Back pain in Portuguese schoolchildren: prevalence and risk factors

2 Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention In Sport, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Portugal Background: Regarding children aged _10 years, only a few international studies were conducted to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for back pain. Although other studies on the older Portuguese children point to prevalence between 17% and 39%, none exists for this specific age-group. Thus, the aim of this study was conducted to establish the prevalence of and risk factors for back pain in schoolchildren aged 7–10 years. Methods: A cross-sectional survey among 637 children was conducted. A self-rating questionnaire was used to verify prevalence and duration of back pain, life habits, school absence, medical treatments or limitation of activities. For posture assessment, photographic records with a bio-photogrammetric analysis were used to obtain data about head, acromion and pelvic alignment, horizontal alignment of the scapulae, vertical alignment of the trunk and vertical body alignment. Results: Postural problems were found in 25.4% of the children, especially in the 8- and 9-year-old groups. Back pain occurs in 12.7% with the highest values among the 7- and 10-year-old children. The probability of back pain increased 7 times when the children presented a history of school absences, 4.3 times when they experienced sleeping difficulties, 4.4 times when school furniture was uncomfortable, 4.7 times if the children perceived an occurrence of parental back pain and 2.5 times when children presented incorrect posture. Conclusions: The combination of school absences, parental pain, sleeping difficulties, inappropriate school furniture and postural deviations at the sagittal and frontal planes seem to prove the multifactorial aetiology of back pain.

Students’ reading behavior: digital vs. print preferences in portuguese context

The aim of this paper is to present the main Portuguese results from a multi-national study on reading format preferences and behaviors from undergraduate students from Polytechnic Institute of Porto (Portugal). For this purpose we apply an adaptation of the Academic Reading Questionnaire previously created by Mizrachi (2014). This survey instrument has 14 Likert-style statements regarding the format influence in the students reading behavior, including aspects such as ability to remember, feelings about access convenience, active engagement with the text by highlighting and annotating, and ability to review and concentrate on the text. The importance of the language and dimension of the text to determine the preference format is also inquired. Students are also asked about the electronic device they use to read digital documents. Finally, some demographic and academic data were gathered. The analysis of the results will be contextualized on a review of the literature concerning youngsters reading format preferences. The format (digital or print) in which a text is displayed and read can impact comprehension, which is an important information literacy skill. This is a quite relevant issue for class readings in academic context because it impacts learning. On the other hand, students preferences on reading formats will influence the use of library services. However, literature is not unanimous on this subject. Woody, Daniel and Baker (2010) concluded that the experience of reading is not the same in electronic or print context and that students prefer print books than e-books. This thesis is reinforced by Ji, Michaels and Waterman (2014) which report that among 101 undergraduates the large majority self-reported to read and learn more when they use printed format despite the fact that they prefer electronically supplied readings instead of those supplied in printed form. On the other side, Rockinson-Szapkiw, et al (2013) conducted a study were they demonstrate that e-textbook is as effective for learning as the traditional textbook and that students who choose e-textbook had significantly higher perceived learning than students who chose to use print textbooks.

Information professionals in business context: new professionals, old skills

This communication aims to present some reflections regarding the importance of information in organizational context, especially in business context. The ability to produce and to share expertise and knowledge among its employees is now a key factor in the success of any organization. However, it’s also true that workers are increasingly feeling that too much information can hurt their performance. The existence of skilled professionals able to organize, evaluate, select and disseminate information in organizations appears to be a prerequisite for success. The skills necessary for the formation of a professional devoted to the management of information and knowledge in the context of business organizations will be analysed. Then data collected in two focus group discussion with students from a graduate course in Business Information, from Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal, a will be examined.

Spatiotemporal mechanisms for actomyosin ring assembly and contraction in budding yeast cell division

Dissertation presented to obtain the Ph.D degree in Molecular Medicine

Potencial geopolítico da língua portuguesa para Timor-Leste

Dissertação de mestrado em Relações Internacionais

Fronteira, religião, cidade: o papel da igreja católica no processo de organização sócio-espacial de Fátima do Sul/MS (1943-1965)

Pós-graduação em História - FCLAS

Reinterpretando o Concílio Vaticano II: Impactos da Hermenêutica da Continuidade na música litúrgica católica do presente

In this paper, we asked whether a new interpretation given by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI - to Vatican Council II, the Hermeneutics of Continuity can have an impact or have impacted yet the musical practice of the Roman Catholic liturgy. According to the Hermeneutics of Continuity, the council shall not constitute a break with previous liturgical practices, but a continuation of an organic movement. The analyses of data obtained from the literature and documentary procedures presented here were based on social autopoietic systems theory by Niklas Luhmann and on the concept of invented tradition by Eric Hobsbawm. We conclude that the Hermeneutics of Continuity has proved to be more a reform of the reform than the reconciliation between two musical and liturgical practices.

Constitutive models for biodegradable thermoplastic ropes for ligament repair

The concept behind a biodegradable ligament device is to temporarily replace the biomechanical functions of the ruptured ligament, while it progressively regenerates its capacities. However, there is a lack of methods to predict the mechanical behaviour evolution of the biodegradable devices during degradation, which is an important aspect of the project. In this work, a hyper elastic constitutive model will be used to predict the mechanical behaviour of a biodegradable rope made of aliphatic polyesters. A numerical approach using ABAQUS is presented, where the material parameters of the model proposal are automatically updated in correspondence to the degradation time, by means of a script in PYTHON. In this method we also use a User Material subroutine (UMAT) to apply a failure criterion base on the strength that decreases according to a first order differential equation. The parameterization of the material model proposal for different degradation times were achieved by fitting the theoretical curves with the experimental data of tensile tests on fibres. To model all the rope behaviour we had considered one step of homogenisation considering the fibres architectures in an elementary volume. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pastoral del Excmo. y Rvmo. señor Arzobispo sobre el divorcio.

"Mandada publicar por la Unión Católica del Uruguay."

Oorkondenboek van het Sticht Utrecth tot 1301 /

Imprint varies.

L'église de Paris pendant la révolution française, 1789-1801,

Mode of access: Internet.

Freiburger Diözesan-Archiv.

Publication suspended, 1942-1948.

Die katholische Lehre von der Höllenfahrt Jesu Christi /

Spine title: Kœrber's Hœllenfahrt.

Memorie e documenti per servire all'istoria di Lucca.

Vol. 4 of the work contains the ecclesiastical history of the city of Lucca, Tuscany.

Mandements, lettres pastorales et circulaires des évêques de Québec,

Mode of access: Internet.