1,720,981 research outputs found
A Tablet App for Handwriting Skill Screening at the Preliteracy Stage: Instrument Validation Study
Full text linkBackground: Difficulties in handwriting, such as dysgraphia, impact several aspects of a child’s everyday life. Current methodologies for the detection of such difficulties in children have the following three main weaknesses: (1) they are prone to subjective evaluation; (2) they can be administered only when handwriting is mastered, thus delaying the diagnosis and the possible adoption of countermeasures; and (3) they are not always easily accessible to the entire community.
Objective: This work aims at developing a solution able to: (1) quantitatively measure handwriting features whose alteration is typically seen in children with dysgraphia; (2) enable their study in a preliteracy population; and (3) leverage a standard consumer technology to increase the accessibility of both early screening and longitudinal monitoring of handwriting difficulties.
Methods: We designed and developed a novel tablet-based app Play Draw Write to assess potential markers of dysgraphia through the quantification of the following three key handwriting laws: isochrony, homothety, and speed-accuracy tradeoff. To extend such an approach to a preliteracy age, the app includes the study of the laws in terms of both word writing and symbol drawing. The app was tested among healthy children with mastered handwriting (third graders) and those at a preliterate age (kindergartners).
Results: App testing in 15 primary school children confirmed that the three laws hold on the tablet surface when both writing words and drawing symbols. We found significant speed modulation according to size (P<.001), no relevant changes to fraction time for 67 out of 70 comparisons, and significant regression between movement time and index of difficulty for 44 out of 45 comparisons (P<.05, R2>0.28, 12 degrees of freedom). Importantly, the three laws were verified on symbols among 19 kindergartners. Results from the speed-accuracy exercise showed a significant evolution with age of the global movement time (circle: P=.003, square: P<.001, word: P=.001), the goodness of fit of the regression between movement time and accuracy constraints (square: P<.001, circle: P=.02), and the index of performance (square: P<.001). Our findings show that homothety, isochrony, and speed-accuracy tradeoff principles are present in children even before handwriting acquisition; however, some handwriting-related skills are partially refined with age.
Conclusions: The designed app represents a promising solution for the screening of handwriting difficulties, since it allows (1) anticipation of the detection of alteration of handwriting principles at a preliteracy age and (2) provision of broader access to the monitoring of handwriting principles. Such a solution potentially enables the selective strengthening of lacking abilities before they exacerbate and affect the child’s whole life
Clustering the Brain With “CluB”: A New Toolbox for Quantitative Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Data
Full text linkIn this paper we describe and validate a new coordinate-based method for meta-analysis of neuroimaging data based on an optimized hierarchical clustering algorithm: CluB (Clustering the Brain). The CluB toolbox permits both to extract a set of spatially coherent clusters of activations from a database of stereotactic coordinates, and to explore each single cluster of activation for its composition according to the cognitive dimensions of interest. This last step, called “cluster composition analysis,” permits to explore neurocognitive effects by adopting a factorial-design logic and by testing the working hypotheses using either asymptotic tests, or exact tests either in a classic inference, or in a Bayesian-like context. To perform our validation study, we selected the fMRI data from 24 normal controls involved in a reading task. We run a standard random-effects second level group analysis to obtain a “Gold Standard” of reference. In a second step, the subject-specific reading effects (i.e., the linear t-contrast “reading > baseline”) were extracted to obtain a coordinates-based database that was used to run a meta-analysis using both CluB and the popular Activation Likelihood Estimation method implemented in the software GingerALE. The results of the two meta-analyses were compared against the “Gold Standard” to compute performance measures, i.e., sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. The GingerALE method obtained a high level of accuracy (0.967) associated with a high sensitivity (0.728) and specificity (0.971). The CluB method obtained a similar level of accuracy (0.956) and specificity (0.969), notwithstanding a lower level of sensitivity (0.14) due to the lack of prior Gaussian transformation of the data. Finally, the two methods obtained a good-level of concordance (AC1 = 0.93). These results suggested that methods based on hierarchical clustering (and post-hoc statistics) and methods requiring prior Gaussian transformation of the data can be used as complementary tools, with the GingerALE method being optimal for neurofunctional mapping of pooled data according to simpler designs, and the CluB method being preferable to test more specific, and localized, neurocognitive hypotheses according to factorial designs
The design of exergaming systems for autonomous rehabilitation
Full text linkMentre nel mondo intero l’incidenza dell’ictus cerebrale cresce, i costi relativi al sempre più pressante bisogno di riabilitazione intensiva aumentano a loro volta, facendo suonare un campanello d’allarme alla ricerca di soluzioni per diminuire i costi mantenendo nel frattempo l’efficacia della terapia. La riabilitazione autonoma a domicilio appare una soluzione promettente per ridurre questi costi. Il fenomeno degli exergames, i.e. esercizi attraverso videogiochi, rappresenta possibilmente la chiave per il suo successo. Tuttavia, questa autonomia esige un cauto approccio, in quanto i requisiti per una corretta riabilitazione devono essere soddisfatti anche in assenza del terapista. Lo scopo di questa ricerca è lo studio della fattibilità della riabilitazione autonoma a domicilio attraverso exergames. Per far ciò, esploriamo lo stato dell’arte riguardante gli exergames e così ideiamo linee guida atte allo sviluppo di exergames efficaci e motivanti. Progettiamo e sviluppiamo un completo game engine che integra exergames ed interfacce ad alta usabilità con la supervisione autonoma del paziente, comprendente monitoraggio e adattamento in tempo reale, feedback chiaro ed immediato e tecniche per la motivazione a lungo termine, tutto ciò reso possibile dall’uso di intelligenza artificiale, supportando anche la configurazione e validazione effettuate da un terapista in remoto. Seguendo le nostre linee guida, creiamo nove giochi per la riabilitazione della postura e dell’equilibrio di pazienti anziani postictus. Concludiamo con risultati riguardanti diversi studi condotti usando i nostri giochi, tra i quali uno studio pilota di tre mesi, i quali dimostrano i benefici della nostra soluzione.While the incidence of stroke rises worldwide, so do the costs of the subsequent intensive rehabilitation, setting off alarm bells that call for solutions to lower figures while preserving therapy efficacy. At-home autonomous rehabilitation appears as a promising solution, reducing costs for health providers and patients alike. The trend of exergaming,i.e. exercising through videogames, may represent the key to its success. However, rehabilitation at home demands careful consideration, as all the requirements of a correct rehabilitation therapy must be addressed even in the absence of a therapist. The aim of this research is to study the feasibility of at-home autonomous rehabilitation through exergaming. To do so, we explore the state-of-the-art of the exergaming field and devise guidelines to design effective and motivating exergames. We then design and develop a complete game engine that integrates exergames and high-usability interfaces with autonomous supervision enabled by computational intelligence, which includes on-line monitoring, on-line adaptation, clear feedback, and long-term motivational mechanisms, also supporting asynchronous configuration and assessment by a remote therapist. We follow our guidelines to develop a set of nine gamesforpostureandbalancerehabilitationofpost-strokeelderlypatients. We conclude with results from several studies performed using our games, including a three-month pilot test with the complete system, proving the benefits of our solution.DIPARTIMENTO DI ELETTRONICA, INFORMAZIONE E BIOINGEGNERIAComputer Science and Engineering27SCIUTO, DONATELLAFIORINI, CARLO ETTOR
Reaching and Grasping with NAO Robot
Full text linkIn this paper we propose a robust approach that combines classical computer vision with a smart setup that enables a NAO humanoid robot to play with children. Blocks are adopted as playing objects as they are widely used and are a highly versatile support. This approach addresses the challenges of object reaching and grasping, by allowing the robot to approach the table over which activity is carried out, orient appropriately, plan the reaching movement that is executed partly through direct and partly through inverse kinematics, grasp the block, moving it over the table and releasing it into its target position. By integrating visual information provided by the robot cameras into a closed-loop control system, no additional sensors are required. This approach enables not only children to play with a Humanoid robot in a richer way, but also to be used to treat cognitive / motor deficits inside what is termed Robot Assisted Therapy
Portable modular system for automatic acquisition of 3D objects
No full textA modular system which is able to reconstruct the 3D surface of an object is presented here. It has a three level architecture. The first level is devoted to the acquisition of a set of 3D points over the surface (digitization), the second level constructs the 3D surface in the form of a mesh, filtering the measurement noise. In the third level a bitmap of the surface, obtained from a snapshot, is projected over the 3D mesh to obtain a highly realistic 3D model. This instrument improves the commercial available scanners in two main aspects. The digitizer proves highly flexible and it can easily accommodate objects of different dimension. The construction of the mesh and the filtering of the digitization noise is carried in a single step through an algorithm which can be parallelized to work in real time. When the spot detection will be transferred to a standard graphic board and the mesh construction over a dedicated (FPGA) board, this instrument shall be seen as a standard input device of next generation graphical workstations
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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