Knee muscle strength, balance and functional independence in persons with stroke

Purpose: to investigate the relationship between knee muscle strength, balance and functional independence within the first month after stroke. Relevance: cerebral vascular disease is one of the main causes of morbidity, disability and mortality in developed countries. Problems with movement control are frequent after stroke. Lower limb weakness and impaired balance are common problems that are related with the risk of falls and are likely to interfere with the ability to perform daily life activities. Physiotherapy intervention usually starts early after stroke and addresses impairments related to movement and posture in order to improve motor recovery and restore function.

Muscle strength, balance and functional independence in persons with stroke

Cerebral vascular disease is one of the main causes of morbidity, disability and mortality in developed countries. Problems with movement control are frequent after stroke. Lower limb weakness and impaired balance are common problems that are related with the risk of falls and are likely to interfere with the ability to perform daily life activities. Physiotherapy intervention usually starts early after stroke and addresses impairments related to movement and posture in order to improve motor recovery and restore function. Purpose: to investigate the relationship between knee muscle strength, balance and functional independence within the first month after stroke.

Mortality among patients with non-affective functional psychoses in a metropolitan area of South-Eastern Brazil

High mortality rates among those suffering from schizophrenia and related psychoses have been consistently described in developed societies. However, to date there is a lack of data on this matter in Brazil. In order to examine this issue, a prospective 2-year follow-up study was carried out in S. Paulo. The sample consisted of 120 consecutive admissions to psychiatric hospitals in a defined catchment area, aged 18 to 44 years old, with clinical diagnoses of non-affective functional psychoses according to the ICD-9. After 2 years, 116 (96.7%) subjects were traced. During the study period there were 7 deaths (6.0% of those traced), 5 (4.3%) due to suicide. All but one of the suicides occurred in the first year after discharge from hospital. Age and sex Standardised Mortality Ratios (relative to rates for the population of the city of Sao Paulo) were 8.4 for overall mortality (95% confidence interval: 4.0-15.9) and 317.9 for deaths due to suicide (95% confidence interval: 125.2-668.3). These results are in agreement with previous studies, and show that in Brazil non-affective functional psychoses are life-threatening illnesses, which need adequate care, particularly when patients go back to live in the community after hospital discharge.

New insights into functional regulation in MS-based drug profiling

We present a novel data analysis strategy which combined with subcellular fractionation and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based proteomics provides a simple and effective workflow for global drug profiling. Five subcellular fractions were obtained by differential centrifugation followed by high resolution LC-MS and complete functional regulation analysis. The methodology combines functional regulation and enrichment analysis into a single visual summary. The workflow enables improved insight into perturbations caused by drugs. We provide a statistical argument to demonstrate that even crude subcellular fractions leads to improved functional characterization. We demonstrate this data analysis strategy on data obtained in a MS-based global drug profiling study. However, this strategy can also be performed on other types of large scale biological data.

Strength, muscle quality and functional capacity in liver transplanted familial amyloidotic polineuropathy patients

Liver transplantation is the unique treatment for several end stage diseases. Familial Amiloidotic Polineuropathy (FAP) is a neurodegenerative disease related with systemic deposition of amyloidal fibre mainly on peripheral nervous system, clinically translated by an autonomous sensitive-motor neuropathy with severe functional limitations in some cases. The unique treatment for FAP disease is a liver transplant with a very aggressive medication to muscle metabolism and force production. To our knowledge there are no quantitative characterizations of body composition, strength or functional capacity in this population. The purpose of this study was to compare levels of specific strength (isometric strength adjusted by lean mass or muscle quality) and functional capacity (meters in 6 minutes walk test) between FAP patients after a liver transplant (4.1±2 months after transplant surgery) (FAPT) and a healthy group (HG).

Study of the influence of count’s number in myocardium in the determination of reproducible functional parameters in Gated-SPECT studies simulated with GATE

Myocardial Perfusion Gated Single Photon Emission Tomography (Gated-SPET) imaging is used for the combined evaluation of myocardial perfusion and left ventricular (LV) function. But standard protocols of the Gated-SPECT studies require long acquisition times for each study. It is therefore important to reduce as much as possible the total duration of image acquisition. However, it is known that this reduction leads to decrease on counts statistics per projection and raises doubts about the validity of the functional parameters determined by Gated-SPECT. Considering that, it’s difficult to carry out this analysis in real patients. For ethical, logistical and economical matters, simulated studies could be required for this analysis. Objective: Evaluate the influence of the total number of counts acquired from myocardium, in the calculation of myocardial functional parameters (LVEF – left ventricular ejection fraction, EDV – end-diastolic volume, ESV – end-sistolic volume) using routine software procedures.

Partitioning taxon, phylogenetic and functional beta diversity into replacement and richness difference components

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A new frontier in biodiversity inventory: a proposal for estimators of phylogenetic and functional diversity

Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Methods in Ecology and Evolution © 2014 British Ecological Society.

Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Bone Marrow Transplantation: tradução e validação

OBJETIVO: Traduzir para o português e validar o questionário de qualidade de vida Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Bone Marrow Transplantation (FACT-BMT) em pacientes transplantados de medula óssea. OBJETIVO: O estudo foi realizado em Ribeirão Preto, SP, em 2005. O FACT-BMT (versão 3) traduzido e a versão em português do Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) foram aplicados simultaneamente em 55 pacientes consecutivos com leucemia, submetidos ao transplante e em seguimento. Dois parâmetros clínicos foram utilizados para testar a sensibilidade do questionário: tempo decorrido do transplante e presença ou não de doença do enxerto contra o hospedeiro. Foi utilizada a análise de variância (ANOVA) com o teste post hoc de Tukey. Aplicou-se o coeficiente alfa de Cronbach, padronizado para todas as questões, escore final e domínios. RESULTADOS: A média de idade dos pacientes foi 34,8±8,1 anos, com escolaridade média de 10,8±4,7 anos, sendo 78,1% do sexo feminino. A duração média de tempo pós-transplante foi de 29,8±32,19 meses. Nenhuma alteração do formato original do questionário foi observada no final do processo de tradução e adaptação cultural. A consistência interna foi alta (0,88). A correlação entre o questionário traduzido e o SF-36 variou de 0,35 a 0,57, considerada de moderada a boa para a maioria dos domínios de qualidade de vida. A avaliação das validades de construto e concorrente foi satisfatória e estatisticamente significativa. CONCLUSÕES: A versão para o português do FACT-BMT foi validada satisfatoriamente para a aplicação em pacientes brasileiros de ambos os sexos submetidos ao transplante de medula óssea.

Functional validation of LexADBDGim chimeras in saccharomyces cerevisiae

GimC/Prefoldin is a hetero-oligomeric complex involved in cytoskeleton biogenesis. In order to identify by two-hybrid system targets that directly interact with Gims and support the stress phenotypes, this work aimed the functional validation of all Gims in saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Functional biogeography of oceanic islands and the scaling of functional diversity in the Azores

Analyses of species-diversity patterns of remote islands have been crucial to the development of biogeographic theory, yet little is known about corresponding patterns in functional traits on islands and how, for example, they may be affected by the introduction of exotic species. We collated trait data for spiders and beetles and used a functional diversity index (FRic) to test for nonrandomness in the contribution of endemic, other native (also combined as indigenous), and exotic species to functional-trait space across the nine islands of the Azores. In general, for both taxa and for each distributional category, functional diversity increases with species richness, which, in turn scales with island area. Null simulations support the hypothesis that each distributional group contributes to functional diversity in proportion to their species richness. Exotic spiders have added novel trait space to a greater degree than have exotic beetles, likely indicating greater impact of the reduction of immigration filters and/or differential historical losses of indigenous species. Analyses of species occurring in native-forest remnants provide limited indications of the operation of habitat filtering of exotics for three islands, but only for beetles. Although the general linear (not saturating) pattern of trait-space increase with richness of exotics suggests an ongoing process of functional enrichment and accommodation, further work is urgently needed to determine how estimates of extinction debt of indigenous species should be adjusted in the light of these findings.

Clinical and functional aspects of work-related musculoskeletal disorders among active workers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate musculoskeletal disorders among active industrial workers. METHODS: The study was carried out in São Carlos, Southeastern Brazil, in 2005. One hundred and thirty-four female workers were physically evaluated and answered questions about their physical symptoms, filled out a pain scale and gave responses in the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire, and the Work Ability Index questionnaire. The data were analyzed descriptively, and in correlation tests and through applying logistic regression. The outcome was evaluated in relation to the perceptions of pain, symptoms, physical assessment, ability to work and disability. RESULTS: Clinical evaluations and sick leave presented positive correlations with the subjective variables. The Work Ability Index presented a negative correlation with the physical disability index (r=-0.69). Symptoms reported at the time of the assessment presented a good correlation with the results from the pain scale and the clinical findings. Previous sick leave showed an association with disability (OR=1.13; 95% CI:1.08;1.18). CONCLUSION: Symptom reports and pain scales may be useful for assessing current conditions at the time of evaluating individuals with work-related musculoskeletal disorders, as they are easier to apply. In more severe cases of such injuries, clinical and functional evaluations and questionnaires such as those relating to ability to work and disability are preferable. Precise and specific evaluations of these disorders may contribute towards fairer legal and administrative decisions.

Performance of a Brazilian population on the test of functional health literacy in adults

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the scoring obtained by an instrument, which evaluates the ability to read and understand items in the health care setting, according to education and age. METHODS: The short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was administered to 312 healthy participants of different ages and years of schooling. The study was conducted between 2006 and 2007, in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. The test includes actual materials such as pill bottles and appointment slips and measures reading comprehension, assessing the ability to read and correctly pronounce a list of words and understand both prose passages and numerical information. Pearson partial correlations and a multiple regression model were used to verify the association between its scores and education and age. RESULTS: The mean age of the sample was 47.3 years(sd=16.8) and the mean education was 9.7 years(sd=5; range: 1 - 17). A total of 32.4% of the sample showed literacy/numeracy deficits, scoring in the inadequate and marginal functional health literacy ranges. Among the elderly (65 years or older) this rate increased to 51.6%. There was a positive correlation between schooling and scores (r=0.74; p<0.01) and a negative correlation between age and the scores (r=-0.259; p<0.01). The correlation between the scores and age was not significant when the effects of education were held constant (rp=-0.031, p=0.584). A significant association (B=3.877, Beta =0.733; p<0.001) was found between schooling and scores. Age was not a significant predictor in this model (B=-0.035, Beta=-0.22; p=0.584). CONCLUSIONS: The short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was a suitable tool to assess health literacy in the study population. The high number of individuals classified as functional illiterates in this test highlights the importance of special assistance to help them properly understand directions for healthcare.

Association between grip strength, anthropometric data and functional capacity

The hand is one of the most important instruments of the human body, mainly due to the possibility of grip movements. Grip strength has been described as an important predictor of functional capacity. There are several factors that may influence it, such as gender, age and anthropometric characteristics. Functional capacity refers to the ability to perform daily activities which allow the individual to self-care and to live with autonomy. Composite Physical Function (CPF) scale is an evaluation tool for functional capacity that includes daily activities, self-care, sports activities, upper limb function and gait capacity. In 2011, Portugal had 15% of young population (0-14years) and 19% of elderly population (over 65 years). Considering the double-ageing phenomen, it is important to understand the effect of the grip strength in elderly individuals, considering their characteristics, as the need to maintainin dependency as long as possible.

Controllability results for impulsive mixed type functional integro-differential evolution equations with nonlocal conditions

In this paper, we establish the controllability for a class of abstract impulsive mixed-type functional integro-differential equations with finite delay in a Banach space. Some sufficient conditions for controllability are obtained by using the Mönch fixed point theorem via measures of noncompactness and semigroup theory. Particularly, we do not assume the compactness of the evolution system. An example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of our results.