimates of control data treatment statistical procedures efficiency were presented. The influence of the scheme of piping control on the ECW rate and residual lifetime estimation results was demonstrated. The simplified scheme is valid only in case of complete information. It's usage under data uncertainties leads to essential residual lifetime overstating [ru

Molecular biomarkers for weight control in obese individuals subjected to a multi-phase dietary intervention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bolton, Jennifer L; Montastier, Emilie; Carayol, Jérôme

2017-01-01

Context: While calorie restriction has proven beneficial for weight loss, long-term weight control is variable between individuals. Objective: To identify biomarkers of successful weight control during a dietary intervention (DI). Design, Setting, and Participants: Adipose tissue (AT) transcripto......-controllers. Interestingly, ASPN is a TGFβ1 inhibitor. Conclusions: We found circulating biomarkers associated with weight control, which could influence weight management strategies, and genes that may be prognostic for successful weight control....

Weight misperception and disordered weight control behaviors among U.S. high school students with overweight and obesity: Associations and trends, 1999-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Hazzard, Vivienne M; Hahn, Samantha L; Sonneville, Kendrin R

2017-08-01

To examine prevalence of weight misperception (incongruence between one's perceived weight status and one's actual weight status) and disordered weight control behaviors (DWCBs; unhealthy behaviors aiming to control or modify weight), associations between weight misperception and DWCBs, and temporal trends in prevalence and associations among adolescents with overweight and obesity from 1999 to 2013. Self-reported data from eight biennial cycles (1999-2013) of the cross-sectional national Youth Risk Behavior Survey were used in analyses restricted to respondents with overweight/obesity. Data on weight status perception, use of fasting, purging, and diet pills to control weight, sex, race/ethnicity, and grade in school were used in multivariate logistic regression models. Among U.S. high school students with overweight and obesity, no linear temporal trends were detected for prevalence of weight misperception, fasting, or purging between 1999 and 2013, while a significant linear decrease was observed for prevalence of diet pill use between 1999 and 2013 (b=-0.81, pfasting to control weight among males. No significant changes over time in associations of weight misperception with fasting or purging were observed, though the association between weight misperception and diet pill use weakened somewhat across 1999-2013. In the context of increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, weight misperception appears to be a robust protective factor for DWCBs. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Lifetime-management and lifetime-extension at PAKS nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katona, Tamas; Ratkai, Sandor; Janosi, Agnes Biro

2002-01-01

Paks Nuclear Power Plant provides 38-40% of domestic generation at lowest price. It has an important energy-policy role in Hungary. NPP Paks shall be a decisive and perspectively permanent element of the domestic electricity generation during the next two decades, which shall be ensured by plant safe operation, the lifetime extension and power uprating. Paks Nuclear Power Plant investigated the nuclear power plant's lifetime extension possibilities and alternatives, as well as technical and business feasibility of such alternatives. The feasibility study is based on the evaluation of a representative set of systems, structures and components, operational, test, in-service inspection and maintenance practice, experience and findings of the Periodic Safety Review. The most important results of this study showing the feasibility of 20 years lifetime extension is summarised in the paper. It was found that there are no technical or safety issues or limits, which may inhibit the operation of the Nuclear Power Plant Paks up to 50 years. In case of most systems and equipment the recent monitoring, maintenance and regular reconstruction practice of the NPP Paks allows the lifetime extension without outstanding cost. Replacement or reconstruction of a few equipment and systems requires significant investment costs. Material of reactor vessels of VVER/213 incorporated at Paks, compared to vessels of the similar units, is less sensitive to the embrittlement. At units 3-4 reactor vessels do not require any measure, consequently, any additional cost, even in case of a lifetime of 50 years. At unit 2 to extend the lifetime of the reactor vessel, only heating-up of emergency core cooling tanks is needed in order to decrease thermal stress levels caused by pressure thermal shock (PST) transients. For this purpose cost-effective technical solutions are available. At unit 1, beside the heating-up of the emergency core cooling tanks annealing of the welded joint No. 5/6 close to the

What is the role of portion control in weight management?

Science.gov (United States)

Rolls, B J

2014-01-01

Systematic studies have shown that providing individuals with larger portions of foods and beverages leads to substantial increases in energy intake. The effect is sustained over weeks, supporting the possibility that large portions have a role in the development of obesity. The challenge is to find strategies to effectively manage the effects of portion size. One approach involves teaching people to select appropriate portions and to use tools that facilitate portion control. Although tools such as portion-control plates have been shown in several randomized trials to improve weight loss, limited data are available on whether education and tools lead to long-term changes in eating behavior and body weight. Another approach is to use preportioned foods (PPFs) to add structure to meals and minimize decisions about the amount of food to eat. A number of randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of both liquid meal replacements and solid PPFs for weight loss and weight loss maintenance, but it is not known if they lead to better understanding of appropriate portions. Although portion control is important for weight management, urging people simply to ‘eat less' of all foods may not be the best approach as high-energy-dense foods disproportionately increase energy intake compared with those lower in energy density. A more effective strategy may be to encourage people to increase the proportion of foods low in energy density in their diets while limiting portions of high-energy-dense foods. If people lower the energy density of their diet, they can eat satisfying portions while managing their body weight. PMID:25033958

Examination of weight control practices in a non-clinical sample of college women.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, S; Napolitano, M A

2012-09-01

The current study examined healthy weight control practices among a sample of college women enrolled at an urban university (N=715; age=19.87±1.16; 77.2% Caucasian; 13.4% African American, 7.2% Asian, 2.2% other races). Participants completed measures as part of an on-line study about health habits, behaviors, and attitudes. Items from the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire were selected and evaluated with exploratory factor analysis to create a healthy weight control practices scale. Results revealed that college women, regardless of weight status, used a comparable number (four of eight) of practices. Examination of racial differences between Caucasian and African American women revealed that normal weight African American women used significantly fewer strategies than Caucasian women. Of note, greater use of healthy weight control practices was associated with higher cognitive restraint, drive for thinness, minutes of physical activity, and more frequent use of compensatory strategies. Higher scores on measures of binge and disinhibited eating, body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and depressive symptoms were associated with greater use of healthy weight control practices by underweight/normal weight but not by overweight/obese college women. Results suggest that among a sample of college females, a combination of healthy and potentially unhealthy weight control practices occurs. Implications of the findings suggest the need for effective weight management and eating disorder prevention programs for this critical developmental life stage. Such programs should be designed to help students learn how to appropriately use healthy weight control practices, as motivations for use may vary by weight status.

Leisure-time physical activity patterns by weight control status: 1999-2002 NHANES.

Science.gov (United States)

Kruger, Judy; Yore, Michelle M; Kohl, Harold W

2007-05-01

Regular physical activity reduces the risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. Physical activity is associated inversely with overweight and obesity prevalence, thus potentially assisting in weight control efforts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the variability of physical activity levels and their patterns by self-reported weight control status in a nationally representative sample. Four years of data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used to examine leisure-time physical activity patterns (regular, irregular, inactive) and the prevalence of weight control practices (trying to lose, trying to maintain, not trying to lose or maintain) among U.S. adults (N = 9496). The prevalence of regular physical activity was 32.6% among people trying to lose weight, 37.9% among people trying to maintain weight, and 21.8% among those not trying to lose or maintain weight. Those trying to lose weight were almost three times as likely to be regularly active (vs inactive), and those trying to maintain weight were over three times more likely to be regularly active (vs inactive) than those not trying to lose or maintain weight. The most commonly reported activities among those trying to lose weight were walking (38.3%), yard work (14.5%), biking (12.5%), and running (11.6%). Despite the importance of physical activity, fewer than half the people trying to lose or maintain weight were regularly active during leisure-time. People trying to lose or maintain weight had a higher likelihood of being regularly active than those not trying to lose or maintain weight. Walking was the most common type of physical activity among all weight control groups. Health promotion efforts should promote increased levels of physical activity among all adults.

Lifetime Exposure to Traumatic and Other Stressful Life Events and Hair Cortisol in a Multi-Racial/Ethnic Sample of Pregnant Women

Science.gov (United States)

Schreier, Hannah M. C.; Enlow, Michelle Bosquet; Ritz, Thomas; Coull, Brent A.; Gennings, Chris; Wright, Robert O.; Wright, Rosalind J.

2016-01-01

We examined whether lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic events alters hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning, as indexed by hair cortisol, regardless of associated psychopathology, among pregnant women of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. 180 women provided hair samples for measurement of integrated cortisol levels throughout pregnancy and information regarding their lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic life events. Results indicate that increased lifetime exposure to traumatic events was associated with significantly greater hair cortisol over the course of pregnancy. Similarly, greater lifetime exposure to stressful and traumatic events weighted by reported negative impact (over the previous 12 months) was associated with significantly greater hair cortisol during pregnancy. All analyses controlled for maternal age, education, body mass index (BMI), use of inhaled corticosteroids, race/ethnicity, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. Following stratification by race/ethnicity, associations between stressful and traumatic life events and hair cortisol were found among Black women only. This is the first study to consider associations between lifetime stress exposures and hair cortisol in a sociodemographically diverse sample of pregnant women. Increased exposure to stressful and traumatic events, independent of PTSD and depressive symptoms, was associated with higher cortisol production, particularly in Black women. Future research should investigate the influence of such increased cortisol exposure on developmental outcomes among offspring. PMID:26551892

Use of probabilistic weights to enhance linear regression myoelectric control

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Lauren H.; Kuiken, Todd A.; Hargrove, Levi J.

2015-12-01

Objective. Clinically available prostheses for transradial amputees do not allow simultaneous myoelectric control of degrees of freedom (DOFs). Linear regression methods can provide simultaneous myoelectric control, but frequently also result in difficulty with isolating individual DOFs when desired. This study evaluated the potential of using probabilistic estimates of categories of gross prosthesis movement, which are commonly used in classification-based myoelectric control, to enhance linear regression myoelectric control. Approach. Gaussian models were fit to electromyogram (EMG) feature distributions for three movement classes at each DOF (no movement, or movement in either direction) and used to weight the output of linear regression models by the probability that the user intended the movement. Eight able-bodied and two transradial amputee subjects worked in a virtual Fitts’ law task to evaluate differences in controllability between linear regression and probability-weighted regression for an intramuscular EMG-based three-DOF wrist and hand system. Main results. Real-time and offline analyses in able-bodied subjects demonstrated that probability weighting improved performance during single-DOF tasks (p < 0.05) by preventing extraneous movement at additional DOFs. Similar results were seen in experiments with two transradial amputees. Though goodness-of-fit evaluations suggested that the EMG feature distributions showed some deviations from the Gaussian, equal-covariance assumptions used in this experiment, the assumptions were sufficiently met to provide improved performance compared to linear regression control. Significance. Use of probability weights can improve the ability to isolate individual during linear regression myoelectric control, while maintaining the ability to simultaneously control multiple DOFs.

Weight-controlled capillary viscometer

Science.gov (United States)

Digilov, Rafael M.; Reiner, M.

2005-11-01

The draining of a water column through a vertical discharge capillary tube is examined with the aid of a force sensor. The change of the mass of the liquid in the column with time is found to be not purely exponential as implied by Poiseuille's law. Using observed residuals associated with a kinetic energy correction, an approximate formula for the mass as a function of time is derived and excellent agreement with experimental data is attained. These results are verified by a viscosity test of distilled water at room temperature. A simple and inexpensive weight-controlled capillary viscometer is proposed that is especially suitable for undergraduate physics and chemistry laboratories.

Optimum lifetime structuring in silicon power diodes by means of various irradiation techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hazdra, P.; Vobecky, J.; Brand, K.

2002-01-01

Application of radiation defects for adjustment of power diode parameters is demonstrated. Local lifetime control (LLC) by proton and alpha-particle irradiation with energies 1.8-12.1 MeV is compared with uniform lifetime killing by 4.5 MeV electrons. The influence of both the techniques on static and dynamic parameters of modified diodes is experimentally established and explained by means of state-of-the-art simulation system. Optimization means and limits of lifetime control by irradiation techniques are discussed, as well

Azadioxatriangulenium: exploring the effect of a 20 ns fluorescence lifetime in fluorescence anisotropy measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Bogh, Sidsel A.; Bora, Ilkay; Rosenberg, Martin; Thyrhaug, Erling; Laursen, Bo W.; Just Sørensen, Thomas

2015-12-01

Azaoxatriangulenium (ADOTA) has been shown to be highly emissive despite a moderate molar absorption coefficient of the primary electronic transition. As a result, the fluorescence lifetime is ~20 ns, longer than all commonly used red fluorescent organic probes. The electronic transitions in ADOTA are highly polarised (r 0  =  0.38), which in combination with the long fluorescence lifetime extents the size-range of biomolecular weights that can be detected in fluorescence polarisation-based experiments. Here, the rotational dynamics of bovine serum albumin (BSA) are monitored with three different ADOTA derivatives, differing only in constitution of the reactive linker. A detailed study of the degree of labelling, the steady-state anisotropy, and the time-resolved anisotropy of the three different ADOTA-BSA conjugates are reported. The fluorescence quantum yields (ϕ fl) of the free dyes in PBS solution are determined to be ~55%, which is reduced to ~20% in the ADOTA-BSA conjugates. Despite the reduction in ϕ fl, a ~20 ns intensity averaged lifetime is maintained, allowing for the rotational dynamics of BSA to be monitored for up to 100 ns. Thus, ADOTA can be used in fluorescence polarisation assays to fill the gap between commonly used organic dyes and the long luminescence lifetime transition metal complexes. This allows for efficient steady-state fluorescence polarisation assays for detecting binding of analytes with molecular weights of up to 100 kDa.

Control of body weight by eating behavior in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Modjtaba eZandian

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Diet, exercise, and pharmacological interventions have limited effects in counteracting the worldwide increase in pediatric body weight. Moreover, the promise that individualized drug design will work to induce weight loss appears to be exaggerated. We suggest that the reason for this limited success is that the cause of obesity has been misunderstood. Body weight is mainly under external control; our brain permits us to eat under most circumstances, and unless the financial or physical cost of food is high, eating and body weight increase by default. When energy-rich, inexpensive foods are continually available, people need external support to maintain a healthy body weight. Weight loss can thereby be achieved by continuous feedback on how much and how fast to eat on a computer screen.

Lifetime racism and blood pressure changes during pregnancy: implications for fetal growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilmert, Clayton J; Dominguez, Tyan Parker; Schetter, Christine Dunkel; Srinivas, Sindhu K; Glynn, Laura M; Hobel, Calvin J; Sandman, Curt A

2014-01-01

Research suggests that exposure to racism partially explains why African American women are 2 to 3 times more likely to deliver low birth weight and preterm infants. However, the physiological pathways by which racism exerts these effects are unclear. This study examined how lifetime exposure to racism, in combination with maternal blood pressure changes during pregnancy, was associated with fetal growth. African American pregnant women (n = 39) reported exposure to childhood and adulthood racism in several life domains (e.g., at school, at work), which were experienced directly or indirectly, meaning vicariously experienced when someone close to them was treated unfairly. A research nurse measured maternal blood pressure at 18 to 20 and 30 to 32 weeks gestation. Standardized questionnaires and trained interviewers assessed maternal demographics. Neonatal length of gestation and birth weight data were collected from medical charts. Childhood racism interacted with diastolic blood pressure to predict birth weight. Specifically, women with two or more domains of indirect exposure to racism in childhood and increases in diastolic blood pressure between 18 and 32 weeks had lower gestational age adjusted birth weight than the other women. A similar pattern was found for direct exposure to racism in childhood. Increases in diastolic blood pressure between the second and third trimesters predicted lower birth weight, but only when racism exposure in childhood (direct or indirect) was relatively high. Understanding pregnant African American women's lifetime direct and indirect experiences with racism in combination with prenatal blood pressure may improve identification of highest risk subgroups within this population. 2014 APA, all rights reserved

A new chart for weight control in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

OpenAIRE

Griffiths, R D; Edwards, R H

1988-01-01

Weight control is desirable in the muscle wasting conditions. A new chart is presented to allow the prediction of an ideal weight, free of excess fat, specifically for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The effect of weight controllability beliefs on prejudice and self-efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Loi, Natasha M.; Breadsell, Dana

2016-01-01

An experiment was conducted to test for the presence of prejudice towards obesity and whether weight controllability beliefs information reduces this prejudice and impacts on a person’s own healthy eating self-efficacy. The experiment randomly allocated 346 participants (49 males) into one of three conditions: controllable contributors toward obesity condition (e.g., information about personal control about diet and exercise); uncontrollable contributors toward obesity condition (e.g., information about genes, factors in society); and a control condition with no information given. Prejudice was present in 81% of the sample. High prejudice was predicted by low self-efficacy for exercise and weight. Weight controllability beliefs information had no significant effect on prejudice levels or exercise or healthy eating self-efficacy levels. Future research directions are discussed. PMID:26966679

Physical activity intensity and weight control status among U.S. Adults with diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Loprinzi, Paul D; Pariser, Gina

2014-01-01

We have a limited understanding of the objectively determined physical activity levels by weight control status (i.e., trying to lose weight, trying to maintain weight, and neither trying to lose or maintain weight) among U.S. adults with diabetes. Therefore, this study assessed the association between physical activity and weight control status among U.S. adults with diabetes. Cross-sectional survey. The 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used, which is representative of the U.S. population. Subjects were 733 adults (≥20 years) with diabetes. Participants wore an accelerometer to assess physical activity, and questionnaires were used to assess weight control status and covariates. Multivariate negative binomial regressions were used. After adjustments, and compared to those not trying to lose or maintain their weight, women trying to lose weight engaged in 74% more physical activity (rate ratio = 1.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14 to 2.65). Although findings were not significant for men, men were more likely than women to meet physical activity recommendations. Diabetic women trying to lose weight engaged in more physical activity than did their female counterparts not trying to lose or maintain their weight. Although men were more active than women, no differences in activity estimates occurred across weight control status for men.

Genotypic-specific variance in Caenorhabditis elegans lifetime fecundity.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz, S Anaid; Viney, Mark

2014-06-01

Organisms live in heterogeneous environments, so strategies that maximze fitness in such environments will evolve. Variation in traits is important because it is the raw material on which natural selection acts during evolution. Phenotypic variation is usually thought to be due to genetic variation and/or environmentally induced effects. Therefore, genetically identical individuals in a constant environment should have invariant traits. Clearly, genetically identical individuals do differ phenotypically, usually thought to be due to stochastic processes. It is now becoming clear, especially from studies of unicellular species, that phenotypic variance among genetically identical individuals in a constant environment can be genetically controlled and that therefore, in principle, this can be subject to selection. However, there has been little investigation of these phenomena in multicellular species. Here, we have studied the mean lifetime fecundity (thus a trait likely to be relevant to reproductive success), and variance in lifetime fecundity, in recently-wild isolates of the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We found that these genotypes differed in their variance in lifetime fecundity: some had high variance in fecundity, others very low variance. We find that this variance in lifetime fecundity was negatively related to the mean lifetime fecundity of the lines, and that the variance of the lines was positively correlated between environments. We suggest that the variance in lifetime fecundity may be a bet-hedging strategy used by this species.

What distinguishes weight loss maintainers of the German Weight Control Registry from the general population?

Science.gov (United States)

Feller, Silke; Müller, Astrid; Mayr, Andreas; Engeli, Stefan; Hilbert, Anja; de Zwaan, Martina

2015-05-01

Differences between successful long-term weight loss maintainers and the general population with regard to eating and weighing habits, non-normative eating behaviors, and eating-related and general psychopathological parameters are unknown. Self-identified weight loss maintainers from the German Weight Control Registry (GWCR, n = 494) were compared with a representative sample of the general German population (n = 2,129). The samples did not differ in current BMI. Using the same assessment instruments in both cohorts, a variety of eating-related and psychological variables were determined. The GWCR participants reported more self-weighing and higher eating frequency but less hot meal consumption and more eating-out-of-home. Binge eating, compensatory behaviors, and concerns about shape and weight were reported more often by successful weight loss maintainers. Scores of depression and worrying about health were slightly higher whereas severity of somatic symptoms was less pronounced in the GWCR participants. Overall, our data suggest that successful weight loss maintainers are characterized by more concerns about shape and weight, greater binge eating frequency, and higher use of compensatory behaviors. The latter suggests that weight loss maintenance might not only be achieved by healthy strategies but also by non-normative behaviors which might increase the vulnerability for weight regain. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

School-Based Obesity-Prevention Policies and Practices and Weight-Control Behaviors among Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, Nicole; Davey, Cynthia S; Caspi, Caitlin E; Kubik, Martha Y; Nanney, Marilyn S

2017-02-01

The promotion of healthy eating and physical activity within school settings is an important component of population-based strategies to prevent obesity; however, adolescents may be vulnerable to weight-related messages, as rapid development during this life stage often leads to preoccupation with body size and shape. This study examines secular trends in secondary school curricula topics relevant to the prevention of unhealthy weight-control behaviors; describes cross-sectional associations between weight-related curricula content and students' use of weight-control behaviors; and assesses whether implementation of school-based obesity-prevention policies/practices is longitudinally related to students' weight-control behaviors. The Minnesota School Health Profiles and Minnesota Student Survey (grades 9 and 12) data were used along with National Center for Education Statistics data to examine secular trends, cross-sectional associations (n=141 schools), and longitudinal associations (n=42 schools). Students self-reported their height and weight along with past-year use of healthy (eg, exercise), unhealthy (eg, fasting), and extreme (eg, use laxatives) weight-control behaviors. Descriptive statistics, generalized estimating equations, and generalized linear regression models accounting for school-level demographics. There was no observable pattern during the years 2008 to 2014 in the mean number of curricula topics addressing unhealthy weight-control behaviors, despite an increase in the prevalence of curricula addressing acceptance of body-size differences. Including three vs fewer weight-control topics and specifically including the topic of eating disorders in the curricula was related to a lower school-level percent of students using any extreme weight-control behaviors. In contrast, an overall measure of implementing school-based obesity-prevention policies/practices (eg, prohibited advertising) was unrelated to use of unhealthy or extreme behaviors

Fuzzy Logic Based Set-Point Weighting Controller Tuning for an Internal Model Control Based PID Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maruthai Suresh

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Controller tuning is the process of adjusting the parameters of the selected controller to achieve optimum response for the controlled process. For many of the control problems, a satisfactory performance is obtained by using PID controllers. One of the main problems with mathematical models of physical systems is that the parameters used in the models cannot be determined with absolute accuracy. The values of the parameters may change with time or various effects. In these cases, conventional controller tuning methods suffer when trying a lot to produce optimum response. In order to overcome these difficulties a fuzzy logic based Set- Point weighting controller tuning method is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is analyzed through computer simulation using SIMULINK software and the results are presented. The fuzzy logic based simulation results are compared with Cohen-Coon (CC, Ziegler- Nichols (ZN, Ziegler – Nichols with Set- Point weighting (ZN-SPW, Internal Model Control (IMC and Internal model based PID controller responses (IMC-PID. The effects of process modeling errors and the importance of controller tuning have been brought out using the proposed control scheme.

Lifetime health effects and medical costs of integrated stroke services - a non-randomized controlled cluster-trial based life table approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dirks Maaike

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Economic evaluation of stroke services indicates that such services may lead to improved quality of life at affordable cost. The present study assesses lifetime health impact and cost consequences of stroke in an integrated service setting. Methods The EDISSE study is a prospective non-randomized controlled cluster trial that compared stroke services (n = 151 patients to usual care (n = 187 patients. Health status and cost trial-data were entered in multi-dimensional stroke life-tables. The tables distinguish four levels of disability which are defined by the modified Rankin scale. Quality-of-life scores (EuroQoL-5D, transition and survival probabilities are based on concurrent Dutch follow-up studies. Outcomes are quality-adjusted life years lived and lifetime medical cost by disability category. An economic analysis compares outcomes from a successful stroke service to usual care, by bootstrapping individual costs and effects data from patients in each arm. Results Lifetime costs and QALYs after stroke depend on age-of-onset of first-ever stroke. Lifetime QALYs after stroke are 2.42 (90% CI - 0.49 - 2.75 for male patients in usual care and 2.75 (-0.61; 6.26 for females. Lifetime costs for men in the usual care setting are €39,335 (15,951; 79,837 and €42,944 (14,081; 95,944 for women. A comparison with the stroke service results in an ICER of €11,685 saved per QALY gained (€14,211 and €7,745 for men and women respectively. This stroke service is with 90% certainty cost-effective. Conclusions Our analysis shows the potential of large health benefits and cost savings of stroke services, taking a lifetime perspective, also in other European settings.

Evaluation on the Effect of Load Follow Controller's Weighting Factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Keuk Jong; Lee, Jae Gon [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

there are several important physical effects that limit the possibilities of power variations in NPPs. Some major effects are moderator and xenon effect. Moderator effect is relation with moderator density change and xenon effect is relation with the concentration change of Xe-135 which could affect axial power shape. These effects are more significant with large magnitudes of power variations and they are considered as major disturbances at the aspect of control method. Due to the above physical effects, it is necessary to carefully change nuclear power considering power distribution change in the core. So, when nuclear plants are required to operate on load variation mode, we could control not only reactor power but also power distribution. Generally, power distribution is controlled by reactor operators who have enough experience, whereas reactor power is automatically controlled by automatic controllers. So, it is necessary to design an automatic controller that controls both reactor power and power distribution for frequent load following operation. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co., LTD (KHNP) has been developing automatic load follow controller as a part of Advanced Power Reactor Plus (APR+) development. The developing controller is composed of three algorithms which could control reactor power and axial power shape. This paper aimed to evaluate the effect of the controller’s weighting factors. So, in this paper, we identify the meaning of the weighting factors and the controlled output weighting factors are selected among them. In this study, the effect of output weighting factors is analyzed. According to the simulation results, it is recommended that the weighting factor of power be between 200 and 400 and that of ASI be between 200 and 600. In the near future, based on the study, optimization of power and ASI weighting factors will be performed at the same time.

Lifetime measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poletti, A.R.

1976-01-01

Recent developments in experimental methods of measuring the lifetimes of excited nuclear states is reviewed in three main areas. (a) Doppler Shift Attenuation Measurements (DSAM) Times: 10 -14 - 10 -11 sec.; (b) Recoil Distance Measurements (RDM) Times: 10 -9 - 10 -12 sec.; (c) Direct Electronic Timing Times: down to 10 -10 sec.; A measurement of an excited state lifetime can answer a large number of different questions. Two examples are discussed: (a) The determination of the lifetime of an isomeric transition in 93 Tc and its use in determining an upper limit for the magnitude of the parity non-conserving matrix element - /Hsub(PN)/17/2 + >. (b) The dependence of the strength of M2 transitions on isospin in nuclei in the 1dsub(3/2) -1fsub(7/2) region. (author)

Want to Add Pizazz to Your Weight Training Class? Try Sport Education!

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchard, Tony; Hansen, Andrew; McCollum, Starla

2014-01-01

Weight training classes are offered in many secondary level physical education classes. The type of instruction used during weight training is crucial, ensuring students understand the content knowledge and the enjoyment weight training has to offer as a lifetime activity. By using the sport education model (SEM) in weight training classes,…

Gender orientation and alcohol-related weight control behavior among male and female college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Peralta, Robert L; Barr, Peter B

2017-01-01

We examine weight control behavior used to (a) compensate for caloric content of heavy alcohol use; and (b) enhance the psychoactive effects of alcohol among college students. We evaluate the role of gender orientation and sex. Participants completed an online survey (N = 651; 59.9% women; 40.1% men). Weight control behavior was assessed via the Compensatory-Eating-and-Behaviors-in Response-to-Alcohol-Consumption-Scale. Control variables included sex, race/ethnicity, age, and depressive symptoms. Gender orientation was measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory. The prevalence and probability of alcohol-related weight control behavior using ordinal logistic regression are reported. Men and women do not significantly differ in compensatory-weight-control-behavior. However, regression models suggest that recent binge drinking, other substance use, and masculine orientation are positively associated with alcohol-related weight control behavior. Sex was not a robust predictor of weight control behavior. Masculine orientation should be considered a possible risk factor for these behaviors and considered when designing prevention and intervention strategies.

Do recognizable lifetime eating disorder phenotypes naturally occur in a culturally asian population? A combined latent profile and taxometric approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Jennifer J; Eddy, Kamryn T; Ruscio, John; Ng, King Lam; Casale, Kristen E; Becker, Anne E; Lee, Sing

2015-05-01

We examined whether empirically derived eating disorder (ED) categories in Hong Kong Chinese patients (N = 454) would be consistent with recognizable lifetime ED phenotypes derived from latent structure models of European and American samples. We performed latent profile analysis (LPA) using indicator variables from data collected during routine assessment, and then applied taxometric analysis to determine whether latent classes were qualitatively versus quantitatively distinct. Latent profile analysis identified four classes: (i) binge/purge (47%); (ii) non-fat-phobic low-weight (34%); (iii) fat-phobic low-weight (12%); and (iv) overweight disordered eating (6%). Taxometric analysis identified qualitative (categorical) distinctions between the binge/purge and non-fat-phobic low-weight classes, and also between the fat-phobic and non-fat-phobic low-weight classes. Distinctions between the fat-phobic low-weight and binge/purge classes were indeterminate. Empirically derived categories in Hong Kong showed recognizable correspondence with recognizable lifetime ED phenotypes. Although taxometric findings support two distinct classes of low weight EDs, LPA findings also support heterogeneity among non-fat-phobic individuals. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Charmed particle lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosner, J.L.

1979-01-01

Conventional estimates are reviewed for charmed particle lifetimes. Free-quark models give values of (a few) x 10 -13 sec to (a few) x 10 -12 sec. The shorter of these values also follows from an extrapolation based on D → Ke/sup nu/. Possible differences among the lifetimes and production rates of D 0 , D + , F + , C 0 + , the heavy lepton tau, and the fifth quark b are discussed. Extreme values of mixing angles in a six-quark model could extend charmed particle lifetimes by a factor of at most three from the above estimates, while shorter lifetimes than those predicted could occur for some species like D 0 or F + if their nonleptonic decays were enhanced. The predictions are discussed in the light of some current experimental results, and it is estimated that sigma(pp → charm) approx. = 10 μb at 400 GeV/c. 95 references

Azadioxatriangulenium (ADOTA+): A long fluorescence lifetime fluorophore for large biomolecule binding assay

Science.gov (United States)

Sørensen, Thomas Just; Thyrhaug, Erling; Szabelski, Mariusz; Luchowski, Rafal; Gryczynski, Ignacy; Gryczynski, Zygmunt; Laursen, Bo W.

2013-01-01

Of the many optical bioassays available, sensing by fluorescence anisotropy have great advantages as it provides a sensitive, instrumentally simple, ratiometric method of detection. However, it is hampered by a severe limitation as the emission lifetime of the label needs to be comparable to the correlation lifetime (tumbling time) of the biomolecule which is labelled. For proteins of moderate size this is in the order of 20–200 ns, which due to practical issues currently limits the choice of labels to the dansyl-type dyes and certain aromatics dyes. These have the significant drawback of UV/blue absorption and emission as well as an often significant solvent sensitivity. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of a new fluorescent label for high molecular weight biomolecules assay based on the azadioxatriangulenium motif. The NHS ester of the long fluorescence lifetime, red emitting fluorophore: azadioxatriangulenium (ADOTA-NHS) was conjugated to anti-rabbit Immunoglobulin G (antiIgG). The long fluorescence lifetime was exploited to determine the correlation time of the high molecular weight antibody and its complex with rabbit Immuniglobulin G (IgG) with steady-state fluorescence anisotropy and time-resolved methods: solution phase immuno-assay was performed following either steady-state or time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. By performing a variable temperature experiment it was determined that the binding of the ligand resulted in an increase in correlation time by more than 75 %, and a change in the steady-state anisotropy increase of 18%. The results show that the triangulenium class of dyes can be used in anisotropy assay for detecting binding events involving biomolecules of far larger size than what is possible with the other red emitting organic dyes. PMID:24058730

Asthma and obesity: does weight loss improve asthma control? a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juel CTB

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Caroline Trunk-Black Juel,1 Zarqa Ali,1 Lisbeth Nilas,2 Charlotte Suppli Ulrik11Respiratory Section, Internal Medicine Unit, 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hvidovre Hospital and University of Copenhagen, Hvidovre, DenmarkAim and methods: Obesity is a major health problem, and obesity is associated with a high incidence of asthma and poor asthma control. The aim of the present paper is to systematically review the current knowledge of the effect on overall asthma control of weight reduction in overweight and obese adults with asthma.Results: Weight loss in obese individuals with doctor-diagnosed asthma is associated with a 48%–100% remission of asthma symptoms and use of asthma medication. Published studies, furthermore, reveal that weight loss in obese asthmatics improves asthma control, and that especially surgically induced weight loss results in significant improvements in asthma severity, use of asthma medication, dyspnoea, exercise tolerance, and acute exacerbations, including hospitalizations due to asthma. Furthermore, weight loss in obese asthmatics is associated with improvements in level of lung function and airway responsiveness to inhaled methacholine, whereas no significant improvements have been observed in exhaled nitric oxide or other markers of eosinophilic airway inflammation.Conclusion: Overweight and obese adults with asthma experience a high symptomatic remission rate and significant improvements in asthma control, including objective measures of disease activity, after weight loss. Although these positive effects of weight loss on asthma-related health outcomes seem not to be accompanied by remission or improvements in markers of eosinophilic airway inflammation, it has potentially important implications for the future burden of asthma.Keywords: asthma, weight loss, diet, bariatric surgery, asthma control

Lifetimes of heavy flavour particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forty, R.

1994-01-01

The lifetimes of heavy-flavour hadrons are reviewed. After a brief discussion of the theoretical predictions, the problem of averaging lifetime measurements is discussed. The various experimental measurements are then presented and suitable averages performed. Charmed meson lifetimes are now measured to the few percent level, better that theory can predict, whilst for charmed baryons the lifetime hierarchy has been established for the first time. For beauty hadrons the lifetimes are measured at the 6-10 % level, and are in reasonable agreement with theoretical expectations. Beauty baryon studies ar just beginning. (author)

Randomised controlled trial and economic analysis of an internet-based weight management programme: POWeR+ (Positive Online Weight Reduction).

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Paul; Stuart, Beth; Hobbs, Fd Richard; Kelly, Jo; Smith, Emily R; Bradbury, Katherine J; Hughes, Stephanie; Smith, Peter Wf; Moore, Michael V; Lean, Mike Ej; Margetts, Barrie M; Byrne, Christopher D; Griffin, Simon; Davoudianfar, Mina; Hooper, Julie; Yao, Guiqing; Zhu, Shihua; Raftery, James; Yardley, Lucy

2017-01-01

Behavioural counselling with intensive follow-up for obesity is effective, but in resource-constrained primary care settings briefer approaches are needed. To estimate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an internet-based behavioural intervention with regular face-to-face or remote support in primary care, compared with brief advice. Individually randomised three-arm parallel trial with health economic evaluation and nested qualitative interviews. Primary care general practices in the UK. Patients with a body mass index of ≥ 30 kg/m 2 (or ≥ 28 kg/m 2 with risk factors) identified from general practice records, recruited by postal invitation. Positive Online Weight Reduction (POWeR+) is a 24-session, web-based weight management intervention completed over 6 months. Following online registration, the website randomly allocated participants using computer-generated random numbers to (1) the control intervention ( n  = 279), which had previously been demonstrated to be clinically effective (brief web-based information that minimised pressure to cut down foods, instead encouraging swaps to healthier choices and increasing fruit and vegetables, plus 6-monthly nurse weighing); (2) POWeR+F ( n  = 269), POWeR+ supplemented by face-to-face nurse support (up to seven contacts); or (3) POWeR+R ( n  = 270), POWeR+ supplemented by remote nurse support (up to five e-mails or brief telephone calls). The primary outcome was a modelled estimate of average weight reduction over 12 months, assessed blind to group where possible, using multiple imputation for missing data. The secondary outcome was the number of participants maintaining a 5% weight reduction at 12 months. A total of 818 eligible individuals were randomised using computer-generated random numbers. Weight change, averaged over 12 months, was documented in 666 out of 818 participants (81%; control, n  = 227; POWeR+F, n  = 221; POWeR+R, n  = 218). The control group

The programs for lifetime extension by AREVA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knoche, P.

2014-01-01

In 2011 AREVA launched 2 worldwide programs to meet the demands of its customers: 'AREVA Safety Alliance' that proposes a set of measures for post-Fukushima safety upgrading and 'AREVA Forward Alliance' that is dedicated to lifetime extension projects. Concerning 'AREVA Safety Alliance' about 150 projects have been carried out for 53 customers in 19 countries, as for 'AREVA Forward Alliance' 60% of the lifetime extension projects in the US have been performed by AREVA. In the framework of lifetime extension projects, upgrading measures and services are proposed such as the installation of hydrogen recombiner units, of filtered ventilation systems for severe accidents, or the upgrading of the reactor control system through the implementation of the digital Teleperm XS technology, or recommendations about the methodology to follow for the repair or replacement of important components. The replacement of steam generators and of the pressurizer and with other upgrading works led to a gain of 18.5% on the output power of the Ringhals-4 unit. (A.C.)

Autofluorescence Lifetimes in Patients With Choroideremia Identify Photoreceptors in Areas With Retinal Pigment Epithelium Atrophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dysli, Chantal; Wolf, Sebastian; Tran, Hoai Viet; Zinkernagel, Martin S

2016-12-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate fundus autofluorescence lifetimes in patients with choroideremia and to identify tissue-specific lifetime characteristics and potential prognostic markers. Autofluorescence lifetimes of the retina were measured in two spectral channels (498-560 nm and 560-720 nm) in patients with choroideremia and age-matched healthy controls. Furthermore, autofluorescence intensities and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) data were acquired and compared to fundus autofluorescence lifetime data. Sixteen eyes from 8 patients with advanced choroideremia (mean ± SD age, 55 ± 13 years) were included in this study and compared with 10 age-matched healthy participants. Whereas fundus autofluorescence intensity measurement identified areas of remaining retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), autofluorescence lifetime maps identified areas with remaining photoreceptor layers in OCT but RPE atrophy. In these areas, mean (±SEM) lifetimes were 567 ± 59 ps in the short and 603 ± 49 ps in the long spectral channels (+98% and +88% compared to controls). In areas of combined RPE atrophy and loss of photoreceptors, autofluorescence lifetimes were significantly prolonged by 1116 ± 63 ps (+364%) in the short and by 915 ± 52 ps (+270%) in the long spectral channels compared with controls. Because autofluorescence lifetimes identify areas of remaining photoreceptors in the absence of RPE, this imaging modality may be useful to monitor disease progression in the natural course of disease and in context of potential future therapeutic interventions.

Psychological control by parents is associated with a higher child weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodenburg, Gerda; Kremers, Stef P J; Oenema, Anke; van de Mheen, Dike

2011-10-01

In this examination of the association between parenting style and child weight, the neglected concept of 'psychological control' has been added to the generally accepted parenting dimensions 'support' and 'behavioural control'. Also explored is whether the potential association between parenting and child weight is moderated by socio-demographic variables (child's age/ethnicity, and parent's education level). A cross-sectional study was performed among 1,665 parent-child dyads. The children's mean age was 8 years. Their height and weight were measured to calculate their body mass index (BMI). Parents completed a questionnaire to measure the three parenting dimensions. Based on these dimensions, five parenting styles were defined: the authoritative, permissive, authoritarian, neglecting and rejecting parenting style. Child BMI z-scores were regressed on parenting style, adjusting for parental BMI, child ethnicity, and parent's education level. Rejecting parenting, characterized by high psychological control, low support and low behavioural control, is the only parenting style significantly related to child BMI z-scores (β = 0.074, p parenting, this study has further elucidated the mechanisms whereby parenting may affect child weight. Demonstrating that 'rejecting parenting' is associated with a higher child weight, emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies in which parenting style is measured three-dimensionally. Potential mediating effects of parental feeding style and children's eating style, as well as age moderation, should be included in these studies.

Cohort Study of the Success of Controlled Weight Loss Programs for Obese Dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

German, A J; Titcomb, J M; Holden, S L; Queau, Y; Morris, P J; Biourge, V

2015-01-01

Most weight loss studies in obese dogs assess rate and percentage of weight loss in the first 2-3 months, rather than the likelihood of successfully reaching target weight. To determine outcome of controlled weight loss programs for obese dogs, and to determine the factors associated with successful completion. 143 obese dogs undergoing a controlled weight loss program. This was a cohort study of obese dogs attending a referral weight management clinic. Dogs were studied during their period of weight loss, and cases classified according to outcome as "completed" (reached target weight), "euthanized" (was euthanized before reaching target weight), or "stopped prematurely" (program stopped early for other reasons). Factors associated with successful completion were assessed using simple and multiple logistic regression. 87/143 dogs (61%) completed their weight loss program, 11 [8%] died or were euthanized, and the remaining 45 [32%] stopped prematurely. Reasons for dogs stopping prematurely included inability to contact owner, refusal to comply with weight management advice, or development of another illness. Successful weight loss was positively associated with a faster rate (P obese dogs on a controlled weight loss program reach their target weight. Future studies should better clarify reasons for success in individual cases, and also the role of factors such as activity and behavioral modification. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Overestimation of own body weights in female university students: associations with lifestyles, weight control behaviors and depression

OpenAIRE

Kim, Miso; Lee, Hongmie

2010-01-01

The study aimed to analyze the lifestyles, weight control behavior, dietary habits, and depression of female university students. The subjects were 532 students from 8 universities located in 4 provinces in Korea. According to percent ideal body weight, 33 (6.4%), 181 (34.0%), 283 (53.2%), 22 (4.1%) and 13 (2.5%) were severely underweight, underweight, normal, overweight and obese, respectively, based on self-reported height and weight. As much as 64.1% and only 2.4%, respectively, overestima...

The estimation of defects influence on lifetime of NPP equipment components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ovchinikov, A.V.; Vasilchenko, G.S.; Rivkin, E.Y.

1998-01-01

Estimating the influence of defects on NPP components lifetime requires several typical operations: testing the objects without destroying the means of control, scheme of detected defects and performing calculations. The basic methods for revealing defects are ultrasonic, radiographic and visual control. A technique was developed for lifetime calculation of reactor equipment with defects using minimum information about defects and properties of material. The experience obtained during several years has shown good results. Experimental data of tests concerning destruction of construction elements showed good reliability

Lifetime costs of cerebral palsy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kruse, Marie; Michelsen, Susan Ishøy; Flachs, Esben Meulengracht

2009-01-01

This study quantified the lifetime costs of cerebral palsy (CP) in a register-based setting. It was the first study outside the US to assess the lifetime costs of CP. The lifetime costs attributable to CP were divided into three categories: health care costs, productivity costs, and social costs....... social care costs and productivity costs associated with CP point to a potential gain from labour market interventions that benefit individuals with CP.......This study quantified the lifetime costs of cerebral palsy (CP) in a register-based setting. It was the first study outside the US to assess the lifetime costs of CP. The lifetime costs attributable to CP were divided into three categories: health care costs, productivity costs, and social costs...... in 2000. The prevalence of CP in eastern Denmark was approximately 1.7 per 1000. Information on productivity and the use of health care was retrieved from registers. The lifetime cost of CP was about euro860 000 for men and about euro800 000 for women. The largest component was social care costs...

Three-dimensional fluorescence lifetime tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Godavarty, Anuradha; Sevick-Muraca, Eva M.; Eppstein, Margaret J.

2005-01-01

Near-infrared fluorescence tomography using molecularly targeted lifetime-sensitive, fluorescent contrast agents have applications for early-stage cancer diagnostics. Yet, although the measurement of fluorescent lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) is extensively used in microscopy and spectroscopy applications, demonstration of fluorescence lifetime tomography for medical imaging is limited to two-dimensional studies. Herein, the feasibility of three-dimensional fluorescence-lifetime tomography on clinically relevant phantom volumes is established, using (i) a gain-modulated intensified charge coupled device (CCD) and modulated laser diode imaging system, (ii) two fluorescent contrast agents, e.g., Indocyanine green and 3-3'-Diethylthiatricarbocyanine iodide differing in their fluorescence lifetime by 0.62 ns, and (iii) a two stage approximate extended Kalman filter reconstruction algorithm. Fluorescence measurements of phase and amplitude were acquired on the phantom surface under different target to background fluorescence absorption (70:1, 100:1) and fluorescence lifetime (1:1, 2.1:1) contrasts at target depths of 1.4-2 cm. The Bayesian tomography algorithm was employed to obtain three-dimensional images of lifetime and absorption owing to the fluorophores

Functional brain response to food images in successful adolescent weight losers compared with normal-weight and overweight controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Chad D; Kirwan, C Brock

2015-03-01

Research conducted with adults suggests that successful weight losers demonstrate greater activation in brain regions associated with executive control in response to viewing high-energy foods. No previous studies have examined these associations in adolescents. Functional neuroimaging was used to assess brain response to food images among groups of overweight (OW), normal-weight (NW), and successful weight-losing (SWL) adolescents. Eleven SWL, 12 NW, and 11 OW participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while viewing images of high- and low-energy foods. When viewing high-energy food images, SWLs demonstrated greater activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) compared with OW and NW controls. Compared with NW and SWL groups, OW individuals demonstrated greater activation in the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate in response to food images. Adolescent SWLs demonstrated greater neural activation in the DLPFC compared with OW/NW controls when viewing high-energy food stimuli, which may indicate enhanced executive control. OW individuals' brain responses to food stimuli may indicate greater reward incentive processes than either SWL or NW groups. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

Lifetime History of Traumatic Brain Injury and Current Disability Among Ohio Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Honggang; Corrigan, John D; Singichetti, Bhavna; Bogner, Jennifer A; Manchester, Kara; Guo, Jinhong; Yang, Jingzhen

2017-10-27

To examine the associations between lifetime history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness (LOC) and several types of current disability among adult, noninstitutionalized residents of Ohio. 2014 Ohio Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System participants (n = 6998). Statewide population-based survey. Lifetime history of TBI with LOC (number and severity of injury, age of first injury), and number and type of disability (vision, cognition, mobility, self-care, and/or independent living). Of the 6998 participants, 1325 reported lifetime history of TBI with LOC, and 1959 reported currently having one or more disabilities. When weighted, these represented 21.7% and 23.7% of Ohio's noninstitutionalized adult population, respectively. Adults with a history of TBI with LOC showed greater odds of any disability compared with adults with no history (odds ratio = 2.49; 95% confidence interval = 1.97-3.15). The likelihood of having any and each type of disability increased as the number of TBIs or the severity of worst TBI increased, regardless of sustaining first TBI before or after the age of 15 years. Lifetime history of TBI with LOC is significantly associated with disability among Ohio adults. Further research on the natural course of the relation and preventive strategies is warranted.

Precision lifetime measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanner, C.E.

1994-01-01

Precision measurements of atomic lifetimes provide important information necessary for testing atomic theory. The authors employ resonant laser excitation of a fast atomic beam to measure excited state lifetimes by observing the decay-in-flight of the emitted fluorescence. A similar technique was used by Gaupp, et al., who reported measurements with precisions of less than 0.2%. Their program includes lifetime measurements of the low lying p states in alkali and alkali like systems. Motivation for this work comes from a need to test the atomic many-body-perturbation theory (MBPT) that is necessary for interpretation of parity nonconservation experiments in atomic cesium. The authors have measured the cesium 6p 2 P 1/2 and 6p 2 P 3/2 state lifetimes to be 34.934±0.094 ns and 30.499±0.070 ns respectively. With minor changes to the apparatus, they have extended their measurements to include the lithium 2p 2 P 1/2 and 2p 2 P 3/2 states

Singlet Exciton Lifetimes in Conjugated Polymer Films for Organic Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Dimitrov, Stoichko

2016-01-13

The lifetime of singlet excitons in conjugated polymer films is a key factor taken into account during organic solar cell device optimization. It determines the singlet exciton diffusion lengths in polymer films and has a direct impact on the photocurrent generation by organic solar cell devices. However, very little is known about the material properties controlling the lifetimes of singlet excitons, with most of our knowledge originating from studies of small organic molecules. Herein, we provide a brief summary of the nature of the excited states in conjugated polymer films and then present an analysis of the singlet exciton lifetimes of 16 semiconducting polymers. The exciton lifetimes of seven of the studied polymers were measured using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and compared to the lifetimes of seven of the most common photoactive polymers found in the literature. A plot of the logarithm of the rate of exciton decay vs. the polymer optical bandgap reveals a medium correlation between lifetime and bandgap, thus suggesting that the Energy Gap Law may be valid for these systems. This therefore suggests that small bandgap polymers can suffer from short exciton lifetimes, which may limit their performance in organic solar cell devices. In addition, the impact of film crystallinity on the exciton lifetime was assessed for a small bandgap diketopyrrolopyrrole co-polymer. It is observed that the increase of polymer film crystallinity leads to reduction in exciton lifetime and optical bandgap again in agreement with the Energy Gap Law.

Mining the bulk positron lifetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aourag, H.; Guittom, A.

2009-01-01

We introduce a new approach to investigate the bulk positron lifetimes of new systems based on data-mining techniques. Through data mining of bulk positron lifetimes, we demonstrate the ability to predict the positron lifetimes of new semiconductors on the basis of available semiconductor data already studied. Informatics techniques have been applied to bulk positron lifetimes for different tetrahedrally bounded semiconductors in order to discover computational design rules. (copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

Good intentions gone awry? Effects of weight-related social control on health and well-being.

Science.gov (United States)

Brunson, Julie A; Overup, Camilla S; Nguyen, Mai-Ly; Novak, Sarah A; Smith, C Veronica

2014-01-01

A negative body image has been associated with a variety of negative health and well-being outcomes. Social pressures from others, in the form of weight-related social control, may serve to exacerbate this effect, especially for college-aged women. Undergraduate students (N=399) completed a variety of questionnaires assessing weight-related social control, well-being, and diet and exercise behaviors. The results suggest that weight is associated with a variety of negative health and well-being outcomes and particularly for women, weight-related social control is also associated with these negative effects. In addition, men of higher body mass indexes (BMIs) or higher self-perceived weight did not experience negative health and well-being outcomes to the same degree that overweight women did. Parents in particular seem to instigate weight-related social control to change students' diet and exercise behaviors. These results help clarify the effects of weight-related social control in a college population, where weight may be especially important. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Weight-related sport motive and girls’ body image, weight control behaviors and self-esteem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Bruin, A.P.; Woertman, L.; Bakker, F.C.; Oudejans, R.R.D.

2009-01-01

Research has shown that exercise for weight control is associated with disordered eating indices in older adolescent or adult exercisers in fitness centers. This study examined whether these relationships could be replicated in a more general sample of 140 Dutch adolescent girls between 13 and 18

Enhancing SOEC system lifetime by controlling inlet gas composition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2015-01-01

In a method for enhancing the lifetime of a solid oxide electrolysis cell system by counteracting nitridation of the threads of the in-line electrical heaters of the system, the start-up, shut-down and trip operations are done in a humidified nitrogen atmosphere on the fuel side to achieve a dew ...... point between -70 DEG C and 23 DEG C, and in air or in carbon dioxide on the oxygen side, securing that sufficiently oxidizing conditions are always present across the whole surface of the cells on the oxygen side in the stack....

Deformation and lifetime behaviour of cyclic loaded rail and wheel steels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Denne, B.; Lang, K.-H.; Loehe, D. [Karlsruhe Univ. (T.H.) (Germany). Inst. fuer Werkstoffkunde 1

2000-07-01

Corrugation, shelling and squats are some unexpected technical problems caused by increasing service tonnage, increasing load of the rails and increasing train speed at Deutsche Bahn AG lines since the last decades. As the complex phenomena of rolling contact fatigue in the rail / wheel system is difficult to understand extensive investigations have to be done to describe the multiaxial rolling contact fatigue processes and to develop and verify multiaxial fatigue criteria and lifetime predictions. To reach this aim a reliable fatigue data base of the utilised steels is required. To obtain such data, specimens were worked out of rails and wheels used in high speed traffic. With these specimens the lifetime behaviour and the endurance limit were estimated from push-pull tests. For the rail steel stress and total strain controlled fatigue tests were performed. The resulting lifetime behaviour is compared. In the wheel there are several regions with different microstructures due to the heat treatment at the end of the manufacturing process. Specimens were taken from the wheel rim representing these different microstructures. With these specimens stress controlled fatigue tests were performed. The influence of the different microstructures on the deformation and lifetime behaviour is showed. (orig.)

Psychosocial and behavioural factors in the regulation of weight: Self-regulation, self-efficacy and locus control.

Science.gov (United States)

Menéndez-González, Lara; Orts-Cortés, María Isabel

To identify the relationship and behaviour of the variables of self-control, self-efficacy and locus control in weight regulation of obese, overweight and normal weight adults. Transversal study undertaken in the Health Centre of El Coto (Gijón) from 1st April to 30th July 2015. Subjects between 18-65 years of age with a body mass index recording within the last two years. serious medical illness, eating disorders or pregnant women. Behavioural variables: self-regulation of body weight (Inventory of self-control of body weight), perceived self-efficacy in weight regulation (Inventory of perceived self-efficacy in weight regulation) and locus control in weight regulation (Inventory of locus control in weight regulation). Anthropometric variables: weight (kg) and height (m), body mass index. One hundred and six participants were included: 32 were obese, 28 overweight and 46 normal weight. Significant differences were found between the 3 study groups for total scale of self-efficacy (F=61.77; pcontrol (F=13.92; p=.019), other weighty influences of locus control (F=9.21; pcontrol (F=3.50; p=.011). The relationship between body mass index and behavioural variables of self-efficacy, self-regulation and locus control, suggests the need for healthcare professionals to include psychological factors of behaviour in any preventive action and intervention directed at weight control. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Simulation of quitting smoking in the military shows higher lifetime medical spending more than offset by productivity gains.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Wenya; Dall, Timothy M; Zhang, Yiduo; Zhang, Shiping; Arday, David R; Dorn, Patricia W; Jain, Anjali

2012-12-01

Despite the documented benefits of quitting smoking, studies have found that smokers who quit may have higher lifetime medical costs, in part because of increased risk for medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, brought on by associated weight gain. Using a simulation model and data on 612,332 adult smokers in the US Department of Defense's TRICARE Prime health plan in 2008, we estimated that cessation accompanied by weight gain would increase average life expectancy by 3.7 years, and that the average lifetime reduction in medical expenditures from improved health ($5,600) would be offset by additional expenditures resulting from prolonged life ($7,300). Results varied by age and sex: For females ages 18-44 at time of cessation, there would be net savings of $1,200 despite additional medical expenditures from prolonged life. Avoidance of weight gain after quitting smoking would increase average life expectancy by four additional months and reduce mean extra spending resulting from prolonged life by $700. Overall, the average net lifetime health care cost increase of $1,700 or less per ex-smoker would be modest and, for employed people, more than offset by even one year's worth of productivity gains. These results boost the case for smoking cessation programs in the military in particular, along with not selling cigarettes in commissaries or at reduced prices.

Positron lifetimes in deformed copper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinode, Kenji; Tanigawa, Shoichiro; Doyama, Masao

1976-01-01

Positron lifetime measurements were performed for Cu samples with different densities of lattice defects. The lifetime spectra were successfully resolved into two components with the help of the well established analysis program. Obtained results were quite consistent with those expected from the trapping model. The positron trapping mechanism from free to trapped states and the initial condition of the model were especially checked. Deduced values obtained for tau sub(c) (lifetime of free positrons) and tau sub(t) (lifetime of trapped positrons) were 122+-5 psec and 176+-5 psec, respectively. (auth.)

Accelerated lifetime testing methodology for lifetime estimation of Lithium-ion batteries used in augmented wind power plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stroe, Daniel Ioan; Swierczynski, Maciej Jozef; Stan, Ana-Irina

2013-01-01

The development of lifetime estimation models for Lithium-ion battery cells, which are working under highly variable mission profiles characteristic for wind power plant applications, requires a lot of expenditures and time resources. Therefore, batteries have to be tested under accelerated...... lifetime ageing conditions. This paper presents a three-stage methodology used for accelerated lifetime testing of Lithium-ion batteries. The results obtained at the end of the accelerated ageing process can be used for the parametrization of a performance-degradation lifetime model. In the proposed...... methodology both calendar and cycling lifetime tests are considered since both components are influencing the lifetime of Lithium-ion batteries. The methodology proposes also a lifetime model verification stage, where Lithium-ion battery cells are tested at normal operating conditions using an application...

Body Weight and Breast Cancer: Nested Case-Control Study in Southern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Kops, Natália Luiza; Bessel, Marina; Caleffi, Maira; Ribeiro, Rodrigo Antonini; Wendland, Eliana Marcia

2018-04-28

Current studies have shown that fast weight gain may be more important than body mass index on the incidence of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between body weight and breast cancer. This was a case-control study nested in a cohort of a breast cancer mammography screening program in Southern Brazil. A trained investigator administered a standardized interview to collect sociodemographic and clinical data, and body weight history (weight at menarche, at marriage, at first and last pregnancy, and at menopause). Current anthropometric measurements were also made. Fifty-seven women with cancer (66.7% postmenopausal) and 159 controls were included. Current age (60.3 ± 10.4 vs. 55.8 ± 8.4 years, P weight at different stages of life. Women with social vulnerability recruited at a mammography screening program in Southern Brazil showed a large weight gain during life, but no significant differences were found in body weight between women with or without breast cancer. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Active-charging based powertrain control in series hybrid electric vehicles for efficiency improvement and battery lifetime extension

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xi; Mi, Chris Chunting; Yin, Chengliang

2014-01-01

This paper presents a powertrain control strategy for a series hybrid electric vehicle (SHEV) based on the integrated design of an active charging scenario and fixed-boundary-layer sliding mode controllers (FBLSMCs). An optimized charging curve for the battery is predetermined rather than subject to engine output and vehicle power demand, which is a total inverse of normal SHEV powertrain control process. This is aimed to remove surge and high-frequency charge current, keep the battery staying in a high state-of-charge (SOC) region and avoid persistently-high charge power, which are positive factors to battery lifetime extension. Then two robust chattering-free FBLSMCs are designed to locate the engine operation in the optimal efficiency area. One is in charge of engine speed control, and the other is for engine/generator torque control. Consequently, not only fuel economy is improved but also battery life expectancy could be extended. Finally, simulation and experimental results confirm the validity and application feasibility of the proposed strategy.

Lifetime results from heavy quark systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Papadimitriou, V.

1997-11-01

We present the latest measurements of weakly decaying b-hadrons from experiments at e + e - and p anti p colliders. These measurements include the average lifetime of b-hadrons, lifetimes of the B - , B 0 and B 0 s mesons, the average lifetime of b-baryons and lifetimes of the Λ b and Ξ b baryons

High Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells with Long Operating Lifetimes

KAUST Repository

Peters, Craig H.; Sachs-Quintana, I. T.; Kastrop, John P.; Beaupré , Serge; Leclerc, Mario; McGehee, Michael D.

2011-01-01

Organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells comprising poly[N-9'-hepta-decanyl- 2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2', 1',3'-benzothiadiazole) (PCDTBT) are systematically aged and demonstrate lifetimes approaching seven years, which is the longest reported lifetime for polymer solar cells. An experimental set-up is described that is capable of testing large numbers of solar cells, holding each device at its maximum power point while controlling and monitoring the temperature and light intensity. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A measurement of Rb using a lifetime-mass tag

Science.gov (United States)

Barate, R.; Buskulic, D.; Decamp, D.; Ghez, P.; Goy, C.; Lees, J.-P.; Lucotte, A.; Minard, M.-N.; Nief, J.-Y.; Pietrzyk, B.; Casado, M. P.; Chmeissani, M.; Comas, P.; Crespo, J. M.; Delfino, M.; Fernandez, E.; Fernandez-Bosman, M.; Garrido, Ll.; Juste, A.; Martinez, M.; Miquel, R.; Mir, Ll. M.; Orteu, S.; Padilla, C.; Park, I. C.; Pascual, A.; Perlas, J. A.; Riu, I.; Sanchez, F.; Teubert, F.; Colaleo, A.; Creanza, D.; de Palma, M.; Gelao, G.; Iaselli, G.; Maggi, G.; Maggi, M.; Marinelli, N.; Nuzzo, S.; Ranieri, A.; Raso, G.; Ruggieri, F.; Selvaggi, G.; Silvestris, L.; Tempesta, P.; Tricomi, A.; Zito, G.; Huang, X.; Lin, J.; Ouyang, Q.; Wang, T.; Xie, Y.; Xu, R.; Xue, S.; Zhang, J.; Zhang, L.; Zhao, W.; Abbaneo, D.; Alemany, R.; Becker, U.; Bazarko, A. O.; Bright-Thomas, P.; Cattaneo, M.; Cerutti, F.; Drevermann, H.; Forty, R. W.; Frank, M.; Hagelberg, R.; Harvey, J.; Janot, P.; Jost, B.; Kneringer, E.; Knobloch, J.; Lehraus, I.; Lutters, G.; Mato, P.; Minten, A.; Moneta, L.; Pacheco, A.; Pusztaszeri, J.-F.; Ranjard, F.; Rensing, P.; Rizzo, G.; Rolandi, L.; Schlatter, D.; Schmitt, M.; Schneider, O.; Tejessy, W.; Tomalin, I. R.; Wachsmuth, H.; Wagner, A.; Ajaltouni, Z.; Barrès, A.; Boyer, C.; Falvard, A.; Ferdi, C.; Gay, P.; Guicheney, C.; Henrard, P.; Jousset, J.; Michel, B.; Monteil, S.; Montret, J.-C.; Pallin, D.; Perret, P.; Podlyski, F.; Proriol, J.; Rosnet, P.; Rossignol, J.-M.; Fearnley, T.; Hansen, J. B.; Hansen, J. D.; Hansen, J. R.; Hansen, P. H.; Nilsson, B. S.; Rensch, B.; Wäänänen, A.; Daskalakis, G.; Kyriakis, A.; Markou, C.; Simopoulou, E.; Siotis, I.; Vayaki, A.; Blondel, A.; Bonneaud, G.; Brient, J. C.; Bourdon, P.; Rougé, A.; Rumpf, M.; Valassi, A.; Verderi, M.; Videau, H.; Candlin, D. J.; Parsons, M. I.; Focardi, E.; Parrini, G.; Zachariadou, K.; Corden, M.; Georgiopoulos, C.; Jaffe, D. E.; Antonelli, A.; Bencivenni, G.; Bologna, G.; Bossi, F.; Campana, P.; Capon, G.; Casper, D.; Chiarella, V.; Felici, G.; Laurelli, P.; Mannocchi, G.; Murtas, F.; Murtas, G. P.; Passalacqua, L.; Pepe-Altarelli, M.; Curtis, L.; Dorris, S. J.; Halley, A. W.; Knowles, I. G.; Lynch, J. G.; O'Shea, V.; Raine, C.; Scarr, J. M.; Smith, K.; Teixeira-Dias, P.; Thompson, A. S.; Thomson, E.; Thomson, F.; Turnbull, R. M.; Geweniger, C.; Graefe, G.; Hanke, P.; Hansper, G.; Hepp, V.; Kluge, E. E.; Putzer, A.; Schmidt, M.; Sommer, J.; Tittel, K.; Werner, S.; Wunsch, M.; Beuselinck, R.; Binnie, D. M.; Cameron, W.; Dornan, P. J.; Girone, M.; Goodsir, S.; Martin, E. B.; Moutoussi, A.; Nash, J.; Sedgbeer, J. K.; Stacey, A. M.; Williams, M. D.; Dissertori, G.; Ghete, V. M.; Girtler, P.; Kuhn, D.; Rudolph, G.; Betteridge, A. P.; Bowdery, C. K.; Colrain, P.; Crawford, G.; Finch, A. J.; Foster, F.; Hughes, G.; Sloan, T.; Williams, M. I.; Galla, A.; Giehl, I.; Greene, A. M.; Hoffmann, C.; Jakobs, K.; Kleinknecht, K.; Quast, G.; Renk, B.; Rohne, E.; Sander, H.-G.; van Gemmeren, P.; Zeitnitz, C.; Aubert, J. J.; Benchouk, C.; Bonissent, A.; Bujosa, G.; Calvet, D.; Carr, J.; Coyle, P.; Diaconu, C.; Etienne, F.; Konstantinidis, N.; Leroy, O.; Motsch, F.; Payre, P.; Rousseau, D.; Talby, M.; Sadouki, A.; Thulasidas, M.; Trabelsi, K.; Aleppo, M.; Ragusa, F.; Berlich, R.; Blum, W.; Brown, D.; Büscher, V.; Dietl, H.; Dydak, F.; Ganis, G.; Gotzhein, C.; Kroha, H.; Lütjens, G.; Lutz, G.; Männer, W.; Moser, H.-G.; Richter, R.; Rosado-Schlosser, A.; Schael, S.; Settles, R.; Seywerd, H.; St. Denis, R.; Stenzel, H.; Wiedenmann, W.; Wolf, G.; Boucrot, J.; Callot, O.; Chen, S.; Choi, Y.; Cordier, A.; Davier, M.; Duflot, L.; Grivaz, J.-F.; Heusse, Ph.; Höcker, A.; Jacholkowska, A.; Jacquet, M.; Kim, D. W.; Le Diberder, F.; Lefrançois, J.; Lutz, A.-M.; Nikolic, I.; Schune, M.-H.; Simion, S.; Tournefier, E.; Veillet, J.-J.; Videau, I.; Zerwas, D.; Azzurri, P.; Bagliesi, G.; Batignani, G.; Bettarini, S.; Bozzi, C.; Calderini, G.; Carpinelli, M.; Ciocci, M. A.; Ciulli, V.; dell'Orso, R.; Fantechi, R.; Ferrante, I.; Foà, L.; Forti, F.; Giassi, A.; Giorgi, M. A.; Gregorio, A.; Ligabue, F.; Lusiani, A.; Marrocchesi, P. S.; Messineo, A.; Palla, F.; Sanguinetti, G.; Sciabà, A.; Spagnolo, P.; Steinberger, J.; Tenchini, R.; Tonelli, G.; Vannini, C.; Venturi, A.; Verdini, P. G.; Blair, G. A.; Bryant, L. M.; Chambers, J. T.; Gao, Y.; Green, M. G.; Medcalf, T.; Perrodo, P.; Strong, J. A.; von Wimmersperg-Toeller, J. H.; Botterill, D. R.; Clifft, R. W.; Edgecock, T. R.; Haywood, S.; Maley, P.; Norton, P. R.; Thompson, J. C.; Wright, A. E.; Bloch-Devaux, B.; Colas, P.; Emery, S.; Kozanecki, W.; Lançon, E.; Lemaire, M. C.; Locci, E.; Perez, P.; Rander, J.; Renardy, J.-F.; Roussarie, A.; Schuller, J.-P.; Schwindling, J.; Trabelsi, A.; Vallage, B.; Black, S. N.; Dann, J. H.; Johnson, R. P.; Kim, H. Y.; Litke, A. M.; McNeil, M. A.; Taylor, G.; Booth, C. N.; Boswell, R.; Brew, C. A. J.; Cartwright, S.; Combley, F.; Kelly, M. S.; Lehto, M.; Newton, W. M.; Reeve, J.; Thompson, L. F.; Böhrer, A.; Brandt, S.; Cowan, G.; Grupen, C.; Saraiva, P.; Smolik, L.; Stephan, F.; Apollonio, M.; Bosisio, L.; Della Marina, R.; Giannini, G.; Gobbo, B.; Musolino, G.; Rothberg, J.; Wasserbaech, S.; Armstrong, S. R.; Charles, E.; Elmer, P.; Ferguson, D. P. S.; Gao, Y. S.; González, S.; Greening, T. C.; Hayes, O. J.; Hu, H.; Jin, S.; McNamara, P. A.; Nachtman, J. M.; Nielsen, J.; Orejudos, W.; Pan, Y. B.; Saadi, Y.; Scott, I. J.; Walsh, J.; Wu, Sau Lan; Wu, X.; Yamartino, J. M.; Zobernig, G.

1997-02-01

ALEPH's published measurement of Rb = Γ(Z -> bb)/Γ(Z -> hadrons) using a lifetime tag is updated using the full LEP 1 data sample. Considerable effort has been devoted to understanding systematic effects. Charm background is better controlled by combining the lifetime tag with a tag based on the b/c hadron mass difference. Furthermore, the algorithm used to reconstruct the event primary vertex is designed so as to reduce correlations between the two hemispheres of an event. The value of Rb is measured to be 0.2167 +/- 0.0011 (stat) +/- 0.0013 (syst).

High Efficiency Polymer Solar Cells with Long Operating Lifetimes

KAUST Repository

Peters, Craig H.

2011-04-20

Organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells comprising poly[N-9\\'-hepta-decanyl- 2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4\\',7\\'-di-2-thienyl-2\\', 1\\',3\\'-benzothiadiazole) (PCDTBT) are systematically aged and demonstrate lifetimes approaching seven years, which is the longest reported lifetime for polymer solar cells. An experimental set-up is described that is capable of testing large numbers of solar cells, holding each device at its maximum power point while controlling and monitoring the temperature and light intensity. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Disordered Weight Management Behaviors, Nonprescription Steroid Use, and Weight Perception in Transgender Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Guss, Carly E; Williams, David N; Reisner, Sari L; Austin, S Bryn; Katz-Wise, Sabra L

2017-01-01

Disordered weight management behaviors are prevalent among youth; recent case reports suggested that these behaviors might also be common in transgender youth. We studied associations of gender identity with disordered weight management behaviors, nonprescription steroid use, and weight perception among transgender and cisgender (nontransgender) high-school students in Massachusetts. Data were analyzed from the 2013 Massachusetts Youth Health Survey, an anonymous survey in a random sample of Massachusetts public high schools. Respondents were divided into three groups: transgender (n = 67), cisgender male (n = 1,117), and cisgender female (n = 1,289). Fisher's exact tests and multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine unhealthy weight management behaviors in the past 30 days: fasting >24 hours, vomiting, diet pill use, and laxative use; nonprescription steroid use; and self-perceived weight status. Analyses controlled for age, race/ethnicity, and body mass index. Compared with cisgender males, transgender adolescents had higher odds of fasting >24 hours (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.9, confidence interval [CI] = 1.1-7.8), using diet pills (AOR = 8.9, 95% CI = 2.3-35.2) and taking laxatives (AOR = 7.2, 95% CI = 1.4-38.4). Transgender youth had higher odds of lifetime use of steroids without a prescription than male cisgender respondents (AOR = 26.6, 95% CI = 3.5-200.1). Compared with cisgender females, transgender respondents had higher odds of perceiving themselves as healthy weight/underweight when they were overweight/obese (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.5-4.1). Transgender youth disproportionately self-reported unsafe weight management behaviors and nonprescription steroid use compared with cisgender youth. Clinicians should be aware of this increased risk among transgender youth. Research is needed to further understand these disparities and to inform future interventions. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and

Weight-Control Information Network

Science.gov (United States)

... Kidney Disease Weight Management Liver Disease Urologic Diseases Endocrine Diseases Diet & Nutrition Blood Diseases Diagnostic Tests La información ... Kidney Disease Weight Management Liver Disease Urologic Diseases Endocrine Diseases Diet & Nutrition Blood Diseases Diagnostic Tests La información ...

Improvement of Zinc Coating Weight Control for Transition of Target Change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Chien Ming; Lin, Jeong Hwa; Hsu, Tse Wei; Lin, Rui Rong [China Steel Corporation, Kaohsiung (China)

2010-06-15

The product specification of the Continuous Hot Dip Galvanizing Line (CGL) changes and varies constantly with different customers' requirements, especially in the zinc coating weight which is from 30 to 150 g/m{sup 2} on each side. Since the coating weight of zinc changes often, it is very important to reduce time spent in the transfer of target values changed for low production cost and yield loss. The No.2 CGL in China Steel Corporation (CSC) has improved the control of the air knife which is designed by Siemens VAI. CSC proposed an experiment design which is an L{sub 9}(3{sup 4}) orthogonal array to find the relations between zinc coating weight and the process parameters, such as the line speed, air pressure, gap of air knife and air knife position. A non-linear regression formula was derived from the experimental results and applied in the mathematical model. A new air knife feedforward control system, which is coupled with the regression formula, the air knife control system and the process computer, is implemented into the line. The practical plant operation results have been presented to show the transfer time is obviously shortened while zinc coating weight target changing and the product rejected ratio caused by zinc coating weight out of specification is significantly reduced from 0.5% to 0.15%.

Practices of prolongation of the I and C equipment lifetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samoylov, O.B.; Pronin, V.S.; Savelov, I.D.; Bogomazov, V.A.; Drumov, V.V.; Chudin, A.G.

2000-01-01

The lifetime of nuclear power plants (NPP) always exceeds the operational time of Instrumentation and Control (I and C) systems. Ageing of I and C equipment in NPPs have many aspects. Research of these aspects is being performed in OKB Mechanical Engineering. Under condition of fast development of I and C systems and applying more stringent safety requirements, modernization of the equipment irrespective of its operational condition is getting important. However, an equipment of I and C systems operated in Russia was designed and manufactured applying highest requirements for a reliability of their work during its whole operational time. Therefore, in many cases it is not necessary to replace them in spite of expiration of their specified lifetime. During operation this equipment is maintained in a proper operation condition by a special service procedures stipulated by its development. When the equipment lifetime approaches to its end, lifetime extension for the certain period should be considered. (author)

Elearning approaches to prevent weight gain in young adults: A randomized controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolaou, Charoula Konstantia; Hankey, Catherine Ruth; Lean, Michael Ernest John

2015-12-01

Preventing obesity among young adults should be a preferred public health approach given the limited efficacy of treatment interventions. This study examined whether weight gain can be prevented by online approaches using two different behavioral models, one overtly directed at obesity and the other covertly. A three-group parallel randomized controlled intervention was conducted in 2012-2013; 20,975 young adults were allocated a priori to one control and two "treatment" groups. Two treatment groups were offered online courses over 19 weeks on (1) personal weight control ("Not the Ice Cream Van," NTICV) and, (2) political, environmental, and social issues around food ("Goddess Demetra," "GD"). Control group received no contact. The primary outcome was weight change over 40 weeks. Within-group 40-week weight changes were different between groups (P < 0.001): Control (n = 2,134): +2.0 kg (95% CI = 1.5, 2.3 kg); NTICV (n = 1,810): -1.0 kg (95% CI = -1.3, -0.5); and GD (n = 2,057): -1.35 kg (95% CI = -1.4 to -0.7). Relative risks for weight gain vs. NTICV = 0.13 kg (95% CI = 0.10, 0.15), P < 0.0001; GD = 0.07 kg (95% CI = 0.05, 0.10), P < 0.0001. Both interventions were associated with prevention of the weight gain observed among control subjects. This low-cost intervention could be widely transferable as one tool against the obesity epidemic. Outside the randomized controlled trial setting, it could be enhanced using supporting advertising and social media. © 2015 The Obesity Society.

Quantifying feedforward control: a linear scaling model for fingertip forces and object weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Ying; Bilaloglu, Seda; Aluru, Viswanath; Raghavan, Preeti

2015-07-01

The ability to predict the optimal fingertip forces according to object properties before the object is lifted is known as feedforward control, and it is thought to occur due to the formation of internal representations of the object's properties. The control of fingertip forces to objects of different weights has been studied extensively by using a custom-made grip device instrumented with force sensors. Feedforward control is measured by the rate of change of the vertical (load) force before the object is lifted. However, the precise relationship between the rate of change of load force and object weight and how it varies across healthy individuals in a population is not clearly understood. Using sets of 10 different weights, we have shown that there is a log-linear relationship between the fingertip load force rates and weight among neurologically intact individuals. We found that after one practice lift, as the weight increased, the peak load force rate (PLFR) increased by a fixed percentage, and this proportionality was common among the healthy subjects. However, at any given weight, the level of PLFR varied across individuals and was related to the efficiency of the muscles involved in lifting the object, in this case the wrist and finger extensor muscles. These results quantify feedforward control during grasp and lift among healthy individuals and provide new benchmarks to interpret data from neurologically impaired populations as well as a means to assess the effect of interventions on restoration of feedforward control and its relationship to muscular control. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

Holiday Weight Management by Successful Weight Losers and Normal Weight Individuals

Science.gov (United States)

Phelan, Suzanne; Wing, Rena R.; Raynor, Hollie A.; Dibello, Julia; Nedeau, Kim; Peng, Wanfeng

2008-01-01

This study compared weight control strategies during the winter holidays among successful weight losers (SWL) in the National Weight Control Registry and normal weight individuals (NW) with no history of obesity. SWL (n = 178) had lost a mean of 34.9 kg and had kept greater than or equal to 13.6 kg off for a mean of 5.9 years. NW (n = 101) had a…

Lifetime depression history and sexual function in women at midlife.

Science.gov (United States)

Cyranowski, Jill M; Bromberger, Joyce; Youk, Ada; Matthews, Karen; Kravitz, Howard M; Powell, Lynda H

2004-12-01

We examined the association between lifetime depression history and sexual function in a community-based sample of midlife women. Specifically, 914 women aged 42-52 who were participants in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation completed a self-report assessment of their sexual behaviors, sexual desire, sexual arousal, and sexual satisfaction over the past 6 months. On the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV , participants were categorized into 1 of 3 lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD) history groups: no MDD history, single episode MDD, and recurrent MDD. In line with previous reports, women with a history of recurrent MDD reported experiencing less frequent sexual arousal, less physical pleasure, and less emotional satisfaction within their current sexual relationships. Although the groups did not differ in their reported frequency of sexual desire or partnered sexual behaviors, lifetime depression history was associated with increased rates of self-stimulation (masturbation). Associations between lifetime depression history and lower levels of physical pleasure within partnered sexual relationships and higher rates of masturbation remained significant following control for current depressive symptoms, study site, marital status, psychotropic medication use, and lifetime history of anxiety or substance abuse/dependence disorder. Future research is needed to characterize the temporal and etiologic relationships among lifetime depressive disorder, current mood state, and sexual function in women across the lifespan.

T cell factor-1 controls the lifetime of CD4+ CD8+ thymocytes in vivo and distal T cell receptor α-chain rearrangement required for NKT cell development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Archna Sharma

Full Text Available Natural killer T (NKT cells are a component of innate and adaptive immune systems implicated in immune, autoimmune responses and in the control of obesity and cancer. NKT cells develop from common CD4+ CD8+ double positive (DP thymocyte precursors after the rearrangement and expression of T cell receptor (TCR Vα14-Jα18 gene. Temporal regulation and late appearance of Vα14-Jα18 rearrangement in immature DP thymocytes has been demonstrated. However, the precise control of lifetime of DP thymocytes in vivo that enables distal rearrangements remains incompletely defined. Here we demonstrate that T cell factor (TCF-1, encoded by the Tcf7 gene, is critical for the extended lifetime of DP thymocytes. TCF-1-deficient DP thymocytes fail to undergo TCR Vα14-Jα18 rearrangement and produce significantly fewer NKT cells. Ectopic expression of Bcl-xL permits Vα14-Jα18 rearrangement and rescues NKT cell development. We report that TCF-1 regulates expression of RORγt, which regulates DP thymocyte survival by controlling expression of Bcl-xL. We posit that TCF-1 along with its cofactors controls the lifetime of DP thymocytes in vivo.

School-based obesity policy, social capital, and gender differences in weight control behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Ling; Thomas, Breanca

2013-06-01

We examined the associations among school-based obesity policies, social capital, and adolescents' self-reported weight control behaviors, focusing on how the collective roles of community and adopted policies affect gender groups differently. We estimated state-level ecologic models using 1-way random effects seemingly unrelated regressions derived from panel data for 43 states from 1991 to 2009, which we obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System. We used multiplicative interaction terms to assess how social capital moderates the effects of school-based obesity policies. School-based obesity policies in active communities were mixed in improving weight control behaviors. They increased both healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors among boys but did not increase healthy weight control behaviors among girls. Social capital is an important contextual factor that conditions policy effectiveness in large contexts. Heterogeneous behavioral responses are associated with both school-based obesity policies and social capital. Building social capital and developing policy programs to balance outcomes for both gender groups may be challenging in managing childhood obesity.

Preadolescents' and Parents' Dietary Coping Efficacy during Behavioral Family-Based Weight Control Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Theim, Kelly R.; Sinton, Meghan M.; Stein, Richard I.; Saelens, Brian E.; Thekkedam, Sucheta C.; Welch, R. Robinson; Epstein, Leonard H.; Wilfley, Denise E.

2012-01-01

Developmentally relevant high-risk dietary situations (e.g., parties where tempting foods are available) may influence overweight youth's weight control, as they increase risk for overeating. Better self-efficacy for coping with these situations--which preadolescents may learn from their parents--could foster successful weight control. Overweight…

Obesity and weight control measures: Findings from female college students of Agra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H K Thakkar

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Context: Obesity has negative health impacts. Obese people have higher risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs. Overweight and obesity during young adulthood can track into later adulthood along with its higher risk for NCDs. Aims: To identify the weight control intention and dietary practices used among normal, overweight, and obese college females and to know the reasons for discontinuation among ever tried subjects. Settings and Design : A cross-sectional study conducted in urban and rural colleges of Agra. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among 400 female college students. Height and weight were measured to assess body composition according to BMI (Body Mass Index criteria (WHO 2002. Study included a semi-structured and semi-open-ended instrument to assess practices related to weight control. Their responses were collected, tabulated, analyzed, and interpreted. Statistical analysis used: Frequency. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be 18.5% and 4.5%, respectively, according to BMI (WHO 2002. One third of the subjects were recording their weight monthly. Slightly less than half of the subjects (46% were trying to maintain optimum weight. Almost one third of these subjects (33.5% were presently trying to lose weight. About one fifth of total 400 subjects (20.5% were not concerned about their weight status. Majority of the subjects (85% irrespective of their obesity status did not take any professional advice. More than half (52.7% were resorting to physical activity to lose weight. Taking more fruits/vegetables (44.7% was found to be the most common healthy dieting practices and most unhealthy was fasting (15.3%. More than one fourth (28.8% of the subjects abandoned weight control practices because of shortage of time followed by 22.4% due to physical weakness. Conclusions: Collectively, results indicate female college students, regardless of weight status, would benefit from open discussions

Developing a consumer evaluation tool of weight control strategy advertisements on the Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Luevorasirikul, Kanokrat; Gray, Nicola J; Anderson, Claire W

2008-06-01

To develop two evaluation tools for weight loss and weight gain advertisements on the Internet in order to help consumers to evaluate the quality of information within these advertisements. One hundred websites identified by Internet search engines for weight loss and weight gain strategies (50 websites each) were evaluated using two specific scoring instruments, developed by adapting questions from the 'DISCERN' tool and reviewing all related weight control guidelines and advertising regulations. The validity and reliability of the adapted tools were tested. Our evaluation tools rated the information from most websites as poor quality (70%). In the case of weight loss strategies, statements about rapid (18%) and permanent (28%) weight loss caused concern as well as lack of sensible advice about dieting and a lack of product warnings (84%). Safety concerns relating to weight gain products were the lack of warnings about side effects in products containing steroids and creatine (92%). The adapted tools exhibited acceptable validity and reliability. Quality of information within weight control advertisements on the Internet was generally poor. Problems of false claims, little advice on healthy ways to modify weight and few warnings on side effects have been highlighted in this study.

Lifetime of organic photovoltaics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Corazza, Michael; Krebs, Frederik C; Gevorgyan, Suren A.

2015-01-01

tests. Comparison of the indoor and outdoor lifetimes was performed by means of the o-diagram, which constitutes the initial steps towards establishing a method for predicting the lifetime of an organic photovoltaic device under real operational conditions based on a selection of accelerated indoor...

Accelerated Lifetime Testing Methodology for Lifetime Estimation of Lithium-ion Batteries used in Augmented Wind Power Plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stroe, Daniel Ioan; Swierczynski, Maciej Jozef; Stan, Ana-Irina

2014-01-01

The development of lifetime estimation models for Lithium-ion battery cells, which are working under highly variable mission profiles characteristic for wind power plant applications, requires a lot of expenditures and time resources. Therefore, batteries have to be tested under accelerated...... lifetime ageing conditions. This paper presents a three-stage methodology used for accelerated lifetime testing of Lithium ion batteries. The results obtained at the end of the accelerated ageing process were used for the parametrization of a performance-degradation lifetime model, which is able to predict...... both the capacity fade and the power capability decrease of the selected Lithium-ion battery cells. In the proposed methodology both calendar and cycling lifetime tests were considered since both components are influencing the lifetime of Lithium-ion batteries. Furthermore, the proposed methodology...

Weight control behaviors in overweight/obese U.S. adults with diagnosed hypertension and diabetes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Chaoyang

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Obesity is a major risk factor for development and progression of hypertension and diabetes, which often coexist in obese patients. Losing weight by means of energy restriction and physical activity has been effective in preventing and managing these diseases. However, weight control behaviors among overweight/obese adults with these conditions are poorly understood. Methods Using self-reported data from 143,386 overweight/obese participants (aged ≥ 18 years in the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, we examined the proportion of overweight/obese adults who tried to lose weight and their weight control strategies by hypertension and/or diabetes status. Results Among all participants, 58% of those with hypertension, 60% of those with diabetes, and 72% of those with both diseases tried to lose weight, significantly higher than the 50% of those with neither condition (Bonferroni corrected P Conclusion The proportion of overweight/obese patients with diagnosed hypertension and/or diabetes who attempted to lose weight remains suboptimal and the weight control strategies varied significantly among these patients.

Developmental origins of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a case control study comparing birth weight in women with PCOS and control group.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadrzadeh, Sheda; Painter, Rebecca C; Lambalk, Cornelis B

2016-10-01

Evidence from various epidemiological studies and experimental animal studies has linked adverse intrauterine circumstances with health problems in adult life. This field of investigation is known as Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Studies investigating the relation between developing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adulthood and birth weight have yielded inconsistent results: PCOS is described more often in women with low birth weight and high birth weight, while other studies have failed to establish any relation. In this retrospective case-control study, we evaluated whether women diagnosed with PCOS had lower birth weight compared to women with a regular menstrual cycle (controls). Binary logistic regression models were used to analyze the data and correct for known confounders. About 65 women with PCOS and 96 controls were recruited for this purpose. The average birth weight of PCOS women (3357 g) did not differ from the average birth weight of controls (3409 g). Mean age at menarche differed significantly between groups, 13.7  years and 12.8  years (p = 0.006), respectively, for PCOS women and controls. In conclusion, we could not confirm the effect of adverse intrauterine conditions, reflected in birth weight, on developing PCOS.

A Technology-Mediated Behavioral Weight Gain Prevention Intervention for College Students: Controlled, Quasi-Experimental Study.

Science.gov (United States)

West, Delia Smith; Monroe, Courtney M; Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle; Sundstrom, Beth; Larsen, Chelsea; Magradey, Karen; Wilcox, Sara; Brandt, Heather M

2016-06-13

Both men and women are vulnerable to weight gain during the college years, and this phenomenon is linked to an increased risk of several chronic diseases and mortality. Technology represents an attractive medium for the delivery of weight control interventions focused on college students, given its reach and appeal among this population. However, few technology-mediated weight gain prevention interventions have been evaluated for college students. This study examined a new technology-based, social media-facilitated weight gain prevention intervention for college students. Undergraduates (n =58) in two sections of a public university course were allocated to either a behavioral weight gain prevention intervention (Healthy Weight, HW; N=29) or a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination awareness intervention (control; N=29). All students were enrolled, regardless of initial body weight or expressed interest in weight management. The interventions delivered 8 lessons via electronic newsletters and Facebook postings over 9 weeks, which were designed to foster social support and introduce relevant educational content. The HW intervention targeted behavioral strategies to prevent weight gain and provided participants with a Wi-Fi-enabled scale and an electronic physical activity tracker to facilitate weight regulation. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to examine within- and between-group differences in measures of self-reported weight control practices and objectively measured weight. Use of each intervention medium and device was objectively tracked, and intervention satisfaction measures were obtained. Students remained weight stable (HW: -0.48+1.9 kg; control: -0.45+1.4 kg), with no significant difference between groups over 9 weeks (P =.94). However, HW students reported a significantly greater increase in the number of appropriate weight control strategies than did controls (2.1+4.5 vs -1.1+3.4, respectively; P =.003) and there was no increase in

A Review of Weight Control Strategies and Their Effects on the Regulation of Hormonal Balance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil A. Schwarz

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The estimated prevalence of obesity in the USA is 72.5 million adults with costs attributed to obesity more than 147 billion dollars per year. Though caloric restriction has been used extensively in weight control studies, short-term success has been difficult to achieve, with long-term success of weight control being even more elusive. Therefore, novel approaches are needed to control the rates of obesity that are occurring globally. The purpose of this paper is to provide a synopsis of how exercise, sleep, psychological stress, and meal frequency and composition affect levels of ghrelin, cortisol, insulin GLP-1, and leptin and weight control. We will provide information regarding how hormones respond to various lifestyle factors which may affect appetite control, hunger, satiety, and weight control.

Quantitative analysis of fluorescence lifetime measurements of the macula using the fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscope in healthy subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Dysli, Chantal; Quellec, Gwénolé; Abegg, Mathias; Menke, Marcel N; Wolf-Schnurrbusch, Ute; Kowal, Jens; Blatz, Johannes; La Schiazza, Olivier; Leichtle, Alexander B; Wolf, Sebastian; Zinkernagel, Martin S

2014-04-03

Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) cannot only be characterized by the intensity or the emission spectrum, but also by its lifetime. As the lifetime of a fluorescent molecule is sensitive to its local microenvironment, this technique may provide more information than fundus autofluorescence imaging. We report here the characteristics and repeatability of FAF lifetime measurements of the human macula using a new fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscope (FLIO). A total of 31 healthy phakic subjects were included in this study with an age range from 22 to 61 years. For image acquisition, a fluorescence lifetime ophthalmoscope based on a Heidelberg Engineering Spectralis system was used. Fluorescence lifetime maps of the retina were recorded in a short- (498-560 nm) and a long- (560-720 nm) spectral channel. For quantification of fluorescence lifetimes a standard ETDRS grid was used. Mean fluorescence lifetimes were shortest in the fovea, with 208 picoseconds for the short-spectral channel and 239 picoseconds for the long-spectral channel, respectively. Fluorescence lifetimes increased from the central area to the outer ring of the ETDRS grid. The test-retest reliability of FLIO was very high for all ETDRS areas (Spearman's ρ = 0.80 for the short- and 0.97 for the long-spectral channel, P macula in healthy subjects. By using a custom-built software, we were able to quantify fluorescence lifetimes within the ETDRS grid. Establishing a clinically accessible standard against which to measure FAF lifetimes within the retina is a prerequisite for future studies in retinal disease.

Energy Savings Lifetimes and Persistence

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoffman, Ian M. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Schiller, Steven R. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Todd, Annika [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Billingsley, Megan A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Goldman, Charles A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Schwartz, Lisa C. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2016-02-01

This technical brief explains the concepts of energy savings lifetimes and savings persistence and discusses how program administrators use these factors to calculate savings for efficiency measures, programs and portfolios. Savings lifetime is the length of time that one or more energy efficiency measures or activities save energy, and savings persistence is the change in savings throughout the functional life of a given efficiency measure or activity. Savings lifetimes are essential for assessing the lifecycle benefits and cost effectiveness of efficiency activities and for forecasting loads in resource planning. The brief also provides estimates of savings lifetimes derived from a national collection of costs and savings for electric efficiency programs and portfolios.

Does the incorporation of portion-control strategies in a behavioral program improve weight loss in a 1-year randomized controlled trial?

Science.gov (United States)

Rolls, B J; Roe, L S; James, B L; Sanchez, C E

2017-03-01

Controlling food portion sizes can help reduce energy intake, but the effect of different portion-control methods on weight management is not known. In a 1-year randomized trial, we tested whether the efficacy of a behavioral weight-loss program was improved by incorporating either of the two portion-control strategies instead of standard advice about eating less. The Portion-Control Strategies Trial included 186 women with obesity (81%) or overweight (19%). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three equally intensive behavioral programs, consisting of 19 individual sessions over 12 months. The Standard Advice Group was instructed to eat less food while making healthy choices, the Portion Selection Group was instructed to choose portions based on the energy density using tools such as food scales and the Pre-portioned Foods Group was instructed to structure meals around pre-portioned foods such as single-serving main dishes, for which some vouchers were provided. In an intention-to-treat analysis, a mixed-effects model compared weight loss trajectories across 23 measurements; at month 12, weight was measured for 151 participants (81%). The trajectories showed that the Pre-portioned Foods Group initially lost weight at a greater rate than the other two groups (P=0.021), but subsequently regained weight at a greater rate (P=0.0005). As a result, weight loss did not differ significantly across groups at month 6 (mean±s.e. 5.2±0.4 kg) or month 12 (4.5±0.5 kg). After 1 year, measured weight loss averaged 6% of baseline weight. The frequency of using portion-control strategies initially differed across groups, then declined over time and converged at months 6 and 12. Incorporating instruction on portion-control strategies within a 1-year behavioral program did not lead to a greater weight loss than standard advice. Using pre-portioned foods enhanced early weight loss, but this was not sustained over time. Long-term maintenance of behavioral strategies to

Roles of diet, lifetime physical activity and oxidative DNA damage in the occurrence of prostate cancer among men in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Shahar, Suzana; Shafurah, Siti; Hasan Shaari, Nur Suraiya Abu; Rajikan, Roslee; Rajab, Nor Fadilah; Golkhalkhali, Babak; Zainuddin, Zulkifli Md

2011-01-01

There is a paucity of information on risk factors of prostate cancer, especially those related to dietary and lifestyle among Asian populations. This study aimed to determine the relationship between dietary intake (macronutrients, fruits, vegetables and lycopene), lifetime physical activity and oxidative DNA damage with prostate cancer. A case control study was carried out among 105 subjects (case n=35, control n=70), matched for age and ethnicity. Data on sociodemographic, medical, dietary intake, consumption of lycopene rich food and lifetime physical activity were obtained through an interview based questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height and waist hip circumferences were also carried out on subjects. A total of 3 mL fasting venous blood was drawn to assess lymphocyte oxidative DNA damage using the alkaline comet assay. Cases had a significantly higher intake of fat (27.7 ± 5.5%) as compared to controls (25.1 ± 5.9%) (p diet, high intake of fruits, vegetables and lycopene rich foods and being physical active at middle age were found to be protective. Thus, it is essential for Malaysian men to consume adequate fruits and vegetables, reduce fat intake and engage in physical activity in order to reduce prostate cancer risk.

Low/No Calorie Sweetened Beverage Consumption in the National Weight Control Registry

Science.gov (United States)

Catenacci, Victoria A.; Pan, Zhaoxing; Thomas, J. Graham; Ogden, Lorraine G.; Roberts, Susan A.; Wyatt, Holly R.; Wing, Rena R.; Hill, James O.

2015-01-01

Objective The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate prevalence of and strategies behind low/no calorie sweetened beverage (LNCSB) consumption in successful weight loss maintainers. Methods An online survey was administered to 434 members of the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR, individuals who have lost ≥13.6 kg and maintained weight loss for > 1 year). Results While few participants (10%) consume sugar-sweetened beverages on a regular basis, 53% regularly consume LNCSB. The top five reasons for choosing LNCSB were for taste (54%), to satisfy thirst (40%), part of routine (27%), to reduce calories (22%) and to go with meals (21%). The majority who consume LNCSB (78%) felt they helped control total calorie intake. Many participants considered changing patterns of beverage consumption to be very important in weight loss (42%) and maintenance (40%). Increasing water was by far the most common strategy, followed by reducing regular calorie beverages. Conclusions Regular consumption of LNCSB is common in successful weight loss maintainers for various reasons including helping individuals to limit total energy intake. Changing beverage consumption patterns was felt to be very important for weight loss and maintenance by a substantial percentage of successful weight loss maintainers in the NWCR. PMID:25044563

Validity of LIDAS (LIfetime Depression Assessment Self-report): a self-report online assessment of lifetime major depressive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Bot, M; Middeldorp, C M; de Geus, E J C; Lau, H M; Sinke, M; van Nieuwenhuizen, B; Smit, J H; Boomsma, D I; Penninx, B W J H

2017-01-01

There is a paucity of valid, brief instruments for the assessment of lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD) that can be used in, for example, large-scale genomics, imaging or biomarker studies on depression. We developed the LIfetime Depression Assessment Self-report (LIDAS), which assesses lifetime MDD diagnosis according to DSM criteria, and is largely based on the widely used Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Here, we tested the feasibility and determined the sensitivity and specificity for measuring lifetime MDD with this new questionnaire, with a regular CIDI as reference. Sensitivity and specificity analyses of the online lifetime MDD questionnaire were performed in adults with (n = 177) and without (n = 87) lifetime MDD according to regular index CIDIs, selected from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) and Netherlands Twin Register (NTR). Feasibility was tested in an additional non-selective, population-based sample of NTR participants (n = 245). Of the 753 invited persons, 509 (68%) completed the LIDAS, of which 419 (82%) did this online. User-friendliness of the instrument was rated high. Median completion time was 6.2 min. Sensitivity and specificity for lifetime MDD were 85% [95% confidence interval (CI) 80-91%] and 80% (95% CI 72-89%), respectively. This LIDAS instrument gave a lifetime MDD prevalence of 20.8% in the population-based sample. Measuring lifetime MDD with an online instrument was feasible. Sensitivity and specificity were adequate. The instrument gave a prevalence of lifetime MDD in line with reported population prevalences. LIDAS is a promising tool for rapid determination of lifetime MDD status in large samples, such as needed for genomics studies.

Self-reported executive functioning competencies and lifetime aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Alan R; Breen, Cody M; Russell, Tiffany D; Nerpel, Brady P; Pogalz, Colton R

2017-05-08

Neuropsychological research can be advanced through a better understanding of relationships between executive functioning (EF) behavioral competencies and the expression of aggressive behavior. While performance-based EF measures have been widely examined, links between self-report indices and practical real-life outcomes have not yet been established. Executive Functioning Index subscale scores in this sample (N = 579) were linked to trait hostility (Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire), aggression in the natural environment (Lifetime Acts of Violence Assessment), and conduct disorder symptoms prior to age 15. Significant associations were found between all of the EFI subscales (Motivational Drive, Organization, Strategic Planning, Impulse Control, and Empathy), trait aggression, and conduct disturbance. Lifetime acts of aggression were predicted by all but Organization scores. Physical injuries inflicted on other(s) were 2 to 4 times more likely to occur among respondents generating low (z < -1) EFI subscale scores. While these EFI relationships were modest in size, they are pervasive in scope. These findings provide support for the potential role of perceived EF deficits in moderating lifetime aggression.

Predictive Models of Li-ion Battery Lifetime (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, K.; Wood, E.; Santhanagopalan, S.; Kim, G.; Shi, Y.; Pesaran, A.

2014-09-01

Predictive models of Li-ion battery reliability must consider a multiplicity of electrochemical, thermal and mechanical degradation modes experienced by batteries in application environments. Complicating matters, Li-ion batteries can experience several path dependent degradation trajectories dependent on storage and cycling history of the application environment. Rates of degradation are controlled by factors such as temperature history, electrochemical operating window, and charge/discharge rate. Lacking accurate models and tests, lifetime uncertainty must be absorbed by overdesign and warranty costs. Degradation models are needed that predict lifetime more accurately and with less test data. Models should also provide engineering feedback for next generation battery designs. This presentation reviews both multi-dimensional physical models and simpler, lumped surrogate models of battery electrochemical and mechanical degradation. Models are compared with cell- and pack-level aging data from commercial Li-ion chemistries. The analysis elucidates the relative importance of electrochemical and mechanical stress-induced degradation mechanisms in real-world operating environments. Opportunities for extending the lifetime of commercial battery systems are explored.

Review of charm and beauty lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheung, Harry W. K.

1999-01-01

A review of the latest experimental results on charm and beauty particle lifetimes is presented together with a brief summary of measurement methods used for beauty particle lifetime measurements. There have been significant updates to the D s + /D 0 , B + /B d 0 and Λ b 0 /B d 0 lifetime ratios which have some theoretical implications. However more precise measurements are still needed before one can make conclusive statements about the theory used to calculate the particle lifetimes

A work-site weight control program using financial incentives collected through payroll deduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Forster, J L; Jeffery, R W; Sullivan, S; Snell, M K

1985-11-01

In a work-site weight control program using a self-motivational program of financial incentives implemented through payroll deduction, 131 university employees chose weight loss goals (0 to 60 lb) and incentives (+5 to +30) to be deducted from each paycheck for six months. Return of incentive money was contingent on progress toward weight goals. Participants were assigned randomly to one of four protocols, involving group educational sessions v self-instruction only and required v optional attendance at weigh-ins and sessions. Overall, dropout rates (21.4%) and mean weight loss (12.2 lb) were encouraging, especially compared with those of other work-site programs. Weight loss was positively associated with attendance at weigh-ins and educational sessions. However, requiring attendance did not increase program effectiveness and seemed also to discourage enrollment among men. The weight control program was equally effective when offered with professionally led educational sessions or when accompanied by self-instructional materials only.

Cigarette weight control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, G.F.W.; Bolt, R.C.; Simmons, A.

1980-01-01

A system is described for monitoring the weight of a continuous wrapped rod of tobacco formed by a cigarette-making machine. A scanner unit can be used which passes beta-rays from a primary radiation source through the rod. The absorption is measured by comparison of the intensity at a detector on the opposite side of the rod with that at a detector facing another smaller source, the balance unit. This is pre-set so that when the rod weight is correct the detected intensities from the two sources will be equal. It is essential that the scanning station is kept clean otherwise the dust is included in the weight reading and the cigarettes manufactured would be underweight. This can be checked using an artificial cigarette of known weight as a calibration check. In this device a test circuit can be connected to the scanner head and this opens the shutter over the radioactive source when the test is initiated. A warning device is initiated if the reading is beyond predetermined limits and can be made to prevent operation of the cigarette machine if a satisfactory test is not obtained. (U.K.)

Lifetime physical activity and calcium intake related to bone density in young women.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Lorraine Silver; Ballard, Joyce E

2002-05-01

Osteoporosis is a significant public health problem associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Our aim in this cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between lifetime physical activity and calcium intake and bone mineral density (BMD) and BMC (bone mineral content) in 42 regularly menstruating Caucasian women (age 21.26+/-1.91 years, BMI 23.83+/-5.85). BMD and BMC at the lumbar spine (L2-L4), hip (femoral neck, trochanter, total), and total body were assessed by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Lifetime history of physical activity and calcium intake was obtained by a structured interview using valid and reliable instruments. Measures of both lifetime physical activity and calcium intake were highly correlated. In stepwise multiple regression analyses, lean mass was the most important and consistent factor for predicting BMD and BMC at all skeletal sites (attributable r2 = 28.8%-78.7%). Lifetime physical activity contributed to 3.0% of the variation in total body BMD, and life-time weight-bearing physical activity explained 15.1% of variance in lumbar spine BMC. Current calcium intake predicted 6% of the variance in BMD at the femoral neck and trochanter. We found lean mass to be a powerful predictor of BMD and BMC in young women. Because lean mass can be modified to some extent by physical activity, public health efforts must be directed at increasing physical activity throughout the lifespan. Furthermore, our results suggest that adequate calcium intake may help to enhance bone mass, thus decreasing the risk of osteoporotic fracture later in life.

A Measurement of $R_b$ using a Lifetime-Mass Tag

CERN Document Server

Barate, R; Décamp, D; Ghez, P; Goy, C; Lees, J P; Lucotte, A; Minard, M N; Nief, J Y; Pietrzyk, B; Casado, M P; Chmeissani, M; Comas, P; Crespo, J M; Delfino, M C; Fernández, E; Fernández-Bosman, M; Garrido, L; Juste, A; Martínez, M; Miquel, R; Mir, L M; Orteu, S; Padilla, C; Park, I C; Pascual, A; Perlas, J A; Riu, I; Sánchez, F; Teubert, F; Colaleo, A; Creanza, D; De Palma, M; Gelao, G; Iaselli, Giuseppe; Maggi, G; Maggi, M; Marinelli, N; Nuzzo, S; Ranieri, A; Raso, G; Ruggieri, F; Selvaggi, G; Silvestris, L; Tempesta, P; Tricomi, A; Zito, G; Huang, X; Lin, J; Ouyang, Q; Wang, T; Xie, Y; Xu, R; Xue, S; Zhang, J; Zhang, L; Zhao, W; Abbaneo, D; Alemany, R; Becker, U; Bazarko, A O; Bright-Thomas, P G; Cattaneo, M; Cerutti, F; Drevermann, H; Forty, Roger W; Frank, M; Hagelberg, R; Harvey, J; Janot, P; Jost, B; Kneringer, E; Knobloch, J; Lehraus, Ivan; Lutters, G; Mato, P; Minten, Adolf G; Moneta, L; Pacheco, A; Pusztaszeri, J F; Ranjard, F; Rensing, P E; Rizzo, G; Rolandi, Luigi; Schlatter, W D; Schmitt, M; Schneider, O; Tejessy, W; Tomalin, I R; Wachsmuth, H W; Wagner, A; Ajaltouni, Ziad J; Barrès, A; Boyer, C; Falvard, A; Ferdi, C; Gay, P; Guicheney, C; Henrard, P; Jousset, J; Michel, B; Monteil, S; Montret, J C; Pallin, D; Perret, P; Podlyski, F; Proriol, J; Rosnet, P; Rossignol, J M; Fearnley, Tom; Hansen, J B; Hansen, J D; Hansen, J R; Hansen, P H; Nilsson, B S; Rensch, B; Wäänänen, A; Daskalakis, G; Kyriakis, A; Markou, C; Simopoulou, Errietta; Siotis, I; Vayaki, Anna; Blondel, A; Bonneaud, G R; Brient, J C; Bourdon, P; Rougé, A; Rumpf, M; Valassi, Andrea; Verderi, M; Videau, H L; Candlin, D J; Parsons, M I; Focardi, E; Parrini, G; Zachariadou, K; Corden, M; Georgiopoulos, C H; Jaffe, D E; Antonelli, A; Bencivenni, G; Bologna, G; Bossi, F; Campana, P; Capon, G; Casper, David William; Chiarella, V; Felici, G; Laurelli, P; Mannocchi, G; Murtas, F; Murtas, G P; Passalacqua, L; Pepé-Altarelli, M; Curtis, L; Dorris, S J; Halley, A W; Knowles, I G; Lynch, J G; O'Shea, V; Raine, C; Scarr, J M; Smith, K; Teixeira-Dias, P; Thompson, A S; Thomson, E; Thomson, F; Turnbull, R M; Geweniger, C; Graefe, G; Hanke, P; Hansper, G; Hepp, V; Kluge, E E; Putzer, A; Schmidt, M; Sommer, J; Tittel, K; Werner, S; Wunsch, M; Beuselinck, R; Binnie, David M; Cameron, W; Dornan, Peter J; Girone, M; Goodsir, S M; Martin, E B; Moutoussi, A; Nash, J; Sedgbeer, J K; Stacey, A M; Williams, M D; Dissertori, G; Ghete, V M; Girtler, P; Kuhn, D; Rudolph, G; Betteridge, A P; Bowdery, C K; Colrain, P; Crawford, G; Finch, A J; Foster, F; Hughes, G; Sloan, Terence; Williams, M I; Galla, A; Giehl, I; Greene, A M; Hoffmann, C; Jakobs, K; Kleinknecht, K; Quast, G; Renk, B; Rohne, E; Sander, H G; Van Gemmeren, P; Zeitnitz, C; Aubert, Jean-Jacques; Benchouk, C; Bonissent, A; Bujosa, G; Calvet, D; Carr, J; Coyle, P; Diaconu, C A; Etienne, F; Konstantinidis, N P; Leroy, O; Motsch, F; Payre, P; Rousseau, D; Talby, M; Sadouki, A; Thulasidas, M; Trabelsi, K; Aleppo, M; Ragusa, F; Berlich, R; Blum, Walter; Brown, D; Büscher, V; Dietl, H; Dydak, Friedrich; Ganis, G; Gotzhein, C; Kroha, H; Lütjens, G; Lutz, Gerhard; Männer, W; Moser, H G; Richter, R H; Rosado-Schlosser, A; Schael, S; Settles, Ronald; Seywerd, H C J; Saint-Denis, R; Stenzel, H; Wiedenmann, W; Wolf, G; Boucrot, J; Callot, O; Chen, S; Choi, Y; Cordier, A; Davier, M; Duflot, L; Grivaz, J F; Heusse, P; Höcker, A; Jacholkowska, A; Jacquet, M; Kim, D W; Le Diberder, F R; Lefrançois, J; Lutz, A M; Nikolic, I A; Schune, M H; Simion, S; Tournefier, E; Veillet, J J; Videau, I; Zerwas, D; Azzurri, P; Bagliesi, G; Batignani, G; Bettarini, S; Bozzi, C; Calderini, G; Carpinelli, M; Ciocci, M A; Ciulli, V; Dell'Orso, R; Fantechi, R; Ferrante, I; Foà, L; Forti, F; Giassi, A; Giorgi, M A; Gregorio, A; Ligabue, F; Lusiani, A; Marrocchesi, P S; Messineo, A; Palla, Fabrizio; Sanguinetti, G; Sciabà, A; Spagnolo, P; Steinberger, Jack; Tenchini, Roberto; Tonelli, G; Vannini, C; Venturi, A; Verdini, P G; Blair, G A; Bryant, L M; Chambers, J T; Gao, Y; Green, M G; Medcalf, T; Perrodo, P; Strong, J A; Von Wimmersperg-Töller, J H; Botterill, David R; Clifft, R W; Edgecock, T R; Haywood, S; Maley, P; Norton, P R; Thompson, J C; Wright, A E; Bloch-Devaux, B; Colas, P; Emery, S; Kozanecki, Witold; Lançon, E; Lemaire, M C; Locci, E; Pérez, P; Rander, J; Renardy, J F; Roussarie, A; Schuller, J P; Schwindling, J; Trabelsi, A; Vallage, B; Black, S N; Dann, J H; Johnson, R P; Kim, H Y; Litke, A M; McNeil, M A; Taylor, G; Booth, C N; Boswell, R; Brew, C A J; Cartwright, S L; Combley, F; Kelly, M S; Lehto, M H; Newton, W M; Reeve, J; Thompson, L F; Böhrer, A; Brandt, S; Cowan, G D; Grupen, Claus; Saraiva, P; Smolik, L; Stephan, F; Apollonio, M; Bosisio, L; Della Marina, R; Giannini, G; Gobbo, B; Musolino, G; Rothberg, J E; Wasserbaech, S R; Armstrong, S R; Charles, E; Elmer, P; Ferguson, D P S; Gao, Y S; González, S; Greening, T C; Hayes, O J; Hu, H; Jin, S; McNamara, P A; Nachtman, J M; Nielsen, J; Orejudos, W; Pan, Y B; Saadi, Y; Scott, I J; Walsh, J; Wu Sau Lan; Wu, X; Yamartino, J M; Zobernig, G

1997-01-01

ALEPH's published measurement of $R_b$ using a lifetime tag, is updated using the full LEP~1 data sample. Considerable effort has been devoted to understanding systematic effects. Charm background is better controlled by combining the lifetime tag with a tag based on the b/c hadron mass difference. Furthermore, the algorithm used to reconstruct the event primary vertex is designed so as to reduce correlations between the two hemispheres of an event. The value of $R_b$ is measured to be $0.2167\\pm 0.0011{\\mathrm (stat)}\\pm 0.0013{\\mathrm (syst)}$.

Lifetime Self-Harm Behaviors Are Not More Prevalent in Bariatric Surgery Candidates than in Community Controls with Obesity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Astrid Müller

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: The study aimed at investigating the lifetime prevalence of 22 self-harm behaviors in bariatric surgery candidates (pre-bariatric surgery group; PSG compared to community controls with obesity (obese community group; OCG. Methods: The Self-Harm Inventory (SHI was administered to the PSG (n = 139, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 and to the OCG (n = 122, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2. Results: Group comparison of cumulative SHI scores indicated a trend towards less endorsed SHI items in the PSG compared to the OCG (medianPSG = 1.00, IQRPSG = 2.00, medianOCG = 1.00, IQROCG = 2.25, U = 7.241, p = 0.033, η2 = 0.02. No significant group differences were found with regard to the rate of suicide attempts (12.4% vs. 9.4% for OCG vs. PSG. At least one type of lifetime self-harm behavior was admitted by 51.8% of the PSG and 63.9% of the OCG (χ2(1 = 3.91, p = 0.048. The results of logistic regressions using Firth's bias reduction method with at least one SHI item endorsed as dependent variable, group as categorical predictor (PSG as baseline, and age or BMI or PHQ-4 as continuous control variable indicated that only PHQ-4 had a positive effect on the odds ratio. Conclusion: The results suggest that self-harm (including suicidal attempts is not more prevalent in bariatric surgery candidates than in community control participants with obesity. Further studies are needed to investigate self-harm in bariatric surgery patients, prior and following surgery, compared to non-operated patients with obesity.

Fluorescence lifetime imaging of lipids during 3T3-L1 cell differentiation

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Young Sik; Won, Young Jae; Lee, Sang-Hak; Kim, Dug Young

2014-03-01

Obesity is becoming a big health problem in these days. Since increased body weight is due to increased number and size of the triglyceride-storing adipocytes, many researchers are working on differentiation conditions and processes of adipocytes. Adipocytes also work as regulators of whole-body energy homeostasis by secreting several proteins that regulate processes as diverse as haemostasis, blood pressure, immune function, angiogenesis and energy balance. 3T3-L1 cells are widely used cell line for studying adipogenesis because it can differentiate into an adipocyte-like phenotype under appropriate conditions. In this paper, we propose an effective fluorescence lifetime imaging technique which can easily distinguish lipids in membrane and those in lipid droplets. Nile red dyes are attached to lipids in 3T3-L1 cells. Fluorescence lifetime images were taken for 2 week during differentiation procedure of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes. We used 488 nm pulsed laser with 5MHz repetition rate and emission wavelength is 520 nm of Nile Red fluorescent dye. Results clearly show that the lifetime of Nile red in lipid droplets are smaller than those in cell membrane. Our results suggest that fluorescence lifetime imaging can be a very powerful tool to monitor lipid droplet formation in adipocytes from 3T3-L1 cells.

Model ZD-I paper base weight measuring and controlling system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Nianzu; Song Debin; Wu Guoliang; Hou Yaoxin; Li Dazhen

1988-01-01

Model ZD-I Base Weight Measuring and Controlling System has been developed for the automation process in paper-making industry. A single-board microprocessor is installed in the system. The mass thickness can be controlled within 1 g/m 2 if the changing range of concentration and water content is less than 10%

The Susquehanna plant lifetime excellence program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNamara, R.W.

1988-01-01

This paper discusses how the Susquehanna plant lifetime excellence program (SPLEX) blends many of the objectives of a new managing for excellence program with plant life extension objectives to achieve excellence in the lifetime operation and availability of the two-unit Susquehanna steam electric station. Investments in lifetime excellence improvements will provide near-term, as well as plant life extension, benefits. A high-quality lifetime experience record, together with extensive, periodic technical assessments and cost-benefit analyses, will provide conclusive justification for future extensions of the unit operating licenses

Hyperbolic Cosine–Exponentiated Exponential Lifetime Distribution and its Application in Reliability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omid Kharazmi

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Recently, Kharazmi and Saadatinik (2016 introduced a new family of lifetime distributions called hyperbolic cosine – F (HCF distribution. In the present paper, it is focused on a special case of HCF family with exponentiated exponential distribution as a baseline distribution (HCEE. Various properties of the proposed distribution including explicit expressions for the moments, quantiles, mode, moment generating function, failure rate function, mean residual lifetime, order statistics and expression of the entropy are derived. Estimating parameters of HCEE distribution are obtained by eight estimation methods: maximum likelihood, Bayesian, maximum product of spacings, parametric bootstrap, non-parametric bootstrap, percentile, least-squares and weighted least-squares. A simulation study is conducted to examine the bias, mean square error of the maximum likelihood estimators. Finally, one real data set has been analyzed for illustrative purposes and it is observed that the proposed model fits better than Weibull, gamma and generalized exponential distributions.

Measurement of Charm Meson Lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonvicini, G.; Cinabro, D.; Greene, R.; Perera, L.P.; Zhou, G.J.; Chan, S.; Eigen, G.; Lipeles, E.; Schmidtler, M.; Shapiro, A.; Sun, W.M.; Urheim, J.; Weinstein, A.J.; Wuerthwein, F.; Jaffe, D.E.; Masek, G.; Paar, H.P.; Potter, E.M.; Prell, S.; Sharma, V.; Asner, D.M.; Eppich, A.; Gronberg, J.; Hill, T.S.; Korte, C.M.; Lange, D.J.; Morrison, R.J.; Nelson, H.N.; Nelson, T.K.; Roberts, D.; Tajima, H.; Behrens, B.H.; Ford, W.T.; Gritsan, A.; Krieg, H.; Roy, J.; Smith, J.G.; Alexander, J.P.; Baker, R.; Bebek, C.; Berger, B.E.; Berkelman, K.; Boisvert, V.; Cassel, D.G.; Crowcroft, D.S.; Dickson, M.; Dombrowski, S. von; Drell, P.S.; Dumas, D.J.; Ecklund, K.M.; Ehrlich, R.; Foland, A.D.; Gaidarev, P.; Gibbons, L.; Gittelman, B.; Gray, S.W.; Hartill, D.L.; Heltsley, B.K.; Henderson, S.; Hopman, P.I.; Katayama, N.; Kreinick, D.L.; Lee, T.; Liu, Y.; Meyer, T.O.; Mistry, N.B.; Ng, C.R.; Nordberg, E.; Ogg, M.; Patterson, J.R.; Peterson, D.; Riley, D.; Soffer, A.; Thayer, J.G.; Thies, P.G.; Valant-Spaight, B.; Warburton, A.; Ward, C.; Athanas, M.; Avery, P.; Jones, C.D.; Lohner, M.; Prescott, C.; Rubiera, A.I.; Yelton, J.; Zheng, J.; Brandenburg, G.; Briere, R.A.; Ershov, A.; Gao, Y.S.; Kim, D.Y.; Wilson, R.; Browder, T.E.; Li, Y.; Rodriguez, J.L.; Yamamoto, H.; Bergfeld, T.; Eisenstein, B.I.; Ernst, J.; Gladding, G.E.; Gollin, G.D

1999-01-01

We report measurements of the D 0 , D + , and D + s meson lifetimes using 3.7 fb -1 of e + e - annihilation data collected near the Υ(4S) resonance with the CLEO detector. The measured lifetimes of the D 0 , D + , and D + s mesons are 408.5±4.1 +3.5 -3.4 fs , 1033.6±22.1 +9.9 -12.7 fs , and 486.3±15.0 +4.9 -5.1 fs . The precision of these lifetimes are comparable to those of the best previous measurements, and the systematic errors are very different. In a single experiment we find that the ratio of the D + s and D 0 lifetimes is 1.19±0.04 . copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Portion controlled ready-to-eat meal replacement is associated with short term weight loss: a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuriyan, Rebecca; Lokesh, Deepa P; D'Souza, Ninoshka; Priscilla, Divya J; Peris, Chandni Halcyon; Selvam, Sumithra; Kurpad, Anura V

2017-01-01

Strategies to prevent and treat overweight/obesity are urgently needed. This study assessed the effect of a short-term intake of ready-to-eat cereal on body weight and waist circumference of overweight/obese individuals in comparison to a control group. A randomized, controlled 2-arm trial was carried out on 101 overweight/obese (Body Mass Index - 29.2±2.4 kg/m2) females aged 18 to 44 years, at St. John's Medical College Hospital. The intervention group received a low fat, ready to eat cereal, replacing two meals/day for two weeks. The control group was provided with standard dietary guidelines for weight loss and energy requirements for both groups were calculated similarly. Anthropometric, dietary, appetite and health status assessments were carried out at baseline and at the end of two weeks. At the end of two weeks, the mean reductions in body weight and waist circumference were significantly greater in the intervention group, -0.53 kg; 95% CI (-0.86 to -0.19) for body weight and -1.39 cm; 95% CI (-1.78, -0.99) for waist circumference. The intervention group had a significantly higher increase in dietary intakes of certain vitamins, fiber and sugar, and significantly higher reductions in total and polyunsaturated fats and sodium intakes, as compared to the control group (peat cereal could be effective for short-term weight loss, with some improvements in the nutrient intake profile. However, studies of longer duration are needed.

LIFETIME PHYSICAL INACTIVITY IS ASSOCIATED WITH LUNG CANCER RISK AND MORTALITY.

Science.gov (United States)

Cannioto, Rikki; Etter, John Lewis; LaMonte, Michael J; Ray, Andrew D; Joseph, Janine M; Al Qassim, Emad; Eng, Kevin H; Moysich, Kirsten B

2018-01-01

Investigations of the independent associations of physical inactivity with cancer endpoints have been mounting in the epidemiological literature, in part due to the high prevalence of physical inactivity among cancer patients and to evidence that inactivity associates with carcinogenesis via pathways independent of obesity. Yet, physical inactivity is not currently recognized as a well-established risk or prognostic factor for lung cancer. As such, we examined the associations of lifetime physical inactivity with lung cancer risk and mortality in a hospital-based, case-control study. Materials and Methods: The analyses included data from 660 lung cancer patients and 1335 matched cancer-free controls. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were utilized to assess the association between lifetime physical inactivity and lung cancer risk, and Cox proportional hazards models were utilized to estimate the association between lifetime physical inactivity and mortality among lung cancer cases. Results: We observed a significant positive association between lifetime physical inactivity and lung cancer risk: [Odds ratio (OR)=2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.77-2.81]; the association remained significant among never smokers (OR=3.00, 95% CI:1.33-6.78) and non-smokers (OR=2.33, 95% CI: 1.79-3.02). We also observed a significant positive association between lifetime physical inactivity and lung cancer mortality [Hazard ratio (HR)=1.40, 95% CI: 1.14-1.71]; the association remained significant in non-smokers (HR=1.51, 95% CI: 1.16-1.95). These data add to the body of evidence suggesting that physical inactivity is an independent risk and prognostic factor for cancer. Additional research utilizing prospectively collected data is needed to substantiate the current findings.

Differences in body mass index z-scores and weight status in a Dutch pediatric psychiatric population with and without use of second-generation antipsychotics.

Science.gov (United States)

de Hoogd, Sjoerd; Overbeek, Wieske A; Heerdink, Eibert R; Correll, Christoph U; de Graeff, Elisabeth R; Staal, Wouter G

2012-04-01

Weight gain and metabolic adverse effects of second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) have become a major concern, particularly in youth. However, the specific contribution of SGAs versus other medications or the underlying illness is unclear. In a chart review study of psychiatric outpatients aged ≤ 18 years treated with SGAs and psychiatric controls without lifetime SGA, use body mass index (BMI) z-scores between patients and controls were compared in the entire sample, patients without co-medications, diagnostic subgroups, and age subgroups. In patients with follow-up data, weight z-score change was calculated. Altogether, 592 Caucasian patients aged 4-18 (mean: 10.0) years with a psychiatric diagnosis were included. BMI z-scores in 96 youth treated with SGAs for 9.0 ± 6.1 months were significantly higher than in 496 patients without lifetime SGA use (0.81 ± 1.1 vs. 0.05 ± 1.2; pz-score differences remained significant in all age groups z-score increased significantly from -0.17 ± 1.5 to 0.25 ± 1.4 (p<0.0001) with 12.5% transitioning to overweight or obese status. These data show robust and significant differences in sex- and age-adjusted body weight and weight status in young pediatric Caucasian samples with and without use of SGAs independent of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) (American Psychiatric Association 2000 ) diagnosis and nonantipsychotic medications. Weight status and metabolic effects of SGAs require careful attention, especially in youth.

Accuracy of body image perception and preferred weight loss strategies in schizophrenia: a controlled pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Loh, C; Meyer, J M; Leckband, S G

2008-02-01

Obesity in severely mentally ill (SMI) populations is an increasing problem, but there is no controlled data regarding the relationship between SMI and weight perception. Fifty patients with schizophrenia and 50 demographically matched control participants were recruited. Weight, height, and body image accuracy were assessed for all participants, and assessments of mood, psychotic symptom severity and anxiety, and preferred modes of weight loss were assessed for the schizophrenia sample. Patients with schizophrenia were significantly more likely to be obese than controls (46% vs. 18%, P < 0.005), and most patients expressed an interest in losing weight. Obese participants with schizophrenia underestimated their body size (11.0%) more than controls (4.9%) (P < 0.05). Patients with schizophrenia are more likely to underestimate their body size, independent of the effects of obesity. However, they also express concern about weight issues and willingness to participate in psychoeducational groups targeted at weight loss.

Beliefs about weight and breast cancer: an interview study with high risk women following a 12 month weight loss intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Claire E; Harvie, Michelle; Howell, Anthony; Evans, D Gareth; Hulbert-Williams, Nick; Donnelly, Louise S

2015-01-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Lifestyle factors including excess weight contribute to risk of developing the disease. Whilst the exact links between weight and breast cancer are still emerging, it is imperative to explore how women understand these links and if these beliefs impact on successful behaviour change. Overweight/obese premenopausal women (aged 35-45) with a family history of breast cancer (lifetime risk 17-40%) were invited to a semi-structured interview following their participation in a 12 month weight loss intervention aimed at reducing their risk of breast cancer. Interviews were carried out with 9 women who successfully achieved ≥5% weight loss and 11 who were unsuccessful. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Three themes were developed from the analysis. The first theme how women construct and understand links between weight and breast cancer risk is composed of two subthemes, the construction of weight and breast cancer risk and making sense of weight and breast cancer risk. This theme explores women's understanding of what contributes to breast cancer risk and whether they believe that weight loss could reduce their breast cancer risk. The second theme motivation and adherence to weight loss interventions explains that breast cancer risk can be a motivating factor for adherence to a weight loss intervention. The final theme, acceptance of personal responsibility for health is composed of two subthemes responsibility for one's own health and responsibility for family health through making sensible lifestyle choices. Beliefs about weight and breast cancer risk were informed by social networks, media reports and personal experiences of significant others diagnosed with breast cancer. Our study has highlighted common doubts, anxieties and questions and the importance of providing a credible rationale for weight control and weight loss which addresses individual concerns. Counselling and health

Fluorescence lifetime imaging of skin cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Patalay, Rakesh; Talbot, Clifford; Munro, Ian; Breunig, Hans Georg; König, Karsten; Alexandrov, Yuri; Warren, Sean; Neil, Mark A. A.; French, Paul M. W.; Chu, Anthony; Stamp, Gordon W.; Dunsby, Chris

2011-03-01

Fluorescence intensity imaging and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) using two photon microscopy (TPM) have been used to study tissue autofluorescence in ex vivo skin cancer samples. A commercially available system (DermaInspect®) was modified to collect fluorescence intensity and lifetimes in two spectral channels using time correlated single photon counting and depth-resolved steady state measurements of the fluorescence emission spectrum. Uniquely, image segmentation has been used to allow fluorescence lifetimes to be calculated for each cell. An analysis of lifetime values obtained from a range of pigmented and non-pigmented lesions will be presented.

A new inertia weight control strategy for particle swarm optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xianming; Wang, Hongbo

2018-04-01

Particle Swarm Optimization is a member of swarm intelligence algorithms, which is inspired by the behavior of bird flocks. The inertia weight, one of the most important parameters of PSO, is crucial for PSO, for it balances the performance of exploration and exploitation of the algorithm. This paper proposes a new inertia weight control strategy and PSO with this new strategy is tested by four benchmark functions. The results shows that the new strategy provides the PSO with better performance.

Overeating with and without loss of control: Associations with weight status, weight-related characteristics, and psychosocial health.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldschmidt, Andrea B; Loth, Katie A; MacLehose, Richard F; Pisetsky, Emily M; Berge, Jerica M; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

2015-12-01

The relative importance of loss of control and overeating in the relationship between binge eating and eating-related and general psychopathology has been debated in the literature. This study assessed the prevalence and correlates of overeating with and without loss of control within a diverse, population-based sample of adolescents. A highly diverse (81.1% non-White) sample of adolescents (n = 2,793) from EAT-2010 (Eating and Activity in Teens) completed self-report questionnaires assessing eating-related psychopathology, substance use, nonsuicidal self-injury, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem. Overeating without loss of control was reported by 6.9% of girls and 5.0% of boys, while 9.6% of girls and 6.3% of boys reported overeating with loss of control (binge eating). Overall, overeating (with or without loss of control) was positively associated with unhealthy or extreme weight control behaviors, dieting, nonsuicidal self-injury, lower body satisfaction, and self-esteem, and higher depressive symptoms relative to no overeating. Among girls, binge eating was associated with unhealthy or extreme weight control behaviors, lower self-esteem, and higher depressive symptoms relative to overeating without loss of control, while in boys, binge eating was associated with greater cigarette usage, lower body satisfaction, and greater depressive symptoms than overeating without loss of control (although cigarette usage was comparable in boys reporting binge eating and no overeating). Any overeating, with or without loss of control, was associated with multiple adverse correlates among adolescents. Loss of control was uniquely associated with multiple health indicators, further highlighting its importance as a marker of severity of overeating. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Adolescent exergame play for weight loss and psychosocial improvement: a controlled physical activity intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Staiano, Amanda E; Abraham, Anisha A; Calvert, Sandra L

2013-03-01

Overweight and obese youth, who face increased risk of medical complications including heart disease and type II diabetes, can benefit from sustainable physical activity interventions that result in weight loss. This study examined whether a 20-week exergame (i.e., videogame that requires gross motor activity) intervention can produce weight loss and improve psychosocial outcomes for 54 overweight and obese African-American adolescents. Participants were recruited from a public high school and randomly assigned to competitive exergame, cooperative exergame, or control conditions. All exergame participants were encouraged to play the Nintendo Wii Active game for 30-60 min per school day in a lunch-time or after-school program. Cooperative exergame participants worked with a peer to expend calories and earn points together, whereas competitive exergame participants competed against a peer. Control participants continued regular daily activities. Outcome measures included changes in weight, peer support, self-efficacy, and self-esteem, measured at baseline, and at ∼10 and 20 weeks. Growth curve analysis revealed that cooperative exergame players lost significantly more weight (mean = 1.65 kg; s.d. = 4.52) than the control group, which did not lose weight. The competitive exergame players did not differ significantly from the other conditions. Cooperative exergame players also significantly increased in self-efficacy compared to the control group, and both exergame conditions significantly increased in peer support more than the control group. Exergames, especially played cooperatively, can be an effective technological tool for weight loss among youth. Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.

Low energy density diet, weight loss maintenance, and risk of cardiovascular disease following a recent weight reduction program: A randomized control trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Golgis Karimi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Little is known about the effects of a low energy dense diet on weight maintenance and cardiovascular risks following a recent weight reduction. Therefore, we assessed if weight maintenance, lipid profiles, and glycemic control differ between low energy density (LED diet and usual diet consumers following a recent weight reduction. Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial study in a parallel design, we recruited 70 patients with the history of weight reduction in the recent 1 year. LED diet contained 30% fat, 15% protein, and 55% carbohydrate was administered to the test group, and a usual diet including 35% fat, 15% protein, and 50% carbohydrate was prescribed to the control group for 7 months. Dietary intake was assessed by using 3 days food records. Biochemical markers and anthropometric measures were done according to the standard protocol. Results: Weight reduced in LED diet consumers compared to usual diet consumers (−0.3 ± 0.2 vs. 1.3 ± 0.4%, P = 0.002. The results was the same regarding waist circumference (−0.4 ± 0.2 vs. 0.3 ± 0.1%, P = 0.004. Fasting blood sugar also decreased in LED diet group (−9.5 ± 0.8 vs. 0.4 ± 1.0%, P = 0.0001. LED diet group had a drop in percent change of their total cholesterol (−0.4 ± 0.5 vs. 2.05 ± 0.4%, P = 0.04 and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (4.8 ± 0.9 vs. −0.3 ± 0.9%, P = 0.002. Conclusion: Our findings confirmed beneficial effects of LED diet on attenuating weight regain in subjects with history of recent weight reduction. It might be derived from higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fiber among LED diet than usual diet consumers.

Lifetime control of the minority carrier in PiN diodes by He+ ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Y.; Kojima, K.; Takao, K.; Okamoto, M.; Kawasaki, M.; Takatsuka, A.; Yatsuo, T.; Arai, K.

2005-01-01

This paper reports the first demonstration of the lifetime control of the minority carrier in 4H-SiC PiN diodes by He + ion implantation. In this work, we fabricated 4H-SiC PiN diodes with the epitaxial junction and the blocking voltage of 2.6 kV, precisely corresponding to the theoretical blocking voltage calculated from the doping concentration (4.0 x 10 15 /cm 2 ) and the thickness of the drift layer (16.5 μm). He + ion implantation was performed with the energy and the dose of 400 kV and 1.0 x 10 13 -2.0 x 10 14 /cm 2 , respectively. We observed no different characteristics in the blocking voltage (2.6kV) and leakage current ( + ion implantation. However, we confirmed the improvement of the current recovery characteristics in the diodes with He + ion implantation. (orig.)

Lifetimes of charm and beauty hadrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bellini, G.; Dornan, P.J.

1997-01-01

Major breakthroughs have been achieved in the determination of the lifetimes of charm and beauty hadrons. Much larger data samples than previously have become available and new experimental devices and techniques have been developed and employed. The lifetimes of all weakly decaying singly charmed hadrons have been measured, some with an accuracy of a few percent. The difference in the shortest lifetime - τ(Ω c ) - and the longest one - τ(D + ) - is given by a factor of close to ten. The experimental status of beauty lifetimes, while less complete, has still reached a new level of quality and is now better than 5% for the commoner states. New theoretical tools, based mainly on heavy quark expansions, have been developed; they incorporate as well as transcend earlier phenomenological descriptions. The observed pattern in the charm lifetime ratios is reproduced in a semi-quantitative manner as well as could be expected; as far as the beauty lifetime ratios are concerned some problems may well be emerging. The maturity level achieved in the measurements bodes quite well for future challenges where reliable and efficient tracking of the decay vertices will be crucial. (orig.)

Theoretical calculations of positron lifetimes for metal oxides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mizuno, Masataka; Araki, Hideki; Shirai, Yasuharu

2004-01-01

Our recent positron lifetime measurements for metal oxides suggest that positron lifetimes of bulk state in metal oxides are shorter than previously reported values. We have performed theoretical calculations of positron lifetimes for bulk and vacancy states in MgO and ZnO using first-principles electronic structure calculations and discuss the validity of positron lifetime calculations for insulators. By comparing the calculated positron lifetimes to the experimental values, it wa found that the semiconductor model well reproduces the experimental positron lifetime. The longer positron lifetime previously reported can be considered to arise from not only the bulk but also from the vacancy induced by impurities. In the case of cation vacancy, the calculated positron lifetime based on semiconductor model is shorter than the experimental value, which suggests that the inward relaxation occurs around the cation vacancy trapping the positron. (author)

Positron beam lifetime spectroscopy of atomic scale defect distributions in bulk and microscopic volumes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howell, R.H.; Cowan, T.E.; Hartley, J.; Sterne, P.; Brown, B.

1996-05-01

We are developing a defect analysis capability based on two positron beam lifetime spectrometers: the first is based on a 3 MeV electrostatic accelerator and the second on our high current linac beam. The high energy beam lifetime spectrometer is operational and positron lifetime analysis is performed with a 3 MeV positron beam on thick samples. It is being used for bulk sample analysis and analysis of samples encapsulated in controlled environments for insitu measurements. A second, low energy, microscopically focused, pulsed positron beam for defect analysis by positron lifetime spectroscopies is under development at the LLNL high current positron source. This beam will enable defect specific, 3-D maps of defect concentration with sub-micron location resolution and when coupled with first principles calculations of defect specific positron lifetimes it will enable new levels of defect concentration mapping and defect identification

Young adults with very low birth weight: leaving the parental home and sexual relationships--Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Kajantie, Eero; Hovi, Petteri; Räikkönen, Katri; Pesonen, Anu-Katriina; Heinonen, Kati; Järvenpää, Anna-Liisa; Eriksson, Johan G; Strang-Karlsson, Sonja; Andersson, Sture

2008-07-01

Although most children and adults who are born very preterm live healthy lives, they have, on average, lower cognitive scores, more internalizing behaviors, and deficits in social skills. This could well affect their transition to adulthood. We studied the tempo of first leaving the parental home and starting cohabitation with an intimate partner and sexual experience of young adults with very low birth weight (Adults, 162 very low birth weight individuals and 188 individuals who were born at term (mean age: 22.3 years [range: 18.5-27.1]) and did not have any major disability filled out a questionnaire. For analysis of their ages at events which had not occurred in all subjects, we used survival analysis (Cox regression), adjusted for gender, current height, parents' ages at the birth, maternal smoking during pregnancy, parental educational attainment, number of siblings, and parental divorce/death. During their late teens and early adulthood, these very low birth weight adults were less likely to leave the parental home and to start cohabiting with an intimate partner. In gender-stratified analyses, these hazard ratios were similar between genders, but the latter was statistically significant for women only. These very low birth weight adults were also less likely to experience sexual intercourse. This relationship was statistically significant for women but not for men; however, very low birth weight women and men both reported a smaller lifetime number of sex partners than did control subjects. Healthy young adults with very low birth weight show a delay in leaving the parental home and starting sexual activity and partnerships.

Lifetime of Organic Photovoltaics: Status and Predictions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gevorgyan, Suren; Madsen, Morten Vesterager; Roth, Bérenger

2016-01-01

The results of a meta-analysis conducted on organic photovoltaics (OPV) lifetime data reported in the literature is presented through the compilation of an extensive OPV lifetime database based on a large number of articles, followed by analysis of the large body of data. We fully reveal the prog......The results of a meta-analysis conducted on organic photovoltaics (OPV) lifetime data reported in the literature is presented through the compilation of an extensive OPV lifetime database based on a large number of articles, followed by analysis of the large body of data. We fully reveal...... the progress of reported OPV lifetimes. Furthermore, a generic lifetime marker has been defi ned, which helps with gauging and comparing the performance of different architectures and materials from the perspective of device stability. Based on the analysis, conclusions are drawn on the bottlenecks...

Bright Light for Weight Loss: Results of a Controlled Crossover Trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantin V. Danilenko

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate whether bright light treatment can reduce body mass in overweight subjects irrespective of their seasonal (= light dependence. Methods: A crossover, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial was performed between November and April in Novosibirsk, Russia (55° N. The trial comprised a 3-week in-home session of morning bright light treatment using a device of light-emitting diodes and a 3-week placebo session by means of a deactivated ion generator, separated by an off-protocol period of at least 23 days. The number of placebo and light sessions was matched with respect to season. Data were obtained from 34 overweight women, aged 20-54 years, 10 were seasonal-dependent according to the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire. Weekly measures included body weight, percentage body fat by bioimpedancemetry, and subjective scores (appetite, mood, energy levels. Results: Motivation and expectation towards weight loss were similar for the two intervention sessions. With light, compared to the placebo session, weight did not reduce significantly, but percentage fat, fat mass, and appetite were significantly lower (average fat reduction 0.35 kg. The latter two results remained significant after excluding seasonal-dependent subjects from the analysis. Irrespective of the type of intervention, seasonal-dependent subjects had greater weight and fat mass changes during treatment (decline p 0.036 or between sessions (regain p 0.003. Photoperiod (p = 0.0041, air temperature to a lesser extent (p = 0.012, but not sunshine (p = 0.29 was associated with the weight change (greater weight reduction if the second session was in spring. Conclusion: Morning bright light treatment reduces body fat and appetite in overweight women and may be included in weight control programs.

Lifetime evaluation of plasma-facing materials during a tokamak disruption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassanein, A.; Konkashbaev, I.

1995-09-01

Erosion losses of plasma-facing materials in a tokamak reactor during major disruptions, giant ELMS, and large power excursions are serious concerns that influence component survivability and overall lifetime. Two different mechanisms lead to material erosion during these events: surface vaporization and loss of the melt layer. Hydrodynamics and radiation transport in the rapidly developed vapor-cloud region above the exposed area are found to control and determine the net erosion thickness from surface vaporization. A comprehensive self-consistent kinetic model has been developed in which the time-dependent optical properties and the radiation field of the vapor cloud are calculated in order to correctly estimate the radiation flux at the divertor surface. The developed melt layer of metallic divertor materials will, however, be free to move and can be eroded away due to various forces. , Physical mechanisms that affect surface vaporization and cause melt layer erosion are integrated in a comprehensive model. It is found that for metallic components such as beryllium and tungsten, lifetime due to these abnormal events will be controlled and dominated by the evolution and hydrodynamics of the melt layer during the disruption. The dependence of divertor plate lifetime on various aspects of plasma/material interaction physics is discussed

Electricite de France: Lifetime Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Combes, Jean-Pierre

1991-01-01

Electricite de France produces almost 80% of its electricity by means of standardized PWR nuclear power stations. Starting in 1986, therefore, a project known as the 'Lifetime Project' was developed, whose aim was initially to ensure that the lifetime defined at design stage (40 years in general) could be attained without major difficulty (follow up of the aging process). It then became apparent that it would be useful to know just how far it would be technically and economically possible to go. As a result, the project is now working towards increasing the lifetime of power stations. (author)

The Role of Polymer Fractionation in Energetic Losses and Charge Carrier Lifetimes of Polymer: Fullerene Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Baran, Derya

2015-08-10

Non-radiative recombination reduces the open-circuit voltage relative to its theoretical limit and leads to reduced luminescence emission at a given excitation. Therefore it is possible to correlate changes in luminescence emission with changes in open-circuit voltage and in the charge carrier lifetime. Here we use luminescence studies combined with transient photovoltage and differential charging analyses to study the effect of polymer fractionation in indacenoedithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole (IDTBT):fullerene solar cells. In this system, polymer fractionation increases electroluminescence and reduces non-radiative recombination. High molecular weight and fractionated IDTBT polymers exhibit higher carrier lifetime-mobility product compared to their non-fractionated analogues, resulting in improved solar cell performance.

The Role of Polymer Fractionation in Energetic Losses and Charge Carrier Lifetimes of Polymer: Fullerene Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Baran, Derya; Vezie, Michelle S; Gasparini, Nicola; Deledalle, Florent; Yao, Jizhong; Schroeder, Bob C.; Bronstein, Hugo; Ameri, Tayebeh; Kirchartz, Thomas; McCulloch, Iain; Nelson, Jenny; Brabec, Christoph J

2015-01-01

Non-radiative recombination reduces the open-circuit voltage relative to its theoretical limit and leads to reduced luminescence emission at a given excitation. Therefore it is possible to correlate changes in luminescence emission with changes in open-circuit voltage and in the charge carrier lifetime. Here we use luminescence studies combined with transient photovoltage and differential charging analyses to study the effect of polymer fractionation in indacenoedithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole (IDTBT):fullerene solar cells. In this system, polymer fractionation increases electroluminescence and reduces non-radiative recombination. High molecular weight and fractionated IDTBT polymers exhibit higher carrier lifetime-mobility product compared to their non-fractionated analogues, resulting in improved solar cell performance.

A simplified model predicting the weight of the load carrying beam in a wind turbine blade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Lars Pilgaard

2016-01-01

from 20 to 90 m. In addition, it can be seen that for a blade using glass fibre reinforced polymers, the design is controlled by the deflection and thereby the material stiffness in order to avoid the blade to hit the tower. On the other hand if using aluminium, the design will be controlled...... to predict the weight of the load carrying beam when using glassfibre reinforced polymers, carbon fibre reinforced polymers or an aluminium alloy as the construction material. Thereby, it is found that the weight of a glass fibre wind turbine blade is increased from 0.5 to 33 tons when the blade length grows...... by the fatigue resistance in orderto making the material survive the 100 to 500 million load cycles experience of the windturbine blade throughout the lifetime. The aluminium blade is also found to be considerably heavier compared with the composite blades....

The first direct limit on the $t$ quark lifetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Holloway, Ayana Tamu [Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)

2006-01-01

This dissertation presents the first direct limit on the t quark lifetime, measured in $t\\bar{t}$ pair production candidate events from a 318 pb^-1 sample of $p +\\bar{p}$ collisions recorded by the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). Candidate events are identified by a leptonically decaying W± boson and three or more jets, at least one of which contains a secondary vertex. In each event we measure the transverse track-to-beam displacement (impact parameter) of the lepton from the W± decay, and compare the distribution to templates constructed from $t\\bar{t}$ event simulations with a variable t lifetime. Anticipated background distributions are measured with a combination of Monte Carlo event simulation and control samples, and included in the templates. We determine the following limits: cτ_t < 52.5µm @ 95% C.L. cτ_t < 43.5µm @ 90% C.L. We thus conclude that the top mean lifetime is less than 145 fs (175 fs) at 90% (95%) C.L.

The effect of a motivational intervention on weight loss is moderated by level of baseline controlled motivation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tate Deborah F

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinic-based behavioral weight loss programs are effective in producing significant weight loss. A one-size-fits-all approach is often taken with these programs. It may be beneficial to tailor programs based on participants' baseline characteristics. Type and level of motivation may be an important factor to consider. Previous research has found that, in general, higher levels of controlled motivation are detrimental to behavior change while higher levels of autonomous motivation improve the likelihood of behavior modification. Methods This study assessed the outcomes of two internet behavioral weight loss interventions and assessed the effect of baseline motivation levels on program success. Eighty females (M (SD age 48.7 (10.6 years; BMI 32.0 (3.7 kg/m2; 91% Caucasian were randomized to one of two groups, a standard group or a motivation-enhanced group. Both received a 16-week internet behavioral weight loss program and attended an initial and a four-week group session. Weight and motivation were measured at baseline, four and 16 weeks. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test for moderation. Results There was significant weight loss at 16-weeks in both groups (p p = 0.57 (standard group 3.4 (3.6 kg; motivation-enhanced group 3.9 (3.4 kg. Further analysis was conducted to examine predictors of weight loss. Baseline controlled motivation level was negatively correlated with weight loss in the entire sample (r = -0.30; p = 0.01. Statistical analysis revealed an interaction between study group assignment and baseline level of controlled motivation. Weight loss was not predicted by baseline level of controlled motivation in the motivation-enhanced group, but was significantly predicted by controlled motivation in the standard group. Baseline autonomous motivation did not predict weight change in either group. Conclusions This research found that, in participants with high levels of baseline controlled motivation

Controlled tuning of the radiative lifetime in InAs self-assembled quantum dots through vertical ordering

Science.gov (United States)

Colocci, M.; Vinattieri, A.; Lippi, L.; Bogani, F.; Rosa-Clot, M.; Taddei, S.; Bosacchi, A.; Franchi, S.; Frigeri, P.

1999-01-01

Multilayer structures of InAs quantum dots have been studied by means of photoluminescence techniques. A strong increase of the radiative lifetime with increasing number of stacked dot layers has been observed at low temperatures. Moreover, a strong temperature dependence of the radiative lifetime, which is not present in the single layer samples, has been found in the multistacked structures. The observed effects are nicely explained as a consequence of the electronic coupling between electrons and holes induced by vertical ordering.

Energy Management Dynamic Control Topology In MANET

Science.gov (United States)

Madhusudan, G.; Kumar, TNR

2017-08-01

Topology management via per-node transmission power adjustment has been shown effective in extending network lifetime. The existing algorithms constructs static topologies which fail to take the residual energy of network nodes, and cannot balance energy consumption efficiently. To address this problem, a Light Weighted Distributed Topology Control algorithm EMDCT(Energy Management Dynamic Control Topology ) is proposed in this paper. Based on the link metric of the network, both the energy consumption rate level and residual energy levels at the two end nodes are considered. EMDCT generates a Dynamic Topology that changes with the variation of node energy without the aid of location information, each node determines its transmission power according to local network information, which reduces the overhead complexity of EMDCT greatly. The experiment results show that EMDCT preserves network connectivity and manitains minimum-cost property of the network also it can extend network lifetime more remarkably.

Interpreting aerosol lifetimes using the GEOS-Chem model and constraints from radionuclide measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Croft, B. [Dalhousie Univ., Halifax (Canada). Dept. of Physics and Atmospheric Science; Pierce, J.R. [Dalhousie Univ., Halifax (Canada). Dept. of Physics and Atmospheric Science; Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Martin, R.V. [Dalhousie Univ., Halifax (Canada). Dept. of Physics and Atmospheric Science; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States)

2014-07-01

Aerosol removal processes control global aerosol abundance, but the rate of that removal remains uncertain. A recent study of aerosol-bound radionuclide measurements after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident documents {sup 137}Cs removal (e-folding) times of 10.0-13.9 days, suggesting that mean aerosol lifetimes in the range of 3-7 days in global models might be too short by a factor of two. In this study, we attribute this discrepancy to differences between the e-folding and mean aerosol lifetimes. We implement a simulation of {sup 137}Cs and {sup 133}Xe into the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model and examine the removal rates for the Fukushima case. We find a general consistency between modelled and measured e-folding times. The simulated {sup 137}Cs global burden e-folding time is about 14 days. However, the simulated mean lifetime of aerosol-bound {sup 137}Cs over a 6-month post-accident period is only 1.8 days. We find that the mean lifetime depends strongly on the removal rates in the first few days after emissions, before the aerosols leave the boundary layer and are transported to altitudes and latitudes where lifetimes with respect to wet removal are longer by a few orders of magnitude. We present sensitivity simulations that demonstrate the influence of differences in altitude and location of the radionuclides on the mean lifetime. Global mean lifetimes are shown to strongly depend on the altitude of injection. The global mean {sup 137}Cs lifetime is more than one order of magnitude greater for the injection at 7 km than into the boundary layer above the Fukushima site. Instantaneous removal rates are slower during the first few days after the emissions for a free tropospheric versus boundary layer injection and this strongly controls the mean lifetimes. Global mean aerosol lifetimes for the GEOS-Chem model are 3-6 days, which is longer than that for the {sup 137}Cs injected at the Fukushima site (likely due to precipitation shortly after

Application of cool wan flow control weight scale design on belt conveyor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djokorayono, Rony; Junus; Rivai, A; Gunarwan; Indarzah

2003-01-01

Control of the coal mass flow on the belt conveyor at coal handling unit PLTU Suralaya has been designed by using weight scale of gamma absorption technique where accuracy for the measurement of weight scale system is 0,5% to 0,1%. The absorption gamma radiation will be measured by scintillation or ion chamber detector

Lifetime Improvement by Battery Scheduling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongerden, M.R.; Schmitt, Jens B.; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.

The use of mobile devices is often limited by the lifetime of their batteries. For devices that have multiple batteries or that have the option to connect an extra battery, battery scheduling, thereby exploiting the recovery properties of the batteries, can help to extend the system lifetime. Due to

Real-time monitoring of luminescent lifetime changes of PtOEP oxygen sensing film with LED/photodiode-based time-domain lifetime device.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Shaomin; Wu, Wanhua; Wu, Yubo; Zhao, Taiyang; Zhou, Fuke; Yang, Yubin; Zhang, Xin; Liang, Xiaofen; Wu, Wenting; Chi, Lina; Wang, Zhonggang; Zhao, Jianzhang

2009-05-01

A cost-effective LED/photodiode(PD)-based time-domain luminescent lifetime measuring device with rugged electronics and simplified algorithms was assembled and successfully used to characterize oxygen sensing films, by continuously monitoring phosphorescence lifetime changes of phosphorescent platinum octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP) in cardo poly(aryl ether ketone) polymer (IMPEK-C) vs. variation of the oxygen partial pressure in a gas mixture (O(2)/N(2)). The results determined by both phosphorescence lifetime and intensity monitoring were compared and the lifetime mode gave results which are in good agreement with the intensity mode. The lifetime-based linear Stern-Volmer plot indicates that the PtOEP molecules are nearly homogeneously distributed in the sensing film. The phosphorescent lifetime of the PtOEP film changes from 75 micros in neat N(2) to less than 2 micros in neat O(2). The sensing system (by combination of the PtOEP sensing film with the home-assembled lifetime device) gives a high lifetime-based O(2) sensing resolution, e.g. about 2 micros Torr(-1) for low O(2) concentration (below 3.5% O(2), V/V). This feasible lifetime device configuration is affordable to most sensor laboratories and the device may facilitate the study of O(2) sensing material with the continuous lifetime monitoring method.

Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention Using an Online Risk Calculator for Knee Osteoarthritis: Effect on Risk Perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Losina, Elena; Michl, Griffin L; Smith, Karen C; Katz, Jeffrey N

2017-08-01

Young adults, in general, are not aware of their risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Understanding risk and risk factors is critical to knee OA prevention. We tested the efficacy of a personalized risk calculator on accuracy of knee OA risk perception and willingness to change behaviors associated with knee OA risk factors. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of 375 subjects recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Subjects were randomized to either use a personalized risk calculator based on demographic and risk-factor information (intervention), or to view general OA risk information (control). At baseline and after the intervention, subjects estimated their 10-year and lifetime risk of knee OA and responded to contemplation ladders measuring willingness to change diet, exercise, or weight-control behaviors. Subjects in both arms had an estimated 3.6% 10-year and 25.3% lifetime chance of developing symptomatic knee OA. Both arms greatly overestimated knee OA risk at baseline, estimating a 10-year risk of 26.1% and a lifetime risk of 47.8%. After the intervention, risk calculator subjects' perceived 10-year risk decreased by 12.9 percentage points to 12.5% and perceived lifetime risk decreased by 19.5 percentage points to 28.1%. Control subjects' perceived risks remained unchanged. Risk calculator subjects were more likely to move to an action stage on the exercise contemplation ladder (relative risk 2.1). There was no difference between the groups for diet or weight-control ladders. The risk calculator is a useful intervention for knee OA education and may motivate some exercise-related behavioral change. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Measurement of the $\\Omega_{c}^{0}$ lifetime

CERN Document Server

Adamovich, M.I.; Alexandrov, Yu.A.; Barberis, D.; Beck, M.; Berat, C.; Beusch, W.; Boss, M.; Brons, S.; Bruckner, W.; Buenerd, M.; Buscher, C.; Charignon, F.; Chauvin, J.; Chudakov, E.A.; Dropmann, F.; Engelfried, J.; Faller, F.; Fournier, A.; Gerasimov, S.; Godbersen, M.; Grafstrom, P.; Haller, T.; Heidrich, M.; Hurst, R.B.; Konigsmann, Kay; Konorov, I.; Martens, K.; Martin, P.; Masciocchi, S.; Michaels, R.; Muller, U.; Newsom, C.; Paul, S.; Povh, B.; Ren, Z.; Rey-Campagnolle, M.; Rosner, G.; Rossi, L.; Rudolph, H.; Schmitt, L.; Siebert, H.W.; Simon, A.; Smith, V.J.; Thilmann, O.; Trombini, A.; Vesin, E.; Volkemer, B.; Vorwalter, K.; Walcher, T.; Walder, G.; Werding, R.; Wittmann, E.; Zavertyaev, M.V.

1995-01-01

We present the measurement of the lifetime of the Omega_c we have performed using three independent data samples from two different decay modes. Using a Sigma- beam of 340 GeV/c we have obtained clean signals for the Omega_c decaying into Xi- K- pi+ pi+ and Omega- pi+ pi- pi+, avoiding topological cuts normally used in charm analysis. The short but measurable lifetime of the Omega_c is demonstrated by a clear enhancement of the signals at short but finite decay lengths. Using a continuous maximum likelihood method we determined the lifetime to be tau(Omega_c) = 55 +13-11(stat) +18-23(syst) fs. This makes the Omega_c the shortest living weakly decaying particle observed so far. The short value of the lifetime confirms the predicted pattern of the charmed baryon lifetimes and demonstrates that the strong interaction plays a vital role in the lifetimes of charmed hadrons.

Lifetime improvement by battery scheduling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongerden, M.R.; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.

The use of mobile devices is often limited by the lifetime of its battery. For devices that have multiple batteries or that have the option to connect an extra battery, battery scheduling, thereby exploiting the recovery properties of the batteries, can help to extend the system lifetime. Due to the

Lifetime earnings for physicians across specialties.

Science.gov (United States)

Leigh, J Paul; Tancredi, Daniel; Jerant, Anthony; Romano, Patrick S; Kravitz, Richard L

2012-12-01

Earlier studies estimated annual income differences across specialties, but lifetime income may be more relevant given physicians' long-term commitments to specialties. Annual income and work hours data were collected from 6381 physicians in the nationally representative 2004-2005 Community Tracking Study. Data regarding years of residency were collected from AMA FREIDA. Present value models were constructed assuming 3% discount rates. Estimates were adjusted for demographic and market covariates. Sensitivity analyses included 4 alternative models involving work hours, retirement, exogenous variables, and 1% discount rate. Estimates were generated for 4 broad specialty categories (Primary Care, Surgery, Internal Medicine and Pediatric Subspecialties, and Other), and for 41 specific specialties. The estimates of lifetime earnings for the broad categories of Surgery, Internal Medicine and Pediatric Subspecialties, and Other specialties were $1,587,722, $1,099,655, and $761,402 more than for Primary Care. For the 41 specific specialties, the top 3 (with family medicine as reference) were neurological surgery ($2,880,601), medical oncology ($2,772,665), and radiation oncology ($2,659,657). The estimates from models with varying rates of retirement and including only exogenous variables were similar to those in the preferred model. The 1% discount model generated estimates that were roughly 150% larger than the 3% model. There was considerable variation in the lifetime earnings across physician specialties. After accounting for varying residency years and discounting future earnings, primary care specialties earned roughly $1-3 million less than other specialties. Earnings' differences across specialties may undermine health reform efforts to control costs and ensure adequate numbers of primary care physicians.

Quantum lifetime in electron storage rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, A.W.

1977-02-01

One of the mechanisms which contribute to beam lifetime in electron storage rings is the quantum emission of energetic photons causing particles to be lost from the rf bucket. This quantum lifetime is among other things important in defining the required aperture in a storage ring. An approximate expression of quantum lifetime, predicted by a one-dimensional model which takes into account only the betatron motion, has been used in most storage ring designs. If the beam is aperture-limited at a position with nonzero dispersion, both the betatron and synchrotron motions have to be included and a two-dimensional model must be used. An exact expression of quantum lifetime for the one-dimensional case and an approximate expression for the two-dimensional case are given

Quantum lifetime in electron storage rings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chao, A.W.

1977-01-01

One of the mechanisms which contributes to beam lifetime in electron storage rings is the quantum emission of energetic photons causing particles to be lost from the rf bucket. This quantum lifetime is among other things important in defining the required aperture in a storage ring. An approximate expression of quantum lifetime, predicted by a one-dimensional model which takes into account only the betatron motion, has been used in most storage ring designs. If the beam is aperture-limited at a position with nonzero dispersion, both the betatron and synchrotron motions have to be included, and a two-dimensional model must be used. An exact expression of quantum lifetime for the one-dimensional case and an approximate expression for the two-dimensional case are given

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) as a characterization technique for nanostructured self-assembled amphiphile systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Aurelia W; Pascual-Izarra, Carlos; Pas, Steven J; Hill, Anita J; Boyd, Ben J; Drummond, Calum J

2009-01-08

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) has potential as a novel rapid characterization method for self-assembly amphiphile systems; however, a lack of systematic correlation of PALS parameters with structural attributes has limited its more widespread application. In this study, using the well-characterized phytantriol/water and the phytantriol/vitamin E acetate/water self-assembly amphiphile systems, the impact of systematic structural changes controlled by changes in composition and temperature on PALS parameters has been studied. The PALS parameters (orthopositronium (oPs) lifetime and intensity signatures) were shown to be sensitive to the molecular packing and mobility of the self-assembled lipid molecules in various lyotropic liquid crystalline phases, enabling differentiation between liquid crystalline structures. The oPs lifetime, related to the molecular packing and mobility, is correlated with rheological properties of the individual mesophases. The oPs lifetime links the lipid chain packing and mobility in the various mesophases to resultant macroscopic properties, such as permeability, which is critical for the use of these mesophase structures as diffusion-controlled release matrices for active liposoluble compounds.

Nanoscopic properties of silica filled polydimethylsiloxane by means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wiinberg, P.; Eldrup, Morten Mostgaard; Maurer, F.H.J.

2004-01-01

and the positron annihilation characteristics. The glass transition behavior of the PDMS/SiO2 composites was determined with differential scanning calorimetry. A clear influence on the o-Ps lifetime (73) in the polymer upon addition of nano-sized fumed SiO2 was observed at all temperatures. The observed o......Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) was performed on a series of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/fumed silicon dioxide (SiO2) composites at temperatures between -185 and 100degreesC to study the effect of filler content and filler particle size on the free volume properties...... to the behavior of ordinary molecular liquids was observed in this temperature region. The o-Ps yield was strongly reduced in the crystallization region and by addition Of SiO2. The reduction due to filler addition did, however, in the case of nano-sized SiO2 not follow a linear relationship with filler weight...

Effects of a Worksite Weight-Control Programme in Obese Male Workers: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Iriyama, Yae; Murayama, Nobuko

2014-01-01

Objective: We conducted a randomized controlled crossover trial to evaluate the effects of a new worksite weight-control programme designed for men with or at risk of obesity using a combination of nutrition education and nutrition environmental interventions. Subjects and methods: Male workers with or at risk of obesity were recruited for this…

The Lifetime of a beautiful and charming meson: Bc lifetime measured using the D0 detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Welty-Rieger, Leah Christine

2008-01-01

Using approximately 1.3 fb -1 of data collected by the D0 detector between 2002 and 2006, the lifetime of the B c ± meson is studied in the B c ± → J/ψμ ± + X final state. Using an unbinned likelihood simultaneous fit to J/ψ + μ invariant mass and lifetime distributions, a signal of 810 ± 80(stat.) candidates is estimated and a lifetime measurement made of: τ(B c ± ) = 0.448 -0.036 +0.038 (stat) ± 0.032(sys) ps

Autonomy support and control in weight management: what important others do and say matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Johan Y Y; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie

2014-09-01

Drawing from self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002, Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic-dialectical perspective. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 3-33). Rochester, NY: The University of Rochester Press.), we examined how individuals' psychological needs, motivation, and behaviours (i.e., physical activity and eating) associated with weight management could be predicted by perceptions of their important others' supportive and controlling behaviours. Using a cross-sectional survey design, 235 participants (mean age = 27.39 years, SD = 8.96 years) completed an online questionnaire. Statistical analyses showed that when important others were perceived to be more supportive, participants reported higher levels of more optimal forms of motivation for weight management, which in turn predicted more physical activity and healthy eating behaviours. In contrast, when important others were perceived to be controlling, participants reported higher levels of less optimal forms of motivation, which in turn predicted less physical activity and healthy eating behaviours, as well as more unhealthy eating behaviours. Significant indirect effects were also found from perceived support and control from important others to physical activity and eating behaviours, all in the expected directions. The findings support the importance of important others providing support and refraining from controlling behaviours in order to facilitate motivation and behaviours conducive to successful weight management. What is already known on this subject? Autonomy support is related to basic need satisfaction and autonomous motivation in the context of weight management. In turn, these variables are related to adaptive outcomes for weight management. What does this study add? Measurement of perceived controlling behaviours by important others. Measurement of perceived need thwarting. Structural model on how important others affect

Unhealthy weight control behaviors mediate the association between weight status and weight-specific health-related quality of life in treatment-seeking youth who are obese.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Crystal S; Gowey, Marissa A; Cohen, Megan J; Silverstein, Janet; Janicke, David M

2017-03-01

Examine whether unhealthy and extreme weight control behaviors (WCBs) mediate the relationship between youth weight status and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in treatment-seeking youth who are overweight and obese (OV/OB). 82 youth 10-17 years of age who were OV/OB and attending an outpatient obesity-related medical appointment completed measures assessing unhealthy and extreme WCBs and disease-specific HRQOL. Parents completed a demographic questionnaire and medical staff measured youth height and weight. Regression analyses revealed that unhealthy WCBs mediated the associations between youth weight status and emotional and social avoidance disease-specific HRQOL, such that higher body mass index (BMI) predicted unhealthy WCBs, which were ultimately associated with poorer emotional and social HRQOL. Mediation analyses were not significant for total, physical, teasing/marginalization, and positive attributes disease-specific HRQOL. In addition, extreme WCBs did not mediate the association between youth weight status and any subscales of the disease-specific HRQOL measure. Weight status is an important predictor of disease-specific HRQOL in OV/OB youth; however, the association with emotional and social HRQOL is partially accounted for by youth engagement in unhealthy WCBs. Clinicians and researchers should assess WCBs and further research should explore and evaluate appropriate intervention strategies to address unhealthy WCBs in pediatric weight management prevention and treatment efforts.

Weight Loss and the Prevention of Weight Regain: Evaluation of a Treatment Model of Exercise Self-Regulation Generalizing to Controlled Eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Annesi, James J; Johnson, Ping H; Tennant, Gisèle A; Porter, Kandice J; Mcewen, Kristin L

2016-01-01

For decades, behavioral weight-loss treatments have been unsuccessful beyond the short term. Development and testing of innovative, theoretically based methods that depart from current failed practices is a priority for behavioral medicine. To evaluate a new, theory-based protocol in which exercise support methods are employed to facilitate improvements in psychosocial predictors of controlled eating and sustained weight loss. Women with obesity were randomized into either a comparison treatment that incorporated a print manual plus telephone follow-ups (n = 55) or an experimental treatment of The Coach Approach exercise-support protocol followed after 2 months by group nutrition sessions focused on generalizing self-regulatory skills from an exercise support to a controlled eating context (n = 55). Repeated-measures analysis of variance contrasted group changes in weight, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, mood, and exercise- and eating-related self-regulation and self-efficacy over 24 months. Regression analyses determined salient interrelations of change scores over both the weight-loss phase (baseline-month 6) and weight-loss maintenance phase (month 6-month 24). Improvements in all psychological measures, physical activity, and fruit and vegetable intake were significantly greater in the experimental group where a mean weight loss of 5.7 kg (6.1% of initial body weight) occurred at month 6, and was largely maintained at a loss of 5.1 kg (5.4%) through the full 24 months of the study. After establishing temporal intervals for changes in self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood that best predicted improvements in physical activity and eating, a consolidated multiple mediation model suggested that change in self-regulation best predicted weight loss, whereas change in self-efficacy best predicted maintenance of lost weight. Because for most participants loss of weight remained greater than that required for health benefits, and costs for treatment

Lifetime value in business process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Souček

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on lifetime value assessment and its implementation and application in business processes. The lifetime value is closely connected to customer relationship management. The paper presents results of three consecutive researches devoted to issues of customer relationship management. The first two from 2008 and 2010 were conducted as quantitative ones; the one from 2009 had qualitative nature. The respondents were representatives of particular companies. The means for data collection was provided by ReLa system. We will focus on individual attributes of lifetime value of a customer, and relate them to approaches of authors mentioned in introduction. Based on the qualitative research data, the paper focuses on individual customer lifetime value parameters. These parameters include: the cost to the customer relationship acquisition and maintenance, profit generated from a particular customer, customer awareness value, the level of preparedness to adopt new products, the value of references and customer loyalty level. For each of these parameters, the paper provides specific recommendations. Moreover, it is possible to learn about the nature of these parameter assessments in the Czech environment.

[The efficacy of e-health management on weight control in adolescents: a systematic review].

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Mei-Chen; Lin, Chia-Ling; Tsao, Lee-Ing

2014-02-01

Advances during the past decade have made it feasible to apply e-health methods to chronic disease management. Researchers have recently begun applying these methods to weight control. The application of e-health management methods to weight control in adolescents has yet to be investigated empirically. This study conducted a systematic review of reports discussing the weight-control effects of e-health management in adolescents. Researchers searched 6 electronic databases for relevant articles published between 1995 and April 2013. Data were collected using inclusion and exclusion criteria. A modified Jadad Scale was used to evaluate the quality of the identified articles. Seven studies met the inclusion criterion of targeting adolescent subject populations. A total of 3728 adolescents and 1394 parents participated in these studies. The majority of participants were overweight girls and median participant ages ranged from 12.52 (SD = 3.15) to 15.31 (SD = 0.69). All studies reported that e-health management reduced body mass index and body fat percentage. Four studies indicate that e-health management may improve physical activity knowledge and skills. However, diet control outcomes among the seven studies varied. Empirical results demonstrate that e-health management significantly affects weight control. However, the effectiveness of log-in versus primary outcome indicators was inconclusive. Future studies should consider the use of incentives, reminder systems, and other strategies to enhance website usage. The development of an Internet-based, computer-tailored weight-management intervention for overweight adolescents and the development of an appropriate care model are recommended.

How strongly does appetite counter weight loss? Quantification of the feedback control of human energy intake

Science.gov (United States)

Polidori, David; Sanghvi, Arjun; Seeley, Randy; Hall, Kevin D.

2016-01-01

Objective To quantify the feedback control of energy intake in response to long-term covert manipulation of energy balance in free-living humans. Methods We used a validated mathematical method to calculate energy intake changes during a 52 week placebo-controlled trial in 153 patients treated with canagliflozin, a sodium glucose co-transporter inhibitor that increases urinary glucose excretion thereby resulting in weight loss without patients being directly aware of the energy deficit. We analyzed the relationship between the body weight time course and the calculated energy intake changes using principles from engineering control theory. Results We discovered that weight loss leads to a proportional increase in appetite resulting in eating above baseline by ~100 kcal/day per kg of lost weight – an amount more than 3-fold larger than the corresponding energy expenditure adaptations. Conclusions While energy expenditure adaptations are often thought to be the main reason for slowing of weight loss and subsequent regain, feedback control of energy intake plays an even larger role and helps explain why long-term maintenance of a reduced body weight is so difficult. PMID:27804272

Models for Battery Reliability and Lifetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, K.; Wood, E.; Santhanagopalan, S.; Kim, G. H.; Neubauer, J.; Pesaran, A.

2014-03-01

Models describing battery degradation physics are needed to more accurately understand how battery usage and next-generation battery designs can be optimized for performance and lifetime. Such lifetime models may also reduce the cost of battery aging experiments and shorten the time required to validate battery lifetime. Models for chemical degradation and mechanical stress are reviewed. Experimental analysis of aging data from a commercial iron-phosphate lithium-ion (Li-ion) cell elucidates the relative importance of several mechanical stress-induced degradation mechanisms.

Masses of charmed particles, decay modes and lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vajsenberg, A.O.

1982-01-01

Basic characteristics of charmed particles obtained up to the middle of 1981 are discussed in the survey. Stated in brief are main predictions of the theory on charmed particles properties. Experimental data on masses, decay modes and lifetimes of D and F mesons as well as charmed baryons are considered. Basic experiments are described. It is pointed out that in the experiments single and pair production events as well as charmed particle decay have been observed. The charmed particles lifetime lies within the limits of 10 -12 - 10 -13 C. The lifetime of D +- mesons is approximately three times longer than the D 0 mesons lifetime. The lifetime of F mesons and Λsub(e) baryons is close to D 0 mesons lifetime [ru

Reactor pressure vessel embrittlement of NPP borssele: Design lifetime and lifetime extension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blom, F.J.

2007-01-01

Embrittlement of the reactor pressure vessel of the Borssele nuclear power plant has been investigated taking account of the design lifetime of 40 years and considering 20 years subsequent lifetime extension. The paper presents the current licensing status based on considerations of material test data and of US nuclear regulatory standards. Embrittlement status is also evaluated against German and French nuclear safety standards. Results from previous fracture toughness and Charpy tests are investigated by means of the Master curve toughness transition approach. Finally, state of the art insights are investigated by means of literature research. Regarding the embrittlement status of the reactor pressure vessel of Borssele nuclear power plant it is concluded that there is a profound basis for the current license up to the original end of the design life in 2013. The embrittlement temperature changes only slightly with respect to the acceptance criterion adopted postulating further operation up to 2033. Continued safe operation and further lifetime extension are therefore not restricted by reactor pressure vessel embrittlement

Ureaplasma urealyticum Is Associated With Nongonococcal Urethritis Among Men With Fewer Lifetime Sexual Partners: A Case-Control Study

Science.gov (United States)

Manhart, Lisa E.; Lowens, M. Sylvan; Golden, Matthew R.; Jensen, Nicole L.; Astete, Sabina G.; Whittington, William L. H.; Totten, Patricia A.

2011-01-01

Background. Ureaplasmas have been inconsistently associated with nongonococcal urethritis (NGU). We evaluated the association of the newly differentiated species Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) and Ureaplasma parvum (UP) with NGU using 2 separate control groups. Methods. Case patients were men who attended a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in Seattle, Washington, during the period 2007–2009 with NGU (defined as visible urethral discharge and/or ≥5 polymorphonuclear neutrophils per high-powered field; n = 329). Control subjects were STD clinic attendees (n = 191) and emergency department (ED) attendees (n = 193) without NGU. Polymerase chain reaction assays detected UU and UP in ureaplasma culture-positive urine. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the associations of UU and UP with NGU. Results. UU was only marginally associated with NGU in aggregate multivariable analyses, irrespective of control group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]STD-control, 1.6 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.9–2.8]; aORED-control, 1.7 [95% CI, 0.97–3.0]). This association was significantly stronger when analyses were restricted to men with fewer lifetime sex partners (urethral pathogen. PMID:21917901

Occupational risk and lifetime exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lapp, R.E.

1991-01-01

Any lowering of annual radiation limits for occupational exposure should be based on industry experience with lifetime doses and not on a worst case career exposure of 47 years. Two decades of experience show a lifetime accumulation of less than 1.5 rem for workers with measurable exposure. This is 5% of the normal lifetime exposure of Americans to natural and medical radiation. Any epidemiology of the US nuclear power workforce's two decade long exposure would have to focus on excess leukemia. Application of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki cancer mortality shows that too few leukemias would be expressed to permit a feasible epidemiology. Ionizing radiation appears to be a mild carcinogen as compared to physical and chemical agents presented in the occupational environment. A realistic factor in determining any change in occupational exposure limits for ionizing radiation should take into account the past performance of the licensee and potential health effects applicable to the workplace. Specifically, the lifetime exposure data for workers at nuclear power plants and naval shipyards should be considered. The nuclear industry and the US Navy have detailed data on the annual exposure of workers with a combined collective exposure approaching 1 million worker-rem. The lifetime dose for naval personnel and shipyard workers averages 1.1 rem J 1990. Shipyard workers have an annual dose of 0.28 rem per work-year and a mean exposure time of 4.4 years. The data apply to workers with measurable dose

Preventing Weight Gain in Women in Rural Communities: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Lombard

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in both developed and developing countries. Even modest weight gain increases the risk for chronic illness, yet evidence-based interventions to prevent weight gain are rare. This trial will determine if a simple low-intensity intervention can prevent weight gain in women compared to general health information.We conducted a 1-yr pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial in 41 Australian towns (clusters randomised using a computer-generated randomisation list for intervention (n = 21 or control (n = 20. Women aged 18 to 50 yr were recruited from the general population to receive a 1-yr self-management lifestyle intervention (HeLP-her consisting of one group session, monthly SMS text messages, one phone coaching session, and a program manual, or to a control group receiving one general women's health education session. From October 2012 to April 2014 we studied 649 women, mean age 39.6 yr (+/- SD 6.7 and BMI of 28.8 kg/m(2 (+/- SD 6.9 with the primary outcome weight change between groups at 1 yr. The mean change in the control was +0.44 kg (95% CI -0.09 to 0.97 and in the intervention group -0.48 kg (95% CI -0.99 to 0.03 with an unadjusted between group difference of -0.92 kg (95% CI -1.67 to -0.16 or -0.87 kg (95% CI -1.62 to -0.13 adjusted for baseline values and clustering. Secondary outcomes included improved diet quality and greater self-management behaviours. The intervention appeared to be equally efficacious across all age, BMI, income, and education subgroups. Loss to follow-up included 23.8% in the intervention group and 21.8% in the control group and was within the anticipated range. Limitations include lack of sensitive tools to measure the small changes to energy intake and physical activity. Those who gained weight may have been less inclined to return for 1 yr weight measures.A low intensity lifestyle program can prevent the persistent weight gain observed in women. Key features included

Fetal body weight and the development of the control of the cardiovascular system in fetal sheep.

Science.gov (United States)

Frasch, M G; Müller, T; Wicher, C; Weiss, C; Löhle, M; Schwab, K; Schubert, H; Nathanielsz, P W; Witte, O W; Schwab, M

2007-03-15

Reduced birth weight predisposes to cardiovascular diseases in later life. We examined in fetal sheep at 0.76 (n = 18) and 0.87 (n = 17) gestation whether spontaneously occurring variations in fetal weight affect maturation of autonomic control of cardiovascular function. Fetal weights at both gestational ages were grouped statistically in low (LW) and normal weights (NW) (P fetal sheep not constituting a major malnutritive condition. Mean fetal blood pressure (FBP) of all fetuses was negatively correlated to fetal weight at 0.76 but not 0.87 gestation (P fetal heart rate depended on fetal weight (P fetal weight within the normal weight span is accompanied by a different trajectory of development of sympathetic blood pressure and vagal heart rate control. This may contribute to the development of elevated blood pressure in later life. Examination of the underlying mechanisms and consequences may contribute to the understanding of programming of cardiovascular diseases.

The association of lifetime insight and cognition in psychosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez-Torres, Ana M; Zarzuela, Amalia; Peralta, Victor; Cuesta, Manuel J

2015-03-01

Poor insight has been related to poor course in psychosis. However, the role of cognition in insight remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of cognition and lifetime psychopathological dimensions on insight in psychosis. We followed up 42 patients with psychotic disorders over 10years. Lifetime psychopathological dimensions and cognitive performance were assessed. Patients were divided into two groups by lifetime patterns of insight and compared with 42 healthy volunteers. Lower IQ and poorer social cognition were associated with higher risks of poorer lifetime insight of feeling ill and global insight respectively. Lifetime negative symptoms were associated with a higher risk of poorer lifetime insight into symptoms. Lifetime lack of insight is independent of cognitive impairment in specific domains, except for social cognition. Higher IQ may contribute to better lifetime awareness of illness, while better ability to manage emotions is involved in lifetime global insight. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Daily text messaging for weight control among racial and ethnic minority women: randomized controlled pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinberg, Dori M; Levine, Erica L; Askew, Sandy; Foley, Perry; Bennett, Gary G

2013-11-18

Daily self-monitoring of diet and physical activity behaviors is a strong predictor of weight loss success. Text messaging holds promise as a viable self-monitoring modality, particularly among racial/ethnic minority populations. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a text messaging intervention for weight loss among predominantly black women. Fifty obese women were randomized to either a 6-month intervention using a fully automated system that included daily text messages for self-monitoring tailored behavioral goals (eg, 10,000 steps per day, no sugary drinks) along with brief feedback and tips (n=26) or to an education control arm (n=24). Weight was objectively measured at baseline and at 6 months. Adherence was defined as the proportion of text messages received in response to self-monitoring prompts. The average daily text messaging adherence rate was 49% (SD 27.9) with 85% (22/26) texting self-monitored behavioral goals 2 or more days per week. Approximately 70% (16/23) strongly agreed that daily texting was easy and helpful and 76% (16/21) felt the frequency of texting was appropriate. At 6 months, the intervention arm lost a mean of 1.27 kg (SD 6.51), and the control arm gained a mean of 1.14 kg (SD 2.53; mean difference -2.41 kg, 95% CI -5.22 to 0.39; P=.09). There was a trend toward greater text messaging adherence being associated with greater percent weight loss (r=-.36; P=.08), but this did not reach statistical significance. There was no significant association between goal attainment and text messaging adherence and no significant predictors of adherence. Given the increasing penetration of mobile devices, text messaging may be a useful self-monitoring tool for weight control, particularly among populations most in need of intervention. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00939081; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00939081 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6KiIIcnk1).

Dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors during adolescence: associations with 10-year changes in body mass index.

Science.gov (United States)

Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne; Wall, Melanie; Story, Mary; Standish, Amber R

2012-01-01

Dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors are common among adolescents and questions exist regarding their long-term effect on weight status. To examine 10-year longitudinal associations between dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors and changes in body mass index (BMI) from adolescence to young adulthood. A diverse population-based sample of middle school and high school adolescents participating in Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults) was followed up for 10 years. Participants (N = 1,902) completed surveys in 1998-1999 (Project EAT-I), 2003-2004 (Project EAT-II), and 2008-2009 (Project EAT-III). Dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors at Time 1 and Time 2 were used to predict 10-year changes in BMI at Time 3, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and Time 1 BMI. Dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors at both Time 1 and Time 2 predicted greater BMI increases at Time 3 in males and females, as compared with no use of these behaviors. For example, females using unhealthy weight control behaviors at both Time 1 and Time 2 increased their BMI by 4.63 units as compared with 2.29 units in females not using these behaviors (p meals and reporting eating very little (females and males), use of food substitutes (males), and use of diet pills (females). Findings clearly indicate that dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors, as reported by adolescents, predict significant weight gain over time. Copyright © 2012 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lifetime risks for aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: multivariable risk stratification.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlak, Monique H M; Rinkel, Gabriel J E; Greebe, Paut; Greving, Jacoba P; Algra, Ale

2013-06-01

The overall incidence of aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) in western populations is around 9 per 100 000 person-years, which confers to a lifetime risk of around half per cent. Risk factors for aSAH are usually expressed as relative risks and suggest that absolute risks vary considerably according to risk factor profiles, but such estimates are lacking. We aimed to estimate incidence and lifetime risks of aSAH according to risk factor profiles. We used data from 250 patients admitted with aSAH and 574 sex-matched and age-matched controls, who were randomly retrieved from general practitioners files. We determined independent prognostic factors with multivariable logistic regression analyses and assessed discriminatory performance using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Based on the prognostic model we predicted incidences and lifetime risks of aSAH for different risk factor profiles. The four strongest independent predictors for aSAH, namely current smoking (OR 6.0; 95% CI 4.1 to 8.6), a positive family history for aSAH (4.0; 95% CI 2.3 to 7.0), hypertension (2.4; 95% CI 1.5 to 3.8) and hypercholesterolaemia (0.2; 95% CI 0.1 to 0.4), were used in the final prediction model. This model had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.73 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.76). Depending on sex, age and the four predictors, the incidence of aSAH ranged from 0.4/100 000 to 298/100 000 person-years and lifetime risk between 0.02% and 7.2%. The incidence and lifetime risk of aSAH in the general population varies widely according to risk factor profiles. Whether persons with high risks benefit from screening should be assessed in cost-effectiveness studies.

Measurement of the average lifetime of B hadrons produced in p bar p collisions at √s =1.8 TeV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abe, F.; Albrow, M.; Amidei, D.; Anway-Wiese, C.; Apollinari, G.; Areti, H.; Auchincloss, P.; Azfar, F.; Azzi, P.; Bacchetta, N.; Badgett, W.; Bailey, M.W.; Bao, J.; de Barbaro, P.; Barbaro-Galtieri, A.; Barnes, V.E.; Barnett, B.A.; Bauer, G.; Baumann, T.; Bedeschi, F.; Behrends, S.; Belforte, S.; Bellettini, G.; Bellinger, J.; Benjamin, D.; Benlloch, J.; Beretvas, A.; Berge, J.P.; Bhatti, A.; Biery, K.; Binkley, M.; Bird, F.; Bisello, D.; Blair, R.E.; Blocker, C.; Bodek, A.; Bolognesi, V.; Boswell, C.; Boulos, T.; Brandenburg, G.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Budd, H.S.; Burkett, K.; Busetto, G.; Byon-Wagner, A.; Byrum, K.L.; Campagnari, C.; Campbell, M.; Caner, A.; Carithers, W.; Carlsmith, D.; Castro, A.; Cen, Y.; Cervelli, F.; Chapman, J.; Chiarelli, G.; Chikamatsu, T.; Cihangir, S.; Clark, A.G.; Cobal, M.; Contreras, M.; Cooper, J.; Cordelli, M.; Coupal, D.P.; Crane, D.; Cunningham, J.D.; Daniels, T.; DeJongh, F.; Dell'Agnello, S.; Dell'Orso, M.; Demortier, L.; Denby, B.; Deninno, M.; Derwent, P.F.; Devlin, T.; Dickson, M.; Done, J.P.; Drucker, R.B.; Dunn, A.; Einsweiler, K.; Elias, J.E.; Ely, R.; Engels, E. Jr.; Eno, S.; Errede, D.; Errede, S.; Etchegoyen, A.; Fan, Q.; Farhat, B.; Fiori, I.; Flaugher, B.; Foster, G.W.; Franklin, M.; Frautschi, M.; Freeman, J.; Friedman, J.; Frisch, H.; Fry, A.; Fuess, T.A.; Fukui, Y.; Funaki, S.; Galeotti, S.; Garfinkel, A.F.; Geer, S.; Gerdes, D.W.; Giannetti, P.; Giokaris, N.; Giromini, P.; Gladney, L.; Glenzinski, D.; Gold, M.; Gonzalez, J.; Gordon, A.; Goshaw, A.T.; Goulianos, K.; Grassmann, H.; Grewal, A.; Grieco, G.; Groer, L.; Grosso-Pilcher, C.; Haber, C.; Hahn, S.R.; Hamilton, R.; Handler, R.; Hans, R.M.; Hara, K.; Harral, B.; Harris, R.M.; Hauger, S.A.; Hauser, J.; Hawk, C.; Heinrich, J.; Hennessy, D.; Hollebeek, R.; Holloway, L.; Hoelscher, A.; Hong, S.; Houk, G.; Hu, P.; Huffman, B.T.; Hughes, R.; Hurst, P.; Huth, J.; Hylen, J.; Incagli, M.; Incandela, J.; Iso, H.; Jensen, H.; Jessop, C.P.; Joshi, U.; Kadel, R.W.

1993-01-01

The average b-hadron lifetime has been measured using a high statistics sample of B→J/ψ X decays recorded with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The decay vertices of 5344 inclusive J/ψ→μ + μ - candidates have been reconstructed using information from a silicon vertex detector. The measured B lifetime, which is the average over all b hadrons produced in p bar p collisions at √s =1.8 TeV weighted by their branching ratios into J/ψ, is 1.46±0.06(stat)±0.06(syst) ps

Obesity: locus of control, body image, weight loss, and age-at-onset.

Science.gov (United States)

Wineman, N M

1980-01-01

In a retrospective investigation designed to measure locus of control, body image, and weight loss in Overeaters Anonymous members who had childhood, adolescence, or adulthood onset of obesity, 116 subjects were grouped according to age at onset of obesity and the year they joined OA. A convenience, volunteer sample of OA members completed a demographic data questionnaire, Rotter's Social Reaction. Inventory, and Secord and Jourard's Body Cathexis Scale. Significant overweight percentage differences were not found when the three age-at-onset groups were compared. Significant differences emerged, however, for adolescent-onset group persons who were categorized as "old" members; they had a larger weight loss and were more satisfied with their body image. A positive linear relationship between greater perception of internal control and a good body image was found in the entire adulthood-onset group. Weight loss and good body image of the oldest adolescent-onset group probably was the outcome of their association with a self-help group i.e., OA. Assessment of developmental issues related to the time of initial weight gain may indicate which treatment regime would be most effective.

''LIFETIME'': a computer program for analyzing Doppler-shift recoil-distance nuclear lifetime data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wells, J.C.; Fewell, M.P.; Johnson, N.R.

1985-10-01

The program LIFETIME is designed to extract lifetimes of nuclear levels from Doppler-shift recoil-distance experiments by performing a least-square fit to the experimental data (shifted and unshifted photopeak intensities and branching ratios). Initial populations of levels and transition rates between levels are treated as variable parameters. In terms of these parameters the population of each level as a function of time is determined by the Bateman equations, and the shifted and unshifted intensities are calculated. 19 refs., 5 figs

Associations between body mass index, weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms among non-clinical Chinese adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Previous research with adolescents has shown associations of body weight, weight control concerns and behaviors with eating disorder symptoms, but it is unclear whether these associations are direct or whether a mediating effect exists. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms and to examine the mediating function of weight control concerns and behaviors on the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and eating disorder symptoms among non-clinical adolescents in China. Methods A cross-sectional survey among 2019 adolescent girls and 1525 adolescent boys in the 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th grades from seven cities in China was conducted. Information on weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms (Eating Disorder Inventory-3) were collected from the adolescents using a self-administrated questionnaire. Results Weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms were prevalent among the study population. A high proportion of adolescents scored at or above the threshold on the eating disorder inventory (EDI) subscale such as bulimia, interoceptive deficits, perfectionism, and maturity fears, which indicated eating disorder symptoms. High BMI was significantly associated with high score of drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, bulimia, low self-esteem, interceptive deficits and maturity fears, so do perceived body weight status. Almost all weight control concerns and behaviors we investigated were significantly associated with high EDI subscale scores. When weight control concerns were added to the model, as shown in the model, the association between BMI and tendency of drive to thinness and bulimia was attenuated but still kept significant. The association between BMI and body dissatisfaction were no further significant. The association of BMI and drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction and bulimia was

Associations between body mass index, weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms among non-clinical Chinese adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hu Xiaoqi

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous research with adolescents has shown associations of body weight, weight control concerns and behaviors with eating disorder symptoms, but it is unclear whether these associations are direct or whether a mediating effect exists. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms and to examine the mediating function of weight control concerns and behaviors on the relationship between body mass index (BMI and eating disorder symptoms among non-clinical adolescents in China. Methods A cross-sectional survey among 2019 adolescent girls and 1525 adolescent boys in the 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th grades from seven cities in China was conducted. Information on weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms (Eating Disorder Inventory-3 were collected from the adolescents using a self-administrated questionnaire. Results Weight control concerns and behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms were prevalent among the study population. A high proportion of adolescents scored at or above the threshold on the eating disorder inventory (EDI subscale such as bulimia, interoceptive deficits, perfectionism, and maturity fears, which indicated eating disorder symptoms. High BMI was significantly associated with high score of drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, bulimia, low self-esteem, interceptive deficits and maturity fears, so do perceived body weight status. Almost all weight control concerns and behaviors we investigated were significantly associated with high EDI subscale scores. When weight control concerns were added to the model, as shown in the model, the association between BMI and tendency of drive to thinness and bulimia was attenuated but still kept significant. The association between BMI and body dissatisfaction were no further significant. The association of BMI and drive for thinness, body

The relationship between maternal periodontitis and preterm low birth weight: A case-control study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satheesh Mannem

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The relationship between periodontal diseases in pregnancy and children born prematurely or with low birth weight has been increasingly investigated, showing positive and negative results, respectively. Objective: To evaluate the association between Maternal Periodontitis and Preterm delivery or Low Birth Weight. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 104 pregnant women without systemic disease or other risk factors for preterm labor were chosen. The control group (n = 52 had term labor (infants ≥37 weeks and the case group (n = 52 had preterm labor (infants <37 weeks. Plaque index, bleeding index, and birth weight were measured. Results: The data of plaque index (cases 1.21±0.56; controls 0.63±0.31, bleeding index (cases, 2.08±0.62; controls, 1.52±0.61, birth weight (cases, 2.01±0.36; controls 2.87±0.32, and Probing Pocket Depth (PPD ≥4mm and Clinical Attachment Level (CAL ≥3mm in at least 4 teeth (odds ratio 137.50, P value < 0.0001 revealed a statistically significant difference between the two groups P< 0.05. Conclusions: A noticeable relationship between periodontal health and duration of pregnancy; periodontal disease could be a risk factor for preterm labor. Oral hygiene maintenance should be a part of prenatal care protocol.

SisterTalk: final results of a culturally tailored cable television delivered weight control program for Black women

OpenAIRE

Risica, Patricia Markham; Gans, Kim M; Kumanyika, Shiriki; Kirtania, Usree; Lasater, Thomas M

2013-01-01

Background Obesity among Black women continues to exceed that of other women. Most weight loss programs created without reference to specific cultural contexts are less effective for Black than White women. Weight control approaches accessible to Black women and adapted to relevant cultural contexts are important for addressing this problem. This paper reports the final results of SisterTalk, the randomized controlled trial of a cable TV weight control program oriented toward Black women. Met...

Investigation of a combined platinum and electron lifetime control treatment for silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, Yunpeng; Cui, Zhihang; Yang, Fei; Zhao, Bao; Zou, Shikai; Liang, Yongsheng

2017-01-01

In silicon, the effect of Combined Lifetime Treatment (CLT) involving platinum diffusion and subsequent electron irradiation is different from the separate treatments of platinum diffusion and electron irradiation, even the treatment of electron irradiation followed by platinum diffusion. In this paper, we investigated the experimental behavior of different kinds of lifetime treated samples. We found that the reverse leakage current (I rr ) increases with the increasing platinum diffusion temperature or electron irradiation dose in the separate treatments. Conversely, I rr of the CLT samples decreased with rising platinum diffusion temperature at the same dose of subsequent electron irradiation. By deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), a new energy level E7 (Ec −0.376 eV) was found in our CLT samples. The new level E7 suppresses the dominance of the deeper level E8 (Ec −0.476 eV), which is caused by electron irradiation directly and results in I rr ’s increase. The formation of the level E7 comes from the complex defect-combined effect between platinum atoms and silicon vacancies, and it affects device’s characteristics finally. These research will be helpful to the development of platinum-diffused devices used in intense electron irradiation environments.

Investigation of a combined platinum and electron lifetime control treatment for silicon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, Yunpeng [College of Electronic Information and Control Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124 (China); Cui, Zhihang, E-mail: czhczh321321@126.com [College of Electronic Information and Control Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124 (China); Yang, Fei [State Grid Smart Electrical Engineering, Beijing 100192 (China); Zhao, Bao; Zou, Shikai; Liang, Yongsheng [College of Electronic Information and Control Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124 (China)

2017-02-01

In silicon, the effect of Combined Lifetime Treatment (CLT) involving platinum diffusion and subsequent electron irradiation is different from the separate treatments of platinum diffusion and electron irradiation, even the treatment of electron irradiation followed by platinum diffusion. In this paper, we investigated the experimental behavior of different kinds of lifetime treated samples. We found that the reverse leakage current (I{sub rr}) increases with the increasing platinum diffusion temperature or electron irradiation dose in the separate treatments. Conversely, I{sub rr} of the CLT samples decreased with rising platinum diffusion temperature at the same dose of subsequent electron irradiation. By deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), a new energy level E7 (Ec −0.376 eV) was found in our CLT samples. The new level E7 suppresses the dominance of the deeper level E8 (Ec −0.476 eV), which is caused by electron irradiation directly and results in I{sub rr}’s increase. The formation of the level E7 comes from the complex defect-combined effect between platinum atoms and silicon vacancies, and it affects device’s characteristics finally. These research will be helpful to the development of platinum-diffused devices used in intense electron irradiation environments.

Intelligent Control System Taking Account of Cooperativeness Using Weighting Information on System Objective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masaki Takahashi

2004-08-01

Full Text Available This study considers an intelligent control system to integrate flexibly its components by using weighted information where the system evaluation is reflected. Such system evaluates the information flowing through the components and converts them by weighting depending on the degree of importance. Integration of components based on the system evaluation enables a system consisting of them to realize various, flexible and adaptive control. In this study, the intelligent control method is applied to a swing up and stabilization control problem of a number of cart and pendulum systems on a restricted straight guide. To stabilize the pendulum in a restricted environment, each system should realize not only a swing-up and stabilization control of the pendulum, but also a position control of the cart to avoid collision or deadlock. The experiment using a real apparatus demonstrated that the controller learning light interaction acquires egoistic character, the controller learning heavy interaction behaves altruistically, and the controller equally considering self cart and another cart becomes cooperative. In other words, these autonomous decentralized controllers can acquire various characters and flexibility for cooperation.

Gun violence in Americans' social network during their lifetime.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalesan, Bindu; Weinberg, Janice; Galea, Sandro

2016-12-01

The overall burden of gun violence death and injury in the US is now well understood. However, no study has shown the extent to which gun violence is associated with the individual lives of Americans. We used fatal and non-fatal gun injury rates in 2013 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) and generally accepted estimates about the size of an American's social network to determine the likelihood that any given person will know someone in their personal social network who is a victim of gun violence during their lifetime. We derived estimates in the overall population and among racial/ethnic groups and by gun-injury intent. The likelihood of knowing a gun violence victim within any given personal network over a lifetime is 99.85% (99.8% to 99.9%). The likelihood among non-Hispanic white, black, Hispanic and other race Americans were 97.1%, 99.9%, 99.5% and 88.9% respectively. Nearly all Americans of all racial/ethnic groups are likely to know a victim of gun violence in their social network during their lifetime. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Frequency-Weighted Model Predictive Control of Trailing Edge Flaps on a Wind Turbine Blade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Castaignet, Damien; Couchman, Ian; Poulsen, Niels Kjølstad

2013-01-01

flapwise blade root moment and trailing edge flap deflection. Frequency-weighted MPC is chosen for its ability to handle constraints on the trailing edge flaps deflection, and to target at loads with given frequencies only. The controller is first tested in servo-aeroelastic simulations, before being......This paper presents the load reduction achieved with trailing edge flaps during a full-scale test on a Vestas V27 wind turbine. The trailing edge flap controller is a frequency-weighted linear model predictive control (MPC) where the quadratic cost consists of costs on the zero-phase filtered...

The Association between Inappropriate Weight Control Behaviors and Suicide Ideation and Attempt among Korean Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Ah; Jang, Suk Yong; Shin, Jaeyong; Ju, Yeong Jun; Nam, Jin Young; Park, Eun Cheol

2016-10-01

Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents globally, and body weight is also a recognized reason for adolescent suicide. Therefore, we investigated the association between weight control behaviors (WCB) and suicide ideation and attempt, focusing on inappropriate weight control measures. We used data from the 2014 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, representing a total of 35,224 boys and 34,361 girls aged 12 to 18 years. Adolescents were classified into groups based on WCB: appropriate WCB, inappropriate WCB, and no WCB. We performed logistic regression models to examine associations between WCB and suicide ideation and attempt, controlling for covariates. Both boys and girls with inappropriate WCB were more likely to report suicide ideation and attempt. Underweight and normal weight boys with inappropriate WCB were more likely to think or attempt suicide, and underweight girls with inappropriate WCB were also more likely to attempt suicide. Among five common WCB combinations, the combination of "regular exercise, fasting, eating less" was highly associated with suicide ideation and attempt. We confirmed that inappropriate WCB is associated with suicide ideation and attempt among Korean adolescents. Given the high incidence rate of suicide among adolescents and the adverse effect of inappropriate WCB, encouraging adolescents to control their weight in healthy ways is imperative.

The EPDS-Lifetime: assessment of lifetime prevalence and risk factors for perinatal depression in a large cohort of depressed women

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meltzer-Brody, S.; Boschloo, L.; Jones, I.; Sullivan, P.F.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.

2013-01-01

Perinatal depression (PND) is a common complication of pregnancy and postpartum associated with significant morbidity. We had three goals: (1) to explore the performance of a new lifetime version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS-Lifetime) to assess lifetime prevalence of PND; (2) to

The EPDS-Lifetime : assessment of lifetime prevalence and risk factors for perinatal depression in a large cohort of depressed women

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meltzer-Brody, Samantha; Boschloo, Lynn; Jones, Ian; Sullivan, Patrick F.; Penninx, Brenda W.

2013-01-01

Perinatal depression (PND) is a common complication of pregnancy and postpartum associated with significant morbidity. We had three goals: (1) to explore the performance of a new lifetime version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS-Lifetime) to assess lifetime prevalence of PND; (2) to

Lifetime of B hadrons from CDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miao, Ting.

1996-08-01

A review of the lifetimes of B hadrons measured by the CDF collaboration at Fermilab is presented. The data corresponds to 110 pb -1 of p anti p collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV. The inclusive B hadron lifetime is measured using a high statistics sample of B → J/ΨΧ decays. Species specific lifetimes of the B + , B 0 , B 0 s , and Λ 0 b are determined using both fully reconstructed decays and partially reconstructed decays consisting of a lepton associated with a charm hadron

Maintenance engineering of lifetime management programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hervia Ruperez, F.

1997-01-01

The complexity of nuclear power plants obliges to stablish the adecuated management of its lifetime. This article describes the methodologies and the improvement the evaluation of lifetime programs and specially in Garona and Vandellos II Nuclear Power Plants. (Author)

Body image and weight control in South Africans 15 years or older: SANHANES-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Mchiza, Zandile J; Parker, Whadi-Ah; Makoae, Mokhantso; Sewpaul, Ronel; Kupamupindi, Takura; Labadarios, Demetre

2015-09-30

South African studies have suggested that differences in obesity prevalence between groups may be partly related to differences in body image and body size dissatisfaction. However, there has never been a national study that measured body image and its relationship to weight control in the country. Hence, the main aim of the study was to examine body image in relation to body mass index and weight control in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey and a secondary analyses of data were undertaken for 6 411 South Africans (15+ years) participating in the first South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Body image was investigated in relation to weight status and attempts to lose or gain weight. Data were analysed using STATA version 11.0. Descriptive statistics are presented as counts (numbers), percentages, means, standard error of means, and 95 % confidence intervals. Any differences in values were considered to be significantly different if the confidence intervals did not overlap. Overall, 84.5 % participants had a largely distorted body image and 45.3 % were highly dissatisfied about their body size. Overweight and obese participants under estimated their body size and desired to be thinner. On the other hand, normal- and under-weight participants over estimated their body size and desired to be fatter. Only 12.1 and 10.1 % of participants attempted to lose or gain weight, respectively, mainly by adjusting dietary intake and physical activity. Body mass index appears to influence body image and weight adjustment in South Africa. South Africans at the extreme ends of the body mass index range have a largely distorted body image and are highly dissatisfied by it. This suggests a need for health education and beneficial weight control strategies to halt the obesity epidemic in the country.

Framing obesity a disease: Indirect effects of affect and controllability beliefs on weight bias.

Science.gov (United States)

Nutter, Sarah; Alberga, Angela S; MacInnis, Cara; Ellard, John H; Russell-Mayhew, Shelly

2018-05-24

Obesity has been declared a disease by the American and Canadian Medical Associations. Although these declarations sparked much debate as to the impact of framing obesity as a disease on weight bias, strong empirical research is needed to examine this impact. The current study examined the impact of framing obesity a disease on weight bias, focusing on moderating and mediating processes. A sample of 309 participants living in the United States or Canada was recruited from Crowdflower. Participants completed measures of demographics, ideology, general attitudes, and previous contact quality and quantity with people living with obesity. Participants then read one of three articles as part of an experimental manipulation framing obesity as a disease, obesity not as a disease, and a control article unrelated to obesity. Post-manipulation included measures of affect, disgust, empathy, blame, and weight bias. Orthogonal contrasts were used to compare the obesity-disease condition to the obesity-not-disease condition and control condition. The manipulation had a direct effect on affect (emotions), such that affect toward individuals with obesity was more positive in the obesity-disease condition than the obesity-not-disease and control condition combined. Exploration of moderating effects revealed that both the belief in a just world and weight satisfaction moderated the relationship between the obesity-disease manipulation and blame for obesity. Two models of indirect effects on weight bias were also examined, which demonstrated that the obesity-disease manipulation predicted less weight bias through more positive affect (model 1) as well as less weight bias through decreased blame among individuals high in belief in a just world (model 2). This study further highlights the complex effects of declaring obesity a disease, uncovering a new direction for future research into the role of affect as well as indirect effects of characterising obesity a disease on weight bias.

Lifetime management of the nuclear units in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Combes, J-P.; Godin, R.

1994-01-01

A systematic design study entitled 'Lifetime Project' has been initiated at Electricite de France, to estimate, plan, and maximize the life span of the French PWR plants. It is estimated that the present units will have a lifetime of 30 to 50 years. The life of a unit will be determined by that of its components, by economic considerations (whether it is cheaper to repair or replace the unit), and by safety considerations, which may be affected by changing safety standards. A 'periodic safety reassessment' takes place about every ten years. A list of 18 critical components can be summarized by saying that the main concerns are: radiation embrittlement of and within the reactor vessel, the steam generators, the concrete containment (which can not be replaced), instrumentation and control. Examination of samples from decommissioned plants, such as Chooz A, will provide valuable evidence of mechanisms of degradation due to aging

Inhibitory Control and Hedonic Response towards Food Interactively Predict Success in a Weight Loss Programme for Adults with Obesity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timo Brockmeyer

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: Low inhibitory control and strong hedonic response towards food are considered to contribute to overeating and obesity. Based on previous research, the present study aimed at examining the potentially crucial interplay between these two factors in terms of long-term weight loss in people with obesity. Methods: BMI, inhibitory control towards food, and food liking were assessed in obese adults prior to a weight reduction programme (OPTIFAST® 52. After the weight reduction phase (week 13 and the weight loss maintenance phase (week 52, participants' BMI was re-assessed. Results: Baseline BMI, inhibitory control and food liking alone did not predict weight loss. As hypothesised, however, inhibitory control and food liking interactively predicted weight loss from baseline to week 13 and to week 52 (albeit the latter effect was less robust. Participants with low inhibitory control and marked food liking were less successful in weight reduction. Conclusion: These findings underscore the relevance of the interplay between cognitive control and food reward valuation in the maintenance of obesity.

Using new technologies to promote weight management: a randomised controlled trial study protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Jane, Monica; Foster, Jonathan; Hagger, Martin; Pal, Sebely

2015-05-27

Over the last three decades, overweight and obesity and the associated health consequences have become global public health priorities. Methods that have been tried to address this problem have not had the desired impact, suggesting that other approaches need to be considered. One of the lessons learned throughout these attempts is that permanent weight loss requires sustained dietary and lifestyle changes, yet adherence to weight management programs has often been noted as one of the biggest challenges. This trial aims to address this issue by examining whether social media, as a potential health promotion tool, will improve adherence to a weight management program. To test the effectiveness of this measure, the designated program will be delivered via the popular social networking site Facebook, and compared to a standard delivery method that provides exactly the same content but which is communicated through a pamphlet. The trial will be conducted over a period of twelve weeks, with a twelve week follow-up. Although weight loss is expected, this study will specifically investigate the effectiveness of social media as a program delivery method. The program utilised will be one that has already been proven to achieve weight loss, namely The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet. This project will be conducted as a 3-arm randomised controlled trial. One hundred and twenty participants will be recruited from the Perth community, and will be randomly assigned to one of the following three groups: the Facebook group, the pamphlet group, or a control group. The Facebook Group will receive the weight management program delivered via a closed group in Facebook, the Pamphlet Group will be given the same weight management program presented in a booklet, and the Control Group will follow the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the National Physical Activity Guidelines for Adults as usual care. Change in weight, body composition and waist circumference will be initial indicators of

A weight loss intervention using a commercial mobile application in Latino Americans-Adelgaza Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuoka, Yoshimi; Vittinghoff, Eric; Hooper, Julie

2018-02-21

More than half of Latino adults living in the USA are expected to develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Despite the growing interest in smartphone use for weight loss and diabetes prevention, relatively few clinical trials have evaluated the efficacy of mobile app-based interventions in Latino populations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential efficacy of an in-person weight loss intervention in conjunction with a commercially available Fitbit app in a Latino sample at risk for type 2 diabetes and explore significant predictors associated with weight loss. After the run-in period, 54 self-identified Latinos with body mass index (BMI) > 24.9 kg/m2 were enrolled in an 8-week uncontrolled pilot study, and received a Fitbit Zip, its app, and two in-person weight loss sessions adapted from the Diabetes Prevention Program. Mean age was 45.3 (SD ± 10.8) years, 61.1% were born in the USA, and mean BMI was 31.4 (SD ± 4.1) kg/m2. Participants lost an average of 3.3 (SD ± 3.4) % of their body weight (p < .0005). We also observed statistically significant reductions in hip and waist circumferences, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p < .001). After controlling for demographic factors, use of the mobile app weight diary at least twice a week (p = .01) and change in the International Physical Activity Questionnaire score (p = .03) were associated with change in percent body weight. The intervention showed the potential efficacy of this intervention, which should be formally evaluated in a randomized controlled trial.

Brief training in mindfulness meditation reduces symptoms in patients with a chronic or recurrent lifetime history of depression: A randomized controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Winnebeck, Emilia; Fissler, Maria; Gärtner, Matti; Chadwick, Paul; Barnhofer, Thorsten

2017-12-01

Training in mindfulness has been introduced to the treatment of depression as a means of relapse prevention. However, given its buffering effects on maladaptive responses to negative mood, mindfulness training would be expected to be particularly helpful in those who are currently suffering from symptoms. This study investigated whether a brief and targeted mindfulness-based intervention can reduce symptoms in acutely depressed patients. Seventy-four patients with a chronic or recurrent lifetime history were randomly allocated to receive either a brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) encompassing three individual sessions and regular home practice or a control condition that combined psycho-educational components and regular rest periods using the same format as the MBI. Self-reported severity of symptoms, mindfulness in every day life, ruminative tendencies and cognitive reactivity were assessed before and after intervention. Treatment completers in the MBI condition showed pronounced and significantly stronger reductions in symptoms than those in the control condition. In the MBI group only, patients showed significant increases in mindfulness, and significant reductions in ruminative tendencies and cognitive reactivity. Brief targeted mindfulness interventions can help to reduce symptoms and buffer maladaptive responses to negative mood in acutely depressed patients with chronic or recurrent lifetime history. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Obesity, Body Image, Depression, and Weight-control Behaviour Among Female University Students in Korea

OpenAIRE

Jun, Eun Mi; Choi, Seung Bae

2014-01-01

Background: Obesity has become epidemic worldwide and 31.0% of Korean adults are obese. Obesity is the main cause of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, and cancer. The purpose of the study was to examine obesity, body image, depression, and weight-control behaviour among Korean female university students and investigate the differences in body image, depression, and weight-control behaviour with respect to obesity. Methods: This study examined obesity, body ima...

Heritability of lifetime ecstasy use.

Science.gov (United States)

Verweij, Karin J H; Treur, Jorien L; Vreeker, Annabel; Brunt, Tibor M; Willemsen, Gonneke; Boomsma, Dorret I; Vink, Jacqueline M

2017-09-01

Ecstasy is a widely used psychoactive drug that users often take because they experience positive effects such as increased euphoria, sociability, elevated mood, and heightened sensations. Ecstasy use is not harmless and several immediate and long term side effects have been identified. Lifetime ecstasy use is likely to be partly influenced by genetic factors, but no twin study has determined the heritability. Here, we apply a classical twin design to a large sample of twins and siblings to estimate the heritability of lifetime ecstasy use. The sample comprised 8500 twins and siblings aged between 18 and 45 years from 5402 families registered at the Netherlands Twin Registry. In 2013-2014 participants filled out a questionnaire including a question whether they had ever used ecstasy. We used the classical twin design to partition the individual differences in liability to ecstasy use into that due to genetic, shared environmental, and residual components. Overall, 10.4% of the sample had used ecstasy during their lifetime, with a somewhat higher prevalence in males than females. Twin modelling indicated that individual differences in liability to lifetime ecstasy use are for 74% due to genetic differences between individuals, whereas shared environmental and residual factors explain a small proportion of its liability (5% and 21%, respectively). Although heritability estimates appeared to be higher for females than males, this difference was not significant. Lifetime ecstasy use is a highly heritable trait, which indicates that some people are genetically more vulnerable to start using ecstasy than others. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Changes in body weight and food choice in those attempting smoking cessation: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie Wilma S

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Fear of weight gain is a barrier to smoking cessation and significant cause of relapse for many people. The provision of nutritional advice as part of a smoking cessation programme may assist some in smoking cessation and perhaps limit weight gain. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a structured programme of dietary advice on weight change and food choice, in adults attempting smoking cessation. Methods Cluster randomised controlled design. Classes randomised to intervention commenced a 24-week intervention, focussed on improving food choice and minimising weight gain. Classes randomised to control received “usual care”. Results Twenty-seven classes in Greater Glasgow were randomised between January and August 2008. Analysis, including those who continued to smoke, showed that actual weight gain and percentage weight gain was similar in both groups. Examination of data for those successful at giving up smoking showed greater mean weight gain in intervention subjects (3.9 (SD 3.1 vs. 2.7 (SD 3.7 kg. Between group differences were not significant (p = 0.23, 95% CI −0.9 to 3.5. In comparison to baseline improved consumption of fruit and vegetables and breakfast cereal were reported in the intervention group. A higher percentage of control participants continued smoking (74% vs. 66%. Conclusions The intervention was not successful at minimising weight gain in comparison to control but was successful in facilitating some sustained improvements in the dietary habits of intervention participants. Improved quit rates in the intervention group suggest that continued contact with advisors may have reduced anxieties regarding weight gain and encouraged cessation despite weight gain. Research should continue in this area as evidence suggests that the negative effects of obesity could outweigh the health benefits achieved through reductions in smoking prevalence. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials

Lifetime moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and ER/PR/HER-defined post-menopausal breast cancer risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Joy; Kobayashi, Lindsay C; Grundy, Anne; Richardson, Harriet; SenGupta, Sandip K; Lohrisch, Caroline A; Spinelli, John J; Aronson, Kristan J

2017-08-01

To assess the relationship of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in leisure-time, household, and occupational domains across the total lifetime and in four age periods with breast cancer risk, as defined by estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) status and ER/PR/human epidermal growth factor-2 (HER2) status, among post-menopausal women. Data were from 692 women with incident breast cancer and 644 controls in the Canadian Breast Cancer Study, a case-control study of women aged 40-80 years in British Columbia and Ontario. Mean metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours/week for questionnaire-assessed leisure-time, household, and occupational MVPA were calculated for the total lifetime and four age periods (12-17, 18-34, 45-49, and ≥50 years). Odds ratios (ORs) for the relationships between domain-specific MVPA at each lifetime period and risks of ER/PR-defined and ER/PR/HER2-defined breast cancers were estimated using polytomous logistic regression. Trend tests for dose-response relationships were calculated for the ORs across increasing tertiles of mean MET-hours/week of MVPA. Total lifetime leisure-time MVPA was associated with reduced risk of ER-/PR- breast cancer in a dose-response fashion (p trend  = 0.014). In contrast, total lifetime household MVPA was associated with reduced risk of ER+ and/or PR+ breast cancer (p trend  trends were observed when stratified by age period. Lifetime leisure-time MVPA appeared to be associated with reduced risk of ER-/PR-/HER2- breast cancers and lifetime household MVPA was associated with reduced risk of ER+ and/or PR+ breast cancer, regardless of HER2 status.

Generation lifetime investigation of ion-damage gettered silicon using MOS structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nassibian, A.G.; Browne, V.A.; Perkins, K.D.

1976-01-01

Gettering of undesirable generation impurities by O and Ar implant damage layer has been investigated by transient response of MOS capacitors. One-half of each Si wafer was masked against the implanting ion beam and comparison was made between the two halves of each wafer by deducing the generation lifetime from the C-t measurements. The implant dosage was 10 16 cm -2 and ion energy 200 keV. The gettering anneal at 1070 0 C was also the gate oxidation. The generation lifetime from 1 to 15 μs of the control half was increased to as high as 200 μs after both O and Ar implants. The results with O were more reproducible than with the Ar-implanted Si wafers; however, the largest increase in generation lifetime was observed with the Ar getterered wafer. It is proposed that there are generation centers other than the generation impurity centers that cannot be removed by gettering methods

Multiple Myeloma and lifetime occupation: results from the EPILYMPH study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Perrotta Carla

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The EPILYMPH study applied a detailed occupational exposure assessment approach to a large multi-centre case–control study conducted in six European countries. This paper analysed multiple myeloma (MM risk associated with level of education, and lifetime occupational history and occupational exposures, based on the EPILYMPH data set. Methods 277 MM cases and four matched controls per each case were included. Controls were randomly selected, matching for age (+/− 5 years, centre and gender. Lifetime occupations and lifetime exposure to specific workplace agents was obtained through a detailed questionnaire. Local industrial hygienists assessed likelihood and intensity for specific exposures. The odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI were calculated for level of education, individual occupations and specific exposures. Unconditional logistic regression models were run for individual occupations and exposures. Results A low level of education was associated with MM OR=1.68 (95% CI 1.02-2.76. An increased risk was observed for general farmers (OR=1.77; 95% CI 1.05-2.99 and cleaning workers (OR=1.69; 95% CI 1.04-2.72 adjusting for level of education. Risk was also elevated, although not significant, for printers (OR=2.06; 95% CI 0.97-4.34. Pesticide exposure over a period of ten years or more increased MM risk (OR=1.62; 95% CI 1.01-2.58. Conclusion These results confirm an association of MM with farm work, and indicate its association with printing and cleaning. While prolonged exposure to pesticides seems to be a risk factor for MM, an excess risk associated with exposure to organic solvents could not be confirmed.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of sibutramine for clozapine-associated weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, D C; Fan, X; Copeland, P M; Borba, C P; Daley, T B; Nguyen, D D; Zhang, H; Hayden, D; Freudenreich, O; Cather, C; Evins, A E; Goff, D C

2007-02-01

This study sought to examine the effectiveness of sibutramine, a weight loss agent, on clozapine-associated weight gain. This was a 12-week double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized trial of sibutramine for weight loss in obese clozapine-treated schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder subjects. Ten patients were enrolled into the placebo group and 11 patients into the sibutramine group. There were no significant baseline differences between the two groups on age, gender, education, ethnicity, diagnosis, weight, body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure. At week 12, there were no significant differences in changes in weight, BMI, abdominal and waist circumferences, Hba1c, fasting glucose, or cholesterol levels. Sibutramine treatment did not show significant weight loss compared with placebo in clozapine-treated patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Further research with a larger sample size and longer follow-up duration is warranted.

Exposure–response model for sibutramine and placebo: suggestion for application to long-term weight-control drug development

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Seunghoon; Jeon, Sangil; Hong, Taegon; Lee, Jongtae; Bae, Soo Hyeon; Park, Wan-su; Park, Gab-jin; Youn, Sunil; Jang, Doo Yeon; Kim, Kyung-Soo; Yim, Dong-Seok

2015-01-01

No wholly successful weight-control drugs have been developed to date, despite the tremendous demand. We present an exposure–response model of sibutramine mesylate that can be applied during clinical development of other weight-control drugs. Additionally, we provide a model-based evaluation of sibutramine efficacy. Data from a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter study were used (N=120). Subjects in the treatment arm were initially given 8.37 mg sibutramine base daily, and those who lost sibutramine, including the placebo effect, were modeled using NONMEM 7.2. An asymptotic model approaching the final body weight was chosen to describe the time course of weight loss. Extent of weight loss was described successfully using a sigmoidal exposure–response relationship of the drug with a constant placebo effect in each individual. The placebo effect was influenced by subjects’ sex and baseline body mass index. Maximal weight loss was predicted to occur around 1 year after treatment initiation. The difference in mean weight loss between the sibutramine (daily 12.55 mg) and placebo groups was predicted to be 4.5% in a simulation of 1 year of treatment, with considerable overlap of prediction intervals. Our exposure–response model, which included the placebo effect, is the first example of a quantitative model that can be used to predict the efficacy of weight-control drugs. Similar approaches can help decision-making during clinical development of novel weight-loss drugs. PMID:26392753

Exposure-response model for sibutramine and placebo: suggestion for application to long-term weight-control drug development.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Seunghoon; Jeon, Sangil; Hong, Taegon; Lee, Jongtae; Bae, Soo Hyeon; Park, Wan-su; Park, Gab-jin; Youn, Sunil; Jang, Doo Yeon; Kim, Kyung-Soo; Yim, Dong-Seok

2015-01-01

No wholly successful weight-control drugs have been developed to date, despite the tremendous demand. We present an exposure-response model of sibutramine mesylate that can be applied during clinical development of other weight-control drugs. Additionally, we provide a model-based evaluation of sibutramine efficacy. Data from a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter study were used (N=120). Subjects in the treatment arm were initially given 8.37 mg sibutramine base daily, and those who lost sibutramine, including the placebo effect, were modeled using NONMEM 7.2. An asymptotic model approaching the final body weight was chosen to describe the time course of weight loss. Extent of weight loss was described successfully using a sigmoidal exposure-response relationship of the drug with a constant placebo effect in each individual. The placebo effect was influenced by subjects' sex and baseline body mass index. Maximal weight loss was predicted to occur around 1 year after treatment initiation. The difference in mean weight loss between the sibutramine (daily 12.55 mg) and placebo groups was predicted to be 4.5% in a simulation of 1 year of treatment, with considerable overlap of prediction intervals. Our exposure-response model, which included the placebo effect, is the first example of a quantitative model that can be used to predict the efficacy of weight-control drugs. Similar approaches can help decision-making during clinical development of novel weight-loss drugs.

Nuclear Power Plant Lifetime Management Study (I)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Sung Yull; Jeong, Ill Seok; Jang, Chang Heui; Song, Taek Ho; Song, Woo Young [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Jin, Tae Eun [Korea Power Engineering Company Consulting and Architecture Engineers, (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Woo Chul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1997-12-31

As the operation-year of nuclear power plant increases and finding sites for new nuclear power plant becomes harder, a comprehensive and systematic nuclear plant lifetime management(PLIM) program including life extension has to be established for stable and safe supply of electricity. A feasibility study was conducted to systematically evaluate technical, economic and regulatory aspect of plant lifetime managements and plant life extension for Kori-1 nuclear power plant. For technical evaluation of nuclear power plant, 13 major components were selected for lifetime evaluation by screening system. structure, and components(SSCs) of the plant. It was found that except reactor pressure vessel, which needs detailed integrity analysis, and low pressure turbine, which is scheduled to be replaced, 11 out of 13 major components have sufficient service life, for more than 40 years. Because domestic rules and regulations related to license renewal has not yet been written, review on the regulatory aspect of life extensions was conducted using US NRC rules and regulations. A cooperative effort with nuclear regulatory body is needed for early completion of license renewal rules and regulations. For economic evaluation of plant lifetime extension, a computer program was developed and used. It was found that 10 to 20 year of extension operation of Kori-1 nuclear power plant was proved. Based on the results, next phase of plant lifetime management program for detailed lifetime evaluation and presenting detailed implementation schedule for plant refurbishment for lifetime extension should be followed. (author). 74 refs., figs.

Nuclear Power Plant Lifetime Management Study (I)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Sung Yull; Jeong, Ill Seok; Jang, Chang Heui; Song, Taek Ho; Song, Woo Young [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Jin, Tae Eun [Korea Power Engineering Company Consulting and Architecture Engineers, (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Woo Chul [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1996-12-31

As the operation-year of nuclear power plant increases and finding sites for new nuclear power plant becomes harder, a comprehensive and systematic nuclear plant lifetime management(PLIM) program including life extension has to be established for stable and safe supply of electricity. A feasibility study was conducted to systematically evaluate technical, economic and regulatory aspect of plant lifetime managements and plant life extension for Kori-1 nuclear power plant. For technical evaluation of nuclear power plant, 13 major components were selected for lifetime evaluation by screening system. structure, and components(SSCs) of the plant. It was found that except reactor pressure vessel, which needs detailed integrity analysis, and low pressure turbine, which is scheduled to be replaced, 11 out of 13 major components have sufficient service life, for more than 40 years. Because domestic rules and regulations related to license renewal has not yet been written, review on the regulatory aspect of life extensions was conducted using US NRC rules and regulations. A cooperative effort with nuclear regulatory body is needed for early completion of license renewal rules and regulations. For economic evaluation of plant lifetime extension, a computer program was developed and used. It was found that 10 to 20 year of extension operation of Kori-1 nuclear power plant was proved. Based on the results, next phase of plant lifetime management program for detailed lifetime evaluation and presenting detailed implementation schedule for plant refurbishment for lifetime extension should be followed. (author). 74 refs., figs.

Vibrational lifetimes of protein amide modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, K.A.; Rella, C.A.

1995-01-01

Measurement of the lifetimes of vibrational modes in proteins has been achieved with a single frequency infrared pump-probe technique using the Stanford Picosecond Free-electron Laser, These are the first direct measurements of vibrational dynamics in the polyamide structure of proteins. In this study, modes associated with the protein backbone are investigated. Results for the amide I band, which consists mainly of the stretching motion of the carbonyl unit of the amide linkage, show that relaxation from the first vibrational excited level (v=1) to the vibrational ground state (v=0) occurs within 1.5 picoseconds with apparent first order kinetics. Comparison of lifetimes for myoglobin and azurin, which have differing secondary structures, show a small but significant difference. The lifetime for the amide I band of myoglobin is 300 femtoseconds shorter than for azurin. Further measurements are in progress on other backbone vibrational modes and on the temperature dependence of the lifetimes. Comparison of vibrational dynamics for proteins with differing secondary structure and for different vibrational modes within a protein will lead to a greater understanding of energy transfer and dissipation in biological systems. In addition, these results have relevance to tissue ablation studies which have been conducted with pulsed infrared lasers. Vibrational lifetimes are necessary for calculating the rate at which the energy from absorbed infrared photons is converted to equilibrium thermal energy within the irradiated volume. The very fast vibrational lifetimes measured here indicate that mechanisms which involve direct vibrational up-pumping of the amide modes with consecutive laser pulses, leading to bond breakage or weakening, are not valid

The Prevalence of Past 12-Month and Lifetime DSM-IV Eating Disorders by BMI Category in US Men and Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Alexis E; Ziobrowski, Hannah N; Nicol, Ginger

2017-05-01

This study aims to determine whether the prevalence of lifetime and past 12-month DSM-IV eating disorders (ED) diagnoses differed by body mass index category among men and women in a general population sample. Data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (n = 12 337 adults) were analysed using logistic regression. Analyses were conducted separately by gender. Lifetime ED prevalence was 2.22% in men and 4.93% in women. In both genders, the prevalence of any lifetime and past 12-month ED, binge eating disorder and recurrent binge eating was highest among obese individuals. Among obese men and women, lifetime and past 12-month ED prevalence was highest among those with class III obesity. Eating disorders were most prevalent among high-weight individuals. This information is important for planning targeted public health ED and obesity prevention and intervention activities, as well as for informing the clinical care of obese individuals. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

[Weight control behaviors in dieting adolescent girls and their relation to body dissatisfaction and obsession with thinness].

Science.gov (United States)

Contreras, M Liliana A; Morán, Javier K; Frez, Scarlett H; Lagos, Carola O; Marín, María Paz F; de los Ángeles Pinto B, María; Suzarte, Érika A

2015-01-01

Obsession with thinness and body dissatisfaction can lead adolescents to follow unsupervised diets, which could result in risky weight control behaviors such as fasting, vomiting, use of diuretics and laxatives. The aim of the current study is to examine weight control behaviors in dieting adolescents and relate them to body dissatisfaction (BD) and obsession with thinness (OT). A cross-sectional study was conducted on 439 adolescents from Valparaiso public schools to investigate risky weight control behaviors due to BD and OT scales from the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2), comparing restrained eaters and non-restrained eaters. A total of 43% adolescents had followed a weight loss diet without medical supervision. The dieters had higher BD and OT values. Moderate to severe food restriction, based on expert judgment, was observed in 29.6%, and differences in the presence and severity of purging behaviors were found between the 2 groups. One third of the adolescents studied followed diets without professional supervision and had higher BD and OT values, as well as risky weight control behaviors. Overweight and obese adolescents followed more restrictive diets and developed riskier weight control behaviors. Copyright © 2015. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

Controllability of Weighted and Directed Networks with Nonidentical Node Dynamics

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Linying Xiang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of controllability from control theory is applied to weighted and directed networks with heterogenous linear or linearized node dynamics subject to exogenous inputs, where the nodes are grouped into leaders and followers. Under this framework, the controllability of the controlled network can be decomposed into two independent problems: the controllability of the isolated leader subsystem and the controllability of the extended follower subsystem. Some necessary and/or sufficient conditions for the controllability of the leader-follower network are derived based on matrix theory and graph theory. In particular, it is shown that a single-leader network is controllable if it is a directed path or cycle, but it is uncontrollable for a complete digraph or a star digraph in general. Furthermore, some approaches to improving the controllability of a heterogenous network are presented. Some simulation examples are given for illustration and verification.

Smoking for weight control: effect of priming for body image in female restrained eaters.

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, Sherry A; Nhean, Siphannay; Hinson, Riley E; Mase, Tricia

2006-12-01

Women are more likely than men to believe that smoking helps to control their weight, and this relationship may be more pronounced in those with eating disturbances, such as eating restraint. Restrained eaters have been shown to be more susceptible to media portrayals of idealized body image, like those used in tobacco advertising. The primary aim of this study was to examine the effect of an implicit prime for body image on expectations that smoking can control weight in restrained and non-restrained eaters. Participants were 40 females, who smoked an average of 7.65 (S.D.=4.38) cigarettes per day. Participants were presented with a bogus task of rating slides; either participants viewed 30 slides of nature scenes (neutral prime); or viewed 30 slides depicting fashion models (body image prime). Participants then completed questionnaires that assessed smoking expectancies, smoking history, and eating restraint. As hypothesized, restrained eaters who viewed the slides depicting models had greater likelihood ratings that smoking helps to control appetite and manage weight, in comparison to restrained eaters who viewed the control slides and non-restrained eaters who viewed either type of slides. There were no other group differences across the remaining smoking expectancy factors. Images similar to those used in tobacco advertising targeting women had the ability to elicit stronger beliefs that smoking is beneficial for weight control in a group of women who are at heightened risk for such beliefs.

Active Mothers Postpartum: a randomized controlled weight-loss intervention trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Østbye, Truls; Krause, Katrina M; Lovelady, Cheryl A; Morey, Miriam C; Bastian, Lori A; Peterson, Bercedis L; Swamy, Geeta K; Brouwer, Rebecca J N; McBride, Colleen M

2009-09-01

Pregnancy may contribute to overweight and obesity. The primary objective of Active Mothers Postpartum was to promote a reduction in BMI through 24-months postpartum via sustainable lifestyle changes. Behavioral intervention RCT to enhance postpartum weight loss. A total of 450 overweight or obese women, enrolled 6-weeks postpartum, were recruited through obstetrics clinics and community posters in the Durham NC area. Intervention participants were offered eight healthy-eating classes, ten physical-activity classes, and six telephone-counseling sessions over 9 months. Changes from baseline (6-weeks postpartum) to 1-month post-intervention (12-months postpartum) in: (1) diet (caloric intake, calories from fat, intake of certain foods); (2) physical activity (self-reported physical activity, television time); and (3) weight (collected 2004-2007, analyzed 2007-2008). Mean weight loss was 0.90 kg (+/-5.1 kg) in the intervention group and 0.36 kg (+/-4.9 kg) in the control group; this difference was not significant. There were also no significant group differences in improvement of diet or increased physical activity. In secondary analyses, there was a positive bivariate relationship between classes attended and weight loss (p=0.01). There were no significant differences among the arms in diet, physical activity, or weight change. Home-based interventions via mail, telephone, or Internet/e-mail may be more feasible and successful in this population. The postpartum period is an important phase in women's lives with regard to weight retention, but engaging them during this busy period remains a challenge. NCT00212251.

Bivariate copulas on the exponentially weighted moving average control chart

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sasigarn Kuvattana

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes four types of copulas on the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA control chart when observations are from an exponential distribution using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. The performance of the control chart is based on the Average Run Length (ARL which is compared for each copula. Copula functions for specifying dependence between random variables are used and measured by Kendall’s tau. The results show that the Normal copula can be used for almost all shifts.

Digital positron lifetime: the influence of noise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krille, Arnold; Krause-Rehberg, Reinhard; Anwand, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

In contrast to the world around where everything seems to go digital as soon as possible, positron lifetime spectrometers are kind of a 'last sanctuary' for analog measurements. Only a few of the newer spectrometers use the analog-digital-converters directly after the photomultipliers and extract the timing information via computer. Judging from their results it seems as if the current available converters and the timing mathematics are only as good as the conventional analog setup in the timing resolution. As it is decided that EPOS [1] will use digital positron lifetime, we try to find some reasons for limited timing resolution by simulating anode pulses from the photomultipliers and measuring the FWHM. We create pulses similar to current state-of-the-art 4GS/s digitizers but can control the level of noise and the bit-depth independently. We found that especially the noise (that would come from the analog electronics in/before the converters) has a great influence on the timing resolution. Also we try to use lowpass filtering to reduce that influence with great success.

Digital positron lifetime: the influence of noise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krille, Arnold; Krause-Rehberg, Reinhard [Department of Physics, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, 06099 Halle (Germany); Anwand, Wolfgang, E-mail: arnold.krille@physik.uni-halle.de [Institute of Ion Beam Physics, Research Center Dresden-Rossendorf, 01314 Dresden (Germany)

2011-01-10

In contrast to the world around where everything seems to go digital as soon as possible, positron lifetime spectrometers are kind of a 'last sanctuary' for analog measurements. Only a few of the newer spectrometers use the analog-digital-converters directly after the photomultipliers and extract the timing information via computer. Judging from their results it seems as if the current available converters and the timing mathematics are only as good as the conventional analog setup in the timing resolution. As it is decided that EPOS [1] will use digital positron lifetime, we try to find some reasons for limited timing resolution by simulating anode pulses from the photomultipliers and measuring the FWHM. We create pulses similar to current state-of-the-art 4GS/s digitizers but can control the level of noise and the bit-depth independently. We found that especially the noise (that would come from the analog electronics in/before the converters) has a great influence on the timing resolution. Also we try to use lowpass filtering to reduce that influence with great success.

Self-reported sleep duration and weight-control strategies among U.S. high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheaton, Anne G; Perry, Geraldine S; Chapman, Daniel P; Croft, Janet B

2013-08-01

To determine if self-reported sleep duration was associated with weight-control behaviors among US high school students. National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. United States, 2007. US high school students (N = 12,087). Students were asked if they had engaged in several weight-control behaviors during the 30 days before the survey to lose or maintain weight. Self-reported sleep duration categories included very short (≤ 5 h), short (6 or 7 h), referent moderate (8 or 9 h), and long (≥ 10 h). Sex-specific logistic regression analyses with race/ethnicity, grade, and body mass index category as covariates were conducted using SUDAAN to account for complex study design. Approximately half the students reported short sleep duration (51.8% of males and 54.3% of females), whereas very short sleep durations were reported by another 14.8% of males and 16.9% of females. Among males, very short sleepers were significantly (P sleep duration was associated with dieting and three unhealthy weight-control behaviors in this population. If our findings are confirmed, intervention studies should be conducted to examine the effect of educational interventions.

Identifying the ‘red flags’ for unhealthy weight control among adolescents: Findings from an item response theory analysis of a national survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Utter Jennifer

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Weight control behaviors are common among young people and are associated with poor health outcomes. Yet clinicians rarely ask young people about their weight control; this may be due to uncertainty about which questions to ask, specifically around whether certain weight loss strategies are healthier or unhealthy or about what weight loss behaviors are more likely to lead to adverse outcomes. Thus, the aims of the current study are: to confirm, using item response theory analysis, that the underlying latent constructs of healthy and unhealthy weight control exist; to determine the ‘red flag’ weight loss behaviors that may discriminate unhealthy from healthy weight loss; to determine the relationships between healthy and unhealthy weight loss and mental health; and to examine how weight control may vary among demographic groups. Methods Data were collected as part of a national health and wellbeing survey of secondary school students in New Zealand (n = 9,107 in 2007. Item response theory analyses were conducted to determine the underlying constructs of weight control behaviors and the behaviors that discriminate unhealthy from healthy weight control. Results The current study confirms that there are two underlying constructs of weight loss behaviors which can be described as healthy and unhealthy weight control. Unhealthy weight control was positively correlated with depressive mood. Fasting and skipping meals for weight loss had the lowest item thresholds on the unhealthy weight control continuum, indicating that they act as ‘red flags’ and warrant further discussion in routine clinical assessments. Conclusions Routine assessments of weight control strategies by clinicians are warranted, particularly for screening for meal skipping and fasting for weight loss as these behaviors appear to ‘flag’ behaviors that are associated with poor mental wellbeing.

Association between weight control failure and suicidal ideation in overweight and obese adults: a cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeong Jun Ju

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Korea has the highest suicide rate in the OECD and is one of the few OECD countries whose suicide rates have not decreased in recent years. To address these issues, we investigated the effects of weight control failure on suicidal ideation in the overweight and obese populations. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008–2012 consisting of 6621 individuals 40 years of age or older. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between weight control failure and suicidal ideation in the overweight and obese populations. Results A total of 6621 participants were analyzed in this study (overweight group: 2439; obese group: 4182. Among them, weight control failure (weight gain with weight loss efforts was experienced in 962 obese (males 16.3 %, females 29.6 % and 412 overweight individuals (males 9.1 %, females 23.4 %. Weight control failure was significantly associated with suicidal ideation in obese females (OR = 1.70, 95 % CI 1.21–2.39, but this association was not significant in obese males or in either sex of the overweight group. Conclusions Findings from this study suggest that weight control failure is associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation among obese women. Furthermore, intervention programs that aim to address the prevalence of suicide, especially for obese women, are needed.

Improved b lifetime measurement from MAC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, W.T.

1984-03-01

Two recent publications, from the MAC and Mark II collaborations, have reported the somewhat surprising result that the lifetime of particles made up of b quarks is in the 1 to 2 picosecond range, or somewhat longer than the lifetimes of charm particles. Although the charm decays are favored transitions while those of b particles depend upon off-diagonal elements of the weak flavor mixing matrix, the smallness of the b decay rates in face of the large available phase space indicates that the off-diagonal elements are indeed very small. The possibility for complete determination of the mixing matrix was brought significantly nearer by the availability of the lifetime information; what is needed now is to reduce the uncertainty of the measurements, which was about 33% for both experiments. We describe here an extension of the b lifetime study with the MAC detector, incorporating some new data and improvements in the analysis. 12 references

Cosmological constraints on the neutron lifetime

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Salvati, L.; Pagano, L.; Melchiorri, A. [Physics Department, Università di Roma ' ' La Sapienza' ' , Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185, Rome (Italy); Consiglio, R., E-mail: laura.salvati@roma1.infn.it, E-mail: luca.pagano@roma1.infn.it, E-mail: rconsiglio@na.infn.it, E-mail: alessandro.melchiorri@roma1.infn.it [Physics Department, Università di Napoli ' ' Federico II' ' , Complesso Universitario Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli (Italy)

2016-03-01

We derive new constraints on the neutron lifetime based on the recent Planck 2015 observations of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the CMB. Under the assumption of standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, we show that Planck data constrains the neutron lifetime to τ{sub n} = (907±69) [s] at 68% c.l.. Moreover, by including the direct measurements of primordial Helium abundance of Aver et al. (2015) and Izotov et al. (2014), we show that cosmological data provide the stringent constraints τ{sub n} = (875±19) [s] and τ{sub n} = (921±11) [s] respectively. The latter appears to be in tension with neutron lifetime value quoted by the Particle Data Group (τ{sub n} = (880.3±1.1) [s]). Future CMB surveys as COrE+, in combination with a weak lensing survey as EUCLID, could constrain the neutron lifetime up to a ∼ 6 [s] precision.

Control of weight loss and sprouting of ginger rhizome in storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paull, R.E.; Chen, N.J.; Goo, T.T.C.

1988-01-01

Methods were investigated to control weight loss and sprouting of stored ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale Rosc), including waxing, sprout inhibitors, and gamma irradiation. Rhizomes stored for 3 months at 22°C and 70% RH lost about 20% weight. Waxing of the rhizome did not reduce water loss. Some wax treatments increased the number and length of sprouts. Preharvest application of maleic hydrazide significantly increased the number and reduced the length of sprouts. Postharvest CIPC application significantly reduced the length of sprouts. Vacuum infiltration increased the effectiveness of CIPC in reducing sprout length. Gamma and X-ray irradiation also reduced sprout number and length. Minimum doses of gamma radiation for sprout control was 25 Gy and 120 to 150 Gy for X-ray irradiation if the rhizome was stored for more than 3 months at 22°C. At higher dose of irradiation (500 Gy) was required if complete sprout growth control was needed for storage periods < 3 months at 22.degree. Suberization occurred during curing at 22°C, but the suberin layer did not completely protect the cut surface

PROTOCOLS FOR INCREASING THE LIFETIME OF NODES OF AD HOC WIRELESS NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.Malarkodi

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Power consumption of nodes in ad hoc networks is a critical issue as they predominantly operate on batteries. In order to improve the lifetime of an ad hoc network, all the nodes must be utilized evenly and the power required for connections must be minimized. Energy management deals with the process of managing energy resources by means of controlling the battery discharge, adjusting the transmission power and scheduling of power sources so as to increase the lifetime of the nodes of an ad hoc wireless network. In this paper, two protocols are proposed to improve the lifetime of the nodes. The first protocol assumes smart battery packages with L cells and uses dynamic programming (DP to optimally select the set of cells used to satisfy a request for power. The second one proposes a MAC layer protocol denoted as Power Aware medium Access Control (PAMAC protocol which enables the network layer to select a route with minimum total power requirement among the possible routes between a source and a destination provided all nodes in the routes have battery capacity above a threshold. The life time of the nodes using the DP based scheduling policy is found through simulation and compared with that obtained using the techniques reported in the literature. It is found that DP based policy increases the lifetime of the mobile nodes by a factor of 1.15 to 1.8. The life expectancy, the average power consumption and throughput of the network using PAMAC protocol are computed through simulation and compared with that of the other MAC layer protocols 802.11, MACA, and CSMA. Besides this, the life expectancy and average power consumption of the network for different values of threshold are also compared. From the simulation results, it is observed that PAMAC consumes the least power and provides the longest lifetime among the various MAC Layer protocols. Moreover, using PAMAC as the MAC layer protocol, the performance obtained using different routing layer

Some optimal considerations in attitude control systems. [evaluation of value of relative weighting between time and fuel for relay control law

Science.gov (United States)

Boland, J. S., III

1973-01-01

The conventional six-engine reaction control jet relay attitude control law with deadband is shown to be a good linear approximation to a weighted time-fuel optimal control law. Techniques for evaluating the value of the relative weighting between time and fuel for a particular relay control law is studied along with techniques to interrelate other parameters for the two control laws. Vehicle attitude control laws employing control moment gyros are then investigated. Steering laws obtained from the expression for the reaction torque of the gyro configuration are compared to a total optimal attitude control law that is derived from optimal linear regulator theory. This total optimal attitude control law has computational disadvantages in the solving of the matrix Riccati equation. Several computational algorithms for solving the matrix Riccati equation are investigated with respect to accuracy, computational storage requirements, and computational speed.

Caffeine intake, toxicity and dependence and lifetime risk for psychiatric and substance use disorders: an epidemiologic and co-twin control analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendler, Kenneth S; Myers, John; O Gardner, Charles

2006-12-01

Although caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive substance and often produces symptoms of toxicity and dependence, little is known, especially in community samples, about the association between caffeine use, toxicity and dependence and risk for common psychiatric and substance use disorders. Assessments of lifetime maximal caffeine use and symptoms of caffeine toxicity and dependence were available on over 3600 adult twins ascertained from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. Lifetime histories of major depression (MD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder, alcohol dependence, adult antisocial behavior and cannabis and cocaine abuse/dependence were obtained at personal interview. Logistic regression analyses in the entire sample and within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs were conducted in SAS. In the entire sample, measures of maximal caffeine use, heavy caffeine use, and caffeine-related toxicity and dependence were significantly and positively associated with all seven psychiatric and substance use disorders. However, within MZ twin pairs, controlling for genetic and family environmental factors, these associations, while positive, were all non-significant. These results were similar when excluding twins who denied regular caffeine use. Maximal lifetime caffeine intake and caffeine-associated toxicity and dependence are moderately associated with risk for a wide range of psychiatric and substance use disorders. Analyses of these relationships within MZ twin pairs suggest that most of the observed associations are not causal. Rather, familial factors, which are probably in part genetic, predispose to both caffeine intake, toxicity and dependence and the risk for a broad array of internalizing and externalizing disorders.

Measurement of the inclusive b-lifetime using Jp's at the CDF-experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Wenzel, Hans; Benjamin, Doug

1996-05-01

We present the measurement of the average lifetime of b-hadrons produced in pbarp collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV weighted by their branching ratios into J/ψ We use dimuon data which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of ≈ 90 pb-1 recorded with the CDF-detector during the 1994 to 95 running period. After all selection cuts and background subtraction we are left with a high statistics sample of 62656 J/ψ decaying into μ^+μ^- reconstructed in the CDF Silicon VerteX detector (SVX) where 17.8% of these events come from b-decays. We measure the average B lifetime to be 1.52 ; ± 0.015; (stat);^+0.038_-0.027;(sys); ps (preliminary). The precision of this measurement is significantly improved compared to the inclusive lifetime measurement published previously using ≈ 10 pb-1 of data recorded in 91-92. ^ Supported by U.S. DOE DE-AC03-76SF00098. ^ Supported by U.S. DOE DEFG03-95-ER-40938. ^*We thank the Fermilab staff and the technical staffs of the participating institutions for their vital contributions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation; the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare; the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the National Science Council of the Republic of China; and the A. P. Sloan Foundation.

Who responds to financial incentives for weight loss? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Paloyo, Alfredo R; Reichert, Arndt R; Reuss-Borst, Monika; Tauchmann, Harald

2015-11-01

There is a paucity of evidence on the heterogeneous impacts of financial incentives on weight loss. Between March 2010 and January 2012, in a randomized controlled trial, we assigned 700 obese persons to three experimental arms. We test whether particular subgroups react differently to financial incentives for weight loss. Two treatment groups obtained a cash reward (€150 and €300 with 237 and 229 participants, respectively) for achieving an individually-assigned target weight within four months; the control group (234 participants) was not incentivized. Participants and administrators were not blinded to the intervention. We find that monetary rewards effectively induced obese individuals to reduce weight across all subgroups. However, there is no evidence for treatment-effect heterogeneity for those groups that were incentivized. Among those who were in the €300 group, statistically significant and large weight losses were observed for women, singles, and those who are not working (all above 4 kg in four months). In addition, the magnitude of the reward matters only for women and migrants. The effectiveness of financial incentives to reduce weight nevertheless raises sensitive ethical issues that should be taken into consideration by policymakers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[The effects of a weight control program with competence].

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Yeong-Mi; Suh, Sun-Lim

2007-12-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a weight control program and compliancy in overweight women. This program was composed of strategies to modify diet and exercise and to change compliance and self determination over an 8 week period. The subjects were 19 overweight women who participated in our project voluntarily. Data was collected from May 4 to June 30 of 2007. The program consisted of regular rapid walking exercise, diet, mobile phone messages and e-mail. The data was analyzed by Repeated Measures ANOVA using the SPSS WIN program. According to 3 assessment periods, there were significant differences in body weight, body mass index, and compliance. There were no significant differences in self determination. These findings suggest that more intensive interventions may be needed to demonstrate a change in self determination.

Characterization of atomic spin polarization lifetime of cesium vapor cells with neon buffer gas

Science.gov (United States)

Lou, Janet W.; Cranch, Geoffrey A.

2018-02-01

The dephasing time of spin-polarized atoms in an atomic vapor cell plays an important role in determining the stability of vapor-cell clocks as well as the sensitivity of optically-pumped magnetometers. The presence of a buffer gas can extend the lifetime of these atoms. Many vapor cell systems operate at a fixed (often elevated) temperature. For ambient temperature operation with no temperature control, it is necessary to characterize the temperature dependence as well. We present a spin-polarization lifetime study of Cesium vapor cells with different buffer gas pressures, and find good agreement with expectations based on the combined effects of wall collisions, spin exchange, and spin destruction. For our (7.5 mm diameter) vapor cells, the lifetime can be increased by two orders of magnitude by introducing Ne buffer gas up to 100 Torr. Additionally, the dependence of the lifetime on temperature is measured (25 - 47 oC) and simulated for the first time to our knowledge with reasonable agreement.

Attitudes Toward Obese Persons and Weight Locus of Control in Chinese Nurses: A Cross-sectional Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yan; Ding, Ye; Song, Daoping; Zhu, Daqiao; Wang, Jianrong

2016-01-01

Obese individuals frequently experience weight-related bias or discrimination-even in healthcare settings. Although obesity bias has been associated with several demographic factors, little is known about the association of weight locus of control with bias against overweight persons or about weight bias among Chinese health professionals. The aim of the study was to examine attitudes toward obese patients in a sample of Chinese registered nurses (RNs) and the relationship between weight bias and nurses' weight locus of control. RNs working in nine community health service centers across Shanghai, China, answered three self-report questionnaires: The Attitudes Toward Obese Persons Scale (ATOP), the External Weight Locus of Control Subscale (eWLOC) from the Dieting Belief Scale, and a sociodemographic profile. Hierarchical, stepwise, multiple regression was used to predict ATOP scores. From among 385 invited, a total of 297 RNs took part in the study (77.1% response rate). Participants scored an average of 71.04 on the ATOP, indicating slightly positive attitudes toward obese persons, and 30.08 on the eWLOC, indicating a belief in the uncontrollability of body weight. Using hierarchical, stepwise, multiple regression, two predictors of ATOP scores were statistically significant (eWLOC scores and status as a specialist rather than generalist nurse), but explained variance was low. Chinese RNs seemed to have relatively neutral or even slightly positive attitudes toward obese persons. Those nurses who believed that obesity was beyond the individual's control or worked in specialties were more likely to have positive attitudes toward obese people. Improved understanding of the comprehensive etiology of obesity is needed.

Lifetime measurement of ATF damping ring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okugi, T.; Hayano, H.; Kubo, K.; Naito, T.; Terunuma, N.; Urakawa, J.; Zimmermann, F.

1998-06-01

The purpose of the ATF damping ring is the development of technologies for producing a low emittance beam required in future linear colliders such as JLC. The lifetime of the damping ring is very short (typically a few minutes). It is limited by elastic beam-gas scattering along with a small dynamic aperture, and by single intra-beam scattering (Touschek effect). The Touschek lifetime strongly depends upon the charge density of the beam, especially, the size of the vertical emittance. In this paper, the authors report the results of beam lifetime measurements in the ATF damping ring and the estimation of the vertical emittance from these measurements

Lifetime measurements of hadrons containing heavy quarks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forden, G.E.

1985-01-01

Recent lifetime measurements of heavy particles at PETRA and PEP are reviewed. A comparison of the methods used is given. The world averages for the lifetimes of the D 0 and D +- mesons are found to be (tau/dub D/ 0 ) - 3.97 +/- 0.3 x 10 -13 sec and (tau/dub D +-/) = 8.6 +/- 0.7 x 10 -13 sec. This difference in lifetimes is discussed in light of recent information about exclusive decays. The world average for the lifetime of bottom hadrons is determined to be (tau/sub b/) = 11.0 +/- 1.5 x 10 -13 sec and new estimates for the b quark mixing elements, absolute value V/sub bu/ and absolute value V/sub bc/, are given

Maximizing System Lifetime by Battery Scheduling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongerden, M.R.; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.H.M.; Bohnenkamp, H.C.; Katoen, Joost P.

2009-01-01

The use of mobile devices is limited by the battery lifetime. Some devices have the option to connect an extra battery, or to use smart battery-packs with multiple cells to extend the lifetime. In these cases, scheduling the batteries over the load to exploit recovery properties usually extends the

Gender comparisons of unhealthy weight-control behaviors among sixth-Graders.

Science.gov (United States)

Cragun, Deborah; Ata, Rheanna N; Debate, Rita D; Thompson, J Kevin

2013-01-01

To examine gender differences in unhealthy weight-control behaviors (UWCB) and identify key psychosocial and demographic correlates of UWCB among sixth-graders. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 146 boys and 153 girls at a middle school. Secondary data analyses included bivariate tests and multivariable logistic regression. Forty-seven percent of participants reported 1 or more UWCB, with no differences by gender (P = .75). Factors common to boys and girls included: lower global self-esteem; lower body-esteem; and greater negative parental modeling among participants who engaged in UWCB compared to those who did not. However, multivariable models revealed gender differences. Among boys, body mass index, negative parental modeling, and global self-esteem retained statistically significant associations with UWCB after controlling for other variables in the model, whereas race and weight-related body-esteem remained significant for girls. This research highlights the need for gender-specific UWCB prevention programs implemented in late childhood and early adolescence. Copyright © 2013 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Voluntary Fasting to Control Post-Ramadan Weight Gain among Overweight and Obese Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suriani Ismail

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an Islamic voluntary fasting intervention to control post-Ramadan weight gain. Methods: This study was conducted between July and November 2011. Two weight loss intervention programmes were developed and implemented among groups of overweight or obese Malay women living in the Malaysian cities of Putrajaya and Seremban: a standard programme promoting control of food intake according to national dietary guidelines (group B and a faith-based programme promoting voluntary fasting in addition to the standard programme (group A. Participants’ dietary practices (i.e., voluntary fasting practices, frequency of fruit/vegetable consumption per week and quantity of carbohydrates/protein consumed per day, body mass index (BMI, blood pressure, fasting blood high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C and total cholesterol (TC:HDL-C ratio were assessed before Ramadan and three months post-Ramadan. Results: Voluntary fasting practices increased only in group A (P <0.01. Additionally, the quantity of protein/carbohydrates consumed per day, mean diastolic pressure and TC:HDL-C ratio decreased only in group A (P <0.01, 0.05, 0.02 and <0.01, respectively. Frequency of fruit/vegetable consumption per week, as well as HDL-C levels, increased only in group A (P = 0.03 and <0.01, respectively. Although changes in BMI between the groups was not significant (P = 0.08, BMI decrease among participants in group A was significant (P <0.01. Conclusion: Control of post-Ramadan weight gain was more evident in the faith-based intervention group. Healthcare providers should consider faith-based interventions to encourage weight loss during Ramadan and to prevent post-Ramadan weight gain among patients.

Voluntary Fasting to Control Post-Ramadan Weight Gain among Overweight and Obese Women

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail, Suriani; Shamsuddin, Khadijah; Latiff, Khalib A.; Saad, Hazizi A.; Majid, Latifah A.; Othman, Fadlan M.

2015-01-01

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an Islamic voluntary fasting intervention to control post-Ramadan weight gain. Methods: This study was conducted between July and November 2011. Two weight loss intervention programmes were developed and implemented among groups of overweight or obese Malay women living in the Malaysian cities of Putrajaya and Seremban: a standard programme promoting control of food intake according to national dietary guidelines (group B) and a faith-based programme promoting voluntary fasting in addition to the standard programme (group A). Participants’ dietary practices (i.e., voluntary fasting practices, frequency of fruit/vegetable consumption per week and quantity of carbohydrates/protein consumed per day), body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, fasting blood high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC):HDL-C ratio were assessed before Ramadan and three months post-Ramadan. Results: Voluntary fasting practices increased only in group A (P <0.01). Additionally, the quantity of protein/carbohydrates consumed per day, mean diastolic pressure and TC:HDL-C ratio decreased only in group A (P <0.01, 0.05, 0.02 and <0.01, respectively). Frequency of fruit/vegetable consumption per week, as well as HDL-C levels, increased only in group A (P = 0.03 and <0.01, respectively). Although changes in BMI between the groups was not significant (P = 0.08), BMI decrease among participants in group A was significant (P <0.01). Conclusion: Control of post-Ramadan weight gain was more evident in the faith-based intervention group. Healthcare providers should consider faith-based interventions to encourage weight loss during Ramadan and to prevent post-Ramadan weight gain among patients. PMID:25685394

Nutrition Facts Use in Relation to Eating Behaviors and Healthy and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Christoph, Mary J; Loth, Katie A; Eisenberg, Marla E; Haynos, Ann F; Larson, Nicole; Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne

2018-03-01

Investigate the relationship between use of Nutrition Facts labels on packaged foods and weight-related behaviors. Cross-sectional survey in 2015-2016. Young adult respondents (n = 1,817; 57% women; average age 31.0 ± 1.6 years) to the Project Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults-IV survey, the fourth wave of a longitudinal cohort study. Use of Nutrition Facts labels on packaged foods; healthy, unhealthy, and extreme weight control behaviors; intuitive eating; binge eating. Linear and logistic regression models were adjusted for age, ethnicity/race, education, income, and weight status. In women, greater Nutrition Facts use was associated with a 23% and 10% greater likelihood of engaging in healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors, respectively, and a 17% greater chance of engaging in binge eating. In men, greater label use was associated with a 27% and 17% greater likelihood of engaging in healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviors, respectively, and a lower level of intuitive eating. Professionals advising patients and clients on weight management may consider possible gender differences in response to weight loss and management guidance. Since label use was related to engagement in some unhealthy behaviors in addition to healthy behaviors, it is important to consider how individuals may use labels, particularly those at risk for, or engaging in, disordered eating behaviors. Future research investigating potential relationships between Nutrition Facts use, intuitive eating, and binge eating is needed. Copyright © 2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Healthy habits: efficacy of simple advice on weight control based on a habit-formation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lally, P; Chipperfield, A; Wardle, J

2008-04-01

To evaluate the efficacy of a simple weight loss intervention, based on principles of habit formation. An exploratory trial in which overweight and obese adults were randomized either to a habit-based intervention condition (with two subgroups given weekly vs monthly weighing; n=33, n=36) or to a waiting-list control condition (n=35) over 8 weeks. Intervention participants were followed up for 8 months. A total of 104 adults (35 men, 69 women) with an average BMI of 30.9 kg m(-2). Intervention participants were given a leaflet containing advice on habit formation and simple recommendations for eating and activity behaviours promoting negative energy balance, together with a self-monitoring checklist. Weight change over 8 weeks in the intervention condition compared with the control condition and weight loss maintenance over 32 weeks in the intervention condition. At 8 weeks, people in the intervention condition had lost significantly more weight (mean=2.0 kg) than those in the control condition (0.4 kg), with no difference between weekly and monthly weighing subgroups. At 32 weeks, those who remained in the study had lost an average of 3.8 kg, with 54% losing 5% or more of their body weight. An intention-to-treat analysis (based on last-observation-carried-forward) reduced this to 2.6 kg, with 26% achieving a 5% weight loss. This easily disseminable, low-cost, simple intervention produced clinically significant weight loss. In limited resource settings it has potential as a tool for obesity management.

Applying economic incentives to increase effectiveness of an outpatient weight loss program (TRIO) - A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Finkelstein, Eric A; Tham, Kwang-Wei; Haaland, Benjamin A; Sahasranaman, Aarti

2017-07-01

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has more than doubled in the past three decades, leading to rising rates of non-communicable diseases. This study tests whether adding a payment/rewards (term reward) program to an existing evidence-based weight loss program can increase weight loss and weight loss maintenance. We conducted a parallel-group randomized controlled trial from October 2012 to October 2015 with 161 overweight or obese individuals randomized to either control or reward arm in a 1:2 ratio. Control and reward arm participants received a four month weight loss program at the LIFE (Lifestyle Improvement and Fitness Enhancement) Centre at Singapore General Hospital. Those in the reward arm paid a fee of S$165.00 (1US$ = 1.35S$) to access a program that provided rewards of up to S$660 for meeting weight loss and physical activity goals. Participants could choose to receive rewards as guaranteed cash payments or a lottery ticket with a 1 in 10 chance of winning but with the same expected value. The primary outcome was weight loss at months 4, 8, and 12. 161 participants were randomized to control (n = 54) or reward (n = 107) arms. Average weight loss was more than twice as great in the reward arm compared to the control arm at month 4 when the program concluded (3.4 kg vs 1.4 kg, p rewards concluded (3.3 kg vs 1.8 kg, p rewards program can be used to improve weight loss and weight loss maintenance when combined with an evidence-based weight loss program. Future efforts should attempt to replicate this approach and identify how to cost effectively expand these programs to maximize their reach. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT01533454). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving, characterizing and predicting the lifetime of organic photovoltaics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gevorgyan, Suren A.; Heckler, Ilona Maria; Bundgaard, Eva

2017-01-01

This review summarizes the recent progress in the stability and lifetime of organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In particular, recently proposed solutions to failure mechanisms in different layers of the device stack are discussed comprising both structural and chemical modifications. Upscaling...... characterization reported recently. Lifetime testing and determination is another challenge in the field of organic solar cells and the final sections of this review discuss the testing protocols as well as the generic marker for device lifetime and the methodology for comparing all the lifetime landmarks in one...... common diagram. These tools were used to determine the baselines for OPV lifetime tested under different ageing conditions. Finally, the current status of lifetime for organic solar cells is presented and predictions are made for progress in the near future....

Effects of Greenselect Phytosome® on weight maintenance after weight loss in obese women: a randomized placebo-controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilardini, Luisa; Pasqualinotto, Lucia; Di Pierro, Francesco; Risso, Paolo; Invitti, Cecilia

2016-07-22

Most subjects regain weight after weight loss due to compensatory adaptations finalized to maintain stable body energy stores. Green tea (GT) preparations, which help maintain energy expenditure while dieting could be a useful strategy to facilitate weight maintenance. The usefulness of GT preparations in weight maintenance has been poorly studied so far with conflicting results. This study evaluated if a supplement of GSP and piperine helps obese women to maintain the weight loss obtained with a 3-month lifestyle intervention. In a randomized placebo-controlled study, we examined whether a highly bioavailable GT extract may counteract weight regain after weight loss. Forty obese women (age 50.1 ± 10.1 years, Body Mass Index (BMI) 36.3 ± 2.7 kg/m(2)) underwent a 3-month lifestyle intervention. At the end of the intervention, the women were randomized in two groups for the weight-maintenance phase: 20 of them were prescribed twice a day, for 3 months, with a formula containing 150 mg/dose of Greenselect Phytosome® and 15 mg/dose of pure piperine (GSP group), and 20 were given placebo (P group). Anthropometric measures and body composition were measured before (V-3) and after lifestyle intervention (V0), 1 (V1), 2 (V2), and 3 (V3) months after prescribing supplements and 3 months following the discontinuation of supplements (V6). Lifestyle intervention induced a significant weight reduction in both groups with similar weight change (-6.2 ± 2.6 in GSP group vs. -4.8 ± 3.1 % in P group). In the GSP group, V1 in comparison to V0, had further reduction in weight and fat mass, which remained stable at V2 and V3 and increased at V6. In the P group, weight and fat mass increased from V2 onwards. Weight changes in GSP group and P group from V0 to V3 were -1.0 kg (95 % CI -2.5 to +0.5) and + 0.3 kg (95 % CI -0.9 to +1.6), respectively. The proportion of women with weight loss ≥ 5 % was greater in the GSP group than in the P group (75

Management of nuclear power plants lifetime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutin, J.P.

2006-01-01

The factors influencing the management of the service life of nuclear power plants can be of various types and the 'heaviest' ones have to be managed through robust and explicit approaches involving all actors. However, the mastery of the service life starts with the mastery of the technical problems, in particular the physical aging of the facilities. This mastery requires to foresee and anticipate the problems and thus a good understanding of the phenomena involved. This article presents: 1 - the general problem of service life management: lifetime concept, situation of French power plants, service life management policy; 2 - aging mechanisms: embrittlement of steel under irradiation, swelling of materials, thermal aging, fatigue, stress corrosion, aqueous corrosion of metals, corrosion-erosion, mechanisms of concrete degradation, mechanisms of elastomers and polymers degradation, wear; 3 - non-replaceable parts: reactor vessel, containment building; 4 - replaceable parts: cables, instrumentation and control system, core internals, primary loop piping, auxiliary primary piping, pressurizer, primary pump, steam generator tubes, other Ni-Cr-Fe alloy parts, secondary loop piping, turbine, alternator; 5 - non-technical aspects: perenniality of the industrial support, evolution of safety requirements, public acceptance, economical aspects, knowledge and information systems; 6 - situation in foreign countries: status of the world nuclear park, lifetime notion in foreign countries, situation in the USA. (J.S.)

Refractive index sensing using Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, Carolyn; Suhling, Klaus

2006-01-01

The fluorescence lifetime is a function of the refractive index of the fluorophore's environment, for example in the case of the biologically important green fluorescent protein (GFP). In order to address the question whether this effect can be exploited to image the local environment of specific proteins in cell biology, we need to determine the distance over which the fluorophore's lifetime is sensitive to the refractive index. To this end, we employ Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) of fluorescein in NaOH buffer at an interface. This approach allows us to map the fluorescence lifetime as a function of distance from a buffer/air and buffer/oil interface. Preliminary data show that the fluorescence lifetime of fluorescein increases near a buffer/air interface and decreases near a buffer/oil interface. The range over which this fluorescence lifetime change occurs is found to be of the order several μm which is consistent with a theoretical model based on the full width at half maximum of the emission spectrum proposed by Toptygin

Exits in order: How crowding affects particle lifetimes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penington, Catherine J.; Simpson, Matthew J. [School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (Australia); Baker, Ruth E. [Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford (United Kingdom)

2016-06-28

Diffusive processes are often represented using stochastic random walk frameworks. The amount of time taken for an individual in a random walk to intersect with an absorbing boundary is a fundamental property that is often referred to as the particle lifetime, or the first passage time. The mean lifetime of particles in a random walk model of diffusion is related to the amount of time required for the diffusive process to reach a steady state. Mathematical analysis describing the mean lifetime of particles in a standard model of diffusion without crowding is well known. However, the lifetime of agents in a random walk with crowding has received much less attention. Since many applications of diffusion in biology and biophysics include crowding effects, here we study a discrete model of diffusion that incorporates crowding. Using simulations, we show that crowding has a dramatic effect on agent lifetimes, and we derive an approximate expression for the mean agent lifetime that includes crowding effects. Our expression matches simulation results very well, and highlights the importance of crowding effects that are sometimes overlooked.

Effective delayed neutron fraction and prompt neutron lifetime of Tehran research reactor mixed-core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lashkari, A.; Khalafi, H.; Kazeminejad, H.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Kinetic parameters of Tehran research reactor mixed-core have been calculated. ► Burn-up effect on TRR kinetics parameters has been studied. ► Replacement of LEU-CFE with HEU-CFE in the TRR core has been investigated. ► Results of each mixed core were compared to the reference core. ► Calculation of kinetic parameters are necessary for reactivity and power excursion transient analysis. - Abstract: In this work, kinetic parameters of Tehran research reactor (TRR) mixed cores have been calculated. The mixed core configurations are made by replacement of the low enriched uranium control fuel elements with highly enriched uranium control fuel elements in the reference core. The MTR P C package, a nuclear reactor analysis tool, is used to perform the analysis. Simulations were carried out to compute effective delayed neutron fraction and prompt neutron lifetime. Calculation of kinetic parameters is necessary for reactivity and power excursion transient analysis. The results of this research show that effective delayed neutron fraction decreases and prompt neutron lifetime increases with the fuels burn-up. Also, by increasing the number of highly enriched uranium control fuel elements in the reference core, the prompt neutron lifetime increases, but effective delayed neutron fraction does not show any considerable change

Why do mothers encourage their children to control their weight? A cross-sectional study of possible contributing factors

OpenAIRE

Schreiber, Anja C; Kesztyüs, Dorothea; Wirt, Tamara; Erkelenz, Nanette; Kobel, Susanne; Steinacker, Jürgen M

2014-01-01

Background Mothers encouraging their children to control their weight is problematic as it is associated with children’s body dissatisfaction and weight concerns as well as further weight gain. The aim of this study was to identify factors in children and mothers associated with mothers encouraging their children to control their weight and possible gender differences therein. Methods Cross-sectional questionnaire data was available from 1658 mothers of primary school children (mean age 7.1 ±...

A Descriptive Survey of Weight Control Participants at a U.S. Army Community Hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-08-01

participation in the survey was strictly voluntary; 3. only active duty Army personnel who were on the Army’s weight control program could volunteer ...A.R. 600-9 limit 2 I was singled out because I looked overweight 3 I volunteered for the program 4 Other, specify 18. Where was your initial weight...33. Wing, Rena R., and Epstein, Leonard H. "Prescribed Level of Caloric Restriction in Bahavioral Weight Loss Programs. Addictive Behaviors 6

Organic scintillators with long luminescent lifetimes for radiotherapy dosimetry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beierholm, Anders Ravnsborg; Lindvold, Lars René; Andersen, Claus Erik

2011-01-01

of experiments performed using two organic scintillators, one commercially available and one custom made. The luminescent lifetimes of the scintillators have been measured using i) optical excitation by pulsed UV light, and ii) irradiative excitation using high-energy X-rays from a linac. A luminescent lifetime...... component on the order of 20 μs was estimated for the custom-made organic scintillator, while the commercial scintillator exhibited a fast component of approximately 5 ns lifetime (7 ns as stated by the manufacturer) and an approximate 10 μs lifetime slow component. Although these lifetimes are not long...

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE CONTROL OF THE CORPORAL WEIGHT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucas Matos de Souza

2005-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this bibliographical rising was analyzing the effectiveness of exercises in the control of the corporal weight. This revision study approached studies published among the years from 1991 to 2005, through systematic searches using electronic database: Medline, Science Direct and bibliographical collection of Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia. The weigh loss process depends on several factors as the number of fatty cells, hereditariness, normality of hormonal system and mainly to the energy expense. The analyzed studies demonstrated that the physical exercise is an mechanism efficiente that contributes in the reduction of corporal weight, allied the other health positive habits. However the intensity, duration and even the ideal modality of physical exercise is controversial in the half specialized, having a certain predominance of studies that they appear for exercises drop aerobics the moderate intensity due to minimizes risks the health. The studies addressed for the anaerobic exercises they demonstrated to be more efficient in the control of corporal weight, because besides contributing for loss of corporal fat it favors the maintenance and/our increase of thin corporal mass. Experimental studies are recommended with wider delineamento than it favors to investigate the relationship of different types of physical exercise in the control of corporal weight.

Variation in Body Weight, Organ Weight and Haematological ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The rats fed raw kudzu and negative control diet showed negative mean weight changes(- 6.50g and -10.0g )while those fed with positive control and treated kudzu diet showed positive mean weight ... The result showed that the treated flour supported growth but had no definite effect on other parameters measured.

Measurement of the $\\tau$ lepton lifetime

CERN Document Server

Buskulic, Damir; De Bonis, I; Décamp, D; Ghez, P; Goy, C; Lees, J P; Lucotte, A; Minard, M N; Odier, P; Pietrzyk, B; Ariztizabal, F; Chmeissani, M; Crespo, J M; Efthymiopoulos, I; Fernández, E; Fernández-Bosman, M; Gaitan, V; Garrido, L; Martínez, M; Orteu, S; Pacheco, A; Padilla, C; Palla, Fabrizio; Pascual, A; Perlas, J A; Sánchez, F; Teubert, F; Colaleo, A; Creanza, D; De Palma, M; Farilla, A; Gelao, G; Girone, M; Iaselli, Giuseppe; Maggi, G; Maggi, M; Marinelli, N; Natali, S; Nuzzo, S; Ranieri, A; Raso, G; Romano, F; Ruggieri, F; Selvaggi, G; Silvestris, L; Tempesta, P; Zito, G; Huang, X; Lin, J; Ouyang, Q; Wang, T; Xie, Y; Xu, R; Xue, S; Zhang, J; Zhang, L; Zhao, W; Bonvicini, G; Cattaneo, M; Comas, P; Coyle, P; Drevermann, H; Engelhardt, A; Forty, Roger W; Frank, M; Hagelberg, R; Harvey, J; Jacobsen, R; Janot, P; Jost, B; Kneringer, E; Knobloch, J; Lehraus, Ivan; Markou, C; Martin, E B; Mato, P; Minten, Adolf G; Miquel, R; Oest, T; Palazzi, P; Pater, J R; Pusztaszeri, J F; Ranjard, F; Rensing, P E; Rolandi, Luigi; Schlatter, W D; Schmelling, M; Schneider, O; Tejessy, W; Tomalin, I R; Venturi, A; Wachsmuth, H W; Wiedenmann, W; Wildish, T; Witzeling, W; Wotschack, J; Ajaltouni, Ziad J; Bardadin-Otwinowska, Maria; Barrès, A; Boyer, C; Falvard, A; Gay, P; Guicheney, C; Henrard, P; Jousset, J; Michel, B; Monteil, S; Pallin, D; Perret, P; Podlyski, F; Proriol, J; Rossignol, J M; Saadi, F; Fearnley, Tom; Hansen, J B; Hansen, J D; Hansen, J R; Hansen, P H; Nilsson, B S; Kyriakis, A; Simopoulou, Errietta; Siotis, I; Vayaki, Anna; Zachariadou, K; Blondel, A; Bonneaud, G R; Brient, J C; Bourdon, P; Passalacqua, L; Rougé, A; Rumpf, M; Tanaka, R; Valassi, Andrea; Verderi, M; Videau, H L; Candlin, D J; Parsons, M I; Focardi, E; Parrini, G; Corden, M; Delfino, M C; Georgiopoulos, C H; Jaffe, D E; Antonelli, A; Bencivenni, G; Bologna, G; Bossi, F; Campana, P; Capon, G; Chiarella, V; Felici, G; Laurelli, P; Mannocchi, G; Murtas, F; Murtas, G P; Pepé-Altarelli, M; Dorris, S J; Halley, A W; ten Have, I; Knowles, I G; Lynch, J G; Morton, W T; O'Shea, V; Raine, C; Reeves, P; Scarr, J M; Smith, K; Smith, M G; Thompson, A S; Thomson, F; Thorn, S; Turnbull, R M; Becker, U; Braun, O; Geweniger, C; Graefe, G; Hanke, P; Hepp, V; Kluge, E E; Putzer, A; Rensch, B; Schmidt, M; Sommer, J; Stenzel, H; Tittel, K; Werner, S; Wunsch, M; Beuselinck, R; Binnie, David M; Cameron, W; Colling, D J; Dornan, Peter J; Konstantinidis, N P; Moneta, L; Moutoussi, A; Nash, J; San Martin, G; Sedgbeer, J K; Stacey, A M; Dissertori, G; Girtler, P; Kuhn, D; Rudolph, G; Bowdery, C K; Brodbeck, T J; Colrain, P; Crawford, G; Finch, A J; Foster, F; Hughes, G; Sloan, Terence; Whelan, E P; Williams, M I; Galla, A; Greene, A M; Kleinknecht, K; Quast, G; Raab, J; Renk, B; Sander, H G; Wanke, R; Van Gemmeren, P; Zeitnitz, C; Aubert, Jean-Jacques; Bencheikh, A M; Benchouk, C; Bonissent, A; Bujosa, G; Calvet, D; Carr, J; Diaconu, C A; Etienne, F; Thulasidas, M; Nicod, D; Payre, P; Rousseau, D; Talby, M; Abt, I; Assmann, R W; Bauer, C; Blum, Walter; Brown, D; Dietl, H; Dydak, Friedrich; Ganis, G; Gotzhein, C; Jakobs, K; Kroha, H; Lütjens, G; Lutz, Gerhard; Männer, W; Moser, H G; Richter, R H; Rosado-Schlosser, A; Schael, S; Settles, Ronald; Seywerd, H C J; Saint-Denis, R; Wolf, G; Alemany, R; Boucrot, J; Callot, O; Cordier, A; Courault, F; Davier, M; Duflot, L; Grivaz, J F; Heusse, P; Jacquet, M; Kim, D W; Le Diberder, F R; Lefrançois, J; Lutz, A M; Musolino, G; Nikolic, I A; Park, H J; Park, I C; Schune, M H; Simion, S; Veillet, J J; Videau, I; Abbaneo, D; Azzurri, P; Bagliesi, G; Batignani, G; Bettarini, S; Bozzi, C; Calderini, G; Carpinelli, M; Ciocci, M A; Ciulli, V; Dell'Orso, R; Fantechi, R; Ferrante, I; Fidecaro, F; Foà, L; Forti, F; Giassi, A; Giorgi, M A; Gregorio, A; Ligabue, F; Lusiani, A; Marrocchesi, P S; Messineo, A; Rizzo, G; Sanguinetti, G; Sciabà, A; Spagnolo, P; Steinberger, Jack; Tenchini, Roberto; Tonelli, G; Triggiani, G; Vannini, C; Verdini, P G; Walsh, J; Betteridge, A P; Blair, G A; Bryant, L M; Cerutti, F; Gao, Y; Green, M G; Johnson, D L; Medcalf, T; Mir, L M; Perrodo, P; Strong, J A; Bertin, V; Botterill, David R; Clifft, R W; Edgecock, T R; Haywood, S; Edwards, M; Maley, P; Norton, P R; Thompson, J C; Bloch-Devaux, B; Colas, P; Emery, S; Kozanecki, Witold; Lançon, E; Lemaire, M C; Locci, E; Marx, B; Pérez, P; Rander, J; Renardy, J F; Roussarie, A; Schuller, J P; Schwindling, J; Trabelsi, A; Vallage, B; Johnson, R P; Kim, H Y; Litke, A M; McNeil, M A; Taylor, G; Beddall, A; Booth, C N; Boswell, R; Cartwright, S L; Combley, F; Dawson, I; Köksal, A; Letho, M; Newton, W M; Rankin, C; Thompson, L F; Böhrer, A; Brandt, S; Cowan, G D; Feigl, E; Grupen, Claus; Lutters, G; Minguet-Rodríguez, J A; Rivera, F; Saraiva, P; Smolik, L; Stephan, F; Apollonio, M; Bosisio, L; Della Marina, R; Giannini, G; Gobbo, B; Ragusa, F; Rothberg, J E; Wasserbaech, S R; Armstrong, S R; Bellantoni, L; Elmer, P; Feng, Z; Ferguson, D P S; Gao, Y S; González, S; Grahl, J; Harton, J L; Hayes, O J; Hu, H; McNamara, P A; Nachtman, J M; Orejudos, W; Pan, Y B; Saadi, Y; Schmitt, M; Scott, I J; Sharma, V; Turk, J; Walsh, A M; Wu Sau Lan; Wu, X; Yamartino, J M; Zheng, M; Zobernig, G

1996-01-01

The mean lifetime of the \\tau lepton is measured in a sample of 25700 \\tau pairs collected in 1992 with the ALEPH detector at LEP. A new analysis of the 1-1 topology events is introduced. In this analysis, the dependence of the impact parameter sum distribution on the daughter track momenta is taken into account, yielding improved precision compared to other impact parameter sum methods. Three other analyses of the one- and three-prong \\tau decays are updated with increased statistics. The measured lifetime is 293.5 \\pm 3.1 \\pm 1.7 \\fs. Including previous (1989--1991) ALEPH measurements, the combined \\tau lifetime is 293.7 \\pm 2.7 \\pm 1.6 \\fs.

Jump starting shared medical appointments for diabetes with weight management: Rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowley, Matthew J; Edelman, David; Voils, Corrine I; Maciejewski, Matthew L; Coffman, Cynthia J; Jeffreys, Amy S; Turner, Marsha J; Gaillard, Leslie A; Hinton, Teresa A; Strawbridge, Elizabeth; Zervakis, Jennifer; Barton, Anna Beth; Yancy, William S

2017-07-01

Rates of glycemic control remain suboptimal nationwide. Medication intensification for diabetes can have undesirable side effects (weight gain, hypoglycemia), which offset the benefits of glycemic control. A Shared Medical Appointment (SMA) intervention for diabetes that emphasizes weight management could improve glycemic outcomes and reduce weight while simultaneously lowering diabetes medication needs, resulting in less hypoglycemia and better quality of life. We describe the rationale and design for a study evaluating a novel SMA intervention for diabetes that primarily emphasizes low-carbohydrate diet-focused weight management. Jump Starting Shared Medical Appointments for Diabetes with Weight Management (Jump Start) is a randomized, controlled trial that is allocating overweight Veterans (body mass index≥27kg/m 2 ) with type 2 diabetes into two arms: 1) a traditional SMA group focusing on medication management and self-management counseling; or 2) an SMA group that combines low-carbohydrate diet-focused weight management (WM/SMA) with medication management. Hemoglobin A1c reduction at 48weeks is the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes include hypoglycemic events, diabetes medication use, weight, medication adherence, diabetes-related quality of life, and cost-effectiveness. We hypothesize that WM/SMA will be non-inferior to standard SMA for glycemic control, and will reduce hypoglycemia, diabetes medication use, and weight relative to standard SMA, while also improving quality of life and costs. Jump Start targets two common problems that are closely related but infrequently managed together: diabetes and obesity. By focusing on diet and weight loss as the primary means to control diabetes, this intervention may improve several meaningful patient-centered outcomes related to diabetes. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A Satellite Mortality Study to Support Space Systems Lifetime Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, George; Salazar, Ronald; Habib-Agahi, Hamid; Dubos, Gregory

2013-01-01

Estimating the operational lifetime of satellites and spacecraft is a complex process. Operational lifetime can differ from mission design lifetime for a variety of reasons. Unexpected mortality can occur due to human errors in design and fabrication, to human errors in launch and operations, to random anomalies of hardware and software or even satellite function degradation or technology change, leading to unrealized economic or mission return. This study focuses on data collection of public information using, for the first time, a large, publically available dataset, and preliminary analysis of satellite lifetimes, both operational lifetime and design lifetime. The objective of this study is the illustration of the relationship of design life to actual lifetime for some representative classes of satellites and spacecraft. First, a Weibull and Exponential lifetime analysis comparison is performed on the ratio of mission operating lifetime to design life, accounting for terminated and ongoing missions. Next a Kaplan-Meier survivor function, standard practice for clinical trials analysis, is estimated from operating lifetime. Bootstrap resampling is used to provide uncertainty estimates of selected survival probabilities. This study highlights the need for more detailed databases and engineering reliability models of satellite lifetime that include satellite systems and subsystems, operations procedures and environmental characteristics to support the design of complex, multi-generation, long-lived space systems in Earth orbit.

Positron lifetime study of neutron-irradiated molybdenum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinode, Kenji; Tanigawa, Shoichiro; Kumakura, Hiroaki; Doyama, Masao; Shiraishi, Kensuke.

1978-01-01

Annealing behavior of fast-neutron-irradiated molybdenum was studied by means of positron lifetime technique. It was found that Stage III annealing can be mainly identified as the vacancy migration process from the detailed analyses of data. The void growth after successive high temperature annealings was clearly detected through the changes of positron lifetime parameters. An attempt to analyse the size distribution of voids from positron lifetime spectra was presented, and discussions on the evaluation of void concentration from positron data are also given. (author)

Statistical Models and Methods for Lifetime Data

CERN Document Server

Lawless, Jerald F

2011-01-01

Praise for the First Edition"An indispensable addition to any serious collection on lifetime data analysis and . . . a valuable contribution to the statistical literature. Highly recommended . . ."-Choice"This is an important book, which will appeal to statisticians working on survival analysis problems."-Biometrics"A thorough, unified treatment of statistical models and methods used in the analysis of lifetime data . . . this is a highly competent and agreeable statistical textbook."-Statistics in MedicineThe statistical analysis of lifetime or response time data is a key tool in engineering,

Effects of a 10-week weight control program on obese patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder: a 12-month follow up.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chih-Ken; Chen, Yi-Chih; Huang, Yu-Shu

2009-02-01

Weight gain secondary to antipsychotic medication is associated with many serious conditions, including type II diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and coronary heart disease, and also with poor medication compliance. Weight control programs may be of benefit to outpatients with schizophrenia, but also raise an issue of cost-effectiveness. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 10-week weight control program for outpatients taking atypical antipsychotics for treatment of schizophrenia, and to follow up the effects of this weight control program in controlling weight gain after termination of the program. A total of 33 patients with schizophrenia and antipsychotic-related obesity were enrolled in a 10-week multimodal weight control program. The patients' weights were recorded at baseline, week 4, week 8, week 10 (end of the intervention), week 12, week 24, and week 48. Secondary measures included blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels, quality of life and mental health. For those who completed the weight control program, there was a mean weight loss of 2.1 kg by the end of the intervention, 3.7 kg over 6 months, and 2.7 kg over 12 months. The mean body mass index decreased by 0.8, 1.5 and 1.1 at week 10, week 24 and week 48, respectively, all with statistical significance. The 10-week weight control program was effective in terms of weight reduction among obese patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and the weight reduction effect lasted for up to 6 months, and up to 12 months in some cases.

Lifetime assessment and lifetime management for key components of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dou Yikang; Sun Hanhong; Qu Jiadi

2000-01-01

On the bases of investigation on recent development of plant lifetime management in the world, the author gives some points of view on how to establish plant lifetime assessment (PLA) and management (PLM) systems for Chinese nuclear power plants. The main points lie in: 1) safety regulatory organizations, utilities and R and D institutes work cooperatively for PLA and PLM; 2) PLA and PLM make a interdependent cycle, which means that a good PLM system ensures authentic input for PLA, while veritable PLA provides valuable feedback for PLM improvement; 3) PLA and PLM should be initiated for some key components. The author also analyzes some important problems to be tackled in PLA and PLM from the view angle of a R and D institute

c, b, and tau lifetime measurements in e+e- interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaros, J.A.

1983-01-01

Experiments at e + e - storage rings have successfully measured the tau and D 0 lifetimes and set interesting limits on the B lifetime. So far, the conventional wisdom has prevailed. The tau lifetime is consistent with prediction; there is no sign (but little sensitivity) of a violation of universality. The charmed particle lifetimes are roughly as expected, but richer in their phenomenology than anticipated. The B lifetime is still unknown. The experimental art is developing rapidly. Several experiments have by now installed vertex detectors. Measurements of charmed particle lifetimes from e + e - experiments will complement the work that has been done at fixed target machines. Measurements of tau and B lifetimes may be the exclusive province of e + e - experiments for the next few years

LHCb: Measurement of $b$-hadron lifetimes at LHCb

CERN Multimedia

Amhis, Y

2014-01-01

Lifetimes are among the most fundamental properties of elementary particles. Precision Measurements of $b$-hadron lifetimes are an important tool to test theoretical models such as HQET. These models allow to predict various observables related to B-mixing. Using data collected during Run 1 at the LHC, LHCb measured the lifetime of B-decays including a $J/\\psi$ in the final state.

Effects of a combined dietary, exercise and behavioral intervention and sympathetic system on body weight maintenance after intended weight loss: results of a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Mai, Knut; Brachs, Maria; Leupelt, Verena; Schwartzenberg, Reiner Jumpertz-von; Maurer, Lukas; Grüters-Kieslich, Annette; Ernert, Andrea; Bobbert, Thomas; Krude, Heiko; Spranger, Joachim

2018-01-19

Lifestyle based weight loss interventions are hampered by long-term inefficacy. Prediction of individuals successfully reducing body weight would be highly desirable. Although sympathetic activity is known to contribute to energy homeostasis, its predictive role in body weight maintenance has not yet been addressed. We investigated, whether weight regain could be modified by a weight maintenance intervention and analyzed the predictive role of weight loss-induced changes of the sympathetic system on long-term weight regain. 156 subjects (age > 18; BMI ≥ 27 kg/m 2 ) participated in a 12-week weight reduction program. After weight loss (T0), 143 subjects (weight loss >8%) were randomized to a 12-month lifestyle intervention or a control group. After 12 months (T12) no further intervention was performed until month 18 (T18). Weight regain at T18 (regain BMI ) was the primary outcome. Evaluation of systemic and tissue specific estimates of sympathetic system was a pre-defined secondary outcome. BMI was reduced by 4.67 ± 1.47 kg/m 2 during the initial weight loss period. BMI maintained low in subjects of the intervention group until T12 (+0.07 ± 2.98 kg/m 2 ; p = 0.58 compared to T0), while control subjects regained +0.98 ± 1.93 kg/m 2 (p predicted regain BMI (R 2  = 0.138; p Predictive sympathetic activity was not persistently modified by the intervention, which may partially explain the lack of long-term success of such interventions. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Measurements of heavy quark and lepton lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaros, J.A.

1985-02-01

The PEP/PETRA energy range has proved to be well-suited for the study of the lifetimes of hadrons containing the b and c quarks and the tau lepton for several reasons. First, these states comprise a large fraction of the total interaction rate in e + e - annihilation and can be cleanly identified. Second, the storage rings have operated at high luminosity and so produced these exotic states copiously. And finally, thanks to the interplay of the Fermi coupling strength, the quark and lepton masses, and the beam energy, the expected decay lengths are in the 1/2 mm range and so are comparatively easy to measure. This pleasant coincidence of cleanly identified and abundant signal with potentially large effects has made possible the first measurements of two fundamental weak couplings, tau → nu/sub tau/W and b → cW. These measurements have provided a sharp test of the standard model and allowed, for the first time, the full determination of the magnitudes of the quark mixing matrix. This paper reviews the lifetime studies made at PEP during the past year. It begins with a brief review of the three detectors, DELCO, MAC and MARK II, which have reported lifetime measurements. Next it discusses two new measurements of the tau lifetime, and briefly reviews a measurement of the D 0 lifetime. Finally, it turns to measurements of the B lifetime, which are discussed in some detail. 18 references, 14 figures, 1 table

Lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder in Turkish alcohol-dependent inpatients: relationship with depression, anxiety and erectile dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Evren, Cuneyt; Can, Suat; Evren, Bilge; Saatcioglu, Omer; Cakmak, Duran

2006-02-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Turkish male alcohol-dependent inpatients, and to investigate the relationship of lifetime PTSD diagnosis with anxiety, depression, hopelessness, erectile dysfunction and psychosocial problems related with alcohol dependency. Eighty-two male inpatients who met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence and 48 subjects without substance use disorder as a control group were included in the study. Subjects were applied the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). Rate of lifetime PTSD diagnosis was found to be 26.8% among alcohol-dependent inpatients. The mean age of patients with lifetime PTSD was lower than in patients without this diagnosis, while there were no significant differences between these two groups in terms of age of first alcohol use, lifetime major depression, current depression, presence and severity of erectile dysfunction. Mean scores of HAM-D, HAM-A, BHS and MAST in the group with lifetime PTSD were significantly higher than the group without this diagnosis. There was a positive relationship between lifetime PTSD diagnosis and depression, anxiety, hopelessness and severity of psychosocial problems related to alcohol dependency, while there was no relationship between lifetime PTSD comorbidity and erectile dysfunction in alcohol-dependent patients.

Health Related Quality of Life and Weight Self-Efficacy of Life Style among Normal-Weight, Overweight and Obese Iranian Adolescents: A Case Control Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyedeh Fatemeh Miri

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Identifying and investigating the factors influencing self-efficacy and eventually health related quality of life (HRQoL can be an important step toward the prevention and treatment of the obesity. The aim of the study was to compare weight self-efficacy and HRQoL among normal-weight, overweight and obese Iranian adolescents. Materials and Methods In this case-control study, 118 obese and overweight adolescents (case group and 118 adolescents with normal weight (control group were recruited. Adolescent's anthropometric characteristics were measured. The Weight Efficacy Lifestyle Questionnaire (WEL, pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQLTM 4.0 and self-reported physical activity were completed by the adolescents. Results: Multivariate logistic regression adjusting for various confounders indicated that overweight and obese adolescents were less likely to be physically active (adjusted odds ratio, AOR= 0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48 to 0.911, had lower ability to cope with social pressure (AOR= 0.54; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.93, involved in less positive activities (AOR= 0.53; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.75, and felt more negative emotions (AOR= 0.23; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.36 than their normal-weight counterparts. Moreover, obese and overweight adolescents were more likely to report deteriorated quality of life in all PedsQL subscales than those with normal weight P

Weight loss with a modified Mediterranean-type diet using fat modification: a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Austel, A; Ranke, C; Wagner, N; Görge, J; Ellrott, T

2015-08-01

There is evidence that Mediterranean diets with a high proportion of olive oil and nuts can be effective for weight management and prevention of cardiovascular disease. It might be difficult for populations with other eating habits to follow such diets. Therefore, a modified Mediterranean-type diet using fat modification through neutral and butter-flavored canola oil, walnuts and walnut oil with two portion-controlled sweet daily snacks was tested in Germany. Randomized waiting-list control study with overweight/grade 1 obese subjects: 12-week self-help modified Mediterranean-type diet, 6 weeks of diet plans and 6 weeks of weight loss maintenance training. Trial duration was 12 months. Intervention group (IG) included 100 participants (average age of 52.4 years, weight 85.1 kg and body mass index (BMI) 30.1 kg/m(2)), waiting-list control group (CG) included 112 participants (52.6 years, 84.1 kg and 30.1 kg/m(2)). Per-protocol weight loss after 12 weeks was 5.2 kg in IG vs 0.4 kg in CG (P ⩽ 0.0001), BMI -1.8 vs -0.1 kg/m(2) (P ⩽ 0.0001), waist circumference -4.7 vs -0.9 cm (P ⩽ 0.0001). Triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol improved significantly in IG but not in CG. One-year dropouts: 44% in IG and 53% in CG. Weight loss after 12 months: 4.2 kg (pooled data). A five-meal modified Mediterranean-type diet with two daily portion-controlled sweet snacks was effective for weight management in a self-help setting for overweight and grade 1 obese subjects. Fat modification through canola oil, walnuts and walnut oil improved blood lipids even at 12 months.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Two Different Macronutrient Profiles on Weight, Body Composition and Metabolic Parameters in Obese Adolescents Seeking Weight Loss.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Truby

Full Text Available Adolescent obesity is difficult to treat and the optimal dietary pattern, particularly in relation to macronutrient composition, remains controversial. This study tested the effect of two structured diets with differing macronutrient composition versus control, on weight, body composition and metabolic parameters in obese adolescents.A randomized controlled trial conducted in a children's hospital.Eighty seven obese youth (means: age 13.6 years, BMI z-score 2.2, waist: height ratio 0.65, 69% female completed a psychological preparedness program and were then randomized to a short term 'structured modified carbohydrate' (SMC, 35% carbohydrate; 30% protein; 35% fat, n = 37 or a 'structured low fat' (SLF, 55% carbohydrate; 20% protein; 25% fat, n = 36 or a wait listed control group (n = 14. Anthropometric, body composition and biochemical parameters were measured at randomization and after 12 weeks, and analyzed under the intention to treat principle using analysis of variance models.After 12 weeks, data was collected from 79 (91% participants. BMI z-scores were significantly lower in both intervention groups compared to control after adjusting for baseline values, SLF vs. control, mean difference = -0.13 (95%CI = -0.18, -0.07, P<0.001; SMC vs. control, -0.14 (-0.19, -0.09, P<0.001, but there was no difference between the two intervention diet groups: SLF vs. SMC, 0.00 (-0.05, 0.04, P = 0.83.Both dietary patterns resulted in similar changes in weight, body composition and metabolic improvements compared to control. The use of a structured eating system which allows flexibility but limited choices can assist in weight change and the rigid application of a low fat eating pattern is not exclusive in its efficacy.International Clinical Trials Registry ISRCTN49438757.

Lifetime measurements of excited Co I levels

CERN Document Server

Klotz, W D; Gobel, L H

1977-01-01

In the region of 3500 AA the lifetimes of eight excited Cobalt I levels have been measured by means of the zero field level crossing method. The measured lifetimes belong to the odd configurations 3d/sup 7/4s4p and 3d/sup 8/4p and are of the accuracy of about 5%. The hyperfine structure of levels with I not=J has to be taken into account in evaluating lifetimes from level crossing data, because the nuclear spin of the natural isotope /sup 59/Co is I=7/2. Therefore the influence of the line profile of the exciting resonance lines on the lifetimes has been investigated. The results are compared with those of other authors. Furthermore absolute oscillator strengths were calculated with known branching ratios and a new absolute scale has been established. (23 refs).

Modeling and optimization of membrane lifetime in dead-end ultra filtration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zondervan, E.; Roffel, B.

2008-01-01

In this paper, a membrane lifetime model is developed and experimentally validated. The lifetime model is based on the Weibull probability density function. The lifetime model can be used to determine an unambiguous characteristic membrane lifetime. Experimental results showed that membrane lifetime

Analysis of Novo-Voronezh NPP unit 3 radiation lifetime of the WWER-440 reactor pressure vessel given samplings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiselyov, V.; Korinets, A.; Maksimov, Yu.; Piminov, V.

1997-01-01

The analysis of the residual radiation lifetime of the Novo-Voronezh NPP Unit 3 reactor pressure vessel which had spherical samplings after annealing was performed for the spectrum of the 'worst' modes of the emergency situation category. For the residual radiation lifetime estimation within the given study, two approaches to determine stress intensity factors, K I , have been used simultaneously. The first approach included a direct numeric modelling of postulated cracks in the cut-out zone with the use of the 3D finite element method. The second approach included K 1 calculation using 3D weight functions calculated with the use of the boundary element method. For K I , calculation flaws have been postulated as surface longitudinal semielliptical flaws located in the deepest point of a cut-out. The results of K I calculations obtained using different methods were practically the same. The allowable critical brittleness temperature was determined as 175 C that permitted the extension of the radiation lifetime by up to 6 years after annealing. (orig.)

XMM-Newton operations beyond the design lifetime

Science.gov (United States)

Parmar, Arvind N.; Kirsch, Marcus G. F.; Muñoz, J. Ramon; Santos-Lleo, Maria; Schartel, Norbert

2012-09-01

After more than twelve years in orbit and two years beyond the design lifetime, XMM-Newton continues its near faultless operations providing the worldwide astronomical community with an unprecedented combination of imaging and spectroscopic X-ray capabilities together with simultaneous optical and ultra-violet monitoring. The interest from the scientific community in observing with XMM-Newton remains extremely high with the last annual Announcement of Observing Opportunity (AO-11) attracting proposals requesting 6.7 times more observing time than was available. Following recovery from a communications problem in 2008, all elements of the mission are stable and largely trouble free. The operational lifetime if currently limited by the amount of available hydrazine fuel. XMM-Newton normally uses reaction wheels for attitude control and fuel is only used when offsetting reaction wheel speed away from limiting values and for emergency Sun acquisition following an anomaly. Currently, the hydrazine is predicted to last until around 2020. However, ESA is investigating the possibility of making changes to the operations concept and the onboard software that would enable lower fuel consumption. This could allow operations to well beyond 2026.

Lifetime for the Ti X spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Jagjit; Jha, A K S; Mohan, M

2010-01-01

We present configuration interaction calculations for the lifetime of 294 fine-structure levels of the Ti X spectrum in the LSJ coupling scheme. The calculations include all the major correlation effects. The relativistic effects are included by adding the mass correction term, Darwin term and spin-orbit interaction term to the non-relativistic Hamiltonian in the Breit-Pauli approximation. The calculated lifetime values are in very close agreement with other available experimental and theoretical results. We have predicted new lifetime results for levels belonging to 3p 2 3d, 3s 2 4p, 3s3p4s, 3s3p4p and various other configurations of Ti X, where no other theoretical and experimental results are available.

The neutron lifetime experiment PENeLOPE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schreyer, Wolfgang [Technische Universitaet Muenchen (Germany); Collaboration: PENeLOPE-Collaboration

2015-07-01

The neutron lifetime τ{sub n}=880.3±1.1 s is an important parameter in the Standard Model of particle physics and in Big Bang cosmology. Several systematic corrections of previously published results reduced the PDG world average by several σ in the last years and call for a new experiment with complementary systematics. The experiment PENeLOPE, currently under construction at the Physik-Department of Technische Universitaet Muenchen, aims to determine the neutron lifetime with a precision of 0.1 s. It will trap ultra-cold neutrons in a magneto-gravitational trap using a large superconducting magnet and will measure their lifetime by both neutron counting and online proton detection. This presentation gives an overview over the latest developments of the experiment.

Over-the-Counter and Out-of-Control: Legal Strategies to Protect Youths From Abusing Products for Weight Control

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Lisa M.; Austin, S. Bryn

2013-01-01

Abuse of widely available, over-the-counter drugs and supplements such as laxatives and diet pills for weight control by youths is well documented in the epidemiological literature. Many such products are not medically recommended for healthy weight control or are especially susceptible to abuse, and their misuse can result in serious health consequences. We analyzed the government’s role in regulating these products to protect public health. We examined federal and state regulatory authority, and referred to international examples to inform our analysis. Several legal interventions are indicated to protect youths, including increased warnings and restrictions on access through behind-the-counter placement or age verification. We suggest future directions for governments internationally to address this pervasive public health problem. PMID:23237149

Web-based interventions for weight loss and weight maintenance among rural midlife and older women: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boeckner Linda S

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Weight loss is challenging and maintenance of weight loss is problematic among midlife and older rural women. Finding effective interventions using innovative delivery methods that can reach underserved and vulnerable populations of overweight and obese rural women is a public health challenge. Methods/Design This Women Weigh-In for Wellness (The WWW study randomized-controlled trial is designed to compare the effectiveness of theory-based behavior-change interventions using (1 website only, (2 website with peer-led support, or (3 website with professional email-counseling to facilitate initial weight loss (baseline to 6 months, guided continuing weight loss and maintenance (7-18 months and self-directed weight maintenance (19-30 months among rural women ages 45-69 with a BMI of 28-45. Recruitment efforts using local media will target 306 rural women who live within driving distance of a community college site where assessments will be conducted at baseline, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 months by research nurses blinded to group assignments. Primary outcomes include changes in body weight, % weight loss, and eating and activity behavioral and biomarkers from baseline to each subsequent assessment. Secondary outcomes will be percentage of women achieving at least 5% and 10% weight loss without regain from baseline to 6, 18, and 30 months and achieving healthy eating and activity targets. Data analysis will use generalized estimating equations to analyze average change across groups and group differences in proportion of participants achieving target weight loss levels. Discussion The Women Weigh-In for Wellness study compares innovative web-based alternatives for providing lifestyle behavior-change interventions for promoting weight loss and weight maintenance among rural women. If effective, such interventions would offer potential for reducing overweight and obesity among a vulnerable, hard-to-reach, population of rural women

Effect of educational training on nutrition and weight control in under-18 Spanish wrestlers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Visiedo

Full Text Available Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a formative program concerning nutrition, weight control, and its risks wrestlers under the age of 18 (under-18 at the Spanish national level. The sample comprised 36 under-18 wrestlers that were pre-selected for the Spanish national team. A quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test was used. The dependent variableswere the knowledge of nutrition and weight control and its risks. The independent variable was the educational program. The program had three 30-minute sessions that combined talks, videos, and tasks to complete. Descriptive and inferential analyses were done (t-test, Wilcoxon test. Results indicate that the educational program was effective at increasing under-18 wrestlers’ knowledge about weight control and its risks,but was ineffective with regard to nutrition knowledge. The paper concludes with a discussion regarding the effect of the intervention program, the difficulties with including this type of knowledge and skill in the preparation of combat sport athletes, and the need for further research in this area.

Unhealthy weight control behaviours in adolescent girls: a process model based on self-determination theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie; Ntoumanis, Nikos; Nikitaras, Nikitas

2010-06-01

This study used self-determination theory (Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. (2000). The 'what' and 'why' of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268.) to examine predictors of body image concerns and unhealthy weight control behaviours in a sample of 350 Greek adolescent girls. A process model was tested which proposed that perceptions of parental autonomy support and two life goals (health and image) would predict adolescents' degree of satisfaction of their basic psychological needs. In turn, psychological need satisfaction was hypothesised to negatively predict body image concerns (i.e. drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction) and, indirectly, unhealthy weight control behaviours. The predictions of the model were largely supported indicating that parental autonomy support and adaptive life goals can indirectly impact upon the extent to which female adolescents engage in unhealthy weight control behaviours via facilitating the latter's psychological need satisfaction.

Optimizing design of converters using power cycling lifetime models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Rasmus Ørndrup; Munk-Nielsen, Stig

2015-01-01

Converter power cycling lifetime depends heavily on converter operation point. A lifetime model of a single power module switched mode power supply with wide input voltage range is shown. A lifetime model is created using a power loss model, a thermal model and a model for power cycling capability...... with a given mission profile. A method to improve the expected lifetime of the converter is presented, taking into account switching frequency, input voltage and transformer turns ratio....

A mindfulness-based intervention to control weight after bariatric surgery: Preliminary results from a randomized controlled pilot trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Chacko, Sara A; Yeh, Gloria Y; Davis, Roger B; Wee, Christina C

2016-10-01

This study aimed to develop and test a novel mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) designed to control weight after bariatric surgery. Randomized, controlled pilot trial. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. Bariatric patients 1-5 years post-surgery (n=18) were randomized to receive a 10-week MBI or a standard intervention. Primary outcomes were feasibility and acceptability of the MBI. Secondary outcomes included changes in weight, eating behaviors, psychosocial outcomes, and metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers. Qualitative exit interviews were conducted post-intervention. Major themes were coded and extracted. Attendance was excellent (6 of 9 patients attended ≥7 of 10 classes). Patients reported high satisfaction and overall benefit of the MBI. The intervention was effective in reducing emotional eating at 6 months (-4.9±13.7 in mindfulness vs. 6.2±28.4 in standard, p for between-group difference=0.03) but not weight. We also observed a significant increase in HbA1C (0.34±0.38 vs. -0.06±0.31, p=0.03). Objective measures suggested trends of an increase in perceived stress and symptoms of depression, although patients reported reduced stress reactivity, improved eating behaviors, and a desire for continued mindfulness-based support in qualitative interviews. This novel mindfulness-based approach is highly acceptable to bariatric patients post-surgery and may be effective for reducing emotional eating, although it did not improve weight or glycemic control in the short term. Longer-term studies of mindfulness-based approaches may be warranted in this population. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02603601. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictors of initiation and persistence of unhealthy weight control behaviours in adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haines Jess

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Unhealthy weight control behaviours (UWCB among adolescents have significant health and weight consequences. The current longitudinal study aimed to identify personal and socio-environmental predictors of initiation or persistence of adolescent UWCB, in order to inform development of programs aimed at both preventing and stopping UWCB. Methods A diverse sample included 1106 boys and 1362 girls from 31 middle schools and high schools in the United States who were enrolled in Project EAT (Eating Among Teens. Project EAT explored personal, behavioural, and socio-environmental factors associated with dietary intake and body weight in adolescence. Participants completed questionnaires to assess demographics, UWCB (including several methods of food restriction, purging by vomiting or medications, smoking to control weight, or food substitutions and personal and socio-environmental variables at two time points, five years apart, between 1998 and 2004. Logistic regression models examined personal and socio-environmental predictors of initiation and persistence of UWCB among Project EAT participants. Results Results indicate that 15.5% of boys and 19.7% of girls initiated UWCB by Time 2, and 15.9% of boys and 43.3% of girls persisted with these behaviours from Time 1 to Time 2. After controlling for race/ethnicity and weight status changes between assessments, logistic regression models indicated that similar factors and patterns of factors were associated significantly with initiation and persistence of UWCB. For both boys and girls, personal factors had more predictive value than socio-environmental factors (Initiation models: for boys: R2 = 0.35 for personal vs. 0.27 for socio-environmental factors; for girls, R2 = 0.46 for personal vs. 0.26 for socio-environmental factors. Persistence models: for boys: R2 = 0.53 for personal vs. 0.33 for socio-environmental factors; for girls, R2 = 0.41 for personal vs. 0.19 for socio

Mindfulness Approaches and Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, and Weight Regain.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Carolyn; Haubenreiser, Megan; Johnson, Madison; Nordby, Kelly; Aggarwal, Surabhi; Myer, Sarah; Thomas, Cathy

2018-03-01

There is an urgent need for effective weight management techniques, as more than one third of US adults are overweight or obese. Recommendations for weight loss include a combination of reducing caloric intake, increasing physical activity, and behavior modification. Behavior modification includes mindful eating or eating with awareness. The purpose of this review was to summarize the literature and examine the impact of mindful eating on weight management. The practice of mindful eating has been applied to the reduction of food cravings, portion control, body mass index, and body weight. Past reviews evaluating the relationship between mindfulness and weight management did not focus on change in mindful eating as the primary outcome or mindful eating as a measured variable. This review demonstrates strong support for inclusion of mindful eating as a component of weight management programs and may provide substantial benefit to the treatment of overweight and obesity.

Lifetime sedentary living accelerates some aspects of secondary aging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Booth, Frank W; Laye, Matthew J; Roberts, Michael D

2011-01-01

accelerates secondary aging (e.g., speeding the reduction in bone mineral density, maximal oxygen consumption, and skeletal muscle strength and power), but does not alter the primary aging of these systems. Third, a lifetime of physical activity to the age of ∼60-70 yr old totally prevents decrements in some...... role in the secondary aging of many essential physiological functions, and this aging can be prevented through a lifetime of physical activity.......Lifetime physical inactivity interacts with secondary aging (i.e., aging caused by diseases and environmental factors) in three patterns of response. First, lifetime physical inactivity confers no apparent effects on a given set of physiological functions. Second, lifetime physical inactivity...

Determining the amount of physical activity needed for long-term weight control

Science.gov (United States)

Wier, L. T.; Ayers, G. W.; Jackson, A. S.; Rossum, A. C.; Poston, W. S.; Foreyt, J. P.

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate prospectively the influence of habitual physical activity on body weight of men and women and to develop a model that defines the role of physical activity on longitudinal weight change. DESIGN AND SETTING: Occupational cohort study conducted for a mean of 5.5 y. SUBJECTS: A total of 496 (341 male and 155 female) NASA/Johnson Space Center employees who completed the 3 month education component of the employee health-related fitness program and remained involved for a minimum of 2 y. MEASUREMENTS: Body weights were measured at baseline (T1) and follow-up (T2), and habitual physical activity was obtained from the mean of multiple ratings of the 11-point (0-10) NASA Activity Scale (NAS) recorded quarterly between T1 and T2. Other measures included age, gender, VO(2 max) obtained from maximal treadmill testing, body mass index (BMI), and body fat percentage. RESULTS: Multiple regression demonstrated that mean NAS, T1 weight, aging and gender all influence long-term T2 weight. T1 age was significant for the men only. Independently, each increase in mean NAS significantly (Pmen (b=-0.91 kg; 95% CI:-1.4 to-0.42 kg) and women (b=-2.14 kg; 95% CI:-2.93 to-1.35 kg). Mean NAS had a greater effect on T2 weight as T1 weight increased, and the relationship was dose-dependent. CONCLUSIONS: Habitual physical activity is a significant source of long-term weight change. The use of self-reported activity level is helpful in predicting long-term weight changes and may be used by health care professionals when counseling patients about the value of physical activity for weight control.

Studies on Mathematical Models of Wet Adhesion and Lifetime Prediction of Organic Coating/Steel by Grey System Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Fandi; Liu, Ying; Liu, Li; Li, Ying; Wang, Fuhui

2017-06-28

A rapid degradation of wet adhesion is the key factor controlling coating lifetime, for the organic coatings under marine hydrostatic pressure. The mathematical models of wet adhesion have been studied by Grey System Theory (GST). Grey models (GM) (1, 1) of epoxy varnish (EV) coating/steel and epoxy glass flake (EGF) coating/steel have been established, and a lifetime prediction formula has been proposed on the basis of these models. The precision assessments indicate that the established models are accurate, and the prediction formula is capable of making precise lifetime forecasting of the coatings.

Moisture dependence of positron lifetime in Kevlar-49

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Jag J.; Holt, William H.; Mock, Willis, Jr.

1984-01-01

Because of filamentary character of Kevlar-49 aramid fibers, there is some concern about the moisture uptake and its effect on plastic composites reinforced with Kevlar-49 fibers. As part of continuing studies of positron lifetime in polymers, we have measured positron lifetime spectra in Kevlar-49 fibers as a function of their moisture content. The long lifetime component intensities are rather low, being only of the order of 2-3 percent. The measured values of long component lifetimes at various moisture levels in the specimens are as follows: 2072 +/- 173 ps (dry); 2013 +/- 193 ps (20.7 percent saturation); 1665 +/- 85 ps (25.7 percent saturation); 1745 +/- 257 ps (32.1 percent saturation); and 1772 +/- 217 ps (100 percent saturation). It is apparent that the long component lifetime at first decreases and then increases as the specimen moisture content increases. These results have been compared with those inferred from Epon-815 and Epon-815/K-49 composite data.

Nanoparticle discrimination based on wavelength and lifetime-multiplexed cathodoluminescence microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Garming, Mathijs W H; Weppelman, I Gerward C; de Boer, Pascal; Martínez, Felipe Perona; Schirhagl, Romana; Hoogenboom, Jacob P; Moerland, Robert J

2017-08-31

Nanomaterials can be identified in high-resolution electron microscopy images using spectrally-selective cathodoluminescence. Capabilities for multiplex detection can however be limited, e.g., due to spectral overlap or availability of filters. Also, the available photon flux may be limited due to degradation under electron irradiation. Here, we demonstrate single-pass cathodoluminescence-lifetime based discrimination of different nanoparticles, using a pulsed electron beam. We also show that cathodoluminescence lifetime is a robust parameter even when the nanoparticle cathodoluminescence intensity decays over an order of magnitude. We create lifetime maps, where the lifetime of the cathodoluminescence emission is correlated with the emission intensity and secondary-electron images. The consistency of lifetime-based discrimination is verified by also correlating the emission wavelength and the lifetime of nanoparticles. Our results show how cathodoluminescence lifetime provides an additional channel of information in electron microscopy.

Lifetime income inequality with taxation and public benefits

OpenAIRE

Kemptner, Daniel; Haan, Peter; Prowse, Victoria

2016-01-01

In this paper, we show how taxation, unemployment insurance, welfare, disability benefits and public pensions affect the inequality of lifetime income. Using results from a dynamic life-cycle model estimated using German panel data, we show that taxation and public benefits combined reduce the inequality of lifetime income, measured by the Gini coefficient, by 22\\%. Pensions only slightly reduce inequality in lifetime income. Welfare benefits, meanwhile, make persistent transfers to individua...

Possible evidence for the quantization of particle lifetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehrlich, R.

1976-01-01

An analysis of widths of resonant states supports the hypothesis that particle lifetimes are quantized in units of 1/2 or possibly 1/4 the lifetime of the rho meson: (4.40 +- 0.06) x 10 -24 seconds. The probability that the observed regularity in resonance widths (lifetimes) is simply due to chance is estimated to be less than 2 x 10 -4 . Possible ramifications of this result are considered

Associations of neonatal high birth weight with maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain: a case-control study in women from Chongqing, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yao Jie; Peng, Rong; Han, Lingli; Zhou, Xiaoli; Xiong, Zhengai; Zhang, Yuan; Li, Junnan; Yao, Ruoxue; Li, Tingyu; Zhao, Yong

2016-08-16

To examine the associations of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain (GWG) with neonatal high birth weight (HBW) in a sample of Chinese women living in southwest China. A hospital-based case-control study was conducted in Chongqing, China. A total of 221 mothers who delivered HBW babies (>4.0 kg) were recruited as cases and 221 age-matched (2-year interval) mothers with normal birth weight babies (2.5-4.0 kg) were identified as controls. ORs were estimated using conditional logistic regression analysis. For the analysis, pre-pregnancy BMI was categorised as underweight/normal weight/overweight and obesity and GWG was categorised as inadequate/appropriate/excessive. Among the cases, mean pre-pregnancy BMI was 21.8±2.8 kg/m(2), mean GWG was 19.7±5.1 kg and mean neonatal birth weight was 4.2±0.2 kg. In the controls, the corresponding values were 21.1±3.1 kg/m(2), 16.4±5.0 kg and 3.3±0.4 kg, respectively. More cases than controls gained excessive weight during pregnancy (80.1% vs 48.4%, p0.05). GWG was positively related to HBW after adjustment for gravidity, gestational age, newborns' gender and family income (OR=1.18, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.25; pweight women (OR=10.27, 95% CI 3.20 to 32.95; p<0.001). Overall, the findings suggest a significantly positive association between GWG and HBW. However, pre-pregnancy BMI shows no independent relationship with HBW. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Λc photoproduction and lifetime measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amendolia, S.R.; Bagliesi, G.; Batignani, G.; Bertolucci, E.; Bettoni, D.; Bizetti, A.; Bosisio, L.; Bottigli, U.; Bradaschia, C.; Dell'Orso, M.; Fidecaro, F.; Foa, L.; Focardi, E.; Giannetti, P.; Giorgi, M.A.; Marrocchesi, P.S.; Menzione, A.; Raso, G.; Ristori, L.; Scribano, A.; Stefanini, A.; Tenchini, R.; Tonelli, G.; Triggiani, G.; Beck, G.A.; Bologna, G.; D'Ettorre Piazzoli, B.; Picchi, P.; Budinich, M.; Liello, F.; Milotti, E.; Rolandi, L.; Carter, J.; Green, M.G.; Landon, M.P.J.; March, P.V.; Sacks, L.; Sanjari, A.H.; Strong, J.A.; Ciocci, M.A.; Enorini, M.; Fabbri, F.L.; Laurelli, P.; Mannocchi, G.; Simonelli, L.; Spillantini, P.; Zallo, A.

1987-01-01

A measurement of the lifetime of the Λ c baryon photoproduced coherently of a germanium-silicon target is presented. A signal of Λ c → ΔΚ * → pKππ 0 has been observed and the two different decay diagrams for this process are compared. A sample of 9 Λ c decays give a lifetime of 1.1(+0.8-0.4)10 13 s. (orig.)

Online Self-Organizing Network Control with Time Averaged Weighted Throughput Objective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhicong Zhang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available We study an online multisource multisink queueing network control problem characterized with self-organizing network structure and self-organizing job routing. We decompose the self-organizing queueing network control problem into a series of interrelated Markov Decision Processes and construct a control decision model for them based on the coupled reinforcement learning (RL architecture. To maximize the mean time averaged weighted throughput of the jobs through the network, we propose a reinforcement learning algorithm with time averaged reward to deal with the control decision model and obtain a control policy integrating the jobs routing selection strategy and the jobs sequencing strategy. Computational experiments verify the learning ability and the effectiveness of the proposed reinforcement learning algorithm applied in the investigated self-organizing network control problem.

Density and dry weight of pigweed by various weed control methods ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study evaluates effects of various weeds control methods and nitrogen fertilizer resources on density and dry weight of pigweed and the performance of corn forage as factorial in full random block design with 3 repetitions in research farm of Ferdowsi Mashhad University in 2014. The test treatments include weed ...

Chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime imaging provides new insight into the chlorosis induced by plant virus infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Rong; Jiang, Hongshan; Hu, Fan; Yan, Jin; Zhu, Shuifang

2017-02-01

Leaf chlorosis induced by plant virus infection has a short fluorescence lifetime, which reflects damaged photosynthetic complexes and degraded chloroplasts. Plant viruses often induce chlorosis and necrosis, which are intimately related to photosynthetic functions. Chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime measurement is a valuable noninvasive tool for analyzing photosynthetic processes and is a sensitive indicator of the environment surrounding the fluorescent molecules. In this study, our central goal was to explore the effect of viral infection on photosynthesis by employing chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), steady-state fluorescence, non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and pigment analysis. The data indicated that the chlorophyll fluorescence lifetime of chlorotic leaves was significantly shorter than that of healthy control leaves, and the fitted short lifetime component of chlorophyll fluorescence of chlorotic leaves was dominant. This dominant short lifetime component may result from damage to the structure of thylakoid, which was confirmed by TEM. The NPQ value of chlorotic leaves was slightly higher than that of healthy green leaves, which can be explained by increased neoxanthin, lutein and violaxanthin content relative to chlorophyll a. The difference in NPQ is slight, but FLIM can provide simple and direct characterization of PSII structure and photosynthetic function. Therefore, this technique shows great potential as a simple and rapid method for studying mechanisms of plant virus infection.

Baselines for Lifetime of Organic Solar Cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gevorgyan, Suren; Espinosa Martinez, Nieves; Ciammaruchi, Laura

2016-01-01

The process of accurately gauging lifetime improvements in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) or other similar emerging technologies, such as perovskites solar cells is still a major challenge. The presented work is part of a larger effort of developing a worldwide database of lifetimes that can help...

Servo-control for maintaining abdominal skin temperature at 36C in low birth weight infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinclair, J C

2002-01-01

Randomized trials have shown that the neonatal mortality rate of low birth-weight babies can be reduced by keeping them warm. For low birth-weight babies nursed in incubators, warm conditions may be achieved either by heating the air to a desired temperature, or by servo-controlling the baby's body temperature at a desired set-point. In low birth weight infants, to determine the effect on death and other important clinical outcomes of targeting body temperature rather than air temperature as the end-point of control of incubator heating. Standard search strategy of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group. Searches were made of the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR) (Cochrane Library, Issue 4, 2001) and MEDLINE, 1966 to November 2001. Randomized or quasi-randomized trials which test the effects of having the heat output of the incubator servo-controlled from body temperature compared with setting a constant incubator air temperature. Trial methodologic quality was systematically assessed. Outcome measures included death, timing of death, cause of death, and other clinical outcomes. Categorical outcomes were analyzed using relative risk and risk difference. Meta-analysis assumed a fixed effect model. Two eligible trials were found. In total, they included 283 babies and 112 deaths. Compared to setting a constant incubator air temperature of 31.8C, servo-control of abdominal skin temperature at 36C reduces the neonatal death rate among low birth weight infants: relative risk 0.72 (95% CI 0.54, 0.97); risk difference -12.7% (95% CI -1.6, -23.9). This effect is even greater among VLBW infants. During at least the first week after birth, low birth weight babies should be provided with a carefully regulated thermal environment that is near the thermoneutral point. For LBW babies in incubators, this can be achieved by adjusting incubator temperature to maintain an anterior abdominal skin temperature of at least 36C, using either servo-control or frequent manual

Digital positron lifetime spectroscopy: present status and outlook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becvar, F.

2007-01-01

This contribution summarizes achievements in instrumentation for positron lifetime measurements with emphasis on digital spectrometric systems. A significant part of the data presented are based on a long-term exploitation of a conventional positron lifetime spectrometer developed at Charles University in early 90s, on bench-mark testing measurements with this spectrometer working temporarily in conjunction with a pair of 8-bit, 4 GS/s digitizers and on analogous measurements with a recently assembled digital positron lifetime spectrometer. In addition, results from testing experiments with microchannel plate photomultipliers are briefly reported. Further development of positron lifetime technique is discussed. (copyright 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim) (orig.)

A nudge in a healthier direction: How environmental cues help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal.

Science.gov (United States)

Stämpfli, Aline E; Stöckli, Sabrina; Brunner, Thomas A

2017-03-01

Losing weight is a goal for many people, but it is hard to pursue. However, dieting cues in the environment hold promise for improving individuals' eating behavior. For example, exposure to thin, human-like sculptures by the artist Alberto Giacometti has been found to promote healthy snack choices at a vending machine. Whether health- or weight-related processes drive such effects has not yet been determined. However, a detailed understanding of the content-related drivers of environmental cues' effects provides the first indications regarding a cue's possible use. Therefore, two laboratory studies were conducted. They examined the Giacometti sculptures' effects on unhealthy and healthy food intake (Study 1) and on the completion of weight- and health-related fragmented words (Study 2). Study 1 indicated that the sculptures are weight-related by showing that they reduced food intake independent of food healthiness. Furthermore, the "Giacometti effect" was moderated by restrained eating. Restrained eaters, who are known for their weight-control goal, ate less after having been exposed to the thin sculptures. The results of Study 2 pointed in the same direction. Restrained eaters completed more weight-related words after being exposed to the sculptures. Overall, these studies suggest that the thin sculptures are primarily weight-related cues and particularly helpful for restrained eaters. Environmental weight-control cues such as the Giacometti sculptures could act as a counterforce to our obesogenic environment and help restrained eaters pursue their weight-control goal. In this way, they could nudge food decisions in a healthier direction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on lifetime of C stripping foils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Hongbin; Lu Ziwei; Zhao Yongtao; Li Zhankui; Xu Hushan; Xiao Guoqing; Wang Yuyu; Zhang Ling; Li Longcai; Fang Yan

2007-01-01

The carbon stripping foils can be prepared with the AC and DC arc discharge methods, or even sandwiched with AC-DC alternative layers. The lifetime of the carbon stripping foils of 19 μg/cm 2 prepared with different methods and/or structures was measured. The factors affecting the bombarding lifetime of the carbon stripping foils, especially the method of the foil preparation and the structure of the carbon stripping foils, were discussed. It is observed that the foils prepared with the DC arc discharge method have a longer bombarding lifetime than those prepared with the AC arc discharge method. (authors)

Body image and weight control in South Africans 15 years or older: SANHANES-1

OpenAIRE

Mchiza, Zandile J.; Parker, Whadi-ah; Makoae, Mokhantso; Sewpaul, Ronel; Kupamupindi, Takura; Labadarios, Demetre

2015-01-01

Background South African studies have suggested that differences in obesity prevalence between groups may be partly related to differences in body image and body size dissatisfaction. However, there has never been a national study that measured body image and its relationship to weight control in the country. Hence, the main aim of the study was to examine body image in relation to body mass index and weight control in South Africa. Methods A cross-sectional survey and a secondary analyses of...

Optimal Control to Increase Energy Production of Wind Farm Considering Wake Effect and Lifetime Estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tian, Jie; Zhou, Dao; Su, Chi

2017-01-01

as an example. Due to the small range of the effective wake area, it is found that the energy production is almost the same. Finally, the pitch angle curve and active power curve are optimized according to the Maximum Energy Production (MEP) of a wind farm. Upon considering and contrasting the MPPT method...... to maximize the energy production of wind farms by considering the wake effect and the lifetime of wind turbine. It starts with the analysis of the pitch angle curve and active power curve seen from the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of individual wind turbines. Taking the wake effect into account......, the pitch angle curve and active power curve are optimized with the aim of Maximum Power Generation (MPG) of the wind farm. Afterwards, considering the lifetime of wind turbines, a comparison is offered between the MPPT method and the MPG method for energy production using a simplified two-turbine wind farm...

Fluorescence lifetime imaging of oxygen in dental biofilm

Science.gov (United States)

Gerritsen, Hans C.; de Grauw, Cees J.

2000-12-01

Dental biofilm consists of micro-colonies of bacteria embedded in a matrix of polysaccharides and salivary proteins. pH and oxygen concentration are of great importance in dental biofilm. Both can be measured using fluorescence techniques. The imaging of dental biofilm is complicated by the thickness of the biofilms that can be up to several hundred micrometers thick. Here, we employed a combination of two-photon excitation microscopy with fluorescence lifetime imaging to quantify the oxygen concentration in dental biofilm. Collisional quenching of fluorescent probes by molecular oxygen leads to a reduction of the fluorescence lifetime of the probe. We employed this mechanism to measure the oxygen concentration distribution in dental biofilm by means of fluorescence lifetime imaging. Here, TRIS Ruthenium chloride hydrate was used as an oxygen probe. A calibration procedure on buffers was use to measure the lifetime response of this Ruthenium probe. The results are in agreement with the Stern-Volmer equation. A linear relation was found between the ratio of the unquenched and the quenched lifetime and the oxygen concentration. The biofilm fluorescence lifetime imaging results show a strong oxygen gradient at the buffer - biofilm interface and the average oxygen concentration in the biofilm amounted to 50 μM.

Improved lifetime of microchannel-plate PMTs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehmann, A., E-mail: lehmann@physik.uni-erlangen.de [Physikalisches Institut IV, Friedrich Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen (Germany); Britting, A.; Eyrich, W.; Uhlig, F. [Physikalisches Institut IV, Friedrich Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen (Germany); Dzhygadlo, R.; Gerhardt, A.; Götzen, K.; Höhler, R.; Kalicy, G.; Kumawat, H.; Lehmann, D.; Lewandowski, B.; Patsyuk, M.; Peters, K.; Schepers, G.; Schmitt, L.; Schwarz, C.; Schwiening, J.; Traxler, M.; Zühlsdorf, M. [GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt (Germany); and others

2014-12-01

The charged particle identification at the PANDA experiment will be mainly performed with DIRC detectors. Because of their advantageous properties the preferred photon sensors are MCP-PMTs. However, until recently these devices showed serious aging problems which resulted in a diminishing quantum efficiency (QE) of the photo cathode. By applying innovative countermeasures against the aging causes, the manufacturers recently succeeded in drastically improving the lifetime of MCP-PMTs. Especially the application of an ALD coating technique to seal the material of the micro-channels proves very powerful and results in a lifetime of ≈6C/cm{sup 2} integrated anode charge without a substantial QE degradation for the latest PHOTONIS XP85112. This paper will present a comparative measurement of the lifetime of several older and recent MCP-PMTs demonstrating this progress.

Estimation of effective dose and lifetime attributable risk from multiple head CT scans in ventriculoperitoneal shunted children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aw-Zoretic, J.; Seth, D.; Katzman, G.; Sammet, S.

2014-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this review is to determine the averaged effective dose and lifetime attributable risk factor from multiple head computed tomography (CT) dose data on children with ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VPS). Method and materials: A total of 422 paediatric head CT exams were found between October 2008 and January 2011 and retrospectively reviewed. The CT dose data was weighted with the latest IRCP 103 conversion factor to obtain the effective dose per study and the averaged effective dose was calculated. Estimates of the lifetime attributable risk were also calculated from the averaged effective dose using a conversion factor from the latest BEIR VII report. Results: Our study found the highest effective doses in neonates and the lowest effective doses were observed in the 10–18 years age group. We estimated a 0.007% potential increase risk in neonates and 0.001% potential increased risk in teenagers over the base risk. Conclusion: Multiple head CTs in children equates to a slight potential increase risk in lifetime attributable risk over the baseline risk for cancer, slightly higher in neonates relative to teenagers. The potential risks versus clinical benefit must be assessed

Hot ion buildup and lifetime in LITE. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-09-01

An experimental investigation of hot ion buildup and lifetime in a small scale mirror device (LITE) is described. Hot ions were produced by 27 kV neutral beam injection into laser produced LiH plasmas and H plasmas produced by a washer gun. Hot H ion (12 kV) densities of approx. = 10 12 cm -3 were produced with the LiH target plasmas and densities an order of magnitude lower were produced with the washer gun target plasmas. Hot ion dominant plasmas were not achieved in LITE. The experimental measurements and subsequent analysis using numerical models of the plasma buildup indicate that in small, unshielded mirror plasmas, careful control must be maintained over the transient background gas density in the vicinity of the plasma surface. The hot ion lifetime in LITE was set by the transient cold neutral background resulting from the washer gun of reflux from the target plasma striking the adjacent surfaces

Body image and weight control in youth: 9-year international trends from 24 countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Quick, V.; Nansel, T.; Liu, D.

2014-01-01

for weight loss were assessed in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey conducted in 24 countries cross-sectionally at three time points (2001/2002, 2005/2006 and 2009/2010). Logistic regression models examined change over time in overestimation of body size in non-overweight adolescents......-perceived overweight with increased odds of dieting diminished over time. CONCLUSIONS: Body size perceptions among adolescents may have changed over time concurrent with shifts in country-level body weight. However, controlling for country-level overweight prevalence did not impact trends in dieting for weight loss...

In vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging for monitoring the efficacy of the cancer treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Ardeshirpour, Yasaman; Chernomordik, Victor; Hassan, Moinuddin; Zielinski, Rafal; Capala, Jacek; Gandjbakhche, Amir

2014-07-01

Advances in tumor biology created a foundation for targeted therapy aimed at inactivation of specific molecular mechanisms responsible for cell malignancy. In this paper, we used in vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging with HER2-targeted fluorescent probes as an alternative imaging method to investigate the efficacy of targeted therapy with 17-DMAG (an HSP90 inhibitor) on tumors with high expression of HER2 receptors. HER2-specific Affibody, conjugated to Alexafluor 750, was injected into nude mice bearing HER2-positive tumor xenograft. The fluorescence lifetime was measured before treatment and monitored after the probe injections at 12 hours after the last treatment dose, when the response to the 17-DMAG therapy was the most pronounced as well as a week after the last treatment when the tumors grew back almost to their pretreatment size. Imaging results showed significant difference between the fluorescence lifetimes at the tumor and the contralateral site (∼0.13 ns) in the control group (before treatment) and 7 days after the last treatment when the tumors grew back to their pretreatment dimensions. However, at the time frame that the treatment had its maximum effect (12 hours after the last treatment), the difference between the fluorescence lifetime at the tumor and contralateral site decreased to 0.03 ns. The results showed a good correlation between fluorescence lifetime and the efficacy of the treatment. These findings show that in vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging can be used as a promising molecular imaging tool for monitoring the treatment outcome in preclinical models and potentially in patients. ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.

In-vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging for monitoring the efficacy of the cancer treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Ardeshirpour, Yasaman; Chernomordik, Victor; Hassan, Moinuddin; Zielinski, Rafal; Capala, Jacek; Gandjbakhche, Amir

2015-01-01

Purpose Advances in tumor biology created a foundation for targeted therapy aimed at inactivation of specific molecular mechanisms responsible for cell malignancy. In this paper, we used in-vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging with HER2 targeted fluorescent probes as an alternative imaging method to investigate the efficacy of targeted therapy with 17-DMAG (an HSP90 inhibitor) on tumors with high expression of HER2 receptors. Experimental Design HER2-specific Affibody, conjugated to Alexafluor 750, was injected into nude mice, bearing HER2-positive tumor xenograft. The fluorescence lifetime was measured before treatment and monitored after the probe injections at 12 hours after the last treatment dose, when the response to the 17-DMAG therapy was the most pronounced as well as a week after the last treatment when the tumors grew back almost to their pre-treatment size. Results Imaging results showed significant difference between the fluorescence lifetimes at the tumor and the contralateral site (~0.13ns) in the control group (before treatment) and 7 days after the last treatment when the tumors grew back to their pretreatment dimensions. However, at the time frame that the treatment had its maximum effect (12 hours after the last treatment) the difference between the fluorescence lifetime at the tumor and contralateral site decreased to 0.03ns. Conclusions The results showed a good correlation between fluorescence lifetime and the efficacy of the treatment. These findings show that in-vivo fluorescence lifetime imaging can be used as a promising molecular imaging tool for monitoring the treatment outcome in preclinical models and potentially in patients. PMID:24671949

Filter replacement lifetime prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Hamann, Hendrik F.; Klein, Levente I.; Manzer, Dennis G.; Marianno, Fernando J.

2017-10-25

Methods and systems for predicting a filter lifetime include building a filter effectiveness history based on contaminant sensor information associated with a filter; determining a rate of filter consumption with a processor based on the filter effectiveness history; and determining a remaining filter lifetime based on the determined rate of filter consumption. Methods and systems for increasing filter economy include measuring contaminants in an internal and an external environment; determining a cost of a corrosion rate increase if unfiltered external air intake is increased for cooling; determining a cost of increased air pressure to filter external air; and if the cost of filtering external air exceeds the cost of the corrosion rate increase, increasing an intake of unfiltered external air.

SIRTF thermal design modifications to increase lifetime

Science.gov (United States)

Petrick, S. W.

1993-01-01

An effort was made to increase the predicted lifetime of the SIRTF dewar by lowering the exterior shell temperature, increasing the radiated energy from the vapor cooled shields and reconfiguring the vapor cooled shields. The lifetime increases can be used to increase the scientific return from the mission and as a trade-off against mass and cost. This paper describes the configurations studied, the steady state thermal model used, the analytical methods and the results of the analysis. Much of the heat input to the outside dewar shell is radiative heat transfer from the solar panel. To lower the shell temperature, radiative cooled shields were placed between the solar panel and the dewar shell and between the bus and the dewar shell. Analysis showed that placing a radiator on the outer vapor cooled shield had a significant effect on lifetime. Lengthening the distance between the outer shell and the point where the vapor cooled shields are attached to the support straps also improved lifetime.