Improved weight management using genetic information to personalize a calorie controlled diet

Background  

Gene-environment studies demonstrate variability in nutrient requirements depending upon individual variations in genes affecting nutrient metabolism and transport. This study investigated whether the inclusion of genetic information to personalize a patient's diet (nutrigenetics) could improve long term weight management.     

Partially-bonded rigid inhomogeneities in antiplane deformation

A partially-bonded rigid inhomogeneity embedded in an infinite elastic matrix under conditions of antiplane deformation is examined. The modeling is based upon the complex variable method and utilizes conformal mapping and continuation techniques in developing the solution. Closed form solutions of the specific case of a uniform shear stress and a screw dislocation in the matrix are provided. The singular form of the stress field at the singular interface points is examined and their interaction is discussed.     

Experimental and computational analysis of stall cells on rectangular wings

The present paper is the second part of a combined (experimental and computational) study on stall cells (SCs) on a rectangular wing. In the first part, tuft data were used in order to geometrically characterize a stabilized SC resulting from a localized spanwise disturbance introduced by a zigzag tape. Here, pressure measurements on the model and in the wake and aerodynamic polars at midspan are reported. The wing model had an aspect ratio value of 2, the Reynolds number was 10⁶ and the range of angles of attack (α) was from ?6^° to 16^°. Experimental results confirm previous findings. Furthermore, two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional Reynolds Averaged Navier‐Stokes RANS simulations are used in order to better understand the structure of SCs. 3D simulations reproduce the experimental data with a 3° delay in α and permit a qualitative analysis. It is found that the SC vortices start normal to the wing surface and extend downstream in the wake; the evolution of the SC vortices in the wake is in strong interaction with the separation line vortex and the trailing edge line vortex; as the SC vortex develops downstream in the wake, its centreline is contracted towards the SC centre; the wing wake is pushed upstream at the centre of the SC and downstream at the sides by the SC vortices; spanwise lift and drag distributions always attain their minimum at the SC centre. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparative Fractional Efficiency Predictions by Selected Cyclone Simulation Models

The recently introduced ambient air quality standards for fine particulates expand the use of available control system simulation models, from the prediction of total particulate matter removal efficiencies, to the prediction of PM2.5 and PM10 (particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 and 10?μm) ones. In order to assess the suitability of cyclone simulation models for this task, the fractional efficiency predictions of six prominent models (Lapple, Leith and Licht, Dietz, Mothes and Loffler, Iozia and Leith, and Mothes and Loffler with the turbulent dispersion coefficient of Salcedo and Coelho) are compared for a number of “standard” cyclone design configurations under a wide range of cyclone diameters and pressure drops. The results reveal a significant discrepancy among model predictions, suggesting that at least some of the models considered are unsuitable for predicting size-specific (e.g., PM2.5 and PM10) cyclone efficiencies. They also show that the sensitivity of fractional efficiencies to changes in the configuration ratios, diameter, and gas pressure drop varies widely, and in some cases even in opposite directions, among models. The above-noted results demonstrate the need for a systematic model validation against credible and sufficiently extensive experimental data sets.     

In the wild image retrieval and clustering for 3D cultural heritage landmarks reconstruction

One of the main characteristics of Internet era is the free and online availability of extremely large collections of images located on distributed and heterogeneous platforms over the web. The proliferation of millions of shared photographs spurred the emergence of new image retrieval techniques based not only on images’ visual information, but on geo-location tags and camera exif data. These huge visual collections provide a unique opportunity for cultural heritage documentation and 3D reconstruction. The main difficulty, however, is that the internet image datasets are unstructured containing many outliers. For this reason, in this paper a new content-based image filtering is proposed to discard image outliers that either confuse or significantly delay the followed e-documentation tools, such as 3D reconstruction of a cultural heritage object. The presented approach exploits and fuses two unsupervised clustering techniques: DBSCAN and spectral clustering. DBSCAN algorithm is used to remove outliers from the initially retrieved dataset and spectral clustering discriminate the noise free image dataset into different categories each representing characteristic geometric views of cultural heritage objects. To discard the image outliers, we consider images as points onto a multi-dimensional manifold and the multi-dimensional scaling algorithm is adopted to relate the space of the image distances with the space of Gram matrices through which we are able to compute the image coordinates. Finally, structure from motion is utilized for 3D reconstruction of cultural heritage landmarks. Evaluation on a dataset of about 31,000 cultural heritage images being retrieved from internet collections with many outliers indicate the robustness and cost effectiveness of the proposed method towards a reliable and just-in-time 3D reconstruction than existing state-of-the-art techniques.     

Enterprise system lifecycles in transition and less developed economies within the European Union

ABSTRACT

We analyze the lifecycle of enterprise systems (ES) in one transition (Poland) and two less developed economies (Greece and Portugal), all of them members of the European Union (EU). This study, involving practitioners with an accumulated experience of more than 280 projects, enables the comprehension of the approach to phases, activities, and the relevance of key players throughout the lifecycle. We found differences and similarities across these parameters that suggest that the traditional partition into “developed” and “transition” economies may be too simplistic, as the level of development of the economy should be taken into account. The main findings suggest that practitioners from less developed economies attach significant importance to technical issues, and adopters in transition economies strongly depend on external help. Although not directly transferrable, our results point to issues that should be taken into consideration when adopting or studying ES in countries with similar traits, such as Ukraine and Belarus in Central and Eastern Europe, or more recent EU member states, such as Croatia, Bulgaria, or Romania.     

Three months of Western diet induces small intestinal mucosa alteration in TLR KO mice

Several studies support the role of Western‐style diet (WD) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Toll‐like receptors/NOD‐like receptors (TLRs/NLRs) are important to maintain a healthy epithelium as well as inducing inflammation. Given that dietary factors influence IBD development, that epithelial dysfunction is thought to be involved in initiating intestinal inflammation and that TLR‐NLR are involved in maintenance of the functionality of intestinal epithelium as well as in regulating inflammation, we decided to examine the role of TLR signals in the triggering events that lead to alteration of the small intestinal epithelium associated to consumption of WD. C57BL/6J mice deficient for TLR2, 4, 9, or NOD2 and wild‐type (WT) were fed a WD or a standard diet for 3 months. The effects of WD on small intestinal samples were evaluated by histological and immunohistochemical analysis. After 3 months, WD modifies the morphology and the organization of the small intestine in TLR9 KO mice compared with WT mice and the others TLRs. The most interesting change involved the expression of proliferative and differentiation markers of WNT signaling, Ki67 and FzD5. Mice deficient in TLR2, 4, and NOD2 have a significant reduction in the proliferative cell numbers but do not show any signs of histological alterations. Our results suggest that TLR9 is an important protective factor in intestinal epithelial homeostasis and provide new insights into an unrecognized role of TLR9 signaling in the small intestinal mucosa dysfunction associated with WD.     

Removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solutions by using clinoptilolite and bentonite as adsorbents

In the present study, the ability of natural zeolite clinoptilolite and bentonite (clay) to remove Pb(II) from aqueous solutions has been investigated in batch reactors with a maximum contact time of 120 min. Adsorption tests of Pb(II) were carried out using a solution concentration of 1,036 ppm at initial pH = 4, and solid to liquid ratio of 2 g/100 mL. The effects of agitation speed (0, 100, 200, 500 rpm), temperature (28°C, 45°C, 60°C) and particle size (2.5–5.0 mm, dust) of the minerals were examined. The effect of acidity of the aqueous solution was also examined. Bentonite was found to be more effective for the removal of Pb(II) than clinoptilolite, under the experimental conditions used. The removal of Pb(II) using bentonite reached 100% at ambient temperature and mild agitation (100 rpm), while it was approximately 90% at 60°C without agitation. On the other hand, the highest removal level reached by clinoptilolite was 55%. Clinoptilolite dust is found to be more efficient than granular clinoptilolite. Agitation and temperature affected the uptake of Pb(II), especially in the case of granular clinoptilolite (2.5–5.0 mm). Finally, it can be seen that acidity of the aqueous solution influences the removal of lead by the minerals. The adsorption of lead increases with an increase in pH of the solution from 1 to 4.     

Rzeczpospolita blogów [Republic of Blog]: Examining Polish Bloggers Through Content Analysis

While researchers are increasingly interested in understanding the social context of weblogs, or blogs, most existing studies rely on analysis of English-language content. This study is a quantitative content analysis of Polish blogs ( N =358) aimed at understanding the content elements and user-initiated features, such as hyperlinks, of blogs under the theoretical framework of uses and gratifications. Results indicate that self-expression is the primary motivation for blog posts. Furthermore, Polish bloggers appear to be driven more by self-expression than by social interaction motivations. Additional findings explored the relationship among motivations, gender, and topics discussed in blogs.