The myoelectric signal can be used to control many rehabilitation systems, for instance, prostheses and artificial neuromuscular electrical stimulation toward restoring movement to spinal cord injured subjects. These mobile systems are usually used in different environments and thus are being exposed to different noise levels with characteristics not completely known. In this article, three main techniques for noise reduction were evaluated: wavelet transform (WT), adaptive digital filters, and nonadaptive digital filters. The WT was used to reconstruct the signal with the components without noise information. Adaptive filters were designed using least mean square (LMS) and recursive least square (RLS) algorithms. Finite-impulse response (FIR) and infinite-impulse response (IIR) nonadaptive filters were used for comparison to both the adaptive filters and the signal reconstruction through the WT.

The aim of this study was to correlate clinical and functional evaluations with kinematic variables of upper limp reach-to-grasp movement in patients with tetraplegia. Twenty chronic patients were selected to perform reach-to-grasp kinematic assessment using a target placed at a distance equal to the arm's length. Kinematic variables (hand peak velocity, movement time, percent time-to-maximal velocity, index of curvature, number of peaks, and joint range of motion) were correlated to clinical (Standard Neurological Classification of Spinal Cord Injury-American Spinal Injury Association) and functional [Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and Spinal Cord Independence Measure II (SCIM II)] evaluation scores. Twenty control participants were also selected to obtain normal reference parameters. There was a positive correlation between total motor index and FIM (r=0.6089; P=0.0044) and SCIM II (r=0.5229; P=0.018). Both functional scores showed positive correlation with each other (r=0.8283; P<0.0001). A correlation was also observed between the right and left motor indices, the motor FIM, and the SCIM II in most of the reach-to-grasp kinematic variables studied (hand peak velocity, movement time, index of curvature, and number of peaks). In contrast, for the joint range of motion (shoulder, elbow, and wrist), only the wrist in the horizontal plane showed correlation with clinical variables. This study shows that muscle strength assessed by the American Spinal Injury Association motor index influences the reach-to-grasp kinematic variables of patients with tetraplegia. However, the functional assessments did not present the same influence.

Conceitos de Biomecânica são constantemente utilizados nas mais diversas áreas. Tais conceitos são entretanto primordiais na área de Engenharia de Reabilitação. Este artigo pretende divulgar alguns estudos realizados e em andamento nas áreas de biomecânica e bioengenharia com o intuito de desenvolver novas técnicas para reabilitação de pacientes com algum tipo de deficiência motora. Estas deficiências podem ser de âmbito neurológico ou músculo-esquelético. Dentre as deficiências causadas por problemas neurológicos, pode-se mencionar os casos oriundos de lesões medulares, como a paraplégica e a tetraplegia, e os causados por lesões crânio-encefálicas. No campo das deficiências músculo-esqueléticas incluem-se amputações de membros inferiores ou superiores, doenças congênitas, e algumas doenças degenerativas, como a osteoporose.

No abstract

<p class="ResumoAbstract">The heart rate variability (HRV) and surface electromyography (sEMG) are important tools in the evaluation of cardiac autonomic system and neuromuscular parameters, respectively. The aim of the study was to evaluate the behavior of HRV and sEMG of the vastus lateralis in two exercise protocols on a cycle ergometer at 60 and 80 rpm. Eight healthy men cyclists who have trained for at least two years were evaluated. Reduction was observed followed by stabilization of RMSSD and SDNN indices of HRV (p&lt;0.05) along with increases in the amplitude of the sEMG signal (p&lt;0.05) in both protocols. Significant correlations were observed between the responses of HRV and sEMG in the cadence of 60 rpm (RMSSD and sEMG: r = -0.42, p=0.03; SDNN and sEMG: r = -0.45, p=0.01) and 80 rpm (RMSSD and sEMG: r = -0.47, p=0.02; SDNN and sEMG: r = -0.49, p=0.01), yet no difference was observed for these variables between the two protocols. We concluded that the parasympathetic cardiac responses and sEMG are independent of cadences applied at the same power output.</p>

The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of the task-specific training with trunk restraint compared with the free one in poststroke reaching movements.The design was randomized trial.The setting was University of Campinas (Unicamp).Twenty hemiparetic chronic stroke patients were selected and randomized into 2 training groups: trunk restraint group (TRG) (reaching training with trunk restraint) and trunk free group (TFG) (unrestraint reaching).Twenty sessions with 45 minutes of training were accomplished. The patients were evaluated in pretreatment (PRE), posttreatment (POST) and 3 months after the completed training (RET) (follow-up).Main outcome measures were modified Ashworth scale, Barthel index, Fugl–Meyer scale, and kinematic analysis (movement trajectory, velocity, angles).A significant improvement, which maintained in the RET test, was found in the motor (P < 0.001) and functional (P = 0.001) clinical assessments for both groups. For trunk displacement, only TFG obtained a reduction statistical significance from PRE to the POST test (P = 0.002), supporting this result in the RET test. Despite both groups presenting a significant increase in the shoulder horizontal adduction (P = 0.003), only TRG showed a significant improvement in the shoulder (P = 0.001 – PRE to POST and RET) and elbow (P = 0.038 – PRE to RET) flexion extension, and in the velocity rate (P = 0.03 – PRE to RET).The trunk restraint therapy showed to be a long-term effective treatment in the enhancement of shoulder and elbow active joint range and velocity rate but not in the maintenance of trunk retention.Trial registration: NCT02364141.

Muitas pessoas no mundo sofrem com algum tipo de doença motora que atrapalha sua vida cotidiana. Uma das formas de melhorar a vida dessas pessoas é através da chamada Interface Cérebro Computador. No entanto, esse método até o momento deixa a desejar quanto a taxa de acerto de suas classificações. Este artigo visa explorar e comparar arquiteturas de redes neurais para classificação de sinais de Eletroencefalograma para Interface Cérebro Computador utilizando diversas arquiteturas diferentes, inclusive as pouco exploradas Redes de Valores Complexos, e testar novas possibilidades de funções de ativação. A metodologia de execução deste trabalho envolve o pré-processamento de dados de sinal EEG já rotulados, divisão em bandas de sinal com base nas faixas de frequência características do cérebro definidas por delta (0.5-4HZ), theta (4-8HZ), alpha (8-13HZ), e beta (acima de 13HZ). Os frames de tempo gerados pela separação em bandas são utilizados para alimentar as diversas arquiteturas que serão avaliadas.

O presente artigo propõe investigar potenciais contribuições da Língua Inglesa para a formação integral de alunos do Ensino Médio Integrado (EMI) segundo revisão bibliográfica e análise das perspectivas de professores de Inglês do IFSULDEMINAS sobre o tema. Após levantamento bibliográfico, dados foram coletados por meio da transcrição de entrevistas realizadas com docentes de Inglês. Foi feita uma análise de conteúdo de natureza qualitativa para se interpretar os dados obtidos. Diante da análise, verificou-se, entre várias constatações, que a aprendizagem do inglês é uma ferramenta importante para uma educação que tem como proposta a omnilateralidade, ou seja, uma educação que vai ao encontro de uma formação que não enfoca apenas em técnicas profissionais ou acadêmicas, mas que ensina o aluno a apropriar-se do conhecimento, dando-lhe autonomia e liberdade, permeando aspectos não somente do futuro exercício profissional, mas abarcando e enriquecendo aspectos pessoais de sua existência.