Local experience of laboratory activities in a BS physical therapy course: integrating sEMG and kinematics technology with active learning across six cohorts.

Introduction: Integrating technology and active learning methods into Laboratory activities would be a transformative educational experience to familiarize physical therapy (PT) students with STEM backgrounds and STEM-based new technologies. However, PT students struggle with technology and feel comfortable memorizing under expositive lectures. Thus, we described the difficulties, uncertainties, and advances observed by faculties on students and the perceptions about learning, satisfaction, and grades of students after implementing laboratory activities in a PT undergraduate course, which integrated surface-electromyography (sEMG) and kinematic technology combined with active learning methods. Methods: Six cohorts of PT students (n = 482) of a second-year PT course were included. The course had expositive lectures and seven laboratory activities. Students interpreted the evidence and addressed different motor control problems related to daily life movements. The difficulties, uncertainties, and advances observed by faculties on students, as well as the students' perceptions about learning, satisfaction with the course activities, and grades of students, were described. Results: The number of students indicating that the methodology was "always" or "almost always," promoting creative, analytical, or critical thinking was 70.5% [61.0-88.0%]. Satisfaction with the whole course was 97.0% [93.0-98.0%]. Laboratory grades were linearly associated to course grades with a regression coefficient of 0.53 and 0.43 R-squared (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Integrating sEMG and kinematics technology with active learning into laboratory activities enhances students' engagement and understanding of human movement. This approach holds promises to improve teaching-learning processes, which were observed consistently across the cohorts of students.

Effects of triceps surae exercise-induced delayed onset muscle soreness on control of body stability in different postures.

This research aimed to determine whether triceps surae delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) affects stability while performing different postural control tasks requiring upright and landing stabilization. Twenty-four participants who self-reported as healthy were recruited. Pre and 48 h after a protocol to induce DOMS in the triceps surae, participants were evaluated for DOMS perception, pressure pain threshold, and postural control (assessed by the center of pressure, CoP) during different standing and landing stabilization tasks. We found higher DOMS perception and lower pressure pain threshold 48 h after the exercise. Mediolateral CoP displacement was more sensitive to DOMS across different postural tasks, but no effects were found for bilateral standing. The landing time to stabilization elicited high individual variability in the presence of DOMS. Effects of DOMS in the performance of less challenging tasks, such as bipedal standing, were not found. We conclude that DOMS in the triceps surae impairs mediolateral postural control during challenging tasks such as unilateral standing and body forward lean. It highlights the need for caution and individualized approaches when incorporating movements requiring frontal plane control in training and rehabilitation sessions under the presence of DOMS.

Overweight Impairs Postural Control of Female Night Workers.

Objectives To verify the relationships between sleep duration (Total Sleep Time - TST) and postural control of female night workers before and after shift. As well as, to verify if there is an influence of the body mass index (BMI) on the postural control of these female workers before and after shift. Methods A total of 14 female night workers (mean age: 35.0 ± 7.7 years) were evaluated. An actigraph was placed on the wrist to evaluate the sleep-wake cycle. The body mass and height were measured, and BMI was calculated. Postural control was evaluated by means of a force platform, with eyes opened and eyes closed before and after the 12-hour workday. Results There was an effect of the BMI on the velocity and the center of pressure path with eyes opened before ( t = 2.55, p = 0.02) and after ( t = 4.10, p < 0.01) night work. The BMI impaired the velocity and the center of pressure path with eyes closed before ( t = 3.05, p = 0.01; t = 3.04, p = 0.01) and after ( t = 2.95, p = 0.01; t = 2.94, p = 0.01) night work. Furthermore, high BMI is associated with female workers' postural sway ( p < 0.05). Conclusion Therefore, high BMI impairs the postural control of female night workers, indicating postural instability before and after night work.

Biomechanical Response to Acute Stretching in Dancers and Non-Dancers.

This study aimed to investigate the bio- mechanical response of the hamstring muscles to acute stretching in dancers (D) compared to non-dancers (ND). Maximal range of motion (ROMMax) and stiffness of the hamstrings were assessed in 46 young males, 23 undergraduate students (ND) and 23 professional dancers (D). Ages of the two groups were D 21.5 ± 0.60 years; ND 27.5 ± 0.98 years). Testing was performed in two sessions, familiarization with procedures in the first session and the tests themselves (pre- and post-test and intervention) in the second, with a 24- to 48-hour interval between. The pre-test consisted of three trials of passive knee extension to the point of increased tension in the hamstrings, defined as ROMMax. The resistance torque recorded at ROMMax was defined as torqueMax. Six 30-second constant torque stretches were performed at 100% of the torqueMaxreached in the pre-test in one lower limb only (intervention), with the contralateral limb used as control. The torque measured at an identical ROM before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the intervention was defined as torqueROM, and represented stiffness in this study. Reliability of the ROMMax, torqueMax, and torqueROMwas assessed via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC3, k) and standard error of the measurements (SEM). Comparison between dancers and non-dancers, control, and intervention conditions for all dependent variables was performed using ANOVA repeated measures followed by Tukey post hoc comparisons to highlight any interaction. The submaximal stretch intensity applied caused torqueROM to decrease in both D and ND groups (p < 0.01), indicating a decrease in stiffness, but no difference between the groups was found. A significantly greater increase in ROMMax was found for the D group compared to the ND group (p < 0.01), suggesting that other aspects in addition to MTU biomechanical adaptations may have played a role in the ROMMax increase, especially for the D group. Further research is needed to explore what those other adaptations are. Meanwhile, coaches and physical therapists should be aware that dancers may require different stretch training protocols than non-dancers.