Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is an important tool for the analysis of a patient’s physiological conditions, as well a method aiding the diagnosis of cardiopathies. Photoplethysmography (PPG) is an optical technique applied in the monitoring of the HRV and its adoption has been growing significantly, compared to the most commonly used method in medicine, Electrocardiography (ECG). In this survey, definitions of these technique are presented, the different types of sensors used are explained, and the methods for the study and analysis of the PPG signal (linear and nonlinear methods) are described. Moreover, the progress, and the clinical and practical applicability of the PPG technique in the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases are evaluated. In addition, the latest technologies utilized in the development of new tools for medical diagnosis are presented, such as Internet of Things, Internet of Health Things, genetic algorithms, artificial intelligence and biosensors which result in personalized advances in e-health and health care. After the study of these technologies, it can be noted that PPG associated with them is an important tool for the diagnosis of some diseases, due to its simplicity, its cost–benefit ratio, the easiness of signals acquisition, and especially because it is a non-invasive technique.

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This paper compiles and analyzes some of the most current works related to upper limb prosthesis with emphasis on man-machine interfaces. A brief introduction of the basic subjects is given to explain what a prosthesis is, what types of prostheses exist, what they serve for, how they communicate with the user (control and feedback), and what technologies are involved. The method used in this review is also discussed, as well as the cataloging process and analysis of articles for the composition of this review. Each article is analyzed individually and its results are presented in a succinct way, in order to facilitate future research and serve as a source for professionals related to the area of prosthesis, such as doctors, engineers, researchers, and anyone interested in this subject. Finally, the needs and difficulties of the current prostheses, as well as the negative and positive points in the results are analyzed, and the progress achieved so far is discussed.

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Maintenance of water resources through collection of water followed by laboratory analysis, is a key factor in the measurement of water quality. The main difficulty for water collection and analysis is the logistics of the process, since the collections are often made by mall boats in very distant aquifers, applying manual processes, and are sometimes based on few samples. In this paper, the development, construction, and implementation of a robotic airboat to measure water quality in lakes has been described. The airboat was developed in the form of a mini-boat, in a fiberglass structure, whose interior housed a battery, a Raspberry Pi mini-computer, a Wi-Fi router for connection to a notebook, tablet or cell phone, and sensors connected to the Arduino platform. The airboat was validated in two lagoons in Fortaleza, and in a reservoir in the city of Pacatuba. The results were collected with the purpose of analyzing the parameters of each lagoon. The main contribution of this work was the development of an autonomous system of acquiring water parameters from several points of the lagoon.

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