The transition from crawling to walking: Can infants elicit an alteration of their parents' perception?

Our study was designed to address a gap in the literature on parents’ perception and motivation to protect their infants from potential risk of injury in the transition from crawling to walking. The participants were 260 Italian subjects, of whom 158 were women and 102 men, aged between 20 and 45 years. They were asked to draw two domestic objects to assess the possible alterations in the perception of environmental elements seen by the parents as a potentially dangerous cause of unintentional injury for their child. Analysis showed that the group of mothers with children aged 9 to 18 months had drawn the largest tables, while the table areas of the other two categories of women were much smaller.Concerning males, the group that drew the largest tables was the one with children, but not in the age range of 9-18 months, while there was no great difference between the other two groups. The final descriptive analysis concerned the average scores on the STAI-Y tests both for state and trait anxiety. In all groups a substantial parity was observed, except for the non-parent men, who had a lower a lower level of state anxiety. Both the fathers and the mothers of children of 9-18 months obtained lower scores, both for state and trait anxiety. Based on the findings, we demonstrate that children transitioning from crawling to walking can elicit a perceptive reactivity their mothers, which satisfies their natural need to protect their offspring

Impiego di un accelerometro triassiale per il monitoraggio dello stato dell’utensile in lavorazioni meccaniche

Il presente lavoro di tesi si inserisce in un progetto di ricerca del DIMNP sul monitoraggio dello stato dell’utensile, tramite l’utilizzo di sensori (Tool Condition Monitoring) nei processi di lavorazione automatici non presidiati. L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è di studiare le vibrazioni, prodotte nelle lavorazioni meccaniche di fresatura, mediante l’utilizzo di un accelerometro, per individuare delle variazioni nelle caratteristiche del segnale legate allo stato dell’utensile. Il lavoro si è composto in una parte di messa a punto di un programma per l’analisi dei dati e in una parte sperimentale dove sono state eseguite prove di taglio di fresatura presso un centro di lavoro a controllo numerico. I risultati hanno permesso di individuare sia possibili zone in cui applicare il sensore, sia strategie per il riconoscimento di usura, rottura dei taglienti e presenza utensile

Reconsidering the scribbling stage of drawing: A new perspective on toddlers' representational processes

Although the scribbling stage of drawing has been historically regarded as meaningless and transitional, a sort of prelude to the actual drawing phase of childhood, recent studies have begun to re-evaluate this important moment of a child's development and find meaning in what was once considered mere motor activity and nothing more. The present study analyzes scribbling in all its subphases and discovers a clear intention behind young children's gestures. From expressing the dynamic qualities of an object and the child's relationship with it, to gradually reducing itself to a simple contour of a content no more alive on the paper, but only in the child's own imagination, we trace the evolution of the line as a tool that toddlers use to communicate feelings and intentions to the world that surrounds them. We will provide a selected number of graphical examples that are representative of our theory. These drawings (13 in total) were extracted from a much wider sample derived from our studies on children's graphical-pictorial abilities, conducted on children aged 0 to 3 years in various Italian nurseries. Our results appear to indicate that scribbling evolves through a series of stages, and that early graphical activity in children is sparked and maintained by their relationship with their caregivers and the desire to communicate with them

Emotional development in late childhood: interaction between socio-relational and self-regulation factors in pupils of primary school

Los datos disponibles demuestran la correlación entre la capacidad de controlar y evaluar los resultados del comportamiento y la posibilidad (Saarni, 1999, 2004; Thompson, 1988) de co-regulación en situaciones de interacción social. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar cómo la autorregulación puede mediar factores variables de carácter socio-relacionales en niños de edad escolar, con referencia a la forma en que se evaluará la amistad íntima y los lazos de amistad. El estudio involucró a 94 participantes (49 masculinos y 45 femeninos); grupo de edad rango: 8.03 - 11.00 años; promedio: 8,9; sd: 0.7. El objetivo era estudiar la correlación entre variables de autorregulación, con referencia a la escuela, comportamiento, y socio-relación de variables, con respecto a la calidad atribuida a los lazos de amistad y de amistad íntima. El análisis de la situación socio-relacional se realizó utilizando los componentes multi-dimensionales autoevaluación FQS (Bukowski &Amp; al., 1994) e IFS (Sharabany, 1994); la autorregulación de componentes comportamentales fueron evaluados usando la lista de verificación de la observación "aspectos sociales y la autorregulación de actitudes" de la batería de prueba Q1 (VATA de Beni R., et al., 2005). Los resultados obtenidos muestran correlaciones significativas (p < .05; p < .01) entre los componentes específicos subyacentes a la autorregulación en el comportamiento escolar y las dimensiones específicas de la amistad íntima.Available data show the correlation between the ability to control and assess the outcomes of one’s behaviour and the possibility (Saarni, 1999, 2004; Thompson, 1988) of co-regulating it in social interaction situations. The aim of this study is to analyse how self-regulation factors can mediate variables of a socio-relational nature in school-age children, with reference to the way in which they assess friendship and intimate friendship bonds. The study involved 94 participants (49 male, 45 female); age group range: 8.03 – 11.00 years; average: 8.9; sd: 0.7. The aim was to examine the correlation between self-regulation variables, with reference to school behaviour, and socio-relation-al variables, with respect to the quality attributed to friendship bonds and to intimate friendship. The analysis of socio-relational components was conducted using the multi-dimensional self-assessment FQS (Bukowski & al., 1994) and IFS (Sharabany, 1994); the self-regulation behavioural components were assessed using the observation check-list “Social aspects and self-regulation attitudes” from the test battery Q1 VATA (De Beni R., et al., 2005). The results obtained show significant correlations (p < .05; p < .01) between specific components underlying self-regulation in school behaviour and specific dimensions of the intimate friendship bond.E’ un dato acquisito la correlazione esistente tra la capacità di controllare e valutare gli esiti del proprio comportamento e la possibilità di co-regolarlo in situazioni di interazione sociale (Saarni, 1999, 2004; Thompson, 1988). Finalità del presente studio è analizzare come i fattori di tipo autoregolativo medino variabili di ordine socio-relazionale in bambini di età scolare, con riferimento alla valutazione dei personali legami di amicizia e di amicizia intima. La ricerca coinvolge 94 partecipanti (49 maschi, 45 femmine); range età anagrafica: 8,03 - 11,00; media: 8,9; ds: 0,7. Lo scopo è verificare le correlazioni esistenti tra variabili di ordine autoregolativo, riferite al comportamento scolastico, e variabili di ordine socio-relazionale, relative alla qualità attribuita al legame amicale e al légame di amicizia intima L’analisi delle componenti socio-relazionali è stata condotta con l’applicazione delle scale di autovalutazione multidimensionale FQS (Bukowski & al., 1994) e IFS (Sharabany, 1994); per la valutazione delle componenti autoregolative è stata applicata la griglia di osservazione “Aspetti sociali ed atteggiamenti autoregolativi” tratta dalla batteria di test Q1 VATA (De Beni R., et al., 2005). I risultati ottenuti evidenziano correlazioni significative (p < .05; p < .01) tra specifiche componenti autoregolative e particolari dimensioni del legame di amicizia intima.peerReviewe

A surgical dataset from the da Vinci Research Kit for task automation and recognition

The use of datasets is getting more relevance in surgical robotics since they can be used to recognise and automate tasks. Also, this allows to use common datasets to compare different algorithms and methods. The objective of this work is to provide a complete dataset of three common training surgical tasks that surgeons perform to improve their skills. For this purpose, 12 subjects teleoperated the da Vinci Research Kit to perform these tasks. The obtained dataset includes all the kinematics and dynamics information provided by the da Vinci robot (both master and slave side) together with the associated video from the camera. All the information has been carefully timestamped and provided in a readable csv format. A MATLAB interface integrated with ROS for using and replicating the data is also provided.Comment: Submitted to The International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR). 6 Pages. 4 Figue

Correction: Biodegradable nanoparticles bearing amine groups as a strategy to alter surface features, biological identity and accumulation in a lung metastasis model

Correction for 'Biodegradable nanoparticles bearing amine groups as a strategy to alter surface features, biological identity and accumulation in a lung metastasis model' by Diletta Esposito et al., J. Mater. Chem. B, 2018, 6, 5922–5930

Wireless Robotic Capsule for Releasing Bioadhesive

A novel, miniature wireless robotic capsule for releasing bioadhesive patches in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract was designed, fabricated, and preliminarily tested. In particular, the assembled prototype was successfully navigated in a GI phantom, up to a target site where the release mechanism was verified. Then, deployment of a bioadhesive patch onto ex vivo porcine tissue was accomplished, and patch adhesion strength was verified. The main application of the present system is the deployment of anchoring patches for miniature robotic modules to be operated in the targeted anatomical domain. Such an innovative application stems from the wise blend of robotics and bioadhesion. Obtained results, which are consistent with previous investigations by the group, confirm the viability of the adopted bioadhesives for the envisaged anchoring tasks. The present feasibility study complies with the spirit of minimally invasive, wireless diagnosis, and therapy, and provides a preliminary contribution for their advancement