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Objectives: Evidence on the topic regarding fruit and vegetable (FV) variety and health outcomes among older adults is limited. This study explored the prospective association of fruit variety, vegetable variety and combined FV variety with the risk of sarcopenia, frailty, all-cause and cause-specific mortality in community-dwelling Chinese older adults. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Community. Participants: Community-dwelling Chinese older adults aged ≥65 years in Hong Kong. Measurements: Fruit variety, vegetable variety and combined FV variety at baseline were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire and the variety scores were stratified into tertiles. Sarcopenia (Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019), frailty (Cardiovascular Health Study) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality (retrieved from an official database) were assessed at 14-year follow-up. Adjusted binary logistic regression or Cox proportional hazards model were performed to examine the association of fruit variety, vegetable variety and combined FV variety with each health outcome. Data are presented as hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Baseline dietary data of 3992 participants (median age: 72 years (interquartile range: 68–76), 49.9% women) was available. There were 436 and 371 participants who were newly identified as having sarcopenia and frailty respectively, and 1654 all-cause mortality, 367 cardiovascular diseases (CVD) mortality and 534 cancer mortality over 14-year. Tertiles of fruit variety, vegetable variety and combined FV variety were not associated with sarcopenia, frailty, CVD mortality and cancer mortality. Participants in the highest tertile of fruit variety (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.70–0.95, p-trend 0.010), vegetable variety (HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.67–0.89, p-trend <0.001) and combined FV variety (HR 0.77, 95% CI 0.67–0.89. p-trend <0.001) showed lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with participants in the lowest tertile. Conclusion: Among community-dwelling Chinese older adults, FV variety was not associated with sarcopenia, frailty, CVD mortality and cancer mortality over 14-year. Higher fruit variety, vegetable variety and combined FV variety were associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. Promoting a wide FV variety might be recommended to benefit the health and longevity of this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose: Caffeine is consumed extensively in Europe and North America. As a risk factor for osteoporosis, epidemiological studies have observed that caffeine can decrease bone mineral density, adversely affect calcium absorption and increase the risk of bone fracture. However, the exact mechanisms have not been fully investigated. Here, we examined the effects of caffeine on the viability and osteogenesis of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (rBMSCs).Experimental Approach: Cell viability, apoptosis and necrosis were quantified using thymidine incorporation and flow cytometry. Sequential gene expressions in osteogenic process were measured by real-time PCR. cAMP, alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin were assessed by immunoassay, spectrophotometry and radioimmunoassay, respectively. Mineralization was determined by calcium deposition.Key Results: After treating BMSCs with high caffeine concentrations (0.1-1mM), their viability decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. This cell death was primarily due to necrosis and, to a small extent, apoptosis. Genes and protein sequentially expressed in osteogenesis, including Cbfa1/Runx2, collagen I, alkaline phosphatase and its protein, were significantly downregulated except for osteocalcin and its protein. Moreover, caffeine inhibited calcium deposition in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, but increased intracellular cAMP in a concentration-dependent manner.Conclusions and Implications: By suppressing the commitment of BMSCs to the osteogenic lineage and selectively inhibiting gene expression, caffeine downregulated some important events in osteogenesis and ultimately affected bone mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The labial groove-textures of upper central incisors were defined and explored to imitate the elaborate groove-textures for aesthetic restorations. In the current study, 158 upper central incisors were selected from 79 volunteers aged from 19 to 24 and recruited from Sichuan University in Chengdu of China. The length, width, depth, combination and distribution of the horizontal and vertical grooves on the labial surface were investigated by an optical measurement method, based on the Shadow Moiré technology and Temporal Fourier analysis. Vertical grooves were confirmed to be present in 94% of the samples and horizontal grooves in 77%. Perfect symmetry was shown in the vertical grooves of the same tooth, as well as in the homonymous teeth. The majority of horizontal grooves were distributed in the proximity of the cervical fourth and the middle of the crown. Based on the combination and distribution of the grooves, eight basic labial groove-texture types of maxillary central incisors were classified. The subtle morphological characters of natural teeth could be recorded by the new method, and it could also provide the minute groove-texture for dentists and technicians to achieve an aesthetic appearance for a restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total cross sections of electron scattering by eight molecules NF, PF, N(CH), P(CH), NH(CH), PH(CH), NHCH and PHCH, which have some structural similarities, are calculated at the Hartree-Fork level by the modified additivity rule approach [D.H. Shi, J.F. Sun, Z.L. Zhu, H. Ma, Y.F. Liu, Eur. Phys. J. D 45, 253 (2007); D.H. Shi, J.F. Sun, Y.F. Liu, Z.L. Zhu, X.D. Yang, Chin. Opt. Lett. 4, 192 (2006)]. The modified additivity rule approach takes into considerations that the contributions of the geometric shielding effect vary as the energy of incident electrons, the dimension of target molecule, the number of electrons in the molecule and the number of atoms constituting the molecule. The present investigations cover the impact energy range from 30 to 5000 eV. The quantitative total cross sections are compared with those obtained by experiments and other theories. Excellent agreement is observed even at energies of several tens of eV. It shows that the modified additivity rule approach is applicable to carry out the total cross section calculations of electron scattering by these molecules at intermediate and high energies, in particular over the energy range above 80 eV or so. It proves that the microscopic molecular properties, such as the geometrical size of the target and the number of atoms constituting the molecule, are of crucial importance in the TCS calculations. The new results for PH(CH) and PHCH are also presented at energies from 30 to 5000 eV, although no experimental and theoretical data are available for comparison. In the present calculations, the atoms are still represented by the spherical complex optical potential, which is composed of static, exchange, polarization and absorption terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total cross sections of electron scattering by several sulfur-containing molecules OCS, SO2, SF4, SF6, SF5CF3, SO2Cl2 and SO2ClF are calculated at the Hartree-Fork level employing the modified additivity rule approach. The modified additivity rule approach, which was proposed by Shi et al. [Eur. Phys. J. D 45, 253 (2007); Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 254, 205 (2007)], takes into consideration that the contributions of the geometric shielding effect vary as the energy of incident electrons, the target’s molecular dimension and the atomic and electronic numbers in the molecule. The present investigations cover the impact energies ranging from 30 to 5000 eV. The quantitative total cross sections are compared with those obtained by experiments and other theories. Good agreement is observed even at energies of several tens of eV. It shows that the modified additivity rule approach is applicable to carry out the total cross section calculations of electron scattering by these sulfur-containing molecules at intermediate and high energies, especially over the energy range above 100 eV or so. In the present calculations, the atoms are still represented by the spherical complex optical potential, which is composed of static, exchange, polarization and absorption terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous protocols have been developed to assess soil stability, such as wet sieving, end-over-end shaking and rainfall simulation, but a major limitation of these procedures is that they apply an arbitrary application of mechanical energy that is not quantified, resulting in a stability assessment that can only be related to the context in which it is being used. To address this, previous authors demonstrated that the energy ( L) responsible for dispersing soil could be determined when using ultrasonic agitation. Changes in ultrasonic equipment, with the inclusion of a feedback system to adjust the output energy, Ep, of the ultrasonic probe, preclude the assumption that Epis the same in pure water and in dispersed and undispersed soil–water systems, which may explain why previous approaches have not been routinely adopted. Our paper presents a new theory for estimating the components of the energy balance in an ultrasonic system fitted with a power-adjusting feedback mechanism facilitating the estimate of L. Using Vertisol and Ferrasol soil samples, the components of the ultrasonic energy balance were successfully estimated and the estimate of L was greater than that reported in earlier work. When used to calculate the soil dispersion characteristic curve, it was found that the critical dispersive energy ( Ld) was in the range of 100–600 J g−1, which appears to be much larger compared with previously published values, and the Ldconstituted 3–20% of the total energy applied to the soil–water system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total cross sections for electron scattering by large molecules C4H8O, C5H10O2, C6H5F, C6H5Cl, C6F5Cl, C6H4(CHO)F and C4H8O2 are calculated at the Hartree-Fork level using the modified additivity rule approach. The modified additivity rule approach, which was proposed by Shi et al. [Eur. Phys. J. D 45, 253 (2007); Nucl. Instrum. Meth. B 254, 205 (2007)], takes into consideration that the contributions of the geometric shielding effect vary with the energy of the incident electrons, the target’s molecular dimension and the atomic and electronic numbers of the molecule. The present calculations cover the collision energies ranging from 30 to 5000 eV. The quantitative total cross sections are compared with those obtained by experiments and other theories. Good agreement is obtained even at energies of several tens of eV. It shows that the modified additivity rule approach is applicable to calculate the total cross sections of electron scattering by so large molecules at intermediate and high energies, especially above 100 eV. The total cross sections for electron scattering by the C4H8O2 molecule are predicted although no experimental and theoretical data are available for comparison over the present energy region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quantify the changes in the geometric shielding effect in a molecule as the incident electron energy varies, an empirical fraction, which represents the total cross section contributions of shielded atoms in a molecule at different energies, is presented. Using this empirical fraction, the total cross sections for electron scattering by CH4, C2H6, C2H3F3, C2H4, C2F4, C2Cl4 and C2Cl2F2 are calculated over a wide energy range from 30 to 5000 eV by the additivity rule model at the Hartree-Fock level. The quantitative total cross sections are compared with those obtained by experiment and other theories where available. Good agreement is attained above 100 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After analysing formulations of the horizontal wind velocity above a non-uniform underlying surface, it is found that the mean height of roughness elements, fractional vegetation cover and leaf area index are the most essential parameters of vertical wind profile under neutral conditions. By using Landsat-5 data, every-10-days observed data in the field, the every-10-days Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from NOAA-14 meteorological satellite, 1 : 10 000 land-use data, and 1 : 10 000 topographical data, the mean height, leaf area index and fractional vegetation cover of wheat at Yucheng Integrated Agricultural Experiment Station are simulated as functions of NDVI. Then, hourly horizontal wind velocity at a height of 4 m during the period from 21:05 on 5 March 2000 to 7:05 on 24 May 2000 is calculated, for which hourly observed horizontal wind velocity at a height of 2 m is first used to simulate the wheat parameter of the dimensionless constant. The results show that the simulated velocity is almost identical to the observation velocity at a height of 4 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative structure-pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationship (QSPR) techniques and chemometric methods were employed to classify fluoroquinolones with respect to their activity against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to calculate a set of molecular descriptors (properties) for 13 synthetic fluoroquinolones. The descriptors were further analyzed using chemometric methods including principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA). The PCA and SDA methods were employed in order to reduce the dimensionality and select a subset of variables that would be more effective for classifying the fluoroquinolones according to their degree of antipneumococcal activity. The methods of PCA, SDA and HCA were quite efficient to classify 13 compounds in two groups (active and inactive), and the net charge on ring B ( Q B), molecular volume (VOL), and partition coefficient (log P ) were found to be descriptors important for the classification. These methodologies of PCA, SDA and HCA provide a reliable rule for classifying new fluoroquinolones with respect to antipneumococcal activity. The application of the SPP relationship is of considerable value for clinicians, drug developers, and regulators because PK/PD principles form the basis of modern antimicrobial chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three definitions of emissivity for non-isothermal pixels are evaluated, and their differences are analysed. On the basis of the experimental data and numerical simulation, a generalized formula is established to scale for land surface emissivity, reflectance, and other variables between pixel scale and sub-pixel scale. Finally, it is pointed out that isothermal concept of land surface temperature and homogeneous concept of some other parameters in one spatial scale are relative according to humans' capability of measurement, and that the heterogeneity in a spatial scale is absolute in the natural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China banned the use of technical HCH (BHC: 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane) in 1983; lindane has been used in this country since 1991. The total production was around 4 million t for technical HCH from 1952 to 1984, and 11,400 t for lindane between 1991 and 2000. Though the total produced technical HCH was considered to be used in China, only 3,200 t of lindane were used between 1991 and 2000 with the rest for export or on unused stack. Annual usage of these two compounds was located into each province first and then broken for different crops. Inventories of gridded usage of both technical HCH and lindane with 1/6° by 1/4° latitude/longitude resolution have been created by different gridded cropland data sets as surrogate data. The intensive use of technical HCH on croplands was concentrated in the southeastern part of China, but the use of lindane was concentrated in the northern part of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]