Effects of the use of active video games in balance and quality of life: systematic review

Introduction: In the past few years the interest about information and communication technologies has grown. Considering that the use of exergames is increasing, arousing the interest of the scientific community because of their innovative intervention’s strategies, it was considered important to study the effectiveness of it´s use in some aspects like balance and quality of live. Objective: To study (what is) the effectiveness of exergames intervention programs on outcomes like balance and quality of life along the life cycle. Methodology: The research was performed in the following databases: PUBMED, IEEE Xplore Database, CochraneLibrary, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Clinical Trials) and Health Technology Assessment Database (Technology Assessments)), EBSCO, PEDro, ACM the guide, Elsevier, Springer and Taylor & Francis. The selected search terms were video games, gaming, active video games, wii, Xbox, exergame, postural balance, quality of life. Different research’s equations were used with the following inclusion criteria: RCT studies in English, Spanish or Portuguese language, it couldn’t be studies accomplished before 2001 including that year. According to the criteria and the application of PEDro scale, 5 articles comprised the analyzed final sample after selection. Results: There is no consensus among the studies which were analyzed as to the true relation between balance gains and the utilization of the different exergames. However that relation has been verified in the outcome quality of life. In this second outcome it was considered the increasing on the motivation levels and interest in therapy. Those contribute to a better adhesion in the therapeutic treatment and consequently to functional gains. Conclusion: According to the reviewed studies in this systematic review, it was possible to verify that the utilization of game consoles may be recommended as an instrument to the rehabilitation of patients who have disturbance in balance and decreased levels of quality of life, since the feedback’s system promotes motor control and motor learning. This systematic review has a strong impact in Physiotherapy practice because it allows the comprehension of what studies were performed in the area so far, whereas the utilization of those instruments implies, as all the Physiotherapy interventions, better scientific evidence.N/

Feminine Identities

The first four essays in this volume all focus on issues of gender in the works of different English authors and thinkers. Shorter versions of each of these essays were formerly presented as papers in an autonomous section of the Research and Educational Programme on Studies of Identity at the XXth Meeting of the Portuguese Association of Anglo-American Studies (Póvoa de Varzim, 1999) and published in the proceedings of the conference. The second cluster of essays in this volume — two of which (Jennie Wang’s and Teresa Cid’s) were first presented, in shorter versions, at the joint ASA/CAAS Conference (Montréal, 1999) — addresses the work of American women variously engaged in contexts of cultural diversity and grappling with the ideas of what it means to be an American and a woman, particularly in the twentieth century. These essays approach, from different angles, the definitional quandaries and semantic difficulties encountered when speaking about the self and the United States and provide, in one way or another, a sort of feminine rewriting of American myths and history.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Identificação de embarcações em imagens aerotransportadas de radar de abertura sintética (R-99 SAR) na área marítima do Brasil

O objetivo deste trabalho foi identificar embarcações em imagens de radar obtidas pela aeronave R-99 da Força Aérea Brasileira. Dados de amplitude, obtidas na banda L e nas polarizações HH, HV, VH e VV da região de Porto de Tubarão, ES, foram processados por meio de diferentes tipos de realces, filtros, classificadores e transformadores espectrais. As imagens com maior potencial para identificar embarcações foram ainda analisadas para diferenciar embarcações militares de mercantes, considerando-se os cinco elementos de interpretação (forma, tamanho, sombra, tonalidade e fatores associados, isto é, o contexto em que as embarcações se encontram nas imagens) e as cinco fases de interpretação de imagens (detecção, reconhecimento, análise, dedução e classificação). A combinação de processamentos mais favoráveis foi o realce com contraste 50-200, seguido de filtro abertura ou erosão e classificador SVM (Support Vector Machine) ou transformação SCI (Synthetic Color Image). Foi possível discriminar embarcações nas fases de detecção e reconhecimento, enquanto a diferenciação entre embarcações mercantes e militares foi obtida nas fases de análise e dedução. No nível de classificação, não foi possível definir o tipo de embarcação militar (e.g., fragata ou contratorpedeiro) ou o tipo de embarcação mercante (e.g., petroleiro ou graneleiro)

Cellular proliferation markers in peripheral and central fibromas: a comparative study

OBJECTIVE: To perform a comparative study of the cellular proliferation in the peripheral and central fibromas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Immunohistochemistry for PCNA and the AgNOR technique were performed in 9 cases of peripheral odontogenic fibroma (POF), in 4 cases of odontogenic fibroma (OdF), in 8 cases of peripheral ossifying fibroma (PEOF) and 7 cases of ossifying fibroma (OsF). The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used for the statistical analyses. RESULTS: Mesenchymal component of the central lesions presented a higher mean number of AgNOR per nucleus and PCNA index than did the peripheral lesions (P≤0.05). The mean number of AgNOR per nucleus in the epithelial component proved to be higher in the OdF than in the POF (P≤0.05). The mesenchymal and epithelial components presented similar mean numbers of AgNOR per nucleus and PCNA index in the OdF, as well as a similar mean number of AgNOR per nucleus in the POF. CONCLUSIONS: The mesenchymal component may well play a role in the differences between the biological behaviour of the central lesions as compared to the peripheral lesions. Moreover, considering that the epithelial and mesenchymal components in odontogenic fibromas presented a similar proliferation index, more research is warranted to understand the true role of the epithelial components, which are believed to be inactive in nature, as well as in the development and biological behaviour of these lesions