Crianças e adolescentes permanecem sentados por longo período durante as aulas e transportam materiais escolares em mochilas e pastas. A preocupação com a postura corporal adotada pelos alunos durante a execução dessas tarefas escolares é imprescindível para que se encontrem alternativas capazes de lhes proporcionar mais conforto. Baseado na premissa de que a postura pode ser entendida como a forma de a pessoa pensar, sentir e agir corporalmente considerou-se importante avaliá-la de uma maneira mais ampla, considerando diferentes variáveis e suas possíveis inter-relações. É com base nisso que se constitui o objetivo do presente estudo: o de analisar diferentes fatores que possam exercer influência sobre a maneira como sentam em sala de aula e como transportam seu material escolar os escolares da Rede Municipal de Ensino Fundamental de Porto Alegre-RS. Trata-se de um estudo observacional transversal no qual foram avaliadas a postura ortostática nos planos sagital e ântero-posterior, a postura dinâmica na posição sentada para escrever em sala de aula, a adequação do mobiliário escolar à estatura dos escolares, a amplitude de movimento da coluna e das articulações coxo-femural, do joelho e do tornozelo, a dor nas costas em sala de aula e o meio e a forma de transportar o material escolar, bem como o seu peso. A amostra constituiu-se de 430 crianças e adolescentes matriculados em oito escolas municipais e mostrou-se representativa da população estudada. Para o tratamento estatístico das variáveis foi utilizada a análise de frequência, os testes t pareado e não-pareado, a análise de variância e o teste do chi-quadrado. Na posição sentada, observou-se que os participantes, meninos e meninas, de forma semelhante, utilizam pouco os critérios biomecânicos para esta ação e que o posicionamento neutro da pelve foi, entre outros critérios, o menos utilizado. O mobiliário das escolas mostrou-se inadequado para a grande maioria dos participantes. Apesar dessas características da posição sentada, não foi observada associação com dor nas costas em sala de aula, presente em 28,9% dos participantes. Sobre o transporte do material escolar, observou-se que os participantes utilizam majoritariamente a mochila nas costas com apoio sobre os dois ombros para a realização dessa tarefa, não havendo diferença entre meninos e meninas ou entre as faixas etárias. Foi observado também que o peso médio do material escolar foi de 5,46% do peso corporal, sendo que 8,5% dos participantes transportavam mais de 10% do peso corporal. Não foi observada associação da variável transporte do material escolar com a dor nas costas em sala de aula, tampouco houve correlação com os ângulos das curvas da coluna. A característica da postura ortostática dos alunos da Rede Municipal de Ensino apresentou predominância de anteriorização dos pontos anatômicos em relação ao fio de prumo. Observou-se ainda que as médias das amplitudes de movimento da coluna e das articulações coxo-femural e joelho são adequadas para a permanência na posição sentada. Os resultados obtidos apontam para o entendimento de que conhecer as características posturais dos alunos da Rede Municipal de Ensino é imprescindível na formulação de políticas de promoção de saúde, quer seja na inclusão de conteúdos específicos no Plano Político Pedagógico da escola, quer seja na adequada seleção de mesas, cadeiras e livros didáticos. Além disso, devem-se levar em conta as características da cultura local e, nesse sentido, o envolvimento de toda comunidade escolar – professores, direção, serviços, funcionários, pais e familiares – deve ser uma meta a ser atingida, a fim de que os alunos tenham o melhor aproveitamento possível na vida escolar. / Children and teenagers remain seated for a long period of time during classes and carry their school stuff in backpacks and bags. The concern about the body posture students hold when doing such activities is indispensable for finding ways of providing them more comfort. Based on the premise that posture may be understood as the way a person thinks, feels, and acts using his/her body, it is relevant that posture be evaluated in a broader way in which different variables and their possible interrelations are taken into account. Based on that, this study aimed at analyzing the different factors that may influence the way students from the municipal elementary education network in Porto Alegre - RS remain seated in classroom and carry their school stuff. In this cross-sectional observational study the following aspects were evaluated: the orthostatic posture in sagital and anterior-posterior planes; the dynamic posture while sitting and writing at the school desk; how the school chairs and desks match with the students’ anthropometrics; the range of motion of the spine and hips, knees, and ankles joints; back pain in the sitting position in classroom; and the way students carry their stuff to school and the role its weight plays in it. The sample of this study was representative of the population and comprised 430 children and teenagers from eight municipal schools. The statistical methods used to analyze the data were frequency analysis, the paired and independent samples t-tests, the chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA. In the sitting position, the observed results showed that boys and girls similarly lack in using the biomechanics principles, and that the pelvis neutral position is the less employed among these principles. Furniture in the schools was inappropriate for the majority of the participants. Despite this attested characteristics for the sitting position, no association with back pain could be observed in classroom, although 28.9% of the students suffered from it. As regards to carrying the school stuff, students mostly wear backpacks, with no differences in use between boys and girls and among their ages. The average weight carried by the participants corresponded to 5.46% of their body weight, and 8.5% of these students usually carried more than 10% of their body weight. No association could be verified between the act of carrying the school stuff and back pain in classroom. Also, no correlation could be established with the spine physiological curves of the participants. In orthostatic posture, the observed results showed that most of the students from the municipal elementary education network were anterior deviated in relation to the plumb line. Moreover, it was verified that the mean range of motion of the spine and the hips and knees joints was adequate for holding a proper sitting position. Such results suggest that knowing postural characteristics of the schoolchildren from the municipal elementary education network is highly recommended when dealing with health promotion politics, both for including this specific knowledge in the school Political-Pedagogical Project and for choosing the appropriate classroom furniture and textbooks. In this sense, local cultural characteristics must also be taken into account, and this means that the involvement of the whole school community – teachers, school managers, supervisors, employees, parents and relatives – is a target to be achieved for students to get the best benefits from their school years.

The relationship between the development of sitting postural control and of reaching during infancy has not been addressed in detail. It has recently been shown that trunk control develops starting with the head, then the upper trunk and subsequently the lower/pelvic regions. However, previous studies on infant reaching evaluated infants during supported supine or reclined sitting positions, failing to address the contributions of distinct regions of the trunk to reaching. This dissertation explores the relationship between the progression of trunk control and reaching performance in healthy infants. The effects of stabilizing the upper and lower regions of the trunk were assessed by providing vertical trunk fixation at two levels of support (thoracic and pelvic). Documentation of postural and reaching performance reflected how control of the free regions of the trunk modulated both behaviors. First, kinematic data were collected in infants aged 4-6 months who were grouped according to their sitting ability and extent of trunk control. Second, a longitudinal study was implemented in which kinematic and electromyographic recordings were collected bi-monthly from 2.5-8 months. Results from the cross-sectional study showed that postural stability and reaching kinematics of the two groups were similar when they received support at the thoracic level but differed when the support was limited to the pelvic level. Infants who were able to sit independently outperformed the infants who were unable to sit without help. These data were further expanded with the results obtained from the longitudinal study, showing that during the months prior to independent sitting, infant reaches were impoverished and were associated with a lack of postural stability when provided with pelvic, in comparison to thoracic, support. In addition, infants displayed inefficient muscle patterns in response to the instability. Differences between levels of support were not observed once infants acquired independent sitting. Taken together, these results offer detailed measures of the progression of trunk control and its relation to reaching. This raises important questions regarding whether this more specific approach may create the foundation for evaluating and improving trunk control in atypically developing populations. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material.

Crianças e adolescentes permanecem sentados por longo período durante as aulas e transportam materiais escolares em mochilas e pastas. A preocupação com a postura corporal adotada pelos alunos durante a execução dessas tarefas escolares é imprescindível para que se encontrem alternativas capazes de lhes proporcionar mais conforto. Baseado na premissa de que a postura pode ser entendida como a forma de a pessoa pensar, sentir e agir corporalmente considerou-se importante avaliá-la de uma maneira mais ampla, considerando diferentes variáveis e suas possíveis inter-relações. É com base nisso que se constitui o objetivo do presente estudo: o de analisar diferentes fatores que possam exercer influência sobre a maneira como sentam em sala de aula e como transportam seu material escolar os escolares da Rede Municipal de Ensino Fundamental de Porto Alegre-RS. Trata-se de um estudo observacional transversal no qual foram avaliadas a postura ortostática nos planos sagital e ântero-posterior, a postura dinâmica na posição sentada para escrever em sala de aula, a adequação do mobiliário escolar à estatura dos escolares, a amplitude de movimento da coluna e das articulações coxo-femural, do joelho e do tornozelo, a dor nas costas em sala de aula e o meio e a forma de transportar o material escolar, bem como o seu peso. A amostra constituiu-se de 430 crianças e adolescentes matriculados em oito escolas municipais e mostrou-se representativa da população estudada. Para o tratamento estatístico das variáveis foi utilizada a análise de frequência, os testes t pareado e não-pareado, a análise de variância e o teste do chi-quadrado. Na posição sentada, observou-se que os participantes, meninos e meninas, de forma semelhante, utilizam pouco os critérios biomecânicos para esta ação e que o posicionamento neutro da pelve foi, entre outros critérios, o menos utilizado. O mobiliário das escolas mostrou-se inadequado para a grande maioria dos participantes. Apesar dessas características da posição sentada, não foi observada associação com dor nas costas em sala de aula, presente em 28,9% dos participantes. Sobre o transporte do material escolar, observou-se que os participantes utilizam majoritariamente a mochila nas costas com apoio sobre os dois ombros para a realização dessa tarefa, não havendo diferença entre meninos e meninas ou entre as faixas etárias. Foi observado também que o peso médio do material escolar foi de 5,46% do peso corporal, sendo que 8,5% dos participantes transportavam mais de 10% do peso corporal. Não foi observada associação da variável transporte do material escolar com a dor nas costas em sala de aula, tampouco houve correlação com os ângulos das curvas da coluna. A característica da postura ortostática dos alunos da Rede Municipal de Ensino apresentou predominância de anteriorização dos pontos anatômicos em relação ao fio de prumo. Observou-se ainda que as médias das amplitudes de movimento da coluna e das articulações coxo-femural e joelho são adequadas para a permanência na posição sentada. Os resultados obtidos apontam para o entendimento de que conhecer as características posturais dos alunos da Rede Municipal de Ensino é imprescindível na formulação de políticas de promoção de saúde, quer seja na inclusão de conteúdos específicos no Plano Político Pedagógico da escola, quer seja na adequada seleção de mesas, cadeiras e livros didáticos. Além disso, devem-se levar em conta as características da cultura local e, nesse sentido, o envolvimento de toda comunidade escolar – professores, direção, serviços, funcionários, pais e familiares – deve ser uma meta a ser atingida, a fim de que os alunos tenham o melhor aproveitamento possível na vida escolar. / Children and teenagers remain seated for a long period of time during classes and carry their school stuff in backpacks and bags. The concern about the body posture students hold when doing such activities is indispensable for finding ways of providing them more comfort. Based on the premise that posture may be understood as the way a person thinks, feels, and acts using his/her body, it is relevant that posture be evaluated in a broader way in which different variables and their possible interrelations are taken into account. Based on that, this study aimed at analyzing the different factors that may influence the way students from the municipal elementary education network in Porto Alegre - RS remain seated in classroom and carry their school stuff. In this cross-sectional observational study the following aspects were evaluated: the orthostatic posture in sagital and anterior-posterior planes; the dynamic posture while sitting and writing at the school desk; how the school chairs and desks match with the students’ anthropometrics; the range of motion of the spine and hips, knees, and ankles joints; back pain in the sitting position in classroom; and the way students carry their stuff to school and the role its weight plays in it. The sample of this study was representative of the population and comprised 430 children and teenagers from eight municipal schools. The statistical methods used to analyze the data were frequency analysis, the paired and independent samples t-tests, the chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA. In the sitting position, the observed results showed that boys and girls similarly lack in using the biomechanics principles, and that the pelvis neutral position is the less employed among these principles. Furniture in the schools was inappropriate for the majority of the participants. Despite this attested characteristics for the sitting position, no association with back pain could be observed in classroom, although 28.9% of the students suffered from it. As regards to carrying the school stuff, students mostly wear backpacks, with no differences in use between boys and girls and among their ages. The average weight carried by the participants corresponded to 5.46% of their body weight, and 8.5% of these students usually carried more than 10% of their body weight. No association could be verified between the act of carrying the school stuff and back pain in classroom. Also, no correlation could be established with the spine physiological curves of the participants. In orthostatic posture, the observed results showed that most of the students from the municipal elementary education network were anterior deviated in relation to the plumb line. Moreover, it was verified that the mean range of motion of the spine and the hips and knees joints was adequate for holding a proper sitting position. Such results suggest that knowing postural characteristics of the schoolchildren from the municipal elementary education network is highly recommended when dealing with health promotion politics, both for including this specific knowledge in the school Political-Pedagogical Project and for choosing the appropriate classroom furniture and textbooks. In this sense, local cultural characteristics must also be taken into account, and this means that the involvement of the whole school community – teachers, school managers, supervisors, employees, parents and relatives – is a target to be achieved for students to get the best benefits from their school years.

abstract: Although tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia are cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD), impairments of gait and balance significantly affect quality of life, especially as the disease progresses, and do not respond well to anti-parkinsonism medications. Many studies have shown that people with PD can walk better when appropriate cues are presented but, to the best of our knowledge, the effects of real-time feedback of step length and uprightness of posture on gait and posture have not been specifically investigated. If it can be demonstrated that real-time feedback can improve posture and gait, the resultant knowledge could be used to design effective rehabilitation strategies to improve quality of life in this population. In this feasibility study, we have developed a treadmill-based experimental paradigm to provide feedback of step length and upright posture in real-time. Ten subjects (mean age 65.9 ± 7.6 years) with mild to moderate PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage III or below) were evaluated in their ability to successfully utilize real-time feedback presented during quiet standing and treadmill walking tasks during a single data collection session in their medication-on state. During quiet standing tasks in which back angle feedback was provided, subjects were asked to utilize the feedback to maintain upright posture. During treadmill walking tasks, subjects walked at their self-selected speed for five minutes without feedback, with feedback of back angle, or with feedback of step length. During walking tasks with back angle feedback, subjects were asked to utilize the feedback to maintain upright posture. During walking tasks with step length feedback, subjects were asked to utilize the feedback to walk with increased step length. During quiet standing tasks, measurements of back angle were obtained; during walking tasks, measurements of back angle, step length, and step time were obtained. Subjects stood and walked with significantly increased upright posture during the tasks with real-time back angle feedback compared to tasks without feedback. Similarly, subjects walked with significantly increased step length during tasks with real-time step length feedback compared to tasks without feedback. These results demonstrate that people with PD can utilize real-time feedback to improve upright posture and gait. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Bioengineering 2014

abstract: Progressive gait disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD) is usually exhibited as reduced step/stride length and gait speed. People with PD also exhibit stooped posture, which can contribute to reduced step length and arm swing. Since gait and posture deficits in people with PD do not respond well to pharmaceutical and surgical treatments, novel rehabilitative therapies to alleviate these impairments are necessary. Many studies have confirmed that people with PD can improve their walking patterns when external cues are presented. Only a few studies have provided explicit real-time feedback on performance, but they did not report how well people with PD can follow the cues on a step-by-step basis. In a single-session study using a novel-treadmill based paradigm, our group had previously demonstrated that people with PD could follow step-length and back angle feedback and improve their gait and posture during treadmill walking. This study investigated whether a long-term (6-week, 3 sessions/week) real-time feedback training (RTFT) program can improve overground gait, upright posture, balance, and quality of life. Three subjects (mean age 70 ± 2 years) with mild to moderate PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage III or below) were enrolled and participated in the program. The RTFT sessions involved walking on a treadmill while following visual feedback of step length and posture (one at any given time) displayed on a monitor placed in front of the subject at eye-level. The target step length was set between 110-120% of the step length obtained during a baseline non-feedback walking trial and the target back angle was set at the maximum upright posture exhibited during a quiet standing task. Two subjects were found to significantly improve their posture and overground walking at post-training and these changes were retained six weeks after RTFT (follow-up) and the third subject improved his upright posture and gait rhythmicity. Furthermore, the magnitude of the improvements observed in these subjects was greater than the improvements observed in reports on other neuromotor interventions. These results provide preliminary evidence that real-time feedback training can be used as an effective rehabilitative strategy to improve gait and upright posture in people with PD. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biomedical Engineering 2017

Title: Impact of specific stick on the effectiveness of the basketball shooting. Objectives: The objective of this assignment is to proof better effectiveness of the basketball player's shooting of free throws by using the specific stick Propriomed. Methods: The base of the experiment is noting the results of free throw shooting with use of Propriomed and without Propriomed. The experiment was performed on the beginning of the training. There were invited 17 probands in age of 25-30. Out of that 12 probands were randomly selected to special group and 5 were given to control group. The test group was established by basketball players from BLC Sparta Praha B. There was used Propriomed 100/3. Results: We recognized that there was significant improvement in free throw shooting with using Propriomed. There was slightly better effectiveness in the beginning of the training than in the end. Players subjective feedback given was stated as "easiness shooting hand". Also more attempts were directly scored to basket, when the ball not touched the ring or the board. Conclusion: Exercise with Propriomed is useful for basketball player's during the training of shooting. Keywords: Propriomed- shooting - basketball - posture

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-10-15Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:37:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 giovanetti_col_me_guara.pdf: 518381 bytes, checksum: ddfdeaa86ef27663b67237c1b7d951da (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente estudo teve por objetivo estimar a pressão plantar em indivíduos com e sem dor temporomandibular, antes e após a intervenção fisioterapêutica manual na porção cervical. Na metodologia, utilizou-se uma plataforma de força para aquisição da distribuição das pressões plantares dos pés em duas etapas: antes e após a intervenção. Foram comparadas as forças plantares das porções ântero-medial, ânterolateral, postero-medial e postero-lateral dos pés, as quais foram quantificadas e comparadas entre os pés direito e esquerdo dos indivíduos com e sem dor antes e após a manobra fisioterapêutica. Nas comparações entre as médias dos ensaios anteriores e posteriores à intervenção fisioterapêutica para as situações com e sem sintomatologia dolorosa foi utilizado o teste não paramétrico Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon, através do programa SSPS 15.0. As comparações dos valores médios do grupo com e sem sintomatologia dolorosa foram feitas comparando a força em cada sensor antes e depois do pé direito e esquerdo e para sensores de mesma localização antes e depois de pés diferentes. O nível de significância estatística adotado foi = 10%. Participaram 20 indivíduos de ambos os sexos, sendo 8 com dor e 12 sem dor, com idade entre 16 e 60 anos, sem qualquer queixa ou indício de outras doenças ortopédicas e/ou neurológicas. Nas comparações entre as médias de mesma posição em pés diferentes para os sujeitos com e sem dor houve maior significância estatística em detrimento das comparações entre as médias antes e depois da intervenção, isto é, dos mesmos pés. Além disso, houve um aumento na pressão plantar no retropé, o que leva a uma hipótese de menor carga distribuída nas demais porções dos pés, mesmo que não se saiba se a compensação se deu em porção dos mesopés ou do antepés. / The present study has the aim of making a research into the plantar pressure, by investigating those ones with or without temporomandibular pain, before and after a manual physicaltherapy intervention in cervical portion. In the methodology, it was used a force plataform for the acquisition of the plantar pressure distribution in two times: just before and just after the intervention. It was compared the plantar strength of the front-medial, front-lateral, back-medial e back-lateral portions of the feet. They were quantified and compared between the right and left feet of those with and without pain just before just after the manual therapy. It was used the non-parametric test Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon, using the SSPS 15.0 program to compare the medias of the essays. In the comparision of the medium values of the group with and without pain, it was compared each of the sensor stenght of the right and the left feet before and after and between them before and after in different feet. The statistic significance level was = 10%. Twenty people participated of both sexes, 8 with pain and 12 without it, between 18 e 60 years old, without any claim or symptom of orthopedic or neurological deseases. In the comparision of the medias of same position in different feet, for those with and without pain, there was more satistical significance than the comparision between the medias before and after the intervention of the same feet. More over, there was an increase of the plantar pressure of the back portions of the feet that could be compensed by the medium or front portion of one foot or the feet.

abstract: Gait and balance disorders are the second leading cause of falls in the elderly. Investigating the changes in static and dynamic balance due to aging may provide a better understanding of the effects of aging on postural control system. Static and dynamic balance were evaluated in a total of 21 young (21-35 years) and 22 elderly (50-75 years) healthy subjects while they performed three different tasks: quiet standing, dynamic weight shifts, and over ground walking. During the quiet standing task, the subjects stood with their eyes open and eyes closed. When performing dynamic weight shifts task, subjects shifted their Center of Pressure (CoP) from the center target to outward targets and vice versa while following real-time feedback of their CoP. For over ground walking tasks, subjects performed Timed Up and Go test, tandem walking, and regular walking at their self-selected speed. Various quantitative balance and gait measures were obtained to evaluate the above respective balance and walking tasks. Total excursion, sway area, and mean frequency of CoP during quiet standing were found to be the most reliable and showed significant increase with age and absence of visual input. During dynamic shifts, elderly subjects exhibited higher initiation time, initiation path length, movement time, movement path length, and inaccuracy indicating deterioration in performance. Furthermore, the elderly walked with a shorter stride length, increased stride variability, with a greater turn and turn-to-sit duration. Significant correlations were also observed between measures derived from the different balance and gait tasks. Thus, it can be concluded that aging deteriorates the postural control system affecting static and dynamic balance and some of the alterations in CoP and gait measures may be considered as protective mechanisms to prevent loss of balance. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Bioengineering 2014

As alterações posturais da coluna vertebral, em especial a escoliose por ser um problema ortopédico funcional ou estrutural encontrado na infância e na adolescência, trazem riscos de evolução e devem ser diagnosticados e tratados o mais precocemente possível. Nosso objetivo foi avaliar a prevalência de postura escoliótica em escolares de uma escola pública e uma privada do ensino fundamental do município de Guarapuava-PR, bem como identificar a altura e o lado da convexidade das curvaturas escolióticas e a presença de gibosidade em relação à faixa etária e ao sexo dos sujeitos envolvidos. Esta pesquisa é de cunho quantitativo e trata-se de um estudo transversal não experimental. A coleta de dados foi realizada em duas escolas do município de Guarapuava, sendo uma privada e outra pública, em agosto de 2005. Envolveu 964 escolares de ambos os sexos, respeitando-se os princípios éticos estabelecidos na Resolução nº196 do CNS/MS, sendo previamente aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto-USP. A avaliação postural utilizada no presente trabalho foi elaborada considerando-se o alinhamento vertebral descrito Loudon, Bell Johnston (1999) e a partir de observações clínicas propostas por Santos (2001) e também a pesquisa de gibosidade, preconizada por Cailliet (1977). Quando foi detectada uma alteração postural, os pais ou responsáveis do escolar avaliado receberam uma carta de comunicação, na qual sugerimos a investigação diagnóstica através de exames complementares em consulta a um especialista de sua preferência. Os dados coletados foram descritos através da utilização do Software Statistical Package for Social Siences (SPSS, 1999). Entre os 655 escolares avaliados, detectamos, em ambos os sexos, 26% de posturas escolióticas, sendo 53% de curvaturas torácicas à esquerda e 20% à direita, 13% de toracolombares à esquerda e 6% à direita e 2% de lombares à esquerda. Não detectamos curvaturas lombares à direita como curvas únicas, somente em associações de duplas curvas, que correspondem a 6%. Nossos resultados foram semelhantes aos de outras pesquisas sobre posturas escolióticas e discutidos em relação à literatura referente sobre prevalência de escoliose estruturada ou não. Com base nestes resultados reforçamos a necessidade de programas preventivos como o rastreamento de posturas escolióticas durante a fase escolar, considerando-se que as alterações de postura podem ser uma das causas de agravamento de distúrbios da coluna vertebral na fase adulta, os quais apresentam, no Brasil, um alto índice de afastamento ao trabalho ou aposentadoria por invalidez. Faz-se necessário o estabelecimento de parcerias com outros profissionais da área da saúde para a implantação de ações preventivas e de diretrizes que promovam a saúde do escolar, principalmente sistematizando pesquisas periódicas para detecção de distúrbios vertebrais. / The posture alterations in the vertebral column, especially when there is scoliosis, which may be a functional or structural orthopedic problem found in childhood or adolescence, need to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible, since there is a chance for scoliosis to develop and get worse. Our aim with the present work was to study the prevalence of scoliosis posture in pupils from a public and a private primary/junior high school in Guarapuava-PR, as well as identify the size of the scoliosis curvatures, the side of their convexity, and if there was gibbosity concerning the participants age and gender. The present research has a quantitative purpose, and it is a transversal and not experimental study. The data were collected in two different schools in Guarapuava-PR (one school is private and the other is public) in August 2005. We studied 964 male/female pupils, respecting the ethical principles of the CNS/MS 196 Resolution, and all the search procedures had the approval of the Ethic Committee of the Nursing School of Ribeirão Preto-USP. The postural evaluation we used in the present work was elaborated from the vertebral alignment described by Loudon and Bell Johnston (1999), from clinical observations suggested by Santos (2001), and from the gibbosity research recommended by Cailliet (1977). If we found a postural alteration in the participant pupil, we sent their parents or the relative in charge of them a letter, advising them to seek a professional of their preference in order to diagnose the problem with complementary examinations. The collected data were described with the help of the Software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, 1999). From the 655 female/male participant pupils, we found that 26% of them had scoliosis postures: 53% with thoracic curvatures on the left and 20% on the right, 13% with thoracolumbar on the left and 6% on the right, and 2% with lumber on the left. We didn t find any lumbar curvatures on the right as single curves, but only in association with double curves, which correspond to 6% of the participant female/male pupils having posture problems. Our results were similar to those of other pieces of work related to scoliosis posture, and their discussion was based on the literature about the prevalence of structured or not structured scoliosis. From the results of the present study, we reinforce the necessity of prevention programs such as the diagnosis of scoliosis posture during the primary/junior high school period. We need to consider that the posture alterations may be one of the causes that lead to vertebral column disorders in adulthood. In Brazil, there is a high level of people who stop working or retire due to their disability caused by column disorders. It is necessary to establish partnerships with other health professionals in other to consolidate prevention programs and plans which improve the pupils health, especially by carrying out frequent research that seeks to find vertebral disorders in them.

Durante diferentes atividades cotidianas ou esportivas o ser humano é submetido a desafios unilaterais que podem estar relacionados à performance de uma tarefa específica ou a própria manutenção de sua postura. Portanto, é natural o desenvolvimento motor de um membro em relação ao outro para tarefas específicas, desde que estas sejam repetidas de forma não simétrica. Desta forma, pode-se supor que sujeitos que possuam maiores estresses físicos unilaterais apresentem maior probabilidade em desenvolver assimetrias funcionais e morfológicas. O presente trabalho apresenta três diferentes experimentos visando investigar as assimetrias funcionais e morfológicas relacionadas ao controle de movimento para tarefas dinâmicas e estáticas em diferentes condições e grupos. O primeiro experimento visou investigar as diferenças, entre os membros inferiores, no controle de movimento entre sedentários e atletas, utilizando para isto a postura ereta quieta e o salto com contra-movimento nas condições bipedais e unipedais. O segundo experimento visou investigar o efeito da fadiga neuromuscular unilateral e bilateral no controle de movimento, entre membros, durante o salto com contra-movimento e a postura ereta quieta bipedal. O terceiro experimento objetivou investigar o efeito prolongado da temporada esportiva no controle de movimento, entre membros, de atletas, utilizando o salto com contra-movimento e a postura ereta quieta nas condições unipedal e bipedal. Inicialmente, o presente trabalho concluiu que não parece existir relação entre as diferenças antropométricas e funcionais. Indivíduos sedentários e atletas possuem diferenças entre os membros inferiores, entretanto supõe-se que os mecanismos relacionados à tais fenômenos não sejam os mesmos, como no caso dos sedentários, onde as assimetrias poderiam estar relacionadas ao pobre controle de força, sinergismo e padrão de coordenação.. Analisando as diferenças entre sedentários e atletas foram observadas semelhanças em relação ao nível de assimetria para algumas variáveis analisadas. Deve-se considerar que os atletas analisados estavam no início da temporada esportiva, e possivelmente sem grande influência dos efeitos do treinamento prolongado. Para testar a hipótese do efeito prolongado, o terceiro experimento foi realizado e observou-se que a temporada esportiva não afetou todas as variáveis relacionadas ao controle de movimento estático e dinâmico em atletas e os maiores efeitos foram verificados durante as tarefas bipedais. Além disto, a fadiga neuromuscular também influenciou o controle de movimento em sedentários, produzindo ajustes compensatórios em algumas variáveis, principalmente nos ângulos articulares. Entretanto, as assimetrias previamente observadas não parecem serem alteradas durante as diferentes condições de fadiga neuromuscular. Para a tarefa dinâmica bipedal, observou-se que para todas as variáveis analisadas (ângulos articulares, parâmetros de desempenho e atividade muscular) apresentaram assimetrias. Curiosamente, se observa tendência à maior ativação do membro contra-lateral em função do membro fatigado. Portanto, o presente estudo ressalta o efeito do nível de condicionamento, o efeito da fadiga e do treinamento prolongado no controle de movimento dos membros inferiores em tarefas com diferentes demandas motoras bipedais e unipedais / The human body is exposed to different unilateral challenges during different daily and sportive tasks. These challenges may either be related to specific-task performance or posture maintenance. Thus, it is natural the increase of motor control in one limb related to another during specific tasks and movements. It can be assumed that individuals exposed to higher physical unilateral stress show greater probability to develop functional and morphological asymmetries. The present study shows three different experiments in order to investigate the functional and morphological asymmetries related to the motor control for dynamic and static tasks in different conditions and groups. The first experiment aimed to investigate the differences between the lower limbs, related to the motor control between sedentary and athletes during two tasks: quiet stance and countermovement jump in bi- and unipedal conditions. The second experiment aimed to investigate the effect of neuromuscular fatigue on uni- and bilateral tasks related to the motor control between lower limbs during both double-leg tasks: countermovement jump and quiet stance. The third experiment aimed to investigate the effect of prolonged sportive season in motor control, between lower limbs, during two tasks: quiet stance and countermovement jump in bi- and unipedal conditions. We concluded that there was no correlation between the anthropometric and functional asymmetries. Both sedentary and athlete groups had differences between the lower limbs in several variables, however it is assumed that the mechanisms related to such phenomena are not the same. There were similarities between sedentary and athlete groups related to the level of asymmetry for some variables. We must consider that the athletes were analyzed at the beginning of the sportive season, without the training influence. To verify the prolonged effect hypothesis, the third experiment was conducted and it was observed that the sportive season did not affect all the variables related to the motor control and the greatest effects were observed during the bipedal tasks. In addition to that, the neuromuscular fatigue influenced the control of movement in the sedentary group, showing compensatory adjustments in some variables, especially in the maximal joint angles. However, we observed that the asymmetries did not change during different neuromuscular fatigue conditions. During the bipedal dynamic task it was observed asymmetries in all variables (joint angles, performance parameters and muscle activity). Interestingly, it was also observed the trend to higher activation of the contra-lateral lower limb during the fatigued limb. So, this study highlights the effect of the conditioning levels, the neuromuscular fatigue effect and the prolonged training to the motor control of the lower limbs in different tasks and conditions