1,720,964 research outputs found
Virtual prototyping of a robotic chess player for play therapy
No full textWe designed a robot capable of challenging an opponent on a board game for rehabilitation purposes, with the aim to keep the patient busy during rehabilitation hours while allowing them to learn or improve mobility and strategic skills using a recreational game. To maximize the effectiveness of the therapy, the user experience must be as close as possible to a real game (e.g., chess or draughts) with a physical opponent. For this reason, the robot has to move real pieces on a real board, mimicking the other player's role. In this preliminary study, the concept and design of the robot were performed in a simulated environment. The simulated robot is of the parallel type, having the end effector directly connected to the base through rigid structures that work in coordination. Robot Operating System (ROS) was used to develop and design the robot controller. We describe the assembly of the designed structure of the robot and the controllers for movement along the Cartesian axes. Finally, game intelligence was introduced to enable the robot to play a chess game against the user autonomously. As a result, the implemented simulated robot can conduct a game of chess: recognizing and moving the pieces within the board perimeter, while the user can interact using a graphical interface. In conclusion, we have implemented the simulated version of an autonomous robotic board game that could be translated into a physical system able to engage the user for rehabilitation purposes
Effect of litter size and sex on meat quality traits of kid meat
No full textThe influence of litter size and sex on meat quality traits was investigated using 40 Nebrodi kids slaughtered at 47 days of age. Carcass measurements (body components, carcass joints, pelvic limb tissue composition, meat fatty acid composition and M. longissimus dorsi (LD) colour), body weight at birth and at slaughter were evaluated. Nebrodi kids had a low body weight at birth, with significant differences between male and female (4.1 kg versus 3.9 kg) and between single and twin (4.2 kg versus 3.8 kg). Male kids were heavier at birth and at slaughter, however, females had a higher percentage of kidney and pelvic fat (2.1% versus 1.5% of the right side; P < 0.01). Both males and females, on the contrary, were similar in fat percentage for pelvic limb (11.4% versus 11.6%) and chemical composition of meat (5.1% versus 4.9%). The fatty acid composition of fat in the pelvic limb was not influenced by the animals’ sex, but single kids presented higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than twin kids (5.7 g versus 5.4 g/100 g of meat fat; P < 0.05). Physical characteristics and colorimetric parameters of longissimus dorsi muscle were not influenced by sex and litter size. Female kids showed a significantly higher cooking loss (16.5% versus 14.9%) and lower pH than male kids (5.5 versus 5.69); twin kids showed light coloured meat than single kids (51.8 versus 49.3; P < 0.01). The meat of Nebrodi kids has desirable qualitative characteristics and, on the basis of this it is possible to consider it to be of high quality
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
Il pascolo degli ovini nel vigneto: valutazione della qualità delle produzioni lattiero-casearie
No full textL’alimentazione di ovini con polpe fresche di limone: effetti sulla qualità della "Vastedda"
No full text
Effetti dell'ingestione di erba verde sulla composizione in acidi grassi polinsaturi del latte e del formaggio di pecora
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