Nocturnal blood pressure dipping is crucial for cardiovascular health, but the effect of exercise on this phenomenon is not well understood. This study aims to investigate how a single session of aerobic exercise impacts nocturnal blood pressure dipping in individuals with hypertension who are on medication. Twenty hypertensive adults (67 ± 16 years) participated in a randomised, parallel-group clinical trial. They were randomly assigned to either an exercise or control group. Resting blood pressure was measured after a 20-minute period of comfortable seating in a calm environment. The exercise group performed 40 min of treadmill running/walking at an intensity of 60-70% of their reserve heart rate. The control group remained seated for an equivalent period with reading allowed. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was used to measure blood pressure over 24 h. Nocturnal dip was calculated by comparing the mean wakefulness and sleep blood pressure values. No significant differences were observed between the exercise and control groups in systolic and diastolic blood pressure values at rest, during wakefulness, sleep, or over 24 h. The absolute nocturnal dip also showed no significant differences between the groups for systolic blood pressure (MD = 3.00 [95% CI: −4.77 to 10.77] p = 0.428) or diastolic blood pressure (MD = 4.60 [95% CI: −2.81 to 12.00] p = 0.208). Similarly, the relative nocturnal dip (percentage) did not differ significantly for systolic blood pressure (MD = 0.029 [95% CI: −0.039 to 0.837] p = 0.465) or diastolic blood pressure (MD = 0.047 [95% CI: −0.036 to 0.132] p = 0.250). A single session of aerobic exercise does not impact the nocturnal dip in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in medication-controlled hypertensive individuals.
A transient 2D kinetic-heat transfer model incorporating primary and secondary reactions is proposed to investigate the effect of reactor temperature and particle length/diameter ( L/D) ratio on the pyrolysis behavior and validate it with the experimental results. The RMS error between the experimental and the model predictions are found to be 0.36–1.89% for 2D model and 13.00–13.11% for 1D model at reactor temperatures 723–798 K and L/D of 1.0. This uncderscores the necessity for the use of the 2D model in place of the 1D model, particularly at the lower L/D ratio. Temporal propagation of temperature and mass fractional residue profiles at different locations of the pyrolyzing casuarina ( Casuarina equisetifolia ) biomass particle is analyzed. At a high L/D (~6), two symmetric hot spots are found to appear at two axial end faces, which gradually merge to form a dumbbell-shaped hot spot near the central core. For a low L/D (~1), a symmetrical, concentric, elliptical, shell-shaped hot spot appears at a short distance from the outer surface, which quickly propagates toward the center, eventually merging into a sphere at the particle center. It is estimated that for a 0.0254 m diameter particle at the reactor temperature of 673 K, the optimal residence time is 10 min for L/D = 1, while it is 17 min for L/D = 2.
The attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 and its hyper-visual aftermath has led to a new paradigm in Euro-American collective consciousness. This new paradigm is marked by an almost obsessive reliance on the image of the moment and the image as the ultimate source of or rather the absence of meaning. Kamila Shamsie’s fiction Burnt Shadows exemplifies a point of departure from what has become an almost salient feature of Euro-American narrative on violence, its representation, and historicity. This paper explores how Shamsie forges an alternate interpretative apparatus that resolutely refuses to give in to the singularity of a moment (and its image) as a defining trope of terror and its representation. Instead, Shamsie’s novel weaves a complex pattern of other stories gleaned from across time and from the frontier spaces of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan that have remained largely unrecognized in the Euro-American cultural landscape. Emphasizing the relevance of the vast topography of catastrophe and continual human wreckage woven in Burnt Shadows this paper considers Shamsie’s approach as a necessary and timely intervention that reformulates violence and its historicity beyond the delimiting scope of a singular, overarching trope.
The olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae (Diptera: Tephritidae) is a main pest of olives, we monitored its dynamics and reproduction from October 2021 to January 2024 using four sampling techniques and control strategies, to prevent economic losses and preserve the olive crop in Biskra region. Mass trapping was the most effective in reducing adult olive fly populations. Pheromone traps, yellow sticky traps, and ammonia phosphate traps were less effective. We recommend the application of integrated management strategies to achieve the best results in controlling olive fruit fly dynamics.
This study assesses the whitefly Bemisia tabaci population and its natural enemies associated with irrigated okra cultivation in an arid environment at Oued M’lili in Biskra (Algeria). Bemisia tabaci is a sap-sucking insect. Monitoring insect population dynamics revealed ten species, belonging to four distinct families of predatory insects: the Coccinellidae represented by four species of ladybirds; the Chrysopidae family which is particularly defined by the green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea ; the Hymenoptera family includes the Aphelinidae, with the main genus Eretmocerus ; and Neuroptera, represented by two other genera Aphytis and Encarsia .
Stingless bees live in populous colonies that vary in size from a few hundred individuals to tens of thousands, although information on actual colony size is limited. The objectives of this study were to determine the colony size of five Amazonian stingless bee species ( Melipona flavolineata , Melipona fasciculata , Scaptotrigona aff. postica , Frieseomelitta longipes , and Plebeia minima ), and to identify biological parameters that covary with colony size. The number of brood cells, adult bees, and food stocks were counted under laboratory conditions, alongside field assessments of egg-laying rate and external activity of adult workers. To identify covariates of colony size, the number of adult bees was regressed against the number of brood cells, egg-laying rate, external activity of adult workers, and food stocks, and the best candidate models were ranked using the Akaike Information Criterion. Mean (±s.d.) adult populations were: in M. flavolineata , 1046 ± 185; in M. fasciculata , 593 ± 300; in S. aff. postica , 7404 ± 1391; in F. longipes , 2425 ± 1000 and in P. minima , 405 ± 254. Thus, we showed that the external activity is the biological parameter, after the number of brood cells, that presents the best relationship with the number of adult bees, which can be easily evaluated in the field. Determining colony sizes using easily measurable biological parameters are important steps to understanding stingless bee’s life histories, ecology, and evolution, and to ease their keeping and utilization for pollination.
ABSTRACT The production of ruminants in pastures depends on plants that are well adapted to the conditions of the cultivation area. In regions with low rainfall and high temperature, desirable traits include drought tolerance, high biomass production, and good nutritional value. The objective was to evaluate the yield, structure, and nutritional value of Rhodes grass ( Chloris gayana Kunth) genotypes in the northern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The experiment followed a randomized block design with four genotypes (Callide, Mariner, KG2, and Sabre) and six replications. Callide (6169.7 kg/ha), Mariner (6096.2 kg/ha), and Sabre (5575.1 kg/ha) exhibited higher leaf dry mass compared to KG2 (4207.3 kg/ha). Crude protein content did not differ among genotypes, averaging 84.9 g/kg in the rainy season and 49.1 g/kg in the dry season. Neutral detergent fiber levels were similar across genotypes, with mean values of 648.3 g/kg and 654.9 g/kg in the rainy and dry seasons. In vitro dry matter digestibility of KG2 (606.7 g/kg) was lower than that of Sabre (654.9 g/kg) and Callide (649.9 g/kg) during the rainy season. Based on higher leaf mass production and superior digestibility, Callide, Mariner, and Sabre are the most suitable genotypes for pasture establishment in the region.
This article introduces the World Age Representation in Cabinet (WARC) dataset, the first comprehensive dataset on age representation in cabinet. It provides information on the age of ministers, the share of young cabinet members aged 35 years or under and 40 years or under, as well as data for other age groups (i.e., 41 years to 60, and 61 years and over). In addition, it compares youth's presence in cabinet with youth's presence in the population, as well as maps young adults’ presence in different types of portfolios (i.e., high prestige, middle prestige, and low prestige portfolios). In total, the WARC dataset presents age data for more than 1500 cabinets, in more than 200 countries, and spans from years 1952–2024. It is freely available online and the data can be easily merged with existing datasets.