Changes in disability, physical/mental health states and quality of life during an 8-Week multimodal physiotherapy programme in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain: A prospective cohort study

Aim The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of an 8-week multimodal physiotherapy programme (MPP), integrating physical land-based therapeutic exercise (TE), adapted swimming and health education, as a treatment for patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP), on disability, general health/mental states and quality of life. Methods 175 CNSNP patients from a community-based centre were recruited to participate in this prospective study. Intervention: 60-minute session (30 minutes of land-based exercise dedicated to improving mobility, motor control, resistance and strengthening of the neck muscles, and 30 minutes of adapted swimming with aerobic exercise keeping a neutral neck position using a snorkel). Health education was provided using a decalogue on CNSNP and constant repetition of brief advice by the physiotherapist during the supervision of the exercises in each session. Study outcomes: primary: disability (Neck Disability Index); secondary: physical and mental health states and quality of life of patients (SF-12 and EuroQoL-5D respectively). Differences between baseline data and that at the 8-week follow-up were calculated for all outcome variables. Results Disability showed a significant improvement of 24.6% from a mean (SD) of 28.2 (13.08) at baseline to 16.88 (11.62) at the end of the 8-week intervention. All secondary outcome variables were observed to show significant, clinically relevant improvements with increase ranges between 13.0% and 16.3% from a mean of 0.70 (0.2) at baseline to 0.83 (0.2), for EuroQoL-5D, and from a mean of 40.6 (12.7) at baseline to 56.9 (9.5), for mental health state, at the end of the 8-week intervention. Conclusion After 8 weeks of a MPP that integrated land-based physical TE, health education and adapted swimming, clinically-relevant and statistically-significant improvements were observed for disability, physical and mental health states and quality of life in patients who suffer CNSNP. The clinical efficacy requires verification using a randomised controlled study design.

Fluid dynamics study of a new vacuum degassing process

Recently, the demand of the steel having superior chemical and physical properties has increased for which the content of carbon must be in ultra low range. There are many processes which can produce low carbon steel such as Tank degasser and RH (Rheinstahl-Heraeus) processes. It has been claimed that using a new process, called REDA (Revolutionary Degassing Activator), one can achieve the carbon content below 10ppm in less time. REDA process in terms of installment cost is in between tank degasser and RH processes. As such, REDA process has not been studied thoroughly. Fluid flow phenomena affect the decarburization rate the most besides the chemical reaction rate. Therefore, momentum balance equations along with k-ε turbulent model have been solved for gas and liquid phases in two-dimension (2D) for REDA process. The fluid flow phenomena have been studied in details for this process by varying gas flow rate, depth of immersed snorkel in the steel, diameter of the snorkel and change in vacuum pressure. It is found that design of snorkel affects the mixing process of the bath significantly.

Study of Fluid Flow and Mixing Behaviour of a Vacuum Degasser

In recent times the demand of ultra-low carbon steel (ULCS) with improved mechanical properties such as good ductility and good workability has been increased as it is used to produce cold-rolled steel sheets for automobiles. For producing ULCS efficiently, it is necessary to improve the productivity of the vacuum degassers such as RH, DH and tank degasser. Recently, it has been claimed that using a new process, called REDA (revolutionary degassing activator), one can achieve the carbon content below 10 ppm in less time. As such, REDA process has not been studied thoroughly in terms of fluid flow and mass transfer which is a necessary precursor to understand and design this process. Therefore, momentum and mass transfer of the process has been studied by solving momentum and species balance equations along with k-epsilon turbulent model in two-dimension (2D) for REDA process. Similarly, computational fluid dynamic studies have been made in 2D for tank and RH degassers to compare them with REDA process. Computational results have been validated with published experimental and theoretical data. It is found that REDA process is the most efficient among all these processes in terms of mixing efficiency. Fluid flow phenomena have been studied in details for REDA process by varying gas flow rate, depth of immersed snorkel in the steel, diameter of the snorkel and change in vacuum pressure. It is found that design of snorkel affects the melt circulation in the bath significantly.

alpha-Tocopherol's Antioxidant Role: A Biophysical Perspective

I present evidence of an antioxidant mechanism for vitamin E that correlates strongly with its physical location in a model lipid bilayer. These data address the overlooked problem of the physical distance between the vitamin's reducing hydrogen and lipid acyl chain radicals. The combined data from neutron diffraction, NMR and UV spectroscopy experiments, all suggest that reduction of reactive oxygen species and lipid radicals occurs specifically at the membrane's hydrophobic-hydrophilic interface. The latter is possible when the acyl chain adopts conformations in which they snorkel to the interface from the hydrocarbon matrix. Moreover, not all model lipids are equal in this regard, as indicated by the small differences in the vitamin's location. The present result is a clear example of the importance of lipid diversity in controlling the dynamic structural properties of biological membranes. Importantly, these results suggest that measurements of alpha-tocopherol oxidation kinetics, and its products, should be revisited by taking into consideration the physical properties of the membrane in which the vitamin resides.

Adaptação da máscara do analisador de gases VO2000 para mensuração de parâmetros cardiorrespiratórios em natação

O objetivo do presente estudo foi desenvolver um snorquel (SNQ) de baixo custo para mensuração de parâmetros cardiorrespiratórios em natação. Para isso, a máscara do analisador de gases VO2000 (MASC) foi adaptada a um SNQ desenvolvido artesanalmente com espaço morto de 250ml. Oito participantes foram submetidos a dois testes incrementais (TI) em cicloergômetro utilizando a MASC e o SNQ. Os TI foram realizados até a exaustão voluntária e foram compostos por estágios de 3min com carga inicial e incrementos de 35W. em ambas as situações, amostras gasosas foram coletadas em intervalos de 10s para determinação dos volumes de oxigênio (VO2), gás carbônico (VCO2), ventilatório (VE) e mensuração da freqüência cardíaca (FC). A comparação dos parâmetros cardiorrespiratórios (VO2, VE, VCO2 e FC) mensurados com o SNQ e a MASC foi realizada com o teste t de Student para amostras dependentes, enquanto que o teste de correlação de Pearson e a análise gráfica de Bland e Altman foram utilizados para verificar as associações e concordância entre parâmetros. em todos os casos, o nível de significância foi de P < 0,05. A adequação das equações de correção para os valores provenientes do SNQ foi verificada pelos erros sistemáticos (bias), aleatórios (precisão) e acurácia (ac). Não foram observadas diferenças significativas entre os valores de VO2, VCO2 e FC obtidos com a MASC e SNQ. Os valores de VE mensurados com o SNQ foram significativamente superiores aos obtidos com a MASC. No entanto, todos os parâmetros apresentaram elevada concordância e coeficiente de correlação (0,88 a 0,97). Além disso, foram verificados reduzidos valores de bias (VO2 = 0,11L/min; VE = 4,11L/min; VCO2 = 0,54L/min; 8,87bpm), precisão (VO2 = 0,24L/min; VE = 11,02L/ min; VCO2 = 0,18L/min; 7,42bpm) e ac (VO2 = 0,27L/min; VE = 11,76L/min; VCO2 = 0,56L/min; 11,56bpm). Desse modo, pode-se concluir que o SNQ desenvolvido neste estudo possibilita a mensuração válida de parâmetros cardiorrespiratórios em natação.

Determinação do máximo déficit acumulado de oxigênio de nadadores por meio da técnica de retro extrapolação

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Análise da cinética do VO2 no domínio severo do crawl em condição atada de nado

Pós-graduação em Desenvolvimento Humano e Tecnologias - IBRC