Bodyweight and migration-related differences in motor abilities in preschool children "Ballabeina"

Introduction: Motor abilities in schoolchildren have been decreasing in the last two decades (Bös, 2003, Tomkinson et al., 2003). This may be related to the dramatic increase in overweight and adiposity during the same time period. Children of migrant background are especially affected (Lasserre et al., 2007). But little is known about the relationship between BMI and migration background and motor abilities in preschool children. Methods/Design We carried out a cross-sectional analysis with 665 children (age 5.1 ± 0.6 years; 49.8 % female) of 40 randomly selected kindergarten classes from German and French speaking regions in Switzerland with a high migrant background. We investigated BMI, cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m shuttle run), static (displacement of center of pressure (COP)) and dynamic (balancing forward on a beam) postural control and overall fitness (obstacle course). Results: Of the children, 9.6 % were overweight, 10.5 % were obese (Swiss national percentiles) and 72.8 % were of migrant background (at least one parent born outside of Switzerland). Mean BMI from children of non-migrant background was 15.5 ± 1.1 kg/m2, while migrant children had a mean BMI of 15.8 ± 1.7 kg/m2 (p=0.08). Normal-weight children performed better in cardiorespiratory fitness (3.1 ± 1.4 vs. 2.6 ± 1.1 stages, p<0.001), overall fitness (18.9 ± 4.4 vs. 20.8 ± 4.6 sec, p<0.001) and in dynamic balance (4.9 ± 3.5 vs. 3.8 ± 2.5 steps, p<0.001) compared to overweight and obese children, while the latter had less postural sway (COP: 956 ± 302 vs. 1021 ± 212 mm, p=0.008). There was a clear inverse dose-response relationship between weight status and dynamic motor abilities. There were no significant differences in most tested motor abilities between non-migrant and migrant. The latter performed less well in only one motor test (overall fitness: 20.2 ± 5.2 vs. 18.3 ± 3.5 sec, p<0.001). These findings persisted after adjustment for BMI. Conclusion In preschool children, differences in motor abilities are already present between normal weight and overweight/obese children. However, migrant children demonstrate similar motor abilities compared to non-migrant children for almost all tests, despite their slightly higher BMI.

Disseny i construcció d'un motor 3D en temps real per la Gameboy Advance

El projecte desenvolupat ha tractat l’estudi i disseny d’un motor 3D interactiu a la consolaGame Boy Advance (GBA). La GBA disposa d’un processador ARM7TDMI a 16’78Mhz i no disposa de operacions 3D per-hardware, és una consola lenta en comparació lesque podem trobar al mercat d’avui en dia. Aquest treball, va partir de la construcció d’un prototipus ray-casting per-columna. Després,vàrem adaptar-lo a una estructura de portals i sectors. Més tard,es va introduir el mapeig de sostre/terra i de paisatges. Per últim,vàrem introduir efectes a la renderització per donar més realismeal recorregut del món, com il·luminació, objectes, etc.Tot i que es va estudiar l’arquitectura d’un motor eficient, no estenia prou per arribar a tenir un motor interactiu. Una de lestasques més difícils va ser la part de optimització. Peraconseguir-ho s’ha hagut de substituir operacions a temps realcostoses a temps de execució, replantejar parts de l’algorisme per fer-lo més eficient, entre altres

Simulació mitjançant tècniques CFD d'una culata per al motor del vehicle de baix consum "Àliga-EPS-UdG"

El projecte pretén estudiar i quantificar les restriccions creades al fluid en circular pelsconductes d’admissió i escapament de la culata del motor del vehicle Àliga. L’estudi consta de quatre etapes: estudi de les restriccions actuals dels sistemes d’admissió i escapament; anàlisi dels resultats de la culata de sèrie i proposta de millores aplicables al model real; càlcul de les restriccions creades pels models millorats, i finalment, estudi comparatiu dels resultats obtinguts, interpretant els resultats dels principals paràmetres a analitzar

Motor de cerca iSAC (Servei Intel·ligent d'Atenció Ciutadana Via Web)

El projecte iSAC (Servei Intel·ligent d’Atenció Ciutadana via web) es va iniciar el mes de gener de 2006 amb l’ajut del nou coneixement científic en agents intel·ligents, junt amb l’aplicació de les Tecnologies de la Informació i la Comunicació (TIC) i els cercadors. Actualment, el servei actual d’atenció al ciutadà està composat per dues àrees: l’atenció directa a les oficines i l’atenció telefònica a través del Call Center. Les limitacions de personal i horari d’atenció fan que aquest servei perdi eficàcia.Es vol desenvolupar un producte amb una tecnologia capaç d’ampliar i millorar la capacitat i la qualitat de l’atenció ciutadana en les administracions públiques, sigui quina sigui la seva dimensió. Tot i això, aquest projecte l’explotaran especialment els ajuntaments, als quals la ciutadania s'acosta amb tot tipus de preguntes i dubtes, habitualment no restringides a l'àmbit local.Més concretament, es vol automatitzar a través d’un portal web l’atenció al ciutadà per tal d’obtenir un servei més efectiu

Integració de llibreries de so posicional amb el motor de render ogre3d

Un videojoc és un joc que involucra a algú la interacció amb un espai d’efectesvisuals en un dispositiu electrònic amb una pantalla i una sèrie de perifèrics quepermeten la interacció. Aconseguir el màxim de realisme es un dels objectiusprincipals dels dissenyadors de videojocs i per això cal integrar en un mateix entorndiferents components tals com: un motor de render, un motor de física, un d’intel•ligència artificial, un motor de so, etc. El motor de so és un dels elements clau delvideojoc, ja que el motor de render pot tenir molts bons gràfics, però sense un sistemade so amb posicionament 3D no es pot apreciar ni gaudir del videojoc en la sevatotalitat.L’objectiu d’aquest projecte és integrar dins del motor gràfic de treball (Ogre3D) un motor de so i convertir el motor de render actual en un motor de videojocs en fase beta.L’objectiu principal d’aquest projecte és implementar un sistema de so completamentintegrat amb la plataforma de Render Ogre3D que permeti de forma senzilla i intuïtivades d’un model de classes més abstracte la fàcil programació dels sons dins delsistema de render.El pla de treball definit per poder assolir els objectius, es divideix en dues fases: fase d’estudi previ on coneixerem les eines que necessitarem per treballar. Entre elles elmotor de render Ogre3D i la fase d’implementació, on ens centrem en els punts d’anàlisi de requeriments, del disseny i de la implementació per a poder integrar les llibreries d’àudio a l’aplicació de la qualpartim (les llibreries de render creades per GameTools)

Twitch potentia induced by two different modalities of neuromuscular electrical stimulation: implications for motor unit recruitment.

INTRODUCTION: We tested the hypothesis that twitch potentiation would be greater following conventional (CONV) neuromuscular electrical stimulation (50-µs pulse width and 25-Hz frequency) compared with wide-pulse high-frequency (WPHF) neuromuscular electrical stimulation (1-ms, 100-Hz) and voluntary (VOL) contractions, because of specificities in motor unit recruitment (random in CONV vs. random and orderly in WPHF vs. orderly in VOL). METHODS: A single twitch was evoked by means of tibial nerve stimulation before and 2 s after CONV, WPHF, and VOL conditioning contractions of the plantar flexors (intensity: 10% maximal voluntary contraction; duration: 10 s) in 13 young healthy subjects. RESULTS: Peak twitch increased (P<0.05) after CONV (+4.5±4.0%) and WPHF (+3.3±5.9%), with no difference between the 2 modalities, whereas no changes were observed after VOL (+0.8±2.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that presumed differences in motor unit recruitment between WPHF and CONV do not seem to influence twitch potentiation results.

El juego como motor en el proceso teatral: proximidades en los discursos de Huizinga, Caillois, Lecoq, Gaulier y Théâtre de Complicité

Esta investigación pretende abordar el estudio del juego en el ámbito teatral, intentando reconocer los vínculos que pudiera haber entre el universo de la escena y el lúdico. La base teórica estudiada sobre el juego serán las fuentes primarias de la construcción lúdica: Johan Huizinga, y Roger Caillois y como referente principal del análisis del signo teatral tomaré a Tadeusz Kowzan, historiador y semiólogo del teatro. Para documentar la práctica teatral, he seleccionado a Jacques Lecoq y Philippe Gaulier, además de la compañía británica Théâtre de Complicité, analizando muy particularmente su espectáculo Las tres vidas de Lucie Cabrol

Motor overactivity and loss of motor circadian rhythm in fatal familial insomnia: an actigraphic study.

The 24-hour rest-activity pattern and the amount of motor activity was studied in a patient with fatal familial insomnia (FFI) by means of wrist actigraphy. During the study, the patient underwent indirect calorimetry. The 52-day recording showed severe disruption of the 24-hour rest-activity pattern with increased motor activity up to 80%. The 24-hour energy expenditure, assayed in a respiration chamber, was strikingly elevated by 60%. Chronic motor overactivity and loss of circadian rest-activity rhythm may play a role in the progressive metabolic exhaustion leading to death in FFI patients.

Estimating Gross Value Added (GVA) across multiple scales: theoretical approach and empirical validation

This paper presents an application of the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to the estimation of quantities of Gross Value Added (GVA) referring to economic entities defined at different scales of study. The method first estimates benchmark values of the pace of GVA generation per hour of labour across economic sectors. These values are estimated as intensive variables –e.g. €/hour– by dividing the various sectorial GVA of the country (expressed in € per year) by the hours of paid work in that same sector per year. This assessment is obtained using data referring to national statistics (top down information referring to the national level). Then, the approach uses bottom-up information (the number of hours of paid work in the various economic sectors of an economic entity –e.g. a city or a province– operating within the country) to estimate the amount of GVA produced by that entity. This estimate is obtained by multiplying the number of hours of work in each sector in the economic entity by the benchmark value of GVA generation per hour of work of that particular sector (national average). This method is applied and tested on two different socio-economic systems: (i) Catalonia (considered level n) and Barcelona (considered level n-1); and (ii) the region of Lima (considered level n) and Lima Metropolitan Area (considered level n-1). In both cases, the GVA per year of the local economic entity –Barcelona and Lima Metropolitan Area – is estimated and the resulting value is compared with GVA data provided by statistical offices. The empirical analysis seems to validate the approach, even though the case of Lima Metropolitan Area indicates a need for additional care when dealing with the estimate of GVA in primary sectors (agriculture and mining).

Correlations between motor and intellectual functions in normally developing children between 7 and 18 years.

The relationship between motor and intellectual functions was examined in 252 healthy children from 7 to 18 years using the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment and standardized intelligence tests. The magnitude of Spearman correlations between neuromotor and intellectual scores was generally weak (r = 0.15-0.37). The strongest correlations were found between performance in the pegboard task and visuomotor intelligence (r = 0.35) and between contralateral associated movements and intelligence in boys (r = 0.37). We conclude that specific connections between motor and intellectual functions may exist. However, because the magnitude of correlations is generally weak, we suggest that motor and intellectual domains in healthy children are largely independent.

Combined impact of healthy lifestyle factors on colorectal cancer: a large European cohort study.

BACKGROUND Excess body weight, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and certain dietary factors are individually related to colorectal cancer (CRC) risk; however, little is known about their joint effects. The aim of this study was to develop a healthy lifestyle index (HLI) composed of five potentially modifiable lifestyle factors - healthy weight, physical activity, non-smoking, limited alcohol consumption and a healthy diet, and to explore the association of this index with CRC incidence using data collected within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. METHODS In the EPIC cohort, a total of 347,237 men and women, 25- to 70-years old, provided dietary and lifestyle information at study baseline (1992 to 2000). Over a median follow-up time of 12 years, 3,759 incident CRC cases were identified. The association between a HLI and CRC risk was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models and population attributable risks (PARs) have been calculated. RESULTS After accounting for study centre, age, sex and education, compared with 0 or 1 healthy lifestyle factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for CRC was 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44 to 0.77) for two factors, 0.79 (95% CI: 0.70 to 0.89) for three factors, 0.66 (95% CI: 0.58 to 0.75) for four factors and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.54 to 0.74) for five factors; P-trend <0.0001. The associations were present for both colon and rectal cancers, HRs, 0.61 (95% CI: 0.50 to 0.74; P for trend <0.0001) for colon cancer and 0.68 (95% CI: 0.53 to 0.88; P-trend <0.0001) for rectal cancer, respectively (P-difference by cancer sub-site = 0.10). Overall, 16% of the new CRC cases (22% in men and 11% in women) were attributable to not adhering to a combination of all five healthy lifestyle behaviours included in the index. CONCLUSIONS Combined lifestyle factors are associated with a lower incidence of CRC in European populations characterized by western lifestyles. Prevention strategies considering complex targeting of multiple lifestyle factors may provide practical means for improved CRC prevention.