Age-Related Maximum Heart Rate Among Ischemic and Nonischemic Heart Failure Patients Receiving beta-Blockade Therapy

Background: Equations to predict maximum heart rate (HRmax) in heart failure (HF) patients receiving beta-adrenergic blocking (BB) agents do not consider the cause of HF. We determined equations to predict HRmax in patients with ischemic and nonischemic HF receiving BB therapy. Methods and Results: Using treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise testing, we studied HF patients receiving BB therapy being considered for transplantation from 1999 to 2010. Exclusions were pacemaker and/or implantable defibrillator, left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) >50%, peak respiratory exchange ratio (RER) <1.00, and Chagas disease. We used linear regression equations to predict HRmax based on age in ischemic and nonischemic patients. We analyzed 278 patients, aged 47 +/- 10 years, with ischemic (n = 75) and nonischemic (n = 203) HF. LVEF was 30.8 +/- 9.4% and 28.6 +/- 8.2% (P = .04), peak VO2 16.9 +/- 4.7 and 16.9 +/- 5.2 mL kg(-1) min(-1) (P = NS), and the HRmax 130.8 +/- 23.3 and 125.3 +/- 25.3 beats/min (P = .051) in ischemic and nonischemic patients, respectively. We devised the equation HRmax = 168 - 0.76 x age (R-2 = 0.095; P = .007) for ischemic HF patients, but there was no significant relationship between age and HRmax in nonischemic HF patients (R-2 = 0.006; P = NS). Conclusions: Our study suggests that equations to estimate HRmax should consider the cause of HF. (J Cardiac Fail 2012;18:831-836)

Considerations for Assessing Maximum Critical Temperatures in Small Ectothermic Animals: Insights from Leaf-Cutting Ants

The thermal limits of individual animals were originally proposed as a link between animal physiology and thermal ecology. Although this link is valid in theory, the evaluation of physiological tolerances involves some problems that are the focus of this study. One rationale was that heating rates shall influence upper critical limits, so that ecological thermal limits need to consider experimental heating rates. In addition, if thermal limits are not surpassed in experiments, subsequent tests of the same individual should yield similar results or produce evidence of hardening. Finally, several non-controlled variables such as time under experimental conditions and procedures may affect results. To analyze these issues we conducted an integrative study of upper critical temperatures in a single species, the ant Atta sexdens rubropiosa, an animal model providing large numbers of individuals of diverse sizes but similar genetic makeup. Our specific aims were to test the 1) influence of heating rates in the experimental evaluation of upper critical temperature, 2) assumptions of absence of physical damage and reproducibility, and 3) sources of variance often overlooked in the thermal-limits literature; and 4) to introduce some experimental approaches that may help researchers to separate physiological and methodological issues. The upper thermal limits were influenced by both heating rates and body mass. In the latter case, the effect was physiological rather than methodological. The critical temperature decreased during subsequent tests performed on the same individual ants, even one week after the initial test. Accordingly, upper thermal limits may have been overestimated by our (and typical) protocols. Heating rates, body mass, procedures independent of temperature and other variables may affect the estimation of upper critical temperatures. Therefore, based on our data, we offer suggestions to enhance the quality of measurements, and offer recommendations to authors aiming to compile and analyze databases from the literature.

Variability of rainfall and temperature (1912-2008) parameters measured from Santa Maria (29 degrees 41 ' S, 53 degrees 48 ' W) and their connections with ENSO and solar activity

In this work, we analyze the long term variability of rainfall and temperature (1912-2008) of Santa Maria (29 degrees S, 53 degrees W) and its possible connection with natural influences such as solar activity and ENSO. Temperature and rainfall present similar frequencies as revealed by spectral analyses. This analysis shows a large number of short periods between 2-8 years and periods of 11.8-12.3, 19.1-21.0, and 64.3-82.5 years. The cross correlation for rainfall and temperature versus Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) have higher cross-power around 2-8 yr. Rainfall and temperature versus sunspot number (Rz) showed higher cross-power around the 11-yr solar cycle period. A high and continuous cross correlation was observed for Rz-22 yr versus rainfall and temperature. Furthermore, the power between 22-yr solar cycle and meteorological parameters was higher than that obtained with the 11-yr solar cycle, suggesting that the effect of Hale cycle on climate may be stronger than the Schwabe cycle effect. These results indicate that the variability of rainfall and temperature is closely related to the variation of the Southern Oscillation Index and solar activity, and that the El Nino Southern Oscillation and solar activity probably play an important role in the climate system over Southern Brazil. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Phylogeography of an Atlantic forest passerine reveals demographic stability through the last glacial maximum

In this study we analyzed the phylogeographic pattern and historical demography of an endemic Atlantic forest (AF) bird, Basileuterus leucoblepharus, and test the influence of the last glacial maximum (LGM) on its population effective size using coalescent simulations. We address two main questions: (i) Does B. leucoblepharus present population genetic structure congruent with the patterns observed for other AF organisms? (ii) How did the LGM affect the effective population size of B. leucoblepharus? We sequenced 914 bp of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b and 512 bp of the nuclear intron 5 of beta-fibrinogen of 62 individuals from 15 localities along the AF. Both molecular markers revealed no genetic structure in B. leucoblepharus. Neutrality tests based on both loci showed significant demographic expansion. The extended Bayesian skyline plot showed that the species seems to have experienced demographic expansion starting around 300,000 years ago, during the late Pleistocene. This date does not coincide with the LGM and the dynamics of population size showed stability during the LGM. To further test the effect of the LGM on this species, we simulated seven demographic scenarios to explore whether populations suffered specific bottlenecks. The scenarios most congruent with our data were population stability during the LGM with bottlenecks older than this period. This is the first example of an AF organism that does not show phylogeographic breaks caused by vicariant events associated to climate change and geotectonic activities in the Quaternary. Differential ecological, environmental tolerances and habitat requirements are possibly influencing the different evolutionary histories of these organisms. Our results show that the history of organism diversification in this megadiverse Neotropical forest is complex. Crown Copyright (c) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genotype by environment interaction for birth and weaning weights of composite beef cattle in different regions of Brazil

The objectives of the present study were to characterize and define homogenous production environments of composite beef cattle in Brazil in terms of climatic and geographic variables using multivariate exploratory techniques and to use them to assess the presence of G x E for birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW). Data from animals born between 1995 and 2008 on 36 farms located in 27 municipalities of the Brazilian states were used. Fifteen years of climate observations (mean minimum and maximum annual temperature and mean annual rainfall) and geographic (latitude, longitude and altitude) data were obtained for each municipality where the farms were located for characterization of the production environments. Hierarchical and nonhierarchical cluster analysis was used to group farms located in regions with similar environmental variables into clusters. Six clusters of farms were formed. The effect of sire-cluster interaction was tested by single-trait analysis using deviance information criterion (DIC). Genetic parameters were estimated by multi-trait analysis considering the same trait to be different in each cluster. According to the values of DIC, the inclusion of sire-cluster effect did not improve the fit of the genetic evaluation model for BW and WW. Estimates of genetic correlations among clusters ranged from -0.02 to 0.92. The low genetic correlation among the most studied regions permits us to suggest that a separate genetic evaluation for some regions should be undertaken. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relations between soil surface roughness, tortuosity, tillage treatments, rainfall intensity and soil and water losses from a red yellow latosol

The soil surface roughness increases water retention and infiltration, reduces the runoff volume and speed and influences soil losses by water erosion. Similarly to other parameters, soil roughness is affected by the tillage system and rainfall volume. Based on these assumptions, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of tillage treatments on soil surface roughness (RR) and tortuosity (T) and to investigate the relationship with soil and water losses in a series of simulated rainfall events. The field study was carried out at the experimental station of EMBRAPA Southeastern Cattle Research Center in São Carlos (Fazenda Canchim), in São Paulo State, Brazil. Experimental plots of 33 m² were treated with two tillage practices in three replications, consisting of: untilled (no-tillage) soil (NTS) and conventionally tilled (plowing plus double disking) soil (CTS). Three successive simulated rain tests were applied in 24 h intervals. The three tests consisted of a first rain of 30 mm/h, a second of 30 mm/h and a third rain of 70 mm/h. Immediately after tilling and each rain simulation test, the surface roughness was measured, using a laser profile meter. The tillage treatments induced significant changes in soil surface roughness and tortuosity, demonstrating the importance of the tillage system for the physical surface conditions, favoring water retention and infiltration in the soil. The increase in surface roughness by the tillage treatments was considerably greater than its reduction by rain action. The surface roughness and tortuosity had more influence on the soil volume lost by surface runoff than in the conventional treatment. Possibly, other variables influenced soil and water losses from the no-tillage treatments, e.g., soil type, declivity, slope length, among others not analyzed in this study.

Heuristics for minimizing the maximum within-clusters distance

The clustering problem consists in finding patterns in a data set in order to divide it into clusters with high within-cluster similarity. This paper presents the study of a problem, here called MMD problem, which aims at finding a clustering with a predefined number of clusters that minimizes the largest within-cluster distance (diameter) among all clusters. There are two main objectives in this paper: to propose heuristics for the MMD and to evaluate the suitability of the best proposed heuristic results according to the real classification of some data sets. Regarding the first objective, the results obtained in the experiments indicate a good performance of the best proposed heuristic that outperformed the Complete Linkage algorithm (the most used method from the literature for this problem). Nevertheless, regarding the suitability of the results according to the real classification of the data sets, the proposed heuristic achieved better quality results than C-Means algorithm, but worse than Complete Linkage.

Reliability of buildings in service limit state for maximum horizontal displacements

Brazilian design code ABNT NBR6118:2003 - Design of Concrete Structures - Procedures - [1] proposes the use of simplified models for the consideration of non-linear material behavior in the evaluation of horizontal displacements in buildings. These models penalize stiffness of columns and beams, representing the effects of concrete cracking and avoiding costly physical non-linear analyses. The objectives of the present paper are to investigate the accuracy and uncertainty of these simplified models, as well as to evaluate the reliabilities of structures designed following ABNT NBR6118:2003[1&] in the service limit state for horizontal displacements. Model error statistics are obtained from 42 representative plane frames. The reliabilities of three typical (4, 8 and 12 floor) buildings are evaluated, using the simplified models and a rigorous, physical and geometrical non-linear analysis. Results show that the 70/70 (column/beam stiffness reduction) model is more accurate and less conservative than the 80/40 model. Results also show that ABNT NBR6118:2003 [1] design criteria for horizontal displacement limit states (masonry damage according to ACI 435.3R-68(1984) [10]) are conservative, and result in reliability indexes which are larger than those recommended in EUROCODE [2] for irreversible service limit states.

Study of the number of occlusal contacts in maximum intercuspation before orthodontic treatment in subjects with Angle Class I and Class II Division 1 malocclusion

OBJECTIVE: Define and compare numbers and types of occlusal contacts in maximum intercuspation. METHODS: The study consisted of clinical and photographic analysis of occlusal contacts in maximum intercuspation. Twenty-six Caucasian Brazilian subjects were selected before orthodontic treatment, 20 males and 6 females, with ages ranging between 12 and 18 years. The subjects were diagnosed and grouped as follows: 13 with Angle Class I malocclusion and 13 with Angle Class II Division 1 malocclusion. After analysis, the occlusal contacts were classified according to the established criteria as: tripodism, bipodism, monopodism (respectively, three, two or one contact point with the slope of the fossa); cuspid to a marginal ridge; cuspid to two marginal ridges; cuspid tip to opposite inclined plane; surface to surface; and edge to edge. RESULTS: The mean number of occlusal contacts per subject in Class I malocclusion was 43.38 and for Class II Division 1 malocclusion it was 44.38, this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: There is a variety of factors that influence the number of occlusal contacts between a Class I and a Class II, Division 1 malocclusion. There is no standardization of occlusal contact type according to the studied malocclusions. A proper selection of occlusal contact types such as cuspid to fossa or cuspid to marginal ridge and its location in the teeth should be individually defined according to the demands of each case. The existence of an adequate occlusal contact leads to a correct distribution of forces, promoting periodontal health.

Relationship between Amazon biomass burning aerosols and rainfall over La Plata Basin

High aerosol loads are discharged into the atmosphere by biomass burning in Amazon and Central Brazil during the dry season. These particles can interact with clouds as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) changing cloud microphysics and radiative properties and, thereby, affecting the radiative budget of the region. Furthermore, the biomass burning aerosols can be transported by the low level jet (LLJ) to La Plata Basin where many mesoscale convective systems (MCS) are observed during spring and summer. This work proposes to investigate whether the aerosols from biomass burning may affect the MCS in terms of rainfall over La Plata Basin during spring. Since the aerosol effect is very difficult to isolate because convective clouds are very sensitive to small environment disturbances, detailed analyses using different techniques are used. The binplot, 2D histograms and combined empirical orthogonal function (EOF) methods are used to separate certain environment conditions with the possible effects of aerosol loading. Reanalysis 2, TRMM-3B42 and AERONET data are used from 1999 up to 2012 during September-December. The results show that there are two patterns associated to rainfall-aerosol interaction in La Plata Basin: one in which the dynamic conditions are more important than aerosols to generate rain; and a second one where the aerosol particles have a role in rain formation, acting mainly to suppress rainfall over La Plata Basin.

Interpretation of the depths of maximum of extensive air showers measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory

To interpret the mean depth of cosmic ray air shower maximum and its dispersion, we parametrize those two observables as functions of the rst two moments of the lnA distribution. We examine the goodness of this simple method through simulations of test mass distributions. The application of the parameterization to Pierre Auger Observatory data allows one to study the energy dependence of the mean lnA and of its variance under the assumption of selected hadronic interaction models. We discuss possible implications of these dependences in term of interaction models and astrophysical cosmic ray sources.

One-repetition maximum test and isokinetic leg extension and flexion: correlations and predicted values

The most typical maximum tests for measuring leg muscle performance are the one-repetition maximum leg press test (1RMleg) and the isokinetic knee extension/flexion (IKEF) test. Nevertheless, their inter-correlations have not been well documented, mainly the predicted values of these evaluations. This correlational and regression analysis study involved 30 healthy young males aged 18-24y, who have performed both tests. Pearson's product moment correlation between 1RMleg and IKEF varied from 0.20 to 0.69 and the more exact predicted test was to 1RMleg (R2 = 0.71). The study showed correlations between 1RMleg and IKEF although these tests are different (isotonic vs. isokinetic) and provided further support for cross determination of 1RMleg and IKEF by linear and multiple linear regression analysis.

Scaling properties of rainfall and desert dust in the Canary Islands

[EN] Precipitation and desert dust event occurrence time series measured in the Canary Islands region are examined with the primary intention of exploring their scaling characteristics as well as their spatial variability in terms of the islands topography and geographical orientation. In particular, the desert dust intrusion regime in the islands is studied in terms of its relationship with visibility. Analysis of dust and rainfall events over the archipelago exhibits distributions in time that obey power laws. Results show that the rain process presents a high clustering and irregular pattern on short timescales and a more scattered structure for long ones. In contrast, dustiness presents a more uniform and dense structure and, consequently, a more persistent behaviour on short timescales. It was observed that the fractal dimension of rainfall events shows an important spatial variability, which increases with altitude, as well as towards northern latitudes and western longitudes.

Maximum principle, mean value operators and quasi boundedness in non-euclidean settings

This work deals with some classes of linear second order partial differential operators with non-negative characteristic form and underlying non- Euclidean structures. These structures are determined by families of locally Lipschitz-continuous vector fields in RN, generating metric spaces of Carnot- Carath´eodory type. The Carnot-Carath´eodory metric related to a family {Xj}j=1,...,m is the control distance obtained by minimizing the time needed to go from two points along piecewise trajectories of vector fields. We are mainly interested in the causes in which a Sobolev-type inequality holds with respect to the X-gradient, and/or the X-control distance is Doubling with respect to the Lebesgue measure in RN. This study is divided into three parts (each corresponding to a chapter), and the subject of each one is a class of operators that includes the class of the subsequent one. In the first chapter, after recalling “X-ellipticity” and related concepts introduced by Kogoj and Lanconelli in [KL00], we show a Maximum Principle for linear second order differential operators for which we only assume a Sobolev-type inequality together with a lower terms summability. Adding some crucial hypotheses on measure and on vector fields (Doubling property and Poincar´e inequality), we will be able to obtain some Liouville-type results. This chapter is based on the paper [GL03] by Guti´errez and Lanconelli. In the second chapter we treat some ultraparabolic equations on Lie groups. In this case RN is the support of a Lie group, and moreover we require that vector fields satisfy left invariance. After recalling some results of Cinti [Cin07] about this class of operators and associated potential theory, we prove a scalar convexity for mean-value operators of L-subharmonic functions, where L is our differential operator. In the third chapter we prove a necessary and sufficient condition of regularity, for boundary points, for Dirichlet problem on an open subset of RN related to sub-Laplacian. On a Carnot group we give the essential background for this type of operator, and introduce the notion of “quasi-boundedness”. Then we show the strict relationship between this notion, the fundamental solution of the given operator, and the regularity of the boundary points.

Modello bayesiano per la riduzione dell'incertezza nella previsione delle piene del fiume Reno

Many efforts have been devoting since last years to reduce uncertainty in hydrological modeling predictions. The principal sources of uncertainty are provided by input errors, for inaccurate rainfall prediction, and model errors, given by the approximation with which the water flow processes in the soil and river discharges are described. The aim of the present work is to develop a bayesian model in order to reduce the uncertainty in the discharge predictions for the Reno river. The ’a priori’ distribution function is given by an autoregressive model, while the likelihood function is provided by a linear equation which relates observed values of discharge in the past and hydrological TOPKAPI model predictions obtained by the rainfall predictions of the limited-area model COSMO-LAMI. The ’a posteriori’ estimations are provided throw a H∞ filter, because the statistical properties of estimation errors are not known. In this work a stationary and a dual adaptive filter are implemented and compared. Statistical analysis of estimation errors and the description of three case studies of flood events occurred during the fall seasons from 2003 to 2005 are reported. Results have also revealed that errors can be described as a markovian process only at a first approximation. For the same period, an ensemble of ’a posteriori’ estimations is obtained throw the COSMO-LEPS rainfall predictions, but the spread of this ’a posteriori’ ensemble is not enable to encompass observation variability. This fact is related to the building of the meteorological ensemble, whose spread reaches its maximum after 5 days. In the future the use of a new ensemble, COSMO–SREPS, focused on the first 3 days, could be helpful to enlarge the meteorogical and, consequently, the hydrological variability.