Isokinetic dynamometry of knee flexors and extensors: comparative study among non-athletes, jumper athletes and runner athletes

Participation in intensive sports activities leads to muscular specializations that may generate alterations in involved articular forces and cause static (posture) and dynamic changes (alterations of articular stability, coordination, etc.). Prevention of injury requires specific functional muscular evaluation in all athletes and for any kind of sport. OBJECTIVE: To dynamically evaluate, through isokinetic tests, the peak torque, total work, and average power of the knee flexor and extensor muscles of jumper and runner athletes and compare them to those of a non-athletic population, evaluating dominance and balance between agonistic and antagonistic muscle groups. RESULTS: In the non-athlete group, we noted a higher asymmetry between the dominant and nondominant members. The jumpers had the highest values of the evaluated parameters of all groups, whereas parameters for the runners were intermediate between non-athletes and jumpers.

Deflation and monetary policy: A look into Japan and the Euro Area

With more than two decades of weak economic performance since the bubble burst in the ‘90s, the Japanese deflationary scenario has become the economic fate every developed economy fears to become. As the euro area continues to experience sustained low inflation, studying the Japanese monetary policy may shed light on how to prevent persistent deflation. Using an SVAR methodology to understand the monetary transmission mechanism, we find some evidence that the euro area may possess characteristics that would eventually lead to a deflationary scenario. The extent of whether it would suffer the same Japanese fate would depend on how macroeconomic policies are timely coordinated as a response to its liquidity problem and increasing public debt across member states.

Critical analysis of the allocation policy for liver transplantation in Brazil

Liver transplantation is now the standard treatment for end-stage liver disease. Given the shortage of liver donors and the progressively higher number of patients waiting for transplantation, improvements in patient selection and optimization of timing for transplantation are needed. Several solutions have been suggested, including increasing the donor pool; a fair policy for allocation, not permitting variables such as age, gender, and race, or third-party payer status to play any role; and knowledge of the natural history of each liver disease for which transplantation is offered. To observe ethical rules and distributive justice (guarantee to every citizen the same opportunity to get an organ), the "sickest first" policy must be used. Studies have demonstrated that death has no relationship with waiting time, but rather with the severity of liver disease at the time of inclusion. Thus, waiting time is no longer part of the United Network for Organ Sharing distribution criteria. Waiting time only differentiates between equally severely diseased patients. The authors have analyzed the waiting list mortality and 1-year survival for patients of the State of São Paulo, from July 1997 through January 2001. Only the chronological criterion was used. According to "Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo" data, among all waiting list deaths, 82.2% occurred within the first year, and 37.6% within the first 3 months following inclusion. The allocation of livers based on waiting time is neither fair nor ethical, impairs distributive justice and human rights, and does not occur in any other part of the world.

Peri-intraventricular hemorrhage in newborns weighing less than 1500 grams: comparative analysis between 2 institutions

PURPOSE: This study aims to characterize the peri-intraventricular hemorrhages in the neonatal period in very low birth weight newborns in 2 institutions that provide neonatal tertiary assistance. METHOD: This was a comparative and observational study in 2 neonatal intensive care units, the Maternity Hospital of Campinas and the "Centro de Atenção Integrada à Saúde da Mulher" of the State University of Campinas, from December 01, 1998 to November 30, 1999. We examined 187 newborns for peri-intraventricular hemorrhages, using transfontanel ultrasound (76 and 11 respectively at the first and second unit), and classified them into 4 grades. We observed their gender, intrauterine growth, weight, and gestational age at birth. RESULTS: We diagnosed 34 cases of peri-intraventricular hemorrhages (13 and 21, respectively), and both groups differed as to the birth weight and the adequacy of weight to the gestational age at birth. There was no difference in the prevalence or extent of peri-intraventricular hemorrhages among cases. There was a statistically significant occurrence of lower birth weight at gestational ages of less than 30 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of peri-intraventricular hemorrhages in our study was compared to that reported in the world literature. Although the cases of the second institution had a smaller mean birth weight, the prevalence of peri-intraventricular hemorrhages was similar to that at the first institution, probably because in the first one, 69% of the gestational ages of the neonates with hemorrhage were less than 30 weeks as compared to 48% in the second one. We stress the importance of the ultrasonographic method for diagnosing peri-intraventricular hemorrhages in very low birth weight newborns.

Contribution of Mental Health Service User Groups to Mental Health Services and Policy in Ghana : The Case of Mental Health Society of Ghana

RESUMO: Este estudo procurou documentar a perspectiva (s) dos utentes de saúde mental e das associações de prestadores de cuidados sobre a prestação, o papel e a contribuição de serviços de saúde mental da comunidade tal como foram percebidos por um número de informadores-chave, incluindo os utentes do serviço mentais e os próprios prestadores de cuidados. O caso específico da Sociedade Saúde Mental do Gana (MEHSOG) foi o foco deste estudo. O modelo foi o de um estudo de caso, utilizando discussões de grupo e entrevistas com informadores-chave como instrumentos de recolha de dados. Estas ferramentas de colheita de dados foram complementadas por observações dos participantes e pela revisão de documentos da MEHSOG e dos vários grupos de apoio da comunidade de auto-ajuda que compõem a associação nacional. O estudo revelou que os utentes dos serviços de saúde mental e seus prestadores de cuidados constituem um importante grupo de partes interessadas na prestação de serviços de saúde mental da comunidade e no desenvolvimento de políticas que tenham em conta as necessidades e os direitos das pessoas com doença mental ou epilepsia. O envolvimento da MEHSOG promove a mobilização de membros e famílias relacionadas com a doença mental de beneficiar de serviços de tratamento bem organizados com um impacto significativo na melhoria da saúde e da participação dos utentes dos serviços e seus prestadores de cuidados primários em processos de tomada de decisão da família e na comunidade processos de desenvolvimento. Os utentes dos serviços por beneficiarem de tratamento, e os prestadores de cuidados primários, por se tornarem mais livres e menos sobrecarregados com a responsabilidade de cuidar, podem passar a envolver-se mais em atividades que melhoramo seu estado, o de suas famílias e das comunidades. A advocacia dos membros da MEHSOG para conseguir que a “Mental Health Bill” se transforme numa Lei foi também um desenvolvimento significativo resultante da participação ativa dos utentes do serviço em chamar a atenção para uma nova e inclusiva legislação de saúde mental para o Gana. Entre os fatores e oportunidades que permitiram aos utentes dos serviços de saúde mental e aos prestadores de cuidados primários de pessoas com doença mental apoiar activamente a prestação de serviços de saúde mental comunitária e o desenvolvimento de políticas conta-se a contribuição da sociedade civil do Gana, particularmente o movimento da deficiência, e os esforços anteriores de ONGs em saúde mental e dos profissionais de saúde mental para ter uma nova lei em saúde mental. Observámos um certo número de desafios e barreiras que actuam de forma a limitar a influência dos utentes dos serviços de saúde mental na provisão da saúde mental comunitária e no desenvolvimento de políticas. Entre elas o estigma social contra a doença mental e pessoas com doença mental ou epilepsia e seus cuidadores primaries é um factor chave. O estigma tem alterado a percepção e as análises do público em geral, especialmente dos profissionais de saúde e das autoridades políticas afetando a priorização dos problemas de saúde mental nas políticas e programas. Outro desafio foi a deficiente infra-estrutura disponível para apoiar serviços de saúde mentais que assegurem aos utentes permanecerem em bom estado de saúde e bem-estar para serem advogados de si próprios. A recomendação do presente estudo é que os movimentos de utentes dos serviços de saúde mental são importantes e que eles precisam de ser apoiados e encorajados a desempenhar o seu papel como pessoas com experiência vivida para contribuir para a organização e prestação de serviços de saúde mental, bem como para a implementação, monitorização e avaliação de políticas e programas. ------------------------------------ ABSTRACT: This study sought to document the perspective(s) of mental health users and care-givers associations in community mental health service provision and their role and contribution as it was perceived by a number of key informants including the mental service users and care-givers themselves. The specific case of the Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG) was the focus of this study. A case study approach was used to with Focus Group Discussions and Key Informants Interviews being the data collection tools that were used. These data collection tools were complemented by participant observations and review of documents of the MEHSOG and the various community self-help peer support groups that make up the national association. The study revealed that mental health service users and their care-givers constitute an important stakeholder group in community mental health service provision and development of policies that factor in the needs and rights of persons with mental illness or epilepsy. MEHSOG’s involvement in mobilising members and education families to come forward with the relations with mental illness to benefit from treatment services were well made a significant impact in improving the health and participation of service users and their primary carers in family decision-making processes and in community development processes. Service users, on benefiting from treatment, and primary care-givers, on becoming freer and less burdened with the responsibility of care, move on to engage in secure livelihoods activities, which enhanced their status in their families and communities. The advocacy MEHSOG members undertook in getting the mental health Bill become Law was also noted as significant development that was realised as a result of active involvement of service users in calling for a new and inclusive mental health legislation for Ghana. Enabling factors and opportunities that enabled mental health service users and primary care-givers of people with mental illness to actively support community mental health service provision and policy development is with the vibrant civil society presence in Ghana, particularly the disability movement, and earlier efforts by NGOs in mental health in Ghana long-side mental health professionals to have a new law in mental health. A number of challenges were also noted which were found to limit the extent to which mental health service users can be influential in community mental health service provision and policy development. Key among them was the social stigma against mental illness and people with mental illness or epilepsy and their primary carers. Stigma has affected perceptions, analyses of the general public, especially health practitioners and policy authorities that it has affected their prioritisation of mental health issues in policies and programmes. Another challenge was the poor infrastructure available to support enhanced mental health care services that ensure mental health service users remain in a good state of health and wellbeing to advocate for themselves. The recommendation from the study is that mental health service user movements are important and need to be supported and encouraged to play their role as persons with lived experience to inform organisation and provision of mental health services as well as design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programes.

Comparative analysis of Spanish Banks’ Standalone credit profile

The paper studies the relationship between four differently rated bank’s financial profile and their standalone credit rating issued by Moody’s. The comparative analysis shows an example that despite their pricing power and geographical coverage, larger banks do not necessarily have better credit ratings. Instead, business model and risk appetite seem to be the defining factors of banks’ vulnerability to shocks, such as the Spanish real estate crisis. The risk-return relationship is also identified in the banks’ fundamentals meaning that while expansionary strategy in riskier asset classes enhances margins, it also potentially distorts the credit risk profile.

The perfect paint in modern art conservation: a comparative study of 21st century vinyl emulsions

Contemporary painting places, and will continue to place, several questions about its meaning, its chemical nature, its durability and the best way to preserve it. This research aims at putting together comprehensive data on vinyl based paints, including their components, their properties, their aging behavior and their response to selected cleaning products. In this project degradation mechanisms of vinyl binders and formulations used in the 20th and 21st century were studied. Stability over time of selected vinyl polymers was assessed through natural indoor and artificially aging. The objective was to enhance knowledge and understanding of vinyl emulsion formulations and their performance over time. Overall conservation state of pictorial layers namely, adhesion, cohesion and discoloration of selected case studies from the Portuguese artist Julião Sarmento (b.1948) was correlated with the observed molecular level changes studied in laboratory experiments. Sarmento’s paintings were chosen due to conservation concerns (discoloration) on some of his works from the 90’s. Besides, research was carried out to start increasing the knowledge of what can be expected of PVAc based paints in terms of response to conservation treatments namely, surface cleaning. Artificial aging showed that the most recent formulations which are based on a poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl chloride) and polyethylene terpolymer are less stable when compared to some homopolymer formulations. From the four pigments studied, titanium dioxide rutile and a carbon based black proved to be stabilizers for both types of polymer. The mixture lithopone plus calcium carbonate has showed to have a photocatalytic effect on the binders. The studied paintings showed to be in an overall good state of conservation except for the paintings created in the 90’s with white glue and a mixture of white lithoponeand calcium carbonate. Discoloration of this white paint seems to be irreversible and ongoing and is still a major concern. The disapearance of the plasticizer was the only change detected. The current works created by Sarmento are expected to be more stable as they were painted using the rutile titanium dioxide. Immersion/cleaning tests showed that vinyl based paints can be susceptible to water and organic solvents like ethanol as some evidences point to the removal/diffusion of additives from the paint. The observations made point to the need to further proceed in this research field.

A comparative review of risk based portfolio allocations: An empirical study throughout rising yields

Since the financial crisis, risk based portfolio allocations have gained a great deal in popularity. This increase in popularity is primarily due to the fact that they make no assumptions as to the expected return of the assets in the portfolio. These portfolios implicitly put risk management at the heart of asset allocation and thus their recent appeal. This paper will serve as a comparison of four well-known risk based portfolio allocation methods; minimum variance, maximum diversification, inverse volatility and equally weighted risk contribution. Empirical backtests will be performed throughout rising interest rate periods from 1953 to 2015. Additionally, I will compare these portfolios to more simple allocation methods, such as equally weighted and a 60/40 asset-allocation mix. This paper will help to answer the question if these portfolios can survive in a rising interest rate environment.

Os médicos do trabalho e a nova organização da saúde e segurança do trabalho : quais as consequências na prática profissional? António de Sousa Uv

RESUMO - Em 1994/1995 o modelo legal de organização de serviços de Medicina do Trabalho instituído na década de 1960 foi substituído por uma nova superestrutura de serviços de Segurança, Higiene e Saúde dos Trabalhadores (SHST) nos locais de trabalho. O presente estudo pretende descrever e analisar em que medida o novo enquadramento jurídico de SHST, iniciado em 1994/1995 e correspondente genericamente à fase da Nova Saúde Ocupacional, foi acompanhado de alterações: (1) na percepção do grau de satisfação dos médicos do trabalho quanto ao seu papel e estatuto profissionais e (2) nas repercussões na sua prática profissional. O presente estudo (empírico, descritivo e comparativo) abrangeu um grupo de médicos do trabalho diplomados pela Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (n = 153), de quem se recolheu, através de um questionário aplicado em 1993 e 2000, a opinião sobre as mudanças organizacionais da SHST. O papel e funções dos médicos do trabalho e as garantias de exercício profissional não se alteraram de forma importante, tendo a prática profissional da medicina do trabalho na modalidade «medicina do trabalho de empresa» (serviços internos e externos) diminuído, apesar de continuar a ser a forma de exercício predominante dos médicos do trabalho. O tempo dedicado à sua actividade situou-se num valor médio próximo das 20 horas semanais, sem alterações importantes entre 1993 e 2000. Concluiu-se que, no essencial, a publicação da nova legislação sobre organização de cuidados de MT/SHST/SO em 1994 e 1995 não reforçou significativamente as condições gerais de exercício da medicina do trabalho.

Role of Intersectoral Collaboration in Mental Health Policy Formulation And Service Delivery in Saint Lucia

RESUMO: Santa Lúcia pequena ilha de país em desenvolvimento com recursos limitados e é confrontada com uma série de desafios socioeconômicos que exigem soluções criativas e inovadoras. É comprovado que a combinação de recursos entre setores para estabelecer os determinantes social, econômico e ambiental da saúde são uma estratégia útil para melhorar a saúde da população, principalmente a sua saúde mental. Este estudo, o primeiro do seu tipo em Santa Lúcia, procurou examinar até que ponto a disponibilidade de uma política nacional de saúde mental levou a ação intersetorial para o fornecimento de serviços e promoção da saúde mental. Além disso, o estudo examinou o nível de colaboração intersetorial que existe entre as agências que prestam cuidados diretos e serviços de suporte para pessoas com doenças mentais e problemas sérios de saúde mental. O estudo também teve como objetivo identificar os fatores que promovem ou dificultam a colaboração intersectorial e gerar recomendações que possam ser aplicadas para países muito pequenos e com perfis socioeconômicos semelhantes. Os dados gerados a partir de três (3) fontes foram sintetizados para formar uma visão ampla das questões. Uma avaliação da política de saúde mental de 2007, uma avaliação que identifica até que ponto a ação intersetorial atualmente deixa a prestação de serviços de saúde mental e a administração de entrevistas semiestruturadas nas mãos de gestores do programa de diferentes agências em todos os setores. O estudo concluiu que, apesar da disponibilidade de uma política de saúde mental, que articula clara e explicitamente a colaboração intersetorial como área prioritária para ação, quase não existe no sistema de fornecimento atual do serviço. Os provedores de serviços em todos os setores reconhecem que há os benefícios da colaboração intersectorial e com entraves significativos em relação à colaboração intersetorial, que por sua vez, impede uma abordagem nacional para o planejamento e o fornecimento do serviço. A colaboração intersetorial não será possível se os próprios setores dependerem da abordagem direta do setor da saúde ou se a atmosfera geral for ofuscada pela estigmatização das doenças mentais.------------------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT: Saint Lucia a small island developing country with limited resources, is faced with a number of socio-economic challenges which require creative and innovative solutions to address. Combining resources across sectors to address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health has proven to be a useful strategy for improving population health in particular mental health. This study, the first of its kind for Saint Lucia sought to examine the extent to which the availability of a national mental health policy led to intersectoral action for mental health promotion and service delivery. In addition the study examined the level of intersectoral collaboration which actually exist between agencies which provide direct care and support services to people with mental illnesses and significant mental health problems. The study also aimed to identify the factors which promote or hinder intersectoral collaboration and generate recommendations which can be applied to extremely small countries with similar socio-economic profiles. Data generated from three (3) sources was synthesized to form a broad picture of the issues. An evaluation of the mental health policy of 2007, an assessment of the extent to which intersectoral action currently exist in mental health service delivery and the administration of semi-structured interviews with program managers from different agencies across sectors to identify implementation issues. The study concluded that despite the availability of a mental health policy which clearly and explicitly articulates intersectoral collaboration as a priority area for action, very little exists in the current service delivery system. Services providers across sectors acknowledge the benefits of intersectoral collaboration and that there are significant barriers to intersectoral collaboration, which in turn hinders a national approach to service planning and delivery. Intersectoral collaboration is not possible if sectors themselves are dependent on a top-down health sector driven and dominated approach, or if the general atmosphere is clouded by stigmatization of mental health illnesses.

Context costs and comparative advantages in the telecommunications sector in Portugal and China

This Work Project aims to discuss the Context Costs and Comparative Advantages of the Telecommunications sector both in Portugal and China. The work was built mostly on primary research by interviews with relevant people (business persons, University Professors and Agencies directors), and by economic data publicly available. A list of context costs and comparative advantages was drawn for each country and possible resolutions suggestions were made in the end. The context costs depend heavily on the economic situation of the countries and it should be taken into account when assessing the degree of magnitude of each cost of context. The competitive advantages of each country were drawn in comparison with one another. Some key results stand out: firstly, Portugal’s costs of context depend mainly on governmental decisions, uncertainties and instability and China’s cost of context depend primarily on cultural norms, mainly the Guanxi; second, the telecommunications sector shares most of its context costs and advantages with other sectors; third, China as an economic power could use the telecommunications sector as a way to further develop and boost its economy.

Comparative environmental life-cycle analysis of concretes using biomass and coal fly ashes as partial cement replacement material

Nowadays, the concrete production sector is challenged by attempts to minimize the usage of raw materials and energy consumption, as well as by environmental concerns. Therefore, it is necessary to choose better options, e.g. new technologies or materials with improved life-cycle performance. One solution for using resources in an efficient manner is to close the materials' loop through the recycling of materials that result either from the end-of-life of products or from being the by-product of an industrial process. It is well known that the production of Portland cement, one of the materials most used in the construction sector, has a significant contribution to the environmental impacts, mainly related with carbon dioxide emission. Therefore, the study and utilization of by-products or wastes usable as cement replacement in concrete can supply more sustainable options, provided that these type of concrete produced has same durability and equivalent quality properties as standard concrete. This work studied the environmental benefits of incorporating different percentages of two types of fly ashes that can be used in concrete as cement replacement. These ashes are waste products of power and heat production sectors using coal or biomass as fuels. The results showed that both ashes provide a benefit for the concrete production both in terms of environmental impact minimization and a better environmental performance through an increase in cement replacement. It is possible to verify that the incorporation of fly ashes is a sustainable option for cement substitution and a possible path to improve the environmental performance of the concrete industry.

Hand gesture recognition for human computer interaction : a comparative study of different image features

Hand gesture recognition for human computer interaction, being a natural way of human computer interaction, is an area of active research in computer vision and machine learning. This is an area with many different possible applications, giving users a simpler and more natural way to communicate with robots/systems interfaces, without the need for extra devices. So, the primary goal of gesture recognition research is to create systems, which can identify specific human gestures and use them to convey information or for device control. For that, vision-based hand gesture interfaces require fast and extremely robust hand detection, and gesture recognition in real time. In this study we try to identify hand features that, isolated, respond better in various situations in human-computer interaction. The extracted features are used to train a set of classifiers with the help of RapidMiner in order to find the best learner. A dataset with our own gesture vocabulary consisted of 10 gestures, recorded from 20 users was created for later processing. Experimental results show that the radial signature and the centroid distance are the features that when used separately obtain better results, with an accuracy of 91% and 90,1% respectively obtained with a Neural Network classifier. These to methods have also the advantage of being simple in terms of computational complexity, which make them good candidates for real-time hand gesture recognition.

Cost-effective and lightweight mobile units for MixAR: A comparative trial among different setups

Cultural heritage has arousing the interest of the general public (e.g. tourists), resulting in the increasing number of visitations to archaeological sites. However, many buildings and monuments are severely damaged or completely destroyed, which doesn’t allow to get a full experience of “travelling in time”. Over the years, several Augmented Reality (AR) approaches were proposed to overcome these issues by providing three-dimensional visualization of reconstructed ancient structures in situ. However, most of these systems were made available through heavy and expensive technological bundles. Alternatively, MixAR intends to be a lightweight and cost-effective Mixed Reality system which aims to provide the visualization of virtual ancient buildings reconstructions in situ, properly superimposed and aligned with real-world ruins. This paper proposes and compares different AR mobile units setups to be used in the MixAR system, with low-cost and lightweight requirements in mind, providing different levels of immersion. It was propounded four different mobile units, based on: a laptop computer, a single-board computer (SBC), a tablet and a smartphone, which underwent a set of tests to evaluate their performances. The results show that mobile units based on laptop computer and SBC reached a good overall performance while mobile units based on tablet and smartphone did not meet such a satisfactory result even though they are acceptable for the intended use.

Environment, health and safety policy in small construction sites: an analysis of the situation in Brazil

This paper analyzes the safety, environmental and occupational health of workers in the small construction industry in Brazil. In this sector there are still many unsafe practices, which are very common in small work sites. We used a qualitative approach to understand these problems by long interviews with people who work directly in small construction sites, including occupational physicians, civil engineers, safety engineers, safety technicians, general foremen, construction workers, labor unionists and auditors. This paper aims to demonstrate that the "invisibility" of the small sites workers makes them less safe and therefore more prone to accidents, also weakening their health. The results show that small constructions workers are less visible to society and supervision because of their short periods of work. Therefore, they are also uncovered to the rigorous applicability of principles of safety and accident prevention. Thus, it has been seen in this field of work a precarious application of NR - 18, which was specifically made for the construction sites and it needs simplification to meet normative characteristics of small construction sites. In the State of Rio de Janeiro, some laws on small sites were recently created and implemented. This study concludes that the rules to work are not being taken as seriously as the legislation determinates, remaining practically unknown by many professionals, from the plot command, supervisors, engineers, architects and technicians who work on construction sites. This ignorance creates space for the lack of safety and consequently to accidents, leading to by weakness in the workers health. Therefore, the work process needs to be modified, the safety regulation must be disseminated through safer practices, promoting employee health and ensure that the work of small sites can be visible, especially ensuring the construction workers health and safety.