cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7515917.v1
title: Low-intensity laser therapy improves tetanic contractions in mouse anterior tibialis muscle injected with Bothrops jararaca snake venom

description: Abstract Introduction Envenomation by Bothrops snakes can produce local pain, edema, hemorrhage and myonecrosis. However, standard antivenom therapy is generally ineffective in neutralizing these effects so that alternative methods of treatment have been investigated. In experimental animals, low-level laser therapy (LLLT) attenuates the local effects of Bothrops venoms, but the benefits of LLLT on muscle function after envenomation are unclear. In this study, we examined the influence of LLLT on the contractile activity of mouse skeletal muscle injected with venom from Bothrops jararaca, the principal cause of snakebite in southeastern Brazil. Methods Twenty-seven male mice were used. Mice were injected with venom (40 μg in 50 μl) in the right anterior tibialis muscle, after which the muscle tendon was exposed, connected to an isometric transducer and subjected to a resting tension of 1 g. A bipolar electrode was attached to the tibial nerve for electrical stimulation. The mice were randomly allocated to five groups: A – Control (n = 3), B – Venom 3 h (n = 6), C – Venom 9 h (n = 6), D – Venom + Laser 3 h (n = 6), E – Venom + Laser 9 h (n = 6). Results The two groups that received LLLT post-venom showed improved muscle contraction and contracture in relation to muscle treated with venom alone. Conclusion These results indicate that LLLT can improve muscle function after damage induced by B. jararaca venom.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7516403
title: A new concept of assistive virtual keyboards based on a systematic review of text entry optimization techniques

description: Abstract Introduction: Due to the increasing popularization of computers and the internet expansion, Alternative and Augmentative Communication technologies have been employed to restore the ability to communicate of people with aphasia and tetraplegia. Virtual keyboards are one of the most primitive mechanisms for alternatively entering text and play a very important role in accomplishing this task. However, the text entry for this kind of keyboard is much slower than entering information through their physical counterparts. Many techniques and layouts have been proposed to improve the typing performance of virtual keyboards, each one concerning a different issue or solving a specific problem. However, not all of them are suitable to assist seriously people with motor impairment. Methods: In order to develop an assistive virtual keyboard with improved typing performance, we performed a systematic review on scientific databases. Results: We found 250 related papers and 52 of them were selected to compose. After that, we identified eight essentials virtual keyboard features, five methods to optimize data entry performance and five metrics to assess typing performance. Conclusion: Based on this review, we introduce a concept of an assistive, optimized, compact and adaptive virtual keyboard that gathers a set of suitable techniques such as: a new ambiguous keyboard layout, disambiguation algorithms, dynamic scan techniques, static text prediction of letters and words and, finally, the use of phonetic and similarity algorithms to reduce the user's typing error rate.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7516403.v1
title: A new concept of assistive virtual keyboards based on a systematic review of text entry optimization techniques

description: Abstract Introduction: Due to the increasing popularization of computers and the internet expansion, Alternative and Augmentative Communication technologies have been employed to restore the ability to communicate of people with aphasia and tetraplegia. Virtual keyboards are one of the most primitive mechanisms for alternatively entering text and play a very important role in accomplishing this task. However, the text entry for this kind of keyboard is much slower than entering information through their physical counterparts. Many techniques and layouts have been proposed to improve the typing performance of virtual keyboards, each one concerning a different issue or solving a specific problem. However, not all of them are suitable to assist seriously people with motor impairment. Methods: In order to develop an assistive virtual keyboard with improved typing performance, we performed a systematic review on scientific databases. Results: We found 250 related papers and 52 of them were selected to compose. After that, we identified eight essentials virtual keyboard features, five methods to optimize data entry performance and five metrics to assess typing performance. Conclusion: Based on this review, we introduce a concept of an assistive, optimized, compact and adaptive virtual keyboard that gathers a set of suitable techniques such as: a new ambiguous keyboard layout, disambiguation algorithms, dynamic scan techniques, static text prediction of letters and words and, finally, the use of phonetic and similarity algorithms to reduce the user's typing error rate.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7516868
title: Artificial motor control for electrically stimulated upper limbs of plegic or paretic people

description: Introduction: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a technique used in the restoration and generation of movements performed by subjects with neuromuscular disorders such as spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this article is to outline the state of the art and perspectives of the use of FES in artificial motor control of the upper limbs in paretic or plegic people. Methods The databases used in papers selection were Google Scholar and Capes’ Portals as well as proceedings of the Annual Conference of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society (IFESS). Results Approximately 85% of the reviewed studies showed FES profile with pulse duration ranging from 1 to 300 μs and modulating (burst) frequency between 10 and 40 Hz. Regarding the type of electrodes, 88% of the studies employed transcutaneous electrodes. Conclusion We concluded that FES with closed-loop feedback and feedforward are the most used and most viable systems for upper limbs motor control, because they perform self-corrections slowing neuromuscular adaptation, allowing different planes and more range of movement and sensory-motor integration. One of the difficulties found in neuroprosthesis systems are electrical wires attached to the user, becoming uninteresting in relation to aesthetics and break. The future perspectives lead to a trend to miniaturization of the stimulation equipment and the availability of wireless networks, which allow the attachment of modules to other components without physical contact, and will become more attractive for daily use.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7516868.v1
title: Artificial motor control for electrically stimulated upper limbs of plegic or paretic people

description: Introduction: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a technique used in the restoration and generation of movements performed by subjects with neuromuscular disorders such as spinal cord injury (SCI). The purpose of this article is to outline the state of the art and perspectives of the use of FES in artificial motor control of the upper limbs in paretic or plegic people. Methods The databases used in papers selection were Google Scholar and Capes’ Portals as well as proceedings of the Annual Conference of the International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society (IFESS). Results Approximately 85% of the reviewed studies showed FES profile with pulse duration ranging from 1 to 300 μs and modulating (burst) frequency between 10 and 40 Hz. Regarding the type of electrodes, 88% of the studies employed transcutaneous electrodes. Conclusion We concluded that FES with closed-loop feedback and feedforward are the most used and most viable systems for upper limbs motor control, because they perform self-corrections slowing neuromuscular adaptation, allowing different planes and more range of movement and sensory-motor integration. One of the difficulties found in neuroprosthesis systems are electrical wires attached to the user, becoming uninteresting in relation to aesthetics and break. The future perspectives lead to a trend to miniaturization of the stimulation equipment and the availability of wireless networks, which allow the attachment of modules to other components without physical contact, and will become more attractive for daily use.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7512443
title: Effects of vibration therapy in the musculoskeletal system in post-surgical breast cancer women: longitudinal controlled clinical study

description: Abstract: Introduction The biomechanical changes that arise after breast cancer increase the need for new rehabilitation programs. The aim of this study was to evaluate medium- and long-term effects of vibration therapy on pain intensity, range of motion, myoelectric activity, and muscle strength of post-surgical breast cancer women. Methods This controlled longitudinal clinical study was composed of 14 breast cancer women, who underwent vibration therapy treatment (VTG), and 14 healthy women, who constituted the control group (CG). The VTG performed ten 15-minutes sessions of vibration therapy on their affected upper limb. The volunteers were evaluated before and after treatment protocol, and three months later. Results We observed an attenuation of pain intensity after vibration therapy (p &lt; 0.0001) and significant increase in range of motion during extension, abduction, and adduction movements of the horizontal shoulder. We noticed a trend in the reduction of compensatory movements, which activated the muscle contraction mechanism. The scapular dynamometer values for shoulder strength were significant. The VTG had less muscle strength than the CG in all situations: before treatment (p &lt; 0.0001), after treatment (p = 0.0024), and 3 months later (p = 0.0008). The VTG increased muscle strength after treatment (p = 0.0005) and 3 months later (p = 0.0006). Conclusion Vibration therapy attenuated pain symptoms, improved shoulder movements, activated muscle contraction mechanism, and increased shoulder strength, which may be benefits of the conducted physical therapy.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7512443.v1
title: Effects of vibration therapy in the musculoskeletal system in post-surgical breast cancer women: longitudinal controlled clinical study

description: Abstract: Introduction The biomechanical changes that arise after breast cancer increase the need for new rehabilitation programs. The aim of this study was to evaluate medium- and long-term effects of vibration therapy on pain intensity, range of motion, myoelectric activity, and muscle strength of post-surgical breast cancer women. Methods This controlled longitudinal clinical study was composed of 14 breast cancer women, who underwent vibration therapy treatment (VTG), and 14 healthy women, who constituted the control group (CG). The VTG performed ten 15-minutes sessions of vibration therapy on their affected upper limb. The volunteers were evaluated before and after treatment protocol, and three months later. Results We observed an attenuation of pain intensity after vibration therapy (p &lt; 0.0001) and significant increase in range of motion during extension, abduction, and adduction movements of the horizontal shoulder. We noticed a trend in the reduction of compensatory movements, which activated the muscle contraction mechanism. The scapular dynamometer values for shoulder strength were significant. The VTG had less muscle strength than the CG in all situations: before treatment (p &lt; 0.0001), after treatment (p = 0.0024), and 3 months later (p = 0.0008). The VTG increased muscle strength after treatment (p = 0.0005) and 3 months later (p = 0.0006). Conclusion Vibration therapy attenuated pain symptoms, improved shoulder movements, activated muscle contraction mechanism, and increased shoulder strength, which may be benefits of the conducted physical therapy.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7518890.v1
title: Taxonomic indexes for differentiating malignancy of lung nodules on CT images

description: Abstract Introduction Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, with one of the lowest survival rates after diagnosis. Therefore, early detection greatly increases the chances of improving patient survival. Methods This study proposes a method for diagnosis of lung nodules in benign and malignant tumors based on image processing and pattern recognition techniques. Taxonomic indexes and phylogenetic trees were used as texture descriptors, and a Support Vector Machine was used for classification. Results The proposed method shows promising results for accurate diagnosis of benign and malignant lung tumors, achieving an accuracy of 88.44%, sensitivity of 84.22%, specificity of 90.06% and area under the ROC curve of 0.8714. Conclusion The results demonstrate the promising performance of texture extraction techniques by means of taxonomic indexes combined with phylogenetic trees. The proposed method achieves results comparable to those previously published.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7518890
title: Taxonomic indexes for differentiating malignancy of lung nodules on CT images

description: Abstract Introduction Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, with one of the lowest survival rates after diagnosis. Therefore, early detection greatly increases the chances of improving patient survival. Methods This study proposes a method for diagnosis of lung nodules in benign and malignant tumors based on image processing and pattern recognition techniques. Taxonomic indexes and phylogenetic trees were used as texture descriptors, and a Support Vector Machine was used for classification. Results The proposed method shows promising results for accurate diagnosis of benign and malignant lung tumors, achieving an accuracy of 88.44%, sensitivity of 84.22%, specificity of 90.06% and area under the ROC curve of 0.8714. Conclusion The results demonstrate the promising performance of texture extraction techniques by means of taxonomic indexes combined with phylogenetic trees. The proposed method achieves results comparable to those previously published.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7507817
title: Effects of aging on interjoint coordination during arm reaching

description: Abstract Introduction Moving the arm towards an object is a complex task. Movements of the arm joints must be well coordinated in order to obtain a smooth and accurate hand trajectory. Most studies regarding reaching movements address young subjects. Coordination differences in the neural mechanism underlying motor control throughout the life stages is yet unknown. The understanding of these changes can lead to a better comprehension of neuromotor pathologies and therefore to more suitable therapies. Methods Our purpose was to investigate interjoint coordination in three different aging groups (children, young, elderly). Kinematics and kinetics specific variables were analyzed focusing on defined parameters to get insight into arm coordination. Intersegmental dynamics was used to calculate shoulder and elbow torques assuming a 2-link segment model of the upper extremity (upper arm and forearm) with two friction-less joints (shoulder and elbow). A virtual reality environment was used to examine multidirectional planar reaching in three different directions (randomly presented). Results Seven measures were computed to investigate group interlimb differences: shoulder and elbow muscle torques (peak and impulse), work performed by shoulder and elbow joints, maximum velocity, movement distance, distance error at final position, movement duration and acceleration duration. Our data analysis showed differences between movement performances for all analyzed variables, at all ages. Conclusion We found that the intersegmental dynamics for the interlimb (left/right) comparisons were similar for the elderly and children groups as compared to the young. In addition, the coordination and control of motor tasks changes during life, becoming less effective in old age.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7507817.v1
title: Effects of aging on interjoint coordination during arm reaching

description: Abstract Introduction Moving the arm towards an object is a complex task. Movements of the arm joints must be well coordinated in order to obtain a smooth and accurate hand trajectory. Most studies regarding reaching movements address young subjects. Coordination differences in the neural mechanism underlying motor control throughout the life stages is yet unknown. The understanding of these changes can lead to a better comprehension of neuromotor pathologies and therefore to more suitable therapies. Methods Our purpose was to investigate interjoint coordination in three different aging groups (children, young, elderly). Kinematics and kinetics specific variables were analyzed focusing on defined parameters to get insight into arm coordination. Intersegmental dynamics was used to calculate shoulder and elbow torques assuming a 2-link segment model of the upper extremity (upper arm and forearm) with two friction-less joints (shoulder and elbow). A virtual reality environment was used to examine multidirectional planar reaching in three different directions (randomly presented). Results Seven measures were computed to investigate group interlimb differences: shoulder and elbow muscle torques (peak and impulse), work performed by shoulder and elbow joints, maximum velocity, movement distance, distance error at final position, movement duration and acceleration duration. Our data analysis showed differences between movement performances for all analyzed variables, at all ages. Conclusion We found that the intersegmental dynamics for the interlimb (left/right) comparisons were similar for the elderly and children groups as compared to the young. In addition, the coordination and control of motor tasks changes during life, becoming less effective in old age.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7508003.v1
title: Breast tumor classification in ultrasound images using support vector machines and neural networks

description: Abstract Introduction The use of tools for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has been proposed for detection and classification of breast cancer. Concerning breast cancer image diagnosing with ultrasound, some results found in literature show that morphological features perform better than texture features for lesions differentiation, and indicate that a reduced set of features performs better than a larger one. Methods This study evaluated the performance of support vector machines (SVM) with different kernels combinations, and neural networks with different stop criteria, for classifying breast cancer nodules. Twenty-two morphological features from the contour of 100 BUS images were used as input for classifiers and then a scalar feature selection technique with correlation was used to reduce the features dataset. Results The best results obtained for accuracy and area under ROC curve were 96.98% and 0.980, respectively, both with neural networks using the whole set of features. Conclusion The performance obtained with neural networks with the selected stop criterion was better than the ones obtained with SVM. Whilst using neural networks the results were better with all 22 features, SVM classifiers performed better with a reduced set of 6 features.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7508003
title: Breast tumor classification in ultrasound images using support vector machines and neural networks

description: Abstract Introduction The use of tools for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) has been proposed for detection and classification of breast cancer. Concerning breast cancer image diagnosing with ultrasound, some results found in literature show that morphological features perform better than texture features for lesions differentiation, and indicate that a reduced set of features performs better than a larger one. Methods This study evaluated the performance of support vector machines (SVM) with different kernels combinations, and neural networks with different stop criteria, for classifying breast cancer nodules. Twenty-two morphological features from the contour of 100 BUS images were used as input for classifiers and then a scalar feature selection technique with correlation was used to reduce the features dataset. Results The best results obtained for accuracy and area under ROC curve were 96.98% and 0.980, respectively, both with neural networks using the whole set of features. Conclusion The performance obtained with neural networks with the selected stop criterion was better than the ones obtained with SVM. Whilst using neural networks the results were better with all 22 features, SVM classifiers performed better with a reduced set of 6 features.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7514303.v1
title: Analysis of serum cortisol levels by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for diagnosis of stress in athletes

description: Abstract Introduction Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a technique with great potential for body fluids analyses. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of session training on cortisol concentrations in rugby players by means of infrared analysis of serum. Methods Blood collections were performed pre, post and 24 hours after of rugby training sessions. Serum cortisol was analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy and chemiluminescent immunoassay. Results There was a significant difference between the integrated area, in the region of 1180-1102 cm-1, of the spectra for pre, post and post 24 h serums. The cortisol concentration obtained by chemiluminescent immunoassay showed no significant difference between pre, post and post 24 h. Positive correlations were obtained between the techniques (r = 0.75), post (r = 0.83) and post 24 h (r = 0.73). Conclusion The results showed no increase in cortisol levels of the players after the training sessions, as well as positive correlations indicating that FT-IR spectroscopy have produced promising results for the analysis of serum for diagnosis of stress.
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7514303
title: Analysis of serum cortisol levels by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for diagnosis of stress in athletes

description: Abstract Introduction Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a technique with great potential for body fluids analyses. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of session training on cortisol concentrations in rugby players by means of infrared analysis of serum. Methods Blood collections were performed pre, post and 24 hours after of rugby training sessions. Serum cortisol was analyzed by FT-IR spectroscopy and chemiluminescent immunoassay. Results There was a significant difference between the integrated area, in the region of 1180-1102 cm-1, of the spectra for pre, post and post 24 h serums. The cortisol concentration obtained by chemiluminescent immunoassay showed no significant difference between pre, post and post 24 h. Positive correlations were obtained between the techniques (r = 0.75), post (r = 0.83) and post 24 h (r = 0.73). Conclusion The results showed no increase in cortisol levels of the players after the training sessions, as well as positive correlations indicating that FT-IR spectroscopy have produced promising results for the analysis of serum for diagnosis of stress.