1,721,015 research outputs found
Everyday life consequences of Parkinson's disease: Community participation and integration
No full textObjective: Besides describing deficits and clinical symptoms in Parkinson’s disease there is a level of analysis at which the target is to describe the type and degree of disabilities which may limit and interfere with everyday life expression and participation of these persons. The aim of the study is to assess everyday life effects of clinical symptoms on community participation and participation of persons with Parkinson’s disease with different levels of cognitive efficiency. Method: Forty-four patients with a diagnosis of Parkinson disease were included in the study. UPDRS was used to assess the severity of clinical symptoms. Cognitive efficiency was assessed using FAB (Frontal Assessment Battery) score and (Mini Mental State Examination). A full neuropsychological assessment was also conducted. Patients were then grouped as normal, mild and moderate. Basic and functional activities of everyday life (ADL and IADL) and BIA (Basic Interaction Abilities) were also evaluated. Quality of Life was assessed using PDQ scale. Community Integration Questionnaire was administered. It is a self report inventory which measures home participation, social integration and work productivity. It yields separate scores for each of the three sub-scales and an overall score. Results: Social participation and integration, either familial, social and productive, are reduced in PD patients and decrease according to cognitive efficiency and clinical symptoms severity, although specific components show a different line of progression. Length of disease seems to affect only social integration; while ADL and IADL, together with BIA, seem to affect all components measured. Conclusion: The study shows that also in the early stages of the disease, in patients with mild symptoms and/or preserved cognitive efficiency, the disease may interfere with quality of life and well being, as indexed by social participation and integration. This issue should be systematically addressed both during assessment and in rehabilitation planning
L'esecuzione di azioni in modalità naturalistica: profili nell'adulto disabile con disturbi progressivi del movimento.
No full textIn this paper we report the results of a multiple single cases study in which we examined the ability to produce routine activities of daily living in old adults with movement disorders, i.e. Parkinson disease and corticobasal degeneration. An adapted version of the naturalistic Action Test (NAT) was used to measure everyday action impairment associated with neurological pathologies. Patients performance on tasks tapping constructive and ideomotor apraxia is not associated with NAT performance; information drawn from IADL questionnaires describes similar patterns of functional outcome. A specific distribution of errors was observed in frontal lobes patients. The study underlines also the usefulness and specificity of information gathered from a naturalistic assessment of action executio
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Are inductive current transformers performance really affected by actual distorted network conditions? An experimental case study
Full text linkThe aim of this work is to assess whether actual distorted conditions of the network are really affecting the accuracy of inductive current transformers. The study started from the need to evaluate the accuracy performance of inductive current transformers in off-nominal conditions, and to improve the related standards. In fact, standards do not provide a uniform set of distorted waveforms to be applied on inductive or low-power instrument transformers. Moreover, there is no agreement yet, among the experts, about how to evaluate the uncertainty of the instrument transformer when the operating conditions are different from the rated ones. To this purpose, the authors collected currents from the power network and injected them into two off-the-shelf current transformers. Then, their accuracy performances have been evaluated by means of the well-known composite error index and an approximated version of it. The obtained results show that under realistic non-rated conditions of the network, the tested transformers show a very good behavior considering their nonlinear nature, arising the question in the title. A secondary result is that the use of the composite error should be more and more supported by the standards, considering its effectiveness in the accuracy evaluation of instrument transformers for measuring purposes
Design, Development, and Characterization of a Low-Voltage Network Monitoring Unit
No full textIn the last few years it has been confirmed that the monitoring is not an exclusive of the transmission network (TN) anymore. In fact, the distribution network (DN) is experiencing a significant deployment of intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) capable of enabling the monitoring and control of both the medium and low voltage sides (MV and LV) of the DN. Such a network revolution is strongly supported by the fact that renewable energy sources are spreading among the DN, introducing problems likes (i) voltage unbalance, (ii) degradation of the power quality, (iii) frequency deviations and inertia reduction, etc. In light of the above, this paper presents the design, development, and characterization of a low-cost network monitoring unit. The device, specifically developed for LV networks, has been designed according to the requirements defined by the utilities. In the paper, the design choices, the device characteristics and the metrological characterization are described. From the results it can be clearly concluded that the device may become an affordable key asset to be deployed in LV networks. In fact, it enables system operators to fully monitor, control, and promptly intervene on their networks
Correlation between odor identification and MIBG myocardial scintigraphy in patients with Parkinson's disease: Preliminary results
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Testing of electrical energy meters in off-nominal frequency conditions
No full textThe paper presents a study on electrical energy meters. The huge installation along the distribution network of these devices made them a key element to measure the electrical quantities of the grid. The meters operation is regulated by different Standards, which do not always coincide and prescribe the same rules. To this purpose, the paper provides a brief comparison between the latest Standards and afterwards a new set of tests are proposed. Such tests, focused on the role of the frequency in the energy measured by the meters, have been applied on two off-the-shelf class B meters
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