Trends in physiotherapy education: retrospective analysis of ECPE congress abstracts

Relevance: The last decade both physiotherapy and education faced many demands. Educators are challenged to show evidence and report their best practices. An overview of what has been the focus in the European Congress of Physiotherapy Education (ECPE) and the main areas of interest and developments in the European Higher Education area could provide the opportunity to benchmark towards the policy statement of education of the World Confederation of Physical Therapy (WCPT), facilitating consistency and perhaps assisting in formulating a relevant research agenda for the future. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to give an overview of the trends in physiotherapy education of the last decennium as it is presented at the conferences of the European Region of the World Confederation of Physical Therapy (ER-WCPT). Methods/analysis: A descriptive and retrospective study was carried out and qualitative and quantitative analysis was made on the basis of content and study design/methodology, by three independent reviewers of all abstracts presented at each of the three previous ECPE conferences of 2004 (Estoril – Portugal), 2008 (Stockholm – Sweden), 2012 (Vienna – Austria). Categories for content analyses were developed based on the distribution and main themes used in the conference. Results: A total of n = 350 abstracts were classified. The main topics were divided between ICT – Information Communication Technology, Education and Employment, Continuous Professional Development, Teaching and Learning, Clinical Education, Evidence Based Practice: Teaching and Learning, Clinical Reasoning, Innovation and Curriculum Development, Teaching in Specific Areas, Interdisciplinary. And considering different methodological approaches: Descriptive Studies; Analytical Observational and Experimental Studies; Reviews and Mixed Methods. Discussion and conclusions: This analysis was constrained by lack of transparency on the description of methodologies in the abstracts and also by the different organization of the abstract books. We needed to create a category “Information available doesn’t allow a classification” and make our decisions based on the rather classic distinction of qualitative and quantitative study types and methodology. From the results we can find an increase of total presentations from the first to the last conference. In all conference there is a clear preference for poster presentations and the qualitative studies are more favored. There is an overall increase in research and implementation research from the first conference to the last. Impact and implications: The next step could be a comparison with WCPT congress education related abstracts and the proceedings of educational networks like COHEHRE and ENPHE. This kind of reflection could help researchers and educators create a research agenda and build upon earlier work. It gives an incentive to the development of high quality methodologies. An overview of reports gives the opportunity to compare with published results and could challenge publishing criteria.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Numerical Procedure for 2D Fluid Flow Simulation in Unstructured Meshes

The present work addresses the numerical simulation of fluid flow for 2D problems. The physical principles and numerical models implemented in the software package EasyCFD are presented in a synthetic and clear way. The 2D form of the Navier-Stokes equations is considered, using the eddy-viscosity concept to take into account turbulence effects upon the mean flow field. The k-ε and the k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence models allow for the calculation of the turbulent viscosity. The numerical model is based on a control volume approach, using the SIMPLEC algorithm on an unstructured quadrilateral mesh. The mesh arrangement is a non-staggered type. The coordinate transformation, integration discretization and solution method for the governing equations are fully described. As an example of application, the airflow around a NACA 0012 airfoil is calculated and the results for the aerodynamic coefficients are compared with available experimental data

Dynamical Analysis and Visualization of Tornadoes Time Series

In this paper we analyze the behavior of tornado time-series in the U.S. from the perspective of dynamical systems. A tornado is a violently rotating column of air extending from a cumulonimbus cloud down to the ground. Such phenomena reveal features that are well described by power law functions and unveil characteristics found in systems with long range memory effects. Tornado time series are viewed as the output of a complex system and are interpreted as a manifestation of its dynamics. Tornadoes are modeled as sequences of Dirac impulses with amplitude proportional to the events size. First, a collection of time series involving 64 years is analyzed in the frequency domain by means of the Fourier transform. The amplitude spectra are approximated by power law functions and their parameters are read as an underlying signature of the system dynamics. Second, it is adopted the concept of circular time and the collective behavior of tornadoes analyzed. Clustering techniques are then adopted to identify and visualize the emerging patterns

Use of information and communication technologies by physiotherapist and physiotherapy students in Portugal

PURPOSE: This study aims to determine the use of the ICT by Physiotherapist and Physiotherapy students. RELEVANCE: The European Benchmark Statement(ER-WCPT) refers that the Physiotherapist should have skills in the area of ICT, so that he/she is able to search for the required evidence to validate his/her practice, as well as managing the data and records stemming from his/her clinical practice. Therefore those skills should be developed during their basic training and used to support and deliver Lifelong Learning PARTICIPANTS: A sample of Physiotherapy students (n=982) and Physiotherapists (n=261) from a population of members of the Portuguese Association of Physiotherapists (APF). METHODS: We use a validated questionnaire subdivided into 6 dimensions (sample characterization, equipment characterization, usage characterization, attitudes and knowledge, barriers and necessities). ANALYSIS: The procedures used were essentially descriptive statistics. RESULTS: When inquired 99% of the students reported using computer in academic activities of which 42.6% as a weekly usage between 0 and 3 hours and 36.7% between 3 and 5 hours and 57.4% referred the importance of using ICT in the school context. The Physiotherapists use more frequently the computer at home (80%), followed by the workplace for 16%, when inquired 68% reported using computer on the workplace, of which 52% also have access to the internet. Regarding the main obstacles in using ICT, 51% of students and 18,7% of the Physiotherapists refer the lack of specific knowledge in this area and 18,5% refer to the lack of time to use them. As for the training needs felt by the Physiotherapists, 19% refers having lack of training in using clinical assessment software and 17,5% refer lack of training in using exercise software for producing patient information and handouts. CONCLUSIONS: Through the analysis of the results of this study it is demonstrated that although the good accessibility to the ICT by students and professionals in their institutional and home environment the use is yet scarce because of lack of time and specific knowledge to use it. IMPLICATIONS: There seems to be the need to create institutional programs and projects that promote the usage of ICT by investing in the training of students and Physiotherapists, and promoting the usage of ICT in the workplace.N/

Fractional Dynamics in Forest Fires

Every year forest fires consume large areas, being a major concern in many countries like Australia, United States and Mediterranean Basin European Countries (e.g., Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece). Understanding patterns of such events, in terms of size and spatiotemporal distributions, may help to take measures beforehand in view of possible hazards and decide strategies of fire prevention, detection and suppression. Traditional statistical tools have been used to study forest fires. Nevertheless, those tools might not be able to capture the main features of fires complex dynamics and to model fire behaviour [1]. Forest fires size-frequency distributions unveil long range correlations and long memory characteristics, which are typical of fractional order systems [2]. Those complex correlations are characterized by self-similarity and absence of characteristic length-scale, meaning that forest fires exhibit power-law (PL) behaviour. Forest fires have also been proved to exhibit time-clustering phenomena, with timescales of the order of few days [3]. In this paper, we study forest fires in the perspective of dynamical systems and fractional calculus (FC). Public domain forest fires catalogues, containing data of events occurred in Portugal, in the period 1980 up to 2011, are considered. The data is analysed in an annual basis, modelling the occurrences as sequences of Dirac impulses. The frequency spectra of such signals are determined using Fourier transforms, and approximated through PL trendlines. The PL parameters are then used to unveil the fractional-order dynamics characteristics of the data. To complement the analysis, correlation indices are used to compare and find possible relationships among the data. It is shown that the used approach can be useful to expose hidden patterns not captured by traditional tools

Root-locus practical sketching rules for fractional-order system

For integer-order systems, there are well-known practical rules for RL sketching. Nevertheless, these rules cannot be directly applied to fractional-order (FO) systems. Besides, the existing literature on this topic is scarce and exclusively focused on commensurate systems, usually expressed as the ratio of two noninteger polynomials. The practical rules derived for those do not apply to other symbolic expressions, namely, to transfer functions expressed as the ratio of FO zeros and poles. However, this is an important case as it is an extension of the classical integer-order problem usually addressed by control engineers. Extending the RL practical sketching rules to such FO systems will contribute to decrease the lack of intuition about the corresponding system dynamics. This paper generalises several RL practical sketching rules to transfer functions specified as the ratio of FO zeros and poles. The subject is presented in a didactic perspective, being the rules applied to several examples

Analysis of temperature time-series: embedding dynamics into the MDS method

Global warming and the associated climate changes are being the subject of intensive research due to their major impact on social, economic and health aspects of the human life. Surface temperature time-series characterise Earth as a slow dynamics spatiotemporal system, evidencing long memory behaviour, typical of fractional order systems. Such phenomena are difficult to model and analyse, demanding for alternative approaches. This paper studies the complex correlations between global temperature time-series using the Multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach. MDS provides a graphical representation of the pattern of climatic similarities between regions around the globe. The similarities are quantified through two mathematical indices that correlate the monthly average temperatures observed in meteorological stations, over a given period of time. Furthermore, time dynamics is analysed by performing the MDS analysis over slices sampling the time series. MDS generates maps describing the stations’ locus in the perspective that, if they are perceived to be similar to each other, then they are placed on the map forming clusters. We show that MDS provides an intuitive and useful visual representation of the complex relationships that are present among temperature time-series, which are not perceived on traditional geographic maps. Moreover, MDS avoids sensitivity to the irregular distribution density of the meteorological stations