Predictive factors of non-deterioration of glucose tolerance following a 2-year behavioral intervention

Aim: To identify predictive factors associated with non-deterioration of glucose metabolism following a 2-year behavioral intervention in Japanese-Brazilians. Methods: 295 adults (59.7% women) without diabetes completed 2-year intervention program. Characteristics of those who maintained/improved glucose tolerance status (non-progressors) were compared with those who worsened (progressors) after the intervention. In logistic regression analysis, the condition of non-progressor was used as dependent variable. Results: Baseline characteristics of non-progressors (71.7%) and progressors were similar, except for the former being younger and having higher frequency of disturbed glucose tolerance and lower C-reactive protein (CRP). In logistic regression, non-deterioration of glucose metabolism was associated with disturbed glucose tolerance impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance - (p < 0.001) and CRP levels <= 0.04 mg/dL (p = 0.01), adjusted for age and anthropometric variables. Changes in anthropometry and physical activity and achievement of weight and dietary goals after intervention were similar in subsets that worsened or not the glucose tolerance status. Conclusion: The whole sample presented a homogeneous behavior during the intervention. Lower CRP levels and diagnosis of glucose intolerance at baseline were predictors of non-deterioration of the glucose metabolism after a relatively simple intervention, independent of body adiposity.

Status of Early 19th-Century Names Authored in Parallel by Wied and Schinz for South American Reptiles and Amphibians, with Designations of Three Nomina Protecta

Prince Maximilian zu Wied's great exploration of coastal Brazil in 1815-1817 resulted in important collections of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, many of which were new species later described by Wied himself The bulk of his collection was purchased for the American Museum of Natural History in 1869, although many ""type specimens"" had disappeared earlier. Wied carefully identified his localities but did not designate type specimens or type localities, which are taxonomic concepts that were not yet established. Information and manuscript names on a fraction (17 species) of his Brazilian reptiles and amphibians were transmitted by Wied to Prof. Heinrich Rudolf Schinz at the University of Zurich. Schinz included these species (credited to their discoverer ""Princ. Max."") in the second volume of Das Thierreich ... (1822). Most are junior objective synonyms of names published by Wied. However, six of the 17 names used by Schinz predate Wied's own publications. Three were manuscript names never published by Wied because he determined the species to be previously known. (1) Lacerta vittata Schinz, 1822 (a nomen oblitum) = Lacerta striata sensu Wied (a misidentification, non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem) = Kentropyx calcarata Spix, 1825, herein qualified as a nomen protectum. (2) Polychrus virescens Schinz, 1822 = Lacerta marmorata Linnaeus, 1758 (now Polychrus marmoratus). (3) Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822 (a nomen oblitum) = Gymnophthalmus quadrilineatus sensu Wied (a misidentification, non Linnaeus nec sensu Merrem) = Micrablepharus maximiliani (Reinhardt and Lutken, ""1861"" [1862]), herein qualified as a nomen protectum. Qualifying Scincus cyanurus Schinz, 1822, as a nomen oblitum also removes the problem of homonymy with the later-named Pacific skink Scincus cyanurus Lesson (= Emoia cyanura). The remaining three names used by Schinz are senior objective synonyms that take priority over Wied's names. (4) Bufo cinctus Schinz, 1822, is senior to Bufo cinctus Wied, 1823; both, however, are junior synonyms of Bufo crucifer Wied, 1821 = Chaunus crucifer (Wied). (5) Agama picta Schinz, 1822, is senior to Agama picta Wied, 1823, requiring a change of authorship for this poorly known species, to be known as Enyalius pictus (Schinz). (6) Lacerta cyanomelas Schinz, 1822, predates Teius cyanomelas Wied, 1824 (1822-1831) both nomina oblita. Wied's illustration and description shows cyanomelas as apparently conspecific with the recently described but already well-known Cnemidophorus nativo Rocha et al., 1997, which is the valid name because of its qualification herein as a nomen protectum. The preceding specific name cyanomelas (as corrected in an errata section) is misspelled several ways in different copies of Schinz's original description (""cyanom las,"" ""cyanomlas,"" and cyanom""). Loosening, separation, and final loss of the last three letters of movable type in the printing chase probably accounts for the variant misspellings.

Optimized architecture for Tyrosinase-containing Langmuir-Blodgett films to detect pyrogallol

The control of molecular architectures has been a key factor for the use of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films in biosensors, especially because biomolecules can be immobilized with preserved activity. In this paper we investigated the incorporation of tyrosinase (Tyr) in mixed Langmuir films of arachidic acid (AA) and a lutetium bisphthalocyanine (LuPc(2)), which is confirmed by a large expansion in the surface pressure isotherm. These mixed films of AA-LuPc(2) + Tyr could be transferred onto ITO and Pt electrodes as indicated by FTIR and electrochemical measurements, and there was no need for crosslinking of the enzyme molecules to preserve their activity. Significantly, the activity of the immobilised Tyr was considerably higher than in previous work in the literature, which allowed Tyr-containing LB films to be used as highly sensitive voltammetric sensors to detect pyrogallol. Linear responses have been found up to 400 mu M, with a detection limit of 4.87 x 10(-2) mu M (n = 4) and a sensitivity of 1.54 mu A mu M(-1) cm(-2). In addition, the Hill coefficient (h = 1.27) indicates cooperation with LuPc(2) that also acts as a catalyst. The enhanced performance of the LB-based biosensor resulted therefore from a preserved activity of Tyr combined with the catalytic activity of LuPc(2), in a strategy that can be extended to other enzymes and analytes upon varying the LB film architecture.

Multiclass Hammersley-Aldous-Diaconis process and multiclass-customer queues

In the Hammersley-Aldous-Diaconis process, infinitely many particles sit in R and at most one particle is allowed at each position. A particle at x, whose nearest neighbor to the right is at y, jumps at rate y - x to a position uniformly distributed in the interval (x, y). The basic coupling between trajectories with different initial configuration induces a process with different classes of particles. We show that the invariant measures for the two-class process can be obtained as follows. First, a stationary M/M/1 queue is constructed as a function of two homogeneous Poisson processes, the arrivals with rate, and the (attempted) services with rate rho > lambda Then put first class particles at the instants of departures (effective services) and second class particles at the instants of unused services. The procedure is generalized for the n-class case by using n - 1 queues in tandem with n - 1 priority types of customers. A multi-line process is introduced; it consists of a coupling (different from Liggett's basic coupling), having as invariant measure the product of Poisson processes. The definition of the multi-line process involves the dual points of the space-time Poisson process used in the graphical construction of the reversed process. The coupled process is a transformation of the multi-line process and its invariant measure is the transformation described above of the product measure.

The practice of Information Architecture of websites in Brazil

The project of Information Architecture is one of the initial stages of the project of a website, thus the detection and correction of errors in this stage are easier and time-saving than in the following stages. However, to minimize errors for the projects of information architecture, a methodology is necessary to organize the work of the professional and guarantee the final product quality. The profile of the professional who works with Information Architecture in Brazil has been analyzed (quantitative research by means of a questionnaire on-line) as well as the difficulties, techniques and methodologies found in his projects (qualitative research by means of interviews in depth with support of the approaches of the Sense-Making). One concludes that the methodologies of projects of information architecture need to develop the adoption of the approaches of Design Centered in the User and in the ways to evaluate its results.

Monitoring stress tolerance and occurrences of upper respiratory illness in basketball players by means of psychometric tools and salivary biomarkers

The aim of the study was to evaluate the possible relationships between stress tolerance, training load, banal infections and salivary parameters during 4 weeks of regular training in fifteen basketball players. The Daily Analysis of Life Demands for Athletes` questionnaire (sources and symptoms of stress) and the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey were used on a weekly basis. Salivary cortisol and salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA) were collected at the beginning (before) and after the study, and measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Ratings of perceived exertion (training load) were also obtained. The results from ANOVA with repeated measures showed greater training loads, number of upper respiratory tract infection episodes and negative sensation to both symptoms and sources of stress, at week 2 (p < 0.05). Significant increases in cortisol levels and decreases in SIgA secretion rate were noted (before to after). Negative sensations to symptoms of stress at week 4 were inversely and significantly correlated with SIgA secretion rate. A positive and significant relationship between sources and symptoms of stress at week 4 and cortisol levels were verified. In summary, an approach incorporating in conjunction psychometric tools and salivary biomarkers could be an efficient means of monitoring reaction to stress in sport. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Strength training increases walking tolerance in intermittent claudication patients: randomized trial

Objective: To analyse the effects of strength training (ST) in walking capacity in patients with intermittent claudication (IC) compared with walking training (WT) effects. Methods. Thirty patients with IC were randomized into ST and WT. Both groups trained twice a week for 12 weeks at the same rate of perceived exertion. ST consisted of three sets of 10 repetitions of whole body exercises. WT consisted of 15 bouts of 2-minute walking. Before and after the training program walking capacity, peak VO(2), VO(2) at the first stage of treadmill test, ankle brachial index, ischemic window, and knee extension strength were measured. Results: ST improved initial claudication distance (358 +/- 224 vs 504 +/- 276 meters; P < .01), total walking distance (618 +/- 282 to 775 +/- 334 meters; P < .01), VO(2), at the first stage of treadmill test (9.7 +/- 2.6 vs 8.1 +/- 1.7 mL . kg(-1) . minute; P < .01), ischemic window (0.81 +/- 1.16 vs 0.43 +/- 0.47 mm Hg minute meters(-1); P = .04), and knee extension strength (19 +/- 9 vs 21 +/- 8 kg and 21 +/- 9 vs 23 +/- 9; P < .01). Strength increases correlated with the increase in initial claudication distance (r = 0.64; P = .01.) and with the decrease ill VO(2) measured at the first stage of the treadmill test (r = -0.52; P = .04 and r = -0.55; P = .03). Adaptations following ST were similar to the ones observed after WT; however, patients reported lower pain during ST than WT (P < .01). Conclusion: ST improves functional limitation similarly to WT but it produces lower pain, suggesting that this type of exercise could be useful and should be considered in patients with IC. (J Vase Surg 2010;51:89-95.)

Effects of creatine supplementation on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in sedentary healthy males undergoing aerobic training

Recent findings have indicated that creatine supplementation may affect glucose metabolism. This study aimed to examine the effects of creatine supplementation, combined with aerobic training, on glucose tolerance in sedentary healthy male. Subjects (n = 22) were randomly divided in two groups and were allocated to receive treatment with either creatine (CT) (similar to 10g .day over three months) or placebo (PT) (dextrose). Administration of treatments was double blind. Both groups underwent moderate aerobic training. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed and both fasting plasma insulin and the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index were assessed at the start, and after four, eight and twelve weeks. CT demonstrated significant decrease in OGTT area under the curve compared to PT (P = 0.034). There were no differences between groups or over time in fasting insulin or HOMA. The results suggest that creatine supplementation, combined with aerobic training, can improve glucose tolerance but does not affect insulin sensitivity, and may warrant further investigation with diabetic subjects.

SAB(IO): A BIOLOGICALLY PLAUSIBLE CONNECTIONIST APPROACH TO AUTOMATIC TEXT SUMMARIZATION

An implementation of a computational tool to generate new summaries from new source texts is presented, by means of the connectionist approach (artificial neural networks). Among other contributions that this work intends to bring to natural language processing research, the use of a more biologically plausible connectionist architecture and training for automatic summarization is emphasized. The choice relies on the expectation that it may bring an increase in computational efficiency when compared to the sa-called biologically implausible algorithms.

Electrical and Magnetic Characterization of BSCCO and YBCO HTS Tapes for Fault Current Limiter Application

Several high temperature superconductor (HTS) tapes have been developed since the late eighties. Due to the new techniques applied for their production, HTS tapes are becoming feasible and practical for many applications. In this work, we present the test results of five commercial HTS tapes from the BSCCO and YBCO families (short samples of 200 mm). We have measured and analyzed their intrinsic and extrinsic properties and compared their behaviors for fault current limiter (FCL) applications. Electrical measurements were performed to determine the critical current and the n value through the V-I relationship under DC and AC magnetic fields. The resistance per unit length was determined as a function of temperature. The magnetic characteristics were analyzed through susceptibility curves as a function of temperature. As transport current generates a magnetic field surrounding the HTS material, the magnetic measurements indicate the magnetic field supported by the tapes under a peak current 1.5 times higher than the critical current, I(c). By pulsed current tests the recovery time and the energy/volume during a current fault were also analyzed. These results are in agreement with the data found in the literature giving the most appropriate performance conductor for a FCL device (I(peak) = 4 kA) to be used in a 220 V-60 Hz grid.

Developing and implementing an open and non-proprietary device description for FOUNDATION fieldbus based on software standards

Support for interoperability and interchangeability of software components which are part of a fieldbus automation system relies on the definition of open architectures, most of them involving proprietary technologies. Concurrently, standard, open and non-proprietary technologies, such as XML, SOAP, Web Services and the like, have greatly evolved and been diffused in the computing area. This article presents a FOUNDATION fieldbus (TM) device description technology named Open-EDD, based on XML and other related technologies (XLST, DOM using Xerces implementation, OO, XMIL Schema), proposing an open and nonproprietary alternative to the EDD (Electronic Device Description). This initial proposal includes defining Open-EDDML as the programming language of the technology in the FOUNDATION fieldbus (TM) protocol, implementing a compiler and a parser, and finally, integrating and testing the new technology using field devices and a commercial fieldbus configurator. This study attests that this new technology is feasible and can be applied to other configurators or HMI applications used in fieldbus automation systems. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combined solution for fault location in three-terminal lines based on wavelet transforms

This work presents the study and development of a combined fault location scheme for three-terminal transmission lines using wavelet transforms (WTs). The methodology is based on the low- and high-frequency components of the transient signals originated from fault situations registered in the terminals of a system. By processing these signals and using the WT, it is possible to determine the time of travelling waves of voltages and/or currents from the fault point to the terminals, as well as estimate the fundamental frequency components. A new approach presents a reliable and accurate fault location scheme combining some different solutions. The main idea is to have a decision routine in order to select which method should be used in each situation presented to the algorithm. The combined algorithm was tested for different fault conditions by simulations using the ATP (Alternative Transients Program) software. The results obtained are promising and demonstrate a highly satisfactory degree of accuracy and reliability of the proposed method.

Performance analysis of an optical network employing waveband and traffic grooming

This paper analyses an optical network architecture composed by an arrangement of nodes equipped with multi-granular optical cross-connects (MG-OXCs) in addition to the usual optical cross-connects (OXCs). Then, selected network nodes can perform both waveband as well as traffic grooming operations and our goal is to assess the improvement on network performance brought by these additional capabilities. Specifically, the influence of the MG-OXC multi-granularity on the blocking probability is evaluated for 16 classes of service over a network based on the NSFNet topology. A mechanism of fairness in bandwidth capacity is also added to the connection admission control to manage the blocking probabilities of all kind of bandwidth requirements. Comprehensive computational simulation are carried out to compare eight distinct node architectures, showing that an adequate combination of waveband and single-wavelength ports of the MG-OXCs and OXCs allow a more efficient operation of a WDM optical network carrying multi-rate traffic.

A small area 8 bits 50 MHz CMOS DAC for Bluetooth transmitter

This paper presents a small-area CMOS current-steering segmented digital-to-analog converter (DAC) design intended for RF transmitters in 2.45 GHz Bluetooth applications. The current-source design strategy is based on an iterative scheme whose variables are adjusted in a simple way, minimizing the area and the power consumption, and meeting the design specifications. A theoretical analysis of static-dynamic requirements and a new layout strategy to attain a small-area current-steering DAC are included. The DAC was designed and implemented in 0.35 mu m CMOS technology, requiring an active area of just 200 mu m x 200 mu m. Experimental results, with a full-scale output current of 700 mu A and a 3.3 V power supply, showed a spurious-free dynamic range of 58 dB for a 1 MHz output sine wave and sampling frequency of 50 MHz, with differential and integral nonlinearity of 0.3 and 0.37 LSB, respectively.