A method to determine the local surface profile from reconstructed exit waves.

Reconstructed exit waves are useful to quantify unknown structure parameters such as the position and composition of the atom columns at atomic scale. Existing techniques provide a complex wave in a flat plane which is close to the plane where the electrons leave the atom columns. However, due to local deviation in the flatness of the exit surface, there will be an offset between the plane of reconstruction and the actual exit of a specific atom column.

Socio-demographic, psychosocial and home-environmental attributes associated with adults' domestic screen time.

Background: Sedentary behaviors (involving prolonged sitting time) are associated with deleterious health consequences, independent of (lack of) physical activity. To inform interventions, correlates of prevalent sedentary behaviors need to be identified. We examined associations of socio-demographic, home-environmental and psychosocial factors with adults' TV viewing time and leisure-time Internet use; and whether psychosocial and environmental correlates differed according to gender, age and educational attainment.

Applying an information transmission approach to extract valence electron information from reconstructed exit waves.

The knowledge of the valence electron distribution is essential for understanding the properties of materials. However this information is difficult to obtain from HREM images because it is easily obscured by the large scattering contribution of core electrons and by the strong dynamical scattering process. In order to develop a sensitive method to extract the information of valence electrons, we have used an information transmission approach to describe the electron interaction with the object.

Persistent misconceptions about incoherence in electron microscopy.

Incoherence in electron microscopic imaging occurs when during the observation the microscope and the object are subject to fluctuations. In order to speed up the computer simulation of the images, approximations are used that are considered as valid. In this paper we will question the validity of these approximations and show that in specific cases they can lead to erroneous results.

Relationships between neighborhood walkability and adults' physical activity: How important is residential self-selection?

The study's aims were to examine whether residential self-selection differed according to socio-demographic characteristics and objectively assessed neighborhood walkability; and, whether objectively assessed walkability was a significant correlate of physical activity (PA) beyond residential self-selection. In total, 412 adults (aged 20-65 years) completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, the long IPAQ, a neighborhood selection questionnaire and wore an accelerometer for seven days. Walkability characteristics were an important reason for selecting the current neighborhood and were more important for women, older and less-educated adults, but not for high-walkable neighborhood residents.

Do adults like living in high-walkable neighborhoods? Associations of walkability parameters with neighborhood satisfaction and possible mediators.

The aims were to examine the associations between objective walkability characteristics and neighborhood satisfaction in adults, and the possible mediating effects of environmental perceptions and physical activity on these associations. In total, 1391 adults completed a questionnaire on neighborhood satisfaction, physical activity, socio-demographics and environmental perceptions. Walkability characteristics were measured objectively using Geographic Information System databases.

Recovered insulin response by 2 weeks of leptin administration in high-fat fed rats is associated with restored AS160 activation and decreased reactive lipid accumulation.

Leptin is an adipokine that increases fatty acid (FA) oxidation, decreases intramuscular lipid stores, and improves insulin response in skeletal muscle. In an attempt to elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which these metabolic changes occur, we administered leptin (Lep) or saline (Sal) by miniosmotic pumps to rats during the final 2 wk of a 6-wk low-fat (LF) or high-fat (HF) diet. Insulin-stimulated glucose transport was impaired by the HF diet (HF-Sal) but was restored with leptin administration (HF-Lep).

A single prior bout of exercise protects against palmitate-induced insulin resistance despite an increase in total ceramide content.

Ceramide accumulation has been implicated in the impairment of insulin-stimulated glucose transport in skeletal muscle following saturated fatty acid (FA) exposure. Importantly, a single bout of exercise can protect against acute lipid-induced insulin resistance. The mechanism by which exercise protects against lipid-induced insulin resistance is not completely known but may occur through a redirection of FA toward triacylglycerol (TAG) and away from ceramide and diacylglycerol (DAG).

SLIDER: a generic metaheuristic for the discovery of correlated motifs in protein-protein interaction networks.

Correlated motif mining (cmm) is the problem of finding overrepresented pairs of patterns, called motifs, in sequences of interacting proteins. Algorithmic solutions for cmm thereby provide a computational method for predicting binding sites for protein interaction. In this paper, we adopt a motif-driven approach where the support of candidate motif pairs is evaluated in the network.

Urban-rural differences in physical activity in Belgian adults and the importance of psychosocial factors.

Recent research in urban planning and public health has drawn attention to the associations between urban form and physical activity in adults. Because little is known on the urban-rural differences in physical activity, the main aims of the present study were to examine differences in physical activity between urban and rural adults and to investigate the moderating effects of the physical environment on the relationship between psychosocial factors and physical activity. In Flanders, Belgium, five rural and five urban neighborhoods were selected.

Relationship between the physical environment and physical activity in older adults: a systematic review.

Previous reviews on children, adolescents and adults have reported consistent relationships between several physical environmental characteristics and physical activity (PA). This systematic review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature concerning the relationship between the physical environment and PA in older adults. A systematic literature search resulted in the inclusion of 31 articles.

Throughput maximization of particle radius measurements through balancing size versus current of the electron probe.

In this paper we investigate which probe size maximizes the throughput when measuring the radius of nanoparticles in high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF STEM). The size and the corresponding current of the electron probe determine the precision of the estimate of a particle's radius. Maximizing throughput means that a maximum number of particles should be imaged within a given time frame, so that a prespecified precision is attained.

Criterion distances and correlates of active transportation to school in Belgian older adolescents.

Background: Since physical activity levels in older adolescents have the potential to be increased by stimulating active transportation to school (ATS), the most important correlates of ATS should be determined before developing interventions, especially in those adolescents for whom the distance to school is feasible for active commuting. The main aims of this study were to determine criterion distances for ATS in Belgian older adolescents, to examine multidimensional correlates of ATS in adolescents living within a feasible distance from school and to investigate the associations of ATS with total physical activity and with other physical activities besides ATS.

Methods: In total, 1281 older adolescents (17-18 years) from 20 general secondary schools in East- and West-Flanders completed a questionnaire on physical activity behaviors, demographic factors and psychosocial and physical environmental correlates of physical activity.

Restoration of skeletal muscle leptin response does not precede the exercise-induced recovery of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in high-fat-fed rats.

Leptin administration increases fatty acid (FA) oxidation rates and decreases lipid storage in oxidative skeletal muscle, thereby improving insulin response. We have previously shown high-fat (HF) diets to rapidly induce skeletal muscle leptin resistance, prior to the disruption of normal muscle FA metabolism (increase in FA transport; accumulation of triacylglycerol, diacylglycerol, ceramide) that occurs in advance of impaired insulin signaling and glucose transport. All of this occurs within a 4-wk period.

Environmental and psychosocial correlates of accelerometer-assessed and self-reported physical activity in Belgian adults.

Background: Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity (PA) on overall health, the majority of the adult population does not engage in sufficient PA. To develop effective interventions to increase PA, it is necessary to understand the most important PA correlates and to investigate whether correlates are similar in different population subgroups.

Purpose: This study examined associations between physical environmental perceptions and self-reported and objectively assessed PA in Belgian adults.

Physical environmental correlates of self-reported and objectively assessed physical activity in Belgian type 2 diabetes patients.

Despite the well-known beneficial effects of physical activity (PA) on the long-term outcomes of type 2 diabetes patients, the majority of this patient group remains inactive. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the most important PA determinants in type 2 diabetes patients in order to develop efficacious interventions to increase PA participation. The main aim of this study was to investigate the associations of physical environmental factors with objectively assessed and self-reported PA in type 2 diabetes patients.

Linear versus non-linear structural information limit in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

A widely used performance criterion in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is the information limit. It corresponds to the inverse of the maximum spatial object frequency that is linearly transmitted with sufficient intensity from the exit plane of the object to the image plane and is limited due to partial temporal coherence. In practice, the information limit is often measured from a diffractogram or from Young's fringes assuming a weak phase object scattering beyond the inverse of the information limit.

Effect of 28 days of creatine ingestion on muscle metabolism and performance of a simulated cycling road race.

Purpose: The effects of creatine supplementation on muscle metabolism and exercise performance during a simulated endurance road race was investigated.

Methods: Twelve adult male (27.3 +/- 1.

Skeletal muscle inflammation is not responsible for the rapid impairment in adiponectin response with high-fat feeding in rats.

Adiponectin (Ad) is an insulin-sensitizing adipokine known to stimulate fatty acid (FA) oxidation in skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle can become resistant to Ad very rapidly, after only 3 days of high saturated fat feeding in rats. Whether the same occurs following a high polyunsaturated fat diet is unknown.

Neighborhood walkability and sedentary time in Belgian adults.

Background: Sedentary behavior (too much sitting) has deleterious health consequences that are distinct from lack of physical activity (too little exercise).

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the associations of neighborhood walkability and sociodemographic factors with adults' self-reported and objectively assessed sedentary time.

Methods: This Belgian cross-sectional study was conducted between May 2007 and September 2008.

Physical activity as a mediator of the associations between neighborhood walkability and adiposity in Belgian adults.

This study examined whether physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior mediated the relationship of neighborhood walkability with two measures of adiposity: body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHTR). Twenty-four neighborhoods in Ghent, Belgium were selected, stratified by objectively assessed walkability and by socio-economic status. Participants (1200 adults aged 20-65 years) completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and wore an accelerometer for 7 days.

Oral administration of a PPAR-delta agonist to rodents worsens, not improves, maximal insulin-stimulated glucose transport in skeletal muscle of different fibers.

Agonists targeting the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)-delta may be potential therapeutic agents for insulin-resistant related conditions, as they may be able to stimulate fatty acid (FA) oxidation and attenuate the accumulation of harmful lipid species in skeletal muscle. Several reports have demonstrated that PPAR-delta agonists improve whole body insulin sensitivity. However, whether these agonists exert their direct effects on glucose and FA metabolism in skeletal muscle, and specifically with different fiber types, is unknown.

The interaction between adipokines, diet and exercise on muscle insulin sensitivity.

Purpose Of Review: High-fat diets lead to obesity and increase the risk of developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle act as endocrine organs, and produce various cytokines that can potentially alter peripheral insulin sensitivity. The purpose of the present review is to briefly summarize the effects of major cytokines (leptin, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-6) on muscle metabolism and insulin response, with a focus on the effects of diet and exercise.

Machine learning study of several classifiers trained with texture analysis features to differentiate benign from malignant soft-tissue tumors in T1-MRI images.

Purpose: To study, from a machine learning perspective, the performance of several machine learning classifiers that use texture analysis features extracted from soft-tissue tumors in nonenhanced T1-MRI images to discriminate between malignant and benign tumors.

Materials And Methods: Texture analysis features were extracted from the tumor regions from T1-MRI images of clinically proven cases of 49 malignant and 86 benign soft-tissue tumors. Three conventional machine learning classifiers were trained and tested.

Skeletal muscle lipogenic protein expression is not different between lean and obese individuals: a potential factor in ceramide accumulation.

Context: Skeletal muscle lipid content is increased in obesity. Recent evidence suggests that fatty acid (FA) storage as triacylglycerol (TAG) represents a metabolically safe pool compared to the more bioactive diacylglycerol (DAG) and ceramide.

Objective/design: The purpose of this study was to compare the expression of lipogenic proteins and ceramide and DAG content in skeletal muscle of lean and obese humans.