What does the vibration therapy add?: a quasi-experimental, pilot study on the short term effects of whole-body vibration as mode of exercise for nursing home residents aged 80+

Aims: To compare the responses of nursing home residents aged 80+ to an 8 weeks exercise program performed on a vibratory device and to the same exercise program preformed without vibration on lower limb performance, functional dependence and quality of life. Methods:Lower limb performance was evaluated using the 30 seconds Chair Sit to Stand test. Functional mobility was assessed using the timed up and go test. Postural stability was measured using a force platform. The Barthel Index was used to assess functional dependence and the EuroQol was used to evaluate Health-Related Quality of Life. 44 participants were allocated to the whole-body vibration group (n= 15), non-vibration group (n= 15) or to the control group (n= 14). Results:Significant differences were detected in favour of the whole-body vibration group in lower limb muscle performance (p= 0.001), mobility (p= 0.001), functional independence (p= 0.009) and quality of life (p <0.001) as compared to the control and non-vibration groups. Conclusions: Whole body vibration based interventions may add additional benefits to conventional exercise programs in terms of lower limb muscle performance, functional dependence and quality of life among nursing home residents over 80 years

Relationship between extracurricular physical activity and academic performance in secondary education students

La disminución de los niveles de práctica de actividad física, así como el incremento del sedentarismo repercute de forma muy negativa en los escolares, además de influir en factores como el rendimiento académico. El estudio presenta una muestra de 175 escolares de diferentes centros del sur de España. Se utilizaron variables sociodemográficas, practica de actividad física y diferentes calificaciones escolares. Los resultados indican que los escolares que practican actividad física extraescolar obtienen un mayor rendimiento. La práctica de actividad física extraescolar en escolares se asocia con mayor rendimiento académico.&nbsp;Decreasing physical activity levels and the incremental sedentary time affects negatively during primary school, and have a negative influence on academic performance. 175 students from different centers of southern Spain were included. Sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity practice and academic performance were evaluated. Results show how children who practice out of school have higher levels of academic performance. Therefore practice of sport and physical activity in adolescents is associated with higher academic performance

Outerfactor and the indirect journal impact

In this paper, we use research chains across the citation graph as the basis for journal impact analysis. While some existing measures take into account research chains that end in a given journal, we calculate the proportion of research chains that include a journal, obtaining a new index of journal impact, Outerfactor, that is directly related to Pagerank (Brin and Page, 1998), Eigenfactor (Bergstrom, 2007) and the Invariant Method (Pinsky and Narin, 1976). In this way, the Outerfactor score obtained by each journal is independent on its own citation pattern and its article share. To our knowledge, this is the fi�rst measure that satis�fes these invariance properties whilst accounting for both direct and indirect impact. Based on research chains that connect two journals, we also construct new measures for analyzing cross-impact. This cross-impact analysis results in a two-fold view of Outerfactor in terms of a journal�'s infl�uence (impact) on other journals, or a journal�'s contribution to all journals' �impact scores. Finally, we provide an illustration with 60 economics journals, showing how Outerfactor performs compared to other measures: apart from its cardinal invariance, Outerfactor behaves more robustly to ordinal manipulation than other eigenvector-based measures.citation analysis, impact factor, eigenfactor, eigenvector-based measures, manipulation

Coordination structures

We study a coordination problem where agents act sequentially. Agents are embedded in an observation network that allows them to observe the actions of their neighbors. We find that coordination failures do not occur if there exists a sufficiently large clique. Its existence is necessary and sufficient when agents are homogenous and sufficient when agents differ and their types are private. Other structures guarantee coordination when agents decide in some particular sequences or for particular payoffs. The coordination problem embodied in our game is applied to the problems of revolts and bank runs.social networks; coordination failures; multiple equilibria; revolts; bank runs

Resonant Solutions and Turning Points in an Elliptic Problem with Oscillatory Boundary Conditions

We consider the elliptic equation -Δu + u = 0 with nonlinear boundary conditions ∂u/∂n = λu + g(λ,x,u), where the nonlinear term g is oscillatory and satisfies g(λ,x,s)/s→0 as |s|→0. We provide sufficient conditions on g for the existence of sequences of resonant solutions and turning points accumulating to zero

Infinitely Many Stability Switches in a Problem with Sublinear Oscillatory Boundary Conditions

We consider the elliptic equation −u+u = 0 with nonlinear boundary condition ∂u ∂n = λu + g(λ, x, u), where g(λ,x,s) s → 0, as |s|→∞ and g is oscillatory. We provide sufficient conditions on g for the existence of unbounded sequences of stable solutions, unstable solutions, and turning points, even in the absence of resonant solutions

Efectividad de un programa de entrenamiento basado en vibraciones mecánicas de cuerpo completo en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 aplicado en entorno de atención primaria

La diabetes mellitus es una enfermedad metabólica crónica, caracterizada por tener una alta prevalencia en la población adulta mayor y un manejo clínico complejo en el ámbito de la atención primaria, lo que se asocia a un impacto negativo en la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud y a un alto coste socio-económico. Encontrar soluciones que ayuden a mejorar la calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en las personas afectadas por diabetes mellitus tipo 2 podría ayudar a contener este altísimo impacto socio-económico. El objetivo general de la presente Tesis es determinar la aplicabilidad y efectividad de un programa de entrenamiento basado en vibraciones mecánicas de cuerpo completo aplicado en un entorno de atención primaria para la mejora de diferentes variables clínicas, capacidad funcional y de calidad de vida de un grupo de sujetos con diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Un total de 50 adultos mayores con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 fueron distribuidos aleatoriamente en dos grupos, grupo control (CON=25) y grupo intervención (WBV=25). Los participantes en los grupos WBV y CON durante el desarrollo de la presente investigación tuvieron acceso a la atención habitual (visita ambulatoria para el control de los parámetros relacionados con la diabetes y dar consejos para mejorarla). Además, los sujetos pertenecientes al grupo WBV participaron en un programa de entrenamiento basado en ejercicios estáticos y dinámicos sobre una plataforma vibratoria durante doce semanas de duración, con una frecuencia de tres sesiones por semana. Las variables evaluadas fueron: clínicas y relacionadas con la salud, capacidad funcional, flujo sanguíneo y calidad de vida. Previo al tratamiento se procedió a comprobar la fiabilidad test-retest de las principales pruebas usadas para la evaluación de la condición física relacionada con la salud. Los principales resultados encontrados tras la aplicación del tratamiento ponen de manifiesto que: a) existe una alta fiabilidad test-retest para la mayoría de las pruebas utilizadas para la evaluación de la condición física relacionada con la salud en personas diabéticas tipo 2, b) doce semanas de entrenamiento vibratorio son efectivas en la reducción de la hemoglobina glicosilada y el nivel de glucemia basal, mejorando los factores de riesgo cardiovascular y la capacidad funcional de sujetos con diabetes mellitus tipo 2, c) el entrenamiento vibratorio permite incrementar el flujo sanguíneo de los miembros inferiores y disminuir la adiposidad en sujetos con diabetes mellitus tipo 2, d) la aplicación de doce semanas de una terapia basada en vibraciones mejora el control postural en pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 y e) no se detectan mejoras significativas tras la aplicación de una terapia basada en vibraciones mecánicas en la percepción de calidad de vida relacionada con la salud, evaluada mediante un cuestionario específico. La principal conclusión de la presente Tesis Doctoral fue que el ejercicio vibratorio de cuerpo completo es aplicable, seguro y efectivo en el tratamiento de la diabetes mellitus tipo 2 en un contexto clínico, ayudando en el control y manejo de diferentes factores asociados a la enfermedad.Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado U

Comments on the compatibility of thermodynamic equilibrium conditions with lattice propagators

In this paper the compatibility is analyzed of the non-perturbative equations of state of quarks and gluons arising from the lattice with some natural requirements for self-gravitating objects at equilibrium: the existence of an equation of state (namely, the possibility to define the pressure as a function of the energy density), the absence of superluminal propagation and Le Chatelier's principle. It is discussed under which conditions it is possible to extract an equation of state (in the above sense) from the non-perturbative propagators arising from the fits of the latest lattice data. In the quark case, there is a small but non-vanishing range of temperatures in which it is not possible to define a single-valued functional relation between density and pressure. Interestingly enough, a small change of the parameters appearing in the fit of the lattice quark propagator (of around 10~\%) could guarantee the fulfillment of all the three conditions (keeping alive, at the same time, the violation of positivity of the spectral representation, which is the expected signal of confinement). As far as gluons are concerned, the analysis shows very similar results. Whether or not the non-perturbative quark and gluon propagators satisfy these conditions can have a strong impact on the estimate of the maximal mass of quark stars.Comment: 24 pages; 12 figures. Title slightly changed and improved discussion. Version accepted for publication on European Physical Journal