Woman holding banner reading "ERA missionaries are everywhere" at a walk-a-thon for the ERA

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TV news team covering Walk-a-thon for ERA

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Credit must be given to Leinwand from Monkmeyer Press Photo Service]

“Can we walk?” Environmental supports for physical activity in India

India is currently facing a non-communicable disease epidemic. Physical activity (PA) is a preventative factor for non-communicable diseases. Understanding the role of the built environment (BE) to facilitate or constrain PA is essential for public health interventions to increase population PA. The objective of this study was to understand BEs associations with PA occurring in two major life domains or life areas—travel and leisure—in urban India. Between December 2014 and April 2015, in-person surveys were conducted with participants (N = 370; female = 47.2%) in Chennai, India. Perceived BE characteristics regarding residential density, land use mix-diversity, land use mix-access, street connectivity, infrastructure for walking and bicycling, aesthetics, traffic safety, and safety from crime were measured using the adapted Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale-India (NEWS-India). Self-reported PA was measured the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. High residential density was associated with greater odds of travel PA (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.2, 3.2). Land use mix-diversity was positively related to travel PA (aOR = 2.1, 95%CI = 1.2, 3.6), but not associated with leisure or total PA. The aggregate NEWS-India score predicted a two-fold increase in odds of travel PA (aOR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.1, 3.1) and a 40% decrease in odds of leisure PA (aOR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4, 1.0). However, the association of the aggregated score with leisure PA was not significant. Results suggest that relationships between BE and PA in low-and-middle income countries may be context-specific, and may differ markedly from higher income countries. Findings have public health implications for India suggesting that caution should be taken when translating evidence across countries.

Does the 6-minute walk test predicts functional capacity in a sample of elderly women? A pilot study

Introduction: Functional capacity is the capacity to conduct daily activities in an independent way. It can be estimated with the 6-minutes’ walk test (6MWT) and other validated functional tests. Objectives: Verify associations between functional capacity measured with two different instruments (6MWT and Composite Physical Function (CPF) scale) and levels of physical activity and between those and characterization variables. Methods: This sample consisted of 30 apparently healthy elderly women from Loures municipality. Essentially they should be independent and community-dwelling. Characterization data were collected, containing characterization of physical activity levels and anthropometric data. Functional capacity was assessed with CPF scale and distance walked by the 6MWT. Results were analysed using a SPSS v21.0 through correlation tests. Results: The walked distance in 6MWT was positively associated with height (r = 0.406; p = 0.026), physical activity level (r = 0.594; p = 0.001) and functional capacity (r = 0.682; p = 0.000). For each point more obtained in CPF, the distance walked increases on average by 7.5 meters. Relatively to sedentary participants, being insufficiently active increases, on average, the distance walked in 85.8 meters; and being active increases, on average, the distance walked in 108.8 meters. No other associations were observed in our sample. Conclusion: Based on the collected sample, walked distance in 6MWT has a high correlation with results in CPF scale, so this test can be used to predict functional capacity. More attention should be taken to promote strategies to increase walking in older adults.

Avaliação do gasto energético em amputados de membro inferior utilizando o Six-Minute Walk Test

Objetivos do estudo - Impacto na marcha de: características individuais, hábitos e fatores comportamentais, quadro clínico, componentes protésicos. Conclusões do estudo - Foi possível observar a influência de vários fatores na capacidade de deambulação e no consumo energético durante a marcha: idade correlaciona-se com a distância percorrida, velocidade de marcha, VO2 máx. e presença de dor; IMC correlaciona-se com o VO2 máx.; nível de atividade correlaciona-se com a distância percorrida, velocidade de marcha, VO2 máx. e perceção de esforço. Vários fatores, relacionados com a amputação ou não mostram influenciar a capacidade de deambulação pelo que não devem ser tidos em conta separadamente. Aquisição de conhecimentos na área de investigação em Ortoprotesia, sendo que este trabalho pode servir como base para a realização de um trabalho futuro.

A Random Walk down Main Street

US suburbs have often been characterized by their relatively low walk accessibility compared to more urban environments, and US urban environments have been characterized by low walk accessibility compared to cities in other countries. Lower overall density in the suburbs implies that activities, if spread out, would have a greater distance between them. But why should activities be spread out instead of developed contiguously? This brief research note builds a positive model for the emergence of contiguous development along “Main Street” to illustrate the trade-offs that result in the built environment we observe. It then suggests some policy interventions to place a “thumb on the scale” to choose which parcels will develop in which sequence to achieve socially preferred outcomes.

A Utilitarian Perspective of Social and Medical Contributions to Three Illustrative Conditions, and Recent UK NHS Policy Initiatives

Background: To date debate concerning the relative merits of social and medical sciences has been largely academic. Aims: To outline and critically appraise a utilitarian approach to mental health research that reflects a critical realist perspective. Method: Consideration of the relative utility of differing approaches to illustrative ‘‘psychiatric’’ disorders, and recent policy initiatives. Results: Socially relevant outcomes of Bipolar Affective Disorder are determined by influences that operate independently of the characteristic instability of mood. There is now a highly specific and effective psychological treatment for Panic Disorder. Its benefits are still not fully exploited because of continuing lay and professional focus upon the condition’s social manifestations. Great numbers of people presenting in primary care are unhelpfully caused to adopt the role of ‘‘patient’’ due to practices limiting the professional response to a medical one. Such practices reflect public and professional perceptions of the nature of ‘‘mental health difficulties’’ much more than they do the achievements of medicine. Recent policy-supporting initiatives influencing UK NHS mental health services are much more likely to be supported by social sciences than by medical research. Conclusions: There is considerable scope for a contribution to applied mental health research from frameworks and methodologies that are rooted in a social sciences perspective.

Testing the random walk hypothesis with variance ratio statistics

Mestrado em Finanças

Random walk with restart over dynamic graphs

Random Walk with Restart (RWR) is an appealing measure of proximity between nodes based on graph structures. Since real graphs are often large and subject to minor changes, it is prohibitively expensive to recompute proximities from scratch. Previous methods use LU decomposition and degree reordering heuristics, entailing O(|V|^3) time and O(|V|^2) memory to compute all (|V|^2) pairs of node proximities in a static graph. In this paper, a dynamic scheme to assess RWR proximities is proposed: (1) For unit update, we characterize the changes to all-pairs proximities as the outer product of two vectors. We notice that the multiplication of an RWR matrix and its transition matrix, unlike traditional matrix multiplications, is commutative. This can greatly reduce the computation of all-pairs proximities from O(|V|^3) to O(|delta|) time for each update without loss of accuracy, where |delta| (<<|V|^2) is the number of affected proximities. (2) To avoid O(|V|^2) memory for all pairs of outputs, we also devise efficient partitioning techniques for our dynamic model, which can compute all pairs of proximities segment-wisely within O(l|V|) memory and O(|V|/l) I/O costs, where 1<=l<=|V| is a user-controlled trade-off between memory and I/O costs. (3) For bulk updates, we also devise aggregation and hashing methods, which can discard many unnecessary updates further and handle chunks of unit updates simultaneously. Our experimental results on various datasets demonstrate that our methods can be 1–2 orders of magnitude faster than other competitors while securing scalability and exactness.

Volumetric Capnography For The Evaluation Of Chronic Airways Diseases.

Obstructive lung diseases of different etiologies present with progressive peripheral airway involvement. The peripheral airways, known as the silent lung zone, are not adequately evaluated with conventional function tests. The principle of gas washout has been used to detect pulmonary ventilation inhomogeneity and to estimate the location of the underlying disease process. Volumetric capnography (VC) analyzes the pattern of CO2 elimination as a function of expired volume. To measure normalized phase 3 slopes with VC in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCB) and in bronchitic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in order to compare the slopes obtained for the groups. NCB and severe COPD were enrolled sequentially from an outpatient clinic (Hospital of the State University of Campinas). A control group was established for the NCB group, paired by sex and age. All subjects performed spirometry, VC, and the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT). Two comparisons were made: NCB group versus its control group, and NCB group versus COPD group. The project was approved by the ethical committee of the institution. Statistical tests used were Wilcoxon or Student's t-test; P<0.05 was considered to be a statistically significant difference. Concerning the NCB group (N=20) versus the control group (N=20), significant differences were found in body mass index and in several functional variables (spirometric, VC, 6MWT) with worse results observed in the NCB group. In the comparison between the COPD group (N=20) versus the NCB group, although patients with COPD had worse spirometric and 6MWT values, the capnographic variables mean phase 2 slope (Slp2), mean phase 3 slope normalized by the mean expiratory volume, or mean phase 3 slope normalized by the end-tidal CO2 concentration were similar. These findings may indicate that the gas elimination curves are not sensitive enough to monitor the severity of structural abnormalities. The role of normalized phase 3 slope may be worth exploring as a more sensitive index of small airway disease, even though it may not be equally sensitive in discriminating the severity of the alterations.

Obstacle Crossing With Dual Tasking Is A Danger For Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease And For Healthy Older People.

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of dual tasking on obstacle crossing during walking by individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and by healthy older people. Thirty four elderly individuals (16 healthy subjects and 18 individuals with AD) were recruited to participate in this study. Three AD individuals and one control participant were excluded due to exclusion criteria. The participants were instructed to walk barefoot at their own speed along an 8 m long pathway. Each participant performed five trials for each condition (unobstructed walking, unobstructed walking with dual tasking, and obstacle crossing during walking with dual tasking). The trials were completely randomized for each participant. The mid-pathway stride was measured in the unobstructed walking trials and the stride that occurred during the obstacle avoidance was measured in the trials that involved obstacle crossing. The behavior of the healthy elderly subjects and individuals with AD was similar for obstacle crossing during walking with dual tasking. Both groups used the posture first strategy to prioritize stability and showed decreased attention to executive tasking while walking. Additionally, AD had a strong influence on the modifications that are made by the elderly while walking under different walking conditions.

A abordagem centrada na pessoa e a psicologia do esporte : vivência de um psicólogo com jogadores e a comissão técnica de uma equipe durante os períodos de preparação e disputa da Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Qualidade de vida e nivel de atividade fisica de funcionarios de empresa de tecnologia da comunicação

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física