950 resultados para contribution analysis


Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Objectives

Barefoot running describes when individuals run without footwear. Minimalist running utilizes shoes aimed to mimic being barefoot. Although these forms of running have become increasingly popular, we still know little about how recreational runners perceive them.
Design

In-depth interviews with eight recreational runners were used to gather information about their running experiences with a focus on barefoot and minimalist running.
Methods

Interviews were analysed using a latent level thematic analysis to identify and interpret themes within the data.
Results

Although participants considered barefoot running to be ‘natural’, they also considered it to be extreme. Minimalist running did not produce such aversive reactions. ‘Support’ reassured against concerns and was seen as central in protecting vulnerable body parts and reducing impact forces, but lacked a common or clear definition. A preference for practical over academic knowledge was found. Anecdotal information was generally trusted, as were running stores with gait assessment, but not health professionals.
Conclusion

People often have inconsistent ideas about barefoot and minimalist running, which are often formed by potentially biased sources, which may lead people to make poor decisions about barefoot and minimalist running. It is important to provide high-quality information to enable better decisions to be made about barefoot and minimalist running.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject?
There is no known work on the psychology behind barefoot and minimalist running. We believe our study is the first qualitative study to have investigated views of this increasingly popular form of running.
What does this study add?
The results suggest that although barefoot running is considered ‘natural’, it is also considered ‘extreme’. Minimalist running, however, did not receive such aversive reactions.
‘Support’ was a common concern among runners. Although ‘support’ reassured against concerns and was seen as central in protecting vulnerable body parts and reducing impact forces, it lacked a common or clear definition.
A preference for practical over academic knowledge was found. Anecdotal information was generally trusted, as were running stores with gait assessment, but not health professionals.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Objetivo: Avaliar o padrão pulsátil da secreção da testosterona em mulheres normais. Métodos: Oito mulheres saudáveis com ciclos ovulatórios foram selecionadas. Amostras sanguíneas foram coletadas a cada dez minutos durante seis horas, começando entre 7 e 8 h da manhã, após dez horas de jejum, nas três fases do ciclo menstrual: folicular média (Dia 7), folicular tardia (Dia 12) e lútea (Dia 21). Foram mensurados: testosterona, LH e, no basal, também SHBG. Resultados: A frequência dos pulsos de testosterona, média da amplitude do pulso, porcentagem do incremento da amplitude, duração e intervalos dos pulsos foram similares nas três fases (p > 0,05). A pulsatilidade do LH foi estatisticamente diferente entre as três fases (p < 0,001), caracterizando padrão característico do ciclo ovulatório normal. Conclusões: Esses dados aumentam o conhecimento sobre o padrão de secreção da testosterona no ciclo menstrual humano e representam uma contribuição para a investigação clínica, tanto no hiperandrogenismo como na síndrome de insuficiência androgênica __________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the pattern of the pulsatile secretion of testosterone in normal menstrual cycle. Methods: Eight healthy women with ovulatory menstrual cycles were enrolled. Blood samples were collected at ten-minute intervals for six hours, starting between 7 and 8 am, after a ten-hour fasting, in three phases: mid-follicular (Day 7), late follicular (Day 12) and mid-luteal phase (Day 21). Samples were assayed for testosterone, LH and the baseline also for SHBG. Results: Testosterone pulse frequency, mean amplitude pulse, percentage of increment in pulse amplitude, mean duration of pulses and pulse interval were similar in the three phases. LH pulsatility was statistically different among the three phases (p < 0.001) representing normal ovulatory cycles. Conclusions: These data increase the knowledge about the testosterone secretion profile in the human menstrual cycle and can be used as a contribution to clinical investigation in both hyperandrogenism and androgen insufficiency syndrome

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Communication can be seen as one of the most important features to manage conflicts and the stress of the work teams that operate in environments with strong pressure, complex operations and continuous risk, which are aspects that characterize a high reliability organization. This article aims to highlight the importance of communication in high-reliability organizations, having as object of study the accidents and incidents in civil aviation area. It refers to a qualitative research, outlined by documental analysis based on investigations conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Center of Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents. The results point out that human errors account for 60 to 80 percent of accidents and incidents. Most of these occurrences are attributed to miscommunication between the professionals involved with the air and ground operation, such as pilots, crewmembers and maintenance staff, and flight controllers. Inappropriate tone of voice usage, difficulties to understand different accents between the issuer and the receiver or even difficulty to perceive red flags between the lines of verbal and non-verbal communication, are elements that contribute to the fata of understanding between people involved in the operation. As a research limitation this present research pointed out a lack of a special category of "interpersonal communications failures" in the official agency reports. So, the researchers must take the conceptual definition of "social ability", communication implied, to classify behaviors and communication matters accordingly. Other research finding indicates that communication is superficially approached in the contents of air operations courses what could mitigate the lack of communications skills as a social ability. Part of the research findings refers to the contents of communication skills development into the program to train professional involved in air flight and ground operations. So, it is expected that this present article gives an appropriate highlight towards the improvement of flight operations training programs. Developing communication skills among work teams in high reliability organizations can contribute to mitigate stress, accidents and incidents in Civil Aviation Field. The original contribution of this article is the proposal of the main contents that should be developed in a Communication Skills Training Program, specially addressed to Civil Aviation operations.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

This paper discusses the advantages of using a combined environmagnetic and geochemical approach to the provenance and characterization of distal IRDs occurring during the Last Glacial Period in core CI12PC3 from the Galicia Interior Basin (GIB). Six Heinrich layers (HL1-6) have been identified in the area in base to the detection of distinct populations of exotic magnetic mineral assemblages alien to the local/regional sedimentation environment. Their extension has been determined by Ca/Sr and Si/Sr ratios and their provenance by 143Nd/144Nd and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios and FORCs. The sedimentary expression of HL is characterized by the presence of distal Ice Rafted Detritus (IRD). Distal IRD magnetic signatures in the GIB consist of (i) an increase of one order of magnitude in the peak amplitude of magnetic susceptibility from background values, (ii) a general coarsening of the magnetic grain size in a mineral assemblage dominated by titano-magnetites, (iii) FORC distributions pushing towards the coarse MD or PSD component, and (iv) thermomagnetic curves depicting the occurrence of several magnetite phases. These four features are very different from the fine-grained biogenic magnetic assemblages characterized by the combination of lower MS and higher coercivity values that dominate the predominant mixtures of the non-interacting SSD and PSD components in the non-IRD influenced background sedimentation. Our results show that the last 70.000 yr of sedimentation in the GIB were controlled by the relative contribution of local detrital material derived from the Iberian Variscan Chain and IRD alien material from the iceberg melting during the Heinrich Events. They also show two main IRD provenance fields: Europe and Canada. And that the later is more important for for HL1, HL2, HL4 and HL5. FORCs analysis complemented the isotopic information and provided a very unique information, indicating that glacial flour may not always have the same provenance as IRD and that ice-melted derived suspended sediment has its own dynamics and may reach further and/or persists longer than IRD.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Objetivo: Avaliar o padrão pulsátil da secreção da testosterona em mulheres normais. Métodos: Oito mulheres saudáveis com ciclos ovulatórios foram selecionadas. Amostras sanguíneas foram coletadas a cada dez minutos durante seis horas, começando entre 7 e 8 h da manhã, após dez horas de jejum, nas três fases do ciclo menstrual: folicular média (Dia 7), folicular tardia (Dia 12) e lútea (Dia 21). Foram mensurados: testosterona, LH e, no basal, também SHBG. Resultados: A frequência dos pulsos de testosterona, média da amplitude do pulso, porcentagem do incremento da amplitude, duração e intervalos dos pulsos foram similares nas três fases (p > 0,05). A pulsatilidade do LH foi estatisticamente diferente entre as três fases (p < 0,001), caracterizando padrão característico do ciclo ovulatório normal. Conclusões: Esses dados aumentam o conhecimento sobre o padrão de secreção da testosterona no ciclo menstrual humano e representam uma contribuição para a investigação clínica, tanto no hiperandrogenismo como na síndrome de insuficiência androgênica __________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the pattern of the pulsatile secretion of testosterone in normal menstrual cycle. Methods: Eight healthy women with ovulatory menstrual cycles were enrolled. Blood samples were collected at ten-minute intervals for six hours, starting between 7 and 8 am, after a ten-hour fasting, in three phases: mid-follicular (Day 7), late follicular (Day 12) and mid-luteal phase (Day 21). Samples were assayed for testosterone, LH and the baseline also for SHBG. Results: Testosterone pulse frequency, mean amplitude pulse, percentage of increment in pulse amplitude, mean duration of pulses and pulse interval were similar in the three phases. LH pulsatility was statistically different among the three phases (p < 0.001) representing normal ovulatory cycles. Conclusions: These data increase the knowledge about the testosterone secretion profile in the human menstrual cycle and can be used as a contribution to clinical investigation in both hyperandrogenism and androgen insufficiency syndrome

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Ce mémoire décrit, en premier lieu, l’analyse géotechnique et géomorphologique du glissement de 1971 à Casselman, Ontario. Les caractéristiques morphologiques identifiées à l’intérieur de la cicatrice confirment qu’il s’agit d’un étalement. Le sol impliqué est une argile sensible de la mer de Champlain, normalement à légèrement surconsolidée (OCR entre 1,0 et 1,2) dont les indices de liquidité varient entre 1,0 et 2,0. La résistance au cisaillement intacte mesurée au scissomètre de chantier varie entre 50 kPa et 87 kPa. L’argile adopte un comportement anti-écrouissage (perte de 40 % de la résistance en pic) lorsque soumise à des essais de cisaillement non-drainé. Une surface de rupture quasi-horizontale à deux niveaux principaux a été identifiée à partir des sondages au piézocône réalisés à l’intérieur de la cicatrice. Les coefficients de sécurité élevés obtenus à partir de méthodes à l’équilibre limite démontrent que la rétrogression ne peut être expliquée par des méthodes d’analyses conventionnelles. La deuxième partie du mémoire présente l’application numérique du principe de rupture progressive aux étalements de Casselman (1971) et de Saint-Luc-de-Vincennes (1986). Une étude paramétrique a été réalisée afin d’évaluer l’influence de la fragilité du comportement après la résistance en pic du sol, reliée dans l’étude à une épaisseur de bande de cisaillement, ainsi que de la résistance à grande déformation, sur l’initiation et la rétrogression résultant du processus de rupture progressive. Les résultats démontrent que la résistance à grande déformation a très peu d’influence sur l’initiation du processus de rupture progressive, qui est principalement influencé par la fragilité du comportement du sol. Il a aussi été observé que la rétrogression était majoritairement influencée par la résistance à grande déformation.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

With the world of professional sports shifting towards employing better sport analytics, the demand for vision-based performance analysis is growing increasingly in recent years. In addition, the nature of many sports does not allow the use of any kind of sensors or other wearable markers attached to players for monitoring their performances during competitions. This provides a potential application of systematic observations such as tracking information of the players to help coaches to develop their visual skills and perceptual awareness needed to make decisions about team strategy or training plans. My PhD project is part of a bigger ongoing project between sport scientists and computer scientists involving also industry partners and sports organisations. The overall idea is to investigate the contribution technology can make to the analysis of sports performance on the example of team sports such as rugby, football or hockey. A particular focus is on vision-based tracking, so that information about the location and dynamics of the players can be gained without any additional sensors on the players. To start with, prior approaches on visual tracking are extensively reviewed and analysed. In this thesis, methods to deal with the difficulties in visual tracking to handle the target appearance changes caused by intrinsic (e.g. pose variation) and extrinsic factors, such as occlusion, are proposed. This analysis highlights the importance of the proposed visual tracking algorithms, which reflect these challenges and suggest robust and accurate frameworks to estimate the target state in a complex tracking scenario such as a sports scene, thereby facilitating the tracking process. Next, a framework for continuously tracking multiple targets is proposed. Compared to single target tracking, multi-target tracking such as tracking the players on a sports field, poses additional difficulties, namely data association, which needs to be addressed. Here, the aim is to locate all targets of interest, inferring their trajectories and deciding which observation corresponds to which target trajectory is. In this thesis, an efficient framework is proposed to handle this particular problem, especially in sport scenes, where the players of the same team tend to look similar and exhibit complex interactions and unpredictable movements resulting in matching ambiguity between the players. The presented approach is also evaluated on different sports datasets and shows promising results. Finally, information from the proposed tracking system is utilised as the basic input for further higher level performance analysis such as tactics and team formations, which can help coaches to design a better training plan. Due to the continuous nature of many team sports (e.g. soccer, hockey), it is not straightforward to infer the high-level team behaviours, such as players’ interaction. The proposed framework relies on two distinct levels of performance analysis: low-level performance analysis, such as identifying players positions on the play field, as well as a high-level analysis, where the aim is to estimate the density of player locations or detecting their possible interaction group. The related experiments show the proposed approach can effectively explore this high-level information, which has many potential applications.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

In this thesis, proactive marketing is suggested to be a broader concept than existing research assumes. Although the concept has been mentioned in the context of competitive advantage in previous research, it has not been comprehensively described. This thesis shows that proactive marketing is more than investing in marketing communications of a company. Proactive marketing is described as a three-phased process that contains different customer value identification, creation, and delivery activities. The purpose of proactive marketing is essentially to anticipate and pursue market opportunities that bring value to the company’s stakeholders. Ultimately, proactive marketing aims at acting first on the market, shaping the markets, and thus reaching competitive advantage. The proactive marketing process is supported by the structures of an organization. Suitable structures for proactive marketing are identified in the thesis based on existing research and through an empirical analysis. Moreover, proactive marketing is related to two management theories: the dynamic capabilities framework and the empowerment of employees. A dynamic environment requires companies that pursue proactive marketing to change continuously. Dynamic capabilities are considered as tools of the management, which enable companies to create suitable conditions for the constant change. Empowerment of employees is a management practice that creates proactive behaviors in individuals. The empirical analysis is conducted in an online company operating in the rapidly changing marketplace of the Internet. Through the empirical analysis, the thesis identifies in practice how proactiveness manifests in the marketing process of a company, how organizational structures facilitate proactive marketing, and how proactive marketing is managed. The theoretical contribution of this thesis consist of defining the proactive marketing concept comprehensively and providing further research suggestions related to proactive marketing.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Background The societal changes have created new necessities in terms of health care and of professionals with diverse skills. The institutions of higher education should promote the development of an entrepreneurial profile in students which may boost the exploration of new opportunities. Objectives: To identify the entrepreneurial profile in the students in higher education and its relationship to some personal characteristics and training. Methods Correlational quantitative study, accomplished with 1,604 students from 18 institutions of polytechnic Institutes of Portugal. The collection of data occurred between July and November/2015. The Carland Entrepreneurship Index (CEI) entrepreneurial skills questionnaire was applied, along with the acquisition of socio-demographic variables of the students. Data was analysed with the SPSS 23.0. The study followed the ethical requirements. Results The (CEI) application, allowed us to note that 75.7 % of the students presented an entrepreneurial profile, 20.8 % a Micro entrepreneurial profile and 3.4 % a Macro entrepreneurial. Additionally, we verified that older students (r = 0.193, p < = 0.000), of the male gender (Female = 0.55; Male, M= 0.580 p < 0.000), that had already worked or would like to work for others, showed the greatest entrepreneurial potential (Yes M= 0.60; No 0.54; p < 0.000), along with those who participated in entrepreneurial contents during their training (Did not participate M= 0.53; Participated 0.58; p < 0.000). Conclusions The entrepreneurial profile is related with some social demographic characteristics of the students; however, the educational institutions may have a preponderant role in the development of that profile, which may contribute to a greater contribution in the wellbeing of the populations.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Ecological network analysis was applied in the Seine estuary ecosystem, northern France, integrating ecological data from the years 1996 to 2002. The Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) approach was used to model the trophic flows in 6 spatial compartments leading to 6 distinct EwE models: the navigation channel and the two channel flanks in the estuary proper, and 3 marine habitats in the eastern Seine Bay. Each model included 12 consumer groups, 2 primary producers, and one detritus group. Ecological network analysis was performed, including a set of indices, keystoneness, and trophic spectrum analysis to describe the contribution of the 6 habitats to the Seine estuary ecosystem functioning. Results showed that the two habitats with a functioning most related to a stressed state were the northern and central navigation channels, where building works and constant maritime traffic are considered major anthropogenic stressors. The strong top-down control highlighted in the other 4 habitats was not present in the central channel, showing instead (i) a change in keystone roles in the ecosystem towards sediment-based, lower trophic levels, and (ii) a higher system omnivory. The southern channel evidenced the highest system activity (total system throughput), the higher trophic specialisation (low system omnivory), and the lowest indication of stress (low cycling and relative redundancy). Marine habitats showed higher fish biomass proportions and higher transfer efficiencies per trophic levels than the estuarine habitats, with a transition area between the two that presented intermediate ecosystem structure. The modelling of separate habitats permitted disclosing each one's response to the different pressures, based on their a priori knowledge. Network indices, although non-monotonously, responded to these differences and seem a promising operational tool to define the ecological status of transitional water ecosystems.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

The aim of this study was to assess the relative contribution of natural productivity and compound food to the growth of the juvenile blue shrimp Litopenaeus stylirostris reared in a biofloc system. Two experiments were carried out based on the same protocol with three treatments: clear water with experimental diet (CW), biofloc with experimental diet (BF) and biofloc unfed (BU). Shrimp survival was significantly higher in biofloc rearing than in CW rearing. The contribution of the biofloc to shrimp diet was estimated through measurement of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in shrimp and food sources. Different isotopic compositions between feeds were obtained by feeding natural productivity with a mixture rich in fish meal and the shrimps with a pellet containing a high level of soy protein concentrate. Using a two source one-isotope mixing model, we found that the natural productivity of the biofloc system contributed to shrimp growth at a level of 39.8% and 36.9%, for C and N, respectively. The natural food consumed by the shrimps reared in the biofloc system resulted in higher gene expression (mRNA transcript abundance) and activities of two digestive enzymes in their digestive gland: α-amylase and trypsin. The growth of shrimp biomass reared in biofloc was, on average, 4.4 times that of those grown in clear water. Our results confirmed the best survival and promoted growth of shrimps using biofloc technology and highlighted the key role of the biofloc in the nutrition of rearing shrimps. Statement of relevance In this study, we have applied an original protocol to determine the respective contribution of natural productivity and artificial feeds on the alimentation of the juvenile blue shrimp L. stylirostris reared in biofloc system by using C and N natural stable isotope analysis. Moreover, we have compared, in shrimp digestive gland, the α-amylase and trypsin enzyme activities at biochemical and molecular levels for two different shrimp rearing systems, biofloc and clear water. In our knowledge, the use of molecular tool to study the influence of biofloc consumption on digest process of shrimp was never carried out. We think that our research is new and important to increase knowledge on biofloc topic.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

When releasing captive-bred animals into wild populations, it is essential to maintain the capacity for adaptation and resilience by minimising the effect on population genetic diversity. Populations of the jungle perch (Kuhlia rupestris) have become reduced or locally extinct along the Queensland coast; thus, captive breeding of K. rupestris for restocking is presently underway. Currently, multiple individuals are placed in a tank to produce larvae, yet the number of adults contributing to larval production is unknown. We performed a power analysis on pre-existing microsatellite loci to determine the minimum number of loci and larvae required to achieve accurate assignment of parentage. These loci were then used to determine the number of contributing participants during a series of four spawning events through the summer breeding season in 2012-2013. Not all fish contributed to larval production and no relationship was found between male body size and parentage success. In most cases, there was a high skew of offspring to one mating pair (62% was the average contribution of the most successful pair per tank). This has significant implications for the aquaculture, restocking and conservation of K. rupestris.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) and Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) are two positive (+)-strand RNA viruses that are used to investigate the regulation of translation and replication due to their small size and simple genomes. Both viruses contain cap-independent translation elements (CITEs) within their 3´ untranslated regions (UTRs) that fold into tRNA-shaped structures (TSS) according to nuclear magnetic resonance and small angle x-ray scattering analysis (TCV) and computational prediction (PEMV). Specifically, the TCV TSS can directly associate with ribosomes and participates in RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) binding. The PEMV kissing-loop TSS (kl-TSS) can simultaneously bind to ribosomes and associate with the 5´ UTR of the viral genome. Mutational analysis and chemical structure probing methods provide great insight into the function and secondary structure of the two 3´ CITEs. However, lack of 3-D structural information has limited our understanding of their functional dynamics. Here, I report the folding dynamics for the TCV TSS using optical tweezers (OT), a single molecule technique. My study of the unfolding/folding pathways for the TCV TSS has provided an unexpected unfolding pathway, confirmed the presence of Ψ3 and hairpin elements, and suggested an interconnection between the hairpins and pseudoknots. In addition, this study has demonstrated the importance of the adjacent upstream adenylate-rich sequence for the formation of H4a/Ψ3 along with the contribution of magnesium to the stability of the TCV TSS. In my second project, I report on the structural analysis of the PEMV kl-TSS using NMR and SAXS. This study has re-confirmed the base-pair pattern for the PEMV kl-TSS and the proposed interaction of the PEMV kl-TSS with its interacting partner, hairpin 5H2. The molecular envelope of the kl-TSS built from SAXS analysis suggests the kl-TSS has two functional conformations, one of which has a different shape from the previously predicted tRNA-shaped form. Along with applying biophysical methods to study the structural folding dynamics of RNAs, I have also developed a technique that improves the production of large quantities of recombinant RNAs in vivo for NMR study. In this project, I report using the wild-type and mutant E.coli strains to produce cost-effective, site-specific labeled, recombinant RNAs. This technique was validated with four representative RNAs of different sizes and complexity to produce milligram amounts of RNAs. The benefit of using site-specific labeled RNAs made from E.coli was demonstrated with several NMR techniques.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

Magnetically-induced forces on the inertial masses on-board LISA Path finder are expected to be one of the dominant contributions to the mission noise budget, accounting for up to 40%. The origin of this disturbance is the coupling of the residual magnetization and susceptibility of the test masses with the environmental magnetic field. In order to fully understand this important part of the noise model, a set of coils and magnetometers are integrated as a part of the diagnostics subsystem. During operations a sequence of magnetic excitations will be applied to precisely determine the coupling of the magnetic environment to the test mass displacement using the on-board magnetometers. Since no direct measurement of the magnetic field in the test mass position will be available, an extrapolation of the magnetic measurements to the test mass position will be carried out as a part of the data analysis activities. In this paper we show the first results on the magnetic experiments during an end-to-end LISA Path finder simulation, and we describe the methods under development to map the magnetic field on-board.

Relevância:

30.00% 30.00%

Publicador:

Resumo:

The article presents an outline of the evolution of the geography of disability (since the 1930s) taking into account significant issues in the creation of theoretical foundations as well as practical action in ‘accessible tourism’. It may be considered a review. Based on an analysis of literature, the first section presents a definition of ‘accessible tourism’ and the development of the geography of disability, the result of which is the geographical model of disability. The second section is a synthetic presentation of the effect of geographical research on the development of theoretical accessible tourism concepts and their implications in practice. The final conclusions highlight the need to identify the level of detail in universal design principles applied to buildings, spaces, services, which are to fulfil the criteria of accessibility for people with various types of disability.