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It will not be easy for smartphone users to get accustomed to one-hand operation using smartphones with larger screens. Coupled with the massive data on the handset screen, the menu design has become extremely important. This study is to apply the pie menu into the smartphones which is used in previous PC user interface. Specifically, how efficient are the users when using pie menu on 5″ handsets? The experiment is divided into two phases. In Phase 1, behavioural analysis, 36 participants used their right hand to operate the Left-Side-Linear Menu (LSLM), Right-Side-Linear Menu (RSLM), and Half-Pie Menu (HPM) while walking. After the experiment we asked them to fill in the NASA-TLX (NASA Task Load Index Standard Workload Test). In Phase 2, eight participants with different thumb lengths and diverse operating experience were invited to operate three menu techniques while standing. Results showed that participants with shorter thumbs are more efficient in operating the three menu techniques than participants with longer thumbs. The reason for this difference is related to how the users grip their phones. In addition, LSLM has the highest error rate and RSLM has the lowest among the three types. The efficiency of HPM depends on continuous learning for five minutes and the result closely matches RSLM. However, there was no significant difference between the HPM and the LSLM in walking speed. In addition, 137 participants took the improved version of the test and made ‘Good’ comments in the System Usability Scale. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: This study presents an evaluation of the bidirectional correlation between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy using 2 cohorts from the same population database. Methods: We used data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to establish 2 separate cohort studies with participants <19 years old. We subdivided Cohort 1 in 2 groups: (1) 2468 patients initially diagnosed with epilepsy during the period 1999–2008, and (2) 9810 randomly selected sex- and age-matched non-epileptic controls. We subdivided Cohort 2 into 2 groups: (1) 3664 patients with newly diagnosed ADHD and (2) 14 522 sex- and age-matched non-ADHD patients. We evaluated the risk of subsequent ADHD in relationship to epilepsy and vice versa in the 2 cohorts at the end of 2008. Results: The ADHD incidence in Cohort 1 was 7.76 in patients with epilepsy and 3.22 in those without epilepsy (per 1000 person-years) after a median follow-up of 7–7.5 years. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for ADHD was 2.54 (95% CI 2.02–3.18) in the epilepsy group compared to the non-epilepsy group. In Cohort 2, the incidence of epilepsy was 3.24 in patients with ADHD and 0.78 in those without ADHD (per 1000 person-years) after a median follow-up of 3–3.5 years and an HR of 3.94 (95% CI 2.58–6.03). Conclusion: This study shows a bidirectional association between ADHD and epilepsy in the 2 cohort studies. Causative factors may be common between these 2 disorders, leading to a cascade of transcriptional changes in the brain that alter behavior or cognition prior to seizures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Schizophrenia and epilepsy may share a mutual susceptibility. This study examined the bidirectional relation between the two disorders., Methods: We used claims data obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance database to conduct retrospective cohort analyses. Analysis 1 compared 5,195 patients with incident schizophrenia diagnosed in 1999-2008 with 20,776 controls without the disease randomly selected during the same period, frequency matched with sex and age. Analysis 2 comprised a similar method to compare 11,527 patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy with 46,032 randomly selected sex- and age-matched controls. At the end of 2008, analysis 1 measured the incidence and risk of developing epilepsy and analysis 2 measured the incidence and risk of developing schizophrenia., Key Findings: In analysis 1, the incidence of epilepsy was higher in the schizophrenia cohort than in the nonschizophrenia cohort (6.99 vs. 1.19 per 1,000 person-years) with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 5.88 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.71-7.36] for schizophrenia patients. In analysis 2, the incidence of schizophrenia was higher in the epilepsy cohort than in the nonepilepsy comparison cohort (3.53 vs. 0.46 per 1,000 person-years) with an aHR of 7.65 (95% CI 6.04-9.69) for epilepsy patients. The effect of schizophrenia on subsequent epilepsy was greater for women, but the association between epilepsy and elevated incidence of schizophrenia was more pronounced in men., Significance: We found a strong bidirectional relation between schizophrenia and epilepsy. These two conditions may share common causes. Further studies on the mechanism are required., (Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2011 International League Against Epilepsy.)