Development of a new body image assessment scale in urban Cameroon: an anthropological approach.

PubMed

Cohen, Emmanuel; Pasquet, Patrick

2011-01-01

Develop and validate body image scales (BIS) presenting real human bodies adapted to the macroscopic phenotype of urban Cameroonian populations. Quantitative and qualitative analysis. Yaoundé, capital city of Cameroon. Four samples with balanced sex-ratio: the first (n=16) aged 18 to 65 years (qualitative study), the second (n=30) aged 25 to 40 years (photo database), the third (n=47) and fourth (n=181), > or =18 years (validation study). Construct validity, test retest reliability, concurrent and convergent validity of BIS. Body image scales present six Cameroonians of each sex arranged according to main body mass index (BMI) categories: underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m2), obesity class I (30-34.9 kg/m2), obesity class II (35-39.9 kg/m2), and obesity class III (> or =40 kg/m2). Test-retest reliability correlations for current body size (CBS), desired body size and current desirable discrepancy (body self-satisfaction index) on BIS were never below .90. Plus, for the concurrent validity, we observed a significant correlation (r=0.67, P<.01) between measured BMI and CBS. Finally, the convergent validity between BIS and a female African American silhouettes scale, for different dimensions of body size perceptions, is acceptable. Body image scales are adapted to the phenotypic characteristics of urban Cameroonian populations. They are reliable and valid to assess body size perceptions and culturally adapted to the Cameroonian context.

Obesity and Body Size Preferences of Jordanian Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madanat, Hala; Hawks, Steven R.; Angeles, Heidi N.

2011-01-01

The nutrition transition is associated with increased obesity rates and increased desire to be thin. This study evaluates the relationship between actual body size and desired body size among a representative sample of 800 Jordanian women. Using Stunkard's body silhouettes, women were asked to identify their current and ideal body sizes, healthy…

Body Type Attractiveness Preferences of the Aged.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Portnoy, Enid J.

A study explored the relationship between body types and four attraction dimensions (physical, social, task, and communication) as perceived by older adults (mean age 68). Subjects, 35 males and 73 females in private residences and senior citizen centers, were shown three same-sex body silhouettes representing the older ectomorph, mesomorph, and…

Age and body satisfaction predict diet adherence in adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

PubMed

Vlahou, Christina H; Cohen, Lindsey L; Woods, Amanda M; Lewis, Jeffrey D; Gold, Benjamin D

2008-12-01

The aim of the current study was to determine whether age and body satisfaction predict dietary adherence in adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and whether older females are less adherent than younger males and females. Forty-four participants aged 10-21 with IBD were recruited. Participants provided informed consent and demographics. Body satisfaction was measured by a questionnaire and a task in which participants selected their current and ideal body image out of silhouettes depicting bodies ranging from underweight to obese. Adherence was measured by marking a 100 mm visual analog scale, the 1-week completion of a dietary log, and a questionnaire evaluating coping strategies used for overcoming obstacles to dietary adherence. Age was related to dietary adherence, with younger children being more likely to adhere. Participants more satisfied with their body reported better dietary adherence. Findings remained consistent across multiple measures of body satisfaction and adherence. Healthcare providers and parents should be informed of these findings in order to improve adherence.

An Improved Electro-Optical Image Quality Summary Measure.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

photo- graphing the display of a vidicon camera system viewing silhouettes of the broadside view of a Soviet KOTLIN class destroyer. Observers were...series ,: hard mages. Transparencies of the broadside KOTLIN silhouette were made with the scale :actor ranqin,, from 13b to 1810 meters per picture...3 warship rather than a merchant ship, and (c) the warsh-,;, is identifiable as beinq )f the nDTLIN class. Obviously, since only KOTLIN images were

Body Image Stereotypes: A Developmental Comparison

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkpatrick, Sue W.; Sanders, Diane Moody

1978-01-01

Examines the hypothesis that temperament judgments associated with different body types are dependent upon the sex and age of the respondents. Five hundred male and female subjects ranging in age from 6 to 60 years matched 40 temperament or behavior descriptors with one of three body silhouettes representing an ectomorph, an endomorph, and a…

Differences in physical activity and nutritionand silhouette-related behaviours in male and female students in selected European countries.

PubMed

Bergier, Barbara; Bergier, Józef; Niźnikowska, Ewelina; Junger, Ján; Salonna, Ferdinand; Ács, Pongrác; Frömel, Karel

2018-03-14

As indicated by the WHO, lifestyle plays a unique role in human health, which in turn is determined to a great extent by physical activity and nutrition. It must be borne in mind that physical activity should be systematic and regulated by an age-appropriate exercise intensity. All this indicates that learning about students' lifestyle, with a particular focus on physical activity is vital as it these young people who aspire to the role of the future elites. The aim of the study is to evaluate the level of physical activity, nutrition- and silhouette-related behaviours of male and female students to assess the relationships between these variables in students from the Visegrad Group countries. The study was conducted in 2015 and involved 2,497 students attending three undergraduate levels aged - x - 21,76, (SD-1,80) - 1,211 males (48.5%) and 1,286 females (51.5%). The IPAQ long-form and a questionnaire by the Polish Chief Sanitary Inspector were used. Physical activity was significantly higher in male than female students. An important relationship was observed among the larger number of consumed meals, level of physical activity, and silhouette-related behaviours in male students, which was not the case with females. However, there was an important correlation between physical activity in males and females who exercised to increase or decrease body weight (musculature), and took medications to increase body weight (musculature). Both males and females showed pro-health attitudes related to the level of physical activity and nutrition- and silhouette-related behaviours.

Female and Male Perceptions of Ideal Body Shapes: Distorted Views among Caucasian College Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohn, Lawrence D.; Adler, Nancy E.

1992-01-01

Using body silhouettes, 87 college women and 118 college men indicated their own body shapes and shapes they and same-sex and other-sex peers find most attractive. Focus was on whether women overestimate desirability of thin figures among female peers. Males and females misjudged same-sex peers' preferences compared with ideals. (SLD)

Validity of a figure rating scale assessing body size perception in school-age children.

PubMed

Lombardo, Caterina; Battagliese, Gemma; Pezzuti, Lina; Lucidi, Fabio

2014-01-01

This study aimed to provide data concerning the validity of a short sequence of face valid pictorial stimuli assessing the perception of body size in school-age children. A sequence of gender and age-appropriate silhouettes was administered to 314 boys and girls aged 6-14 years. The self-evaluations provided by the children correlated significantly with their actual BMI corrected for age. Furthermore, the children's self-evaluations always significantly correlated with the evaluations provided by the three external observers; i.e., both parents and the interviewers. The results indicate that this sequence of pictorial stimuli, depicting realistic human forms appropriate for children, is a valid measure of children's body image. Relevant differences across age groups were also found, indicating that before the age of eight, the correlations between the children's self-evaluations and their BMI or the judgments of the three observers are lower than in the other age groups.

Realistic weight perception and body size assessment in a racially diverse community sample of dieters.

PubMed

Cachelin, F M; Striegel-Moore, R H; Elder, K A

1998-01-01

Recently, a shift in obesity treatment away from emphasizing ideal weight loss goals to establishing realistic weight loss goals has been proposed; yet, what constitutes "realistic" weight loss for different populations is not clear. This study examined notions of realistic shape and weight as well as body size assessment in a large community-based sample of African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and white men and women. Participants were 1893 survey respondents who were all dieters and primarily overweight. Groups were compared on various variables of body image assessment using silhouette ratings. No significant race differences were found in silhouette ratings, nor in perceptions of realistic shape or reasonable weight loss. Realistic shape and weight ratings by both women and men were smaller than current shape and weight but larger than ideal shape and weight ratings. Compared with male dieters, female dieters considered greater weight loss to be realistic. Implications of the findings for the treatment of obesity are discussed.

Fat, friendless and unhealthy: 9-year old children's perception of body shape stereotypes.

PubMed

Hill, A J; Silver, E K

1995-06-01

Society has a very negative view of overweight, leading to prejudice and discrimination. In an examination of the scope of these views, 9-year old children's attributions of the social functioning and health of thin and overweight body shapes were investigated. One hundred and eighty eight girls and boys completed a series of ratings of four silhouette figures depicting a thin and heavy boy and girl. The children's own body shape preference, dietary restraint, height and weight were also measured. The ratings of the four silhouette variations were dominated by the size of the figure being judged. The overweight body shape was associated with poor social functioning, impaired academic success, and low perceived health, healthy eating and fitness. Gender and the raters own body weight had only limited impact on these stereotypical judgements. Children's judgements of themselves on the same attributes showed a greater perceived relevance of weight for girls and a confusion of healthy eating with dieting. Pre-adolescent children's perception of thinness and overweight echo the prejudices against overweight voiced by society. Health promotion at all ages will require a more considered presentation of the health implications of overweight.

BODY IMAGE IN CHILDHOOD: AN INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW.

PubMed

Neves, Clara Mockdece; Cipriani, Flávia Marcelle; Meireles, Juliana Fernandes Filgueiras; Morgado, Fabiane Frota da Rocha; Ferreira, Maria Elisa Caputo

2017-01-01

To analyse the scientific literature regarding the evaluation of body image in children through an integrative literature review. An intersection of the keywords "body image" AND "child" was conducted in Scopus, Medline and Virtual Health Library (BVS - Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde) databases. The electronic search was based on studies published from January 2013 to January 2016, in order to verify the most current investigations on the subject. Exclusion criteria were: articles in duplicate; no available summaries; not empirical; not assessing any component of body image; the sample did not consider the target age of this research (0 to 12 years old) and/or considered clinical populations; besides articles not fully available. 7,681 references were identified, and, after the exclusion criteria were implemented, 33 studies were analysed. Results showed that the perceptual and attitudinal dimensions focusing on body dissatisfaction were explored, mainly evaluated by silhouette scales. Intervention programs were developed internationally to prevent negative body image in children. The studies included in this review evaluated specific aspects of body image in children, especially body perception and body dissatisfaction. The creation of specific tools for children to evaluate body image is recommended to promote the psychosocial well being of individuals throughout human development.

Prevalence of eating disorder risk and body image distortion among National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I varsity equestrian athletes.

PubMed

Torres-McGehee, Toni M; Monsma, Eva V; Gay, Jennifer L; Minton, Dawn M; Mady-Foster, Ashley N

2011-01-01

Participation in appearance-based sports, particularly at the collegiate level, may place additional pressures on female athletes to be thin, which may increase the likelihood of their resorting to drastic weight control measures, such as disordered eating behaviors. (1) To estimate the prevalence and sources of eating disorder risk classification by academic status (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior) and riding discipline (English and Western), (2) to examine riding style and academic status variations in body mass index (BMI) and silhouette type, and (3) to examine these variations across eating disorder risk classification type (eg, body image disturbances). Cross-sectional study. Seven universities throughout the United States. A total of 138 participants volunteered (mean age = 19.88 ± 1.29 years). They represented 2 equestrian disciplines English riding (n = 91) and Western riding (n = 47). Participants self-reported menstrual cycle history, height, and weight. We screened for eating disorder risk behaviors with the Eating Attitudes Test and for body disturbance with sex-specific BMI silhouettes. Based on the Eating Attitudes Test, estimated eating disorder prevalence was 42.0% in the total sample, 38.5% among English riders, and 48.9% among Western riders. No BMI or silhouette differences were found across academic status or discipline in disordered eating risk. Overall, participants perceived their body images as significantly larger than their actual physical sizes (self-reported BMI) and wanted to be significantly smaller in both normal clothing and competitive uniforms. Disordered eating risk prevalence among equestrian athletes was similar to that reported in other aesthetic sports and lower than that in nonaesthetic sports. Athletic trainers working with these athletes should be sensitive to these risks and refer athletes as needed to clinicians knowledgeable about disordered eating. Professionals working with this population should avoid making negative comments about physical size and appearance.

Low-Income, African American and American Indian Children's Viewpoints on Body Image Assessment Tools and Body Satisfaction: A Mixed Methods Study.

PubMed

Heidelberger, Lindsay; Smith, Chery

2018-03-03

Objectives Pediatric obesity is complicated by many factors including psychological issues, such as body dissatisfaction. Body image assessment tools are used with children to measure their acceptance of their body shape or image. Limited research has been conducted with African American and American Indian children to understand their opinions on assessment tools created. This study investigated: (a) children's perception about body image and (b) differences between two body image instruments among low-income, multi-ethnic children. Methods This study uses mixed methodology including focus groups (qualitative) and body image assessment instruments (quantitative). Fifty-one children participated (25 girls, 26 boys); 53% of children identified as African American and 47% as American Indian. The average age was 10.4 years. Open coding methods were used by identify themes from focus group data. SPSS was used for quantitative analysis. Results Children preferred the Figure Rating Scale (FRS/silhouette) instrument over the Children's Body Image Scale (CBIS/photo) because their body parts and facial features were more detailed. Children formed their body image perception with influence from their parents and the media. Children verbalized that they have experienced negative consequences related to poor body image including disordered eating habits, depression, and bullying. Healthy weight children are also aware of weight-related bullying that obese and overweight children face. Conclusions for Practice Children prefer that the images on a body image assessment tool have detailed facial features and are clothed. Further research into body image assessment tools for use with African American and American Indian children is needed.

Human silhouette matching based on moment invariants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yong-Chao; Qiu, Xian-Jie; Xia, Shi-Hong; Wang, Zhao-Qi

2005-07-01

This paper aims to apply the method of silhouette matching based on moment invariants to infer the human motion parameters from video sequences of single monocular uncalibrated camera. Currently, there are two ways of tracking human motion: Marker and Markerless. While a hybrid framework is introduced in this paper to recover the input video contents. A standard 3D motion database is built up by marker technique in advance. Given a video sequences, human silhouettes are extracted as well as the viewpoint information of the camera which would be utilized to project the standard 3D motion database onto the 2D one. Therefore, the video recovery problem is formulated as a matching issue of finding the most similar body pose in standard 2D library with the one in video image. The framework is applied to the special trampoline sport where we can obtain the complicated human motion parameters in the single camera video sequences, and a lot of experiments are demonstrated that this approach is feasible in the field of monocular video-based 3D motion reconstruction.

Effect of body image on pregnancy weight gain.

PubMed

Mehta, Ushma J; Siega-Riz, Anna Maria; Herring, Amy H

2011-04-01

The majority of women gain more weight during pregnancy than what is recommended. Since gestational weight gain is related to short and long-term maternal health outcomes, it is important to identify women at greater risk of not adhering to guidelines. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between body image and gestational weight gain. The Body Image Assessment for Obesity tool was used to measure ideal and current body sizes in 1,192 women participating in the Pregnancy, Infection and Nutrition Study. Descriptive and multivariable techniques were used to assess the effects of ideal body size and discrepancy score (current-ideal body sizes), which reflected the level of body dissatisfaction, on gestational weight gain. Women who preferred to be thinner had increased risk of excessive gain if they started the pregnancy at a BMI ≤26 kg/m(2) but a decreased risk if they were overweight or obese. Comparing those who preferred thin body silhouettes to those who preferred average size silhouettes, low income women had increased risk of inadequate weight gain [RR = 1.76 (1.08, 2.88)] while those with lower education were at risk of excessive gain [RR = 1.11 (1.00, 1.22)]. Our results revealed that body image was associated with gestational weight gain but the relationship is complex. Identifying factors that affect whether certain women are at greater risk of gaining outside of guidelines may improve our ability to decrease pregnancy-related health problems.

Photos vs silhouettes for evaluation of African American profile esthetics.

PubMed

Hockley, Andrew; Weinstein, Martin; Borislow, Alan J; Braitman, Leonard E

2012-02-01

Patient photos and silhouettes are commonly used in clinical evaluations and orthodontic research to evaluate profile esthetics. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of photos or silhouettes is a more appropriate method of evaluating African American profile esthetics and whether there are different profile esthetic preferences among clinicians when using photos compared with silhouettes. Pretreatment records of 20 adolescent African American patients were selected (10 male, 10 female) from the orthodontic clinic at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. Each patient's profile photo was digitally changed with imaging software (Dolphin Imaging and Management Solutions, Chatsworth, Calif) to fabricate a series of 7 photos and 7 silhouettes with lip positions at uniform distances relative to Ricketts' E-line standard. Fifteen raters consisting of orthodontic faculty and residents were asked to select the most esthetically pleasing profile from each patient's photo series and silhouette series. More rater preferences for the photographs (86%) were within the acceptable esthetic range (within 2 mm of the E-line in either direction) than were their preferences for silhouettes (66%) (P <0.001). Flatter profiles with less lip projection than the esthetic norm were more often preferred in the silhouettes than in the photos. Thirty-one percent of the silhouettes preferred by the raters were flatter than the norm compared with 9% of the photos (P = 0.003). Fuller profiles were preferred in only 3% of the silhouettes and 5% of the photos (P = 0.6). Esthetic attractiveness of faces of African American orthodontic patients is rated differently in photos and silhouettes. When evaluating soft-tissue esthetic profile preferences, rater preferences in the photographs were closer to the established esthetic norm than were their preferences in the silhouettes. Using silhouettes to evaluate patient esthetics could influence clinicians or researchers to select profiles that are flatter than the established esthetic norm. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Eating Disorder Risk and the Role of Clothing in Collegiate Cheerleaders' Body Images

PubMed Central

Torres-McGehee, Toni M.; Monsma, Eva V.; Dompier, Thomas P.; Washburn, Stefanie A.

2012-01-01

Context With increased media coverage and competitive opportunities, cheerleaders may be facing an increase in eating disorder (ED) prevalence linked to clothing-related body image (BI). Objective To examine ED risk prevalence, pathogenic weight control behaviors, and variation in clothing-specific BI across position and academic status among collegiate cheerleaders. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and II institutions. Patients or Other Participants Female collegiate cheerleaders (n = 136, age = 20.4 ± 1.3 years, height = 160.2 ± 8.1 cm, weight = 57.2 ± 8.3 kg). Main Outcome Measure(s) Participants self-reported height, weight, and desired weight and completed the Eating Attitudes Test. Body image perceptions in 3 clothing types (daily clothing, midriff uniform, full uniform) were assessed using sex-based silhouettes (body mass index = 18.3 kg/m2 for silhouette 1, 23.1 kg/m2 for silhouette 4). Results The ED risk for cheerleaders was estimated at 33.1%. However, when body mass index was controlled using backward stepwise logistic regression, flyers had greater odds (odds ratio = 4.4, 95% confidence interval = 1.5, 13.2, P = .008) of being at risk compared with bases, but no difference was noted between the base and back-spot positions (odds ratio = 1.9, 95% confidence interval = 0.5, 6.6, P = .333). A main effect of BI perceptions was seen (P < .001), with a significant interaction by clothing type (F2,133 = 22.5, P < .001, η2 = 0.14). Cheerleaders desired to be smaller than their perceived BIs for each clothing type, with the largest difference for midriff uniform (2.6 ± 0.8 versus 3.7 ± 0.9), followed by full uniform (2.7 ± 0.8 versus 3.5 ± 0.9) and daily clothing (2.8 ± 0.8 versus 3.5 ± 0.9). Conclusions Cheerleaders, especially flyers, appear to be at risk for EDs, with greatest BI dissatisfaction when wearing their most revealing uniforms (ie, midriffs). Universities, colleges, and the national governing bodies of these squads need to focus on preventing eating disorders and BI dissatisfaction and promoting self-esteem. PMID:23068592

BODY IMAGE IN CHILDHOOD: AN INTEGRATIVE LITERATURE REVIEW

PubMed Central

Neves, Clara Mockdece; Cipriani, Flávia Marcelle; Meireles, Juliana Fernandes Filgueiras; Morgado, Fabiane Frota da Rocha; Ferreira, Maria Elisa Caputo

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective: To analyse the scientific literature regarding the evaluation of body image in children through an integrative literature review. Data source: An intersection of the keywords “body image” AND “child” was conducted in Scopus, Medline and Virtual Health Library (BVS - Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde) databases. The electronic search was based on studies published from January 2013 to January 2016, in order to verify the most current investigations on the subject. Exclusion criteria were: articles in duplicate; no available summaries; not empirical; not assessing any component of body image; the sample did not consider the target age of this research (0 to 12 years old) and/or considered clinical populations; besides articles not fully available. Data synthesis: 7,681 references were identified, and, after the exclusion criteria were implemented, 33 studies were analysed. Results showed that the perceptual and attitudinal dimensions focusing on body dissatisfaction were explored, mainly evaluated by silhouette scales. Intervention programs were developed internationally to prevent negative body image in children. Conclusions: The studies included in this review evaluated specific aspects of body image in children, especially body perception and body dissatisfaction. The creation of specific tools for children to evaluate body image is recommended to promote the psychosocial well being of individuals throughout human development. PMID:28977287

An improved silhouette for human pose estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawes, Anthony H.; Iftekharuddin, Khan M.

2017-08-01

We propose a novel method for analyzing images that exploits the natural lines of a human poses to find areas where self-occlusion could be present. Errors caused by self-occlusion cause several modern human pose estimation methods to mis-identify body parts, which reduces the performance of most action recognition algorithms. Our method is motivated by the observation that, in several cases, occlusion can be reasoned using only boundary lines of limbs. An intelligent edge detection algorithm based on the above principle could be used to augment the silhouette with information useful for pose estimation algorithms and push forward progress on occlusion handling for human action recognition. The algorithm described is applicable to computer vision scenarios involving 2D images and (appropriated flattened) 3D images.

Camera calibration correction in shape from inconsistent silhouette

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The use of shape from silhouette for reconstruction tasks is plagued by two types of real-world errors: camera calibration error and silhouette segmentation error. When either error is present, we call the problem the Shape from Inconsistent Silhouette (SfIS) problem. In this paper, we show how sm...

Application of inexpensive, low-cost, low-bandwidth silhouette profiling UGS systems to current remote sensing operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haskovic, Emir Y.; Walsh, Sterling; Cloud, Glenn; Winkelman, Rick; Jia, Yingqing; Vishnyakov, Sergey; Jin, Feng

2013-05-01

Low cost, power and bandwidth UGS can be used to fill the growing need for surveillance in remote environments. In particular, linear and 2D thermal sensor systems can run for up to months at a time and their deployment can be scaled to suit the size of the mission. Thermal silhouette profilers like Brimrose's SPOT system reduce power and bandwidth requirements by performing elementary classification and only transmitting binary data using optimized compression methods. These systems satisfy the demands for an increasing number of surveillance operations where reduced bandwidth and power consumption are mission critical.

India, '95. Fulbright-Hays Summer Seminar Abroad Project 1997.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Cheryl

This paper describes benefits gained from a Fulbright-Hays summer study program to India. Included are examples of classroom materials used to teach classes about Indian folk art: puppets, silhouettes, surface embellishment (body ornamentation) including pierced design, visual communication pins, and T-shirt logos. (EH)

Body Dissatisfaction in Individuals with Obesity Compared to Normal-Weight Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Weinberger, Natascha-Alexandra; Kersting, Anette; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G.; Luck-Sikorski, Claudia

2017-01-01

Background Body dissatisfaction has been identified as a psychological correlate of obesity that is related to disordered eating, poor self-esteem, and depression. However, not all individuals with obesity are equally vulnerable to these correlates, and ‘normative discontent’ is present in individuals with normal weight, too. In this light, the complex relationship of body image and individual weight status seems like a worthwhile direction of research inquiry. As such, this review aims to systematically explore the degree of body dissatisfaction in individuals with obesity compared to normal-weight individuals. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted. All quantitative studies of adult samples reporting results regarding differences in body dissatisfaction between individuals with normal weight and obesity were included. Results 17 articles were found. Across studies, individuals with obesity reported higher body dissatisfaction than normal-weight individuals (questionnaires: d = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.63-1.16, p ℋ 0.001; silhouette scales: d = 1.41, 95% CI = 0.57-2.25, p ℋ 0.001). Meta-regression revealed a significant association of female gender and higher body dissatisfaction (b = 0.60, p = 0.007). Conclusion The findings underline the severity of body dissatisfaction among individuals with obesity and especially among women. Future research recommendations are discussed. PMID:28013298

Prevalence of body image dissatisfaction and associated factors among physical education students.

PubMed

Ferrari, Elisa Pinheiro; Petroski, Edio Luiz; Silva, Diego Augusto Santos

2013-01-01

To determine the prevalence of and factors associated with body image dissatisfaction among physical education students enrolled in a public university. This study evaluated 236 students and assessed body image perception (silhouette scale), sociodemographic variables (sex, age, parental education, marital status, university course, work, living arrangement, study shift, and income), physical activity level (International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Version), dietary habits, tobacco use, excessive intake of alcohol (questions from the tobacco, alcohol and drugs, and nutrition domains of the FANTASTIC instrument), and nutritional status (body mass index [BMI]). Descriptive analysis, the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and crude and adjusted multinomial regression were used. The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction was 69.5%; 44.1% were dissatisfied with excess weight. BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m² was associated with dissatisfaction with excess weight; factors associated with dissatisfaction with slimness were being male, eating an unhealthy diet, and smoking tobacco. Our findings suggest that female college students with a BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m² are more likely to present dissatisfaction with excess weight. Being male, eating an unhealthy diet, engaging in physical activity for < 739.61 min/week and smoking tobacco were the variables associated with dissatisfaction with thinness.

Age-related deficits in inhibition in figure-ground assignment.

PubMed

Anderson, John A E; Healey, M Karl; Hasher, Lynn; Peterson, Mary A

2016-05-01

We assessed age differences in the ability to resolve competition for figural status in stationary displays using small, enclosed, symmetrical silhouettes that participants classified as depicting "novel" or "familiar" shapes. The silhouettes were biased such that the inside was perceived as the shaped figure, and the outside was perceived as a shapeless ground. The critical manipulation was whether a portion of a meaningful object was suggested on the outside of the border of some of the novel silhouettes but not others (M+Ground and M-Ground novel silhouettes, respectively). This manipulation was intended to induce greater inhibitory competition for figural status from the groundside in M+Ground silhouettes than M-Ground silhouettes. In previous studies, young adults classified M+Ground silhouettes as "novel" faster than M-Ground silhouettes (Trujillo, Allen, Schnyer, & Peterson, 2010), suggesting that young adults may recruit more inhibition to resolve figure-ground when there is more competition. We replicated this effect with young adults in the present study, but older adults showed the opposite pattern and were less accurate in classifying M+Ground than M-Ground silhouettes. These results extend the evidence for inhibitory deficits in older adults to figure assignment in stationary displays. The (M+Ground - M-Ground) RT differences were evident in observers' longest responses, consistent with the hypothesis that inhibitory deficits are evident when the need for inhibition is substantial.

What causes the facing-the-viewer bias in biological motion?

PubMed

Weech, Séamas; McAdam, Matthew; Kenny, Sophie; Troje, Nikolaus F

2014-10-13

Orthographically projected biological motion point-light displays are generally ambiguous with respect to their orientation in depth, yet observers consistently prefer the facing-the-viewer interpretation. There has been discussion as to whether this bias can be attributed to the social relevance of biological motion stimuli or relates to local, low-level stimulus properties. In the present study we address this question. In Experiment 1, we compared the facing-the-viewer bias produced by a series of four stick figures and three human silhouettes that differed in posture, gender, and the presence versus absence of walking motion. Using a paradigm in which we asked observers to indicate the spinning direction of these figures, we found no bias when participants observed silhouettes, whereas a pronounced degree of bias was elicited by most stick figures. We hypothesized that the ambiguous surface normals on the lines and dots that comprise stick figures are prone to a visual bias that assumes surfaces to be convex. The local surface orientations of the occluding contours of silhouettes are unambiguous, and as such the convexity bias does not apply. In Experiment 2, we tested the role of local features in ambiguous surface perception by adding dots to the elbows and knees of silhouettes. We found biases consistent with the facing directions implied by a convex body surface. The results unify a number of findings regarding the facing-the-viewer bias. We conclude that the facing-the-viewer bias is established at the level of surface reconstruction from local image features rather than on a semantic level. © 2014 ARVO.

SILHOUETTE - HIDDEN LINE COMPUTER CODE WITH GENERALIZED SILHOUETTE SOLUTION

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hedgley, D. R.

1994-01-01

Flexibility in choosing how to display computer-generated three-dimensional drawings has become increasingly important in recent years. A major consideration is the enhancement of the realism and aesthetics of the presentation. A polygonal representation of objects, even with hidden lines removed, is not always desirable. A more pleasing pictorial representation often can be achieved by removing some of the remaining visible lines, thus creating silhouettes (or outlines) of selected surfaces of the object. Additionally, it should be noted that this silhouette feature allows warped polygons. This means that any polygon can be decomposed into constituent triangles. Considering these triangles as members of the same family will present a polygon with no interior lines, and thus removes the restriction of flat polygons. SILHOUETTE is a program for calligraphic drawings that can render any subset of polygons as a silhouette with respect to itself. The program is flexible enough to be applicable to every class of object. SILHOUETTE offers all possible combinations of silhouette and nonsilhouette specifications for an arbitrary solid. Thus, it is possible to enhance the clarity of any three-dimensional scene presented in two dimensions. Input to the program can be line segments or polygons. Polygons designated with the same number will be drawn as a silhouette of those polygons. SILHOUETTE is written in FORTRAN 77 and requires a graphics package such as DI-3000. The program has been implemented on a DEC VAX series computer running VMS and used 65K of virtual memory without a graphics package linked in. The source code is intended to be machine independent. This program is available on a 5.25 inch 360K MS-DOS format diskette (standard distribution) and is also available on a 9-track 1600 BPI ASCII CARD IMAGE magnetic tape. SILHOUETTE was developed in 1986 and was last updated in 1992.

[Evaluation, correction and impact of non-response in studies of childhood obesity].

PubMed

Santiago-Pérez, María Isolina; Pérez-Ríos, Mónica; Malvar, Alberto; Suanzes, Jorge; Hervada, Xurxo

2017-09-25

To evaluate and correct the impact of non-response in the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in children aged 6 to 15 years old using silhouette scales. Cross-sectional study carried out in 2013 among 8,145 Galician schoolchildren aged 6-15 years old. The students who agreed to participate were weighed and measured and, based on body mass index, the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity was estimated. Teachers rated all students using silhouette scales. The valuations were used to estimate the prevalence corrected by non-response. Using the Bayes theorem, participation rates were estimated according to weight status. The participation rate was 92.3% in the 6 -to 11-year-old group, and 90% in the 12- to 15-year old age group. In both groups, the prevalence of underweight and overweight were similar between participants and non-participants. However, obesity was higher among non-participants, especially at 12 to 15 years of age (6.3% vs. 12.2% ; p < 0.05). The prevalence did not change when corrected by the teacher's valuation. The participation rate of obese students was lower than the overall rate (82% vs. 90% at 12 to 15 years old; p < 0.05). The presence of participation bias, which was greater at 12-15 years old, was confirmed. However, the impact of the bias on prevalence was negligible due to the high participation rate. In obesity studies with objective measures, it is essential to quantify non-participation, as well as to assess its impact and correct it. Copyright © 2017 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Relationship Among Body Image, Anthropometric Parameters and Mental Health in Physical Education Students

PubMed Central

Legey, Sandro; Lamego, Murilo Khede; Lattari, Eduardo; Campos, Carlos; Paes, Flávia; Sancassiani, Federica; Mura, Gioia; Carta, Mauro Giovanni; Rocha, Nuno Barbosa F.; Nardi, Antônio Egídio; José de Oliveira, Aldair; Neto, Geraldo Maranhão; Murillo-Rodriguez, Eric; Arias-Carrión, Oscar; Budde, Henning; Machado, Sergio

2016-01-01

Background The prevalence of body image dissatisfaction (BID) is currently high. Given that psychological well-being is associated with the body measurements imposed by esthetic standards, BID is an important risk factor for mental disorders. Objective Identify the prevalence of BID, and compare anthropometric and mental health parameters between individuals satisfied and dissatisfied with their body image. Method A total of 140 university students completed the silhouette scale to screen for BID. Anthropometric measures, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and body fat percentage (BFP) were used. To investigate mental health, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventories (STAI-S and STAI-T), Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale and Quality of Life (QOL-36) questionnaire were used to investigate mental health. The Student’s t-test was applied to compare anthropometric and mental health parameters. Results 67.1% of university students exhibited BID. There was a significant difference (p = 0.041) in BF and WC (p = 0.048) between dissatisfied and satisfied individuals. With respect to mood states, significant differences were observed for anger (p = 0.014), depression (p = 0.011), hostility (p = 0.006), fatigue (p = 0.013), mental confusion (p = 0.021) and total mood disturbance (TMD) (p = 0.001). The mental aspect of QOL was significantly higher (p = 0.001) in satisfied university students compared to their dissatisfied counterparts. Conclusion BID was high and it seems to be influenced by anthropometric measures related to the amount and distribution of body fat. This dissatisfaction may have a negative effect on the quality of life and mood state of young adults. PMID:28217145

The association of energy intake bias with psychological scores of women.

PubMed

Taren, D L; Tobar, M; Hill, A; Howell, W; Shisslak, C; Bell, I; Ritenbaugh, C

1999-07-01

Assess the association between reporting bias of dietary energy intake and the behavioral and psychological profiles in women. At baseline a series of questionnaires were administered to 37 women, (the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI), the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Restraint Scale and Sorensen-Stunkard's silhouettes). Subjects received training on how to record dietary records. Subjects recorded three days of dietary records to measure energy intake (EI) during a study to determine total energy expenditure (TEE) using doubly labeled water. Reporting accuracy (RA = EI/TEE x 100) was determined for each subject. Statistical analysis of the data used a mixed effects model accounting for within subject variability to determine if the psychological scores were associated with reporting accuracy. Women were recruited with local advertisements in Tucson, Arizona. The women had a mean ( +/- 1 s.d.) age of 43.6 +/- 9.3 yrs, body mass index (BMI) of 28.7 +/- 8.5 kg/m2 and total body fat (%TBF) of 31.9 +/- 7.3%. Age and %TBF were significantly and inversely associated with RA. Furthermore, Social Desirability was negatively associated with RA. Body dissatisfaction and associating a smaller body size than one's own as being more healthy were also associated with a lower RA. These results suggest that Social Desirability and self image of body shape are associated with RA. Modifications in subject training may reduce the effect of these factors on RA.

Action change detection in video using a bilateral spatial-temporal constraint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Jing; Chen, Li

2016-08-01

Action change detection in video aims to detect action discontinuity in video. The silhouettes-based features are desirable for action change detection. This paper studies the problem of silhouette-quality assessment. For that, a non-reference approach without the need for ground truth is proposed in this paper to evaluate the quality of silhouettes, by exploiting both the boundary contrast of the silhouettes in the spatial domain and the consistency of the silhouettes in the temporal domain. This is in contrast to that either only spatial information or only temporal information of silhouettes is exploited in conventional approaches. Experiments are conducted using artificially generated degraded silhouettes to show that the proposed approach outperforms conventional approaches to achieve more accurate quality assessment. Furthermore, experiments are performed to show that the proposed approach is able to improve the accuracy performance of conventional action change approaches in two human action video data-sets. The average runtime of the proposed approach for Weizmann action video data-set is 0.08 second for one frame using Matlab programming language. It is computationally efficient and potential to real-time implementations.

BODY DISSATISFACTION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR IN FEMALE ADOLESCENTS.

PubMed

Miranda, Valter Paulo Neves; Morais, Núbia Sousa de; Faria, Eliane Rodrigues de; Amorim, Paulo Roberto Dos Santos; Marins, João Carlos Bouzas; Franceschini, Sylvia do Carmo Castro; Teixeira, Paula Costa; Priore, Silvia Eloiza

2018-05-21

To evaluate the association of body image with physical activity level, body composition, and sedentary behavior (SB) of female adolescents. Exploratory cross-sectional study conducted with 120 female adolescents aged between 14-19 years, from the city of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil. Body image was evaluated with a Body Silhouette Scale (BSS) and a Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ). Weight, height, and waist circumference values were analyzed, as well as the waist-to-height ratio and body fat percentage. The physical activity level (PAL) was assessed by 24-hour Physical Activity Recall and SB by screen time, that is, time spent in front of a TV, playing video game, on the computer and using tablets, and, separately, the cell phone time. Mean age was 16.5±1.5 years, and most adolescents were eutrophic (77.6%), sedentary/low PAL (84.2%), with high screen time (85.2%) and cell phone time (58.7%). Body dissatisfaction was stated in 40.6% of BSQ and 45.8% of BSS evaluations. Body distortion was identified in 52.9% of participants. All body composition measures, along with cell phone time and PAL, were associated with body dissatisfaction, the more active adolescents presenting higher levels of dissatisfaction. This study concluded that female adolescents with higher cell phone time also present higher body dissatisfaction, as well as the most physically active ones. All body composition measurements were associated with body dissatisfaction, mainly body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio.

Program Enhances Drawings Of Three-Dimensional Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hedgley, David R., Jr.

1992-01-01

SILHOUETTE is program for line drawings rendering any subset of polygons as silhouette. Program is improvement on, and replacement for, HIDDEN LINE COMPUTER CODE (ARC-11446). Offers combinations of silhouette and nonsilhouette specifications for arbitrary solid. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Mathematical Model of FLIR Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

1972-10-19

two pairs of warships, the cruisers Baltimore and Sverdlov and the destroyers Forrest Sherman and Kotlin . In these cases, the original scale was 150...Johnson’s criterion for identification . To illustrate, if one examines the block silhouettes of the Kotlin and Forrest Sherman classes of

Assessment of waist-to-hip ratio attractiveness in women: an anthropometric analysis of digital silhouettes.

PubMed

Kościński, Krzysztof

2014-07-01

The low proportion of waist to hip size in females is a unique and adaptive human feature. In contemporary human populations, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is negatively associated with women's health, fecundity, and cognitive ability. It is, therefore, hypothesized that men will prefer women with low WHR. Although this prediction is supported by many studies, considerable disagreement persists about which WHR values are the most attractive and the importance of WHR for attractiveness of the female body. Unfortunately, the methods applied thus far are flawed in several ways. In the present study, we investigated male preferences for female WHR using a high precision assessment procedure and digitally manufactured, high quality, anthropometrically informed stimuli which were disentangled from body mass covariation. Forty men were requested to choose the most attractive silhouette consecutively from six series (2 levels of realism × 3 levels of body mass), each consisting of 26 female images that varied in WHR (from .60 to .85 by .01). Substantial inter-individual variation in the choices made was observed. Nevertheless, low and average WHR values were chosen more frequently than above-average values or values below the normal variation of the trait. This preference pattern mirrors the relationship between WHR and mate value, suggesting that the preferences are adaptive.

Maternal perception of children's nutritional status in the Federal District, Brazil

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Maternal perception of child's nutritional status has a potential impact on the identification, prevention, and treatment of childhood overweight. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of misperception and factors associated with maternal perception of the nutritional status of first- to third-grade elementary school students from private schools in the Federal District, Brazil. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 554 mother-child pairs. Children's nutritional status was assessed by measuring their weight and height. The mothers completed an online questionnaire about sociodemographic data, maternal nutritional status, maternal perception of her own nutritional status (silhouette scale for female adults), and maternal perception of child's nutritional status (silhouette scale for children). Only 30.0% of the mothers were successful in choosing the most appropriate silhouette to represent child's nutritional status. Highly educated mothers (Adjusted OR = 1.51) and mothers of male children (Adjusted OR = 2.53) or of non-overweight children (Adjusted OR = 1.65) were more likely to underestimate child's nutritional status. Conversely, mothers below 35 years of age (Adjusted OR = 1.85) and mothers of female children (Adjusted OR = 2.24) or of overweight children (Adjusted OR = 1.94) were more likely to overestimate child's nutritional status. There was a high prevalence of misperception, which shows the need for interventions for children that take into account the relevance of mother's role and the adequate recognition of child's nutritional status. PMID:28445494

Europe Today: A Reproducible Atlas. 1996 Revised Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Eagle, Inc., Wellesley, MA.

This book contains blank outline maps of the European continent and tables and graphics depicting various aspects of Europe. Sections of the book include: (1) "Same Scale Maps, Silhouettes, Distances, Area"; (2) "Population"; (3) "Demographics, Ethnic, Religion, Health"; (4) "Economic, GDP, Import, Export,…

Pop Goes the Poster! Tips for Effective Poster Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helmken, Charles M.

1979-01-01

Posters' power in academic advertising to persuade and inform is successful when message and graphics are combined. Design principles and techniques are identified: symbolism, symbiosis, substitution, sequence, scale, silhouette, script, spectrum, and simplicity. Designers should avoid: typographic fog, color confusion, excessive elements, and…

Body image dissatisfaction and anthropometric indicators in male children and adolescents.

PubMed

Ferrari, E P; Minatto, G; Berria, J; Silva, S F Dos S; Fidelix, Y L; Ribeiro, R R; Santos, K D; Petroski, E L

2015-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between body image dissatisfaction and body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%) and to identify which of these anthropometric indicators are more strongly associated, and finally to estimate the prevalence of overweight and high body adiposity in male children and adolescents, according to maturational stages. Overall, 1499 students aged from 7 to 17 years from Cascavel, PR, Brazil, were evaluated. Body image was self-rated through the body silhouette scale. Body weight, height and triceps and subscapular skinfolds were measured and BMI and BF% were calculated. Sexual maturity was self-assessed by the development of pubic hair. Data analysis used the Fisher exact test, the χ(2)-test and multinomial logistic regression. Body image dissatisfaction because of excess weight was associated with BMI and BF%, whereas in prepubertal students, this association did not remain in the adjusted analysis. In pubescent students, both BMI (odds ratio (OR)=5.25, confidence interval (CI) 95%=3.06-9.01) and BF% (OR=2.42, CI 95%=1.60-3.66), and in post-pubescent students for BMI (OR=3.77, CI 95%=1.33-10.70), the association remained. Body image dissatisfaction because of thinness was associated only with BF% in pubescent (OR=0.50, CI 95%= 0.33-0.75) and post-pubescent students (OR=0.38, CI 95%= 0.16-0.94). Body image dissatisfaction was associated with BMI and BF%, especially in pubescent and post-pubescent students.

Body mass index through self-reported data and body image perception in Spanish adults attending dietary consultation.

PubMed

Acevedo, Paula; López-Ejeda, Noemí; Alférez-García, Irene; Martínez-Álvarez, Jesús R; Villarino, Antonio; Cabañas, M Dolores; Marrodán, M Dolores

2014-06-01

The aim of this study was to explore, based on sex and age, knowledge regarding weight, height, and the perception of body shape in Spanish adults who attend dietary consultation. We also wanted to determine the participants' desired body shapes and what they considered their best health status. The sample consisted of 8100 women and 1220 men from Spain. They were between the ages of 18 and 75 y. Weight (kg) and height (cm) were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Participants were nutritionally classified following the cutoffs proposed by the World Health Organization. Each individual was asked about his or her weight and height and self-reported BMI was calculated. They also answered a test of body image perception through drawings of human silhouettes that corresponded to an exact BMI. With this, perceived BMI, desired BMI, and BMI considered healthy were estimated. Parametric statistic tests for contrast of mean and percentages were applied. Self-reported and perceived BMI underestimate the BMI obtained through anthropometry. Differences between measured and self-reported BMI are lower in women and increase with age in both sexes. The same result was obtained when comparing measured BMI with perceived BMI through silhouette test. On average, desired BMI and healthy BMI were in the limits of normal weight for all ages and both sexes. However, the difference between them was also lower in women. Age and sex influence the perception of excess weight and body image. This could condition the demand of dietary treatment to improve the nutritional status. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of the role of maternal nutrition in HIV-positive breast-feeding women in Malawi.

PubMed

Bentley, Margaret E; Corneli, Amy L; Piwoz, Ellen; Moses, Agnes; Nkhoma, Jacqueline; Tohill, Beth Carlton; Ahmed, Yusuf; Adair, Linda; Jamieson, Denise J; van der Horst, Charles

2005-04-01

A neglected issue in the literature on maternal nutrition and HIV is how HIV-positive women perceive their own bodies, health, and well-being, particularly in light of their infection, and whether these perceptions influence their infant feeding practices and their perceived ability to breast-feed exclusively through 6 mo. We conducted formative research to better understand breast-feeding practices and perceptions, and to inform the Breastfeeding, Antiretroviral, and Nutrition (BAN) Study, a clinical trial to evaluate antiretroviral and nutrition interventions to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV during breast-feeding in Lilongwe, Malawi. Twenty-two HIV-positive women living in semi-rural areas on the periphery of Lilongwe participated in in-depth interviews. In an adaptation of the body-silhouette methodology, nine culturally appropriate body silhouettes, representing a continuum of very thin to very large shapes, were used to elicit women's views on their present, previous-year, and preferred body shapes, and on the shape they perceived as healthy. The narrative scenario method was also used to explore women's views on 2 fictional women infected with HIV and their ability to exclusively breast-feed. Women perceived larger body shapes as healthy, because fatness is considered a sign of good health and absence of disease, and many recognized the role of nutrition in achieving a preferred or healthy body shape. Several women believed their nutritional status (body size) was declining because of their illness. Women were concerned that breast-feeding may increase the progression of HIV, suggesting that international guidelines to promote appropriate infant feeding practices for infants whose mothers are infected with HIV should focus on the mother's health and well-being, as well as the infant's.

Africa Today: A Reproducible Atlas. 1996 Revised Edition. World Eagle's Today Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Independent Broadcasting Associates, Inc., Littleton, MA.

This book contains blank outline maps of the continent or region, tables, and graphics depicting various aspects of Africa. Sections of the book include: (1) "Same Scale Maps, Silhouettes, Distances, Area"; (2) "Population"; (3) "Demographics, Education, Ethnic, Religion, Health"; (4) "Climate, Land,…

Anthropometric body measurements based on multi-view stereo image reconstruction.

PubMed

Li, Zhaoxin; Jia, Wenyan; Mao, Zhi-Hong; Li, Jie; Chen, Hsin-Chen; Zuo, Wangmeng; Wang, Kuanquan; Sun, Mingui

2013-01-01

Anthropometric measurements, such as the circumferences of the hip, arm, leg and waist, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index, are of high significance in obesity and fitness evaluation. In this paper, we present a home based imaging system capable of conducting anthropometric measurements. Body images are acquired at different angles using a home camera and a simple rotating disk. Advanced image processing algorithms are utilized for 3D body surface reconstruction. A coarse body shape model is first established from segmented body silhouettes. Then, this model is refined through an inter-image consistency maximization process based on an energy function. Our experimental results using both a mannequin surrogate and a real human body validate the feasibility of the proposed system.

Anthropometric Body Measurements Based on Multi-View Stereo Image Reconstruction*

PubMed Central

Li, Zhaoxin; Jia, Wenyan; Mao, Zhi-Hong; Li, Jie; Chen, Hsin-Chen; Zuo, Wangmeng; Wang, Kuanquan; Sun, Mingui

2013-01-01

Anthropometric measurements, such as the circumferences of the hip, arm, leg and waist, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index, are of high significance in obesity and fitness evaluation. In this paper, we present a home based imaging system capable of conducting automatic anthropometric measurements. Body images are acquired at different angles using a home camera and a simple rotating disk. Advanced image processing algorithms are utilized for 3D body surface reconstruction. A coarse body shape model is first established from segmented body silhouettes. Then, this model is refined through an inter-image consistency maximization process based on an energy function. Our experimental results using both a mannequin surrogate and a real human body validate the feasibility of proposed system. PMID:24109700

Abandoning a label doesn’t make it disappear: The perseverance of labeling effects

PubMed Central

Foroni, Francesco; Rothbart, Myron

2012-01-01

Labels exert strong influence on perception and judgment. The present experiment examines the possibility that such effects may persist even when labels are abandoned. Participants judged the similarity of pairs of silhouette drawings of female body types, ordered on a continuum from very thin to very heavy, under conditions where category labels were, and were not, superimposed on the ordered stimuli. Consistent with earlier research, labels had strong effects on perceived similarity, with silhouettes sharing the same label judged as more similar than those having different labels. Moreover, when the labels were removed and no longer present, the effect of the labels, although diminished, persisted. It did not make any difference whether the labels were simply abandoned or, in addition, had their validity challenged. The results are important for our understanding of categorization and labeling processes. The potential theoretical and practical implications of these results for social processes are discussed. PMID:23105148

Your Ideal Silhouette. Courseware Evaluation for Vocational and Technical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tierney, Margaret S.; And Others

This courseware evaluation rates the "Your Ideal Silhouette" program developed by Your Image, Inc. This program (not contained in this document) uses the computer to identify figure faults and illustrate personalized corrective style lines to achieve the ideal silhouette. Part A describes the program in terms of subject area (textiles…

Appearance-based multimodal human tracking and identification for healthcare in the digital home.

PubMed

Yang, Mau-Tsuen; Huang, Shen-Yen

2014-08-05

There is an urgent need for intelligent home surveillance systems to provide home security, monitor health conditions, and detect emergencies of family members. One of the fundamental problems to realize the power of these intelligent services is how to detect, track, and identify people at home. Compared to RFID tags that need to be worn all the time, vision-based sensors provide a natural and nonintrusive solution. Observing that body appearance and body build, as well as face, provide valuable cues for human identification, we model and record multi-view faces, full-body colors and shapes of family members in an appearance database by using two Kinects located at a home's entrance. Then the Kinects and another set of color cameras installed in other parts of the house are used to detect, track, and identify people by matching the captured color images with the registered templates in the appearance database. People are detected and tracked by multisensor fusion (Kinects and color cameras) using a Kalman filter that can handle duplicate or partial measurements. People are identified by multimodal fusion (face, body appearance, and silhouette) using a track-based majority voting. Moreover, the appearance-based human detection, tracking, and identification modules can cooperate seamlessly and benefit from each other. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the human tracking across multiple sensors and human identification considering the information of multi-view faces, full-body clothes, and silhouettes. The proposed home surveillance system can be applied to domestic applications in digital home security and intelligent healthcare.

Appearance-Based Multimodal Human Tracking and Identification for Healthcare in the Digital Home

PubMed Central

Yang, Mau-Tsuen; Huang, Shen-Yen

2014-01-01

There is an urgent need for intelligent home surveillance systems to provide home security, monitor health conditions, and detect emergencies of family members. One of the fundamental problems to realize the power of these intelligent services is how to detect, track, and identify people at home. Compared to RFID tags that need to be worn all the time, vision-based sensors provide a natural and nonintrusive solution. Observing that body appearance and body build, as well as face, provide valuable cues for human identification, we model and record multi-view faces, full-body colors and shapes of family members in an appearance database by using two Kinects located at a home's entrance. Then the Kinects and another set of color cameras installed in other parts of the house are used to detect, track, and identify people by matching the captured color images with the registered templates in the appearance database. People are detected and tracked by multisensor fusion (Kinects and color cameras) using a Kalman filter that can handle duplicate or partial measurements. People are identified by multimodal fusion (face, body appearance, and silhouette) using a track-based majority voting. Moreover, the appearance-based human detection, tracking, and identification modules can cooperate seamlessly and benefit from each other. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the human tracking across multiple sensors and human identification considering the information of multi-view faces, full-body clothes, and silhouettes. The proposed home surveillance system can be applied to domestic applications in digital home security and intelligent healthcare. PMID:25098207

'I've got a very dichotomous difference in the way that I perceive myself': Positive and negative constructions of body image following cancer treatment.

PubMed

Grogan, Sarah; Mechan, Jayne; Persson, Sofia; Finlay, Sive; Hall, Matthew

2017-09-01

This study investigated how women constructed body image following cancer. Four women, aged 32-67 years, who had experienced breast or bowel cancer took part in a 2-hour, in-depth focus group. Discourse analysis revealed that women orientated to positive aspects of the post-treatment body (silhouette, trust, acceptance) while acknowledging that their experiences were also traumatic (hair loss, scarring, sickness, swelling). Bodies and illness were concealed from public judgment, and women developed new trust in their bodies due to overcoming cancer; post-cancer bodies were accepted despite opportunities for normalisation. Implications for those wanting to support women during and after cancer are discussed.

Conditions that influence the accuracy of anthropometric parameter estimation for human body segments using shape-from-silhouette

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mundermann, Lars; Mundermann, Annegret; Chaudhari, Ajit M.; Andriacchi, Thomas P.

2005-01-01

Anthropometric parameters are fundamental for a wide variety of applications in biomechanics, anthropology, medicine and sports. Recent technological advancements provide methods for constructing 3D surfaces directly. Of these new technologies, visual hull construction may be the most cost-effective yet sufficiently accurate method. However, the conditions influencing the accuracy of anthropometric measurements based on visual hull reconstruction are unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the conditions that influence the accuracy of 3D shape-from-silhouette reconstruction of body segments dependent on number of cameras, camera resolution and object contours. The results demonstrate that the visual hulls lacked accuracy in concave regions and narrow spaces, but setups with a high number of cameras reconstructed a human form with an average accuracy of 1.0 mm. In general, setups with less than 8 cameras yielded largely inaccurate visual hull constructions, while setups with 16 and more cameras provided good volume estimations. Body segment volumes were obtained with an average error of 10% at a 640x480 resolution using 8 cameras. Changes in resolution did not significantly affect the average error. However, substantial decreases in error were observed with increasing number of cameras (33.3% using 4 cameras; 10.5% using 8 cameras; 4.1% using 16 cameras; 1.2% using 64 cameras).

Overweight and Body Image Perception in Adolescents with Triage of Eating Disorders

PubMed Central

Franceschini, Sylvia do Carmo Castro; Hermsdorff, Helen Hermana Miranda; Priore, Silvia Eloiza

2017-01-01

Purpose To verify the influence of overweight and alteration in the perception of the corporal image during the triage of eating disorders. Method A food disorder triage was performed in adolescents with 10 to 19 years of age using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Children's Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT), and Bulimic Investigatory Test Edinburgh (BITE), as well as a nutritional status evaluation. The perception of body image was evaluated in a subsample of adolescents with 10 to 14 years of age, using the Brazilian Silhouette Scale. The project was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Results The prevalence of eating disorder triage was 11.4% (n = 242) for the 2,123 adolescents evaluated. Overweight was present in 21.1% (n = 447) of the students, being more prevalent in the early adolescence phase, which presented levels of distortion of 56.9% (n = 740) and dissatisfaction of 79.3% (n = 1031). Body dissatisfaction was considered as a risk factor, increasing by more than 13 times the chance of TA screening. Conclusion Overweight was correlated with the ED triage and body dissatisfaction was considered as a risk factor, increasing the chances of these disorders by more than 13 times. PMID:28856236

Increased alpha band activity indexes inhibitory competition across a border during figure assignment.

PubMed

Sanguinetti, Joseph L; Trujillo, Logan T; Schnyer, David M; Allen, John J B; Peterson, Mary A

2016-09-01

Figure-ground assignment is thought to entail inhibitory competition between potential objects on opposite sides of a shared border; the winner is perceived as the figure, and the loser as the shapeless ground. Computational models and response time measures support this understanding but to date no online measure of inhibitory competition during figure-ground assignment has been reported. The current study assays electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha power as a measure of inhibitory competition during figure-ground assignment. Activity in the EEG alpha band has been linked to functional inhibition in the brain, and it has been proposed that increased alpha power reflects increased inhibition. In 2 experiments participants viewed silhouettes designed so that the insides would be perceived as figures. Real-world silhouettes depicted namable objects. Novel silhouettes depicted novel objects on the insides of their borders, but varied in the amount of hypothesized cross-border competition for figural status: In "Low-Competition" silhouettes, the borders suggested novel objects on the outside as well as on the inside. In "High-Competition" silhouettes the borders suggested portions of real-world objects on the outside; these compete with the figural properties favoring the inside as figure. Participants accurately categorized both types of novel silhouettes as "novel" objects and were unaware of the real world objects suggested on the outside of the High-Competition silhouettes. In both experiments, we observed more alpha power while participants viewed High- rather than Low-Competition novel silhouettes. These are the first results to show via an online index of neural activity that figure assignment entails inhibitory competition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Body size preference and body weight perception among two migrant groups of non-Western origin.

PubMed

Nicolaou, Mary; Doak, Colleen; Dam, Rob van; Hosper, Karen; Seidell, Jaap; Stronks, Karien

2008-12-01

To evaluate body size preference, body weight perception and their relationship with actual weight in two migrant groups of non-Western origin, Turks and Moroccans; additionally, to study the association between body size preference and acculturation. Cross-sectional study. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Males and females (18-30 years) were randomly selected from the population registry (n 451); participants, or at least one of their parents, were born in Turkey or Morocco. Body size preference was assessed using seven silhouette drawings and body weight perception was assessed by asking participants' opinion of own weight. Acculturation variables were generation status and two scale measures, cultural orientation and social contacts. Participants showed preference for a thin body size. The discrepancy between ideal and current size was significant in women but not men (P < 0.001). Perceived current body size was correlated with BMI (Spearman's correlation coefficient 0.60, P < 0.001 (men) and 0.73, P < 0.001 (women)). Among overweight participants (BMI = 25.0-29.9 kg/m2), 63-82 % of men and 35 % of women perceived themselves as 'average'. Paying attention to own body weight was associated with a discrepancy between ideal and current size among women and with perceiving oneself as 'overweight' among men. Body size preference was not significantly associated with the three acculturation variables. We did not observe a preference for large body sizes in these two non-Western migrant groups. Similar to Western populations, most women wished to be thinner than they were. This was not the case among men, the majority of whom were also unaware of being overweight.

Adapted physical activity programme and self-perception in obese adolescents with intellectual disability: between morphological awareness and positive illusory bias.

PubMed

Salaun, Laureline; Reynes, Eric; Berthouze-Aranda, Sophie E

2014-03-01

In adolescent with intellectual disability, the management of obesity is a crucial issue, yet also quite complex because of their particular perception of themselves. This study investigated the relationship between self-perception variables and morphological variables and their changes after a 9-month Adapted Physical Activity (APA) programme. Twenty-three adolescents with intellectual disability responded to an adapted questionnaire, including the PSI-VSF-ID and a nine-drawing body silhouette scale. Anthropometric and body composition indicators were measured before and after the APA programme. The main predictor of the adolescents' self-perceptions was the inclination towards positive illusory bias before the intervention; obesity awareness ranked second. Morphological measurements did not contribute in the same way to self-perceptions in the initial and final data. This study confirms the interest of weight management programmes for adolescents with intellectual disability and points to the need to take positive illusory bias more fully into account in the study of self-perception. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Neurophysiological evidence for the influence of past experience on figure-ground perception.

PubMed

Trujillo, Logan T; Allen, John J B; Schnyer, David M; Peterson, Mary A

2010-02-10

A fundamental aspect of perceptual organization entails segregating visual input into shaped figures presented against shapeless backgrounds; an outcome termed "figure-ground perception" or "shape assignment." The present study examined how early in processing past experience exerts an influence on shape assignment. Event-related potential (ERP) measures of brain activity were recorded while observers viewed silhouettes of novel objects that differed in whether or not a familiar shape was suggested on the outside-the groundside-of their bounding edges (experimental versus control silhouettes, respectively). Observers perceived both types of silhouettes as novel shapes and were unaware of the familiar shape suggested on the groundside of experimental silhouettes. Nevertheless, we expected that the familiar shape would be implicitly identified early in processing and would compete for figural status with the novel shape on the inside. Early (106-156 ms) ERPs were larger for experimental silhouettes than for control silhouettes lacking familiarity cues. The early ERP difference occurred during a time interval within which edge-segmentation-dependent response differences have been observed in previous neurophysiological investigations of figure-ground perception. These results provide the first neurophysiological evidence for an influence of past experience during the earliest stages of shape assignment.

Synthetic-Aperture Silhouette Imaging (SASI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paxman, R.

2016-09-01

The problem of ground-based fine-resolution imaging of geosynchronous satellites continues to be an important unsolved space-surveillance problem. We are investigating a passive-illumination approach that is radically different from amplitude, intensity, or heterodyne interferometry approaches. The approach, called Synthetic-Aperture Silhouette Imaging (SASI), produces a fine-resolution image of the satellite silhouette. When plane-wave radiation emanating from a bright star is occluded by a GEO satellite, then the light is diffracted and a moving diffraction pattern (shadow) is cast on the surface of the earth. With prior knowledge of the satellite orbit and star location, the track of the moving shadow can be predicted with high precision. A linear array of inexpensive hobby telescopes can be deployed roughly perpendicular to the shadow track to collect a time history of the star intensity as the shadow passes by. A phase-retrieval algorithm, using the strong constraint that the occlusion of the satellite is a binary-valued silhouette, allows us to retrieve the missing phase and reconstruct a fine-resolution image of the silhouette. Silhouettes are highly informative, providing diagnostic information about deployment of antennas and solar panels, enabling satellite pose estimation, and revealing the presence and orientation of neighboring satellites in rendezvous and proximity operations.

Chin Position: to treat or not to treat.

PubMed

Sukhia, Rashna Hoshang; Sukhia, Hoshang Rumi; Azam, Syed Iqbal; Fida, Mubassar; Khan, Munizeh

2018-03-01

This study was conducted to compare the mean preference scores for orthodontic treatment need, considering the chin position, amongst orthodontists, orthodontic patients and their parents. Male and female profile silhouettes were prepared by changing their chin prominence using Adobe Photoshop 7 with zero degree meridian as line of reference. Rating of these silhouettes was done by the three groups of raters (orthodontists, orthodontic patients and their parents) on a scale of four with one being no need of treatment and four being severe need of treatment. There was a statistically significant difference seen amongst orthodontists and the orthodontic patients and also amongst the orthodontist and the orthodontic patient's parents for the 2mm and 4mm chin position with orthodontists scoring a higher need of treatment as compared to the patients and parents. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Human-Robot Control Strategies for the NASA/DARPA Robonaut

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Diftler, M. A.; Culbert, Chris J.; Ambrose, Robert O.; Huber, E.; Bluethmann, W. J.

2003-01-01

The Robotic Systems Technology Branch at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is currently developing robot systems to reduce the Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) and planetary exploration burden on astronauts. One such system, Robonaut, is capable of interfacing with external Space Station systems that currently have only human interfaces. Robonaut is human scale, anthropomorphic, and designed to approach the dexterity of a space-suited astronaut. Robonaut can perform numerous human rated tasks, including actuating tether hooks, manipulating flexible materials, soldering wires, grasping handrails to move along space station mockups, and mating connectors. More recently, developments in autonomous control and perception for Robonaut have enabled dexterous, real-time man-machine interaction. Robonaut is now capable of acting as a practical autonomous assistant to the human, providing and accepting tools by reacting to body language. A versatile, vision-based algorithm for matching range silhouettes is used for monitoring human activity as well as estimating tool pose.

Computer-Based and Paper-Based Measurement of Recognition Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

domains (e.g., ship silhouettes, electronic schemata, human anatomy ) to ascertain the universality of the validity and reliability results...specific graphic 4 database (e.g., ship silhouettes, human anatomy , electronic circuits, topography), con- tributes to its wide applicability. The game, then...seek implementation of FLASH and PICTURE in other content areas or subject-matter domains (e.g., ship silhouettes, electronic schemata, human anatomy ) to

Significant body point labeling and tracking.

PubMed

Azhar, Faisal; Tjahjadi, Tardi

2014-09-01

In this paper, a method is presented to label and track anatomical landmarks (e.g., head, hand/arm, feet), which are referred to as significant body points (SBPs), using implicit body models. By considering the human body as an inverted pendulum model, ellipse fitting and contour moments are applied to classify it as being in Stand, Sit, or Lie posture. A convex hull of the silhouette contour is used to determine the locations of SBPs. The particle filter or a motion flow-based method is used to predict SBPs in occlusion. Stick figures of various activities are generated by connecting the SBPs. The qualitative and quantitative evaluation show that the proposed method robustly labels and tracks SBPs in various activities of two different (low and high) resolution data sets.

The dusty silhouette jet HH 1019 in the Carina Nebula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiter, Megan; Kiminki, Megan M.; Smith, Nathan; Bally, John

2017-06-01

We report the discovery in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images of the new Herbig-Haro jet, HH 1019, located near the Tr 14 cluster in the Carina Nebula. Like other HH jets in the region, this bipolar collimated flow emerges from the head of a dark dust pillar. However, HH 1019 is unique because - unlike all other HH jets known to date - it is identified by a linear chain of dark, dusty knots that are seen primarily in silhouette against the background screen of the H II region. Proper motions confirm that these dark condensations move along the jet axis at high speed. [S II] emission traces a highly collimated jet that is spatially coincident with these dust knots. The high extinction in the body of the jet suggests that this outflow has lifted a large amount of dust directly from the disc, although it is possible that it has entrained dust from its surrounding protostellar envelope before exiting the dust pillar. If dust in HH 1019 originates from the circumstellar disc, this provides further evidence for a jet launched from a range of radii in the disc, including those outside the dust sublimation radius. HH 1019 may be the prototype for a new subclass of dusty HH objects seen primarily in extinction against the background screen of a bright H II region. Such jets may be common, but difficult to observe because they require the special condition of a very bright background in order to be seen in silhouette.

TRAUMATIC (FOREIGN BODY) PERICARDITIS IN A TOCO TOUCAN (RAMPHASTOS TOCO).

PubMed

Máinez, Mireia; Rosell, Jorge; Such, Roger; Cardona, Teresa; Juan-Sallés, Carles

2016-12-01

An approximately 10-yr-old, captive-born female toco toucan ( Ramphastos toco ) was presented due to an acute onset of depression and apathy. On visual and physical examination, it showed an abnormal posture and dehydration, respectively. Serum biochemistry revealed hyperuricemia (39.4 mg/dl) and elevated glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT; 1,050 U/L). Radiographs demonstrated an enlargement of the cardiac silhouette. The bird died 7 days after presentation, despite treatment with enrofloxacin, allopurinol, a preparation of hepatorenal protectors, and complex B vitamins with dextrose. Necropsy revealed severe fibrinohemorrhagic pericarditis with a 15 mm long and 2.5 mm diameter, rigid foreign body in the pericardial exudate. Microscopically, this foreign body was of vegetal origin.

A 3D Kinematic Measurement of Knee Prosthesis Using X-ray Projection Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirokawa, Shunji; Ariyoshi, Shogo; Hossain, Mohammad Abrar

We have developed a technique for estimating 3D motion of knee prosthesis from its 2D perspective projections. As Fourier descriptors were used for compact representation of library templates and contours extracted from the prosthetic X-ray images, the entire silhouette contour of each prosthetic component was required. This caused such a problem as our algorithm did not function when the silhouettes of tibio and femoral components overlapped with each other. Here we planned a novel method to overcome it; which was processed in two steps. First, the missing part of silhouette contour due to overlap was interpolated using a free-formed curvature such as Bezier. Then the first step position/orientation estimation was performed. In the next step, a clipping window was set in the projective coordinate so as to separate the overlapped silhouette drawn using the first step estimates. After that the localized library whose templates were clipped in shape was prepared and the second step estimation was performed. Computer model simulation demonstrated sufficient accuracies of position/orientation estimation even for overlapped silhouettes; equivalent to those without overlap.

A Deep-Structured Conditional Random Field Model for Object Silhouette Tracking

PubMed Central

Shafiee, Mohammad Javad; Azimifar, Zohreh; Wong, Alexander

2015-01-01

In this work, we introduce a deep-structured conditional random field (DS-CRF) model for the purpose of state-based object silhouette tracking. The proposed DS-CRF model consists of a series of state layers, where each state layer spatially characterizes the object silhouette at a particular point in time. The interactions between adjacent state layers are established by inter-layer connectivity dynamically determined based on inter-frame optical flow. By incorporate both spatial and temporal context in a dynamic fashion within such a deep-structured probabilistic graphical model, the proposed DS-CRF model allows us to develop a framework that can accurately and efficiently track object silhouettes that can change greatly over time, as well as under different situations such as occlusion and multiple targets within the scene. Experiment results using video surveillance datasets containing different scenarios such as occlusion and multiple targets showed that the proposed DS-CRF approach provides strong object silhouette tracking performance when compared to baseline methods such as mean-shift tracking, as well as state-of-the-art methods such as context tracking and boosted particle filtering. PMID:26313943

The Effects of Workload Presented via Visual and Auditory Displays on Soldier Shooting and Secondary Task Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-08-01

Cognitive Psychology: New Directions (pp. 112-153). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980. Allport, D. A.; Antonis, B.; Reynolds, P. On the Division of...live-fire range. The target type presentations will be an enemy targets which will consist of equal sized solid green silhouettes. Friendly targets...will consist of the solid green silhouette with a gray 6-inch disk at the center-of-mass, or a solid brown silhouette. The target exposure times will

Weight loss expectations and body dissatisfaction in young women attempting to lose weight.

PubMed

Siervo, M; Montagnese, C; Muscariello, E; Evans, E; Stephan, B C M; Nasti, G; Papa, A; Iannetti, E; Colantuoni, A

2014-04-01

Unrealistic weight loss expectations (WLEs) and greater body dissatisfaction may be associated with the poor long-term outcomes of dietary and lifestyle weight loss treatments. We evaluated the association between body size, WLEs and body dissatisfaction in young women attempting to lose weight. Forty-four young healthy women [age range 18-35 years, body mass index (BMI) range 23-40 kg/m2] were recruited. Women were classified as obese (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) and non-obese (BMI <30.0 kg/m2). The Body Dissatisfaction scale of the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 and the Body Image Assessment for Obesity silhouette charts were used to assess body dissatisfaction. WLEs were categorised according to personal (ideal, happiness, satisfaction, weight history), lifestyle (fitness) and social (career, family acceptance, peer acceptance, mass media, social pressure) factors. Individual WLEs were compared with recommended clinical targets (5%, 10% and 20%) for weight loss. Body dissatisfaction was lower in non-obese subjects and was directly associated with BMI (P < 0.05). WLEs were directly associated with BMI and the obese group reported greater expectations. Five non-obese subjects (23%) desired to lose more than 20% of their body weight, whereas the proportion was significantly higher in the obese group (17 subjects; 74%). Subjects derived the greatest WLEs from mass media, whereas they perceived that family and friends were supportive of a lesser degree of weight loss. We observed a mismatch between clinical and personal expectations, and social pressure and interpersonal relationships appear to have a prominent role with respect to influencing the association. © 2013 The Authors Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

A Single Camera Motion Capture System for Human-Computer Interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okada, Ryuzo; Stenger, Björn

This paper presents a method for markerless human motion capture using a single camera. It uses tree-based filtering to efficiently propagate a probability distribution over poses of a 3D body model. The pose vectors and associated shapes are arranged in a tree, which is constructed by hierarchical pairwise clustering, in order to efficiently evaluate the likelihood in each frame. Anew likelihood function based on silhouette matching is proposed that improves the pose estimation of thinner body parts, i. e. the limbs. The dynamic model takes self-occlusion into account by increasing the variance of occluded body-parts, thus allowing for recovery when the body part reappears. We present two applications of our method that work in real-time on a Cell Broadband Engine™: a computer game and a virtual clothing application.

Photos vs silhouettes for evaluation of profile esthetics between white and black evaluators.

PubMed

Pithon, Matheus Melo; Silva, Iane Souza Nery; Almeida, Indira Oliveira; Nery, Marine Soares; de Souza, Michele Luz; Barbosa, George; Dos Santos, Alex Ferreira; da Silva Coqueiro, Raildo

2014-03-01

To determine whether photos or silhouettes are adequate methods for evaluating the esthetic profiles of black subjects and whether black and white evaluators have different preferences for esthetic profiles. One photographic record of the profile of a black female patient with accentuated dental bimaxillary dentoalveolar protrusion was randomly selected. The image of the patient's profile was altered to produce a series of seven photos and seven silhouettes (a total of 14 images) with different lip positions but uniform distances in relation to the esthetic plane created by Ricketts (line E). Fifty black and 50 white lay evaluators were invited to enumerate the photos and silhouettes, produced according to the lip position, in the order in which they considered most esthetically pleasing. The number of preferences found to be within the esthetic norm was slightly higher among the photographs than among the silhouettes; the esthetic profile with a deviation of -2 mm from line E was elected as the most attractive, and the esthetic pattern with a deviation of +6 mm from the normal line E was considered the least attractive. There were no statistically significant differences between the preferences related to the variables race, sex, and educational background. The esthetic attractiveness of the facial profiles of black subjects in photos and silhouettes was evaluated in a similar manner among black and white evaluators. Among both black and white evaluators, the greatest preference was for the slightly concave profile, which was within the limit considered standard.

[Silhouettes at different age of life: Retrospective appreciation of corpulence and his impact on prevalence of hypertension at 60years].

PubMed

Thomas, F; Empana, J P; Charles, M A; Boutouyrie, P; Jouven, X; Pannier, B; Danchin, N

2017-06-01

In epidemiological studies, recall of weight and height are not readily available at different ages of life. In order to improve the knowledge of the weight history, Sörensen et al. in 1983, developed a tool from silhouettes allowing an individual to evaluate his corpulence at different ages of life. Validity studies showed that measured weight and size were correlated to 80% in the reported silhouette. Studies have also shown that silhouettes are a good way to trace the weight history in an individual's life. Very few epidemiological studies have used this tool. A French study revealed a decrease of the risk of breast cancer in obese girls between the age of 8 and adolescence. Another study showed that a low birth weight or a thin silhouette before adulthood was associated with an increased risk of diabetes. On the basis of these findings, it was interesting to evaluate the relationship between the silhouette at 20years and the risk of hypertension at the age of 60years. It was shown that the prevalence of hypertension at age 60 was higher among obese subjects at 20years than among thin subjects (45.3% vs 36.7% (P<0.05). The classification between slimness and obesity is relevant using this tool. The history of corpulence is an important element to consider in the determinants of pathology, especially in hypertension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Both right- and left-handers show a bias to attend others' right arm.

PubMed

Marzoli, Daniele; Lucafò, Chiara; Pagliara, Alessandra; Cappuccio, Romina; Brancucci, Alfredo; Tommasi, Luca

2015-02-01

The common-coding hypothesis suggests that the more similar an observed action is to the way the observer would perform it, the stronger is the ensuing activation of motor representations. Therefore, producing actions could prime perception so that observers would be particularly responsive to (i.e. biased to perceive) actions that are related to, and share features with, their own actions. If this similarity principle also applies to handedness, right- and left-handers should be more likely to perceive actions as performed with their dominant rather than non-dominant hand. In two experiments, participants were required to indicate the perceived orientation (front or back view) of pictures of ambiguous human silhouettes performing one-handed manual actions. Experiment 1, in which 300 right-handers and 60 left-handers reported the orientation of a single silhouette seen for as much as they wished, showed that participants perceived the figures more frequently in an orientation congruent with a movement performed with the right rather than the left hand. Experiment 2, in which 12 right-handers and 12 left-handers reported the orientation of 52 silhouettes seen for 300 ms, showed similar results when multiple responses per participant were collected rather than only one. Contrary to our expectations, no difference was observed between right- and left-handers, which might suggest an attentional bias towards the right arm of human bodies in both groups. Moreover, participants were more likely to perceive the figure as front-facing than as back-facing, possibly due to the greater adaptive relevance of approaching compared to receding individuals.

Can ethnic differences in men's preferences for women's body shapes contribute to ethnic differences in female adiposity?

PubMed

Allison, D B; Hoy, M K; Fournier, A; Heymsfield, S B

1993-11-01

In the United States, obesity is more common among black and Hispanic than white women. One putative cause of this difference is different cultural norms for attractiveness. Two studies assessed ethnic differences in men's perceptions of the attractiveness of females of varying sizes. In the first, 108 men recruited on the New York subway were shown sets of silhouettes depicting female bodies varying in fatness and were asked to pick the silhouette they found most attractive. They were also asked to indicate the thinnest and fattest figures they would consider dating. A measure of "latitude of acceptance" was computed as the difference between the thinnest and fattest figures considered. Results indicated no relationship between ethnicity and preference (F = 1.383, p = .257) or "latitude" (F = .102, p = .903). In Study 2, "personal advertisements" placed by 373 black, 1915 white, 110 Hispanic, and 30 Asian men from 35 newspapers and magazines were coded as: 1) thinness preferred; 2) no information on weight preference; 3) fatness preferred; or 4) states weight or looks unimportant. Results indicated a statistically significant but small association between ethnicity and preference (chi2 = 49.55, df = 9, p < .00001). Relative to white and Asian men, black and Hispanic men more frequently requested fat women, Hispanic men less frequently requested thin women, and black men more frequently stated that looks or weight did not matter. Ethnicity explained only 2.1% of the variance in preference. Thus, it seems unlikely that ethnic differences in men's preferences for women's body shapes contribute substantially to ethnic differences in female adiposity.

6. FRONT PORCH AND GABLE SHOWING PINE TREE SILHOUETTE, TIMBER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. FRONT PORCH AND GABLE SHOWING PINE TREE SILHOUETTE, TIMBER SUPPORTS, AND STONE PORCH FLOOR, TO NORTHWEST - U.S. Forest Service Chelan Ranger Station, Main Office, 428 West Woodin Avenue, Chelan, Chelan County, WA

a Target Aware Texture Mapping for Sculpture Heritage Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, C.; Zhang, F.; Huang, X.; Li, D.; Zhu, Y.

2017-08-01

In this paper, we proposed a target aware image to model registration method using silhouette as the matching clues. The target sculpture object in natural environment can be automatically detected from image with complex background with assistant of 3D geometric data. Then the silhouette can be automatically extracted and applied in image to model matching. Due to the user don't need to deliberately draw target area, the time consumption for precisely image to model matching operation can be greatly reduced. To enhance the function of this method, we also improved the silhouette matching algorithm to support conditional silhouette matching. Two experiments using a stone lion sculpture of Ming Dynasty and a potable relic in museum are given to evaluate the method we proposed. The method we proposed in this paper is extended and developed into a mature software applied in many culture heritage documentation projects.

Perception of body image of adolescents and of their parents in relation to the nutritional status and blood pressure.

PubMed

Silveira Vieira, Raquel; Dal Bosco, Simone Morelo; Grave, Magali Trezinha Quevedo; Adami, Fernanda Scherer

2015-04-01

The perception of body image of adolescents is an instrument for nutritional assessment to health conditions. To verify the body image perception of adolescents and their parents in relation to nutritional status and blood pressure levels. Population-based study, and cross-sectional model, conducted with parents and adolescents aged 10-19 years old, in rural and urban zones in public schools. There was applied the Scale silhouettes for parents about the perception of the described body image and a question about the concern of the nutritional status of their children. There were verified the blood pressure, weight, height and waist circumference, the BMI (kg/m²) calculation of the adolescents, and the self-perceived body image. The data was expressed as average ± standard deviation and percentages. The sample consisted of 914 adolescents with a mean age of 13.12 ± 2.17 years, 56.8% female and 68.9% were eutrophic. As for blood pressure levels, 17.6% were classified in pre-hypertensive, 18.8% in stage 1 hypertension and 6% in stage 2. About the self-perception, 68% considered themselves being eutrophic and 64.75% of the parents classified their children as eutrophic. There was observed a direct and significant correlation among the body mass index, waist circumference, weight, systemic and diastolic blood pressure with the self-perception of the adolescents and the body image perceptions of the parents (p<0.001). The nutritional status was significantly correlated with blood pressure, waist circumference and body image perceptions of the adolescents and their respective parents. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Automatic human body modeling for vision-based motion capture system using B-spline parameterization of the silhouette

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaume-i-Capó, Antoni; Varona, Javier; González-Hidalgo, Manuel; Mas, Ramon; Perales, Francisco J.

2012-02-01

Human motion capture has a wide variety of applications, and in vision-based motion capture systems a major issue is the human body model and its initialization. We present a computer vision algorithm for building a human body model skeleton in an automatic way. The algorithm is based on the analysis of the human shape. We decompose the body into its main parts by computing the curvature of a B-spline parameterization of the human contour. This algorithm has been applied in a context where the user is standing in front of a camera stereo pair. The process is completed after the user assumes a predefined initial posture so as to identify the main joints and construct the human model. Using this model, the initialization problem of a vision-based markerless motion capture system of the human body is solved.

Selective management of embolized intracardiac missiles.

PubMed

Gandhi, S K; Marts, B C; Mistry, B M; Brown, J W; Durham, R M; Mazuski, J E

1996-07-01

Intracardiac projectiles are occasionally found in stable patients who have sustained penetrating trauma. These missiles may arise from embolization from a peripheral injury site. We describe 3 patients with embolized intracardiac projectiles. The diagnosis was suggested by the presence of a foreign body within the cardiac silhouette on chest roentgenograms and was confirmed using fluoroscopy, echocardiography, or computed tomography. The management of embolized intracardiac missiles should be individualized to each patient. All of our patients had fixed intracavitary right-sided missiles and were successfully managed expectantly.

Semantic access occurs outside of awareness for the ground side of a figure.

PubMed

Cacciamani, Laura; Mojica, Andrew J; Sanguinetti, Joseph L; Peterson, Mary A

2014-11-01

Traditional theories of vision assume that figures and grounds are assigned early in processing, with semantics being accessed later and only by figures, not by grounds. We tested this assumption by showing observers novel silhouettes with borders that suggested familiar objects on their ground side. The ground appeared shapeless near the figure's borders; the familiar objects suggested there were not consciously perceived. Participants' task was to categorize words shown immediately after the silhouettes as naming natural versus artificial objects. The words named objects from the same or from a different superordinate category as the familiar objects suggested in the silhouette ground. In Experiment 1, participants categorized words faster when they followed silhouettes suggesting upright familiar objects from the same rather than a different category on their ground sides, whereas no category differences were observed for inverted silhouettes. This is the first study to show unequivocally that, contrary to traditional assumptions, semantics are accessed for objects that might be perceived on the side of a border that will ultimately be perceived as a shapeless ground. Moreover, although the competition for figural status results in suppression of the shape of the losing contender, its semantics are not suppressed. In Experiment 2, we used longer silhouette-to-word stimulus onset asynchronies to test whether semantics would be suppressed later in time, as might occur if semantics were accessed later than shape memories. No evidence of semantic suppression was observed; indeed, semantic activation of the objects suggested on the ground side of a border appeared to be short-lived. Implications for feedforward versus dynamical interactive theories of object perception are discussed.

Silhouettes - An automated three-dimensional plume visualization and tracking system for environmental monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cambridge, Vivien J.; Magee, Ronald G.

1993-01-01

The method of silhouettes proceeds from the premise that the 3D location and shape of an arbitrary object can be approximated via the cross section of a series of conical volumes whose focal points are arranged at sites surrounding the object; the projection of each conical volume onto a picture plane at each focal point is identical to a projection of the outline of the object onto that picture plane. Attention is presently given to the use of the silhouettes method for gas plume dispersion monitoring through the 3D reconstruction of plumes from imagery acquired at strategically located stations in the plumes' path.

Influence of age, sex, and education on the Visual Object and Space Perception Battery (VOSP) in a healthy normal elderly population.

PubMed

Herrera-Guzmán, I; Peña-Casanova, J; Lara, J P; Gudayol-Ferré, E; Böhm, P

2004-08-01

The assessment of visual perception and cognition forms an important part of any general cognitive evaluation. We have studied the possible influence of age, sex, and education on a normal elderly Spanish population (90 healthy subjects) in performance in visual perception tasks. To evaluate visual perception and cognition, we have used the subjects performance with The Visual Object and Space Perception Battery (VOSP). The test consists of 8 subtests: 4 measure visual object perception (Incomplete Letters, Silhouettes, Object Decision, and Progressive Silhouettes) while the other 4 measure visual space perception (Dot Counting, Position Discrimination, Number Location, and Cube Analysis). The statistical procedures employed were either simple or multiple linear regression analyses (subtests with normal distribution) and Mann-Whitney tests, followed by ANOVA with Scheffe correction (subtests without normal distribution). Age and sex were found to be significant modifying factors in the Silhouettes, Object Decision, Progressive Silhouettes, Position Discrimination, and Cube Analysis subtests. Educational level was found to be a significant predictor of function for the Silhouettes and Object Decision subtests. The results of the sample were adjusted in line with the differences observed. Our study also offers preliminary normative data for the administration of the VOSP to an elderly Spanish population. The results are discussed and compared with similar studies performed in different cultural backgrounds.

Attractiveness in African American and Caucasian women: is beauty in the eyes of the observer?

PubMed

Davis, Dawnavan S; Sbrocco, Tracy; Odoms-Young, Angela; Smith, Dionne M

2010-01-01

Traditional body image studies have been constrained by focusing on body thinness as the sole component of attractiveness. Evidence suggests that African American women may hold a multifactorial view of attractiveness that extends beyond size to include factors such as dress attire and race. The current study employed a culturally sensitive silhouette Model Rating Task (MRT) to examine the effects of attire, body size, and race on attractiveness. Unexpectedly, minimal differences on attractiveness ratings emerged by attire, body size, or model race between African American and Caucasian women. Overall, participants preferred the dressed, underweight, and African American models. Factors such as exposure to diverse groups and changes in African American culture may explain the present findings. Future studies to delineate the components of attractiveness for African American and Caucasian women using the MRT are needed to broaden our understanding and conceptualization of attractiveness across racial groups.

Attractiveness in African American and Caucasian Women: Is Beauty in the Eyes of the Observer?

PubMed Central

Davis, Dawnavan S.; Sbrocco, Tracy; Odoms-Young, Angela; Smith, Dionne M.

2010-01-01

Traditional body image studies have been constrained by focusing on body thinness as the sole component of attractiveness. Evidence suggests that African American women may hold a multifactorial view of attractiveness that extends beyond size to include factors such as dress attire and race. The current study employed a culturally sensitive silhouette Model Rating Task (MRT) to examine the effects of attire, body size, and race on attractiveness. Unexpectedly, minimal differences on attractiveness ratings emerged by attire, body size, or model race between African American and Caucasian women. Overall, participants preferred the dressed, underweight, and African American models. Factors such as exposure to diverse groups and changes in African American culture may explain the present findings. Future studies to delineate the components of attractiveness for African American and Caucasian women using the MRT are needed to broaden our understanding and conceptualization of attractiveness across racial groups. PMID:19962117

Relationship between perceived body image and recorded body mass index among Kuwaiti female university students.

PubMed

Kabir, Yearul; Zafar, Tasleem A; Waslien, Carol

2013-01-01

The associations between body image and attitudes toward obesity and thinness and their associations with measured body mass index (BMI) among female students of Kuwait University (n = 137) was examined in 2008. The body image perceptions were assessed using nine female silhouettes figures. The difference between current perceived body image (PBI) and ideal body image (IBI) was used as a measure of body image dissatisfaction (BID). Students tended to have a bigger PBI and smaller IBI than would be expected from their BMI category, leading to high levels of BID in each BMI category. PBI, IBI, BID, RBI were highly correlated with each other, and BMI was significantly correlated with each of them. The coefficients of these associations were not significantly altered in multiple regression analysis by the addition of potential confounding variables, such as age, marital status, physical activity, dieting behavior, parental education, and family size. These results suggest that PBI and a desire to be thinner were strongly related to BID and that thinness is becoming more desired in Kuwaiti society than the plump body image of the past.

Perceptual Categorization of Cat and Dog Silhouettes by 3- to 4-Month-Old Infants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Paul C.; Eimas, Peter D.; Tarr, Michael

2001-01-01

Four experiments utilizing the familiarization-novelty preference procedure examined whether 3- and 4-month-olds could form categorical representations for cats versus dogs from the perceptual information available in silhouettes. Findings indicated that general shape or external contour information centered about the head was sufficient for…

Human gait recognition by pyramid of HOG feature on silhouette images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Guang; Yin, Yafeng; Park, Jeanrok; Man, Hong

2013-03-01

As a uncommon biometric modality, human gait recognition has a great advantage of identify people at a distance without high resolution images. It has attracted much attention in recent years, especially in the fields of computer vision and remote sensing. In this paper, we propose a human gait recognition framework that consists of a reliable background subtraction method followed by the pyramid of Histogram of Gradient (pHOG) feature extraction on the silhouette image, and a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based classifier. Through background subtraction, the silhouette of human gait in each frame is extracted and normalized from the raw video sequence. After removing the shadow and noise in each region of interest (ROI), pHOG feature is computed on the silhouettes images. Then the pHOG features of each gait class will be used to train a corresponding HMM. In the test stage, pHOG feature will be extracted from each test sequence and used to calculate the posterior probability toward each trained HMM model. Experimental results on the CASIA Gait Dataset B1 demonstrate that with our proposed method can achieve very competitive recognition rate.

Temporal and structural evolution of the Early Palæogene rocks of the Seychelles microcontinent.

PubMed

Shellnutt, J Gregory; Yeh, Meng-Wan; Suga, Kenshi; Lee, Tung-Yi; Lee, Hao-Yang; Lin, Te-Hsien

2017-03-14

The Early Palæogene Silhouette/North Island volcano-plutonic complex was emplaced during the rifting of the Seychelles microcontinent from western India. The complex is thought to have been emplaced during magnetochron C28n. However, the magnetic polarities of the rocks are almost entirely reversed and inconsistent with a normal polarity. In this study we present new in situ zircon U/Pb geochronology of the different intrusive facies of the Silhouette/North Island complex in order to address the timing of emplacement and the apparent magnetic polarity dichotomy. The rocks from Silhouette yielded weighted mean 206 Pb/ 238 U ages from 62.4 ± 0.9 Ma to 63.1 ± 0.9 Ma whereas the rocks from North Island yielded slightly younger mean ages between 60.6 ± 0.7 Ma to 61.0 ± 0.8 Ma. The secular latitudinal variation from Silhouette to North Island is consistent with the anticlockwise rotation of the Seychelles microcontinent and the measured polarities. The rocks from Silhouette were emplaced across a polarity cycle (C26r-C27n-C27r) and the rocks from North Island were emplaced entirely within a magnetic reversal (C26r). Moreover, the rocks from North Island and those from the conjugate margin of India are contemporaneous and together mark the culmination of rift-related magmatism.

Neural evidence for competition-mediated suppression in the perception of a single object.

PubMed

Cacciamani, Laura; Scalf, Paige E; Peterson, Mary A

2015-11-01

Multiple objects compete for representation in visual cortex. Competition may also underlie the perception of a single object. Computational models implement object perception as competition between units on opposite sides of a border. The border is assigned to the winning side, which is perceived as an object (or "figure"), whereas the other side is perceived as a shapeless ground. Behavioral experiments suggest that the ground is inhibited to a degree that depends on the extent to which it competed for object status, and that this inhibition is relayed to low-level brain areas. Here, we used fMRI to assess activation for ground regions of task-irrelevant novel silhouettes presented in the left or right visual field (LVF or RVF) while participants performed a difficult task at fixation. Silhouettes were designed so that the insides would win the competition for object status. The outsides (grounds) suggested portions of familiar objects in half of the silhouettes and novel objects in the other half. Because matches to object memories affect the competition, these two types of silhouettes operationalized, respectively, high competition and low competition from the grounds. The results showed that activation corresponding to ground regions was reduced for high- versus low-competition silhouettes in V4, where receptive fields (RFs) are large enough to encompass the familiar objects in the grounds, and in V1/V2, where RFs are much smaller. These results support a theory of object perception involving competition-mediated ground suppression and feedback from higher to lower levels. This pattern of results was observed in the left hemisphere (RVF), but not in the right hemisphere (LVF). One explanation of the lateralized findings is that task-irrelevant silhouettes in the RVF captured attention, allowing us to observe these effects, whereas those in the LVF did not. Experiment 2 provided preliminary behavioral evidence consistent with this possibility. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The apparent size of three-dimensional objects and their silhouettes: a solid-superiority effect.

PubMed

Walker, J T; Walker, M J

1988-01-01

A solid object looks larger than its outline or silhouette under many viewing conditions. This solid-superiority effect may result from the assimilation or confusion of visual contours within the projection of a three-dimensional object on the picture plane. An aspect of the Müller-Lyer illusion may also play a role.

The development of preferences for specific body shapes.

PubMed

Connolly, Jennifer M; Slaughter, Virginia; Mealey, Linda

2004-02-01

Research with adults has shown a preference for average-weight female figures with waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) of 0.7, and average weight male figures with waist-to-hip ratios of 0.9. This study investigated the development of preferences for WHR sizes as well as preferences for specific body weights. Five-hundred eleven children ranging in age from 6 to 17 were presented with drawings of 12 male and 12 female silhouettes varying in weight and WHR and asked to select one they thought looked the nicest or most attractive. The youngest children showed preferences for the underweight figures, changing to consistent preferences for the average weight figures in the teenage years. The developmental curves for waist-to-hip ratio preferences were linear, changing gradually over time to become more adult-like. Potential developmental models for the development of preferences for specific body shapes are considered in relation to these data.

[Influence of body mass index on self-esteem of children aged 12-14 years].

PubMed

Ortega Becerra, M A; Muros, J J; Palomares Cuadros, J; Martín Sánchez, J A; Cepero González, M

2015-11-01

During the last decades, the increase in the rate of children and adolescents that are overweight or obese is alarming and it is related with a lower social competency, and low self-esteem. A transversal study was conducted with a representative sample of 292 students enrolled in years 8 and 9 at secondary school (13.05±0.97 years) in the city of Jaen, Spain. Girls wanted a thinner figure than boys (P < .001). Regarding self-esteem we observed statistically lower values in the case of girls (P < .000) as compared to their male counterparts. Regarding the BMI, students with a healthy weight have a statistically higher self-esteem score than students that are overweight and these have a slightly higher score than those that are obese. Positive correlation exists between the perceived silhouette and the desired silhouette (r=.485) and a negative correlation between the BMI and self-esteem (r=-.248). It is necessary to plan actions aimed as reinforcing and increasing self-esteem, focusing on the group of girls and the group of young adults with overweight and obesity problems. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The Silhouette Zoetrope: A New Blend of Motion, Mirroring, Depth, and Size Illusions

PubMed Central

Veras, Christine; Pham, Quang-Cuong

2017-01-01

Here, we report a novel combination of visual illusions in one stimulus device, a contemporary innovation of the traditional zoetrope, called Silhouette Zoetrope. In this new device, an animation of moving silhouettes is created by sequential cutouts placed outside a rotating empty cylinder, with slits illuminating the cutouts successively from the back. This “inside-out” zoetrope incurs the following visual effects: the resulting animated figures are perceived (a) horizontally flipped, (b) inside the cylinder, and (c) appear to be of different size than the actual cutout object. Here, we explore the unique combination of illusions in this new device. We demonstrate how the geometry of the device leads to a retinal image consistent with a mirrored and distorted image and binocular disparities consistent with the perception of an object inside the cylinder. PMID:28473908

Cardio-visual full body illusion alters bodily self-consciousness and tactile processing in somatosensory cortex.

PubMed

Heydrich, Lukas; Aspell, Jane Elizabeth; Marillier, Guillaume; Lavanchy, Tom; Herbelin, Bruno; Blanke, Olaf

2018-06-18

Prominent theories highlight the importance of bodily perception for self-consciousness, but it is currently not known whether this is based on interoceptive or exteroceptive signals or on integrated signals from these anatomically distinct systems, nor where in the brain such integration might occur. To investigate this, we measured brain activity during the recently described 'cardio-visual full body illusion' which combines interoceptive and exteroceptive signals, by providing participants with visual exteroceptive information about their heartbeat in the form of a periodically illuminated silhouette outlining a video image of the participant's body and flashing in synchrony with their heartbeat. We found, as also reported previously, that synchronous cardio-visual signals increased self-identification with the virtual body. Here we further investigated whether experimental changes in self-consciousness during this illusion are accompanied by activity changes in somatosensory cortex by recording somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs). We show that a late somatosensory evoked potential component (P45) reflects the illusory self-identification with a virtual body. These data demonstrate that interoceptive and exteroceptive signals can be combined to modulate activity in parietal somatosensory cortex.

Decision-level fusion of SAR and IR sensor information for automatic target detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Young-Rae; Yim, Sung-Hyuk; Cho, Hyun-Woong; Won, Jin-Ju; Song, Woo-Jin; Kim, So-Hyeon

2017-05-01

We propose a decision-level architecture that combines synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and an infrared (IR) sensor for automatic target detection. We present a new size-based feature, called target-silhouette to reduce the number of false alarms produced by the conventional target-detection algorithm. Boolean Map Visual Theory is used to combine a pair of SAR and IR images to generate the target-enhanced map. Then basic belief assignment is used to transform this map into a belief map. The detection results of sensors are combined to build the target-silhouette map. We integrate the fusion mass and the target-silhouette map on the decision level to exclude false alarms. The proposed algorithm is evaluated using a SAR and IR synthetic database generated by SE-WORKBENCH simulator, and compared with conventional algorithms. The proposed fusion scheme achieves higher detection rate and lower false alarm rate than the conventional algorithms.

Bodily maps of emotions.

PubMed

Nummenmaa, Lauri; Glerean, Enrico; Hari, Riitta; Hietanen, Jari K

2014-01-14

Emotions are often felt in the body, and somatosensory feedback has been proposed to trigger conscious emotional experiences. Here we reveal maps of bodily sensations associated with different emotions using a unique topographical self-report method. In five experiments, participants (n = 701) were shown two silhouettes of bodies alongside emotional words, stories, movies, or facial expressions. They were asked to color the bodily regions whose activity they felt increasing or decreasing while viewing each stimulus. Different emotions were consistently associated with statistically separable bodily sensation maps across experiments. These maps were concordant across West European and East Asian samples. Statistical classifiers distinguished emotion-specific activation maps accurately, confirming independence of topographies across emotions. We propose that emotions are represented in the somatosensory system as culturally universal categorical somatotopic maps. Perception of these emotion-triggered bodily changes may play a key role in generating consciously felt emotions.

Temporal and compositional variation within the Early Paleogene Silhouette/North Island A-type Granite Complex, Seychelles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shellnutt, G.; Lee, T. Y.; Yeh, M. W.

2016-12-01

The Main Islands of the Seychelles are primarily composed of Neoproterozoic ( 750 Ma to 800 Ma) granites that were formed at an Andean-type margin. The Early Paleogene Silhouette/North Island volcano-plutonic complex is located to the NW of the Main Islands and is attributed to magmatism associated with the eruption of the Deccan Traps and rifting of the Seychelles microcontinent from India. The zircon 206Pb/238U ages show that the silicic volcanic and plutonic rocks from Silhouette are generally older (i.e. 64.9 ± 1.6 Ma to 62.3 ± 0.8 Ma) than the rocks from North Island (i.e. 61.0 ± 0.8 Ma to 60.6 ± 0.7 Ma). The Danian-Selandian age of the Silhouette/North Island complex is younger than the peak eruption time of the Deccan Traps (i.e. 65 ± 1 Ma) suggesting that it was emplaced during the continental rifting/sea-floor spreading transition. The granitic rocks from both islands are compositionally ferroan and alkalic (ACNK < 1; Na+K/Al = 0.8 to 1.1) and correspond to within-plate granites. The whole rock Sr and Nd and zircon Hf isotopes reveal that there are subtle differences between the islands with Silhouette generally have higher 87Sr/86Sri (0.7035 to 0.7061) ratios, and lower ɛNd(t) (+0.5 to +2.9) and ɛHf(t) (+3.8 to +5.2) values than North Island (87Sr/86Sri = 0.7036 to 0.7041; ɛNd(t) = +1.4 to +3.8; ɛHf(t) = +4.6 to +6.2). The granitic rocks were likely derived by fractional crystallization of parental magmas similar to the composition of the volumetrically minor mafic intrusive rocks found on each island. The modeling conditions that produce the best results are hydrous (H2O ≤ 1.5 wt%), slightly reducing (FMQ ≤ 0) and shallow pressure (≤ 0.3 GPa). Crustal contamination is documented within the rocks from Silhouette but appears to be negligible or absent within the North Island rocks. The spatial and temporal differences between the two islands can be explained by the movement of the plate over the magma source as the Seychelles microcontinent rifted from India ( 62 Ma) and sea-floor spreading was initiated.

Motion visualization and estimation for flapping wing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsu, Tzu-Sheng Shane; Fitzgerald, Timothy; Nguyen, Vincent Phuc; Patel, Trisha; Balachandran, Balakumar

2017-04-01

Studies of fluid-structure interactions associated with flexible structures such as flapping wings require the capture and quantification of large motions of bodies that may be opaque. As a case study, motion capture of a free flying Manduca sexta, also known as hawkmoth, is considered by using three synchronized high-speed cameras. A solid finite element (FE) representation is used as a reference body and successive snapshots in time of the displacement fields are reconstructed via an optimization procedure. One of the original aspects of this work is the formulation of an objective function and the use of shadow matching and strain-energy regularization. With this objective function, the authors penalize the projection differences between silhouettes of the captured images and the FE representation of the deformed body. The process and procedures undertaken to go from high-speed videography to motion estimation are discussed, and snapshots of representative results are presented. Finally, the captured free-flight motion is also characterized and quantified.

Street as Sustainable City Structural Element

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leyzerova, A. V.; Bagina, E. J.

2017-11-01

Sustainability in architecture is nowadays of particular significance in the course of globalization and information density. The technospehere spontaneous development poses a threat to the sustainability of traditional urban forms where a street is one of the essential forming elements in the urban structure. The article proposes to consider formally compositional street features in relation to one of the traditional streets in the historic center of Ekaterinburg. The study examines the street-planning structure, the development of its skeleton elements, silhouette and fabric elevation characteristics as well as the scale characteristics and visual complexity of objects. The study provided architectural and artistic aspects of street sustainability, and limits of the appropriate scale and composition consistency under which the compatibility of alternative compositional forms existing at different times is possible.

Statistical Approach to Background Subtraction for Production of High-Quality Silhouettes for Human Gait Recognition

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

person pictured was a friend, the individual could tell who was in the picture (Lie, 2005:767). Kale has found that people have the ability to...recognize an individual from an impoverished display of gait ( Kale , 2003: 1). Studies also showed that different types of motion, including jumping and...gait representation approach is used by Kale and others. In this approach the width of the outer contour of the silhouette is used as the feature

Shape-from-silhouette for three-dimensional reconstruction from x-ray radiography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simioni, E.; Ratti, F.; Poletto, L.

2011-06-01

We present the application of the shape-from-silhouette algorithm to reconstruct the 3D profile of handworks from a set of X-ray absorption images taken at different angles around the object. The acquisition technique is similar to tomography, but the number of images that are required to reconstruct the 3D appearance is very low compared to tomography, therefore the acquisition time is substantially reduced. Some reference points are placed on a structure corotating with the object and are acquired on the images for calibration and registration. The shape-from-silhouette algorithm gives finally the 3D appearance of the object. We present the analysis of a tin pendant from the Venetic area, VI century b.C., that was completely hidden by corrosion products and solid ground at the moment of the retrieval. The 3D reconstruction shows that the pendant is a very elaborated piece, with two embraced figures that were completely invisible before restoration.

A Low-Dimensional Radial Silhouette-Based Feature for Fast Human Action Recognition Fusing Multiple Views.

PubMed

Chaaraoui, Alexandros Andre; Flórez-Revuelta, Francisco

2014-01-01

This paper presents a novel silhouette-based feature for vision-based human action recognition, which relies on the contour of the silhouette and a radial scheme. Its low-dimensionality and ease of extraction result in an outstanding proficiency for real-time scenarios. This feature is used in a learning algorithm that by means of model fusion of multiple camera streams builds a bag of key poses, which serves as a dictionary of known poses and allows converting the training sequences into sequences of key poses. These are used in order to perform action recognition by means of a sequence matching algorithm. Experimentation on three different datasets returns high and stable recognition rates. To the best of our knowledge, this paper presents the highest results so far on the MuHAVi-MAS dataset. Real-time suitability is given, since the method easily performs above video frequency. Therefore, the related requirements that applications as ambient-assisted living services impose are successfully fulfilled.

Bodily maps of emotions

PubMed Central

Nummenmaa, Lauri; Glerean, Enrico; Hari, Riitta; Hietanen, Jari K.

2014-01-01

Emotions are often felt in the body, and somatosensory feedback has been proposed to trigger conscious emotional experiences. Here we reveal maps of bodily sensations associated with different emotions using a unique topographical self-report method. In five experiments, participants (n = 701) were shown two silhouettes of bodies alongside emotional words, stories, movies, or facial expressions. They were asked to color the bodily regions whose activity they felt increasing or decreasing while viewing each stimulus. Different emotions were consistently associated with statistically separable bodily sensation maps across experiments. These maps were concordant across West European and East Asian samples. Statistical classifiers distinguished emotion-specific activation maps accurately, confirming independence of topographies across emotions. We propose that emotions are represented in the somatosensory system as culturally universal categorical somatotopic maps. Perception of these emotion-triggered bodily changes may play a key role in generating consciously felt emotions. PMID:24379370

The effect of sublethal dosages of five pesticides and a polychlorinated biphenyl on the avoidance response of coturnix quail chicks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kreitzer, J.F.; Heinz, G.H.

1974-01-01

Coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix) chicks were given sublethal amounts of chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, DDE, Ceresan M, or Aroclor 1254 (a polychlorinated biphenyl) in their feed, beginning at seven days of age, and their avoidance response to a moving silhouette was measured daily for fourteen days. The birds were on dosage for eight days, and on untreated feed for six days immediately thereafter. Group avoidance response was significantly suppressed (P from 0?01 to <0?001) by chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, Ceresan M, and Aroclor 1254. No effect of DDE on the birds' behaviour could be detected. The behaviour of the endrin-treated birds returned to normal after two days on untreated feed. The data indicated partial recovery for birds treated with dieldrin and chlordane, but none for those Ceresan M, or Aroclor 1254. The percentage of controls responding to the silhouette dropped from an average of 84 for the first four days to 70 on the sixth day; then it increased until the end of the test when it was almost 80. This apparently aberrant behaviour of healthy birds is tentatively attributed to a daily decrease in the discrepancy between the moving silhouette and the birds' schema for the silhouette, followed by maturation of the central nervous system, beginning at about the fourteenth day of age. We believe this maturation effected revival of interest and hence a heightened reaction to the stimulus.

Body image attitude among Chinese college students.

PubMed

Wang, Kui; Liang, Rui; Ma, Zhen-Ling; Chen, Jue; Cheung, Eric F C; Roalf, David R; Gur, Ruben C; Chan, Raymond C K

2018-03-01

The present study aimed to examine body image attitude in Chinese college students and related psychological consequences. A silhouette-matching test was administered to 425 college students in mainland China. Self-esteem, negative emotions, subjective well-being, and eating-disorder-related weight-controlling behaviors were also measured. Only 12.9% of the participants were satisfied with their figure and the extent of body image dissatisfaction was comparable for both sexes. The majority of the female participants indicated a preference to be more slender. Their ideal figure was underweight and was far smaller than the most attractive female figure chosen by male participants. For male participants, the proportion wanting a fuller figure was comparable to that wanting a slimmer figure. Among female participants, body image dissatisfaction negatively correlated with self-esteem and subjective well-being, and positively correlated with negative emotions. Drive for thinness correlated with eating-disorder-related weight-controlling behaviors not only for females, but also for males. Body image dissatisfaction, as a diagnostic feature for major subtypes of eating disorders, may signal serious concern among Chinese college students. © 2018 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

[The estimation of nutrition habit of ballet school students in Krakow].

PubMed

Zuława, Graiyna; Pilch, Wanda

2012-01-01

There is a considerable cultural pressure towards a slim body silhouette. Girls and young woman whose professional carrier depends on their low body weight and sharp looking posture are especially vulnerable to such trends. This problem is especially acute in girls attending to ballet schools, professional dancers and in some sportswoman who are expected to move with charm and appear unnaturally slim, usually being the result of special nutrition. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the nutritional habits of ballet school students and to compare the results with the current nutritional norms. 14 girls, ballet dancers, participated in this study. Before the study their body high (BH) and body mass (BM) were measured for the calculation of BMI (Body Mass Index). The girls were asked to make notes, during 10 days, on the amount and kind of food they consumed. The energy and amounts of selected nutrients were calculated by the computer program Food 3. The results show the deficiency in fats, fibre, minerals like K, Ca, Fe, Mg and some vitamins B1 and PP. Improper diet, deficient in several basics nutrients may results in incorrect physical development of attendees of ballet schools.

Do silhouettes and photographs produce fundamentally different object-based correspondence effects?

PubMed

Proctor, Robert W; Lien, Mei-Ching; Thompson, Lane

2017-12-01

When participants classify pictures of objects as upright or inverted with a left or right keypress, responses are faster if the response location (left/right) corresponds with the location of a handle (left/right) than if it does not. This result has typically been attributed to a grasping affordance (automatic activation of muscles associated with grasping the object with the ipsilateral hand), but several findings have indicated instead that the effect is a spatial correspondence effect, much like the Simon effect for object location. Pappas (2014) reported evidence he interpreted as showing that spatial coding predominates with silhouettes of objects, whereas photographs of objects yield affordance-based effects. We conducted two experiments similar to those of Pappas, using frying pans as stimuli, with our two experiments differing in whether the entire object was centered on the display screen or the base was centered. When the objects were centered, a positive correspondence effect relative to the handle was evident for the silhouettes but a negative correspondence effect for the photographs. When the base was centered, the handle was clearly located to the left or right side of the display, and both silhouettes and photographs produced correspondence effects of similar size relative to the handle location. Despite the main results being counter to the grasping affordance hypothesis, response-time distribution analyses suggest that, instead of activating automatically at fast responses, an effector-specific component of the hypothesized type may come into play for responses that are selected after the handle location has been identified. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Toys, sociocognitive traits, and occupations: Italian children's endorsement of gender stereotypes.

PubMed

De Caroli, Maria Elvira; Sagone, Elisabetta

2007-06-01

In a sample of 136 Italian children ages 8 to 12 years (M = 9.6, SD = 1.2; 68 boys, 68 girls), gender stereotypes related to gender-typed toys, traits, and occupational choices were examined, using the forced-choice technique between a male and a female silhouette. Stereotypy was established considering boys' and girls' choices for the 70%-100% range. Differences in gender stereotyping for age and sex of participants were verified. Analysis indicated children attributed toys prevalently connected with aesthetic aspect and domestic activities to the female silhouette, while technology, warfare, locomotion, and construction toys were attributed to the male. Children attributed physical and verbal aggressiveness and dominance to the male silhouette; the female profile was exclusively characterized by sweetness. The occupational stereotypical male model was structured in both practical-manual activities and of highly cultural and specialist relevance, while for the female model the number of activities, mainly of a domestic type, were reduced. Significant main effect of sex of children was found, but no significant age-related differences in the three domains. Results were discussed within the framework of gender-stereotype theories.

[Analysis of body image perception of university students in navarra].

PubMed

Soto Ruiz, Ma Nelia; Marin Fernández, Blanca; Aguinaga Ontoso, Inés; Guillén-Grima, Francisco; Serrano Mozó, Inmaculada; Canga Armayor, Navidad; Hermoso de Mendoza Cantón, Juana; Stock, Christiane; Kraemer, Alexander; Annan, James

2015-05-01

Current models of beauty represent an extreme thinness in the women and a muscular body in the men. The body image perception will condition the search of ideal beauty through different behaviors and can be transform in eating disorders. The university students, with the changes typical of youth and university transition, are a vulnerable group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the body image perception of university students in Navarra. The study included 1162 subjects of which 64.2% were female. Students asked for a self-managed questionnaire and they were weighted and heighted to calculate the body mass index (BMI). Their body image perception were obtained asking the students to select a picture, according to their perception which corresponded to their current body image from nine different silhouettes for men and women. Their BMI were calculated and compared with their perceived BMI. 43.03% of students, overestimated their body image (10.65% in males and 59.69% in females) and 10.20% of students underestimated it. 46.75% of students had concordance between BMI and body image perception. There were more cases the alterations in the body image perception in women. In general, women saw themselves as being fatter than really were while men saw themselves as being thinner than they really were. The results shown that the women were more worried about their weight and body image than the men. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Preference for women's body mass and waist-to-hip ratio in Tsimane' men of the Bolivian Amazon: biological and cultural determinants.

PubMed

Sorokowski, Piotr; Kościński, Krzysztof; Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Huanca, Tomas

2014-01-01

The issue of cultural universality of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) attractiveness in women is currently under debate. We tested men's preferences for female WHR in traditional society of Tsimane'(Native Amazonians) of the Bolivian rainforest (N = 66). Previous studies showed preferences for high WHR in traditional populations, but they did not control for the women's body mass.We used a method of stimulus creation that enabled us to overcome this problem. We found that WHR lower than the average WHR in the population is preferred independent of cultural conditions. Our participants preferred the silhouettes of low WHR, but high body mass index (BMI), which might suggest that previous results could be an artifact related to employed stimuli. We found also that preferences for female BMI are changeable and depend on environmental conditions and probably acculturation (distance from the city). Interestingly, the Tsimane' men did not associate female WHR with age, health, physical strength or fertility. This suggests that men do not have to be aware of the benefits associated with certain body proportions - an issue that requires further investigation.

Preference for Women's Body Mass and Waist-to-Hip Ratio in Tsimane' Men of the Bolivian Amazon: Biological and Cultural Determinants

PubMed Central

Sorokowski, Piotr; Kościński, Krzysztof; Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Huanca, Tomas

2014-01-01

The issue of cultural universality of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) attractiveness in women is currently under debate. We tested men's preferences for female WHR in traditional society of Tsimane'(Native Amazonians) of the Bolivian rainforest (N = 66). Previous studies showed preferences for high WHR in traditional populations, but they did not control for the women's body mass.We used a method of stimulus creation that enabled us to overcome this problem. We found that WHR lower than the average WHR in the population is preferred independent of cultural conditions. Our participants preferred the silhouettes of low WHR, but high body mass index (BMI), which might suggest that previous results could be an artifact related to employed stimuli. We found also that preferences for female BMI are changeable and depend on environmental conditions and probably acculturation (distance from the city). Interestingly, the Tsimane' men did not associate female WHR with age, health, physical strength or fertility. This suggests that men do not have to be aware of the benefits associated with certain body proportions - an issue that requires further investigation. PMID:25148034

Visual Agnosia for Line Drawings and Silhouettes without Apparent Impairment of Real-Object Recognition: A Case Report

PubMed Central

Hiraoka, Kotaro; Suzuki, Kyoko; Hirayama, Kazumi; Mori, Etsuro

2009-01-01

We report on a patient with visual agnosia for line drawings and silhouette pictures following cerebral infarction in the region of the right posterior cerebral artery. The patient retained the ability to recognize real objects and their photographs, and could precisely copy line drawings of objects that she could not name. This case report highlights the importance of clinicians and researchers paying special attention to avoid overlooking agnosia in such cases. The factors that lead to problems in the identification of stimuli other than real objects in agnosic cases are discussed. PMID:19996516

Visual agnosia for line drawings and silhouettes without apparent impairment of real-object recognition: a case report.

PubMed

Hiraoka, Kotaro; Suzuki, Kyoko; Hirayama, Kazumi; Mori, Etsuro

2009-01-01

We report on a patient with visual agnosia for line drawings and silhouette pictures following cerebral infarction in the region of the right posterior cerebral artery. The patient retained the ability to recognize real objects and their photographs, and could precisely copy line drawings of objects that she could not name. This case report highlights the importance of clinicians and researchers paying special attention to avoid overlooking agnosia in such cases. The factors that lead to problems in the identification of stimuli other than real objects in agnosic cases are discussed.

Rapid determination of leaf area and plant height by using light curtain arrays in four species with contrasting shoot architecture.

PubMed

Fanourakis, Dimitrios; Briese, Christoph; Max, Johannes Fj; Kleinen, Silke; Putz, Alexander; Fiorani, Fabio; Ulbrich, Andreas; Schurr, Ulrich

2014-04-11

Light curtain arrays (LC), a recently introduced phenotyping method, yield a binary data matrix from which a shoot silhouette is reconstructed. We addressed the accuracy and applicability of LC in assessing leaf area and maximum height (base to the highest leaf tip) in a phenotyping platform. LC were integrated to an automated routine for positioning, allowing in situ measurements. Two dicotyledonous (rapeseed, tomato) and two monocotyledonous (maize, barley) species with contrasting shoot architecture were investigated. To evaluate if averaging multiple view angles helps in resolving self-overlaps, we acquired a data set by rotating plants every 10° for 170°. To test how rapid these measurements can be without loss of information, we evaluated nine scanning speeds. Leaf area of overlapping plants was also estimated to assess the possibility to scale this method for plant stands. The relation between measured and calculated maximum height was linear and nearly the same for all species. Linear relations were also found between plant leaf area and calculated pixel area. However, the regression slope was different between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous species. Increasing the scanning speed stepwise from 0.9 to 23.4 m s-1 did not affect the estimation of maximum height. Instead, the calculated pixel area was inversely proportional to scanning speed. The estimation of plant leaf area by means of calculated pixel area became more accurate by averaging consecutive silhouettes and/or increasing the angle between them. Simulations showed that decreasing plant distance gradually from 20 to 0 cm, led to underestimation of plant leaf area owing to overlaps. This underestimation was more important for large plants of dicotyledonous species and for small plants of monocotyledonous ones. LC offer an accurate estimation of plant leaf area and maximum height, while the number of consecutive silhouettes that needs to be averaged is species-dependent. A constant scanning speed is important for leaf area estimations by using LC. Simulations of the effect of varying plant spacing gave promising results for method application in sets of partly overlapping plants, which applies also to field conditions during and after canopy closure for crops sown in rows.

Eating attitudes, body image satisfaction and self-esteem of South African Black and White male adolescents and their perception of female body silhouettes.

PubMed

Gitau, Tabither M; Micklesfield, Lisa K; Pettifor, John M; Norris, Shane A

2014-01-01

This cross-sectional study of urban high schools in Johannesburg, South Africa, sought to examine eating attitudes, body image and self-esteem among male adolescents (n = 391). Anthropometric measurements, Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26), Rosenberg self-esteem, body image satisfaction and perception of females were collected at age 13, 15 and 17 years. Descriptive analysis was done to describe the sample, and non-parametric Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test was used to test for significant differences between data that were not normally distributed (EAT-26). Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analyses were conducted to test for associations between self-esteem scores and eating attitudes, body mass indices and body image satisfaction scores. To assess the differences between groups that were normally distributed chi-square tests were carried out. Ethnic differences significantly affected adolescent boys' body mass index (BMI), eating attitudes and self-esteem; White boys had higher self-esteem, BMI and normal eating attitudes than the Black boys did. BMI was positively associated with self-esteem (p = 0.01, r = 0.134) and negatively with dieting behaviour in White boys (p = 0.004, r = -0.257), and with lower EAT-26 bulimic and oral control scores in Black boys. In conclusion, the findings highlight ethnic differences and a need to better understand cultural differences that influence adolescent attitudes and behaviour.

Comparison of esthetics perception and satisfaction of facial profile among male adolescents and adults with different profiles.

PubMed

Eslami, Neda; Omidkhoda, Maryam; Shafaee, Hooman; Mozhdehifard, Mostafa

2016-01-01

To evaluate esthetics perception and satisfaction of the facial profile among Iranian male adolescents and adults. In this cross-sectional study, male subjects referred to Orthodontic Department of Mashhad Dental School were enrolled (n = 84) and were divided into two groups: Adolescents (n = 39), and adults (n = 45). They were also assigned to straight, convex, or concave profile groups based on the facial profile angle (G-Sn-Pog'). An ideal silhouette of the lower facial profile was designed in Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 software (Kansas, USA). Then, eight other silhouettes representing different relations of the maxilla and mandible were constructed. Patients were asked to use numbers 1-10 to rank the facial profiles in the order of the attractiveness, and choose a silhouette that best closely resembled their own profile. Moreover, using a questionnaire patients were asked to rank their satisfaction with their profile, and asked to assign a number (1-5) to each question as follows; one represented the least satisfaction, while five reflected the highest satisfaction. Adult and adolescent subjects with straight (adults: 12.0 ± 1.9, adolescents: 12.8 ± 1.05) and concave (adults: 10.0 ± 2.14, adolescents: 10.0 ± 2.08) profile showed the highest and the least satisfaction with their own profile, respectively. Both adult and adolescent group selected "retrognathic maxilla, prognathic mandible" as the least attractive profile. Overall, "straight" and "bimaxillary dentoalveolar retrusion" were chosen as the most attractive silhouettes in adolescent and adults, respectively. In comparison to a professional opinion (clinician ranking), 42.9% of adolescents and 22% of adults were able to correctly diagnose their own profiles type. Most of the male adolescents and especially adults diagnosis of their own profile differed with a professional assessment.

Body image perceptions in Western and post-communist countries: a cross-cultural pilot study of children and parents.

PubMed

Humenikova, Lenka; Gates, Gail E

2008-07-01

The development of an unrealistic ideal body image and body size dissatisfaction among children is common in Western countries, including the USA and many European nations. However, little is known about children's body image perceptions in post-communist countries. This pilot study evaluated body image perceptions in a sample of Czech school-aged children and their parents and compared them with the perceptions of American children and parents. Ninety-seven Czech and 45 American 4th-6th graders and their parents from eight urban schools participated in this study. A previously developed silhouette body image instrument was utilized in a parent questionnaire and during child interviews to measure perceived and ideal body image perceptions of children and parents. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests and paired t-tests were used to compare differences between children's and parents' perceived and ideal body image perceptions. Associations between body image perceptions and other variables were explored using bivariate correlations. American children had a thinner ideal body image compared with Czech children (P < 0.05). However, a larger proportion of Czech boys desired to be thinner compared with American boys (34.2% vs. 20%). Parent's ideal body image for their children did not differ by nationality (P = 0.858). While the pressure on children to look thinner was apparent among both American and Czech children, Czech children considered a larger body size as more ideal. A future study should evaluate body image perceptions and factors influencing these perceptions in a representative sample of Czech children and parents.

Perceptions of Body Size in Mothers and Their Young Children in the Galapagos Islands.

PubMed

Waldrop, Julee B; Page, Rachel A; Bentley, Margaret E

2016-10-01

Introduction Little specific information has been published about the health of people who live in the Galapagos Islands. As part of determining the status of the nutrition transition that may be occurring in the islands mothers of young children in the Galapagos perceptions of their child's body size and therefore health status was evaluated along with actual body size. Methods This paper presents data collected as part of a pilot study that used a mixed methods approach to identify and describe health and nutrition issues for mother-child pairs on Isla Isabela in Galapagos, Ecuador. It includes participant anthropometric assessment and self-perception of body size using silhouettes for themselves and one of their children along with open-ended questions to elicit further understanding of body size perceptions. Twenty mothers of children greater than 6 months of age but less than 6 years of age were interviewed. Results The women preferred a smaller body size for themselves but a larger body size for their children. Findings of different body size combinations between mothers and children in the same household demonstrated that the island is undergoing or may be post the nutrition transition. Discussion This dual burden of body weights (especially overweight or obese mothers) in the same household with underweight, normal and overweight or obese children and the potential nutrition related chronic disease burden in the future will require more educational resources and innovative health services than are currently available for the people of the Galapagos.

Perceived and Ideal Body Image in Young Women in South Western Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Khalaf, Atika; Westergren, Albert; Berggren, Vanja; Ekblom, Örjan; Al-Hazzaa, Hazzaa M

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate perceived and ideal body image (BI) and associated factors among female university students in Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study included 663 university female students. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height, BMI, and BI perception (the 9-figure silhouette) were obtained. Descriptive and logistic regression analysis were conducted. An agreement between actual, perceived, and ideal BI was found in 23% of the participants. Behavioral (activity levels), social (presence of obese parents and fathers' level of education), and economic factors (households' monthly income, number of cars in the household, and kind of residence) were positively and significantly associated with the desire to be thinner. Similarly, socioeconomic associations (number of sisters and number of cars in the household) correlated positively and significantly with the desire to be heavier. The whole family should rather be considered in interventions related to appearance concerns and BI discrepancies. Furthermore, campaigns targeting improvement of adolescents' physical self-image should be a major priority of the public health sector.

Determination of cardiac size following space missions of different durations: the second manned Skylab mission.

PubMed

Nicogossian, A; Hoffler, G W; Johnson, R L; Gowen, R J

1976-04-01

A simple method to estimate cardiac size from single frontal plane chest roentgenograms has been described. Pre- and postflight chest X-rays from Apollo 17, and Skylab 2 and 3 have been analyzed for changes in the cardiac silhouette size. The data obtained from the computed cardiothoracic areal ratios compared well with the clinical cardiothoracic diametral ratios (r = .86). Though an overall postflight decrease in cardiac size is evident, the mean difference was not statistically significant (n = 8). The individual decreases in the cardiac silhouette size postflight are thought to be due to decrements in intracardiac chamber volumes rather than in myocardial muscle mass.

Determination of cardiac size following space missions of different durations - The second manned Skylab mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicogossian, A.; Hoffler, G. W.; Johnson, R. L.; Gowen, R. J.

1976-01-01

A simple method to estimate cardiac size from single frontal plane chest roentgenograms has been described. Pre- and postflight chest X-rays from Apollo 17, and Skylab 2 and 3 have been analyzed for changes in the cardiac silhouette size. The data obtained from the computed cardiothoracic areal ratios compared well with the clinical cardiothoracic diametral ratios (r = .86). Though an overall postflight decrease in cardiac size is evident, the mean difference was not statistically significant (n = 8). The individual decreases in the cardiac silhouette size postflight are thought to be due to decrements in intracardiac chamber volumes rather than in myocardial muscle mass.

Natural-Scene Statistics Predict How the Figure–Ground Cue of Convexity Affects Human Depth Perception

PubMed Central

Fowlkes, Charless C.; Banks, Martin S.

2010-01-01

The shape of the contour separating two regions strongly influences judgments of which region is “figure” and which is “ground.” Convexity and other figure–ground cues are generally assumed to indicate only which region is nearer, but nothing about how much the regions are separated in depth. To determine the depth information conveyed by convexity, we examined natural scenes and found that depth steps across surfaces with convex silhouettes are likely to be larger than steps across surfaces with concave silhouettes. In a psychophysical experiment, we found that humans exploit this correlation. For a given binocular disparity, observers perceived more depth when the near surface's silhouette was convex rather than concave. We estimated the depth distributions observers used in making those judgments: they were similar to the natural-scene distributions. Our findings show that convexity should be reclassified as a metric depth cue. They also suggest that the dichotomy between metric and nonmetric depth cues is false and that the depth information provided many cues should be evaluated with respect to natural-scene statistics. Finally, the findings provide an explanation for why figure–ground cues modulate the responses of disparity-sensitive cells in visual cortex. PMID:20505093

Three-dimensional reconstruction with x-ray shape-from-silhouette

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simioni, E.; Ratti, F.; Calliari, I.; Poletto, L.

2010-09-01

In the field of restoration of ancient handworks, X-ray tomography is a powerful method to reconstruct the internal structure of the object in non-invasive way. In some cases, such as small objects fully realized with hard metals and completely hidden by clay or products of oxidation, the tomography, although necessary to obtain the 3D appearance of the object, does not give any additional information on its internal monolithic structure. We present here the application of the shape-from-silhouette technique on X-ray images to reconstruct the 3D profile of handworks. The acquisition technique is similar to tomography, since several X-ray images are taken while the object is rotated. Some reference points are placed on a structure co-rotating with the object and are acquired on the images for calibration and registration. The shape-from-silhouette algorithm gives finally the 3D appearance of the handwork. We present the analysis of a tin pendant of VI-VIII century b.C. (Venetian area) completely hidden by solid ground. The 3D reconstruction shows surprisingly that the pendant is a very elaborated piece, with two embraced figures that were completely invisible before restoration.

Body image distortion, perfectionism and eating disorder symptoms in risk group of female ballet dancers and models and in control group of female students.

PubMed

Zoletić, Emina; Duraković-Belko, Elvira

2009-09-01

The aim of this research was to examine differences among two groups of girls, models and ballerinas (with risk factors - experimental group) and young students (control group), in body image preception, body mass index, neurotic perfectionism, body - image distortion and simptoms of eating disorders. The research was conducted with 91 participants divided in two groups, control group - 55 students at University of Sarajevo and experimental group - 13 professional ballerinas, 23 professional models. During this research work we used several measuring instruments: Body mass index; Body Mass Index - Silhouette Matching Test; Neurotic Perfectionism Questioner; Eating Disorders Inventory. In this study statistically significant differences occur between these two groups of girls which are related to body - image perception and objective position on the body mass index chart. All 91 participants saw themselves as obese. Statistically significant differences occur in body - image distortion and simptoms of eating disorders in the experimental group, they have high scores on body - image distortion, on eating disorders inventory and neurotic perfectionism simptoms. Based on th results in this study, we may conclude that there are groups of people who have risk factors for developing some kind of eating disorder, so it would be desirable to create a preventive intervention for young ballerinas and models, but also for those people who coach them, trainers, instructors and managers. For other population groups with risky behavior such as young children, a prevention plan and modifications of cultural influences on people's opinion of body image are extremely important.

Three centuries of multi-storied St. Petersburg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavrov, Leonid; Perov, Fedor; Eremeeva, Aleksandra; Temnov, Vladimir

2018-03-01

The article is devoted to assessment of the role of high-rise buildings in the St. Petersburg historic city's ensemble. Features of formation of city architectural look, the conditions of city typical silhouette's appearance which is characterized by the contrast of a small number of high-rise structures with a low horizontal mass building are observed. The consequences of the emergence of a significant number of great height buildings, the silhouette of which conflicts with the traditional St. Petersburg landscape's compositional principles, are analyzed. The economic reasons of high-rise construction of residential and office buildings are given. The conclusions about the prospects of St. Petersburg high-rise construction in the light of city-building and economic factors are made.

Visual detail about the body modulates tactile localisation biases.

PubMed

Margolis, Aaron N; Longo, Matthew R

2015-02-01

The localisation of tactile stimuli requires the integration of visual and somatosensory inputs within an internal representation of the body surface and is prone to consistent bias. Joints may play a role in segmenting such internal body representations, and may therefore influence tactile localisation biases, although the nature of this influence remains unclear. Here, we investigate the relationship between conceptual knowledge of joint locations and tactile localisation biases on the hand. In one task, participants localised tactile stimuli applied to the dorsum of their hand. A distal localisation bias was observed in all participants, consistent with previous results. We also manipulated the availability of visual information during this task, to determine whether the absence of this information could account for the distal bias observed here and by Mancini et al. (Neuropsychologia 49:1194-1201, 2011). The observed distal bias increased in magnitude when visual information was restricted, without a corresponding decrease in precision. In a separate task, the same participants indicated, from memory, knuckle locations on a silhouette image of their hand. Analogous distal biases were also seen in the knuckle localisation task. The accuracy of conceptual joint knowledge was not correlated with tactile localisation bias magnitude, although a similarity in observed bias direction suggests that both tasks may rely on a common, higher-order body representation. These results also suggest that distortions of conceptual body representation may be more common in healthy individuals than previously thought.

Ideal Body Size as a Mediator for the Gender-Specific Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Body Mass Index: Evidence From an Upper-Middle-Income Country in the African Region.

PubMed

Yepes, Maryam; Maurer, Jürgen; Stringhini, Silvia; Viswanathan, Barathi; Gedeon, Jude; Bovet, Pascal

2016-04-01

While obesity continues to rise globally, the associations between body size, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) seem to vary in different populations, and little is known on the contribution of perceived ideal body size in the social disparity of obesity in African countries. We examined the gender and socioeconomic patterns of body mass index (BMI) and perceived ideal body size in the Seychelles, a middle-income small island state in the African region. We also assessed the potential role of perceived ideal body size as a mediator for the gender-specific association between SES and BMI. A population-based survey of 1,240 adults aged 25 to 64 years conducted in December 2013. Participants' BMI was calculated based on measured weight and height; ideal body size was assessed using a nine-silhouette instrument. Three SES indicators were considered: income, education, and occupation. BMI and perceived ideal body size were both higher among men of higher versus lower SES (p< .001) but lower among women of higher versus lower SES (p< .001), irrespective of the SES indicator used. Multivariate analysis showed a strong and direct association between perceived ideal body size and BMI in both men and women (p< .001) and was consistent with a potential mediating role of perceived ideal body size in the gender-specific associations between SES and BMI. Our study emphasizes the importance of gender and socioeconomic differences in BMI and ideal body size and suggests that public health interventions that promote perception of healthy weight could help mitigate SES-related disparities in BMI. © 2016 Society for Public Health Education.

Human action recognition based on spatial-temporal descriptors using key poses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Shuo; Chen, Yuxin; Wang, Huaibao; Zuo, Yaqing

2014-11-01

Human action recognition is an important area of pattern recognition today due to its direct application and need in various occasions like surveillance and virtual reality. In this paper, a simple and effective human action recognition method is presented based on the key poses of human silhouette and the spatio-temporal feature. Firstly, the contour points of human silhouette have been gotten, and the key poses are learned by means of K-means clustering based on the Euclidean distance between each contour point and the centre point of the human silhouette, and then the type of each action is labeled for further match. Secondly, we obtain the trajectories of centre point of each frame, and create a spatio-temporal feature value represented by W to describe the motion direction and speed of each action. The value W contains the information of location and temporal order of each point on the trajectories. Finally, the matching stage is performed by comparing the key poses and W between training sequences and test sequences, the nearest neighbor sequences is found and its label supplied the final result. Experiments on the public available Weizmann datasets show the proposed method can improve accuracy by distinguishing amphibious poses and increase suitability for real-time applications by reducing the computational cost.

Comparison of esthetics perception and satisfaction of facial profile among male adolescents and adults with different profiles

PubMed Central

Eslami, Neda; Omidkhoda, Maryam; Shafaee, Hooman; Mozhdehifard, Mostafa

2016-01-01

Objective: To evaluate esthetics perception and satisfaction of the facial profile among Iranian male adolescents and adults. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, male subjects referred to Orthodontic Department of Mashhad Dental School were enrolled (n = 84) and were divided into two groups: Adolescents (n = 39), and adults (n = 45). They were also assigned to straight, convex, or concave profile groups based on the facial profile angle (G-Sn-Pog’). An ideal silhouette of the lower facial profile was designed in Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 software (Kansas, USA). Then, eight other silhouettes representing different relations of the maxilla and mandible were constructed. Patients were asked to use numbers 1–10 to rank the facial profiles in the order of the attractiveness, and choose a silhouette that best closely resembled their own profile. Moreover, using a questionnaire patients were asked to rank their satisfaction with their profile, and asked to assign a number (1–5) to each question as follows; one represented the least satisfaction, while five reflected the highest satisfaction. Results: Adult and adolescent subjects with straight (adults: 12.0 ± 1.9, adolescents: 12.8 ± 1.05) and concave (adults: 10.0 ± 2.14, adolescents: 10.0 ± 2.08) profile showed the highest and the least satisfaction with their own profile, respectively. Both adult and adolescent group selected “retrognathic maxilla, prognathic mandible” as the least attractive profile. Overall, “straight” and “bimaxillary dentoalveolar retrusion” were chosen as the most attractive silhouettes in adolescent and adults, respectively. In comparison to a professional opinion (clinician ranking), 42.9% of adolescents and 22% of adults were able to correctly diagnose their own profiles type. Conclusion: Most of the male adolescents and especially adults diagnosis of their own profile differed with a professional assessment. PMID:27127750

Rapid determination of leaf area and plant height by using light curtain arrays in four species with contrasting shoot architecture

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Light curtain arrays (LC), a recently introduced phenotyping method, yield a binary data matrix from which a shoot silhouette is reconstructed. We addressed the accuracy and applicability of LC in assessing leaf area and maximum height (base to the highest leaf tip) in a phenotyping platform. LC were integrated to an automated routine for positioning, allowing in situ measurements. Two dicotyledonous (rapeseed, tomato) and two monocotyledonous (maize, barley) species with contrasting shoot architecture were investigated. To evaluate if averaging multiple view angles helps in resolving self-overlaps, we acquired a data set by rotating plants every 10° for 170°. To test how rapid these measurements can be without loss of information, we evaluated nine scanning speeds. Leaf area of overlapping plants was also estimated to assess the possibility to scale this method for plant stands. Results The relation between measured and calculated maximum height was linear and nearly the same for all species. Linear relations were also found between plant leaf area and calculated pixel area. However, the regression slope was different between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous species. Increasing the scanning speed stepwise from 0.9 to 23.4 m s−1 did not affect the estimation of maximum height. Instead, the calculated pixel area was inversely proportional to scanning speed. The estimation of plant leaf area by means of calculated pixel area became more accurate by averaging consecutive silhouettes and/or increasing the angle between them. Simulations showed that decreasing plant distance gradually from 20 to 0 cm, led to underestimation of plant leaf area owing to overlaps. This underestimation was more important for large plants of dicotyledonous species and for small plants of monocotyledonous ones. Conclusions LC offer an accurate estimation of plant leaf area and maximum height, while the number of consecutive silhouettes that needs to be averaged is species-dependent. A constant scanning speed is important for leaf area estimations by using LC. Simulations of the effect of varying plant spacing gave promising results for method application in sets of partly overlapping plants, which applies also to field conditions during and after canopy closure for crops sown in rows. PMID:24721154

Nutritional surveillance in Tuscany: maternal perception of nutritional status of 8-9 y-old school-children.

PubMed

Lazzeri, G; Casorelli, A; Giallombardo, D; Grasso, A; Guidoni, C; Menoni, E; Giacchi, M

2006-03-01

Overweight and obesity in the developmental age has become a public health problem. For this reason, prevention projects must be developed in advance with the aim to involve not only children, but their parents as well. Our objective is to evaluate the accuracy of the mothers' perceptions of adolescent nutritional status. Cross-sectional study. We selected a statistical sample of 3,076 subjects (1,583 males, 1,493 females), 8-9 y-old school-children of 164 3rd-grade elementary school classes from throughout Tuscany, as well as their mothers. The mothers' information was gathered via self-administered questionnaires, while the children were given an eating behaviour survey under the supervision of qualified personnel. Mothers' education level (self-reported) height and weight were collected; children's height and weight were measured. The former were asked how they perceived their children's body image. A correlation exists between the mothers' perceptions of the nutritional state of their children via the silhouettes and the BMI classes of the children, which is equal to 80% with a kappa-Cohen for agreement equal to 0.58 (SE = 0.02; P < 0.0001). However, no correlation exists between the mothers' responses to the question "In your opinion, is your child ...?" and the child's actual BMI class (the exact percentage correlation is equal to 75%, with a kappa-Cohen for agreement equal to 0.43 SE = 0.014; P < 0.0001). Mothers have an accurate perception of the nutritional status of their children, correctly choosing the silhouette that corresponds to the child's BMI profile without variation by gender. We can assume that mothers in our sample have a good concept about healthy nutritional status.

Age at adiposity rebound: determinants and association with nutritional status and the metabolic syndrome at adulthood.

PubMed

Péneau, S; González-Carrascosa, R; Gusto, G; Goxe, D; Lantieri, O; Fezeu, L; Hercberg, S; Rolland-Cachera, M F

2016-07-01

Early-life growth characteristics and in particular age at adiposity rebound (AR), have been shown to impact nutritional status later in life but studies investigating the association with long-term health remain scarce. Our aims were to identify determinants of age at AR and its relationship with nutritional status and cardiometabolic risk factors at adulthood. A total of 1465 subjects aged 20-60 years participated in this retrospective cohort study. Height, weight, waist circumference, blood glucose, lipids and blood pressure were measured at adulthood. Childhood weight, height, gestational age, birth weight and early nutrition were collected retrospectively from health booklets and age at AR was assessed. Participants self-reported parental silhouettes. Associations were assessed using multiple linear and logistic regression. An earlier AR was associated with higher body mass index and waist circumference at adulthood in both men and women (P<0.0001). In addition, women with an earlier occurrence of AR had higher triglyceride (P=0.001), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (P=0.001), systolic (P=0.02) and diastolic blood pressure (P=0.04) at adulthood. Both men (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)): 0.82 (0.70-0.95)) and women (OR (95% CI): 0.84 (0.73-0.96) with an AR occurring earlier were more likely to develop a metabolic syndrome. Larger parental silhouette was associated with an earlier AR. This long-term study showed that age at AR was associated with nutritional status and metabolic syndrome at adulthood. These results highlight the importance of monitoring childhood growth so as to help identify children at risk of developing an adverse cardiometabolic profile in adulthood. AR determinants for use in overweight surveillance were identified.

A second level of the Saint Petersburg skyline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krasnopolsky, Andrey; Bolotin, Sergey

2018-03-01

The article considers the history of the residential development in Saint Petersburg and states corresponding landmark dates. In recent years, changes in the altitude range of the residential development are noted, the influence of this factor on the formation of the city's silhouette is assessed. Reasons for such changes are identified. Attractiveness of high-rise residential complexes for living is assessed. Conclusions are made of tendencies in further housing construction development in terms of its altitude range. It is noted that it is possible to locate multi-storied buildings in the periphery of the city, taking into account specific visual characteristics of the construction site and silhouette of erected buildings; as for central districts, strict regulations regarding the altitude range are needed.

Space-Age Shades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2002-01-01

Silhouette's Titan Minimal Art frames possess a super elasticity that ensures a slip-free fit for wearing comfort, without causing irritating pressure points. The titanium alloy used in the frames also prevents allergic reactions. This technology is available to both NASA astronauts and public consumers in either corrective eyewear or sunglass models. The only difference between the sunwear used by NASA astronauts and the commercial models is the lens. Silhouette and Dr. Keith Manuel, the "official" optometrist overseeing the NASA Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and various other vision-related space projects, brought NASA a lens that is considerably darker (5.5 percent overall light transmittance), with a thin gold coating that offers total protection, not only against ultraviolet (UV) radiation, but also against the harmful infrared radiation in space.

A 12-week randomized double-blind parallel pilot trial of Sinetrol XPur on body weight, abdominal fat, waist circumference, and muscle metabolism in overweight men.

PubMed

Cases, Julien; Romain, Cindy; Dallas, Constantin; Gerbi, Alain; Rouanet, Jean Max

2015-01-01

Overweight and obesity are associated to increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases that might dramatically affect life expectancy according World Health Organization. Overweight, obesity, and decline in physical activity are correlated to a significant propensity to lose skeletal muscle mass as a result of prolonged inflammation and oxidative stress whereas cohort surveys and clinical investigations have demonstrated health benefits of Citrus-based polyphenols to reverse such regression. Overweight men were included in a double-blind, randomized, parallel pilot trial where they received daily for a 12-week period 900 mg of a Citrus-based polyphenol extract, Sinetrol® XPur. Body composition, anthropometric, and blood parameters were assessed before and at the end of the intervention period. After 12 weeks, while the silhouette slimmed down, metabolic parameters were significantly improved and skeletal muscle catabolism held back. These data suggest that over a 12-week period, the efficacy of the supplement improve both overweight process and correlated skeletal muscle mass metabolism.

The Influence of Plaintiff’s Body Weight on Judgments of Responsibility: The Role of Weight Bias

PubMed Central

White, Darrell E.; Wott, Carissa B.; Carels, Robert A.

2014-01-01

Problem The current study investigated the influence of a plaintiff’s weight and the location of an accident on a simulated jury’s perceptions of plaintiff’s personal responsibility for an accident. Methods Participants were 185 lean and overweight male and female adults (mean self-reported body mass index: 24.87 ± 5.45) who read one of three vignettes describing an accident that occurred while leaving one of three different establishments (fast food burger restaurant; fitness gym; department store) while viewing one of two silhouettes of the alleged plaintiff (a lean female; an obese female). Results Participants were significantly more likely to report the plaintiff’s weight entered into their perceptions of personal responsibility when they viewed the overweight plaintiff compared to the thin plaintiff. As respondent’s self-reported weight bias increased, participants were more likely to hold the plaintiff responsible and more likely to blame plaintiff characteristics for the accident. Conclusion The weight of a plaintiff may affect juror perceptions of personal responsibility particularly if the juror possesses self-reported weight bias. PMID:25434916

The Complex Action Recognition via the Correlated Topic Model

PubMed Central

Tu, Hong-bin; Xia, Li-min; Wang, Zheng-wu

2014-01-01

Human complex action recognition is an important research area of the action recognition. Among various obstacles to human complex action recognition, one of the most challenging is to deal with self-occlusion, where one body part occludes another one. This paper presents a new method of human complex action recognition, which is based on optical flow and correlated topic model (CTM). Firstly, the Markov random field was used to represent the occlusion relationship between human body parts in terms of an occlusion state variable. Secondly, the structure from motion (SFM) is used for reconstructing the missing data of point trajectories. Then, we can extract the key frame based on motion feature from optical flow and the ratios of the width and height are extracted by the human silhouette. Finally, we use the topic model of correlated topic model (CTM) to classify action. Experiments were performed on the KTH, Weizmann, and UIUC action dataset to test and evaluate the proposed method. The compared experiment results showed that the proposed method was more effective than compared methods. PMID:24574920

The influence of leg-to-body ratio (LBR) on judgments of female physical attractiveness: assessments of computer-generated images varying in LBR.

PubMed

Frederick, David A; Hadji-Michael, Maria; Furnham, Adrian; Swami, Viren

2010-01-01

The leg-to-body ratio (LBR), which is reliably associated with developmental stability and health outcomes, is an understudied component of human physical attractiveness. Several studies examining the effects of LBR on aesthetic judgments have been limited by the reliance on stimuli composed of hand-drawn silhouettes. In the present study, we developed a new set of female computer-generated images portraying eight levels of LBR that fell within the typical range of human variation. A community sample of 207 Britons in London and students from two samples drawn from a US university (Ns=940, 114) rated the physical attractiveness of the images. We found that mid-ranging female LBRs were perceived as maximally attractive. The present research overcomes some of the problems associated with past work on LBR and aesthetic preferences through use of computer-generated images rather than hand-drawn images and provides an instrument that may be useful in future investigations of LBR preferences. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the fast-start swimming kinematics of densely schooling fish

PubMed Central

Paley, Derek A.

2012-01-01

Information transmission via non-verbal cues such as a fright response can be quantified in a fish school by reconstructing individual fish motion in three dimensions. In this paper, we describe an automated tracking framework to reconstruct the full-body trajectories of densely schooling fish using two-dimensional silhouettes in multiple cameras. We model the shape of each fish as a series of elliptical cross sections along a flexible midline. We estimate the size of each ellipse using an iterated extended Kalman filter. The shape model is used in a model-based tracking framework in which simulated annealing is applied at each step to estimate the midline. Results are presented for eight fish with occlusions. The tracking system is currently being used to investigate fast-start behaviour of schooling fish in response to looming stimuli. PMID:21642367

Missiles in the cardiovascular system.

PubMed

Symbas, P N; Symbas, P J

1997-05-01

A missile in the cardiovascular system is a rare complication of a projectile wound. A missile in the heart should be suspected in the patient with a projectile wound of the thorax and in whom, on chest radiography, a missile is seen in the cardiac silhouette. A missile should be suspected in the patient with a projectile wound elsewhere with similar radiographic findings, no exit wound, and no missile in the area of injury. A missile in the arterial system should be suspected when no exit wound and no projectile are seen in the traumatized area. In such a case, radiography of the entire body should be done. The diagnosis of a suspected missile in the cardiovascular system is confirmed by echocardiography or angiography. Treatment should be individualized according to the clinical manifestations of the patient and the site of the missile.

KSC-98pa001

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-10-24

In a view from Press Site 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Station, a Boeing Delta II (7326) rocket is framed between the ghostly silhouettes of two press photographers as it launches Deep Space 1 on its mission from Launch Complex 17A. The first flight in NASA's New Millennium Program, the spacecraft is designed to validate 12 new technologies for scientific space missions of the next century, including the ion propulsion engine. Propelled by the gas xenon, the engine is being flight-tested for future deep space and Earth-orbiting missions. Other onboard experiments include software that tracks celestial bodies so the spacecraft can make its own navigation decisions without the intervention of ground controllers. Deep Space 1 will complete most of its mission objectives within the first two months, but will also do a flyby of a near-Earth asteroid, 1992 KD, in July 1999

Life course evolution of body size and breast cancer survival in the E3N cohort.

PubMed

His, Mathilde; Le Guélennec, Marine; Mesrine, Sylvie; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Fagherazzi, Guy; Dossus, Laure

2018-04-15

Although adult obesity has been associated with poor breast cancer survival, data on adiposity at different periods in life and its lifelong evolution are scarce. Our aims were to assess the associations between breast cancer survival and body size during childhood, puberty and early adulthood and body size trajectories from childhood to adulthood. Self-assessed body size at age 8, at puberty, at age 20-25 and at age 35-40 and trajectories of body size of 4,662 breast cancer survivors from the prospective E3N cohort were studied in relation to risk of death from any cause, death from breast cancer and second invasive cancer event using multivariate Cox regression models. Four trajectories of body size were identified (T1 "moderate increase," T2 "stable/low increase," T3 "increase at puberty" and T4 "constantly high"). Compared with stable body size, an increase in body size during adult life was associated with an increased risk of death from any cause (HR T1 vs. T2 = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.01-1.60) and an increased risk of second invasive cancer event (HR T1 vs. T2 = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.06-1.47). Silhouettes at various ages were not associated with survival. Our results suggest that the evolution of body size from childhood to adulthood has a long-term influence on breast cancer survival. Although these results need to be confirmed, this work sheds light on the need to combine lifelong approaches to current BMI to better identify breast cancer survivors who are at higher risk of recurrence or second primary cancer, or of death. © 2017 UICC.

Arts/Crafts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructor, 1980

1980-01-01

Described are various arts and crafts ideas, mostly with a February theme. Included are: ceramic boxes, valentine ideas, and patriotic projects--symbols of our country, silhouettes of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and stars and stripes. (KC)

Chang'e-2 spacecraft observations of asteroid 4179 Toutatis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Jianghui; Jiang, Yun; Zhao, Yuhui; Wang, Su; Yu, Liangliang

2016-01-01

On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 completed a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 meters from the asteroid's surface. The observations show that Toutatis has an irregular surface and its shape resembles a ginger-root of a smaller lobe (head) and a larger lobe (body). Such bilobate shape is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis. In addition, the high-resolution images better than 3 meters provide a number of new discoveries about this asteroid, such as an 800-meter depression at the end of the large lobe, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, boulders, indicating that Toutatis is probably a rubble-pile asteroid. Chang'e-2 observations have significantly revealed new insights into the geological features and the formation and evolution of this asteroid. In final, we brief the future Chinese asteroid mission concept.

12 CFR 905.26 - Official logo and seal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

.... (a) Description. The logo is a disc with its center consisting of three polygons arranged in an irregular line partially overlapping—each polygon drawn in a manner resembling a silhouette of a pitched...

Dark Murky Clouds in the Bright Milky Way

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-08-24

This infrared image from NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer shows exceptionally cold, dense cloud cores seen in silhouette against the bright diffuse infrared glow of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy.

Posture recognition based on fuzzy logic for home monitoring of the elderly.

PubMed

Brulin, Damien; Benezeth, Yannick; Courtial, Estelle

2012-09-01

We propose in this paper a computer vision-based posture recognition method for home monitoring of the elderly. The proposed system performs human detection prior to the posture analysis; posture recognition is performed only on a human silhouette. The human detection approach has been designed to be robust to different environmental stimuli. Thus, posture is analyzed with simple and efficient features that are not designed to manage constraints related to the environment but only designed to describe human silhouettes. The posture recognition method, based on fuzzy logic, identifies four static postures and is robust to variation in the distance between the camera and the person, and to the person's morphology. With an accuracy of 74.29% of satisfactory posture recognition, this approach can detect emergency situations such as a fall within a health smart home.

Variety of geologic silhouette shapes distinguishable by multiple rotations method of quantitative shape analysis text

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Collins, D.G.; Parks, J.M.

1984-04-01

Silhouette shapes are two-dimensional projections of three-dimensional objects such as sand grains, gravel, and fossils. Within-the-margin markings such as chamber boundaries, sutures, or ribs are ignored. Comparisons between populations of objects from similar and differential origins (i.e., environments, species or genera, growth series, etc) is aided by quantifying the shapes. The Multiple Rotations Method (MRM) uses a variation of ''eigenshapes'', which is capable of distinguishing most of the subtle variations that the ''trained eye'' can detect. With a video-digitizer and microcomputer, MRM is fast, more accurate, and more objective than the human eye. The resulting shape descriptors comprise 5 ormore » 6 numbers per object that can be stored and retrieved to compare with similar descriptions of other objects. The original-shape outlines can be reconstituted sufficiently for gross recognition from these few numerical descriptors. Thus, a semi-automated data-retrieval system becomes feasible, with silhouette-shape descriptions as one of several recognition criteria. MRM consists of four ''rotations'': rotation about a center to a comparable orientation; a principal-components rotation to reduce the many original shape descriptors to a few; a VARIMAX orthogonal-factor rotation to achieve simple structure; and a rotation to achieve factor scores on individual objects. A variety of subtly different shapes includes sand grains from several locations, ages, and environments, and fossils of several types. This variety illustrates the feasibility of quantitative comparisons by MRM.« less

Appearance of Keplerian discs orbiting Kerr superspinars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stuchlík, Zdeněk; Schee, Jan

2010-11-01

We study optical phenomena related to the appearance of Keplerian accretion discs orbiting Kerr superspinars predicted by string theory. The superspinar exterior is described by standard Kerr naked singularity geometry breaking the black hole limit on the internal angular momentum (spin). We construct local photon escape cones for a variety of orbiting sources that enable us to determine the superspinars silhouette in the case of distant observers. We show that the superspinar silhouette depends strongly on the assumed edge where the external Kerr spacetime is joined to the internal spacetime governed by string theory and significantly differs from the black hole silhouette. The appearance of the accretion disc is strongly dependent on the value of the superspinar spin in both their shape and frequency shift profile. Apparent extension of the disc grows significantly with the growing spin, while the frequency shift grows with the descending spin. This behaviour differs substantially from the appearance of discs orbiting black holes enabling thus, at least in principle, to distinguish clearly the Kerr superspinars and black holes. In vicinity of a Kerr superspinar the non-escaped photons have to be separated to those captured by the superspinar and those being trapped in its strong gravitational field leading to self-illumination of the disc that could even influence its structure and cause self-reflection effect of radiation of the disc. The amount of trapped photons grows with descending superspinar spin. We thus can expect significant self-illumination effects in the field of Kerr superspinars with near-extreme spin a ~ 1.

CARDIOTHORACIC RATIO AND VERTEBRAL HEART SCALE IN CLINICALLY NORMAL BLACK-RUMPED AGOUTIS (DASYPROCTA PRYMNOLOPHA, WAGLER 1831).

PubMed

de Moura, Charlys Rhands Coelho; das Neves Diniz, Anaemilia; da Silva Moura, Laecio; das Chagas Araújo Sousa, Francisco; Baltazar, Pollyana Irene; Freire, Larisse Danielle; Guerra, Porfírio Candanedo; de Sousa, João Macedo; Giglio, Robson Fortes; Pessoa, Gerson Tavares; de Sá, Renan Paraguassu; Alves, Flávio Ribeiro

2015-06-01

Wild rodents, such as the lowland paca (Cuniculus paca), capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris), guinea pig (Cavia aperea), and black-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta prymnolopha) are intensely hunted throughout Amazonia and at the semiarid regions of northeastern Brazil. To contribute to the preservation of these species, more information about their anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology is needed. The aim of this study was to standardize the vertebral heart scale (VHS) and cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) in clinically normal black-rumped agouti, as well as to compare the results of these two methods, which are commonly used to evaluate the cardiac silhouette in domestic animals. Twelve healthy black-rumped agoutis, divided into two groups (six males and six females), obtained from the Nucleus for Wild Animal Studies and Conservation at the Federal University of Piauí, were radiographed in right and left lateral and dorsoventral projections. The values of the VHS were 8.00±0.31v (the number of thoracic vertebral length spanned by each dimension, starting at T4) for males and 8.11±0.41v for females, and there was no statistical difference between the decubitus (right and left) or between males and females (P>0.05). The CTR mean values obtained were 0.51±0.03 for males, and 0.52±0.02 for females, and there was no statistical difference between the genders (P>0.05). However, there was positive correlation between VHS and CTR (r=0.77 right decubitus and r=0.82 left decubitus). The thoracic and heart diameter had mean values of 6.72±0.61 and 3.48±0.30 cm (males), and for the females, it was 6.61±0.51 and 3.5±0.30 cm, respectively, and there was statistical difference between the genders. The results demonstrated high correlation between the VHS and CTR producing similar results, indicating similar clinical precision for assessing the size of the cardiac silhouette in the black-rumped agoutis.

Children's concepts of the urinary tract.

PubMed

Equit, Monika; Sambach, Heike; Niemczyk, Justine; von Gontard, Alexander

2013-10-01

To assess children's body concepts about anatomy and physiology of the urinary tract, children drew pictures responding to the question 'Where do you believe urine comes from?' A total of 152 children in three groups were examined. 81 children were out-patients. Of these, 36 children were being seen for the first time and 45 children had previously undergone bladder and bowel group training. They were compared to 71 continent controls. Children were given a body silhouette, in which they drew their view of the urinary tract. Half of the children (52.6%) drew a bladder and other organs; nearly 43% drew a tube or other anatomically incorrect pictures. Significant differences were found for group and age. Children who had undergone the group training more often drew a bladder and other organs (80%). Correct pictures and pictures of bladder and other organs were more common from children aged 11-16 years. Children have subjective concepts of the urinary tract which do not follow actual anatomy and physiology. For medical interventions as well as any training programmes, it is essential to understand these concepts and provide instructions in a child-centred and developmentally adequate way. Copyright © 2012 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Shape Selectivity of Middle Superior Temporal Sulcus Body Patch Neurons

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Functional MRI studies in primates have demonstrated cortical regions that are strongly activated by visual images of bodies. The presence of such body patches in macaques allows characterization of the stimulus selectivity of their single neurons. Middle superior temporal sulcus body (MSB) patch neurons showed similar stimulus selectivity for natural, shaded, and textured images compared with their silhouettes, suggesting that shape is an important determinant of MSB responses. Here, we examined and modeled the shape selectivity of single MSB neurons. We measured the responses of single MSB neurons to a variety of shapes producing a wide range of responses. We used an adaptive stimulus sampling procedure, selecting and modifying shapes based on the responses of the neuron. Forty percent of shapes that produced the maximal response were rated by humans as animal-like, but the top shape of many MSB neurons was not judged as resembling a body. We fitted the shape selectivity of MSB neurons with a model that parameterizes shapes in terms of curvature and orientation of contour segments, with a pixel-based model, and with layers of units of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The deep convolutional layers of CNNs provided the best goodness-of-fit, with a median explained explainable variance of the neurons’ responses of 77%. The goodness-of-fit increased along the convolutional layers’ hierarchy but was lower for the fully connected layers. Together with demonstrating the successful modeling of single unit shape selectivity with deep CNNs, the data suggest that semantic or category knowledge determines only slightly the single MSB neuron’s shape selectivity. PMID:28660250

The association between global self-esteem, physical self-concept and actual vs ideal body size rating in Chinese primary school children.

PubMed

Lau, P W C; Lee, A; Ransdell, L; Yu, C W; Sung, R Y T

2004-02-01

To investigate whether the discrepancy between actual and ideal body size rating is related to Chinese children's global self-esteem and global physical self-concept. A cross-sectional study of school children who completed questionnaires related to global self-esteem, global physical self-concept, and actual vs ideal body size. A total of 386 Chinese children (44% girls and 56% boys) aged 7-13 y from a primary school in Hong Kong, China. Global self-esteem and physical self-concept were measured using the physical self-descriptive questionnaire. Actual vs ideal body size discrepancy was established using the silhouette matching task. No significant relationship was found between global self-esteem and actual-ideal body size discrepancy of children. Global physical self-concept had a moderate negative correlation (r=-0.12) with the body size discrepancy score and the discrepancy score explained very limited variance (R(2)=0.015; F(1, 296)=4.51; P<0.05) in global physical self-concept. Three body size discrepancy groups (none, positive, and negative) were examined to see if there were any significant differences in global self-esteem, global physical self-concept, and specific dimensions of physical self-concept. A significant overall difference was found between groups for global physical self-concept (F=3.73, P<0.05) and the physical self-concept subscales of physical activity (F=3.25, P<0.05), body fat (F=61.26, P<0.001), and strength (F=5.26, P<0.01). Boys scored significantly higher than girls on global physical self-concept-especially in the sport competence, strength, and endurance subscales. This study revealed that the actual-ideal body size discrepancy rating of Chinese children was not predictive of global physical self-concept and global self-esteem. These findings are contrary to those reported in Western children, which may mean that culture plays a role in the formation of body attitude.

Neural underpinnings of the identifiable victim effect: affect shifts preferences for giving.

PubMed

Genevsky, Alexander; Västfjäll, Daniel; Slovic, Paul; Knutson, Brian

2013-10-23

The "identifiable victim effect" refers to peoples' tendency to preferentially give to identified versus anonymous victims of misfortune, and has been proposed to partly depend on affect. By soliciting charitable donations from human subjects during behavioral and neural (i.e., functional magnetic resonance imaging) experiments, we sought to determine whether and how affect might promote the identifiable victim effect. Behaviorally, subjects gave more to orphans depicted by photographs versus silhouettes, and their shift in preferences was mediated by photograph-induced feelings of positive arousal, but not negative arousal. Neurally, while photographs versus silhouettes elicited activity in widespread circuits associated with facial and affective processing, only nucleus accumbens activity predicted and could statistically account for increased donations. Together, these findings suggest that presenting evaluable identifiable information can recruit positive arousal, which then promotes giving. We propose that affect elicited by identifiable stimuli can compel people to give more to strangers, even despite costs to the self.

Better safe than sorry: simplistic fear-relevant stimuli capture attention.

PubMed

Forbes, Sarah J; Purkis, Helena M; Lipp, Ottmar V

2011-08-01

It has been consistently demonstrated that fear-relevant images capture attention preferentially over fear-irrelevant images. Current theory suggests that this faster processing could be mediated by an evolved module that allows certain stimulus features to attract attention automatically, prior to the detailed processing of the image. The present research investigated whether simplified images of fear-relevant stimuli would produce interference with target detection in a visual search task. In Experiment 1, silhouettes and degraded silhouettes of fear-relevant animals produced more interference than did the fear-irrelevant images. Experiment 2, compared the effects of fear-relevant and fear-irrelevant distracters and confirmed that the interference produced by fear-relevant distracters was not an effect of novelty. Experiment 3 suggested that fear-relevant stimuli produced interference regardless of whether participants were instructed as to the content of the images. The three experiments indicate that even very simplistic images of fear-relevant animals can divert attention.

Determination of cardiac size from chest roentgenograms following Skylab missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nicogossian, A. E.; Hoffler, G. W.; Johnson, R. L.; Gowen, R. J.

1974-01-01

Decreased cardiothoracic transverse diameter ratios following Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space flights have been reported previously. To evaluate further changes in cardiac size, standard posteroanterior chest films in systole and diastole were obtained before flight and within a few hours after recovery on each of the Skylab astronauts. Postflight chest X-rays were visually compared to the preflight roentgenograms for possible changes in pulmonary vasculature, lung parenchyma, bony or soft tissue structures. From these roentgenograms the following measurements were obtained: cardiac and thoracic transverse diameters, cardiothoracic transverse diameter ratio, cardiac area from the product of both diagonal diameters, cardiac silhouette area by planimetry, thoracic cage area and cardiothoracic area ratio. The postflight frontal cardiac silhouette sizes were significantly decreased when compared with the respective preflight values (P0.05 or 0.01). The observed changes are thought to be related to postflight decrease in the intracardiac chamber volume.

An Approach to 3d Digital Modeling of Surfaces with Poor Texture by Range Imaging Techniques. `SHAPE from Stereo' VS. `SHAPE from Silhouette' in Digitizing Jorge Oteiza's Sculptures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García Fernández, J.; Álvaro Tordesillas, A.; Barba, S.

2015-02-01

Despite eminent development of digital range imaging techniques, difficulties persist in the virtualization of objects with poor radiometric information, in other words, objects consisting of homogeneous colours (totally white, black, etc.), repetitive patterns, translucence, or materials with specular reflection. This is the case for much of the Jorge Oteiza's works, particularly in the sculpture collection of the Museo Fundación Jorge Oteiza (Navarra, Spain). The present study intend to analyse and asses the performance of two digital 3D-modeling methods based on imaging techniques, facing cultural heritage in singular cases, determined by radiometric characteristics as mentioned: Shape from Silhouette and Shape from Stereo. On the other hand, the text proposes the definition of a documentation workflow and presents the results of its application in the collection of sculptures created by Oteiza.

Silhouette-based approach of 3D image reconstruction for automated image acquisition using robotic arm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azhar, N.; Saad, W. H. M.; Manap, N. A.; Saad, N. M.; Syafeeza, A. R.

2017-06-01

This study presents the approach of 3D image reconstruction using an autonomous robotic arm for the image acquisition process. A low cost of the automated imaging platform is created using a pair of G15 servo motor connected in series to an Arduino UNO as a main microcontroller. Two sets of sequential images were obtained using different projection angle of the camera. The silhouette-based approach is used in this study for 3D reconstruction from the sequential images captured from several different angles of the object. Other than that, an analysis based on the effect of different number of sequential images on the accuracy of 3D model reconstruction was also carried out with a fixed projection angle of the camera. The effecting elements in the 3D reconstruction are discussed and the overall result of the analysis is concluded according to the prototype of imaging platform.

Extremely high-definition full-parallax computer-generated hologram created by the polygon-based method.

PubMed

Matsushima, Kyoji; Nakahara, Sumio

2009-12-01

A large-scale full-parallax computer-generated hologram (CGH) with four billion (2(16) x 2(16)) pixels is created to reconstruct a fine true 3D image of a scene, with occlusions. The polygon-based method numerically generates the object field of a surface object, whose shape is provided by a set of vertex data of polygonal facets, while the silhouette method makes it possible to reconstruct the occluded scene. A novel technique using the segmented frame buffer is presented for handling and propagating large wave fields even in the case where the whole wave field cannot be stored in memory. We demonstrate that the full-parallax CGH, calculated by the proposed method and fabricated by a laser lithography system, reconstructs a fine 3D image accompanied by a strong sensation of depth.

An approach to 3D model fusion in GIS systems and its application in a future ECDIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tao; Zhao, Depeng; Pan, Mingyang

2016-04-01

Three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics technology is widely used in various areas and causes profound changes. As an information carrier, 3D models are becoming increasingly important. The use of 3D models greatly helps to improve the cartographic expression and design. 3D models are more visually efficient, quicker and easier to understand and they can express more detailed geographical information. However, it is hard to efficiently and precisely fuse 3D models in local systems. The purpose of this study is to propose an automatic and precise approach to fuse 3D models in geographic information systems (GIS). It is the basic premise for subsequent uses of 3D models in local systems, such as attribute searching, spatial analysis, and so on. The basic steps of our research are: (1) pose adjustment by principal component analysis (PCA); (2) silhouette extraction by simple mesh silhouette extraction and silhouette merger; (3) size adjustment; (4) position matching. Finally, we implement the above methods in our system Automotive Intelligent Chart (AIC) 3D Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). The fusion approach we propose is a common method and each calculation step is carefully designed. This approach solves the problem of cross-platform model fusion. 3D models can be from any source. They may be stored in the local cache or retrieved from Internet, or may be manually created by different tools or automatically generated by different programs. The system can be any kind of 3D GIS system.

Training eye movements for visual search in individuals with macular degeneration

PubMed Central

Janssen, Christian P.; Verghese, Preeti

2016-01-01

We report a method to train individuals with central field loss due to macular degeneration to improve the efficiency of visual search. Our method requires participants to make a same/different judgment on two simple silhouettes. One silhouette is presented in an area that falls within the binocular scotoma while they are fixating the center of the screen with their preferred retinal locus (PRL); the other silhouette is presented diametrically opposite within the intact visual field. Over the course of 480 trials (approximately 6 hr), we gradually reduced the amount of time that participants have to make a saccade and judge the similarity of stimuli. This requires that they direct their PRL first toward the stimulus that is initially hidden behind the scotoma. Results from nine participants show that all participants could complete the task faster with training without sacrificing accuracy on the same/different judgment task. Although a majority of participants were able to direct their PRL toward the initially hidden stimulus, the ability to do so varied between participants. Specifically, six of nine participants made faster saccades with training. A smaller set (four of nine) made accurate saccades inside or close to the target area and retained this strategy 2 to 3 months after training. Subjective reports suggest that training increased awareness of the scotoma location for some individuals. However, training did not transfer to a different visual search task. Nevertheless, our study suggests that increasing scotoma awareness and training participants to look toward their scotoma may help them acquire missing information. PMID:28027382

Effect of silhouetting and inversion on view invariance in the monkey inferotemporal cortex

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

We effortlessly recognize objects across changes in viewpoint, but we know relatively little about the features that underlie viewpoint invariance in the brain. Here, we set out to characterize how viewpoint invariance in monkey inferior temporal (IT) neurons is influenced by two image manipulations—silhouetting and inversion. Reducing an object into its silhouette removes internal detail, so this would reveal how much viewpoint invariance depends on the external contours. Inverting an object retains but rearranges features, so this would reveal how much viewpoint invariance depends on the arrangement and orientation of features. Our main findings are 1) view invariance is weakened by silhouetting but not by inversion; 2) view invariance was stronger in neurons that generalized across silhouetting and inversion; 3) neuronal responses to natural objects matched early with that of silhouettes and only later to that of inverted objects, indicative of coarse-to-fine processing; and 4) the impact of silhouetting and inversion depended on object structure. Taken together, our results elucidate the underlying features and dynamics of view-invariant object representations in the brain. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We easily recognize objects across changes in viewpoint, but the underlying features are unknown. Here, we show that view invariance in the monkey inferotemporal cortex is driven mainly by external object contours and is not specialized for object orientation. We also find that the responses to natural objects match with that of their silhouettes early in the response, and with inverted versions later in the response—indicative of a coarse-to-fine processing sequence in the brain. PMID:28381484

Effect of silhouetting and inversion on view invariance in the monkey inferotemporal cortex.

PubMed

Ratan Murty, N Apurva; Arun, S P

2017-07-01

We effortlessly recognize objects across changes in viewpoint, but we know relatively little about the features that underlie viewpoint invariance in the brain. Here, we set out to characterize how viewpoint invariance in monkey inferior temporal (IT) neurons is influenced by two image manipulations-silhouetting and inversion. Reducing an object into its silhouette removes internal detail, so this would reveal how much viewpoint invariance depends on the external contours. Inverting an object retains but rearranges features, so this would reveal how much viewpoint invariance depends on the arrangement and orientation of features. Our main findings are 1 ) view invariance is weakened by silhouetting but not by inversion; 2 ) view invariance was stronger in neurons that generalized across silhouetting and inversion; 3 ) neuronal responses to natural objects matched early with that of silhouettes and only later to that of inverted objects, indicative of coarse-to-fine processing; and 4 ) the impact of silhouetting and inversion depended on object structure. Taken together, our results elucidate the underlying features and dynamics of view-invariant object representations in the brain. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We easily recognize objects across changes in viewpoint, but the underlying features are unknown. Here, we show that view invariance in the monkey inferotemporal cortex is driven mainly by external object contours and is not specialized for object orientation. We also find that the responses to natural objects match with that of their silhouettes early in the response, and with inverted versions later in the response-indicative of a coarse-to-fine processing sequence in the brain. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Aging preserves the ability to perceive 3D object shape from static but not deforming boundary contours.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Bartholomew, Ashley N; Burton, Cory L

2008-09-01

A single experiment investigated how younger (aged 18-32 years) and older (aged 62-82 years) observers perceive 3D object shape from deforming and static boundary contours. On any given trial, observers were shown two smoothly-curved objects, similar to water-smoothed granite rocks, and were required to judge whether they possessed the "same" or "different" shape. The objects presented during the "different" trials produced differently-shaped boundary contours. The objects presented during the "same" trials also produced different boundary contours, because one of the objects was always rotated in depth relative to the other by 5, 25, or 45 degrees. Each observer participated in 12 experimental conditions formed by the combination of 2 motion types (deforming vs. static boundary contours), 2 surface types (objects depicted as silhouettes or with texture and Lambertian shading), and 3 angular offsets (5, 25, and 45 degrees). When there was no motion (static silhouettes or stationary objects presented with shading and texture), the older observers performed as well as the younger observers. In the moving object conditions with shading and texture, the older observers' performance was facilitated by the motion, but the amount of this facilitation was reduced relative to that exhibited by the younger observers. In contrast, the older observers obtained no benefit in performance at all from the deforming (i.e., moving) silhouettes. The reduced ability of older observers to perceive 3D shape from motion is probably due to a low-level deterioration in the ability to detect and discriminate motion itself.

Silhouette-Slice Theorems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-09-01

necessary to define "canonical" * parameterizations. Examples of proposed parameterizations are Munge N...of a slice of the surface oriented along the vector CT on the surface is given by STr -(A4.24) 11 is clear from the above expression, that when a slice

Identifying Hardwoods Growing on Pine Sites

Treesearch

Clair A. Brown; Harold E. Grelen

1977-01-01

This publication illustrates and describes 26 hardwood species or varieties, including 16 oaks and hickories with photographs of leaves, bark, buds, flowers, and fruits. Line drawings feature the winter silhouette of each species and a key is included to assist in identification.

Uncertainty of Comparative Judgments and Multidimensional Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sjoberg, Lennart

1975-01-01

An analysis of preferences with respect to silhouette drawings of nude females is presented. Systematic intransitivities were discovered. The dispersions of differences (comparatal dispersons) were shown to reflect the multidimensional structure of the stimuli, a finding expected on the basis of prior work. (Author)

Association of Rotating Night Shift Work with BMI and Abdominal Obesity among Nurses and Midwives.

PubMed

Peplonska, Beata; Bukowska, Agnieszka; Sobala, Wojciech

2015-01-01

Mounting epidemiological evidence suggests that night shift work may contribute to the etiology of increased body weight. The present study aimed to examine association between rotating night shift work and body mass index (BMI), and abdominal adiposity respectively among nurses and midwives. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 724 female nurses and midwives, aged 40-60 years (354 rotating night shift and 370 daytime workers) in Łódź, Poland, between 2008 and 2011. Information about occupational history and potential confounders was collected during personal interviews. Anthropometric measurements of body weight, height, waist (WC) and hip (HC) circumference were made, and body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. GLM regression models and multinomial logit regression models were fitted to explore the association between night shift work and anthropometric parameters, with adjustment for age, body silhouette at age 20, current smoking status, packyears, marital status, and menopausal hormone therapy use. Cumulative night shift work showed significant associations with BMI, WC, HC and WHtR, with BMI increasing by 0.477 kg/m2 per 1000 night duties and by 0.432 kg/m2 per 10000 night shift hours, WC increasing respectively by 1.089 cm and 0.99 cm, and HC by 0.72 cm and WHtR by 0.007 cm for both metrics. Both current and cumulative night work was associated with obesity (BMI≥30kg/m2), with OR=3.9 (95%CI:1.5-9.9), in women reporting eight or more night shifts per month. The results of the study support the previously reported relations between night shift work and development of obesity.

Association of Rotating Night Shift Work with BMI and Abdominal Obesity among Nurses and Midwives

PubMed Central

Peplonska, Beata; Bukowska, Agnieszka; Sobala, Wojciech

2015-01-01

Background Mounting epidemiological evidence suggests that night shift work may contribute to the etiology of increased body weight. The present study aimed to examine association between rotating night shift work and body mass index (BMI), and abdominal adiposity respectively among nurses and midwives. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 724 female nurses and midwives, aged 40-60 years (354 rotating night shift and 370 daytime workers) in Łódź, Poland, between 2008 and 2011. Information about occupational history and potential confounders was collected during personal interviews. Anthropometric measurements of body weight, height, waist (WC) and hip (HC) circumference were made, and body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. GLM regression models and multinomial logit regression models were fitted to explore the association between night shift work and anthropometric parameters, with adjustment for age, body silhouette at age 20, current smoking status, packyears, marital status, and menopausal hormone therapy use. Results Cumulative night shift work showed significant associations with BMI, WC, HC and WHtR, with BMI increasing by 0.477 kg/m2 per 1000 night duties and by 0.432 kg/m2 per 10000 night shift hours, WC increasing respectively by 1.089 cm and 0.99 cm, and HC by 0.72 cm and WHtR by 0.007 cm for both metrics. Both current and cumulative night work was associated with obesity (BMI≥30kg/m2), with OR=3.9 (95%CI:1.5-9.9), in women reporting eight or more night shifts per month. Conclusion The results of the study support the previously reported relations between night shift work and development of obesity. PMID:26196859

Limiting chest computed tomography in the evaluation of pediatric thoracic trauma.

PubMed

Golden, Jamie; Isani, Mubina; Bowling, Jordan; Zagory, Jessica; Goodhue, Catherine J; Burke, Rita V; Upperman, Jeffrey S; Gayer, Christopher P

2016-08-01

Computed tomography (CT) of the chest (chest CT) is overused in blunt pediatric thoracic trauma. Chest CT adds to the diagnosis of thoracic injury but rarely changes patient management. We sought to identify a subset of blunt pediatric trauma patients who would benefit from a screening chest CT based on their admission chest x-ray (CXR) findings. We hypothesize that limiting chest CT to patients with an abnormal mediastinal silhouette identifies intrathoracic vascular injuries not otherwise seen on CXR. All blunt trauma activations that underwent an admission CXR at our Level 1 pediatric trauma center from 2005 to 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who had a chest CT were evaluated for added diagnoses and change in management after CT. An admission CXR was performed in 1,035 patients. One hundred thirty-nine patients had a CT, and the diagnosis of intra-thoracic injury was added in 42% of patients. Chest CT significantly increased the diagnosis of contusion or atelectasis (30.3% vs 60.4%; p < 0.05), pneumothorax (7.2% vs 18.7%; p < 0.05), and other fractures (4.3% vs 10.8%; p < 0.05) on CXR compared to chest CT. Chest CT changed the management of only 4 patients (2.9%). Two patients underwent further radiologic evaluation that was negative for injury, one had a chest tube placed for an occult pneumothorax before exploratory laparotomy, and one patient had a thoracotomy for repair of aortic injury. Chest CT for select patients with an abnormal mediastinal silhouette on CXR would have decreased CT scans by 80% yet still identified patients with an intrathoracic vascular injury. The use of chest CT should be limited to the identification of intrathoracic vascular injuries in the setting of an abnormal mediastinal silhouette on CXR. Therapeutic study, level IV; diagnostic study, level III.

Biomorphic networks: approach to invariant feature extraction and segmentation for ATR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baek, Andrew; Farhat, Nabil H.

1998-10-01

Invariant features in two dimensional binary images are extracted in a single layer network of locally coupled spiking (pulsating) model neurons with prescribed synapto-dendritic response. The feature vector for an image is represented as invariant structure in the aggregate histogram of interspike intervals obtained by computing time intervals between successive spikes produced from each neuron over a given period of time and combining such intervals from all neurons in the network into a histogram. Simulation results show that the feature vectors are more pattern-specific and invariant under translation, rotation, and change in scale or intensity than achieved in earlier work. We also describe an application of such networks to segmentation of line (edge-enhanced or silhouette) images. The biomorphic spiking network's capabilities in segmentation and invariant feature extraction may prove to be, when they are combined, valuable in Automated Target Recognition (ATR) and other automated object recognition systems.

Intensity Interferometry: Imaging Stars with Kilometer Baselines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dravins, Dainis

2018-04-01

Microarcsecond imaging will reveal stellar surfaces but requires kilometer-scale interferometers. Intensity interferometry circumvents atmospheric turbulence by correlating intensity fluctuations between independent telescopes. Telescopes connect only electronically, and the error budget relates to electronic timescales of nanoseconds (light-travel distances on the order of a meter), enabling the use of imperfect optics in a turbulent atmosphere. Once pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss, digital versions have now been demonstrated in the laboratory, reconstructing diffraction-limited images from hundreds of optical baselines. Arrays of Cherenkov telescopes (primarily erected for gamma-ray studies) will extend over a few km, enabling an optical equivalent of radio interferometers. Resolutions in the tens of microarcseconds will resolve rotationally flattened stars with their circumstellar disks and winds, or possibly even the silhouettes of transiting exoplanets. Applying the method to mirror segments in extremely large telescopes (even with an incompletely filled main mirror, poor seeing, no adaptive optics), the diffraction limit in the blue may be reached.

Automatic creation of three-dimensional avatars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villa-Uriol, Maria-Cruz; Sainz, Miguel; Kuester, Falko; Bagherzadeh, Nader

2003-01-01

Highly accurate avatars of humans promise a new level of realism in engineering and entertainment applications, including areas such as computer animated movies, computer game development interactive virtual environments and tele-presence. In order to provide high-quality avatars, new techniques for the automatic acquisition and creation are required. A framework for the capture and construction of arbitrary avatars from image data is presented in this paper. Avatars are automatically reconstructed from multiple static images of a human subject by utilizing image information to reshape a synthetic three-dimensional articulated reference model. A pipeline is presented that combines a set of hardware-accelerated stages into one seamless system. Primary stages in this pipeline include pose estimation, skeleton fitting, body part segmentation, geometry construction and coloring, leading to avatars that can be animated and included into interactive environments. The presented system removes traditional constraints in the initial pose of the captured subject by using silhouette-based modification techniques in combination with a reference model. Results can be obtained in near-real time with very limited user intervention.

Neural networks for sign language translation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Beth J.; Anspach, Gretel

1993-09-01

A neural network is used to extract relevant features of sign language from video images of a person communicating in American Sign Language or Signed English. The key features are hand motion, hand location with respect to the body, and handshape. A modular hybrid design is under way to apply various techniques, including neural networks, in the development of a translation system that will facilitate communication between deaf and hearing people. One of the neural networks described here is used to classify video images of handshapes into their linguistic counterpart in American Sign Language. The video image is preprocessed to yield Fourier descriptors that encode the shape of the hand silhouette. These descriptors are then used as inputs to a neural network that classifies their shapes. The network is trained with various examples from different signers and is tested with new images from new signers. The results have shown that for coarse handshape classes, the network is invariant to the type of camera used to film the various signers and to the segmentation technique.

Height preferences in humans may not be universal: evidence from the Datoga people of Tanzania.

PubMed

Sorokowski, P; Butovskaya, M L

2012-09-01

Many studies in Western societies have shown that women prefer relatively taller men as potential partners, whereas men prefer women who are slightly shorter than themselves. Here, we discuss possible limitations of previous results within the context of the stimuli used (i.e., differences in the perceived body size of female silhouettes). Our results show that, at least in a Polish sample (N=231), modified stimuli did not essentially change the observed male-taller preferences. In contrast, we report height preferences in a traditional ethnic group, the Datoga people from Tanzania (N=107), in which men and women preferred extreme sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS) sets (i.e., men and women chose women much taller or much shorter than themselves). Thus, our data do not accord with the suggestion of a universal preference for taller men, but rather suggests that height preferences may be influenced by cultural, environmental, and ecological conditions. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New Observations from a Successful Flyby of Chang'e-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jiangchuan; Ji, Jianghui; Ye, Peijian; Wang, Xiaolei; Yan, Jun; Meng, Linzhi; Wang, Su; Li, Chunlai; Li, Yuan; Qiao, Dong; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Yuhui; Zhang, Tingxin; Liu, Peng; Jiang, Yun; Rao, Wei; Li, Sheng; Huang, Changning; Ip, Wing-Huen; Hu, Shoucun; Zhu, Menghua; Yu, Liangliang; Zou, Yongliao; Tang, Xianglong; Li, Jianyang; Zhao, Haibin; Huang, Hao; Jiang, Xiaojun; Bai, Jinming

2013-12-01

On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 conducted a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 +/- 120 meters from the asteroid's surface. The highest-resolution image, with a resolution of better than 3 meters, reveals new discoveries on the asteroid, e.g., a giant basin at the big end, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, and direct evidence of boulders and regolith, which suggests that Toutatis may bear a rubble-pile structure. Toutatis' maximum physical length and width are (4.75 × 1.95 km) +/-10%, respectively, and the direction of the +z axis is estimated to be (250 +/- 5°, 63 +/- 5°) with respect to the J2000 ecliptic coordinate system. The bifurcated configuration is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis, which is composed of two lobes (head and body). Chang'e-2 observations have significantly improved our understanding of the characteristics, formation, and evolution of asteroids in general.

Investigating Architectural Issues in Neuromorphic Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

An example of this is Diffusion Tensor Imaging ( DTI ), a variant of fMRI, which detects water diffusion. DTI is routinely applied at medical...model computed for a subfield positioned over a section of the silhouette dog’s hind leg . The illustrated angles roughly correspond to orientation

Falling into Winter.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrington, Carolyn Lang

2000-01-01

Presents an activity that connects art, science, and nature in which elementary school students learn about deciduous trees. Explains that students create a torn-tissue collage, using fall colors for a background and drawing a silhouette of a tree without leaves on top of the background with black crayon. (CMK)

Orientation of an Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, towards objects of different shapes and colors

Treesearch

Baode Wang; David R. Lance; Joseph A. Francese; Zhichun Xu; Fengyong Jia; Youqing Luo; Victor C. Mastro

2003-01-01

Silhouettes of different colors, shapes and sizes made of bamboo frames covered with cloth, paired in different color sets, were placed equidistantly around the perimeter of a circle with a 7.5 m radius, in an open area.

Neural Underpinnings of the Identifiable Victim Effect: Affect Shifts Preferences for Giving

PubMed Central

Västfjäll, Daniel; Slovic, Paul; Knutson, Brian

2013-01-01

The “identifiable victim effect” refers to peoples' tendency to preferentially give to identified versus anonymous victims of misfortune, and has been proposed to partly depend on affect. By soliciting charitable donations from human subjects during behavioral and neural (i.e., functional magnetic resonance imaging) experiments, we sought to determine whether and how affect might promote the identifiable victim effect. Behaviorally, subjects gave more to orphans depicted by photographs versus silhouettes, and their shift in preferences was mediated by photograph-induced feelings of positive arousal, but not negative arousal. Neurally, while photographs versus silhouettes elicited activity in widespread circuits associated with facial and affective processing, only nucleus accumbens activity predicted and could statistically account for increased donations. Together, these findings suggest that presenting evaluable identifiable information can recruit positive arousal, which then promotes giving. We propose that affect elicited by identifiable stimuli can compel people to give more to strangers, even despite costs to the self. PMID:24155323

Encryption of QR code and grayscale image in interference-based scheme with high quality retrieval and silhouette problem removal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yi; Wang, Hongjuan; Wang, Zhipeng; Gong, Qiong; Wang, Danchen

2016-09-01

In optical interference-based encryption (IBE) scheme, the currently available methods have to employ the iterative algorithms in order to encrypt two images and retrieve cross-talk free decrypted images. In this paper, we shall show that this goal can be achieved via an analytical process if one of the two images is QR code. For decryption, the QR code is decrypted in the conventional architecture and the decryption has a noisy appearance. Nevertheless, the robustness of QR code against noise enables the accurate acquisition of its content from the noisy retrieval, as a result of which the primary QR code can be exactly regenerated. Thereafter, a novel optical architecture is proposed to recover the grayscale image by aid of the QR code. In addition, the proposal has totally eliminated the silhouette problem existing in the previous IBE schemes, and its effectiveness and feasibility have been demonstrated by numerical simulations.

A Sketching Interface for Freeform 3D Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Igarashi, Takeo

This chapter introduces Teddy, a sketch-based modeling system to quickly and easily design freeform models such as stuffed animals and other rotund objects. The user draws several 2D freeform strokes interactively on the screen and the system automatically constructs plausible 3D polygonal surfaces. Our system supports several modeling operations, including the operation to construct a 3D polygonal surface from a 2D silhouette drawn by the user: it inflates the region surrounded by the silhouette making a wide area fat, and a narrow area thin. Teddy, our prototype system, is implemented as a Java program, and the mesh construction is done in real-time on a standard PC. Our informal user study showed that a first-time user masters the operations within 10 minutes, and can construct interesting 3D models within minutes. We also report the result of a case study where a high school teacher taught various 3D concepts in geography using the system.

Introducing Exotopography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McTier, Moiya; Kipping, David

2018-01-01

Mountain ranges, volcanoes, trenches, and craters are common on rocky bodies throughout the Solar System, and we might we expect the same for rocky exoplanets. With ever larger telescopes under design and a growing need to not just detect planets but also to characterize them, it is timely to consider whether there is any prospect of remotely detecting exoplanet topography in the coming decades. To test this, we devised a novel yet simple approach to detect and quantify topographical features on the surfaces of exoplanets using transit light curves. If a planet rotates as it transits its parent star, its changing silhouette yields a time-varying transit depth, which can be observed as an apparent and anomalous increase in the photometric scatter. Using elevation data for several rocky bodies in our solar system, we quantify each world's surface integrated relief with a "bumpiness'' factor, and calculate the corresponding photometric scatter expected during a transit. Here we consider the ideal case of Mars transiting a nearby white dwarf star. If such systems have a pessimistic occurrence rate of 10%, we estimate that the upcoming Colossus or OWL telescopes would be able to detect topography with fewer than 20 hours of observing time, which corresponds to several years of wall time given the very short (but frequent) transits expected.

Is ideal body image related to obesity and lifestyle behaviours in African American adolescents?

PubMed

Chen, X; Wang, Y

2012-03-01

Childhood obesity epidemic has become a public health issue in the USA, especially among African American youths. Research on the association between ideal body image (IBI) and obesity and related lifestyle factors among African American children and adolescents is limited. Data collected from 402 low-income African American adolescents aged 10-14 years in four Chicago public schools were used. Questionnaires were used to assess IBI, weight perception, weight control practices, and self-efficacy towards food and physical activity. Body mass index was calculated using measured weight and height. Associations between IBI and weight perception, overweight/obesity and lifestyle behaviours were assessed using linear and logistic regression models. The most frequently chosen ideal body size was the fourth of eight silhouettes (from thinnest to heaviest) for boys (55%) and girls (49%). Overweight and obese girls selected larger ideal body figures than the others (trend test: P < 0.001). Compared with those with middle ideal body figures, girls who selected smaller ones were twice as likely to have an unhealthy diet as indicated by less fruit and milk consumption; the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were 2.40 (1.15-5.02) for fruits intake (

STS-102 Launch Activities inside the MCC.

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-03-08

JSC2001-E-06216 (8 March 2001) --- In Houston's Mission Control Center (MCC), the silhouette of astronaut Steven A. Hawley of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate appears just to the right of the monitor displaying the Space Shuttle Discovery's pre-launch activities several hundred miles away in Florida.

Incontinence: The Potential Budget Buster

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, Sharon

2009-01-01

Someone who lives with incontinence, whether bowel, bladder, or both, knows the social stigma and personal toll on his life. Incontinence is the ever-present shadowy silhouette lurking over almost every decision, sometimes requiring complex preplanning. In this article, the author describes the challenges of incontinence and discusses how she…

Spectacular Skies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nickerson, Jessica

2008-01-01

Marbling paper is a favorite in many elementary classrooms. The marbling project described in this article, using a sunset and silhouette concept, is foolproof, inexpensive, and engaging. After looking at images of incredible sunsets for inspiration, each student uses marbling paper, black construction paper, three colors of chalk, and a tub of…

Exploring Linguistic Identity in Young Multilingual Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dressler, Roswita

2014-01-01

This article explores the linguistic identity of young multilingual learners through the use of a Language Portrait Silhouette. Examples from a research study of children aged 6-8 years in a German bilingual program in Canada provide teachers with an understanding that linguistic identity comprises expertise, affiliation, and inheritance. This…

Effect of silhouette color on trap catches of Dendroctonus frontalis (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Treesearch

B.L. Strom; R.A. Goyer

2001-01-01

With the exception of responses to semiochemicals, host selection behaviors of D. frontalis are largely unstudied. To better understand the host finding behavior of D. frontalis, and to identify potential visual disruptants, we evaluated the response of D. frontalis to multiple-funnel traps of eight different...

Computer-Based and Paper-Based Measurement of Recognition Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federico, Pat-Anthony

To determine the relative reliabilities and validities of paper-based and computer-based measurement procedures, 83 male student pilots and radar intercept officers were administered computer and paper-based tests of aircraft recognition. The subject matter consisted of line drawings of front, side, and top silhouettes of aircraft. Reliabilities…

Three-dimensional reconstruction of fruit trees by a shape from silhouette method

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In order to robotically prune a dormant fruit tree, the branches must be identified in a three-dimensional space. Furthermore, the branches need to be measured in order to determine which branches should be pruned. Both the identification and measurement of branches can be accomplished by generati...

Mercury Solar Transit

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-09

The planet Mercury is seen in silhouette, lower left of image, as it transits across the face of the sun, Monday, May 9, 2016, as viewed from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Mercury passes between Earth and the sun only about 13 times a century, with the previous transit taking place in 2006. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Mercury Solar Transit

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-09

The planet Mercury is seen in silhouette, lower left, as it transits across the face of the sun Monday, May 9, 2016, as viewed from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Mercury passes between Earth and the sun only about 13 times a century, with the previous transit taking place in 2006. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Mercury Solar Transit

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-09

The planet Mercury is seen in silhouette, lower center of image, as it transits across the face of the sun, Monday, May 9, 2016, as viewed from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Mercury passes between Earth and the sun only about 13 times a century, with the previous transit taking place in 2006. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Mercury Solar Transit

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-05-09

The planet Mercury is seen in silhouette, lower third of image, as it transits across the face of the sun Monday, May 9, 2016, as viewed from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Mercury passes between Earth and the sun only about 13 times a century, with the previous transit taking place in 2006. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Latitude and ultraviolet radiation dose in the birthplace in relation to menarcheal age in a large cohort of French women.

PubMed

Dossus, Laure; Kvaskoff, Marina; Bijon, Anne; Engel, Pierre; Verdebout, Jean; Fervers, Béatrice; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Mesrine, Sylvie

2013-04-01

Age at menarche is an important determinant of hormonal-related neoplasia and other chronic diseases. Spatial and temporal variations in age at menarche have been observed in industrialised countries and several environmental factors were reported to have an influence. We examined geographical variations in self-reported age at menarche and explored the effects of both latitude and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) dose on the onset of menarche in 88,278 women from the French E3N cohort (aged 40-65 years at inclusion). The mean age at menarche was 12.8 years. After adjustment for potential confounders (birth cohort, prematurity, birth weight and length, father's income index, body silhouette in childhood, food deprivation during World War II, population of birthplace, number of siblings, breastfeeding exposure and indoor exposure to passive smoking during childhood), latitude and UVR dose (annual or spring/summer) in county of birth were significantly associated with age at menarche (P(trend) < 0.0001). Women born at lower latitudes or in regions with higher annual or spring/summer UVR dose had a 3- to 4-month earlier menarche than women born at higher latitudes or in regions with lower UVR. On a continuous scale, a 1° increment in latitude resulted in a 0.04-year older age at menarche [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.03, 0.05], whereas a 1-kJ/m(2) increment in annual UVR dose resulted in a 0.42-year younger age at menarche (95% CI: -0.55, -0.29). These data further suggest that light exposure in childhood may influence sexual maturation in women.

Predictors of pneumonia on routine chest radiographs in patients with COPD: a post hoc analysis of two 1-year randomized controlled trials

PubMed Central

Rubin, David B; Ahmad, Harris A; O’Neal, Michael; Bennett, Sophie; Lettis, Sally; Galkin, Dmitry V; Crim, Courtney

2018-01-01

Background Patients with COPD are at risk for life-threatening pneumonia. Although anatomical abnormalities in the thorax may predispose to pneumonia, those abnormalities identified on routine chest X-rays (CXRs) in patients with COPD have not been studied to better understand pneumonia risk. Methods We conducted a post hoc exploratory analysis of data from two replicate year-long clinical trials assessing the impact of fluticasone furoate–vilanterol versus vilanterol alone on COPD exacerbations (GSK studies: HZC102871/NCT01009463 and HZC102970/NCT01017952). Abnormalities on baseline CXRs from 179 patients who developed pneumonia and 50 randomly selected patients who did not were identified by blinded consensus readings conducted by two radiologists. Positive and negative likelihood ratios and diagnostic odds ratios (ORs) were calculated to evaluate the markers for subsequent pneumonia development during the 1-year study period. Results Baseline characteristics distinguishing the pneumonia and non-pneumonia groups included a lower body mass index (24.9 vs 27.5 kg/m2, P=0.008), more severe airflow obstruction (mean post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1]/forced vital capacity ratio: 42.3% vs 47.6%, P=0.003), and prior pneumonia (36% vs 20%, P=0.030). Baseline CXR findings with the highest diagnostic ORs were: elevated hemi-diaphragm (OR: 6.87; 95% CI: 0.90, 52.26), thick tracheal-esophageal stripe (OR: 4.39 [0.25, 78.22]), narrow cardiac silhouette (OR: 2.91 [0.85, 9.99]), calcified pleural plaque/mid-chest pleural thickening (OR: 2.82 [0.15, 53.76]), and large/prominent pulmonary artery shadow (OR: 1.94 [0.95, 3.97]). The presence of a narrow cardiac silhouette at baseline was associated with a statistically significant lower mean pre-bronchodilator FEV1 (P=0.040). There was also a trend for a lower mean pre-bronchodilator FEV1 in patients with a large/prominent pulmonary artery shadow at baseline (P=0.095). Conclusion Findings on routine CXR that relate to pathophysiological mechanisms of pneumonia could help determine pneumonia risk in patients with COPD. PMID:29386888

Quantitative evaluation of 3D mouse behaviors and motor function in the open-field after spinal cord injury using markerless motion tracking.

PubMed

Sheets, Alison L; Lai, Po-Lun; Fisher, Lesley C; Basso, D Michele

2013-01-01

Thousands of scientists strive to identify cellular mechanisms that could lead to breakthroughs in developing ameliorative treatments for debilitating neural and muscular conditions such as spinal cord injury (SCI). Most studies use rodent models to test hypotheses, and these are all limited by the methods available to evaluate animal motor function. This study's goal was to develop a behavioral and locomotor assessment system in a murine model of SCI that enables quantitative kinematic measurements to be made automatically in the open-field by applying markerless motion tracking approaches. Three-dimensional movements of eight naïve, five mild, five moderate, and four severe SCI mice were recorded using 10 cameras (100 Hz). Background subtraction was used in each video frame to identify the animal's silhouette, and the 3D shape at each time was reconstructed using shape-from-silhouette. The reconstructed volume was divided into front and back halves using k-means clustering. The animal's front Center of Volume (CoV) height and whole-body CoV speed were calculated and used to automatically classify animal behaviors including directed locomotion, exploratory locomotion, meandering, standing, and rearing. More detailed analyses of CoV height, speed, and lateral deviation during directed locomotion revealed behavioral differences and functional impairments in animals with mild, moderate, and severe SCI when compared with naïve animals. Naïve animals displayed the widest variety of behaviors including rearing and crossing the center of the open-field, the fastest speeds, and tallest rear CoV heights. SCI reduced the range of behaviors, and decreased speed (r = .70 p<.005) and rear CoV height (r = .65 p<.01) were significantly correlated with greater lesion size. This markerless tracking approach is a first step toward fundamentally changing how rodent movement studies are conducted. By providing scientists with sensitive, quantitative measurement methods, subjectivity and human error is reduced, potentially providing insights leading to breakthroughs in treating human disease.

Quantitative Evaluation of 3D Mouse Behaviors and Motor Function in the Open-Field after Spinal Cord Injury Using Markerless Motion Tracking

PubMed Central

Sheets, Alison L.; Lai, Po-Lun; Fisher, Lesley C.; Basso, D. Michele

2013-01-01

Thousands of scientists strive to identify cellular mechanisms that could lead to breakthroughs in developing ameliorative treatments for debilitating neural and muscular conditions such as spinal cord injury (SCI). Most studies use rodent models to test hypotheses, and these are all limited by the methods available to evaluate animal motor function. This study’s goal was to develop a behavioral and locomotor assessment system in a murine model of SCI that enables quantitative kinematic measurements to be made automatically in the open-field by applying markerless motion tracking approaches. Three-dimensional movements of eight naïve, five mild, five moderate, and four severe SCI mice were recorded using 10 cameras (100 Hz). Background subtraction was used in each video frame to identify the animal’s silhouette, and the 3D shape at each time was reconstructed using shape-from-silhouette. The reconstructed volume was divided into front and back halves using k-means clustering. The animal’s front Center of Volume (CoV) height and whole-body CoV speed were calculated and used to automatically classify animal behaviors including directed locomotion, exploratory locomotion, meandering, standing, and rearing. More detailed analyses of CoV height, speed, and lateral deviation during directed locomotion revealed behavioral differences and functional impairments in animals with mild, moderate, and severe SCI when compared with naïve animals. Naïve animals displayed the widest variety of behaviors including rearing and crossing the center of the open-field, the fastest speeds, and tallest rear CoV heights. SCI reduced the range of behaviors, and decreased speed (r = .70 p<.005) and rear CoV height (r = .65 p<.01) were significantly correlated with greater lesion size. This markerless tracking approach is a first step toward fundamentally changing how rodent movement studies are conducted. By providing scientists with sensitive, quantitative measurement methods, subjectivity and human error is reduced, potentially providing insights leading to breakthroughs in treating human disease. PMID:24058586

Introduction to Photolithography: Preparation of Microscale Polymer Silhouettes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berkowski, Kimberly L.; Plunkett, Kyle N.; Moore, Jeffrey S.

2005-01-01

A study describes an easy procedure based on a negative photoresist process designed for junior high or high school students, which will introduce them to the key terms and concepts of photolithography. The experiment allows students to visualize the fundamental process behind microchip fabrication, observe the rapid prototyping enabled by such a…

49 CFR 221.13 - Marking device display.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... by this subpart shall be illuminated continuously or flash during the period between one hour before sunset and one hour after sunrise, and during all other hours when weather conditions so restrict visibility that the end silhouette of a standard box car cannot be seen from 1/2 mile on tangent track by a...

The Influence of Attitudes about Weight

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (JOPERD), 2005

2005-01-01

Obesity stereotypes and anti fat attitudes influence the social behavior of middle school students according to a study presented last June at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Using a series of questionnaires and fat and thin silhouette figures, the researchers quizzed 176 boys and 141 girls between the ages of…

Earth Observations taken by the Expedition 39 Crew

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-05-03

ISS039-E-018314 (3 May 2014) --- One of the Expedition 39 crew members aboard the International Space Station recorded this still image of the Aurora Australis when the orbital outpost was passing over the Indian Ocean on May 3, 2014. Hardware on the station is seen as a silhouette in upper left.

49 CFR 221.13 - Marking device display.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... visibility that the end silhouette of a standard box car cannot be seen from 1/2 mile on tangent track by a... with, (2) display on the trailing end of the rear car of that train, and (3) continuously illuminate or... cell activation mechanism complying with paragraph (c) of this section, the marking devices prescribed...

Fifty Years Remembered: The First 50 Years of the Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-07-01

life because he cultivated his sense of idealism while embellishing his sense of realism. He artfully combined understanding, empathy , and...its companion smaller civil works projects, would fill a bookshelf and here can be traced only in silhouette. A storyteller might well begin the tale

Measuring Recognition Performance Using Computer-Based and Paper-Based Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federico, Pat-Anthony

1991-01-01

Using a within-subjects design, computer-based and paper-based tests of aircraft silhouette recognition were administered to 83 male naval pilots and flight officers to determine the relative reliabilities and validities of 2 measurement modes. Relative reliabilities and validities of the two modes were contingent on the multivariate measurement…

Analysis of genetic association in Listeria and Diabetes using Hierarchical Clustering and Silhouette Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagnuco, Inti A.; Pastore, Juan I.; Abras, Guillermo; Brun, Marcel; Ballarin, Virginia L.

2016-04-01

It is usually assumed that co-expressed genes suggest co-regulation in the underlying regulatory network. Determining sets of co-expressed genes is an important task, where significative groups of genes are defined based on some criteria. This task is usually performed by clustering algorithms, where the whole family of genes, or a subset of them, are clustered into meaningful groups based on their expression values in a set of experiment. In this work we used a methodology based on the Silhouette index as a measure of cluster quality for individual gene groups, and a combination of several variants of hierarchical clustering to generate the candidate groups, to obtain sets of co-expressed genes for two real data examples. We analyzed the quality of the best ranked groups, obtained by the algorithm, using an online bioinformatics tool that provides network information for the selected genes. Moreover, to verify the performance of the algorithm, considering the fact that it doesn’t find all possible subsets, we compared its results against a full search, to determine the amount of good co-regulated sets not detected.

Design and Realization of Silhouette Operation Platform Based on GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Jia; Cui, Xinqiang; Yuan, Zhengteng

2018-01-01

Artificial weather effects after several generations of unremitting efforts in many provinces, municipalities and districts have become a regular business to serve the community. In the actual operation of the actual impact of weather operations, onsite job terminal system functional integration is not high, such as the operation process cumbersome operation instructions unreasonable, the weather data lag, the data form of a single factor and other factors seriously affect the weather conditions, Sexual and intuitive improvement. Therefore, this paper adopts the Android system as the carrier for the design and implementation of the silhouette intelligent terminal system. The intelligent terminal system has carried on the preliminary deployment trial in the real-time intelligent command system which realizes the weather operation in a province, and has formed a centralized, unified and digital artificial influence in combination with the self-developed multi-function server system platform and the remote centre command system Weather operation communication network, to achieve intelligent terminal and remote centre commander between the efficient, timely and stable information exchange, improve the shadow of the economic and social benefits, basically reached the initial design purpose.

3D object retrieval using salient views

PubMed Central

Shapiro, Linda G.

2013-01-01

This paper presents a method for selecting salient 2D views to describe 3D objects for the purpose of retrieval. The views are obtained by first identifying salient points via a learning approach that uses shape characteristics of the 3D points (Atmosukarto and Shapiro in International workshop on structural, syntactic, and statistical pattern recognition, 2008; Atmosukarto and Shapiro in ACM multimedia information retrieval, 2008). The salient views are selected by choosing views with multiple salient points on the silhouette of the object. Silhouette-based similarity measures from Chen et al. (Comput Graph Forum 22(3):223–232, 2003) are then used to calculate the similarity between two 3D objects. Retrieval experiments were performed on three datasets: the Heads dataset, the SHREC2008 dataset, and the Princeton dataset. Experimental results show that the retrieval results using the salient views are comparable to the existing light field descriptor method (Chen et al. in Comput Graph Forum 22(3):223–232, 2003), and our method achieves a 15-fold speedup in the feature extraction computation time. PMID:23833704

The relative pose estimation of aircraft based on contour model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Tai; Sun, Xiangyi

2017-02-01

This paper proposes a relative pose estimation approach based on object contour model. The first step is to obtain a two-dimensional (2D) projection of three-dimensional (3D)-model-based target, which will be divided into 40 forms by clustering and LDA analysis. Then we proceed by extracting the target contour in each image and computing their Pseudo-Zernike Moments (PZM), thus a model library is constructed in an offline mode. Next, we spot a projection contour that resembles the target silhouette most in the present image from the model library with reference of PZM; then similarity transformation parameters are generated as the shape context is applied to match the silhouette sampling location, from which the identification parameters of target can be further derived. Identification parameters are converted to relative pose parameters, in the premise that these values are the initial result calculated via iterative refinement algorithm, as the relative pose parameter is in the neighborhood of actual ones. At last, Distance Image Iterative Least Squares (DI-ILS) is employed to acquire the ultimate relative pose parameters.

Weight status and perception of body image in children: the effect of maternal immigrant status.

PubMed

Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela; Manzon, Vanessa Samantha; Masotti, Sabrina; Toselli, Stefania; Albertini, Augusta; Celenza, Francesca; Zaccagni, Luciana

2012-10-15

Recent studies have shown that body image perception is an important factor in weight control and may be influenced by culture and ethnicity. The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between immigrant status of the mother and weight status and body image perception of the child. In total, 2706 schoolchildren (1405 boys and 1301 girls) aged 8-9 years and their mothers participated in a cross-sectional survey in Emilia-Romagna region (northern Italy). Weight and height of the children were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated. Actual and ideal body image perception by the children and by the mothers with respect to their children was evaluated according to Collins' body image silhouettes. The BMI values were significantly lower in children of immigrants than in children of Italian mothers (F:17.27 vs 17.99 kg/m²; M:17.77 vs 18.13 kg/m²). The prevalence of overweight/obesity was lower, and the prevalence of underweight higher, in children of immigrant mothers than in those of Italian mothers (overweight- F:21.3 vs 29.1%; M. 28.3 vs 31.4%; underweight- F:5.16 vs 3.84%; M:6.63 vs 2.82%). The children's body image perception was consistent with the differing pattern of nutritional status. In the comparison between actual and ideal figures, the Feel-Ideal Difference Index (FID) scores resulted different between the subsample with foreign-born mother in comparison to the native one (significantly lower in daughters of immigrants) (FID- F: 0.31 vs 0.57; M: 0.35 vs 0.32). There were significant differences in the choice of the ideal figure of the child between immigrant mothers and Italian mothers (FID- F: -0.05 vs 0.19; M: -0.35 vs -0.03): the ideal figure values were higher in the immigrant mothers of male children and lower in the Italian mothers of female children. Our results suggest that cultural and behavioral factors linked to ethnicity play an important role in the nutritional status of children and in the perceived and ideal body image.

Finding mountains with molehills: the detectability of exotopography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McTier, Moiya A. S.; Kipping, David M.

2018-04-01

Mountain ranges, volcanoes, trenches, and craters are common on rocky bodies throughout the Solar system, and we might expect the same for rocky exoplanets. With ever larger telescopes under design and a growing need to not just detect planets but also to characterize them, it is timely to consider whether there is any prospect of remotely detecting exoplanet topography in the coming decades. To test this, we devised a novel yet simple approach to detect and quantify topographical features on the surfaces of exoplanets using transit light curves. If a planet rotates as it transits its parent star, its changing silhouette yields a time-varying transit depth, which can be observed as an apparent and anomalous increase in the photometric scatter. Using elevation data for several rocky bodies in our Solar system, we quantify each world's surface integrated relief with a `bumpiness' factor, and calculate the corresponding photometric scatter expected during a transit. Here, we describe the kinds of observations that would be necessary to detect topography in the ideal case of Mars transiting a nearby white dwarf star. If such systems have a conservative occurrence rate of 10 per cent, we estimate that the upcoming Colossus or Overwhelmingly Large telescopes would be able to detect topography with <20 h of observing time, which corresponds to ˜400 transits with a duration of 2 min and orbital period of ˜10 h.

Markerless human motion tracking using hierarchical multi-swarm cooperative particle swarm optimization.

PubMed

Saini, Sanjay; Zakaria, Nordin; Rambli, Dayang Rohaya Awang; Sulaiman, Suziah

2015-01-01

The high-dimensional search space involved in markerless full-body articulated human motion tracking from multiple-views video sequences has led to a number of solutions based on metaheuristics, the most recent form of which is Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). However, the classical PSO suffers from premature convergence and it is trapped easily into local optima, significantly affecting the tracking accuracy. To overcome these drawbacks, we have developed a method for the problem based on Hierarchical Multi-Swarm Cooperative Particle Swarm Optimization (H-MCPSO). The tracking problem is formulated as a non-linear 34-dimensional function optimization problem where the fitness function quantifies the difference between the observed image and a projection of the model configuration. Both the silhouette and edge likelihoods are used in the fitness function. Experiments using Brown and HumanEva-II dataset demonstrated that H-MCPSO performance is better than two leading alternative approaches-Annealed Particle Filter (APF) and Hierarchical Particle Swarm Optimization (HPSO). Further, the proposed tracking method is capable of automatic initialization and self-recovery from temporary tracking failures. Comprehensive experimental results are presented to support the claims.

The ginger-shaped asteroid 4179 Toutatis: new observations from a successful flyby of Chang'e-2.

PubMed

Huang, Jiangchuan; Ji, Jianghui; Ye, Peijian; Wang, Xiaolei; Yan, Jun; Meng, Linzhi; Wang, Su; Li, Chunlai; Li, Yuan; Qiao, Dong; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Yuhui; Zhang, Tingxin; Liu, Peng; Jiang, Yun; Rao, Wei; Li, Sheng; Huang, Changning; Ip, Wing-Huen; Hu, Shoucun; Zhu, Menghua; Yu, Liangliang; Zou, Yongliao; Tang, Xianglong; Li, Jianyang; Zhao, Haibin; Huang, Hao; Jiang, Xiaojun; Bai, Jinming

2013-12-12

On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 conducted a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 ± 120 meters from the asteroid's surface. The highest-resolution image, with a resolution of better than 3 meters, reveals new discoveries on the asteroid, e.g., a giant basin at the big end, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, and direct evidence of boulders and regolith, which suggests that Toutatis may bear a rubble-pile structure. Toutatis' maximum physical length and width are (4.75 × 1.95 km) ±10%, respectively, and the direction of the +z axis is estimated to be (250 ± 5°, 63 ± 5°) with respect to the J2000 ecliptic coordinate system. The bifurcated configuration is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis, which is composed of two lobes (head and body). Chang'e-2 observations have significantly improved our understanding of the characteristics, formation, and evolution of asteroids in general.

The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New Observations from a Successful Flyby of Chang'e-2

PubMed Central

Huang, Jiangchuan; Ji, Jianghui; Ye, Peijian; Wang, Xiaolei; Yan, Jun; Meng, Linzhi; Wang, Su; Li, Chunlai; Li, Yuan; Qiao, Dong; Zhao, Wei; Zhao, Yuhui; Zhang, Tingxin; Liu, Peng; Jiang, Yun; Rao, Wei; Li, Sheng; Huang, Changning; Ip, Wing-Huen; Hu, Shoucun; Zhu, Menghua; Yu, Liangliang; Zou, Yongliao; Tang, Xianglong; Li, Jianyang; Zhao, Haibin; Huang, Hao; Jiang, Xiaojun; Bai, Jinming

2013-01-01

On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 conducted a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 ± 120 meters from the asteroid's surface. The highest-resolution image, with a resolution of better than 3 meters, reveals new discoveries on the asteroid, e.g., a giant basin at the big end, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, and direct evidence of boulders and regolith, which suggests that Toutatis may bear a rubble-pile structure. Toutatis' maximum physical length and width are (4.75 × 1.95 km) ±10%, respectively, and the direction of the +z axis is estimated to be (250 ± 5°, 63 ± 5°) with respect to the J2000 ecliptic coordinate system. The bifurcated configuration is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis, which is composed of two lobes (head and body). Chang'e-2 observations have significantly improved our understanding of the characteristics, formation, and evolution of asteroids in general. PMID:24336501

A sunset Earth observation image taken during STS-100

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-04-26

S100-E-5498 (26 April 2001) --- Earth's limb--the edge of the planet seen at twilight--was captured with a digital still camera by one of the STS-100 crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Near center frame the silhouette of cloud layers can be seen in the atmosphere, above which lies an airglow layer (left).

Reflection on Theory: Whose Knowledge, and the Hidden Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hartlep, Nicholas D.

2009-01-01

This opinion paper intends to elucidate the author's theoretical framework towards education and the goals of curriculum. The author utilizes various scholars' work to help form a silhouette of his beliefs and of what he feels a P-12 school curriculum should provide to students, as well as to outline how his theoretical disposition has shaped his…

Serengeti Silhouettes: A Year-Long African Adventure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coy, Mary

2006-01-01

Preparation is vital to the success of any journey, especially when one is dealing with a faraway land and 700 sixth graders. Creating a virtual journey to Africa, the author describes an art lesson plan for sixth graders focusing on life on the Serengeti, by having students create tissue paper collages through a three-stage project. (Contains 1…

Monitoring Coating Thickness During Plasma Spraying

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Robert A.

1990-01-01

High-resolution video measures thickness accurately without interfering with process. Camera views cylindrical part through filter during plasma spraying. Lamp blacklights part, creating high-contrast silhouette on video monitor. Width analyzer counts number of lines in image of part after each pass of spray gun. Layer-by-layer measurements ensure adequate coat built up without danger of exceeding required thickness.

Tactile Earth and Space Science Materials for Students with Visual Impairments: Contours, Craters, Asteroids, and Features of Mars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rule, Audrey C.

2011-01-01

New tactile curriculum materials for teaching Earth and planetary science lessons on rotation=revolution, silhouettes of objects from different views, contour maps, impact craters, asteroids, and topographic features of Mars to 11 elementary and middle school students with sight impairments at a week-long residential summer camp are presented…

Mammal Silhouettes No. 1, The Kansas School Naturalist, Volume 19 Number 1, October, 1972

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boles, Robert J., Ed.

1972-01-01

An insert in this issue of Nature Study,'' this quarterly periodical ( The Kansas School Naturalist'') is free of charge to Kansas school personnel, conservationists, youth leaders, and other adults interested in nature education. This issue focuses on mammals and contains general information about the moose, elk, muskox, camel, walrus, etc. (LK)

Atlantis OMS Pods and Vertical Stabilizer

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-07-09

S135-E-006375 (9 July 2011) --- Without the sun's being temporarily available to highlight space shuttle Atlantis' cargo bay and vertical stabilizer, the spacecraft barely shows through as a silhouette in this image photographed from the aft flight deck. The thin blue line of Earth?s atmosphere is the dominant feature in the photo. Photo credit: NASA

X-Rays: The Inside Story (Primary). Teacher's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Royal Australasian Coll. of Radiologists, Sydney (Australia).

The goal of this unit is to help children explore the aspects of X-rays and radiology in society. Students develop an understanding that X-rays are silhouette images, beneficial in health care, and a part of radiology. The history and development of X-rays as well as their applications in advancing technology are also explored. The unit is…

Privileged Detection of Conspecifics: Evidence from Inversion Effects during Continuous Flash Suppression

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Timo; Sterzer, Philipp; Peelen, Marius V.

2012-01-01

The rapid visual detection of other people in our environment is an important first step in social cognition. Here we provide evidence for selective sensitivity of the human visual system to upright depictions of conspecifics. In a series of seven experiments, we assessed the impact of stimulus inversion on the detection of person silhouettes,…

Phenotype characterization of embryoid body structures generated by a crystal comet effect tail in an intercellular cancer collision scenario.

PubMed

Diaz, Jairo A; Murillo, Mauricio F

2012-01-01

Cancer is, by definition, the uncontrolled growth of autonomous cells that eventually destroy adjacent tissues and generate architectural disorder. However, this concept cannot be totally true. In three well documented studies, we have demonstrated that cancer tissues produce order zones that evolve over time and generate embryoid body structures in a space-time interval. The authors decided to revise the macroscopic and microscopic material in well-developed malignant tumors in which embryoid bodies were identified to determine the phenotype characterization that serves as a guideline for easy recognition. The factors responsible for this morphogenesis are physical, bioelectric, and magnetic susceptibilities produced by crystals that act as molecular designers for the topographic gradients that guide the surrounding silhouette and establish tissue head-tail positional identities. The structures are located in amniotic-like cavities and show characteristic somite-like embryologic segmentation. Immunophenotypic study has demonstrated exclusion factor positional identity in relation to enolase-immunopositive expression of embryoid body and human chorionic gonadotropin immunopositivity exclusion factor expression in the surrounding tissues. The significance of these observations is that they can also be predicted by experimental image data collected by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in which two-beam subatomic collision particles in the resulting debris show hyperorder domains similar to those identified by us in intercellular cancer collisions. Our findings suggest that we are dealing with true reverse biologic system information in an activated collective cancer stem cell memory, in which physics participates in the elaboration of geometric complexes and chiral biomolecules that serve to build bodies with embryoid print as it develops during gestation. Reversal mechanisms in biology are intimately linked with DNA repair. Further genotype studies must be carried out to determine whether the subproducts of these structures can be used in novel strategies to treat cancer.

Phenotype characterization of embryoid body structures generated by a crystal comet effect tail in an intercellular cancer collision scenario

PubMed Central

Diaz, Jairo A; Murillo, Mauricio F

2012-01-01

Cancer is, by definition, the uncontrolled growth of autonomous cells that eventually destroy adjacent tissues and generate architectural disorder. However, this concept cannot be totally true. In three well documented studies, we have demonstrated that cancer tissues produce order zones that evolve over time and generate embryoid body structures in a space-time interval. The authors decided to revise the macroscopic and microscopic material in well-developed malignant tumors in which embryoid bodies were identified to determine the phenotype characterization that serves as a guideline for easy recognition. The factors responsible for this morphogenesis are physical, bioelectric, and magnetic susceptibilities produced by crystals that act as molecular designers for the topographic gradients that guide the surrounding silhouette and establish tissue head-tail positional identities. The structures are located in amniotic-like cavities and show characteristic somite-like embryologic segmentation. Immunophenotypic study has demonstrated exclusion factor positional identity in relation to enolase-immunopositive expression of embryoid body and human chorionic gonadotropin immunopositivity exclusion factor expression in the surrounding tissues. The significance of these observations is that they can also be predicted by experimental image data collected by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in which two-beam subatomic collision particles in the resulting debris show hyperorder domains similar to those identified by us in intercellular cancer collisions. Our findings suggest that we are dealing with true reverse biologic system information in an activated collective cancer stem cell memory, in which physics participates in the elaboration of geometric complexes and chiral biomolecules that serve to build bodies with embryoid print as it develops during gestation. Reversal mechanisms in biology are intimately linked with DNA repair. Further genotype studies must be carried out to determine whether the subproducts of these structures can be used in novel strategies to treat cancer. PMID:22346365

Data preprocessing methods of FT-NIR spectral data for the classification cooking oil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruah, Mas Ezatul Nadia Mohd; Rasaruddin, Nor Fazila; Fong, Sim Siong; Jaafar, Mohd Zuli

2014-12-01

This recent work describes the data pre-processing method of FT-NIR spectroscopy datasets of cooking oil and its quality parameters with chemometrics method. Pre-processing of near-infrared (NIR) spectral data has become an integral part of chemometrics modelling. Hence, this work is dedicated to investigate the utility and effectiveness of pre-processing algorithms namely row scaling, column scaling and single scaling process with Standard Normal Variate (SNV). The combinations of these scaling methods have impact on exploratory analysis and classification via Principle Component Analysis plot (PCA). The samples were divided into palm oil and non-palm cooking oil. The classification model was build using FT-NIR cooking oil spectra datasets in absorbance mode at the range of 4000cm-1-14000cm-1. Savitzky Golay derivative was applied before developing the classification model. Then, the data was separated into two sets which were training set and test set by using Duplex method. The number of each class was kept equal to 2/3 of the class that has the minimum number of sample. Then, the sample was employed t-statistic as variable selection method in order to select which variable is significant towards the classification models. The evaluation of data pre-processing were looking at value of modified silhouette width (mSW), PCA and also Percentage Correctly Classified (%CC). The results show that different data processing strategies resulting to substantial amount of model performances quality. The effects of several data pre-processing i.e. row scaling, column standardisation and single scaling process with Standard Normal Variate indicated by mSW and %CC. At two PCs model, all five classifier gave high %CC except Quadratic Distance Analysis.

Body image and weight perceptions in relation to actual measurements by means of a new index and level of physical activity in Italian university students.

PubMed

Zaccagni, Luciana; Masotti, Sabrina; Donati, Roberta; Mazzoni, Gianni; Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela

2014-02-11

Body image perception depends on anthropometric and psychological factors. Body dissatisfaction is influenced by the socio-cultural environment and is associated with eating disorders and low self-esteem. This study examined the body image perception, the degree of dissatisfaction and the weight status perception inconsistency in relation to sex, weight status and amount of physical activity in a sample of university students. The participants were 734 university students (354 females aged 21.5 ± 2.9 yrs and 380 males aged 22.1 ± 3.6 yrs) recruited from the second year of the Sport Sciences degree program. A self-administered questionnaire was used to acquire socio-demographic and sport participation information. Height, weight, BMI and weight status were considered for each subject. Body image perception was assessed by a silhouette matching technique. A new index, FAI (Feel status minus Actual status Inconsistency), was used to assess weight status perception inconsistency. A large proportion of the sample had normal weight status. On average, females chose as feel status a significantly higher figure than the males (4.7 versus 3.8) and they would have liked to have a significantly thinner figure than the males (3.4 versus 3.6). Therefore, the mean FID (Feel minus Ideal Discrepancy) values (positive in both sexes) were significantly higher in females than in males, meaning higher dissatisfaction. The mean FAI values were positive in females and negative in males, indicating a tendency of the women to overestimate their weight status and of the men to underestimate it. Men were more physically active than women. Less active women showed significantly lower body weight and BMI than more active women. Men less engaged in physical activity showed significantly higher FID than more active men. These results show greater dissatisfaction and higher weight status perception consistency in females than in males among Italian university students examined. Our findings suggest that the FAI index can be very useful to evaluate the perceived weight status by body image in comparison to actual weight status assessed anthropometrically.

Psychological Operations within the Cyberspace Domain

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-17

Year‖ 29 Fogg , Persuasive Technology, 5 30 Thomas, Cyber Silhouettes, 279 11 The cyber domain and persuasive technologies offers several...31 Fogg , Persuasive Technology, 7 32 Ibid., 7 33 Ibid., 8 34 Ibid., 8 35 Ibid., 8 36 Joint Publication 3-53, Psychological Operations...44 Smart, Metaverse Roadmap, 14 45 Fogg , Persuasive Technology, 196 46 Ibid., 197 47 Ibid., 197 15 principle of social

A nondestructive trap for Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Treesearch

John C. Moser; LLoyd E. Browne

1978-01-01

The bucket trap is a lightweight device for capturing southern pine beetles in flight and retaining them either alive or dead for later examination. It is not messy like the sticky trap and not cumbersome like conventional live traps. Placing the bucket against a vertical silhouette increases the number of beetles caught. Few nontarget insects are captured except for...

The influence of silhouette color and orientation on arrival and emergence of Ips pine engravers and their predators in loblolly pine

Treesearch

R.A. Goyer; G.J. Lenhard; Brian L. Strom

2004-01-01

Insects that rely upon aggressive bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) for generating appropriate habitats (natural enemies and associated species) must respond to a variety of stimuli used by bark beetles, including semiochemical and visual cues. In the southeastern US, Ips engraver beetles are non-aggressive bark beetles that exploit both standing...

Research on Doctoral Education in South Africa against the Silhouette of Its Meteoric Rise in International Higher Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolhuter, Charl

2011-01-01

The aim of this article is to survey the international literature on doctoral education from a South African perspective. A colossal amount of published research on doctoral education abroad has accumulated in recent years, dwarfing the minuscule number of publications on doctoral education in South Africa. Three major deficiencies in the corpus…

Visual and semiochemical disruption of host finding in the southern pine beetle

Treesearch

B.L. Strom; L.M. Roton; R.A. Goyer; J.R. Meeker

1999-01-01

The importance of visual silhouettes for host finding by the southern pine beetle (SPB), Dendroctonus frontalis (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), and the potential for disruption of this process using visual deterrents were evaluated with multiple-funnel traps, painted white or black, and with clear, white or black Plexiglas sticky panel.The results show that both SPB and T....

Effects of visual silhouette, leaf size and host species on feeding preference by adult emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)

Treesearch

Deepa S. Pureswaran; Therese M. Poland

2009-01-01

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is an invasive species recently established in North America. In large arena bioassays, when given a choice among live green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh and artificial ash saplings that were hidden or exposed from view, beetles preferred live...

Turkish Shadow Puppets Yesterday and Today

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stokrocki, Mary

2004-01-01

A shadow puppet is basically a two-dimensional cut-out form with moving parts. When light is projected behind a screen, the puppet appears as a silhouette, or an opaque drawing in profile. A puppet is successful if it seems to take on a life of its own. Although India is the general source of puppetry that spread throughout Europe through gypsy…

Resiliency: Planning Ahead for Disasters - Continuum Magazine | NREL

Science.gov Websites

a proactive approach to lessen the impacts of climate change as disasters occur more frequently and approach to lessen the impacts of climate change as disasters occur more frequently and with greater climate change. A photo of the silhouette of three men in construction uniforms as the walk toward the

Inhibitory competition between shape properties in figure-ground perception.

PubMed

Peterson, Mary A; Skow, Emily

2008-04-01

Theories of figure-ground perception entail inhibitory competition between either low-level units (edge or feature units) or high-level shape properties. Extant computational models instantiate the 1st type of theory. The authors investigated a prediction of the 2nd type of theory: that shape properties suggested on the ground side of an edge are suppressed when they lose the figure-ground competition. In Experiment 1, the authors present behavioral evidence of the predicted suppression: Object decisions were slower for line drawings that followed silhouettes suggesting portions of objects from the same rather than a different category on their ground sides. In Experiment 2, the authors reversed the silhouette's figure-ground relationships and obtained speeding rather than slowing in the same category condition, thereby demonstrating that the Experiment 1 results reflect suppression of those shape properties that lose the figure-ground competition. These experiments provide the first clear empirical evidence that figure-ground perception entails inhibitory competition between high-level shape properties and demonstrate the need for amendments to existing computational models. Furthermore, these results suggest that figure-ground perception may itself be an instance of biased competition in shape perception. (Copyright) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Multiview photometric stereo.

PubMed

Hernández Esteban, Carlos; Vogiatzis, George; Cipolla, Roberto

2008-03-01

This paper addresses the problem of obtaining complete, detailed reconstructions of textureless shiny objects. We present an algorithm which uses silhouettes of the object, as well as images obtained under changing illumination conditions. In contrast with previous photometric stereo techniques, ours is not limited to a single viewpoint but produces accurate reconstructions in full 3D. A number of images of the object are obtained from multiple viewpoints, under varying lighting conditions. Starting from the silhouettes, the algorithm recovers camera motion and constructs the object's visual hull. This is then used to recover the illumination and initialise a multi-view photometric stereo scheme to obtain a closed surface reconstruction. There are two main contributions in this paper: Firstly we describe a robust technique to estimate light directions and intensities and secondly, we introduce a novel formulation of photometric stereo which combines multiple viewpoints and hence allows closed surface reconstructions. The algorithm has been implemented as a practical model acquisition system. Here, a quantitative evaluation of the algorithm on synthetic data is presented together with complete reconstructions of challenging real objects. Finally, we show experimentally how even in the case of highly textured objects, this technique can greatly improve on correspondence-based multi-view stereo results.

Comparison of five cluster validity indices performance in brain [18 F]FET-PET image segmentation using k-means.

PubMed

Abualhaj, Bedor; Weng, Guoyang; Ong, Melissa; Attarwala, Ali Asgar; Molina, Flavia; Büsing, Karen; Glatting, Gerhard

2017-01-01

Dynamic [ 18 F]fluoro-ethyl-L-tyrosine positron emission tomography ([ 18 F]FET-PET) is used to identify tumor lesions for radiotherapy treatment planning, to differentiate glioma recurrence from radiation necrosis and to classify gliomas grading. To segment different regions in the brain k-means cluster analysis can be used. The main disadvantage of k-means is that the number of clusters must be pre-defined. In this study, we therefore compared different cluster validity indices for automated and reproducible determination of the optimal number of clusters based on the dynamic PET data. The k-means algorithm was applied to dynamic [ 18 F]FET-PET images of 8 patients. Akaike information criterion (AIC), WB, I, modified Dunn's and Silhouette indices were compared on their ability to determine the optimal number of clusters based on requirements for an adequate cluster validity index. To check the reproducibility of k-means, the coefficients of variation CVs of the objective function values OFVs (sum of squared Euclidean distances within each cluster) were calculated using 100 random centroid initialization replications RCI 100 for 2 to 50 clusters. k-means was performed independently on three neighboring slices containing tumor for each patient to investigate the stability of the optimal number of clusters within them. To check the independence of the validity indices on the number of voxels, cluster analysis was applied after duplication of a slice selected from each patient. CVs of index values were calculated at the optimal number of clusters using RCI 100 to investigate the reproducibility of the validity indices. To check if the indices have a single extremum, visual inspection was performed on the replication with minimum OFV from RCI 100 . The maximum CV of OFVs was 2.7 × 10 -2 from all patients. The optimal number of clusters given by modified Dunn's and Silhouette indices was 2 or 3 leading to a very poor segmentation. WB and I indices suggested in median 5, [range 4-6] and 4, [range 3-6] clusters, respectively. For WB, I, modified Dunn's and Silhouette validity indices the suggested optimal number of clusters was not affected by the number of the voxels. The maximum coefficient of variation of WB, I, modified Dunn's, and Silhouette validity indices were 3 × 10 -2 , 1, 2 × 10 -1 and 3 × 10 -3 , respectively. WB-index showed a single global maximum, whereas the other indices showed also local extrema. From the investigated cluster validity indices, the WB-index is best suited for automated determination of the optimal number of clusters for [ 18 F]FET-PET brain images for the investigated image reconstruction algorithm and the used scanner: it yields meaningful results allowing better differentiation of tissues with higher number of clusters, it is simple, reproducible and has an unique global minimum. © 2016 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Examining the relationships between body image, eating attitudes, BMI, and physical activity in rural and urban South African young adult females using structural equation modeling

PubMed Central

Wrottesley, Stephanie V.; Cohen, Emmanuel; Reddy, Ankita; Said-Mohamed, Rihlat; Twine, Rhian; Tollman, Stephen M.; Kahn, Kathleen; Dunger, David B.; Norris, Shane A.

2017-01-01

The persistence of food insecurity, malnutrition, increasing adiposity, and decreasing physical activity, heightens the need to understand relationships between body image satisfaction, eating attitudes, BMI and physical activity levels in South Africa. Females aged 18–23 years were recruited from rural (n = 509) and urban (n = 510) settings. Body image satisfaction was measured using Stunkard’s silhouettes, and the 26-item Eating Attitudes questionnaire (EAT-26) was used to evaluate participants’ risk of disordered eating. Minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Significant linear correlates were included in a series of regressions run separately for urban and rural participants. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships between variables. Urban females were more likely to be overweight and obese than rural females (p = 0.02), and had a greater desire to be thinner (p = 0.02). In both groups, being overweight or obese was positively associated with a desire to be thinner (p<0.01), and negatively associated with a desire to be fatter (p<0.01). Having a disordered eating attitude was associated with body image dissatisfaction in the urban group (β = 1.27, p<0.01, CI: 0.38; 2.16), but only with a desire to be fatter in the rural group (β = 0.63, p = 0.04, CI: 0.03; 1.23). In the SEM model, body image dissatisfaction was associated with disordered eating (β = 0.63), as well as higher MVPA participation (p<0.01). These factors were directly associated with a decreased risk of disordered eating attitude, and with a decreased desire to be thinner. Findings indicate a shift in both settings towards more Westernised ideals. Physical activity may provide a means to promote a healthy body image, while reducing the risk of disordered eating. Given the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in both rural and urban women, this study provides insights for future interventions aimed at decreasing adiposity in a healthy way. PMID:29145423

Examining the relationships between body image, eating attitudes, BMI, and physical activity in rural and urban South African young adult females using structural equation modeling.

PubMed

Prioreschi, Alessandra; Wrottesley, Stephanie V; Cohen, Emmanuel; Reddy, Ankita; Said-Mohamed, Rihlat; Twine, Rhian; Tollman, Stephen M; Kahn, Kathleen; Dunger, David B; Norris, Shane A

2017-01-01

The persistence of food insecurity, malnutrition, increasing adiposity, and decreasing physical activity, heightens the need to understand relationships between body image satisfaction, eating attitudes, BMI and physical activity levels in South Africa. Females aged 18-23 years were recruited from rural (n = 509) and urban (n = 510) settings. Body image satisfaction was measured using Stunkard's silhouettes, and the 26-item Eating Attitudes questionnaire (EAT-26) was used to evaluate participants' risk of disordered eating. Minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Significant linear correlates were included in a series of regressions run separately for urban and rural participants. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the relationships between variables. Urban females were more likely to be overweight and obese than rural females (p = 0.02), and had a greater desire to be thinner (p = 0.02). In both groups, being overweight or obese was positively associated with a desire to be thinner (p<0.01), and negatively associated with a desire to be fatter (p<0.01). Having a disordered eating attitude was associated with body image dissatisfaction in the urban group (β = 1.27, p<0.01, CI: 0.38; 2.16), but only with a desire to be fatter in the rural group (β = 0.63, p = 0.04, CI: 0.03; 1.23). In the SEM model, body image dissatisfaction was associated with disordered eating (β = 0.63), as well as higher MVPA participation (p<0.01). These factors were directly associated with a decreased risk of disordered eating attitude, and with a decreased desire to be thinner. Findings indicate a shift in both settings towards more Westernised ideals. Physical activity may provide a means to promote a healthy body image, while reducing the risk of disordered eating. Given the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in both rural and urban women, this study provides insights for future interventions aimed at decreasing adiposity in a healthy way.

"Stop eating lollies and do lots of sports": a prospective qualitative study of the development of children's awareness of dietary restraint and exercise to lose weight.

PubMed

Rodgers, Rachel F; Wertheim, Eleanor H; Damiano, Stephanie R; Gregg, Karen J; Paxton, Susan J

2015-12-15

Beliefs surrounding the usefulness of dietary restriction and physical activity as means of body shape and size modification is already present in children as young as 5-years-old, and these beliefs may increase the risk of unhealthy weight control behaviours later in life. To date, however, little is known regarding the development of these beliefs in younger children. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to explore young (aged 3- to 5-years old) children's conceptualisations of dietary restriction and physical activity as means to change body size using a prospective approach. A sample of 259 children (116 boys, 143 girls) participated in interviews at 3-, 4- and 5-years-old. Participants were shown silhouette figures of a child of their gender and age. Their responses to questions regarding how the figure could return to a previous thinner shape were qualitatively coded using thematic analysis. Children's responses revealed that while, for a subsample, modifications of food, eating, and exercise patterns were the most salient ideas, a number of other mechanisms of body change were also suggested. Responses also evidenced adoption or awareness of stigmatising attitudes towards overweight individuals (over 15% by age 5). The proportion of children demonstrating an awareness of dietary restriction and physical exercise as methods for body size change increased significantly at each time point. While only 4.2% demonstrated dieting awareness at 3-years-old, this proportion had risen to almost 28% by 5-years-old (p < .001). Similarly, the proportion of children aware of exercise as a body change strategy rose from 2.3 to 16.3% (p < .001), with 22% of 5-year-olds mentioning general physical activity as a strategy. No gender differences were found. Awareness of dietary restriction and physical exercise as strategies for weight loss and body change emerges as young as 3-years-old, and significantly increases from 3- to 5-years-old. Interventions aiming to promote healthy means of weight control and obesity prevention should consider that certain attitudes may already be present in very young children.

Factors relating to eating style, social desirability, body image and eating meals at home increase the precision of calibration equations correcting self-report measures of diet using recovery biomarkers: findings from the Women’s Health Initiative

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The extent to which psychosocial and diet behavior factors affect dietary self-report remains unclear. We examine the contribution of these factors to measurement error of self-report. Methods In 450 postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study doubly labeled water and urinary nitrogen were used as biomarkers of objective measures of total energy expenditure and protein. Self-report was captured from food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), four day food record (4DFR) and 24 hr. dietary recall (24HR). Using regression calibration we estimated bias of self-reported dietary instruments including psychosocial factors from the Stunkard-Sorenson Body Silhouettes for body image perception, the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale, and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (R-18) for cognitive restraint for eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. We included a diet behavior factor on number of meals eaten at home using the 4DFR. Results Three categories were defined for each of the six psychosocial and diet behavior variables (low, medium, high). Participants with high social desirability scores were more likely to under-report on the FFQ for energy (β = -0.174, SE = 0.054, p < 0.05) and protein intake (β = -0.142, SE = 0.062, p < 0.05) compared to participants with low social desirability scores. Participants consuming a high percentage of meals at home were less likely to under-report on the FFQ for energy (β = 0.181, SE = 0.053, p < 0.05) and protein (β = 0.127, SE = 0.06, p < 0.05) compared to participants consuming a low percentage of meals at home. In the calibration equations combining FFQ, 4DFR, 24HR with age, body mass index, race, and the psychosocial and diet behavior variables, the six psychosocial and diet variables explained 1.98%, 2.24%, and 2.15% of biomarker variation for energy, protein, and protein density respectively. The variations explained are significantly different between the calibration equations with or without the six psychosocial and diet variables for protein density (p = 0.02), but not for energy (p = 0.119) or protein intake (p = 0.077). Conclusions The addition of psychosocial and diet behavior factors to calibration equations significantly increases the amount of total variance explained for protein density and their inclusion would be expected to strengthen the precision of calibration equations correcting self-report for measurement error. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00000611 PMID:23679960

Factors relating to eating style, social desirability, body image and eating meals at home increase the precision of calibration equations correcting self-report measures of diet using recovery biomarkers: findings from the Women's Health Initiative.

PubMed

Mossavar-Rahmani, Yasmin; Tinker, Lesley F; Huang, Ying; Neuhouser, Marian L; McCann, Susan E; Seguin, Rebecca A; Vitolins, Mara Z; Curb, J David; Prentice, Ross L

2013-05-16

The extent to which psychosocial and diet behavior factors affect dietary self-report remains unclear. We examine the contribution of these factors to measurement error of self-report. In 450 postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study doubly labeled water and urinary nitrogen were used as biomarkers of objective measures of total energy expenditure and protein. Self-report was captured from food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), four day food record (4DFR) and 24 hr. dietary recall (24HR). Using regression calibration we estimated bias of self-reported dietary instruments including psychosocial factors from the Stunkard-Sorenson Body Silhouettes for body image perception, the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale, and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (R-18) for cognitive restraint for eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. We included a diet behavior factor on number of meals eaten at home using the 4DFR. Three categories were defined for each of the six psychosocial and diet behavior variables (low, medium, high). Participants with high social desirability scores were more likely to under-report on the FFQ for energy (β = -0.174, SE = 0.054, p < 0.05) and protein intake (β = -0.142, SE = 0.062, p < 0.05) compared to participants with low social desirability scores. Participants consuming a high percentage of meals at home were less likely to under-report on the FFQ for energy (β = 0.181, SE = 0.053, p < 0.05) and protein (β = 0.127, SE = 0.06, p < 0.05) compared to participants consuming a low percentage of meals at home. In the calibration equations combining FFQ, 4DFR, 24HR with age, body mass index, race, and the psychosocial and diet behavior variables, the six psychosocial and diet variables explained 1.98%, 2.24%, and 2.15% of biomarker variation for energy, protein, and protein density respectively. The variations explained are significantly different between the calibration equations with or without the six psychosocial and diet variables for protein density (p = 0.02), but not for energy (p = 0.119) or protein intake (p = 0.077). The addition of psychosocial and diet behavior factors to calibration equations significantly increases the amount of total variance explained for protein density and their inclusion would be expected to strengthen the precision of calibration equations correcting self-report for measurement error. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00000611.

View-Dependent Simplification of Arbitrary Polygonal Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-01-01

of backfacing nodes are not rendered [ Kumar 96]. 4.3 Triangle-Budget Simplification The screenspace error threshold and silhouette test allow the user...Greg Turk, and Dinesh Manocha for their invaluable guidance and support throughout this project. Funding for this work was provided by DARPA...Proceedings Visualization 95 , IEEE Computer Society Press (Atlanta, GA), 1995, pp. 296-303. [ Kumar 96] Kumar , Subodh, D. Manocha, W. Garrett, M. Lin

The redbay ambrosia beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) uses stem silhouette diameter as a visual host-finding cue

Treesearch

Albert (Bud) Mayfield; Cavell Brownie

2013-01-01

The redbay ambrosia beetle (Syleborus glabratus Eichhoff) is an invasive pest and vector of the pathogen that causes laurel wilt disease in Lauraceous tree species in the eastern United States. This insect uses olfactory cues during host finding, but use of visual cues by X. Glabratus has not been previously investigated and may help explain diameter...

Detection and 3D reconstruction of traffic signs from multiple view color images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soheilian, Bahman; Paparoditis, Nicolas; Vallet, Bruno

2013-03-01

3D reconstruction of traffic signs is of great interest in many applications such as image-based localization and navigation. In order to reflect the reality, the reconstruction process should meet both accuracy and precision. In order to reach such a valid reconstruction from calibrated multi-view images, accurate and precise extraction of signs in every individual view is a must. This paper presents first an automatic pipeline for identifying and extracting the silhouette of signs in every individual image. Then, a multi-view constrained 3D reconstruction algorithm provides an optimum 3D silhouette for the detected signs. The first step called detection, tackles with a color-based segmentation to generate ROIs (Region of Interests) in image. The shape of every ROI is estimated by fitting an ellipse, a quadrilateral or a triangle to edge points. A ROI is rejected if none of the three shapes can be fitted sufficiently precisely. Thanks to the estimated shape the remained candidates ROIs are rectified to remove the perspective distortion and then matched with a set of reference signs using textural information. Poor matches are rejected and the types of remained ones are identified. The output of the detection algorithm is a set of identified road signs whose silhouette in image plane is represented by and ellipse, a quadrilateral or a triangle. The 3D reconstruction process is based on a hypothesis generation and verification. Hypotheses are generated by a stereo matching approach taking into account epipolar geometry and also the similarity of the categories. The hypotheses that are plausibly correspond to the same 3D road sign are identified and grouped during this process. Finally, all the hypotheses of the same group are merged to generate a unique 3D road sign by a multi-view algorithm integrating a priori knowledges about 3D shape of road signs as constraints. The algorithm is assessed on real and synthetic images and reached and average accuracy of 3.5cm for position and 4.5° for orientation.

Motion Tracker: Camera-Based Monitoring of Bodily Movements Using Motion Silhouettes

PubMed Central

Westlund, Jacqueline Kory; D’Mello, Sidney K.; Olney, Andrew M.

2015-01-01

Researchers in the cognitive and affective sciences investigate how thoughts and feelings are reflected in the bodily response systems including peripheral physiology, facial features, and body movements. One specific question along this line of research is how cognition and affect are manifested in the dynamics of general body movements. Progress in this area can be accelerated by inexpensive, non-intrusive, portable, scalable, and easy to calibrate movement tracking systems. Towards this end, this paper presents and validates Motion Tracker, a simple yet effective software program that uses established computer vision techniques to estimate the amount a person moves from a video of the person engaged in a task (available for download from http://jakory.com/motion-tracker/). The system works with any commercially available camera and with existing videos, thereby affording inexpensive, non-intrusive, and potentially portable and scalable estimation of body movement. Strong between-subject correlations were obtained between Motion Tracker’s estimates of movement and body movements recorded from the seat (r =.720) and back (r = .695 for participants with higher back movement) of a chair affixed with pressure-sensors while completing a 32-minute computerized task (Study 1). Within-subject cross-correlations were also strong for both the seat (r =.606) and back (r = .507). In Study 2, between-subject correlations between Motion Tracker’s movement estimates and movements recorded from an accelerometer worn on the wrist were also strong (rs = .801, .679, and .681) while people performed three brief actions (e.g., waving). Finally, in Study 3 the within-subject cross-correlation was high (r = .855) when Motion Tracker’s estimates were correlated with the movement of a person’s head as tracked with a Kinect while the person was seated at a desk (Study 3). Best-practice recommendations, limitations, and planned extensions of the system are discussed. PMID:26086771

a Study of the Bioluminescence of Larger Zooplankton and the Effects of Low-Level Light Changes on Their Behavior.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Keuren, Jeffrey Robert

A bio-optical study was undertaken to quantify the relationships which exist between counter-illuminating organisms and the downwelling spectral light field in which they exist. The basic hypothesis behind counter-illumination is that the animal emits light using ventrally-oriented photophores to disrupt or eliminate the shadowed area on ventral surfaces. An organism lacking photophores sharply silhouettes against the highly directional downwelling irradiance, whereas by distributing photophores over the ventral surface of the body and closely matching the spectral and intensity characteristics of the downwelling light, this silhouette is obscured. Analysis carried out on changes in vertical distribution patterns in response to low-level intensity changes in ambient surface light suggested that diel migrating organisms begin to shift vertically in the water column when surface scalar irradiance decreased below or increased above 1.0 times10^{-2} muEin m^{-2} sec^ {-1}. Maximum aggregations of organisms, as defined by MOCNESS net sampling or single-frequency acoustic backscatter, appeared to remain within definable in situ blue-green isolume ranges varying less than a factor of ten throughout each night. Comparisons made between organism counter-illumination capacity and modeled in situ downwelling irradiance levels suggested that euphausiids, decapods and myctophids use between 1-10 percent of their maximum counter-illumination capacity to match the ambient downwelling light conditions. Modeling also suggested that up to 40 percent of the maximum measured bioluminescence output is required to match ambient irradiance in the shallower surface zones where aggregations of copepods, potential food sources, were commonly found at night. An optical study to quantify the radiative transfer of bioluminescence from a point source revealed that non -isotropic point sources produce radiance patterns that cannot be simply explained by inverse square losses. Therefore simple inverse-square estimates of bioluminescent propagation loss rates from organisms in the ocean are an oversimplification of the radiative transfer processes that occur when these emissions occur. Additionally, in evaluating counter-illumination, the distance of the receptor, such as the eyes of a potential predator, is critical in determining the effectiveness of the organisms in matching the uniform light field of their surrounding environment and ultimately avoiding detection and predation.

Topography of social touching depends on emotional bonds between humans.

PubMed

Suvilehto, Juulia T; Glerean, Enrico; Dunbar, Robin I M; Hari, Riitta; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2015-11-10

Nonhuman primates use social touch for maintenance and reinforcement of social structures, yet the role of social touch in human bonding in different reproductive, affiliative, and kinship-based relationships remains unresolved. Here we reveal quantified, relationship-specific maps of bodily regions where social touch is allowed in a large cross-cultural dataset (N = 1,368 from Finland, France, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom). Participants were shown front and back silhouettes of human bodies with a word denoting one member of their social network. They were asked to color, on separate trials, the bodily regions where each individual in their social network would be allowed to touch them. Across all tested cultures, the total bodily area where touching was allowed was linearly dependent (mean r(2) = 0.54) on the emotional bond with the toucher, but independent of when that person was last encountered. Close acquaintances and family members were touched for more reasons than less familiar individuals. The bodily area others are allowed to touch thus represented, in a parametric fashion, the strength of the relationship-specific emotional bond. We propose that the spatial patterns of human social touch reflect an important mechanism supporting the maintenance of social bonds.

Topography of social touching depends on emotional bonds between humans

PubMed Central

Suvilehto, Juulia T.; Glerean, Enrico; Dunbar, Robin I. M.; Hari, Riitta; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2015-01-01

Nonhuman primates use social touch for maintenance and reinforcement of social structures, yet the role of social touch in human bonding in different reproductive, affiliative, and kinship-based relationships remains unresolved. Here we reveal quantified, relationship-specific maps of bodily regions where social touch is allowed in a large cross-cultural dataset (N = 1,368 from Finland, France, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom). Participants were shown front and back silhouettes of human bodies with a word denoting one member of their social network. They were asked to color, on separate trials, the bodily regions where each individual in their social network would be allowed to touch them. Across all tested cultures, the total bodily area where touching was allowed was linearly dependent (mean r2 = 0.54) on the emotional bond with the toucher, but independent of when that person was last encountered. Close acquaintances and family members were touched for more reasons than less familiar individuals. The bodily area others are allowed to touch thus represented, in a parametric fashion, the strength of the relationship-specific emotional bond. We propose that the spatial patterns of human social touch reflect an important mechanism supporting the maintenance of social bonds. PMID:26504228

High-rise construction in historical cities through the example of Saint Petersburg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granstrem, Maria; Zolotareva, Milena; Slavina, Tatyana

2018-03-01

The article sets forth results of the landscape visual analysis of the interaction of high-rise construction facilities with the environment of historical urban spaces. A toxic connection of high-rise construction facilities with the established urban landscape was analyzed and recorded. One of the latest stages of the reconstruction of historical cities, which penetrated many European countries at the end of the 20th century, also started in the beginning of the 21st century in Russia, where the reconstruction of historical facilities and territories became one of the leading trends of architectural activity. Therefore, problems of the interaction between the old city and new high-rise construction nearby historical centers are extremely relevant for Russian architects. Specific features of Russian high-rise construction within visual borders of historical cities, developed at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries, repeat past urban-planning mistakes spread in Europe in the second half of the 20th century. High-rise construction in close proximity to historical centers of cities violates an established scale and destroys a historical city silhouette.

Morning sun on Gulf of Mexico as seen from the Apollo 7 spacecraft

NASA Image and Video Library

1968-10-20

AS07-08-1933 (20 Oct. 1968) --- The morning sun reflects on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean as seen from the Apollo 7 spacecraft at an altitude of 120 nautical miles above Earth. Most of Florida peninsula appears as a dark silhouette. This photograph was made during the spacecraft's 134th revolution of Earth, some 213 hours and 19 minutes after liftoff.

Compressive Sensing for Background Subtraction

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-20

i) reconstructing an image using only a single optical pho- todiode (infrared, hyperspectral, etc.) along with a digital micromirror device (DMD... curves , we use the full images, run the background subtraction algorithm proposed in [19], and obtain baseline background subtracted images. We then...the images to generate the ROC curve . 5.5 Silhouettes vs. Difference Images We have used a multi camera set up for a 3D voxel reconstruction using the

Internal Waves, Indian Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

This photograph, taken in sunglint conditions, captures open ocean internal waves which are diffracting around shoals south of the Seychelle islands (4.5S, 55.5E) and recombining to form interference patterns. The clouds to the north of the waves cover two of the Seychelle islands: Silhouette and Mahe. Mahe is the main island of the archipelago. The small rocky island surrounded by reef around which the waves diffract is Platte Island.

Mesopelagic cephalopods switch between transparency and pigmentation to optimize camouflage in the deep.

PubMed

Zylinski, Sarah; Johnsen, Sönke

2011-11-22

Animals in the lower mesopelagic zone (600-1,000 m depth) of the oceans have converged on two major strategies for camouflage: transparency and red or black pigmentation [1]. Transparency conveys excellent camouflage under ambient light conditions, greatly reducing the conspicuousness of the animal's silhouette [1, 2]. Transparent tissues are seldom perfectly so, resulting in unavoidable internal light scattering [2]. Under directed light, such as that emitted from photophores thought to function as searchlights [3-8], the scattered light returning to a viewer will be brighter than the background, rendering the animal conspicuous [2, 4]. At depths where bioluminescence becomes the dominant source of light, most animals are pigmented red or black, thereby reflecting little light at wavelengths generally associated with photophore emissions and visual sensitivities [3, 9-14]. However, pigmented animals are susceptible to being detected via their silhouettes [5, 9-11]. Here we show evidence for rapid switching between transparency and pigmentation under changing optical conditions in two mesopelagic cephalopods, Japetella heathi and Onychoteuthis banksii. Reflectance measurements of Japetella show that transparent tissue reflects twice as much light as pigmented tissue under direct light. This is consistent with a dynamic strategy to optimize camouflage under ambient and searchlight conditions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-rise construction in the Saint Petersburg agglomeration in 1703-1950s

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sementsov, Sergey; Akulova, Nadezhda; Kurakina, Severina

2018-03-01

Regularities of high-rise construction (implemented projects and developments) in Saint Petersburg and the Saint Petersburg agglomeration since the foundation of the city in 1703 till the 1950s are considered. Based on these regularities, a single spatially developed system of vertical dominants is formed. High-rise construction in the city and its suburbs started in the 1710s and continues up to the present time. In the considered decades (1703-1950s), high-rise construction mostly performed urban-planning functions (with vertical and symbolic dominants), relying on patterns of the visual perception of man-made landscapes under development. Since the 1710s, the construction of vertical dominants (mainly temples, spires of towers, lighthouses, etc.) of five ranks (depending on the altitude range and in relation to the background development) was conducted in territories of the entire agglomeration. These dominants were arranged in landscapes of the city and suburbs with almost mathematically precise accuracy and according to special regulations. Such dominants obtained particular descriptive and silhouette characteristics in accordance with the conditions of spatial perception. In some periods of city development, attempts were made to create monuments (symbolic dominants) of specific height and include those in the spatial system of high-rise dominants as significant elements of the city silhouette.

Mining the National Career Assessment Examination Result Using Clustering Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pagudpud, M. V.; Palaoag, T. T.; Padirayon, L. M.

2018-03-01

Education is an essential process today which elicits authorities to discover and establish innovative strategies for educational improvement. This study applied data mining using clustering technique for knowledge extraction from the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) result in the Division of Quirino. The NCAE is an examination given to all grade 9 students in the Philippines to assess their aptitudes in the different domains. Clustering the students is helpful in identifying students’ learning considerations. With the use of the RapidMiner tool, clustering algorithms such as Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN), k-means, k-medoid, expectation maximization clustering, and support vector clustering algorithms were analyzed. The silhouette indexes of the said clustering algorithms were compared, and the result showed that the k-means algorithm with k = 3 and silhouette index equal to 0.196 is the most appropriate clustering algorithm to group the students. Three groups were formed having 477 students in the determined group (cluster 0), 310 proficient students (cluster 1) and 396 developing students (cluster 2). The data mining technique used in this study is essential in extracting useful information from the NCAE result to better understand the abilities of students which in turn is a good basis for adopting teaching strategies.

Regional precipitation trend analysis at the Langat River Basin, Selangor, Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palizdan, Narges; Falamarzi, Yashar; Huang, Yuk Feng; Lee, Teang Shui; Ghazali, Abdul Halim

2014-08-01

Various hydrological and meteorological variables such as rainfall and temperature have been affected by global climate change. Any change in the pattern of precipitation can have a significant impact on the availability of water resources, agriculture, and the ecosystem. Therefore, knowledge on rainfall trend is an important aspect of water resources management. In this study, the regional annual and seasonal precipitation trends at the Langat River Basin, Malaysia, for the period of 1982-2011 were examined at the 95 % level of significance using the regional average Mann-Kendall (RAMK) test and the regional average Mann-Kendall coupled with bootstrap (RAMK-bootstrap) method. In order to identify the homogeneous regions respectively for the annual and seasonal scales, firstly, at-site mean total annual and separately at-site mean total seasonal precipitation were spatialized into 5 km × 5 km grids using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) algorithm. Next, the optimum number of homogeneous regions (clusters) is computed using the silhouette coefficient approach. Next, the homogeneous regions were formed using the K-mean clustering method. From the annual scale perspective, all three regions showed positive trends. However, the application of two methods at this scale showed a significant trend only in the region AC1. The region AC2 experienced a significant positive trend using only the RAMK test. On a seasonal scale, all regions showed insignificant trends, except the regions I1C1 and I1C2 in the Inter-Monsoon 1 (INT1) season which experienced significant upward trends. In addition, it was proven that the significance of trends has been affected by the existence of serial and spatial correlations.

A Challenge to Classical Facial Proportionality Studies: Conventional Profile and 3d Photography Versus Silhouettes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-01

Edler R, Rahim MA, Wertheim D, Greenhill D. The use of facial anthropometrics in aesthetic assessment. Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2010 Jan;47(1...48-57. Farkas LG, Posnick JC, Hreczko TM. Growth patterns of the Face: A morphopmetric Study. Cleft Palate -Craniofacial Journal. 1992 July; 29 (4...137 x     LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Upper lip , lower lip and chin fell along the

View of the Pirs Docking Compartment approaching the ISS during Expedition Three

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-09-17

ISS003-E-5615 (16 September 2001) --- Appearing almost as a silhouette against Earth, the Russian Docking Compartment, named Pirs (the Russian word for pier), approaches the International Space Station (ISS). One of the Expedition Three crew members, using a digital still camera with a 70mm lens, recorded the image from onboard the orbital outpost. The vehicle was launched on September 14, 2001 and docking occurred on September 16.

Sunrise, Earth Limb, SW Pacific Ocean

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The colors of this sunrise/sunset scene provide insights into the relative density of the Earth's atmosphere (15.5S, 158.5E). This scene captures the silhouette of several thunderstorms with their cirrus anvil tops spreading out against the tropopause - the top of the lowest layer of atmosphere, the troposphere which is also the most dense and refracts light at the red end of the spectrum while the blues refract in the stratosphere, the highest layer.

[Lymphoscintigrams with anatomical landmarks obtained with vector graphics].

PubMed

Rubini, Giuseppe; Antonica, Filippo; Renna, Maria Antonia; Ferrari, Cristina; Iuele, Francesca; Stabile Ianora, Antonio Amato; Losco, Matteo; Niccoli Asabella, Artor

2012-11-01

Nuclear medicine images are difficult to interpret because they do not include anatomical details. The aim of this study was to obtain lymphoscintigrams with anatomical landmarks that could be easily interpreted by General Physicians. Traditional lymphoscintigrams were processed with Adobe© Photoshop® CS6 and converted into vector images created by Illustrator®. The combination with a silhouette vector improved image interpretation, without resulting in longer radiation exposure or acquisition times.

27. VIEW OF UNDERWATER WELDING/SCUBA ROOM, FIRST FLOOR, LOOKING NORTH. ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

27. VIEW OF UNDERWATER WELDING/SCUBA ROOM, FIRST FLOOR, LOOKING NORTH. Former location of tank indicated by circular ridge in linoleum at bottom right, and by framing of second floor at top right. Silhouettes of driver and two sharks on the floor are associated with the use of this building for scuba training. - U.S. Naval Submarine Base, New London Submarine Escape Training Tank, Albacore & Darter Roads, Groton, New London County, CT

Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence and Isotopic Mapping of Containers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Micah S.; McNabb, Dennis P.

2009-03-01

National security programs have expressed interest in developing systems to isotopically map shipping containers, fuel assemblies, and waste barrels for various materials including special nuclear material (SNM). Current radiographic systems offer little more than an ambiguous density silhouette of a container's contents. In this paper we will present a system being developed at LLNL to isotopically map containers using the nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) method. Recent experimental measurements on NRF strengths in SNM are discussed.

Annotated Bibliography on the Physiological Effects of Acceleration in Aircraft.

DTIC Science & Technology

1945-09-01

pulse wave deflection was reduced and the dicrotic notch was deepened. d. The size of the cardiac silhouette was reduced in all subjects during the...gradient and single pressure suits; arterial occlusion suit; p-essure transmission factors in suits; pneumatic lever suit... factors in anti-"g" suits. (Yale) CAM No. 129. 10 Dec. 42. a, Directly underneath pressurizing air bladders, the pressure is the same as in the

View of the Pirs Docking Compartment approaching the ISS during Expedition Three

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-09-17

ISS003-E-5617 (16 September 2001) --- Appearing almost as a silhouette backdropped against Earth's horizon, the Russian Docking Compartment, named Pirs (the Russian word for pier), approaches the International Space Station (ISS). One of the Expedition Three crew members, using a digital still camera with a 70mm lens, recorded the image from onboard the orbital outpost. The vehicle was launched on September 14, 2001 and docking occurred on September 16.

Innovative qPCR using interfacial effects to enable low threshold cycle detection and inhibition relief

PubMed Central

Harshman, Dustin K.; Rao, Brianna M.; McLain, Jean E.; Watts, George S.; Yoon, Jeong-Yeol

2015-01-01

Molecular diagnostics offers quick access to information but fails to operate at a speed required for clinical decision-making. Our novel methodology, droplet-on-thermocouple silhouette real-time polymerase chain reaction (DOTS qPCR), uses interfacial effects for droplet actuation, inhibition relief, and amplification sensing. DOTS qPCR has sample-to-answer times as short as 3 min 30 s. In infective endocarditis diagnosis, DOTS qPCR demonstrates reproducibility, differentiation of antibiotic susceptibility, subpicogram limit of detection, and thermocycling speeds of up to 28 s/cycle in the presence of tissue contaminants. Langmuir and Gibbs adsorption isotherms are used to describe the decreasing interfacial tension upon amplification. Moreover, a log-linear relationship with low threshold cycles is presented for real-time quantification by imaging the droplet-on-thermocouple silhouette with a smartphone. DOTS qPCR resolves several limitations of commercially available real-time PCR systems, which rely on fluorescence detection, have substantially higher threshold cycles, and require expensive optical components and extensive sample preparation. Due to the advantages of low threshold cycle detection, we anticipate extending this technology to biological research applications such as single cell, single nucleus, and single DNA molecule analyses. Our work is the first demonstrated use of interfacial effects for sensing reaction progress, and it will enable point-of-care molecular diagnosis of infections. PMID:26601245

Dissociating Simon and affordance compatibility effects: silhouettes and photographs.

PubMed

Pappas, Zissis

2014-12-01

When a graspable object's handle is oriented to the same side as the response hand, responses are quicker and more accurate than when it is oriented to the opposite side. This effect has been attributed to the affordance of the object's handle (Tucker & Ellis, 1998). Recent findings suggest this effect results instead from an abstract spatial response code (i.e., Simon effect; Cho & Proctor, 2010). However, the stimuli used in these previous studies differ in the amount of object and environmental depth information they contain, which may be critical to conveying an affordance. This information could explain these disparate findings as well as dissociate Simon and affordance compatibility effects. Four experiments demonstrate that the Simon effect results from the absence of this information, as in a silhouette, and the affordance effect results from its presence, as in a photograph. A fifth experiment confirmed that modifying information associated with the affordance, rather than the modification itself, produced the effects observed in the previous experiments. These findings support the following: (a) the internal details of an object and environmental depth can dissociate Simon and affordance compatibility effects, (b) this information is necessary to convey the object's graspable affordance, and (c) the outer shape of the object is not sufficient to elicit an affordance effect. These findings are discussed in relation to the theory of embodied cognition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A depth video sensor-based life-logging human activity recognition system for elderly care in smart indoor environments.

PubMed

Jalal, Ahmad; Kamal, Shaharyar; Kim, Daijin

2014-07-02

Recent advancements in depth video sensors technologies have made human activity recognition (HAR) realizable for elderly monitoring applications. Although conventional HAR utilizes RGB video sensors, HAR could be greatly improved with depth video sensors which produce depth or distance information. In this paper, a depth-based life logging HAR system is designed to recognize the daily activities of elderly people and turn these environments into an intelligent living space. Initially, a depth imaging sensor is used to capture depth silhouettes. Based on these silhouettes, human skeletons with joint information are produced which are further used for activity recognition and generating their life logs. The life-logging system is divided into two processes. Firstly, the training system includes data collection using a depth camera, feature extraction and training for each activity via Hidden Markov Models. Secondly, after training, the recognition engine starts to recognize the learned activities and produces life logs. The system was evaluated using life logging features against principal component and independent component features and achieved satisfactory recognition rates against the conventional approaches. Experiments conducted on the smart indoor activity datasets and the MSRDailyActivity3D dataset show promising results. The proposed system is directly applicable to any elderly monitoring system, such as monitoring healthcare problems for elderly people, or examining the indoor activities of people at home, office or hospital.

A Depth Video Sensor-Based Life-Logging Human Activity Recognition System for Elderly Care in Smart Indoor Environments

PubMed Central

Jalal, Ahmad; Kamal, Shaharyar; Kim, Daijin

2014-01-01

Recent advancements in depth video sensors technologies have made human activity recognition (HAR) realizable for elderly monitoring applications. Although conventional HAR utilizes RGB video sensors, HAR could be greatly improved with depth video sensors which produce depth or distance information. In this paper, a depth-based life logging HAR system is designed to recognize the daily activities of elderly people and turn these environments into an intelligent living space. Initially, a depth imaging sensor is used to capture depth silhouettes. Based on these silhouettes, human skeletons with joint information are produced which are further used for activity recognition and generating their life logs. The life-logging system is divided into two processes. Firstly, the training system includes data collection using a depth camera, feature extraction and training for each activity via Hidden Markov Models. Secondly, after training, the recognition engine starts to recognize the learned activities and produces life logs. The system was evaluated using life logging features against principal component and independent component features and achieved satisfactory recognition rates against the conventional approaches. Experiments conducted on the smart indoor activity datasets and the MSRDailyActivity3D dataset show promising results. The proposed system is directly applicable to any elderly monitoring system, such as monitoring healthcare problems for elderly people, or examining the indoor activities of people at home, office or hospital. PMID:24991942

Drogue tracking using 3D flash lidar for autonomous aerial refueling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chao-I.; Stettner, Roger

2011-06-01

Autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) is an important capability for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to increase its flying range and endurance without increasing its size. This paper presents a novel tracking method that utilizes both 2D intensity and 3D point-cloud data acquired with a 3D Flash LIDAR sensor to establish relative position and orientation between the receiver vehicle and drogue during an aerial refueling process. Unlike classic, vision-based sensors, a 3D Flash LIDAR sensor can provide 3D point-cloud data in real time without motion blur, in the day or night, and is capable of imaging through fog and clouds. The proposed method segments out the drogue through 2D analysis and estimates the center of the drogue from 3D point-cloud data for flight trajectory determination. A level-set front propagation routine is first employed to identify the target of interest and establish its silhouette information. Sufficient domain knowledge, such as the size of the drogue and the expected operable distance, is integrated into our approach to quickly eliminate unlikely target candidates. A statistical analysis along with a random sample consensus (RANSAC) is performed on the target to reduce noise and estimate the center of the drogue after all 3D points on the drogue are identified. The estimated center and drogue silhouette serve as the seed points to efficiently locate the target in the next frame.

Pooled Genome-Wide Analysis to Identify Novel Risk Loci for Pediatric Allergic Asthma

PubMed Central

Ricci, Giampaolo; Astolfi, Annalisa; Remondini, Daniel; Cipriani, Francesca; Formica, Serena; Dondi, Arianna; Pession, Andrea

2011-01-01

Background Genome-wide association studies of pooled DNA samples were shown to be a valuable tool to identify candidate SNPs associated to a phenotype. No such study was up to now applied to childhood allergic asthma, even if the very high complexity of asthma genetics is an appropriate field to explore the potential of pooled GWAS approach. Methodology/Principal Findings We performed a pooled GWAS and individual genotyping in 269 children with allergic respiratory diseases comparing allergic children with and without asthma. We used a modular approach to identify the most significant loci associated with asthma by combining silhouette statistics and physical distance method with cluster-adapted thresholding. We found 97% concordance between pooled GWAS and individual genotyping, with 36 out of 37 top-scoring SNPs significant at individual genotyping level. The most significant SNP is located inside the coding sequence of C5, an already identified asthma susceptibility gene, while the other loci regulate functions that are relevant to bronchial physiopathology, as immune- or inflammation-mediated mechanisms and airway smooth muscle contraction. Integration with gene expression data showed that almost half of the putative susceptibility genes are differentially expressed in experimental asthma mouse models. Conclusion/Significance Combined silhouette statistics and cluster-adapted physical distance threshold analysis of pooled GWAS data is an efficient method to identify candidate SNP associated to asthma development in an allergic pediatric population. PMID:21359210

Comparative study of methods for recognition of an unknown person's action from a video sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hori, Takayuki; Ohya, Jun; Kurumisawa, Jun

2009-02-01

This paper proposes a Tensor Decomposition Based method that can recognize an unknown person's action from a video sequence, where the unknown person is not included in the database (tensor) used for the recognition. The tensor consists of persons, actions and time-series image features. For the observed unknown person's action, one of the actions stored in the tensor is assumed. Using the motion signature obtained from the assumption, the unknown person's actions are synthesized. The actions of one of the persons in the tensor are replaced by the synthesized actions. Then, the core tensor for the replaced tensor is computed. This process is repeated for the actions and persons. For each iteration, the difference between the replaced and original core tensors is computed. The assumption that gives the minimal difference is the action recognition result. For the time-series image features to be stored in the tensor and to be extracted from the observed video sequence, the human body silhouette's contour shape based feature is used. To show the validity of our proposed method, our proposed method is experimentally compared with Nearest Neighbor rule and Principal Component analysis based method. Experiments using 33 persons' seven kinds of action show that our proposed method achieves better recognition accuracies for the seven actions than the other methods.

Surfactant anchoring and aggregate structure at silica nanoparticles: a persuasive facade for the adsorption of azo dye.

PubMed

Chaudhary, Savita; Sood, Aastha; Mehta, S K

2014-09-01

Nanotechnology's aptitude to silhouette matter at the scale of the nanometer has unlocked the flap to new inventions of applications in material science and nanomedicine. Engineered silica nanoparticles are key actor of this strategy. The amphitheatre of silica nanoparticles is inexplicably bilateral. Silica particles play essential function in everyday commercial purposes for instance energy storage, chemical and biological sensors, food processing and catalysis. One of the most appealing applications to emerge in the recent years is the use of silica particles for cleaning up contaminants in groundwater, soil and sediments. Herein this work, surfactant modified silica nanoparticles with unique surface and pore properties as well as high surface areas have been extensively investigated as an alternative for the dye removal. The physical and chemical characterizations of adsorbent have been studied using FTIR and scanning electron microscopy. The present investigation aims to explore the comparative effect of different surfactants during the formation of the target composite materials. The effects of various parameters like pH, adsorbent doses, dye concentration, addition of salt have also been investigated. These findings indicate that the nano silica particles are effective materials for dye removal and can be used to alleviate environmental problems.

First report of Hepatozoon (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina) in caecilians, with description of a new species.

PubMed

Harris, D James; Damas-Moreira, Isabel; Maia, João P M C; Perera, Ana

2014-02-01

Hepatozoon spp. are identified for the first time in the amphibian order Gymnophiona, or caecilians, from the Seychelles island of Silhouette. Estimate of relationships derived from partial 18S rRNA gene sequences indicate these are not related to Hepatozoon spp. from frogs or to other Hepatozoon spp. from reptiles in the Seychelles. Assessment of mature gamonts from blood smears indicate that these can be recognized as a new species, Hepatozoon seychellensis n. sp.

Importance of the method of leaf area measurement to the interpretation of gas exchange of complex shoots

Treesearch

W. K. Smith; A. W. Schoettle; M. Cui

1991-01-01

Net CO(2) uptake in full sunlight, total leaf area (TLA), projected leaf area of detached leaves (PLA), and the silhouette area of attached leaves in their natural orientation to the sun at midday on June 1 (SLA) were measured for sun shoots of six conifer species. Among species, TLA/SLA ranged between 5.2 and 10.0 (x bar = 7.3), TLA/PLA ranged between 2.5 and 2.9 (x...

A Bayesian framework for extracting human gait using strong prior knowledge.

PubMed

Zhou, Ziheng; Prügel-Bennett, Adam; Damper, Robert I

2006-11-01

Extracting full-body motion of walking people from monocular video sequences in complex, real-world environments is an important and difficult problem, going beyond simple tracking, whose satisfactory solution demands an appropriate balance between use of prior knowledge and learning from data. We propose a consistent Bayesian framework for introducing strong prior knowledge into a system for extracting human gait. In this work, the strong prior is built from a simple articulated model having both time-invariant (static) and time-variant (dynamic) parameters. The model is easily modified to cater to situations such as walkers wearing clothing that obscures the limbs. The statistics of the parameters are learned from high-quality (indoor laboratory) data and the Bayesian framework then allows us to "bootstrap" to accurate gait extraction on the noisy images typical of cluttered, outdoor scenes. To achieve automatic fitting, we use a hidden Markov model to detect the phases of images in a walking cycle. We demonstrate our approach on silhouettes extracted from fronto-parallel ("sideways on") sequences of walkers under both high-quality indoor and noisy outdoor conditions. As well as high-quality data with synthetic noise and occlusions added, we also test walkers with rucksacks, skirts, and trench coats. Results are quantified in terms of chamfer distance and average pixel error between automatically extracted body points and corresponding hand-labeled points. No one part of the system is novel in itself, but the overall framework makes it feasible to extract gait from very much poorer quality image sequences than hitherto. This is confirmed by comparing person identification by gait using our method and a well-established baseline recognition algorithm.

Learning the 3-D structure of objects from 2-D views depends on shape, not format

PubMed Central

Tian, Moqian; Yamins, Daniel; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2016-01-01

Humans can learn to recognize new objects just from observing example views. However, it is unknown what structural information enables this learning. To address this question, we manipulated the amount of structural information given to subjects during unsupervised learning by varying the format of the trained views. We then tested how format affected participants' ability to discriminate similar objects across views that were rotated 90° apart. We found that, after training, participants' performance increased and generalized to new views in the same format. Surprisingly, the improvement was similar across line drawings, shape from shading, and shape from shading + stereo even though the latter two formats provide richer depth information compared to line drawings. In contrast, participants' improvement was significantly lower when training used silhouettes, suggesting that silhouettes do not have enough information to generate a robust 3-D structure. To test whether the learned object representations were format-specific or format-invariant, we examined if learning novel objects from example views transfers across formats. We found that learning objects from example line drawings transferred to shape from shading and vice versa. These results have important implications for theories of object recognition because they suggest that (a) learning the 3-D structure of objects does not require rich structural cues during training as long as shape information of internal and external features is provided and (b) learning generates shape-based object representations independent of the training format. PMID:27153196

Reconstructing photorealistic 3D models from image sequence using domain decomposition method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Hanwei; Pan, Ming; Zhang, Xiangwei

2009-11-01

In the fields of industrial design, artistic design and heritage conservation, physical objects are usually digitalized by reverse engineering through some 3D scanning methods. Structured light and photogrammetry are two main methods to acquire 3D information, and both are expensive. Even if these expensive instruments are used, photorealistic 3D models are seldom available. In this paper, a new method to reconstruction photorealistic 3D models using a single camera is proposed. A square plate glued with coded marks is used to place the objects, and a sequence of about 20 images is taken. From the coded marks, the images are calibrated, and a snake algorithm is used to segment object from the background. A rough 3d model is obtained using shape from silhouettes algorithm. The silhouettes are decomposed into a combination of convex curves, which are used to partition the rough 3d model into some convex mesh patches. For each patch, the multi-view photo consistency constraints and smooth regulations are expressed as a finite element formulation, which can be resolved locally, and the information can be exchanged along the patches boundaries. The rough model is deformed into a fine 3d model through such a domain decomposition finite element method. The textures are assigned to each element mesh, and a photorealistic 3D model is got finally. A toy pig is used to verify the algorithm, and the result is exciting.

The effects of forehead and neck position on esthetics of class I, II and III profiles.

PubMed

Salehi, Parisa; Oshagh, Morteza; Aleyasin, Zeinab S; Pakshir, Hamid Reza

2014-01-01

All parts of the face, other than jaw relationships, should be considered in orthodontic treatment planning. The role of forehead and neck in facial esthetics is well known; however, the majority of conventional facial analysis methods have not considered them. Neck and forehead may confer mutual effects on equilibrium and on esthetics of other facial components, and may change the overall convexity/concavity view of the profile. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of anteroposterior position of the forehead and neck on the esthetics of skeletal class I, II and III jaw relationships using profile silhouettes. Class II and III jaw relationships were constructed on the silhouette of a class I normal profile by altering the mandibular position. Retruded, normal and protruded positions were also applied for the forehead and neck. Three hundred Iranian laypeople (150 men, 150 women) scored the esthetics of profile silhouettes from 1 to 7. Half of the participants were told to consider the profiles as a man, and the other half were told to consider them as a woman. Data were analyzed using non-parametric methods. Class I jaw relation was found to be the most beautiful profile followed by class II and III respectively. Esthetics of different positions of the neck and forehead were significantly different (P < 0.05). In subjects with a normal neck and forehead position, and those with a retruded neck, the best esthetic relationship was class I, and the worst was class III. For protruded foreheads, the best jaw relationship was class II for females and class I for males, and the worst was class III for both. In a retruded forehead position, the most preferred jaw relationship was class I, and the worst was class II. For profiles with a protruded neck, the best esthetics was found to be in class III jaw relationship, and the worst was in class II. There was a small difference in scoring for male and female profiles (P < 0.05); there were also small differences in scoring trends of men and women (P < 0.05). This study showed that the anteroposterior position of the forehead and neck affects the esthetics of jaw relationships in profile view. In laypeople's opinions, in a normal profile, the overall appearance is more important compared to the independent position of the neck and forehead; however, having jaw abnormalities, the neck plays an important independent role. The preferred jaw relation for profiles with each forehead or neck position was introduced.

Crown traits of coniferous trees and their relation to shade tolerance can differ with leaf type: a biophysical demonstration using computed tomography scanning data.

PubMed

Dutilleul, Pierre; Han, Liwen; Valladares, Fernando; Messier, Christian

2015-01-01

Plant light interception and shade tolerance are intrinsically related in that they involve structural, morphological and physiological adaptations to manage light capture for photosynthetic utilization, in order to sustain survival, development and reproduction. At the scale of small-size trees, crown traits related to structural geometry of branching pattern and space occupancy through phyllotaxis can be accurately evaluated in 3D, using computed tomography (CT) scanning data. We demonstrate this by scrutinizing the crowns of 15 potted miniature conifers of different species or varieties, classified in two groups based on leaf type (10 needlelike, 5 scalelike); we also test whether mean values of crown traits measured from CT scanning data and correlations with a shade tolerance index (STI) differ between groups. Seven crown traits, including fractal dimensions (FD1: smaller scales, FD2: larger scales) and leaf areas, were evaluated for all 15 miniature conifers; an average silhouette-to-total-area ratio was also calculated for each of the 10 needlelike-leaf conifers. Between-group differences in mean values are significant (P < 0.05) for STI, FD1, FD2, and the average leaf area displayed (ĀD). Between-group differences in sign and strength of correlations are observed. For example, the correlation between STI and FD1 is negative and significant (P < 0.10) for the needlelike-leaf group, but is positive and significant (P < 0.05) for the miniature conifers with scalelike leaves, which had lower STI and higher FD1 on average in our study; the positive correlation between STI and ĀD is significant (P < 0.05) for the scalelike-leaf group, and very moderate for the needlelike-leaf one. A contrasting physical attachment of the leaves to branches may explain part of the between-group differences. Our findings open new avenues for the understanding of fundamental plant growth processes; the information gained could be included in a multi-scale approach to tree crown modeling.

The Children's Body Image Scale: reliability and use with international standards for body mass index.

PubMed

Truby, Helen; Paxton, Susan J

2008-03-01

To test the reliability of the Children's Body Image Scale (CBIS) and assess its usefulness in the context of new body size charts for children. Participants were 281 primary schoolchildren with 50% being retested after 3 weeks. The CBIS figure scale was compared with a range of international body mass index (BMI) reference standards. Children had a high degree of body image dissatisfaction. The test-retest reliability of the CBIS was supported. The CBIS is a useful tool for assessing body image in children with sound scale properties. It can also be used to identify the body size of children, which lies outside the healthy weight range of BMI.

Scaling of adult regional body mass and body composition as a whole to height: Relevance to body shape and body mass index.

PubMed

Schuna, John M; Peterson, Courtney M; Thomas, Diana M; Heo, Moonseong; Hong, Sangmo; Choi, Woong; Heymsfield, Steven B

2015-01-01

Adult body mass (MB) empirically scales as height (Ht) squared (MB ∝ Ht(2) ), but does regional body mass and body composition as a whole also scale as Ht(2) ? This question is relevant to a wide range of biological topics, including interpretation of body mass index (BMI). Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to quantify regional body mass [head (MH), trunk, arms, and legs] and whole-body composition [fat, lean soft tissue (LST), and bone mineral content (BMC)] in non-Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, Mexican American, and Korean adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; n = 17,126) and Korean NHANES (n = 8,942). Regression models were developed to establish Ht scaling powers for each measured component with adjustments for age and adiposity. Exploratory analyses revealed a consistent scaling pattern across men and women of the four population groups: regional mass powers, head (∼0.8-1) < arms and trunk (∼1.8-2.3) < legs (∼2.3-2.6); and body composition, LST (∼2.0-2.3) < BMC (∼2.1-2.4). Small sex and population differences in scaling powers were also observed. As body mass scaled uniformly across the eight sex and population groups as Ht(∼2) , tall and short subjects differed in body shape (e.g., MH/MB ∝ Ht(-∼1) ) and composition. Adult human body shape and relative composition are a function of body size as represented by stature, a finding that reveals a previously unrecognized phenotypic heterogeneity as defined by BMI. These observations provide new pathways for exploring mechanisms governing the interrelations between adult stature, body morphology, biomechanics, and metabolism. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Inspecting Pipe Radiographically Through Asbestos Insulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gianettino, David P.

1994-01-01

Welds between sections of insulated steampipe located and inspected radiographically. Unless need to repair defective weld, one avoids cost, time, and hazard of removing asbestos insulation. Enables inspectors to locate and evaluate nondestructively any weld in pipe system, without shutting down steam. Hidden weld joints first located by use of low-power fluoroscope, moved along pipe while technician observes fluoroscopic image. Low-energy x rays from fluoroscope penetrate insulation but not pipe. Weld bead appears in silhouette on fluoroscope screen. Technician then accurately marks weld sites on insulation for later inspection.

Earth Observations taken by Expedition 34 crewmember

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-02-01

ISS034-E-039039 (1 Feb. 2013) --- The International Space Station was flying over northern China about 500 miles southwest of Beijing when one of the Expedition 32 crew members photographed this interesting night view. Local time was nearly 4 a.m., which means this panoramic view is looking away from daybreak. Two Russian spacecraft -- a Soyuz (center frame) and a Progress -- dominate the foreground. The Soyuz is docked to the Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM-1). The Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) is also visible (silhouette at left edge).

Very large pericardial effusion attributable to minoxidil: resolution without drainage of fluid.

PubMed

Shirwany, Arsalan; D'Cruz, Ivan A; Munir, Ahmad

2002-08-01

A 52-year-old man with a history of chronic hypertension presented with worsening dyspnea and leg edema. He had been on minoxidil for 10 years. The cardiac silhouette was markedly enlarged. Echocardiography and computed tomography showed a large pericardial effusion. His cardiac status was stable and he was in no cardiorespiratory distress. No attempt was made to drain the fluid. Minoxidil was discontinued, and a month later, the effusion had virtually disappeared. Cessation of minoxidil administration and conservative management may suffice, even though the pericardial effusion is large.

Scaling of Adult Regional Body Mass and Body Composition as a Whole to Height: Relevance to Body Shape and Body Mass Index

PubMed Central

Schuna, John M.; Peterson, Courtney M.; Thomas, Diana M.; Heo, Moonseong; Hong, Sangmo; Choi, Woong; Heymsfield, Steven B.

2015-01-01

Objectives Adult body mass (MB) empirically scales as height (Ht) squared (MB ∝ Ht2), but does regional body mass and body composition as a whole also scale as Ht2? This question is relevant to a wide range of biological topics, including interpretation of body mass index. Methods Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to quantify regional body mass (head [MH], trunk, arms, legs) and whole-body composition (fat, lean soft tissue [LST], and bone mineral content [BMC]) in non-Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, Mexican American, and Korean adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; n=17,126) and Korean NHANES (n=8,942). Regression models were developed to establish Ht scaling powers for each measured component with adjustments for age and adiposity. Results Exploratory analyses revealed a consistent scaling pattern across men and women of the four race/ethnic groups: regional mass powers, head (~0.8-1) < arms and trunk (~1.8-2.3) < legs (~2.3-2.6); and body composition, LST (~2.0-2.3) < BMC (~2.1-2.4). Small sex and race/ethnic differences in scaling powers were also observed. As body mass scaled uniformly across the eight sex and race/ethnic groups as Ht~2, tall and short subjects differed in body shape (e.g., Mh/Mb ∝ Ht−~1) and composition. Conclusions Adult human body shape and relative composition are a function of body size as defined by stature, a finding that has important implications in multiple areas of biological research. PMID:25381999

Development of multi-dimensional body image scale for malaysian female adolescents

PubMed Central

Taib, Mohd Nasir Mohd; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Khor, Geok Lin

2008-01-01

The present study was conducted to develop a Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents. Data were collected among 328 female adolescents from a secondary school in Kuantan district, state of Pahang, Malaysia by using a self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. The self-administered questionnaire comprised multiple measures of body image, Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965). The 152 items from selected multiple measures of body image were examined through factor analysis and for internal consistency. Correlations between Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale and body mass index (BMI), risk of eating disorders and self-esteem were assessed for construct validity. A seven factor model of a 62-item Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents with construct validity and good internal consistency was developed. The scale encompasses 1) preoccupation with thinness and dieting behavior, 2) appearance and body satisfaction, 3) body importance, 4) muscle increasing behavior, 5) extreme dieting behavior, 6) appearance importance, and 7) perception of size and shape dimensions. Besides, a multidimensional body image composite score was proposed to screen negative body image risk in female adolescents. The result found body image was correlated with BMI, risk of eating disorders and self-esteem in female adolescents. In short, the present study supports a multi-dimensional concept for body image and provides a new insight into its multi-dimensionality in Malaysian female adolescents with preliminary validity and reliability of the scale. The Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale can be used to identify female adolescents who are potentially at risk of developing body image disturbance through future intervention programs. PMID:20126371

Development of multi-dimensional body image scale for malaysian female adolescents.

PubMed

Chin, Yit Siew; Taib, Mohd Nasir Mohd; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Khor, Geok Lin

2008-01-01

The present study was conducted to develop a Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents. Data were collected among 328 female adolescents from a secondary school in Kuantan district, state of Pahang, Malaysia by using a self-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. The self-administered questionnaire comprised multiple measures of body image, Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and Rosenberg Self-esteem Inventory (Rosenberg, 1965). The 152 items from selected multiple measures of body image were examined through factor analysis and for internal consistency. Correlations between Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale and body mass index (BMI), risk of eating disorders and self-esteem were assessed for construct validity. A seven factor model of a 62-item Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale for Malaysian female adolescents with construct validity and good internal consistency was developed. The scale encompasses 1) preoccupation with thinness and dieting behavior, 2) appearance and body satisfaction, 3) body importance, 4) muscle increasing behavior, 5) extreme dieting behavior, 6) appearance importance, and 7) perception of size and shape dimensions. Besides, a multidimensional body image composite score was proposed to screen negative body image risk in female adolescents. The result found body image was correlated with BMI, risk of eating disorders and self-esteem in female adolescents. In short, the present study supports a multi-dimensional concept for body image and provides a new insight into its multi-dimensionality in Malaysian female adolescents with preliminary validity and reliability of the scale. The Multi-dimensional Body Image Scale can be used to identify female adolescents who are potentially at risk of developing body image disturbance through future intervention programs.

An augmented reality home-training system based on the mirror training and imagery approach.

PubMed

Trojan, Jörg; Diers, Martin; Fuchs, Xaver; Bach, Felix; Bekrater-Bodmann, Robin; Foell, Jens; Kamping, Sandra; Rance, Mariela; Maaß, Heiko; Flor, Herta

2014-09-01

Mirror training and movement imagery have been demonstrated to be effective in treating several clinical conditions, such as phantom limb pain, stroke-induced hemiparesis, and complex regional pain syndrome. This article presents an augmented reality home-training system based on the mirror and imagery treatment approaches for hand training. A head-mounted display equipped with cameras captures one hand held in front of the body, mirrors this hand, and displays it in real time in a set of four different training tasks: (1) flexing fingers in a predefined sequence, (2) moving the hand into a posture fitting into a silhouette template, (3) driving a "Snake" video game with the index finger, and (4) grasping and moving a virtual ball. The system records task performance and transfers these data to a central server via the Internet, allowing monitoring of training progress. We evaluated the system by having 7 healthy participants train with it over the course of ten sessions of 15-min duration. No technical problems emerged during this time. Performance indicators showed that the system achieves a good balance between relatively easy and more challenging tasks and that participants improved significantly over the training sessions. This suggests that the system is well suited to maintain motivation in patients, especially when it is used for a prolonged period of time.

New observations of (4179) Toutatis from the Chang'e-2 flyby mission and future Chinese missions to asteroids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, J.

2014-07-01

Primitive asteroids are remnant building blocks in the Solar System formation. They provide key clues for us to reach in-depth understanding of the process of planetary formation, the complex environment of early Solar nebula, and even the occurrence of life on the Earth. On 13 December 2012, Chang'e-2 completed a successful flyby of the near-Earth asteroid (4179) Toutatis at a closest distance of 770 meters from the asteroid's surface. The observations show that Toutatis has an irregular surface and its shape resembles a ginger-root with a smaller lobe (head) and a larger lobe (body). Such bifurcated configuration is indicative of a contact binary origin for Toutatis. In addition, the images with a 3-m resolution or higher provide a number of new discoveries about this asteroid, such as an 800-meter basin at the end of the large lobe, a sharply perpendicular silhouette near the neck region, and direct evidence of boulders and regolith, indicating that Toutatis is probably a rubble-pile asteroid. The Chang'e-2 observations have provided significant new insights into the geological features and the formation and evolution of this asteroid. Moreover, a conceptual introduction to future Chinese missions to asteroids, such as the major scientific objectives, scientific payloads, and potential targets, will be briefly given. The proposed mission will benefit a lot from potential international collaboration in the future.

Development and Validation of the Computerized Family Relations Test for Children.

PubMed

Skoczń, Ilona; Cieciuch, Jan; Oud, Johan H L; Welzen, Kai

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study was to develop and investigate the psychometric properties of the Computerized Family Relations Test (CFRT) for children. This test assesses the quality of family relationships with the mother and father from a child's perspective. The CFRT consists of six scales relating to control (Restrictiveness and Justice), and support (Affection, Vulnerability, Acknowledgment, and Trust) within the family relationships. CFRT is an innovative approach to the Dutch Nijmegen Family Relations Test (NFRT) developed by Oud and Welzen (1989). The administration of the test has been computerized and graphical representations of female and male silhouettes were included to facilitate the child's parental identification. In total, 404 primary school children, aged 8 to 13 years (M = 11.0; SD = 1.17), took part in this study. The CFRT's reliability was assessed by McDonald's omega coefficients, and ranged from 0.71 to 0.86, except for Vulnerability which achieved the lowest reliability 0.57 for mothers' ratings and 0.56 for fathers' ratings. The test-retest procedure revealed higher stability for the ratings on father-child relationships of 0.71 compared to mother-child relationships of 0.67. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a six-factor model provided an adequate fit. Measurement invariance across the children's assessments of the quality of family relationships was achieved. The construct validity of CFRT was assessed by examining differences in the child's ratings of the relationships with the mother and father, the child's gender, and associations of CFRT scales with other variables such as depression, anxiety symptoms, and prosocial behavior.

Development and Validation of the Computerized Family Relations Test for Children

PubMed Central

Skoczń, Ilona; Cieciuch, Jan; Oud, Johan H. L.; Welzen, Kai

2015-01-01

The aim of the present study was to develop and investigate the psychometric properties of the Computerized Family Relations Test (CFRT) for children. This test assesses the quality of family relationships with the mother and father from a child’s perspective. The CFRT consists of six scales relating to control (Restrictiveness and Justice), and support (Affection, Vulnerability, Acknowledgment, and Trust) within the family relationships. CFRT is an innovative approach to the Dutch Nijmegen Family Relations Test (NFRT) developed by Oud and Welzen (1989). The administration of the test has been computerized and graphical representations of female and male silhouettes were included to facilitate the child’s parental identification. In total, 404 primary school children, aged 8 to 13 years (M = 11.0; SD = 1.17), took part in this study. The CFRT’s reliability was assessed by McDonald’s omega coefficients, and ranged from 0.71 to 0.86, except for Vulnerability which achieved the lowest reliability 0.57 for mothers’ ratings and 0.56 for fathers’ ratings. The test–retest procedure revealed higher stability for the ratings on father-child relationships of 0.71 compared to mother-child relationships of 0.67. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a six-factor model provided an adequate fit. Measurement invariance across the children’s assessments of the quality of family relationships was achieved. The construct validity of CFRT was assessed by examining differences in the child’s ratings of the relationships with the mother and father, the child’s gender, and associations of CFRT scales with other variables such as depression, anxiety symptoms, and prosocial behavior. PMID:26617538

Microsatellite variation suggests a recent fine-scale population structure of Drosophila sechellia, a species endemic of the Seychelles archipelago.

PubMed

Legrand, Delphine; Vautrin, Dominique; Lachaise, Daniel; Cariou, Marie-Louise

2011-07-01

Drosophila sechellia is closely related to the cosmopolitan and widespread model species, D. simulans. This species, endemic to the Seychelles archipelago, is specialized on the fruits of Morinda citrifolia, and harbours the lowest overall genetic diversity compared to other species of Drosophila. This low diversity is associated with a small population size. In addition, no obvious population structure has been evidenced so far across islands of the Seychelles archipelago. Here, a microsatellite panel of 17 loci in ten populations from nine islands of the Seychelles was used to assess the effect of the D. sechellia's fragmented distribution on the fine-scale population genetic structure, the migration pattern, as well as on the demography of the species. Contrary to previous results, also based on microsatellites, no evidence for population contraction in D. sechellia was found. The results confirm previous studies based on gene sequence polymorphism that showed a long-term stable population size for this species. Interestingly, a pattern of Isolation By Distance which had not been described yet in D. sechellia was found, with evidence of first-generation migrants between some neighbouring islands. Bayesian structuring algorithm results were consistent with a split of D. sechellia into two main groups of populations: Silhouette/Mahé versus all the other islands. Thus, microsatellites suggest that variability in D. sechellia is most likely explained by local genetic exchanges between neighbouring islands that have recently resulted in slight differentiation of the two largest island populations from all the others.

A comparative study of DIGNET, average, complete, single hierarchical and k-means clustering algorithms in 2D face image recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thanos, Konstantinos-Georgios; Thomopoulos, Stelios C. A.

2014-06-01

The study in this paper belongs to a more general research of discovering facial sub-clusters in different ethnicity face databases. These new sub-clusters along with other metadata (such as race, sex, etc.) lead to a vector for each face in the database where each vector component represents the likelihood of participation of a given face to each cluster. This vector is then used as a feature vector in a human identification and tracking system based on face and other biometrics. The first stage in this system involves a clustering method which evaluates and compares the clustering results of five different clustering algorithms (average, complete, single hierarchical algorithm, k-means and DIGNET), and selects the best strategy for each data collection. In this paper we present the comparative performance of clustering results of DIGNET and four clustering algorithms (average, complete, single hierarchical and k-means) on fabricated 2D and 3D samples, and on actual face images from various databases, using four different standard metrics. These metrics are the silhouette figure, the mean silhouette coefficient, the Hubert test Γ coefficient, and the classification accuracy for each clustering result. The results showed that, in general, DIGNET gives more trustworthy results than the other algorithms when the metrics values are above a specific acceptance threshold. However when the evaluation results metrics have values lower than the acceptance threshold but not too low (too low corresponds to ambiguous results or false results), then it is necessary for the clustering results to be verified by the other algorithms.

Accurate 3D kinematic measurement of temporomandibular joint using X-ray fluoroscopic images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamazaki, Takaharu; Matsumoto, Akiko; Sugamoto, Kazuomi; Matsumoto, Ken; Kakimoto, Naoya; Yura, Yoshiaki

2014-04-01

Accurate measurement and analysis of 3D kinematics of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is very important for assisting clinical diagnosis and treatment of prosthodontics and orthodontics, and oral surgery. This study presents a new 3D kinematic measurement technique of the TMJ using X-ray fluoroscopic images, which can easily obtain the TMJ kinematic data in natural motion. In vivo kinematics of the TMJ (maxilla and mandibular bone) is determined using a feature-based 2D/3D registration, which uses beads silhouette on fluoroscopic images and 3D surface bone models with beads. The 3D surface models of maxilla and mandibular bone with beads were created from CT scans data of the subject using the mouthpiece with the seven strategically placed beads. In order to validate the accuracy of pose estimation for the maxilla and mandibular bone, computer simulation test was performed using five patterns of synthetic tantalum beads silhouette images. In the clinical applications, dynamic movement during jaw opening and closing was conducted, and the relative pose of the mandibular bone with respect to the maxilla bone was determined. The results of computer simulation test showed that the root mean square errors were sufficiently smaller than 1.0 mm and 1.0 degree. In the results of clinical application, during jaw opening from 0.0 to 36.8 degree of rotation, mandibular condyle exhibited 19.8 mm of anterior sliding relative to maxillary articular fossa, and these measurement values were clinically similar to the previous reports. Consequently, present technique was thought to be suitable for the 3D TMJ kinematic analysis.

Retinal ganglion cells in the eastern newt Notophthalmus viridescens: topography, morphology, and diversity.

PubMed

Pushchin, Igor I; Karetin, Yuriy A

2009-10-20

The topography and morphology of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in the eastern newt were studied. Cells were retrogradely labeled with tetramethylrhodamine-conjugated dextran amines or horseradish peroxidase and examined in retinal wholemounts. Their total number was 18,025 +/- 3,602 (mean +/- SEM). The spatial density of RGCs varied from 2,100 cells/mm(2) in the retinal periphery to 4,500 cells/mm(2) in the dorsotemporal retina. No prominent retinal specializations were found. The spatial resolution estimated from the spatial density of RGCs varied from 1.4 cycles per degree in the periphery to 1.95 cycles per degree in the region of the peak RGC density. A sample of 68 cells was camera lucida drawn and subjected to quantitative analysis. A total of 21 parameters related to RGC morphology and stratification in the retina were estimated. Partitionings obtained by using different clustering algorithms combined with automatic variable weighting and dimensionality reduction techniques were compared, and an effective solution was found by using silhouette analysis. A total of seven clusters were identified and associated with potential cell types. Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA-on-Ranks with post hoc Mann-Whitney U tests showed significant pairwise between-cluster differences in one or more of the clustering variables. The average silhouette values of the clusters were reasonably high, ranging from 0.52 to 0.79. Cells assigned to the same cluster displayed similar morphology and stratification in the retina. The advantages and limitations of the methodology adopted are discussed. The present classification is compared with known morphological and physiological RGC classifications in other salamanders.

Three-dimensional measurement of yarn hairiness via multiperspective images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lei; Xu, Bugao; Gao, Weidong

2018-02-01

Yarn hairiness is one of the essential parameters for assessing yarn quality. Most of the currently used yarn measurement systems are based on two-dimensional (2-D) photoelectric measurements, which are likely to underestimate levels of yarn hairiness because hairy fibers on a yarn surface are often projected or occluded in these 2-D systems. A three-dimensional (3-D) test method for hairiness measurement using a multiperspective imaging system is presented. The system was developed to reconstruct a 3-D yarn model for tracing the actual length of hairy fibers on a yarn surface. Five views of a yarn from different perspectives were created by two angled mirrors and simultaneously captured in one panoramic picture by a camera. A 3-D model was built by extracting the yarn silhouettes in the five views and transferring the silhouettes into a common coordinate system. From the 3-D model, curved hair fibers were traced spatially so that projection and occlusion occurring in the current systems could be avoided. In the experiment, the proposed method was compared with two commercial instruments, i.e., the Uster Tester and Zweigle Tester. It is demonstrated that the length distribution of hairy fibers measured from the 3-D model showed an exponential growth when the fiber length is sorted from shortest to longest. The hairiness measurements, such as H-value, measured by the multiperspective method were highly consistent with those of Uster Tester (r=0.992) but had larger values than those obtained from Uster Tester and Zweigle Tester, proving that the proposed method corrected underestimated hairiness measurements in the commercial systems.

Macrozooplankton biomass in a warm-core Gulf Stream ring: Time series changes in size structure, taxonomic composition, and vertical distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Cabell S.; Wiebe, Peter H.

1985-01-01

Macrozooplankton size structure and taxonomic composition in warm-core ring 82B was examined from a time series (March, April, June) of ring center MOCNESS (1 m) samples. Size distributions of 15 major taxonomic groups were determined from length measurements digitized from silhouette photographs of the samples. Silhouette digitization allows rapid quantification of Zooplankton size structure and taxonomic composition. Length/weight regressions, determined for each taxon, were used to partition the biomass (displacement volumes) of each sample among the major taxonomic groups. Zooplankton taxonomic composition and size structure varied with depth and appeared to coincide with the hydrographic structure of the ring. In March and April, within the thermostad region of the ring, smaller herbivorous/omnivorous Zooplankton, including copepods, crustacean larvae, and euphausiids, were dominant, whereas below this region, larger carnivores, such as medusae, ctenophores, fish, and decapods, dominated. Copepods were generally dominant in most samples above 500 m. Total macrozooplankton abundance and biomass increased between March and April, primarily because of increases in herbivorous taxa, including copepods, crustacean larvae, and larvaceans. A marked increase in total macrozooplankton abundance and biomass between April and June was characterized by an equally dramatic shift from smaller herbivores (1.0-3.0 mm) in April to large herbivores (5.0-6.0 mm) and carnivores (>15 mm) in June. Species identifications made directly from the samples suggest that changes in trophic structure resulted from seeding type immigration and subsequent in situ population growth of Slope Water zooplankton species.

The effect of western adaptation of Hispanic-Americans on their assessment of Korean facial profiles

PubMed Central

Toureno, Leo; Kook, Yoon-Ah; Bayome, Mohamed

2014-01-01

Objective To determine Korean facial profile preferences based on lip position as assessed by Hispanic-Americans of varying western adaptation levels and to determine whether the age and sex of the rater had any influence. Methods For this study, 132 Hispanic-Americans and 68 Caucasians of varying age, sex and western adaptation levels volunteered to rate their preference of Korean male and female facial silhouettes having lips ranging from retruding to protruding. The Hispanic-Americans were also asked to complete a Bidimensional Acculturation Scale questionnaire to determine their western adaptation status: low-acculturated Hispanics (LAH; lesser western-adapted Hispanic participants) or high-acculturated Hispanics (HAH; higher western-adapted Hispanic participants). Results The LAHs preferred significantly more retruded lip positions (p < 0.05) while HAHs showed some similarities with Caucasian participants in the results for the Korean male profile, even though HAHs preferred more retruded lip positions for the Korean female profile than Caucasians did (p < 0.05). The age and sex of raters did not influence the preference of facial profiles (p > 0.05). Conclusions The results of this study suggest that Hispanic-Americans prefer a flatter Korean lip profile. It would be prudent for orthodontists to offer patients the option of altering lip profile through orthodontic and/or orthognathic surgery treatments. PMID:24511513

The effect of western adaptation of Hispanic-Americans on their assessment of Korean facial profiles.

PubMed

Toureno, Leo; Kook, Yoon-Ah; Bayome, Mohamed; Park, Jae Hyun

2014-01-01

To determine Korean facial profile preferences based on lip position as assessed by Hispanic-Americans of varying western adaptation levels and to determine whether the age and sex of the rater had any influence. For this study, 132 Hispanic-Americans and 68 Caucasians of varying age, sex and western adaptation levels volunteered to rate their preference of Korean male and female facial silhouettes having lips ranging from retruding to protruding. The Hispanic-Americans were also asked to complete a Bidimensional Acculturation Scale questionnaire to determine their western adaptation status: low-acculturated Hispanics (LAH; lesser western-adapted Hispanic participants) or high-acculturated Hispanics (HAH; higher western-adapted Hispanic participants). The LAHs preferred significantly more retruded lip positions (p < 0.05) while HAHs showed some similarities with Caucasian participants in the results for the Korean male profile, even though HAHs preferred more retruded lip positions for the Korean female profile than Caucasians did (p < 0.05). The age and sex of raters did not influence the preference of facial profiles (p > 0.05). The results of this study suggest that Hispanic-Americans prefer a flatter Korean lip profile. It would be prudent for orthodontists to offer patients the option of altering lip profile through orthodontic and/or orthognathic surgery treatments.

Ontogenetic body-mass scaling of resting metabolic rate covaries with species-specific metabolic level and body size in spiders and snakes.

PubMed

Glazier, Douglas S

2009-08-01

According to common belief, metabolic rate usually scales with body mass to the 3/4-power, which is considered by some to be a universal law of nature. However, substantial variation in the metabolic scaling exponent (b) exists, much of which can be related to the overall metabolic level (L) of various taxonomic groups of organisms, as predicted by the recently proposed metabolic-level boundaries (MLB) hypothesis. Here the MLB hypothesis was tested using data for intraspecific (ontogenetic) body-mass scaling of resting metabolic rate in spiders and boid snakes. As predicted, in both animal groups b varies mostly between 2/3 and 1, and is significantly negatively related to L. L is, in turn, negatively related to species-specific body mass (M(m): estimated as the mass at the midpoint of a scaling relationship), and as a result, larger species tend to have steeper metabolic scaling slopes (b) than smaller species. After adjusting for the effects of M(m), b and L are still negatively related, though significantly only in the spiders, which exhibit a much wider range of L than the snakes. Therefore, in spiders and snakes the intraspecific scaling of metabolic rate with body mass itself scales with interspecific variation in both metabolic level and body mass.

Shape shifting predicts ontogenetic changes in metabolic scaling in diverse aquatic invertebrates

PubMed Central

Glazier, Douglas S.; Hirst, Andrew G.; Atkinson, David

2015-01-01

Metabolism fuels all biological activities, and thus understanding its variation is fundamentally important. Much of this variation is related to body size, which is commonly believed to follow a 3/4-power scaling law. However, during ontogeny, many kinds of animals and plants show marked shifts in metabolic scaling that deviate from 3/4-power scaling predicted by general models. Here, we show that in diverse aquatic invertebrates, ontogenetic shifts in the scaling of routine metabolic rate from near isometry (bR = scaling exponent approx. 1) to negative allometry (bR < 1), or the reverse, are associated with significant changes in body shape (indexed by bL = the scaling exponent of the relationship between body mass and body length). The observed inverse correlations between bR and bL are predicted by metabolic scaling theory that emphasizes resource/waste fluxes across external body surfaces, but contradict theory that emphasizes resource transport through internal networks. Geometric estimates of the scaling of surface area (SA) with body mass (bA) further show that ontogenetic shifts in bR and bA are positively correlated. These results support new metabolic scaling theory based on SA influences that may be applied to ontogenetic shifts in bR shown by many kinds of animals and plants. PMID:25652833

Validation of the Japanese Version of the Body Vigilance Scale.

PubMed

Saigo, Tatsuo; Takebayashi, Yoshitake; Tayama, Jun; Bernick, Peter J; Schmidt, Norman B; Shirabe, Susumu; Sakano, Yuji

2016-06-01

The Body Vigilance Scale is a self-report measure of attention to bodily sensations. The measure was translated into Japanese and its reliability, validity, and factor structure were verified. Participants comprised 286 university students (age: 19 ± 1 years). All participants were administered the scale, along with several indices of anxiety (i.e., Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Short Health Anxiety Inventory Illness Likelihood Scale, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). The Japanese version of the Body Vigilance Scale exhibited a unidimensional factor structure and strong internal consistency. Construct validity was demonstrated by significant correlations with the above measures. Results suggest that the Japanese version of the scale is a reliable, valid tool for measuring body vigilance in Japanese university students. © The Author(s) 2016.

Interspecific scaling patterns of talar articular surfaces within primates and their closest living relatives

PubMed Central

Yapuncich, Gabriel S; Boyer, Doug M

2014-01-01

The articular facets of interosseous joints must transmit forces while maintaining relatively low stresses. To prevent overloading, joints that transmit higher forces should therefore have larger facet areas. The relative contributions of body mass and muscle-induced forces to joint stress are unclear, but generate opposing hypotheses. If mass-induced forces dominate, facet area should scale with positive allometry to body mass. Alternatively, muscle-induced forces should cause facets to scale isometrically with body mass. Within primates, both scaling patterns have been reported for articular surfaces of the femoral and humeral heads, but more distal elements are less well studied. Additionally, examination of complex articular surfaces has largely been limited to linear measurements, so that ‘true area' remains poorly assessed. To re-assess these scaling relationships, we examine the relationship between body size and articular surface areas of the talus. Area measurements were taken from microCT scan-generated surfaces of all talar facets from a comprehensive sample of extant euarchontan taxa (primates, treeshrews, and colugos). Log-transformed data were regressed on literature-derived log-body mass using reduced major axis and phylogenetic least squares regressions. We examine the scaling patterns of muscle mass and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) to body mass, as these relationships may complicate each model. Finally, we examine the scaling pattern of hindlimb muscle PCSA to talar articular surface area, a direct test of the effect of mass-induced forces on joint surfaces. Among most groups, there is an overall trend toward positive allometry for articular surfaces. The ectal (= posterior calcaneal) facet scales with positive allometry among all groups except ‘sundatherians', strepsirrhines, galagids, and lorisids. The medial tibial facet scales isometrically among all groups except lemuroids. Scaling coefficients are not correlated with sample size, clade inclusivity or behavioral diversity of the sample. Muscle mass scales with slight positive allometry to body mass, and PCSA scales at isometry to body mass. PCSA generally scales with negative allometry to articular surface area, which indicates joint surfaces increase faster than muscles' ability to generate force. We suggest a synthetic model to explain the complex patterns observed for talar articular surface area scaling: whether ‘muscles or mass' drive articular facet scaling is probably dependent on the body size range of the sample and the biological role of the facet. The relationship between ‘muscle vs. mass' dominance is likely bone-and facet-specific, meaning that some facets should respond primarily to stresses induced by larger body mass, whereas others primarily reflect muscle forces. PMID:24219027

Simple ectopic kidney in three dogs.

PubMed

Choi, Jiyoung; Lee, Heechun; Lee, Youngwon; Choi, Hojung

2012-10-01

Simple ectopic kidney was diagnosed in three dogs by means of radiography and ultrasonography. A 2-year-old castrated male Schnauzer, a 13-year-old female Schnauzer and a 9-year-old male Jindo were referred with vomiting, hematuria and ocular discharge, respectively. In all three dogs, oval-shaped masses with soft tissue density were observed in the mid to caudal abdomen bilaterally or unilaterally, and kidney silhouettes were not identified at the proper anatomic places on abdominal radiographs. Ultrasonography confirmed the masses were malpositioned kidney. The ectopic kidneys had relatively small size, irregular shape and short ureter but showed normal function on excretory urography.

Sunset over "Twin Peaks"

NASA Image and Video Library

1997-08-06

This image was taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) about one minute after sunset on Mars on Sol 21. The prominent hills dubbed "Twin Peaks" form a dark silhouette at the horizon, while the setting sun casts a pink glow over the darkening sky. The image was taken as part of a twilight study which indicates how the brightness of the sky fades with time after sunset. Scientists found that the sky stays bright for up to two hours after sunset, indicating that Martian dust extends very high into the atmosphere. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00783

KSC-08pd3185

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-10-14

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The deep-red sunset sky puts Launch pad 39A in silhouette. Space shuttle Atlantis is on the pad. Atlantis’ October target launch date for the STS-125 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission was delayed after a device on board Hubble used in the storage and transmission of science data to Earth shut down on Sept. 27. Replacing the broken device will be added to Atlantis’ servicing mission to the telescope. In the interim, Atlantis will be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building until a new target launch date can be set for the mission in 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder

2017 Total Solar Eclipse

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-08-21

This composite image of seven pictures shows the progression of a partial solar eclipse near from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. The second to the last frame shows the International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, in silhouette as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Ga-67 citrate myocardial uptake in a patient with AIDS, toxoplasmosis, and myocarditis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Memel, D.S.; DeRogatis, A.J.; William, D.C.

1991-05-01

A 38-year-old man with AIDS presented with fever of unknown origin, splenomegaly, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Admission laboratory data revealed a positive toxoplasmosis titer in the blood. The initial chest x-ray showed small bilateral pleural effusions, a normal cardiac silhouette, no infiltrates, and no interstitial edema. Ga-67 imaging revealed markedly abnormal uptake in the myocardium. A diagnosis of toxoplasmosis myocarditis was made based on laboratory and imaging data. The patient was treated for toxoplasmosis. No myocardial uptake of tracer was demonstrated on a follow-up Ga-67 scan, performed after completion of treatment for toxoplasmosis.

Two different approaches to the affective profiles model: median splits (variable-oriented) and cluster analysis (person-oriented).

PubMed

Garcia, Danilo; MacDonald, Shane; Archer, Trevor

2015-01-01

Background. The notion of the affective system as being composed of two dimensions led Archer and colleagues to the development of the affective profiles model. The model consists of four different profiles based on combinations of individuals' experience of high/low positive and negative affect: self-fulfilling, low affective, high affective, and self-destructive. During the past 10 years, an increasing number of studies have used this person-centered model as the backdrop for the investigation of between and within individual differences in ill-being and well-being. The most common approach to this profiling is by dividing individuals' scores of self-reported affect using the median of the population as reference for high/low splits. However, scores just-above and just-below the median might become high and low by arbitrariness, not by reality. Thus, it is plausible to criticize the validity of this variable-oriented approach. Our aim was to compare the median splits approach with a person-oriented approach, namely, cluster analysis. Method. The participants (N = 2, 225) were recruited through Amazons' Mechanical Turk and asked to self-report affect using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule. We compared the profiles' homogeneity and Silhouette coefficients to discern differences in homogeneity and heterogeneity between approaches. We also conducted exact cell-wise analyses matching the profiles from both approaches and matching profiles and gender to investigate profiling agreement with respect to affectivity levels and affectivity and gender. All analyses were conducted using the ROPstat software. Results. The cluster approach (weighted average of cluster homogeneity coefficients = 0.62, Silhouette coefficients = 0.68) generated profiles with greater homogeneity and more distinctive from each other compared to the median splits approach (weighted average of cluster homogeneity coefficients = 0.75, Silhouette coefficients = 0.59). Most of the participants (n = 1,736, 78.0%) were allocated to the same profile (Rand Index = .83), however, 489 (21.98%) were allocated to different profiles depending on the approach. Both approaches allocated females and males similarly in three of the four profiles. Only the cluster analysis approach classified men significantly more often than chance to a self-fulfilling profile (type) and females less often than chance to this very same profile (antitype). Conclusions. Although the question whether one approach is more appropriate than the other is still without answer, the cluster method allocated individuals to profiles that are more in accordance with the conceptual basis of the model and also to expected gender differences. More importantly, regardless of the approach, our findings suggest that the model mirrors a complex and dynamic adaptive system.

Shape shifting predicts ontogenetic changes in metabolic scaling in diverse aquatic invertebrates.

PubMed

Glazier, Douglas S; Hirst, Andrew G; Atkinson, David

2015-03-07

Metabolism fuels all biological activities, and thus understanding its variation is fundamentally important. Much of this variation is related to body size, which is commonly believed to follow a 3/4-power scaling law. However, during ontogeny, many kinds of animals and plants show marked shifts in metabolic scaling that deviate from 3/4-power scaling predicted by general models. Here, we show that in diverse aquatic invertebrates, ontogenetic shifts in the scaling of routine metabolic rate from near isometry (bR = scaling exponent approx. 1) to negative allometry (bR < 1), or the reverse, are associated with significant changes in body shape (indexed by bL = the scaling exponent of the relationship between body mass and body length). The observed inverse correlations between bR and bL are predicted by metabolic scaling theory that emphasizes resource/waste fluxes across external body surfaces, but contradict theory that emphasizes resource transport through internal networks. Geometric estimates of the scaling of surface area (SA) with body mass (bA) further show that ontogenetic shifts in bR and bA are positively correlated. These results support new metabolic scaling theory based on SA influences that may be applied to ontogenetic shifts in bR shown by many kinds of animals and plants. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Architecture of the integument in lower teleostomes: functional morphology and evolutionary implications.

PubMed

Gemballa, Sven; Bartsch, Peter

2002-09-01

A bony ganoid squamation is the plesiomorphic type in actinopterygians. During evolution, it was replaced by weak and more flexible elasmoid scales. We provide a comparative description of the integument of "ganoid" fishes and "nonganoid" fishes that considers all dermal components of mechanical significance (stratum compactum, morphology of ganoid scales, and their regional differences) in order to develop a functional understanding of the ganoid integument as a whole. Data were obtained for the extant "ganoid" fishes (Polypteridae and Lepisosteidae) and for closely related "lower" actinopterygians (Acipenser ruthenus, Amia calva) and "lower" sarcopterygians (Latimeria chalumnae, Neoceratodus forsteri). Body curvatures during steady undulatory locomotion, sharp turns, prey-strikes, and fast starts in "ganoid" fishes were measured from videotapes. Extreme body curvatures as measured in anesthetized specimens are never reached during steady swimming, but are sometimes closely approached in certain situations (sharp turns, prey-strike). During extreme body curvatures we measured high values of lateral strain on the convex and on the concave side of the body. Scale overlap changes considerably (66-127% in Lepisosteus, 42-140% in Polypterus). The ganoid squamation forms a protective coat, but at the same time it permits extreme body curvatures. This is reflected in characteristic morphological features of the ganoid scales, such as an anterior process, concave anterior margin, and peg-and-socket articulation. These characters are most pronounced in the anterior body region, where maximum changes in scale overlap are required. The anterior processes and anterior concave margin, together with the attached stratum compactum, guide movements in a horizontal plane during bending. Displacements of scales relative to each other are possible for scales of different scale rows, but are impeded in scales of the same scale row due to the peg-and-socket articulation. Furthermore, ganoid scale rows, fibers of collagen layers of the stratum compactum, and the lateral myoseptal structures follow the same oblique orientation, which is needed to achieve extreme body curvatures. There is no evidence that body curvatures are limited by the ganoid squamation in Polypterus or Lepisosteus to any larger extent than by a type of integument devoid of ganoid scales in teleostomes of similar body shape. Our results essentially contradict former functional interpretations: 1) Ganoid scales do not especially limit body curvature during steady undulatory locomotion; 2) They do not act as torsion-resisting devices, but may be able to damp torsion together with the stratum compactum and internal body pressure. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Studies on scaling of flow noise received at the stagnation point of an axisymmetric body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arakeri, V. H.; Satyanarayana, S. G.; Mani, K.; Sharma, S. D.

1991-05-01

A description of the studies related to the problem of scaling of flow noise received at the stagnation point of axisymmetric bodies is provided. The source of flow noise under consideration is the transitional/turbulent regions of the boundary layer flow on the axisymmetric body. Lauchle has recently shown that the noise measured in the laminar region (including the stagnation point) corresponds closely to the noise measured in the transition region, provided that the acoustic losses due to diffraction are accounted for. The present study includes experimental measurement of flow noise at the stagnation point of three different shaped axisymmetric headforms. One of the body shapes chosen is that used by Lauchle in similar studies. This was done to establish the effect of body size on flow noise. The results of the experimental investigations clearly show that the flow noise received at the stagnation point is a strong function of free stream velocity, a moderately strong function of body scale but a weak function of boundary layer thickness. In addition, there is evidence that when body scale change is involved, flow noise amplitude scales but no frequency shift is involved. A scaling procedure is proposed based on the present observations along with those of Lauchle. At a given frequency, the amplitude of noise level obtained under model testing conditions is first scaled to account for differences in the velocity and size corresponding to the prototype conditions; then a correction to this is applied to account for losses due to diffraction, which are estimated on the basis of the geometric theory of diffraction (GTD) with the source being located at the predicted position of turbulent transition. Use of the proposed scaling law to extrapolate presently obtained noise levels to two other conditions involving larger-scale bodies show good agreement with actually measured levels, in particular at higher frequencies. Since model scale results have been used successfully to predict levels on larger-sized bodies tested in a totally different environment, the present data along with the proposed scaling procedure can be used to predict the expected flow noise levels at prototype scales during preliminary design studies.

Non-linear scaling of oxygen consumption and heart rate in a very large cockroach species (Gromphadorhina portentosa): correlated changes with body size and temperature.

PubMed

Streicher, Jeffrey W; Cox, Christian L; Birchard, Geoffrey F

2012-04-01

Although well documented in vertebrates, correlated changes between metabolic rate and cardiovascular function of insects have rarely been described. Using the very large cockroach species Gromphadorhina portentosa, we examined oxygen consumption and heart rate across a range of body sizes and temperatures. Metabolic rate scaled positively and heart rate negatively with body size, but neither scaled linearly. The response of these two variables to temperature was similar. This correlated response to endogenous (body mass) and exogenous (temperature) variables is likely explained by a mutual dependence on similar metabolic substrate use and/or coupled regulatory pathways. The intraspecific scaling for oxygen consumption rate showed an apparent plateauing at body masses greater than about 3 g. An examination of cuticle mass across all instars revealed isometric scaling with no evidence of an ontogenetic shift towards proportionally larger cuticles. Published oxygen consumption rates of other Blattodea species were also examined and, as in our intraspecific examination of G. portentosa, the scaling relationship was found to be non-linear with a decreasing slope at larger body masses. The decreasing slope at very large body masses in both intraspecific and interspecific comparisons may have important implications for future investigations of the relationship between oxygen transport and maximum body size in insects.

A universal scaling relationship between body mass and proximal limb bone dimensions in quadrupedal terrestrial tetrapods.

PubMed

Campione, Nicolás E; Evans, David C

2012-07-10

Body size is intimately related to the physiology and ecology of an organism. Therefore, accurate and consistent body mass estimates are essential for inferring numerous aspects of paleobiology in extinct taxa, and investigating large-scale evolutionary and ecological patterns in the history of life. Scaling relationships between skeletal measurements and body mass in birds and mammals are commonly used to predict body mass in extinct members of these crown clades, but the applicability of these models for predicting mass in more distantly related stem taxa, such as non-avian dinosaurs and non-mammalian synapsids, has been criticized on biomechanical grounds. Here we test the major criticisms of scaling methods for estimating body mass using an extensive dataset of mammalian and non-avian reptilian species derived from individual skeletons with live weights. Significant differences in the limb scaling of mammals and reptiles are noted in comparisons of limb proportions and limb length to body mass. Remarkably, however, the relationship between proximal (stylopodial) limb bone circumference and body mass is highly conserved in extant terrestrial mammals and reptiles, in spite of their disparate limb postures, gaits, and phylogenetic histories. As a result, we are able to conclusively reject the main criticisms of scaling methods that question the applicability of a universal scaling equation for estimating body mass in distantly related taxa. The conserved nature of the relationship between stylopodial circumference and body mass suggests that the minimum diaphyseal circumference of the major weight-bearing bones is only weakly influenced by the varied forces exerted on the limbs (that is, compression or torsion) and most strongly related to the mass of the animal. Our results, therefore, provide a much-needed, robust, phylogenetically corrected framework for accurate and consistent estimation of body mass in extinct terrestrial quadrupeds, which is important for a wide range of paleobiological studies (including growth rates, metabolism, and energetics) and meta-analyses of body size evolution.

A universal scaling relationship between body mass and proximal limb bone dimensions in quadrupedal terrestrial tetrapods

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Body size is intimately related to the physiology and ecology of an organism. Therefore, accurate and consistent body mass estimates are essential for inferring numerous aspects of paleobiology in extinct taxa, and investigating large-scale evolutionary and ecological patterns in the history of life. Scaling relationships between skeletal measurements and body mass in birds and mammals are commonly used to predict body mass in extinct members of these crown clades, but the applicability of these models for predicting mass in more distantly related stem taxa, such as non-avian dinosaurs and non-mammalian synapsids, has been criticized on biomechanical grounds. Here we test the major criticisms of scaling methods for estimating body mass using an extensive dataset of mammalian and non-avian reptilian species derived from individual skeletons with live weights. Results Significant differences in the limb scaling of mammals and reptiles are noted in comparisons of limb proportions and limb length to body mass. Remarkably, however, the relationship between proximal (stylopodial) limb bone circumference and body mass is highly conserved in extant terrestrial mammals and reptiles, in spite of their disparate limb postures, gaits, and phylogenetic histories. As a result, we are able to conclusively reject the main criticisms of scaling methods that question the applicability of a universal scaling equation for estimating body mass in distantly related taxa. Conclusions The conserved nature of the relationship between stylopodial circumference and body mass suggests that the minimum diaphyseal circumference of the major weight-bearing bones is only weakly influenced by the varied forces exerted on the limbs (that is, compression or torsion) and most strongly related to the mass of the animal. Our results, therefore, provide a much-needed, robust, phylogenetically corrected framework for accurate and consistent estimation of body mass in extinct terrestrial quadrupeds, which is important for a wide range of paleobiological studies (including growth rates, metabolism, and energetics) and meta-analyses of body size evolution. PMID:22781121

Tipping the scales: Evolution of the allometric slope independent of average trait size.

PubMed

Stillwell, R Craig; Shingleton, Alexander W; Dworkin, Ian; Frankino, W Anthony

2016-02-01

The scaling of body parts is central to the expression of morphology across body sizes and to the generation of morphological diversity within and among species. Although patterns of scaling-relationship evolution have been well documented for over one hundred years, little is known regarding how selection acts to generate these patterns. In part, this is because it is unclear the extent to which the elements of log-linear scaling relationships-the intercept or mean trait size and the slope-can evolve independently. Here, using the wing-body size scaling relationship in Drosophila melanogaster as an empirical model, we use artificial selection to demonstrate that the slope of a morphological scaling relationship between an organ (the wing) and body size can evolve independently of mean organ or body size. We discuss our findings in the context of how selection likely operates on morphological scaling relationships in nature, the developmental basis for evolved changes in scaling, and the general approach of using individual-based selection experiments to study the expression and evolution of morphological scaling. © 2016 The Author(s). Evolution © 2016 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Use of a Cutaneous Body Image (CBI) scale to evaluate self perception of body image in acne vulgaris.

PubMed

Amr, Mostafa; Kaliyadan, Feroze; Shams, Tarek

2014-01-01

Skin disorders such as acne, which have significant cosmetic implications, can affect the self-perception of cutaneous body image. There are many scales which measure self-perception of cutaneous body image. We evaluated the use of a simple Cutaneous Body Image (CBI) scale to assess self-perception of body image in a sample of young Arab patients affected with acne. A total of 70 patients with acne answered the CBI questionnaire. The CBI score was correlated with the severity of acne and acne scarring, gender, and history of retinoids use. There was no statistically significant correlation between CBI and the other parameters - gender, acne/acne scarring severity, and use of retinoids. Our study suggests that cutaneous body image perception in Arab patients with acne was not dependent on variables like gender and severity of acne or acne scarring. A simple CBI scale alone is not a sufficiently reliable tool to assess self-perception of body image in patients with acne vulgaris.

Body image disturbance and surgical decision making in egyptian post menopausal breast cancer patients

PubMed Central

Shoma, Ashraf M; Mohamed, Madiha H; Nouman, Nashaat; Amin, Mahmoud; Ibrahim, Ibtihal M; Tobar, Salwa S; Gaffar, Hanan E; Aboelez, Warda F; Ali, Salwa E; William, Soheir G

2009-01-01

Background In most developing countries, as in Egypt; postmenopausal breast cancer cases are offered a radical form of surgery relying on their unawareness of the subsequent body image disturbance. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of breast cancer surgical choice; Breast Conservative Therapy (BCT) versus Modified Radical Mastectomy (MRM); on body image perception among Egyptian postmenopausal cases. Methods One hundred postmenopausal women with breast cancer were divided into 2 groups, one group underwent BCT and the other underwent MRM. Pre- and post-operative assessments of body image distress were done using four scales; Breast Impact of Treatment Scale (BITS), Impact of Event Scale (IES), Situational Discomfort Scale (SDS), and Body Satisfaction Scale (BSS). Results Preoperative assessment showed no statistical significant difference regarding cognitive, affective, behavioral and evaluative components of body image between both studied groups. While in postoperative assessment, women in MRM group showed higher levels of body image distress among cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects. Conclusion Body image is an important factor for postmenopausal women with breast cancer in developing countries where that concept is widely ignored. We should not deprive those cases from their right of less mutilating option of treatment as BCT. PMID:19678927

Face-Likeness and Image Variability Drive Responses in Human Face-Selective Ventral Regions

PubMed Central

Davidenko, Nicolas; Remus, David A.; Grill-Spector, Kalanit

2012-01-01

The human ventral visual stream contains regions that respond selectively to faces over objects. However, it is unknown whether responses in these regions correlate with how face-like stimuli appear. Here, we use parameterized face silhouettes to manipulate the perceived face-likeness of stimuli and measure responses in face- and object-selective ventral regions with high-resolution fMRI. We first use “concentric hyper-sphere” (CH) sampling to define face silhouettes at different distances from the prototype face. Observers rate the stimuli as progressively more face-like the closer they are to the prototype face. Paradoxically, responses in both face- and object-selective regions decrease as face-likeness ratings increase. Because CH sampling produces blocks of stimuli whose variability is negatively correlated with face-likeness, this effect may be driven by more adaptation during high face-likeness (low-variability) blocks than during low face-likeness (high-variability) blocks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring responses to matched-variability (MV) blocks of stimuli with similar face-likeness ratings as with CH sampling. Critically, under MV sampling, we find a face-specific effect: responses in face-selective regions gradually increase with perceived face-likeness, but responses in object-selective regions are unchanged. Our studies provide novel evidence that face-selective responses correlate with the perceived face-likeness of stimuli, but this effect is revealed only when image variability is controlled across conditions. Finally, our data show that variability is a powerful factor that drives responses across the ventral stream. This indicates that controlling variability across conditions should be a critical tool in future neuroimaging studies of face and object representation. PMID:21823208

Exploring syndrome differentiation using non-negative matrix factorization and cluster analysis in patients with atopic dermatitis.

PubMed

Yun, Younghee; Jung, Wonmo; Kim, Hyunho; Jang, Bo-Hyoung; Kim, Min-Hee; Noh, Jiseong; Ko, Seong-Gyu; Choi, Inhwa

2017-08-01

Syndrome differentiation (SD) results in a diagnostic conclusion based on a cluster of concurrent symptoms and signs, including pulse form and tongue color. In Korea, there is a strong interest in the standardization of Traditional Medicine (TM). In order to standardize TM treatment, standardization of SD should be given priority. The aim of this study was to explore the SD, or symptom clusters, of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) using non-negative factorization methods and k-means clustering analysis. We screened 80 patients and enrolled 73 eligible patients. One TM dermatologist evaluated the symptoms/signs using an existing clinical dataset from patients with AD. This dataset was designed to collect 15 dermatologic and 18 systemic symptoms/signs associated with AD. Non-negative matrix factorization was used to decompose the original data into a matrix with three features and a weight matrix. The point of intersection of the three coordinates from each patient was placed in three-dimensional space. With five clusters, the silhouette score reached 0.484, and this was the best silhouette score obtained from two to nine clusters. Patients were clustered according to the varying severity of concurrent symptoms/signs. Through the distribution of the null hypothesis generated by 10,000 permutation tests, we found significant cluster-specific symptoms/signs from the confidence intervals in the upper and lower 2.5% of the distribution. Patients in each cluster showed differences in symptoms/signs and severity. In a clinical situation, SD and treatment are based on the practitioners' observations and clinical experience. SD, identified through informatics, can contribute to development of standardized, objective, and consistent SD for each disease. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The effects of loading on the preload and dimensions of the abutment screw for a 3-unit cantilever-fixed prosthesis design.

PubMed

Setia, Gaurav; Yousef, Hoda; Ehrenberg, David; Luke, Allyn; Weiner, Saul

2013-08-01

The purpose of this study was to use an in vitro model system to compare the effects on the screw torque and screw dimensions within 2 commercially available implant systems from occlusal loading on a cantilevered-fixed partial denture. Cantilevered implant-supported 3-unit prostheses with 2 premolar abutments and 1 premolar pontic (7.3 mm in length) were made on resin casts containing 2 implant analogs for 2 implant systems: BioLok Silhouette Tapered Implant System (Birmingham, AL) and Zimmer Tapered Screw-Vent Implant System (Carlsbad, CA) with 10 samples in each group. Each sample was loaded with either of 2 protocols: (1) a load of 50 N on the cantilevered pontic unit and (2) a loading of 150 N on all 3 units. The outcome measures were (1) changes in residual torque of the abutment screws and (2) changes in screw dimension. The BioLok Silhouette Tapered Implant group demonstrated slight but statistically significant torque loss 18.8% to 28.5% in both abutment screws for both protocols, P ≤ 0.05, without any changes in screw dimension. In the Zimmer Tapered Screw-Vent Implant group, there was a significant elongation of the abutment screws and a markedly significant 44.4%, (P ≤ 0.01) loss in torque in the mesial screw and a 28.5%, (P ≤ 0.05) loss in torque in the distal screw when the cantilever alone was loaded. Differences in screw design influence the maintenance of preload and distortion of the shank. The influence of the interface design, namely an internal hex of 1 mm versus an external hex did not influence the preload. Cantilevered prostheses can cause loss of torque and dimensional changes in abutment screws.

Reconstructing the colonisation and diversification history of the endemic freshwater crab (Seychellum alluaudi) in the granitic and volcanic Seychelles Archipelago.

PubMed

Daniels, Savel R

2011-11-01

The endemic, monotypic freshwater crab species Seychellum alluaudi was used as a template to examine the initial colonisation and evolutionary history among the major islands in the Seychelles Archipelago. Five of the "inner" islands in the Seychelles Archipelago including Mahé, Praslin, Silhouette, La Digue and Frégate were sampled. Two partial mtDNA fragments, 16S rRNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) was sequenced for 83 specimens of S. alluaudi. Evolutionary relationships between populations were inferred from the combined mtDNA dataset using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inferences. Analyses of molecular variance (AMOVA) were used to examine genetic variation among and within clades. A haplotype network was constructed using TCS while BEAST was employed to date the colonisation and divergence of lineages on the islands. Phylogenetic analyses of the combined mtDNA data set of 1103 base pairs retrieved a monophyletic S. alluaudi group comprised three statistically well-supported monophyletic clades. Clade one was exclusive to Silhouette; clade two included samples from Praslin sister to La Digue, while clade three comprised samples from Mahé sister to Frégate. The haplotype network corresponded to the three clades. Within Mahé, substantial phylogeographic substructure was evident. AMOVA results revealed limited genetic variation within localities with most variation occurring among localities. Divergence time estimations predated the Holocene sea level regressions and indicated a Pliocene/Pleistocene divergence between the three clades evident within S. alluaudi. The monophyly of each clade suggests that transoceanic dispersal is rare. The absence of shared haplotypes between the three clades, coupled with marked sequence divergence values suggests the presence of three allospecies within S. alluaudi. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Variation in light-intercepting area and photosynthetic rate of sun and shade shoots of two Picea species in relation to the angle of incoming light.

PubMed

Ishii, Hiroaki; Hamada, Yoko; Utsugi, Hajime

2012-10-01

We investigated the effects of sun- and shade-shoot architecture on the photosynthetic rates of two Picea species by applying light from various angles in the laboratory. Compared with sun shoots, shade shoots were characterized by lower mass allocation per light-intercepting area, less leaf mass per shoot mass, less mutual shading among leaves and more efficient allocation of chlorophyll to photosynthesis. The shoot silhouette to total leaf area ratio (STAR(ϕ)) decreased with increasing shoot inclination angle (ϕ, the shoot axis angle relative to the projection plane) and was consistently higher for the shade shoots. Morphological and physiological characteristics of the shade shoots resulted in maximum rates of net photosynthesis at ϕ = 0° (P(max,0)) similar to that of the sun shoots when expressed on a leaf mass, total leaf area and chlorophyll basis. When the angle of incoming light was varied, P(max,ϕ) per total leaf area (P(max,ϕ )/A(T)) of the shade shoots increased linearly with increasing STAR(ϕ), while P(max,ϕ) per shoot silhouette area did not change. In contrast, the response of the sun shoots was non-linear, and an optimum angle of incoming light was determined. Our results suggest that shade-shoot morphology is adaptive for utilizing diffuse light incoming from various angles, while sun-shoot morphology is adaptive for avoiding the negative effects of strong direct radiation and for enhancing light diffusion into the canopy. We propose that the angle of incoming light should be taken into account when estimating photosynthetic rates of sun shoots of conifer trees in the field.

The importance of body mass normalisation for ultrasound measurements of the morphology of oblique abdominis muscles: the effect of age, gender, and sport practice.

PubMed

Linek, P

2018-01-01

Some studies have not considered body mass as a confounder in analysis of oblique abdominis muscles (OAM) (including the oblique externus [OE] and oblique internus [OI]), which may have led to improper interpretation of results. To assess the differences in the effect of age, gender, and physical activity between normalised for body mass and actual values of the OAM as well as to establish the effect of age, gender, and physical activity on normalised for body mass OAM thicknesses in adolescents. A real-time ultrasound was used to obtain images of the OAM. Body mass normalisation for OAM thicknesses was performed with allometric scaling and the following equations: Allometric-scaled OE = OE thickness/body mass0.88; Allometric-scaled OI = OI thickness/body mass0.72. Analysis showed that boys have significantly thicker OAM than girls, and those who practise sports have thicker OAM than non-active individuals. For allometric-scaled OAM, there was only a significant gender effect, where boys have thicker allometric-scaled OAM than girls. There was a significant correlation between participants' age and the actual value of the OAM. The correlations between age and allometric-scaled OAM were insignificant. An analysis of OAM without body mass normalisation can lead to improper interpretation of study results. Thus, future studies should analyse OE and OI thickness measurements after normalisation rather than actual values. In the adolescent population, there is no effect of age and physical activity on allometric-scaled OAM; males have thicker allometric-scaled OAM than females. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 1: 123-130).

"Who does this body belong to?" The development and psychometric evaluation of the Body Experience during Pregnancy Scale.

PubMed

Talmon, Anat; Ginzburg, Karni

2018-05-25

Women's experiences of their bodies during pregnancy may reflect their reactions to concrete physical changes as well as self-representations during the transition to motherhood. However, adequate measures of the body experience during pregnancy are lacking. This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new measure, the Body Experience during Pregnancy Scale (BEPS). In Study 1, the BEPS was administered to 423 pregnant women. In Study 2, 373 pregnant women completed the BEPS, as well as questionnaires assessing body shame, disrupted body boundaries, and well-being. Three BEPS subscales emerged from Study 1: body agency, body estrangement, and body visibility. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis replicated the scale's structure. The factors were significantly correlated with measures of body shame, disrupted body boundaries, and well-being. The results of the present analyses suggest that the BEPS has good psychometric properties, making it useful in future research. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and Validation of the Body Size Scale for Assessing Body Weight Perception in African Populations

PubMed Central

Cohen, Emmanuel; Bernard, Jonathan Y.; Ponty, Amandine; Ndao, Amadou; Amougou, Norbert; Saïd-Mohamed, Rihlat; Pasquet, Patrick

2015-01-01

Background The social valorisation of overweight in African populations could promote high-risk eating behaviours and therefore become a risk factor of obesity. However, existing scales to assess body image are usually not accurate enough to allow comparative studies of body weight perception in different African populations. This study aimed to develop and validate the Body Size Scale (BSS) to estimate African body weight perception. Methods Anthropometric measures of 80 Cameroonians and 81 Senegalese were used to evaluate three criteria of adiposity: body mass index (BMI), overall percentage of fat, and endomorphy (fat component of the somatotype). To develop the BSS, the participants were photographed in full face and profile positions. Models were selected for their representativeness of the wide variability in adiposity with a progressive increase along the scale. Then, for the validation protocol, participants self-administered the BSS to assess self-perceived current body size (CBS), desired body size (DBS) and provide a “body self-satisfaction index.” This protocol included construct validity, test-retest reliability and convergent validity and was carried out with three independent samples of respectively 201, 103 and 1115 Cameroonians. Results The BSS comprises two sex-specific scales of photos of 9 models each, and ordered by increasing adiposity. Most participants were able to correctly order the BSS by increasing adiposity, using three different words to define body size. Test-retest reliability was consistent in estimating CBS, DBS and the “body self-satisfaction index.” The CBS was highly correlated to the objective BMI, and two different indexes assessed with the BSS were consistent with declarations obtained in interviews. Conclusion The BSS is the first scale with photos of real African models taken in both full face and profile and representing a wide and representative variability in adiposity. The validation protocol proved its reliability for estimating body weight perception in Africans. PMID:26536030

Crown traits of coniferous trees and their relation to shade tolerance can differ with leaf type: a biophysical demonstration using computed tomography scanning data

PubMed Central

Dutilleul, Pierre; Han, Liwen; Valladares, Fernando; Messier, Christian

2015-01-01

Plant light interception and shade tolerance are intrinsically related in that they involve structural, morphological and physiological adaptations to manage light capture for photosynthetic utilization, in order to sustain survival, development and reproduction. At the scale of small-size trees, crown traits related to structural geometry of branching pattern and space occupancy through phyllotaxis can be accurately evaluated in 3D, using computed tomography (CT) scanning data. We demonstrate this by scrutinizing the crowns of 15 potted miniature conifers of different species or varieties, classified in two groups based on leaf type (10 needlelike, 5 scalelike); we also test whether mean values of crown traits measured from CT scanning data and correlations with a shade tolerance index (STI) differ between groups. Seven crown traits, including fractal dimensions (FD1: smaller scales, FD2: larger scales) and leaf areas, were evaluated for all 15 miniature conifers; an average silhouette-to-total-area ratio was also calculated for each of the 10 needlelike-leaf conifers. Between-group differences in mean values are significant (P < 0.05) for STI, FD1, FD2, and the average leaf area displayed (ĀD). Between-group differences in sign and strength of correlations are observed. For example, the correlation between STI and FD1 is negative and significant (P < 0.10) for the needlelike-leaf group, but is positive and significant (P < 0.05) for the miniature conifers with scalelike leaves, which had lower STI and higher FD1 on average in our study; the positive correlation between STI and ĀD is significant (P < 0.05) for the scalelike-leaf group, and very moderate for the needlelike-leaf one. A contrasting physical attachment of the leaves to branches may explain part of the between-group differences. Our findings open new avenues for the understanding of fundamental plant growth processes; the information gained could be included in a multi-scale approach to tree crown modeling. PMID:25852721

Rotating elephant trunks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gahm, G. F.; Carlqvist, P.; Johansson, L. E. B.; Nikolić, S.

2006-07-01

Aims.We investigate the structure and velocity of cold molecular pillars, "elephant trunks", in expanding H II regions. Methods: .The trunks are seen in silhouette against the bright background in our Hα images. All trunks are filamentary, and show signs of being twisted. Four such trunks in NGC 7822, IC 1805, the Rosette Nebula, and DWB 44 were selected, and then mapped mainly in 12CO and 13CO. We determine the mass and density of the trunks. Most of the mass is concentrated in a head facing the central cluster, and in sub-filaments forming the body of the trunk that is connected to V-shaped filaments to the outer expanding shell. Results: .We discovered that all four trunks rotate as rigid bodies (to a first approximation) about their major axes, and that at least two trunks are stretching along their major axes, meaning that the massive heads are lagging behind in the general expansion of the H II regions. The rotational periods are of the order of a few million years - similar to the age of the clusters. Rotation, then, is responsible for the twisted appearance of many elephant trunks, since they are rooted in the outer shells. The trunks carry surprisingly large amounts of angular momentum, 3× 1048{-}2× 1050 kg m2 s-1, with corresponding rotational energies of up to 1037 J. However, we estimate the total magnetic energies to be even larger. The trunks continuously reshape, and the formation of twined, and in many cases helical, sub-filaments can be understood as a consequence of electromagnetic and inertia forces inside the trunks. A theory based on the concept of magnetically twisted trunks is developed further, where the initial angular momentum is a consequence of the twisting of parent filaments containing mass condensations. Our results also suggest a new process of removing angular momentum from parent molecular clouds.

Comparative reproductive and physiological responses of northern bobwhite and scaled quail to water deprivation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Giuliano, W.M.; Patino, R.; Lutz, R.S.

1998-01-01

We compared reproductive and physiological responses of captive female northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) under control and water deprivation conditions. Scaled quail required less food and water to reproduce successfully under control conditions than northern bobwhite. Additionally, in scaled quail, serum osmolality levels and kidney mass were unaffected by water deprivation, whereas in northern bobwhite, serum osmolality levels increased and kidney mass declined. This finding indicates that scaled quail may have osmoregulatory abilities superior to those of northern bobwhite. Under control conditions, northern bobwhite gained more body mass and produced more but smaller eggs than scaled quail. Under water deprivation conditions, northern bobwhite lost more body mass but had more laying hens with a higher rate of egg production than scaled quail. Our data suggest that northern bobwhite allocated more resources to reproduction than to body maintenance, while scaled quail apparently forego reproduction in favor of body maintenance during water deprivation conditions.

Breast Augmentation by Water-Jet Assisted Autologous Fat Grafting: A Report of 300 Operations.

PubMed

Muench, Daniel P

2016-04-01

Background  The BEAULI -method (Breast Augmentation by Lipotransfer) is available for extraction and processing of large transplantable fat quantities. The aim of this work is to describe the surgical technique precisely and reproducibly and to provide an overview of the autologous fat transfer based on surgical experience. Method  The author performed 300 autologous fat transplantations on 254 women between September 3, 2010, and May 13, 2015. Patients desiring moderate volume increase, fuller and firmer breasts, as well as an optimization of the silhouette, ideally with the concurrent desire of the correction of unwanted fat deposits, were selected. The fat was extracted via water-jet assisted liposuction (Body-jet, Human Med AG, Schwerin, Germany), and the fat cells were subsequently separated with the Lipocollector ® (Human Med AG, Schwerin, Germany). Results  The results were assessed with a control exam and photo comparison and were based on the responses on a questionnaire. Overall, 35.9% of the patients defined the result as very good, 38.6% as good, 22.4% as satisfactory, and 3.1% as poor. Conclusion  This study shows that the autologous fat cell transplantation into the female breast via water-jet assisted liposuction achieves a moderate and harmoniously appearing breast volume enlargement as well as contour improvement. Further studies with more cases and longer observation periods over several years could contribute to improving the method of the autologous fat transfer regarding the grow-in rate, efficiency, and safety.

Eating behaviour, body image, and self-esteem of adolescent girls in Malaysia.

PubMed

Soo, Kah Leng; Shariff, Zalilah Mohd; Taib, Mohd Nasir Mohd; Samah, Bahaman Abu

2008-06-01

This cross-sectional study was undertaken with 489 secondary school girls, ages 15-17 years, to examine disordered eating behaviours of adolescent girls in Malaysia and to estimate associations with body weight, body-size discrepancy, and self-esteem. Dietary restraint, binge eating, body image, and self-esteem were assessed using the Restrained Eating scale of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, the Binge Scale Questionnaire, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, respectively. Pearson correlations estimated associations between variables. There were 3.1% underweight, 9.8% at risk of being overweight, and 8.6% overweight girls. A total of 87.3% were dissatisfied with their own body size. Dietary restraint and binge eating were reported by 36.0% and 35.4%, respectively. Body Mass Index (r = .34, p < .01) and body-size dissatisfaction (r = .24, p < .01) were significantly associated with dietary restraint and binge eating, but self-esteem (r = -.20, p < .001) was significantly associated only with binge eating.

Scale effects between body size and limb design in quadrupedal mammals.

PubMed

Kilbourne, Brandon M; Hoffman, Louwrens C

2013-01-01

Recently the metabolic cost of swinging the limbs has been found to be much greater than previously thought, raising the possibility that limb rotational inertia influences the energetics of locomotion. Larger mammals have a lower mass-specific cost of transport than smaller mammals. The scaling of the mass-specific cost of transport is partly explained by decreasing stride frequency with increasing body size; however, it is unknown if limb rotational inertia also influences the mass-specific cost of transport. Limb length and inertial properties--limb mass, center of mass (COM) position, moment of inertia, radius of gyration, and natural frequency--were measured in 44 species of terrestrial mammals, spanning eight taxonomic orders. Limb length increases disproportionately with body mass via positive allometry (length ∝ body mass(0.40)); the positive allometry of limb length may help explain the scaling of the metabolic cost of transport. When scaled against body mass, forelimb inertial properties, apart from mass, scale with positive allometry. Fore- and hindlimb mass scale according to geometric similarity (limb mass ∝ body mass(1.0)), as do the remaining hindlimb inertial properties. The positive allometry of limb length is largely the result of absolute differences in limb inertial properties between mammalian subgroups. Though likely detrimental to locomotor costs in large mammals, scale effects in limb inertial properties appear to be concomitant with scale effects in sensorimotor control and locomotor ability in terrestrial mammals. Across mammals, the forelimb's potential for angular acceleration scales according to geometric similarity, whereas the hindlimb's potential for angular acceleration scales with positive allometry.

Scale Effects between Body Size and Limb Design in Quadrupedal Mammals

PubMed Central

Kilbourne, Brandon M.; Hoffman, Louwrens C.

2013-01-01

Recently the metabolic cost of swinging the limbs has been found to be much greater than previously thought, raising the possibility that limb rotational inertia influences the energetics of locomotion. Larger mammals have a lower mass-specific cost of transport than smaller mammals. The scaling of the mass-specific cost of transport is partly explained by decreasing stride frequency with increasing body size; however, it is unknown if limb rotational inertia also influences the mass-specific cost of transport. Limb length and inertial properties – limb mass, center of mass (COM) position, moment of inertia, radius of gyration, and natural frequency – were measured in 44 species of terrestrial mammals, spanning eight taxonomic orders. Limb length increases disproportionately with body mass via positive allometry (length ∝ body mass0.40); the positive allometry of limb length may help explain the scaling of the metabolic cost of transport. When scaled against body mass, forelimb inertial properties, apart from mass, scale with positive allometry. Fore- and hindlimb mass scale according to geometric similarity (limb mass ∝ body mass1.0), as do the remaining hindlimb inertial properties. The positive allometry of limb length is largely the result of absolute differences in limb inertial properties between mammalian subgroups. Though likely detrimental to locomotor costs in large mammals, scale effects in limb inertial properties appear to be concomitant with scale effects in sensorimotor control and locomotor ability in terrestrial mammals. Across mammals, the forelimb's potential for angular acceleration scales according to geometric similarity, whereas the hindlimb's potential for angular acceleration scales with positive allometry. PMID:24260117

Genetic parameters for different growth scales in GIFT strain of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus).

PubMed

He, J; Gao, H; Xu, P; Yang, R

2015-12-01

Body weight, length, width and depth at two growth stages were observed for a total of 5015 individuals of GIFT strain, along with a pedigree including 5588 individuals from 104 sires and 162 dams was collected. Multivariate animal models and a random regression model were used to genetically analyse absolute and relative growth scales of these growth traits. In absolute growth scale, the observed growth traits had moderate heritabilities ranging from 0.321 to 0.576, while pairwise ratios between body length, width and depth were lowly inherited and maximum heritability was only 0.146 for length/depth. All genetic correlations were above 0.5 between pairwise growth traits and genetic correlation between length/width and length/depth varied between both growth stages. Based on those estimates, selection index of multiple traits of interest can be formulated in future breeding program to improve genetically body weight and morphology of the GIFT strain. In relative growth scale, heritabilities in relative growths of body length, width and depth to body weight were 0.257, 0.412 and 0.066, respectively, while genetic correlations among these allometry scalings were above 0.8. Genetic analysis for joint allometries of body weight to body length, width and depth will contribute to genetically regulate the growth rate between body shape and body weight. © 2015 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale for patients seeking esthetic surgery: cross-cultural validation study.

PubMed

Ramos, Tatiana Dalpasquale; Brito, Maria José Azevedo de; Piccolo, Mônica Sarto; Rosella, Maria Fernanda Normanha da Silva Martins; Sabino, Miguel; Ferreira, Lydia Masako

2016-07-21

Rhinoplasty is one of the most sought-after esthetic operations among individuals with body dysmorphic disorder. The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale. Cross-cultural validation study conducted in a plastic surgery outpatient clinic of a public university hospital. Between February 2014 and March 2015, 80 consecutive patients of both sexes seeking rhinoplasty were selected. Thirty of them participated in the phase of cultural adaptation of the instrument. Reproducibility was tested on 20 patients and construct validity was assessed on 50 patients, with correlation against the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Body Dysmorphic Disorder. The Brazilian version of the instrument showed Cronbach's alpha of 0.805 and excellent inter-rater reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.873; P < 0.001) and intra-rater reproducibility (ICC = 0.939; P < 0.001). Significant differences in total scores were found between patients with and without symptoms (P < 0.001). A strong correlation (r = 0.841; P < 0.001) was observed between the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Body Dysmorphic Disorder and the Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.981, thus showing good accuracy for discriminating between presence and absence of symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. Forty-six percent of the patients had body dysmorphic symptoms and 54% had moderate to severe appearance-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The Brazilian version of the Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale is a reproducible instrument that presents face, content and construct validity.

Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale for patients seeking esthetic surgery: cross-cultural validation study.

PubMed

Ramos, Tatiana Dalpasquale; Brito, Maria José Azevedo de; Piccolo, Mônica Sarto; Rosella, Maria Fernanda Normanha da Silva Martins; Sabino, Miguel; Ferreira, Lydia Masako

2016-01-01

Rhinoplasty is one of the most sought-after esthetic operations among individuals with body dysmorphic disorder. The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale. Cross-cultural validation study conducted in a plastic surgery outpatient clinic of a public university hospital. Between February 2014 and March 2015, 80 consecutive patients of both sexes seeking rhinoplasty were selected. Thirty of them participated in the phase of cultural adaptation of the instrument. Reproducibility was tested on 20 patients and construct validity was assessed on 50 patients, with correlation against the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Body Dysmorphic Disorder. The Brazilian version of the instrument showed Cronbach's alpha of 0.805 and excellent inter-rater reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.873; P < 0.001) and intra-rater reproducibility (ICC = 0.939; P < 0.001). Significant differences in total scores were found between patients with and without symptoms (P < 0.001). A strong correlation (r = 0.841; P < 0.001) was observed between the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for Body Dysmorphic Disorder and the Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.981, thus showing good accuracy for discriminating between presence and absence of symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. Forty-six percent of the patients had body dysmorphic symptoms and 54% had moderate to severe appearance-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The Brazilian version of the Body Dysmorphic Symptoms Scale is a reproducible instrument that presents face, content and construct validity.

Method for traffic-sign detection within a picture by color identification and external shape recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falcoff, Daniel E.; Canali, Luis R.

1999-08-01

This work present one method aimed to individualization and recognition of vial signs in route and city. It is based fundamentally on the identification by means of color and form of the vial sing, located in the border of the route or street in city, and then recognition. To do so the obtained RGB image is processed, carrying out diverse filtrates in the sequence of input image, or intensifying the colors of the same ones otherwise, recognizing their silhouette and then segmenting the sign and comparing the symbology of them with the previously stored and classified database.

Laser Signature Prediction Using The VALUE Computer Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akerman, Alexander; Hoffman, George A.; Patton, Ronald

1989-09-01

A variety of enhancements are being made to the 1976-vintage LASERX computer code. These include: - Surface characterization with BDRF tabular data - Specular reflection from transparent surfaces - Generation of glint direction maps - Generation of relative range imagery - Interface to the LOWTRAN atmospheric transmission code - Interface to the LEOPS laser sensor code - User friendly menu prompting for easy setup Versions of VALUE have been written for both VAX/VMS and PC/DOS computer environments. Outputs have also been revised to be user friendly and include tables, plots, and images for (1) intensity, (2) cross section,(3) reflectance, (4) relative range, (5) region type, and (6) silhouette.

Jupiter’s moon Europa

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-24

This composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapor erupting at the 7 o’clock position off the limb of Jupiter’s moon Europa. The plumes, photographed by NASA’s Hubble’s Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, were seen in silhouette as the moon passed in front of Jupiter. Hubble’s ultraviolet sensitivity allowed for the features -- rising over 100 miles (160 kilometers) above Europa’s icy surface -- to be discerned. The water is believed to come from a subsurface ocean on Europa. The Hubble data were taken on January 26, 2014. The image of Europa, superimposed on the Hubble data, is assembled from data from the Galileo and Voyager missions.

International Space Station (ISS)

NASA Image and Video Library

2001-08-01

The STS-110 mission began the third and final phase of construction for the International Space Station (ISS) by delivering and installing the Starboard side S0 (S-zero) truss segment that was carried into orbit in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The STS-110 crew patch is patterned after the cross section of the S0 truss, and encases the launch of the Shuttle Atlantis and a silhouette of the ISS as it will look following mission completion. The successfully installed S0 segment is highlighted in gold. The three prominent flames blasting from the shuttle emphasizes the first shuttle flight to use three Block II Main Engines.

Predictors of favorable soft tissue profile outcomes following Class II Twin-block treatment.

PubMed

Kim, Ji-Eun; Mah, Su-Jung; Kim, Tae-Woo; Kim, Su-Jung; Park, Ki-Ho; Kang, Yoon-Goo

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine cephalometric factors that help predict favorable soft-tissue profile outcomes following treatment with the Class II Twin-block appliance. Pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms of 45 patients treated with the Class II Twin-block appliance were retrospectively analyzed. Profile silhouettes were drawn from the cephalograms and evaluated by three orthodontists in order to determine the extent of improvement. Samples were divided into a favorable group (upper 30% of visual analogue scale [VAS] scores, n = 14) and an unfavorable group (lower 30% of VAS scores, n = 14). Skeletal and soft-tissue measurements were performed on the cephalograms and an intergroup comparison was conducted. An independent t -test revealed that the following pre-treatment values were lower in the favorable group compared to the unfavorable group: lower incisor to mandibular plane angle, lower incisor to pogonion distance, point A-nasion-point B angle, sella-nasion line (SN) to maxillary plane angle, SN to mandibular plane angle, gonial angle, and symphysis inclination. The favorable group had a larger incisor inclination to occlusal plane. Moreover, the favorable group showed larger post-treatment changes in gonial angle, B point projection, and pogonion projection than did the unfavorable group. Class II malocclusion patients with a low divergent skeletal pattern and reduced lower incisor protrusions are likely to show more improvement in soft-tissue profile outcomes following Class II Twin-block treatment.

Assessing Women's Negative Commentary on Their Own Bodies: A Psychometric Investigation of the Negative Body Talk Scale

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engeln-Maddox, Renee; Salk, Rachel H.; Miller, Steven A.

2012-01-01

Our article details the development of the self-report Negative Body Talk (NBT) scale and five studies (all conducted with samples of U.S. undergraduate women) supporting the psychometric soundness of scores on this measure. The NBT scale measures women's tendency to engage in negatively valenced commentary about the weight and shape of their own…

Factor structure of the Body Appreciation Scale among Malaysian women.

PubMed

Swami, Viren; Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas

2008-12-01

The present study examined the factor structure of a Malay version of the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), a recently developed scale for the assessment of positive body image that has been shown to have a unidimensional structure in Western settings. Results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses based on data from community sample of 591 women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, failed to support a unidimensional structure for the Malay BAS. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggested two stable factors, which were labelled 'General Body Appreciation' and 'Body Image Investment'. Multi-group analysis showed that the two-factor structure was invariant for both Malaysian Malay and Chinese women, and that there were no significant ethnic differences on either factor. Results also showed that General Body Appreciation was significant negatively correlated with participants' body mass index. These results are discussed in relation to possible cross-cultural differences in positive body image.

Mesofluidic two stage digital valve

DOEpatents

Jansen, John F; Love, Lonnie J; Lind, Randall F; Richardson, Bradley S

2013-12-31

A mesofluidic scale digital valve system includes a first mesofluidic scale valve having a valve body including a bore, wherein the valve body is configured to cooperate with a solenoid disposed substantially adjacent to the valve body to translate a poppet carried within the bore. The mesofluidic scale digital valve system also includes a second mesofluidic scale valve disposed substantially perpendicular to the first mesofluidic scale valve. The mesofluidic scale digital valve system further includes a control element in communication with the solenoid, wherein the control element is configured to maintain the solenoid in an energized state for a fixed period of time to provide a desired flow rate through an orifice of the second mesofluidic valve.

Preoperative symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder determine postoperative satisfaction and quality of life in aesthetic rhinoplasty.

PubMed

Picavet, Valerie A; Gabriëls, Loes; Grietens, Jente; Jorissen, Mark; Prokopakis, Emmanuel P; Hellings, Peter W

2013-04-01

In patients seeking aesthetic rhinoplasty, a high prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms has recently been reported. However, the impact of these symptoms on the outcomes after rhinoplasty remains elusive. This large-scale study determines the influence of preoperative body dysmorphic disorder symptoms on patients' postoperative satisfaction and quality of life, using validated questionnaires. A 1-year prospective study of 166 adult patients undergoing cosmetic rhinoplasty in a tertiary referral center was performed. Severity of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms was assessed by the modified Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Postoperative satisfaction was evaluated using a visual analog scale for patients' appraisal of nasal shape and the Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation. Generic quality of life was quantified by the Sheehan Disability Scale, whereas the appearance-related disruption of everyday life was measured by the Derriford Appearance Scale-59. Preoperative body dysmorphic disorder symptom scores inversely correlated with postoperative satisfaction at 3 months (visual analog scale nasal shape: rho = -0.43, p < 0.001; Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation: rho = -0.48, p < 0.001) and 12 months (rho = -0.40, p < 0.001; and rho = -0.41, p < 0.001, respectively) after surgery. In addition, body dysmorphic disorder symptom scores positively correlated with Sheehan Disability Scale scores and Derriford Appearance Scale-59 scores at 3 months (rho = 0.43, p < 0.001 and rho = 0.48, p < 0.001, respectively) and 12 months (rho = 0.32, p < 0.001, and rho = 0.48, p < 0.001, respectively) postoperatively. This study provides the first evidence of the negative impact of preoperative body dysmorphic disorder symptoms on subjective outcomes after rhinoplasty, hence unveiling a crucial factor in patient dissatisfaction after aesthetic rhinoplasty.

pycola: N-body COLA method code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tassev, Svetlin; Eisenstein, Daniel J.; Wandelt, Benjamin D.; Zaldarriagag, Matias

2015-09-01

pycola is a multithreaded Python/Cython N-body code, implementing the Comoving Lagrangian Acceleration (COLA) method in the temporal and spatial domains, which trades accuracy at small-scales to gain computational speed without sacrificing accuracy at large scales. This is especially useful for cheaply generating large ensembles of accurate mock halo catalogs required to study galaxy clustering and weak lensing. The COLA method achieves its speed by calculating the large-scale dynamics exactly using LPT while letting the N-body code solve for the small scales, without requiring it to capture exactly the internal dynamics of halos.

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 among adolescents and young adults in Danish, Portuguese, and Swedish.

PubMed

Lemoine, J E; Konradsen, H; Lunde Jensen, A; Roland-Lévy, C; Ny, P; Khalaf, A; Torres, S

2018-05-14

In recent years, the study of body image shifted from focusing on the negative aspects to a more extensive view of body image. The present study seeks to validate a measure of positive body image, the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a) in Denmark, Portugal, and Sweden. Participants (N = 1012) were adolescents and young adults aged from 12 to 19. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the one-dimensional factor structure of the scale. Multi-group confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the scale was invariant across sex and country. Further results showed that BAS-2 was positively correlated with self-esteem, psychological well-being, and intuitive eating. It was negatively correlated with BMI among boys and girls in Portugal but not in Denmark and Sweden. Additionally, boys had higher body appreciation than girls. Results indicated that the BAS-2 has good psychometric properties in the three languages. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Disentangling the phylogenetic and ecological components of spider phenotypic variation.

PubMed

Gonçalves-Souza, Thiago; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Romero, Gustavo Quevedo

2014-01-01

An understanding of how the degree of phylogenetic relatedness influences the ecological similarity among species is crucial to inferring the mechanisms governing the assembly of communities. We evaluated the relative importance of spider phylogenetic relationships and ecological niche (plant morphological variables) to the variation in spider body size and shape by comparing spiders at different scales: (i) between bromeliads and dicot plants (i.e., habitat scale) and (ii) among bromeliads with distinct architectural features (i.e., microhabitat scale). We partitioned the interspecific variation in body size and shape into phylogenetic (that express trait values as expected by phylogenetic relationships among species) and ecological components (that express trait values independent of phylogenetic relationships). At the habitat scale, bromeliad spiders were larger and flatter than spiders associated with the surrounding dicots. At this scale, plant morphology sorted out close related spiders. Our results showed that spider flatness is phylogenetically clustered at the habitat scale, whereas it is phylogenetically overdispersed at the microhabitat scale, although phylogenic signal is present in both scales. Taken together, these results suggest that whereas at the habitat scale selective colonization affect spider body size and shape, at fine scales both selective colonization and adaptive evolution determine spider body shape. By partitioning the phylogenetic and ecological components of phenotypic variation, we were able to disentangle the evolutionary history of distinct spider traits and show that plant architecture plays a role in the evolution of spider body size and shape. We also discussed the relevance in considering multiple scales when studying phylogenetic community structure.

Disentangling the Phylogenetic and Ecological Components of Spider Phenotypic Variation

PubMed Central

Gonçalves-Souza, Thiago; Diniz-Filho, José Alexandre Felizola; Romero, Gustavo Quevedo

2014-01-01

An understanding of how the degree of phylogenetic relatedness influences the ecological similarity among species is crucial to inferring the mechanisms governing the assembly of communities. We evaluated the relative importance of spider phylogenetic relationships and ecological niche (plant morphological variables) to the variation in spider body size and shape by comparing spiders at different scales: (i) between bromeliads and dicot plants (i.e., habitat scale) and (ii) among bromeliads with distinct architectural features (i.e., microhabitat scale). We partitioned the interspecific variation in body size and shape into phylogenetic (that express trait values as expected by phylogenetic relationships among species) and ecological components (that express trait values independent of phylogenetic relationships). At the habitat scale, bromeliad spiders were larger and flatter than spiders associated with the surrounding dicots. At this scale, plant morphology sorted out close related spiders. Our results showed that spider flatness is phylogenetically clustered at the habitat scale, whereas it is phylogenetically overdispersed at the microhabitat scale, although phylogenic signal is present in both scales. Taken together, these results suggest that whereas at the habitat scale selective colonization affect spider body size and shape, at fine scales both selective colonization and adaptive evolution determine spider body shape. By partitioning the phylogenetic and ecological components of phenotypic variation, we were able to disentangle the evolutionary history of distinct spider traits and show that plant architecture plays a role in the evolution of spider body size and shape. We also discussed the relevance in considering multiple scales when studying phylogenetic community structure. PMID:24651264

Efficient electronic structure theory via hierarchical scale-adaptive coupled-cluster formalism: I. Theory and computational complexity analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyakh, Dmitry I.

2018-03-01

A novel reduced-scaling, general-order coupled-cluster approach is formulated by exploiting hierarchical representations of many-body tensors, combined with the recently suggested formalism of scale-adaptive tensor algebra. Inspired by the hierarchical techniques from the renormalisation group approach, H/H2-matrix algebra and fast multipole method, the computational scaling reduction in our formalism is achieved via coarsening of quantum many-body interactions at larger interaction scales, thus imposing a hierarchical structure on many-body tensors of coupled-cluster theory. In our approach, the interaction scale can be defined on any appropriate Euclidean domain (spatial domain, momentum-space domain, energy domain, etc.). We show that the hierarchically resolved many-body tensors can reduce the storage requirements to O(N), where N is the number of simulated quantum particles. Subsequently, we prove that any connected many-body diagram consisting of a finite number of arbitrary-order tensors, e.g. an arbitrary coupled-cluster diagram, can be evaluated in O(NlogN) floating-point operations. On top of that, we suggest an additional approximation to further reduce the computational complexity of higher order coupled-cluster equations, i.e. equations involving higher than double excitations, which otherwise would introduce a large prefactor into formal O(NlogN) scaling.

The korean version of the body image scale-reliability and validity in a sample of breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Khang, Dongwoo; Rim, Hyo-Deog; Woo, Jungmin

2013-03-01

The Body Image Scale (BIS) developed in collaboration with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Study Group is a brief questionnaire for measuring body image concerns in patients with cancer. This study sought to assess the reliability and validity of the Korean version of the Body Image Scale (K-BIS). The participants consisted of 155 postoperative breast cancer patients (56 breast conserving surgery, 56 mastectomy, and 43 oncoplastic surgery). Subjects were evaluated using the K-BIS, the Body-Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were examined as a measure of reliability and validity was evaluated by convergent validity, discriminant validity and factor analysis. Cronbach's α value was 0.943. The total score of the K-BIS was negatively correlated with the BESAA (r=0.301, p<0.001) and the body image facet in the WHOQOL-BREF (r=0.315, p<0.001). The total score of K-BIS positively correlated with the HADS (HAD-A: r=0.501, p<0.001, HAD-D: r=0.466, p<0.001). As for determining discriminant validity, scores were compared between the BCS subgroup, mastectomy subgroup, and oncoplastic surgery subgroup. Difference between the mastectomy subgroup and oncoplastic surgery subgroup was statistically significant (p=0.017). Factor analysis resulted in a single factor solution in three out of four anlyses, accounting for >59% variance. The K-BIS showed good reliability and validity for assessment of body image in Korean breast cancer patients.

High prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder symptoms in patients seeking rhinoplasty.

PubMed

Picavet, Valerie A; Prokopakis, Emmanuel P; Gabriëls, Lutgardis; Jorissen, Mark; Hellings, Peter W

2011-08-01

Nasal aesthetic deformities may be associated with significant body image dissatisfaction. The only diagnostic category in the current list of psychiatric disorders that directly addresses these concerns is body dysmorphic disorder. This large-scale study determined the prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder and its symptoms in patients seeking rhinoplasty and evaluated the clinical profile of these patients. Two hundred twenty-six patients were given questionnaires including demographic characteristics, visual analogue scales for nasal shape, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for body dysmorphic disorder to assess severity of symptoms, a generic quality-of-life questionnaire, and the Derriford Appearance Scale 59, to assess appearance-related disruption of everyday living. Independent observers scored the nasal shape. Thirty-three percent of patients showed at least moderate symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. Aesthetic goals (p < 0.001), revision rhinoplasty (p = 0.003), and psychiatric history (p = 0.031) were associated with more severe symptoms. There was no correlation between the objective and subjective scoring of the nasal shape. Yale-Brown scale modified for body dysmorphic disorder scores correlated inversely with the subjective nasal scoring (n = 210, p < 0.001), without relation to the objective deformity of the nose. Body dysmorphic disorder symptoms significantly reduced the generic quality of life (n = 160, p < 0.001) and led to significant appearance-related disruption of everyday living (n = 161, p < 0.001). The prevalence of moderate to severe body dysmorphic disorder symptoms in an aesthetic rhinoplasty population is high. Patients undergoing revision rhinoplasty and with psychiatric history are particularly at risk. Body dysmorphic disorder symptoms significantly reduce the quality of life and cause significant appearance-related disruption of everyday living. Risk, III.

The Spanish version of the Body Image Scale (S-BIS): psychometric properties in a sample of breast and gynaecological cancer patients.

PubMed

Gómez-Campelo, Paloma; Bragado-Álvarez, Carmen; Hernández-Lloreda, M José; Sánchez-Bernardos, M Luisa

2015-02-01

The aim of this study is to develop a Spanish version of the Body Image Scale (Hopwood et al. Eur J Cancer 37(2):189-197, 2001) and to analyze its psychometric properties in a sample of women with breast or gynaecological cancer. The Spanish version of the Body Image Scale was developed using a forward and backward translation technique. A total sample of 100 women who had undergone radical surgery for breast (n = 50) or gynaecological cancer (n = 50) completed the scale. Factor analysis resulted in a single-factor solution, both in the total sample and in the two subgroups, accounting for >76 % variance. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.960. The Spanish version of the Body Image Scale correlated negatively with self-esteem (r = -0.733), quality of life (r = -0.632) and age (r = -0.643) and positively with depression (r = 0.832) and anxiety (r = 0.564); all p values < 0.01. To our knowledge, this is the first study that provides a Spanish version of the Body Image Scale. Our results show a stable factorial structure between samples with a single-factor solution and good psychometric properties, suggesting that it is a suitable tool for measuring body image concerns among Spanish-speaking cancer patients. Its brevity and comprehensibility allow a quick assessment both in clinical and research settings.

A test of the cross-scale resilience model: Functional richness in Mediterranean-climate ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wardwell, D.A.; Allen, Craig R.; Peterson, G.D.; Tyre, A.J.

2008-01-01

Ecological resilience has been proposed to be generated, in part, in the discontinuous structure of complex systems. Environmental discontinuities are reflected in discontinuous, aggregated animal body mass distributions. Diversity of functional groups within body mass aggregations (scales) and redundancy of functional groups across body mass aggregations (scales) has been proposed to increase resilience. We evaluate that proposition by analyzing mammalian and avian communities of Mediterranean-climate ecosystems. We first determined that body mass distributions for each animal community were discontinuous. We then calculated the variance in richness of function across aggregations in each community, and compared observed values with distributions created by 1000 simulations using a null of random distribution of function, with the same n, number of discontinuities and number of functional groups as the observed data. Variance in the richness of functional groups across scales was significantly lower in real communities than in simulations in eight of nine sites. The distribution of function across body mass aggregations in the animal communities we analyzed was non-random, and supports the contentions of the cross-scale resilience model. ?? 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Computerized assessment of body image in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: comparison with standardized body image assessment tool.

PubMed

Caspi, Asaf; Amiaz, Revital; Davidson, Noa; Czerniak, Efrat; Gur, Eitan; Kiryati, Nahum; Harari, Daniel; Furst, Miriam; Stein, Daniel

2017-02-01

Body image disturbances are a prominent feature of eating disorders (EDs). Our aim was to test and evaluate a computerized assessment of body image (CABI), to compare the body image disturbances in different ED types, and to assess the factors affecting body image. The body image of 22 individuals undergoing inpatient treatment with restricting anorexia nervosa (AN-R), 22 with binge/purge AN (AN-B/P), 20 with bulimia nervosa (BN), and 41 healthy controls was assessed using the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS), the CABI, which simulated the participants' self-image in different levels of weight changes, and the Eating Disorder Inventory-2-Body Dissatisfaction (EDI-2-BD) scale. Severity of depression and anxiety was also assessed. Significant differences were found among the three scales assessing body image, although most of their dimensions differentiated between patients with EDs and controls. Our findings support the use of the CABI in the comparison of body image disturbances in patients with EDs vs. Moreover, the use of different assessment tools allows for a better understanding of the differences in body image disturbances in different ED types.

The periodic dynamics of the irregular heterogeneous celestial bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lan, Lei; Yang, Mo; Baoyin, Hexi; Li, Junfeng

2017-02-01

In this paper, we develop a methodology to study the periodic dynamics of irregular heterogeneous celestial bodies. Heterogeneous bodies are not scarce in space. It has been found that bodies, such as 4 Vesta, 624 Hektor, 87 Sylvia, 16 Psyche and 25143 Itokawa, may all have varied internal structures. They can be divided into large-scale and small-scale cases. The varied internal structures of large-scale bodies always result from gradient pressure inside, which leads to compactness differences of the inner material. However, the heterogeneity of a small-scale body is always reflected by the different densities of different areas, which may originate from collision formation from multiple objects. We propose a modeling procedure for the heterogeneous bodies derived from the conventional polyhedral method and then compare its dynamical characteristics with those of the homogeneous case. It is found that zero-velocity curves, positions of equilibrium points, types of bifurcations in the continuation of the orbital family and the stabilities of periodic orbits near the heterogeneous body are different from those in the homogeneous case. The suborbicular orbits near the equatorial plane are potential parking orbits for a future mission, so we discuss the switching of the orbital stability of the family because it has fundamental significance to orbit maintenance and operations around actual asteroids.

Factor Analysis of the Omega Scale: A Scale Designed To Measure the Attitudes of College Students toward Their Own Deaths and the Disposition of Their Bodies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staik, Irene M.

A study was undertaken to provide a factor analysis of the Omega Scale, a 25-item, Likert-type scale developed in 1984 to assess attitudes toward death and funerals and other body disposition practices. The Omega Scale was administered to 250 students enrolled in introductory psychology classes at two higher education institutions in Alabama.…

Development and validation of a tailored measure of body image for pregnant women.

PubMed

Watson, Brittany; Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew; Broadbent, Jaclyn; Skouteris, Helen

2017-11-01

This study developed and validated a quantitative measure of body image specifically designed for pregnancy-the Body Image in Pregnancy Scale (BIPS). Scale development was guided by qualitative data from a series of studies exploring the meaning of women's body image experiences during pregnancy, and previously established body image measures. Exploratory factor analysis for a sample of pregnant women (n = 251) indicated good fit for a 36-item scale with seven factors: preoccupation with physical appearance, dissatisfaction with physical strength, dissatisfaction with facial features, sexual attractiveness, prioritizing physical appearance over body functioning, appearance-related behavioral avoidance, and dissatisfaction with body parts. BIPS subscale scores demonstrated good internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and both incremental and convergent validity with measures of body image, self-esteem, and depressive symptomatology. Although the pregnancy-focused wording of BIPS items prevents its use for comparisons with nonpregnant populations, further testing of changes in body image throughout pregnancy is an identified area for further research with this measure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

2017 Total Solar Eclipse - ISS Transit

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-08-21

The International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, is seen in silhouette as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second during a partial solar eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 near Banner, Wyoming. Onboard as part of Expedition 52 are: NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer, and Randy Bresnik; Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy; and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Army Science Conference (16th) Proceedings Held in Fort Monroe, Virginia on 25-27 October 1988. Volume 2. Principal Authors K through R

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-27

5.44 4.08 25.4 881 2.1 Corn Syrup 5.44 3.85 29.3 840 3.3 Dextrose 5.44 3.91 23.3 563 1.8 Lactose 5.44 3.79 5.8 518 1.6 Sol. Starch 5.44 4.24 70.3 137... High Energy/Power I 127 Cells Based on Condensed SO2 Electrolyte Birkmire, Deborah P. Perceptibility of Military I 139 Vehicle Silhouettes Bonometti, R...Bruno, John D. See Tobin, Mary S. III 367 Bulpett, David A. Chemical Component Monitoring I 165 of High Performance Elastomers Bundy, Mark L. A Thermal

2017 Total Solar Eclipse - ISS Transit

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-08-21

The International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, is seen in silhouette as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second during a partial solar eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, Washington. Onboard as part of Expedition 52 are: NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer, and Randy Bresnik; Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Sergey Ryazanskiy; and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Scaling of avian bipedal locomotion reveals independent effects of body mass and leg posture on gait.

PubMed

Daley, Monica A; Birn-Jeffery, Aleksandra

2018-05-22

Birds provide an interesting opportunity to study the relationships between body size, limb morphology and bipedal locomotor function. Birds are ecologically diverse and span a large range of body size and limb proportions, yet all use their hindlimbs for bipedal terrestrial locomotion, for at least some part of their life history. Here, we review the scaling of avian striding bipedal gaits to explore how body mass and leg morphology influence walking and running. We collate literature data from 21 species, spanning a 2500× range in body mass from painted quail to ostriches. Using dynamic similarity theory to interpret scaling trends, we find evidence for independent effects of body mass, leg length and leg posture on gait. We find no evidence for scaling of duty factor with body size, suggesting that vertical forces scale with dynamic similarity. However, at dynamically similar speeds, large birds use relatively shorter stride lengths and higher stride frequencies compared with small birds. We also find that birds with long legs for their mass, such as the white stork and red-legged seriema, use longer strides and lower swing frequencies, consistent with the influence of high limb inertia on gait. We discuss the observed scaling of avian bipedal gait in relation to mechanical demands for force, work and power relative to muscle actuator capacity, muscle activation costs related to leg cycling frequency, and considerations of stability and agility. Many opportunities remain for future work to investigate how morphology influences gait dynamics among birds specialized for different habitats and locomotor behaviors. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Body mass scaling of passive oxygen diffusion in endotherms and ectotherms

PubMed Central

Gillooly, James F.; Gomez, Juan Pablo; Mavrodiev, Evgeny V.; Rong, Yue; McLamore, Eric S.

2016-01-01

The area and thickness of respiratory surfaces, and the constraints they impose on passive oxygen diffusion, have been linked to differences in oxygen consumption rates and/or aerobic activity levels in vertebrates. However, it remains unclear how respiratory surfaces and associated diffusion rates vary with body mass across vertebrates, particularly in relation to the body mass scaling of oxygen consumption rates. Here we address these issues by first quantifying the body mass dependence of respiratory surface area and respiratory barrier thickness for a diversity of endotherms (birds and mammals) and ectotherms (fishes, amphibians, and reptiles). Based on these findings, we then use Fick’s law to predict the body mass scaling of oxygen diffusion for each group. Finally, we compare the predicted body mass dependence of oxygen diffusion to that of oxygen consumption in endotherms and ectotherms. We find that the slopes and intercepts of the relationships describing the body mass dependence of passive oxygen diffusion in these two groups are statistically indistinguishable from those describing the body mass dependence of oxygen consumption. Thus, the area and thickness of respiratory surfaces combine to match oxygen diffusion capacity to oxygen consumption rates in both air- and water-breathing vertebrates. In particular, the substantially lower oxygen consumption rates of ectotherms of a given body mass relative to those of endotherms correspond to differences in oxygen diffusion capacity. These results provide insights into the long-standing effort to understand the structural attributes of organisms that underlie the body mass scaling of oxygen consumption. PMID:27118837

Body mass scaling of passive oxygen diffusion in endotherms and ectotherms.

PubMed

Gillooly, James F; Gomez, Juan Pablo; Mavrodiev, Evgeny V; Rong, Yue; McLamore, Eric S

2016-05-10

The area and thickness of respiratory surfaces, and the constraints they impose on passive oxygen diffusion, have been linked to differences in oxygen consumption rates and/or aerobic activity levels in vertebrates. However, it remains unclear how respiratory surfaces and associated diffusion rates vary with body mass across vertebrates, particularly in relation to the body mass scaling of oxygen consumption rates. Here we address these issues by first quantifying the body mass dependence of respiratory surface area and respiratory barrier thickness for a diversity of endotherms (birds and mammals) and ectotherms (fishes, amphibians, and reptiles). Based on these findings, we then use Fick's law to predict the body mass scaling of oxygen diffusion for each group. Finally, we compare the predicted body mass dependence of oxygen diffusion to that of oxygen consumption in endotherms and ectotherms. We find that the slopes and intercepts of the relationships describing the body mass dependence of passive oxygen diffusion in these two groups are statistically indistinguishable from those describing the body mass dependence of oxygen consumption. Thus, the area and thickness of respiratory surfaces combine to match oxygen diffusion capacity to oxygen consumption rates in both air- and water-breathing vertebrates. In particular, the substantially lower oxygen consumption rates of ectotherms of a given body mass relative to those of endotherms correspond to differences in oxygen diffusion capacity. These results provide insights into the long-standing effort to understand the structural attributes of organisms that underlie the body mass scaling of oxygen consumption.

as response to seasonal variability

PubMed

Badano, Ernesto I; Labra, Fabio A; Martínez-Pérez, Cecilia G; Vergara, Carlos H

2016-03-01

Ecologists have been largely interested in the description and understanding of the power scaling relationships between body size and abundance of organisms. Many studies have focused on estimating the exponents of these functions across taxonomic groups and spatial scales, to draw inferences about the processes underlying this pattern. The exponents of these functions usually approximate -3/4 at geographical scales, but they deviate from this value when smaller spatial extensions are considered. This has led to propose that body size-abundance relationships at small spatial scales may reflect the impact of environmental changes. This study tests this hypothesis by examining body size spectra of benthic shrimps (Decapoda: Caridea) and snails (Gastropoda) in the Tamiahua lagoon, a brackish body water located in the Eastern coast of Mexico. We mea- sured water quality parameters (dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH, water temperature, sediment organic matter and chemical oxygen demand) and sampled benthic macrofauna during three different climatic conditions of the year (cold, dry and rainy season). Given the small size of most individuals in the benthic macrofaunal samples, we used body volume, instead of weight, to estimate their body size. Body size-abundance relationships of both taxonomic groups were described by tabulating data from each season into base-2 logarithmic body size bins. In both taxonomic groups, observed frequencies per body size class in each season were standardized to yield densities (i.e., individuals/m(3)). Nonlinear regression analyses were separately performed for each taxonomic group at each season to assess whether body size spectra followed power scaling functions. Additionally, for each taxonomic group, multiple regression analyses were used to determine whether these relationships varied among seasons. Our results indicated that, while body size-abundance relationships in both taxonomic groups followed power functions, the parameters defining the shape of these relationships varied among seasons. These variations in the parameters of the body size-abundance relationships seems to be related to changes in the abundance of individuals within the different body size classes, which seems to follow the seasonal changes that occur in the environmental conditions of the lagoon. Thus, we propose that these body size-abundance relation- ships are influenced by the frequency and intensity of environmental changes affecting this ecosystem.

Non-native salmonids affect amphibian occupancy at multiple spatial scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pilliod, David S.; Hossack, Blake R.; Bahls, Peter F.; Bull, Evelyn L.; Corn, Paul Stephen; Hokit, Grant; Maxell, Bryce A.; Munger, James C.; Wyrick, Aimee

2010-01-01

Aim The introduction of non-native species into aquatic environments has been linked with local extinctions and altered distributions of native species. We investigated the effect of non-native salmonids on the occupancy of two native amphibians, the long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) and Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris), across three spatial scales: water bodies, small catchments and large catchments. Location Mountain lakes at ≥ 1500 m elevation were surveyed across the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. Methods We surveyed 2267 water bodies for amphibian occupancy (based on evidence of reproduction) and fish presence between 1986 and 2002 and modelled the probability of amphibian occupancy at each spatial scale in relation to habitat availability and quality and fish presence. Results After accounting for habitat features, we estimated that A. macrodactylum was 2.3 times more likely to breed in fishless water bodies than in water bodies with fish. Ambystoma macrodactylum also was more likely to occupy small catchments where none of the water bodies contained fish than in catchments where at least one water body contained fish. However, the probability of salamander occupancy in small catchments was also influenced by habitat availability (i.e. the number of water bodies within a catchment) and suitability of remaining fishless water bodies. We found no relationship between fish presence and salamander occupancy at the large-catchment scale, probably because of increased habitat availability. In contrast to A. macrodactylum, we found no relationship between fish presence and R. luteiventris occupancy at any scale. Main conclusions Our results suggest that the negative effects of non-native salmonids can extend beyond the boundaries of individual water bodies and increase A. macrodactylum extinction risk at landscape scales. We suspect that niche overlap between non-native fish and A. macrodactylum at higher elevations in the northern Rocky Mountains may lead to extinction in catchments with limited suitable habitat.

Limited role of body satisfaction and body image self-consciousness in sexual frequency and satisfaction in pregnant women.

PubMed

Radoš, Sandra Nakić; Vraneš, Hrvojka Soljačić; Šunjić, Marijana

2014-01-01

This cross-sectional study examined the role of maternal body image and body image self-consciousness in sexual satisfaction and intercourse frequency during pregnancy when controlling for satisfaction with partnership. Pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy (N = 150) participated in the study. Body image was measured by the Body Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS) and Body Image Self-Consciousness Scale (BISC), while relationship satisfaction was measured by different subscales of the Perceived Quality of Marital Relationship (PQMR) Scale. Sexual satisfaction was also measured by one of the subscales of the PQMR (Intimate Relationship). The sexual behavior questionnaire comprised questions about frequency of sexual intercourse, desire, and other aspects of sexual functioning as well as the reasons that might prevent women from having intercourse during pregnancy. Findings suggested that satisfaction with body image and body image self-consciousness were related to sexual satisfaction. Nevertheless, other aspects of partnership, such as communication, appeared to be much more important predictors of sexual satisfaction than body image variables. The best predictor of sexual frequency was fear that intercourse might harm the fetus. Implications for education about sexuality issues in pregnancy are discussed.

Scaling and functional morphology in strigiform hind limbs

PubMed Central

Madan, Meena A.; Rayfield, Emily J.; Bright, Jen A.

2017-01-01

Strigiformes are an order of raptorial birds consisting exclusively of owls: the Tytonidae (barn owls) and the Strigidae (true owls), united by a suite of adaptations aiding a keen predatory lifestyle, including robust hind limb elements modified for grip strength. To assess variation in hind limb morphology, we analysed how the dimensions of the major hind limb elements in subfossil and modern species scaled with body mass. Comparing hind limb element length, midshaft width, and robusticity index (RI: ratio of midshaft width to maximum length) to body mass revealed that femoral and tibiotarsal width scale with isometry, whilst length scales with negative allometry, and close to elastic similarity in the tibiotarsus. In contrast, tarsometatarsus width shows strong positive allometry with body mass, whilst length shows strong negative allometry. Furthermore, the tarsometatarsi RI scales allometrically to mass0.028, whilst a weak relationship exists in femora (mass0.004) and tibiotarsi (mass0.004). Our results suggest that tarsometatarsi play a more substantial functional role than tibiotarsi and femora. Given the scaling relationship between tarsometatarsal width and robusticity to body mass, it may be possible to infer the body mass of prehistoric owls by analysing tarsometatarsi, an element that is frequently preserved in the fossil record of owls. PMID:28327549

Mind the Gap: The Effects of Temporal and Spatial Separation in Localization of Dual Touches on the Hand.

PubMed

Sadibolova, Renata; Tamè, Luigi; Walsh, Eamonn; Longo, Matthew R

2018-01-01

In this study, we aimed to relate the findings from two predominantly separate streams of literature, one reporting on the localization of single touches on the skin, and the other on the distance perception of dual touches. Participants were touched with two points, delivered either simultaneously or separated by a short delay to various locations on their left hand dorsum. They then indicated on a size-matched hand silhouette the perceived locations of tactile stimuli. We quantified the deviations between the actual stimulus grid and the corresponding perceptual map which was constructed from the perceived tactile locations, and we calculated the precision of tactile localization (i.e., the variability across localization attempts). The evidence showed that the dual touches, akin to single touch stimulations, were mislocalized distally and that their variable localization error was reduced near joints, particularly near knuckles. However, contrary to single-touch localization literature, we observed for the dual touches to be mislocalized towards the ulnar side of the hand, particularly when they were presented sequentially. Further, the touches presented in a sequential order were slightly "repelled" from each other and their perceived distance increased, while the simultaneous tactile pairs were localized closer to each other and their distance was compressed. Whereas the sequential touches may have been localized with reference to the body, the compression of tactile perceptual space for simultaneous touches was related in the previous literature to signal summation and inhibition and the low-level factors, including the innervation density and properties of receptive fields (RFs) of somatosensory neurons.

Body dissatisfaction and psychological distress in adolescents: Is self-esteem a mediator?

PubMed

Duchesne, Annie-Pier; Dion, Jacinthe; Lalande, Daniel; Bégin, Catherine; Émond, Claudie; Lalande, Gilles; McDuff, Pierre

2017-10-01

This brief report tests the mediating effect of self-esteem in the relationship between body dissatisfaction and symptoms of depression and anxiety. A sample of 409 adolescents (females = 58.4%) aged between 14 and 18 years completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Overall, results for the indirect effects analysis were significant for both anxiety and depression, which confirmed the mediating role of self-esteem. Thus, a negative perception of one's body image has the effect of lowering self-esteem, which in turn increases psychological distress.

Body Image, Self-Esteem, and Health-Related Behaviors among Male and Female First Year College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lowery, Sarah E.; Kurpius, Sharon E. Robinson; Befort, Christie; Blanks, Elva Hull; Sollenberger, Sonja; Nicpon, Megan Foley; Huser, Laura

2005-01-01

This study examined the relationships among self-esteem, body image, and health-related behaviors of 267 female and 156 male first-year college students. Data were collected in 23 classrooms. Instruments included a demographic sheet, the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Weight and Appearance Visual Analogue Scales, the Contour Drawing…

Weighing and Body Monitoring among College Women: The Scale Number as an Emotional Barometer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mintz, Laurie B.; Awad, Germine H.; Stinson, Rebecca D.; Bledman, Rashanta A.; Coker, Angela D.; Kashubeck-West, Susan; Connelly, Kathleen

2013-01-01

This study investigated weighing and body-monitoring behaviors, as well as psychological and behavioral reactions to weighing, among female college students. Weighing and body monitoring were engaged in by the majority of participants. Participants changed food intake and exercise based on weight. About 63% reported that the scale number impacts…

Patient-Reported Outcomes in Weight Loss and Body Contouring Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Using the BODY-Q.

PubMed

Poulsen, Lotte; Klassen, Anne; Rose, Michael; Roessler, Kirsten K; Juhl, Claus Bogh; Støving, René Klinkby; Sørensen, Jens Ahm

2017-09-01

Health-related quality of life and satisfaction with appearance are important outcomes in bariatric and body contouring surgery. To investigate these outcomes, scientifically sound and clinically meaningful patient-reported outcome instruments are needed. The authors measured health-related quality of life and appearance in a cohort of Danish patients at different phases in the weight loss journey: before bariatric surgery, after bariatric surgery, before body contouring surgery, and after body contouring surgery. From June of 2015 to June of 2016, a cross-sectional sample of 493 bariatric and body contouring patients were recruited from four different hospital departments. Patients were asked to fill out the BODY-Q, a new patient-reported outcomes instrument designed specifically to measure health-related quality of life and appearance over the entire patient journey, from obesity to the post-body contouring surgery period. Data were collected using REDCap, and analyzed using SPSS software. For all appearance and health-related quality-of-life scales, the mean score was significantly lower in the pre-bariatric surgery group compared with the post-body contouring group. Furthermore, the correlation between body mass index and mean scores was significant for all appearance and health-related quality-of-life scales, with higher scores associated with lower body mass index. The mean score for the group reporting no excess skin compared with the group reporting a lot of excess skin was significantly higher for five of seven appearance scales and four of five health-related quality-of-life scales. This study provides evidence to suggest that body contouring plays an important role in the weight loss patient's journey and that patients need access to treatments.

Engagement in activities revealing the body and psychosocial adjustment in adults with a trans-tibial prosthesis.

PubMed

Donovan-Hall, M K; Yardley, L; Watts, R J

2002-04-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the appearance of a prosthesis on social behaviour, social discomfort and psychological well-being in eleven amputees taking delivery of a prosthesis with a silicone cover. Two new scales were developed: the 'Engagement in everyday activities involving revealing the body' (EEARB); and the 'Discomfort-Engagement in everyday activities involving revealing the body' (Discomfort-EEARB) scales. The psychometric properties of these scales were determined using a sample of 101 able-bodied adults. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were also used to measure psychological well-being in the amputee sample. The EEARB and Discomfort-EEARB proved to have good reliability and validity. Comparison of amputees' scores prior to receiving the silicone cosmesis with those of the able-bodied adults revealed significant behavioural limitations and social discomfort, associated with low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. There was a significant increase in amputees' scores three months afier taking delivery of their prosthesis, indicating that amputees reported engaging in more activities which involved revealing their body, and that they would feel more comfortable in situations which involved revealing the body. As the amputee sample available was small and self-selected, it is not possible to generalise these findings to the amputee population as a whole. However, since there is little previous research investigating the effects of the appearance of the prosthesis, these findings demonstrate the need for further research in this area.

Further psychometric validation of the BODY-Q: ability to detect change following bariatric surgery weight gain and loss.

PubMed

Klassen, Anne F; Cano, Stefan J; Kaur, Manraj; Breitkopf, Trisia; Pusic, Andrea L

2017-11-25

Recent systematic reviews have identified that current patient-reported outcome instruments have content limitations when used to measure change following bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to measure change after bariatric surgery using the BODY-Q, a PRO instrument designed for weight loss and body contouring. The BODY-Q is composed of 18 independently functioning scales and an obesity-specific symptom checklist that measure appearance, health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) and experience of health-care. The sample for this study included patients who were exploring or seeking bariatric surgery in Hamilton (Canada) at the time of the BODY-Q field-test study and who agreed to further contact from the research team. These patients were invited to complete 12 BODY-Q scales and the symptom checklist between 7 June 2016 and 29 November 2016. Data were collected online (REDCap) and via postal surveys. Clinical change was measured using paired t-tests with effect sizes and standardized response means. The survey was completed by 58 of 89 (65%) pre-bariatric participants from the original BODY-Q field-test sample. The non-participants did not differ from participants in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, BMI or initial BODY-Q scale scores. Participants who had undergone bariatric surgery had a mean BMI of 49 (SD = 7) at time 1 and 35 (SD = 7) at time 2. Time since bariatric surgery was on average 2 years (SD = 0.5) (range 0.4 to 3 years). Percentage total weight loss ranged from 12 to 51 (mean 31, SD = 9). The difference in the proportion of patients to report an obesity-specific symptom on the BODY-Q checklist was significantly lower at follow-up for 5 of 10 symptoms. Participants improved on BODY-Q scales measuring appearance (of abdomen, back, body, buttocks, hips/outer thighs, inner thigh), body image and physical function (p < 0.001 on paired t-tests) and social function (p = 0.002 on paired t-test). These changes were associated with moderate to large effect sizes (0.60 to 2.29) and standardized response means (0.47 to 1.35). The BODY-Q provides a set of independently functioning scales that measure issues important to patients who undergo weight loss. BODY-Q scales were responsive to measuring clinical change associated with weight loss 2 years after bariatric surgery.

Uterine caliper and depth gauge

DOEpatents

King, Loyd L.; Wheeler, Robert G.; Fish, Thomas M.

1977-01-01

A uterine caliper and sound consisting of an elongated body having outwardly biased resilient caliper wings and a spring-loaded slidable cervical stop. A slide on the body is operatively connected to the wings by a monofilament and operates with respect to a first scale on the body as a width indicator. A rod extending longitudinally on the body is connected to the cervical stop and cooperates with a second scale on the body as a depth indicator. The instrument can be positioned to measure the distance from the outer cervical ostium to the fundus, as read on said second scale. The wings may be allowed to open by moving the slide, and when the wings engage the utero-tubal junctions, the width may be read on said first scale. By adjustment of the caliper wings the instrument may be retracted until the resistance of the inner ostium of the cervix is felt, enabling the length of the cervical canal to be read directly by the position of the longitudinal indicator rod with respect to said second scale. The instrument may be employed to measure the width of the uterine cavity at any position between the inner ostium of the cervix and the fundus.

Validity and reliability of a scale to measure genital body image.

PubMed

Zielinski, Ruth E; Kane-Low, Lisa; Miller, Janis M; Sampselle, Carolyn

2012-01-01

Women's body image dissatisfaction extends to body parts usually hidden from view--their genitals. Ability to measure genital body image is limited by lack of valid and reliable questionnaires. We subjected a previously developed questionnaire, the Genital Self Image Scale (GSIS) to psychometric testing using a variety of methods. Five experts determined the content validity of the scale. Then using four participant groups, factor analysis was performed to determine construct validity and to identify factors. Further construct validity was established using the contrasting groups approach. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability was determined. Twenty one of 29 items were considered content valid. Two items were added based on expert suggestions. Factor analysis was undertaken resulting in four factors, identified as Genital Confidence, Appeal, Function, and Comfort. The revised scale (GSIS-20) included 20 items explaining 59.4% of the variance. Women indicating an interest in genital cosmetic surgery exhibited significantly lower scores on the GSIS-20 than those who did not. The final 20 item scale exhibited internal reliability across all sample groups as well as test-retest reliability. The GSIS-20 provides a measure of genital body image demonstrating reliability and validity across several populations of women.

Body Esteem Among Women with Multiple Sclerosis and its Relationship with Demographic, Clinical and Socio-Psychological Factors.

PubMed

Wilski, M; Tasiemski, T; Dąbrowski, A

2016-06-01

The principal aim of this study was to verify if specific socio-demographic, clinical, and socio-psychological factors are correlates of body esteem in women with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study included 185 women with MS who completed the Body Esteem Scale (BES), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ), Actually Received Support Scale (a part of the Berlin Social Support Scale), and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). The patients were recruited as a result of cooperation with the Multiple Sclerosis Rehabilitation Centre in Borne Sulinowo and Polish Society of Multiple Sclerosis. The demographic characteristics of the participants and their illness-related problems were determined with a self-report survey. A hierarchical multiple regression revealed that four factors, psychological condition (R (2) = 0.23, p ≤ 0.001), received support (R (2) = 0.28, p ≤ 0.001), personal control (R (2) = 0.30, p ≤ 0.001), and physical condition (R (2) = 0.31, p ≤ 0.001), were significant correlates of the general body esteem in our study group of women with MS. The model explained 31 % of variance in body esteem. Positive body esteem, an important component of self-esteem in women with MS, is associated with better social support, overcoming negative illness-related appraisals and improvement of psychological well-being. Subjective perception of a negative impact of MS on one's physical condition may be helpful in the identification of women with MS being at increased risk of decreased body esteem.

3D kinematics of mobile-bearing total knee arthroplasty using X-ray fluoroscopy.

PubMed

Yamazaki, Takaharu; Futai, Kazuma; Tomita, Tetsuya; Sato, Yoshinobu; Yoshikawa, Hideki; Tamura, Shinichi; Sugamoto, Kazuomi

2015-04-01

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) 3D kinematic analysis requires 2D/3D image registration of X-ray fluoroscopic images and a computer-aided design (CAD) model of the knee implant. However, these techniques cannot provide information on the radiolucent polyethylene insert, since the insert silhouette does not appear clearly in X-ray images. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain the 3D kinematics of the polyethylene insert, particularly the mobile-bearing insert. A technique for 3D kinematic analysis of a mobile-bearing insert used in TKA was developed using X-ray fluoroscopy. The method was tested and a clinical application was evaluated. Tantalum beads and a CAD model of the mobile-bearing TKA insert are used for 3D pose estimation of the mobile-bearing insert used in TKA using X-ray fluoroscopy. The insert model was created using four identical tantalum beads precisely located at known positions in a polyethylene insert using a specially designed insertion device. Finally, the 3D pose of the insert model was estimated using a feature-based 2D/3D registration technique, using the silhouette of beads in fluoroscopic images and the corresponding CAD insert model. In vitro testing for the repeatability of the positioning of the tantalum beads and computer simulations for 3D pose estimation of the mobile-bearing insert were performed. The pose estimation accuracy achieved was sufficient for analyzing mobile-bearing TKA kinematics (RMS error: within 1.0 mm and 1.0°, except for medial-lateral translation). In a clinical application, nine patients with mobile-bearing TKA were investigated and analyzed with respect to a deep knee bending motion. A 3D kinematic analysis technique was developed that enables accurate quantitative evaluation of mobile-bearing TKA kinematics. This method may be useful for improving implant design and optimizing TKA surgical techniques.

Retinal blood vessel extraction using tunable bandpass filter and fuzzy conditional entropy.

PubMed

Sil Kar, Sudeshna; Maity, Santi P

2016-09-01

Extraction of blood vessels on retinal images plays a significant role for screening of different opthalmologic diseases. However, accurate extraction of the entire and individual type of vessel silhouette from the noisy images with poorly illuminated background is a complicated task. To this aim, an integrated system design platform is suggested in this work for vessel extraction using a sequential bandpass filter followed by fuzzy conditional entropy maximization on matched filter response. At first noise is eliminated from the image under consideration through curvelet based denoising. To include the fine details and the relatively less thick vessel structures, the image is passed through a bank of sequential bandpass filter structure optimized for contrast enhancement. Fuzzy conditional entropy on matched filter response is then maximized to find the set of multiple optimal thresholds to extract the different types of vessel silhouettes from the background. Differential Evolution algorithm is used to determine the optimal gain in bandpass filter and the combination of the fuzzy parameters. Using the multiple thresholds, retinal image is classified as the thick, the medium and the thin vessels including neovascularization. Performance evaluated on different publicly available retinal image databases shows that the proposed method is very efficient in identifying the diverse types of vessels. Proposed method is also efficient in extracting the abnormal and the thin blood vessels in pathological retinal images. The average values of true positive rate, false positive rate and accuracy offered by the method is 76.32%, 1.99% and 96.28%, respectively for the DRIVE database and 72.82%, 2.6% and 96.16%, respectively for the STARE database. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods in detecting the various types of vessels and the neovascularization structures. The combination of curvelet transform and tunable bandpass filter is found to be very much effective in edge enhancement whereas fuzzy conditional entropy efficiently distinguishes vessels of different widths. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictors of favorable soft tissue profile outcomes following Class II Twin-block treatment

PubMed Central

Kim, Ji-Eun; Mah, Su-Jung; Kim, Tae-Woo; Kim, Su-Jung; Park, Ki-Ho

2018-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to determine cephalometric factors that help predict favorable soft-tissue profile outcomes following treatment with the Class II Twin-block appliance. Methods Pre- and post-treatment lateral cephalograms of 45 patients treated with the Class II Twin-block appliance were retrospectively analyzed. Profile silhouettes were drawn from the cephalograms and evaluated by three orthodontists in order to determine the extent of improvement. Samples were divided into a favorable group (upper 30% of visual analogue scale [VAS] scores, n = 14) and an unfavorable group (lower 30% of VAS scores, n = 14). Skeletal and soft-tissue measurements were performed on the cephalograms and an intergroup comparison was conducted. Results An independent t-test revealed that the following pre-treatment values were lower in the favorable group compared to the unfavorable group: lower incisor to mandibular plane angle, lower incisor to pogonion distance, point A-nasion-point B angle, sella-nasion line (SN) to maxillary plane angle, SN to mandibular plane angle, gonial angle, and symphysis inclination. The favorable group had a larger incisor inclination to occlusal plane. Moreover, the favorable group showed larger post-treatment changes in gonial angle, B point projection, and pogonion projection than did the unfavorable group. Conclusions Class II malocclusion patients with a low divergent skeletal pattern and reduced lower incisor protrusions are likely to show more improvement in soft-tissue profile outcomes following Class II Twin-block treatment. PMID:29291184

Scaling of human body composition to stature: new insights into body mass index.

PubMed

Heymsfield, Steven B; Gallagher, Dympna; Mayer, Laurel; Beetsch, Joel; Pietrobelli, Angelo

2007-07-01

Although Quetelet first reported in 1835 that adult weight scales to the square of stature, limited or no information is available on how anatomical body compartments, including adipose tissue (AT), scale to height. We examined the critical underlying assumptions of adiposity-body mass index (BMI) relations and extended these analyses to major anatomical compartments: skeletal muscle (SM), bone, residual mass, weight (AT+SM+bone), AT-free mass, and organs (liver, brain). This was a cross-sectional analysis of 2 body-composition databases: one including magnetic resonance imaging and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) estimates of evaluated components in adults (total n=411; organs=76) and the other a larger DXA database (n=1346) that included related estimates of fat, fat-free mass, and bone mineral mass. Weight, primary lean components (SM, residual mass, AT-free mass, and fat-free mass), and liver scaled to height with powers of approximately 2 (all P<0.001); bone and bone mineral mass scaled to height with powers >2 (2.31-2.48), and the fraction of weight as bone mineral mass was significantly (P<0.001) correlated with height in women. AT scaled weakly to height with powers of approximately 2, and adiposity was independent of height. Brain mass scaled to height with a power of 0.83 (P=0.04) in men and nonsignificantly in women; the fraction of weight as brain was inversely related to height in women (P=0.002). These observations suggest that short and tall subjects with equivalent BMIs have similar but not identical body composition, provide new insights into earlier BMI-related observations and thus establish a foundation for height-normalized indexes, and create an analytic framework for future studies.

Scaling of human body composition to stature: new insights into body mass index 123

PubMed Central

Heymsfield, Steven B; Gallagher, Dympna; Mayer, Laurel; Beetsch, Joel; Pietrobelli, Angelo

2009-01-01

Background Although Quetelet first reported in 1835 that adult weight scales to the square of stature, limited or no information is available on how anatomical body compartments, including adipose tissue (AT), scale to height. Objective We examined the critical underlying assumptions of adiposity–body mass index (BMI) relations and extended these analyses to major anatomical compartments: skeletal muscle (SM), bone, residual mass, weight (AT+SM+bone), AT-free mass, and organs (liver, brain). Design This was a cross-sectional analysis of 2 body-composition databases: one including magnetic resonance imaging and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) estimates of evaluated components in adults (total n = 411; organs = 76) and the other a larger DXA database (n = 1346) that included related estimates of fat, fat-free mass, and bone mineral mass. Results Weight, primary lean components (SM, residual mass, AT-free mass, and fat-free mass), and liver scaled to height with powers of ≈2 (all P < 0.001); bone and bone mineral mass scaled to height with powers > 2 (2.31–2.48), and the fraction of weight as bone mineral mass was significantly (P < 0.001) correlated with height in women. AT scaled weakly to height with powers of ≈2, and adiposity was independent of height. Brain mass scaled to height with a power of 0.83 (P = 0.04) in men and nonsignificantly in women; the fraction of weight as brain was inversely related to height in women (P = 0.002). Conclusions These observations suggest that short and tall subjects with equivalent BMIs have similar but not identical body composition, provide new insights into earlier BMI-related observations and thus establish a foundation for height-normalized indexes, and create an analytic framework for future studies. PMID:17616766

Larval Competition Reduces Body Condition in the Female Seed Beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus

PubMed Central

Schade, Daynika J.; Vamosi, Steven M.

2012-01-01

Early body condition may be important for adult behavior and fitness, and is impacted by a number of environmental conditions and biotic interactions. Reduced fecundity of adult females exposed to larval competition may be caused by reduced body condition or shifts in relative body composition, yet these mechanisms have not been well researched. Here, body mass, body size, scaled body mass index, and two body components (water content and lean dry mass) of adult Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) females exposed to larval competition or reared alone were examined. Experimental females emerged at significantly smaller body mass and body size than control females. Additionally, scaled body mass index and water content, but not lean dry mass, were significantly reduced in experimental females. To our knowledge, these are the first results that demonstrate a potential mechanism for previously documented direct effects of competition on fecundity in female bruchine beetles. PMID:22954282

Larval competition reduces body condition in the female seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus.

PubMed

Schade, Daynika J; Vamosi, Steven M

2012-01-01

Early body condition may be important for adult behavior and fitness, and is impacted by a number of environmental conditions and biotic interactions. Reduced fecundity of adult females exposed to larval competition may be caused by reduced body condition or shifts in relative body composition, yet these mechanisms have not been well researched. Here, body mass, body size, scaled body mass index, and two body components (water content and lean dry mass) of adult Callosobruchus maculatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae) females exposed to larval competition or reared alone were examined. Experimental females emerged at significantly smaller body mass and body size than control females. Additionally, scaled body mass index and water content, but not lean dry mass, were significantly reduced in experimental females. To our knowledge, these are the first results that demonstrate a potential mechanism for previously documented direct effects of competition on fecundity in female bruchine beetles.

Implications of scaled δ15N fractionation for community predator-prey body mass ratio estimates in size-structured food webs.

PubMed

Reum, Jonathan C P; Jennings, Simon; Hunsicker, Mary E

2015-11-01

Nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ(15) N) may be used to estimate community-level relationships between trophic level (TL) and body size in size-structured food webs and hence the mean predator to prey body mass ratio (PPMR). In turn, PPMR is used to estimate mean food chain length, trophic transfer efficiency and rates of change in abundance with body mass (usually reported as slopes of size spectra) and to calibrate and validate food web models. When estimating TL, researchers had assumed that fractionation of δ(15) N (Δδ(15) N) did not change with TL. However, a recent meta-analysis indicated that this assumption was not as well supported by data as the assumption that Δδ(15) N scales negatively with the δ(15) N of prey. We collated existing fish community δ(15) N-body size data for the Northeast Atlantic and tropical Western Arabian Sea with new data from the Northeast Pacific. These data were used to estimate TL-body mass relationships and PPMR under constant and scaled Δδ(15) N assumptions, and to assess how the scaled Δδ(15) N assumption affects our understanding of the structure of these food webs. Adoption of the scaled Δδ(15) N approach markedly reduces the previously reported differences in TL at body mass among fish communities from different regions. With scaled Δδ(15) N, TL-body mass relationships became more positive and PPMR fell. Results implied that realized prey size in these size-structured fish communities are less variable than previously assumed and food chains potentially longer. The adoption of generic PPMR estimates for calibration and validation of size-based fish community models is better supported than hitherto assumed, but predicted slopes of community size spectra are more sensitive to a given change or error in realized PPMR when PPMR is small. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2015 British Ecological Society.

Scaling and Accommodation of Jaw Adductor Muscles in Canidae

PubMed Central

Kemp, Graham J.; Jeffery, Nathan

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT The masticatory apparatus amongst closely related carnivoran species raises intriguing questions about the interplay between allometry, function, and phylogeny in defining interspecific variations of cranial morphology. Here we describe the gross structure of the jaw adductor muscles of several species of canid, and then examine how the muscles are scaled across the range of body sizes, phylogenies, and trophic groups. We also consider how the muscles are accommodated on the skull, and how this is influenced by differences of endocranial size. Data were collected for a suite of morphological metrics, including body mass, endocranial volume, and muscle masses and we used geometric morphometric shape analysis to reveal associated form changes. We find that all jaw adductor muscles scale isometrically against body mass, regardless of phylogeny or trophic group, but that endocranial volume scales with negative allometry against body mass. These findings suggest that head shape is partly influenced by the need to house isometrically scaling muscles on a neurocranium scaling with negative allometry. Principal component analysis suggests that skull shape changes, such as the relatively wide zygomatic arches and large sagittal crests seen in species with higher body masses, allow the skull to accommodate a relative enlargement of the jaw adductors compared with the endocranium. Anat Rec, 299:951–966, 2016. © 2016 The Authors The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. PMID:27103346

Morphology and frictional properties of scales of Pseudopus apodus (Anguidae, Reptilia).

PubMed

Spinner, Marlene; Bleckmann, Horst; Westhoff, Guido

2015-06-01

In the lizard family Anguidae different levels of limb reduction exist up to a completely limbless body. The locomotion patterns of limbless anguid lizards are similar to the undulating and concertina movements of snakes. Additionally, anguid lizards frequently use a third mode of locomotion, called slide-pushing. During slide-pushing the undulating moving body slides on the ground, while the posterior part of the body is pressed against the substrate. Whereas the macroscopic and microscopic adaptations of snake scales to limbless locomotion are well described, the micromorphology of anguid lizard scales has never been examined. Therefore we studied the macro- and micromorphology of the scales of Pseudopus apodus, an anguid lizard with a snakelike body. In addition, we measured the frictional properties of Pseudopus scales. Our data show that the microstructures of the ventral scales of this anguid lizard are less developed than in snakes. We found, however, a rostro-caudal gradient in macroscopic structuring. Whereas the ventral side of the anterior body was nearly unstructured, the tail had macroscopic longitudinal ridges. Our frictional measurements on rough substrates revealed that the ridges provide a frictional anisotropy: friction was higher in the lateral than in the rostral direction. The observed frictional properties are advantageous for a tail-based slide-pushing locomotion, for which a tail with a high lateral friction is most effective in generating propulsion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Concordance of In-Home "Smart" Scale Measurement with Body Weight Measured In-Person.

PubMed

Ross, Kathryn M; Wing, Rena R

2016-06-01

Newer "smart" scales that transmit participants' body weights directly to data collection centers offer the opportunity to simplify weight assessment in weight management research; however, little data exist on the concordance of these data compared to weights measured at in-person assessments. We compared the weights of 58 participants (mean±SD BMI = 31.6±4.8, age = 52.1±9.7 years, 86.2% White, 65.5% Female) measured by study staff at an in-person assessment visit to weights measured on the same day at home using BodyTrace "smart" scales. These measures occurred after 3 months of an internet-based weight management intervention. Weight (mean±SD) measured at the 3-month in-person assessment visit was 81.5±14.7kg compared to 80.4±14.5kg measured on the same day using in-home body weight scales; mean bias =1.1±0.8kg, 95% limits of agreement = -0.5 to 2.6. Two outliers in the data suggest that there may be greater variability between measurements for participants weighing above 110 kg. Results suggest good concordance between the measurements and support the use of the BodyTrace smart scale in weight management research. Future trials using BodyTrace scales for outcome assessment should clearly define protocols for measurement and associated instructions to participants (e.g., instruct individuals to weigh at the same time of day, similarly clothed). Finally, measure concordance should be investigated in a group of individuals weighing more than 110kg.

Inter-Rater Reliability of Total Body Score-A Scale for Quantification of Corpse Decomposition.

PubMed

Nawrocka, Marta; Frątczak, Katarzyna; Matuszewski, Szymon

2016-05-01

The degree of body decomposition can be quantified using Total Body Score (TBS), a scale frequently used in taphonomic or entomological studies of decomposition. Here, the inter-rater reliability of the scale is analyzed. The study was made on 120 laymen, which were trained in the use of the scale. Participants scored decomposition of pig carcasses from photographs. It was found that the scale, when used by different people, gives homogeneous results irrespective of the user qualifications (the Krippendorff's alfa for all participants was 0.818). The study also indicated that carcasses in advanced decomposition receive significantly less accurate scores. Moreover, it was found that scores for cadavers in mosaic decomposition (i.e., representing signs of at least two stages of decomposition) are less accurate. These results demonstrate that the scale may be regarded as inter-rater reliable. Some propositions for refinement of the scale were also discussed. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Colony-Level Differences in the Scaling Rules Governing Wood Ant Compound Eye Structure.

PubMed

Perl, Craig D; Niven, Jeremy E

2016-04-12

Differential organ growth during development is essential for adults to maintain the correct proportions and achieve their characteristic shape. Organs scale with body size, a process known as allometry that has been studied extensively in a range of organisms. Such scaling rules, typically studied from a limited sample, are assumed to apply to all members of a population and/or species. Here we study scaling in the compound eyes of workers of the wood ant, Formica rufa, from different colonies within a single population. Workers' eye area increased with body size in all the colonies showing a negative allometry. However, both the slope and intercept of some allometric scaling relationships differed significantly among colonies. Moreover, though mean facet diameter and facet number increased with body size, some colonies primarily increased facet number whereas others increased facet diameter, showing that the cellular level processes underlying organ scaling differed among colonies. Thus, the rules that govern scaling at the organ and cellular levels can differ even within a single population.

Translation and psychometric evaluation of a Standard Chinese version of the Body Appreciation Scale-2.

PubMed

Swami, Viren; Ng, Siu-Kuen; Barron, David

2016-09-01

The present study examined the factorial and construct validity of a Standard Chinese translation of the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015b). Participants were 191 women and 154 men from mainland China who were resident in Hong Kong at the time of recruitment. Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the one-dimensional model of the BAS-2, in which all 10 items loaded onto the same factor, had adequate fit, and was invariant across sex. Body appreciation scores had good internal consistency and were significantly correlated with self-esteem and life satisfaction, and, in women, with weight discrepancy and body mass index. There were no significant differences in body appreciation scores between women and men. The present findings suggest that the Standard Chinese translation of the BAS-2 has the same one-dimensional factor structure as its parent scale and may facilitate cross-cultural studies of positive body image. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Path similarity skeleton graph matching.

PubMed

Bai, Xiang; Latecki, Longin Jan

2008-07-01

This paper presents a novel framework to for shape recognition based on object silhouettes. The main idea is to match skeleton graphs by comparing the shortest paths between skeleton endpoints. In contrast to typical tree or graph matching methods, we completely ignore the topological graph structure. Our approach is motivated by the fact that visually similar skeleton graphs may have completely different topological structures. The proposed comparison of shortest paths between endpoints of skeleton graphs yields correct matching results in such cases. The skeletons are pruned by contour partitioning with Discrete Curve Evolution, which implies that the endpoints of skeleton branches correspond to visual parts of the objects. The experimental results demonstrate that our method is able to produce correct results in the presence of articulations, stretching, and occlusion.

KSC-08pd0222

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-02-07

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The blue Florida sky helps silhouette space shuttle Atlantis as it hurtles into space on mission STS-122 to the International Space Station. Liftoff was on time at 2:45 p.m. EST. Below the nozzles of the main engines are the blue cones of light, known as shock or mach diamonds. They are a formation of shock waves in the exhaust plume of an aerospace propulsion system. The launch is the third attempt for Atlantis since December 2007 to carry the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station. During the 11-day mission, the crew's prime objective is to attach the laboratory to the Harmony module, adding to the station's size and capabilities. Photo credit: NASA/Jerry Cannon, Rusty Backer

Flash trajectory imaging of target 3D motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xinwei; Zhou, Yan; Fan, Songtao; He, Jun; Liu, Yuliang

2011-03-01

We present a flash trajectory imaging technique which can directly obtain target trajectory and realize non-contact measurement of motion parameters by range-gated imaging and time delay integration. Range-gated imaging gives the range of targets and realizes silhouette detection which can directly extract targets from complex background and decrease the complexity of moving target image processing. Time delay integration increases information of one single frame of image so that one can directly gain the moving trajectory. In this paper, we have studied the algorithm about flash trajectory imaging and performed initial experiments which successfully obtained the trajectory of a falling badminton. Our research demonstrates that flash trajectory imaging is an effective approach to imaging target trajectory and can give motion parameters of moving targets.

Radiographic evidence of atherosclerosis of the descending aorta in a grey-cheeked parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhopterus).

PubMed

Mans, Christoph; Brown, Cynthia J

2007-03-01

A 16-year-old male grey-cheeked parakeet (Brotogeris pyrrhopterus) was presented for dyspnea and decreased activity. The bird's diet was primarily table food, with a large proportion of animal products. Radiographs revealed a linear mineralized structure in the plane of the aorta and an enlarged hepatocardiac silhouette. Left atrial and left ventricular enlargement and a left ventricular systolic dysfunction were diagnosed by echocardiography. The bird's condition progressively declined, and it died 5 days after presentation. A postmortem examination revealed marked atherosclerosis of the aorta, great vessels of the heart, and coronary arteries with myocardial degeneration, pulmonary congestion, and ascites. Little is known about the risk factors of atherosclerosis in psittacine birds, and dietary influence, if any, is not understood.

KSC00pp1289

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-09-11

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- As the sun crawls from below the horizon at right, Space Shuttle Discovery crawls up Launch Pad 39A and its resting spot next to the fixed service structure (FSS) (seen at left). The powerful silhouette dwarfs people and other vehicles near the FSS. Discovery is scheduled to launch Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. EDT on mission STS-92. Making the 100th Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Discovery will carry two pieces of hardware for the International Space Station, the Z1 truss, which is the cornerstone truss of the Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. Discovery also will be making its 28th flight into space, more than any of the other orbiters to date

KSC-00pp1289

NASA Image and Video Library

2000-09-11

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- As the sun crawls from below the horizon at right, Space Shuttle Discovery crawls up Launch Pad 39A and its resting spot next to the fixed service structure (FSS) (seen at left). The powerful silhouette dwarfs people and other vehicles near the FSS. Discovery is scheduled to launch Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. EDT on mission STS-92. Making the 100th Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Discovery will carry two pieces of hardware for the International Space Station, the Z1 truss, which is the cornerstone truss of the Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. Discovery also will be making its 28th flight into space, more than any of the other orbiters to date

Learning to distinguish similar objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seibert, Michael; Waxman, Allen M.; Gove, Alan N.

1995-04-01

This paper describes how the similarities and differences among similar objects can be discovered during learning to facilitate recognition. The application domain is single views of flying model aircraft captured in silhouette by a CCD camera. The approach was motivated by human psychovisual and monkey neurophysiological data. The implementation uses neural net processing mechanisms to build a hierarchy that relates similar objects to superordinate classes, while simultaneously discovering the salient differences between objects within a class. Learning and recognition experiments both with and without the class similarity and difference learning show the effectiveness of the approach on this visual data. To test the approach, the hierarchical approach was compared to a non-hierarchical approach, and was found to improve the average percentage of correctly classified views from 77% to 84%.

STS-81 launch view

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-06-15

STS081-S-007 (12 Jan. 1997) --- Framed by a silhouette of Florida foliage, the Space Shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Pad 39B at 4:27:23 a.m. (EST) Jan. 12, 1997 on its way for a docking mission with Russia's Mir Space Station. Onboard are six astronauts and a SPACEHAB Double Module (DM), along with a large supply of food, water, hardware and other materials for Mir. Astronaut Jerry M. Linenger, now onboard Atlantis, will trade places with John E. Blaha, cosmonaut guest researcher, onboard Mir since mid September 1996. Along with Linenger, other crewmembers now aboard Atlantis are astronauts Michael A. Baker, commander; Brent W. Jett, Jr., pilot; and mission specialists John M. Grunsfeld, Marsha S. Ivins and Peter J. K. (Jeff) Wisoff.

Dynamic radionuclide determination of regional left ventricular wall motion using a new digital imaging device

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steele, P.; Kirch, D.

1975-01-01

In 47 men with arteriographically defined coronary artery disease comparative studies of left ventricular ejection fraction and segmental wall motion were made with radionuclide data obtained from the image intensifier camera computer system and with contrast cineventriculography. The radionuclide data was digitized and the images corresponding to left ventricular end-diastole and end-systole were identified from the left ventricular time-activity curve. The left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic images were subtracted to form a silhouette difference image which described wall motion of the anterior and inferior left ventricular segments. The image intensifier camera allows manipulation of dynamically acquired radionuclide data because of the high count rate and consequently improved resolution of the left ventricular image.

The concave cusp as a determiner of figure-ground.

PubMed

Stevens, K A; Brookes, A

1988-01-01

The tendency to interpret as figure, relative to background, those regions that are lighter, smaller, and, especially, more convex is well known. Wherever convex opaque objects abut or partially occlude one another in an image, the points of contact between the silhouettes form concave cusps, each indicating the local assignment of figure versus ground across the contour segments. It is proposed that this local geometric feature is a preattentive determiner of figure-ground perception and that it contributes to the previously observed tendency for convexity preference. Evidence is presented that figure-ground assignment can be determined solely on the basis of the concave cusp feature, and that the salience of the cusp derives from local geometry and not from adjacent contour convexity.

A dental vision system for accurate 3D tooth modeling.

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Alemzadeh, K

2006-01-01

This paper describes an active vision system based reverse engineering approach to extract the three-dimensional (3D) geometric information from dental teeth and transfer this information into Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacture (CAD/CAM) systems to improve the accuracy of 3D teeth models and at the same time improve the quality of the construction units to help patient care. The vision system involves the development of a dental vision rig, edge detection, boundary tracing and fast & accurate 3D modeling from a sequence of sliced silhouettes of physical models. The rig is designed using engineering design methods such as a concept selection matrix and weighted objectives evaluation chart. Reconstruction results and accuracy evaluation are presented on digitizing different teeth models.

Effect of planar cuts' orientation on the perceived surface layout and object's shape.

PubMed

Bocheva, Nadejda

2009-07-01

The effect of the orientation of the cutting planes producing planar curves over the surface of an object on its perceived pose and shape was investigated for line drawings representing three-dimensional objects. The results suggest that the orientational flow produced by the surface curves introduces an apparent object rotation in depth and in the image plane and changes in its perceived elongation. The apparent location of the nearest points is determined by the points of maximal view-dependent unsigned curvature of the surface curves. The data are discussed in relation to the interaction of the shape-from-silhouette system and shape-from-contour system and its effect on the interpretation of the surface contours with respect to the surface geometry.

Quasi-three-dimensional particle imaging with digital holography.

PubMed

Kemppinen, Osku; Heinson, Yuli; Berg, Matthew

2017-05-01

In this work, approximate three-dimensional structures of microparticles are generated with digital holography using an automated focus method. This is done by stacking a collection of silhouette-like images of a particle reconstructed from a single in-line hologram. The method enables estimation of the particle size in the longitudinal and transverse dimensions. Using the discrete dipole approximation, the method is tested computationally by simulating holograms for a variety of particles and attempting to reconstruct the known three-dimensional structure. It is found that poor longitudinal resolution strongly perturbs the reconstructed structure, yet the method does provide an approximate sense for the structure's longitudinal dimension. The method is then applied to laboratory measurements of holograms of single microparticles and their scattering patterns.

Automatic Recognition Of Moving Objects And Its Application To A Robot For Picking Asparagus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baylou, P.; Amor, B. El Hadj; Bousseau, G.

1983-10-01

After a brief description of the robot for picking white asparagus, a statistical study of the different shapes of asparagus tips allowed us to determine certain discriminating parameters to detect the tips as they appear on the silhouette of the mound of earth. The localisation was done stereometrically with the help of two cameras. As the robot carrying the system of vision-localisation moves, the images are altered and decision cri-teria modified. A study of the image from mobile objects produced by both tube and CCD came-ras was carried out. A simulation of this phenomenon has been achieved in order to determine the modifications concerning object shapes, thresholding levels and decision parameters in function of the robot speed.

KSC-2009-1562

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-02-12

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The faint sunrise sky over NASA's Kennedy Space Center casts the newly erected lightning towers on Launch Pad 39B in silhouette. They surround the fixed and rotating service structures at center that have served the Space Shuttle Program. The new lightning protection system is being built for the Constellation Program and Ares/Orion launches. Each of the towers is 500 feet tall with an additional 100-foot fiberglass mast atop supporting a wire catenary system. This improved lightning protection system allows for the taller height of the Ares I rocket compared to the space shuttle. Pad 39B will be the site of the first Ares vehicle launch, including the Ares I-X test flight that is targeted for July 2009. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

Male body dissatisfaction scale (MBDS): proposal for a reduced model.

PubMed

da Silva, Wanderson Roberto; Marôco, João; Ochner, Christopher N; Campos, Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini

2017-09-01

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the male body dissatisfaction scale (MBDS) in Brazilian and Portuguese university students; to present a reduced model of the scale; to compare two methods of computing global scores for participants' body dissatisfaction; and to estimate the prevalence of participants' body dissatisfaction. A total of 932 male students participated in this study. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess the scale's psychometric properties. Multi-group analysis was used to test transnational invariance and invariance in independent samples. The body dissatisfaction score was calculated using two methods (mean and matrix of weights in the CFA), which were compared. Finally, individuals were classified according to level of body dissatisfaction, using the best method. The MBDS model did not show adequate fit for the sample and was, therefore, refined. Thirteen items were excluded and two factors were combined. A reduced model of 12 items and 2 factors was proposed and shown to have adequate psychometric properties. There was a significant difference (p < 0.001) between the methods for calculating the score for body dissatisfaction, since the mean overestimated the scores. Among student participants, the prevalence of body dissatisfaction with musculature and general appearance was 11.2 and 5.3%, respectively. The reduced bi-factorial model of the MBDS showed adequate validity, reliability, and transnational invariance and invariance in independent samples for Brazilian and Portuguese students. The new proposal for calculating the global score was able to more accurately show their body dissatisfaction. No level of evidence Basic Science.

Exploring the influence of gender-role socialization and objectified body consciousness on body image disturbance in breast cancer survivors.

PubMed

Boquiren, Virginia M; Esplen, Mary Jane; Wong, Jiahui; Toner, Brenda; Warner, Ellen

2013-10-01

This study aimed to explore the relationships between gender-role socialization, objectified body consciousness and quality of life in breast cancer (BC) survivors with body image (BI) disturbance post-treatment. A total of 150 BC survivors participating in an ongoing randomized clinical trial of a group psychotherapy intervention for BI-related concerns completed a baseline battery of standardized measures including the following: Body Image Scale (BIS), Body Image after Breast Cancer Questionnaire (BIBCQ), Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) measuring Body Shame and Surveillance, Gender-Role Socialization Scale (GRSS) measuring internalization of traditional gender roles and attitudes and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast Quality-of-Life Instrument (FACT-B). Correlational analyses were conducted between the two BI questionnaires, the two primary psychosocial variables GRSS and OBCS, and FACT-B. Path analysis was conducted on a proposed theoretical model delineating pathways between the two primary psychosocial variables and BI disturbance. Significant positive correlations were found between the two BI scales and (a) GRSS (average r = 0.53, p < 0.000), (b) Body Shame (average r = 0.53, p < 0.000) and Surveillance (average r = 0.48, p < 0.000). The BIS and BIBCQ were negatively associated with the FACT-B (r = -0.62, -0.73, respectively; p < 0.000). Results from the path analysis demonstrated support for the proposed model. Breast cancer survivors who endorsed greater internalization of traditional gender roles and attitudes, who engaged in greater self-surveillance and experienced greater body shame, reported greater BI disturbance and poorer quality of life post-treatment. Women with these predispositions are likely to be more vulnerable for psychological distress and may experience poorer adjustment after BC treatment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Relativistic initial conditions for N-body simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fidler, Christian; Tram, Thomas; Crittenden, Robert

2017-06-01

Initial conditions for (Newtonian) cosmological N-body simulations are usually set by re-scaling the present-day power spectrum obtained from linear (relativistic) Boltzmann codes to the desired initial redshift of the simulation. This back-scaling method can account for the effect of inhomogeneous residual thermal radiation at early times, which is absent in the Newtonian simulations. We analyse this procedure from a fully relativistic perspective, employing the recently-proposed Newtonian motion gauge framework. We find that N-body simulations for ΛCDM cosmology starting from back-scaled initial conditions can be self-consistently embedded in a relativistic space-time with first-order metric potentials calculated using a linear Boltzmann code.more » This space-time coincides with a simple ''N-body gauge'' for z < 50 for all observable modes. Care must be taken, however, when simulating non-standard cosmologies. As an example, we analyse the back-scaling method in a cosmology with decaying dark matter, and show that metric perturbations become large at early times in the back-scaling approach, indicating a breakdown of the perturbative description. We suggest a suitable ''forwards approach' for such cases.« less

Item response modeling: a psychometric assessment of the children's fruit, vegetable, water, and physical activity self-efficacy scales among Chinese children.

PubMed

Wang, Jing-Jing; Chen, Tzu-An; Baranowski, Tom; Lau, Patrick W C

2017-09-16

This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of four self-efficacy scales (i.e., self-efficacy for fruit (FSE), vegetable (VSE), and water (WSE) intakes, and physical activity (PASE)) and to investigate their differences in item functioning across sex, age, and body weight status groups using item response modeling (IRM) and differential item functioning (DIF). Four self-efficacy scales were administrated to 763 Hong Kong Chinese children (55.2% boys) aged 8-13 years. Classical test theory (CTT) was used to examine the reliability and factorial validity of scales. IRM was conducted and DIF analyses were performed to assess the characteristics of item parameter estimates on the basis of children's sex, age and body weight status. All self-efficacy scales demonstrated adequate to excellent internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α: 0.79-0.91). One FSE misfit item and one PASE misfit item were detected. Small DIF were found for all the scale items across children's age groups. Items with medium to large DIF were detected in different sex and body weight status groups, which will require modification. A Wright map revealed that items covered the range of the distribution of participants' self-efficacy for each scale except VSE. Several self-efficacy scales' items functioned differently by children's sex and body weight status. Additional research is required to modify the four self-efficacy scales to minimize these moderating influences for application.

Body size and scaling of the hands and feet of prosimian primates.

PubMed

Lemelin, Pierre; Jungers, William L

2007-06-01

The hands and feet of primates fulfill a variety of biological roles linked with food acquisition and positional behavior. Current explanations of shape differences in cheiridial morphology among prosimians are closely tied to body size differences. Although numerous studies have examined the relationships between body mass and limb morphology in prosimians, no scaling analysis has specifically considered hand and foot dimensions and intrinsic proportions. In this study, we present such an analysis for a sample of 270 skeletal specimens distributed over eight prosimian families. The degree of association between size and shape was assessed using nonparametric correlational techniques, while the relationship between each ray element length and body mass (from published data and a body mass surrogate) was tested for allometric scaling. Since tarsiers and strepsirrhines encompass many taxa of varying degrees of phylogenetic relatedness, effective degrees of freedom were calculated, and comparisons between families were performed to partially address the problem of statistical nonindependence and "phylogenetic inertia." Correlational analyses indicate negative allometry between relative phalangeal length (as reflected by phalangeal indices) and body mass, except for the pollex and hallux. Thus, as size increases, there is a significant decrease in the relative length of the digits when considering all prosimian taxa sampled. Regression analyses show that while the digital portion of the rays scales isometrically with body mass, the palmar/plantar portion of the rays often scales with positive allometry. Some but not all of these broadly interspecific allometric patterns remain statistically significant when effective degrees of freedom are taken into account. As is often the case in interspecific scaling, comparisons within families show different scaling trends in the cheiridia than those seen across families (i.e., lorisids, indriids, and lemurids exhibit rather different allometries). The interspecific pattern of positive allometry that appears to best characterize the metapodials of prosimians, especially those of the foot, parallels differences found in the morphology of the volar skin. Indeed, relatively longer metapodials appear to covary with flatter and more coalesced volar pads, which in turn slightly improve frictional force for animals that are at a comparative disadvantage while climbing because of their larger mass. Despite the essentially isometric relationship found between digit length and body mass across prosimians, examination of the residual variation reveals that tarsiers and Daubentonia possess, relative to their body sizes, remarkably long fingers. Such marked departures between body size and finger length observed in these particular primates are closely linked with specialized modes of prey acquisition and manipulation involving the hands.

Fast Generation of Ensembles of Cosmological N-Body Simulations via Mode-Resampling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schneider, M D; Cole, S; Frenk, C S

2011-02-14

We present an algorithm for quickly generating multiple realizations of N-body simulations to be used, for example, for cosmological parameter estimation from surveys of large-scale structure. Our algorithm uses a new method to resample the large-scale (Gaussian-distributed) Fourier modes in a periodic N-body simulation box in a manner that properly accounts for the nonlinear mode-coupling between large and small scales. We find that our method for adding new large-scale mode realizations recovers the nonlinear power spectrum to sub-percent accuracy on scales larger than about half the Nyquist frequency of the simulation box. Using 20 N-body simulations, we obtain a powermore » spectrum covariance matrix estimate that matches the estimator from Takahashi et al. (from 5000 simulations) with < 20% errors in all matrix elements. Comparing the rates of convergence, we determine that our algorithm requires {approx}8 times fewer simulations to achieve a given error tolerance in estimates of the power spectrum covariance matrix. The degree of success of our algorithm indicates that we understand the main physical processes that give rise to the correlations in the matter power spectrum. Namely, the large-scale Fourier modes modulate both the degree of structure growth through the variation in the effective local matter density and also the spatial frequency of small-scale perturbations through large-scale displacements. We expect our algorithm to be useful for noise modeling when constraining cosmological parameters from weak lensing (cosmic shear) and galaxy surveys, rescaling summary statistics of N-body simulations for new cosmological parameter values, and any applications where the influence of Fourier modes larger than the simulation size must be accounted for.« less

Ontogenetic scaling of hydrostatic skeletons: geometric, static stress and dynamic stress scaling of the earthworm lumbricus terrestris

PubMed

Quillin

1998-05-21

Soft-bodied organisms with hydrostatic skeletons range enormously in body size, both during the growth of individuals and in the comparison of species. Therefore, body size is an important consideration in an examination of the mechanical function of hydrostatic skeletons. The scaling of hydrostatic skeletons cannot be inferred from existing studies of the lever-like skeletons of vertebrates and arthropods because the two skeleton types function by different mechanisms. Hydrostats are constructed of an extensible body wall in tension surrounding a fluid or deformable tissue under compression. It is the pressurized internal fluid (rather than the rigid levers of vertebrates and arthropods) that enables the maintenance of posture, antagonism of muscles and transfer of muscle forces to the environment. The objectives of the present study were (1) to define the geometric, static stress and dynamic stress similarity scaling hypotheses for hydrostatic skeletons on the basis of their generalized form and function, and (2) to apply these similarity hypotheses in a study of the ontogenetic scaling of earthworms, Lumbricus terrestris, to determine which parameters of skeletal function are conserved or changed as a function of body mass during growth (from 0.01 to 8 g). Morphometric measurements on anesthetized earthworms revealed that the earthworms grew isometrically; the external proportions and number of segments were constant as a function of body size. Calculations of static stresses (forces per cross-sectional area in the body wall) during rest and dynamic stresses during peristaltic crawling (calculated from measurements of internal pressure and body wall geometry) revealed that the earthworms also maintained static and dynamic stress similarity, despite a slight increase in body wall thickness in segment 50 (but not in segment 15). In summary, the hydrostatic skeletons of earthworms differ fundamentally from the rigid, lever-like skeletons of their terrestrial counterparts in their ability to grow isometrically while maintaining similarity in both static and dynamic stresses.

Development and Validation of the Body-Focused Shame and Guilt Scale

PubMed Central

Weingarden, Hilary; Renshaw, Keith D.; Tangney, June P.; Wilhelm, Sabine

2015-01-01

Body shame is described as central in clinical literature on body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). However, empirical investigations of body shame within BDD are rare. One potential reason for the scarcity of such research may be that existing measures of body shame focus on eating and weight-based content. Within BDD, however, body shame likely focuses more broadly on shame felt in response to perceived appearance flaws in one’s body parts. We describe the development and validation of the Body-Focused Shame and Guilt Scale (BF-SGS), a measure of BDD-relevant body shame, across two studies: a two time-point study of undergraduates, and a follow-up study in two Internet-recruited clinical samples (BDD, obsessive compulsive disorder) and healthy controls. Across both studies, the BF-SGS shame subscale demonstrated strong reliability and construct validity, with Study 2 providing initial clinical norms. PMID:26640760

Scaling approach in predicting the seatbelt loading and kinematics of vulnerable occupants: How far can we go?

PubMed

Nie, Bingbing; Forman, Jason L; Joodaki, Hamed; Wu, Taotao; Kent, Richard W

2016-09-01

Occupants with extreme body size and shape, such as the small female or the obese, were reported to sustain high risk of injury in motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). Dimensional scaling approaches are widely used in injury biomechanics research based on the assumption of geometrical similarity. However, its application scope has not been quantified ever since. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the valid range of scaling approaches in predicting the impact response of the occupants with focus on the vulnerable populations. The present analysis was based on a data set consisting of 60 previously reported frontal crash tests in the same sled buck representing a typical mid-size passenger car. The tests included two categories of human surrogates: 9 postmortem human surrogates (PMHS) of different anthropometries (stature range: 147-189 cm; weight range: 27-151 kg) and 5 anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs). The impact response was considered including the restraint loads and the kinematics of multiple body segments. For each category of the human surrogates, a mid-size occupant was selected as a baseline and the impact response was scaled specifically to another subject based on either the body mass (body shape) or stature (the overall body size). To identify the valid range of the scaling approach, the scaled response was compared to the experimental results using assessment scores on the peak value, peak timing (the time when the peak value occurred), and the overall curve shape ranging from 0 (extremely poor) to 1 (perfect match). Scores of 0.7 to 0.8 and 0.8 to 1.0 indicate fair and acceptable prediction. For both ATDs and PMHS, the scaling factor derived from body mass proved an overall good predictor of the peak timing for the shoulder belt (0.868, 0.829) and the lap belt (0.858, 0.774) and for the peak value of the lap belt force (0.796, 0.869). Scaled kinematics based on body stature provided fair or acceptable prediction on the overall head/shoulder kinematics (0.741, 0.822 for the head; 0.817, 0.728 for the shoulder) regardless of the anthropometry. The scaling approach exhibited poor prediction capability on the curve shape for the restraint force (0.494 and 0.546 for the shoulder belt; 0.585 and 0.530 for the lap belt). It also cannot well predict the excursion of the pelvis and the knee. The results revealed that for the peak lap belt force and the forward motion of the head and shoulder, the underlying linear relationship with body size and shape is valid over a wide anthropometric range. The chaotic nature of the dynamic response cannot be fully recovered by the assumption of the whole-body geometrical similarity, especially for the curve shape. The valid range of the scaling approach established in this study can be reasonably referenced in predicting the impact response of a given specific population with expected deviation. Application of this knowledge also includes proposing strategies for restraint configuration and providing reference for ATD and/or human body model (HBM) development for vulnerable occupants.

The ratio and allometric scaling of speed, power, and strength in elite male rugby union players.

PubMed

Crewther, Blair T; McGuigan, Mike R; Gill, Nicholas D

2011-07-01

This study compared the effectiveness of ratio and allometric scaling for normalizing speed, power, and strength in elite male rugby union players. Thirty rugby players (body mass [BM] 107.1 ± 10.1 kg, body height [BH] 187.8 ± 7.1 cm) were assessed for sprinting speed, peak power during countermovement jumps and squat jumps, and horizontal jumping distance. One-repetition maximum strength was assessed during a bench press, chin-up, and back squat. Performance was normalized using ratio and allometric scaling (Y/X), where Y is the performance, X, the body size variable (i.e., BM or BH), and b is the power exponent. An exponent of 1.0 was used during ratio scaling. Allometric scaling was applied using proposed exponents and derived exponents for each data set. The BM and BH variables were significantly related, or close to, performance during the speed, power and/or strength tests (p < 0.001-0.066). Ratio scaling and allometric scaling using proposed exponents were effective in normalizing performance (i.e., no significant correlations) for some of these tests. Allometric scaling with derived exponents normalized performance across all the tests undertaken, thereby removing the confounding effects of BM and BH. In terms of practical applications, allometric scaling with derived exponents may be used to normalize performance between larger rugby forwards and smaller rugby backs, and could provide additional information on rugby players of similar body size. Ratio scaling may provide the best predictive measure of performance (i.e., strongest correlations).

Fitness in animals correlates with proximity to discontinuities in body mass distributions.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angeler, David G.; Allen, Craig R.; Vila-Gispert, Anna; Almeida, David

2014-01-01

Discontinuous structure in landscapes may cause discontinuous, aggregated species body-mass patterns, reflecting the scales of structure available to animal communities within a landscape. Empirical analyses have shown that the location of species within body mass aggregations, which reflect this scale-specific organization, is non-random with regard to several ecological phenomena, including species extinctions. The propensity of declining species to have body masses proximate to discontinuities suggests that transition zones between scaling regimes ultimately decreases the ecological fitness for some species. We test this proposition using vulnerable and unthreatened fish species in Mediterranean streams with differing levels of human impact. We show that the proximity to discontinuities in body mass aggregations (“distance-to-edge”) of more vs. less fit individuals within vulnerable and unthreatened populations differs. Specifically, regression analysis between the scaled mass index, a proxy of animal fitness, and distance-to-edge reveals negative and positive relationships for vulnerable and unthreatened species, respectively. That is, fitness is higher close to discontinuities in vulnerable populations and toward the center of body mass aggregation groups in unthreatened populations. Our results demonstrate the suitability of the discontinuity framework for scrutinizing non-random patterns of environmental impact in populations. Further exploration of the usefulness of this method across other ecosystems and organism groups is warranted.

Nonlocal and collective relaxation in stellar systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weinberg, Martin D.

1993-01-01

The modal response of stellar systems to fluctuations at large scales is presently investigated by means of analytic theory and n-body simulation; the stochastic excitation of these modes is shown to increase the relaxation rate even for a system which is moderately far from instability. The n-body simulations, when designed to suppress relaxation at small scales, clearly show the effects of large-scale fluctuations. It is predicted that large-scale fluctuations will be largest for such marginally bound systems as forming star clusters and associations.

Pethia aurea (Teleostei: Cyprinidae), a new species of barb from West Bengal, India, with redescription of P. gelius and P. canius.

PubMed

Knight, J D Marcus

2013-01-01

Fishes currently assigned to Pethia gelius Hamilton from West Bengal are shown to belong to a closely-related group of three species: P gelius, its erstwhile synonym P canius Hamilton and a new species, P aurea. The three species are distinguished from all other species of Pethia by having the lateral line incomplete, with 3-4 pored scales; 20-26 scales in lateral series on body; ½4-5/l/2-3½ scales in transverse line on body; 8-9 predorsal scales; barbels absent and by a unique colour pattern consisting of two or three black blotches on the body (which, however, fade on preservation), the first behind the opercle, the second beneath the origin of the dorsal fin, extending to the mid-lateral region, and the third above the origin of the anal fin. A black spot is also present at the base of the dorsal and anal fins. Additionally, P gelius is distinguished by having the last unbranched dorsal-fin ray thick, straight, serrated, with 20-25 serrae on its posterior margin; a snout length of 6.1-8.4% standard length (SL); a body depth of 32.6-37.7% SL; and a dorsal-fin height of 19.4-22.8% SL. Pethia canius is additionally distinguished by having a snout length of 8.9-11.8% SL; a body depth of 28.1-32.2% SL; and dorsal-fin height of 26.9-32.8% SL. Pethia aurea, new species, is additionally distinguished from all its congeners by having ½5/1/3-3½ scales in transverse line on body; 9 pre-dorsal scales; and last unbranched dorsal-fin ray slender, serrated, with 19-22 serrae on posterior margin.

Thermoneutral zone and scaling of metabolic rate on body mass in small mammals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pace, N.; Rahlmann, D. F.

1983-01-01

A 4-species animal model suitable for experimental study of the effect of change in gravitational loading on the scale relationship between metabolic rate and total body mass is used to study the effect of temperature on metabolic rate in six male animals, 8-10 months of age, of each of the four species in the ambient temperature range 20-36 C. The measurements taken permitted partitioning of total body heat output into sensible heat loss by radiation, conduction and convection, and into latent heat loss by evaporation of water from the body surface. It is shown that the condition of thermoneutrality is important for metabolic scale effect studies, and that the thermoneutral zone for the species considered here is a narrow one.

Size-density scaling in protists and the links between consumer-resource interaction parameters.

PubMed

DeLong, John P; Vasseur, David A

2012-11-01

Recent work indicates that the interaction between body-size-dependent demographic processes can generate macroecological patterns such as the scaling of population density with body size. In this study, we evaluate this possibility for grazing protists and also test whether demographic parameters in these models are correlated after controlling for body size. We compiled data on the body-size dependence of consumer-resource interactions and population density for heterotrophic protists grazing algae in laboratory studies. We then used nested dynamic models to predict both the height and slope of the scaling relationship between population density and body size for these protists. We also controlled for consumer size and assessed links between model parameters. Finally, we used the models and the parameter estimates to assess the individual- and population-level dependence of resource use on body-size and prey-size selection. The predicted size-density scaling for all models matched closely to the observed scaling, and the simplest model was sufficient to predict the pattern. Variation around the mean size-density scaling relationship may be generated by variation in prey productivity and area of capture, but residuals are relatively insensitive to variation in prey size selection. After controlling for body size, many consumer-resource interaction parameters were correlated, and a positive correlation between residual prey size selection and conversion efficiency neutralizes the apparent fitness advantage of taking large prey. Our results indicate that widespread community-level patterns can be explained with simple population models that apply consistently across a range of sizes. They also indicate that the parameter space governing the dynamics and the steady states in these systems is structured such that some parts of the parameter space are unlikely to represent real systems. Finally, predator-prey size ratios represent a kind of conundrum, because they are widely observed but apparently have little influence on population size and fitness, at least at this level of organization. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2012 British Ecological Society.

Mammalian basal metabolic rate is proportional to body mass2/3

PubMed Central

White, Craig R.; Seymour, Roger S.

2003-01-01

The relationship between mammalian basal metabolic rate (BMR, ml of O2 per h) and body mass (M, g) has been the subject of regular investigation for over a century. Typically, the relationship is expressed as an allometric equation of the form BMR = aMb. The scaling exponent (b) is a point of contention throughout this body of literature, within which arguments for and against geometric (b = 2/3) and quarter-power (b = 3/4) scaling are made and rebutted. Recently, interest in the topic has been revived by published explanations for quarter-power scaling based on fractal nutrient supply networks and four-dimensional biology. Here, a new analysis of the allometry of mammalian BMR that accounts for variation associated with body temperature, digestive state, and phylogeny finds no support for a metabolic scaling exponent of 3/4. Data encompassing five orders of magnitude variation in M and featuring 619 species from 19 mammalian orders show that BMR ∝ M2/3. PMID:12637681

The association between sexual satisfaction and body image in women.

PubMed

Pujols, Yasisca; Seal, Brooke N; Meston, Cindy M

2010-02-01

Although sexual functioning has been linked to sexual satisfaction, it only partially explains the degree to which women report being sexually satisfied. Other factors include quality of life, relational variables, and individual factors such as body image. Of the few studies that have investigated the link between body image and sexual satisfaction, most have considered body image to be a single construct and have shown mixed results. The present study assessed multiple body image variables in order to better understand which aspects of body image influence multiple domains of sexual satisfaction, including sexual communication, compatibility, contentment, personal concern, and relational concern in a community sample of women. Women between the ages of 18 and 49 years in sexual relationships (N = 154) participated in an Internet survey that assessed sexual functioning, five domains of sexual satisfaction, and several body image variables. Body image variables included the sexual attractiveness, weight concern, and physical condition subscales of the Body Esteem Scale, the appearance-based subscale of the Cognitive Distractions During Sexual Activity Scale, and body mass index. Total score of the Sexual Satisfaction Scale for Women was the main outcome measure. Sexual functioning was measured by a modified Female Sexual Function Index. Consistent with expectations, correlations indicated significant positive relationships between sexual functioning, sexual satisfaction, and all body image variables. A multiple regression analysis revealed that sexual satisfaction was predicted by high body esteem and low frequency of appearance-based distracting thoughts during sexual activity, even after controlling for sexual functioning status. Several aspects of body image, including weight concern, physical condition, sexual attractiveness, and thoughts about the body during sexual activity predict sexual satisfaction in women. The findings suggest that women who experience low sexual satisfaction may benefit from treatments that target these specific aspects of body image.

Developing the Evaluation Scale to Determine the Impact of Body Language in an Argument: Reliability & Validity Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karadag, Engin; Caliskan, Nihat; Yesil, Rustu

2008-01-01

In this research, it is aimed to develop a scale to observe the body language which is used during an argument. A sample group of 266 teacher candidates study at the departments of Class, Turkish or Social Sciences at the Faculty of Education was used in this study. A logical and statistical approach was pursued during the development of scale. An…

Articular scaling and body mass estimation in platyrrhines and catarrhines: Modern variation and application to fossil anthropoids.

PubMed

Perry, Jonathan M G; Cooke, Siobhán B; Runestad Connour, Jacqueline A; Burgess, M Loring; Ruff, Christopher B

2018-02-01

Body mass is an important component of any paleobiological reconstruction. Reliable skeletal dimensions for making estimates are desirable but extant primate reference samples with known body masses are rare. We estimated body mass in a sample of extinct platyrrhines and Fayum anthropoids based on four measurements of the articular surfaces of the humerus and femur. Estimates were based on a large extant reference sample of wild-collected individuals with associated body masses, including previously published and new data from extant platyrrhines, cercopithecoids, and hominoids. In general, scaling of joint dimensions is positively allometric relative to expectations of geometric isometry, but negatively allometric relative to expectations of maintaining equivalent joint surface areas. Body mass prediction equations based on articular breadths are reasonably precise, with %SEEs of 17-25%. The breadth of the distal femoral articulation yields the most reliable estimates of body mass because it scales similarly in all major anthropoid taxa. Other joints scale differently in different taxa; therefore, locomotor style and phylogenetic affinity must be considered when calculating body mass estimates from the proximal femur, proximal humerus, and distal humerus. The body mass prediction equations were applied to 36 Old World and New World fossil anthropoid specimens representing 11 taxa, plus two Haitian specimens of uncertain taxonomic affinity. Among the extinct platyrrhines studied, only Cebupithecia is similar to large, extant platyrrhines in having large humeral (especially distal) joints. Our body mass estimates differ from each other and from published estimates based on teeth in ways that reflect known differences in relative sizes of the joints and teeth. We prefer body mass estimators that are biomechanically linked to weight-bearing, and especially those that are relatively insensitive to differences in locomotor style and phylogenetic history. Whenever possible, extant reference samples should be chosen to match target fossils in joint proportionality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The interrelationship between orthorexia nervosa, perfectionism, body image and attachment style.

PubMed

Barnes, Marta A; Caltabiano, Marie L

2017-03-01

We investigated whether perfectionism, body image, attachment style, and self-esteem are predictors of orthorexia nervosa. A cohort of 220 participants completed a self-administered, online questionnaire consisting of five measures: ORTO-15, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS), the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ), and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Correlation analysis revealed that higher orthorexic tendencies significantly correlated with higher scores for perfectionism (self-oriented, others-oriented and socially prescribed), appearance orientation, overweight preoccupation, self-classified weight, and fearful and dismissing attachment styles. Higher orthorexic tendencies also correlated with lower scores for body areas satisfaction and a secure attachment style. There was no significant correlation between orthorexia nervosa and self-esteem. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that overweight preoccupation, appearance orientation and the presence of an eating disorder history were significant predictors of orthorexia nervosa with a history of an eating disorder being the strongest predictor. Orthorexia nervosa shares similarities with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa with regards to perfectionism, body image attitudes, and attachment style. In addition, a history of an eating disorder strongly predicts orthorexia nervosa. These findings suggest that these disorders might be on the same spectrum of disordered eating.

Short and long-term energy intake patterns and their implications for human body weight regulation.

PubMed

Chow, Carson C; Hall, Kevin D

2014-07-01

Adults consume millions of kilocalories over the course of a few years, but the typical weight gain amounts to only a few thousand kilocalories of stored energy. Furthermore, food intake is highly variable from day to day and yet body weight is remarkably stable. These facts have been used as evidence to support the hypothesis that human body weight is regulated by active control of food intake operating on both short and long time scales. Here, we demonstrate that active control of human food intake on short time scales is not required for body weight stability and that the current evidence for long term control of food intake is equivocal. To provide more data on this issue, we emphasize the urgent need for developing new methods for accurately measuring energy intake changes over long time scales. We propose that repeated body weight measurements can be used along with mathematical modeling to calculate long-term changes in energy intake and thereby quantify adherence to a diet intervention and provide dynamic feedback to individuals that seek to control their body weight. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Short and long-term energy intake patterns and their implications for human body weight regulation

PubMed Central

Chow, Carson C.; Hall, Kevin D.

2014-01-01

Adults consume millions of kilocalories over the course of a few years, but the typical weight gain amounts to only a few thousand kilocalories of stored energy. Furthermore, food intake is highly variable from day to day and yet body weight is remarkably stable. These facts have been used as evidence to support the hypothesis that human body weight is regulated by active control of food intake operating on both short and long time scales. Here, we demonstrate that active control of human food intake on short time scales is not required for body weight stability and that the current evidence for long term control of food intake is equivocal. To provide more data on this issue, we emphasize the urgent need for developing new methods for accurately measuring energy intake changes over long time scales. We propose that repeated body weight measurements can be used along with mathematical modeling to calculate long-term changes in energy intake and thereby quantify adherence to a diet intervention and provide dynamic feedback to individuals that seek to control their body weight. PMID:24582679

[Changes in body image satisfaction, sense of coherence and life satisfaction during the therapy of women with transsexualism. A preliminary report].

PubMed

Cysarz, Daniel; Piwowarczyk, Apolonia; Czernikiewicz, Wiesław; Dulko, Stanisław; Kokoszka, Andrzej

2008-01-01

Assessment of body image satisfaction, sense of coherence and life satisfaction during the therapy of women with transsexualism. 27 women with transsexualism (before therapy--9; in therapy but before surgery--7; after surgery--11), in different stages of therapy and 15 women and 15 men from the control group participated in the study. The Body Image Scale, the Sense of Coherence- SOC 29 and Satisfaction with Life Scale-- SWLS. The results suggest that the increased satisfaction from the body image in the group of women with transsexualism is related with progress in therapy. Persons from the control group were significantly more satisfied form their own body image than persons with transexualism. The progress of therapy is related with the decrease of will to change the body. The mean scores on the meaningfulness subscale of Sense of Coherence Scale was significantly lower in the group of patients before the beginning of treatment than in the control group and in the group after surgery. There was no relation between the level of life satisfaction and stages of therapy.

Body mass index and body composition scaling to height in children and adolescent.

PubMed

Chung, Sochung

2015-09-01

Childhood obesity prevalence has been increased and known to be related to various diseases and mortality in adult and body mass index (BMI) has been widely used as a screening tool in children with obesity. It is important to understand what BMI is and its limitations. BMI is a measure of weight adjusted for height. Weight scales to height with a power of about 2, is the basis of BMI (weight/height(2)) as the scaling of body weight to height across adults provides powers rounded to 2. BMI has the advantage of a simple and noninvasive surrogate measure of body fat, but it has limitation in differentiating body fat from lean (fat free) mass and low-moderate sensitivity is problematic for clinical applications. Among overweight children higher BMI levels can be a result of increased either fat or fat-free mass. BMI could be divided into fat-free mass index and fat mass index. Monitoring of the changes in body composition is important as distinguishing changes in each component occur with rapid growth in adolescents as it is occur in concert with changes in the hormonal environment. Reference values for each body composition indexes and chart created with selected percentiles of a normal adolescent population could be helpful in growth assessment and health risk evaluation.

Reprint of: Cling film plastic wrap: An innovation for dead body packaging, preservation and transportation by first responders as a replacement for cadaver body bag in large scale disasters.

PubMed

Khoo, Lay See; Lai, Poh Soon; Saidin, Mohd Hilmi; Noor, Zahari; Mahmood, Mohd Shah

2018-07-01

Cadaver body bags are the conventional method to contain a human body or human remains, which includes the use for storage and transportation of the deceased at any crime scene or disaster scene. During disasters, most often than not, the first responders including the police will be equipped with cadaver body bags to do scene processing of human remains and collection of personal belongings at the disaster site. However, in an unanticipated large scale disasters involving hundreds and thousands of fatalities, cadaver body bags supplies may be scarce. The authors have therefore innovated the cling film plastic wrap as an alternative for the cadaver body bag used at the disaster site. The plastic wrap was tested on six different experimental subjects, i.e. both adult and child mannequins; body parts of the mannequin figure (arm and hand); a human adult subject and an unknown dead body. The strengths of the cling film plastic wrap are discussed in comparison with the cadaver body bag in the aspects of costing, weight, duration of the wrap, water and body fluid resistant properties, visibility and other advantages. An average savings of more than 5000% are noted for both adult body wrap and child body wrap compared to the cadaver body wrap. This simply means that the authors can either wrap 25 adult dead bodies or 80 children dead bodies with the cost of 1 cadaver body bag. The cling film plastic wrap has proven to have significant innovation impact for dead body management particularly by the first responders in large scale disasters. With proper handling of dead bodies, first responders can manage the dead with dignity and respect in an overwhelmed situation to facilitate the humanitarian victim identification process later. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cling film plastic wrap: An innovation for dead body packaging, preservation and transportation by first responders as a replacement for cadaver body bag in large scale disasters.

PubMed

Khoo, Lay See; Lai, Poh Soon; Saidin, Mohd Hilmi; Noor, Zahari; Mahmood, Mohd Shah

2018-04-01

Cadaver body bags are the conventional method to contain a human body or human remains, which includes the use for storage and transportation of the deceased at any crime scene or disaster scene. During disasters, most often than not, the first responders including the police will be equipped with cadaver body bags to do scene processing of human remains and collection of personal belongings at the disaster site. However, in an unanticipated large scale disasters involving hundreds and thousands of fatalities, cadaver body bags supplies may be scarce. The authors have therefore innovated the cling film plastic wrap as an alternative for the cadaver body bag used at the disaster site. The plastic wrap was tested on six different experimental subjects, i.e. both adult and child mannequins; body parts of the mannequin figure (arm and hand); a human adult subject and an unknown dead body. The strengths of the cling film plastic wrap are discussed in comparison with the cadaver body bag in the aspects of costing, weight, duration of the wrap, water and body fluid resistant properties, visibility and other advantages. An average savings of more than 5000% are noted for both adult body wrap and child body wrap compared to the cadaver body wrap. This simply means that the authors can either wrap 25 adult dead bodies or 80 children dead bodies with the cost of 1 cadaver body bag. The cling film plastic wrap has proven to have significant innovation impact for dead body management particularly by the first responders in large scale disasters. With proper handling of dead bodies, first responders can manage the dead with dignity and respect in an overwhelmed situation to facilitate the humanitarian victim identification process later. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Scale effects and morphological diversification in hindlimb segment mass proportions in neognath birds.

PubMed

Kilbourne, Brandon M

2014-01-01

In spite of considerable work on the linear proportions of limbs in amniotes, it remains unknown whether differences in scale effects between proximal and distal limb segments has the potential to influence locomotor costs in amniote lineages and how changes in the mass proportions of limbs have factored into amniote diversification. To broaden our understanding of how the mass proportions of limbs vary within amniote lineages, I collected data on hindlimb segment masses - thigh, shank, pes, tarsometatarsal segment, and digits - from 38 species of neognath birds, one of the most speciose amniote clades. I scaled each of these traits against measures of body size (body mass) and hindlimb size (hindlimb length) to test for departures from isometry. Additionally, I applied two parameters of trait evolution (Pagel's λ and δ) to understand patterns of diversification in hindlimb segment mass in neognaths. All segment masses are positively allometric with body mass. Segment masses are isometric with hindlimb length. When examining scale effects in the neognath subclade Land Birds, segment masses were again positively allometric with body mass; however, shank, pedal, and tarsometatarsal segment masses were also positively allometric with hindlimb length. Methods of branch length scaling to detect phylogenetic signal (i.e., Pagel's λ) and increasing or decreasing rates of trait change over time (i.e., Pagel's δ) suffer from wide confidence intervals, likely due to small sample size and deep divergence times. The scaling of segment masses appears to be more strongly related to the scaling of limb bone mass as opposed to length, and the scaling of hindlimb mass distribution is more a function of scale effects in limb posture than proximo-distal differences in the scaling of limb segment mass. Though negative allometry of segment masses appears to be precluded by the need for mechanically sound limbs, the positive allometry of segment masses relative to body mass may underlie scale effects in stride frequency and length between smaller and larger neognaths. While variation in linear proportions of limbs appear to be governed by developmental mechanisms, variation in mass proportions does not appear to be constrained so.

Scale effects and morphological diversification in hindlimb segment mass proportions in neognath birds

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction In spite of considerable work on the linear proportions of limbs in amniotes, it remains unknown whether differences in scale effects between proximal and distal limb segments has the potential to influence locomotor costs in amniote lineages and how changes in the mass proportions of limbs have factored into amniote diversification. To broaden our understanding of how the mass proportions of limbs vary within amniote lineages, I collected data on hindlimb segment masses – thigh, shank, pes, tarsometatarsal segment, and digits – from 38 species of neognath birds, one of the most speciose amniote clades. I scaled each of these traits against measures of body size (body mass) and hindlimb size (hindlimb length) to test for departures from isometry. Additionally, I applied two parameters of trait evolution (Pagel’s λ and δ) to understand patterns of diversification in hindlimb segment mass in neognaths. Results All segment masses are positively allometric with body mass. Segment masses are isometric with hindlimb length. When examining scale effects in the neognath subclade Land Birds, segment masses were again positively allometric with body mass; however, shank, pedal, and tarsometatarsal segment masses were also positively allometric with hindlimb length. Methods of branch length scaling to detect phylogenetic signal (i.e., Pagel’s λ) and increasing or decreasing rates of trait change over time (i.e., Pagel’s δ) suffer from wide confidence intervals, likely due to small sample size and deep divergence times. Conclusions The scaling of segment masses appears to be more strongly related to the scaling of limb bone mass as opposed to length, and the scaling of hindlimb mass distribution is more a function of scale effects in limb posture than proximo-distal differences in the scaling of limb segment mass. Though negative allometry of segment masses appears to be precluded by the need for mechanically sound limbs, the positive allometry of segment masses relative to body mass may underlie scale effects in stride frequency and length between smaller and larger neognaths. While variation in linear proportions of limbs appear to be governed by developmental mechanisms, variation in mass proportions does not appear to be constrained so. PMID:24876886

Welcome to Wonderland: The Influence of the Size and Shape of a Virtual Hand On the Perceived Size and Shape of Virtual Objects

PubMed Central

Linkenauger, Sally A.; Leyrer, Markus; Bülthoff, Heinrich H.; Mohler, Betty J.

2013-01-01

The notion of body-based scaling suggests that our body and its action capabilities are used to scale the spatial layout of the environment. Here we present four studies supporting this perspective by showing that the hand acts as a metric which individuals use to scale the apparent sizes of objects in the environment. However to test this, one must be able to manipulate the size and/or dimensions of the perceiver’s hand which is difficult in the real world due to impliability of hand dimensions. To overcome this limitation, we used virtual reality to manipulate dimensions of participants’ fully-tracked, virtual hands to investigate its influence on the perceived size and shape of virtual objects. In a series of experiments, using several measures, we show that individuals’ estimations of the sizes of virtual objects differ depending on the size of their virtual hand in the direction consistent with the body-based scaling hypothesis. Additionally, we found that these effects were specific to participants’ virtual hands rather than another avatar’s hands or a salient familiar-sized object. While these studies provide support for a body-based approach to the scaling of the spatial layout, they also demonstrate the influence of virtual bodies on perception of virtual environments. PMID:23874681

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY MASS INDEX AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING - THE MODERATING ROLE OF BODY DISSATISFACTION.

PubMed

Brdarić, Dragana; Jovanović, Veljko; Gavrilov Jerković, Vesna

2015-01-01

Excess bodyweight and obesity are widespread health problems throughout the world. In Serbia, over 50% of the adult population is overweight and the Province of Vojvodina is one of the regions with the highest percentage of obesity. The relationship between obesity and health complications has been consistently demonstrated. However, research on the relationship between obesity and subjective well-being has not provided clear results. Body dissatisfaction is considered to be an important factor for understanding this relationship. The main objective of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of body dissatisfaction in the relationship between body mass index and subjective well-being. The study sample included 731 respondents (72.6% women), with the mean age 28.93 years (SD = 8.47) from the Province of Vojvodina who had completed an online set of tests consisting of Body Shape Questionnaire, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Scale of Positive and Negative Experience and a self-assessment of bodyweight and body height. The results indicate that the moderating effect of body dissatisfaction in the relationship between body mass index and indicators of subjective well-being is statistically significant in both sexes. Specifically, the women with higher body mass index values who expressed lower body dissatisfaction reported lower levels of emotional distress and higher levels of pleasant emotions than those with lower body mass index. On the other hand, the men with higher bodyweight preoccupation and low body mass index reported significantly higher levels of pleasant emotions than those with higher body mass index values. These results suggest the necessity of a more detailed study of this relationship on both clinical and general population samples from Serbia.

Body self-discrepancies and women's social physique anxiety: the moderating role of the feared body.

PubMed

Woodman, Tim; Steer, Rebecca

2011-05-01

We explored ideal, ought, and feared body image self-discrepancies as predictors of social physique anxiety within Carver, Lawrence, and Scheier's and Woodman and Hemmings' interaction frameworks. One hundred women completed actual, ideal, ought, and feared body self-discrepancy visual analogue scales, the Social Physique Anxiety Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the relationship between ought body fat discrepancies and social physique anxiety was moderated by proximity to the feared fat self. Specifically, the positive relationship between ought fat discrepancies and social physique anxiety was stronger when women were far from their feared body self. The results highlight the importance of considering the feared self in order to more fully understand the relationship between body image and social physique anxiety. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Cardiac evaluation of clinically healthy captive maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus).

PubMed

Estrada, Amara H; Gerlach, Trevor J; Schmidt, Mandi K; Siegal-Willott, Jessica L; Atkins, Adrienne L; Van Gilder, James; Citino, Scott B; Padilla, Luis R

2009-09-01

The objective of this project was to determine radiographic vertebral heart sizes and electrocardiographic (ECG) and echocardiographic measurements in healthy anesthetized maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus). The wolves, housed at the White Oak Conservation and Smithsonian National Zoo Conservation and Research Centers, were being anesthetized for annual examinations. Cardiac auscultation, thoracic radiographs, a standard 6-lead ECG, and echocardiography were performed on the wolves while they were under general anesthesia. Thirteen maned wolves were evaluated: five males and eight females. Mean age was 6.4 +/- 4.4 years (range, 2-13 years). Mean weight was 26 +/- 2.95 kg (range, 22-32 kg). Low-grade systolic murmurs were auscultated in three of 13 maned wolves. Evaluation of ECGs revealed a sinus rhythm, with a QRS morphology, and mean electrical axis similar to domestic canines. Radiographic evaluation revealed a mean vertebral heart size of 8.27 +/- 0.48 (range, 7.9-8.6). In addition, the cardiac silhouette was seen to elongate, with an increase in sternal contact in older wolves. Echocardiography showed that mitral valve degenerative changes and insufficiency is likely common in older wolves. Visualization of physiologic regurgitation across the mitral and pulmonary valves was common in wolves of all ages. Left ventricular measurements were similar to those reported for healthy dogs, and several variables correlated well with body weight. Two wolves were found to have one to three heartworms in the right pulmonary artery, and degenerative mitral valve disease was determined in maned wolves older than 6 years of age. All of the wolves in this study were on heartworm preventative and tested negative for heartworm antigen at their annual examinations. The results of this study provide reference information for use in the cardiac evaluation of anesthetized maned wolves.

The evaluation of family impact of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa using the Italian version of the Family Dermatology Life Quality Index.

PubMed

Sampogna, F; Tabolli, S; Di Pietro, C; Castiglia, D; Zambruno, G; Abeni, D

2013-09-01

Severe skin diseases, such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB), may have a strong impact not only on patients but also on caregivers. A specific questionnaire evaluating the family impact of dermatological conditions has been created, the Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI), but it has not yet been translated in Italian and validated. To evaluate the burden of recessive dystrophic EB on family caregivers, using for the first time the Italian version of the FDLQI, and to validate the instrument. Patients with recessive dystrophic EB participated in a postal survey enquiring about the burden of EB on family caregivers. They completed the Family Strain Questionnaire and the FDLQI and they marked on a silhouette of the human body the skin lesion distribution. Data on 62 family caregivers were collected. The overall mean FDLQI score was 9.8. The most frequently reported problems were the time spent on looking after the patient, emotional distress, physical well-being, and increased household expenditure. FDLQI scores were higher in family caregivers of patients between 10 and 20 years. The Italian FDLQI showed high internal consistency, construct and convergent validity. Factor analysis revealed the presence of one factor structure underlying the items of the FDLQI, which explained 51.5% of the total variance, very similar to the original questionnaire (55.8%). The Italian version of the FDLQI seems to be a useful tool to evaluate the impact of EB on family caregivers. Further studies are necessary to test this instrument in other dermatological conditions. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology © 2012 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

RADIOGRAPHIC THORACIC ANATOMY OF THE RED PANDA (AILURUS FULGENS).

PubMed

Makungu, Modesta; du Plessis, Wencke M; Barrows, Michelle; Groenewald, Hermanus B; Koeppel, Katja N

2016-09-01

The red panda ( Ailurus fulgens ) is classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The natural distribution of the red panda is in the Himalayas and southern China. Thoracic diseases such as dirofilariasis, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, tracheal obstruction, lung worm infestation, and pneumonia have been reported in the red panda. The aim of this study was to describe the normal radiographic thoracic anatomy of captive red pandas as a species-specific reference for routine health examinations and clinical cases. Right lateral (RL) and dorsoventral (DV) inspiratory phase views of the thorax were obtained in 11 adult captive red pandas. Measurements were made and ratios calculated to establish reference ranges for the mean vertebral heart score on the RL (8.34 ± 0.25) and DV (8.78 ± 0.34) views and the mean ratios of the caudal vena cava diameter to the vertebral body length above tracheal bifurcation (0.67 ± 0.05) and tracheal diameter to the width of the third rib (2.75 ± 0.24). The majority of animals (10/11) had 14 thoracic vertebrae, except for one animal that had 15 thoracic vertebrae. Rudimentary clavicles were seen in 3/11 animals. The ovoid, oblique cardiac silhouette was more horizontally positioned and elongated in older animals. A redundant aortic arch was seen in the oldest animal. The trachea was seen with mineralized cartilage rings in all animals. The carina was clearly seen in the majority of animals (10/11). Variations exist in the normal radiographic thoracic anatomy of different species. Knowledge of the normal radiographic thoracic anatomy of the red panda should prove useful for routine health examinations and in the diagnosis of thoracic diseases.

A survey of molecular details in the human pineal gland in the light of phylogeny, structure, function and chronobiological diseases.

PubMed

Stehle, Jörg H; Saade, Anastasia; Rawashdeh, Oliver; Ackermann, Katrin; Jilg, Antje; Sebestény, Tamás; Maronde, Erik

2011-08-01

The human pineal gland is a neuroendocrine transducer that forms an integral part of the brain. Through the nocturnally elevated synthesis and release of the neurohormone melatonin, the pineal gland encodes and disseminates information on circadian time, thus coupling the outside world to the biochemical and physiological internal demands of the body. Approaches to better understand molecular details behind the rhythmic signalling in the human pineal gland are limited but implicitly warranted, as human chronobiological dysfunctions are often associated with alterations in melatonin synthesis. Current knowledge on melatonin synthesis in the human pineal gland is based on minimally invasive analyses, and by the comparison of signalling events between different vertebrate species, with emphasis put on data acquired in sheep and other primates. Together with investigations using autoptic pineal tissue, a remnant silhouette of premortem dynamics within the hormone's biosynthesis pathway can be constructed. The detected biochemical scenario behind the generation of dynamics in melatonin synthesis positions the human pineal gland surprisingly isolated. In this neuroendocrine brain structure, protein-protein interactions and nucleo-cytoplasmic protein shuttling indicate furthermore a novel twist in the molecular dynamics in the cells of this neuroendocrine brain structure. These findings have to be seen in the light that an impaired melatonin synthesis is observed in elderly and/or demented patients, in individuals affected by Alzheimer's disease, Smith-Magenis syndrome, autism spectrum disorder and sleep phase disorders. Already, recent advances in understanding signalling dynamics in the human pineal gland have significantly helped to counteract chronobiological dysfunctions through a proper restoration of the nocturnal melatonin surge. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Accuracy of chest radiography for positioning of the umbilical venous catheter.

PubMed

Guimarães, Adriana F M; Souza, Aline A C G de; Bouzada, Maria Cândida F; Meira, Zilda M A

To evaluate the accuracy of the simultaneous analysis of three radiographic anatomical landmarks - diaphragm, cardiac silhouette, and vertebral bodies - in determining the position of the umbilical venous catheter distal end using echocardiography as a reference standard. This was a cross-sectional, observational study, with the prospective inclusion of data from all neonates born in a public reference hospital, between April 2012 and September 2013, submitted to umbilical venous catheter insertion as part of their medical care. The position of the catheter distal end, determined by the simultaneous analysis of three radiographic anatomical landmarks, was compared with the anatomical position obtained by echocardiography; sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were calculated. Of the 162 newborns assessed by echocardiography, only 44 (27.16%) had the catheter in optimal position, in the thoracic portion of the inferior vena cava or at the junction of the inferior vena cava with the right atrium. The catheters were located in the left atrium and interatrial septum in 54 (33.33%) newborns, in the right atrium in 26 (16.05%), intra-hepatic in 37 (22.84%), and intra-aortic in-one newborn (0.62%). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the radiography to detect the catheter in the target area were 56%, 71%, and 67.28%, respectively. Anteroposterior radiography of the chest alone is not able to safely define the umbilical venous catheter position. Echocardiography allows direct visualization of the catheter tip in relation to vascular structures and, whenever possible, should be considered to identify the location of the umbilical venous catheter. Copyright © 2016 Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Body Build Satisfaction and the Congruency of Body Build Perceptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hankins, Norman E.; Bailey, Roger C.

1979-01-01

Females were administered the somatotype rating scale. Satisfied subjects showed greater congruency between their own and wished-for body build, and greater congruency between their own and friend/date body builds, but less congruency between their own body build and the female stereotype. (Author/BEF)

Controlling dynamical entanglement in a Josephson tunneling junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, K.

2017-12-01

We analyze the evolution of an entangled many-body state in a Josephson tunneling junction and its dependence on the number of bosons and interaction strength. A N00N state, which is a superposition of two complementary Fock states, appears in the evolution with sufficient probability only for a moderate many-body interaction on an intermediate time scale. This time scale is inversely proportional to the tunneling rate. Many-body interaction strongly supports entanglement: The probability for creating an entangled state decays exponentially with the number of particles without many-body interaction, whereas it decays only like the inverse square root of the number of particles in the presence of many-body interaction.

BODY-ORIENTED THERAPY IN RECOVERY FROM CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: AN EFFICACY STUDY

PubMed Central

Price, Cynthia

2007-01-01

Context There has been little research on body therapy for women in sexual abuse recovery. This study examines body-oriented therapy—an approach focused on body awareness and involving the combination of bodywork and the emotional processing of psychotherapy. Objective To examine the efficacy and the perceived influence on abuse recovery of body-oriented therapy. Massage therapy served as a relative control condition to address the lack of touch-based comparisons in bodywork research. Design A 2-group, repeated measures design was employed, involving randomization to either body-oriented therapy or massage group, conducted in 8, hour-long sessions by 1 of 4 research clinicians. Statistical and qualitative analysis was employed to provide both empirical and experiential perspectives on the study process. Setting Participants were seen in treatment rooms of a university in the northwestern United States and in clinician’s private offices. Participants Twenty-four adult females in psychotherapy for child sexual abuse. Interventions Body-oriented therapy protocol was delivered in three stages, involving massage, body awareness exercises, and inner-body focusing process. Massage therapy protocol was stan- dardized. Both protocols were delivered over clothes. Main Outcome Measures The outcomes reflected 3 key con-structs—psychological well being, physical well-being, and body connection. Repeated measures included: Brief Symptom Inventory, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Crime-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale, Medical Symptoms Checklist, Scale of Body Connection and Scale of Body Investment. Results were gathered at 6 time points: baseline, 2 times during intervention, post-intervention, and at 1 month and 3 months follow-up. To examine the experiential perspective of the study process, written questionnaires were administered before and after intervention and at 1 month and 3 months follow-up. Results Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant improvement on all outcome measures for both intervention groups, providing support for the efficacy of body therapy in recovery from childhood sexual abuse. There were no statistically significant differences between groups; however, qualitative analysis of open-ended questions about participant intervention experience revealed that the groups differed on perceived experience of the intervention and its influence on therapeutic recovery. PMID:16189948

Comparative morphology of the scales of roundscale spearfish Tetrapturus georgii and white marlin Kajikia albida.

PubMed

Loose, E L; Hilton, E J; Graves, J E

2017-04-01

The comparative morphology of the scales of roundscale spearfish Tetrapturus georgii and white marlin Kajikia albida was investigated. In addition, variation in scale morphology across different body regions within each species was analysed. Although considerable morphological variation was observed among scales from different body regions in both species, scales of K. albida generally have pointed anterior ends, fewer posterior points and are more heavily imbricated than those of T. georgii, which are frequently rounded anteriorly, often have many posterior points and are separated farther within the skin. In all sampled body regions and individuals, scales of T. georgii are significantly broader and have a lower length-to-width aspect ratio than those of K. albida. Superficial to the scales are denticular plates, which are ossified formations occurring on the surface layer of the epidermis; these were observed and described for T. georgii, K. albida and blue marlin Makaira nigricans. Detailed scale descriptions allow for a more accurate characterization of the variation within and differences between these two species and could potentially be a valuable tool for investigating istiophorid systematics. © 2017 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

The Schrödinger-Poisson equations as the large-N limit of the Newtonian N-body system: applications to the large scale dark matter dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briscese, Fabio

2017-09-01

In this paper it is argued how the dynamics of the classical Newtonian N-body system can be described in terms of the Schrödinger-Poisson equations in the large N limit. This result is based on the stochastic quantization introduced by Nelson, and on the Calogero conjecture. According to the Calogero conjecture, the emerging effective Planck constant is computed in terms of the parameters of the N-body system as \\hbar ˜ M^{5/3} G^{1/2} (N/< ρ > )^{1/6}, where is G the gravitational constant, N and M are the number and the mass of the bodies, and < ρ > is their average density. The relevance of this result in the context of large scale structure formation is discussed. In particular, this finding gives a further argument in support of the validity of the Schrödinger method as numerical double of the N-body simulations of dark matter dynamics at large cosmological scales.

Psychometric properties of the Drive for Muscularity Scale in Malay men.

PubMed

Swami, Viren; Barron, David; Lau, Poh Li; Jaafar, Jas Laile

2016-06-01

The Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) is a widely used measure in studies of men's body image, but few studies have examined its psychometric properties outside English-speaking samples. Here, we assessed the factor structure of a Malay translation of the DMS. A community sample of 159 Malay men from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, completed the DMS, along with measures of self-esteem, body appreciation, and muscle discrepancy. Exploratory factor analysis led to the extraction of two factors, differentiating attitudes from behaviours, which mirrors the parent scale. Both factors also loaded on to a higher-order drive for muscularity factor. The subscales of the Malay DMS had adequate internal consistencies and good convergent validity, insofar as significant relationships were reported with self-esteem, body appreciation, muscle discrepancy, and body mass index. These results indicate that the Malay DMS has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used to assess body image concerns in Malay men. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Allometric and temporal scaling of movement characteristics in Galapagos tortoises

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bastille-Rousseau, Guillaume; Yackulic, Charles B.; Frair, Jacqueline L.; Cabrera, Freddy; Blake, Stephen

2016-01-01

Understanding how individual movement scales with body size is of fundamental importance in predicting ecological relationships for diverse species. One-dimensional movement metrics scale consistently with body size yet vary over different temporal scales. Knowing how temporal scale influences the relationship between animal body size and movement would better inform hypotheses about the efficiency of foraging behaviour, the ontogeny of energy budgets, and numerous life-history trade-offs.We investigated how the temporal scaling of allometric patterns in movement varies over the course of a year, specifically during periods of motivated (directional and fast movement) and unmotivated (stationary and tortuous movement) behaviour. We focused on a recently diverged group of species that displays wide variation in movement behaviour – giant Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) – to test how movement metrics estimated on a monthly basis scaled with body size.We used state-space modelling to estimate seven different movement metrics of Galapagos tortoises. We used log-log regression of the power law to evaluate allometric scaling for these movement metrics and contrasted relationships by species and sex.Allometric scaling of movement was more apparent during motivated periods of movement. During this period, allometry was revealed at multiple temporal intervals (hourly, daily and monthly), with values observed at daily and monthly intervals corresponding most closely to the expected one-fourth scaling coefficient, albeit with wide credible intervals. We further detected differences in the magnitude of scaling among taxa uncoupled from observed differences in the temporal structuring of their movement rates.Our results indicate that the definition of temporal scales is fundamental to the detection of allometry of movement and should be given more attention in movement studies. Our approach not only provides new conceptual insights into temporal attributes in one-dimensional scaling of movement, but also generates valuable insights into the movement ecology of iconic yet poorly understood Galapagos giant tortoises.

Allometric and temporal scaling of movement characteristics in Galapagos tortoises.

PubMed

Bastille-Rousseau, Guillaume; Yackulic, Charles B; Frair, Jacqueline L; Cabrera, Freddy; Blake, Stephen

2016-09-01

Understanding how individual movement scales with body size is of fundamental importance in predicting ecological relationships for diverse species. One-dimensional movement metrics scale consistently with body size yet vary over different temporal scales. Knowing how temporal scale influences the relationship between animal body size and movement would better inform hypotheses about the efficiency of foraging behaviour, the ontogeny of energy budgets, and numerous life-history trade-offs. We investigated how the temporal scaling of allometric patterns in movement varies over the course of a year, specifically during periods of motivated (directional and fast movement) and unmotivated (stationary and tortuous movement) behaviour. We focused on a recently diverged group of species that displays wide variation in movement behaviour - giant Galapagos tortoises (Chelonoidis spp.) - to test how movement metrics estimated on a monthly basis scaled with body size. We used state-space modelling to estimate seven different movement metrics of Galapagos tortoises. We used log-log regression of the power law to evaluate allometric scaling for these movement metrics and contrasted relationships by species and sex. Allometric scaling of movement was more apparent during motivated periods of movement. During this period, allometry was revealed at multiple temporal intervals (hourly, daily and monthly), with values observed at daily and monthly intervals corresponding most closely to the expected one-fourth scaling coefficient, albeit with wide credible intervals. We further detected differences in the magnitude of scaling among taxa uncoupled from observed differences in the temporal structuring of their movement rates. Our results indicate that the definition of temporal scales is fundamental to the detection of allometry of movement and should be given more attention in movement studies. Our approach not only provides new conceptual insights into temporal attributes in one-dimensional scaling of movement, but also generates valuable insights into the movement ecology of iconic yet poorly understood Galapagos giant tortoises. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2016 British Ecological Society.

Low-Lift Drag of the Grumman F9F-9 Airplane as Obtained by a 1/7.5-Scale Rocket-Boosted Model and by Three 1/45.85-Scale Equivalent-Body Models between Mach Numbers of 0.8 and 1.3, TED No. NACA DE 391

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stevens, Joseph E.

1955-01-01

Low-lift drag data are presented herein for one 1/7.5-scale rocket-boosted model and three 1/45.85-scale equivalent-body models of the Grumman F9F-9 airplane, The data were obtained over a Reynolds number range of about 5 x 10(exp 6) to 10 x 10(exp 6) based on wing mean aerodynamic chord for the rocket model and total body length for the equivalent-body models. The rocket-boosted model showed a drag rise of about 0,037 (based on included wing area) between the subsonic level and the peak supersonic drag coefficient at the maximum Mach number of this test. The base drag coefficient measured on this model varied from a value of -0,0015 in the subsonic range to a maximum of about 0.0020 at a Mach number of 1.28, Drag coefficients for the equivalent-body models varied from about 0.125 (based on body maximum area) in the subsonic range to about 0.300 at a Mach number of 1.25. Increasing the total fineness ratio by a small amount raised the drag-rise Mach number slightly.

Solving large scale structure in ten easy steps with COLA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tassev, Svetlin; Zaldarriaga, Matias; Eisenstein, Daniel J.

2013-06-01

We present the COmoving Lagrangian Acceleration (COLA) method: an N-body method for solving for Large Scale Structure (LSS) in a frame that is comoving with observers following trajectories calculated in Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (LPT). Unlike standard N-body methods, the COLA method can straightforwardly trade accuracy at small-scales in order to gain computational speed without sacrificing accuracy at large scales. This is especially useful for cheaply generating large ensembles of accurate mock halo catalogs required to study galaxy clustering and weak lensing, as those catalogs are essential for performing detailed error analysis for ongoing and future surveys of LSS. As an illustration, we ran a COLA-based N-body code on a box of size 100 Mpc/h with particles of mass ≈ 5 × 109Msolar/h. Running the code with only 10 timesteps was sufficient to obtain an accurate description of halo statistics down to halo masses of at least 1011Msolar/h. This is only at a modest speed penalty when compared to mocks obtained with LPT. A standard detailed N-body run is orders of magnitude slower than our COLA-based code. The speed-up we obtain with COLA is due to the fact that we calculate the large-scale dynamics exactly using LPT, while letting the N-body code solve for the small scales, without requiring it to capture exactly the internal dynamics of halos. Achieving a similar level of accuracy in halo statistics without the COLA method requires at least 3 times more timesteps than when COLA is employed.

Metabolism drives distribution and abundance in extremophile fish

PubMed Central

McHugh, Peter A.; Glover, Chris N.; McIntosh, Angus R.

2017-01-01

Differences in population density between species of varying size are frequently attributed to metabolic rates which are assumed to scale with body size with a slope of 0.75. This assumption is often criticised on the grounds that 0.75 scaling of metabolic rate with body size is not universal and can vary significantly depending on species and life-history. However, few studies have investigated how interspecific variation in metabolic scaling relationships affects population density in different sized species. Here we predict inter-specific differences in metabolism from niche requirements, thereby allowing metabolic predictions of species distribution and abundance at fine spatial scales. Due to the differences in energetic efficiency required along harsh-benign gradients, an extremophile fish (brown mudfish, Neochanna apoda) living in harsh environments had slower metabolism, and thus higher population densities, compared to a fish species (banded kōkopu, Galaxias fasciatus) in physiologically more benign habitats. Interspecific differences in the intercepts for the relationship between body and density disappeared when species mass-specific metabolic rates, rather than body sizes, were used to predict density, implying population energy use was equivalent between mudfish and kōkopu. Nevertheless, despite significant interspecific differences in the slope of the metabolic scaling relationships, mudfish and kōkopu had a common slope for the relationship between body size and population density. These results support underlying logic of energetic equivalence between different size species implicit in metabolic theory. However, the precise slope of metabolic scaling relationships, which is the subject of much debate, may not be a reliable indicator of population density as expected under metabolic theory. PMID:29176819

Focus-based filtering + clustering technique for power-law networks with small world phenomenon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutin, François; Thièvre, Jérôme; Hascoët, Mountaz

2006-01-01

Realistic interaction networks usually present two main properties: a power-law degree distribution and a small world behavior. Few nodes are linked to many nodes and adjacent nodes are likely to share common neighbors. Moreover, graph structure usually presents a dense core that is difficult to explore with classical filtering and clustering techniques. In this paper, we propose a new filtering technique accounting for a user-focus. This technique extracts a tree-like graph with also power-law degree distribution and small world behavior. Resulting structure is easily drawn with classical force-directed drawing algorithms. It is also quickly clustered and displayed into a multi-level silhouette tree (MuSi-Tree) from any user-focus. We built a new graph filtering + clustering + drawing API and report a case study.

Space Shuttle Discovery rolls out to Launch Pad 39A for Oct. 5 launch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

As the sun crawls from below the horizon at right, Space Shuttle Discovery crawls up Launch Pad 39A and its resting spot next to the fixed service structure (FSS) (seen at left). The powerful silhouette dwarfs people and other vehicles near the FSS. Discovery is scheduled to launch Oct. 5 at 9:30 p.m. EDT on mission STS-92. Making the 100th Space Shuttle mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Discovery will carry two pieces of hardware for the International Space Station, the Z1 truss, which is the cornerstone truss of the Station, and the third Pressurized Mating Adapter. Discovery also will be making its 28th flight into space, more than any of the other orbiters to date.

Deep learning architecture for recognition of abnormal activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khatrouch, Marwa; Gnouma, Mariem; Ejbali, Ridha; Zaied, Mourad

2018-04-01

The video surveillance is one of the key areas in computer vision researches. The scientific challenge in this field involves the implementation of automatic systems to obtain detailed information about individuals and groups behaviors. In particular, the detection of abnormal movements of groups or individuals requires a fine analysis of frames in the video stream. In this article, we propose a new method to detect anomalies in crowded scenes. We try to categorize the video in a supervised mode accompanied by unsupervised learning using the principle of the autoencoder. In order to construct an informative concept for the recognition of these behaviors, we use a technique of representation based on the superposition of human silhouettes. The evaluation of the UMN dataset demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Recognition using gait.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koch, Mark William

2007-09-01

Gait or an individual's manner of walking, is one approach for recognizing people at a distance. Studies in psychophysics and medicine indicate that humans can recognize people by their gait and have found twenty-four different components to gait that taken together make it a unique signature. Besides not requiring close sensor contact, gait also does not necessarily require a cooperative subject. Using video data of people walking in different scenarios and environmental conditions we develop and test an algorithm that uses shape and motion to identify people from their gait. The algorithm uses dynamic time warping to match stored templatesmore » against an unknown sequence of silhouettes extracted from a person walking. While results under similar constraints and conditions are very good, the algorithm quickly degrades with varying conditions such as surface and clothing.« less

Towards an understanding of nuclear morphogenesis.

PubMed

Georgatos, S D

1994-05-01

In the age of "virtual reality," the imperfect microscopic silhouettes of cells and organelles are gradually being replaced by calligraphic computer drawings. In this context, textbooks and introductory slides often depict the cell nucleus as a smooth-shaped, featureless object. However, in reality, the nuclei of different cells possess distinct sizes and morphological features which develop in a programmed fashion as each cell differentiates. To dissect this complex morphogenetic process, we need to identify the basic elements that determine nuclear architecture and the regulatory factors involved. Recently, clues about the identity of these components have been obtained both by systematic analysis and by serendipity. This review summarizes a few recent findings and ideas that may serve as a first forum for future discussions and, I hope, for further work on this topic.

STS-89 launch view

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-03-30

STS089-S-006 (22 Jan. 1998) --- Silhouettes of Florida foliage frame the space shuttle Endeavour in this wide scene of its nocturnal launch. Endeavour lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at 9:48:15 p.m. (EST), Jan. 22, 1998. STS-89 represents the eighth docking mission with Mir (all previous such flights utilized the Atlantis). After the docking with Mir, Andrew S. W. Thomas, mission specialist, will transfer to the station, succeeding astronaut David A. Wolf as guest cosmonaut researcher. Wolf will return to Earth aboard Endeavour. Thomas is expected to live and work on Mir until June 1998. Other crew members onboard were Terrence W. Wilcutt, Joe F. Edwards Jr., Bonnie J. Dunbar, James F. Reilly, Michael P. Anderson and Salizhan S. Sharipov. Sharipov represents the Russian Space Agency (RSA). Photo credit: NASA

Optical asymmetric cryptography based on amplitude reconstruction of elliptically polarized light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Jianjun; Shen, Xueju; Lei, Ming

2017-11-01

We propose a novel optical asymmetric image encryption method based on amplitude reconstruction of elliptically polarized light, which is free from silhouette problem. The original image is analytically separated into two phase-only masks firstly, and then the two masks are encoded into amplitudes of the orthogonal polarization components of an elliptically polarized light. Finally, the elliptically polarized light propagates through a linear polarizer, and the output intensity distribution is recorded by a CCD camera to obtain the ciphertext. The whole encryption procedure could be implemented by using commonly used optical elements, and it combines diffusion process and confusion process. As a result, the proposed method achieves high robustness against iterative-algorithm-based attacks. Simulation results are presented to prove the validity of the proposed cryptography.

A common scaling rule for abundance, energetics, and production of parasitic and free-living species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hechinger, Ryan F.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Dobson, Andy P.; Brown, James H.; Kuris, Armand M.

2011-01-01

The metabolic theory of ecology uses the scaling of metabolism with body size and temperature to explain the causes and consequences of species abundance. However, the theory and its empirical tests have never simultaneously examined parasites alongside free-living species. This is unfortunate because parasites represent at least half of species diversity. We show that metabolic scaling theory could not account for the abundance of parasitic or free-living species in three estuarine food webs until accounting for trophic dynamics. Analyses then revealed that the abundance of all species uniformly scaled with body mass to the - 3/4 power. This result indicates "production equivalence," where biomass production within trophic levels is invariant of body size across all species and functional groups: invertebrate or vertebrate, ectothermic or endothermic, and free-living or parasitic.

Synchrotron imaging of the grasshopper tracheal system : morphological and physiological components of tracheal hypermetry.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenlee, K. J.; Henry, J. R.; Kirkton, S. D.

2009-11-01

As grasshoppers increase in size during ontogeny, they have mass specifically greater whole body tracheal and tidal volumes and ventilation than predicted by an isometric relationship with body mass and body volume. However, the morphological and physiological bases to this respiratory hypermetry are unknown. In this study, we use synchrotron imaging to demonstrate that tracheal hypermetry in developing grasshoppers (Schistocerca americana) is due to increases in air sacs and tracheae and occurs in all three body segments, providing evidence against the hypothesis that hypermetry is due to gaining flight ability. We also assessed the scaling of air sac structure andmore » function by assessing volume changes of focal abdominal air sacs. Ventilatory frequencies increased in larger animals during hypoxia (5% O{sub 2}) but did not scale in normoxia. For grasshoppers in normoxia, inflated and deflated air sac volumes and ventilation scaled hypermetrically. During hypoxia (5% O{sub 2}), many grasshoppers compressed air sacs nearly completely regardless of body size, and air sac volumes scaled isometrically. Together, these results demonstrate that whole body tracheal hypermetry and enhanced ventilation in larger/older grasshoppers are primarily due to proportionally larger air sacs and higher ventilation frequencies in larger animals during hypoxia. Prior studies showed reduced whole body tracheal volumes and tidal volume in late-stage grasshoppers, suggesting that tissue growth compresses air sacs. In contrast, we found that inflated volumes, percent volume changes, and ventilation were identical in abdominal air sacs of late-stage fifth instar and early-stage animals, suggesting that decreasing volume of the tracheal system later in the instar occurs in other body regions that have harder exoskeleton.« less

A scaling law for accretion zone sizes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenzweig, Yuval; Lissauer, Jack J.

1987-01-01

Current theories of runaway planetary accretion require small random velocities of the accreted particles. Two body gravitational accretion cross sections which ignore tidal perturbations of the Sun are not valid for the slow encounters which occur at low relative velocities. Wetherill and Cox have studied accretion cross sections for rocky protoplanets orbiting at 1 AU. Using analytic methods based on Hill's lunar theory, one can scale these results for protoplanets that occupy the same fraction of their Hill sphere as does a rocky body at 1 AU. Generalization to bodies of different sizes is achieved here by numerical integrations of the three-body problem. Starting at initial positions far from the accreting body, test particles are allowed to encounter the body once, and the cross section is computed. A power law is found relating the cross section to the radius of the accreting body (of fixed mass).

Body appreciation and attitudes toward menstruation.

PubMed

Chrisler, Joan C; Marván, Maria Luisa; Gorman, Jennifer A; Rossini, Meghan

2015-01-01

Menstruation is an important function of the female body, yet it has rarely been included in research on body image. As women's attitudes toward menstruation are so often negative, this study was designed to examine whether women with positive body image would have more positive attitudes toward menstruation. Seventy-two American women, ages 18-45 years, were recruited online to complete the Body Appreciation Scale (Avalos et al., 2005) and the Beliefs about and Attitudes toward Menstruation Scale (Marván et al., 2006) and to answer some questions about their interest in menstrual suppression. Linear regressions showed that higher scores on body appreciation predicted more positive attitudes toward and beliefs about menstruation, but were not related to interest in menstrual suppression. Our findings may be useful in designing interventions to increase women's comfort with their bodies and bodily functions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of proposed alternative methods for rescaling dialysis dose: resting energy expenditure, high metabolic rate organ mass, liver size, and body surface area.

PubMed

Daugirdas, John T; Levin, Nathan W; Kotanko, Peter; Depner, Thomas A; Kuhlmann, Martin K; Chertow, Glenn M; Rocco, Michael V

2008-01-01

A number of denominators for scaling the dose of dialysis have been proposed as alternatives to the urea distribution volume (V). These include resting energy expenditure (REE), mass of high metabolic rate organs (HMRO), visceral mass, and body surface area. Metabolic rate is an unlikely denominator as it varies enormously among humans with different levels of activity and correlates poorly with the glomerular filtration rate. Similarly, scaling based on HMRO may not be optimal, as many organs with high metabolic rates such as spleen, brain, and heart are unlikely to generate unusually large amounts of uremic toxins. Visceral mass, in particular the liver and gut, has potential merit as a denominator for scaling; liver size is related to protein intake and the liver, along with the gut, is known to be responsible for the generation of suspected uremic toxins. Surface area is time-honored as a scaling method for glomerular filtration rate and scales similarly to liver size. How currently recommended dialysis doses might be affected by these alternative rescaling methods was modeled by applying anthropometric equations to a large group of dialysis patients who participated in the HEMO study. The data suggested that rescaling to REE would not be much different from scaling to V. Scaling to HMRO mass would mandate substantially higher dialysis doses for smaller patients of either gender. Rescaling to liver mass would require substantially more dialysis for women compared with men at all levels of body size. Rescaling to body surface area would require more dialysis for smaller patients of either gender and also more dialysis for women of any size. Of these proposed alternative rescaling measures, body surface area may be the best, because it reflects gender-based scaling of liver size and thereby the rate of generation of uremic toxins.

Sgr A* and general relativity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johannsen, Tim

2016-06-01

General relativity has been widely tested in weak gravitational fields but still stands largely untested in the strong-field regime. According to the no-hair theorem, black holes in general relativity depend only on their masses and spins and are described by the Kerr metric. Mass and spin are the first two multipole moments of the Kerr spacetime and completely determine all higher-order moments. The no-hair theorem and, hence, general relativity can be tested by measuring potential deviations from the Kerr metric affecting such higher-order moments. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, is a prime target for precision tests of general relativity with several experiments across the electromagnetic spectrum. First, near-infrared (NIR) monitoring of stars orbiting around Sgr A* with current and new instruments is expected to resolve their orbital precessions. Second, timing observations of radio pulsars near the Galactic center may detect characteristic residuals induced by the spin and quadrupole moment of Sgr A*. Third, the event horizon telescope, a global network of mm and sub-mm telescopes, aims to study Sgr A* on horizon scales and to image the silhouette of its shadow cast against the surrounding accretion flow using very-long baseline interferometric (VLBI) techniques. Both NIR and VLBI observations may also detect quasiperiodic variability of the emission from the accretion flow of Sgr A*. In this review, I discuss our current understanding of the spacetime of Sgr A* and the prospects of NIR, timing, and VLBI observations to test its Kerr nature in the near future.

Clustering Genes of Common Evolutionary History

PubMed Central

Gori, Kevin; Suchan, Tomasz; Alvarez, Nadir; Goldman, Nick; Dessimoz, Christophe

2016-01-01

Phylogenetic inference can potentially result in a more accurate tree using data from multiple loci. However, if the loci are incongruent—due to events such as incomplete lineage sorting or horizontal gene transfer—it can be misleading to infer a single tree. To address this, many previous contributions have taken a mechanistic approach, by modeling specific processes. Alternatively, one can cluster loci without assuming how these incongruencies might arise. Such “process-agnostic” approaches typically infer a tree for each locus and cluster these. There are, however, many possible combinations of tree distance and clustering methods; their comparative performance in the context of tree incongruence is largely unknown. Furthermore, because standard model selection criteria such as AIC cannot be applied to problems with a variable number of topologies, the issue of inferring the optimal number of clusters is poorly understood. Here, we perform a large-scale simulation study of phylogenetic distances and clustering methods to infer loci of common evolutionary history. We observe that the best-performing combinations are distances accounting for branch lengths followed by spectral clustering or Ward’s method. We also introduce two statistical tests to infer the optimal number of clusters and show that they strongly outperform the silhouette criterion, a general-purpose heuristic. We illustrate the usefulness of the approach by 1) identifying errors in a previous phylogenetic analysis of yeast species and 2) identifying topological incongruence among newly sequenced loci of the globeflower fly genus Chiastocheta. We release treeCl, a new program to cluster genes of common evolutionary history (http://git.io/treeCl). PMID:26893301

An exploration of differences in the scaling of life history traits with body mass within reptiles and between amniotes.

PubMed

Hallmann, Konstantin; Griebeler, Eva Maria

2018-06-01

Allometric relationships linking species characteristics to body size or mass (scaling) are important in biology. However, studies on the scaling of life history traits in the reptiles (the nonavian Reptilia) are rather scarce, especially for the clades Crocodilia, Testudines, and Rhynchocephalia (single extant species, the tuatara). Previous studies on the scaling of reptilian life history traits indicated that they differ from those seen in the other amniotes (mammals and birds), but so far most comparative studies used small species samples and also not phylogenetically informed analyses. Here, we analyzed the scaling of nine life history traits with adult body mass for crocodiles ( n  =   22), squamates ( n  =   294), turtles ( n  =   52), and reptiles ( n  =   369). We used for the first time a phylogenetically informed approach for crocodiles, turtles, and the whole group of reptiles. We explored differences in scaling relationships between the reptilian clades Crocodilia, Squamata, and Testudines as well as differences between reptiles, mammals, and birds. Finally, we applied our scaling relationships, in order to gain new insights into the degree of the exceptionality of the tuatara's life history within reptiles. We observed for none of the life history traits studied any difference in their scaling with body mass between squamates, crocodiles, and turtles, except for clutch size and egg weight showing small differences between these groups. Compared to birds and mammals, scaling relationships of reptiles were similar for time-related traits, but they differed for reproductive traits. The tuatara's life history is more similar to that of a similar-sized turtle or crocodile than to a squamate.

Perceptions of Body Image by Persons with Prader-Willi Syndrome and Their Parents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Napolitano, Deborah A.; Zarcone, Jennifer; Nielsen, Sarah; Wang, Hongyue; Caliendo, Jillian Maynard

2010-01-01

Prader-Willi syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by obesity. The Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorensen, & Schulsinger, 1983) was completed by 43 individuals with this syndrome to determine their level of dissatisfaction with their body. Their parents also completed this scale regarding their child to determine whether they were…

Modeling of normal contact of elastic bodies with surface relief taken into account

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goryacheva, I. G.; Tsukanov, I. Yu

2018-04-01

An approach to account the surface relief in normal contact problems for rough bodies on the basis of an additional displacement function for asperities is considered. The method and analytic expressions for calculating the additional displacement function for one-scale and two-scale wavy relief are presented. The influence of the microrelief geometric parameters, including the number of scales and asperities density, on additional displacements of the rough layer is analyzed.

Creation and validation of a novel body condition scoring method for the magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) in the zoo setting.

PubMed

Clements, Julie; Sanchez, Jessica N

2015-11-01

This research aims to validate a novel, visual body scoring system created for the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) suitable for the zoo practitioner. Magellanics go through marked seasonal fluctuations in body mass gains and losses. A standardized multi-variable visual body condition guide may provide a more sensitive and objective assessment tool compared to the previously used single variable method. Accurate body condition scores paired with seasonal weight variation measurements give veterinary and keeper staff a clearer understanding of an individual's nutritional status. San Francisco Zoo staff previously used a nine-point body condition scale based on the classic bird standard of a single point of keel palpation with the bird restrained in hand, with no standard measure of reference assigned to each scoring category. We created a novel, visual body condition scoring system that does not require restraint to assesses subcutaneous fat and muscle at seven body landmarks using illustrations and descriptive terms. The scores range from one, the least robust or under-conditioned, to five, the most robust, or over-conditioned. The ratio of body weight to wing length was used as a "gold standard" index of body condition and compared to both the novel multi-variable and previously used single-variable body condition scores. The novel multi-variable scale showed improved agreement with weight:wing ratio compared to the single-variable scale, demonstrating greater accuracy, and reliability when a trained assessor uses the multi-variable body condition scoring system. Zoo staff may use this tool to manage both the colony and the individual to assist in seasonally appropriate Magellanic penguin nutrition assessment. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Size matters: plasticity in metabolic scaling shows body-size may modulate responses to climate change.

PubMed

Carey, Nicholas; Sigwart, Julia D

2014-08-01

Variability in metabolic scaling in animals, the relationship between metabolic rate ( R: ) and body mass ( M: ), has been a source of debate and controversy for decades. R: is proportional to MB: , the precise value of B: much debated, but historically considered equal in all organisms. Recent metabolic theory, however, predicts B: to vary among species with ecology and metabolic level, and may also vary within species under different abiotic conditions. Under climate change, most species will experience increased temperatures, and marine organisms will experience the additional stressor of decreased seawater pH ('ocean acidification'). Responses to these environmental changes are modulated by myriad species-specific factors. Body-size is a fundamental biological parameter, but its modulating role is relatively unexplored. Here, we show that changes to metabolic scaling reveal asymmetric responses to stressors across body-size ranges; B: is systematically decreased under increasing temperature in three grazing molluscs, indicating smaller individuals were more responsive to warming. Larger individuals were, however, more responsive to reduced seawater pH in low temperatures. These alterations to the allometry of metabolism highlight abiotic control of metabolic scaling, and indicate that responses to climate warming and ocean acidification may be modulated by body-size. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Female Body Esteem: A Multidimensional Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franzoi, Stephen L.

Although research has shown that regularly engaging in vigorous activity has both physical and mental benefits, including a more positive evaluation of one's own body, the multidimensional nature of people's body attitudes has not been considered. The Body Esteem Scale (BES) was developed to identify and assess different body esteem dimensions.…

Plane-dependent ML scatter scaling: 3D extension of the 2D simulated single scatter (SSS) estimate.

PubMed

Rezaei, Ahmadreza; Salvo, Koen; Vahle, Thomas; Panin, Vladimir; Casey, Michael; Boada, Fernando; Defrise, Michel; Nuyts, Johan

2017-07-24

Scatter correction is typically done using a simulation of the single scatter, which is then scaled to account for multiple scatters and other possible model mismatches. This scaling factor is determined by fitting the simulated scatter sinogram to the measured sinogram, using only counts measured along LORs that do not intersect the patient body, i.e. 'scatter-tails'. Extending previous work, we propose to scale the scatter with a plane dependent factor, which is determined as an additional unknown in the maximum likelihood (ML) reconstructions, using counts in the entire sinogram rather than only the 'scatter-tails'. The ML-scaled scatter estimates are validated using a Monte-Carlo simulation of a NEMA-like phantom, a phantom scan with typical contrast ratios of a 68 Ga-PSMA scan, and 23 whole-body 18 F-FDG patient scans. On average, we observe a 12.2% change in the total amount of tracer activity of the MLEM reconstructions of our whole-body patient database when the proposed ML scatter scales are used. Furthermore, reconstructions using the ML-scaled scatter estimates are found to eliminate the typical 'halo' artifacts that are often observed in the vicinity of high focal uptake regions.

The role of physical activity, body mass index and maturity status in body-related perceptions and self-esteem of adolescents.

PubMed

Altıntaş, A; Aşçı, F H; Kin-İşler, A; Güven-Karahan, B; Kelecek, S; Özkan, A; Yılmaz, A; Kara, F M

2014-01-01

Adolescence represents a transitional period which is marked by physical, social and psychological changes. Changes in body shape and physical activity especially alter and shape the psychological well-being of adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of physical activity level, body mass index and maturity status in body-related perception and self-esteem of 11-18 years old adolescents. A total of 1012 adolescents participated in this study. The "Social Physique Anxiety Scale", "Body Image Satisfaction Scale", "Physical Self-Perception Profile for Children" and "Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory" were administered. Physical activity level and body mass index were assessed using the "Physical Activity Questionnaire" and "Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzer", respectively. Regression analysis indicated that body mass index was the only predictor of perceived body attractiveness, social physique anxiety, body image satisfaction and self-esteem for female adolescents. For male adolescents, both physical activity and body mass index were correlated with perceived body attractiveness and social physique anxiety. Pubertal status were not correlated with self-esteem and body-related perceptions for both males and females adolescents. In summary, body mass index and physical activity plays an important role in body-related perceptions and self-esteem of adolescents.

Garment sizes in perception of body size.

PubMed

Fan, Jintu; Newton, Edward; Lau, Lilian; Liu, Fu

2003-06-01

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the effect of garment size on perceived body size. The perceived body sizes of three Chinese men (thin, medium, and obese build) wearing different sizes of white T-shirts were assessed using Thompson and Gray's 1995 Nine-figural Scale in 1 (thinnest) to 9 (obese) grade and a newly-proposed method. Within the limit of commercially available T-shirt sizes, for thin and medium persons, perceived body sizes are bigger when wearing T-shirts of larger sizes. For an obese person, however, wearing a large size T-shirt tends to make him look thinner. The study also showed that the newly proposed comparative method is more reliable in comparing body size perception but without measuring the magnitude of the change in body-size grade. The figural scale and the comparative method can be complementary.

Scaling of number, size, and metabolic rate of cells with body size in mammals.

PubMed

Savage, Van M; Allen, Andrew P; Brown, James H; Gillooly, James F; Herman, Alexander B; Woodruff, William H; West, Geoffrey B

2007-03-13

The size and metabolic rate of cells affect processes from the molecular to the organismal level. We present a quantitative, theoretical framework for studying relationships among cell volume, cellular metabolic rate, body size, and whole-organism metabolic rate that helps reveal the feedback between these levels of organization. We use this framework to show that average cell volume and average cellular metabolic rate cannot both remain constant with changes in body size because of the well known body-size dependence of whole-organism metabolic rate. Based on empirical data compiled for 18 cell types in mammals, we find that many cell types, including erythrocytes, hepatocytes, fibroblasts, and epithelial cells, follow a strategy in which cellular metabolic rate is body size dependent and cell volume is body size invariant. We suggest that this scaling holds for all quickly dividing cells, and conversely, that slowly dividing cells are expected to follow a strategy in which cell volume is body size dependent and cellular metabolic rate is roughly invariant with body size. Data for slowly dividing neurons and adipocytes show that cell volume does indeed scale with body size. From these results, we argue that the particular strategy followed depends on the structural and functional properties of the cell type. We also discuss consequences of these two strategies for cell number and capillary densities. Our results and conceptual framework emphasize fundamental constraints that link the structure and function of cells to that of whole organisms.

Scaling of Convex Hull Volume to Body Mass in Modern Primates, Non-Primate Mammals and Birds

PubMed Central

Brassey, Charlotte A.; Sellers, William I.

2014-01-01

The volumetric method of ‘convex hulling’ has recently been put forward as a mass prediction technique for fossil vertebrates. Convex hulling involves the calculation of minimum convex hull volumes (vol CH) from the complete mounted skeletons of modern museum specimens, which are subsequently regressed against body mass (M b) to derive predictive equations for extinct species. The convex hulling technique has recently been applied to estimate body mass in giant sauropods and fossil ratites, however the biomechanical signal contained within vol CH has remained unclear. Specifically, when vol CH scaling departs from isometry in a group of vertebrates, how might this be interpreted? Here we derive predictive equations for primates, non-primate mammals and birds and compare the scaling behaviour of M b to vol CH between groups. We find predictive equations to be characterised by extremely high correlation coefficients (r 2 = 0.97–0.99) and low mean percentage prediction error (11–20%). Results suggest non-primate mammals scale body mass to vol CH isometrically (b = 0.92, 95%CI = 0.85–1.00, p = 0.08). Birds scale body mass to vol CH with negative allometry (b = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.70–0.91, p = 0.011) and apparent density (vol CH/M b) therefore decreases with mass (r 2 = 0.36, p<0.05). In contrast, primates scale body mass to vol CH with positive allometry (b = 1.07, 95%CI = 1.01–1.12, p = 0.05) and apparent density therefore increases with size (r 2 = 0.46, p = 0.025). We interpret such departures from isometry in the context of the ‘missing mass’ of soft tissues that are excluded from the convex hulling process. We conclude that the convex hulling technique can be justifiably applied to the fossil record when a large proportion of the skeleton is preserved. However we emphasise the need for future studies to quantify interspecific variation in the distribution of soft tissues such as muscle, integument and body fat. PMID:24618736