39 research outputs found
Modeling Human Motor Skills to Enhance Robots’ Physical Interaction
The need for users’ safety and technology acceptability has incredibly increased with the deployment of co-bots physically interacting with humans in industrial settings, and for people assistance. A well-studied approach to meet these requirements is to ensure human-like robot motions and interactions. In this manuscript, we present a research approach that moves from the understanding of human movements and derives usefull guidelines for the planning of arm movements and the learning of skills for physical interaction of robots with the surrounding environment
Restless nights when sick: ectoparasite infections alter rest-activity cycles of diurnal fish hosts
Circadian rhythms are timekeeping mechanisms responsible for an array of biological processes. Disruption of such cycles can detrimentally affect animal health. Circadian rhythms are critical in the co-evolution of host–parasite systems, as synchronization of parasite rhythms to the host can influence infection dynamics and transmission potential. This study examines the circadian rhythms in behaviour and activity of a model fish species (Poecilia reticulata) in isolation and in shoals, both when uninfected and infected with an ectoparasite (Gyrodactylus turnbulli). Additionally, the rhythmical variance of parasite activity under different light conditions as well as rhythmical variance in parasite transmissibility was explored. Overall, infection alters the circadian rhythm of fish, causing nocturnal restlessness. Increased activity of gyrodactylids on the host's skin at night could potentially contribute to this elevated host activity. Whilst migration of gyrodactylids across the host's skin may have caused irritation to the host resulting in nocturnal restlessness, the disruption in guppy activity rhythm caused by the expression of host innate immunity cannot be excluded. We discuss the wider repercussions such behavioural responses to infection have for host health, the implications for animal behaviour studies of diurnal species as well as the application of chronotherapeutic approaches to aquaculture
Copper Induced Lysosomal Membrane Destabilisation in Haemolymph Cells of Mediterranean Green Crab (Carcinus aestuarii, Nardo, 1847) from the Narta Lagoon (Albania)
ABSTRACTDestabilisation of blood cell lysosomes in Mediterranean green crabCarcinus aestuarii was investigated using Neutral Red Retention Assay (NRRA). Crabs collected in Narta Lagoon, Vlora (Albania) during May 2014 were exposed in the laboratory to sub-lethal, environmentally realistic concentrations of copper. Neutral Red Retention Time (NRRT) and glucose concentration in haemolymph of animals were measured. The mean NRRT showed a significant reduction for the animals of the treatment group compared to the control one (from 118.6 ± 28.4 to 36.4 ± 10.48 min, p<0.05), indicating damage of lysosomal membrane. Haemolymph glucose concentration was significantly higher in the treatment group (from 37.8 ± 2.7 to 137.8.4 ± 16.2 mg/dL, p<0.05) than in control group, demonstrating the presence of stress on the animals. These results showed thatC. aestuarii could be used as a successful and reliable bioindicator for evaluating the exposure to contaminants in laboratory conditions. NRRA provides a successful tool for rapid assessment of heavy metal pollution effects on marine biota
Characterisation of traditional Albanian breads derived from different cereals
The long isolation of Albania and the scarcity
of raw materials has traditionally led to the production of
bread from crops other than wheat, like maize, which is
the basic ingredient for maize bread (buk misri), rye,
which is used to prepare rye bread (buk thekre), and
chick-pea, used in chick-pea bread (buk me qiqre). Today,
these traditional breads are accompanied by other
types, such as brown bread from soft wheat (buk zize). In
the present work, the traditional Albanian breads were
characterised in order to assess their quality. The results
obtained indicated that the protein content reflected the
characteristics of the raw material used, being higher in
the chick-pea bread and in bread made from high extraction
rate wheat flour, while both fat and yellow pigment
levels were higher in maize bread. A high humidity
value was found in many of the breads examined, especially
in maize bread, with consequent risks of moulds
and a shortened shelf-life
Bread production in Albania: a quality assessment
In the present work the state of bread production in Albania was examined and fourteen types
of Albanian bread, from different zones of the country, were characterised with the aim of
assessing their quality. A big variety was observed both in the type of flours used and in the
range of the possible ingredients, such as seeds of different oleaginous crops, reflecting in
significant differences in the overall chemical-nutritional composition of the examined breads.
Besides, in the course of the study some types of traditional breads were also individuated and
described for the first time. The obtained results indicated that the protein content reflected
the characteristics of the raw material used, being higher in the chick-pea bread and in bread
from wholemeal wheat flour. The breads containing maize flour or seeds of sunflower and
pumpkin or olive oil in their dough showed a significantly higher content of both carotenoids
and fat than the other samples. A high humidity value was found for many of the examined breads, with consequent possible risks of moulds and, then, a short shelf-life
Successful treatment of an overlapping choriocapillaritis between multifocal choroiditis and acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) with adalimumab (Humiraâ„¢)
To report a case of overlapping choriocapillaritis that initially presented as multifocal choroiditis (MFC) but later showed features compatible with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) resistant to standard immunosuppression that responded only to adalimumad therapy. A 41-year-old patient presented with multiple small, discrete yellow-whitish spots in both eyes, compatible with MFC. A few weeks later, despite treatment with sub-Tenon and systemic corticosteroids, a choroidal neovascularization occurred in the right eye. The patient was treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor. After 2 months, reduced visual acuity, photopsia and visual field defect in the left eye occurred. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography revealed photoreceptor outer segment defects common to all choriocapillaritis. The additional finding of an annular scotoma and a 360° ring on indocyanine green angiography led us to make the diagnosis of presumed AZOOR. Despite the combination of several immunosuppressive agents leading to temporary control of the disease, the patient experienced a further worsening. At that point, adalimumab was introduced, which led to an obvious improvement. This case supports the hypothesis that two different entities of the so-called AZOOR complex can be possible in the same eye, even asynchronously. In our case, anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha monoclonal antibody therapy represented a valid treatment option in a patient unresponsive to traditional immunosuppressive treatments
Understanding Human Manipulation with the Environment: A Novel Taxonomy for Video Labelling
In recent years, the spread of data-driven approaches for robotic grasp synthesis has come with the increasing need for reliable datasets, which can be built e.g. through video labelling. To this goal, it is important to define suitable rules to characterize the main human grasp types, for easily identifying them in video streams. In this work, we present a novel taxonomy that builds upon the related state of the art, but it is specifically thought for video labelling. It focuses on the interaction of the hand with the environment and accounts for pre-contact phases, bi-manual grasps as well as non-prehensile strategies. This study is complemented with a dataset of labelled videos of subjects performing activities of daily living, for a total of nine hours, and the description of MatLab tools for labelling new videos. Both hands were labelled at any time. We used these labelled data for performing a preliminary statistical description of the occurrences of the here proposed class types