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Pre-competition training emphasizes the development of total physical fitness components and maintains aerobic and anaerobic capacity with improved techno-tactical skills. The primary objective of this investigation was to establish the efficacy of a pre-competition training program. There were a total of 24 (12 rugby and 12 Soccer) elite players randomly selected from the Ba and Lautoka regions (Fiji). The players had a mean age of 21.45±2.34 years, body mass of 84.62±6.62 kg, stature 183.35±3.24, and body mass index of 22.62±4.31 kg/m2. This study was conducted nine weeks before the main competition. The study involved a pre-and posttest design, wherein all participants underwent two rounds of testing. The pretest was conducted before the commencement of an eight-week pre-competition training program, while the post-test was administered after the program was completed. This pre-competition training program was scheduled five times per week for 45 minutes per day. The participant's performance was measured using the Beep test, Wingate anaerobic test, star excursion balance test, and visual motor coordination test. After eight weeks of the pre-competition training program, significant improvement has occurred for maximal aerobic capacity (t=-14.79, p=<0.001), anaerobic power (t=-12.22, p=<0.001), dynamic balance (t=-7.41, p=<0.001), and visual motor coordination (t=8.38, p=<0.001) in all the players. The study confirmed that the eight weeks of pre-competition training programs containing aerobic and anaerobic workouts enhanced the performance of the Beep test, Wingate anaerobic test, star excursion, and visual motor coordination test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underscore the United Nations' effort in advocating disability inclusion in education and the infrastructure of member countries. Brands can also play their role by promoting disability inclusion through their brand messages. Brand messages are powerful as they advocate causes and ideals that include disability inclusion through repetitive and omnipresent messages whose ultimate goal is to influence the target audience's behaviour. This multiple case study compared brand communication from ten brands each originating from Malaysia and the United States using Saussure's model of semiotics. It was found that Common Fate is the fundamental gestalt principle in most brands' communication on disability inclusion of both countries and that positive nomenclature was used as the signifier that underlined the organisations' positive perception of disability inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some experts assert there is an association between traumatic brain injury and cognitive impairments such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depressive disorder. Furthermore, children and adults with ADHD struggle with focusing, organizing tasks, and feeling restless. They might experience sadness, guilt, irritability, low self-confidence and helplessness. In this regard, ADHD and depressive disorder occasionally occur together. We aimed to compare the clinical application of the Bender-Gestalt test (BGT) and electroencephalography in screening brain damage in the patients with the mentioned disorders. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study to assess diagnostic accuracy. Eighty patients with depression (n=35) and ADHD (n=45) resulting from brain damage aged 10-35 years who had been referred by the psychologist or psychiatrist to Imam Hossein Clinic in Yazd. Both the BGT and quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) results existed in their files. Patients with any serious medical, other psychiatric disorders or history of drug dependency were excluded. Paired t test was used to analyze the differences. Results: The brain damage score was different in the two tests. Based on the paired t test, the BGT was a more valid screening test. Also, the score of the two tests were different in the depression and ADHD mean scores (P

Background: Various studies have documented age-related changes in cognitive abilities and neural basis. Objectives: To investigate the role of neuropsychological function tests in predicting amnestic mild cognitive impairment in the elderly. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study with a correlational design, the study population included elderly people over 60 years old residing in Bojnord City, Iran, in the spring of 2019. The participants were selected by cluster sampling method (n=128). The study instruments included the Bender-Gestalt test, Wechsler memory scale-revised, Wechsler adult intelligence scale third edition, and behavior rating inventory of executive functions. According to the scores of the elderly in the Wechsler memory scale (cut-off score=70), the participants were divided into two groups with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and no MCI. For analyzing data, the discriminant analysis was performed using SPSS v. 23. Results: Discriminant analysis showed that the obtained discriminant function had a significant diagnostic power (χ2 =166.001, P

LostInZoom is a new research project that will seek to design novel ways of zooming into multi-scale maps, to overcome the desert fog effect that occurs with current multi-scale cartography techniques. The desert fog effect makes you feel lost for a few seconds after a zoom in or out, because the map has changed. The idea developed in this project is to propose anchor-based zooming techniques, where salient landmarks salient at multiple scales serve as anchors between maps during the zoom. This paper discusses the main challenges that will be addressed in this project: (1) better understand and measure the desert fog effect with maps; (2) defining and modelling the best anchors for anchor-based zooming; (3) designing more progressive multi-scale maps to host these anchors; (4) designing staged animations based on anchors between maps at different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing-based tests are cost-effective, noninvasive screening methods, popularly employed by psychologists for the early detection and diagnosis of various neuropsychological disorders. Computerized analysis of such drawings is a complex task due to the high degree of deformations present in the responses and reliance on extensive clinical manifestations for their inferences. Traditional rule-based approaches employed in visual analysis-based systems prove insufficient to model all possible clinical deformations. Meanwhile, procedural analysis-based techniques may contradict with the standard test conduction and evaluation protocols. Leveraging on the increasing popularity of convolutional neural networks (CNNs), we propose an effective technique for modeling and classifying dysfunction indicating deformations in drawings without modifying clinical standards. Contrary to conventional sketch recognition applications where CNNs are trained to diminish intra-shape class variations, we employ deformation-specific augmentation to enhance the presence of specific deviations that are defined by clinical practitioners. The performance of our proposed technique is evaluated using Lacks' scoring of the Bender-Gestalt test, as a case study. The results of our experimentation substantiate that our proposed approach can represent domain knowledge sufficiently without extensive heuristics and can effectively identify drawing-based biomarkers for various neuropsychological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Stability in mathematics, executive function, and visual-motor integration development. • Strong associations between stable effects in co-development. • Bidirectional relations between executive function and mathematics into first grade. • Visual-motor integration predicted mathematics and executive function in prekindergarten. Abstract Correlational and short-term longitudinal studies both demonstrate significant associations between children's executive function skills and visual-motor integration and their mathematics achievement in early childhood. Our current understanding of the development of these skills in early childhood is limited, however, by a lack of clarity concerning whether the associations between them are causal in nature or could be explained by other unmeasured stable characteristics shared among the constructs. Using a latent state-trait approach, we examined the development of executive function skills, visual-motor integration, and children's mathematics achievement from the beginning of prekindergarten to the end of first grade (N = 1138). Findings of stability and instability in relative rankings in children's skills across four time points suggest that children's growth in mathematics skills is a product of both persistent unmeasured stable influences and time-specific effects of prior executive function skills and visual-motor integration. Specifically, visual-motor integration related to subsequent mathematics achievement and executive function skills in prekindergarten, and executive function and mathematics achievement were bidirectionally related through first grade, even when accounting for stability in each construct. These results suggest that future experimental research should consider executive function skills and visual-motor integration as well as specific mathematics skills as potential targets for early mathematics instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present an interactive method that allows users to easily abstract complex 3D models with only a few strokes. The key idea is to employ well‐known Gestalt principles to help generalizing user inputs into a full model abstraction while accounting for form, perceptual patterns and semantics of the model. Using these principles, we alleviate the user's need to explicitly define shape abstractions. We utilize structural characteristics such as repetitions, regularity and similarity to transform user strokes into full 3D abstractions. As the user sketches over shape elements, we identify Gestalt groups and later abstract them to maintain their structural meaning. Unlike previous approaches, we operate directly on the geometric elements, in a sense applying Gestalt principles in 3D. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach with a series of experiments, including a variety of complex models and two extensive user studies to evaluate our framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronic Turkish Studies is the property of Electronic Turkish Studies 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.)

The mouse superior colliculus (SC) is a laminar midbrain structure involved in processing and transforming multimodal sensory stimuli into ethologically relevant behaviors such as escape, defense, and orienting movements. The SC is unique in that the sensory (visual, auditory, and somatosensory) and motor maps are overlaid. In the mouse, the SC receives inputs from more retinal ganglion cells than any other visual area. This makes the mouse SC an ideal model system for understanding how visual signals processed by retinal circuits are used to mediate visually guided behaviors. This Perspective provides an overview of the current understanding of visual motor transformations operated by the mouse SC and discusses the challenges to be overcome when investigating the input–output relationships in single collicular cell types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether we perceive high-level properties is presently a source of controversy. A promising test case for whether we do is aesthetic perception. Aesthetic properties are distinct from low-level properties, like shape and colour. Moreover, some of them, e.g. being serene and being handsome, are properties we appear to perceive. Aesthetic perception also shares a similarity with gestalt effects, e.g. seeing-as, in that aesthetic properties, like gestalt phenomena, appear to ‘emerge’ from low-level properties. Gestalts effects, of course, are widely observed, which raises the question: do gestalt effects make it plausible that we (sometimes) perceive high-level aesthetic properties? Contra Stokes (forthcoming), this paper argues that they don’t. This is interesting in its own right, but it also points to a more general lesson, namely we should resist the temptation to appeal to gestalt effects to argue for high-level perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are suspected developmental toxicants, but epidemiological evidence on neurodevelopmental effects of PFAS exposure is inconsistent. We examined associations of prenatal and childhood PFAS exposure with performance on assessments of cognition in children. Methods We included mother-child pairs from Project Viva, a longitudinal Boston-area birth cohort enrolled during 1999–2002. We quantified concentrations of eight PFASs, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), in plasma collected from women during pregnancy (median 9.7 weeks gestation) and from children at a visit in mid-childhood (median age 7.7 years). In early childhood (median age 3.2 years) we administered standardized assessments of visual motor skills and vocabulary comprehension, and in mid-childhood we assessed visual motor skills, visual memory, and verbal and non-verbal intelligence. Using multivariable regression, we estimated associations of prenatal and childhood PFAS plasma concentrations with children's cognitive assessment scores, adjusted for relevant covariates including breastfeeding, maternal intelligence, parental education, and household income. Samples sizes ranged from 631 to 971, depending on analysis. Results Prenatal PFAS concentrations were associated with both better and worse cognitive performance; children with top quartile prenatal concentrations of some PFASs had better visual motor abilities in early childhood and non-verbal IQ and visual memory in mid-childhood, while children with upper quartile prenatal PFOA and PFOS had lower mid-childhood visual-motor scores. In cross-sectional analyses of mid-childhood PFAS concentrations and cognitive assessments, visual-motor scores on the Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor Abilities (WRAVMA) (standardized mean = 100, standard deviation = 15) were lower among children with higher PFHxS (fourth quartile (Q4) vs. Q1: −5.0, 95% confidence interval (CI): −9.1, −0.8). Upper quartiles of childhood PFOA and PFOS were also associated with somewhat lower childhood WRAVMA scores, but childhood PFASs were not associated with verbal or non-verbal IQ or visual memory. Conclusions We present evidence suggesting associations of prenatal and childhood PFAS exposure with lower childhood visual motor abilities. Other results were inconsistent, with higher prenatal PFASs associated in some cases with better cognitive outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to test the effectiveness of raters without specific training in the Global Scoring System, a method used to score the level of accuracy of the drawings reproduced in the Bender gestalt test, 2.nd edition (Bender -II). Some previous studies have shown good reliability in inter-rater levels, but the effect of the lack of specific training was not verified. The participants were 75 children, divided into two groups (34 and 41, both between 8 and 11 years old), and four raters (two students and two graduates in psychology). After applying the test individually, the raters were instructed to rate the reproduced designs using the manual as a guide only, with no interaction between them. A within and between-group comparisons analysis was performed. Although the results showed some moderate differences in the group comparisons, high levels of agreement and consistency were mainly found. When compared with previous studies, the differences were generally not substantial. It can be concluded that the Bender-II visual-motor score can achieve good levels of reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examined the test-retest reliability of the four- and two-factor structures (i.e., Memory and Speed) of ImPACT over a 2-year interval across multiple groups with premorbid conditions, including those with a history of special education or learning disorders (LD; n = 114), treatment history for headache/migraine (n = 81), and a control group (n = 792). Methods: Nine hundred and eighty seven high school athletes completed baseline testing using online ImPACT across a 2-year interval. Paired-samples t-tests documented improvement from initial to follow-up assessments. Test stability was examined using Regression-based measures (RBM) and Reliable change indices (RCI). Reliability was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: Significant improvement on all four composites were observed for the control group over a 2-year interval; whereas significant differences were observed only on Visual Motor Speed for the LD and headache/migraine treatment history groups. ICCs ranges were similar across groups and greater or comparable reliability was observed for the two-factor structure on Memory (0.67-0.73) and Speed (0.76-0.78) composites. RCIs and RBMs demonstrated stability for the four- and two-factor structures, with few cases falling outside the range of expected change within a healthy sample at the 90% and 95% CIs. Conclusion: Typical practices of obtaining new baselines every 2 years in the high school population can be applied to athletes with a history of special education or LD and headache/migraine treatment. The two-factor structure has potential to increase test-retest reliability. Further research regarding clinical utility is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Paideia (0103863X) is the property of Paideia 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.)

Investigating short-term effects of subconcussive impacts on neurocognitive functioning, we employed a repeated measures multivariate model and regression-based measure to examine neurocognitive changes in 771 contact and noncontact high school athletes over a two-year period. Results reveal significant changes in Visual Motor Speed for both groups over a two-year period, with small effect sizes. According to regression-based measures, differences in contact sport athletes’ expected Time 2 performances were significant for Visual Motor Speed, also with minimal effects. Results do not conclusively implicate subconcussive hits as the offending factor in differences observed, with gender and sport-type possibly contributing to the small effects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Since psychological tests such as questionnaire or drawing tests are almost qualitative, their results carry a degree of uncertainty and sometimes subjectivity. The deficiency of all drawing tests is that the assessment is carried out after drawing the objects and lots of information such as pen angle, speed, curvature and pressure are missed through the test. In other words, the psychologists cannot assess their patients while running the tests. One of the famous drawing tests to measure the degree of Obsession Compulsion Disorder (OCD) is the Bender Gestalt, though its reliability is not promising. Objective: The main objective of this study is to make the Bender Gestalt test quantitative; therefore, an optical pen along with a digital tablet is utilized to preserve the key drawing features of OCD patients during the test. Materials and Methods: Among a large population of patients who referred to a special clinic of OCD, 50 under therapy subjects voluntarily took part in this study. In contrast, 50 subjects with no sign of OCD performed the test as a control group. This test contains 9 shapes and the participants were not constraint to draw the shapes in a certain interval of time; consequently, to classify the stream of feature vectors (samples through drawing) Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is employed and its flexibility increased by incorporating the fuzzy technique into its learning scheme. Results: Applying fuzzy HMM classifier to the data stream of subjects could classify two groups up to 95.2% accuracy, whereas the results by applying the standard HMM resulted in 94.5%. In addition, multi-layer perceptron (MLP), as a strong static classifier, is applied to the features and resulted in 86.6% accuracy. Conclusion: Applying the pair of T-test to the results implies a significant supremacy of the fuzzy HMM to the standard HMM and MLP classifiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motor imagery can be divided into kinesthetic and visual aspects. In the present study, we investigated excitability in the corticospinal tract and primary visual cortex (V1) during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery. To accomplish this, we measured motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and probability of phosphene occurrence during the two types of motor imageries of finger tapping. The MEPs and phosphenes were induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation to the primary motor cortex and V1, respectively. The amplitudes of MEPs and probability of phosphene occurrence during motor imagery were normalized based on the values obtained at rest. Corticospinal excitability increased during both kinesthetic and visual motor imagery, while excitability in V1 was increased only during visual motor imagery. These results imply that modulation of cortical excitability during kinesthetic and visual motor imagery is task dependent. The present finding aids in the understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying motor imagery and provides useful information for the use of motor imagery in rehabilitation or motor imagery training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

computed tomography and the Bender Gestalt Test are some of the tests used routinely for the assessment of alleged offenders referred under Sections 77 and 78 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. An exploratory retrospective study was conducted at the Free State Psychiatric Complex. The aim of this study was to identify the extent to which the Bender Gestalt Test results and the computed tomography scans are associated with outcomes in the assessment of competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility in individuals referred to the Free State Psychiatric Complex (FSPC) observation unit. This was a cross-sectional study and the entire population of patients admitted in 2013 was included in the study. The clinical and demographic data were obtained from patient files. The majority of participants were black, males, single and unemployed. The most common diagnosis was schizophrenia. The current study showed no statistically significant association between the Bender Gestalt Test Hain's scores and the outcome of criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial. Similarly, the study also showed no statistically significant association between the presence of a brain lesion and the outcome of criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial. It was also concluded that as CT scans are expensive, patients should be referred for that service only when there is a clear clinical indication to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to standardize the Bender-Gestalt II Test by exploring its psychometric properties on a Turkish sample between the ages of 4 and 17 years and to obtain its normative values. The standardization sample consisted of 2691 students aged 4.0-17.11 years/months from low, middle, and high socioeconomic statuses, attending preschool, primary, and high school education. The participants were administered the Bender-Gestalt II Test and other tests, including the Gesell Developmental Schedules test, Colored Progressive Matrices Test, Goodenough Draw-a-Man Test, Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices Test, and Visual-Aural Digit Span Test-Revised Form, according to their age groups. The results revealed the absolute agreement values of the Copy items to be between .87 and .98. Thereafter, we calculated the test-retest reliability coefficients of the Copy scores to range from .74 to .67 by age groups, while the split-half reliability coefficients for each age group were between .62 and .87. The results of the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested its single-factor structure for all age groups. The Copy scores showed significant correlations and predicted the criterion characteristics, which include general cognitive ability, mental development/fine motor skills, short-term memory, and attention. Overall, the present study confirmed that the Bender-Gestalt II Test is a valid, reliable, and standardized measure to evaluate the visual-motor integration ability of those aged 4.0-17.11 years/months.

Background: Visual-motor integration (VMI) skills are essential for successful academic performance, but to date no studies have assessed these skills in a population-based cohort of Australian Aboriginal children who, like many children in other remote, disadvantaged communities, consistently underperform academically. Furthermore, many children in remote areas of Australia have prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), which are often associated with VMI deficits.Methods: VMI, visual perception, and fine motor coordination were assessed using The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, including its associated subtests of Visual Perception and Fine Motor Coordination, in a cohort of predominantly Australian Aboriginal children (7.5-9.6 years, n=108) in remote Western Australia to explore whether PAE adversely affected test performance. Cohort results were reported, and comparisons made between children i) without PAE; ii) with PAE (no FASD); and iii) FASD. The prevalence of moderate (≤16th percentile) and severe (≤2nd percentile) impairment was established.Results: Mean VMI scores were 'below average' (M=87.8±9.6), and visual perception scores were 'average' (M=97.6±12.5), with no differences between groups. Few children had severe VMI impairment (1.9%), but moderate impairment rates were high (47.2%). Children with FASD had significantly lower fine motor coordination scores and higher moderate impairment rates (M=87.9±12.5; 66.7%) than children without PAE (M=95.1±10.7; 23.3%) and PAE (no FASD) (M=96.1±10.9; 15.4%).Conclusions: Aboriginal children living in remote Western Australia have poor VMI skills regardless of PAE or FASD. Children with FASD additionally had fine motor coordination problems. VMI and fine motor coordination should be assessed in children with PAE, and included in FASD diagnostic assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the image quality of conventional arterial and portal venous (PV) phase multidetector CT (MDCT) with two biphasic injection protocols in polytrauma patients. Methods: 60 consecutive patients with polytrauma underwent body 256-slice MDCT with a conventional protocol or 1 of 2 single-pass biphasic protocols: Group A, arterial (30 s) and PV (60 s) phase acquisitions; Group B, "biphasic" contrast injection with a single acquisition at 60 s; and Group C, "modified biphasic" injection with a single acquisition at a 70-s delay. Images were analyzed for arterial, venous and parenchymal attenuation profiles with regions of interest in the major arteries, veins and solid abdominal organs. A 5-point scoring system was used to assess the image quality, with 5 representing excellent arterial, venous and parenchymal opacification and <3 representing non-diagnostic opacification. In addition, the effective dose (millisieverts) was compared between the groups. Results: In 93% of patients, image quality was scored as good or excellent (≥4). All studies were of satisfactory diagnostic quality. Overall, venous and arterial attenuation profiles were comparable. Attenuation profiles in the solid abdominal viscera were significantly higher (p < 0.01) using both biphasic protocols than with arterial or PV phase of conventional protocols. Effective doses were higher in Group A. Conclusion: Comparable image quality can be achieved using a biphasic i.v. contrast injection protocol with single MDCT acquisition with less radiation and reduction in acquisition time. Advances in knowledge: For these particular biphasic injection protocols, we have shown that image quality is comparable with a conventional protocol. This has been achieved by comparing enhanced densities of specific structures, as well as gestalt scoring by assessors, on a 256-slice MDCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bender-Gestalt Test (B-G) has long been a standard measure in the assessment of perceptual-motor integration and frequently relied upon by psychologists and psycho-educational specialists. Historically, this instrument has ranked amongst the top tests in clinical usage. Moreover, this rather unique test has been adapted for multidimensional purposes, such as a neuropsychological screening indicator and as a projective technique. It is for these latter functions that the B-G has garnered much criticism in the clinical literature. The past 2 decades have witnessed a steady stream of condescending commentary directed largely on the lack of psychometric credibility of individual projective methods. Piotrowski (2015a), in an exhaustive review of surveybased studies, found that the major projective methods continue to be amongst the top tests used in practice; however, the B-G Test was not included in the analysis. In order to address this gap, the intent of the current study is to determine whether the collective movement against 'drawing' techniques has had a deleterious impact on the professional use of the B-G in practice worldwide. To that end, the author identified, through an extensive literature review, published survey research that reported on test usage patterns from 1992-2015. The 30 identified studies, from nations around the world, served as the data pool to ascertain the extent of use (or disuse) of the B-G Test by mental health practitioners. Although the majority (70%) of samples was from the USA, other countries (e.g., South Africa, UK, Spain, Belgium, Brazil) were represented. This analysis showed that the B-G was ranked amongst the top 10 tests, in terms of usage, in 15 of the 30 studies. However, it appears that in the USA the test has been used more commonly by school psychologists for psychoeducational purposes, whereas overseas the B-G is relied upon more as a clinical instrument. Moreover, this review indicates that the B-G seems to be used moderately in neuropsychological assessment. Since 2008, survey-based studies suggest a slight decline in reliance on the B-G as an assessment tool; however, this trend may be tentative and awaits further study. Overall, the findings of the current analysis confirm continued use (albeit to a lesser degree than 20 years ago) of the Bender-Gestalt Test among mental health practitioners worldwide, despite the onslaught of perennial criticism regarding projective techniques in the research literature. Thus, the general conclusion is that practitioners tend to a) ignore 'biased' critiques regarding specific tests in the literature, b) find the B-G particularly amenable when evaluating children, c) find the B-G useful in generating working-hypotheses, d) rely on the B-G as a brief, rapid-assessment diagnostic tool, and/or e) rely more on an idiographic versus nomothetic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Paideia (0103863X) is the property of Paideia 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.)

The present research evaluates the agreement inter-scorers for the Bender Gestalt Test Bender, 2nd version (Bender - II). This new version has shown satisfactory psychometric properties in the sample for standardization, and in further studies English samples, but no references in Hispanic population. The participants in this study were 173 preschool children between 4 and 5 years of age; the scorers were students of psychology. To evaluate the internal consistency and agreement inter-raters, we applied Pearson correlation coefficients and intraclass correlations (model 2). These coefficients were calculated for the total sample and for the upper and lower group sample in visual-motor performance, but with adjustment by the restriction of range. The results for the Copy and Remember scores indicate high internal consistency and agreement between raters in the total sample, but low and variable in the lower and upper groups, interacting with age. We discussthe effect of inter-rater variability, especially its impact on clinical decisions about low and high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the concept of effective density for the propagation of small-strain shear waves through saturated granular materials. Bender element tests and resonant column tests were conducted on various granular materials in dry and saturated conditions. Values of small-strain shear modulus for the dry condition are compared with corresponding values for the saturated condition, which are calculated using saturated density and effective density. For bender element tests, the use of saturated density produced errors as high as 28% in the shear modulus, whereas the use of effective density resulted in errors generally less than 5%. For resonant column tests, errors in the shear modulus that were obtained using saturated density were smaller than those for bender element tests because of the lower range of excitation frequency and effect of mass polar moment of inertia of the loading system. A quick chart is provided to help users determine if effective density should be considered for a given application. Effective density is expected to be important for fine and medium sands at high-frequency excitations, such as bender element tests, coarse clean sands at lower frequencies, such as for resonant column tests, and clean gravels at essentially all frequencies of geotechnical interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bender element (BE) tests of saturated sand have increased interest to researchers currently. However, the measurement of small strain modulus from BE tests shows large difference between saturated and dry conditions. In this study, BE tests of a type of clean sand (Fujian sand) and two types of natural sands (Hangzhou sand and Nanjing sand) were performed. For the purposes of comparison, resonant column (RC) test and torsional shear (TS) test were also carried out on the same specimen. The factors that influence the determination of the travel time of shear wave in BE tests are discussed and a reliable method for the determination of the shear-wave velocity is obtained. It is found that the shear-wave velocities V s of saturated Fujian sand (clean sand) and Hangzhou sand (natural sand) obtained from BE tests are 5–10% greater than those obtained from RC and TS tests. However, the V s of saturated Nanjing sand (natural sand) obtained from BE, RC and TS tests show good agreement with a maximum difference of about 3%. Sands with various fines contents were also tested in an attempt to explain the differences between the two saturated natural sands. Biot׳s theory accounting for the dispersion of shear wave was employed to interpret the results of BE tests. The results indicate that the fines content of natural sand plays an important effect on the hydraulic conductivity, which affects the relative motion between soil particles and fluid when a high frequency shear wave propagates in the specimen. Based on this, a method for the determination of small strain shear modulus in BE test was proposed for both saturated clean sands and natural sands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bender elements are used to measure the low-strain shear-wave velocity of soils in many geotechnical laboratories worldwide. Despite their popularity, the method remains without a standard, mainly owing to the difficulties in controlling the actual behaviour of the bender element inside the specimen. Previous experimental and analytical studies on the behaviour of bender elements have found evidence that the actual transmitter movement is not equal in shape or frequency content of the electrical signal used as the input excitation. Furthermore, the size and geometry of the specimen influence the response of these piezoelectric transducers. In this study, miniature accelerometers are used to measure the particle vibration inside specimens during bender elements tests, which were performed in a resonant column device. The comparison between shear wave velocities obtained by resonant column and miniature accelerometers tests allow a better interpretation of bender element testing. The sine pulse bender element test results showed good agreement with the resonant column measurements. The results show the importance of the resonant frequencies of the bender element and their influence on frequency domain analysis of bender element testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to visuo-motor rotations embraces implicit and explicit components. We contrast this two-component model with a three-component model by means of an individual-differences approach. Adaptive changes were tested under four conditions: (1) closed-loop test, presence of the rotation cued (initial adaptive shift), (2) open-loop test, presence of the rotation cued (adaptive shift), (3) open-loop test, absence of the rotation cued (after-effect), (4) test of explicit knowledge (explicit shift). After-effects and explicit shifts were uncorrelated. After regression on after-effects and explicit shifts, the residuals of the initial adaptive shifts and the adaptive shifts remained correlated, suggesting an additional implicit component of adaptation found only in the cued presence of the visuo-motor rotation. The two implicit components are consistent with the distinction between a change of the body schema giving rise to after-effects, and the development of an internal model of a tool that is applied only when the transformation is present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While bender element testing is now well-established as a laboratory technique to determine soil stiffness, a robust technique to interpret the data remains elusive. A discrete element method (DEM) model of a face-centred cubic packing of uniform spheres was created to simulate bender element tests to investigate this test from a fundamental perspective. During the DEM simulations transmitter and receiver signals were recorded, analogous to the data available in laboratory tests, and these macro-scale data were supplemented with particle scale measurements (forces, stresses and displacements). A range of approaches previously applied in experimental and numerical studies were used to analyse the resulting data in both the time and frequency domains. The shortcomings in these approaches are clear from the differences in the resultant shear stiffness values and the frequency-dependent nature of the values. The particle-scale data enabled visualization of the passage of the wave through the sample, and it was found not to be possible to precisely link the arrival of the shear wave at the receiver and any of the previously proposed characteristic points along the signal recorded at the receiver. The most reliable determination of the shear wave velocity was obtained by applying a two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2D FFT) to the data describing the velocity of the particles lying between the transmitter and receiver elements. Use of the DEM model and this 2D FFT approach facilitated the sensitivity of the system response to small variations in the interparticle force-displacement law (the contact model) to be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia patients are unable to filter sensory stimuli and may have disturbed perceptions of sounds, colors and other features of the environment. The aim of the present study was to see the efficacy of visual process training in the patients with schizophrenia. Based on purposive sampling technique 10 male patients with schizophrenia (diagnosed aczcording to ICD-10, DCR criteria) were selected. They were divided into two groups, five patients as experimental group and five patients as control group. Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Comprehensive Trail Making Test have been used. The experimental group was given Brainwave-R (visual processing module). Control group was given no remediation training. Findings of the present study revealed positive impact of visual process training in the experimental group of schizophrenia. It was concluded that visual process deficit persists in the patients with schizophrenia and visual process training is quite helpful in remediating this deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axisymmetric rapid expansion of supercritical carbon dioxide is investigated in this article. The extended generalized Bender equation of state is used to give a good description of the fluids over a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions. The locations of Mach disks are analyzed and compared with an experimental correlation for the case where there is no plate positioned in front of the nozzle exit. It is found that the disagreement between our numerical results and the experimental formula is very small when the pressure ratio is small, and increases as the pressure ratio increases. It is also found that with different equations of state, the predicted positions of Mach disks do not differ a lot, but the temperature profiles in the chamber differ a lot. The case where there is a plate positioned in front of the nozzle exit is also studied in this article. A universal similarity solution is obtained. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 317-332, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a novel approach for extracting multilane roads from urban road networks in OpenStreetMap (OSM) data sets as functional high-level roads, thereby allowing comparative analyses to determine the differences between this functional hierarchy and other hierarchies. OSM road networks have high levels of detail and complex structures, but they also have large numbers of duplicated lines for the same road features, which leads to difficulties and low efficiency when extracting multilane roads using conventional methods based on the analysis and operations of line segments. To overcome these deficiencies, a polygon-based method is proposed that is based on shape analysis and Gestalt theory, which treats polygons surrounded by roads as operating elements. First, shape descriptors are calculated for each polygon in networks and are used for classification. Second, candidate multilane polygons are classified as seeds based on all the polygons used as shape descriptors by a support vector machine. Finally, based on the seed polygons, a region-growing method is proposed that connects and fills the multilane features according to Gestalt theory. An experiment using OSM data from different urban networks verified the validity of the proposed method. The method achieved good and effective extraction performance, regardless of the complexity and duplication of data sets. Thus, a comparative analysis with high-level roads extracted based on road type attributes and structural analysis was performed to demonstrate the differences between the constructed road levels and other hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Humans readily learn and remember new motor skills, a process that likely underlies adaptation to changing environments. During adaptation, the brain develops new sensory–motor relationships, and if consolidation occurs, a memory of the adaptation can be retained for extended periods. Considerable evidence exists that multiple brain circuits participate in acquiring new sensory–motor memories, though the networks engaged in recalling these and whether the same brain circuits participate in their formation and recall have less clarity. To address these issues, we assessed brain activation with functional MRI while young healthy adults learned and recalled new sensory–motor skills by adapting to world-view rotations of visual feedback that guided hand movements. We found cerebellar activation related to adaptation rate, likely reflecting changes related to overall adjustments to the visual rotation. A set of parietal and frontal regions, including inferior and superior parietal lobules, premotor area, supplementary motor area and primary somatosensory cortex, exhibited non-linear learning-related activation that peaked in the middle of the adaptation phase. Activation in some of these areas, including the inferior parietal lobule, intra-parietal sulcus and somatosensory cortex, likely reflected actual learning, since the activation correlated with learning after-effects. Lastly, we identified several structures having recall-related activation, including the anterior cingulate and the posterior putamen, since the activation correlated with recall efficacy. These findings demonstrate dynamic aspects of brain activation patterns related to formation and recall of a sensory–motor skill, such that non-overlapping brain regions participate in distinctive behavioral events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common single-gene disorders affecting fine and visual-motor skills. This case–control study investigated motor timing as a possible related performance deficit in children with NF1. A visual-motor reaction time (VRT) test was administered in 20 NF1 children (mean age 9 years 7 months) and 20 age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) children. Copying and tracing performance were evaluated using the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI). Children with NF1 responded with an increased reaction time (RT) to temporally predictive stimuli compared to TD children, whereas RT at unpredictive stimuli did not differ between groups. Motor timing indexed by the RT decrease at predictive stimuli significantly associated with the Beery VMI copy and tracing outcomes. Deficient motor timing as an actual symptom may add to further research on the pathogenesis of NF1-associated motor impairment and the development of more effective treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]