In this paper we analyzed, by the F_DFA root mean square fluctuation (rms) function, the motor/imaginary human activity produced by a 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG). We utilized the Physionet on-line databank, a publicly available database of human EEG signals, as a standardized reference database for this study. Herein, we report the use of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) method for EEG analysis. We show that the complex time series of the EEG exhibits characteristic fluctuations depending on the analyzed channel in the scalp-recorded EEG. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique, we analyzed four distinct channels represented here by F₃32, F₆37 (frontal region of the head) and P₃49, P₆54 (parietal region of the head). We verified that the amplitude of the F_DFA rms function is greater for the frontal channels than for the parietal. To tabulate this information in a better way, we define and calculate the difference between F_DFA (in log scale) for the channels, thus defining a new path for analysis of EEG signals. Finally, related to the studied EEG signals, we obtain the auto-correlation exponent, α_DFA by DFA method, that reveals self-affinity at specific time scale. Our results shows that this strategy can be applied to study the human brain activity in EEG processing.

A scanning system for specific absorption rate of ferrofluids with superparamagnetic nanoparticles is presented in this study. The system contains an induction heating device designed and built with a resonant inverter in order to generate magnetic field amplitudes up to 38 mT, over the frequency band 180-525 kHz. Its resonant circuit involves a variable capacitor with 1 nF of capacitance steps to easily select the desired frequency, reaching from 0.3 kHz/nF up to 5 kHz/nF of resolution. The device performance is characterized in order to compare with the theoretical predictions of frequency and amplitude, showing a good agreement with the resonant inverters theory. Additionally, the setup is tested using a synthetic iron oxide with 10 ± 1 nm diameter suspended in liquid glycerol, with concentrations at 1%. Meanwhile, the temperature rise is measured to determine the specific absorption rate and calculate the dissipated power density for each f. This device is a suitable alternative to studying ferrofluids and analyzes the dependence of the power absorption density with the magnetic field intensity and frequency.

A system for imaging magnetic surfaces using a magnetoresistive sensor array is developed. The experimental setup is composed of a linear array of 12 sensors uniformly spaced, with sensitivity of 150 pT*Hz−1/2 at 1 Hz, and it is able to scan an area of (16 × 18) cm2 from a separation of 0.8 cm of the sources with a resolution of 0.3 cm. Moreover, the point spread function of the multi-sensor system is also studied, in order to characterize its transference function and to improve the quality in the restoration of images. Furthermore, the images are generated by mapping the response of the sensors due to the presence of phantoms constructed of iron oxide, which are magnetized by a pulse of 80 mT. The magnetized phantoms are linearly scanned through the sensor array and the remanent magnetic field is acquired and displayed in gray levels using a PC. The images of the magnetic sources are reconstructed using two-dimensional generalized parametric Wiener filtering. Our results exhibit a very good capability to determine the spatial distribution of magnetic field sources, which produce magnetic fields of low intensity.

Http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7941.2017v34n1p197Este trabalho se insere na temática sobre o papel das Tecnologias Assistivas na compreensão conceitual e na promoção da inserção social de estudantes surdos. São apresentadas duas versões (mecânica e eletrônica) de um experimento didático desenvolvido pelos autores para o ensino de ondas sonoras, voltado primordialmente para estudantes surdos do Ensino Médio. Inicialmente, é feito um breve histórico da educação para surdos desde a antiguidade, seguida de uma discussão teórica sobre a física da voz. Na sequência, são apresentadas as duas versões do experimento com seus detalhes técnicos e o processo de elaboração dos mesmos, bem como, uma discussão teórica acerca de uma perspectiva para uso didático destes experimentos, orientado por uma visão vigotskiana. Ao final, são feitas considerações acerca do potencial uso didático do experimento visando a inclusão dos alunos surdos em classes regulares, visto que se trata de experimentos ainda não avaliados em situações reais de sala de aula.