La dislessia: tecnologie efficaci per il recupero delle abilità di letto-scrittura

In this paper, we wonder whether, to what extent and in which contexts technologies can be considered effective in the recovery of the read&write ability in cases of dyslexia. For this purpose a research on Google Scholar was accomplished aimed at identifying, according to the typical hierarchyof relevance adopted in an evidence-based perspective, first meta-analysis and systematic reviews, then critical reviews, and finally individual experimental researches with big sample.At the end of the research three major critical reviews and six individual researches emerged. All of them are carried out from 2004 until today, and are related to speech synthesis, speech recognition, Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), hypermedia and multimedia electronic text, programs of reading and spelling and phonological awareness. Although many critical issues remain open and the results are difficult to generalize, given to the differences between the contexts and the languages of the researches, the study shows that themost effective technologies for dyslexia are the drill and practice software for phonological learning, the speech recognition software and other tools to support electronic writing.In this paper, we wonder whether, to what extent and in which contexts technologies can be considered effective in the recovery of the read&write ability in cases of dyslexia. For this purpose a research on Google Scholar was accomplished aimed at identifying, according to the typical hierarchyof relevance adopted in an evidence-based perspective, first meta-analysis and systematic reviews, then critical reviews, and finally individual experimental researches with big sample.At the end of the research three major critical reviews and six individual researches emerged. All of them are carried out from 2004 until today, and are related to speech synthesis, speech recognition, Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), hypermedia and multimedia electronic text, programs of reading and spelling and phonological awareness. Although many critical issues remain open and the results are difficult to generalize, given to the differences between the contexts and the languages of the researches, the study shows that themost effective technologies for dyslexia are the drill and practice software for phonological learning, the speech recognition software and other tools to support electronic writing

How to Select Patient Candidates for Antioxidant Treatment?

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La videoeducazione per la formazione degli insegnanti: sviluppi e prospettive nel Web 2.0

Teacher Training Course Enhanced by Video: Developments and Perspectives in the Web 2.0 In the broadest sense, video-based education has a long history that dates back to the last century. The spread of television and later of the multimedia have profoundly marked the increased use of video in education and teaching. In recent years, digitization and broadband technology as well as the increasingly widespread availability of mobile technology, which is economical and easy-to-use, have transformed the web into a huge sphere for video production and sharing. The phenomenon now takes on a new aspect for education and looks set to significantly change teacher training methods. In this paper we describe the new prospects of video-based education brought by recent web developments, with particular reference to Web 2.0 with YouTube and other video-sharing platforms. We will present two training methods enhanced by videos, video-modeling and video-coaching, and we will analyze their potential problems with reference to teacher training

Detecting and tracking bottoms and faces of the Crested Black Macaque in the wild

Monkeys are important to many areas of science and ecology. The study of monkeys and their welfare are important components requiring complex observational studies. This work is therefore concerned with the development of computer vision techniques for the purposes of detecting and tracking monkeys with the ultimate aim to help in such studies. Monkeys are complex creatures for the purposes of tracking because of complex deformations. This complexity is further compounded by an in the wild setting where forest conditions result in frequent occlusions and changes in lighting. Despite these complexities monkeys present some interesting features that can make detection and tracking possible: their bottoms and faces. A system is thus described consisting of detectors trained to detect faces and bottoms of monkeys which are used within a tracking framework to initialise a system of tracklet construction. Steps are also described to enable disparate but coincident tracklets to be merged thus enabling longer run analysis of individual monkey movements. Experiments are performed using image data taken from video footage of Crested Black Macaques in natural forest surroundings. Results demonstrate relatively successful detection of monkey bottoms where the correspondence analysis and tracking process helps to reduce false positives

Social communication in crested macaques (Macaca nigra)

Comparative research into animal communication has been and continues to be highly informative regarding the general principles underlying the evolution of communication (including human communication). However, our tendency to focus on specific modes of production of these signals (i.e. facial expressions, gestures or vocalisations) in isolation of each other, and in a limited number of species, may be obstructing our progress. Therefore, in this thesis, I adopted a novel and more comprehensive approach to a highly understudied primate, the crested macaques (Macaca nigra). First, I consider the effects of the strength of social bonds and dominance relationships between individuals (and, when possible, their kin relationships) when investigating the function of communicative signals. The findings show that communication can be flexible depending on social factors, possibly reflecting functional relevance to the context. Social bonds in particular, influenced communication between individuals facing immediate socio-ecological challenges (finding food and deterring predators). Second, I address the significance of multimodal communication in this species. I test the influence of the composition of communicative signals on the outcome of social interactions. The results show that subtle changes in the composition of communicative signals (multicomponent and multimodal) can have a profound effect on the outcome of social interactions. The findings resulting from this work constitute one of the first quantitative accounts of the communication system of crested macaques, thereby adding to the pool of data available to study communication from a comparative perspective. The comprehensive approach adopted in this thesis provides much needed insight into the importance of considering communication as multimodal and highly intertwined with species’ social style. Such an approach seems highly productive and provides insight into aspects of social and communicative complexity that have been overlooked so far.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo