Tactile-STAR: A Novel Tactile STimulator And Recorder System for Evaluating and Improving Tactile Perception

Many neurological diseases impair the motor and somatosensory systems. While several different technologies are used in clinical practice to assess and improve motor functions, somatosensation is evaluated subjectively with qualitative clinical scales. Treatment of somatosensory deficits has received limited attention. To bridge the gap between the assessment and training of motor vs. somatosensory abilities, we designed, developed, and tested a novel, low-cost, two-component (bimanual) mechatronic system targeting tactile somatosensation: the Tactile-STAR—a tactile stimulator and recorder. The stimulator is an actuated pantograph structure driven by two servomotors, with an end-effector covered by a rubber material that can apply two different types of skin stimulation: brush and stretch. The stimulator has a modular design, and can be used to test the tactile perception in different parts of the body such as the hand, arm, leg, big toe, etc. The recorder is a passive pantograph that can measure hand motion using two potentiometers. The recorder can serve multiple purposes: participants can move its handle to match the direction and amplitude of the tactile stimulator, or they can use it as a master manipulator to control the tactile stimulator as a slave. Our ultimate goal is to assess and affect tactile acuity and somatosensory deficits. To demonstrate the feasibility of our novel system, we tested the Tactile-STAR with 16 healthy individuals and with three stroke survivors using the skin-brush stimulation. We verified that the system enables the mapping of tactile perception on the hand in both populations. We also tested the extent to which 30 min of training in healthy individuals led to an improvement of tactile perception. The results provide a first demonstration of the ability of this new system to characterize tactile perception in healthy individuals, as well as a quantification of the magnitude and pattern of tactile impairment in a small cohort of stroke survivors. The finding that short-term training with Tactile-STARcan improve the acuity of tactile perception in healthy individuals suggests that Tactile-STAR may have utility as a therapeutic intervention for somatosensory deficits

Tactile-STAR: A novel tactile STimulator And Recorder system for evaluating and improving tactile perception

Many neurological diseases impair the motor and somatosensory systems. While several different technologies are used in clinical practice to assess and improve motor functions, somatosensation is evaluated subjectively with qualitative clinical scales. Treatment of somatosensory deficits has received limited attention. To bridge the gap between the assessment and training of motor vs. somatosensory abilities, we designed, developed, and tested a novel, low-cost, two-component (bimanual) mechatronic system targeting tactile somatosensation: the Tactile-STAR\u2014a tactile stimulator and recorder. The stimulator is an actuated pantograph structure driven by two servomotors, with an end-effector covered by a rubber material that can apply two different types of skin stimulation: brush and stretch. The stimulator has a modular design, and can be used to test the tactile perception in different parts of the body such as the hand, arm, leg, big toe, etc. The recorder is a passive pantograph that can measure hand motion using two potentiometers. The recorder can serve multiple purposes: participants can move its handle to match the direction and amplitude of the tactile stimulator, or they can use it as a master manipulator to control the tactile stimulator as a slave. Our ultimate goal is to assess and affect tactile acuity and somatosensory deficits. To demonstrate the feasibility of our novel system, we tested the Tactile-STAR with 16 healthy individuals and with three stroke survivors using the skin-brush stimulation. We verified that the system enables the mapping of tactile perception on the hand in both populations. We also tested the extent to which 30 min of training in healthy individuals led to an improvement of tactile perception. The results provide a first demonstration of the ability of this new system to characterize tactile perception in healthy individuals, as well as a quantification of the magnitude and pattern of tactile impairment in a small cohort of stroke survivors. The finding that short-term training with Tactile-STAR can improve the acuity of tactile perception in healthy individuals suggests that Tactile-STAR may have utility as a therapeutic intervention for somatosensory deficits

Multicentre Italian study of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents, preliminary data as at 10 April 2020

Data on features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in children and adolescents are scarce. We report preliminary results of an Italian multicentre study comprising 168 laboratory-confirmed paediatric cases (median: 2.3 years, range: 1 day-17.7 years, 55.9% males), of which 67.9% were hospitalised and 19.6% had comorbidities. Fever was the most common symptom, gastrointestinal manifestations were frequent; two children required intensive care, five had seizures, 49 received experimental treatments and all recovered

Microscopia elettronica, microscopia ottica e micro-permeabilita della dentina dopo l'applicazione di biomateriali a base di fitocomplessi progettati per il trattamento dell'ipersensibilita dentinale

Caratterizzazione di un biomateriale a base di fitocomplessi, contenente ossalato di potassio, progettato per il trattamento dell'ipersensibilità dentinale

Grata più delle stelle Pasquale I (817-824) e la Roma del suo tempo Vol. 2

Nell’anno 817 saliva al soglio petrino Pasquale I, che in soli sette anni di pontificato segnò profondamente la storia e l’immagine della Roma altomedievale. Per celebrare i 1200 anni trascorsi da questa elezione, tra il 2017 e il 2018, presso l’Università degli studi Roma Tre, la Sapienza-Università di Roma e il Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, si è tenuto un ciclo di otto seminari intorno alla figura e alla committenza del pontefice. Il secondo volume della Collana Arte in Questione raccoglie l’esito di tre incontri multidisciplinari dedicati alla committenza artistica pascaliana (scultura, pittura, mosaici), anche a confronto con orizzonti prossimi (l’Umbria) o solo geograficamente distanti (la Raetia). La sezione conclusiva è dedicata al fuoco ispiratore della strategia mediatica del pontefice: il culto delle reliquie, capace di rigenerare l’identità cristiana dell’Urbe e di renderla manifesta nella liturgia e nello splendore dell’aula Dei

Grata più delle stelle Pasquale I (817-824) e la Roma del suo tempo Vol. 1

Nell!anno 817 saliva al soglio petrino Pasquale I, che in soli sette anni di pontificato segnò profondamente la storia e l!immagine della Roma altomedievale. Per celebrare i 1200 anni trascorsi da questa elezione, tra il 2017 e il 2018, presso l!Università degli studi Roma Tre, la Sapienza-Università di Roma e il Ponti"cio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, si è tenuto un ciclo di otto seminari intorno alla "gura e alla committenza del pontefice. Inaugurando la Collana Arte in Questione, il volume presenta l!esito dei primi quattro incontri che, con un inedito approccio multidisciplinare, graduale e dialogante, hanno scandagliato il pro"lo del pontefice alla luce del contesto storico, politicoistituzionale, culturale e nell!orizzonte urbanistico e architettonico di una Roma altomedievale inquieta e in trasformazione