User confidence and electrodermal activity during haptic exploration for perceptual comparisons using a robotic system.

Children with physical impairments may have trouble effectively performing the hand movements used in haptic exploration and may miss information about object properties. Assistive robotic systems with haptic feedback may enable children with physical impairments to haptically explore objects. However, it is important to understand if they might be encountering difficulty in assessing object properties with the system. As such, we examined two methods to ascertain a user's uncertainty or stress when doing the exploration, user confidence and electrodermal activity (EDA). Twenty adults and ten children without physical impairments manipulated four pairs of objects to examine size, roughness, hardness and shape. All participants performed the manipulation by controlling a robotic system and by manual exploration in a randomized crossover design. Adults' confidence was lower when using the robotic system and correlated with lower accuracy at determining object properties. Children's responses indicated that they may not have understood how to self-rate confidence. EDA, a potentially objective measure of stress during the task, was actually lower for adults when they used the robotic system, suggesting less physiological arousal than when using their hands. Children's EDA was variable.

Social isolation due to COVID-19: impact on loneliness, sedentary behavior, and falls in older adults.

OBJECTIVES: The World Health Organization has recommended social isolation to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Thus, feelings of loneliness, sedentary behavior, and predisposition to falls have been reported more often due to the adoption of social isolation, especially for older adults. The objective of this study was to compare older adults' loneliness, sedentary behavior, and occurrence of falls before and during social isolation due to the pandemic as well as to analyze the association of loneliness with sedentary lifestyle and falls in older adults. METHOD: Retrospective analytical study conducted through an online survey with older adults from Brazilian states in social isolation, approved by the Research Ethics Committee (number 32168920.0.0000.0068). RESULTS: There was a significant increase in loneliness and sedentary behavior during social isolation (p-value < 0.05 for both), but no increase was observed for falls (p-value = 0.615). There was no correlation between the outcomes, nor was there a correlation between the outcomes and the number of days in social isolation. CONCLUSION: The results of this research show that adoption of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic brought an increase in sedentary behavior and loneliness for older adults but had no effect on the number of falls.

Testing of an assistive robot system for haptic exploration of objects.

INTRODUCTION: When children with physical impairments cannot perform hand movements for haptic exploration, they may miss opportunities to learn the properties of objects. Assistive robots may enable them to make manipulation actions. OBJECTIVE: To examine the differences between using a robotic teleoperation system with haptic feedback and manual exploration when making perceptual comparisons about object properties. Accuracy and exploratory procedures (EP) using the system were compared to those in manual exploration. METHOD: Twenty adults without physical disabilities and ten typically developing children manipulated four pairs of objects and chose one based on size, roughness, hardness and shape. All participants completed the task with the robotic system (Tech) and manual exploration (No Tech), with the order counterbalanced. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Participants performed a previously unidentified EP, "tapping", in the Tech condition. Enclosure was not possible with the robot end effector, but tapping afforded the required perceptual information. Adults' perceptual comparisons were always accurate and they predominantly performed the optimum EP in both conditions. Even when children performed the optimum EP with the system, their answers were less accurate than with manual exploration. Most gave the correct answer, except for hardness, which was likely due to mechanical flexibility in the robotic system.

Assistive technology for communication of older adults: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the use of assistive technology to enhance communication opportunities for older adults. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in two databases, PubMed and Web of Science, by using two different searches in each. The search was limited to original articles, in English language, including people aged 60 years and older that used any type of assistive technology for communication. The articles found in the initial search were filtered by title, abstracts and the remaining articles were fully read. RESULTS: Eighteen studies were included in this review after the reading of full-texts. Most of the studies included apparently healthy participants with communication limitations due to aging related changes and the others included people with some pathology that prevent them from normal communication. CONCLUSION: Four categories of assistive technology were identified: assistive technology for people with speech problems; robot or videoconferencing systems; Information and Communication Technologies and, other types of assistive technology for communication, such as hearing aids and scrapbooks. Assistive technology for communication of older adults is not only used by people with disabilities that prevent them from usual communication. They are mostly for older adults without a pathological communication problem.

Low cost assistive technology to support educational activities for adolescents with cerebral palsy.

INTRODUCTION: The concept of assistive technology covers several areas of action; one of them is communication with the elaboration of accessible solutions to overcome daily difficulties. It contributes to the resumption of functional abilities, expanding and facilitating inclusion and independent living. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the usability of a low cost prototype device to support educational activities of adolescents with cerebral palsy. METHODS: A descriptive observational study. The evaluation of a prototype device was made through a validated questionnaire, Quest Version 2.0, on the level of the user's satisfaction with an assistive technology, composed of 12 evaluation items. The questionnaire was filled out by the educator based on the observation of four wheelchair-bound participants diagnosed with cerebral palsy according to the international classification of diseases and health-related problems, ICD-10, who attend a coexistence and teaching institution in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. RESULTS: The device developed was considered an assistive technology, which provided an experience with a positive level of satisfaction for the participants. CONCLUSION: The tested prototype contributes to communication and interaction allowing adolescents with cerebral palsy to participate in educational activities. Implications for Rehabilitation The device assists the individual in the educational activities and can positively influence their development, observe the individual number 5, who has an important limitation in coordination and fine movements, placing the role of the task in the vertical position offers a new perspective to perform the task, this stimulates him to try to perform the work, so the challenge was adjusted to the demands of each individual which can contribute to its neuromotor development, the amplitude of the distal movements and the manual ability, since it must look for alternatives to complete the task requested.

Association between hypertension and quality of life in pregnancy.

PURPOSE: To assess the association between hypertension in pregnancy and women's quality of life (QoL) and the variation in the quality of life over gestational trimesters. METHOD: A questionnaire was applied to 194 hypertensive pregnant women and 195 pregnant women without complications. The questionnaire was composed of two parts: socioeconomic profile and specifically QoL, using the instrument Ferrans & Powers Quality of Life Index. All women included underwent a physical examination. RESULTS: Blood pressure was found to be approximately 20 mmHg higher in hypertensive pregnant women compared to pregnant women without complications. All QoL domains of hypertensive pregnant women had lower scores than those of pregnant women without complications, with health/functioning rated the lowest, averaging 17.63. The least affected domain was family, having the best average score (26.0). The QoL had no significant variations in relation to gestational trimesters. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy causes intense changes, both physical and psychological, in women's lives and hypertension was found to be a factor of high interference in pregnant woman's QoL, causing lower scores in all QoL domains of hypertensive pregnant women, compared with pregnant woman without complications.