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To determine the level of evidence for the effectiveness of telerehabilitation against comparison interventions in improving child- and parent-related outcomes in children and youth with developmental disabilities. A systematic approach, comprised of a comprehensive search; transparent study selection, data extraction, quality assessment by independent reviewers; and synthesis of sufficiently similar data (per diagnostic group, health profession, and overall level of evidence for each outcome) was undertaken. Fifty-five studies (29 randomized trials) were included across six diagnostic groups and ten health professions. Common telerehabilitation targets varied across diagnostic groups and included motor function, behavior, language, and parental self-efficacy. Telerehabilitation was found to be either more effective or as effective versus comparison intervention in improving 46.9% or 53.1% of outcomes, respectively. It was never found to be detrimental or less effective. Strong to moderate, limited, and insufficient levels of evidence were found for 36.5%, 24.5%, and 38.6% of the outcomes, respectively. There is sufficient evidence suggesting that telerehabilitation is a promising alternative when face-to-face care is limited. It is comparable to usual care and is more effective than no treatment. Blending in-person and telerehabilitation approaches could be beneficial for the post-pandemic future of rehabilitation in pediatric care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telerehabilitation has proved to be a useful tool for neurodevelopmental disorders in allowing timely and intensive intervention and preventing relapses; it is also widely used for specific learning disabilities (SLD), showing significant effects on reading abilities, but variables linked to its effectiveness have not been studied yet. The present study was aimed at testing the effectiveness of telerehabilitation on reading and writing in SLD children, comparing different treatment pathways, and considering the impact of training intensity and executive functions. Seventy-three children were enrolled (telerehabilitation group: 48 children, waiting list group: 25 children). The results showed significant improvements in reading fluency, text dictation, and executive functions in the training group. Children attending a combined training including reading tasks and rapid automatized naming processes improved in word reading fluency and text dictation. The number of training sessions and the change in executive functions significantly correlated with changes in reading accuracy. Here we show a new contribution to telerehabilitation research in SLD: telerehabilitation significantly enhanced learning abilities and executive functions. Training based on the learning task and the underlying processes significantly increased not only reading speed, according to previous studies, but also writing accuracy. The findings' implications in clinical research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to protect the cultural heritage of opera costumes, establish visual labels for opera costumes, accelerate the establishment of a database for opera costumes, and increase the dissemination of opera culture, we propose an improved You Only Look Once (YOLO) v5-based opera costume recognition model for opera costumes with a wide range of styles, rich colors, and complex stage environments. By adding Coordinate Attention (CA) mechanism to the backbone of YOLOv5, the network can focus on more interesting information when extracting features; replacing the original feature pyramid module with a weighted bidirectional feature pyramid module in the Neck part to achieve efficient fusion of features; replacing the original loss function GIOU with DIOU to improve the detection accuracy and convergence speed. The average detection accuracy of the improved YOLOv5 model reaches 86.3% and its inference speed reaches 28 ms per frame through experiments on the homemade Chinese costume dataset, which improves the average detection accuracy by 3.1% compared with the original model, and has good robustness in detecting complex scenes such as covered targets, light-colored costumes, cross targets, dense targets and different angles. The model meets the requirements for accuracy and real-time costume recognition in complex theatrical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low power wide area networks (LPWANs) based on the LoRaWAN standard are suitable for Internet of Things (IoT) applications that involve a large number of low-power devices distributed over large areas. The LoRaWAN standard imposes some limitations on end-device configuration, such as the medium access strategies to be adopted, which depend on the region in which the network operates. In particular, in Europe, according to the ETSI regulations, a LoRaWAN end-device can use either a pure ALOHA medium access control (MAC) protocol or a polite medium access technique based on Listen Before Talk (LBT) Adaptive Frequency Agility (AFA). The aim of this work is to investigate the combined use of the two MAC protocols in the same LoRaWAN network. In particular, the work presents a simulative assessment of a LoRaWAN network that combines the use of Pure ALOHA and LBT AFA in realistic scenarios, under different workloads, when they work in compliance with the ETSI regulations. The work provides quantitative information that can help the network designer choose which protocol is more suitable for achieving the desired performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networks are essential components in the surveillance applications of control systems. In unmanned surveillance applications, numerous agents are employed to provide unmanned services. These agents secure large areas and communicate with a control system, checks their status and sends/receives data via multiple networks. These networks need to assign roles based on the application characteristics. In this study, we propose the design of a multiple-network-based control system for large surveillance areas. To this end, an interface for transmitting mission commands to agents needs to be developed because it can allow users to monitor and assign tasks to all agents. The proposed system is developed as a test bed connected to fixed/mobile agents using LoRa, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and LTE communication methods; moreover, its usability was tested in a real environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ADHD and Chinese developmental dyslexia (DD) have a very high comorbidity rate; however, which cognitive deficits characterize the comorbidity and when they occur during cognitive processing are still under debate. Methods: Rapid automatic naming (RAN) tasks with eye-movement tracking were conducted with 75 children who were typically developing, had comorbid ADHD and DD, had only ADHD, and had only DD. Results: The clinical groups had longer first fixation durations than the control for RAN digits. Temporal eye-movement measures, such as gaze duration and total reading time, were found to vary between the comorbidity and ADHD groups. Spatial eye-movement measures, such as regression probability and incoming saccade amplitude, differed between the comorbidity and DD groups. Conclusions: These results indicate that investigation with eye-movement measures combined with RAN tasks can strengthen the understanding of the pathogenesis of comorbid ADHD and DD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated driving requires correct perception of the surrounding environment in any driving condition. To achieve this result, not only are many more sensors than in current Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS) needed, but such sensors are also of different types, such as radars, ultrasonic sensors, LiDARs, and video cameras. Given the high number of sensors and the bandwidth requirements of some of them, high-bandwidth automotive-grade networks are required. Ethernet technology is a suitable candidate, as it offers a broad selection of automotive-grade Ethernet physical layers, with transmission speeds ranging from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps. In addition, the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) family of standards offers several features for Ethernet-based networks that are suitable for automotive communications, such as high reliability, bounded delays, support for scheduled traffic, etc. In this context, this paper provides an overview of Ethernet-based in-car networking and discusses novel trends and future developments in automotive communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of telerehabilitation systems has shown a significant growth in the past years, demonstrating their crucial relevance in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many devices and sensors have been proposed to analytically measure parameters for patient assessment, with limitations due to costs or feasibility. In this paper, we present a motor telerehabilitation system with computer vision-assisted markerless measures for patients with Rett syndrome. Twenty-one RTT (Rett syndrome) patients, with ages ranging from age 4 to 31 (Median: 12.50; IQR (interquartile range): 9.50–17.25) were recruited. The study follows a pre-test–post-test design, where the patients were submitted to a pre-test, treatment, post-test 1, treatment, post-test 2 procedure. Progress in patient outcomes was assessed by measuring joint passive range of movement (PRoM). Results show the reliability of our system, and the feasibility of a telerehabilitation treatment for RTT patients, with significant improvements in shoulder mobility and in elbow flexion and extension. Limited results in lower limbs suggest that home treatment should be fostered to reduce sedentary time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Although particular technologies can enhance the quality of life (QoL) of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (we use the term pervasive support needs), their objectives and outcomes are understudied. A systematic literature review was therefore conducted to explore this topic., Method: A search of four databases yielded 64 studies. Data were extracted on their general characteristics, methods and sample characteristics as well as the technology types, QoL domains and application within ecological systems. A narrative synthesis was subsequently developed., Results: Most of the studies applied assistive technology (AT) and focused on personal development and self-determination on an individual level., Conclusions: Technology can enhance the QoL of people with pervasive support needs. There are indications that although MT and UD-based technology are used in practice, few studies have examined these technologies. Therefore, there is a knowledge gap regarding the kinds of technology that are used in practice., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

A two stage real-time hand gesture recognition system is presented. It combines a machine learning trained detection step with a colour processing contour shape validation step. The detection step is done with either Adaboost Cascades or Support Vector Machines using HOG features. The system achieves a low false positive rate and a sufficient true positive rate necessary for robust real-time performance. It performs well compared to MobileNets a state of the art Neural Network for mobile real-time applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of the present study was to examine the effects of psychosocial and cognitive stress on executive functions and automatic processes in healthy subjects. To achieve these purposes, we investigated whether cognitive stress impaired the controlled processing underlying cognitive flexibility, working memory and initial letter fluency performances, and whether social stress impaired both performance of executive processes and of semantic fluency. We employed the psychosocial stress paradigm in which cognitive assessment was superimposed on cognitive and social stressors soon after their introduction and was carried out concurrently while they were present. With reference to cognitive stress, we employed the dual-task paradigm that involves a primary task (performances related to executive functions and automatic task) and a secondary task (focusing attention and memorizing items in another cognitive task). Eighty-eight healthy subjects, between 18 and 30 years, participated in this study. They were randomly divided into three groups: two groups undergoing a stress procedure, respectively a cognitive stress group and a social stress group, and a control group. Results indicated that stress impaired cognitive flexibility, working memory and verbal fluency. Cognitive flexibility was affected to a greater extent by psychosocial stress than cognitive stress. This study suggests that the negative effects of stress on cognitive flexibility may be a consequence of the interplay between controlled and automatic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methods to prevent collisions between people to avoid traffic accidents are receiving significant attention. To measure the position in the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) area, which cannot be directly visually recognized, position-measuring methods use wireless-communication-type GPS and propagation characteristics of radio signals, such as received signal strength indication (RSSI). However, conventional position estimation methods using RSSI require multiple receivers, which decreases the position estimation accuracy, owing to the presence of surrounding buildings. This study proposes a system to solve this challenge using a receiver and position estimation method based on RSSI MAP simulation and particle filter. Moreover, this study utilizes BLE peripheral/central functions capable of advertising as the transmitter/receiver. By using the advertising radio waves, our method provides a framework for estimating the position of unspecified transmitters. The effectiveness of the proposed system is evaluated in this study through simulations and experiments in actual environments. We obtained an error average of the distance to be 1.6 m from the simulations, which shows the precision of the proposed method. In the actual environment, the proposed method showed an error average of the distance to be 3.3 m. Furthermore, we evaluated the accuracy of the proposed method when both the transmitter and receiver are in motion, which can be considered as a moving person in the outdoor NLOS area. The result shows an error of 4.5 m. Consequently, we concluded that the accuracy was comparable when the transmitter is stationary and when it is moving. Compared with conventional path loss, the model can measure distances of 3 m to 10 m, whereas the proposed method can estimate the "position" with the same accuracy in an outdoor environment. In addition, it can be expected to be used as a collision avoidance system that confirms the presence of strangers in the NLOS area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention is one of the most important cognitive functions since it allows us to discriminate irrelevant stimuli when performing an activity. The presence of an attention deficit significantly affects a person's performance. This is one of the reasons why it is of utmost importance to determine the state of attention mechanisms.A tool that allows determining the level of attention could be of great help in the diagnosis of syndromes or disorders, as well as in the rehabilitation and treatment of people suffering from attention deficits. In this work, a methodology is proposed based on a Random Forest algorithm optimized with PSO (Particle Swarm Optimization) for the classification of attention levels. These attention levels are divided into three main categories: High Attention, Normal Attention, and Low Attention. The proposed approach demonstrated reaching an accuracy of up to 96%. Finally, the approach from this contribution was compared with the state of the art, demonstrating that this work is a feasible methodology for this application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience difficulties related to communication and behaviour. However, their feeding issues are most distressing to their families and healthcare professionals as they impact on the children's adaptive function and health. In comparison to typically developing children, those with ASD experience significantly more feeding difficulties. Children with ASD may display distinctive feeding difficulties and atypical feeding behaviours that include picky eating, limited independent feeding, need for increased feeding times, and a highly restrictive food repertoire. Many of these feeding difficulties continue into childhood, persist in adolescence, and even spill over into adulthood. This proves to be a formidable challenge, as feeding is an essential component for healthy nutrition, growth, and development. This article will highlight how particular food items that are eaten and preferred by affected children may be contributing to their exhibited feeding difficulties. Next, it will be shown how the children's restrictive diets supplant more healthy food options. When this is combined with the children's noted reduced physical activity, the consequences are especially serious, as they include not only malnutrition but also give rise to childhood obesity. In sum, it will be demonstrated that feeding difficulties in young children with ASD are not well understood nor managed. The dearth of knowledge about feeding issues in this population affects both assessment choices and, specifically, management practices – aspects that will be elaborated on in this article. Conclusions will include suggested future directions for enhancing and complementing knowledge of these issues for stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study sought to: (1) evaluate agriculturalists' characteristics as adopters of IoT smart agriculture technologies, (2) evaluate traits fostering innovation adoption, (3) evaluate the cycle of IoT smart agriculture adoption, and, lastly, (4) discern attributes and barriers of information communication. Researchers utilized a survey design to develop an instrument composed of eight adoption constructs and one personal characteristic construct and distributed it to agriculturalists at an agricultural exposition in Rio Grande do Sul. Three-hundred-forty-four (n = 344) agriculturalists responded to the data collection instrument. Adopter characteristics of agriculturalists were educated, higher consciousness of social status, larger understanding of technology use, and more likely identified as opinion leaders in communities. Innovation traits advantageous to IoT adoption regarding smart agriculture innovations were: (a) simplistic, (b) easily communicated to a targeted audience, (c) socially accepted, and (d) larger degrees of functionality. Smart agriculture innovation's elevated levels of observability and compatibility coupled with the innovation's low complexity were the diffusion elements predicting agriculturalists' adoption. Agriculturalists' beliefs in barriers to adopting IoT innovations were excessive complexity and minimal compatibility. Practitioners or change agents should promote IoT smart agriculture technologies to opinion leaders, reduce the innovation's complexity, and amplify educational opportunities for technologies. The existing sum of IoT smart agriculture adoption literature with stakeholders and actors is descriptive and limited, which constitutes this inquiry as unique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rett Syndrome (RTT) is a severe, neurodevelopmental disorder mainly caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene, affecting around 1 in 10,000 female births. Severe physical, language, and social impairments impose a wide range of limitations in the quality of life of the patients with RTT. Comorbidities of patients with RTT are varied and cause a lot of pain, but communicating this suffering is difficult for these patients due to their problems, such as apraxia that does not allow them to express pain in a timely manner, and their difficulties with expressive language that also do not permit them to communicate. Two studies, a pilot study and a single case study, investigate the manifestation of pain of patients with RTT and propose a suitable scale to measure it.Aims Of This Study: The first aim was to describe pain situations of RTT by collecting information by parents; the second aim was to test and compare existing questionnaires for non-communicating disorders on pain such as Pain assessment in advanced demenzia (PAINAD), the Critical care pain observation tool (CPOT) and the Non-communicating Children's Pain Checklist-Revised (NCCPC-R) to assess which of them is best related to the pain behavior of patients with RTT. The third aim was to identify the specific verbal and non-verbal behaviors that characterize pain in girls with Rett syndrome, discriminating them from non-pain behaviors.Method: Nineteen participants, eighteen girls with RTT and one girl with RTT with 27 manifestations of pain were video-recorded both in pain and base-line conditions. Two independent observers codified the 90 video-recording (36 and 54) to describe their behavioral characteristics.Results: The two studies showed that the most significant pain behaviors expressed by girls with respect to the baseline condition, at the facial level were a wrinkled forehead, wide eyes, grinding, banging teeth, complaining, making sounds, crying and screaming, and the most common manifestations of the body were tremors, forward and backward movement of the torso, tension in the upper limbs, increased movement of the lower limbs and a sprawling movement affecting the whole body.Conclusion: The results of the two studies helped to create an easy-to-apply scale that healthcare professionals can use to assess pain in patients with Rett's syndrome. This scale used PAINAD as its basic structure, with some changes in the items related to the behavior of patients with RTT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates communication within families but may also displace face-to-face communication and intimacy. The aims of this systematic review were to investigate what positive and negative relationship outcomes are associated with ICT use in families, and whether and how the outcomes differ depending on relationship type (romantic relationship, parent–child relationship, or sibling). Included in the review were research published in English between 2009 and 2019 studying the effects of ICT on family relationships with quantitative data. 70 peer-reviewed articles (73 studies) were retrieved and categorized based on four types of ICT variables: personal use, personal use in the presence of a family member (technoference), communication between family members, and co-use with family members. Personal use and technoference were mostly related to negative outcomes due to, for example, displaced attention and more frequent conflicts. Romantic partners were especially strongly negatively affected displaying stressors unique to romantic relationships, such as infidelity. By contrast, communication and co-use showed mostly positive effects across all relationship types. In particular, "rich" communication media resembling face-to-face interaction were strongly associated with positive outcomes. We conclude that ICT impacts family relations in different ways, depending on both the type of relationship and type of ICT use. Personal ICT use tends to weaken both parenting and romantic relationships in ways that can partly be mitigated by co-use and communication. Directions for future research include, assessing how often ICT is used in relationship-strengthening versus relationship-interfering ways, investigating causal pathways between ICT use and relationship quality, and focusing on understudied relationship types, such as siblings and grandparents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the stability, consistency, and predictive utility of average fixation durations in infancy. In Study 1, infants' (N = 80) average fixation duration when viewing social stimuli was found to show strong relative stability from 3.5 to 9 months of age. In Study 2, strong within‐infant consistency was found in 3.5‐month‐old infants' (N = 73) average fixation durations to social and nonsocial stimuli. In Study 3, 3.5‐ to 9‐month‐old infants' (N = 89) average fixation duration was found to systematically vary with parent‐reported symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at 4–6 years of age. These results suggest that average fixation duration serves as a stable and systematic measure of individual differences in cognitive development beginning early in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred years have passed since the first paper on African swine fever (ASF) was published by Montgomery in 1921. With no vaccine, ineffectiveness of prevention and control measures and lack of common interest in eradicating the disease, ASF has proven to be one of the most devastating diseases because of its significant sanitary and socioeconomic consequences. The rapid spread of the disease on the European and Asian continents and its recent appearance in the Caribbean puts all countries at great risk because of global trade. The incidence of ASF has also increased on the African continent over the last few decades, extending its distribution far beyond the area in which the ancient sylvatic cycle is present with its complex epidemiological transmission pathways involving virus reservoirs in ticks and wild African Suidae. Both in that area and elsewhere, efficient transmission by infected domestic pigs and virus resistance in infected animal products and fomites mean that human driven factors along the pig value chain are the dominant impediments for its prevention, control and eradication. Control efforts in Africa are furthermore hampered by the lack of information about the size and location of the fast‐growing pig population, particularly in the dynamic smallholder sector that constitutes up to 90% of pig production in the region. A vaccine that will be both affordable and effective against multiple genotypes of the virus is not a short‐term reality. Therefore, a strategy for management of ASF in sub‐Saharan Africa is needed to provide a roadmap for the way forward for the continent. This review explores the progression of ASF and our knowledge of it through research over a century in Africa, our current understanding of ASF and what must be done going forward to improve the African situation and contribute to global prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Play as a therapeutic strategy can help to improve daily functioning in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Play-based intervention can thus be an optimal option for treatment of this population. Our aim was to describe play-based interventions used in children and adolescents with ASD. We conducted a scoping review. A peer-reviewed literature search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases. We included experimental studies which analyzed play-based interventions in children and adolescents with ASD, which were published in English/Spanish with full text available. We used three tables elaborated a priori to perform data extraction by two authors. Fifteen studies were included, mostly conducted in Australia and published during the past 10 years. Play-based intervention was categorized into three groups: new technologies, symbolic play or official techniques. Interventions lasted approximately 11 weeks, contained one weekly session of 30–60 min and were delivered by parents and teachers. Play-based interventions using new technologies were the most used. Intervention duration and number of sessions varied between articles. Further studies are needed to create play-based intervention protocols which can be implemented in clinical practice with children and adolescents with ASD, thus promoting evidence-based interventions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental study that analyzes learners' visual behaviour and brain activity in clinical reasoning. An acquisition protocol was defined to record eye tracking and EEG data from 15 participants as they interact with a computer-based learning environment called Amnesia, a medical simulation system that assesses the analytical skills of novice medicine students while they solve patient cases. We use gaze data to assess learners' visual focus and present our methodology to track learners' reasoning process through scanpath pattern analysis. We also describe our methodology for examining learners' cognitive states using mental engagement and workload neural indexes. Finally, we discuss the relationship between gaze path information and EEG and how our analyses can lead to new forms of clinical diagnostic reasoning assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machine-learning-based computer vision is increasingly versatile and being leveraged by a wide range of smart devices. Due to the limited performance/energy budget of computing units in smart devices, the careful implementation of computer vision algorithms is critical. In this paper, we analyze the performance bottleneck of two well-known computer vision algorithms for object tracking: object detection and optical flow in the Open-source Computer Vision library (OpenCV). Based on our in-depth analysis of their implementation, we found the current implementation fails to utilize Open Computing Language (OpenCL) accelerators (e.g., GPUs). Based on the analysis, we propose several optimization strategies and apply them to the OpenCL implementation of object tracking algorithms. Our evaluation results demonstrate the performance of the object detection is improved by up to 86% and the performance of the optical flow by up to 10%. We believe our optimization strategies can be applied to other computer vision algorithms implemented in OpenCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies investigated the effect of a structured and specific training for upper limb motor skills allowing complex movements such as reaching and grasping. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of motor training on attention, reaching skills, and stereotypies in patients with Rett syndrome (RTT). Methods: Twenty‐eight participants with RTT underwent cognitive and motor assessment to evaluate attention, reaching skills and stereotypies with an ABABABA design: before training (pre‐test phase), after a month of training (post‐test phase 1), after a month of the second training phase (post‐test phase 2) and at 1 month after the third training phase (post‐test phase 3). In all three B phases, participants received 30 minutes of motor training for 5 days a week over a 1‐month period. Results: Patients with RTT show long‐term improvements in seconds of attention and reaching skills and decreases in the intensity of stereotypies. Conclusions: This study suggests that motor abilities of participants with RTT can be improved with repeated, individual, well‐structured training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eye movement abnormalities in association with cognitive and emotional deficits have been described in neurological, neurodevelopmental, and psychiatric disorders. Eye-Tracking (ET) techniques could therefore enhance cognitive interventions by contingently providing feedback to patients. Since no consensus has been reached thus far on this approach, this study aimed at systematically reviewing the current evidence. This review was performed and reported according to PRISMA guidelines. Records were searched for in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus (1990–2021) through the following string: ('Eye Tracking' OR 'Eye-Tracking' OR 'Oculomotor') AND ('Neuropsychol*' OR 'Cognitive') AND ('Rehabilitation' OR 'Training' OR 'Stimulation'). Study outcomes were thematically classified and qualitatively synthesized. A structured quality assessment was performed. A total of 24 articles were included, addressing neurodevelopmental (preterm infants and children with autism spectrum disorder, Rett syndrome, or ADHD; N = 14), psychiatric (mood and anxiety disorders or alcohol dependence; N = 7), and neurological conditions (stroke; N = 3). Overall, ET gaze-contingent training proved to be effective in improving cognitive and emotional alterations. However, population heterogeneity limits the generalizability of results. ET gaze-contingent protocols allow researchers to directly and dynamically train attentional functions; together with the recruitment of implicit, "bottom-up" strategies, these protocols are promising and possibly integrable with traditional cognitive approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a wide range of applications, image segmentation is a complex and difficult preprocessing step that plays an important role in automatic visual systems, which accuracy impacts, not only on segmentation results, but directly affects the effectiveness of the follow-up tasks. Despite the many advances achieved in the last decades, image segmentation remains a challenging problem, particularly, the segmenting of color images due to the diverse inhomogeneities of color, textures and shapes present in the descriptive features of the images. In trademark graphic images segmentation, beyond these difficulties, we must also take into account the high noise and low resolution, which are often present. Trademark graphic images can also be very heterogeneous with regard to the elements that make them up, which can be overlapping and with varying lighting conditions. Due to the immense variation encountered in corporate logos and trademark graphic images, it is often difficult to select a single method for extracting relevant image regions in a way that produces satisfactory results. Many of the hybrid approaches that integrate the Watershed and K-Means algorithms involve processing very high quality and visually similar images, such as medical images, meaning that either approach can be tweaked to work on images that follow a certain pattern. Trademark images are totally different from each other and are usually fully colored. Our system solves this difficulty given it is a generalized implementation designed to work in most scenarios, through the use of customizable parameters and completely unbiased for an image type. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach to Image Region Extraction that focuses on automated region proposal and segmentation techniques. In particular, we analyze popular techniques such as K-Means Clustering and Watershedding and their effectiveness when deployed in a hybrid environment to be applied to a highly variable dataset. The proposed system consists of a multi-stage algorithm that takes as input an RGB image and produces multiple outputs, corresponding to the extracted regions. After preprocessing steps, a K-Means function with random initial centroids and a user-defined value for k is executed over the RGB image, generating a gray-scale segmented image, to which a threshold method is applied to generate a binary mask, containing the necessary information to generate a distance map. Then, the Watershed function is performed over the distance map, using the markers defined by the Connected Component Analysis function that labels regions on 8-way pixel connectivity, ensuring that all regions are correctly found. Finally, individual objects are labelled for extraction through a contour method, based on border following. The achieved results show adequate region extraction capabilities when processing graphical images from different datasets, where the system correctly distinguishes the most relevant visual elements of images with minimal tweaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that acute psychosocial stress impairs cognitive abilities, but recent studies suggest that this may be due to a decrease in willingness to engage in cognitive effort rather than a direct effect on performance. The aim of the present study was to replicate this last research and verify the influence of acute stress on avoidance of cognitive effort and cognitive performance. Fifty young, healthy individuals (26 females, 24 males) aged between 18 and 40 years were randomly assigned to two groups: a stress condition and a control condition. We used a Demand Selection Task paradigm (DST), in which participants chose between performing tasks that required either high or low cognitive effort. Stress was induced through the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and measured with both subjective and psychophysiological measurements. The results indicated that acute stress significantly increased participants' preference for less demanding behaviors, while no significant alterations in cognitive performance in task change activities were found. This study offers new perspectives on how stress affects behavior and decision-making in everyday life., (© 2023 The Authors. Stress and Health published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Many parents attempt to limit adolescents' screen time without changing their own habits. We examined whether "whole-family" versus "youth-focused" restrictions differentially predict social media-related difficulties (procrastination and problematic use), and whether adolescents' impulsive social media behaviors moderated these relationships. Among 183 Chinese early adolescents (58.5% female), whole-family rules negatively predicted procrastination. Impulsivity moderated associations between rulemaking approaches and social media difficulties; youth-focused rules negatively predicted procrastination and problematic use for highly impulsive adolescents, while whole-family rules held no associations or predicted increased difficulties. For less impulsive adolescents, however, whole-family rules negatively predicted social media difficulties and youth-focused rules positively predicted problematic use. Results suggest that setting the implementation of screen rules should involve parental participation and consideration of individual differences., (© 2023 Society for Research on Adolescence.)

Individuals with special needs are highly disadvantaged during the COVID-19 quarantine days, and families and children received limited support. Learning the experiences, problems and solution suggestions of teachers who are responsible for the education of children with special needs is of great importance in determining the plans to be made to provide the necessary support. The purpose of this study is to investigate in-service special education teachers' experiences of emergency remote teaching and to seek to understand the essence of their lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study employs a phenomenological design. This current interpretative phenomenological study consists of 21 special education teachers that meet predetermined criteria. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Five key questions and one closing question which were created by the researchers aligned with the purpose of the study were asked to the participants. As a result of the data obtained within the scope of the study, themes emerged according to special education teachers' experiences such as technical infrastructure, ICT literacy, required technical support, transformations in performance tracking and assessment, learning resource, problem behaviors, goals and objectives, family engagement, person being supported, type of support provided a Research Article nd decision about sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Therapeutic engagement is a key component of psychological interventions. Robot‐assisted psychological interventions appear to have therapeutic benefits for service users that are challenging to engage. However, engagement with robots in robot‐assisted psychological interventions is not well understood. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the quality of therapeutic engagement in robot‐assisted psychological interventions (PROSPERO: 122437). Methods: Scopus, Web of Science, PsycInfo and Medline were searched until 15 January 2021 for studies which quantitatively evaluated therapeutic engagement in robot‐assisted psychological interventions. The Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) quality assessment tool was used to assess methodological dimensions of studies. Results: 3647 studies were identified through database searching. Thirty studies (N = 1462), published between 2004 and 2020, and from 14 countries, were included. Robots were typically toy animals or humanoids and were used to provide support and improve wellbeing through social interaction. Studies primarily tested robots on older adults with dementia and children with autism and indicated positive therapeutic engagement. Twelve studies included a control group. EPHPP ratings were 'strong' (N = 1), 'moderate' (N = 10) and 'weak' (N = 19). Conclusions: Therapeutic engagement between service users and robots is generally positive. Methodological limitations of studies, such as small sample sizes, and lack of control groups and longitudinal data, mean that the field is in early stages of its development and conclusions should be drawn with caution. There are important practical and ethical implications for policymakers to consider, such as responsible clinical practice and how service users may understand the therapeutic relationship with robots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 Lockdown was particularly challenging for most mothers of people with intellectual disabilities, including those with Rett syndrome (RTT), leading to feelings of abandonment from healthcare services of their children. Within those days, telerehabilitation has represented a valid alternative to support physical activity and treatment, supporting parents in structuring their children's daily routine at home. This article aims to describe the well-being level of two groups of mothers of girls and women with RTT who were involved in a home-based remotely supervised motor rehabilitation program, respectively, before and during the COVID-19 Italian lockdown. Forty participants with classic RTT were recruited before the lockdown and randomly assigned to two groups that performed the intervention immediately before (Group 1) and during (Group 2) the lockdown, respectively. The intervention included an individualized daily physical activity program carried out for 12 weeks by participants' parents and fortnightly supervised throughout Skype contacts to plan, monitor, and accommodate individual activities in the participant's life at home. The short form Caregivers Well-Being Scale was collected for the mothers in each group 12 weeks before intervention (T1), at intervention initiation (T2), immediately after intervention termination (T3), as well as at 12 weeks after intervention termination (T4). Mothers of participants in the Group 1 showed a stable level of well-being across all four evaluations with a slight improvement during the lockdown, without significant change. Similarly, the well-being level of mothers in the Group 2 showed a statistically significant increase in their well-being between T2 and T3 (during the lockdown) and its reduction to the pre-intervention level between T3 and T4 (after the lockdown). The results suggest that the lockdown did not negatively affect the participants' mothers' well-being, leading to its improvement. Moreover, the proposed intervention could have supported the mothers in managing the new daily routine at home, positively affecting maternal well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rett Syndrome is a severe, neurodevelopmental disorder mainly caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene, affecting around 1 in 10,000 female births. Severe physical, language, and social impairments impose a wide range of limitations in the assessment of the abilities of Rett patients. This study proposes an analysis and first validation of a Global Assessment and Intervention in Rett syndrome (GAIRS) Checklist for assessing behavioral, intellectual, academic, neuropsychological and psychosocial manifestations in patients with Rett Syndrome. We administered the GAIRS Checklist to 113 Italian patients with Rett Syndrome aged 4-42.Aims Of This Study: To examine the psychometric characteristics of the GAIRS Checklist. Moreover, the aim is also to examine the validity of GAIRS with test-retest correlation, convergent validity with similar functional measurements, such as the Vineland scales, and divergent validity with severity of disease scale, such as the RARS scale and severity of neuropsychiatric evaluations.Results: All 10 subscales of GAIRS were positively and significantly related to each other and to the total GAIRS score, and the subscales showed high levels of Cronbach's alpha values (from .77 to .95). Principal axis factoring suggested two factors that explain 60% of the variance. Test-retest reliability is 0.82. This means that psychometric properties are reliable. Correlation for Concurrent validity with Vineland score was high and Divergent Validity with RARS was also high.Conclusion: The GAIRS Checklist used for Rett syndrome is acceptable and feasible to complete assessment in a clinical setting. Moreover, it can detect the complexity of this disease and may suggest the next step in terms of specific training in Rett syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a debate about the measure of IQ in children with ADHD. Some studies report that, compared to static assessment procedures, dynamic assessment of intelligence can better measure cognitive modifiability and plasticity. The present study was designed to examine children belonging to different ADHD subtypes (inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, and combined) in terms of both static (WISC scores) and dynamic measures (Modifiability index). Thirty-four children (12 ADHD-I, 10 ADHD-H, and 12 ADHD-C) were compared to a sample of 27 typically developing children. Results indicate that only the inattentive and the combined subtypes, compared with the normative sample, show lower IQ scores. The ADHD-I group presents generally low WISC scores and ADHD-H presents generally high WISC scores. Moreover, the ADHD-C group shows a low static score and a high dynamic score, indicating a wide breadth of Vygotskian children's zone of proximal development. Static and dynamic measurements together can indeed be considered a comprehensive examination of intelligence levels in ADHD children and may be essential in predicting learning capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning is a new area of machine learning research. Deep learning technology applies the nonlinear and advanced transformation of model abstraction into a large database. The latest development shows that deep learning in various fields and greatly contributed to artificial intelligence so far. This article reviews the contributions and new applications of deep learning. The main target of this review is to give the summarize points for scholars to have the analysis about applications and algorithms. Then review tries to investigate the main applications and uses algorithms. In addition, the advantages of using the method of deep learning and its hierarchical and nonlinear functioning are introduced and compared to traditional algorithms in common applications. The following three criteria should be taken into consideration when choosing the area of application. (1) expertise or knowledge of the author; (2) the successful application of deep learning technology has changed the field of application, such as voice recognition, chat robots, search technology and vision; and (3) deep learning can have a significant impact on the application domain and benefit from recent research with natural language and text processing, information recovery and multimodal information processing resulting from multitasking deep learning. This review provides a general overview of a new concept and the growing benefits and popularity of deep learning, which can help researchers and students interested in deep learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the associations among family cohesion (i.e., the extent to which family members are concerned and committed to the family), self-concept clarity (i.e., having a clear, confident and coherent sense of one's own identity), hope (as a general disposition to engage in conscious efforts to obtain goals), and subjective well-being (containing emotional and cognitive well-being). 2792 adolescents and early adults with an age range of 11–24 years (Mage = 16.45, SD = 2.62, 43.2% boys) in China completed the Family Environment Scale, the Self-Concept Clarity Scale, the Children's Hope Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale. Two serial mediation models revealed that self-concept clarity and hope independently mediated the effect of family cohesion on subjective well-being. More importantly, family cohesion could influence subjective well-being through the chain mediating effect of "self-concept clarity–hope". These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the links between these factors and suggest that high level of family cohesion may promote subjective well-being through the high level of self-concept clarity and hope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this systematic review was to determine the efficacy and acceptability of telerehabilitation in physical therapy (PT) and parental acceptance during the COVID-19 pandemic in children. In 2021, an electronic search of academic articles was performed using databases such as Embase, PubMed and Scopus. One-hundred and one articles did not satisfy the eligibility criteria after deleting duplicates and reviewing abstracts, while 16 papers did not meet eligibility after reviewing complete texts. Hence, full texts for 13 articles were retrieved, which were incorporated in the review. All these studies were observational studies assessing the effectiveness and acceptability of telerehabilitation in PT required for diverse conditions in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. All included studies revealed a positive effect of telerehabilitation in PT during the COVID-19 pandemic in children with different conditions. Moreover, the included studies revealed that both rehabilitation professionals and parents or caregivers of children were satisfied with the telerehabilitation services provided remotely. Thus, telerehabilitation appears to be a suitable and convenient strategy to offer remote services to children in need but cannot visit in person due to COVID-19. The existing evidence shows that telerehabilitation can be considered effective for children who need PT for any health condition mainly during the pandemic. However, due to the dearth of studies in this area, exploring this topic is recommended mostly in low-middle-income countries with poor access to health care services and limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Among the psychological problems, mood disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, due to their recurrent nature, impose exorbitant costs on society annually. In this regard, the present study was conducted to compare family functioning and thought-action fusion in obsessive-compulsive, bipolar and normal obsessive individuals. Materials and Methods: The present study was a causal-comparative study. The statistical population of this study consists of all obsessive-compulsive and bipolar patients hospitalized and referred to Fatemi Hospital and psychiatric clinics in Ardabil in January and February 2017 and June and July 2016 who received obsessivecompulsive disorder and bipolar disorder from specialists. From this statistical population, 40 obsessive-compulsive individuals, 40 bipolar individuals and 40 normal individuals were selected by convenience sampling. The instruments of this study were Tavitian et al.'s family performance questionnaire (1987) and Rachman and Shafran (1998) thought-action fusion questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS-25 software and multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results showed that people with bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder have lower family functioning than normal people. Also, the mean scores of integration of thought and action in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder were higher than normal individuals. (P <0/05). Conclusion: These results indicate that family dysfunction and blurring of the thought-action line increase the severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder. Therefore, paying attention to this result in psychotherapy plans and specialized interventions can be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in the stress-coping model, our study examined family functioning and the classroom environment as protective factors in the relationship between daily stress and behavioral problems in Chinese children. The participants were 1,450 children (51.7% male, M age = 10.91 years, SD = 0.96) in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades at five schools. The children completed the questionnaires measuring daily stress, family functioning, and the classroom environment. Additionally, their parents rated their behavioral problems. The latent moderated structural (LMS) equation approach was used to test moderator effects. After controlling for sex and grade, our results indicate that daily stress positively predicted the children's behavioral problems. Both family functioning and the classroom environment moderated the relationship between daily stress and behavioral problems. Further assessment of latent interaction effects indicate that buffering effects on behavioral problems were most prominent in conditions involving low stress. In sum, families and schools should not ignore children's minor stressors, as interventions involving family functioning and favorable classroom environments may help to reduce behavioral problems in children who report low levels of daily stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coming of an unforeseen and hostile event such as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about various changes in everyone's daily life. During the lockdown period, a huge number of restrictions were imposed, hence interrupting a wide range of activities previously proven to be necessary for some people. Due to the circumstances, rehabilitation treatments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders have been suspended, resulting in consequent distress for the children themselves and their parents. To overcome this problem, a tele-rehabilitation approach has proven to be an excellent solution to give continuity to children's rehabilitation. The tele-rehabilitation approach allows access to rehabilitation services directly from home. During lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virtual Reality Rehabilitation System (VRRS) HomeKit, developed by Khymeia, was employed as a rehabilitation system for the treatment of posture and balance of an adolescent with disabilities for the first time ever. Specifically, a 17-year-old female patient was enrolled and evaluated by the clinical staff before and after the home-training sessions. The system was delivered to the patient's home so that she could perform the tasks in a familiar environment, while under the supervision of the clinical staff. Through a specific platform, using different modules of the system, therapists could remotely check that the proposed exercises were properly performed and provide feedback and/or increase the difficulty according to the patient's needs and progress. Therefore, the treatment performed was carried out at home in a personalized, intensive, and playful way; characteristics do not present in a traditional treatment. Our results are promising and demonstrate both the efficacy of rehabilitation exercises carried out at home and the feasibility of home-based rehabilitation, when using the VRRS HomeKit even with adolescents. The VRRS HomeKit presents some limitations, such as the need to have the line connection and free space at home, the presence of technical issues, and the education of parents and patients to understand the instructions. Despite the limitations, this study provides the basis for continuing the experience of tele-rehabilitation on patients with a motor disorder also by customizing the exercises to their characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with Rett syndrome (RTT) experience impaired gross motor skills limiting their capacity. Therefore, they need support to participate in physical activities, and it is crucial to work with primary caregivers when developing appropriate strategies, thereby leading to an active lifestyle. There is limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of remotely supported physical activity interventions. This project aimed to evaluate the effects of a skype-based, telehealth-delivered physical activity program carried out by participants' parents at home. This article will focus on parental points of view. A mixed-methods design evaluating parental satisfaction was conducted. Forty participants with a confirmed genetic diagnosis of RTT and their families were recruited. The intervention included a 12-week individualized daily physical activity program carried out by participants' parents and bi-weekly supervised by expert therapists. Parents' impressions and feelings related to the program implementation were collected throughout semi-structured interviews, and an ad hoc developed questionnaire and discussed. The current project results suggest that a remote physical rehabilitation program, supported fortnightly by video calls, represents an effective way of conducting a remote physical therapy intervention for this population and that it can be easily carried out at home by primary caregivers, promoting positive functional changes, without bringing feelings of frustration due to the required workload. The strategies that families have learned during the program to support the motor activities of their daughters represent an easily performed set of tools that they can maintain and use in everyday life even after the cessation of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are predominantly treated with medication. However, there is also a need for effective, psychologically based interventions. As ADHD is strongly associated with reduced inhibitory control, cognitive remediation approaches should be efficient. Goal management training (GMT) aims at enhancing inhibitory control and has shown positive effects on inhibitory control in non-ADHD patient groups. The aim of the current study was to explore whether GMT would specifically enhance inhibitory control in adults with ADHD, and if such an enhancement would lead to secondary improvements in self-reported everyday functioning. Methods: Twenty-one participants with ADHD (mean age: 39.05 years [SD 11.93]) completed the intervention and assessments pre-, post- and 6 months after the intervention. Measures included neuropsychological tests and self-report questionnaires pertaining to cognitive- and executive functioning, emotion regulation, quality of life, and ADHD symptoms. Results: Compared to baseline, the participants showed enhanced inhibitory control on performance-based measures at post-assessment and 6-month follow-up. The participants also reported increased productivity and reduced cognitive difficulties in everyday life at both assessments post-treatment, as well as improvements in aspects of emotion regulation and a reduction in the severity of core ADHD-symptoms at 6-month follow-up. Conclusion: Our exploratory study showed that GMT seems to specifically improve one of the core executive dysfunctions in ADHD, namely inhibitory control, with a positive effect lasting at least 6 months post-treatment. The adults with ADHD also reported improved self-regulation in their everyday life after completing GMT, providing strong arguments for further investigations of GMT as a treatment option for this group of adults. Clinical Trial Registration: The study is registered under ISRCTN.com (ISRCTN91988877; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN91988877). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]