Visual color perception in green exercise: positive effects on mood and perceived exertion

Positive effects of green exercise on physical and psychological wellbeing have been found, yet little is known about the underlying cognitive mechanisms responsible for such effects. The purpose of this visual sensation study was to establish the extent to which the color green, as a primitive visual feature of many natural environments, contributes to the green exercise effect. Fourteen participants performed three moderate-intensity 5-min cycling tasks (50% peak power output) while watching video footage of a rural cycling course that simulated cycling through a real natural environment. The three randomly counter-balanced video conditions were unedited (V(GREEN)), achromatic (V(GRAY)) or red filter (V(RED)). Lower total mood disturbance and ratings of perceived exertion were found during the V(GREEN) compared to V(GRAY) and V(RED). Feelings of anger were higher after V(RED) compared to the other conditions. Feelings of tension, depression, fatigue, vigor, and confusion did not differ among conditions. This is the first study to show that the color green, as a primitive feature of visual sensation, has a contributory effect toward positive green exercise outcomes.     

Causal Effects of Aroma Compounds on Royal Gala Apple Flavours

Volatile flavour compounds produced by Royal Gala apple have been identified by GC-MS. Major components were 2-methylbutyl acetate, butyl acetate, hexyl acetate, butanol, 2-methylbutanol and hexanol. Odour-port evaluation of the components separated by GC indicated that the first four compounds were important contributors to the aroma and flavour. Use of analytical sensory panels revealed that 2-methylbutyl acetate, butanol and hexyl acetate had the greatest causal effect on those aroma and flavour attributes considered important for Royal Gala apples.     

Study of the Blast Wave Parameters from Small Scale Explosions

Although the science of blast overpressure is well understood there are major difficulties in obtaining accurate values for peak overpressure, positive duration, and positive impulse. These parameters are required to assess damage potential of blast overpressures. This paper describes the problems associated with such measurements and how the problems can be overcome by the use of known analytical techniques based on the modified Friedlander equation. Other methods used include curve smoothing of the pressure-time history and integration to obtain impulse values through which the curve decay parameter can be found. Several different analytical methods are compared. The experiments have been carried out on small charges (200 g and 400 g) and the results obtained analysed to assess far-field distances for such charges. This has been achieved by comparing peak overpressure values with the scaled distance.     

Selecting Base Points for the Schreier-Sims Algorithm for Matrix Groups

We consider the application of the Schreier-Sims algorithm and its variations to matrix groups defined over finite fields. We propose a new algorithm for the selection of the base points and demonstrate that it both improves the performance of the algorithm for a large range of examples and significantly extends the range of application. In particular, the random Schreier-Sims algorithm, with this enhancement, performs extremely well for almost simple groups.     

Learning from the West Coast: Long-Termism and Change – An Interview with Stewart Brand

Stewart Brand has been a key figure in the alternative culture of the US West Coast since the 1960s. The key message in his various publications has been that communities should be enabled to constantly reshape their own environments. In conversation with former Technical Editor of AD Peter Murray , he describes his lifestyle and influences – from the hippy movement, to time working for California Governor Jerry Brown in the 1970s, to writers such as Gregory Bateson, Frank Duffy and Christopher Alexander – and advocates a loose-fit ‘architecture of systems’, rather than a fixed and limiting ‘architecture of moulds’.     

Floating Ring Stabilization System

The necessity of magnetically levitating a superconducting, current carrying ring without mechanical supports requires an electrical stabilizing system. The ring, when supported, has only one equilibrium position and this position is one of unstable equilibrium. The ring is free to move with up to six degrees of freedom. Two degrees are dictated by the ability of the ring to move in any direction in the plane of the ring. Additionally, the ring can be tilted requiring three more reference points to determine a new plane. The sixth degree of freedom is the ability of the ring to rotate upon its own axis, but because external forces tending to cause this rotation can, in principal, be eliminated, a restoring supply is not provided. Each of the five identical stabilizing supplies in this system has a feedback loop composed of the following segments. The position detector element is an optical head which sends a light beam across an optical edge on the ring, the reflection of which is sensed on a photo diode. This diode voltage signal, proportional to the ring position, is the input to an amplifier whose output is a signal proportional to position, velocity and ring acceleration. A 50 volt, 100 ampere, bidirectional dc transistor power supply is activated from this signal which in turn powers the appropriate stabilizing coil located near the floating current carrying ring.     

符合贸易要求的车载称重

在过去的10年中,NORAC系统国际组织从设想中形成一套车载称重理念,许多人都认为要想达到商业的真实性是不可能的.     

Lipidomic Approaches to Study HDL Metabolism in Patients with Central Obesity Diagnosed with Metabolic Syndrome

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors characterised by central obesity, atherogenic dyslipidaemia, and changes in the circulating lipidome; the underlying mechanisms that lead to this lipid remodelling have only been partially elucidated. This study used an integrated “omics” approach (untargeted whole serum lipidomics, targeted proteomics, and lipoprotein lipidomics) to study lipoprotein remodelling and HDL composition in subjects with central obesity diagnosed with MetS (vs. controls). Compared with healthy subjects, MetS patients showed higher free fatty acids, diglycerides, phosphatidylcholines, and triglycerides, particularly those enriched in products of de novo lipogenesis. On the other hand, the “lysophosphatidylcholines to phosphatidylcholines” and “cholesteryl ester to free cholesterol” ratios were reduced, pointing to a lower activity of lecithin cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) in MetS; LCAT activity (directly measured and predicted by lipidomic ratios) was positively correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and insulin resistance. Moreover, many phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins were significantly lower in the HDL of MetS patients and strongly correlated with BMI and clinical metabolic parameters. These results suggest that MetS is associated with an impairment of phospholipid metabolism in HDL, partially led by LCAT, and associated with obesity and underlying insulin resistance. This study proposes a candidate strategy to use integrated “omics” approaches to gain mechanistic insights into lipoprotein remodelling, thus deepening the knowledge regarding the molecular basis of the association between MetS and atherosclerosis.