Synopsis A computer-based technique has been developed for the determination of specific gravity distribution profiles. It has been designed to overcome many of the practical and technical problems that are often encountered in conventional methods of determining specific gravity profiles, such as heavy-liquid analysis. The new technique relies on a minimum of easily obtainable input data (assa...

Normative values and confidence intervals for the hydration indices of women do not exist. Also, few publications have precisely described the fluid types and volumes that women consume. This investigation computed seven numerical reference categories for widely used hydration biomarkers (eg, serum and urine osmolality) and the dietary fluid preferences of self-reported healthy, active women. P...

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to household impoverishment in Italy. Most of works dealing with this issue are based on summary statistics, which do not capture the whole information contained in the income distribution. The paper applies a non-parametric tool, the “relative distribution”, to Italian household income data during 2002-2004. The relative density function is a...

BACKGROUND This study compares the efficiency of identifying the plants in an area of semi-arid Northeast Brazil by methods that a) access the local knowledge used in ethnobotanical studies using semi-structured interviews conducted within the entire community, an inventory interview conducted with two participants using the previously collected vegetation inventory, and a participatory worksho...

A preliminary study of the mechanical properties of auxetic cellular material consisting of re-entrant hexagonal honeycombs is presented. For different scales of the honeycombs, the finite element method (FEM) and experimental models are used to perform a parametric analysis on the effects of the Poisson's ratio (cell angle) and the relative density (cell thickness) of honeycombs on bearing cap...

This study aimed to evaluate and compare the hydration states prior to different sporting events (training sessions, friendly and official matches) in elite female soccer players and relate that to the importance that the player attached to the hydration state as a determinant of sports performance. The hydration state of 17 female elite soccer players (age: 21.5 ± 3 years; body mass: 62 ± 6 kg...

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of exercise on urine sediment in adolescent soccer players. In 25 15-year-old (range 14.4-15.8 yrs) athletes, urinary protein, osmolality and cytology were analyzed by flow cytometry and automated dipstick analysis before (T(0)), during (T(1)), and after a match (T(2)). All athletes had normal urine analysis and blood pressure at rest, tested before the st...

"In a recent study of male and female ultra-marathoners in a 161-km ultra-marathon, the prevalence of exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH) was higher than reported for marathoners. Regarding triathletes, the prevalence of EAH has been investigated in Ironman triathletes, but not in Triple Iron ultra-triathletes. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of EAH in male ultra-tri...

BACKGROUND Experimental studies suggest that mineral waters with high concentrations of calcium and bicarbonate can impact acid-base balance. The purpose of this study was to test the effect on acid-base balance and specific urine gravity, of a bicarbonate calcic mineral water (Acqua Lete®) compared to a minimally mineralized water. METHODS 88 amateur male athletes underwent two experimental ...