Relação entre medidas de resultados centrados na pessoa e medidas clínicas convencionais em indivíduos com osteoartrose do joelho

OBJECTIVOS: Analisar a relação entre medidas clínicas convencionais da fisioterapia, testes funcionais e medidas genéricas e de condição específica do estado de saúde, bem como examinar o poder preditivo das medidas clínicas convencionais e dos testes funcionais nas medidas genéricas e de condição específica do estado de saúde, em indivíduos com osteoartrose (OA) do joelho. RELEVÂNCIA: Os resultados dos cuidados de fisioterapia prestados a indivíduos com OA do joelho são vulgarmente medidos através de medidas clínicas convencionais e testes funcionais, embora não se conheça claramente a adequação destas medidas para estimar a percepção global do indivíduo face ao seu estado de saúde. AMOSTRA: Participaram 37 pessoas (sexo: 25 mulheres, 12 homens; idade: 67,6±9,05 anos; estatura:161,3±6,8 cm; peso: 77,3±13.1 kg com OA do joelho. METODOLOGIA: as medidas clínicas avaliadas foram o teste muscular, a goniometria, a medição do ângulo Q. Foram administrados os testes funcionais de subir e descer escadas e o Timed Up & Go Test. O estado de saúde foi medido com os questionários MOS SF-36 e WOMAC. ANÁLISE ESTATÍSTICA: O coeficiente r de Pearson foi utilizado para analisar as relações entre as diferentes medidas de resultados. A análise de regressão (forward stepwise regression) foi utilizada para identificar as medidas clínicas convencionais da fisioterapia e os testes funcionais com poder preditivo sobre as medidas genéricas e de condição específica do estado de saúde. RESULTADOS/DISCUSSÃO: O Timed Up & Go Test combinado com o teste de subir escadas explicou 36% na percepção do WOMAC função, o teste de subir e descer escada combinado com a estatura explicaram 34,2% do MOS-SF-36 na dimensão desempenho físico. CONCLUSÃO: Das medidas de resultados abordadas, o Timed Up & Go Test o teste de descer escadas foram os que melhor estimaram a percepção da função do joelho. É recomendada a utilização destes testes na investigação dos resultados em fisioterapia em OA joelho

Phase diagram of a random-anisotropy mixed-spin Ising model

We investigate the phase diagram of a mixed spin-1/2--spin-1 Ising system in the presence of quenched disordered anisotropy. We carry out a mean-field and a standard self-consistent Bethe--Peierls calculation. Depending on the amount of disorder, there appear novel transition lines and multicritical points. Also, we report some connections with a percolation problem and an exact result in one dimension.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Forms on Vector Bundles Over Compact Real Hyperbolic Manifolds

We study gauge theories based on abelian $p-$ forms on real compact hyperbolic manifolds. The tensor kernel trace formula and the spectral functions associated with free generalized gauge fields are analyzed.Comment: Int. Journ. Modern Physics A, vol. 18 (2003), 2041-205

The Safe-Port project: an approach to port surveillance and protection

SAFE-PORT is a recently started project addressing the complex issue of determining the best configurations of resources for harbour and port surveillance and protection. More specifically, the main goal is to find, for any given scenario, an adequate set of configuration solutions — i.e., number and type of sensors and equipments, their locations and operating modes, the corresponding personnel and other support resources — that maximize protection over a specific area. The project includes research and development of sensors models, novel algorithms for optimization and decision support, and a computer-based decision support system (DSS) to assist decision makers in that task. It includes also the development of a simulation environment for modelling relevant aspects of the scenario (including sensors used for surveillance, platforms, threats and the environment), capable to incorporate data from field-trials, used to test and validate solutions proposed by the DSS. Test cases will consider the use of intelligent agents to model the behaviour of threats and of NATO forces in a realistic way, following experts’ definitions and parameters

Dynamo in the Intra-Cluster Medium: Simulation of CGL-MHD Turbulent Dynamo

The standard magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) description of the plasma in the hot, magnetized gas of the intra-cluster (ICM) medium is not adequate because it is weakly collisional. In such collisionless magnetized gas, the microscopic velocity distribution of the particles is not isotropic, giving rise to kinetic effects on the dynamical scales. These kinetic effects could be important in understanding the turbulence, as so as the amplification and maintenance of the magnetic fields in the ICM. It is possible to formulate fluid models for collisonless or weakly collisional gas by introducing modifications in the MHD equations. These models are often referred as kinetic MHD (KMHD). Using a KMHD model based on the CGL-closure, which allows the adiabatic evolution of the two components of the pressure tensor (the parallel and perpendicular components with respect to the local magnetic field), we performed 3D numerical simulations of forced turbulence in order to study the amplification of an initially weak seed magnetic field. We found that the growth rate of the magnetic energy is comparable to that of the ordinary MHD turbulent dynamo, but the magnetic energy saturates in a level smaller than of the MHD case. We also found that a necessary condition for the dynamo works is to impose limits to the anisotropy of the pressure.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, 274 IAU Symposium: Advances in Plasma Astrophysic

Cosmic homogeneity: a spectroscopic and model-independent measurement

Cosmology relies on the Cosmological Principle, i.e., the hypothesis that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales. This implies in particular that the counts of galaxies should approach a homogeneous scaling with volume at sufficiently large scales. Testing homogeneity is crucial to obtain a correct interpretation of the physical assumptions underlying the current cosmic acceleration and structure formation of the Universe. In this Letter, we use the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey to make the first spectroscopic and model-independent measurements of the angular homogeneity scale $\theta_{\rm h}$. Applying four statistical estimators, we show that the angular distribution of galaxies in the range 0.46 < z < 0.62 is consistent with homogeneity at large scales, and that $\theta_{\rm h}$ varies with redshift, indicating a smoother Universe in the past. These results are in agreement with the foundations of the standard cosmological paradigm.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Version accepted by MNRA