<p>QC 20131118</p>

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Background: Previous research has reported an association between texting messages sent and De Quervain's tenosynovitis (DQT) symptomatology. However, these studies do not report smartphone dependence and DQT symptomatology. Objective: We aimed to evaluate the association between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and DQT symptomatology among young adults. Design: Analytical cross-sectional study. Methods: We included adults between 18 and 25 years and evaluated DQT symptomatology's presence using the Finkelstein test. We used Experiences Related to Mobile Phone Use Questionnaire to measure the PSU. We carried out a generalized linear model from the Poisson family. We calculated the crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) with their 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: In total, we analyzed 491 subjects, the majority were women (52%), and the median age was 20 years. Of the total study population, 53% had positive results in the Finkelstein test, while 53% of the population had PSU. After adjusting our generalized linear model for confounders variables, we found that there is a higher prevalence of DQT symptomatology in those participants with occasional PSU and frequent PSU compared with participants without PSU, (aPR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.47–2.05) and (aPR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.29–2.00); respectively. We also found a higher prevalence of DQT symptomatology related to the number of hours per day in smartphones, pain with smartphones in the last week and using WhatsApp. Conclusion: We found a higher prevalence of De Quervain's tenosynovitis symptomatology in the people with problematic smartphone use. / Revisión por pares

Today's methods for depanelizing phones are inefficient and costly. Through a collaboration withStena Recycling Halmstad, this work has shown how to streamline and automate the recycling of smartphones. The project group developed a prototype that can depanelize smartphones so that batteries in modern smartphones can easily be accessible for removal. The prototype makes recycling of phones easier, faster and safer than manual recycling. As the mobile industry is a growing market, it is important to have a fully functioning life cycle of the products. Today's recycling companies process the phones by a disassembler manually crushing thephones and then removing the battery by hand. It gives rise to both broken glass that can cut theoperator and risk for injury by accidentally striking him/herself. The process can also cause thedisassembler wear damage over time. The disassembling process is also time consuming as it takes up to 1.5 minutes to depanelize a phone by hand. As Stena Recycling receives around 500 000 smartphones annually, the current method quickly becomes unsustainable. To solve those problems, we have developed a prototype, which can handle large amounts of phones.The prototype has a compartment that phones fall into, and which consists of several vacuum cups that enclose the phone on the front and back sites. By mounting vacuum cups to the actuator and frame, the machine can pull the phone apart so that operators can easily reach the battery. By automating this process, the project team has shortened disassembling time from 90 to 5 seconds. The depanelization machine shows great potential for time savings and provides great opportunities to handle smartphone recycling in a more sustainable way. / Dagens metoder för att depanelisera telefoner är ineffektiva och kostsamma. Genom ett samarbetemed Stena Recycling Halmstad har arbetet visat hur man kan effektivisera och modernisera återvinningsarbetet utav mobiltelefoner. Genom att ha utvecklat en prototyp som kan depaneliseratelefoner så kan man göra de moderna telefonernas batterier åtkomliga för enkel urtagning, så att desedan blir en säker slutprodukt som kan gå vidare i produktens livscykel. Eftersom mobilindustrin är en växande marknad så är det viktigt med en helt fungerande livscykel hos produkterna. Idag så bearbetar återvinningsföretagen telefonerna genom att en demontör manuellt krossar telefonerna för att sedan ta ur batteriet för hand. Det ger både upphov till glassplitter och förslitningsskador. Det är även tidskrävande då det tar upp mot 1,5 minuter att depanelisera en telefon för hand. Då Stena Recycling får in volymer omkring 38 000 telefoner i månaden blir den nuvarandemetoden snabbt ohållbar. För att kontra de problemen har vi utvecklat en prototyp, som klarar av att hantera de stora mängderna telefoner som kommer in varje månad. Resultatet är en prototyp som fungerar genom att den har en inbyggd fålla som telefonen faller ned i. Fållan består av ett flertal sugkoppar som omsluter telefonen på displaysida och baksida. Genom att montera hälften av sugkopparna till ett ställdon ”även kallad cylinder” och den andra hälften sitter monterade på ramen kan maskinen dra isär telefonen så att montörer enkelt kan nå batteriet. Genom att automatisera den här processen har projektgruppen förkortat tidsåtgången till 5 sekunder per telefon, från de tidigare 90 sekunderna som krävdes. Depaneliseringsmaskinen visar på stor potential för tidsbesparing samt ger stora möjligheter för att hantera återvinningen av telefoner för ett mer hållbart kretslopp.

Background: Smartphone addiction can have negative consequences such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and a loss of social connectivity. Understanding smartphone addiction is still in its early stages, but self-regulation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are two established risk factors. Exploring these risk factors and their impact on individuals’ well-being may help prevent smartphone addiction. Objective: This study aims to (1) explore the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological and social well-being (e.g., friendship validation and caring, and friendship and intimate exchange) among adolescents. (2) Examine whether self-regulation mediates the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being and social well-being. (3) Examine whether attention mediates the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being and social well-being. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in middle school in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Students (Grade 6-8) completed an online survey that measured smartphone addiction, attention, self-regulation, and psychological and social well-being. A bivariate correlational analysis was used to examine the relationship between smartphone addiction, self-regulation, attention psychological well-being, and social well-being. Multiple mediation analyses were used to perform the mediation between smartphone addiction, attention, self-regulation, and psychological and social well-being. Results: The bivariate correlation showed significant negative associations between smartphone addiction and attention, self-regulation, psychological well-being, and friendship validation and caring. Smartphone addiction did not have a significant relationship with friendship intimate exchange. The mediation analysis showed that attention was a significant mediator between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being (indirect effect= -.102; 95% CI -.142, -.066) and between smartphone addiction and friendship validation and caring (indirect effect= -.056; 95% CI -.093, -.024; direct effect= -.071; 95% CI -.155, .013). Attention did not significantly mediate the relationship between smartphone addiction and the friendship intimate exchange aspect of social well-being (indirect effect= -.005; 95% CI -.026, .016). Self-regulation showed a significant partial mediation between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being (indirect effect= -.016; 95% CI -.034, -.002). Self-regulation did not significantly mediate the relationship between smartphone addiction and friendship validation and caring (indirect effect=-.014; 95% CI -.034, .001) and friendship intimate exchange (indirect effect=-.001; 95% CI -.007, .007). Conclusion: The results indicated that the negative relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being can be partially explained by adolescents’ attention and self-regulation abilities. The negative relationship between smartphone addiction and social well-being (validation and caring) can be partially explained by adolescents’ attention. However, both aspects of social well-being (validation and caring and intimate exchange) were not impacted by self-regulation. This study identified potential mediators that may be used for future interventions to prevent smartphone addiction and promote wellbeing. / Graduate

Though the benefits of physical activity are numerous and well-known, very few adolescents are meeting physical activity recommendations. Moreover, past research shows that physical activity declines with increasing age with this decline beginning in adolescence. One approach to promote physical activity is through mobile technology such as a mobile phone. Since mobile phone ownership is relatively high (77%) and there is no digital divide by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status, mobile phones may be suitable for physical activity promotion. Few studies have promoted PA using a mobile phone and those studies showed increased physical activity outcomes. However, more research is needed to explore the effectiveness of mobile phone physical activity promotion especially in more health disparate populations.  The purpose of this research was to develop and test smartphone game application for physical activity promotion in adolescents. The first study included various user-centered approaches (e.g. qualitative data, idea sessions) to get feedback on what was desired from the adolescents in terms of game development and design. The second study examined the degree to which mobile health studies reported on internal and external validity indicators. The last study evaluated the smartphone game applications through a mixed-methods approach. The results of this research showed that physical activity while playing smartphone game applications can yield moderate physical activity intensity. Moreover, adolescents had moderate perceptions of the games and recommended specific changes to the games. Likewise, the data suggest that smartphone physical activity game applications can be enjoyable if they are aesthetically appealing, easy to use, and foster social peer interactions. Overall, this research demonstrated that smartphone games that were developed and designed based on adolescents\' preferences and persuasive technology design principles could increase physical activity in adolescents and provides a tool for further exploration. / Ph. D.

As smartphone technology continues to evolve, it begs the question as to whether or not smartphones could be used by crime scene investigators. Crime scene documentation is a time-consuming task when using a standard tape measure compared to advanced techniques (such as 3D scanners). However, these advanced techniques are expensive and take time to set up. Measurement applications could potentially serve as an affordable and sufficient alternative. Therefore, it’s important to understand how accurate these applications are as well as how well they work for measuring crime scenes and forensic evidence. Eleven measurement applications were downloaded (onto an Apple iPhone XR) and evaluated and then narrowed down to four applications to be used in this study. Several parameters were assessed in all eleven applications. Factors such as tools available, effective maximum distance, ease of use, and accuracy were tested. The applications that best met all criteria were used for this study. First, the applications were used to measure several known dimensions such as a ruler, then they were used to measure room dimensions, outdoor scenes, footwear impressions, and bloodstains. Accuracy was assessed by comparing the results from the applications to the measurements made from a standard tape measure or ruler. Standard deviation of all measurements was calculated and compared against one another. Feasibility was evaluated by recording the amount of time that it took to conduct the measurements and comparing the times to one another. Adaptability to various environments was also factored in when evaluating feasibility. Overall, the applications Tape Measure and MagicPlan were found to be the most accurate and feasible applications to use for crime scene measurements. Moasure was found to be the least efficient and precise application in this study. Measure, Moasure, MagicPlan, and Tape Measure serve as an affordable, fast, and easy presumptive tool for crime scene documentation. In the future, these applications could be used to document crime scenes, and could assist particular agencies with insufficient monetary resources. While the applications selected (Measure, Moasure, MagicPlan, and Tape Measure) proved to be accurate, additional tests should be conducted before being implemented exclusively by investigators. With continual progression in modern technology, substantial improvements are anticipated that encompass these smartphone applications, which will increase reliability as it relates to forensics.

Elkonsumtion är ett ämne med både personliga och globala ändamål. Det gynnar  den privata ekonomin likväl som miljöbelastningen. För att spara el är det  fördelaktigt om man förstå mekanismerna i elförbrukningen. De senaste åren har  det skapats både hårdvara och mjukvara för att överblicka elförbrukningen i detalj  än bara den totala energiförbrukningen. Studerar man varje elektrisk apparats  förbrukning över till exempel ett år ökas därmed insikten om hur hushållets  energiförbrukning är fördelad.   En app har designats för att presentera denna information. Användare får gå  igenom appen för att sedan testas för att se om de kan förstå och använda appen.  Testerna visar att användarna har ökat sin förståelse genom visualiseringen av  datan som presenteras i appen. / Consumption of electricity is a subject with both personal and global purposes.  Reducing the use of power is positive both for the private finances and the  environment. In order to make such a reduction, it is helpful to understand how  the electricity is spent. In the recent years both hardware and software solutions to  display more detailed information on an individual’s consumption than just their  total use. If they could see how much their devices use and how their usage levels  changes over a year, they might increase their understanding of how they spend  their electricity.   An app has been designed to show this information. Users can then use the app for  a while before being tested with questions that can only be answered correctly by  using the app. These tests do show that the users have increased their  understanding of their electricity consumption

This thesis reports on a study to determine the viability of using a mobile tablet device as a brain concussion detection tool. The research builds upon the results of a prior method of collecting data for measuring motion sensitivity, where a user presses and releases a force sensor to balance a rising and falling line on a computer display. The motion sensitivity data collected using this force sensor device was shown to have less irregularity in persons with concussion. The MotionScan application, developed for this research, uses the accelerometer of a tablet device to record motor movement of a user while the user tries to control a free-moving ball on the tablet screen to trace a line. Data collection sessions were conducted with 20 participants, where researchers recorded motor performance data for similar tasks using both the MotionScan application and the force sensor device. Researchers analyzed the performance outcomes on the tablet application and force sensor device, and validated that they both record motor movements similarly. Participants were also asked for their feedback on the interface of MotionScan and the data collection process, which was used to improve the usability of MotionScan and data collection processes. The research demonstrates that a tablet device can measure the variability in a person’s motor sensitivity and with more research could be used as a concussion detection tool.

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