Effect of a multimodal exercise program on sleep disturbances and instrumental activities of daily living performance on Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease patients

Aim: To assess the contribution of a multimodal exercise program on the sleep disturbances (SD) and on the performance of instrumental activities daily living (IADL) in patients with clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease patients (PD). Methods: A total of 42 consecutive patients (23 training group, 19 control group) with PD and 35 demented patients with AD (19 trained group, 16 control group) were recruited. Participants in both training groups carried out three 1-h sessions per week of a multimodal exercise program for 6 months. The Pfeffer Questionnaire for Instrumental Activities and the Mini-Sleep Questionnaire were used to assess the effects of the program on IADL and SD respectively. Results: Two-way ancova showed interactions in IADL and SD. Significant improvements were observed for these variables in both intervention groups, and maintenance or worsening was observed in control groups. The analysis of effect size showed these improvements. Conclusion: The present study results show that a mild to moderate intensity of multimodal physical exercises carried out on a regular basis over 6 months can contribute to reducing IADL deficits and attenuating SD. © 2013 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Assessment of total uncertainty in cocaine and benzoylecgonine wastewater load measurements

To check the effectiveness of campaigns preventing drug abuse or indicating local effects of efforts against drug trafficking, it is beneficial to know consumed amounts of substances in a high spatial and temporal resolution. The analysis of drugs of abuse in wastewater (WW) has the potential to provide this information. In this study, the reliability of WW drug consumption estimates is assessed and a novel method presented to calculate the total uncertainty in observed WW cocaine (COC) and benzoylecgonine (BE) loads. Specifically, uncertainties resulting from discharge measurements, chemical analysis and the applied sampling scheme were addressed and three approaches presented. These consist of (i) a generic model-based procedure to investigate the influence of the sampling scheme on the uncertainty of observed or expected drug loads, (ii) a comparative analysis of two analytical methods (high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), including an extended cross-validation by influent profiling over several days, and (iii) monitoring COC and BE concentrations in WW of the largest Swiss sewage treatment plants. In addition, the COC and BE loads observed in the sewage treatment plant of the city of Berne were used to back-calculate the COC consumption. The estimated mean daily consumed amount was 107 ± 21 g of pure COC, corresponding to 321 g of street-grade COC.

The rural one-teacher schools of Illinois; buildings and equipment, standardization, daily program, demonstration schools ...

Revision of Circular no. 163: Organizing and teaching a one-teacher school. cf. Foreword.

Guidelines for liquid chemical application for snow and ice control for Illinois' Total Storm Management Program /

"September 24, 1998."

(Figure 2) Mean discharge per day (total and baseflow part) of the San Francisco River and daily precipitation at station ECPL (Planta), in 2007

We investigated controls on the water chemistry of a South Ecuadorian cloud forest catchment which is partly pristine, and partly converted to extensive pasture. From April 2007 to May 2008 water samples were taken weekly to biweekly at nine different subcatchments, and were screened for differences in electric conductivity, pH, anion, as well as element composition. A principal component analysis was conducted to reduce dimensionality of the data set and define major factors explaining variation in the data. Three main factors were isolated by a subset of 10 elements (Ca2+, Ce, Gd, K+, Mg2+, Na+, Nd, Rb, Sr, Y), explaining around 90% of the data variation. Land-use was the major factor controlling and changing water chemistry of the subcatchments. A second factor was associated with the concentration of rare earth elements in water, presumably highlighting other anthropogenic influences such as gravel excavation or road construction. Around 12% of the variation was explained by the third component, which was defined by the occurrence of Rb and K and represents the influence of vegetation dynamics on element accumulation and wash-out. Comparison of base- and fast flow concentrations led to the assumption that a significant portion of soil water from around 30 cm depth contributes to storm flow, as revealed by increased rare earth element concentrations in fast flow samples. Our findings demonstrate the utility of multi-tracer principal component analysis to study tropical headwater streams, and emphasize the need for effective land management in cloud forest catchments.

(Table 1) Maximal daily erythemally effective UVB radiation and total ozone content at Vernadsky Station, Antarctica

One of the research programs carried out within the Czech-Ukrainian scientific co-operation is the monitoring of global solar and ultraviolet radiation at the Vernadsky Station (formerly the British Faraday Station), Antarctica. Radiation measurements have been made since 2002. Recently, a special attention is devoted to the measurements of the erythemally effective UVB radiation using a broadband Robertson Berger 501 UV-Biometer (Solar Light Co. Inc., USA). This paper brings some results from modelling the daily sums of erythemally effective UVB radiation intensity in relation to the total ozone content (TOC) in atmosphere and surface intensity of the global solar radiation. Differences between the satellite- and ground-based measurements of the TOC at the Vernadsky Station are taken into consideration. The modelled erythemally effective UVB radiation differed slightly depending on the seasons and sources of the TOC. The model relative prediction error for ground- and satellite-based measurements varied between 9.5% and 9.6% in the period of 2002-2003, while it ranged from 7.4% to 8.8% in the period of 2003-2004.

Efeitos de um programa de reabilitação instituído a pessoas submetidas a artroplastia total da anca

Introdução: O aumento da esperança média de vida torna as pessoas mais vulneráveis e dependentes, especialmente no que se refere às atividades quotidianas. A coxartrose é uma das osteoartroses mais comuns, manifestada por dor, limitação progressiva da mobilidade articular e atrofia muscular. A artroplastia total da anca tem-se afirmado como alternativa eficaz e com sucesso ao longo do tempo. Hoje em dia, a necessidade de recuperação funcional após a cirurgia é irrefutável. Neste contexto, a reabilitação assume um papel primordial, quer na maximização das capacidades e minimização dos défices pós-cirúrgicos da pessoa, quer no restabelecimento da sua autonomia e consequente retorno à vida social e profissional. Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos de um programa de reabilitação instituído a pessoas submetidas a artroplastia total da anca. Metodologia: Foi realizado um programa de reabilitação às pessoas submetidas a artroplastia total da anca, com início no primeiro dia de pós-operatório até à consulta pós-operatória, baseado em exercícios resistidos, a 28 pessoas. Avaliaram-se a força muscular (Lafayette manual muscle tester), a amplitude articular (goniometria), a escala de Tinetti e o questionário WOMAC. A colheita de dados foi realizada em três momentos (admissão – T0, alta – T1 e primeira consulta pós-cirurgia – T2). Resultados: Após o programa verificou-se uma melhoria substancial da qualidade de marcha e dos domínios do questionário WOMAC, até ao dia da consulta de ortopedia, que em média foi de 41 dias. A força muscular, quer força máxima quer força média, diminuiu ligeiramente em T1 e em T2 aumentou, exceto nos isquiotibiais em que existe um incremento em todas as avaliações. Verificou-se ainda que os resultados obtidos são independentes da idade, sexo e existência de cirurgia ortopédica anterior. Conclusão: Comprova-se que um programa de reabilitação que forneça as competências necessárias às pessoas, em que se conjugue reabilitação em ambiente hospitalar e domiciliário, é crucial para uma recuperação rápida e eficaz.