Validação da bioimpedância elétrica por multifrequência em atletas

É reconhecida a importância de avaliar a composição corporal na população atlética. Para o efeito é preciso utilizar técnicas válidas na determinação dos principais componentes moleculares. A Densitometria Radiológica de Dupla Energia (DXA) é um método preciso e válido para avaliação de composição corporal. No entanto, a DXA é uma técnica ainda pouco acessível em contextos não laboratoriais. Desta forma, é importante utilizar técnicas mais simples e práticas como a bioimpedância eléctrica (BIA). No entanto poucos estudos validaram a BIA especialmente de multifrequência na avaliação da composição corporal em atletas. Assim, o objetivo desta investigação é testar a validade da BIA de multifrequência (Tanita, modelo MC-180) na determinação do conteúdo mineral ósseo (CMO), massa gorda (MG) e massa isenta de gordura e osso (MIGO) em atletas. Um total de 79 atletas (35 homens) foram avaliados pela BIA e pela DXA. Comparação de médias, coeficiente de correlação de concordância, regressão múltipla, e o método Bland-Altman foram realizados. A Tanita apresentou um poder explicativo de 76 %, 72%, 95% e 73% da variabilidade total observada a partir do método de referência para a MG (kg), MG (%), MIGO e CMO, respectivamente. O coeficiente de correlação de concordância para a MIGO apresentou uma força de concordância substancial de 0.927. Observaram-se limites de concordância relativamente elevados na estimativa dos vários componentes corporais. Em conclusão, a Tanita MC-180 é uma alternativa válida especialmente na estimação da massa isenta de gordura e de osso, num grupo de atletas. Contudo, devido aos limites de concordância obtidos na determinação das vários componentes este equipamento apresenta uma validade limitada na estimação individual da composição corporal. Palavras-chave: Atleta; Avaliação Física; Composição Corporal.It is recognized the importance of assessing body composition in athletic populations. Therefore, it is necessary to use valid techniques for the determination of the main molecular components. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a precise and valid method for assessing body composition. However, DXA is still not available at the clinical and field settings. Thus, it is important to use simple techniques such as electrical bioimpedance analysis (BIA) but few studies validated this technique specifically multifrequency BIA in body composition assessment in athletes. Therefore, the aim of this research is to test the validity of multifrequency BIA (Tanita, Model MC-180) in the determination of bone mineral content (BMC), lean soft tissue (LST) and fat mass (FM) in athletes. A total of 79 elite athletes (35 males) were assessed by DXA and BIA. Comparison of means, concordance coefficient correlation, multiple regression and Bland-Altman analysis were performed. Tanita explained 76%, 72%, 95% and 73% of the total variability observed from the reference method for FM (kg), FM (%), LST and BMC, respectively. The concordance coefficient correlation for MIGO presented a substantial strength of agreement of 0,927. However, relatively larger limits of agreement were found between BIA and DXA for the several body components. These findings reveal that the Tanita MC-180 is a valid alternative, particularly in the estimation of LST, in a group of athletes. However, due to the limits of agreement obtained in the determination of the body components this equipment presents a more limited validity in the estimation of individual body composition. Key Words: Athletes; Physical Assessment; Body Composition

Social and economic value of Portuguese community pharmacies in health care

Background: Community pharmacies are major contributors to health care systems across the world. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate community pharmacies services in health care. The purpose of this study was to estimate the social and economic benefits of current and potential future community pharmacies services provided by pharmacists in health care in Portugal. Methods: The social and economic value of community pharmacies services was estimated through a decision-model. Model inputs included effectiveness data, quality of life (QoL) and health resource consumption, obtained though literature review and adapted to Portuguese reality by an expert panel. The estimated economic value was the result of non-remunerated pharmaceutical services plus health resource consumption potentially avoided. Social and economic value of community pharmacies services derives from the comparison of two scenarios: "with service" versus "without service". Results: It is estimated that current community pharmacies services in Portugal provide a gain in QoL of 8.3% and an economic value of 879.6 million euros (Msic), including 342.1 Msic in non-remunerated pharmaceutical services and 448. 1 Msic in avoided expense with health resource consumption. Potential future community pharmacies services may provide an additional increase of 6.9% in QoL and be associated with an economic value of 144.8 Msic: 120.3 Msic in non-remunerated services and 24.5 Msic in potential savings with health resource consumption. Conclusions: Community pharmacies services provide considerable benefit in QoL and economic value. An increase range of services including a greater integration in primary and secondary care, among other transversal services, may add further social and economic value to the society

Gravitational field around a time-like current-carrying screwed cosmic string in scalar-tensor theories

In this paper we obtain the space-time generated by a time-like current-carrying superconducting screwed cosmic string(TCSCS). This gravitational field is obtained in a modified scalar-tensor theory in the sense that torsion is taken into account. We show that this solution is comptible with a torsion field generated by the scalar field $\phi$. The analysis of gravitational effects of a TCSCS shows up that the torsion effects that appear in the physical frame of Jordan-Fierz can be described in a geometric form given by contorsion term plus a symmetric part which contains the scalar gradient. As an important application of this solution, we consider the linear perturbation method developed by Zel'dovich, investigate the accretion of cold dark matter due to the formation of wakes when a TCSCS moves with speed $v$ and discuss the role played by torsion. Our results are compared with those obtained for cosmic strings in the framework of scalar-tensor theories without taking torsion into account.Comment: 21 pages, no figures, Revised Version, presented at the "XXIV- Encontro Nacional de Fisica de Particulas e Campos ", Caxambu, MG, Brazil, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter