Active Cycle Research Articles

Change in sports activity and walking and cycling for transport since the COVID-19 pandemic - Results of the GEDA 2021 study.

Physical activity is a significant health promotion behaviour. COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures, such as reducing social contact, closing sports facilities and working from home offices, may make it more difficult to engage in regular physical activity. The data collected between July and October 2021 from the nationally representative study German Health Update (GEDA 2021) were used. The activity behaviour is described by the change in the amount of sports activity as well as the amount of physical active transport (walking/cycling) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample comprises 2,985 participants aged 18 and older. A quarter of the population reduced their sports activity compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, while 12% increased their sports activity and 38% reported no change. In terms of physical active transport, it shows that 15% reduced the amount, 17% increased it and 55% maintained it. Compared to younger adults, older adults were more likely to maintain their activity behaviour rather than reduce or increase it. Even before the pandemic, physical inactivity was common among the population. The high proportion of adults who reduced their sports activity during the pandemic underlines the need for effective measures to promote physical activity.

Sugars as the regulators of dormancy and sprouting in geophytes

Geophytes develop underground storage organs, which help them to survive extreme environments. Besides energy resources for plants and humans, they are widely used for vegetative propagation . Naturally, these storage organs are sink tissues during the active growth cycle of the plant, but they turn into a source during vegetative propagation. Synchronized dormancy and sprouting with the environment are crucial for plant fitness and maximum yield. The active metabolic status of an underground vegetative organ determines its developmental fate. Sugars are the main components of storage organs; thus, their dynamics play an important role in controlling the dormancy-activity cycle of geophytes. Dormant buds require carbon sources (sugar) to promote growth, and the plant adjusts sugar metabolism between storage and soluble sugars to maintain dormancy and sprouting. In recent years, sugars and their derivatives, besides energy molecules, have also been considered signaling molecules involved in several plant developmental processes, including vegetative dormancy and growth. This review discusses current knowledge on the role of sugars in regulating and controlling dormancy and sprouting in geophytes. It’s regulation by external environmental factors, hormonal regulation and cross-talk. It also outlines how similar or different the regulatory mechanism controlling geophyte dormancy and sprouting is, compared to seed dormancy and germination and seasonal/annual growth in perennials that undergo dormancy-activity cycles. • The role of sugars in controlling dormancy and sprouting has been discussed in this review.. • Sugars, type and metabolism, differ in different storage organs in geophytes. • External and internal factors tune sugar metabolism differently during dormancy. • A similar yet divergent mechanism is involved in above/below ground organ dormancy-sprouting regulation.

Magnetic Storms During the Space Age: Occurrence and Relation to Varying Solar Activity

AbstractWe study the occurrence of magnetic storms in space age (1957–2021) using Dst and Dxt indices. We find 2,526/2,743 magnetic storms in the Dxt/Dst index, out of which 45% are weak, 40% moderate, 12% intense and 3% major storms. Occurrence of storms in space age follows the slow decrease of sunspot activity and the related change in solar magnetic structure. We quantify the sunspot—coronal mass ejection (CME) storm relation in the five cycles of space age. We explain how the varying solar activity changes the structure of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS), and how this affects the high‐speed solar wind stream (HSS)/corotating interaction region (CIR) storms. Space age started with a record number of storms in 1957–1960, with roughly one storm per week. Solar polar fields attained their maximum in cycle 22, which led to an exceptionally thin HCS, and a space age record of large HSS/CIR storms in 1990s. In the minimum of cycle 23, for the only time in space age, CME storm occurrence reduced below that predicted by sunspots. Weak sunspot activity since cycle 23 has weakened solar polar fields and widened the HCS, which has decreased the occurrence of large and moderate HSS/CIR storms. Because of a wide HCS, the Earth has spent 50% of its time in slow solar wind since cycle 23. The wide HCS has also made large and moderate HSS/CIR storms occur in the early declining phase in recent cycles, while in the more active cycles 20–22 they occurred in the late declining phase.

An Analysis of Correlation between Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease

Obesity greatly affects the development of atherosclerosis and coronary artery disorders. The heart’s structure and function are both affected due to obesity, which may cause a variety of health problems. The consequences of obesity on the cardiovascular system were examined in this research. The present research recruited 100 participants which were statistically analyzed using the SPSS tool and Likert Scale. Using a standardized questionnaire, data were gathered on variables such as demographics, food, exercise, substance use, smoking, and drinking habits. It was found that except for the age group, where it was hypothesized that vegetarianism would have a positive correlation with age (r = 0.857, p < 0.005), and where it was hypothesized that cycling would have a strong positive correlation with weight lifting (r = 0.699, p < 0.005). As a result, the conclusion that was reached was that age range has a favorable correlation with vegetarian and physical activity cycling has a correlation with weight lifting.

Titanium dioxide nanotubes in a hydrogen peroxide-based bleaching agent: physicochemical properties and effectiveness of dental bleaching under the influence of a poliwave led light activation.

The effects of different concentrations of titanium dioxide (TiO2) into 40% hydrogen peroxide (HP) were evaluated as regards the effectiveness of dental color change either associated with activation by polywave LED light or not. TiO2 (0, 1, 5, or 10%) was incorporated into HP to be applied during in-office bleaching (3 sessions/40min each). Polywave LED light (Valo Corded/Ultradent) was applied or not in activation cycles of 15s (total time of 2min). The color of 80 third molars separated into groups according to TiO2 concentration and light activation (n = 10) was evaluated at baseline and at time intervals after the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bleaching sessions. WID value was significantly higher when using HP with 5% TiO2 in the 2nd session than the values in the other groups (p < 0.05). After the 2nd and 3rd sessions, the ΔEab value was significantly higher when activated with light (p < 0.05) for all agents containing TiO2 or not. Zeta potential and pH of the agents were not modified by incorporating TiO2 at the different concentrations. The 5% TiO2 in the bleaching agent could enhance tooth bleaching, even without light application. Association with polywave LED light potentiated the color change, irrespective of the presence of TiO2 in the bleaching gel. HP with 5% TiO2 could lead to a greater tooth bleaching response in the 2nd clinical session, as well as the polywave light can enhance color change.

Collective computational intelligence in biology – Emergence of memory in somatic tissues

Role of memory in the function of biological tissues, organs and organisms remains unexplored with many unanswered questions. In this study, the emergence of associative memory in somatic (non-neural) tissues and its potential relation to tissue function was explored using a number of biologically plausible network topologies in in silico tissues with computing cells. These topologies were local cooperation; complete system-wide cooperation or inhibition; and local cooperation and short- or long-range inhibition. These were tested with and without self-feedback on two-dimensional (2D) three-dimensional (3D) cell networks, resulting in various forms of fully and partially connected networks. Further, both binary inputs with threshold processing and real-valued inputs with nonlinear processing were considered. Results revealed the emergence of diverse forms of tissue memory. In full cooperation, networks produced one fixed attractor indicating the propensity towards a stable memory pattern which in a real tissue could correspond to an invariable physiological state, such as bioelectric homeostasis. The local neighbourhood cooperation produced both a fixed and a limit cycle attractor that could be beneficial for a tissue to hold few associative memories including circadian rhythms. Most interesting results were found for the local cooperation with short- or long-range inhibition topologies that produced a cluster of fixed and limit cycle attractors offering diverse memories. Fixed attractors could correspond to inactive tissue states and active nonrhythmic functional states and limit cycles could correspond to circadian rhythms such as pumping in heart, kidney or liver in various oscillatory regimes. In all topologies, self-feedback abolished or drastically reduced the limit cycles in favour of fixed stable state. These attractor patterns were found to be largely invariant to scale (2D or 3D) and type of inputs and processing. We also explored the self-optimising ability of the ‘local cooperation with global (short- or long-range) inhibition’ 2D topologies with Hebbian learning with fixed and flexible topologies. The fixed topology learned to self-model to consolidate memory towards fewer more stable attractors. The flexible topology even formed new connections to bring the system to a single fixed state. Thus local cooperation with global inhibition topology can offer greater freedom to create diverse memory pattens that can be tempered by learning, self-feedback, and to some extent continuous processing to simplify and consolidate memory towards manageable forms.

An automated bedside measure for monitoring neonatal cortical activity: a supervised deep learning-based electroencephalogram classifier with external cohort validation

Electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring is recommended as routine in newborn neurocritical care to facilitate early therapeutic decisions and outcome predictions. EEG's larger-scale implementation is, however, hindered by the shortage of expertise needed for the interpretation of spontaneous cortical activity, the EEG background. We developed an automated algorithm that transforms EEG recordings to quantified interpretations of EEG background and provides simple intuitive visualisations in patient monitors. In this method-development and proof-of-concept study, we collected visually classified EEGs from infants recovering from birth asphyxia or stroke. We used unsupervised learning methods to explore latent EEG characteristics, which guided the supervised training of a deep learning-based classifier. We assessed the classifier performance using cross-validation and an external validation dataset. We constructed a novel measure of cortical function, brain state of the newborn (BSN), from the novel EEG background classifier and a previously published sleep-state classifier. We estimated clinical utility of the BSN by identification of two key items in newborn brain monitoring, the onset of continuous cortical activity and sleep-wake cycling, compared with the visual interpretation of the raw EEG signal and the amplitude-integrated (aEEG) trend. We collected 2561 h of EEG from 39 infants (gestational age 35·0-42·1 weeks; postnatal age 0-7 days). The external validation dataset included 105 h of EEG from 31 full-term infants. The overall accuracy of the EEG background classifier was 92% in the whole cohort (95% CI 91-96; range 85-100 for individual infants). BSN trend values were closely related to the onset of continuous EEG activity or sleep-wake cycling, and BSN levels showed robust difference between aEEG categories. The temporal evolution of the BSN trends showed early diverging trajectories in infants with severely abnormal outcomes. The BSN trend can be implemented in bedside patient monitors as an EEG interpretation that is intuitive, transparent, and clinically explainable. A quantitative trend measure of brain function might harmonise practices across medical centres, enable wider use of brain monitoring in neurocritical care, and might facilitate clinical intervention trials. European Training Networks Funding Scheme, the Academy of Finland, Finnish Pediatric Foundation (Lastentautiensäätiö), Aivosäätiö, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, HUS Children's Hospital, HUS Diagnostic Center, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

IMPLEMENTASI ALGORITMA APRIORI PADA PENENTUAN KOMBINASI MENU UMKM TOCIN CORNER SUKOHARJO

The thesis report for the April algorithm application of the menu sales in the TOCIN CORNER sukoharjo bar has been conducted on July 1, 2019-31, 2019. In view of the condition of sales in the TOCIN CORNER, there is still a problem in menu and raw materials stocks. Among other things, there is still a steady buildup of preordained menu supplies. This leads to the possibility of consumer disappointment even turning to other wedgies, as the availability of preferred menu has been exhausted. The objective of this thesis is to build a system that can be useful in locating and compiling the appropriate combination of the menu by using the apricot method on the menu sales in the TOCIN CORNER in order to increase the sales of the menu. The research methods used in this study include data collection methods and data analysis methods. Data collection methods include observation, interviews and library studies. While the data analysis method is done by means of data obtained will be described according to actual circumstances, researched, studied and processed as a material to create the program. In this study a design model system development life cycle (SDLC). The system development life cycle isa gradual approach to analyzing and building the design system using a specific cycle of user activities as for the SDLC stages are analysis, design, construction/coding, implementation, and testing. The results of the data analysis on the implementation of the menu selling system in TOCIN CORNER are using apricot method with system design usecase, output input design, database design, technology design, instructions to run the program. The implementation of the menu of TOCIN CORNER USES the apriestary method that has been created has transaction data facilities, daily data input, accounting processes, data reports. From this data the launch will produce results reports.

Intracellular Iron Overload Induces Metabolic Switching in Active Hematopoietic Stem Cells in Beta-Thalassemia

Beta-thalassemia (BThal) is a complex monogenic disorder, causing severe anemia, ineffective erythropoiesis and multi-organ secondary defects. Iron overload (IO), associated with ineffective erythropoiesis and therapeutic blood transfusions, is one of the main complications of the disease, leading to morbidities in various organs. Despite the improvement in chelation therapies, IO toxicity is still a relevant issue. Correction of BThal is achieved by transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) from healthy donors or autologous HSC from patients upon gene therapy. The quality and the engraftment of HSC depend on the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment, thus niche-HSC crosstalk plays a crucial role for transplantation outcome. We provided the first demonstration of impaired function of HSC caused by an altered BM niche in BThal (Aprile et al., Blood 2020). HSC from Hbbth3/+ (th3) BThal mice showed more active cycling profile and response to stress. We reported that IO reduces the hematopoietic supportive capacity of BM mesenchymal stromal cells from patients and recent evidence highlighted that both IO and iron deficiency are sources of cellular stress detrimental to HSC maintenance. Thus, we hypothesized that accumulation of iron might directly affect HSC function in BThal, as a model of chronic IO. Transcriptome analysis of sorted HSC from th3 mice showed a positive enrichment of genes involved in iron homeostasis, such as TfR1, Steap3, Fth1 and Ftl1, suggesting iron uptake and storage. Consistently, BThal HSC displayed higher levels of intracellular free reactive iron, as compared to wild-type (wt) controls (1.7±0.2 calcein MFI fold to wt, p<0.0001). We found that iron specifically accumulates in the mitochondria causing mitochondrial defects, as reduced size and lower membrane potential (0.4±0.05 TMRE/MTG fold to wt, p<0.001). These data, along with the downregulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy genes, indicate an accumulation of damaged mitochondria in BThal HSC. In vivo administration of iron dextran to wt mice generated intracellular IO in HSC and was sufficient to decrease the mitochondrial membrane potential at levels comparable to those of th3 HSC, thus suggesting a direct effect of iron on mitochondrial activity. Since mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, we wondered if the mitochondrial dysfunction of BThal HSC could affect their production of metabolic energy. Metabolism indeed control HSC function: active HSC are more cycling and, because of their higher energy request, change the metabolism from glycolysis to mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Interestingly, we found that ATP levels in th3 HSC are lower compared to controls (wt 9.8±2.6 vs. th3 3.7±0.3 ATP nM, p<0.01). In line with mitochondrial dysfunction, in vitro inhibition of OXPHOS did not affect ATP content of BThal HSC since they switch to glycolysis for their energy demand. Consistently, th3 HSC showed positive enrichment of glycolytic genes and higher glucose uptake (wt 1639±163 vs. th3 2401±85 MFI 2NBDG, p<0.05). To unravel the basis of mitochondrial damage caused by IO, we investigated the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Iron is one of the sources of ROS and consistently, th3 HSC showed increased activation of antioxidant genes and higher levels of mitochondrial ROS (wt 2507±756 vs. th3 5205±459 MFI MitoSOX, p<0.01). In vivo reduction of mitochondrial ROS by MitoQ rescued mitochondrial activity (th3 0.3±0.07 vs. th3+MitoQ 0.9±0.2 TMRE/MTG fold to wt, p<0.05), thus demonstrating that mitochondrial dysfunction is reversible in BThal. Ongoing experiments will assess the metabolite profile, the restoration of HSC metabolism and in vivo function upon MitoQ and will also test HSC from BThal patients for mitochondrial defects. Overall, our study revealed that the multisystemic complications of IO in BThal also affect HSC. Iron has a direct impact on HSC metabolism by inducing oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Despite the active cycling state, BThal HSC switch their metabolism to glycolysis because of the mitochondrial defect. Targeting mitochondrial iron or ROS might provide new tools to preserve HSC function in the setting of autologous transplantation upon gene therapy/editing for BThal. Moreover, this research will add novel insight about the regulation of HSC biology linking iron to mitochondrial metabolism.

Evolutionary History of Transformation from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia to Richter Syndrome

Richter syndrome (RS), an aggressive lymphoma that develops in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), is a striking example of histologic transformation. While recent advances have transformed the treatment landscape of CLL, RS remains associated with dismal overall survival and understanding of the genetic factors driving evolution of CLL to RS is limited. To decipher the genetics underlying this transformation, we performed an integrative analysis of whole exome (WES) and genome sequencing (WGS) data generated from matched RS and CLL samples from a discovery cohort of 52 patients with RS of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) histology followed by WES analysis of a validation cohort of 45 independent RS cases. Through computational deconvolution of CLL and RS clones, we constructed phylogenetic relationships and traced evolution of CLL to RS, confirming both clonal related (87%) and unrelated RS (13%). In addition to identifying recognized RS-risk genetic lesions, we discovered novel putative somatic driver genes (including IRF2BP2, SRSF1, B2M, DNMT3A, CCND3), copy number alterations (sCNAs) beyond CDKN2A/B loss and MYC gain (including del(15q15)[MGA], del(7q36.2)[EZH2, KMT2C, POT1], gain(1q23.1)[MCL1, NOTCH2] and arm level loss of 1p, 6q, 9p and 9q), whole genome duplication (WGD), and chromothripsis. Additional validation was obtained through re-analysis of 14 RS whole genomes (Klintman et al., Blood, 2021). Overall, our analysis highlighted alterations of NOTCH, DNA damage response and MAPK pathways as frequently preexisting in CLL. Alterations in pathways of MYC signaling, epigenetics, interferon/inflammatory signaling, cell cycle deregulation and immune evasion were newly occurring at transformation. To assess the degree of similarity between RS and DLBCL, non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) clustering was performed on the 97 RS WES samples and 304 previously characterized DLBCL samples (Chapuy et al., Nature Medicine, 2018) based on identified RS and known DLBCL drivers. The majority of RS (75 of 97) clustered separately from DLBCL, while 7 of 8 clonally unrelated RS cases clustered with DLBCL (P=6.75x10-6), with membership across the DLBCL molecular clusters. To further examine RS, NMF clustering was performed across the 97 RS samples, and 5 robust genomic subtypes were identified: RS-1: WGD; RS-2: Trisomy 12 with NOTCH1/SPEN mutations; RS-3: Mut-TP53 and Mut-NOTCH1; RS-4: Mut-EGR2 and Mut-SF3B1; and RS-5: TP53-altered RS without Mut-NOTCH1. Supervised and unsupervised transcriptome analysis of 36 of the 97 RS samples supported the identified genomic subtypes. The less-genome altered RS subtypes (RS-2, RS-4) had improved overall survival (3.3, 11.3, 5.0, 16.7 and 4.0 months for clonally related RS in subtypes 1-5, respectively; P = 0.0082). To investigate the stepwise evolution of CLL to RS at high resolution, single-cell RNA-sequencing was performed on diagnostic biopsy samples from 5 RS patients. We developed a novel tool, CNVSingle, to infer allele specific single-cell sCNAs that enabled identification of the single-cell clusters representing distinct CLL and RS genetic subclones as well as intermediate or transitional evolutionary states. Genetic changes often immediately preceded the transcriptional shifts towards RS and increasing chromothripsis was again observed as a hallmark of RS. RS cells displayed gene expression enriched in pathways of MYC activation and cell cycle, in line with similar analyses on paired RS and CLL bulk transcriptomes. Given the numerous RS-associated genomic features identified by our study, we assessed the feasibility of non-invasive detection of RS events in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) extracted from RS patient plasma by ultra-low pass-WGS sequencing of 46 plasma samples from 24 RS patients. Indeed, RS-specific sCNAs, chromothripsis, RS-specific driver mutations and whole genome doubling were detected in plasma cfDNA, distinct from circulating CLL. This included detection of RS in cfDNA of 6 of 8 patients (75%) at RS diagnosis and 2 of 7 (29%) patients within 10 months preceding RS diagnosis. In conclusion, we report molecular characterization of the largest RS cohort to date (111 patients), demonstrate that RS is genetically distinct from DLBCL and provide novel genetic and prognostic insights into this aggressive malignancy, with potential for clinical translation towards a more precise RS diagnosis.

Improving student's learning activity in PKn learning using picture and picture model in class IV SDN 01 Pancung Soal Pesisir Selatan

This research is motivated by the low level of Civics learning activities in grade IV SDN 01 Pancung Problem Pesisir Selatan. Activities are more teacher-centered so that in the learning process students only listen, do not understand Civics concepts and are less able to express ideas, and are still passive. This research is a classroom action research with qualitative and quantitative approaches consisting of 2 cycles. Each cycle consists of planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. This research was conducted in the second semester of the 2015/2016 Academic Year. The research subjects were fourth grade students of SDN 01 Pancung Question. The results showed that the learning process using the Picture and picture model could increase student learning activities in Civics learning in class IV SDN 01 Pancung Question. This can be seen as follows: student learning activities in the first cycle of Visual Activities obtained a percentage of 78% with a Good category (B), while in cycle 2 increased 88% with a Very Good category (SB), in cycle 1 Oral Activities obtained 76% while in cycle 2 it increased 98% with a very good category (SB), in cycle 1 Mental Activities gained 76% while in cycle 2 it increased by a percentage of 81% with a good category (B). Thus the use of the Picture and picture learning model in Civics learning in class IV can increase student learning activities.

Scanning electron microscope imaging by selective e-beaming using photoelectron beams from semiconductor photocathodes

Pulsed electron beams from a photocathode using an InGaN semiconductor have brought selectively scanning technology to scanning electron microscopes, where the electron beam irradiation intensity and area can be arbitrarily selected within the field of view in SEM images. The p-type InGaN semiconductor crystals grown in the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition equipment were used as the photocathode material for the electron beam source after the surface was activated to a negative electron affinity state in the electron gun under ultrahigh vacuum. The InGaN semiconductor photocathode produced a pulsed electron beam with a rise and fall time of 3 ns, consistent with the time structure of the irradiated pulsed laser used for the optical excitation of electrons. The InGaN photocathode-based electron gun achieved a total beam operation time of 1300 h at 15 μA beam current with a downtime rate of 4% and a current stability of 0.033% after 23 cycles of surface activation and continuous beam operation. The InGaN photocathode-based electron gun has been installed in the conventional scanning electron microscope by replacing the original field emission gun. SEM imaging was performed by selective electron beaming, in which the scanning signal of the SEM system was synchronized with the laser for photocathode excitation to irradiate arbitrary regions in the SEM image at arbitrary intensity. The accuracy of the selection of regions in the SEM image by the selective electron beam was pixel by pixel at the TV scan speed (80 ns/pix, 25 frame/s) of the SEM.

Fatigue behavior of self-healing glass fiber/epoxy composites with addition of poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) (EMAA)

The interest in repair technologies for polymer composites has increased significantly over the last decades, due to the growing use of these materials in structural applications. In this study, poly (ethylene-co-methacrylic acid) (EMAA) was used as self-healing agent to glass fiber/epoxy composite. Materials with EMAA contents of 2 wt% and 5 wt% were manufactured using Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) and the effects of the healing agent on the properties were investigated using tensile tests and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA). Results show slight variation of properties, which was more pronounced as the content of EMAA increased. In addition, the healing efficiency was investigated through fatigue tests and the addition of higher content of EMAA increased the number of cycles to failure after the healing activation cycle.

Comprehensive understanding of regulatory mechanisms, physiological models and key enzymes in microalgal cells based on various concentrations of CO2

Carbon fixation from industrial flue gas with high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) requires a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the physiological influences of CO2 molecules on microalgal cells. Differing from other previous studies, this study tried to reveal the diverse effects of different high concentrations of CO2 molecules on the physiological mechanisms of microalgae: Three physiological models were established to clarify the photosynthetic features, regulatory systems, metabolic mechanisms, and key enzymes of Nannochloropsis oceanica based solely on different high carbon concentrations in an unvarying environment. An independent influence (irrespective of pH changes) on microalgal cells was only found at high concentrations of CO2. The inhibition of auxin synthesis and an increase in sedatives and hallucinogens owing to the regulation of tryptamine metabolism induced stagnation of growth with slightly high carbon. However, cell division, and carbon and protein metabolism became too active at ultra-high concentrations of carbon, which induced multiple cell death factors, including the destruction of cell integrity from expansins, insulin resistance, and hepatotoxin d-galactosamine toxicity. Moderately high carbon achieved the optimal microalgal biomass yield (3.2 g/L) and fixed the carbon content (61%) in dried biomass for several reasons. It reduced cell division, provided an active carboxylic acid cycle to store abundant CO2, initiated an effective urea cycle and ammonia transport to inhibit the generation of d-galactosamine, and induced DNA repair and antioxidant flavonoids to eliminate the damage from high concentrations of CO2. This study provides new theoretical support to improve the tolerance of microalgae to high CO2 from industrial flue gas.

Wearable UWB Technology for Daily Physical Activity Tracking, Detection, and Classification

A methodology for daily physical activity tracking, detection, and classification is proposed using wearable ultrawideband (UWB) technology. The compact UWB antennas act as sensors to provide useful information and metrics regarding the activity, derived from channel information (path loss and rms delay spread) and received signal features. The activities consist of daily activities, such as walking, sitting, running, opening/closing door, and ascending/descending stairs, which are considered as main activities in everyday life. Experimental validation is carried out showing effective tracking capabilities based on the interdistance variation, giving an estimate of the range of movement during various phases of the activity cycle. The computation of patterns of different daily activities cycle provides unique recognition/classification characteristics, which have been validated through template-based and machine learning techniques. The proposed method provides high accuracy, is cost-effective, and has low computation complexity, making it suitable for various healthcare applications, such as elderly/remote monitoring, rehabilitation, patient activity tracking, and general fitness.

The shifting importance of abiotic and biotic factors across the life cycles of wild pollinators.

Organisms living in seasonal environments are exposed to different environmental conditions as they transition from one life stage to the next across their life cycle. How different life stages respond to these varying conditions, and the extent to which different life stages are linked, are fundamental components of the ecology of an organism. Nevertheless, the influence of abiotic and biotic factors on different parts of an organism's life cycle is often not accounted for, which limits our understanding of the ecological consequences of environmental change. We investigated the relative importance of climate conditions, food availability, and previous life-stage abundance in an assemblage of seven wild bumble bee species, asking: how do these three factors directly influence bee abundance at each life stage? To do so, we used a 7-year dataset where we monitored climate conditions, floral resources, and abundances of bees in each life stage across the active colony life cycle in a highly seasonal subalpine ecosystem in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, USA. Bee abundance at different life stages responded to abiotic and biotic conditions in a broadly consistent manner across the seven species: the survival and recruitment stage of the life cycle (overwintered queens) responded negatively to longer winters; the growth stage (workers) responded positively to floral resource availability; and the reproductive stage (males) was positively related to the abundance of the previous life stage (workers). Most species also exhibited some idiosyncratic responses. Our long-term examination of annual bumble bees reveals a general set of responses in the abundance of each life stage to climate conditions, floral resource availability, and previous life stage. Across species, these three factors each directly influenced a distinct life stage, illustrating how their relative importance can shift throughout the life cycle. The life-cycle approach that we have taken highlights that important details about demography can be overlooked without considering life-stage-specific responses. Ultimately, it is these life-stage-specific responses that shape population outcomes, not only for animal pollinators but also for many organisms living in seasonal environments.

Multiphase Transformation of NaFeF3During Desodiation and Sodiation

The orthorhombic NaFeF3, which is envisioned to be an auspicious positive electrode for Na-ion batteries, has drawn considerable interest as an environmentally benign energy material with exceptionally high theoretical capacity. Despite these prospects, the reaction mechanism(s) during orthorhombic NaFeF3 operations are still not well understood. Thus, in a bid to expound on this research space, we report the reaction mechanism(s) of a carbon-coated orthorhombic NaFeF3 prepared through high-energy ball-milling and heat treatment processes. A thermally stable ionic liquid electrolyte at elevated temperatures is employed to maximize the utilization of NaFeF3. The orthorhombic NaFeF3 exhibits high electrochemical activity and long-term cycling stability of up to 400 cycles at 90 °C. Through a combination of galvanostatic intermittent titration technique and synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction measurements, we discover that the (de)sodiation processes are facilitated by a multiphase transformation mechanism. Further, we experimentally identify, for the first time, an orthorhombic Na0.5FeF3 compound as an intermediate phase of the transformations. The results discussed in this work are expected to provide invaluable insights for the future advancement of the Na–Fe–F system.

Patterns of Active Travel and Physical Activity among Adolescents in Israel.

Active travel (AT) is a core physical activity (PA) indicator for children and youth; contributing to health and wellbeing, at both the individual and societal levels. This analysis explores patterns of adolescent active school travel (AST) and cycling and associations with different PA measures. Secondary analysis of the cross-sectional 2018-2019 Health Behaviour in School Age Children study in Israel included an extended PA module with walking, cycling and e-cycling modes. The nationally representative sample includes students in grades 6-12 (n = 4407). Analysis of weighted data included descriptive analyses, inferential statistics, and regression analyses. AST was reported by 61.9% of adolescents; 39.3% reported 20 min or more daily AST; 27.1% reported habitual cycling (HC) and 17.4% reported habitual e-cycling (HEC). There are mixed results for socio-economic status and environment. AST and HC were associated with less sedentary hours daily (odds ratio [OR] = 1.190 and 1.397, respectively); HC was associated with positive sports self-rating (OR = 2.394). Stepwise regression analysis found that lower AST duration, time in minutes, was associated with watching television with the family. Promotion of adolescent AT may be associated with increased PA and joint parent-adolescent AT, and was utilized across different socio-demographic groups in Israel.

Type 2 Diabetes Incidence and Mortality: Associations with Physical Activity, Fitness, Weight Loss, and Weight Cycling.

Cardiometabolic diseases, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), are the leading cause of death globally. Because T2D and obesity are strongly associated, weight loss is the cornerstone of treatment. However, weight loss is rarely sustained, which may lead to weight cycling, which is associated with increased mortality risk in patients with T2D. Meta-analyses show that weight loss is not generally associated with reduced mortality risk in T2D, whereas weight cycling is associated with increased all-cause and CVD mortality. This may be attributable in part to increased variability in CVD risk factors that often accompany weight cycling, which studies show is consistently associated with adverse CVD outcomes in patients with T2D. The inconsistent associations between weight loss and mortality risk in T2D, and consistent findings of elevated mortality risk associated with weight cycling, present a conundrum for a weight-loss focused T2D prevention and treatment strategy. This is further complicated by the findings that among patients with T2D, mortality risk is lowest in the body mass index (BMI) range of ~25-35 kg/ . Because this "obesity paradox" has been consistently demonstrated in 7 meta-analyses, the lower mortality risk for individuals with T2D in this BMI range may not be all that paradoxical. Physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and muscular fitness (MF) are all associated with reduced risk of T2D, and lower risk of CVD and all-cause mortality in individuals with T2D. Reducing sedentary behavior, independent of PA status, also is strongly associated with reduced risk of T2D. Improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors with exercise training are comparable to those observed in weight loss interventions, and are largely independent of weight loss. To minimize risks associated with weight cycling, it may be prudent to adopt a weight-neutral approach for prevention and treatment of individuals with obesity and T2D by focusing on increasing PA and improving CRF and MF without a specific weight loss goal.

Solvent-Induced Incremental Pore Collapse in Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks

Nanoporous materials such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are attractive due to their extremely high surface areas and porosities, but they are susceptible to pore collapse and loss of crystallinity. Prior studies reported complete pore collapse above a threshold surface tension for the activation solvents. In this study, we show that the degree of pore collapse can be precisely controlled by using a mixture of high and low surface tension solvents for activation. We further demonstrate that pore collapse is an irreversible process, in which partially collapsed COFs can collapse further using high surface tension solvents but cannot recover their structural integrity by activation with low surface tension solvents. Finally, we show that the solvent surface tension is the most important characteristic that governs pore collapse of COFs during solvent activation, and the activation temperature, pressure, washing time, and number of activation cycles has negligible impact on the final COF porosity and crystallinity. This work provides novel insight into pore collapse of COFs, a method to systematically tune surface area, and guidance on the development of effective activation methods to produce highly crystalline and porous COFs. These findings will be useful for the preparation of COFs and other nanoporous materials.