25 research outputs found
Searching for the “Active Ingredients” in Physical Rehabilitation Programs Across Europe, Necessary to Improve Mobility in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Multicenter Study
Background. Physical rehabilitation programs can lead to improvements in mobility in people
with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Objective: Identify which rehabilitation program elements
are employed in real life and how they might impact mobility improvement in PwMS.
Methods. Participants were divided into improved and non-improved mobility groups based
on changes observed in the Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale-12 following multimodal
physical rehabilitation programs. Analyses were performed at group and subgroup (mild and
moderate-severe disability) levels. Rehabilitation program elements included: setting; number
of weeks; number of sessions; total duration, therapy format (individual, group, autonomous),
therapy goals and therapeutic approaches. Results. The study comprised 279 PwMS from 17
European centers. PwMS in the improved group received more sessions of individual therapy
in both subgroups. In the mildly disabled group, 60.9% of the improved received resistance
training, whereas, 68.5% of the non-improved, received self-stretching. In the moderatelyseverely disabled group, 31.4% of the improved, received aerobic training, while 50.4% of the
non-improved, received passive mobilization/stretching. Conclusions. We believe that our
findings are an important step in opening the black-box of physical rehabilitation, imparting
guidance and assisting future research in defining characteristics of effective physical
rehabilitation
A Nineteenth-Century National Prussian Macroseismic Questionnaire
We recently discovered in the regional record office of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesarchiv Nordrhein Westfalen) in Duisburg (Germany) numerous original documents organized and distributed during the nineteenth century by the Prussian authority. These documents constitute a series of completed surveys very similar to present-day macroseismic questionnaires that were ostensibly used to gather information about felt earthquakes in the Kingdom of Prussia. This article presents an overview of these documents and discusses their importance for broadening the knowledge base of nineteenth-century earthquakes in this part of Europe. Indeed, for some earthquakes, answers to the questionnaires furnish original historical sources that were never scientifically exploited; for other earthquakes, the surveys formed the basic source of information, utilized but not referenced in two nineteenth-century scientific studies. Detailed examination of a small sample from these historical documents definitively demonstrates the necessity for a reevaluation of the nineteenth-century earthquakes
Designing simulation platforms for uncertainty—An example from an aerospace supplier
Variation poses a serious threat to the functionality, safety and reliability of aircraft. As the aerospace industry depends ever more heavily on modeling and simulation in their product development, there is an increased need to assess the effects of variation in a virtual environment. This paper outlines the methods proposed by a Swedish aerospace supplier to incorporate robust design methodology into platform-based product development. These methods evaluate how geometric variation affects the aerodynamic, thermal and structural performance of turbofan engine components. The results of the study show that simulation results are heavily affected by variations in geometry. Moreover, this study showcases automated simulation platforms as a powerful tool for robustness analyses. In addition to optimizing the robustness of products, these tools are equally effective as a tool for allocating engineering resources to optimize quality-to-cost ratio. \ua9 2015 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. All rights reserved
Designing simulation platforms for uncertainty—An example from an aerospace supplier
Variation poses a serious threat to the functionality, safety and reliability of aircraft. As the aerospace industry depends ever more heavily on modeling and simulation in their product development, there is an increased need to assess the effects of variation in a virtual environment. This paper outlines the methods proposed by a Swedish aerospace supplier to incorporate robust design methodology into platform-based product development. These methods evaluate how geometric variation affects the aerodynamic, thermal and structural performance of turbofan engine components. The results of the study show that simulation results are heavily affected by variations in geometry. Moreover, this study showcases automated simulation platforms as a powerful tool for robustness analyses. In addition to optimizing the robustness of products, these tools are equally effective as a tool for allocating engineering resources to optimize quality-to-cost ratio. \ua9 2015 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. All rights reserved