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Background: Muscle, joint and bone injuries affect mobility and stability, which in turn limits physical activity. Screening tests such as the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) are used to assess an individual’s mobility and stability to determine whether any movement dysfunctions exist. Screening tests aim to establish an individual’s injury risk with the goal of guiding an intervention program. The Evaluation of Mobility Screen (EMS) is a screening test that has been developed at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. The EMS has been adapted from the FMS by exchanging the Rotatory Stability test for the Seated Rotation test. The current use of screening tools is limited because of the lack of normative data sets that represent the diversity of age, gender and physical activity levels in the general population. Most current published data represent athletes or younger populations. By establishing the relationship between screening outcomes and variables such as age, gender and physical activity level, the effectiveness of screening tests may be improved. Aim: To describe associations between EMS scores for males and females across different age groups and levels of physical activity. Objective: To evaluate and compare differences in EMS scores relating to age, gender and physical activity levels. Methods: This was a quantitative study, with a descriptive, correlational design. The sample consisted of 135 males and 127 females between the ages of 18 and 60. The EMS data were collected at the HighPerformance Centre, in the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, Cape Town. Results: There was no difference between the total scores of males and females (median = 17). The two youngest groups (20-30 and 31-40 years) scored the highest (median = 17), while the oldest group (51-60 years) scored the lowest (median = 15). Gender had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on five subtests (Single Leg Hurdle, Shoulder Mobility, Asymmetric Leg Raise, Stability Push Up and Seated Rotation). Age had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on three subtests (Overhead Squat, Single Leg, Hurdle Split Squat). Physical activity level had a significant effect (p < 0.05) with two subtests (Single leg Hurdle and Stability Push Up). Conclusion: Gender, Age and Physical Activity are associated with changes in EMS scores. EMS total scores declined as age increased. While the total scores remain similar between genders, there were clear variations within the different subtests. The oldest participants (51-60 year) scored the lowest throughout all subtests. Males scored higher in the strength components, while females scored higher in the flexibility components. Physical activity levels did not have a clear pattern as expected but still demonstrated association with two subtests. The results add to the sentiment that the focus should move away from the composite scoring system, and towards analyzing individual subtest scores. Future studies should also investigate if subtest scores can be improved by targeted intervention programs.

With increased military personal protection equipment, body armor, comes the addition of carried load. Such person protection in recent history has been instrumental in combating the imminent threats (e.g., improvised explosive devices) of hostile environments, preventing otherwise lethal injuries. However, body armor has been suggested to degrade warfighters’ performance and compound the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. Both performance and risk of injury are intensely related to joint biomechanics. Therefore the objective of this project was set to determine the immediate and prolonged effects of wearing body armor on biomechanics of the lower back and knee. A randomized cross-over study design, wherein 12 sex-balanced, physically fit, young participants completed a series of tests before and after 45 min of treadmill walking with and without body armor. Tests included two simple tests (i.e., toe-touch and two-legged squat), two military inspired tests (i.e., box drop and prone to standing) and four knee torque tests (i.e., maximum isometric contraction of knee flexors and extensors, and concentric and eccentric isokinetic contraction of knee flexors and extensors. During these tests, kinematic, kinetic and torque measurements were used to investigate the immediate and prolonged effects of exposure to body armor on several measures of knee and lower back mechanics related to performance and risk of injuries. For the simple tests, the immediate effects of body armor were an increase of > 40 ms (p ≤ 0.02) in flexion duration of the dominant joint and an ~1 s (p ≤ 0.02) increase in overall test duration as well as an ~18% (p = 0.03) increase in the lumbopelvic rhythm ratio near mid-range trunk flexion. For the military inspired tests, the immediate effects of body armor were an increase of ≥ 0.02 s (p ≤ 0.001) in temporal test durations and an increase of ~158 N (p = 0.01) box drop peak ground reaction force. Finally during the dynamometer testing, the BA condition was found to cause a greater reduction, ~10 N•m, in the maximum isometric strength of knee flexors (p = 0.04) and an increase (p ≤ 0.03) of strength ratios compared to the no armor condition.

The thesis, entitled "Analysis of safety in transport and servicing of transport facilities for the selected companies" deals with safety and work-related injuries in transportation and servicing of transport facilities. Occupational injury is caused by a set of several interacting factors. These factors are known as the main source and cause of work-related accidents, which affect the formation of accidents. The most important element in the protection of health and safety is prevention. To evaluate the risks is one of the fundamental principles of the concept of occupational health and safety policy that is enforced in all countries espousing the principles of safe enterprise. The need to protect the health of the individual is already firmly established even in the most basic legal document such as the Constitution of the Czech Republic. The aim of this work is to analyze the factors that are involved in causing accidents at work and on the basis of the analysis, to provide rules and recommendations for farms so that they serve as an aid in the elimination of induced injuries.

Depuis plusieurs décennies, l’évaluation des armes à létalité réduite (ALR) et des gilets pare-balles suscite l’intérêt majeur des forces de l’ordre autour du globe. En effet, ces armes présumées à létalité réduite ou non létales sont tenues d’occasionner uniquement une douleur suffisamment importante à un individu afin d’assurer sa neutralisation. Les gilets pare-balles, quant à eux, doivent garantir un certain niveau de protection pour réduire le risque de traumatismes lié à leur déformation dynamique. Le Centre de Recherche, d’Expertise et d’appui Logistique (CREL) du Ministère de l’Intérieur français a ainsi pour objectif le développement d’un outil de prédiction du risque lésionnel thoracique lors d’impacts balistiques non pénétrants. Cela permettrait alors d’évaluer les performances des ALR et des gilets pare-balles avant leur déploiement en théâtre d’opérations. Plus précisément, cette méthode doit uniquement être fondée sur la mesure directe du processus dynamique de déformation d’un bloc de gel synthétique soumis à un impact balistique. Pour répondre à ce besoin, l’approche numérique est considérée dans ces travaux de thèse par l’emploi du mannequin numérique du thorax humain HUByx comme un outil intermédiaire permettant la détermination de fonctions de transfert entre les mesures expérimentales sur un bloc de gel et le risque lésionnel. La reproduction de conditions d’impact réelles sur HUByx nécessite la caractérisation et la modélisation de projectiles ALR ainsi que de projectiles d’armes à feu et de gilets pare-balles. Elles reposent sur une procédure d’identification par méthode inverse appliquée à l’essai de Taylor pour la modélisation des ALR et à l’essai du cône dynamique d’enfoncement sur le bloc de gel pour celle du couple projectile/gilet pare-balles. Des travaux sont dédiés à la caractérisation mécanique et à la modélisation du gel synthétique sous sollicitations dynamiques. Enfin, une approche statistique basée sur des analyses de corrélation est introduite exploitant à la fois les mesures expérimentales, les données numériques ainsi que les rapports de cas de la littérature. Une cartographie du thorax associée au risque de fractures costales est établie et est uniquement fonction d’une mesure expérimentale. / For decades, the assessment of less-lethal weapons (LLW) and bulletproof vests has generated major interest from law enforcement agencies around the world. Indeed, these presumed less-lethal or non-lethal weapons are required to cause only significant pain to an individual to ensure their neutralization. Bulletproof vests, in turn, must provide a certain level of protection to reduce the risk of trauma related to their dynamic deformation. The Center for Research, Expertise and Logistics Support (CREL) of the French Ministry of the Interior aims to develop a tool to predict thoracic injury risk during non-penetrating ballistic impacts. It would therefore be possible to evaluate the performance of LLW and bulletproof vests before their deployment in operations. More precisely, this method must only be based on the direct measurement of the dynamic process of deformation of a synthetic gel block subjected to a ballistic impact. To address that issue, the numerical approach is considered in this thesis by the use of the human thorax dummy HUByx as an intermediate tool for the determination of transfer functions between experimental metrics on a gel block and the risk of injury. The reproduction of real impact conditions on HUByx thus requires the characterization and modeling of less-lethal projectiles as well as projectiles of firearms and bulletproof vests. They rely on an inverse method identification procedure applied to the Taylor test for modeling LLW and on the analysis of blunt impacts on the gel block for projectiles/bulletproof vests. Work is then dedicated to the mechanical characterization and modeling of the synthetic gel under dynamic loadings. Finally, a statistical approach based on correlation analyses is introduced using both experimental measurements, numerical data as well as case reports from the literature. A thorax mapping associated with the risk of rib fractures is established and only depends on an experimental metric.

Le retentissement psychologique d’événements sources de responsabilité, quels qu’ils soient – acte de terrorisme, perte d’un être cher, harcèlement moral… – est spécifique du fait de ses caractères protéiforme et invisible. Tout d’abord, le premier d’entre eux tient au fait qu’en matière psychologique tant les atteintes que les souffrances en résultant sont diverses. Ainsi, d’un point de vue lésionnel, certains événements vont s’avérer plus traumatisants que d’autres, principalement ceux au cours desquels le sujet a été confronté à sa propre mort. Concernant la souffrance, un sujet peut tout aussi bien souffrir émotionnellement d’une altération de sa propre intégrité – par exemple physique avec le diagnostic d’une pathologie grave – que d’un tort affectant celle d’un proche (e.g. décès, handicap). Un retentissement qualifié d’invisible ensuite, puisqu’il apparaît bien plus aisé d’identifier une atteinte à l’intégrité physique qu’une atteinte à l’intégrité psychique. De plus, certaines atteintes psychologiques sont totalement insaisissables en raison de leur caractère éminemment diffus. L’objet de cette démonstration est donc de savoir comment le droit de la responsabilité civile va appréhender la victime de ce retentissement psychologique. Sa prise en charge ne pourra être que particulière du fait de l’interaction inévitable entre les sphères juridique et psychologique.Afin de le découvrir sera proposée, dans un premier temps, une conceptualisation de la victime psychologique se fondant sur la réalité psychopathologique. Deux grandes distinctions nourrissent cette réflexion. L’une est de nature juridique ; il s’agit de la distinction du dommage et du préjudice. L’autre est d’origine psychopathologique ; elle oppose le choc émotionnel au traumatisme psychique. Leur entrecroisement permettra d’élaborer différents cas de manifestation de la souffrance psychologique et de dessiner les contours de la qualité de victime. Dans un second temps, au titre de l’indemnisation de la victime psychologique, tant l’appréciation que l’évaluation de ses préjudices seront examinées. Les répercussions du traumatisme psychique voire du choc émotionnel vont parfois être si importantes que l’indemnisation ne pourra se cantonner à la seule souffrance éprouvée. Des conséquences de nature différente, par exemple patrimoniales, devront être prises en considération. À cette fin, une typologie des préjudices de la victime sous analyse mérite d’être mise en place. Des règles d’indemnisation distinctes seront érigées en fonction du préjudice subi. Un préjudice présumé, notamment à partir d’un dommage, ne pourra logiquement être compensé de la même façon que des préjudices non présumables, c’est-à-dire soumis à expertise. En somme, le système d’indemnisation à instaurer se devra d’être en phase avec le système de révélation de la souffrance qui aura été précédemment établi.Ainsi, cette étude se propose de construire un réel statut fondateur de la victime psychologique. Une fois cette notion cardinale intégralement conceptualisée, un régime d’indemnisation s’en inférant sera rationnellement avancé. / The psychological impact of the events, which are the source of responsibility, be they acts of terrorism, loss of a loved one, psychological harassment, is specific to characteristics both protean and invisible. The first among them is due to the fact that in psychological matter injuries and the resulting suffering are both varied. As such, from the injury point of view, certain events will prove to be more traumatizing than others. Principally those during which the subject has been faced with his own death. Concerning suffering, a subject can as well emotionally suffer a change in his own integrity – for example the physical one with a diagnosis of a serious illness – that of a sort damage which affects that of a loved one (e.g. death or handicap). Then, the impact is considered invisible. It appears much more simple indeed, to identify harm to physical integrity as a harm to psychic integrity. More so, certain psychological harms are totally imperceptible by reason of their eminently diffuse characteristic. The object of this demonstration is therefore to know how civil liability law will comprehend the victim of such a psychological impact. Its comprehension will be particular given the inevitable interaction between the judicial and psychological spheres.In order to better understand this, we will first propose a conceptualization of the psychological victim that blends into psychopathological reality. Two major distinctions feed this thought. One is legal nature, which relates to the distinction between prejudice and harm. The other is psychopathological in nature which opposes emotional shock and psychic trauma. Their intertwining allows us to elaborate different cases of manifestation of psychological suffering and define the contours of the qualities of the victim. Secondly, regarding compensation for a psychological victim, both the appreciation and the evaluation of these prejudices will be examined. The repercussions of psychic trauma, or even emotional shock can sometimes be so grave that compensation cannot restrict itself only to the experienced suffering. Consequences of different natures, for example patrimonial ones, must be taken into consideration. To this end, a division of the prejudices of the psychological victim should be put in place. Distinct rules of compensation will be established based on the prejudice endured. A prejudice presumed, originating notably from a harm, cannot logically be compensated in the same fashion as non-presumable prejudices that require a forensic assessment. In short, the system of compensation must be in phase with the system of disclosure of suffering that has been previously established. As a result, this study proposes to construct a true founding status of a psychological victim. Once this principal notion has been completely conceptualized, we can use it to create a rational compensation scheme.