New techniques in nutritional assessment: body composition methods

New techniques in air-displacement plethysmography seem to have overcome many of the previous problems of poor reproducibility and validity. These have made body-density measurements available to a larger range of individuals, including children, elderly and sick patients who often have difficulties in being submerged underwater in hydrodensitometry systems. The BOD POD air-displacement system (BOD POD body composition system; Life Measurement Instruments, Concord, CA, USA) is more precise than hydrodensitometry, is simple and rapid to operate (approximately 1 min measurements) and the results agree closely with those of hydrodensitometry (e.g. +/-3.4% for estimation of body fat). Body line scanners employing the principles of three-dimensional photography are potentially able to measure the surface area and volume of the body and its segments even more rapidly (approximately 10 s), but the validity of the measurements needs to be established. Advances in i.r. spectroscopy and mathematical modelling for calculating the area under the curve have improved precision for measuring enrichment of (H2O)-H-2 in studies of water dilution (CV 0.1-0.9% within the range of 400-1000 mu l/l) in saliva, plasma and urine. The technique is rapid and compares closely with mass spectrometry (bias 1 (SD 2) %). Advances in bedside bioelectrical-impedance techniques are making possible potential measurements of skinfold thicknesses and limb muscle mass electronically. Preliminary results suggest that the electronic method is more reproducible (intra-and inter-individual reproducibility for measuring skinfold thicknesses) and associated with less bias (+ 12%), than anthropometry (+ 40%). In addition to these selected examples, the 'mobility' or transfer of reference methods between centres has made the distinction between reference and bedside or field techniques less distinct than in the past.

Abstraction et plasticité sonore : une nouvelle approche à la composition de musique acousmatique

« La version intégrale de ce mémoire est disponible uniquement pour consultation individuelle à la Bibliothèque de musique de l’Université de Montréal (www.bib.umontreal.ca/MU). »

USEWRITE: Useful Writing Techniques to Improve High-School Students`Descriptive Writing

Se analizan y recomiendan algunas técnicas de redacción, para promover la escritura de párrafos descriptivos, entre estudiantes de secundaria o principiantes. El estudio parte de los resultados obtenidos en una investigación llevada a cabo en un colegio del distrito de Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica). Se propone una secuencia de técnicas fundamentadas en el enfoque de escritura equilibrada, el enfoque de escritura guiada, la redacción como proceso, las estrategias del aprendizaje, los estilos de aprendizaje y la teoría de inteligencias múltiples. Composition techniques designed to promote the writing of descriptive paragraphs by high school students are analyzed and recommended. This study is based on the results gathered from research conducted in a high school located in the district of Pérez Zeledón (Costa Rica). A proposal of a sequence of techniques has been developed, applying the Balanced Approach, the Guided Writing Approach, Process Approach, Leaming Strategies, Leaming Styles, and Multiple Intelligences Theory.

Un monde de silence : musique pour documentaires aquatiques.

La version intégrale de cette thèse est disponible uniquement pour consultation individuelle à la Bibliothèque de musique de l’Université de Montréal (http://www.bib.umontreal.ca/MU).

Análise comparativa de métodos de avaliação da composição corporal em homens sadios e em pacientes com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica: antropometria, impedância bioelétrica e absortiometria de raios-X de dupla energia

The aim of this study was to examine the agreement between the results of body fat (BF and BF%), fat-free mass (FFM) and FFM index (FFMI= FFM/height2) as estimated by skinfold anthropometry (ANT), bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in two groups of men (> or = 50 y), one comprising healthy individuals (n=23) and the other, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n=24). Comparisons between body composition techniques were done by repeated measures ANOVA; the Bland & Altman procedure was used to analyse agreement. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: 1) comparison between healthy and COPD groups showed significant differences between all studied variables; 2) in the healthy group, values for BF, BF%, FFM and FFMI were not significantly different when BIA or ANT was compared to DXA; however, in COPD, values for BF and BF% were significantly higher and for FFM and FFMI significantly lower when BIA was compared to DXA; in contrast, no differences were shown between values for these variables when ANT was compared with DXA; 3) Bland & Altman test, in both groups, showed no agreement between BIA and DXA and between ANT and DXA; it was also shown that body fat was overestimated and fat free mass underestimated by BIA in relation to DXA.

Estado nutricional relacionado à vitamina K de pacientes portadores de doença vascular em tratamento anticoagulante oral ambulatorial com varfarina sódica

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Disparos: ensaios sobre fotografia de guerra

Once the choices set involved in the selection of compositional techniques of a photography is mediated by ideological universes, this final project aims to analyze the photographic coverage of the World War II presented in the brazilian publication Revista da Semana during the period in which Brazil was part of the conflict (1942 to 1945). We study the different composition techniques used and the different effects of meaning articulated by these techniques. Thus, our goal is to see how the repetitions are articulated and the translations of meaning in photojournalistic composition from its narrative structure, that is, their way of coded organization. For this, we used the analysis methodology proposed by Umberto Eco on the rhetoric of the image, involving the five levels of photography decomposition (ie iconic levels, iconographic, tropological, topic and enthymematic). We will analyze these images from the perspective of the effects of meaning that the composition techniques to engender glimpse which were woven meanings to this event in that specific space, and which were mediated discourses of Brazilian participation in the conflict

Os álbuns fotojornalísticos online e a construção do acontecimento: atribuições de sentido a partir da composição imagética dos protestos de junho

Given that the choices involved in the selection of compositional techniques in photography are mediated by values, this article aims to analyze the compositional techniques of photographs published by photojournalistic online albums during the protests of June 2013 in Brazil. These albums feature professional and amateur photographs considered "the best" of this event and, interestingly, the chosen photographs have several composition techniques in common. We will examine these images from the perspective of significant effects that these techniques engender with the objective of examining the meanings that were attributed to that event in those albums.

A.A. Milne - When We Were Very Young : cycle éclectique de chansons pour enfants, chanté par des enfants

Les fichiers qui accompagnent mon document on été réalisés avec les logiciels Microsoft Word et Finale.

A.A. Milne - When We Were Very Young : cycle éclectique de chansons pour enfants, chanté par des enfants

Les fichiers qui accompagnent mon document on été réalisés avec les logiciels Microsoft Word et Finale.

Monitoring the composition and form of urban environments based on the vegetation-impervious surface-soil (VIS) model by sub-pixel analysis techniques

The majority of the world's population now resides in urban environments and information on the internal composition and dynamics of these environments is essential to enable preservation of certain standards of living. Remotely sensed data, especially the global coverage of moderate spatial resolution satellites such as Landsat, Indian Resource Satellite and Systeme Pour I'Observation de la Terre (SPOT), offer a highly useful data source for mapping the composition of these cities and examining their changes over time. The utility and range of applications for remotely sensed data in urban environments could be improved with a more appropriate conceptual model relating urban environments to the sampling resolutions of imaging sensors and processing routines. Hence, the aim of this work was to take the Vegetation-Impervious surface-Soil (VIS) model of urban composition and match it with the most appropriate image processing methodology to deliver information on VIS composition for urban environments. Several approaches were evaluated for mapping the urban composition of Brisbane city (south-cast Queensland, Australia) using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper data and 1:5000 aerial photographs. The methods evaluated were: image classification; interpretation of aerial photographs; and constrained linear mixture analysis. Over 900 reference sample points on four transects were extracted from the aerial photographs and used as a basis to check output of the classification and mixture analysis. Distinctive zonations of VIS related to urban composition were found in the per-pixel classification and aggregated air-photo interpretation; however, significant spectral confusion also resulted between classes. In contrast, the VIS fraction images produced from the mixture analysis enabled distinctive densities of commercial, industrial and residential zones within the city to be clearly defined, based on their relative amount of vegetation cover. The soil fraction image served as an index for areas being (re)developed. The logical match of a low (L)-resolution, spectral mixture analysis approach with the moderate spatial resolution image data, ensured the processing model matched the spectrally heterogeneous nature of the urban environments at the scale of Landsat Thematic Mapper data.

Whole crop cereals 2. Prediction of apparent digestibility and energy value from in vitro digestion techniques and near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and of chemical composition by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy

Samples of whole crop wheat (WCW, n = 134) and whole crop barley (WCB, n = 16) were collected from commercial farms in the UK over a 2-year period (2003/2004 and 2004/2005). Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was compared with laboratory and in vitro digestibility measures to predict digestible organic matter in the dry matter (DOMD) and metabolisable energy (ME) contents measured in vivo using sheep. Spectral models using the mean spectra of two scans were compared with those using individual spectra (duplicate spectra). Overall NIRS accurately predicted the concentration of chemical components in whole crop cereals apart from crude protein. ammonia-nitrogen, water-soluble carbohydrates, fermentation acids and solubility values. In addition. the spectral models had higher prediction power for in vivo DOMD and ME than chemical components or in vitro digestion methods. Overall there Was a benefit from the use of duplicate spectra rather than mean spectra and this was especially so for predicting in vivo DOMD and ME where the sample population size was smaller. The spectral models derived deal equally well with WCW and WCB and Would he of considerable practical value allowing rapid determination of nutritive value of these forages before their use in diets of productive animals. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Decolourisation of real textile waste using electrochemical techniques: Effect of electrode composition

The present paper presents the study of the decolourisation of real textile effluent by constant current electrolysis in a flow-cell using a DSAO type material. The effect of using different anode materials (Ti/Ru0.3Ti0.7O2; Ti/Ir0.3Ti0.7O2; Ti/RuxSn1-xO2, where X = 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3) on the efficiency of colour removal is discussed. Attempts to perform galvanostatic oxidation (40 and 60 mA cm(-2)) on the as-received effluent demonstrate that colour removal and total organic carbon (TOC) removal are limited. In this case the greatest degree of colour removal is achieved when anode containing 90% SnO2 is used. If the conductivity of the effluent is increased by adding NaCl (0.1 mol L-1) appreciable colour/TOC removal is observed. The efficiencies of colour and TOC removal are discussed in terms of the energy per order (E-EO/kWhm(-3) order(-1)) and energy consumption (E-C/kW h kg(-1) TOC), respectively. Finally, the extent of colour removal is compared to consent levels presented in the literature. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of high-throughput miniaturized sorbent- and solid phase microextraction techniques combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis for a rapid screening of volatile and semi-volatile composition of wines: a comparative study

In this study the feasibility of different extraction procedures was evaluated in order to test their potential for the extraction of the volatile (VOCs) and semi-volatile constituents (SVOCs) from wines. In this sense, and before they could be analysed by gas chromatography–quadrupole first stage masss spectrometry (GC–qMS), three different high-throughput miniaturized (ad)sorptive extraction techniques, based on solid phase extraction (SPE), microextraction by packed sorbents (MEPS) and solid phase microextraction (SPME), were studied for the first time together, for the extraction step. To achieve the most complete volatile and semi-volatile signature, distinct SPE (LiChrolut EN, Poropak Q, Styrene-Divinylbenzene and Amberlite XAD-2) and MEPS (C2, C8, C18, Silica and M1 (mixed C8-SCX)) sorbent materials, and different SPME fibre coatings (PA, PDMS, PEG, DVB/CAR/PDMS, PDMS/DVB, and CAR/PDMS), were tested and compared. All the extraction techniques were followed by GC–qMS analysis, which allowed the identification of up to 103 VOCs and SVOCs, distributed by distinct chemical families: higher alcohols, esters, fatty acids, carbonyl compounds and furan compounds. Mass spectra, standard compounds and retention index were used for identification purposes. SPE technique, using LiChrolut EN as sorbent (SPELiChrolut EN), was the most efficient method allowing for the identification of 78 VOCs and SVOCs, 63 and 19 more than MEPS and SPME techniques, respectively. In MEPS technique the best results in terms of number of extractable/identified compounds and total peak areas of volatile and semi-volatile fraction, were obtained by using C8 resin whereas DVB/CAR/PDMS was revealed the most efficient SPME coating to extract VOCs and SVOCs from Bual wine. Diethyl malate (18.8 ± 3.2%) was the main component found in wine SPELiChrolut EN extracts followed by ethyl succinate (13.5 ± 5.3%), 3-methyl-1-butanol (13.2 ± 1.7%), and 2-phenylethanol (11.2 ± 9.9%), while in SPMEDVB/CAR/PDMS technique 3-methyl-1-butanol (43.3 ± 0.6%) followed by diethyl succinate (18.9 ± 1.6%), and 2-furfural (10.4 ± 0.4%), are the major compounds. The major VOCs and SVOCs isolated by MEPSC8 were 3-methyl-1-butanol (26.8 ± 0.6%, from wine total volatile fraction), diethyl succinate (24.9 ± 0.8%), and diethyl malate (16.3 ± 0.9%). Regardless of the extraction technique, the highest extraction efficiency corresponds to esters and higher alcohols and the lowest to fatty acids. Despite some drawbacks associated with the SPE procedure such as the use of organic solvents, the time-consuming and tedious sampling procedure, it was observed that SPELiChrolut EN, revealed to be the most effective technique allowing the extraction of a higher number of compounds (78) rather than the other extraction techniques studied.