Orientador: André Luís Balbi / Banca: Daniela Ponce / Banca: Denise Mafra / Resumo: A Injúria Renal Aguda (IRA) é uma patologia que apresenta taxa de mortalidade elevada, principalmente em pacientes críticos com necessidade de diálise. Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal realizar uma avaliação nutricional inicial e evolutiva de pacientes com IRA e, através dela, descrever as alterações nutricionais detectadas durante o acompanhamento nefrológico. Tratou-se de um estudo tipo coorte prospectivo que avaliou pacientes internados no Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu - UNESP no período de março de 2008 a dezembro de 2009. Foram avaliados 133 pacientes com diagnóstico de IRA com apresentação clínica sugestiva de Necrose Tubular Aguda. O protocolo de avaliação nutricional foi composto por dados clínicos, bioquímicos, antropométricos, parâmetros de catabolismo e quantificação de ingestão alimentar, verificados diariamente ou semanalmente. Os pacientes apresentaram média de idade de 61±16 anos, com predomínio do sexo masculino (68%) e internação em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva (67%). Diálise foi necessária em 58% dos casos, sepse esteve presente em 30% e desnutrição, diagnosticada pela Avaliação Subjetiva Global, em 60,2%. A porcentagem de óbitos foi de 26,3%. Durante as avaliações evolutivas foram observados aumento da transtirretina (0,13 ± 0,08 x 0,17 ± 0,09g/L, p=0,01) e transferrina (1,36 ± 0,53 x 1,44 ± 0,58g/L, p=0,04) e redução da creatinina (4,6 ± 2,5 x 2,6 ± 1,5mg/dL, p<0,0001) e Proteina C Reativa (17,4 ± 14,6 x 13,4 ± 12,1.mg/dL, p=0,003). A antropometria mostrou que houve redução significante no peso (73,6 ± 21,6 x 70,6 ± 21,6 kg, p<0,0001), circunferência do braço (31,5 ± 5,7 x 29,9 ± 5,4 cm, p=0,02) e prega cutânea triciptal (22 ± 11 x 19 ± 9 mm, p=0,02). Através da bioimpedância elétrica, foi observado aumento da resistência (323,0 ± 107,7 x 374,7 ± 117,8 ohms, p=0,001)... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a disease that presents high mortality rate, especially in critically ill patients requiring dialysis. This study aims at providing an initial and evolutionary nutritional assessment of patients with ARF and, through it, to describe the nutritional changes detected during follow-up nephrological. This was a prospective cohort study that evaluated patients admitted to the Hospital of the Medical School of Botucatu - UNESP from March 2008 to December 2009. We evaluated 133 patients with ARF with clinical presentation suggestive of acute tubular necrosis. The protocol of nutritional evaluation was made by clinical, biochemical and anthropometric datas, parameters of catabolism and quantification of food intake, checked daily or weekly. Patients had a mean age 61 ± 16 years, with male predominance (68%) and hospitalization in intensive care unit (67%). Dialysis was required in 58% of cases, sepsis in 30% and malnutrition, as diagnosed by the Subjective Global Assessment, in 60.2%. The death rate was 26.3%. During the assessments were observed evolutionary increase in transthyretin (0.13 ± 0.08 vs. 0.17±0.09 g/L, p = 0.01) and transferrin (1.36 ± 0.53 vs. 1.44 ± 0.58g/L, p = 0.04) and reduction of creatinine (4.6 ± 2.5 vs. 2.6 ± 1.5 mg /dL, p <0.0001) and C-Reactive Protein (17.4 ± 14.6 vs. 13.4 ± 12.1 mg/dL, p = 0.003). Anthropometric measurements showed a significant reduction in weight (73.6 ± 21.6 vs. 70.6 ± 21.6 kg, p <0.0001), arm circumference (31.5 ± 5.7 vs. 29.9 ± 5.4 cm, p = 0.02) and triceps skinfold thickness (22.5 ± 11 vs. 19.4 ± 9 mm, p=0.02). Through bioelectrical impedance analysis, we observed increased resistance (323.01 ± 107.66 vs. 374.73 ± 117.83 ohms, p=0.001) and decrease the phase angle (5.7 ± 2.6 vs. 4.9 ± 1.7, p=0.01) in patients requiring dialysis. There was significant improvement in nitrogen balance in the general... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Com base em algumas variáveis sócio-antropológicas e três medidas antropométricas - altura, peso e índice de Kaup - de um Estudo realizado no Município de Santo André, elaboramos o presente trabalho. Para este trabalho excluímos crianças púberes, incluindo treze idades: O, 3, 6 e 9 meses, 1 ano, 1a e meio, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 e 8 anos, de ambos os sexos. As variáveis independentes utilizadas foram: ISSE - índice de situação sócio-econômica, construído com base na média de gasto mensal familiar per capita e segundo as 14 categorias de ocupação do pai e as de instrução. Considerou-se para tal, as interrelações das variáveis com o gasto, que foram tomadas como desvios em relação à média de gasto familiar per capita mensal da amostra e a média para cada casela, medidas como múl tiplos de T. CATANCES - construída a partir da informação sobre a nacionalidade dos ascendentes das crianças até a 3ª geração. Constitui-se de 2 categorias: \"todos ascendentes brasileiros\" e \"pelo menos um estrangeiro\". Grupo Residencial - dividido em três categorias: \"poucos\", \"médio\" e \"grande\", dependendo de quantas pessoas residissem na casa. Dado que já se conhecia a existência de uma relação positiva entre melhores condições de vida e desenvolvimento físico queríamos observar se isso se dava igualmente nos dois sexos e nas várias idades, e assim poder apreender diferenças entre esses grupos uma vez que só havia sido possível estratificar a amostra por idade e sexo. Essas interrelações ajudariam a melhor caracterizar a população estudada. Como esperado, encontramos uma associação positiva entre melhores condições sócio-econômicas, menor tamanho do grupo residencial e as médias das medidas. Porém, também verificamos a existência de relações entre as variáveis independentes: a) que a categoria de ISSE \"alto\" associava-se com a categoria \"pelo menos um estrangeiro\" da variável Catances, o inverso sendo verdadeiro quando a categoria era \"todos brasileiros\"; b) que, medido pelo tamanho médio do grupo residencial, há indicações de uma fecundidade diferencial, sendo esta maior para o grupo \"todos nacionais\" da variável Catances. Nesse sentido chamamos a atenção à grande concentração de migrantes de Minas e Nordeste nessa categoria. As médias das medidas foram testadas pelo método de ordenação de médias de DUNCAN, e também pela técnica de ajuste por mínimos quadrados para análises de variâncias. Verificamos ao analisar as tabelas das medidas, segundo os vários controles, que o índice de Kaup não se apresentava diferente de uma idade para outra, enquanto tal acontecia com altura e peso. Uma série de outros resultados somados a esse, evidenciou que o índice não media, ao menos para crianças em crescimento, aquilo que se propunha medir, ou seja, diferenças de estados nutricionais. Sugere-se então um ajuste de curva a fim de que, baseados nos dados empíricos, se encontre uma dada função para cada idade. Também constatou-se que embora as médias das medidas diferissem segundo as variáveis independentes, isso não acontecia igualmente nas mesmas idades e nos 2 sexos. Ainda, através dos resultados das análises de variância, observou-se que apesar das diferenças estatísticas significantes, as variáveis selecionadas explicavam muito pouco da variação das medidas nas várias idades e sexos. Esses resultados nos levaram a concluir que a amostra estudada, segundo as variáveis independentes deste estudo, difere entre idades em ambos os sexos. Isso levanta uma série de questões sobre quais as variáveis mais adequadas a um estudo desse gênero e sobre a utilização desses dados para construção de curvas de velocidade. Permitimo-nos sugerir que as tabelas por nós apresentadas no anexo 1, se consideradas as duas categorias de Catances, fossem consideradas como dois padrões: Leste-Nordeste e Sul, utilizando a idéia das tábuas de vida padrão. / The present dissertation was based in some of the data collected during the first semester of 1969, in the Município de Santo André, State of São Paulo, Brasil. The original data was partly constituted of several anthropometric measurements in 17 different ages of children from zero month onto twelve years. Some socio-economic information of their families and data concerning the country of birth (or the State of birth, if Brazilian) was also collected for three generations of the children\'s ancestors. The sample was based in the population of these ages living at the Município mentioned. The total sample was of 9,258 children, stratified by age and sex, so that one could estimate the degree of confidence of the actual sample. It is worthwhile to call attention to the criterium adopted to asses age, which was very strict, and not common in studies as such. Zero month children were measured on 2d or 3d day of life. From three to eighteen months, ± 7 days from the day of birth and from two to twelve years old, ± 14 days from the day of birth. For this study we choose only three of the measurements: height, weight and Kaup index and related them by age and sex, with three independent variables as follows: ISSE - index of socio-economic conditions, which was built considering the joint distribution of occupation and education of the father and the amount of the family expenses per capita, per month. CATANCES - meaning \"categories of ancestors\", divided into two categories: \"all ancestors were Brazilians\" and \"at least one was foreigner\". Residencial Group - (household). Depending of the size or the household, there were three different categories: \"small\", \"medium\" and \"large\". Our objectives were to study the relations between the socio-anthropological variables and the measurements selected. At the same time to have a better knowledge of the variability of the population, sampled by age and sex only. for our purposes we dealt only with 13 ages, from zero months to eight years old, excluding in this manner children entering puberty, after the definition of puberty adopted in the study. Amongst the main findings concerning the relationship between the socio-anthropo1ogical variables and the anthropometric ones, was the fact that many combinations of the independent variables showed differences in measurements, as expected. At the same time, we found interrelationships among the independent variables: a) that better conditions of ISSE were related to few people in the household and with the category \"at least one foreigner\" of the variable Catances; the opposite was also true in relation to the category \"all Brazilians\"; b) we found indications of different fertility between the two categories of Catances. The higher were \"all Brazilians\". This category included a high percentage of Brazilians migrants from other States. We did not have sufficient information (if this is possible anyway), to state that the differences in the means of height and weight were due to socio-anthropological conditions, since they could be due to the tendency of more endogamous marriages between the migrants, that generally got into Santo André already married. We also found that the Kaup index did not measured what it is supposed to, at least in growing children, because of the relative variability of weight and height. Thus, it was suggested that a curve should be fitted having per base our empirical data, so that it could have meaning by each age. The means were tested by DUNCAN multiple range tests, and least aquares technique of analysis of variance. By this last test we get to know that despite of significant statistic influences of the independent variables (measured by weight and height) these influences varied depending on age, sex, eatances and the anthropometric variables, showing that the sample varied differently depending on age, sex and the controls used. But however important were the selected variables, there was still 2/3 of variability to be explained by other variables. For this matter, velocity curves based in this data should be taken carefully, once one cannot say children that are 2 year old in the sample, will be one year latter, exactly as the ones that are 3 years in the sample, or that theirs velocity of growth will be the same.

Purpose: To assess the historical changes in the size and age of the US women’s Olympic gymnastics teams from 1956 to 2008. Methods: The official records from the US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics of Olympic team members were assessed at 2 levels: individual height, mass, age, and body-mass index (BMI) and the team performance scores and rankings. Fourteen Olympic teams with a total of 106 team members, including the alternates, were included. Trend analyses were conducted using linear and polynomial models. Results: Simple linear correlations indicated that since 1956, height, mass, age, BMI, and team Olympic rank have been declining. However, second-order polynomial curve fits indicated that in the last 4 Olympic Games the members of the US women’s gymnastics teams have been getting larger. Conclusion: Women Olympic gymnasts were getting smaller through approximately the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then the size of these gymnasts has increased. The minimum-age rule modifications may have played a role in athlete size changes along with a shift from the near dominance of the former communist Eastern Bloc.

L’anthropométrie est le domaine scientifique qui étudie les dimensions du corps humain. La complexité de la morphologie du corps nécessite une analyse 3D, aujourd’hui permise par les progrès des scanners 3D. L’objectif de cette étude est de comparer les populations et utiliser les résultats pour mieux adapter les produits sportifs à la morphologie des utilisateurs. Des campagnes de mensuration 3D ont été réalisées et des algorithmes de traitement automatique ont été créés pour analyser les nuages de points des sujets scannés. Basés sur les méthodes d’images et de géométrie, ces algorithmes repèrent des points anatomiques, calculent des mesures 1D, alignent les sujets scannés et créent des modèles anthropométriques 3D représentatifs des populations. Pour analyser les caractéristiques anthropométriques, des statistiques de premier ordre et factorielles ont été adaptées pour être utilisées dans l’espace 3D. Les méthodes ont été appliquées à trois parties : le pied, la tête et la poitrine. Les différences morphologiques entre les populations, mais également au sein d’une population donnée, ont été révélées. Par exemple, la différence à chaque point de la tête entre des têtes a été calculée. Les statistiques en trois dimensions ont aussi permis de mettre en évidence l’asymétrie de la tête. La méthode de création de modèles anthropométriques est plus adaptée à nos applications que les méthodes dans la littérature. L’analyse en trois dimensions permet d’obtenir des résultats qui ne sont pas visibles par les analyses 1D. Les connaissances acquises par cette étude sont utilisées pour la conception de différents produits vendus dans les magasins DECATHLON à travers le monde. / Anthropometry is the scientific field that studies human body dimensions (from the greek άνθρωπος (human) + μέτρον (measure)). Anthropometrical analysis is based actually on 1D measurements (head circumference, length, etc). However, the body’s morphological complexity requires 3D analysis. This is possible due to recent progress of 3D scanners. The objective of this study is to compare population’s anthropometry and use results to adapt sporting goods to user’s morphology. For this purpose, 3D worldwide measurement campaigns were realized and automated treatment algorithms were created in order to analyze the subjects’ point cloud. Based on image processing methods and on shape geometry, these algorithms detect anatomical landmarks, calculate 1D measurements, align subjects and create representative anthropometrical 3D models. In order to analyze morphological characteristics, different statistical methods including components’ analysis, were adapted for use in 3D space. The methods were applied in three body parts: the foot, the head and the bust. The morphological differences between and inside the populations were studied. For example, the difference in each point of the head, between Chinese and European head, was calculated. The statistics in three dimensions, permitted also to show the asymmetry of the head. The method to create anthropometrical models is more adapted to our applications than the methods used in the literature. The analysis in three dimensions, can give results that they are not visible from 1D analyses. The knowledge of this thesis is used for the conception of different products that they are sold in DECATHLON stores around the world.

This thesis was initiated by an awareness of the impact of low back pain in Western society in general and Australian society in particular. The studies and experiments in this thesis contribute towards an understanding of chiropractic as a professional entity in Victoria and the nature of its clinical practice. The issue of male adolescent LBP has been explored and in addition to an epidemiological description of this clinical entity, its anthropometric dimensions have been documented. The qualitative review of the literature provides ample justification for the management of patients with LBP by chiropractors, using manual or manipulative techniques. The observational study of the Victorian context in which chiropractors are educated, registered, and entitled to practice, demonstrates that Victorian chiropractors are appropriate providers of manipulative health care. They perform the role of primary contact, primary health care providers with diagnostic, treatment and management skills focussed mainly on musculoskeletal conditions, but with a small proportion of practice based in the health or preventive context, and are well placed to provide the manual and manipulative services required in the management of LBP patients. The profession is shown to have strategies in place to ensure continued legal and community acceptance. The strategies include those at entry level to the profession, such as the legislative provisions of government and the competencies required for registration as instilled during the professional education process, and those which are more of the nature to maintain the integrity of professional practice, such as the " standards of practice" concept. These are important characteristics given it is shown that the Victorian chiropractic profession is not homogenous with respect to educational standards, has a disparate gender balance, the presence of a few non-registered 'chiropractors', and a disparity in utilisation patterns with a significant tail to the right. However the chiropractic profession is shown to hold a position of strength and leadership in the Australian context with respect to the provision of manipulative health care. Indeed, it could be said that chiropractors are at the leading edge of the quality process with respect to the provision of manipulative health care in Australia. The description of chiropractic practice shows a patient base of all ages, including adolescents, presenting with a range of possible diagnoses, often funded by a third party, and with a high proportion of return visits suggestive of patient compliance and satisfaction. It is convincingly demonstrated that persons with work-related LBP attend to chiropractors in Victoria and are effectively managed with the aim being the restoration of optimal spinal function and, in the case of work-injured patients, an early return to work. This thesis includes utilisation data which suggest only a minority of Victorian chiropractors practice outside the responsible parameters described above. The case-mix data and patient profiles presented in this thesis are congruent and complement each other, suggesting a high level of patient satisfaction indicated by the high proportion of return visits by regular patients and a faster, return-to-work by work-injured claimants. The point and sample prevalence of LBP in a population of suburban male adolescents is described and shown to be similar to those found in comparable Western societies. The data for a sample of traditional Australian male adolescents describes the LBP experience for the first time in such a population and emphasises the wide variance between societies which is now being identified in the literature. The LBP experience of a typical suburban Australian male adolescent is identified and described in terms of chronicity, frequency and episode duration. Typically the male adolescent with LBP has a chronic (> 90 d) problem with frequent episodes of pain (from 2 or 3 times a month to 2 or 3 times week) which last a few hours. The pain is a little limiting but allows the performance of the Activities of Daily Living. While some limitation of general sporting activity due to pain is experienced, school attendance is generally not compromised. A particular clinical instrument, the Metrecom computerised electro-goniometer, is studied and found to be appropriate for use in gathering anthropometric dimensions to test hypotheses relating to an association between anthropometric dimensions and LBP in a male adolescent population. The applied level of uncertainty of the instrument is within acceptable limits for these dimensions. The anthropometric study tests the broad null hypothesis that the mean of specific anthropometric dimensions would be equal among samples of male adolescents drawn from the Australian population. The actual groups are a Melbourne 'Pain' group, a Melbourne 'No Pain' group, and a 'Traditional No Pain' group. The pain group reported either current LBP or a positive history of LBP, while the 'no pain' groups denied either current or historical LBP. The alternate hypothesis will be shown to be proven for the dimensions 'sitting height', 'upper body' length, 'pelvic height', and the ratio of the 'upper:lower' body segment in a population of male adolescents with idiopathic or mechanical LBP. This thesis meets its objectives of describing the chiropractic profession and its practise in the Victorian context, demonstrates the prevalence of LBP in a male adolescent population, and identifies particular anthropometric dimensions associated with those who report a LBP experience. The fact that a number of anthropometric dimensions are detectable in adolescence may allow the development of appropriate screening programs which in turn may lead to the design and introduction of suitable prophylactic interventional programs for persons found to be potentially prone to idiopathic or mechanical LBP, at the least reducing the severity and at most reducing the onset of this expensive problem in adulthood. The ratio of the upper body segment to the lower body segment would appear to be most appropriate indicator; it is robust in that it is a prime dimension, easily accessible, and with a low level of measurement uncertainty. Most importantly it would appear to hold validity throughout adolescence as it does not have a linear relationship with age.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The purpose of the ODS (Occupant Detection System) project is to develop a car safety camera system that is able to discriminate human occupants in order to activate safety features depending on the human size. In order to discriminate the size of an occupant anthropometric measurements need to be performed. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of anthropometric measurements of human height and weight with a Kinect for Windows v2 sensor for discrimination of different occupants inside a vehicle. The goal was to find valid anthropometric methods for determination of human height and weight from landmarks on the upper body, then test if it is possible to perform these methods with the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor. The execution of this study was performed as a literature study with anthropometric tests on ATD-dummies (anthropomorphic test device) and on human test subjects. Measurements were performed first physically and then with the Kinect v2 sensor to obtain data in form of distance of 8 regions of the body. Three tests were performed, first on dummies, second was a pilot study and last the measurement study. The result revealed that it is hard to estimate human weight from body landmarks due to lack of information, therefor no tests were performed in this area. For height the result showed that the most valid methods were the measurements on arm span and ulna, both on physical measurements and with the camera. The conclusion is that it is possible estimating height from body landmarks but the positioning of the camera needs to be change in order for the measurements to be more accurate. This study has contributed to a greater understanding of measurement technology, automotive safety and anthropometric measurements.

Child malnutrition is a problem in all countries and centers in poorer communities. Biological and socioeconomic factors alike contribute to malnutrition with recent studies focusing on aspects of maternal autonomy as an influencing factor. In this study, maternal autonomy is defined as the independence in her actions and control over resources a mother has within her household and is made up of several factors, including decision-making power, opinion of domestic abuse, and financial independence. Child nutritional outcomes were operationalized using the anthropometric measures height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and weight-for-age (WAZ). For this study, the 2004-2005 Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) dataset was examined using weighted logistic regression in SPSS version 17. After controlling for sociodemographic covariates, the only maternal autonomy variable which was statistically associated with child nutritional outcome (associated with height-for-age) was if the mother had final say in decisions regarding her own healthcare (OR=0.857, 95% CI=0.749-0.980). Sociodemographic variables which were statistically associated with child nutritional outcome were child age (older children had higher odds ratios for stunting and lower odds ratios for wasting), child gender (being female was a protective factor against stunting and underweight), duration of breastfeeding (intervals longer than 24 months had higher odds ratios for stunting, wasting, and underweight), and family’s position in the wealth index (being in the richer and richest quintiles were protective factors against stunting and underweight). While further research is needed to examine other influencing factors such as sanitation, diet, and disease prevalence, decision-making power regarding a mother’s own healthcare is an important factor that may influence her ability to meet the nutritional needs of her children. This implies that public health professionals may want to look into avenues by which maternal autonomy may be enhanced for possible interventions to improve child nutritional status in Tanzania.

Tyrimo problema Mūsų visuomenėje neskiriama pakankamai dėmesio kairiarankiams, jų problemos yra ignoruojamos, apie ką kalbama ir užsienio autorių darbuose, tačiau iki šiol nėra pakankamai aiškios skirtingo abiejų žmonių rankų veiksnumo priežastys, sąsajos ir padariniai. Tyrimo tikslas. Ištirti, kaip priklauso dešiniarankiškumo/kairiarankiškumo laipsnis nuo fizinio aktyvumo lygio ir pobūdžio (t.y. ištirti dešiniarankiškumo ir kairiarankiškumo paplitimą tarp skirtingų sporto šakų atletų) ir nustatyti dešiniarankiškumo/kairiarankiškumo laipsnio sąsajas su rankų funkciniai ir anatominiais rodikliais. Darbo uždaviniai. 1. Anketavimo metodu nustatyti ir palyginti skirtingų sporto šakų atletų dešiniarankiškumo/kairiarankiškumo laipsnį. 2. Palyginti skirtingų sporto šakų atletų skirtingų rankų matmenų ir funkcinę asimetriją bei palyginti skirtingų sporto šakų ir grupių sportininkų rankų matmenų ir funkcinę asimetriją tarpusavyje. 3. Ištirti koreliacinę dešiniaranki���kumo/kairiarankiškumo laipsnio priklausomybę su rankų funkciniu ir matmenų asimetriškumu. Rezultatai. Iš visų tirtų 126 vyrų kairiarankių buvo 6,3 procento. Iš tirtų 33 kontrolinės grupės (nesportuojančiųjų) asmenų nė vieno pagal Bryden klausimyną nenustatėme esančio kairiarankiu. Tiek jėgos, tiek ištvermės sporto šakose buvo daugiau vyrų, kuriems dešinė ranka yra patogi rečiau/mažiau nei kairė (p<0,05). Tarp žaidėjų ir nesportuojančiųjų reikšmingas dešiniarankiškumo/kairiarankiškumo skirtumas nenustatytas (p>0,05)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the our days society, still not enough attention is paid at left-handed persons‘ problems, and we still lack the knowledge on the reasons and outcomes of the so-called hand preference, or handedness. Thus the aim of our study was to evaluate how the degree of handedness is dependent on the level and type of physical activity, and we studied three groups of athletes from different sports as well as sedentaries by standard questionnaire on hand preference as well as standard physical tests and anthropometry in order to determine the predilection of left/right-handedness among athletes from various different sports, and to obtain some better knowledge on the relationship of hand-preference with the functional and anthropometrical (a)symmetry of the hands. The results obtained revealed that among 126 of studied males 6.3 percent were clearly left-handed, but no one of the 33 control sedentaries was. Clear tendency was evident that among athletes of strength and endurance activities left-handedness was more expressed. This was not the case in ball-game athletes’ group. All groups when studies separately as well as one big group did not showed any signs of hand-size asymmetry, though some of the results of the tests for hand function were distinct between hands, the same in overall group and in four groups studied separately. These were handgrip strength, juggling with two baseballs, and maximal rate of hand and arm movements. The correlation between handedness score and... [to full text]

Anthropometric measures, physiological variables and skills tests were performed on subjects selected from the provincial KwaZulu Natai Junior Hockey teams in South Africa. The main purpose of this study was to establish a data base of norms for boy and girls in the UB, U14, U16, UI8 and the U2I age groups. The tests were done at the beginning and at the end of season. The anthropometric measures included height, weight, percentage body fat and lean body mass; physiological variables included sit-ups, push-ups, sit-and-reach (flexibility), broad jump, winder and bleep tests , and the skills tests comprised a wide range of ball skill tests. As expected, anthropometric changes were observed across the age groups, due to growth. Amongst the older age groups the girls had reached height and weight values comparable to elite female players , but only the boys in the U2I had reached their adult height and were slightly taller than the elite male players. There was no significant difference in the profile between the attack and defence players in the boys, but amongst the girls the defence players tended to be heavier and taller than the attack players. In the physiological and skills tests there was no difference between positional players. In the comparison between pre and end season to determine the effectiveness of the training programmes, there was a change in the anthropometric characteristics because of growth. However, the physiological and skill tests revealed no consistent pattern of improvement in the test results from pre season to end season. This study provides the first set of norms for male and female junior hockey players in South Africa. Further studies are required to expand upon and update the data in the current study. / Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.