On-Site Identification of Pottery with pXRF: An Example of European and Chinese Red Stonewares

The invention of European hard porcelain, which aims at imitating kaolin-containing white paste of Chinese porcelain, had been started by the development of the technology of “red porcelain”, so-called “Jaspisporzellan” by Johann Friedrich Böttger in the early-eighteenth century at Meissen (Saxony). The visual features of the earlier Böttger red stoneware were rather similar to the one produced in Yixing, China. The prominence of Böttger productions allowed the manufacturing to be expanded across Europe to different countries (Holland, England, France, etc.). In this study, the chemical characteristics of nine European unglazed objects produced in England, France, Russia, and Holland from the 17th to 19th century and 10 Chinese (unglazed or enameled) red stoneware have been studied by using an on-site characterization technique pXRF. The results were compared with the previous studies carried out on 25 unglazed, polished, and non-polished Böttger artefacts. This non-invasive, speedy technique allows a methodology to be created for distinguishing the technological differences related to the provenance and authenticity of the artefacts. The elemental measurements explicitly show the significant discrepancy of Dutch objects from the main group, which involves other European and Chinese ones. Both a Lambertus van Eenhoorn (Delft) statue and an Ary de Milde (Delft) teapot are distinguishable from other European red stoneware by the high content of iron and calcium and high content of titanium and potassium, respectively, found in their body compositions. An overall comparison was made between the measurements made at different times in order to evaluate the error range arising from the measurement procedure (e.g., energy resolution of other series of the same instrument model).

Association Between Overweight Sarcopenic Population and Acute Vertebral Osteoporotic Compression Fractures in Females: Retrospective, Cross-Sectional Study

Background: This study aimed to determine whether the prevalence of acute vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures (VOCF) in the elderly population is related to the distribution of muscles and fat in the human body.Methods: Data of acute VOCF and non-VOCF patients presenting at our institution between January 2018 and May 2020 were analyzed. Patients aged 65 years and older, who underwent body composition test and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the same time were enrolled. After applying exclusion criteria, patients were divided into four groups: normal, sarcopenia without obesity, obesity without sarcopenia, and sarcopenic obesity. Body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 was considered obesity, and sarcopenia was defined as skeletal muscle index lower than 7.0 kg/m2 in males and 5.4 kg/m2 in females. The VOCF rate was analyzed between the groups.Discussion: A total of 461 patients were included, of whom 103 were males. Among them, 163 (35.36%) had normal body composition, 151 (32.75%) had sarcopenia without obesity, 110 (23.86%) had obesity without sarcopenia, and 37 (8.03%) had sarcopenic obesity. The sarcopenic obesity group had the highest rate of acute VOCF (37.8%), which was statistically significant. Specifically, females with sarcopenic obesity and sarcopenia without obesity had significantly higher acute VOCF rates compared to those with normal body compositions. Multivariate analysis showed that sarcopenic obesity was significantly associated with acute VOCF rate overall, as well as in females.Conclusion: Sarcopenic obesity is strongly associated with acute VOCF, especially in females, and it could be an essential criterion for the prevention of acute VOCF.

Association of Body Compositions and Bone Mineral Density in Chinese Children and Adolescents: Compositional Data Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between body compositions and bone mineral density (BMD) and the effect of composition substitution among Chinese children and adolescents without the influence of multicollinearity. A dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan was used to determine the amount of truncal fat (TF), nontruncal fat (NTF), fat-free mass (FFM), and BMD. The compositional data analysis and the compositional proportional substitution analysis were conducted to determine the effect of each part of body compositions on BMD and its substitution effects. Four hundred sixty-six (466) (boys: 51.9%) participants completed this cross-sectional study. For girls, in the overweight group, the relationship between TF and the BMD was positive ( β = 2.943 e − 01 , p = 0.006 ) while the NTF showed the opposite trend ( β = − 2.358 e − 01 , p = 0.009 ). When 4% NTF or FFM was substituted by TF, the BMD increased by about 0.1 and 0.05 units ( p < 0.05 ), respectively. For boys, the association between FFM and BMD was statistically positive ( β = 4.091 e − 02 , p = 0.0001 ). There was a positive correlation between TF and BMD ( β = 7.963 e − 02 , p = 0.036 ). But with the increase of BMI, this correlation shifted in the opposite direction. In conclusion, compared to TF and NTF, FFM had a better protective effect on BMD, especially for boys. The risk of NTF accumulation on BMD was greater than that of TF accumulation. Compared with girls, boys were more sensitive to the amount of TF.

The Relationship Between Body Compositions of Taekwondo Practitioners Aged 14-16 and Their Aerobic Endurance

Background: Taekwondo (TKD) is a combat sport practiced by millions of children, young people and adults around the world.1 It is an Olympic sports branch with many complex features and constant interaction between two opponents in the competitions, where attack-contact techniques are applied quickly, attacking techniques are strong2,3 but also have good flexibility. Aim: This study has been carried out to identify the relationship between body composition of taekwondo practitioners aged 14-16 who regularly practice taekwondo, and their aerobic endurance. Methods: A total of 33 registered taekwondo practitioners (17 male, 16 female) participated to this study on a voluntary basis. The age, height, weight, and body mass index of all the athletes who took part in the study are 14.96±0.80 years, 162.59±11.59 cm, 50.97±7.51 kg and 19.14±2.39 kg/m² respectively. The group who participated to the study practice taekwondo two days a week, for 2 hours each, for a period of 1.5 years. The aerobic endurance of taekwondo athletes was measured by 20-meter-long Shuttle Run Test. In order to measure the body composition values of the athletes, measurements of skinfold thickness (biceps, triceps, subscapula, subrailiac) were carried out. In calculating the body density, the formula of Durning-Womersley was used; and in calculating the body fat percentage, the formula of Siri was employed. Data was evaluated by SPSS 22.0. The normality distribution of the data obtained at the end of the study was evaluated by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and it was observed that the data was in line with normal distribution. Following the normalcy assessment, the relationship between body compositions and aerobic endurances was determined by Pearson Correlation analysis. Results: It is possible to say that the body composition values of taekwondo practitioners aged 14-16 have positive and negative impact on their aerobic endurance. It is observed that as the values 20-meter Shuttle Run test increases, fat percentage of athletes decreases. Conclusion: It is concluded that the findings obtained from the research results support the literature, and that body composition and aerobic capacity are important as performance criteria in many studies. It is thought that it may be beneficial for the athletes to perform aerobic endurance exercises during the annual training periods to perform the necessary practices to optimize their body composition and improve their aerobic capacity. Keywords: Taekwondo, Body Composition, Aerobic Endurance

The Relationship of Elite Curling Athletes' Static and Dynamic Balance Levels and Shooting Performances

Objective: To examine the relationship between static and dynamic balance and the shooting performance of curling athletes who continue their sports life actively at the elite level. Materials and Methods: A total of 15 athletes in the curling A national women's and men's teams participated in the research. The body compositions of the subjects were measured using the BODPOD device. SPORKAT 300 device was used to determine the static and dynamic balance levels. Static and Dynamic balance measurements were performed on both feet, right feet and left feet. In order to evaluate the shooting performance of the subjects, the curling shooting performance evaluation scale developed by Bedir and Erhan was used. SPSS v25 was used in the analysis of the data obtained from the measurements. The significance level was accepted as 0.05 in all statistical evaluations. Results: When the data obtained from the subjects were examined, it was determined that there was a significant relationship between both static and dynamic balance and shooting performance. In addition, it was determined that there were significant relationships between the subjects' body compositions, static/dynamic balance levels and shooting performances. Conclusion: It was determined that there is a significant relationship between static and dynamic balance and shooting performance. Significant relationships were determined between body composition and static and dynamic balance. Keywords: Curling, Shooting Performance, Balance, Body Composition

Automated Localization of Focal Ventricular Tachycardia From Simulated Implanted Device Electrograms: A Combined Physics–AI Approach

Background: Focal ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a life-threating arrhythmia, responsible for high morbidity rates and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Radiofrequency ablation is the only curative therapy against incessant VT; however, its success is dependent on accurate localization of its source, which is highly invasive and time-consuming.Objective: The goal of our study is, as a proof of concept, to demonstrate the possibility of utilizing electrogram (EGM) recordings from cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). To achieve this, we utilize fast and accurate whole torso electrophysiological (EP) simulations in conjunction with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to automate the localization of focal VTs using simulated EGMs.Materials and Methods: A highly detailed 3D torso model was used to simulate ∼4000 focal VTs, evenly distributed across the left ventricle (LV), utilizing a rapid reaction-eikonal environment. Solutions were subsequently combined with lead field computations on the torso to derive accurate electrocardiograms (ECGs) and EGM traces, which were used as inputs to CNNs to localize focal sources. We compared the localization performance of a previously developed CNN architecture (Cartesian probability-based) with our novel CNN algorithm utilizing universal ventricular coordinates (UVCs).Results: Implanted device EGMs successfully localized VT sources with localization error (8.74 mm) comparable to ECG-based localization (6.69 mm). Our novel UVC CNN architecture outperformed the existing Cartesian probability-based algorithm (errors = 4.06 mm and 8.07 mm for ECGs and EGMs, respectively). Overall, localization was relatively insensitive to noise and changes in body compositions; however, displacements in ECG electrodes and CIED leads caused performance to decrease (errors 16–25 mm).Conclusion: EGM recordings from implanted devices may be used to successfully, and robustly, localize focal VT sources, and aid ablation planning.

The Effects of the COVID-19 Environments on Changes in Body Composition in Japanese Elite Fencing Athlete

The Japanese government declared a state of emergency from 7 April to 25 May to limit people’s movement due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This pandemic negatively affects athletes’ body composition due to inactivity. Therefore, we compared the body composition data (i.e., fat-free mass (FFM) and fat mass (FM)), of 43 Japanese elite fencers (22 men, 21 women), in September 2019 for baseline, and of 21 (12 men, 9 women) who completed the following measurements in June 2020 (POST; immediately after rescinding the emergency state) and September 2020 (POST-4M; 4-months after rescinding the emergency state). Results at baseline indicate no significant differences in body compositions among fencing disciplines. We also confirmed no significant changes in body mass during the 1-year investigation period in either sex. There were no time-course changes in men’s FFM and FM; however, time-course changes in women’s FM were observed. Compared to the baseline, FM values were significantly higher at POST and then returned to baseline levels at POST-4M in women. In conclusion, the 2-month stay-at-home period due to COVID-19 negatively affected women’s FM changes, but not their FFM or men’s FM.