Sensors are Capable to Help in the Measurement of the Results of the Timed-Up and Go Test? A Systematic Review.

The analysis of movements used in physiotherapy areas related to the elderly is becoming increasingly important due to factors such as the increase in the average life expectancy and the rate of elderly people over the whole population. In this systematic review, we try to determine how the inertial sensors embedded in mobile devices are exploited for the measurement of the different parameters involved in the Timed-Up and Go test. The results show the mobile devices equipped with onboard motion sensors can be exploited for these types of studies: the most commonly used sensors are the magnetometer, accelerometer and gyroscope available in consumer off-the-shelf smartphones. Other features typically used to evaluate the Timed-Up and Go test are the time duration, the angular velocity and the number of steps, allowing for the recognition of some diseases as well as the measurement of the subject's performance during the test execution.

Protocol for a prospective, school-based standardisation study of a digital social skills assessment tool for children: The Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships, and Socialisation (PEERS) study.

BACKGROUND: Humans are by nature a social species, with much of human experience spent in social interaction. Unsurprisingly, social functioning is crucial to well-being and quality of life across the lifespan. While early intervention for social problems appears promising, our ability to identify the specific impairments underlying their social problems (eg, social communication) is restricted by a dearth of accurate, ecologically valid and comprehensive child-direct assessment tools. Current tools are largely limited to parent and teacher ratings scales, which may identify social dysfunction, but not its underlying cause, or adult-based experimental tools, which lack age-appropriate norms. The present study describes the development and standardisation of Paediatric Evaluation of Emotions, Relationships, and Socialisation (PEERS®), an iPad-based social skills assessment tool. METHODS: The PEERS project is a cross-sectional study involving two groups: (1) a normative group, recruited from early childhood, primary and secondary schools across metropolitan and regional Victoria, Australia; and (2) a clinical group, ascertained from outpatient services at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne (RCH). The project aims to establish normative data for PEERS®, a novel and comprehensive app-delivered child-direct measure of social skills for children and youth. The project involves recruiting and assessing 1000 children aged 4.0-17.11 years. Assessments consist of an intellectual screen, PEERS® subtests, and PEERS-Q, a self-report questionnaire of social skills. Parents and teachers also complete questionnaires relating to participants' social skills. Main analyses will comprise regression-based continuous norming, factor analysis and psychometric analysis of PEERS® and PEERS-Q. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval has been obtained through the RCH Human Research Ethics Committee (34046), the Victorian Government Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (002318), and Catholic Education Melbourne (2166). Findings will be disseminated through international conferences and peer-reviewed journals. Following standardisation of PEERS®, the tool will be made commercially available.

Hand Sensibility in Healthy Young Children.

BACKGROUND: The aims of the study were (1) to assess hand sensibility in healthy young children using instruments validated for adults; (2) to identify which test tools are suitable; and (3) to compare the dominant and nondominant sides. METHODS: Twenty-five healthy children aged seven to 11 years (mean = 9.5 years) were investigated. Sensibility was assessed with the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test, two-point discrimination, localization test, and stereognosis object recognition. RESULTS: The thinnest Semmes-Weinstein filament (D = 2.83 mm) was felt at 94% of examined points. A two-point discrimination at the smallest distance of 2 mm was found in the thumb in 84% of children and in the index finger in 94%. Only 60% felt this distance in the fifth digit. The difference between little finger and index finger was statistically significant. Near-maximum value on the localization test was scored in both hands. All children had a 100% score for both hands in the stereognosis object recognition. CONCLUSIONS: Most children can detect touch in the digits at low pressure. The majority are able to discern two points 2 mm apart in the first and second digits, but significantly less so in the fifth digit. Children are well able to localize on which side of a fingertip pressure is applied. Objects are recognized well. There appear to be no differences between the dominant and nondominant hands in either test. Adjustment of sensory test protocols routinely used in adults is necessary to optimize hand sensation testing in children, in view of the detection limits.

Measurement uncertainty of dissolution test of acetaminophen immediate release tablets using Monte Carlo simulations

ABSTRACT Analytical results are widely used to assess batch-by-batch conformity, pharmaceutical equivalence, as well as in the development of drug products. Despite this, few papers describing the measurement uncertainty estimation associated with these results were found in the literature. Here, we described a simple procedure used for estimating measurement uncertainty associated with the dissolution test of acetaminophen tablets. A fractionate factorial design was used to define a mathematical model that explains the amount of acetaminophen dissolved (%) as a function of time of dissolution (from 20 to 40 minutes), volume of dissolution media (from 800 to 1000 mL), pH of dissolution media (from 2.0 to 6.8), and rotation speed (from 40 to 60 rpm). Using Monte Carlo simulations, we estimated measurement uncertainty for dissolution test of acetaminophen tablets (95.2 ± 1.0%), with a 95% confidence level. Rotation speed was the most important source of uncertainty, contributing about 96.2% of overall uncertainty. Finally, it is important to note that the uncertainty calculated in this paper reflects the expected uncertainty to the dissolution test, and does not consider variations in the content of acetaminophen.