6809 research outputs found
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A systems-level view of cerebellar function: The interplay between cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex
No full textNo abstract availabl
Transitional Wearable Companions: A Novel Concept of Soft Interactive Social Robots to Improve Social Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
No full textWe present a novel concept of interactive devices, called "transitional wearable companions" (TWCs), usable to support therapy and foster social skill development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). TWCs have two distinctive features. First, they are soft interactive devices, which look like tender animals, able to arise attachment emotions and give a continuous reassuring physical contact. Second, TWCs are embedded social robots responding to the child\u27s manipulations by emitting lights, sounds, or vibrations usable for multiple purposes, for example to enhance the child\u27s engagement. TWCs can have additional important features. First, the input-output rules with which they respond to the child\u27s actions can be changed by the therapist/caregiver, for example through a tablet, thus opening a large number of possibilities to foster social interaction. Second, TWCs can have biosensors gathering information on the child\u27s physiological and emotional state, thus offering multiple ways to support the interaction with the child during therapy and daily life. The paper presents the principles underlying TWC design, their possible future enhancements, a first prototype (+me) of social TWC, and possible empirical experiment procedures to test the effectiveness of TWC in controlled experiments. For their multifaceted and flexible features, TWCs might become an important tool to enhance ASD children\u27s social abilities in ecological and therapeutic contexts
Diverse distribution of Toxin-Antitoxin II systems in Salmonella enterica serovars
No full textType II Toxin-Antitoxin systems (TAs), known for their presence in virulent and antibiotic resistant bacterial strains, were recently identified in Salmonella enterica isolates. However, the relationships between the presence of TAs (ccdAB and vapBC) and the epidemiological and genetic features of different non-typhoidal Salmonella serovars are largely unknown, reducing our understanding of the ecological success of different serovars. Salmonella enterica isolates from different sources, belonging to different serovars and epidemiologically unrelated according to ERIC profiles, were investigated for the presence of type II TAs, plasmid content, and antibiotic resistance. The results showed the ubiquitous presence of the vapBC gene in all the investigated Salmonella isolates, but a diverse distribution of ccdAB, which was detected in the most widespread Salmonella serovars, only. Analysis of the plasmid toxin ccdB translated sequence of four selected Salmonella isolates showed the presence of the amino acid substitution R99W, known to impede in vitro the lethal effect of CcdB toxin in the absence of its cognate antitoxin CcdA. These findings suggest a direct role of the TAs in promoting adaptability and persistence of the most prevalent Salmonella serovars, thus implying a wider eco-physiological role for these type II TAs
Chromosomal rearrangements, phenotypic variation and modularity: a case study from a contact zone between house mouse Robertsonian races in Central Italy
No full textThe Western European house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, is well-known for the high frequency of Robertsonian fusions that have rapidly produced more than 50 karyotipic races, making it an ideal model for studying the mechanisms of chromosomal speciation. The mouse mandible is one of the traits studied most intensively to investigate the effect of Robertsonian fusions on phenotypic variation within and between populations. This complex bone structure has also been widely used to study the level of integration between different morphogenetic units. Here, with the aim of testing the effect of different karyotypic assets on the morphology of the mouse mandible and on its level of modularity, we performed morphometric analyses of mice from a contact area between two highly metacentric races in Central Italy. We found no difference in size, while the mandible shape was found to be different between the two Robertsonian races, even after accounting for the genetic relationships among individuals and geographic proximity. Our results support the existence of two modules that indicate a certain degree of evolutionary independence, but no difference in the strength of modularity between chromosomal races. Moreover, the ascending ramus showed more pronounced interpopulation/race phenotypic differences than the alveolar region, an effect that could be associated to their different polygenic architecture. This study suggests that chromosomal rearrangements play a role in the house mouse phenotypic divergence, and that the two modules of the mouse mandible are differentially affected by environmental factors and genetic makeup
LREC as a Graph: People and Resources in a Network
No full textThis proposal describes a new way to visualise resources in the LREMap, a community-built repository of language resource descriptions and uses. The LREMap is represented as a force-directed graph, where resources, papers and authors are nodes. The analysis of the visual representation of the underlying graph is used to study how the community gathers around LRs and how LRs are used in research
Considerazioni generali sulla dinamica del fitoplancton nel triennio 2013-2015
No full textNot availableRicerche sull\u27evoluzione del Lago Maggiore. Aspetti limnologici. Programma triennale 2013-2015. Campagna 2015 e rapporto triennale 2013-2015. Considerazioni generali sulla dinamica del fitoplancton nel triennio 2013-201
Ricerche sull\u27evoluzione del Lago Maggiore. Aspetti limnologici. Programma triennale 2013-2015. Campagna 2015 e rapporto triennale 2013-2015. Introduzione
No full textNot availableIntroduzione al volume "Ricerche sull\u27evoluzione del Lago Maggiore. Aspetti limnologici. Programma triennale 2013-2015. Campagna 2015 e rapporto triennale 2013-2015
Contaminanti nel comparto ittico. Campionamento e preparazione del campione
No full textNot availableIndagini su DDT e sostanze pericolose nell\u27ecosistema del Lago Maggiore. Programma 2013-2015. Rapporto annuale 2015 e finale 2013-2015 - Contaminanti comparto ittico - Campionamento e preparazione del campion
