1,720,988 research outputs found
Born to run : training our genes to cope with ecosystem changes in the twentieth century
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Nutrition, activity behavior and body constitution in primary school children
Full text linkChild and adolescent obesity currently affects at least 10-25�0of the paediatric population in most developed countries. The BMI value is one of the most appropriate method of defining obesity and has a strong association with body fatness and health risk. Two main environmental factors, nutrition and physical activity, could influence paediatric obesity development. This paper studies the relationship between sedentariness, snack and soft drink intake and overweight or obesity in children. 1194 primary school children (age 8-10) participated in the study. For all the subjects we measured the anthropometric data to calculate the BMI. The overweight and obesity prevalence was estimated using age-specific BMI cutoffs. A questionaire was also submitted to all the children by a single interviewer to obtain data about: a) Weekly Physical Activity, b) Weekly Sedentary Activity, c) Alimentary Style. Spearman rank correlation and the Student’s t-test were used. The data demonstrated that 23.2�0of the children is overweight and the 4.8�0obese. BMI is inversely correlated to the physical activity, while there is positive correlation between BMI and number of double portions. Statistically significant positive correlation is present among eating snacks and hours of sedentariness, while there is a negative correlation between physical activity and TV hours. Physical activity in the childhood could be an important tool to prevent obesity development and adult-onset chronic diseases. It is important to encourage an active lifestyle in order to reduce sedentariness
Femoral asymmetry in healthy adults: elliptic Fourier analysis using computerized tomographic scout views.
No full textMorphology (both size and shape) of paired structures differ in the left and right sides of body. Size and shape characteristics should be analyzed separately to supply information about the normal variations of human organs. In the present study, the within-subject size and shape asymmetries of normal human femur were analyzed from a mathematical standpoint. On the standardized frontal computerized tomographic scout views of both thighs of 14 healthy adults (7 women and 7 men aged 22-26 years), the outline of the femur was identified, and its size and shape were separately quantified. The left and right femur of each subject were compared, and size and shape asymmetry separately quantified on an intra-subject basis. Subjects were also grouped for sex, and mean values computed. Within-subject symmetry in femoral size and shape was high, with coefficients of superimposition ranging between 91% and 96.5%. In women, a slightly higher symmetry (up to 99.9%) was observed when the femoral outlines were standardize for size. Moreover, in the same group the asymmetry in the form of femoral outline seemed to be partly related to the asymmetry in femoral length. Conversely, no similar relations were found in men
A morphological 3D analysis of the repeatability of mae-geri-keage in traditional shotokan karate
No full textA size-standardized analysis of soft-tissue facial profile during growth
No full textA method for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the facial soft tissue profile has been developed and applied to analyze the age differences in lateral cephalograms for the annual Bolton standards from ages 1 to 18 years. To standardize for different facial sizes, profiles were traced in polar coordinates without modifications of facial shape. Most of the soft tissue landmarks showed progressive modifications from birth to 18 years of age. Soft tissue nasion and lower lip had a steep change between 2 and 3 years of life, pronasale between 3 and 5 years of life, A', upper lip, and stomion between 4 and 5 years of life. Hereafter, all these landmarks but N' had several minor modifications progressing toward the adult value. Soft tissue nasion did not modify significantly after 2 years of age. Conversely, changes in the relative positions of B' and Pg' were more scattered in the analyzed period. Age-related size differences were more linear than shape modifications, with gradual increments from 1 to 18 years of age. The method allowed a simple and rapid quantitative evaluation of soft tissue profiles during facial growth. An approximate evaluation of the soft tissue thickness at nose, lips, and chin was also possible. No particular mathematical knowledge was required at any step of the analysis. Results were in good agreement with the well-known patterns of normal growth and development, thus confirming the practical possibilities of the method
Perfezionare con la mente. L’effetto del mental training sulla ripetibilità di una sequenza tratta dal kata Heyan yodan: analisi tridimensionale
No full textSexual dimorphism in the human face assessed by Euclidean distance matrix analysis
No full textThe form of any object can be viewed as a combination of size and shape. A recently proposed method (euclidean distance matrix analysis) can differentiate between size and shape differences. It has been applied to analyse the sexual dimorphism in facial form in a sample of 108 healthy young adults (57 men, 51 women). The face was wider and longer in men than in women. A global shape difference was demonstrated, the male face being more rectangular and the female face more square. Gender variations involved especially the lower third of the face and, in particular, the position of the pogonion relative to the other structures
Physical activity and dietary habits in 9-10 years old children : a study in the province of Milan
No full textObiettivo. Scopo di questa indagine è valutare le relazioni esistenti tra sedentarietà, consumo di merendine e bibite zuccherate e la presenza di sovrappeso e obesità nei bambini di 9-10 anni. Hanno partecipato allo studio 1194 bambini delle Scuole Elementari della provincia di Milano.
Metodi. I bambini sono stati sottoposti a misurazione di altezza e peso ed è stato valutato l’indice di massa corporea (body mass index, BMI): la presenza di sovrappeso e obesità è stata valutata considerando il punto di cut-off del BMI relativo all’età media del campione. Un unico esaminatore ha sottoposto ogni bambino alla compilazione guidata di un questionario, per ottenere informazioni riguardanti l’attività fisica settimanale, l’attività sedentaria settimanale e lo stile alimentare. Si sono così ottenuti dei valori numerici relativi al numero di ore di attività fisica e di attività sedentaria settimanale e alla quantità di porzioni extra e/o di bibite zuccherate e merendine, posti in relazione ai valori di BMI.
Risultati. Per la valutazione dei dati sono stati utilizzati il test t di Student e la correlazione dei ranghi secondo Spearman. I bambini più attivi fisicamente presentano valori di BMI più bassi. La sedentarietà durante il periodo di permanenza a casa è correlata statisticamente al fatto che i bambini guardano la TV e giocano con il computer o con i videogiochi, e questo comporta un maggior consumo di snack e bibite zuccherate. È risultato così evidente che una maggiore quan-tità di tempo dedicato all’attività fisica nei bambini ottiene il doppio scopo di aumentare il consumo calorico e di distoglierli dal consumo di alimenti non necessari, rappresentando così un valido mezzo per prevenire lo sviluppo di obesità e di malattie croniche in età adulta.
Conclusioni. Genitori e insegnanti dovrebbero motivare i bambini verso uno stile di vita più dinamico e salutare, riducendone i momenti di sedentarietà e proponendo programmi di attività motoria extracurricolare adeguati all’età
Real complete three-dimensional reconstruction of Golgi impregnated neurons by means of a confocal laser scanning microscope
No full textGolgi - impregnated neurons of the human or animal central nervous system were studied with a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). The scanning properties (optical sectioning of the specimen) offered by the CLSM and the capacity of metal granules to reflect the laser beam allow a three-dimensional reconstruction of the impregnated neurons. The volume scanned can be depicted in three different ways: (a) extended focus, i.e., a bidimensional image that contains information from all the optical sections, as if there were an extensive depth of focus; (b) a topographic representation in which the intensity of every pixel is proportional to the calculated z value (as a result, the closer the object section is to the surface, the greater the color intensity becomes); and (c) shadow representation, i.e., a pseudo-three-dimensional image. In addition, a true and complete three-dimensional reconstruction of neurons can be obtained using an extended RAM and quick elaboration (fast CPU) combined with the rotation of the reconstructed image in the different planes. High-magnification, high-numerical-aperture (NA) oil immersion objective lenses with reduced working distance may present some problems in the three-dimensional reconstruction of large neurons with extensive and spreading dendritic branches. This limitation may be overcome by using a low-magnification (10 X) oil immersion lens
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