Using Android Tablets to develop handwriting skills: A case study.

A system to support the teaching and learning of handwriting skills is proposed. It is composed of two components: the hardware component (e.g., Android Tablet); and the software component. The software component as two modules: the server and the client. A teacher chooses what exercises/games a child should do directly in the Android table or using the server, from the existing ones in the system. A child does the exercises/games by logging into the system in the Android Tablet. Automatic feedback about the correctness of the answers is provided by the system. Data (number of tries, time spent, etc.) are automatically grabbed and processed to be presented to the teachers and parents. Registered parents can see the results and follow their children' s "academic life", by logging into the server side of the system. We found a significant improvement in the development of handwriting skills in the children throughout the academic year, and improvements were also more present when comparing children who had have contact with the system with children who did not have this contact. Educators, children, School Boards, City Town Hall and the Educational Community are unanimous in stating that the implementation of this system was a real success.

Manual lymphatic drainage in chronic venous disease: a duplex ultrasound study.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the effect of call-up and reabsorption maneuvers of manual lymphatic drainage on blood flow in femoral vein and great saphenous vein in patients with chronic venous disease and healthy controls. METHODS: Forty-one subjects participated in this study (mean age: 42.68(15.23)), 23 with chronic venous disease (chronic venous disease group) with clinical classification C1-5 of clinical-etiological-anatomical-pathological (CEAP) and 18 healthy subjects (control group). Call-up and reabsorption maneuvers were randomly applied in the medial aspect of the thigh. The cross-sectional areas, as well as the peak and the mean blood flow velocity at femoral vein and great saphenous vein, were assessed by Duplex ultrasound at the baseline and during maneuvers. The venous flow volume changes were calculated. RESULTS: The venous flow volume in femoral vein and great saphenous vein increased during both manual lymphatic drainage maneuvers and in both groups (P < 0.05). The two maneuvers had a similar effect on femoral vein and great saphenous vein hemodynamics, and in both the chronic venous disease and control groups. As a result of the call-up maneuver, the flow volume augmentations, as a result of call-up maneuver, decreased with the severity of chronic venous disease in those patients measured by the clinical classification of CEAP (r = -0.64; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Manual lymphatic drainage increases the venous blood flow in the lower extremity with a magnitude that is independent from the specific maneuver employed or the presence of chronic venous disease. Therefore, manual lymphatic drainage may be an alternative strategy for the treatment and prevention of venous stasis complications in chronic venous disease.