Influence of Body Mass Index on Eating Habits and Food Choice Determinants Among Brazilian Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Changes in emotional state due to the COVID-19 pandemic may potentially modify eating habits, which may differ as a function of body mass index (BMI). Using a self-reported, questionnaire-based survey we evaluated Brazilian women during the pandemic for: (i) the influence of BMI on changes in eating habits, food choice determinants, and psychological symptoms; (ii) associations between eating habits, food choice determinants and psychological symptoms. General characteristics, anthropometric data, eating habits before and during the pandemic, food choice determinants and psychological symptoms during the pandemic were collected between June and September, 2020. Participants (n = 1,183) were normal weight (60.4%), overweight (26.2%) and obese (13.4%). A higher frequency of “cooking” (72.3–77.6%, p = 0.004) and “use of delivery service” (29.8–48.8%, p < 0.001) was reported during, in comparison to before the pandemic. Additionally, a higher prevalence of “snacking” (57.1–63.8%, p = 0.005) and “eating at table” (78.5–82.7%, p < 0.001) was reported during the pandemic, while the number of participants reporting “dieting” decreased (28.7–20.4%, p < 0.001). “Health”, “natural concerns” and “need and hunger” were less important determinants for participants with overweight/obesity compared to normal weight. Regression analysis indicated that (i) “health”, “natural concerns” and “affect regulation”; (ii) “health”, “pleasure”, “convenience”, and “natural concerns”; and (iii) “visual appeal” and “pleasure” were the food choice determinants more associated with eating habits among women with normal weight, overweight, and obesity, respectively. In conclusion, eating habits were modified during the pandemic despite BMI, whereas food choice determinants differed between overweight/obesity and normal weight women.

Attention-Based 3D Human Pose Sequence Refinement Network

Three-dimensional human mesh reconstruction from a single video has made much progress in recent years due to the advances in deep learning. However, previous methods still often reconstruct temporally noisy pose and mesh sequences given in-the-wild video data. To address this problem, we propose a human pose refinement network (HPR-Net) based on a non-local attention mechanism. The pipeline of the proposed framework consists of a weight-regression module, a weighted-averaging module, and a skinned multi-person linear (SMPL) module. First, the weight-regression module creates pose affinity weights from a 3D human pose sequence represented in a unit quaternion form. Next, the weighted-averaging module generates a refined 3D pose sequence by performing temporal weighted averaging using the generated affinity weights. Finally, the refined pose sequence is converted into a human mesh sequence using the SMPL module. HPR-Net is a simple but effective post-processing network that can substantially improve the accuracy and temporal smoothness of 3D human mesh sequences obtained from an input video by existing human mesh reconstruction methods. Our experiments show that the noisy results of the existing methods are consistently improved using the proposed method on various real datasets. Notably, our proposed method reduces the pose and acceleration errors of VIBE, the existing state-of-the-art human mesh reconstruction method, by 1.4% and 66.5%, respectively, on the 3DPW dataset.

Influence of nutritional status on eating habits and food choice determinants among Brazilian women during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACTWe aimed to evaluate the influence of nutritional status on eating habits and food choice determinants among Brazilian women during the COVID-19 outbreak. This cross-sectional survey was conducted between June and September, 2020, period in which social distancing measures were in place. Participants (n=1,183) were classified as normal weight (60.4%), overweight (26.2%) and obese (13.4%). Eating habits changed during quarantine irrespective of nutritional status. The number of women participating in grocery shopping was reduced by 34% during quarantine (p<0.001, OR=0.55, 0.79), whereas participation in cooking and ordering delivery service increased by 28% (p=0.004, OR=1.08, 1.51) and 146% (p<0.001, OR=2.06, 2.95), respectively. The number of participants reporting the habit of snacking (p=0.005, OR=1.07, 1.43) and eating at the table increased by 24% and 40% (p<0.001, OR=1.20, 1.64). Interestingly, the number of participants reporting the habit of dieting decreased by 41% (p<0.001, OR=0.59 [0.50, 0.70]). During the quarantine, “liking”, “need and hunger”, and “habits” were the most commonly reported determinants of food choice overall. “Health”, “natural concerns” and “need and hunger” were less important determinants for participants with overweight/obesity compared to those with normal weight. Regression models showed that (i) “health”, “natural concerns” and “affect regulation”; (ii) “health”, “pleasure”, “convenience”, and “natural concerns”; and (iii) “visual appeal” and “pleasure” were the food choice determinants more associated with eating habits among women with normal weight, overweight and obesity, respectively. In conclusion, eating habits were influenced during the pandemic despite nutritional status, whereas food choice determinants differed between overweight/obesity and normal weight women.

Length-weight relationship and condition factor of Gudusia chapra (Hamilton, 1822) from Panchet Reservoir, Jharkhand, India

This study provides length-weight relationship and condition factor (K) of Indian river shad Gudusia chapra (Hamilton, 1822) collected from Panchet Reservoir, Jharkhand, India during October 2014 to September 2015 using gillnets and drag nets. About 342 specimens (153 male and 189 female) of length range 4.7 to 15.1cm were collected. Length-weight relationship for male and female were calculated separately. The difference between the sexes was insignificant (independent t-test, p>0.05). The pooled length-weight regression equation was estimated as log W=-1.863+2.855 log L (r=0.983) which indicated negative allometric growth. The value of condition factor (Kn value) was observed to be nearer to or greater than one in both sexes, indicative of the general wellbeing of the fish in the Panchet Reservoir. This is the first report on length-weight relationship parameters of G. chapra from an Indian reservoir.

The Production Characteristics of Male Bandicoot (Echymipera kalubu)

The aim of this research is to understand the production characteristics of male bandicoot (Echymipera kalubu) and obtain basic morphometric information for cultivation and development of the animal. The research was done through the explorative method by using 30 random undomesticated adult male Echymipera kalubu obtained in Manokwari regency forest, West Papua. The morphometric characteristics of Echymipera kalubu in regards to the body weight and carcass weight are yet to be observed and standardized for practical use. The obtained estimator variables were analyzed by SPSS 24 for windows to calculate the multiple regression and coefficient of correlation value. The results of statistical analysis showed that there were 4 estimator variables that had positive correlations, which were body length (X1), hind legs length (X2), heart girth (X4), and cannon girth (X5). The obtained body weight regression formula was Y1 = -1367.355 + 33,912X1 + 7,095X2 + 89,745X4 – 14,494X5 with the coefficient of determination at 0.815. Moreover, the obtained carcass weight regression formula was Y2 = -1282,170 + 40,113X1 + 7,666X2 + 66,750X4 - 24,231X5 with the coefficient of determination at 0.794. The research concluded that the best estimator variable for body weight and carcass weight was the heart girth.

Length-weight relationships for 48 fish species of the Gediz estuary, in İzmir Bay (Central Aegean Sea, Turkey)

Length-weight relationships were calculated for 48 fish species from İzmir Bay in the Aegean Sea, Turkey. A total of 3584 fish specimens were captured with beach seine, handline, fyke net, scoop net, castnet and trammel net in 2010–2014. The sample size ranged from three individuals for Squatina squatina to 140 for Mugil cephalus. R2 values varied between 0.95 for Pomatoschistus bathi and 0.99 for Argyrosomus regius, Chelon labrosus and Mugil cephalus. All regressions were highly significant (P < 0.001). Values of the exponent b in the length-weight regression (W = aLb) ranged from 2.750 for S. squatina to 3.514 for Syngnathus acus and the median value was 3.134 with 25–75% of the values ranging between 3.030 and 3.218.

GROWTH RATE COMPARISONS OF THREE COLOR MORPHS OF COMMON CARP (Cyprinus carpio L.) CULTURED IN COMMERCIAL FLOATING NET CAGES

The study aims at establishing possible relationships between growth of weight and color morphs difference of the common carp cultured in floating netcages. Ten floating net-cage (7 m × 7 m × 2 m) were selected from three farms in Cirata Reservoir for studying growth performance. Each cage-net was stocked with 300 kg of 12 cm–16 cm common carp juvenile. The fish was weighed every other week, i.e., at week 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8. The fish in each cage were gathered to one side of the cage with bamboo sheets. Thirty fish for each of three colors (blue, green, and red) were randomly sampled from each cage using a scoop net. The result showed that the green fish was the fastest growing in 2 of the 3 significant cases and blue for 1 case. In most cases color morphs also did not show any differences in the weight regression coefficients. However, there were 5 significant cases where green was always the best followed by the blue one. Thus, there was evidence that the dark color (green and blue) gained weight faster than light one (red). Green and blue colored showed similarity in growth performance based on weight regression coefficient.

Validation of Annulus Formation in Spotted Sucker Otoliths

Spotted suckers Minytrema melanops are found in many river systems from the Midwest to the Southeast United States. Though they are a relatively abundant species, otolith age validation methods have not been reported. The objective of this study was to validate annulus formation on the lapillar otolith for spotted suckers. We collected spotted suckers monthly from December 2005 to November 2006 in the Apalachicola River, Florida. Using marginal incremental analysis on whole browned lapillar otoliths, we validated that spotted suckers form one annulus per year between May and June. We also report population characteristics including a length–weight regression. This study validates otolith aging to provide an avenue for accurately assessing the age composition of spotted sucker populations, which will facilitate a better understanding of growth, recruitment, and mortality of the species.