Extended Theories of Gravity and their Cosmological and Astrophysical Applications

We review Extended Theories of Gravity in metric and Palatini formalism pointing out their cosmological and astrophysical application. The aim is to propose an alternative approach to solve the puzzles connected to dark components.Comment: 44 pages, 11 figure

Variation in Structure and Process of Care in Traumatic Brain Injury: Provider Profiles of European Neurotrauma Centers Participating in the CENTER-TBI Study.

INTRODUCTION: The strength of evidence underpinning care and treatment recommendations in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is low. Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has been proposed as a framework to provide evidence for optimal care for TBI patients. The first step in CER is to map the existing variation. The aim of current study is to quantify variation in general structural and process characteristics among centers participating in the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury (CENTER-TBI) study. METHODS: We designed a set of 11 provider profiling questionnaires with 321 questions about various aspects of TBI care, chosen based on literature and expert opinion. After pilot testing, questionnaires were disseminated to 71 centers from 20 countries participating in the CENTER-TBI study. Reliability of questionnaires was estimated by calculating a concordance rate among 5% duplicate questions. RESULTS: All 71 centers completed the questionnaires. Median concordance rate among duplicate questions was 0.85. The majority of centers were academic hospitals (n = 65, 92%), designated as a level I trauma center (n = 48, 68%) and situated in an urban location (n = 70, 99%). The availability of facilities for neuro-trauma care varied across centers; e.g. 40 (57%) had a dedicated neuro-intensive care unit (ICU), 36 (51%) had an in-hospital rehabilitation unit and the organization of the ICU was closed in 64% (n = 45) of the centers. In addition, we found wide variation in processes of care, such as the ICU admission policy and intracranial pressure monitoring policy among centers. CONCLUSION: Even among high-volume, specialized neurotrauma centers there is substantial variation in structures and processes of TBI care. This variation provides an opportunity to study effectiveness of specific aspects of TBI care and to identify best practices with CER approaches

Morphological Variation Analysis of the repeatability of soccer offensive schemes

A landmark-based statistical method, morphological variation analysis, for the quantification of the repeatability in the arrangement of body segments during the execution of sport actions has recently been developed. A two-dimensional shape is produced and its morphology is studied. The method was used to measure the within-team variability of the relative positions of players during the execution of offensive schemes in soccer. Two junior soccer teams of different technical abilities (semi-professional vs. amateur), each playing two standardized offensive schemes of different difficulty (easier: throw-in; more difficult: wing attack) were filmed. Each scheme was repeated 25 (semi-professionals) or 10 (amateurs) times. For each repetition, the position of the players in a single significant frame was analysed using morphological variation analysis. The reproducibility of both schemes was higher among the semi-professionals than among the amateurs (two-way analysis of variance, P<0.005). The repeatability of the players' relative positions was related to the difficulty of the scheme and the technical level of the team. Among the amateurs, the throw-in was more reproducible than the wing attack (Student's t-test, P<0.005). The method not only allows the quantification of collective (team) coordination, but also the separation of the influence of individual player

Depression And Suicidal Behavior Of Cancer Inpatients: Prevalence And Associated Factors [depressão E Comportamento Suicida Em Pacientes Oncológicos Hospitalizados: Prevalência E Fatores Associados]

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence rates of depression and suicidal behavior among cancer inpatients and factors associated with these conditions. METHODS: A total of 5357 patients consecutively admitted to a university hospital were assessed by means of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) and the suicide risk section of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Univariate analyses adjusted for gender and age groups were performed with depression and suicide risk as dependent variables. RESULTS: Of those assessed, 675 had cancer. The prevalence rates for depression and suicide risk were 18.3% (95%CI = 15.4 -21.4) and 4.7% (95%CI = 3.2-6.7) respectively. Depression was more frequently found in cancer bearers than in the other inpatients (13.2%; p = 0.0009). Female gender, low schooling level, long time of disease, pain, use of psychotropic drugs and suicide risk were associated with depression (p < 0.05). 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