Design of sway frames

The aim of the work presented in this thesis is to produce a direct method to design structures subject to deflection constraints at the working loads. The work carried out can be divided into four main parts. In the first part, a direct design procedure for plane steel frames subjected to sway limitations is proposed. The stiffness equations are modified so that the sway in each storey is equal to some specified values. The modified equations are then solved by iteration to calculate the cross-sectional properties of the columns as well as the other joint displacements. The beam sections are selected initially and then altered in an effort to reduce the total material cost of the frame. A linear extrapolation technique is used to reduce this cost. In this design, stability functions are used so that the effect of axial loads in the members are taken into consideration. The final reduced cost design is checked for strength requirements and the members are altered accordingly. In the second part, the design method is applied to the design of reinforced concrete frames in which the sway in the columns play an active part in the design criteria. The second moment of area of each column is obtained by solving the modified stiffness equations and then used to calculate the mlnlmum column depth required. Again the frame has to be checked for all the ultimate limit state load cases. In the third part, the method is generalised to design pin-jointed space frames for deflection limitatlions. In these the member areas are calculated so that the deflection at a specified joint is equal to its specified value. In the final part, the Lagrange multiplier technique is employed to obtain an optimum design for plane rigidly jointed steel frames. The iteration technique is used here to solve the modified stiffness equations as well as derivative equations obtained in accordance to the requirements of the optimisation method.

Balance and gait in children with dyslexia

Tests of postural stability have provided some evidence of a link between deficits in gross motor skills and developmental dyslexia. The ordinal-level scales used previously, however, have limited measurement sensitivity, and no studies have investigated motor performance during walking in participants with dyslexia. The purpose of this study was to investigate if continuous-scaled measures of standing balance and gait could discriminate between groups of impaired and normal readers when investigators were blind to group membership during testing. Children with dyslexia (n=22) and controls (n=18), aged 10-12 years, performed walking tests at four different speeds (slow-preferred-fast-very fast) on an even and an uneven surface, and tests of unperturbed and perturbed body sway during standing. Body movements were registered by a triaxial accelerometer over the lower trunk, and measures of reaction time, body sway, walking speed, step length and cadence were calculated. Results were controlled for gender differences. Tests of standing balance with eyes closed did not discriminate between groups. All unperturbed standing tests with eyes open showed significant group differences (P<0.05) and classified correctly 70-77.5% of the subjects into their respective groups. Mean walking speed during very fast walking on both flat and uneven surface was ≥0.2 m/s (P≤0.01) faster for controls than for the group with dyslexia. This test classified 77.5% and 85% of the subjects correctly on flat and uneven surface, respectively Cadence at preferred or very fast speed did not differ statistically between groups, but revealed significant group differences when all subjects were compared at a normalised walking speed (P≤0.04). Very fast walking speed as well as cadence at a normalised speed discriminated better between groups when subjects were walking on an uneven surface compared to a flat floor. Continuous-scaled walking tests performed in field settings may be suitable for motor skill assessment as a component of a screening tool for developmental dyslexia.

Postural control is not systematically related to reading skills:implications for the assessment of balance as a risk factor for developmental dyslexia

Impaired postural control has been associated with poor reading skills, as well as with lower performance on measures of attention and motor control variables that frequently co-occur with reading difficulties. Measures of balance and motor control have been incorporated into several screening batteries for developmental dyslexia, but it is unclear whether the relationship between such skills and reading manifests as a behavioural continuum across the range of abilities or is restricted to groups of individuals with specific disorder phenotypes. Here were obtained measures of postural control alongside measures of reading, attention and general cognitive skills in a large sample of young adults (n = 100). Postural control was assessed using centre of pressure (CoP) measurements, obtained over 5 different task conditions. Our results indicate an absence of strong statistical relationships between balance measures with either reading, cognitive or attention measures across the sample as a whole. © 2014 Loras et al.

The use of treatment theories and procedures for postural control in adult with hemiplegia: A national survey

This study investigated the use of treatment theories and procedures for postural control training used by Occupational Therapists (OTs) when working with hemiplegic adults who have had cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or traumatic brain injury (TBI). The method of data collection was a national survey of 400 randomly selected physical disability OTs with 127 usable surveys returned. Results showed that the most common used treatment theory was neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT), followed by motor relearning program (MRP), proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), Brunnstrom's approach, and the approach of Rood. The most common treatment posture used was sitting, followed by standing, mat activity, equilibrium reaction training, and walking. The factors affecting the use of various treatment theories procedures were years certified, years of clinical experience, work situation and work status. Pearson correlation coefficient analyses found significant positive relationships between treatment theories and postures. There were significant high correlations between usage of all pairs of treatment procedures. ^

Alterações de equilíbrio postural e qualidade de vida em mulheres no ciclo gravídico puerperal

INTRODUCTION: The pregnancy and childbirth cause many changes in a woman's life, whether physical, hormonal, emotional or social. Such changes may affect the postural balance and the quality of life of women in pregnancy and may persist after delivery. To analyze changes in postural balance and quality of life in women in pregnancy and postpartum. METHODS: This study consisted of 47 women participants of the Course for Pregnant Women of the Department of Physical Therapy at UFRN, evaluated during pregnancy (2° or 3° trimester) and in the period 1-8 months postpartum. In all participants was evaluated the postural balance, the Balance Master® in five specific tests: (1) Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction on Balance-MCTSIB; (2) Rhythmic Weight Shift Test - RWS (3) unilateral stance - US, (4) Sit to Stand - STS, and (5) Walk Across - WA. The quality of life (QoL) was assessed by applying the Quality Score of life Ferrans & Powers (IQVFP), both during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. For statistical analysis we used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software for Personal Computer- SPSS (version 20.0), applying the tests: Shapiro-Wilk to assess the normality of the data; Chi-square to analyze the frequency of postural balance changes in the two groups of pregnancy and postpartum in both groups; McNemar test to analyze balance disorders frequency of related samples in the two time points; to compare the behavior of postural balance during pregnancy and postpartum, and to compare the QoL between the periods, we used the Wilcoxon test; and yet, the MannWhitney test to compare the QoL scores in the two groups of pregnancy and postpartum in both groups. We adopted p-value <0.05. RESULTS: Comparing the postural balance during pregnancy and postpartum in MSTSIB test has statistical difference in unstable surface with closed eyes (p=0.001) and in the US test, the speed of oscillation with right leg with eyes closed (p=0,03). Quality of life, there was statistical difference between the scores only among postpartum groups, the family domain (p=0.03); and to comparing pregnancy and postpartum in domain health and operation (p=0.02) and the Socioeconomic domain (p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: It was observed that the balance changes present during pregnancy persist postpartum, and the quality of life is considered good by women, both during pregnancy and postpartum.

The association of antihypertensives with postural blood pressure and falls among seniors residing in the community : a case control study

Date of Acceptance: 22/07/2015 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The association of antihypertensives with postural blood pressure and falls among seniors residing in the community : a case control study

Date of Acceptance: 22/07/2015 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The association of antihypertensives with postural blood pressure and falls among seniors residing in the community : a case control study

Date of Acceptance: 22/07/2015 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Aspects of postural alignment and postural control relevant for the evaluation and the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis patients

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Aspects of postural alignment and postural control relevant for the evaluation and the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis patients

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Hidroginástica postural : Reflexões e ações

A hidroginástica é uma prática de exercício física praticada em todo o mundo e caracteriza-se por ser de baixo impacto. O presente estudo tem como foco de açao o projeto de extensao intitulado "Hidroginástica Postural Inter geracional para todos" que objetiva oferecer um espaço de hidroginástica a comunidade de Santa Maria\RS. A finalidade desse estudo consiste em relatar a intervençao profissional junto ao projeto de Hidroginástica postural. A metodologia do trabalho consiste em um relato de experiência de como as aulas de hidroginástica sao desenvolvidas no projeto. O projeto de extensao "Hidroginástica Inter geracional para todos" oferta um espaço de exercício no meio líquido a fim de contribuir com a saúde de seus praticantes e atua diretamente na melhoria do quadro clínico de seus alunos. Além do mais, esse projeto possibilita a inserçao de acadêmicos no meio profissional, promovendo um espaço de açao\reflexao sobre as aulas de hidroginástica, contribuindo como o processo formativo dos acadêmicos de Educaçao Física