Evaluation of Bitterness Intensity of Citrus Products by an Untrained Panel Using Relative-to-Reference Rating

In order to estimate the bitterness intensity of citrus products we applied an adaptative sensory evaluation method, using naringin as the reference for bitterness. Twenty-five untrained subjects participated in this study. Firstly they tasted and positioned 2 naringin references on an unstructured relative-to-reference scaling to define their own bitterness scales. They then evaluated the bitterness intensity of 2 types of bitter orange products (3 distillates and 2 cold-pressed essential oils of bitter orange peels) according to their own perceptions on their own scales. We observed that 2 types of scale use could be distinguished that might be related to subjects’ sensitivity or/and consumption habits to bitterness. As a result, we observed a significant difference in bitterness intensity between the crude cold-pressed essential oil and the debittered one of bitter orange, whereas there was no significant difference between the 3 distillates. This approach makes it possible to take inter-individual differences in subjects’ sensitivity into account. It also provides a way to very simply rate bitterness intensity with subjects who have received no prior training in sensory evaluation.

The Effect of Circuit Training on Resting Heart Rate Variability, Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors and Physical Fitness in Healthy Untrained Adults

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of circuit training (CT) on resting heart rate variability (HRV) and other cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as blood lipids and blood glucose and on fitness components. Twenty-four healthy untrained adults (age 26.5 ± 5.1 years;height 1.67 ± 8.4 m;weight 66.8 ± 15.1 kg;26.3% ± 5.2%;maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) 48.5 ± 10.0 ml.kg-1.min-1) were assigned to either CT (n = 12) involving bodyweight exercises, or control (CON, n = 12) groups. Prior to the start and following the end of the six-week training period, time-, frequency-domain and nonlinear measures of resting HRV, arterial blood pressure, body composition, fasting blood lipids, lipoproteins and glucose, VO2max, upper body muscular endurance (UBME) and abdominal and hip flexor (AHFME), back strength (BS) and handgrip were assessed. None of the resting HRV measures (P > 0.05) were affected by the CT intervention. However, diastolic blood pressure decreased (P = 0.03), lean body weight (P = 0.03) increased, VO2max (P = 0.03), UBME (P = 0.001), AHFME (P = 0.04), and BS (P = 0.03) were significantly higher following CT, whereas the other variables were not influenced by the CT. Six-week of CT involving bodyweight exercises has no significant impact on resting HRV. However, this type of training might decrease the risk for development of CVD by reducing arterial blood pressure and by improving body composition, aerobic capacity, muscular endurance and strength.

Untrained neural network enhances the resolution of structured illumination microscopy under strong background and noise levels

Structured illumination microscopy(SIM)has been widely applied in the superresolution imaging of subcellular dynamics in live cells.Higher spatial resolution is expected for the observation of finer structures.However,further increasing spatial resolution in SIM under the condition of strong background and noise levels remains challenging.Here,we report a method to achieve deep resolution enhancement of SIM by combining an untrained neural network with an alternating direction method of multipliers(ADMM)framework,i.e.,ADMM-DRE-SIM.By exploiting the implicit image priors in the neural network and the Hessian prior in the ADMM framework associated with the optical transfer model of SIM,ADMM-DRE-SIM can further realize the spatial frequency extension without the requirement of training datasets.Moreover,an image degradation model containing the convolution with equivalent point spread function of SIM and additional background map is utilized to suppress the strong background while keeping the structure fidelity.Experimental results by imaging tubulins and actins show that ADMM-DRE-SIM can obtain the resolution enhancement by a factor of∼1.6 compared to conventional SIM,evidencing the promising applications of ADMM-DRE-SIM in superresolution biomedical imaging.

Untrained neural network for linear tomographic absorption spectroscopy

Linear tomographic absorption spectroscopy(LTAS) is a non-destructive diagnostic technique widely employed for gas sensing.The inverse problem of LTAS represents a classic example of an ill-posed problem. Linear iterative algorithms are commonly employed to address such problems, yielding generally poor reconstruction results due to the incapability to incorporate suitable prior conditions within the reconstruction process. Data-driven deep neural networks(DNN) have shown the potential to yield superior reconstruction results;however, they demand a substantial amount of measurement data that is challenging to acquire.To surmount this limitation, we proposed an untrained neural network(UNN) to tackle the inverse problem of LTAS. In conjunction with an early-stopping method based on running variance, UNN achieves improved reconstruction accuracy without supplementary training data. Numerical studies are conducted to explore the optimal network architecture of UNN and to assess the reliability of the early-stopping method. A comparison between UNN and superiorized ART(SUP-ART) substantiates the exceptional performance of UNN.

Vitamin C Supplementation Reduces Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress and Increases Peak Muscular Force

Vitamin C is a popular supplement in exercise and sport for its chemical properties i.e.v antioxidant capabilities. However, no clear role has been established for vitamin C supplementation (VCS) within these areas despite nearly a century’s worth of ongoing research. This study examined peak muscular pushing force (PMF) before and after a VCS intervention, 250 mg every 12 hrs for 28 days, in nine participants whom were naive to VCS and resistance exercise (RE). A dynamometer was used to perform two RE bouts, pre- and post-intervention, that quantified PMF during a state of exercise-induced oxidative stress (EI-OS). Saliva was collected for EIOS analysis from each participant before and after each RE bout;salivary vitamin C (VC) and free salivary malondialdehyde (MDA) were the examined biomarkers. PMF increased significantly post-intervention (405.48 ± 92.75 m·kg·s-2) from baseline (368.31 ± 76.36 m·kg·s-2, p < 0.05). MDA elevated significantly after the pre-intervention RE bout (0.385 ± 0.017 μg/mL) and the post-intervention RE bout (0.373 ± 0.014 μg/mL) compared to the baseline measures (0.373 ± 0.014 μg/mL, 0.359 ± 0.008 μg/mL;p < 0.01);a significant reduction in MDA was observed post-intervention, confirming vitamin C’s ability to reduce oxidative stress (p < 0.05). VC increased post-intervention (1.22 ± 0.73 μg/mL) from baseline (0.47 ± 0.51 μg/mL, p < 0.001). The results from this study suggest VCS is capable of increasing PMF by reducing EIOS in untrained individuals, and can be possibly used for enhancing resistance-exercise performance.

The effects of low-volume combined training on health-related physical fitness outcomes in active young adults: A controlled clinical trial

The effects of combined training(CT)on improving general health are well known,however,few studies have investigated the effects of low-volume CT.So,the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of 6 weeks of lowvolume CT on body composition,handgrip strength(HGS),cardiorespiratory fitness(CRF)and affective response(AR)to exercise.Eighteen healthy,active young adult man(meanSD,[20.061.66]years;[22.232.76]kg/m2)performed either a low-volume CT(EG,n?9),or maintained a normal life(CG,n?9).The CT was composed of three resistance exercises followed by a high intensity-interval training(HIIT)on cycle ergometer performed twice a week.The measures of the body composition,HGS,maximal oxygen consumption(V_O2max)and AR to exercise were taken at baseline and after training for analysis.Furthermore,an ANOVA test of repeated measures and t-test paired samples were used with a p0.05.The results showed that EG improved HGS(pre:[45.6711.84]kg vs.post:[52.4411.90]kg,p<0.01)and V_O2max(pre:[41.365.16]ml⋅kg-1⋅min-1 vs.post:[44.075.98]ml⋅kg-1⋅min-1,p<0.01).Although,for all measures the body composition had not significant differences between weeks(p>0.05),nevertheless the feeling scale was positive in all weeks and without significant differences between them(p>0.05).Lastly,for active young adults,the low-volume CT improved HGS,CRF and had a positive outcome in AR,with less volume and time spent than traditional exercise recommendations.