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Aim: The Scratch programming language allows learner developers to write games. The Kinect2Scratch extension makes Scratch games with bodily motion control possible by connecting to Microsoft's Kinect sensor. This study examined the feasibility and possible efficacy of a suite of motion-controlled games designed for upper extremity (UE) training in children with cerebral palsy (CP) using Kinect2Scratch.Materials and Methods: This is a proof-of-concept study. We developed three games, requiring three UE movement patterns (shoulder holding, reaching, and handclap), for use in children with CP. The primary outcome was feasibility, addressed by adherence, engagement, satisfaction, and safety. The secondary outcome was efficacy, which was evaluated by Quality of Upper Extremities Skills Test (QUEST), Box and Block Test (BBT), Melbourne Assessment 2 (MA2) test, and ABILHAND-kids score.Results: Thirteen children with CP (mean age 6.9 years) received 24 sessions of training (30 minutes per session). The adherence rate was 100%. During the first 2 weeks of training, children had a significantly higher level of participation in Kinect2Scratch training than in conventional rehabilitation [Pittsburgh Participation Scale, median (interquartile range [IQR]), 6 (3–6) vs. 4 (3–6) P = 0.04]. However, during the last 2 weeks of training, there was no significant difference in participation between the Kinect2Scratch and conventional training [Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Participation Scale, median (IQR), 4 (3–5) vs. 4 (3–6) P = 0.55]. Most children enjoyed playing the games. The mean score of enjoyment was 4.54 ± 0.66. There were no adverse events during the training periods. The children had significant improvement in total score of QUEST and MA2. There were no significant improvements in BBT and ABILHAND-kids score.Conclusion: Using Kinect2Scratch games for UE training is a feasible adjunctive program for children with CP.

Molecular sexing revealed an unexpectedly strong female bias in the sex ratio of pre-breeding European Storm Petrels (Hydrobates pelagicus), attracted to playback of conspecific calls during their northwards migration past SW Europe. This bias was consistent across seven years, ranging from 80.8% to 89.7% female (mean annual sex ratio ± SD = 85.5% female ±4.1%). The sex ratio did not differ significantly from unity (i.e., 50% female) among (i) Storm Petrel chicks at a breeding colony in NW France, (ii) adults found dead on beaches in Southern Portugal, (iii) breeding birds attending nest burrows in the UK, captured by hand, and (iv) adults captured near a breeding colony in the UK using copies of the same sound recordings as used in Southern Europe, indicating that females are not inherently more strongly attracted to playback calls than males. A morphological discriminant function analysis failed to provide a good separation of the sexes, showing the importance of molecular sexing for this species. We found no sex difference in the seasonal or nocturnal timing of migration past Southern Europe, but there was a significant tendency for birds to be caught in sex-specific aggregations. The preponderance of females captured in Southern Europe suggests that the sexes may differ in migration route or in their colony-prospecting behaviour during migration, at sites far away from their natal colonies. Such differences in migration behaviour between males and females are poorly understood but have implications for the vulnerability of seabirds to pollution and environmental change at sea during the non-breeding season.

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Background Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) may have difficulties in performing daily living tasks. Among other daily living tasks, independent oral hygiene is an essential life skill for people with ID. Materials and Methods Four children with intellectual disabilities (two males and two females, ages 7‐11) participated in the experiment. We employed the KinectTM V2 sensor to gamify oral hygiene skill training. Specifically, a non‐concurrent multiple baseline design was adopted to demonstrate the relation between game‐based intervention and independent oral hygiene skills. Results All students learned how to brush their teeth independently and maintained the skill 4 weeks later with the introduction of the game‐based training. Social validity results showed the teachers and parents considered the video game was useful. Conclusions The proposed Kinect‐based video game might be used for effective training of elementary students with ID to improve oral hygiene independently.