Wearable inertial sensor system towards daily human kinematic gait analysis: benchmarking analysis to MVN BIOMECH

This paper presents a cost- and time-effective wearable inertial sensor system, the InertialLAB. It includes gyroscopes and accelerometers for the real-time monitoring of 3D-angular velocity and 3D-acceleration of up to six lower limbs and trunk segment and sagittal joint angle up to six joints. InertialLAB followed an open architecture with a low computational load to be executed by wearable processing units up to 200 Hz for fostering kinematic gait data to third-party systems, advancing similar commercial systems. For joint angle estimation, we developed a trigonometric method based on the segments’ orientation previously computed by fusion-based methods. The validation covered healthy gait patterns in varying speed and terrain (flat, ramp, and stairs) and including turns, extending the experiments approached in the literature. The benchmarking analysis to MVN BIOMECH reported that InertialLAB provides more reliable measures in stairs than in flat terrain and ramp. The joint angle time-series of InertialLAB showed good waveform similarity (>0.898) with MVN BIOMECH, resulting in high reliability and excellent validity. User-independent neural network regression models successfully minimized the drift errors observed in InertialLAB’s joint angles (NRMSE < 0.092). Further, users ranked InertialLAB as good in terms of usability. InertialLAB shows promise for daily kinematic gait analysis and real-time kinematic feedback for wearable third-party systems.This work has been supported in part by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) with the Reference Scholarship under Grant SFRH/BD/108309/2015 and SFRH/BD/147878/2019, by the FEDER Funds through the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte and national funds from FCT with the project SmartOs under Grant NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-030386, and through the COMPETE 2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI)—with the Reference Project under Grant POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941

The 1909 Benavente (Portugal) earthquake : search for the source

The Lower Tagus River Valley has been affected by severe earthquakes comprising distant events, as in 1755, and local earthquakes, as in 1344, 1531, and 1909. The 1909 earthquake was located NE of Lisbon, near Benavente, causing serious damage and many losses. Mw 6.0 has been assessed for this earthquake and a reverse faulting focal mechanism solution has been calculated. Poor epicenter location, possible directivity and site effects, low fault slip rates, and the thick Cenozoic sedimentary cover make difficult correlation with regional structures. The focal mechanism indicates an ENE reverse fault as source, though it does not match any outcropping active structure suggesting that the event could have been produced by a blind thrust beneath the Cenozoic sedimentary fill. Hidden sources, inferred from seismic reflection data, are a possible NE structure linking the Vila Franca de Xira and the Azambuja faults, or the southern extension of the later. Evidence of surface rupturing is inhibited by the thick Holocene alluvial cover and the high fluvial sedimentation rate, though a slightly depressed area was identified in the Tagus alluvial plain W of Benavente which was investigated as possible geomorphic evidence of co-seismic surface deformation. A high-resolution seismic reflection profile was acquired across a 0.5 m high scarp at this site, and two trenches were opened across the scarp for paleoseismic research. Some deformation of dubious tectonic origin was found, requiring further studies

Produtividade e qualidade do caldo de sorgo sacarino sob diferentes manejos de plantas daninhas.

A utilização de sorgo sacarino como atividade aditiva, no sistema de produção de açúcar e álcool, tem sido estudada com destaque. Dentre os entraves relacionados ao cultivo das culturas em rotação está o manejo de plantas daninhas utilizando-se herbicidas, principalmente em função da falta de informações acerca de produtos utilizados na cultura. Nesse sentido, objetivou-se com os trabalhos avaliar a produtividade e qualidade do caldo de sorgo sacarino sob diferentes manejos de plantas daninhas. O experimento foi organizado em blocos casualizados, em esquema de parcelas subdivididas com quatro repetições. Os herbicidas foram aplicados na pós-emergência, quando as plantas apresentavam quatro ou cinco folhas. De uma forma geral, o herbicida bentazon se mostrou propicio para utilização nos cultivares BRS 504, 506 e 508, quando avaliados biomassa das plantas de sorgo. Os mesmos resultados foram encontrados quando aplicado atrazine nas cultivares BRS 504 e 506. Linuron e tembotrione interferem no rendimento e no brix dos cultivares avaliados

Multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms may determine Crohn's disease behavior in patients from Rio de Janeiro

OBJECTIVES: Conflicting data from studies on the potential role of multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms in inflammatory bowel disease may result from the analysis of genetically and geographically distinct populations. Here, we investigated whether multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases in patients from Rio de Janeiro. METHODS: We analyzed 123 Crohn's disease patients and 83 ulcerative colitis patients to determine the presence of the multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms C1236T, G2677T and C3435T. In particular, the genotype frequencies of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients were analyzed. Genotype-phenotype associations with major clinical characteristics were established, and estimated risks were calculated for the mutations. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in the genotype frequencies of the multidrug resistance 1 G2677T/A and C3435T polymorphisms between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients. In contrast, the C1236T polymorphism was significantly more common in Crohn's disease than in ulcerative colitis (p = 0.047). A significant association was also found between the multidrug resistance 1 C3435T polymorphism and the stricturing form of Crohn's disease (OR: 4.13; p = 0.009), whereas no association was found with penetrating behavior (OR: 0.33; p = 0.094). In Crohn's disease, a positive association was also found between the C3435T polymorphism and corticosteroid resistance/refractoriness (OR: 4.14; p = 0.010). However, no significant association was found between multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphisms and UC subphenotypic categories. CONCLUSION: The multidrug resistance 1 gene polymorphism C3435T is associated with the stricturing phenotype and an inappropriate response to therapy in Crohn's disease. This association with Crohn's disease may support additional pathogenic roles for the multidrug resistance 1 gene in regulating gut-microbiota interactions and in mediating fibrosis. Understanding the effects of several drugs associated with multidrug resistance 1 gene variants may aid in the selection of customized therapeutic regimens

Psicología Y educación a distancia : una revisión de la literatura

O presente estudo investigou as contribuições da Psicologia para a educação a distância – EAD. Para isso, realizou-se revisão bibliográfica de publicações nacionais, entre 1999 e 2009, nas bases de dados SciELO, Lilacs, PsycINFO, BVS e Google Acadêmico. Foram selecionados 69 estudos, dos quais se excluíram 15, por não serem compatíveis com a pesquisa. Os resultados evidenciaram nove eixos temáticos: (1) tecnologia educacional a distância com fundamentos psicológicos, (2) afeição, (3) papel do tutor/professor, (4) teorias psicológicas, (5) interatividade, (6) evasão, (7) relatos de experiências, (8) avaliação de treinamento, desenvolvimento e educação a distância e (9) outros. Os temas tecnologia educacional a distância com fundamentos psicológicos e afeição obtiveram maior frequência nas publicações. Neste estudo, registrou-se, também, que, embora em ascensão desde 2006, os anos de maiores publicações da Psicologia na educação a distância foram 2008 e 2009. Sugere-se que estudos futuros ampliem esta pesquisa para incluir bases de dados internacionais.This study investigated the contributions of Psychology to Distance Learning. A literature review of national publications between 1999 to 2009 was made in the electronic databases SciELO, LILACS, PsycINFO, BVS and Google Scholar. From the 69 studies selected, 15 were excluded because they were not compatible with the research. The results showed nine themes: (1) the distance learning technology with psychological grounding, (2) affection, (3)the role of the tutor/professor, (4) psychological theories, (5) interactivity, (6) dropout, (7) reports of experiences, (8) assessment of distance training, development and education and (9) others. The topics distance education technology with psychological grounding and affection had a larger frequency in the publications. Since 2006, there was an increasing number of publications in psychology distance education, but the years of major publications were from 2008 to 2009. It is suggested that future studies expand this research including international databases.El presente estudio investigó las contribuciones de la Psicología para la Educación a Distancia – EAD. Para eso, fue realizada una revisión bibliográfica de publicaciones nacionales, entre 1999 y 2009 en las bases de datos SciELO, Lilacs, PsycINFO, BVS y Google Académico. Fueron seleccionados 69 estudios, de los cuales se excluyeron 15, por no ser compatibles con la pesquisa. Los resultados evidenciaron nueve ejes temáticos (1) tecnología educacional la distancia con fundamentos psicológicos; (2) afección; (3) papel del tutor/profesor; (4) teorías psicológicas; (5) interactividad; (6) evasión; (7) relatos de experiencias, (8) evaluación de entrenamiento, desarrollo y educación distancia y (9) otros. Los temas tecnología educacional a distancia con fundamentos psicológicos y afección obtuvieron mayor frecuencia en las publicaciones. En ese estudio se registró, también, que, aunque en ascensión desde 2006, los años de mayores publicaciones de la psicología en la educación a distancia, fueron 2008 y 2009. Se sugiere que estudios futuros amplíen esa pesquisa para incluir bases de datos internacionales

Versão brasileira do questionário "Quality of Life - Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults" (QoL-AGHDA) : tradução e validação em quatro estágios

OBJETIVO: Este estudo relata o processo de adaptação da versão brasileira do questionário QoL-AGHDA (Quality of Life - Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults) para pacientes com deficiência do hormônio de crescimento (DGH). MATERIAIS E MÉTODOS: A tradução adotou a metodologia de duplo painel. O questionário foi testado por intermédio de entrevistas direcionadas com 16 pacientes com DGH. No estágio final, dados de 120 pacientes com DGH (81 com teste/reteste) foram analisados para consistência interna, confiabilidade teste/reteste, validade convergente e validade entre grupos conhecidos. RESULTADOS: Os grupos de tradução foram bem-sucedidos e a versão final foi adaptada seguindo sugestões obtidas das entrevistas com os 16 pacientes. O coeficiente alfa de Cronbach foi 0,90, confiabilidade teste/reteste 0,88, escores QoL-AGHDA se correlacionaram com o NHP (p < 0,01) e também com a saúde geral relatada pelos pacientes (p < 0,01). CONCLUSÕES: A adaptação do QoL-AGHDA para a população brasileira foi bem-sucedida, e a nova versão demonstrou ser válida e confiável.OBJECTIVE: This study reports on the Brazilian Portuguese adaptation of the QoL-AGHDA (Quality of Life Assessment of Growth Hormone Deficiency in Adults) for use in adult growth hormone deficient (GHD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The translation process adopted the dual panel methodology. The questionnaire was tested through field-test interviews (16 GHD patients). In the final stage, data from 120 GHD patients (81 included in a test-retest analysis) were analyzed for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity and validity among known groups. RESULTS: The translation panels were successful and the draft version was amended to improve the wording as a result of the field-test interviews. Cronbach's alpha was 0.90 and test-retest reliability 0.88. QoL-AGHDA scores had the expected pattern of association with NHP scale scores and QoL-AGHDA was able to differentiate significantly between patients based on patient-reported general health (p < 0.01) and QoL (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The adaptation of the QoL-AGHDA for a Brazilian population was successful and the adapted questionnaire was shown to be reliable and valid