Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP

Background Flight related low back pain (LBP) among helicopter pilots is frequent and may influence flight performance. Prolonged confined sitting during flights seems to weaken lumbar trunk (LT) muscles with associated secondary transient pain. Aim of the study was to investigate if structured training could improve muscular function and thus improve LBP related to flying. Methods 39 helicopter pilots (35 men and 4 women), who reported flying related LBP on at least 1 of 3 missions last month, were allocated to two training programs over a 3-month period. Program A consisted of 10 exercises recommended for general LBP. Program B consisted of 4 exercises designed specifically to improve LT muscular endurance. The pilots were examined before and after the training using questionnaires for pain, function, quality of health and tests of LT muscular endurance as well as ultrasound measurements of the contractility of the lumbar multifidus muscle (LMM). Results Approximately half of the participants performed the training per-protocol. Participants in this subset group had comparable baseline characteristics as the total study sample. Pre and post analysis of all pilots included, showed participants had marked improvement in endurance and contractility of the LMM following training. Similarly, participants had improvement in function and quality of health. Participants in program B had significant improvement in pain, function and quality of health. Conclusions This study indicates that participants who performed a three months exercise program had improved muscle endurance at the end of the program. The helicopter pilots also experienced improved function and quality of health.publishedVersio

No impact of early intervention on late outcome after minimal, mild and moderate head injury

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>To evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on outcome after minimal, mild and moderate head injury.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three hundred and twenty six patients underwent stratified randomization to an intervention group (n = 163) or a control group (n = 163). Every second patient was allocated to the intervention group. Participants in this group were offered a cognitive oriented consultation two weeks after the injury, while subjects allocated to the control group were not. Both groups were invited to follow up 3 and 12 months after injury.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 50 (15%) patients completed the study (intervention group n = 22 (13%), control group n = 28 (17%), not significant). There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the control group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There was no effect on outcomes from an early educational intervention two weeks after head injury.</p

En mann i 50-årene med smerter i hode, nakke og øregang

En mann med hodepine, nakkesmerter og plager fra venstre øre fikk påvist en lesjon i cervikalcolumna etter seks måneder med økende symptomer. Omfattende utredning og behandling med behov for vevsprøver og nevrokirugi ledet etter flere måneder frem til endelig diagnose.publishedVersio

Efeitos da aplicação de composto orgânico de lixo urbano e de fertilizante mineral em povoamentos de eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden

ABSTRACT Large quantities of organic wastes are produced mainly in big cities, annually. There is urgent demand for safe and possibly economic practices for its use. Forest plantations have been studied as a potential ecosystem able to absorb organic residues as fertilizers or soil conditioners. This study evaluated the effects of the application of 15 tons/ha of composted organic waste of the city of São Paulo, and mineral fertilizers in a Eucalyptus grandis plantation on a very poor sandy soil, (NEOSSOLO QUARTZARÊNICO Órtico típico, according to the Brazilian soil classification). It was measured wood production, nutrient contents (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) in the components of the litter and of the trees and the physical and chemical changes in the soil properties, 86 months after the establishment of the plantation. It was studied the decomposition of the litter and the nutrient flow through rainfall, throughfall and stemflow, between 30 and 60 months of age of the trees. Nutrient budgets were obtained taking into account tree biomass data and nutrient contents of the litter and above ground parts of the trees at seven years of age. It was observed that the municipal composted organic wastes resulted in a increase of 45.6% in wood volume and 36.5% in biomass of the trunk under bark, as compared to the control. It also increased the velocity of the litter decomposition on average of 28% and 16% for leaves and twigs respectively, increased the base saturation and the pH level and the availability of water in the soil (from 13% to 25% more available water in the first layer of the soil, 0-10 cm). The balance of nutrients, in the test plots, showed that those plots that received municipal composted organic wastes presented the largest contents of N, P, K and Ca, 86 months after the establishment. As well, after harvesting, remained the largest nutrient pools in the same plots, contributing significantly to keep the forest productivity. The rain also contributed to the replacement of nutrients, 36% of N, 28% of P, 73% of K, 65% of Ca and 42% of Mg of total exported during wood harvesting. This study emphasized again the importance to keep the bark on site to the economy of nutrients. The bark accounted for about 32% of the amount of nutrients present in the above ground biomass of the trees. The large quantity of nutrients in the liter highlights the importance to conserve the organic matter to contribute to the sustainability of the production syste

Additional file 1: Appendix 1. of Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP

Title of data: Test of muscular endurance.(184 kb

Additional file 3: Appendix 2B. of Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP

Training program B. (395 kb

Additional file 2: Appendix 2A. of Impact of exercise programs among helicopter pilots with transient LBP

Training program A. (6130 kb

Divide-Expand-Consolidate Second-Order Møller-Plesset Theory with Periodic Boundary Conditions

We present a generalization of the divide–expand–consolidate (DEC) framework for local coupled-cluster calculations to periodic systems and test it at the second-order Møller–Plesset (MP2) level of theory. For simple model systems with periodicity in one, two, and three dimensions, comparisons with extrapolated molecular calculations and the local MP2 implementation in the Cryscor program show that the correlation energy errors of the extended DEC (X-DEC) algorithm can be controlled through a single parameter, the fragment optimization threshold. Two computational bottlenecks are identified: the size of the virtual orbital spaces and the number of pair fragments required to achieve a given accuracy of the correlation energy. For the latter, we propose an affordable algorithm based on cubic splines interpolation of a limited number of pair-fragment interaction energies to determine a pair cutoff distance in accordance with the specified fragment optimization threshold

En mann i 50-årene med smerter i hode, nakke og øregang

En mann med hodepine, nakkesmerter og plager fra venstre øre fikk påvist en lesjon i cervikalcolumna etter seks måneder med økende symptomer. Omfattende utredning og behandling med behov for vevsprøver og nevrokirugi ledet etter flere måneder frem til endelig diagnose.publishedVersio