A computational study of the growth of two-dimensional nematic spherulites in an isotropic phase was performed using a Landau-de Gennes-type quadrupolar tensor order parameter model for the first-order isotropic/nematic transition of 5CB (pentylcyanobiphenyl). An energy balance, taking anisotropy into account, was derived and incorporated into the time-dependent model. Growth laws were determin...

The effect of warm-season precipitation on the diel cycle of the surface energy balance and carbon dioxide at a Colorado subalpine forest site S. P. Burns, P. D. Blanken, A. A. Turnipseed, and R. K. Monson Department of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA 2B Technologies, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, USA School o...

Decisions concerning how we balance energy supply and demand should not be made by quantitative cost-benefit analyses alone. The distributions of costs and benefits among individuals, groups of individuals, nations, and generations raise questions of equity that need to be addressed forthrightly. Doing so can help rather than impede the decision-making process.

The physiological mechanisms that control energy balance are reciprocally linked to those that control reproduction, and together, these mechanisms optimize reproductive success under fluctuating metabolic conditions. Thus, it is difficult to understand the physiology of energy balance without understanding its link to reproductive success. The metabolic sensory stimuli, hormonal mediators and ...

Energy balance results from the exact equilibrium between caloric intake and caloric expenditure. A caloric intake larger than caloric expenditure results in overweight, even obesity, but other determinants, like hormonal dysfunction and/or genetic traits may play a part in obesity syndrome. Obesity, and even overweight, have been recognized as risk factors for the development of cancers. Human...

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and the retinoid X receptors (RXRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that coordinately regulate gene expression. This PPAR-RXR transcriptional complex plays a critical role in energy balance, including triglyceride metabolism, fatty acid handling and storage, and glucose homeostasis: processes whose dysregulation characterize obe...

The current epidemic of human obesity implies that whilst energy balance appears to be regulated, the extent of this regulatory process is being overwhelmed in large numbers of the population by environmental changes. Clearly, the shift towards positive energy balance reflects both alterations in energy intake and decreases in physical activity. Increased energy intake and, in particular, the r...

One of the powerful means of detecting the volcanic effect on the earth’s radiation budget and, hence, on the earth’s climate is numerical modeling. However, the atmospheric processes, during and after the eruption, are too complex and frequently prohibit an adequate description of the non-unique effect of volcanic activity on the earth’s energy balance and its individual components. This expla...

Whilst the prevention of childhood obesity is the only viable, enduring, cost-effective solution to the obesity epidemic, effective methods for it remain elusive. Furthermore, strategies to influence obesogenic environments remain relatively unexplored. In order to be able to develop powerful population-level interventions and public health policies to prevent childhood obesity, it is important...

Certain aspects of the home environment as well as individuals' knowledge of energy balance are believed to be important correlates of various dietary and physical activity behaviors, but no known studies have examined potential relationships between these correlates. This study evaluated cross-sectional associations between characteristics of the home environment and energy balance knowledge a...