Search results for " pattern"
showing 10 items of 2245 documents
Metabolic and Vascular Effect of the Mediterranean Diet
2019
Several studies indicated how dietary patterns that were obtained from nutritional cluster analysis can predict disease risk or mortality. Low-grade chronic inflammation represents a background pathogenetic mechanism linking metabolic risk factors to increased risk of chronic degenerative diseases. A Mediterranean diet (MeDi) style has been reported as associated with a lower degree of inflammation biomarkers and with a protective role on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. There is heterogeneity in defining the MedDiet, and it can, owing to its complexity, be considered as an exposome with thousands of nutrients and phytochemicals. Recently, it has been reported a novel positive ass…
Plant colonization of a bare peat surface: population changes and spatial patterns
1992
. Changes in size and spatial arrangement of plant populations established on an initially bare peat surface were described over a period of 5 yr by following plant individuals on a 1-cm grid in an area of 10 m x 25 m. The spatial pattern of populations and association between species was analyzed statistically. The study site was very slowly colonized by 14 perennial plant species. The early successional stage was dominated by Carex rostrata, with a clumped spatial distribution, and the homogeneously distributed Eriophorum vaginatum and Pinus sylvestris. Both the growth in size of populations and changes in their spatial distribution were interpreted as a result of species dispersal abilit…
Lifestyle recommendations for the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome: an international panel recommendation.
2017
The importance of metabolic syndrome (MetS) lies in its associated risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as other harmful conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In this report, the available scientific evidence on the associations between lifestyle changes and MetS and its components is reviewed to derive recommendations for MetS prevention and management. Weight loss through an energy-restricted diet together with increased energy expenditure through physical activity contribute to the prevention and treatment of MetS. A Mediterranean-type diet, with or without energy restriction, is an effective treatment component. This dietary pattern should be built …
Kernel image similarity criterion
2011
This paper presents a family of metrics for assessing image similarity. The methods use the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion (HSIC) to estimate nonlinear statistical dependence between multidimensional images. The proposed methods have very good theoretical and practical properties. We illustrate the performance in evaluating the quality of natural photographic images, hyperspectral images under different noise levels, in synthetic multiresolution problems, and real pansharpening products.
Heterogeneous Firms, Globalisation and the Distance Puzzle
2015
Despite the strong pace of globalisation, the distance effect on trade is persistent or even growing over time (Disdier and Head, 2008). To solve this distance puzzle, we use the recently developed gravity equation estimator from Helpman et al. (2008) (HMR henceforth). Using three different data sets, we find that the distance coefficient increases over time when ordinary least squares (OLS) is used, while the non-linear estimation of HMR leads to a decline in the distance coefficient over time. The distance puzzle, thus, arises from a growing bias of OLS estimates. The latter is explained by an increase in the importance of the bias from omitting the number of heterogeneous exporting firms…
Chronic and Acute Effects on Skin Temperature from a Sport Consisting of Repetitive Impacts from Hitting a Ball with the Hands.
2022
Valencian handball consists in hitting the ball with the hands and it may contribute to injury development on the hands. This study aimed to analyze skin temperature asymmetries and recovery after a cold stress test (CST) in professional players of Valencian handball before and after a competition. Thirteen professional athletes and a control group of ten physically active participants were measured. For both groups, infrared images were taken at the baseline condition; later they underwent a thermal stress test (pressing for 2 min with the palm of the hand on a metal plate) and then recovery images were taken. In athletes, the images were also taken after their competition. Athletes at bas…
Risk assessment of non-target effects of Closterocerus chamaeleon (Girault) parasitoid of the eucalypt gall maker Ophelimus maskelli (Ashmead) (Hymen…
2015
The pre-release risk assessment, a recommended practice in biological control programmes, was carried out before introducing Closterocerus chamaeleon (Girault), a eulophid parasitoid of the eucalypt gall maker Ophelimus maskelli (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), in Sicily, Italy. We evaluated its host specificity in laboratory small arena no-choice tests on six non-target hosts, using O. maskelli as a control species. The non-target species fit with at least one of the following criteria: a) common geographical origin; b) ecological or behavioural affinities with the target host; c) concealed habit of the preimaginal stages; d) taxonomic affinity; e) taxonomic affinity with hosts of cong…
Measuring tourism seasonality across European countries
2018
Abstract This paper will propose a general approach for the analysis and measurement of seasonality in tourism, based on an analysis of the pattern of seasonal swing, as a preliminary step for the assessment of seasonal amplitude. The seasonality of tourism demand across European countries will be analyzed and clusters of countries identified, which are based on a similarity of their seasonal pattern. After discussing the limitations of the most frequently used indices employed in the tourism literature, a new index for measuring seasonality in tourism will be suggested in order to measure seasonal amplitude. The latter takes into account the ordinal and cyclical structures of seasonal vari…
Deep-Time Phylogenetic Clustering of Extinctions in an Evolutionarily Dynamic Clade (Early Jurassic Ammonites)
2012
7 pages; International audience; Conservation biologists and palaeontologists are increasingly investigating the phylogenetic distribution of extinctions and its evolutionary consequences. However, the dearth of palaeontological studies on that subject and the lack of methodological consensus hamper our understanding of that major evolutionary phenomenon. Here we address this issue by (i) reviewing the approaches used to quantify the phylogenetic selectivity of extinctions and extinction risks; (ii) investigating with a high-resolution dataset whether extinctions and survivals were phylogenetically clustered among early Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic) ammonites; (iii) exploring the phylogene…
Universal natural shapes: From unifying shape description to simple methods for shape analysis and boundary value problems
2012
Gielis curves and surfaces can describe a wide range of natural shapes and they have been used in various studies in biology and physics as descriptive tool. This has stimulated the generalization of widely used computational methods. Here we show that proper normalization of the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm allows for efficient and robust reconstruction of Gielis curves, including self-intersecting and asymmetric curves, without increasing the overall complexity of the algorithm. Then, we show how complex curves of k-type can be constructed and how solutions to the Dirichlet problem for the Laplace equation on these complex domains can be derived using a semi-Fourier method. In all three …