729 research outputs found
A espessura da existência humana: Perdas & Ganhos na obra de Lya Luft
No full textDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em LiteraturaO estudo enfoca a obra de Lya Luft, especialmente Perdas & Ganhos que causou controvérsias no meio literário por sua dificuldade de classificação. É mapeada a trajetória da escritora desde os seus primeiros escritos na década de 1970. Observa-se que a escritora retoma nos últimos anos os textos curtos # crônicas e ensaios - que também foram o começo de sua vida literária. As crônicas publicadas em revista semanal e as comunidades de fãs do sítio de relacionamentos da internet Orkut também são abordadas. Autores contemporâneos das áreas de literatura e ciências humanas subsidiam teoricamente o estudo para entender como o sucesso dos temas recorrentes e dos livros da escritora são parte do modus vivendi no atual estágio da sociedade capitalista. Com Perdas e Ganhos, Lya Luft deixou de ser reconhecida apenas pelo meio literário, para ser também referência do grande público no Brasil e até no exterior. A despeito disso, no entanto, a crítica que a havia consagrado pelos romances da década de 1980, passou a adotar uma postura de ressalva em relação a escritora, como se tornar-se uma campeã de vendas a desmerecessem. The research is about Lya Luft, especially her book Perdas e Ganhos, who has caused controversy in the Brazilian literature area due to the difficult of classification. We try to understand it, with the study of all the production of Lya Luft, since the first one in the 1970´s. We can see that the author goes back to the same kind of writing that she used in the beginning of her literature life: chronicle and essay. Therefore, we study also the chronicles that Luft is publishing in a Brazilian magazine, and the communities made of Luft´s fans in the relationship site of the Internet, the Orkut. Current names in the literature and human science gave the theoretical instrument to understand how the success of the themes and the books are part of the same modus vivendi of this moment in the life of the society. With the successful of Perdas e Ganhos, Lya Luft are recognition not only by the literature community, but, by the big public in Brazil and other countries too. On the other hand, however, the critics who had applauded her novels in the 1980#s started to have a wondering about the author, because if she is a best seller, she couldn´t be a good writer
Bilateral and unilateral arm training improve motor function through differing neuroplastic mechanisms: a single-blinded randomized controlled trial
No full textBACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
This randomized controlled trial tests the efficacy of bilateral arm training with rhythmic auditory cueing (BATRAC) versus dose-matched therapeutic exercises (DMTEs) on upper-extremity (UE) function in stroke survivors and uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine effects on cortical reorganization.
METHODS:
A total of 111 adults with chronic UE paresis were randomized to 6 weeks (3×/week) of BATRAC or DMTE. Primary end points of UE assessments of Fugl-Meyer UE Test (FM) and modified Wolf Motor Function Test Time (WT) were performed 6 weeks prior to and at baseline, after training, and 4 months later. Pretraining and posttraining, fMRI for UE movement was evaluated in 17 BATRAC and 21 DMTE participants.
RESULTS:
The improvements in UE function (BATRAC: FM Δ = 1.1 + 0.5, P = .03; WT Δ = -2.6 + 0.8, P < .00; DMTE: FM Δ = 1.9 + 0.4, P < .00; WT Δ = -1.6 + 0.7; P = .04) were comparable between groups and retained after 4 months. Satisfaction was higher after BATRAC than DMTE (P = .003). BATRAC led to significantly higher increase in activation in ipsilesional precentral, anterior cingulate and postcentral gyri, and supplementary motor area and contralesional superior frontal gyrus (P < .05). Activation change in the latter was correlated with improvement in the WMFT (P = .01).
CONCLUSIONS:
BATRAC is not superior to DMTE, but both rehabilitation programs durably improve motor function for individuals with chronic UE hemiparesis and with varied deficit severity. Adaptations in brain activation are greater after BATRAC than DMTE, suggesting that given similar benefits to motor function, these therapies operate through different mechanisms
Did you know? Fluid-and-electrolyte replacement and the uncertainty principle
No full textSurprises are not always welcome. We have studied total body water, quantified the volume and determined the extracellular space, interstitial, and plasma volumes. Nonetheless, estimating these parameters clinically (at the bedside) is frustratingly imprecise. The author ruminates over 50 years clinical experience in intensive care units and grapples with the literature
Biomarkers and predicting acute kidney injury
No full textAIM: How can we convert biomarkers into reliable, validated laboratory tests? GFR estimators exist for more than a century. The first utilitarian biomarkers were endogenously produced urea and creatinine. Clinicians then developed simple tests to determine whether or not renal tubular function was maintained. Are there faster and better tests that reflect decreased renal function and increased acute kidney injury (AKI) risk? METHODS: We inspect earlier, and recently propagated biomarkers. Cystatin C reflects GFR and is not confounded by muscle mass. Direct GFR and plasma volume can now be measured acutely within 3 h. Better yet would be tests that give information before GFR decreases and prior to urea, creatinine, and cystatin C increases. Prospective tests identifying those persons likely to develop AKI would be helpful. Even more utilitarian would be a test that also suggests a therapeutic avenue. RESULTS: A number of highly provocative biomarkers have recently been proposed. Moreover, the application of big data from huge electronic medical records promise new directions in identifying and dealing with AKI. CONCLUSIONS: Pipedreams are in the pipeline; the novel findings require immediate testing, verification, and perhaps application. Future research promises to make such dreams come true
Biomarkers and predicting acute kidney injury
No full textAim: How can we convert biomarkers into reliable, validated laboratory tests? Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimators exist for more than a century. The first utilitarian biomarkers were endogenously produced urea and creatinine. Clinicians then developed simple tests to determine whether or not renal tubular function was maintained. Are there faster and better tests that reflect decreased renal function and increased acute kidney injury (AKI) risk?
Methods: We inspect earlier, and recently propagated biomarkers. Cystatin C reflects GFR and is not confounded by muscle mass. Direct GFR and plasma volume can now be measured acutely within 3 hours. Better yet would be tests that give information before GFR decreases and prior to urea, creatinine, and cystatin C increases. Prospective tests identifying those persons likely to develop AKI would be helpful. Even more utilitarian would be a test that also suggests a therapeutic avenue.
Results: A number of highly provocative biomarkers have recently been proposed. Moreover the application of big data from huge electronic medical records promise new directions in identifying and dealing with AKI.
Conclusions: Pipedreams are in the pipeline; the novel findings require immediate testing, verification, and perhaps application. Future research promises to make such dreams come true
development of a Free-Piston Linear Generator for use in an Extended-Range Electric Vehicle
No full textThis paper presents the development methodology of the Free-Piston Linear Generator. The FPLG is a free-piston combustion engine with an integrated linear generator. The engine can be used as a range-extending device in an electric vehicle. A systematic development approach for the FPLG is presented consisting of three basic steps. The fully variable experimental apparatus being used for testing the single FPLG-subsystems and the FPLG-system is described. In order to achieve robust operation of the FPLG-system during experimental testing, a hydraulic actuator is implemented to simulate the motion of the free piston.. Despite the use of such an hydraulic actuator, it is shown, that the system can be run in a quasi-autarkic operating mode. Experimental results using this quasi-autarkic operating mode are presented. Based on the results obtained, the further develoment of the FPLG towars a fully-autarkic operating mode without a hydraulic actuator can be tackled
Divergent Effects of Central and Peripheral Renin on Body Weight and Metabolism
No full textRenin regulates blood pressure and fluid volume. In this issue of Cell Metabolism, Grobe et al. (2010) provide convincing evidence for a new role for brain renin in metabolic rate and weight loss. Renin overexpression or deletion peripherally from other studies suggests the opposite effect
Renalase, a catecholamine-metabolizing hormone from the kidney
No full textA novel flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent amine oxidase that is secreted by the kidney, circulates in the blood, and modulates cardiac function and systemic blood pressure has recently been discovered. Renalase appears to be a hormone that metabolizes catecholamines, and its discovery will facilitate our understanding of sympathetic regulation
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