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Purpose: To establish a consensus on the complexity of 16 fundamental movement skills (FMS). Initially, complexity was defined as how difficult it would be to teach FMS to children and for the children to learn them. Method: The study was conducted using a modified Delphi method and a mobile application called Move Improve® to showcase video demonstrations of 16 FMS. Six experts discussed and rated the complexity of each FMS using a 5-point Likert scale until a 75% consensus was obtained during three rounds. Result: Dribble was rated as the most complex (average five) and run as the least (average one). The highest percentage of consensus at 100% was obtained for dribble, overhead throw, run, and skip during Round 3. Conclusion: Eye–hand or eye–foot coordination, laterality, and the environment were deemed as the most influential factors when rating the complexity of FMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Hand-Eye Coordination (HEC) and Hand Grip Strength (HGS) are among the most important skills in Taekwondo. On a technical level, HEC reflects neuromuscular coordination ability which enables quick responses, and HGS reflects muscle strength which indicates the strength and overall health of the athletes. Combined together, HEC and HGS likely allow Taekwondo athletes to perform better. The aim of this study was to identify if there is a relationship between HEC and HGS in elite Taekwondo athletes. 166 elite Taekwondo athletes (141 males, 25 females) voluntarily participated in this study and were divided into two categories: seniors (age >17 years) and juniors (age =17 years). HEC was assessed by hand-eye coordination manual dexterity test (Lafayette, IN, US) and HGS was measured using a hand dynamometer (Takei, Niigata, Japan). The results revealed that no significant relationship was observed between HEC and HGS (p>0.05) in elite Taekwondo athletes. Despite the several strength and neuromuscular adaptations acquired during Taekwondo practice, HEC and HGS are not significantly correlated, and hence there is no relationship between HEC and HGS in elite Taekwondo athletes. The results obtained may benefit Taekwondo coaches and athletes in improving their training strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Virtual Reality (VR) has been widely used as an useful educational tool in modern dentistry and is considered as an alternative training tool adjunct to conventional training methods. Objective: This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of VR haptic-enhanced simulators for training undergraduate dental students during practical cariology pre-clinical caries excavation sessions. Methods: A total number of 76 students were recruited for this study. Students were randomly divided into 2 groups (38 students each). The experimental group (VR-Start group), students performed caries removal at the VR haptic-enhanced simulator prior to practicing on natural extracted teeth. Conversely, the control group (Natural Tooth-Start Group), students exposed to VR simulation training after practicing on extracted natural teeth. An evaluation questionnaire was disseminated among students to evaluate their self-confidence, perceived clinical skills and their perception of providing better care to patients in the future. They were also invited to express their opinions on the usefulness of VR simulator in comparison with conventional learning methods. Results: The outcome of Chi-square test showed no significant difference in students' response among this study groups (p > 0.05). Moreover, the outcome of this study revealed that both student groups considered virtual reality as a useful learning tool. Majority of students (90%) superiorly ranked experience gained from practicing on natural carious teeth. They also clearly stated that virtual reality allowed them to practice more and improve their self-confidence level as well as eye-hand coordination. Conclusions: Virtual reality simulator is a useful learning tool which can benefit undergraduate dental students at their pre-clinical stage; but, it cannot totally replace the conventional caries excavation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical element of neurological function is eye–hand coordination: the ability of our vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands to accomplish a task. Recent evidence shows that this ability can be disturbed by strokes or other neurological disorders, with critical consequences for motor behaviour. This paper presents a system based on serious games and multimodal devices aimed at improving the assessment of eye–hand coordination. The system implements gameplay that involves drawing specific patterns (labyrinths) to capture hand trajectories. The user can draw the path using multimodal devices such as a mouse, a stylus with a tablet, or robotic devices. Multimodal input devices can allow for the evaluation of complex coordinated movements of the upper limb that involve the synergistic motion of arm joints, depending on the device. A preliminary test of technological validation with healthy volunteers was conducted in the laboratory. The Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) index was used to compare hand trajectories without considering time-series lag. The results suggest that this multimodal framework allows for measuring differences between fine and gross motor skills. Moreover, the results support the viability of this system for developing a high-resolution metric for measuring eye–hand coordination in neurorehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Background This study investigated the effects of repetitive unihemispheric concurrent dual-site anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCSUHCDS) associated with the use of virtual reality games (VR) on the motor coordination of sedentary adolescent girls. Methods Thirty-six inactive adolescent girls were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n = 12 per group): (1) VR + a-tDCSUHCDS, (2) VR + sham-tDCSUHCDS, and (3) Control. The VR + a-tDCSUHCDS and VR + s-tDCSUHCDS groups received the intervention three times a week for four weeks. In each experimental session, participants first received either 20 min of a-tDCSUHCDS (2 mA at each anodal electrode) targeting the primary motor cortex (M1) and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or sham and then performed VR for 1 h. The control group received no intervention. Eye-hand coordination (EHC) and bimanual coordination (BC) were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and two weeks later (retention test) using the automatic scoring mirror tracer and continuous two-arm coordination test, respectively. Results Results showed that the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS groups at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and the retention test (all ps< 0.001) compared to the control group. Moreover, the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p = 0.024) at the retention. Similarly, VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS improved BC compared to the control group at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and retention test (all ps< 0.001). In addition, higher BC was observed in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p< 0.001) at the retention test. Conclusions Our results suggest that adding a-tDCSUHCDS to VR over 12 sessions may have an additional effect on VR training for improving and retaining motor coordination in sedentary adolescent girls.

Background: This study investigated the effects of repetitive unihemispheric concurrent dual-site anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCSUHCDS) associated with the use of virtual reality games (VR) on the motor coordination of sedentary adolescent girls. Methods: Thirty-six inactive adolescent girls were randomly assigned into 3 groups (n = 12 per group): (1) VR + a-tDCSUHCDS, (2) VR + sham-tDCSUHCDS, and (3) Control. The VR + a-tDCSUHCDS and VR + s-tDCSUHCDS groups received the intervention three times a week for four weeks. In each experimental session, participants first received either 20 min of a-tDCSUHCDS (2 mA at each anodal electrode) targeting the primary motor cortex (M1) and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) or sham and then performed VR for 1 h. The control group received no intervention. Eye-hand coordination (EHC) and bimanual coordination (BC) were measured at baseline, post-intervention, and two weeks later (retention test) using the automatic scoring mirror tracer and continuous two-arm coordination test, respectively. Results: Results showed that the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS groups at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and the retention test (all ps< 0.001) compared to the control group. Moreover, the EHC was significantly higher in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p = 0.024) at the retention. Similarly, VR + a-tDCS and VR + s-tDCS improved BC compared to the control group at post-intervention (all ps< 0.001) and retention test (all ps< 0.001). In addition, higher BC was observed in the VR + a-tDCS group compared to the VR + s-tDCS group (p< 0.001) at the retention test. Conclusions: Our results suggest that adding a-tDCSUHCDS to VR over 12 sessions may have an additional effect on VR training for improving and retaining motor coordination in sedentary adolescent girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Humans point using their index finger to intuitively communicate distant locations to others. This requires the human sensorimotor system to select an appropriate target location to guide the hand movement. Mid-air pointing gestures have been well studied using small and well defined targets, e.g., numbers on a wall, but how we select a specific location on a more extended 3D object is currently less well understood. Methods: In this study, participants pointed at custom 3D objects ("vases") from different vantage points in virtual reality, allowing to estimate 3D pointing and gaze endpoints. Results: Endpoints were best predicted by an object's center of mass (CoM). Manipulating object meshes to shift the CoM induced corresponding shifts in pointing as well as gaze endpoints. Discussion: Our results suggest that the object CoM plays a major role in guiding eye-hand alignment, at least when pointing to 3D objects in a virtual environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Developmental delay in children under 5 years old, which occurs globally with an incidence of 10%-15%, is caused by multiple factors including genetics, prenatal conditions, perinatal complications, postnatal influences, social factors, and nutritional deficiencies. Gene variants such as EFNB1, MECP2 and TRAPPC9 play a significant role in protein deformation and downregulation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activity. Methods: A 3-year-old girl, who exhibits poor gross motor skills, personal-social development, auditory language, hand-eye coordination, and visual performance, was diagnosed with global developmental delay. Trio whole exome sequencing was conducted to identify the genetic etiology of her condition. The identified genetic etiology was then validated through Sanger sequencing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results: Genetic analysis revealed that the patient had compound heterozygous variants in the TRAPPC9 gene. These include a c.1928del frameshift variant inherited from the unaffected father and a deletion in exon 12 inherited from the unaffected mother. According to the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) guidelines, these variants were classified as "likely pathogenic". Conclusion: The study revealed that compound heterozygous TRAPPC9 gene variants cause developmental delay in a Chinese girl. These variants have been classified as having significant pathogenic effect according to the ACMG criteria, suggesting a recessive genetic pattern and highlighting the importance of prenatal testing for future offspring. Furthermore, our findings expand the genotype spectrum of the TRAPPC9 gene, and provide more comprehensive information regarding genetic counseling for children experiencing developmental delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the objective performance, acceptance and usability of head‐mounted displays (HMDs) to provide evidence‐based data that could be used to increase the efficiency of device referrals based upon a person's vision loss and functional needs. Methods: A cross‐sectional, counterbalanced, individually controlled crossover study was performed on 15 adults with various eye conditions. Performance was measured when using four HMDs: eSight4, Eyedaptic EYE3, Eyedaptic EYE4 and IrisVision Inspire. Performance on clinical visual acuity tests and contrast were assessed, as well as vision‐related activities of daily living (ADL) which were divided into three categories: Reading, Searching & Identifying and Eye–hand Coordination. User‐experience was also assessed. Logistic regression analyses, Friedman one‐way repeated measure analyses of variance by ranks and multivariate permutation testing were used for analysis. Results: There was a significant improvement in visual acuity when using all devices. For contrast tasks, only the eSight4 and Eyedaptic EYE3 improved performance relative to baseline. For most Reading and Searching & Identifying tasks, the odds of being able to perform the tasks were significantly higher while using the devices. However, the actual performance with most devices (e.g., number of words read or reading speed) did not improve significantly over baseline for most tasks. For the Eye–hand Coordination tasks, participants performed equivalent to or significantly poorer than baseline when using the devices. No demographic or clinical predictors of outcomes were identified. Participants expressed dissatisfaction with the devices' effectiveness, acceptability and usability. Conclusions: While performance on clinical tests was better when using the devices, performance on most real‐world ADLs was equal to or worse than baseline. No single device improved performance on all tasks, and performance on any one task was not improved with all the devices. The overall dissatisfaction with the devices paralleled the lack of objective improvement in the performance of real‐world tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance on vision to control a myoelectric prosthesis is cognitively burdensome and contributes to device abandonment. The feeling of uncertainty when gripping an object is thought to be the cause of this overreliance on vision in hand-related actions. We explored if experimentally reducing grip uncertainty alters the visuomotor control and mental workload experienced during initial prosthesis use. In a repeated measures design, twenty-one able-bodied participants took part in a pouring task across three conditions: (a) using their anatomical hand, (b) using a myoelectric prosthetic hand simulator, and (c) using a myoelectric prosthetic hand simulator with Velcro attached to reduce grip uncertainty. Performance, gaze behaviour (using mobile eye-tracking) and self-reported mental workload, was measured. Results showed that using a prosthesis (with or without Velcro) slowed task performance, impaired typical eye-hand coordination and increased mental workload compared to anatomic hand control. However, when using the prosthesis with Velcro, participants displayed better prosthesis control, more effective eye-hand coordination and reduced mental workload compared to when using the prosthesis without Velcro. These positive results indicate that reducing grip uncertainty could be a useful tool for encouraging more effective prosthesis control strategies in the early stages of prosthetic hand learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People usually reach for objects to place them in some position and orientation, but the placement component of this sequence is often ignored. For example, reaches are influenced by gaze position, visual feedback, and memory delays, but their influence on object placement is unclear. Here, we tested these factors in a task where participants placed and oriented a trapezoidal block against two-dimensional (2-D) visual templates displayed on a frontally located computer screen. In experiment 1, participants matched the block to three possible orientations: 0° (horizontal), +45° and −45°, with gaze fixated 10° to the left/right. The hand and template either remained illuminated (closed-loop), or visual feedback was removed (open-loop). Here, hand location consistently overshot the template relative to gaze, especially in the open-loop task; likewise, orientation was influenced by gaze position (depending on template orientation and visual feedback). In experiment 2, a memory delay was added, and participants sometimes performed saccades (toward, away from, or across the template). In this task, the influence of gaze on orientation vanished, but location errors were influenced by both template orientation and final gaze position. Contrary to our expectations, the previous saccade metrics also impacted placement overshoot. Overall, hand orientation was influenced by template orientation in a nonlinear fashion. These results demonstrate interactions between gaze and orientation signals in the planning and execution of hand placement and suggest different neural mechanisms for closed-loop, open-loop, and memory delay placement. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: Eye-hand coordination studies usually focus on object acquisition, but placement is equally important. We investigated how gaze position influences object placement toward a 2-D template with different levels of visual feedback. Like reach, placement overestimated goal location relative to gaze and was influenced by previous saccade metrics. Gaze also modulated hand orientation, depending on template orientation and level of visual feedback. Gaze influence was feedback-dependent, with location errors having no significant effect after a memory delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of target expansion was proposed two decades ago for manual target acquisition, but it is not feasible to implement this idea in traditional user interfaces as the interactive system cannot know exactly which target is the desired one and should be expanded among several candidates. With the increasing maturity of eye tracking technology, gaze input has moved from an academically promising technique to an input method with built-in support in Windows 10; and target expansion has already become very feasible in the context of gaze input, as the user's eye gaze is inherently an indicator of the desired target due to the natural eye-hand coordination in everyday tasks. However, a comprehensive evaluation is still lacking. In this study, two experiments were conducted, each with a different group of subjects, to investigate the effects of target expansion under different expansion feedback styles (visible vs. invisible), expansion factors, as well as different target appearances (i.e. circular vs. rectangular). The experimental results indicated that (1) the index of difficulty in eye pointing tasks (ID eye) does not depend on the initial size of the target, but on its final size, and that the corresponding human performance can be accurately predicted using the ID eye model instead of Fitts' law; and that (2) the visible expansion style could disrupt the user's fixations, making the measured human performance less efficient to some extent, but overall the theoretical predictions using the ID eye model were almost the same as the baselines. Following the experimental results, this study also provided some practical suggestions for UI design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Modular organization in brain regions often performs specific biological functions and is largely based on anatomically and/or functionally related brain areas. The current study aimed to explore changes in whole-brain modular organization affected by flight training. METHODS: The study included 25 male flight cadets and 24 male controls. The first assessment was performed in 2019, when the subjects were university freshmen. The second assessment was completed in 2022. High spatial resolution structural imaging (T1) and resting-state functional MRI data were collected. Then, 90 cerebral regions were organized into 6 brain modules. The intensity of intra- and intermodular communication was calculated. RESULTS: Mixed-effect regression model analysis identified significantly increased interconnections between the parietal and occipital modules in the cadet group, but significantly decreased interconnections in the control group. This change was largely attributed to flight training. DISCUSSION: Pilots need to control the aircraft (e.g., attitude, heading, etc.) using the stick and pedal in response to the current state of the aircraft displayed by the instrument panel; as such, flying requires a large amount of hand-eye coordination. Day-to-day flight training appeared to intensify the connection between the parietal and occipital modules among cadets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esketamine nasal spray (ESK-NS) is a new drug for treatment-resistant depression, and we aimed to detect and characterize the adverse events (AEs) of ESK-NS using the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adverse event reporting system (FAERS) database between 2019 Q1 and 2023 Q4. Reporting odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), and multi-item gamma Poisson shrinker (MGPS) were performed to detect risk signals from the FAERS data to identify potential ESK-NS-AEs associations. A total of 14,606 reports on AEs with ESK-NS as the primary suspected drug were analyzed. A total of 518 preferred terms signals and 25 system organ classes mainly concentrated in psychiatric disorders (33.20%), nervous system disorders (16.67%), general disorders and administration site conditions (14.21%), and others were obtained. Notably, dissociation (n = 1,093, ROR 2,257.80, PRR 899.64, EBGM 876.86) exhibited highest occurrence rates and signal intensity. Moreover, uncommon but significantly strong AEs signals, such as hand-eye coordination impaired, feeling guilty, and feelings of worthlessness, were observed. Additionally, dissociative disorder (n = 57, ROR 510.92, PRR 506.70, EBGM 386.60) and sedation (n = 688, ROR 172.68, PRR 155.53, and EBGM 142.05) both presented strong AE signals, and the former is not recorded in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC). In clinical applications, close attention should be paid to the psychiatric disorders and nervous system disorders, especially dissociation. Meanwhile, clinical professionals should be alert for the occurrence of AEs signals not mentioned in the SmPC and take preventive measures to ensure the safety of clinical use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is a prevalent cause of permanent vision loss and blindness in the elderly worldwide, with a significant impact on patients' daily lives. However, burdens related to nAMD from the patients' perspective have not been well documented. Here we developed a new questionnaire after eliciting nAMD patients' daily challenges followed by a pilot survey. Seven daily life burden domains were identified, and a quantitative survey was conducted using the questionnaire in the real-world clinic. Of the total 153 participants (mean age, 76.3 ± 8.3 years), 67 (43.8%) had bilateral nAMD, and 79 (52.7%) were classified into severe nAMD according to the best-corrected visual acuity with cut-off value of 0.52 in logMAR. Patients with bilateral and severe nAMD had significantly higher burden scores across all domains. Network models for the bilateral and severe disease subgroups identified the interactions between "activity of daily living" and "hand–eye coordination" and between "use of electronic devices" and "face recognition" domains, which were considered to be important burdens for the patients. These results can advance ophthalmologists' understanding of the impact of nAMD on patients' daily lives and the importance of active and continuing treatment for patients with nAMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional switching operations require on-site work, and the high voltage generated by arc discharges can pose a risk of injury to the operator. Therefore, a combination of visual servo and robot control is used to localize the switching operation and construct hand–eye calibration equations. The solution to the hand–eye calibration equations is coupled with the rotation matrix and translation vectors, and it depends on the initial value determination. This article presents a convex relaxation global optimization hand–eye calibration algorithm based on dual quaternions. Firstly, the problem model is simplified using the mathematical tools of dual quaternions, and then the linear matrix inequality convex optimization method is used to obtain a rotation matrix with higher accuracy. Afterwards, the calibration equations of the translation vectors are rewritten, and a new objective function is established to solve the coupling influence between them, maintaining positioning precision at approximately 2.9 mm. Considering the impact of noise on the calibration process, Gaussian noise is added to the solutions of the rotation matrix and translation vector to make the data more closely resemble the real scene in order to evaluate the performance of different hand–eye calibration algorithms. Eventually, an experiment comparing different hand–eye calibration methods proves that the proposed algorithm is better than other hand–eye calibration algorithms in terms of calibration accuracy, robustness to noise, and stability, satisfying the accuracy requirements of switching operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inertia of manipulated objects contributes to natural human performance, but its effects on virtual reality (VR) interactions have rarely been investigated. Here, we designed a virtual goal-directed task, in which virtual objects with different masses were moved into a target hole. Based on synchronized kinematic and eye-tracking data, we examined the effects of inertia on participants' performance during the virtual task in a virtual environment. Our results indicated that hand movements presented greater spatial variability and more discontinuities when the inertial load was removed. It suggested a decline in the ability of motor control and feedback regulation, since the absence of an inertial load weakened the proprioception for sensing limb movements. Eye-movement evidence indicated that increased preferential allocations of visual attention contribute to compensating the weakened proprioceptive cues, supporting the kinematic results. These findings reveal the importance and mechanism of inertial effects on human behaviors in VR interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft grippers are garnering increasing attention for their adeptness in conforming to diverse objects, particularly delicate items, without warranting precise force control. This attribute proves especially beneficial in unstructured environments and dynamic tasks such as food handling. Human hands, owing to their elevated dexterity and precise motor control, exhibit the ability to delicately manipulate complex food items, such as small or fragile objects, by dynamically adjusting their grasping configurations. Furthermore, with their rich sensory receptors and hand-eye coordination that provide valuable information involving the texture and form factor, real-time adjustments to avoid damage or spill during food handling appear seamless. Despite numerous endeavors to replicate these capabilities through robotic solutions involving soft grippers, matching human performance remains a formidable engineering challenge. Robotic competitions serve as an invaluable platform for pushing the boundaries of manipulation capabilities, simultaneously offering insights into the adoption of these solutions across diverse domains, including food handling. Serving as a proxy for the future transition of robotic solutions from the laboratory to the market, these competitions simulate real-world challenges. Since 2021, our research group has actively participated in RoboSoft competitions, securing victories in the Manipulation track in 2022 and 2023. Our success was propelled by the utilization of a modified iteration of our Retractable Nails Soft Gripper (RNSG), tailored to meet the specific requirements of each task. The integration of sensors and collaborative manipulators further enhanced the gripper's performance, facilitating the seamless execution of complex grasping tasks associated with food handling. This article encapsulates the experiential insights gained during the application of our highly versatile soft gripper in these competition environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of implementing a basketball-specific exercise program using Fitlight technology on the coordinative abilities (reactive coordination, reactive reaction time, and reactive movement combination capacity) of U14 and U16 junior basketball players. This study included 70 male basketball players, 36 subjects U14 and 34 subjects U16, divided into two equal groups for each age category: the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). This study included an initial and a final test, between which, training was conducted over a period of 18 weeks. For the EG, the program aimed to develop coordinative abilities through an experimental program that utilized Fitlight technology, while the control groups underwent an identically timed program, but their training did not include the use of technology. Four tests were adapted and applied: the Reactive Reaction Test, Choice Reactive Reaction Test, Reactive Hand–Eye Coordination Test, and a test to evaluate the reactive capacity for combining movements. The results of this study showed statistically significant progress between the initial and final tests for the experimental group, p < 0.05. The Cohen's d values for the experimental groups were above 0.8, indicating a very large effect size, while for the control group, these values were small to medium. The comparative analysis of the experimental groups U14 and U16 and control groups shows statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental groups U14 and U16. This study highlights the effectiveness of implementing specific training programs that use modern technologies in developing coordinative abilities in the training and evaluation process of junior basketball players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: For years, generations of medical students have complained that practice-oriented learning is neglected in medical studies. Further training assistants also complain about limited opportunities to learn subject-specific practical activities. Material and techniques: We are presenting a pilot project at the University Women's Hospital in Homburg, in which medical students complete an endoscopic hands-on course as part of the block internship gynaecology and obstetrics. During the course the students perform classic skills training and hand–eye coordination exercises and learn the first steps in endoscopic suturing (suture and rows of knots). The training concepts used can be implemented on simple boxing trainers and can therefore also be reproduced in clinics or in a private setting. Outcome: Altogether, 73 medical students did participate in the laparoscopy course. We were able to prove that the knotting time for a simple knot can be reduced from an average of 247 s to 40 s (80%) after completing our training programme. Based on the evaluation sheet that the students filled out after the course, we found a very-high acceptance for surgical simulation training within the student cohort. Discussion: Practical surgical exercises can complement the curriculum well and, as we can show with our work, are rated very positively by the students. For students in higher semesters, such practical courses can also provide an insight into the respective subject area and thus counteract the lack of skilled workers in surgical subjects. The practical year should not be the first contact with these practical courses, as at this timepoint a certain favoured subject has often already being chosen by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Many school-aged children and adolescents across Europe face coordination difficulties. Virtual reality, particularly through exergames, presents a promising solution by offering physical exercise and enhancing psychomotor skills while increasing overall physical activity levels. In this study, we assessed two key components of psychomotor skills: reaction time and eye--hand coordination in high school students. Materials and methods: The intervention program comprised tasks requiring motor and cognitive dual-task performance, focusing on motor coordination, attention, processing speed, focus, decision-making abilities, and memory within a virtual environment. The virtual reality exercises used Oculus Quest 2 developed by Meta (Facebook Technologies, LLC, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA). Results: The results of the study showed statistically significant (p < .05) reductions in choice reaction time and improvements in eye--hand coordination between pre- and post-test in the experimental group. Additionally, there was a significant difference (p < .05) in post-test results of the AHWT and Deary-Liewald test between the experimental and control groups. Discussion: There are various mechanisms to explain the faster reaction time observed after the exergames intervention. This improvement may be attributed to enhanced concentration, increased alertness, and better muscle coordination in terms of speed and precision. Our results align with other literature demonstrating the potential of virtual reality (VR) to reduce reaction time and improve eye--hand coordination. Conclusions: Virtual reality training is more effective than real-world training for reducing choice reaction time and improving eye--hand coordination in high school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Table tennis is a sport that is enjoyed by many, including those with physical and intellectual disabilities. This scoping review summarised the current test protocols for assessing table tennis technical proficiency in individuals with disabilities. Relevant articles were searched through four databases (Scopus, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science) covering three key aspects: disability, table tennis, and technical proficiency. The search resulted in 14 studies included for data extraction, covering physical impairments, intellectual disability, and development coordination disorder. Almost all studies (93%) were conducted on well-trained para-table tennis athletes competing in high-level competitions. There exist protocols to assess service accuracy and stroke accuracy, hand–eye coordination, quality of specific skills and ball control, functional reach, and trunk rotation. The forehand topspin and backhand topspin drives were tested the most. Table tennis robots and video cameras are the common equipment used. Moving forward, future research should develop technical proficiency tests for players across all competency levels. The skill assessment criteria and scoring methods should be standardised and clearly explained. The validity and reliability of tests should be established. Lastly, there is great potential in using artificial intelligence to enhance the assessment of table tennis proficiency in individuals with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, published in the Journal of Neurophysiology, explores the role of gaze in goal-directed action. The authors discuss how the allocation of gaze, or where we look, is closely linked to movement control in various action tasks. They highlight the functions of gaze, such as searching for visual information, directing the effector, and confirming movement execution. The authors present findings from a study on a goal-directed throwing task, which demonstrate the predictive nature of gaze shifts and the influence of movement outcome on fixation duration. They suggest that studying naturalistic action tasks can provide insights into oculomotor control and call for further research on the functional role of gaze in multitasking scenarios. [Extracted from the article]

The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) integrates multisensory and motor‐related information for generating and updating body representations and movement plans. We used retrograde transneuronal transfer of rabies virus combined with a conventional tracer in macaque monkeys to identify direct and disynaptic pathways to the arm‐related rostral medial intraparietal area (MIP), the ventral lateral intraparietal area (LIPv), belonging to the parietal eye field, and the pursuit‐related lateral subdivision of the medial superior temporal area (MSTl). We found that these areas receive major disynaptic pathways via the thalamus from the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) and the superior colliculus (SC), mainly ipsilaterally. NOT pathways, targeting MSTl most prominently, serve to process the sensory consequences of slow eye movements for which the NOT is the key sensorimotor interface. They potentially contribute to the directional asymmetry of the pursuit and optokinetic systems. MSTl and LIPv receive feedforward inputs from SC visual layers, which are potential correlates for fast detection of motion, perceptual saccadic suppression and visual spatial attention. MSTl is the target of efference copy pathways from saccade‐ and head‐related compartments of SC motor layers and head‐related reticulospinal neurons. They are potential sources of extraretinal signals related to eye and head movement in MSTl visual‐tracking neurons. LIPv and rostral MIP receive efference copy pathways from all SC motor layers, providing online estimates of eye, head and arm movements. Our findings have important implications for understanding the role of the PPC in representation updating, internal models for online movement guidance, eye‐hand coordination and optic ataxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking a moving object with the eyes seems like a simple task but involves areas of prefrontal cortex (PFC) associated with attention, working memory and prediction. Increasing the demand on these processes with secondary tasks can affect eye movements and/or perceptual judgments. This is particularly evident in chronic or acute neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease or mild traumatic brain injury. Here, we combined near infrared spectroscopy and video-oculography to examine the effects of concurrent upper limb movement, which provides additional afference and efference that facilitates tracking of a moving object, in a novel dual-task pursuit protocol. We confirmed the expected effects on judgement accuracy in the primary and secondary tasks, as well as a reduction in eye velocity when the moving object was occluded. Although there was limited evidence of oculo-manual facilitation on behavioural measures, performing concurrent upper limb movement did result in lower activity in left medial PFC, as well as a change in PFC network organisation, which was shown by Graph analysis to be locally and globally more efficient. These findings extend upon previous work by showing how PFC is functionally organised to support eye-hand coordination when task demands more closely replicate daily activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eye–hand coordination is a visuomotor task that enables one to look, localize, and touch objects. Eye–hand coordination is known to be poor in children with developmental delay. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of measuring eye–hand coordination task in children with developmental delay using Sanet Vision Integrator (SVI), a commercially available device. Children (age: 3–16 years) with developmental delay and their age-similar typically developing peers were enrolled. White circles (5.5°) on a black background were presented on the SVI touch screen monitor. Participants popped these circles by touching it. Reaction time, accuracy, and an overall performance score were computed. Participants could perform the task from 4 years of age and with visual acuity 20/400 (6/120) or better. This resulted in 85% (17/20) of children with developmental delay and 95% (19/20) of typically developing children completing the task. Children with developmental delay were significantly (p <.001) less accurate (56%) and took longer (2.63 s) to complete the task when compared with their peers (accuracy = 93%, reaction time = 1.46 s). The overall performance score of children with developmental delay was also lower than their peers by a factor of 3.3. Eye–hand coordination performance can be measured and quantified with SVI. The quantification of speed and accuracy is possible and a unitary measure combining speed-accuracy can be computed. The task can be performed both by typically developing children and by children with developmental delay. Thus, it is feasible to measure eye–hand coordination using SVI. Such quantification will be useful for children undergoing interdisciplinary therapies for their medical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hair restoration surgery (HRS) is typically a safe outpatient or office-based procedure when physicians follow high ethical standards and uphold community practice standards. Patients' clinical outcomes are mostly operator dependent, and temporary and permanent complications rarely occur. Follicular unit excision (FUE) donor harvesting, in particular, is a challenging harvesting technique requiring a long learning curve, physical stamina, higher than average hand–eye coordination and manual dexterity. The types of complications associated with FUE are comparable to linear strip excision (LSE). Similar to LSE donor harvesting, FUE complications may occur irrespective if standard precautions are followed by the physician. As in any skin and scalp procedure, injuries and poor cosmetic outcomes occur despite appropriate preoperative precautions and intraoperative technique. In increasing and greater instances, however, FUE complications are observed when the physician fails to follow hair restoration practice standards and routine surgical precautions. Physician induced, or iatrogenic complications occur more often when untrained licensed surgeons perform HRS, and who fail to meet practice standards and best practices. In the last decade, physician-influenced FUE complications, or iatrogenic cause of FUE injuries are increasingly observed which results in poor aesthetic outcomes. Higher than average FUE complication rates occur in cases involving inadequately trained physicians, as well as in cases where improper delegation of the FUE hair transplant procedure is performed by unlicensed and untrained individuals. In this chapter, we described commonly encountered HRS complications, as well as physician influenced, or iatrogenic causes of FUE complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The differentiation between continuous and discrete actions is key for behavioral neuroscience. Although many studies have characterized eye-hand coordination during discrete (e.g., reaching) and continuous (e.g., pursuit tracking) actions, all these studies were conducted separately, using different setups and participants. In addition, how eye-hand coordination might operate at the frontier between discrete and continuous movements remains unexplored. Here we filled these gaps by means of a task that could elicit different movement dynamics. Twenty-eight participants were asked to simultaneously track with their eyes and a joystick a visual target that followed an unpredictable trajectory and whose position was updated at different rates (from 1.5 to 240 Hz). This procedure allowed us to examine actions ranging from discrete point-to-point movements (low refresh rate) to continuous pursuit (high refresh rate). For comparison, we also tested a manual tracking condition with the eyes fixed and a pure eye tracking condition (hand fixed). The results showed an abrupt transition between discrete and continuous hand movements around 3 Hz contrasting with a smooth trade-off between fixations and smooth pursuit. Nevertheless, hand and eye tracking accuracy remained strongly correlated, with each of these depending on whether the other effector was recruited. Moreover, gaze-cursor distance and lag were smaller when eye and hand performed the task conjointly than separately. Altogether, despite some dissimilarities in eye and hand dynamics when transitioning between discrete and continuous movements, our results emphasize that eye-hand coordination continues to smoothly operate and support the notion of synergies across eye movement types. NEW & NOTEWORTHY: The differentiation between continuous and discrete actions is key for behavioral neuroscience. By using a visuomotor task in which we manipulate the target refresh rate to trigger different movement dynamics, we explored eye-hand coordination all the way from discrete to continuous actions. Despite abrupt changes in hand dynamics, eye-hand coordination continues to operate via a gradual trade-off between fixations and smooth pursuit, an observation confirming the notion of synergies across eye movement types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Practicing neuroendoscopic skills like hand-eye coordination is mandatory before embarking on actual surgeries. Synthetic models are able alternatives for cadavers and animals. Presently available models in the literature are either very costly or lack a feedback mechanism, which makes training difficult. Objective: We aimed to make a basic low-cost neuroendoscopic hand-eye coordination model with a feedback mechanism. Methods and Materials: An electronic circuit in series was designed inside a clay utensil to test inadvertent contact of the working instrument with implanted steel pins, which on completion lighted a light-emitting diode (LED) and raised an alarm. Two exercises--moving-a-rubber exercise and passing copper rings of multiple sizes were made and tested by 15 neurosurgeons. Results: The moving-a-rubber exercise was completed by 6/15 (40%) neurosurgeons in the first attempt, 6/15 (40%) in the second, and 3/15 (20%) in the third attempt. For the 1.5 cm copper ring passing exercise, 12/15 (80%) successfully performed in the first attempt; for 1 cm copper ring, 6/15 (40%) performed in the first; and for the 0.5 cm copper ring, 1/15 (6.6%) performed in the first attempt. The time to finish all the exercises significantly decreased in the third successful attempt compared to the first. Conclusion: The model gave excellent feedback to the trainee and examiner for basic neuroendoscopic hand-eye coordination skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the coordination of eye and hand movements in humans during discrete and continuous actions. The authors conducted a study to investigate how eye and hand movements transition between these two types of movements. They found that there is a strong coupling between eye and hand movements, with tracking accuracy being highest when both effectors were used together. The study provides evidence for the coordination of eye and hand movements during visually guided actions and bridges the gap between research on continuous and discrete movements. The authors suggest that future studies should explore the role of target kinematics, predictability, and biomechanical costs in eye-hand coordination. [Extracted from the article]

A critical element of neurological function is eye–hand coordination: the ability of our vision system to coordinate the information received through the eyes to control, guide, and direct the hands to accomplish a task. Recent evidence shows that this ability can be disturbed by strokes or other neurological disorders, with critical consequences for motor behaviour. This paper presents a system based on serious games and multimodal devices aimed at improving the assessment of eye–hand coordination. The system implements gameplay that involves drawing specific patterns (labyrinths) to capture hand trajectories. The user can draw the path using multimodal devices such as a mouse, a stylus with a tablet, or robotic devices. Multimodal input devices can allow for the evaluation of complex coordinated movements of the upper limb that involve the synergistic motion of arm joints, depending on the device. A preliminary test of technological validation with healthy volunteers was conducted in the laboratory. The Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) index was used to compare hand trajectories without considering time-series lag. The results suggest that this multimodal framework allows for measuring differences between fine and gross motor skills. Moreover, the results support the viability of this system for developing a high-resolution metric for measuring eye–hand coordination in neurorehabilitation.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a 16-week school-based physical activity (PA) intervention on physical fitness (PF) (speed, hand-eye coordination, flexibility) of 8-to 9-year-olds. Methods: A total of seventy-eight boys and girls (boys: n = 45, aged 8.4 ± 4.9 years; girls: n = 42, aged 8.6 ± 0.5 years) from a school in Slovenia were randomly assigned to either a group with an after-school PA program (EXP) or a control group (CON) that participated exclusively in mandatory physical education (PE). The EXP group engaged in the extracurricular PA program for 60 min twice a week for 16 weeks, concurrent with regular PE classes. The program primarily involved elementary PE games that included elements of athletics (e.g., skipping, push-off running, hopping, crossstepping, and jumping) and gymnastics (e.g., handstand, forward roll, backward roll, hand support jumps, squat jump on a vault box, climbing on horizontal bars, incline benches and ropes, crawling, and jumping rope). Standardized tests appropriate for this age group were used to assess PF, including the sit and reach test (SAR), the 30-meter sprint, and the alternate hand wall toss test at distances of 1.0 and 2.0 m (AHWT 1.0 and 2.0). Results: There was a significant group-time interaction for SAR test (EXP group increase: +1.6 cm, +6.3%; CON group decrease: -0.1 cm, -0.4%; p < 0.001, p2 = 0.361), and the 30 m sprint (EXP group improvement: -0.4 s, -6.3%; CON group decrease: +0.1 s, +1.6%; p < 0.001, p2 = 0.193). Similarly, the EXP group improved by +2.1 points (+25.6%) in the 1.0 m wall throw with the alternating hand, while the CON group showed only minimal changes (-0.2 points, -2.4%; p < 0.001, p2 = 0.545). No significant interaction was found for the 2.0m toss (EXP and CON group both -0.1 points, -2.6%; p = 0.888, p2 = 0.001). Post-hoc analyses with paired t-tests revealed that the EXP group showed significant improvements in SAR test (p < 0.001), 30msprint (p < 0.001) and AHWT 1.0 test (p < 0.001), while the CON group showed no significant changes in SAR test (p = 0.533), 30msprint (p = 0.150), AHWT 1.0 test (p = 0.186) and AHWT 2.0 test (p = 0.430). Discussion: The results of the study showed that the extracurricular program with only two additional weekly sessions significantly improved the components of PF in 8-to 9-year olds. Significant improvements were observed in the areas of flexibility, speed and coordination, as shown in the SAR test, 30-meter sprint and 1.0-meter handwall toss tests. However, no similar improvements were observed in the 2.0-meter handwall toss, which illustrates the specific areas of impact of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mirror drawing is a motor learning task that is used to evaluate and improve eye-hand coordination of users and can be implemented in immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) for training purposes. In this paper, we investigated the effect of color cues on user motor performance in a mirror- drawing task between Virtual Environment (VE) and Real World (RW), with three different colors. We conducted a 5-day user study with twelve participants. The results showed that the participants made fewer errors in RW compared to VR, except for pre-training, which indicated that hardware and software limitations have detrimental effects on themotor learning of the participants across different realities. Furthermore, participants made fewer errors with the colors close to green, which is usually associated with serenity, contentment, and relaxation. According to our findings, VR headsets can be used to evaluate participants' eye-hand coordination in mirror drawing tasks to evaluate the motor-learning of participants. VE and RW training applications could benefit from our findings in order to enhance their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Ultra low vision (ULV) refers to profound visual impairment where an individual cannot read even the top line of letters on an ETDRS chart from a distance of 0.5 m. There are limited tools available to assess visual ability in ULV. The aim of this study was to develop and calibrate a new performance test, Wilmer VRH, to assess hand-eye coordination in individuals with ULV. Methods: A set of 55 activities was developed for presentation in a virtual reality (VR) headset. Activities were grouped into 2-step and 5-step items. Participants performed a range of tasks involving reaching and grasping, stacking, sorting, pointing, throwing, and cutting. Data were collected from 20 healthy volunteers under normal vision (NV) and simulated ULV (sULV) conditions, and from 33 participants with ULV. Data were analyzed using the method of successive dichotomizations (MSD), a polytomous Rasch model, to estimate item (difficulty) and person (ability) measures. MSD was applied separately to 2-step and 5-step performance data, then merged to a single equal interval scale. Results: The mean ±SD of completion rates were 98.6 ± 1.8%, 78.2 ± 12.5% and 61.1 ±34.2% for NV, sULV and ULV, respectively. Item measures ranged from -1.09 to 5.7 logits and - 4.3 to 4.08 logits and person measures ranged from -0.03 to 4.2 logits and -3.5 to 5.2 logits in sULV and ULV groups, respectively. Ninety percent of item infits were within the desired range of [0.5,1.5], and 97% of person infits were within that range. Together with item and person reliabilities of 0.94 and 0.91 respectively, this demonstrates unidimensionality of Wilmer VRH. A Person Item map showed that the items were well-targeted to the sample of individuals with ULV in the study. Discussion: We present the development of a calibrated set of activities in VR that can be used to assess hand-eye coordination in individuals with ULV. This helps bridge a gap in the field by providing a validated outcome measure that can be used in vision restoration trials that recruit people with ULV, and to assess rehabilitation outcomes in people with ULV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The routine use of prosthetic hands significantly enhances amputees' daily lives, yet it often introduces cognitive load and reduces reaction speed. To address this issue, we introduce a wearable semi-autonomous hierarchical control framework tailored for amputees. Drawing inspiration from the visual processing stream in humans, a fully autonomous bionic controller is integrated into the prosthetic hand control system to offload cognitive burden, complemented by a Human-in-the-Loop (HIL) control method. In the ventral-stream phase, the controller integrates multi-modal information from the user's hand–eye coordination and biological instincts to analyze the user's movement intention and manipulate primitive switches in the variable domain of view. Transitioning to the dorsal-stream phase, precise force control is attained through the HIL control strategy, combining feedback from the prosthetic hand's sensors and the user's electromyographic (EMG) signals. The effectiveness of the proposed interface is demonstrated by the experimental results. Our approach presents a more effective method of interaction between a robotic control system and the human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the ease of visualization and comfort of the surgeon during phacoemulsification surgery using NGENUITYR 3D (NG) visualization system and standard operating microscope (SOM). Methods: In this prospective, randomized, single-blind, single-center study, patients undergoing phacoemulsification surgery by one of the five surgeons were randomly assigned to two groups based on the visualization modality—NG and SOM. Ease of visualization and comfort of the surgeon was assessed using a 27-parameter in-house Surgeon Comfort Score questionnaire. Results: A total of 224 phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantations were performed in senile immature cataract (SIMC, n = 174) and mature cataract patients (MC, n = 50). Surgeon's ease of visualization (4.92–5.00) and hand–eye coordination score (4.97–5.00) were comparable between the NG- and SOM-groups. Postoperative neck discomfort was lower in both the groups, with a relatively lower discomfort in the NG-group (score: 1.04 vs 1.56). The Spearman rank correlation coefficient (r) between illumination of the operation theatre room and the surgical field revealed a weak negative correlation for most of the patients in the NG-group, and a positive correlation for patients in the SOM-group. No correlation was obtained between brightness of the surgical field and comfort with the surgical field brightness. Conclusions: Similar ease of visualization was experienced by the surgeons using NG- and SOM-system. Neck discomfort postsurgery was numerically lower in the NG-group, although not significant. Additionally, the NG-system permitted the safe performance of phacoemulsification using a lower surgical field illumination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination capabilities refer to a set of physical abilities that impact the organization and coordination of movements resulting in consistent performance. They are considered one of the necessary conditions for good performance. Therefore, the objective of the study is to identify the differences in coordination abilities between males and females in the age group of 10-12 years. A hypothesis is that there are statistically significant differences in certain adaptive skills between males and females aged 10-12 years. The research community consists of primary school students from Mosul 135 male and 135 female students as samples. Tests were administered. T-tests for independent samples were given as numbers and percentages for categorical variables. a p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. The study concludes that the coordination skills of male and female students between the ages of 10 and 12 are equal. Males outperform females in the ability of motor coordination between the arms, eyes, and balls, which may be due to the nature of the test. Throwing a Tennis Ball (25 seconds)(t(270)=10,785; p<0.001), Balance (t(270)=2.023; p<0.044), Throwing Balling (t(270) = 3.072; p<0.002), Significant differences were determined for Touch 30 Seconds (t(270)=3.122; p<0.002), Circuit Accuracy (t(270) = 6.551; p<0.001). In conclusion; Aging and participating in sports have a good impact on coordinative performance. Athletes with a genetic propensity for a certain sport may develop motor proficiency that is on par with or even surpasses that of older athletes with well-planned training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Study Aim Good motor coordination is needed to achieve good fundamental motor skills. This study aimed to analyze and describe the relationship between fundamental motor skills and motor coordination performance of elementary school students aged 7 to 9 years old. Material and Methods The subjects were elementary school students in grades 1, 2, and 3 with a total number of students was 478 (248 male students, and 230 female students) in 8 cities and regencies in West Sumatera, Indonesia. This study used a cross-sectional research design. The fundamental motor skills were examined using the Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition. This included assessing locomotor skills (running, galloping, sliding, leaping, hopping, and jumping) and object control skills (striking, catching, throwing, dribbling, rolling, and kicking). Motor coordination performance was assessed by using the Körperkoordinations Test für Kinder including balance beam, moving sideways, jumping sideways, and eye-hand coordination. The data were analyzed by using IBM SPSS statistic version 25. Results Students in urban areas demonstrated certain levels in Gross Motor Quotients scores, while their counterparts in rural areas achieved marginally higher scores with slightly less variation. In schools where Physical Education teachers were present, students generally scored higher compared to schools without Physical Education teachers, albeit with a bit less variation in the latter. When comparing motor coordination performance, students in urban areas typically outperformed those in rural areas, exhibiting slightly more consistent scores. Similarly, students with access to Physical Education teachers showed better motor coordination performance than those without, though with a somewhat greater range in their scores. A noticeable trend was observed in the Gross Motor Quotients scores of Fundamental Motor Skills, which tended to decrease as age increased. Conversely, students’ motor coordination performance generally improved with age. Supporting these observations, the result of the one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, obtained from Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed), was 0.200 > 0.05. Additionally, the Pearson correlation value between motor coordination performance and fundamental motor skills was 0.633 with a sig value of 0.000, indicating a significant relationship. Conclusions Based on the study’s findings, it is recommended to focus on enhancing motor skill programs for children in rural areas. Schools should invest in Physical Education teachers, especially where they are currently absent, to benefit children. Age-specific programs are needed to address the decline in Gross Motor Quotients with age in children. Regular monitoring and evaluation of these initiatives for children are essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial laparoscopic simulators are costly and with limited accessibility. For this reason, medical students very often do not have an easy access to laparoscopic training important for their practical skills development. Using materials available at a standard hardware store we managed to construct a laparoscopic training box with four eye-hand coordination modules that could substitute commercial solutions. In this work we provide a detailed instructions on creating such a training box. Moreover, to evaluate the functionality of our simulator we conducted a survey of students who were provided training using commercial box trainer and our homemade box trainer. Students considered our homemade laparoscopic training box to be of comparable quality to the commercial solution. All of the surveyed students considered training using a low cost laparoscopic training box to be a positive experience. Our homemade low cost laparoscopic simulator is relatively easy to construct and was deemed noninferior to the commercial laparoscopic simulator by surveyed students. Such type of laparoscopic simulators could enhance access to laparoscopic training for medical students. • Homemade laparoscopic trainers are a viable alternative to commercial products. • Do it yourself trainers provide satisfactory training conditions. • Laparoscopic trainer can be constructed from widely available materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise endoscopic skills are critical for endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) to ensure patient safety, as well as to succeed as a surgeon. Among these skills, basic skills such as hand-eye coordination and bimanual dexterity are the most important skills for novice surgeons. However, there is no proficiency-based training for the basic skills in EES. In this study, we aimed to develop a proficiency-based training curriculum for beginners in EES using tractable tasks and to assess the curriculum's validity and educational benefits. Training tasks for basic surgical skills of EES were created by experts, using a low-cost and simple simulator. Subsequently, a proficiency-based training curriculum was developed through a preliminary study. The face and content validity of the curriculum was evaluated by expert surgeons. The construct validity was confirmed by comparing the scores of the medical students with those of the experts. In addition, the educational benefits of the curriculum were assessed by comparing the scores of the medical students before and after the implementation of the curriculum. A proficiency-based training curriculum using six tractable tasks was developed in the preliminary study. Replication of real surgical situation, camera navigation, and instrument operability under endoscopy were all highly appreciated (4.6, 4.6, and 4.8 out of 5 points, respectively), which indicates face validity. The content validity of the curriculum was demonstrated by the results of the questionnaire (4.4 out of 5 points). The curriculum was implemented by 12 medical students. The initial student scores were significantly lower than the expert scores (mean score: 61.9 vs. 100.0, p < 0.001), and each coefficient of variation of the student scores was higher than that of the expert scores (p < 0.01), supporting the construct validity of the curriculum. The mean student composite scores were statistically improved after the training (61.9 vs. 93.3, p < 0.0001). In addition, improvement of five other medical students' EES skills through this training curriculum was confirmed in cadaver dissection (1.7 vs. 3.7, p < 0.0001). The validity of the proficiency-based training curriculum developed through the preliminary study was established based on the questionnaire of experts and the difference between student and expert scores. In addition, the educational benefits were demonstrated by the students' learning curves. The low-cost and simple simulator seems appropriate as an entry model for beginners in EES, and this curriculum can provide rapid intervention and objective assessment of basic skills in EES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Study Aim. Understanding and addressing potential variations in hand dexterity among children is essential for educational strategies and interventions aimed at enhancing fine motor skills development in this age group. The study's objective was to assess hand dexterity levels among 11-12 years old secondary school students, considering variables such as gender, grade, and hand preference. Material and Methods. Ninety-three students (41 females and 52 males) in grades 5 and 6 of the secondary school. The Grooved Pegboard Test (Lafayette Model 32025) was used as a data collection tool to determine the students' performance in hand dexterity (fine motor skills). The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to test for differences between gender, grade, and hand preference in the mean GPT scores. Results. Results showed that both female and male 6th graders had better GPT performance in both dominant and non-dominant hands than 5th graders. On the other hand, there were no significant grade differences in GPT performance between dominant and non-dominant hands (p>0.05). There was no difference in GPT performance between 5th and 6th grade (p>0.05). There were no statistical differences between females and males in GPT performance in either the dominant or non-dominant hand (p>0.05). Conclusions. Results highlight the importance of considering age-related changes in fine motor skills when developing educational strategies and interventions for children in the 11-12 year age group. Further research may be needed to explore the underlying factors contributing to these variations in hand dexterity.