Multifractal analysis application to the study of fat and its infiltration in Iberian ham: Influence of racial and feeding factors and type of slicing.

This paper explores the multifractal features of different commercial designations of Iberian ham (acorn 100% Iberian ham, acorn Iberian ham, feed/pasture Iberian ham and feed Iberian ham). This study has been done by taking as input the fatty infiltration patterns obtained from digital image analysis of ham cuts comparing mechanic and manual slicing. The yielded results show the multifractal nature of fatty connective tissue in Iberian ham, only when knife cutting is applied, confirming the differences between the designations according to their genetics and feeding. Thus, the multifractal parameters presented in this work could be considered as additional information for checking Iberian ham quality by using non-destructive methods based on the combination of image analysis and predictive techniques. Meat industry can take advantage of these methods to evaluate meat products, especially when fat-connective tissue with complex pattern distribution is involved.

Evaluation of the temporal scaling variability in forecasting ground-level ozone concentrations obtained from multiple linear regressions.

Ozone is a highly unpredictable pollutant which severely affects living conditions in urban and surrounding areas in the Mediterranean basin. This secondary pollutant periodically reaches extremely high concentrations, damaging human health. Multiple linear regression has been widely used in previous works due to the fact that it is a simple and versatile method for forecasting ozone concentrations. However, these models usually prove their validity using fulfillment of statistical constraints, ignoring other intrinsic characteristics existing in the time series, such as the temporal scaling behavior and the data distribution over different time scales. In previous works, it has been demonstrated that observed ozone time series are of a multifractal nature, meaning that the data distribution can be described by using the multifractal spectrum. This work focuses on the capacity of a forecasting model to reproduce the scaling features existing in an observed time series when several chemical and meteorological explanatory variables are introduced following the stepwise procedure. A comparison between the observed spectrum and the simulated ones for each step is used to check which explanatory variables better reproduce the multifractal nature in real ozone time series. It has been confirmed that a model with few explanatory variables allows reproducing the multifractal nature in the simulated time series with an acceptable accuracy without compromising the values of the coefficient of determination and root-mean-squared error, which were used as performance indicators.

Multifractal analysis application to the characterization of fatty infiltration in Iberian and White pork sirloins.

This paper applies the multifractal analysis based on the sandbox method to describe the distribution of fatty infiltration in Iberian and White pork meat with the aim of characterization and classification. This work was carried out by making photographs of sirloin cuts of both breeds and then treated with image analysis software. The obtained image data were stored in text format and constituted the input for multifractal analysis. The results obtained show that pork sirloin connective fatty tissue exhibits a multifractal type of scaling. Significant correlations were found between some of the parameters governing the multifractal behavior and fat percentage, especially in the case of Iberian sirloin. The differences found for the relationships between the generalized fractal dimensions and fat percentage provide information for the categorization of the studied meat pieces.

Description of the seasonal pattern in ozone concentration time series by using the strange attractor multifractal formalism.

Ozone is a secondary pollutant that, at high concentrations in urban environment, affects human health. Thus, suitable knowledge of ozone dynamics is essential for avoiding undesirable effects on the population. Ten-minute ozone concentration time series recorded at Córdoba (southern Spain) in 2007, for January, April, July and October, have been analysed by using the strange attractor multifractal formalism with the aim of describing the seasonal pattern of this pollutant. The multifractal nature of ozone concentration was detected in a study of the mass exponent functions for autumn-winter and spring-summer seasons. Multifractal spectra showed a greater heterogeneity in the low values of the time series. The presence of rare values in ozone data sets was also investigated, showing that the multifractal approach provided considerable detailed information on the time series structure that completes the statistical descriptive analysis.

[Interactional therapy program for mothers with postpartum mental disorders. First results of a pilot project]. / Interaktionales Therapieprogramm für Mütter mit postpartalen psychischen Störungen. Erste Ergebnisse eines Pilotprojektes.

BACKGROUND: The period around delivery frequently causes psychiatric diseases that may disturb maternal competence and influence bonding behaviour with the child. Until now only a few possibilities have existed for inpatient treatment and therapy for these problems. The therapy program developed in Wiesloch, Germany, is especially well suited to such patients. METHODS: Fifty-three mothers with postpartum disorders (33 depressive, 20 psychotic) were examined before and after therapy. Psychopathologic severity, psychosocial level of functioning, and parameters of the mother-child interaction were assessed and compared. RESULTS: Overall the results showed clear improvements in the assessed parameters at the end of treatment for both psychotic mothers and those with affective disorders. CONCLUSION: The interactional treatment program for postpartum mental disorders leads to a significant reduction in psychic/psychiatric severity and the associated psychosocial impairment and disturbed mother-child interaction. Considerations of the effects of therapy were not possible due to the study design.

Maternal bond and mother-child interaction in severe postpartum psychiatric disorders: is there a link?

Mothers in the puerperium are vulnerable to a wide spectrum of postpartum psychiatric disorders. One of the central psychological processes of the puerperium is the development of an emotional relationship with the baby. The bond to the infant as well as the interaction with the baby are two aspects of the mother-infant relationship that can be disturbed by mothers with postpartum psychiatric disorders. Dysfunctional maternal cognitions may also influence the development of an emotional bonding and the establishment of a positive interaction with the child. The aim of this study is to investigate differences in the self-perceived experience of bonding and the observed mother-child interaction of severely ill postpartum depressive and psychotic mothers. In addition the association between subjective experience of bonding and objective measurement of mother-child interaction will be described. Results show that depressive mothers perceived their bonding to the baby more negatively than psychotic mothers. No differences could be found in the objective interactional behaviour of the mothers in both groups, with the exception that the infants of psychotic mothers showed more eye contact avoidance towards their mothers. The subjective experience of motherhood clearly influences the maternal interactional behaviour with depressive mothers as well as with psychotic mothers.

Ordered bundles of infrared-transmitting AgClBr fibers: optical characterization of individual fibers.

Silver halide (AgCl(x) Br(1-x)) crystals were extruded to form polycrystalline fibers that are highly transparent in the spectral range 3-30 mum. Ordered bundles consisting of as many as 9000 fibers were fabricated by multiple extrusion steps. The transmission loss of an individual fiber in the 100-fiber bundles was 0.12 dB/cm, and the cross talk between neighboring fibers in the 900-fiber bundles was 25%. Thermal images of bodies at room temperature have been transmitted through the bundles. Such ordered bundles provide a solution for the problem of thermal imaging in regions where there is no line of sight between a thermal camera and a warm object.

The skull in chronic sarcoidosis.

A report of a 63 year old woman with giant osteolytic skull lesions simulating metastatic disease, and generalized cutaneous lesions is presented. Biopsy of a skin lesion revealed non-caseating granulomas compatible with sarcoidosis. The literature dealing with calvarial sarcoidosis is reviewed.