OSB’li ve TGG’li Çocukların Video ve 3D Animasyonlarda Göz İzlemelerinin İncelenmesi

Visual attention impairments of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been investigated in many studies over the past two decades. The purpose of this study was to examine the visual attention of children with ASD and typically developing (TD) children in different social interaction contexts. Videos and 3D animations with three different levels of social interaction content (low, medium, and high) were created for the current study. The participants included 21 children with ASD (̅ = 7.6, SD = 1.7) and 22 TD children (̅ = 8.5, SD = 1.0), all aged between 5 and 12 years. The participants observed the video and 3D animation presentations on a computer screen as a passive viewing task. While the children watched the social interaction scenarios, eye-tracking data was collected to analyze their total fixation duration. The findings indicated that both children with ASD and TD children exhibited the longest total fixation duration on the Eyes and Mouth regions, particularly during the Chocolate Bread scenario, which featured low-level social interaction. When we examined visual attention during the presentation of videos and 3D animations, we found that both groups of children displayed significantly more fixation duration on the face region, especially the Eyes region during the 3D animation presentation compared to the video presentation. The research findings were discussed, and recommendations for future studies were provided.Otizm spektrum bozukluğu (OSB) olan çocukların görsel dikkat bozulmaları son yirmi yılda yapılan pek çok araştırma ile incelenmektedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı, OSB’li ve tipik gelişim gösteren (TGG) çocukların görsel dikkatlerinin farklı sosyal etkileşim bağlamlarında incelenmesidir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda izleyici çocuklara üç farklı seviyede (düşük, orta ve yüksek) sosyal iletişim içeriği sunan senaryolar hazırlanmıştır. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu 5-12 yaş aralığında olan 21 OSB'li (̅ = 7,6, SS = 1,7) ve 22 TGG’li çocuk (̅ = 8,5, SS = 1,0) oluşturmuştur. Hazırlanan senaryoların video ve 3D animasyon sunumları çocuklar tarafından bilgisayar ekranında pasif izleme görevi olarak izlenmiştir. Katılımcı çocukların göz izleme verileri toplanmış ve toplam odaklanma süreleri incelenmiştir. Araştırma sonuçları hem OSB’li hem de TGG’li çocukların Gözler ve Ağız bölgelerine en yüksek toplam odaklanmayı Çikolatalı Ekmek videosunda sergilediklerini göstermiştir. Bu senaryo düşük düzey sosyal iletişimi yansıtan senaryodur. Video ile 3D animasyonlara yöneltilen görsel dikkat incelendiğinde ise hem OSB’li hem de TGG’li çocukların, videolara kıyasla, 3D animasyon sunumunda Yüzler bölgesine, özellikle de Gözler bölgesine anlamlı düzeyde daha çok odaklandıkları görülmüştür. Araştırma bulguları tartışılmış ve ileri araştırmalara yönelik önerilere yer verilmiştir

The Relationship of Lean Body Mass with Vitamin D Level and Physical Performance

Objective:In this study, it was aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D level, physical performance and lean body mass (LBM).Materials and Methods:A hundred female patients with 35-50 age range were included in the study. Patients’ demographic variables, height and weight measurements were recorded and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) samples were analyzed. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to 25(OH)D levels; patients with low vitamin D levels (group 1) and normal vitamin D levels (group 2). Both groups’ LBM was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and physical performance was assessed by 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT).Results:Mean levels of 25(OH)D were found as 14.026±7.10 ng/mL in group 1 and 43.40±10.03 ng/mL in group 2. When the results of LBM were evaluated, the mean of group 1 was 35.48 (26.33-47.17) kg and the group 2 was 35.14 (29.23-53.65), and there was no statistically significant difference between the groups with regard to the mean of LBM (p=0.679). No statistically significant difference was determined in terms of 6-MWT (p=0.992). According to serum 25(OH)D level, group 1 was divided into three subgroups as follow; Group 1a: 25(OH)D<10 ng/dL, group 1b: 10.1≤ 25(OH)D≤ 20 ng/dL, and group 1c: 20.1≤25(OH)D≤29.9 ng/dL. When the three subgroups of group 1 (group 1a, 1b, and 1c) and group 2 compared, there was no statistically significant difference observed between the LBM and 6-MWT means (p=0.975; p=0.644).Conclusion:In this study, we could not determine a relationship between LBM and serum 25(OH)D level, and physical performance. In patients with same exclusion criteria, we believe that it is necessary the studies evaluating on the serum 25(OH)D levels along with genetic factors influencing the functions of vitamin D and also on the muscle quality along with muscle mass

Sağlarlıkları öğrenmeye doğru : erişilebilirlik için ilgili özniteliklerin ve ayırıcı özelliklerin ortaya çıkarılması.

In this thesis, we reviewed the affordance concept for autonomous robot control and proposed that invariant features of objects that support a specific affordance can be learned. We used a physics-based robot simulator to study the reachability affordance on the simulated KURT3D robot model. We proposed that, through training, the values of each feature can be split into strips, which can then be used to detect the relevant features and their characteristics. Our analysis showed that it is possible to achieve higher prediction accuracy on the affordance support of novel objects by using only the relevant features. This is an important gain, since failures can have high costs in robotics and better prediction accuracy is desired.M.S. - Master of Scienc

Görsel nesne gösterimleri: öznitelik frekansının ve benzerliğin etkisi

The effects of feature frequency and similarity on object recognition have been examined through behavioral experiments, and a model of the formation of visual object representations and old/new recognition has been proposed. A number of experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that frequency and similarity of object features affect the old/new responses to test stimuli in a later recognition task. In the first experiment, when the feature frequencies are controlled, there was a significant increase in the percentage of “old” responses for unstudied objects as the number of frequently repeated features (FRFs) on the object increased. In the second experiment, where all features had equal frequency, similarity of test objects did not affect old/new responses. An evaluation of the models on object recognition and categorization with respect to the experimental results showed that these models can only partially explain experimental results. A comprehensive model for the formation of visual object representations and old/new recognition, called CDZ-VIS, developed on the Convergence-Divergence Zone framework by Damasio (1989), has been proposed. According to this framework, co-occurring object features converge to upper layer units in the hierarchical representation which act as binding units. As more objects are displayed, frequent object features cause grouping of these binding units which converge to upper binding units. The performance of the CDZ-VIS model on the feature frequency and similarity experiments of the present study was shown to be closer to the performance of the human participants, compared to the performance of two models from the categorization literature.Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

Feature repetition effects on object familiarity: Evidence from an old/new recognition task

We performed an old/new study/test recognition task to investigate feature repetition effects on object familiarity. The results showed that repeated features increased "old" responses during the test phase for new objects. This increase was linear with the number of repeated features on the object. Old objects, which had been among the study phase stimuli, were not affected by the number of repeated features on the object. We also analyzed the effect of feature type (colour, shape, border and pattern) on familiarity responses. We found an effect of feature type only for the old objects. Saliency of the features also affected familiarity: the more salient the repeated feature was, the more familiar the object was found. We propose that the feature repetition effect for the new objects might be due to (1) activation of more than one representation constructed during the study phase (2) a separate representation for the repeated features, which has the potential to interfere with several perceptual processes

A Comparison of Face Processing of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Typically Developing Children in Static and Dynamic Materials

WOS: 000406884300007Deficits in social attention is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), though underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine face processing of children with ASD while watching a static picture and a dynamic video on a computer screen, and to compare the results with typically developing children (TD). Participants included 21 children with ASD and 22 TD children whose ages ranged between 5 and 12. Children's eye tracking data was gathered while watching a static picture and a dynamic video. Fixation count was the dependent variable of the study. A variable effect (static-dynamic) and a developmental effect (ASD-TD) were examined in the study. Study results showed that the fixation counts of children with ASD were higher on lower body area compared to typically developing children, whereas the fixation counts of TD children were higher on the mouth area. Findings of the study also showed that both children with ASD and TD children displayed more fixation counts in static picture compared to dynamic video. Study results were discussed and suggestions for future research were provided.Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [112K279]This research study supported by a research grant (Grant number: 112K279) from Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey