Avaliação da inibição recíproca em humanos durante contrações isométricas dos músculos tibial anterior e sóleo

The purposes of the present study were (1) to develop a method to estimate the level of reciprocal inhibition (RI) between antagonist (soleus and anterior tibial) muscles in humans, and (2) to compare RI levels during rest, dorsiflexion (DF) and plantar flexion (PF). Nine healthy subjects (four men, five women) aged between 20 and 30 years were assessed. Each subject remained seated with his/her right foot strapped to a rigid foot plate coupled to a torquemeter; measurements were taken at rest and during isometric contraction of the ankle dorsiflexor and plantar flexor muscles. The soleus muscle H-wave was captured by surface electrodes. A "test" H- reflex was elicited by a stimulus (electrical pulse) to the popliteal fossa (tibial nerve). The "conditioned" H-reflex was obtained by paring two stimuli: the first applied to the head of the peroneal bone, and the second, following 1-to-3 ms, to the popliteal fossa. Peak-to-peak amplitudes of "test" and "conditioned" H reflexes were used to calculate RI. RI values obtained were 16.41%±8.68 at rest; 21.94%±5.39 in DF; and 3.12%±11.84 in PF. Reciprocal inhibition was significantly (pOs objetivos do presente trabalho foram: (1) desenvolver um método para estimar o grau de inibição recíproca (IR) entre músculos antagonistas em humanos (sóleo e tibial anterior) e (2) comparar os níveis de IR no repouso, na dorsiflexão (DF) e na flexão plantar (FP). Participaram nove sujeitos saudáveis com idade entre 20 e 30 anos, quatro homens e cinco mulheres. Os sujeitos permaneceram sentados numa cadeira com o pé direito apoiado e fixo num pedal acoplado a um torquímetro; as medições foram feitas no repouso e durante contração isométrica dos músculos dorsiflexores e flexores plantares do tornozelo. A onda H do músculo sóleo foi captada por eletrodos de superfície. O reflexo H (RH) "teste" do músculo sóleo foi medido aplicando-se um estímulo na fossa poplítea (nervo tibial). O reflexo H "condicionado" foi obtido pelo pareamento de dois estímulos: o primeiro aplicado sobre a cabeça da fíbula e o segundo, na fossa poplítea, após 1 a 3 ms.. As amplitudes pico-a-pico dos RH teste e condicionado foram utilizadas para o cálculo da IR. Os valores de IR foram: 16,41%±8,68 no repouso; 21,94%±5,39 na DF e 3,12%±11,84 na FP. Foi constatada menor inibição recíproca na FP quando comparada às demais condições (

Parkinson's disease patients are able to improve their performance in Xbox Kinect´®s virtual tasks : “a series of cases”

A utilidade dos videogames na reabilitação de pacientes com Doença de Parkinson (PDP) vem sendo demonstrada. Contudo, a discussão sobre a seleção dos jogos utilizados ainda é escassa, embora fundamental para recomendação de seu uso terapêutico. Não foram, até o momento, encontrados estudos sobre a utilização do Xbox Kinect® (XK) na reabilitação de PDP. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as modificações de desempenho de PDP, decorrentes do treino, por meio das mudanças nas pontuações de jogos do XK, em cada sessão. Sete PDP em estágios leve a moderado realizaram 14 sessões de treinamento em quatro jogos previamente selecionados. As pontuações foram registradas para análise da curva de desempenho entre as sessões. Foram feitas análises de variância para medidas repetidas considerando-se um grupo e 14 sessões, seguidas por testes Post Hoc Tukey-Kramer para verificar as diferenças entre as mesmas (p≤ 0.05). Os resultados mostraram que os PDP melhoraram seu desempenho em todos os jogos, porém em momentos diferentes. Concluiu-se que os PDP do presente estudo mostraram capacidade de melhorar o desempenho em jogos do XK, mas que a melhora depende das demandas e da presença de fatores facilitadores da aprendizagem, reforçando a importância da sua escolha com propósito de reabilitação.The utility of videogames in rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson's disease (PPD) has been demonstrated. However, the discussion about the selection of the games used is still scarce, although crucial for the recommendation of its therapeutic use. No studies involving the use of Xbox Kinect® (XK) in the rehabilitation of PPD have been found. The objective of this study was to investigate the PPD modifications of performance through changes in the scores in each session, in different games of XK. Seven PPD in stages from mild to moderate performed 14 training sessions in 4 games selected. The scores were recorded for analysis of the performance curve intersessions. Analyzes of variance for repeated measures were made considering a group and 14 sessions, followed by post hoc Tukey-Kramer tests to verify the differences between sessions (p ≤ 0.05). The results showed that PPD improved their performances in every game but reaching such improvements at different speeds. It was concluded that the ability to improve performance in XK games, in PPD of study, depends on the demands of the games and the presence of factors facilitating learning, emphasizing the importance of the games selection for the purpose of the rehabilitation

Ambulation capacity, age, immunosuppression, and mechanical ventilation are risk factors of in-hospital death in severe COVID-19: a cohort study

Importance: Despite ambulation capacity being associated with a decreased level of physical activity and survival may be influenced by the functional capacity, studies have not addressed the association between ambulation capacity and death in patients hospitalized by COVID-19. Objective: To verify the functional, clinical, and sociodemographic risk factors associated with in-hospital death in individuals with severe COVID-19. Methods: It is a cohort retrospective study performed at a large tertiary hospital. Patients 18 years of age or more, of both sexes, hospitalized due to severe COVID-19 were included. Cases with dubious medical records and/or missing essential data were excluded. Patients were classified according to their ambulation capacity before the COVID-19 infection. Information regarding sociodemographic characteristics, in-hospital death, total hospital stays, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stays, and the necessity of Mechanical Ventilation (MV) were collected from medical records and registered in a RedCap database. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify possible factors associated with the in-hospital death rate. Results: Data from 1110 participants were included in the statistical analysis. The median age of the patients was 57 (46‒66) years, 58.42% (n = 590) were male, and 61.73% (n = 602) were brown or black. The case fatality rate during hospitalization was 36.0% (n = 363). In-hospital death was associated with ambulation capacity; dependent ambulators (OR = 2.3; CI 95% = 1.2–4.4) and non-functional ambulation (OR = 1.9; CI 95% = 1.1–3.3), age [older adults (OR = 3.0; CI 95% = 1.9‒4.), ICU stays (OR = 1.4; CI 95% = 1.2‒1.4), immunosuppression (OR = 5.5 CI 95% = 2.3‒13.5) and mechanical ventilation (OR = 27.5; CI 95% = 12.0–62.9). Conclusion and relevance: Decreased ambulation capacity, age, length of ICU stay, immunosuppression, and mechanical ventilation was associated with a high risk of in-hospital death due to COVID-19

Physical and pulmonary capacities of individuals with severe coronavirus disease after hospital discharge: A preliminary cross-sectional study based on cluster analysis

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze the physical and pulmonary capacities of hospitalized patients with severe coronavirus disease and its correlation with the time of hospitalization and complications involved. METHODS: A total of 54 patients, aged ≥18 years of both sexes, were evaluated 2-4 months after hospital discharge in São Paulo, Brazil. The physical characteristics analyzed were muscle strength, balance, flexibility, and pulmonary function. The K-means cluster algorithm was used to identify patients with similar physical and pulmonary capacities, related to the time of hospitalization. RESULTS: Two clusters were derived using the K-means algorithm. Patients allocated in cluster 1 had fewer days of hospitalization, intensive care, and intubation than those in cluster 2, which reflected a better physical performance, strength, balance, and pulmonary condition, even 2-4 months after discharge. Days of hospitalization were inversely related to muscle strength, physical performance, and lung function: hand grip D (r=−0.28, p=0.04), Short Physical Performance Battery score (r=−0.28, p=0.03), and forced vital capacity (r=−0.29, p=0.03). CONCLUSION: Patients with a longer hospitalization time and complications progressed with greater loss of physical and pulmonary capacities

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio