Usage Of Handheld Devices Research Articles

Mobile phone usage among Nigerians: Risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries and preventive strategies.

The increase in the usage of hand-held devices (HHDs) and smartphones (SPs), especially in Nigeria has resulted in an upsurge of musculoskeletal complaints. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries due to mobile phone usage among Nigerians and the preventive strategies. This study involved 630 male and female participants above 18 years old who were purposively recruited across designated study centres in public places. The instrument used was a questionnaire specifically designed to suit the Nigerian culture and environment and developed from previously validated questionnaires. Data were exported to Statistical Computing Programming R version 4.0.5 for analysis and Chi-square was used to compare the characteristics of those who experienced injury using SPs/HHDS and those who did not. Independent variables with a 95% confidence level and P < 0.05 in the multivariate model were considered statistically significant. The most common daily use of SPs/HHDS by the participants was phone calls (98.4%) followed closely by social networking (96.0%) while the occupation and educational level of the participants had statistically significant (P < 0.05) impact on musculoskeletal injuries. The type of mobile device and the time spent using these devices were also significant (P < 0.05) risk factors for injuries. Some self-treatment strategies adopted by the participants were all significantly (P < 0.05) associated with reduction of musculoskeletal discomfort. The occupation, educational level, the types of mobile devices and time spent using the devices were risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries.

RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER CROSSED SYNDROME IN FEMALES OF AGE 25-50 YEARS: A POPULATION-BASED CASE CONTROL STUDY

OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk factors associated with upper crossed syndrome (UCS) in females of age 25-50 years. METHODS: This population based case controlled study was conducted from May to August 2019. Total of 210 females including 105 cases (participants who had upper neck pain for at least one month) and 105 controls (participants who didn't had upper neck pain), aging 25-50 years were selected through non-probability convenient sampling technique from the population of Gujrat, Punjab Pakistan. Data was collected through a pre-tested questionnaire and analyzed through SPSS software (version 21.0). Universal goniometer used to assess cervical ranges. Neck disability index (NDI) was used for functional disability and visual analog scale (VAS) was applied to assess the degree of pain. RESULTS: Majority (n=88; 41.90%) of females were in age group of 25-30 years and were housewives (n=147; 70 %). Females who used handheld devices, unsupported back chairs, read, worked, travelled for more than 3 hours had 63.91, 9.127, 3.568, 3.301, 2.068 folds risk of developing UCS respectively as compared to those who did the same for less than 3 hours. Similarly, females who were fetal sleeper had 2.032 times more risk of than front sleeper. All risk factors were statistically significant (p&lt; 0.005). CONCLUSION: Usage of handheld devices while reading, working, and travelling for &gt;3 hours, sleeping with curved spine and in fetal position and unsupported back chair increase the risk of UCS.

Design and implementation of power and area optimized AES architecture on FPGA for IoT application

PurposeThe growing trends in the usage of hand held devices necessitate the need to design them with low power consumption and less area design. Besides, information security is gaining enormous importance in information transmission and data storage technology. In addition, today’s technology world is connected, communicated and controlled via the Internet of Things (IoT). In many applications, the most standard and widely used cryptography algorithm for providing security is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). This paper aims to design an efficient model of AES cryptography for low power and less area.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the main issues related to less area and low power consumption in the AES encryption core are addressed. To implement optimized AES core, the authors proposed optimized multiplicative inverse, affine transforms and Xtime multipliers functions, which are the core function of AES’s core. In addition, to achieve the high throughput, it uses the multistage pipeline and resource reuse architectures for SBox and Mixcolumn of AES.FindingsThe results of optimized AES architecture have revealed that the multistage pipe line and resource sharing are optimal design model in Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation. It could provide high security with low power and area for IoT and wireless sensors networks.Originality/valueThis proposed optimized modified architecture has been implemented in FPGA to calculate the power, area and delay parameters. This multistage pipeline and resource sharing have promised to minimize the area and power.

Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities Due to Extensive Usage of Hand Held Devices

ObjectiveThe use of hand held devices (HHD) such as mobile phones, game controls, tablets, portable media players and personal digital assistants have increased dramatically in past decade. While sending a text message or using the controls of the HHD the users need to use their thumb and other palm muscles extensively. The objective of this study was to describe the risk factors and clinical features of the musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) arising due to usage of hand held devices and to evaluate the effectiveness of a sequenced rehabilitation protocol.MethodsA retrospective report analysis of 70 subjects, who were diagnosed to have a MSD affecting the upper extremities, was conducted. Medical charts from a tertiary level rehabilitation centre from 2005–2013 were analysed. All the subjects reported pain in their upper extremities following extensive usage of HHD and were examined and diagnosed to have a MSD by an orthopaedic and rehabilitation physician. After the assessment and diagnosis, all the patients underwent rehabilitation using a sequenced protocol.ResultsAll the subjects reported pain in the thumb and forearm with associated burning, numbness and tingling around the thenar aspect of the hand, and stiffness of wrist and hand. 43 subjects had symptoms on the right side; 9 on left and 18 had bilateral symptoms. Correlation was found between hand dominance and MSD. 33 subjects complained of onset of symptoms following extensive text messaging. All the subjects were diagnosed to have tendinosis of Extensor Pollicis Longus and Myofascial Pain Syndrome affecting the 1st interossei, thenar group of muscles and Extensor Digitorum Communis. 23 of the subjects were senior executives, among these 7 were CEO’s of major multinational companies in India. All the subjects recovered completely following the rehabilitation.ConclusionsThe study concluded that mobile phones and gadgets that promoted the predominant usage of thumb or only one finger while texting or using the controls were associated with a higher prevalence of MSDs. Treatment using a sequenced rehabilitation protocol was found to be effective.

Online Handwritten Devnagari Word Recognition using HMM based Technique

this paper, online handwritten Devnagari word recognition system is proposed and discussed. The increase in usage of handheld devices which accept handwritten data as input created a demand for application which analyze and recognize data efficiently. Due to the popularity of digital device, we use Smartphone as input device. Input image is drawn on Smartphone. Feature extraction of input image is done by android technology. Using that features HMM recognizes the word. Experimental results show advantages of this method in the field of handwriting recognition.