Os efeitos da localização do alvo e da incerteza quanto à posição do alvo em movimentos de alcance foram investigados. Dez adultos permaneceram em pé em frente a um monitor sensível ao toque. Eles foram instruídos a pressionar com o dedo indicador direito um interruptor e tocar o centro do alvo apresentado no monitor após ele acender, movendo o membro superior rapidamente. O alvo foi mostrado ipsi ou contralateralmente e os participantes tinham ou não certeza sobre a posição do alvo. O tempo de reação (TR) e movimento (TM) e o erro radial (ER) foram avaliados. Os resultados revelaram menor TR (≈35 ms) e ER (≈0,19 cm) para a condição de certeza e maiores TR (≈8 ms) e TM (≈18 ms) para os moimentos ao alvo contralateral. Concluindo, esses achados mostraram que os efeitos da incerteza da localização e a posição final do alvo podem ser aplicados para movimentos de alcance na posição ereta.

The effects of target location and uncertainty of target position on reaching movements while standing were investigated. Ten healthy, right-handed adults stood facing a 17'' touchscreen. They were instructed to press with their right index fingertip a push bottom and touch the center of the target displayed on the screen after it was lighted on, moving quickly their arm. The target was shown either ipsi- or contralateral to the right arm and either in a certain or uncertain position. Reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and radial error (RE) were assessed. Results revealed shorter RT (≈ 35 ms) and smaller RE (≈ 0.19 cm) for certain than for uncertain condition and slightly longer RT (≈ 8 ms) and MT (≈ 18 ms) for reaches towards the contralateral target. In conclusion, the findings of this study showing the effect of uncertainty of target location as well as target position are also applied to arm reaching in standing position.

Los efectos de la ubicación de la diana y la incertidumbre acerca de la posición de la diana en los movimientos de alcance fueron investigados. Diez adultos sanos y diestros estaban frente a una pantalla táctil de 17''. Se les instruyó para presionar un interruptor con el dedo índice derecho y tocar el centro de la diana que aparece en la pantalla después de haber sido iluminado, moviéndo rápidamente su miembro superior. La diana fue mostrada ya sea ipsi o contralateralmente y los participantes tenían o no certidumbre sobre la posición de la misma. El tiempo de reacción (TR), el tiempo de movimiento (TM), y el error radial (ER) fueron evaluados. Los resultados revelaron ser más cortos TR (≈ 35 ms) y RE menor (≈ 0,19cm) en la condición de certeza y mayores TR (≈ 8 ms) y TM (≈ 18 ms) en los movimientos hacia la meta contralateral. En conclusión, los hallazgos de este estudio que muestra los efectos de la incertidumbre de la ubicación de la diana, así como la posición de la diana se aplican también a movimientos de alcance en la posición erecta.

O badminton é um esporte no qual os atletas devem responder a golpes rápidos e potentes de maneira acurada. Assim, o objetivo do estudo foi investigar se jogadores de badminton de alto nível apresentam melhores índices de desempenho neuromuscular do que jogadores de nível intermediário na tarefa de apontar um alvo. Doze jogadores de alto nível (GAN), que defendem ou defenderam a seleção brasileira de badminton, e 12 jogadores de nível intermediário (GNI) participaram do estudo. Eles permaneceram em pé, com o dedo indicador da mão dominante sobre um interruptor localizado à frente e direcionado à linha média do corpo, e foram instruídos a tocar um alvo em uma tela sensível ao toque posicionada à frente assim que ele se tornasse luminoso. O alvo foi apresentado ipsilateralmente ou contralateralmente ao membro superior dominante, em blocos (tempo de reação simples) ou randomicamente (tempo de reação de escolha). As variáveis tempo de reação (TR), tempo de movimento (TM) e erro radial (ER) foram computadas. Os resultados não revelaram efeito de grupo para TM e ER, mas revelaram que o GAN apresentou TR menor que o GNI. Ainda, o TR foi menor para a condição em blocos e o TR e o TM foram menores para o alvo ipsilateral. O fato de o GAN apresentar TR menor que o GNI indica que jogadores de alto nível teriam melhor capacidade reativa que jogadores de níveis inferiores. Assim, concluímos que o TR poderia ser uma variável importante na seleção de atletas que teriam maiores chances de alcançar altos níveis de desempenho no badminton. Ainda, apesar de o teste utilizado não representar integralmente as ações de jogo, ele é um avanço quando comparado aos testes comumente utilizados na investigação do TR e TM em atletas e deveria ser utilizado na avaliação de atletas de outros esportes.

Badminton is a racket sport where athletes have to accurately react to powerful and rapid strokes from their opponents. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate whether expert badminton players (members of the national team) would present better indices of neuromuscular performance than intermediate level badminton players in a target-pointing task. Twelve expert badminton players (EPG), who currently play or have already played for the Brazilian national team, and 12 intermediate-level players (IPG) participated in the study. The standing participant was instructed to press a switch placed in front of him and at his midline with the tip of the index finger and touch a target displayed in a touch screen located in front of him as soon as this target was lighted. The target was shown either ipsi- or contralateral to the dominant upper limb and either in blocks (simple reaction time - SRT) or randomly (choice reaction time - CRT). The dependent variables reaction time (RT), movement time (MT), and radial error (RE) were calculated. The results revealed no effect of group on MT and RE, but revealed that RT was shorter for EPG than for IPG. Moreover, RT was lower in SRT than in CRT condition and RT and MT was lower when the target was ipsilaterally presented and during STR condition. The shorter RT presented by expert badminton players when compared to intermediate level players could indicate that RT could be a key neuromuscular variable to distinguish expert from non-expert badminton players. Finally, although the experimental protocol does not integrally represent the actions performed during the game, it is a progress when compared to the tests commonly used to investigate the response time (RT and MT) in athletes, and should be used to assess those neuromuscular variables in athletes of sports that use the upper extremity.

In this work, the susceptibility to benznidazole of two parental Trypanosoma cruzi strains, Colombian and Berenice-78, was compared to isolates obtained from dogs infected with these strains for several years. In order to evaluate the susceptibility to benznidazole two groups of mice were infected with one of five distinct populations isolated from dogs as well as the two parental strains of T. cruzi. The first group was treated with benznidazole during the acute phase and the second remained untreated controls. The animals were considered cured when parasitological and serological tests remained persistently negative. Mice infected with the Colombian strain and its isolates Colombian (A and B) did not cure after treatment. On the other hand, all animals infected with Berenice-78 were cured by benznidazole treatment. However, 100%, 50% and 70% of cure rates were observed in animals infected with the isolates Berenice-78 B, C and D, respectively. No significant differences were observed in serological profile of infected control groups, with all animals presenting high antibody levels. However, the ELISA test showed differences in serological patterns between mice inoculated with the different T. cruzi isolates and treated with benznidazole. This variability was dependent on the T. cruzi population used and seemed to be associated with the level of resistance to benznidazole.