Physical activity, sedentary behavior and total wellness changes among sedentary adults : a 4-week randomized controlled trial

Background The construct of total wellness includes a holistic approach to the body, mind and spirit components of life. While the health benefits of reducing sedentary behavior and increasing physical activity are well documented, little is known about the influence on total wellness of an internet-based physical activity monitor designed to help people to achieve higher physical activity levels. Purpose The purpose of this four-week, personal activity monitor-based intervention program was to reduce sedentary behavior and increase physical activity levels in daily living for sedentary adults and to determine if these changes would also be associated with improvement in total wellness. Methods Twenty-two men and 11 women (27 years ± 4.0) were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 18) or control group (n = 15). The intervention group interacted with an online personal activity monitor (Gruve Solution™) designed to reduce sedentary time and increase physical activity during activities of daily living. The control group did not interact with the monitor, as they were asked to follow their normal daily physical activities and sedentary behavior routines. The Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle (WEL) inventory was used to assess total wellness. Sedentary time, light, walking, moderate and vigorous intensity physical activities were assessed for both intervention and control groups at baseline and at week-4 by the 7-day Sedentary and Light Intensity Physical Activity Log (7-day SLIPA Log) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Results Significant increases in pre-post total wellness scores (from 64% ± 5.7 to 75% ± 8.5) (t (17) = -6.5, p < 0.001) were observed in the intervention group by the end of week four. Intervention participants decreased their sedentary time (21%, 2.3 hours/day) and increased their light (36.7%, 2.5 hours/day), walking (65%, 1057 MET-min/week), moderate (67%, 455 MET-min/week) and vigorous intensity (60%, 442 MET-min/week) physical activity (all p < 0.001). No significant differences for total wellness were observed between the groups at baseline and no pre-post significant differences were observed for any outcome variable in the control group. Conclusion Total wellness is improved when sedentary, but sufficiently physically active adults, reduce sedentary time and increase physical activity levels (i.e. light, walking, moderate and vigorous).

Local stress-strain distribution and load transfer across cartilage matrix at micro-scale using combined microscopy-based finite element method

Articular cartilage is the load-bearing tissue that consists of proteoglycan macromolecules entrapped between collagen fibrils in a three-dimensional architecture. To date, the drudgery of searching for mathematical models to represent the biomechanics of such a system continues without providing a fitting description of its functional response to load at micro-scale level. We believe that the major complication arose when cartilage was first envisaged as a multiphasic model with distinguishable components and that quantifying those and searching for the laws that govern their interaction is inadequate. To the thesis of this paper, cartilage as a bulk is as much continuum as is the response of its components to the external stimuli. For this reason, we framed the fundamental question as to what would be the mechano-structural functionality of such a system in the total absence of one of its key constituents-proteoglycans. To answer this, hydrated normal and proteoglycan depleted samples were tested under confined compression while finite element models were reproduced, for the first time, based on the structural microarchitecture of the cross-sectional profile of the matrices. These micro-porous in silico models served as virtual transducers to produce an internal noninvasive probing mechanism beyond experimental capabilities to render the matrices micromechanics and several others properties like permeability, orientation etc. The results demonstrated that load transfer was closely related to the microarchitecture of the hyperelastic models that represent solid skeleton stress and fluid response based on the state of the collagen network with and without the swollen proteoglycans. In other words, the stress gradient during deformation was a function of the structural pattern of the network and acted in concert with the position-dependent compositional state of the matrix. This reveals that the interaction between indistinguishable components in real cartilage is superimposed by its microarchitectural state which directly influences macromechanical behavior.

Effect of pupil dilation and constriction on the distribution of bit errors within the iris

Texture information in the iris image is not uniform in discriminatory information content for biometric identity verification. The bits in an iris code obtained from the image differ in their consistency from one sample to another for the same identity. In this work, errors in bit strings are systematically analysed in order to investigate the effect of light-induced and drug-induced pupil dilation and constriction on the consistency of iris texture information. The statistics of bit errors are computed for client and impostor distributions as functions of radius and angle. Under normal conditions, a V-shaped radial trend of decreasing bit errors towards the central region of the iris is obtained for client matching, and it is observed that the distribution of errors as a function of angle is uniform. When iris images are affected by pupil dilation or constriction the radial distribution of bit errors is altered. A decreasing trend from the pupil outwards is observed for constriction, whereas a more uniform trend is observed for dilation. The main increase in bit errors occurs closer to the pupil in both cases.

Particle size distribution effects on preferential deposition areas in metal foam wrapped tube bundle

This paper presents a numerical model for understanding particle transport and deposition in metal foam heat exchangers. Two-dimensional steady and unsteady numerical simulations of a standard single row metal foam-wrapped tube bundle are performed for different particle size distributions, i.e. uniform and normal distributions. Effects of different particle sizes and fluid inlet velocities on the overall particle transport inside and outside the foam layer are also investigated. It was noted that the simplification made in the previously-published numerical works in the literature, e.g. uniform particle deposition in the foam, is not necessarily accurate at least for the cases considered here. The results highlight the preferential particle deposition areas both along the tube walls and inside the foam using a developed particle deposition likelihood matrix. This likelihood matrix is developed based on three criteria being particle local velocity, time spent in the foam, and volume fraction. It was noted that the particles tend to deposit near both front and rear stagnation points. The former is explained by the higher momentum and direct exposure of the particles to the foam while the latter only accommodate small particles which can be entrained in the recirculation region formed behind the foam-wrapped tubes.

Glutathione transferase Ti and M1 genotype polymorphism in the normal population of Shanghai

Glutathione transferases are known to be important enzymes in the metabolism of xenobiotics. In humans genetic polymorphisms have been reported for the hGSTM1 and hGSTT1 genes leading to individual differences in susceptibility towards toxic effects, such as cancer. This study describes the distribution of the two polymorphisms of hGSTT1 and hGSTM1 in the normal Chinese population of Shanghai. Out of 219 healthy individuals having been genotyped for GSTTI and GSTMI, 108 (49%) were identified to be homozygously deficient for the GSTT1 gene and 107 (49%) for the GSTM1 gene.

Pressure distribution beneath the human foot

A descriptive study was undertaken to establish the 95 percentile limits (proposed normal reference range) for pressure beneath the hallux, metatarsal heads, and heel in a group of healthy adult subjects. A new force plate device capable of accurately measuring discrete areas of pressure beneath the human foot with high temporal and spatial resolution was used. The system is capable of accurately measuring plantar foot pressure during dynamic and static foot function. The results of this research are in close agreement with other published studies of plantar foot pressure measurement with comparable systems.

Mathematical models of calcium and tight junctions in normal and reconstructed epidermis

This project investigated the calcium distributions of the skin, and the growth patterns of skin substitutes grown in the laboratory, using mathematical models. The research found that the calcium distribution in the upper layer of the skin is controlled by three different mechanisms, not one as previously thought. The research also suggests that tight junctions, which are adhesions between neighbouring skin cells, cannot be solely responsible for the differences in the growth patterns of skin substitutes and normal skin.

Log delta analysis: Interpretable differencing of Business process event logs

This paper addresses the problem of identifying and explaining behavioral differences between two business process event logs. The paper presents a method that, given two event logs, returns a set of statements in natural language capturing behavior that is present or frequent in one log, while absent or infrequent in the other. This log delta analysis method allows users to diagnose differences between normal and deviant executions of a process or between two versions or variants of a process. The method relies on a novel approach to losslessly encode an event log as an event structure, combined with a frequency-enhanced technique for differencing pairs of event structures. A validation of the proposed method shows that it accurately diagnoses typical change patterns and can explain differences between normal and deviant cases in a real-life log, more compactly and precisely than previously proposed methods.

Letter Reply: Distribution of TNFA haplotypes in healthy Caucasians: Comment on the articles by Newton et al and Zeggini et al

We thank Ploski and colleagues for their interest in our study. The explanation for the difference in our findings is a typographic error in Table 2 of our article, whereby the alleles for marker TNF ⫺1031 were labeled incorrectly...

Mechanical analysis of foot plantar fascia during normal walking condition

Foot plantar fascia is an important foot tissue in stabilizing the longitudinal arch of human foot. Direct measurement to monitor the mechanical situation of plantar fascia at human locomotion is difficult. The purpose of this study was to construct a three-dimensional finite element model of the foot to calculate the internal stress/strain value of plantar fascia during different stage of gait. The simulated stress distribution of plantar fascia was the lowest at heel-strike, which concentrated on the medial side of calcaneal tubercle. The peak stress of plantar fascia was appeared at push-off, and the value is more than 5 times of the heel-strike position. Current FE model was able to explore the plantar fascia tension trend at the main sub-phases of foot. More detailed fascia model and intrinsic muscle forces could be developed in the further study.

Image-based midsole insert design and the material effects on heel plantar pressure distribution during simulated walking loads

The primary objective of this paper is to study the use of medical image-based finite element (FE) modelling in subjectspecific midsole design and optimisation for heel pressure reduction using a midsole plug under the calcaneus area (UCA). Plugs with different relative dimensions to the size of the calcaneus of the subject have been incorporated in the heel region of the midsole. The FE foot model was validated by comparing the numerically predicted plantar pressure with biomechanical tests conducted on the same subject. For each UCA midsole plug design, the effect of material properties and plug thicknesses on the plantar pressure distribution and peak pressure level during the heel strike phase of normal walking was systematically studied. The results showed that the UCA midsole insert could effectively modify the pressure distribution, and its effect is directly associated with the ratio of the plug dimension to the size of the calcaneus bone of the subject. A medium hardness plug with a size of 95% of the calcaneus has achieved the best performance for relieving the peak pressure in comparison with the pressure level for a solid midsole without a plug, whereas a smaller plug with a size of 65% of the calcaneus insert with a very soft material showed minimum beneficial effect for the pressure relief.

Mathematical models of calcium and tight junctions in normal and reconstructed epidermis

This project investigated the calcium distributions of the skin, and the growth patterns of skin substitutes grown in the laboratory, using mathematical models. The research found that the calcium distribution in the upper layer of the skin is controlled by three different mechanisms, not one as previously thought. The research also suggests that tight junctions, which are adhesions between neighbouring skin cells, cannot be solely responsible for the differences in the growth patterns of skin substitutes and normal skin.

LRP5 regulates human body fat distribution by modulating adipose progenitor biology in a dose- and depot-specific fashion

Summary Common variants in WNT pathway genes have been associated with bone mass and fat distribution, the latter predicting diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk. Rare mutations in the WNT co-receptors LRP5 and LRP6 are similarly associated with bone and cardiometabolic disorders. We investigated the role of LRP5 in human adipose tissue. Subjects with gain-of-function LRP5 mutations and high bone mass had enhanced lower-body fat accumulation. Reciprocally, a low bone mineral density-associated common LRP5 allele correlated with increased abdominal adiposity. Ex vivo LRP5 expression was higher in abdominal versus gluteal adipocyte progenitors. Equivalent knockdown of LRP5 in both progenitor types dose-dependently impaired β-catenin signaling and led to distinct biological outcomes: diminished gluteal and enhanced abdominal adipogenesis. These data highlight how depot differences in WNT/β-catenin pathway activity modulate human fat distribution via effects on adipocyte progenitor biology. They also identify LRP5 as a potential pharmacologic target for the treatment of cardiometabolic disorders. © 2015 The Authors.