1,721,033 research outputs found

    Supervisory system of myoelectric prostheses

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    This paper concerns with the use of a supervisory expert system to parameter adjusting of myoelectric prostheses. The prosthesis system is an artificial arm produced by INAIL in Vigorso (Bologna, Italy), which is equipped by on-board actuation system. The expert system, which is developed using a fuzzy logic algorithm, guides the patients through an interactive session aiming to test the prosthesis functionality and, when necessary, to self-adjust the parameters. The prosthesis control system is connected through a RS232 communication link to a Personal Computer running the expert system. A teleconference service is included in the package, which permits the technicians to monitor remotely the tuning session. The paper presents the overall characteristics of auto-tuning system, detailing particularly the fuzzy logic algorithm which is the core of the expert system. Some preliminary experimental results on the application of the system to patients are reported as well

    Tuning of myoelectric prostheses using fuzzy logic

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    This contribution concerns the use of a supervisory expert system based on fuzzy logic for the parameter adjusting of myoelectric prostheses. The prosthesis system is an artificial arm produced by INAIL in Vigorso (Bologna, Italy), which is equipped with an on-board actuation system. The expert system guides patients through an interactive session whose aim is to test the prosthesis functionality and, when necessary, to self-adjust the parameters

    Interaction between cognition and emotion in developmental psychopathology: the role of linguistic stimuli

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    Investigations on emotional words demonstrated that processing emotional information in child patients with anxietydisorders diagnosed for anxiety (generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder) or depression isbiased towards pathology-related stimuli. Also, neuroimaging studies showed a failure of prefrontal areas in inhibitingthe emotional reaction in children with bipolar disorder. Finally, despite several studies investigated memory and attentionusing emotional words, little is known about the development of emotional lexicon in both healthy and psychopathologicalchildren

    Control system design of a dexterous hand for industrial robots

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    The paper illustrates the goals and the present development state of a research programme aimed at the realization of a robot's dexterous extremely device, suitable for carrying out grasping and manipulation operations on objects of different type and shape. Following a brief description of the device's mechanical configuration, sensorial equipment and driving system, the main design issues and the solutions adopted up to now in the prototype, as regards the control strategies and the system architecture, are outlined. Experimental results related to the grasping performance of the device are also presented, together with the future development plans for the project

    Fuzzy logic expert system for automatic tuning of myoelectric prostheses

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    The paper presents a software package for automatic tuning of control parameters of myoelectric prosthesis. The prosthesis system is the INAIL artificial arm controlled by a microprocessor using myoelectric signals acquired from skin-surface electrodes placed on the patient muscle stump. Usually, qualified staff is necessary for control parameters set-up and subsequent recurrent adjustments, and therefore patients are forced to come back frequently at prosthesis factory laboratories. The proposed software interacts with unskilled patients and automatically set up the control parameters of the prosthesis using qualified staff knowledge stored in a Fuzzy Logic Expert System (FLES). In this paper the software package is presented and some preliminary results from its application are discussed

    Implicit fault tolerant control: application to induction motors.

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    In this paper we propose an innovative way of dealing with the design of fault-tolerant control systems. We show how the nonlinear output regulation theory can be successfully adopted in order to design a regulator able to offset the effect of all possible faults which can occur and, in doing so, also to detect and isolate the occurred fault. The regulator is designed by embedding the (possible nonlinear) internal model of the fault. This idea is applied to the design of a fault-tolerant controller for induction motors in presence of both rotor and stator mechanical faults

    Attention to the other’s body sensations modulates the ventromedial prefrontal cortex

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    Theory of Mind (ToM) is involved in experiencing the mental states and/or emotions of others. A further distinction can be drawn between emotion and perception/sensation. We investigated the mechanisms engaged when participants’ attention is driven toward specific states. Accordingly, 21 right-handed healthy individuals performed a modified ToM task in which they reflected about someone’s emotion or someone’s body sensation, while they were in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The analysis of brain activity evoked by this task suggests that the two conditions engage a widespread common network previously found involved in affective ToM (temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), parietal cortex, dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), medial- prefrontal cortex (MPFC), Insula). Critically, the key brain result is that body sensation implicates selectively ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). The current findings suggest that only paying attention to the other’s body sensations modulates a self-related representation (VMPFC)

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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
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