Skeletal-muscle (both respiratory and limb) abnormalities are common and can have profound effects in patients with chronic inflammatory states such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Causes include direct inflammatory-mediator effects on muscle function, malnutrition, blood-gas abnormalities, compromised oxygen delivery from right-heart dysfunction, electrolyte imbalances, drugs,...

It is known that respiratory muscles undergo adaptation in response to overload stimuli during exercise training in stable COPD patients, thus resulting in significant increase of respiratory muscle function as well as the individual's improvements. The present article reviews the most updated evidence with regard to the use of respiratory muscle training (RMT) methods in COPD patients. Basical...

BACKGROUND Exercise capacity is reduced in obese patients due to disadvantageous respiratory mechanics that lead to dyspnea. Proportional assist ventilation (PAV) has the potential to unload resistive and elastic burdens of the ventilatory system. OBJECTIVES The present study aimed to test if PAV can increase endurance and reduce exercise-related dyspnea in obese patients. METHODS Two sympt...

Age-related sarcopenia leads to muscle weakness and a concomitant increase in gait problems and the risk of hip fracture due to falling in the elderly. Muscle weakness reduces general activity levels in elderly individuals which in turn elevates the risk of osteoporosis due to a decrease in overall mechanical loading of the skeleton. At the same time, age-related sarcopenia is also linked to an...

The robotic rehabilitation devices can undertake the difficult physical therapy tasks and provide improved treatment procedures for post stroke patients. During passive working mode, the speed of the exercise needs to be controlled continuously by the robot to avoid excessive injurious torques. We designed a fuzzy controller for a hand rehabilitation robot to adjust the exercise speed by consid...

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of Handheld Resistive Exercise Device (HRED) training on wellness outcomes in older adults. A secondary purpose was to assess the utilization of an HRED in older adult fitness program. A group of healthy, active older adults (N=28, 76.6 ± 6.7 years old) volunteered to complete a 10-week HRED training program. Pre- and post-interventi...

Sex differences in respiratory mechanics 1 DYSANAPSIS AND THE RESISTIVE WORK OF BREATHING DURING EXERCISE IN 1 HEALTHY MEN AND WOMEN 2 Paolo B. Dominelli, Yannick Molgat-Seon, Derek Bingham, Philippa M. Swartz, Jeremy D. 3 Road, Glen E. Foster and A. William Sheel 4 School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 5 Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Sim...

Methods for estimating a car's length are presented in this paper, as well as the results achieved by using a self-designed system equipped with two anisotropic magneto-resistive (AMR) sensors, which were placed on a road lane. The purpose of the research was to compare the lengths of mid-size cars, i.e., family cars (hatchbacks), saloons (sedans), station wagons and SUVs. Four methods were use...