Search results for "Measure"

2021

Vibroarthrography measures joint sounds caused by sliding of the joint surfaces over each other. and can be affected by joint health, load and type of movement. Since both warm-up and muscle fatigue lead to local changes in the knee joint (e.g., temperature increase, lubrication of the joint, muscle activation), these may impact knee joint sounds. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of warm-up and muscle fatiguing exercise on knee joint sounds during an activity of daily living. Seventeen healthy, physically active volunteers (25.7 ± 2 years, 7 males) performed a control and an intervention session with a wash-out phase of one week. The control session consisted of sitting on a c…

Is time to joint replacement a valid outcome measure in clinical trials of drugs for osteoarthritis?

2003

The rate of radiographic joint space narrowing is commonly used today as a structural outcome measure in clinical trials evaluating potential disease-modifying drugs in patients with hip osteoarthritis, but this results in a continuous variable. Among the methods proposed to circumvent this problem, it has been suggested that the incidence of total hip arthoplasty (THA) provides a hard outcome measure. It is a dichotomized variable, easy to measure and sensitive to change, with acceptable intrinsic validity. However, because this measure is limited by the variability of factors underlying the decision to perform surgery and the length of waiting lists, it has been suggested that time to ful…

Kinetic Analysis: A Sensitive Outcome Objective Measurement Method in Evaluating Lateral Patellar Instability

2011

There are many diagnostic clinical tests (e.g., apprehension patellar test or the moving patellar apprehension test), outcome measures (general health and knee scales [IKDC form, Kujala scale, Fulkerson scale, Lysholm knee scoring scale, Tegner activity level scale, short form-36]), and instrumented measurements of patellar mobility (static stability), to assess lateral patellar instability.7,10,15,16 However, according to Smith and colleagues,15 the sensitivity/specificity – reliability/validity of such tests and outcome tools remain unclear for this patient population. These authors conclude that further work is needed to assess the appropriateness of these tests and outcomes.15Moreover, …

The shape of the water

2016

The Po River is a living organism that breathes: it inhales and swells; it exhales and releases its energy. Between two extreme phases of overflow and shallows, there are endless variations. In Piacenza, at the riverside, hydrometric instruments also took size and shape of a special building in reinforced concrete crowned by conical elements. When the water level rises, it floods the earth gradually; it deletes some marks lapping, and then reveals other things. The water clears and continuously constructs, in a surreal atmosphere of expectation, always in the balance between the catastrophe and the regeneration of a soil that emerges like an archaeological plan. Visible volumes are like the…

The pain threshold of high-threshold mechanosensitive receptors subsequent to maximal eccentric exercise is a potential marker in the prediction of D…

2017

Background Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) refers to dull pain and discomfort in people after participating in exercise, sport or recreational physical activities. The aim of this study was to detect underlying mechanical thresholds in an experimental model of DOMS. Methods Randomised study to detect mechanical pain thresholds in a randomised order following experimentally induced DOMS of the non-dominant arm in healthy participants. Main outcome was the detection of the pressure pain threshold (PPT), secondary thresholds included mechanical detection (MDT) and pain thresholds (MPT), pain intensity, pain perceptions and the maximum isometric voluntary force (MIVF). Results Twenty volun…

Neutrino Flavor Sensitivity of Large Liquid Scintillator Detectors

2015

Abstract Scintillator detectors are known for their good light yield, energy resolution, timing characteristics and pulse shape discrimination capabilities. These features make the next-generation liquid scintillation detector LENA[1] (Low Energy Neutrino Astronomy) the optimal choice for a wide range of astro-particle topics including supernova-, solar-, and geo neutrinos. In addition to the excellent calorimetric and timing properties, scintillartor detectors (LSDs) are also capable of topology reconstruction sufficient to discriminate with adequate efficiency between electron and muon neutrino induced charge current events and neutral current events in the GeV energy range. This feature …

Solar neutrino spectroscopy in Borexino

2018

International audience; In more than ten years of operation, Borexino has performed a precision measurement of the solar neutrino spectrum, resolving almost all spectral components originating from the proton-proton fusion chain. The presentation will review the results recently released for the second data taking phase 2012–2016 during which the detector excelled by its unprecedentedly low background levels. New results on the rate of pp, 7Be, pep and 8B neutrinos as well as their implications for solar neutrino oscillations and metallicity are discussed.

ENABLING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT ANTI-CORRUPTION STRATEGIES THROUGH DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE. A CASE-STUDY OF …

2021

Lo scopo principale di questa ricerca è quello di inquadrare le possibili relazioni causali fra corruzione negli approvvigionamenti pubblici e performance delle amministrazioni locali. A tal fine, viene adottato un disegno di ricerca che integra dinamicamente metodi quantitativi e qualitativi in ogni fase del processo di studio. Gli approcci Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) e Governance (DPG), supportati da interviste approfondite non-strutturate, modellazioni formali e simulazioni quantitative, sono qui adottati per analizzare un caso di studio rappresentativo di un piccolo comune italiano in cui si sono verificati alcuni episodi di corruzione nelle attività di approvvigionamento nei p…

Decreasing muscle performance associated with increasing disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

2018

Objectives Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation has a detrimental effect on muscle strength. Our objective was to analyse the association between muscle performance and different disease activity levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Method A total of 199 consecutive outpatients were subject to cross-sectional assessment. Measurements of grip strength, endurance of the upper and lower limbs and trunk strength were combined as a muscle performance composite score (MPCS), using a standardised method. The disease activity for 28 joints (DAS28), radiographs of small joints (Larsen score), rheumatoid factor, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities and anti-rheumatic drugs wer…

Noiseless Quantum Measurement and Squeezing of Microwave Fields Utilizing Mechanical Vibrations

2017

A process which strongly amplifies both quadrature amplitudes of an oscillatory signal necessarily adds noise. Alternatively, if the information in one quadrature is lost in phase-sensitive amplification, it is possible to completely reconstruct the other quadrature. Here we demonstrate such a nearly perfect phase-sensitive measurement using a cavity optomechanical scheme, characterized by an extremely small noise less than 0.2 quanta. We also observe microwave radiation strongly squeezed by 8 dB below vacuum. A source of bright squeezed microwaves opens up applications in manipulations of quantum systems, and noiseless amplification can be used even at modest cryogenic temperatures.