We investigated finger strength and the ability to control digit force/torque production in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) using manipulative tasks with different kinetic redundancies (KNR). Age-related changes in finger strength and finger force/torque control in typically developing (TD) children were also examined to provide a developmental landscape that allows a comparison with children with DCD. Forty-eight TD children (7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds) and sixteen 9-year-old children with DCD participated in the study. Three isometric tasks with different KNR were tested: constant index finger pressing force production (KNR=0), constant thumb-index finger pinching force production (KNR=1), and constant thumb-index finger torque production (KNR=5). Each subject performed two conditions for each isometric task: maximum voluntary force/torque production and constant force/torque control (40% of maximum force/torque). The results showed that the maximum force/torque production increased and the variability of constant force/torque control decreased with age in all tasks in TD children. Children with DCD showed larger variability than TD children in the constant thumb-index finger pinching torque production. These results suggest that children with DCD, as compared to TD children, are capable of producing the same level of maximum finger force, but have poor control in manipulation tasks with a large number of kinetic redundancies. Keywords motor redundancy; finger force control; development; children; DCD For successful achievement of everyday manipulative tasks, the central nervous system (CNS) is required to control digit-tip forces and moments. During a simple multi-digit prehension task, the hand provides an infinite number of digit-tip contact force and torque solutions available to achieve the motor task. This problem is commonly referred to as motor redundancy [5;28], which requires the CNS to find a solution from the many available kinetic variables. Previous studies have addressed the problem of motor redundancy in manipulative tasks of adults, specifically during prehension of hand-held objects [24;25;29]. However, far less attention has been drawn to how children solve the problem of motor redundancy and no studies have examined how children with motor difficulties such as those with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) [2] handle this problem.

The prevalence of underweight was less than 5% in all categories of age and gender. However, the categories of overweight and obesity showed higher values, and together comprised almost 30% of the young Brazilian population; moreover, a trend toward increase in prevalence of obesity was observed up to the year 2008, followed by the maintenance of these high prevalence rates.

It has been previously reported that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) struggle with fine adjustments of finger forces while manipulating an object. However, impairments in everyday activities can not only be attributed to difficulties with the linear forces applied on an object, but also to the application of rotational forces (torque). This study examined finger strength and isometric torque control in elderly persons with PD. Six individuals with PD (66.1 +/- 0.7 years), six elderly healthy controls (65.3 +/- 0.2 years) matched by age, gender and handedness, and six young adults (22.3 +/- 0.2 years) participated in this study. The subjects were asked to perform two tasks: maximum voluntary thumb-index pinching torque production (MVT) and constant isometric thumb-index torque control at 40% of their MVT for 20 s. The results showed decreased strength and increased difficulty in isometric torque control in individuals with PD as compared to their healthy peers. This study demonstrates that PD affects isometric finger torque production and control.

The objective of this study was to investigate if the use of augmented visual feedback would improve the learning of the pedaling technique in the recovery phase. Nineteen people from 14 to 16 years old with no experience in cycling divided in experimental (n=10) and control (n=9) groups took part in this study. Initially, two evaluations were performed to determine the maximal oxygen uptake and work load. Right after the second evaluation seven pedaling practice sections were performed and after the last one a post test was conducted. After a week a retention test was performed. The results showed that both groups increased their performance, but the experimental group showed better results in the retention test. It was concluded that the augmented visual feedback could be considered a more appropriate tool for teaching of cycling.

INTRODUÇÃO: No contexto da cronicidade da AIDS, escassos estudos avaliaram variáveis de aptidão física em crianças e adolescentes; entretanto, com adultos têm-se registrado a importância da adesão aos exercícios físicos associados à TARV para melhorar essas variáveis. OBJETIVO: Identificar as características imunológicas, virológicas e as variáveis flexibilidade (FLEX) e força de resistência abdominal (FRA) de crianças e adolescentes portadores de HIV/AIDS em uso de TARV. MÉTODO: Estudo transversal realizado no Ambulatório de HIV/AIDS em Pediatria do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. A amostra foi obtida consecutivamente por 63 pacientes (dez crianças e 53 adolescentes), de ambos os sexos, entre sete e 17 anos. A análise dos dados foi realizada no SPSS, versão 18.0, (p < 0,05). Para comparar as médias foi utilizado o teste t de Student pareado. RESULTADOS: O tempo médio de diagnóstico do HIV e da TARV atual foram 11 ± 3,42 anos e 40 ± 32,78 meses. A forma de transmissão prevalente foi a transmissão vertical (98,42%). A carga viral indetectável foi identificada em 73,1%. A contagem de T CD4+ e T CD8+, bem como sua relação, apresentaram as médias de 932,25 ± 445,53 células/ml, 1.018 ± 671,23 células/ml e 0,90 ± 0,41. Nas variáveis FLEX e FRA, independente do sexo, houve maior proporção de crianças e adolescentes classificadas abaixo dos pontos de corte. Observou-se diferença significativa entre a FRA e seus respectivos pontos de corte no período de diagnóstico do HIV (p = 0,032), T CD4+ (p = 0,008) e na carga viral (p = 0,030). Houve diferença significativa entre a FLEX e seus respectivos pontos de corte nas variáveis T CD4+/T CD8+ (p = 0,022) e na carga viral (p = 0,040). CONCLUSÃO: Os resultados demonstraram que existe uma estabilidade nas características imunológicas e virológicas, porém, níveis indesejados de aptidão física nas variáveis FLEX e FRA.