A prática do Tai-Chi como nova fronteira terapêutica da fisioterapia na melhoria da capacidade funcional do idoso: uma revisão bibliográfica

Projeto de Graduação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Licenciada em FisioterapiaIntrodução: No idoso, a capacidade física e funcional vai sofrendo um declínio/mutações físicas e mentais, levando à perda gradual da independência e a uma diminuição da qualidade de vida. O Tai-Chi sendo um tipo de exercício suave e lento, caracterizado por movimentos harmoniosos e graduais, em que a intensidade pode ser regulada pelas exigências específicas de cada individuo, é considerado como uma atividade adequada a todas as idades e benéfica na prevenção do declínio dos sistemas mais atingidos no envelhecimento, bem como o sistema vestibular, visual e somatosensorial. Objetivo: Analisar os efeitos terapêuticos do Tai-Chi no desempenho funcional do idoso e constatar como a prática desta disciplina pode ser utilizada como técnica complementar em Fisioterapia. Metodologia: Pesquisa computorizada na base de dados PubMed, e PEDro, para identificar estudos que relativos aos benefícios ligados a prática de Tai-Chi no idoso. A classificação de todos os artigos foi pesquisada através da plataforma e escala de PEDro, analisando cada critério. Resultados: Foram selecionados 8 artigos, com um total de 2.276 participantes com idades superiores a 60 anos, obtendo uma média de 4.25 na escala de PEDro. Os resultados dos diversos estudos demonstraram como a prática de diferentes estilos de Tai- Chi pelos idosos pode melhorar significativamente as suas ações motoras. Conclusão: A prática do Tai- Chi leva a um aumento da estabilidade postural, melhoria do controlo de equilíbrio, proprioceção, e qualidade da marcha do idoso, capacidades determinantes na diminuição das quedas prejudiciais deste. Sugere-se, de futuro, a realização de mais estudos experimentais que reforcem estas evidências, tanto na ação preventiva como na ação terapêutica do Tai-chi no idoso.Introduction: In the elderly, physical and functional capacity will suffer a decline / physical and mental changes, leading to the gradual loss of independence and a decreased quality of life. Tai Chi is a type of soft and slow exercise, characterized by smooth and gradual movements, in which the intensity may be governed by the specific requirements of each individual, is considered as an appropriate activity for all ages and beneficent in preventing the decline of the most affected systems during aging , as well as the vestibular system, visual and somatosensory. Objective: analyze the therapeutic effects of Tai Chi on functional performance in elderly and see how the practice of this discipline can be used as a complementary technique in physiotherapy. Methodology: computerized search in PubMed database, and PEDro to identify studies on the benefits linked to the practice of Tai-Chi in the elderly. Classification of all articles was screened by the platform and PEDro scale, analyzing each criteria. Results: 8 articles were selected, with a total of 2,276 participants aged over 60 years, reaching an average of 4.25 on a scale of PEDro. The results of several studies demonstrated how the practice of different styles of Tai Chi by the elderly can significantly improve their motor actions. Conclusion: The practice of Tai Chi leads to increased postural stability, improve equilibration control, proprioception, and elderly gait quality, determinants capacities in reducing damaging declines of this. It is suggested that, in future, the realization of more experimental studies that reinforce this evidence, in preventive action and in therapeutic action of Tai-chi in the elderly

Correlation Functions in ω\omega-Deformed N=6 Supergravity

Gauged N=8 supergravity in four dimensions is now known to admit a deformation characterized by a real parameter $\omega$ lying in the interval $0\le\omega\le \pi/8$. We analyse the fluctuations about its anti-de Sitter vacuum, and show that the full N=8 supersymmetry can be maintained by the boundary conditions only for $\omega=0$. For non-vanishing $\omega$, and requiring that there be no propagating spin s>1 fields on the boundary, we show that N=3 is the maximum degree of supersymmetry that can be preserved by the boundary conditions. We then construct in detail the consistent truncation of the N=8 theory to give $\omega$-deformed SO(6) gauged N=6 supergravity, again with $\omega$ in the range $0\le\omega\le \pi/8$. We show that this theory admits fully N=6 supersymmetry-preserving boundary conditions not only for $\omega=0$, but also for $\omega=\pi/8$. These two theories are related by a U(1) electric-magnetic duality. We observe that the only three-point functions that depend on $\omega$ involve the coupling of an SO(6) gauge field with the U(1) gauge field and a scalar or pseudo-scalar field. We compute these correlation functions and compare them with those of the undeformed N=6 theory. We find that the correlation functions in the $\omega=\pi/8$ theory holographically correspond to amplitudes in the U(N)_k x U(N)_{-k} ABJM model in which the U(1) Noether current is replaced by a dynamical U(1) gauge field. We also show that the $\omega$-deformed N=6 gauged supergravities can be obtained via consistent reductions from the eleven-dimensional or ten-dimensional type IIA supergravities.Comment: 38 pages, one figur

Vacua Analysis in Extended Supersymmetry Compactifications

We analyse geometric type IIA flux compactifications leading to N=4 gauged supergravities in four dimensions. The complete landscape of isotropic vacua is presented, which turns out to belong to a unique theory. The solutions admit an uplift to maximal supergravity due to the vanishing of the flux-induced tadpoles for all the supersymmetry-breaking branes. Such an uplift is sketched out and the full N=8 mass spectra are discussed. We find the interesting presence of a non-supersymmetric and nevertheless stable minimum.Comment: 7 pages, contribution to the proceedings of the XVII European Workshop on String Theory, Padua 201

SMART3D: Tracking of movements surveyed by a multiple set of TV cameras

The use of passive markers in automatic motion analysis has the incomparable advantage of allowing the recording of a completely free movement. This is a prerequisite for collecting reliable quantitative data on sport gestures. However, the data processing required to reconstruct the three-dimensional trajectories of the markers is computationally demanding. For each frame each surveyed point must be assigned to the corresponding marker and the threedimensional positions of the markers computed. The complexity of the problem greatly increases when the trajectories become so close that it becomes difficult to distinguish between them, and when some of the markers are hidden during the movement; when more than two TV cameras are used, there is the additional problem of tracking the trajectory of a single marker over different pairs of TV cameras. In this paper a system which employs a general solution of these problems is presented (SMART3D). It is based on the evaluation of the affinity of a pair of surveyed points with the configuration of the markers in the three-dimensional space. The figure of merit is composed by two terms. The first term is derived from the difference between the surveyed positions of the points and their position as predicted by a FIR filter, the second term is related to the change of the distances between the corresponding marker and the others. The assignment is subject to a stereopsis constraint: two points belong to the same marker if the distance between their projections and their co-ordinates is less than the quantization error. To avoid combinatorial explosion, a preliminary test is carried out and all the surveyed points that are distant from the projections of the other markers are extracted and assigned. When a marker, temporarily hidden, reappears, it is successfully classified by a congruence test on the distances. The system, connected with the Elite system in a configuration of 4 independent TV cameras, is undergoing extensive testing in our laboratory during routine use. Preliminary results will be shown

Discovery of a strongly phase-variable spectral feature in the isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125

We present the discovery of a strongly phase-variable absorption feature in the X-ray spectrum of the nearby, thermally-emitting, isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125. The absorption line was detected performing detailed phase-resolved spectroscopy in 20 XMM-Newton observations, covering the period May 2000 - September 2012. The feature has an energy of ~750eV, an equivalent width of ~30eV, and it is significantly detected for only ~20% of the pulsar rotation. The absorption feature appears to be stable over the timespan covered by the observations. Given its strong dependence on the pulsar rotational phase and its narrow width, a plausible interpretation is in terms of resonant proton cyclotron absorption/scattering in a confined magnetic structure very close to the neutron star surface. The inferred field in such a magnetic loop is B_loop ~ 2 x 10^{14} G, a factor of ~7 higher than the surface dipolar magnetic field.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; ApJ Letters accepte

Isolated Neutron Stars

Non-accreting neutron stars display diverse characteristics, leading us to classify them into several groups. This chapter is an observational driven review in which we survey the properties of the different classes of isolated neutron stars: from the 'normal' rotation-powered pulsars, to magnetars, the most magnetic neutron stars in the Universe we know of; from central compact objects (sometimes called also anti-magnetars) in supernova remnants, to the X-ray dim isolated neutron stars. We also highlight a few sources that have exhibited features straddling those of different sub-groups, blurring the apparent diversity of the neutron star zoo and pointing to a gran unification.Comment: Invited chapter for Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics (Section Eds. V. Doroshenko, A. Santangelo; Eds. C. Bambi and A. Santangelo, Springer Singapore, 2023