The effect of different interfaces during virtual game practice on motor performance of individuals with genetic ataxia: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Reaching and coordination tasks are widely used in traditional physical rehabilitation programs for individuals with Ataxia. Virtual reality interventions could optimize the motor performance of these individuals; however, the type of virtual interface may influence performance during virtual practice. We aimed to estimate the extent of the effect of different interfaces (webcam and touchscreen) on the motor performance of individuals with various types of genetic ataxia, compared to a control group, during virtual computer game tasks.

Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) during a Virtual Reality Task in Women with Fibromyalgia-A Randomized Clinical Study.

Background/objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and impaired motor performance. This study aimed to investigate the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) during virtual reality (VR) tasks on the motor performance of women with FM.

Methods: Participants were divided into two groups: Group A received active tDCS for 10 days followed by sham tDCS for 10 days, while Group B received the opposite sequence.

Comparison between Motor Performance of People with Multiple Sclerosis during a Virtual Reality Task Practiced on Concrete and Abstract Devices: A Cross-Sectional Randomized Study.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with unknown etiology, resulting in various impairments that necessitate continuous rehabilitation to enhance functionality, quality of life, and motor function, including through Virtual Reality (VR) therapy. Comparing tasks in virtual environments and their potential skill transfer to real-world settings could aid in optimizing treatment programs to improve motor performance in individuals with MS. This study aimed to determine whether practicing acquisition and retention phases using two distinct interfaces (concrete-Touch Screen or abstract-Kinect system) affects performance in a subsequent task using a different interface (transfer phase).

Virtual reality as a telerehabilitation strategy for people with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 quarantine scenario: physical activity, motor performance and enjoyment.

Purpose: People with autism spectrum disorder could benefit from physical activity during the pandemic and COVID-19 restrictions, mainly to maintain adequate physical activity. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility, enjoyment, and potential effect of telerehabilitation using a serious game named 'MoveHero'.

Materials And Methods: Registered in Clinical Trials (NCT04402034).

Analysis of Heart Rate, Perception of Physical Effort and Performance of Individuals with Down Syndrome Submitted to a Protocol of Virtual Games for Home-Based Telerehabilitation.

Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic condition associated with impairments in several body systems, which may negatively influence the habit of practicing physical activities (PAs), increasing sedentary habits and the risk of comorbidities. Additionally, difficulty in accessing services, financial limitations and lack of interest may interfere with the practice of PAs. Considering the necessity of developing effective treatment alternatives, to increase the possibility of access and the interest of participants, we conducted a study using telerehabilitation with a virtual task to promote PA and analyze the motor performance of DS individuals.

Blockchain and smart contract architecture for notaries services under civil law: a Brazilian experience.

This paper proposes a blockchain solution for some activities currently performed by notary offices under the Civil Law judiciary that is technically viable. The architecture is also planned to accommodate Brazil's legal, political, and economic requirements. Notaries are responsible for providing various intermediation services for civil transactions, where their primary role is to be the trusted party capable of guaranteeing the authenticity of these transactions.

Cardiac autonomic modulation in response to postural transition during a virtual reality task in individuals with spinal cord injury: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: The postural transition from sitting to standing is a moment of dysautonomic occurrence in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI). Different tools can be used to minimize this event, such as virtual reality. Thus, we aimed to analyze cardiac autonomic modulation in individuals with SCI during postural transition from the sitting to orthostatism position using a cognitive virtual reality (VR) task.

Effect of Longitudinal Practice in Real and Virtual Environments on Motor Performance, Physical Activity and Enjoyment in People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Prospective Randomized Crossover Controlled Trial.

(1) Background: People with ASD commonly present difficulty performing motor skills and a decline in physical activity (PA) level and low enjoyment of PA. We aimed to evaluate whether longitudinal practice of an activity in virtual and real environments improves motor performance and whether this improvement is transferred to a subsequent practice when changing the environment, promoting PA and providing enjoyment; (2) Methods: People with ASD, aged between 10 and 16 years, were included and distributed randomly into two opposite sequences. The participants performed a 10 session protocol, with five sessions practicing in each environment (virtual or real).

Cardiac Autonomic Modulation in Subjects with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) during an Upper Limb Virtual Reality Task: A Prospective Control Trial.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease. As a result of the rapid progression and severity of the disease, people with ALS experience loss of functionality and independence. Furthermore, it has already been described presence of autonomic dysfunction.

Association between fibroblast growth factor 23 and functional capacity among independent elderly individuals.

Objective: To examine the association of between serum fibroblast growth factor 23 and the functional capacity among independent individuals, aged 80 or older.

Methods: The functional capacity of 144 elderly was assessed by Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, cognitive tests, handgrip strength and the timed ability to rise from a chair and sit down five times. Fibroblast growth factor 23 was measured using an ELISA assay.

Comparison Between Conventional Intervention and Non-immersive Virtual Reality in the Rehabilitation of Individuals in an Inpatient Unit for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial.

The new human coronavirus that leads to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) has spread rapidly around the world and has a high degree of lethality. In more severe cases, patients remain hospitalized for several days under treatment of the health team. Thus, it is important to develop and use technologies with the aim to strengthen conventional therapy by encouraging movement, physical activity, and improving cardiorespiratory fitness for patients.

Serious Game Platform as a Possibility for Home-Based Telerehabilitation for Individuals With Cerebral Palsy During COVID-19 Quarantine - A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.

Introduction: There is a need to maintain rehabilitation activities and motivate movement and physical activity during quarantine in individuals with Cerebral Palsy (CP).

Objective: This paper sets out to evaluate the feasibility and potential benefits of using computer serious game in a non-immersive virtual reality (VR) implemented and evaluated completely remotely in participants with CP for Home-Based Telerehabilitation during the quarantine period for COVID-19.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a total of 44 individuals participated in this study between March and June 2020, 22 of which had CP (14 males and 8 females, mean age = 19 years, ranging between 11 and 28 years) and 22 typically developing individuals, matched by age and sex to the individuals with CP.

The use of a task through virtual reality in cerebral palsy using two different interaction devices (concrete and abstract) - a cross-sectional randomized study.

Background: Cerebral Palsy (CP) is characterised by variable difficulties in muscular action, resulting in inability of the individual to perform functional movement. An option to provide functionality to the individual with CP is the use of computer innovation. The aim of this paper was to verify if there was any performance improvement in a task performed in a virtual environment and if there was transfer to the task performed in the real environment and vice versa in this population.

Analysis of Different Device Interactions in a Virtual Reality Task in Individuals With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

There is a need to support individuals with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) to achieve optimal functionality in everyday life and with meaningful tasks and activities, throughout stages of the disease progression. Thus, technological developments have created an exciting opportunity for the use of affordable virtual reality (VR) systems with different kinds of interaction devices, providing an efficient and fun tool for enabling improvement in motor performance. To compare performance on a virtual task using interfaces with and without physical contact in order to identify functionality by using different devices in individuals with DMD.

Functional capacity, renal function and vitamin D in community-dwelling oldest old.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and serum 25(OH)D with the physical and mental functional capacity of elderly individuals aged 80 years or older.

Methods: We evaluated the functional capacity in its multidomain aspects: Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL), Mental State Mini-Exam (MMSE), Verbal Fluency Test (VF), handgrip strength and time to sit and rise from a chair five times, combined creatinine and cystatin C-based eGFR and 25(OH)D levels in 205 independent asymptomatic and community-dwelling elderly subjects in a cross-sectional study.

Results: Every 1 year of life, there was reduction of about 10% chance of adequate performance in functional capacity.

Efficacy of different interaction devices using non-immersive virtual tasks in individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: a cross-sectional randomized trial.

Background: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rapid progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterized by a selective loss of motor neurons, brain stem and spinal cord which leads to deterioration of motor abilities. Devices that promote interaction with tasks on computers can enhance performance and lead to greater independence and utilization of technology.

Objective: To evaluate performance on a computer task in individuals with ALS using three different commonly used non-immersive devices.

Functional performance comparison between real and virtual tasks in older adults: A cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Ageing is usually accompanied by deterioration of physical abilities, such as muscular strength, sensory sensitivity, and functional capacity, making chronic diseases, and the well-being of older adults new challenges to global public health.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a task practiced in a virtual environment could promote better performance and enable transfer to the same task in a real environment.

Method: The study evaluated 65 older adults of both genders, aged 60 to 82 years (M = 69.

Short-term motor learning through non-immersive virtual reality task in individuals with down syndrome.

Background: Down syndrome (DS) has unique physical, motor and cognitive characteristics. Despite cognitive and motor difficulties, there is a possibility of intervention based on the knowledge of motor learning. However, it is important to study the motor learning process in individuals with DS during a virtual reality task to justify the use of virtual reality to organize intervention programs.

The Virological and Immunological Characteristics of the HIV-1-Infected Population in Brazil: From Initial Diagnosis to Impact of Antiretroviral Use.

Background: Immunological and virological status of HIV-infected individuals entering the Brazilian public system over time was analyzed. We evaluated the impact of ART on virological, immunological and antiretroviral resistance over time.

Methods: CD4+ T cell counts, viral loads and genotypes from patients over 13 years old from 2001-2011 were analyzed according to demographic data.

HBV carrying drug-resistance mutations in chronically infected treatment-naive patients.

Background: Nucleoside/nucleotide analogue (NA) treatment causes selection pressure for HBV strains carrying mutations conferring NA resistance. Drug-resistance mutations occur in the reverse transcriptase (RT) region of the HBV polymerase gene and spontaneously arise during viral replication. These mutations can also alter the hepatitis B surface (HBs) protein and in some cases reduce binding to HBs antibodies.

A rigorous approach to facilitate and guarantee the correctness of the genetic testing management in human genome information systems.

Background: Recent medical and biological technology advances have stimulated the development of new testing systems that have been providing huge, varied amounts of molecular and clinical data. Growing data volumes pose significant challenges for information processing systems in research centers. Additionally, the routines of genomics laboratory are typically characterized by high parallelism in testing and constant procedure changes.

Use of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in Portuguese for categorizing web-based healthcare content.

Introduction: Internet users are increasingly using the worldwide web to search for information relating to their health. This situation makes it necessary to create specialized tools capable of supporting users in their searches.

Objective: To apply and compare strategies that were developed to investigate the use of the Portuguese version of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) for constructing an automated classifier for Brazilian Portuguese-language web-based content within or outside of the field of healthcare, focusing on the lay public.

DBCollHIV: a database system for collaborative HIV analysis in Brazil.

We developed a database system for collaborative HIV analysis (DBCollHIV) in Brazil. The main purpose of our DBCollHIV project was to develop an HIV-integrated database system with analytical bioinformatics tools that would support the needs of Brazilian research groups for data storage and sequence analysis. Whenever authorized by the principal investigator, this system also allows the integration of data from different studies and/or the release of the data to the general public.

Trends in antiretroviral drug resistance and clade distributions among HIV-1--infected blood donors in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Background: We analyzed rates of drug resistance mutations in antiretroviral-naive São Paulo blood donors with recently acquired or established HIV-1 infections and characterized clade diversity in this population.

Methods: Six hundred forty-eight seropositive blood donor specimens were identified at the Blood Center of São Paulo between July 1998 and March 2002. To discriminate recent infections, samples were subjected to the standardized testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion (less-sensitive enzyme immunoassay) testing algorithm.