BIOFEEDBACK AS A NEUROBIOMECHANICAL ASPECT OF POSTURAL FUNCTION

The aim of the work is to elucidate if there is a significant difference between the ability to maintain balance with or without the biofeedback while standing and identify specific segments that takes place of motion solutions of postural problems. We measured postural parameters using 6 tri-axial accelerometers placed in 6 places: 2× lower leg, 2× thigh, processus spinosus vertebrae L5 and C7. Probands absolved 3 postural tasks and 3 dynamic tasks. Postural: quiet standing with feet apart with eyes open, quiet standing with feet together with eye closed, quiet standing with feet apart with eyes open and with visual biofeedback. We used system Homebalance - interactive system for providing of balance training with visual biofeedback. Results show no significant difference between C7 and L5 for task without VBF (visual biofeedback) and with VBF, but SD VPG (sum of scatter of the acceleration) for thigh and ankle show significant difference between each task on every level. We detected that in open eyes majority of probands used ankle-strategy for maintaining balance. In eyes closed they preferred knee and hip strategy. The biggest accelerations were detected in C7 in eyes closed. Due to visual biofeedback patients are more motivated and they improve their skills faster than without visual biofeedback exercise. Strategy of maintaining balance during tasks with open eyes and eyes closed is different

Cultivation-Independent Methods Reveal Differences among Bacterial Gut Microbiota in Triatomine Vectors of Chagas Disease

Chagas disease is one of the most important endemic diseases of South and Central America. Its causative agent is the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to humans by blood-feeding insects known as triatomine bugs. These vectors mainly belong to Rhodnius, Triatoma and Panstrongylus genera of Reduviidae. The bacterial communities in the guts of these vectors may have important effects on the biology of T. cruzi. For this reason, we analyzed the bacterial diversity hosted in the gut of different species of triatomines using cultivation-independent methods. Among Rhodnius sp., we observed similar bacterial communities from specimens obtained from insectaries or sylvatic conditions. Endosymbionts of the Arsenophonus genus were preferentially associated with insects of the Panstrongylus and Triatoma genera, whereas the bacterial genus Serratia and Candidatus Rohrkolberia were typical of Rhodnius and Dipetalogaster, respectively. The diversity of the microbiota tended to be the largest in the Triatoma genus, with species of both Arsenophonus and Serratia being detected in T. infestans