Reliability and time-of-day effect on measures of change of direction deficit in young healthy physical education students

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine the reliability and the time-of-day effect of the 505 change of direction (CoD), 10-m sprint, and change of direction deficit test (CoDD). At two different time of days, 39 young diurnally active physical education male students performed different physical tests: 505 CoD, and sprint tests. Measurements were taken at two separate testing sessions, i.e. in the morning (07:00–08:30 h) and early evening (17:00–18:30 h) in a randomized and counter-balanced setting on nonconsecutive days in 21 of them (21.5 ± 1.5 y of age). The results showed that the 505 CoD test, 10-m sprint, and CoDD performances were a reliable test, and performances were better in the evening the 505 CoD, 10-m sprint, and CoDD testing provided reliable and sensitive scores. In addition, phase 2 showed that CoD, speed, and CoDD are affected by the time of day.     

Application of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) to the Cultivation Line of Mushroom and Other Cultivated Edible Fungi

The Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) is a preventive system which seeks to ensure food safety and security. It allows product protection and correction of errors, improves the costs derived from quality defects and reduces the final overcontrol. In this paper, the system is applied to the line of cultivation of mushrooms and other edible cultivated fungi. From all stages of the process, only the reception of covering materials (stage 1) and compost (stage 3), the pre-fruiting and induction (step 6) and the harvest (stage 7) have been considered as critical control point (CCP). The main hazards found were the presence of unauthorized phytosanitary products or above the permitted dose (stages 6 and 7), and the presence of pathogenic bacteria (stages 1 and 3) and/or heavy metals (stage 3). The implementation of this knowledge will allow the self-control of their productions based on the system HACCP to any plant dedicated to mushroom or other edible fungi cultivation.     

Production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agaricus blazei</Emphasis> ss. Heinemann (<Emphasis Type="Italic">A. brasiliensis</Emphasis>) on different casing layers and environments

To investigate the yield and precocity of Agaricus blazei using to different casing layers and cultivation environments, five casing layers were prepared with soil (different textures), wood charcoal, and calcitic lime. After colonization, the composts were placed in two growing rooms (controlled environment and plastic greenhouse) and cased. The cycle was 120 days. Yield and precocity data were evaluated in a factorial combination (5 soil types ×2 cultivation environments) and 8 replications. The results showed low yields when cultivated in a controlled room (1.55 kg of mushrooms per box) and yield values of different soils ranged between 1.61 and 1.88 kg of mushrooms per box. The precocity values of the different soils and environments ranged between 62 and 51% in the first 50 days of production. The various soil types did not differ statistically for yield values (kg) and the plastic greenhouse provided higher yields. The texture of the different soils and environment directly influenced precocity in A. blazei yield.     

A thermoactive uropygial esterase from chicken: purification, characterisation and synthesis of flavour esters

A lipolytic activity was located in the chicken uropygial glands, from which a carboxylesterase (CUE) was purified. Pure CUE has an apparent molecular mass of 50 kDa. The purified esterase displayed its maximal activity (200 U/mg) on short-chain triacylglycerols (tributyrin) at a temperature of 50°C. No significant lipolytic activity was found when medium chain (trioctanoin) or long chain (olive oil) triacylglycerols were used as substrates. The enzyme retained 75% of its maximal activity when incubated during 2h at 50°C. The NH(2)-terminal amino acid sequence showed similarities with the esterase purified recently from turkey pharyngeal tissue. Esterase activity remains stable after its incubation during 30 min in presence of organic solvents such as hexane or butanol. CUE is a serine enzyme since it was inactivated by phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride (PMSF), a serine-specific inhibitor. The purified enzyme, which tolerates the presence of some organic solvent and a high temperature, can be used in non-aqueous synthesis reactions. Hence, the uropygial esterase immobilised onto CaCO(3) was tested to produce the isoamyl and the butyl acetate (flavour esters). Reactions were performed at 50°C in presence of hexane. High synthesis yields of 91 and 67.8% were obtained for isoamyl and butyl acetate, respectively.     

Wavelet analysis of frequency chaos game signal: a time-frequency signature of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">C. elegans</Emphasis> DNA

Challenging tasks are encountered in the field of bioinformatics. The choice of the genomic sequence’s mapping technique is one the most fastidious tasks. It shows that a judicious choice would serve in examining periodic patterns distribution that concord with the underlying structure of genomes. Despite that, searching for a coding technique that can highlight all the information contained in the DNA has not yet attracted the attention it deserves. In this paper, we propose a new mapping technique based on the chaos game theory that we call the frequency chaos game signal (FCGS). The particularity of the FCGS coding resides in exploiting the statistical properties of the genomic sequence itself. This may reflect important structural and organizational features of DNA. To prove the usefulness of the FCGS approach in the detection of different local periodic patterns, we use the wavelet analysis because it provides access to information that can be obscured by other time-frequency methods such as the Fourier analysis. Thus, we apply the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) with the complex Morlet wavelet as a mother wavelet function. Scalograms that relate to the organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) exhibit a multitude of periodic organization of specific DNA sequences.     

Reliability and Validity of a 20-s Alternative to the Wingate Anaerobic Test in Team Sport Male Athletes

The intent of this study was to evaluate relative and absolute reliability of the 20-s anaerobic test (WAnT₂₀) versus the WAnT₃₀ and to verify how far the various indices of the 30-s Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT₃₀) could be predicted from the WAnT₂₀ data in male athletes. The participants were Exercise Science majors (age: 21.5±1.6 yrs, stature: 0.183±0.08 m, body mass: 81.2±10.9 kg) who participated regularly in team sports. In Phase I, 41 participants performed duplicate WAnT₂₀ and WAnT₃₀ tests to assess reliability. In Phase II, 31 participants performed one trial each of the WAnT₂₀ and WAnT₃₀ to determine the ability of the WAnT₂₀ to predict components of the WAnT₃₀. In Phase III, 31 participants were used to cross-validate the prediction equations developed in Phase II. Respective intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for peak power output (PPO) (ICC = 0.98 and 0.95) and mean power output (MPO) (ICC 0.98 and 0.90) did not differ significantly between WAnT₂₀ and WAnT₃₀. ICCs for minimal power output (PO_min) and fatigue index (FI) were poor for both tests (range 0.53 to 0.76). Standard errors of the means (SEM) for PPO and MPO were less than their smallest worthwhile changes (SWC) in both tests; however, PO_min and FI values were “marginal,” with SEM values greater than their respective SWCs for both tests values. Stepwise regression analysis showed that MPO had the highest coefficient of predictability (R = 0.97), with PO_min and FI considerable lower (R = 0.71 and 0.41 respectively). Cross-validation showed insignificant bias with limits of agreement of 0.99±1.04, 6.5±92.7 W, and 1.6±9.8% between measured and predicted MPO, PO_min, and FI, respectively. WAnT₂₀ offers a reliable and valid test of leg anaerobic power in male athletes and could replace the classic WAnT₃₀.     

Melanoma in patients with GATA2 deficiency

GATA2 deficiency is a recently described genetic disorder affecting hematopoietic stem cells and is associated with immunodeficiency, hematologic malignancy, and various cutaneous pathologies including cutaneous tumors. To explore the incidence and clinical course of melanoma in patients with germline GATA2 deficiencies, we conducted a retrospective chart review of 71 such patients and identified two with invasive melanoma. One melanoma was diagnosed early because it was associated with pruritus due to a graft‐versus‐tumor effect following bone marrow transplantation. The other one, a lentigo maligna melanoma, was locally excised but progressed to widespread metastasis and death several years later. Our observations and published studies of melanoma biology suggest an association between decreased GATA2 expression and melanoma progression. These findings suggest that GATA2 deficient patients may have an increased risk of melanoma and should be observed closely for new or changing skin lesions.     

Photophysical properties of hydroxyphenyl benzazoles and their applications as fluorescent probes to study local environment in DNA,protein and lipid

Fluorescence techniques have drawn increasing attention because they provide crucial information about molecular interactions in protein–ligand systems beyond that obtained by other methods. The advantage of fluorescence spectroscopy stems from the fact that the majority of molecules in biological systems do not exhibit fluorescence, making fluorescent probes useful with high sensitivity. Also, the fluorescence emission is highly sensitive to the local environment, providing a valuable tool to investigate the nature of binding sites in macromolecules. In this review, we discuss some of the important applications of a class of molecules that have been used as fluorescent probes in a variety of studies. Hydroxyphenyl benzazoles (HBXs) show distinct spectroscopic features that make them suitable probes for the study of certain biological mechanisms in DNA, protein and lipid. In particular, the complex photophysics of 2‐(2′‐hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) and the distinguished fluorescence signatures of its different tautomeric forms make this molecule a useful probe in several applications. Among these are probing the DNA local environment, study of the flexibility and specificity of protein‐binding sites, and detecting the heterogeneity and ionization ability of the head groups of different lipidic phases. The spectroscopy of HBX molecules and some of their chemically modified structures is also reviewed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustainable transportation and order quantity: insights from multiobjective optimization

This article applies multiobjective optimization to show how the tradeoffs between cost and carbon emissions may be obtained in the context of sustainable operations. We formulate a model where transportation mode selection and order quantity decisions are considered jointly. We derive structural properties of the model and develop several insights. First, we show that switching to a greener mode of transportation while continuing to optimize the total logistics costs function may lead to a dominated solution. Second, we prove that the modal shift occurs only under strong carbon emissions reduction requirements. Third, we show that the efficient frontier is non-convex and we analyze some implications. Finally, we analyze the impacts of an increase in truck capacity. The results are illustrated through an example of a French retailer.     

Chemical and physicochemical investigation of an aminoalkylalkoxysilane as strengthening agent for cellulosic materials

AMDES (aminopropylmethyldiethoxysilane) was used to investigate the physicochemical and chemical events related to the introduction of aminoalkylalkoxysilanes in cellulosic materials. Using (29)Si CP-MAS and (1)H NMR to study the reactivity and structural modification of AMDES in the paper it was shown that polymerization occurs in situ. The distribution of the active compound on the surface of the fibers and throughout the fibers' thickness was visualized by SEM-EDS. A relation between moisture content, fiber swelling, and uptake of AMDES was found. To better represent old and brittle documents, the paper was predegraded by oxidation with sodium hypochlorite. XRD confirmed the advanced destruction of the amorphous areas of cellulose. Adding AMDES in the oxidized paper resulted in improved mechanical properties, a roughly unmodified degree of polymerization of cellulose, but a slight increase in the yellowing, probably due to several possible reaction products such as imines, amine, amides, and Maillard reactions products. The deacidification efficacy was established and the strengthening effect was shown to arise from the interaction of AMDES with the cellulose fibers.