Effects of low-level laser therapy and eccentric exercises in the treatment of recreational athletes with chronic achilles tendinopathy

Background: Eccentric exercises (EEs) are recommended for the treatment of Achilles tendinopathy, but the clinical effect from EE has a slow onset. Hypothesis: The addition of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) to EE may cause more rapid clinical improvement. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods: A total of 52 recreational athletes with chronic Achilles tendinopathy symptoms were randomized to groups receiving either EE + LLLT or EE + placebo LLLT over 8 weeks in a blinded manner. Low-level laser therapy (lambda = 820 nm) was administered in 12 sessions by irradiating 6 points along the Achilles tendon with a power density of 60 mW/cm(2) and a total dose of 5.4 J per session. Results: The results of the intention-to-treat analysis for the primary outcome, pain intensity during physical activity on the 100-mm visual analog scale, were significantly lower in the LLLT group than in the placebo LLLT group, with 53.6 mm versus 71.5 mm (P = .0003) at 4 weeks, 37.3 mm versus 62.8 mm (P = .0002) at 8 weeks, and 33.0 mm versus 53.0 mm (P =.007) at 12 weeks after randomization. Secondary outcomes of morning stiffness, active dorsiflexion, palpation tenderness, and crepitation showed the same pattern in favor of the LLLT group. Conclusion: Low-level laser therapy, with the parameters used in this study, accelerates clinical recovery from chronic Achilles tendinopathy when added to an EE regimen. For the LLLT group, the results at 4 weeks were similar to the placebo LLLT group results after 12 weeks.

Toxicokinetics and toxicological effects of single oral dose of fumonisin B1 containing Fusarium verticillioides culture material in weaned piglets

Toxicokinetics and the toxicological effects of culture material containing fumonisin B(1) (FB(1)) were studied in male weaned piglets by clinical, pathological, biochemical and sphingolipid analyses. The animals received a single oral dose of 5 mg FB(1)/kg of body weight. obtained from Fusarium verticillioides culture material. FB(1) was detected by H PLC in plasma collected at 1-h intervals up to 6 h and at 12-h intervals up to 96 h. FB(1) eliminated in feces and urine was quantified over a 96-h period and in liver samples collected 96 h post-intoxication. Blood samples were obtained at the beginning and end of the experiment to determine serum enzyme activity, total bilirubin, cholesterol, sphinganine (Sa), sphingosine (So) and the Sa/So ratio. FB(1) was detected in plasma between 30 min and 36 h after administration. The highest concentration of FB(1) was observed after 2 h, with a mean concentration of 282 mu g/ml. Only 0.93% of the total FB(1) was detected in urine between 75 min and 41 h after administration, the highest mean concentration (561 mu g/ml) was observed during the interval after 8 at 24 h. Approximately 76.5% of FB(1) was detected in feces eliminated between 8 and 84 h after administration, with the highest levels observed between 8 and 24 h. Considering the biochemical parameters, a significant increase only occurred in cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase activities. In plasma and urine, the highest Sa and Sa/So ratios were obtained at 12 and 48 h, respectively. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of torsional disorder on poly-para-phenylene

We study the effect of thermal disorder on the electronic structure of one-dimensional poly-para-phenylene (PPP). In a real chain the torsion angles between rings are bound to be distributed over a range of values, which depend on temperature, and thus the chain is intrinsically disordered. In this study we simulated this kind of thermally induced off-diagonal disorder through the simple Huckel method. We base our Hamiltonian on ab initio results for the effect of temperature on torsion angles, and the effect of torsion angles on the energy gap. We analyze the electronic structure of 200-monomer-long chains focusing on the density of states, and the associated localization character (measured by the inverse participation ratio). Our results contrast with the usually assumed Gaussian-shaped density of localized states for disordered systems. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spin-polarization effects in homogeneous and non-homogeneous diluted magnetic semiconductor heterostructures

Spin polarization is a key characteristic in developing spintronic devices. Diluted magnetic heterostructures (DMH), where subsequent layers of conventional and diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) are alternate, are one of the possible ways to obtain it. Si being the basis of modern electronics, Si or other group-IV DMH can be used to build spintronic devices directly integrated with conventional ones. In this work we study the physical properties and the spin-polarization effects of p-type DMH based in group-IV semiconductors (Si, Ge, SiGe, and SiC), by performing self-consistent (k) over right arrow . (p) over right arrow calculations in the local spin density approximation. We show that high spin polarization can be maintained in these structures below certain values of the carrier concentrations. Full spin polarization is attained in the low carrier concentration regime for carrier concentrations in the DMS layer up to similar to 2.0 x 10(19) cm(-3) for Si and up to similar to 6.0 x 10(19) cm(-3) for SiC. Partial, but still important spin polarization can be achieved for all studied group-IV DMH, with the exception of Ge for carrier concentrations up to 6.0 x 10(19) cm(-3). The role played by the effective masses and the energy splitting of the spin-orbit split-off hole bands is also discussed throughout the paper.

Inferential Implications of Over-Parametrization: A Case Study in Incomplete Categorical Data

P>In the context of either Bayesian or classical sensitivity analyses of over-parametrized models for incomplete categorical data, it is well known that prior-dependence on posterior inferences of nonidentifiable parameters or that too parsimonious over-parametrized models may lead to erroneous conclusions. Nevertheless, some authors either pay no attention to which parameters are nonidentifiable or do not appropriately account for possible prior-dependence. We review the literature on this topic and consider simple examples to emphasize that in both inferential frameworks, the subjective components can influence results in nontrivial ways, irrespectively of the sample size. Specifically, we show that prior distributions commonly regarded as slightly informative or noninformative may actually be too informative for nonidentifiable parameters, and that the choice of over-parametrized models may drastically impact the results, suggesting that a careful examination of their effects should be considered before drawing conclusions.Resume Que ce soit dans un cadre Bayesien ou classique, il est bien connu que la surparametrisation, dans les modeles pour donnees categorielles incompletes, peut conduire a des conclusions erronees. Cependant, certains auteurs persistent a negliger les problemes lies a la presence de parametres non identifies. Nous passons en revue la litterature dans ce domaine, et considerons quelques exemples surparametres simples dans lesquels les elements subjectifs influencent de facon non negligeable les resultats, independamment de la taille des echantillons. Plus precisement, nous montrons comment des a priori consideres comme peu ou non-informatifs peuvent se reveler extremement informatifs en ce qui concerne les parametres non identifies, et que le recours a des modeles surparametres peut avoir sur les conclusions finales un impact considerable. Ceci suggere un examen tres attentif de l`impact potentiel des a priori.

Ion pair stabilization effects on a series of procaine structural analogs

In this work, a series of 10 structural procaine analogs have been synthesized in order to investigate the structural features affecting the stability of ion pair formation and its influence on the lipophilicity of ionizable compounds. The structural variation within this series was focused on the terminal nitrogen substituents and on the intermediate chain linkage nature. The hydrophobic parameters log P(n) and log P(i) (partition coefficient of the neutral and ionic species, respectively), as well as the ionization constants pK(a) and pK(a)(oct), were obtained from log D-pH profiles measured at pH values ranging from 2 to 12. The difference between log P(i) and log P(n) values (i.e. difflog P) of each prepared compound was considered a measure of the stability of ion pair formation. In this set, the difflog P values varied nearly over one log unit, ranging from -2.40 to -3.37. It has been observed that the presence of hydrogen bonding groups (especially donor) and low steric hindrance around the terminal amine ionizable group increases the relative lipophilicity of the ionic species as compared to the corresponding neutral species. These results were interpreted as due to the increased stability of ion pairs of the compounds bearing these structural features. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Det är enklare i teorin… Om skolutveckling i praktiken : En fallstudie av ett skolutvecklingsprojekt i en gymnasieskola

This dissertation is a case study dealing with a school development project that took place in an upper secondary school as a result of a merger of two schools with different cultures. The project used a method called “Frirumsmodellen” and was planned to be conducted in three steps. The first was to carry out a cultural analysis in order to map the preconditions to start a school development project. The second was to carry out concrete actions and finally study eventual effects from such activities by doing a second cultural analysis. My role was to be a supervisor in the school development work, but at the same time study how this work was conducted and its impact in the ordinary school day. The dissertation takes its departure in the fact that schools are political governed. The mission of schools is never neutral; it is always an expression of behind laying social forces, ideologies and ideals of the contemporary society. Of this reason, there is a close connection between the macro political level and the micro political level. Another point of departure is the transition from a modern to a post modern society that gives the character to the changes that take place in schools. Steering of schools has partly been treated as a technical implementation problem. Schools contain on going conflicts between different interest groups that, more or less regularly, end up in educational reforms. These reforms generate school development activities in the single school. Undoubtedly, this makes school development to a complex process. At a rather late stage of the study I decided not to fulfil my task to follow the original plan. I instead let the school development project as a model to be in focus. The over all purpose was formulated: How is it possible to understand what happened in the school development project in the Falkgymnasiet and why was it not possible to carry it out as it was said in the project plan? To interpret what took place during the project I did create an interpretation frame of implementation and complexity theory that also made it possible to critically scrutinise the “Frirumsmodellen”. Already in an early stage of the process it was obvious that the “Frirumsmodellen” did not supply any tools to use and it became disconnected from the project. The project in it selves was marginalised and made invisible. The headmaster used the situation to change things she thought were important to develop. As a result, things happened, but most of the involved people did not at first hand connect this to the project. It is, of course, difficult in detail to say what caused what. The complexity theory successively made the hidden patterns revealed, hidden unofficial potentates visible, as well as unpredictable conditions that generated reactions from the personnel in front of a development work. Together this was rather efficient obstacles for not changing this school. I also discuss school development and implementation problems on a general level, for example, the possibility to transform a top-down initiated project to be bottom-up driven and using project as a tool for school development work. It was obvious that headmasters and teachers must be prepared to handle the ideological dimensions of problems schools have to face. Consequently, development work is about making problems visible and to handle these in the intersection point between the intentions of educational policies, pedagogical researchers, school administrators, headmasters, teachers and pupils. The ideological dimension also contains an existential issue. Do I as a teacher share the intentions for the development work? If not, how must I act?

Local Distributional Effects of Government Cash Transfers in Chile

Despite rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, inequality in Chile has remained high and remarkably constant over the last 20 years, prompting academic and public interest in the subject. Due to data limitations, however, research on inequality in Chile has concentrated on the national and regional levels. The impact of cash subsidies to poor households on local inequality is thus not well understood. Using poverty-mapping methods to asses this impact, we find heterogeneity in the effectiveness of regional and municipal governments in reducing inequality via poverty-reduction transfers, suggesting that alternative targeting regimes may complement current practice in aiding the poor.

Effects of the real plan of the Brazilian banking system

The aim of this paper is to assess the progress of the banking sector before and shortly after the Real Plan. We began by assessing the drop in the inflation revenues (negative real interest rates paid by the excess of demand deposits over total reserve requirements) as a result of the change in inflation from 40% a month for the pre-Real Plan period to a monthly average of 3.65% (IGP-DI), between July 1994 and May 1995. Then, using the financial statement data of a group of 90 banks, we attempt to estimate the net losses due to the inflation drop analyzing the profitability and other parameters of the banking industry. The calculations are made separately for private, state and federal banks. A later analysis on performance using information given to CVM (Securities Exchange Commission) by the six major private banks in the country is also discussed herein.

On the economic and fiscal effects of infrastructure investment in Brazil

This article studies the productive impact of infrastructure investment in Brazil. Public-capital expenditures in the country have decreased continuously over the last two decades, and this paper shows the significant impact this has had on infrastructure stocks. Cointegration analysis is used to investigate the long-run association between output and infrastructure, the results being then used to study the short-run dynamic of these variables. Whether in the short or long run, the productive impact of infrastructure was found to be relevant. Other group of simulations studies the impact of expanding capital expenditures through debt finance on debt to GDP ratio as well as on public cash áow and net worth.

Property rights as a public policy tool: an empirical analysis of the social and economic effects

Secure property rights are considered a key determinant of economic development. However, the evaluation of the causal effects of land titling is a difficult task. The Brazilian government through a program called "Papel Passado" has issued titles, since 2004, to over 85,000 families and has the goal to reach 750,000. Furthermore, another topic in Public Policy that is crucial to developing economies is income generation and child labor force participation. Particularly, in Brazil, about 5.4 million children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years old are still working. This thesis examines the direct impact of securing a property title on income and child labor force participation. In order to isolate the causal role of ownership security, this study uses a comparison between two close and very similar communities in the City of Osasco case (a town with 650,000 people in the São Paulo metropolitan area). One of them, Jardim Canaã, was fortunated to receive the titles in 2007, the other, Jardim DR, given fiscal constraints, only will be part of the program schedule in 2012, and for that reason became the control group. Also, this thesis also aims to test if there is any relationship between land title and happiness. The estimates suggest that titling results in a substantial decrease of child labor force participation, increase of income and happiness for the families that received the title compared to the others.

Essays on the general equilibrium effects of barriers to trade on economic growth, foreign trade and the location of economic activity in Brazil

This work presents a fully operational interstate CGE model implemented for the Brazilian economy that tries to quantify both the role of barriers to trade on economic growth and foreign trade performance and how the distribution of the economic activity may change as the country opens up to foreign trade. Among the distinctive features embedded in the model, modeling of external scale economies, port efficiency and land-maritime transport costs provides an innovative way of dealing explicitly with theoretical issues related to integrated regional systems. In order to illustrate the role played by the quality of infrastructure and geography on the country‟s foreign and interregional trade performance, a set of simulations is presented where barriers to trade are significantly reduced. The relative importance of trade policy, port efficiency and land-maritime transport costs for the country trade relations and regional growth is then detailed and quantified, considering both short run as well as long run scenarios. A final set of simulations shed some light on the effects of liberal trade policies on regional inequality, where the manufacturing sector in the state of São Paulo, taken as the core of industrial activity in the country, is subjected to different levels of external economies of scale. Short-run core-periphery effects are then traced out suggesting the prevalence of agglomeration forces over diversion forces could rather exacerbate regional inequality as import barriers are removed up to a certain level. Further removals can reverse this balance in favor of diversion forces, implying de-concentration of economic activity. In the long run, factor mobility allows a better characterization of the balance between agglomeration and diversion forces among regions. Regional dispersion effects are then clearly traced-out, suggesting horizontal liberal trade policies to benefit both the poorest regions in the country as well as the state of São Paulo. This long run dispersion pattern, on one hand seems to unravel the fragility of simple theoretical results from recent New Economic Geography models, once they get confronted with more complex spatially heterogeneous (real) systems. On the other hand, it seems to capture the literature‟s main insight: the possible role of horizontal liberal trade policies as diversion forces leading to a more homogeneous pattern of interregional economic growth.

Efeito do policiamento sobre a criminalidade: uma análise em painel para o municípios paulistas e estados brasileiros

This work had the aim of investigating the effect of policing over crime rates, analyzing both the municipalities of São Paulo as well the Brazilian states. The analysis of counties developed for four types of criminal practices classified as theft, burglary, robbery and vehicle theft and murders, while the second analysis of the Brazilian states was restricted to murders. The São Paulo counties crime data were extracted from the Bureau of Public Security of the State of São Paulo and the Brazilian state data has the Datasus/SIM as the main source. The model used is based on the economic theory of crime proposed by Becker (1968). The attempt of measuring the police effect over crime was carry on for 2 variables: the police force and the public security expenditure. Besides those variables, control variables were added to the regressions such as demographic and socio-economics, compiled from various sources. Models were estimated with fixed effects panel methodology, controlling for the simultaneity bias of the relationship between policing and crime in a two stages regression. The results, especially in the regressions for the Brazilian states, illustrate the positive bias of simultaneity between police and crime, once the firsts regressions, that did not control for this endogeneity, resulted in positive parameters, while all regressions in two stages resulted in negative coefficients for the police variable, which are significant when expenditure is used as public security measure. The São Paulo counties regressions, we found evidence that the existence of a municipality guard may have a reduction effect over thefts rate.

Anticipatory effects in the FTSE 100 index revisions

This paper examines the price impact of trading due to expected changes in the FTSE 100 index composition. We focus on the latter index because it employs publicly-known objective criteria to determine membership and hence it provides a natural context to investigate anticipatory trading e ects. We propose a panel-regression event study that backs out these anticipatory e ects by looking at the price impact of the ex-ante proba-bility of changing index membership status. Our ndings reveal that anticipative trading explains about 40% and 23% of the cumulative abnormal returns of additions and deletions, respectively. We con rm these in-sample results out of sample by tracking the performance of a trading strategy that relies on the addition/deletion probability estimates. The perfor-mance is indeed very promising in that it entails an average daily excess return of 11 basis points over the FTSE 100 index.

The effects of uncertainty about the timing of deals on consumer behavior

I examine the effects of uncertainty about the timing of de aIs (i.e. temporary price cuts or sales) on consumer behavior in a dynamic inventory model of consumer choice. I derive implications for purchase behavior and test them empirically, using two years of scanner data for soft drinks. I fmd that loyal consumers' decisions, both about the allocation of their purchases over time and the quantity to be purchased in a particular deal, are affected by the uncertainty about the timing of the deal for the product. Loyal consumers buy a higher fraction of their overall purchases during de ais as the uncertainty decreases. This effect increases with an increase in the product' s share of a given consumer' s purchase in the same category or if the consumer stockpiles (i.e., is a shopper). During a particular deal, loyal shoppers increase the quantity they purchase the more time that has passed since the previous de aI, and the higher the uncertainty about the deals' timing. For the non-Ioyal consumers these effects are not significant. These results hold for products that are frequently purchased, like soft-drinks and yogurt, but do not hold for less frequentIy purchased products, such as laundry detergents. The fmdings suggest that manufacturers and retailers should incorporate the effects of deals' timing on consumers' purchase' decisions when deriving optimal pricing strategies.