Reliability of shoulder rotators isometric strength test using a novel pulley electromechanical dynamometer. Influence of the assessment position

Indexación: Scopus.Background: The shoulder complex, because of its relatively extensive freedom of motion, offers a great variety of testing positions and articular planes for strength examination. Despite this, reliability of results are not clearly addressed. A novel pulley electromechanical dynamometer (FED) (functional electronic dynamometer) could be an alternative in strength assessment, however, the relative and absolute reliability have not been reported in the literature. Objectives: To report the results of shoulder internal (IR) and rotators (ER) peak torque reliability in two assessment positions by FED in asymptomatic subjects. Methods: Fifty-two healthy college students were included and tested twice within a two week period. In a supine position, the subjects randomly performed four isometric strength tests (i.e. IR at 40°, IR at 90°, ER at 40°, and ER at 90° of shoulder abduction). Results: The intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for relative reliability at 90° were 0.96 (0.94-0.98) for IR and 0.94 (0.90-0.96) for ER. ICC at 40° were 0.89 (0.80-0.94) for IR and 0.97 (0.94-0.98) for ER. Absolute reliability expressed as standard error of measurement compared to the mean (SEM%) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of minimal detectable change percentage (MDC%) at 90° were 8.8% (-20.8, 28.4%) and 11.4% (-28.0, 35.2%) for ER. MDC% at 40° were 12.6% (-35.5, 34.8%) for IR and 18.1% (-28.1, 35, 2%) for ER. Conclusions: Isometric strength testing protocol using FED showed an excellent reproducibility and can be safely used in clinical settings to monitor the strength changes in a group of individuals or in a single individual. © 2018, Asian Journal of Sports Medicine.http://asjsm.com/en/articles/60406.htm

Multiple traces boundary integral formulation for Helmholtz transmission problems

We present a novel boundary integral formulation of the Helmholtz transmission problem for bounded composite scatterers (that is, piecewise constant material parameters in "subdomains”) that directly lends itself to operator preconditioning via Calderón projectors. The method relies on local traces on subdomains and weak enforcement of transmission conditions. The variational formulation is set in Cartesian products of standard Dirichlet and special Neumann trace spaces for which restriction and extension by zero are well defined. In particular, the Neumann trace spaces over each subdomain boundary are built as piecewise $\widetilde{H}^{-1/2}$ -distributions over each associated interface. Through the use of interior Calderón projectors, the problem is cast in variational Galerkin form with an operator matrix whose diagonal is composed of block boundary integral operators associated with the subdomains. We show existence and uniqueness of solutions based on an extension of Lions' projection lemma for non-closed subspaces. We also investigate asymptotic quasi-optimality of conforming boundary element Galerkin discretization. Numerical experiments in 2-D confirm the efficacy of the method and a performance matching that of another widely used boundary element discretization. They also demonstrate its amenability to different types of preconditionin

La serie estratigráfica de Navalperal. Serie tipo del Mesozoico Prebético en la región de Orcera-Siles (Provincia de Jaén)

In the Orcera-Siles area the type series is established for the Mesozoic of the Prebetic Realm, by describing the lithofacies and biofacies present in the different levels. It comprises terms from the Liassic up to the Senonian. Several lacunas are pointed out

The consequence of waiters' professional identity on passion for work and its effects on employee turnover: a qualitative approach

Purpose- This study aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between waiters’ professional identity and its antecedents such as: extroversion, education, brand standard, identity interferences, authenticity and stigma. “Salience” will be used as a moderator of this relationship, in order to explain the prominence of the stimuli. The consequences of professional identity on passion and turnover intention will be analysed. Design/methodology/approach- This study employed a qualitative methodology, which encompassed 3 focus group discussions (18 participants) and 11 in-depth interviews, (total 29 people). Participants will be based on Michelin starred restaurants in London. Founded on analysis of the qualitative data, the antecedents and consequences of professional identity were formulated. Findings- Findings demonstrate that the main factors of the formation of waiters’ professional identity are: extroversion, education, brand standard, identity interferences, authenticity and stigma, its consequences (passion and turnover intention), and salience as a moderator of this relationship to clarify the relevance of the stimuli. These factors have been demonstrated to have an effect on the formation of professional identity. Practical implications- This study is of significance in encouraging additional explorations for scholars and restaurateurs about the function of work in identity formation in connecting to waiters, and offers more practical resolutions for restaurateurs to develop passion for work and reduce turnover intention among the staff. Originality/value- This study is relevant because the repercussion of perceptions, such as identity and identification for emerging exclusive job roles, is still under-examined in certain conditions. Restaurateurs need to work with and comprehend the quality of the individual framework of waiters in job roles because these have a stimulus on the fundamental interests, such as passion for work and turnover of the waiting workforce. Moreover, within the hospitality industry, there has been a predisposition to focus more on chefs than waiting staff

Custom optimization algorithms for efficient hardware implementation

The focus is on real-time optimal decision making with application in advanced control systems. These computationally intensive schemes, which involve the repeated solution of (convex) optimization problems within a sampling interval, require more efficient computational methods than currently available for extending their application to highly dynamical systems and setups with resource-constrained embedded computing platforms. A range of techniques are proposed to exploit synergies between digital hardware, numerical analysis and algorithm design. These techniques build on top of parameterisable hardware code generation tools that generate VHDL code describing custom computing architectures for interior-point methods and a range of first-order constrained optimization methods. Since memory limitations are often important in embedded implementations we develop a custom storage scheme for KKT matrices arising in interior-point methods for control, which reduces memory requirements significantly and prevents I/O bandwidth limitations from affecting the performance in our implementations. To take advantage of the trend towards parallel computing architectures and to exploit the special characteristics of our custom architectures we propose several high-level parallel optimal control schemes that can reduce computation time. A novel optimization formulation was devised for reducing the computational effort in solving certain problems independent of the computing platform used. In order to be able to solve optimization problems in fixed-point arithmetic, which is significantly more resource-efficient than floating-point, tailored linear algebra algorithms were developed for solving the linear systems that form the computational bottleneck in many optimization methods. These methods come with guarantees for reliable operation. We also provide finite-precision error analysis for fixed-point implementations of first-order methods that can be used to minimize the use of resources while meeting accuracy specifications. The suggested techniques are demonstrated on several practical examples, including a hardware-in-the-loop setup for optimization-based control of a large airliner.Open Acces

The effect of waiters’ occupational identity on employee turnover within the context of Michelin-starred restaurants

Although restaurants employ a high number of employees across the UK, accounting for 4.5% of total UK employment, this figure masks the relatively high degree of employee turnover. There is limited information about work engagement and turnover amongst waitering staff (servers). This study analyzed which antecedents (e.g., employer brand, extraversion and stereotype) impact servers’ occupational identity, and how this relationship affects work engagement and employee turnover within a theoretically-informed conceptual framework. A sample of servers in London based Michelin-starred restaurants was used (N=398). Although extraversion and stereotype reactance were not found to be relevant to occupational identity, employer brand was. The notion that the construction of occupational identity has consequences for work engagement and employee turnover was supported, as positive relationships were found. This research has practical implications for restaurant management strategy, and informs further investigations within the field

Comprehensive diagnosis in patients with morbid obesity; candidates for bariatric surgery and suggestions for preoperative treatment

Indexación: Scopus; Scielo.Objetivo El propósito del estudio fue analizar y describir las características psicológicas, metabólicas, antropométricas y de condición física de obesos candidatos a cirugía bariátrica, para determinar la intervención preoperatoria. Material y Métodos La población está conformada por 24 obesos candidatos a cirugía bariátrica; cinco hombres y 19 mujeres entre 21 y 60 años. La muestra es de tipo no-probabilística, con sujetos elegidos de manera no aleatoria por conveniencia y voluntarios. Se evaluaron variables psicológicas, antropométricas, metabólicas y de condición física. Resultados La edad promedio de los participantes corresponde a 41,0 años. En el estudio se evidencian bajos niveles en alegría empática. Los síntomas ansiosos presentaron un nivel medio: El 62,5 % presentó depresión mínima, el 29,1 % depresión leve, y el 8,4 % depresión modera. El peso corporal tuvo un promedio de 99,1 kilogramos, la talla de 1,6 metros, el Índice de Masa Coporal (IMC) de 39,3, el porcentaje de masa grasa un promedio de 41,1 y el contorno cintura de 118,0 centímetros. Con respecto a los valores plasmáticos (mg/dl) se obtuvo: colesterol total 192,9, colesterol LDL 120,0, colesterol HDL 43,3, triglicéridos 182,3, Glicemia a 105,9; y la distancia recorrida en seis minutos fue de 511,9 metros. Conclusiones Los resultados aportan información para determinar mejores estrategias de intervención preoperatorias, cambiando así los estilos de vida de los pacientes; logrando que la pérdida de peso post operatoria se sostenga en el tiempo.Objective The purpose of the study was to analyze and describe the psychological, metabolic, anthropometric and physical condition of obese candidates for bariatric surgery. This is in order to determine the preoperative intervention. Material and Methods The population is made up of 24 obese candidates for bariatric surgery; five men and 19 women between 21 and 60 years old. The sample type is non-probabilistic, with non-randomised subjects chosen conveniently and volunteers. Psychological, anthropometric, metabolic and physical condition variables were evaluated. Results The average age of participants corresponds to 41.0 years old. Low levels of empathic joy were observed. Anxiety symptoms presented an intermediate level: 62,5 % presented minimal depression, 29,1 % presented slight depression, and 8,4 % presented considerable depression. Body weight averaged 99.1 kg, height 1.6 meters, Body Mass Index (BMI) 39.3, the percentage of fat mass and contour waist averaged 41.1 118.0 centimeters in that order. With regards to plasma levels (mg / dl), the following were obtained: total cholesterol 192.9, 120.0 LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, 43.3, 182.3 triglycerides, glycerin to 105.9; and distance covered in 6 minutes was 511.9 meters. Conclusions The results provide information to determine best Preoperative intervention strategies; changing the lifestyles of patients, keeping the postoperative weight.http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/rsap/v19n4/0124-0064-rsap-19-04-00527.pd

Theoretical analysis of the transmission phase shift of a quantum dot in the presence of Kondo correlations

We study the effects of Kondo correlations on the transmission phase shift of a quantum dot coupled to two leads in comparison with the experimental determinations made by Aharonov-Bohm (AB) quantum interferometry. We propose here a theoretical interpretation of these results based on scattering theory combined with Bethe ansatz calculations. We show that there is a factor of 2 difference between the phase of the S-matrix responsible for the shift in the AB oscillations, and the one controlling the conductance. Quantitative agreement is obtained with experimental results for two different values of the coupling to the leads.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter