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Functionally graded (FG) materials have shown excellent thermoelastic and creep performance, being considered as excellent materials for cylindrical shells subjected to thermo-mechanical loads. This review provides a detailed account of thermoelastic and creep properties of FG cylindrical shells. A review of governing equations on properties of FG materials as well as thermoelastic response of materials is provided. In depth analysis of the works carried out on the thermoelastic and creep performance of FG cylindrical under different thermal and mechanical loads (such as internal/external pressure, axial loading, etc.) is then conducted. Results obtained so far indicate the superior creep performance of FG cylindrical shells. Although many studies have been carried on thermoelastic response of FG cylindrical shells, their creep properties under different loading is yet to be extended and is a subject of interest for the future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poststroke depression (PSD) is a major psychiatric disorder that develops after stroke; however, whether PSD treatment improves cognitive and functional impairments is not clearly understood. We reviewed data from 31 subjects with PSD and 34 age-matched controls without PSD; all subjects underwent neurological, cognitive, and functional assessments, including the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the Korean version of the Mini-Mental Status Examination (K-MMSE), computerized neurocognitive test (CNT), the Korean version of the Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI), and functional independence measure (FIM) at admission to the rehabilitation unit in the subacute stage following stroke and 4 weeks after initial assessments. Machine learning methods, such as support vector machine, k-nearest neighbors, random forest, voting ensemble models, and statistical analysis using logistic regression were performed. PSD was successfully predicted using a support vector machine with a radial basis function kernel function (area under curve (AUC) = 0.711, accuracy = 0.700). PSD prognoses could be predicted using a support vector machine linear algorithm (AUC = 0.830, accuracy = 0.771). The statistical method did not have a better AUC than that of machine learning algorithms. We concluded that the occurrence and prognosis of PSD in stroke patients can be predicted effectively based on patients' cognitive and functional statuses using machine learning algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rehabilitation projects are interventions that can lead to the transformation of the socio-spatial structure of obsolescent neighborhoods. The main intention of such projects is the creation and/or improvement of social interactions after physical and functional interventions. Urban Renewal Organization of Tehran (UROT) is tasked with identification of target obsolescent neighborhoods, preparation of neighborhood development plans and implementation of rehabilitation projects to improve the quality of space and stimulate social interactions. In this paper, three urban spaces in different scales ("micro" for neighborhoods, "meso" for local and "macro" for translocal scales), designed and implemented by UROT, were selected as a case study. By designing and filling a questionnaire and after analyzing research findings, the effect of the scale of the urban project on different activities was evaluated based on the Gehl model. Overall, in the expanded model based on the scale of space, an inverse ratio between the scale of space and both optional selective and social activities has been revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the geographic, observational, functional, and cartographic scale is unified into a single mathematical formulation for the purposes of earth observation image classification. Fractal analysis is used to define functional scales, which then are linked to the other concepts of scale using common equations and conditions. The proposed formulation is called Unified Scale Theorem (UST), and was assessed with Sentinel-2 image covering a variety of land uses from the broad area of Thessaloniki, Greece. Provided as an interactive excel spreadsheet, UST promotes objectivity, rapidity, and accuracy, thus facilitating optimal scale selection for image classification purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is a late onset, X-linked neuromuscular disease. Bulbar symptoms are a main characteristic of the disease but a tool for their clinical evaluation still does not exist. The aim of this study was to design and test a new scale (6-K-scale) for evaluation of bulbar function in SBMA.Methods: We considered 60 genetically confirmed SBMA patients and built a scale to evaluate the V, VII, IX, X, and XII cranial nerves (CN) and the ansa cervicalis. Functional status was evaluated through the Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy Functional Rating Scale (SBMAFRS), 6-min-walk-test (6MWT), Adult Myopathy Assessment Tool (AMAT) scale, and FVC%. Twenty patients underwent a re-test after 3 weeks, while 31 were tested longitudinally after 6 months. Validation of the scale included reliability assessment and factorial analysis. To evaluate convergent validity, correlations between the 6-K-scale and functional parameters were performed.Results: Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha was high (0.85) as was test-retest reliability. Principal component analysis yielded a six-factor solution accounting for 71.7% of the variance. The scale score was strongly correlated with the functional parameters.Conclusion: In conclusion, we designed and validated a new scale for bulbar evaluation in SBMA patients. This scale will be a useful tool in the clinical practice as well as a possible outcome measure in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To develop a simplified functional scale and classification system to evaluate the functional abilities of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Methods: A Comprehensive Functional Scale for DMD (CFSD) was developed using the modified Delphi method. The accompanying Ambulatory Functional Classification System for DMD (AFCSD) was developed based on previously published classification systems. Results: The CFSD consists of 21 items and 78 sub-items, assessing body structure and function, activities, and participation. Inter-rater intraclass correlation coefficient values were above 0.7 for 17 items. The overall limits of agreement between the two examiners ranged from -6.21 to 3.11. The Spearman correlation coefficient between the total score on the AFCSD and the Vignos Functional Scale was 0.833, and 0.714 between the total score of the AFCSD and the Brooke scale. Significant negative correlations existed between the total score for each functional level of the AFCSD and each functional grade of the Vignos and Brooke scales. The total scores of the CFSD varied significantly between the functional grades of the Vignos scale, and specific grades of the Brooke scale. For the AFCSD, total scores of the CFSD varied significantly between the functional levels. Conclusion: We have developed a new scale and the associated classification system, to assess the functional ability of children diagnosed with DMD. Preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of the functional scale and classification systems indicate sufficient reliability and concurrent validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Breast cancer has been the most common cancer type that affects women worldwide and subsequent treatment is often associated with considerable psychological and quality of life (QoL). Aim: This study aimed to assess psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) general QoL questionnaire (QLQ-C30) for breast cancer patients in Qatar. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional hospital-based study conducted on 678 breast cancer patients using Arabic version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 tool. Results: The mean age of women was 47.7 ± 10.2 years and 33.4% of women had consanguineous parents. Six subscales out of the nine met the standards of reliability with coefficients ranging from 0.55 to 0.89. The mean score of all functioning scales was high >55. Advanced breast cancer stages of III--IV had higher symptomatic scores significantly than those in early stages for the physical function, cognitive, fatigue, insomnia, appetite loss, constipation, and financial difficulties. Correlation coefficients between each item ranged from -0.113 to 0.960, and item 21 (tense) and item 23 (irritable) had strongest negative correlations with their corresponding emotional functioning subscale, whereas items 29 (physical condition) and 30 (overall QoL) had the strongest positive correlation with Global Health/QoL subscale. Item 6 (limited work) showed a higher correlation with fatigue (r = 0.749). Likewise, item 19 (pain interfered with daily activities) of the pain subscale had higher correlations with physical functioning, role functioning, and fatigue subscales. Conclusion: Qatari Arabic version of the EORTC QLQ-C30 showed acceptable psychometric properties, which is a reliable and valid instrument, that can be used by oncologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy Functional Rating Scale (SBMAFRS) is an established rating instrument used to assess the functional status of patients with Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA). Our aim was to validate an Italian version of the scale. We administered the SBMAFRS to sixty SBMA patients during routine follow-up of clinical evaluations. To estimate the test stability, the scale was re-administered to a subset of 39 randomly selected patients after 8 weeks. The patients underwent clinical evaluation including 6-min walk. Psychometric analysis included reliability assessment and factorial analysis. To evaluate convergent validity, correlations between SBMAFRS items and muscular force assessed by manual testing, ALSFRS total score and subscales scores, and forced vital capacity, were performed. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's alpha (total scale 0.85) was high. Test-retest reliability assessed by Spearman's rho was also high. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded a four-factor solution accounting for approximately 79 % of the variance. The scale total score and subscales score were strongly correlated with respective items and subscores of the ALSFRS, with respiratory function and with the 6-min walk test. In conclusion, we performed an Italian validation of the only existing disease-specific Functional Rating Scale for SBMA patients. This scale will be a useful tool not only in the clinical practice but also as an outcome measure in upcoming clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Health-related quality of life is often an endpoint in oncology clinical trials. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) developed the cancer-specific quality of life questionnaire (QLQ-C30), which includes five functions, nine symptoms, and a global health status. These questionnaires are completed by the patients themselves throughout the process of care. The recommended approaches for processing EORTC QLQ-C30 data are usually descriptive and graphic. Our aim was to develop a user-written command that provided an automatic descriptive analysis of EORTC QLQ-C30 data, consisting of profile plots per visit and longitudinal plots per functional and symptom scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical assessment of the respiratory function is critical in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A standardized process is to monitor the respiratory subscore of the revised ALSFRS (RofALSFRS-R). We tested the utility of RofALSFRS-R and its individual questions in evaluating respiratory functionality. Three hundred and fifty-seven consecutive ALS patients were assessed at entry (T0), three and six months later (T1 and T2). ALSFRS and its subscores decayed significantly ( p < 0.001) over time. Improvement in the first respiratory question (dyspnoea, QR1) was found in about 10% of the patients in each period. Between T0 and T1 a significant negative correlation was found between decrease in gait score and QR1 ( p = 0.021, r = -0.395) in the subgroup of ALS patients who showed QR1 improvement ( n = 34). An improvement in the other respiratory questions was noticed in about 6% of the patients, related to non-invasive ventilation. Possibly, decreased mobility and metabolic demand can cause fewer respiratory symptoms in a subset of patients. The respiratory questions included in ALSFRS-R should be re-addressed by the ALS community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients and methods: A sample of breast cancer patients (n=62 women) were interviewed for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) in Albanian. Reliability of the questionnaire was considered acceptable if Cronbach's alpha was $0.70. Item convergent-discriminant validity was tested through multitrait scaling analysis. Construct validity was tested under the hypotheses that QLQ-C30 interscale correlations would have an acceptable value of $0.40 and as well as by known group comparisons assessing differences of patient subgroups with reference to disease stage and education level. Results: The mean age of the patients was 50 years (standard deviation: 10.9 years). Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.54 for the cognitive functioning scale to 0.96 for the global health quality of life (GH/QoL) scale. In multitrait scaling analysis, the strength of Spearman's correlations between an item and its own subscale was $0.40, with the exception of item 5 (P=0.22); results for item discriminant validity were satisfactory, with the exception of item 5, which showed higher correlation with other subscales than with its own physical functioning. The Spearman's interscale coefficients generally were correlated with each other. Results of known group comparisons did not show significant differences in terms of disease stage. Regarding education level, patients with high school/university education had better functional scales scores only in certain subscales compared to other subgroups; furthermore, patients with secondary school education had better GH/QoL compared to other subgroups of patients. Conclusion: The EORTC QLQ-C30 (v3.0) in Albanian was found to be valid and reliable for women with breast cancer and could be considered as a starting point for further evaluation study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, quality of life investigations of cancer patients' have became a critical evaluation parameter in the clinical cancer research and treatment evaluation programs. This study was carried out in a 1200 bed tertiary care teaching hospital, MGM Hospital, located at Warangal, India. Present study assessed the overall quality of life, symptoms of patients affected by breast, head and neck, cervical and stomach cancers by using guidelines and modules of The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer. The assessment was carried out in two phases, as review I at ≤2 cycles and review II at ≥5 cycles of treatment. Data were analyzed for 104 individuals with the mean age of 46.1±11.2 years. The evaluation was characterised as functional scale and symptom scale. In the functional scale physical, and role functions were significant (P<0.05) in all the 4 types of cancers studied. Additional, future perspective, social and emotional functions were observed to be significant in breast cancer, head and neck cancer and cervical cancer, respectively. Where as in symptom scale pain was observed to be significant for all cancers studied. Individually, breast cancer patient also showed significant parameters like fatigue, arm symptoms, and upset by hair loss. Head and neck cancer patients had insomnia and diarrhoea as additional significant symptom scale parameters. In cervical cancer patients, fatigue, insomnia, menopausal symptoms, and in stomach cancer patients, nausea and vomiting, dysphagia, reflex symptoms and eating restrictions were significantly affected. Most of the findings are similar to past studies in the respective type of cancer patients which shows that, quality of life was mostly influenced by the above mentioned factors and have some interesting implications for management and treatment of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most important cancers among women across the world as well as in India and therefore there is a great need to evaluate Quality of Life (QoL). Hence, we carried out a study that could give us an idea to predict the affecting factors on QoL among women with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in MGM Hospital, which is located at Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India. We assessed the overall QoL, symptoms of patients affected by breast cancer by using QoL questionnaires such as EORTC QLQ C-30, EORTC QLQ-BR23, on ≤2 cycle as Review-I and on ≥5 cycles as Review-II. Results: In the functional scale of breast cancer patients, physical, role function, future perspective and in symptom scale, fatigue, insomnia, arm symptoms and upset by hair loss were found to be significantly affected (P < 0.05). Global Health Status was mainly influenced by physical, social function, body image, future perspective, insomnia, breast and arm symptoms (P < 0.005). Conclusion: These findings have shown that there exists a strong correlation between the length of treatment and the QoL among breast cancer patients. Future interventions should target each specific aspect of QoL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim: To compare the quality of life (QOL) in patients undergoing transhiatal esophagectomy(THE) with or without chemotherapy, who were admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh and enrolled in the study, from July 2004 to October 2005. Patients and Methods:Thirty patients of esophageal carcinoma by purposive sampling were randomized into two groups i.e.,patients undergoing THE after chemotherapy and patients undergoing THE without chemotherapy. Two QOL questionnaires, one generic i.e., EORTC-QLQ C-30 (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer) and other esophageal cancer-specific i.e., EORTC OES-18 were utilized to assess the QOL. Result:Physical functional scales were better in patients, who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The role and social aspects of functional scales deteriorated after completion of treatment in both groups. This was primarily due to the effect of surgery. However, they were better from an emotional and cognitive point of value after surgery and radiotherapy. Fourteen out of 30 patients experienced vomiting and diarrhea due to radiotherapy. Conclusion: THE in esophageal carcinoma improves global health scales and majority of symptom scales in all patients. QOL improvement in general was better in patients who were administeredneoadjuvant chemotherapy along with surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction : Le Rehabilitation Network of Ottawa-Carleton (RENOC) recommande à ses établissements de santé d'utiliser le Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). Puisque le RENOC dessert une clientèle anglophone et francophone, il s'imposait de traduire le LEFS pour l'évaluation de la clientèle francophone. But : Produire une traduction canadienne-française du LEFS sous l'appellation proposée « Échelle fonctionnelle des membres inférieurs (ÉFMI) » et examiner la validité de son contenu. Méthodologie : Nous avons utilisé une approche modifiée de la méthodologie de validation transculturelle de questionnaires de Vallerand (1989). Une traduction renversée parallèle du LEFS a d'abord été complétée. Ensuite, un comité d'experts a examiné les deux versions préliminaires et a créé la première version expérimentale de l'ÉFMI. Cette version fut évaluée par un deuxième comité d'experts, dont les commentaires menèrent à une deuxième version expérimentale. Finalement, 35 professionnels de la réadaptation évaluèrent la version expérimentale de l'ÉFMI sur une échelle d'ambiguïté et proposèrent les modifications finales. Résultats : Pour les différents énoncés de la version finale de l'ÉFMI, les moyennes sur l'échelle d'ambiguïté démontrent un niveau d'ambiguïté relativement faible puisqu'elles varient entre 1 et 2.54. Conclusion : Les quatre étapes rigoureuses du processus ont permis de produire une version valide du LEFS en français. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction : Le Lower Extremity Functional Scale a été traduit en français en 2006. La version canadienne-française se nomme l'Échelle fonctionnelle des membres inférieurs (ÉFMI). La validité de construit et la fiabilité test-retest de l'ÉFMI n'ont pas encore été examinées. But : Examiner la fiabilité test-retest, la consistance interne et la validité de construit de l'ÉFMI. Méthodologie : Trente-quatre participants ayant subi une chirurgie ou une blessure à un membre inférieur ont rempli un questionnaire démographique et complété l'ÉFMI lors d'une évaluation initiale alors qu'ils étaient hospitalisés. Ils ont à nouveau complété l'ÉFMI dans un intervalle de 72 heures après la première évaluation. Le coefficient de corrélation intra-classe (CCI) et le coefficient kappa ont été utilisés afin d'examiner la fiabilité de type test-retest de l'ÉFMI. Le coefficient alpha Cronbach a été calculé pour évaluer la consistance interne. L'analyse factorielle a été utilisée pour examiner la validité de construit afin de déterminer le nombre de dimensions et leur signification respective. Résultats : Le CCI s'élève à une valeur de 0,92 [0,88-0,96] (IC: 95%). Le résultat du test α-Cronbach est de 0,95 (0,91-0,99) IC à 95%. L'analyse factorielle révèle que tous les éléments de l'ÉFMI se logent sur une dimension principale. Conclusion : Les résultats montrent que la version canadienne-française de l'ÉFMI est un outil unidimensionnel qui offre une fiabilité test-retest et une consistance interne excellentes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The assessment of patient outcomes in clinical trials of new therapeutics for Alzheimer''s disease (AD) continues to evolve. In addition to assessing drugs for symptomatic relief, an increasing number of trials are focusing on potential disease-modifying agents. Moreover, participants with AD are being studied earlier in their course of disease. As a result, the limitations of current outcome measures have become more apparent, as has the need for better instruments. In recognition of the need to review and possibly revise current assessment measures, the Alzheimer''s Association, in cooperation with industry leaders and academic investigators, convened a Research Roundtable meeting devoted to scales as outcome measures for AD clinical trials. The meeting included a discussion of methodological issues in the use of scales in AD clinical trials, including cross-cultural issues. Specific topics related to the use of cognitive, functional, global, and neuropsychiatric scales were also presented. Speakers also addressed academic and industry initiatives for pooling data from untreated and placebo-treated patients in clinical trials. A number of regulatory topics were also discussed with agency representatives. Panel discussions highlighted areas of controversy, in an effort to gain consensus on various topics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]