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To evaluate whether frequent interactive tablet-use at preschool age is associated with improved fine motor skills and to describe tablet-use in young children. Cross-sectional study with 78 children, aged 24-42 months: group 1 with previous frequent tablet-use exposure (n = 26), group 2 without previous tablet-use exposure (n = 52). Fine motor skills were evaluated with the Bayley-III. Socioeconomic data and home environment quality were similar in both groups. Fine motor skills of group 1 were better than those of group 2 (p = 0.013). Most participating children carried out passive and active tablet activities, usually accompanied by parents, not exceeding time recommendations for young age. We observed a difference in fine motor skills in young children slightly favoring those with tablet-use experience.

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BACKGROUND: Despite the evidence for improved safety and function of microprocessor stance and swing-controlled prosthetic knees, non-microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees are still standard of care for persons with transfemoral amputations in most countries. Limited feature microprocessor-control enhancement of such knees could stand to significantly improve patient outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate gait speed, balance, and fall reduction benefits of the new 3E80 default stance hydraulic knee compared to standard non-microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees. STUDY DESIGN: Comparative within-subject clinical study. METHODS: A total of 13 young, high-functioning community ambulators with a transfemoral amputation underwent assessment of performance-based (e.g. 2-min walk test, timed ramp/stair tests) and self-reported (e.g. falls, Activities-Specific Balance Confidence scale, Prosthesis Evaluation Questionnaire question #1, Satisfaction with the Prosthesis) outcome measures for their non-microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees and again after 8 weeks of accommodation to the 3E80 microprocessor-enhanced knee. RESULTS: Self-reported falls significantly declined 77% ( p = .04), Activities-Specific Balance Confidence scores improved 12 points ( p = .005), 2-min walk test walking distance increased 20 m on level ( p = .01) and uneven ( p = .045) terrain, and patient satisfaction significantly improved ( p < .01) when using the 3E80 knee. Slope and stair ambulation performance did not differ between knee conditions. CONCLUSION: The 3E80 knee reduced self-reported fall incidents and improved balance confidence. Walking performance on both level and uneven terrains also improved compared to non-microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees. Subjects' satisfaction was significantly higher than with their previous non-microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees. The 3E80 may be considered a prosthetic option for improving gait performance, balance confidence, and safety in highly active amputees. Clinical relevance This study compared performance-based and self-reported outcome measures when using non-microprocessor and a new microprocessor-enhanced, default stance rotary hydraulic knee. The results inform rehabilitation professionals about the functional benefits of a limited-feature, microprocessor-enhanced hydraulic prosthetic knee over standard non-microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knees.

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OBJECTIVE To describe the length of exposure to screens and the prevalence of consumption of meals and snacks by Brazilian adolescents in front of screens. METHODS We evaluated 74,589 12 to 17-year old adolescents from 1,247 schools in 124 Brazilian municipalities. A self-administered questionnaire was used. Its segment regarding nutrition contained questions about using TV, computers, and video game systems, having meals while watching TV, and consuming snacks in front of screens. Consumption of meals and snacks in front of screens was analyzed according to the following variables: geographical region, gender, age range, type of school (public or private), and school shift. The prevalences and their respective 95% confidence intervals were estimated under a complex sampling design. RESULTS A great deal of the adolescents (51.8% IC95% 50.7-53.0) [corrected] reported spending two or more hours a day in front of screens. That habit was more frequent among male adolescents, private school students, morning shift students, and students from Brazil's South region. More than half of the adolescents (56.6%, 95%CI 55.4-57.8) reported almost always or always having meals in front of TV, and 39.6% (95%CI 38.8-40.5) of them said they consumed snacks in front of screens exactly as often. Both situations were the most prevalent ones among the girls, who attended public schools and were from Brazil's Midwest region. CONCLUSIONS Length of exposure to screens and consumption of meals and snacks almost always or always in front of screens are high among Brazilian adolescents. It is necessary to develop strategies aiming to reduce the length of screen use, considering the media reality that children and adolescents have been experiencing from earlier and earlier ages. That context must therefore be analyzed in an indissociable way.

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OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was twofold: to analyze the association between physical fitness and academic attainment, and to determine the influence of screen time on the association between physical fitness and academic attainment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study including 395 schoolchildren from seven schools of the Maule Region, Chile (mean age 12.1 years; 50.4% boys) participated in the autumn of 2014 (March to June). Self-reported physical activity and screen time were evaluated. The study measured academic achievement (mean of the grades obtained in several core subjects), physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength), weight, height, parental education, and socioeconomic status. Linear regression analysis was used to analyze the relationships between physical fitness and academic attainment after adjusting for potential confounders by gender. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the differences in academic attainment according to fitness and screen time categories (< 2 hours/day and ≥ 2 hours/day). RESULTS: In both genders good cardiorespiratory fitness levels were associated with high language (ß=0.272-0.153) and mean academic attainment (ß=0.192-0.156) grades; however, after adjusting for screen time and other potential confounders, these associations disappear. Similarly, no relationship was observed after analyzing those children who spend more hours of screen time (≥ 2 hours/day). CONCLUSIONS: Academic attainment is associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness levels; however, it was weakly impaired by screen time. These findings seem to suggest that parents and policymakers should minimize the negative effects of screen time on children's lives to maximize the beneficial effect of healthy habits on academic attainment.

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Objective. To provide descriptive information on the screen time levels of Mexican children. Materials and methods. 5 660 children aged 10-18 years from the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT 2012) were studied. Screen time (watching television, movies, playing video games and using a computer) was self-reported. Results. On average, children engaged in 3 hours/day of screen time, irrespective of gender and age. Screen time was higher in obese children, children from the northern and Federal District regions of the country, children living in urban areas, and children in the highest socioeconomic status and education categories. Approximately 33% of 10-14 year olds and 36% of 15-18 year olds met the screen time guideline of ≤2 hours/day. Conclusions. 10-18 year old Mexican children accumulate an average of 3 hours/day of screen time. Two thirds of Mexican children exceed the recommended maximal level of time for this activity.

Objetivo. Describir los hallazgos sobre el tiempo frente a una pantalla en niños y adolescentes mexicanos. Material y métodos. Una muestra representativa de 5 560 niños y adolescentes (10-18 años) respondió la Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición 2012 (ENSANUT 2012). El tiempo frente a pantalla incluyó ver televisión, películas, videojuegos y computadora. Resultados. Los niños y adolescentes pasan en promedio tres horas diarias frente a una pantalla. El porcentaje frente a pantalla fue mayor en obesos, pertenecientes a las regiones del norte y D.F., aquéllos que viven en áreas urbanas y de nivel socioeconómico y educativo alto. Aproximadamente 33% de los niños y 36% de los adolescentes cumplen con las recomendaciones internacionales de tiempo frente a pantalla (≤2 horas/día). Conclusiones. Los niños y adolescentes pasan en promedio tres horas diarias frente a una pantalla. Dos tercios de los participantes exceden las recomendaciones internacionales sobre tiempo ocupado en esta actividad.

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OBJECTIVE: To provide descriptive information on the screen time levels of Mexican children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 5 660 children aged 10-18 years from the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT 2012) were studied. Screen time (watching television, movies, playing video games and using a computer) was self-reported. RESULTS: On average, children engaged in 3 hours/day of screen time, irrespective of gender and age. Screen time was higher in obese children, children from the northern and Federal District regions of the country, children living in urban areas, and children in the highest socioeconomic status and education categories. Approximately 33% of 10-14 year olds and 36% of 15-18 year olds met the screen time guideline of ≤ 2 hours/day. CONCLUSIONS: 10-18 year old Mexican children accumulate an average of 3 hours/day of screen time. Two thirds of Mexican children exceed the recommended maximal level of time for this activity.

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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the influence of nocturnal use of computer and their effect on sleep quality, in a group of adolescents. METHOD: Two middle schools were chosen for the research. The sample consisted of adolescents n=160 (55M; 105F), with ages ranging from 15 to 18 years. Questionnaire about computer use with the objective of obtaining information regarding the time and number of hours of nocturnal computer use, were applied for collection of data. They included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), utilized to quantfy sleep quality; student report cards were used to note student's absences and grades were used. RESULTS: The Multiple Logistic Regression test indicated that nocturnal computer use impairs good sleep (p=0.0062). CONCLUSION: Irregular sleep patterns associated with nightly computer use deteriorate sleep quality.

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The aim of this work is to implement a discrete coarse codification of local torsional states of the RNA chain backbone in order to explore the long-time limit dynamics and ultimately obtain a coarse solution to the RNA folding problem. A discrete representation of the soft-mode dynamics is turned into an algorithm for a rough structure prediction. The algorithm itself is inherently parallel, as it evaluates concurrent folding possibilities by pattern recognition, but it may be implemented in a personal computer as a chain of perturbation-translation-renormalization cycles performed on a binary matrix of local topological constraints. This requires suitable representational tools and a periodic quenching of the dynamics for system renormalization. A binary coding of local topological constraints associated with each structural motif is introduced, with each local topological constraint corresponding to a local torsional state. This treatment enables us to adopt a computation time step far larger than hydrodynamic drag time scales. Accordingly, the solvent is no longer treated as a hydrodynamic drag medium. Instead we incorporate its capacity for forming local conformation-dependent dielectric domains. Each translation of the matrix of local topological constraints (LTM's) depends on the conformation-dependent local dielectric created by a confined solvent. Folding pathways are resolved as transitions between patterns of locally encoded structural signals which change within the 1 ns-100 ms time scale range. These coarse folding pathways are generated by a search at regular intervals for structural patterns in the LTM. Each pattern is recorded as a base-pairing pattern (BPP) matrix, a consensus-evaluation operation subject to a renormalization feedback loop. Since several mutually conflicting consensus evaluations might occur at a given time, the need arises for a probabilistic approach appropriate for an ensemble of RNA molecules. Thus, a statistical dynamics of consensus formation is determined by the time evolution of the base pairing probability matrix. These dynamics are generated for a functional RNA molecule, a representative of the so-called group I ribozymes, in order to test the model. The resulting ensemble of conformations is sharply peaked and the most probable structure features the predominance of all phylogenetically conserved intrachain helices tantamount to ribozyme function. Furthermore, the magnesium-aided cooperativity that leads to the shaping of the catalytic core is elucidated. Once the predictive folding algorithm has been implemented, the validity of the so-called "adiabatic approximation" is tested. This approximation requires that conformational microstates be lumped up into BPP's which are treated as quasiequilibrium states, while folding pathways are coarsely represented as sequences of BPP transitions. To test the validity of this adiabatic ansatz, a computation of the coarse Shannon information entropy sigma associated to the specific partition of conformation space into BPP's is performed taking into account the LTM evolution and contrasted with the adiabatic computation. The results reveal a subordination of torsional microstate dynamics to BPP transitions within time scales relevant to folding. This adiabatic entrainment in the long-time limit is thus identified as responsible for the expediency of the folding process.

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Apresenta tópicos que tratam da conceituaçäo da atividade de vigilância epidemiológica, do fenômeno da "transiçäo epidemiológica" e do caminho trilhado pelos estudiosos para aprofundar conhecimento sobre a estrutura epidemiológica das doenças cardiovasculares, com vistas ao desenvolvimento e acompanhamento de açöes para controle destes agravos. As evidências apresentadas sobre a importância da doença isquêmica do coraçäo e da doença cerebrovascular apontam para a necessidade de considerá-las como um problema de saúde pública e, como tal, de incorporá-las no leque de abrangência da atividade de vigilância epidemiológica no Estado de Säo Paulo. Discute a viabilidade e a adequabilidade do uso do óbito por doença isquêmica do coraçäo e por doença cerebrovascular como "eventos-sentinela" no acompanhamento da ocorrência destas doenças cardiovasculares, tratando de alguns aspectos especificamente relacionados aos estudos descritivos de mortalidade. Considerando, ainda, que, entre os pontos mais importantes para a aplicaçäo do método na atividade, estäo a ampliaçäo da sua abrangência, em termos geográficos, e a possibilidade de análise dos dados de forma desagregada, segundo atributos relacionados à pessoa e tempo, foi desenvolvido um aplicativo para uso em microcomputador, com o objetivo de tornar disponíveis algumas informaçöes baseadas em dados secundários de mortalidade. No sentido de permitir uma apreciaçäo da aplicaçäo da metodologia na atividade, com o apoio do aplicativo informatizado, foram apresentados vários exemplos de possibilidade de análise descritiva dos indicadores. A comparaçäo dos dados referentes a diferentes agrupamentos regionais evidenciou a potencialidade deste tipo de análise subsidiar o planejamento e a avaliaçäo de açöes voltadas para o controle destas doenças cardiovasculares no Estado de Säo Paulo

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Uma placa processadora digital de sinais (DSP), com o TMS320C30, em conjunto com um PC foi empregada na modelagem autoregressiva (AR) de sinais EEG. O sistema PC-DSP mostrou-se capaz de realizar a análise espectral destes sinais com tempo de processamento compatível com monitoração em tempo real do espectro de 16 canais EEG.

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A proposta deste trabalho é a apresentação de técnicas para a detecção de bordas em imagens digitalizadas de radiografias odontológicas. Alguns algoritmos são testados e a imagem obtida é mostrada visando um melhor realce de contronos ou detalhes. Um algoritmo por nós proposto é aplicado nas imagens préviamente processadas para aumentar o contraste e os resultados são discutidos.

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Tendo como objetivo principal a informatização dos equipamentos do Laboratório de Patologia Clínica (LPC) do Hospital de Clínicas da Unicamp (HC/UNICAMP), este trabalho descreve um projeto de interligação de equipamentos automáticos e semi-automáticos, destinados à realização de exames laboratoriais, ao computador central do Núcleo de Informática do HC/UNICAMP (IBM-9672) de tal forma que os resultados dos exames realizados no LPC estejam disponíveis de maneira mais rápida e segura aos diversos setores do HC/UNICAMP tais como enfermarias, ambulatórios e pronto-socorro.

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O trabalho se refere à experiência de constituição do Departamento de Informática da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde da Prefeitura de Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Apresentamos e discutimos os principais momentos de sua estruturação e sistematização as linhas de atuação atualmente desenvolvidas.

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The article begins with a discussion of some mortality statistics issues, problems encountered in the manual selection of underlying cause of death, and also the increasing need for information on associated causes. These circumstances led the National Center for Health Statistics to develop the computerized ACME System, which has been in use in São Paulo State since 1983. The ACME System's requirement of a mainframe computer, as well as other operational limitations, has prevented its installation throughout the country. In order to standardize and improve the quality of mortality data in Brazil, the Informatics Department of the Ministry of Health's National Health Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for the Classification of Diseases in Portuguese developed the microcomputer-based Underlying Cause Selection System (SCB) in 1993. This is an expert system that employs artificial intelligence techniques to reproduce the reasoning of a coder in selecting the underlying cause of death, according to the rules and provisions of the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. The SCB has a very user-friendly interface, occupies 2.6 megabytes of hard disk space, and can run on any 386 or higher XT or AT computer. In addition to selecting the underlying cause of death, the system stores data on associated conditions.

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A eletronistagmografia (ENG) é fundamental na investigaçäo completa dos distúrbios do equilíbrio corporal, e popularizou-se progressivamente há cerca de 30 anos. Os sistemas convencionais apresentam registro em papel, e requerem a análise manual de todo o traçado. Ao longo da última década diversos sistemas computadorizados de ENG foram introduzidos no mercado mundial, mas elevados custos os tornam infreqüentes em nosso meio. Após dois anos de pesquisas, desenvolvemos um sistema próprio para aquisiçäo e processamento de dados para eletronistagmografia. O "SCE UCPEL/CASTANO" versäo 2.2 é conectado a qualquer microcomputador padräo IBM-PC 386 e tem custo comparável aos equipamentos convencionais de ENG , mas com significativas vantagens: 1) alta qualidade no tratamento digital do sinal elimina interferências (60Hz); 2) fácil operaçäo sem problemas mecânicos com papel ou tinta; 3)"ferramentas virtuais" no programa para medir velocidade angular da componente letal, amplitude e frequëncia; 4) cálculos automáticos de preponderância nas provas optocinéticas, calóricas e rotatórias; 5) resultados gráficos na tela do computador; 6) armazenamento e acesso instantâneo aos exames; 7) laudos padronizados de real utilidade ao médico

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