The most used approach in the motor rehabilitation of spinal cord injury is functional electrical stimulation. However, current devices do not provide real-time feedback, work in the closed-loop, and ...became remotely operable. In this scenario, this paper presents the development of an open access 4-channel IoT electrostimulator device with an inertial sensor. The electrostimulator circuit was designed with four modules: Boost Converter, H-bridge, Inertial Measurement Unit, and Processing Module. The firmware was implemented in the processing module to manage the modules to perform closed-loop stimulation (using PID controller). To perform the proof of concept of the device, a closed loop test was performed to control the ankle joint, performing the movements of dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion, and eversion. The designed hardware allowed one to freely change the boost converter voltage and modulate the signal with 200 μs of pulse duration and 50 Hz of period in a safe and stable way. Furthermore, the controller was able to move the ankle joint in all desired directions following the reference values and respecting the imposed constraints. In general, the developed hardware was able to safely control a closed-loop joint.
Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor, mainly affecting children, young adults, and the elderly. It is an aggressive cancer with a poor prognosis, exhibiting low survival rates ...even with standard treatment. Recently, circular RNA molecules capable of influencing gene expression through various functions, with their main role being acting as microRNA sponges and reducing their intracellular expression, have been identified. Recent studies have linked circular RNAs to osteosarcoma development and progression. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the alteration in circular RNA expression during osteosarcoma development and progression.
An integrative literature review was conducted from September 10th to November 12th, 2021, using the following databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Science, OVID, and EMBASE. 129 full articles were included in the review. The obtained data were organized using a standardized data collection instrument, which included the following information: altered expression profile of circular RNAs, associated cancer hallmarks, clinical-pathological relationships of circular RNAs, and perspectives on the studied circular RNAs.
A total of 94 distinct circular RNAs were identified, predominantly showing an increased expression pattern. Approximately 91% of the studies that aimed to identify the mechanisms of action of circular RNAs highlighted the function of circular RNAs as microRNA sponges. The most associated cancer hallmarks with the identified circular RNAs were proliferative signaling induction, invasion and metastasis, and resistance to cell death. The altered expression of these circular RNAs generally correlated with a worse prognosis for patients, as evidenced by clinical features such as shorter survival, advanced Enneking and/or TNM stage, higher incidence of metastasis, larger tumor size, and increased chemoresistance.
These findings indicate the significance of circular RNA molecules in osteosarcoma carcinogenesis, suggesting their potential as new prognostic and/or diagnostic biomarkers, as well as alternative therapeutic targets in the fight against osteosarcoma.
The use of inertial measurement units (IMUs) is a low-cost alternative for measuring joint angles. This study aims to present a low-cost open-source measurement system for joint angle estimation. The ...system is modular and has hardware and software. The hardware was developed using a low-cost IMU and microcontroller. The IMU data analysis software was developed in Python and has three fusion filters: Complementary Filter, Kalman Filter, and Madgwick Filter. Three experiments were performed for the proof of concept of the system. First, we evaluated the knee joint of Lokomat, with a predefined average range of motion (ROM) of 60∘. In the second, we evaluated our system in a real scenario, evaluating the knee of a healthy adult individual during gait. In the third experiment, we evaluated the software using data from gold standard devices, comparing the results of our software with Ground Truth. In the evaluation of the Lokomat, our system achieved an average ROM of 58.28∘, and during evaluation in a real scenario it achieved an average ROM of 44.62∘. In comparing our software with Ground Truth, we achieved a root-mean-square error of 0.04 and a mean average percentage error of 2.95%. These results encourage the use of this system in other scenarios.
Nissolia has one of the most complex taxonomic histories of the informal Adesmia clade. In order to find additional taxonomic relevant characters for this genus, we studied the pollen morphology, ...ultrasculpture, and ultrastructure of 21 species and a single variety of Nissolia using light, scanning, and electron transmission microscopy. Additionally, a principal component analysis was performed to elucidate patterns of quantitative data variation among species concerning the most recent molecular data. Three pollen types are described based on mesocolpium sexine ornamentation. Furthermore, pollen grain size and shape, class of endoaperture, ultrasculpture of the operculum, membrane, and apocolpium sexine were informative pollen features for species recognition and delimitation in Nissolia. We conclude that pollen morphology and pollen types are related to species and phylogenetic distribution in Nissolia, providing valuable characters for taxonomic studies in the Adesmia clade.
•Decreasing levels of rNDF up to 7 % in diets with high inclusion of corn DDGS improved dry matter intake and ADG.•Decreasing levels of rNDF down to 4 % did not cause acidosis in diets with high ...inclusion of DDGS.•Decreasing levels of rNDF changed the consumption pattern of the diet in favor of longer particles.
This study evaluated decreasing levels of roughage NDF (10, 7, and 4 % in DM) in DDGS-based finishing diets. In experiment 1, growth performance, feeding behavior, and carcass characteristics were evaluated on 18 Nellore bulls blocked by initial body weight (BW), with 6 replicates per treatment, in a complete randomized block design. In experiment 2, digestibility, feeding behavior, and ruminal fermentation were evaluated on 6 Zebu crossbred steers in two, 3 × 3 Latin square designs. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05 and trends were declared at P < 0.10. In experiment 1, DMI increased quadratically with decreasing roughage NDF (rNDF) with the greatest DMI value achieved at 7.43 % rNDF (P<0.01). Average daily gain tended to respond quadratically, with the greatest estimated value occurring at 7.23 % rNDF (P<0.09). Similarly, hot carcass weight and final BW tended to respond quadratically (P<0.09). No effects of roughage NDF level were observed on carcass dressing percentage. Animals that received the lowest dietary rNDF selected for particles longer than 8 mm (P<0.05). Increasing roughage NDF levels in the diet tended to increase time spent ruminating (P<0.06). In experiment 2, a greater inclusion level of rNDF did not affect DMI, but linearly increased NDF intake (P<0.01) and tended to decrease DM digestibility (P<0.09). Ruminal pH remained, on average, above 6. Ruminal ammonia-nitrogen increased up to an inclusion level of 6.6 % rNDF and then decreased (P<0.02). Acetate: propionate ratio linearly decreased with increasing levels of dietary roughage NDF (P<0.02). Decreasing roughage NDF inclusion level in diets with high levels of corn DDGS is viable without compromising performance or increasing the risk of ruminal acidosis occurrence. Diets containing between 7.23 % and 7.43 % of roughage NDF are proposed to be suitable when corn DDGS-based diets are used to maximize intake and weight gain.
This study characterized the clinico-epidemiological profile of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) cases in Barbalha, Ceará State, Brazil.
Medical records of 363 patients visiting Federal ...University of Cariri between 2009 and 2014 were analyzed.
ACL was more prevalent in men with low education level from rural zones. The main presentation was a single ulcer, mainly in the lower limbs, and 49.8% also presented lymphadenomegaly. The annual incidence ranged from 2.83 to 22.60 per 10,000 inhabitants.
The rates observed in this study indicate the importance of additional research to contribute to the control of this endemic disease.
The pathogenic protist Trypanosoma cruzi uses kissing bugs as invertebrate hosts that vectorize the infection among mammals. This parasite oxidizes proline to glutamate through two enzymatic steps ...and one nonenzymatic step. In insect vectors, T. cruzi differentiates from a noninfective replicating form to nonproliferative infective forms. Proline sustains this differentiation, but to date, a link between proline metabolism and differentiation has not been established. In T. cruzi, the enzymatic steps of the proline-glutamate oxidation pathway are catalyzed exclusively by the mitochondrial enzymes proline dehydrogenase TcPRODH, EC: 1.5.5.2 and Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase TcP5CDH, EC: 1.2.1.88. Both enzymatic steps produce reducing equivalents that are able to directly feed the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) and thus produce ATP. In this study, we demonstrate the contribution of each enzyme of the proline-glutamate pathway to ATP production. In addition, we show that parasites overexpressing these enzymes produce increased levels of H2O2, but only those overexpressing TcP5CDH produce increased levels of superoxide anion. We show that parasites overexpressing TcPRODH, but not parasites overexpressing TcP5CDH, exhibit a higher rate of differentiation into metacyclic trypomastigotes in vitro. Finally, insect hosts infected with parasites overexpressing TcPRODH showed a diminished parasitic load but a higher percent of metacyclic trypomastigotes, when compared with controls. Our data show that parasites overexpressing both, PRODH and P5CDH had increased mitochondrial functions that orchestrated different oxygen signaling, resulting in different outcomes in relation to the efficiency of parasitic differentiation in the invertebrate host.
The appeal for more reliable, efficient and resilient power grids has become indispensable with the recent technological development and ever-increasing demand for electrical energy. These goals ...might be achieved by introducing sensors and actuators in the power grid, with the purpose of enabling a smart control of the power network. All power devices must be connected using a reliable communication network, which should be able to operate even when the power grid fails. Currently, several communication technologies have been applied for supporting this new application scenario. This article aims for reviewing both academic and market use cases for technologies applied to the mission-critical, control networks and Smart Grid applications, such as teleprotection, self-healing, communication with control centers and field devices, among others. More specifically, the key aspects, potential technologies, main protocols and use cases of operating data networks in energy transmission, power distribution and smart grid environments, including circuit and packet switching technologies, are discussed into details. Furthermore, resilience and the main telecommunications technologies used in power grids, as well, the correlation among them, are exploited in practical point of view. The article provides a broad discussion on the best telecommunication options to build the emerging intelligent energy distribution systems, covering control networks, teleprotection, and smart grid applications.
A cold stellar stream in Pegasus Perottoni, Hélio D; Martin, Charles; Newberg, Heidi Jo ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
06/2019, Letnik:
486, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Introducao: O sistema muscular e constituido por estruturas fortes e bem desenvolvidas, sendo um destes o grupo muscular do gluteo. Cada grupo muscular e dividido em diferentes estruturas e, a partir ...do ponto de origem, insercao e inervacao, um musculo pode ter maior ou menor ativacao. Isso pode gerar hipertrofia muscular, por processos como tensao mecanica e estresse metabolico. As diferencas anatomicas de cada individuo podem determinar o formato de cada gluteo. Isso pode ser melhorado com o fortalecimento dos musculos do gluteo, principalmente nas mulheres, para que a postura esteja adequada ao movimento. A literatura sugere que o agachamento livre na barra e a elevacao pelvica, podem gerar maior ativacao e nivel de hipertrofia do gluteo maximo quando comparado com outros exercicios. Objetivo: analisar se o nivel de ativacao e hipertrofia do gluteo maximo e maior na execucao da elevacao pelvica quando comparado com o agachamento livre. Materiais e metodos: revisao narrativa da literatura, como fontes as bases de dados como PubMed, Scielo, Lilacs, Web of Science e Bireme e teses e dissertacoes em repertorios de universidades publicas, assim como livros fisicos e digitais. A pesquisa obedeceu ao criterio de 10 anos de publicacao, sendo de 2012 e 2022. Conclusao: para que um processo de hipertrofia do gluteo maximo seja mais efetivo, pode ser muito interessante a combinacao de ambos os exercicios, sendo realizados de acordo com o nivel de atividade de maior contracao muscular. Ainda, para otimizar a ativacao do gluteo maximo, principalmente para quem o possua enfraquecido, a ativacao realizada com bandas elasticas pode ser um excelente metodo para melhorar a atividade muscular nos exercicios de agachamento e elevacao pelvica. Palavras-chave: Gluteo Maximo. Hipertrofia. Ativacao. Elevacao Pelvica. Agachamento Livre. Introduction: The muscular system is made up of strong and well-developed structures, one of which is the gluteus muscle group. Each muscle group is divided into different structures and, from the point of origin, insertion and innervation, a muscle can have greater or lesser activation. This can generate muscle hypertrophy, through processes such as mechanical tension and metabolic stress. The anatomical differences of each individual can determine the shape of each buttock. This can be improved by strengthening the gluteal muscles, especially in women, so that the posture is suitable for the movement. The literature suggests that the free squat on the bar and the pelvic elevation can generate greater activation and level of hypertrophy of the gluteus maximus when compared to other exercises. Objective: to analyze if the level of activation and hypertrophy of the gluteus maximus is greater in the execution of the pelvic elevation when compared with the free squat. Materials and Methods: narrative review of the literature, as sources the databases such as PubMed, Scielo, Lilacs, Web of Science and Bireme and also theses and dissertations in repertoires of public universities, as well as physical and digital books. The research obeyed the criterion of 10 years of publication, being from 2012 and 2022. Conclusion: for a process of gluteus maximus hypertrophy to be more effective, the combination of both exercises can be very interesting, being performed according to the activity level of greater muscular contraction. Also, to optimize the activation of the gluteus maximus, especially for those who have it weakened, activation performed with elastic bands can be an excellent method to improve muscle activity in squat and pelvic elevation exercises. Key words: Gluteus Maximus. Hypertrophy. Activation. Pelvic Lift. Free Squat.
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