Search results for "IMITATION"
showing 10 items of 306 documents
Human newborns match tongue protrusion of disembodied human and robotic mouths
2011
International audience; No evidence had been provided so far of newborns' capacity to give a matching response to 2D stimuli. We report evidence from 18 newborns who were presented with three types of stimuli on a 2D screen. The stimuli were video-recorded displays of tongue protrusion shown by: (a) a human face, (b) a human tongue from a disembodied mouth, and (c) an artificial tongue from a robotic mouth. Compared to a baseline condition, neonates increased significantly their tongue protrusion when seeing disembodied human and artificial tongue movements, but not when seeing a 2D full-face protruding tongue. This result was interpreted as revealing the exploration of top-heavy patterns o…
Species identification of the psammophilous tenebrionid beetles Phaleria acuminata Juster, 1852 and Phaleria bimaculata (Linnaeus, 1767) from central…
2013
Dominating global arid environments, from desert to coastal dunes, most Tenebrionidae are highly specific in their habitat preferences and display limited dispersal potential, thus exhibiting a remarkable degree of regional genetic and morphological differentiation. The tenebrionid genus Phaleria is speciose and widely distributed, with P. acuminata and P. bimaculata having a wide Mediterranean distribution, with numerous morphological differentiations at population level, often described as different taxa of doubtful taxonomical significance. In order to investigate the variability of the central Mediterranean populations of P. bimaculata and P. acuminata and to compare the results obtaine…
PRACTICAL ASPECTS IN THE ACQUISITION OF THE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT PUPILS WITH DISORDERS OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT
2015
The article reflects two parts of the study – theoretical that reveals four aspects in the acquisition of the educational content of pupils with disorders of mental development in special education institution. It presents the analysis of theoretical ideas (N. Geidzs, D. Berliner, E. Geyser) about ensuring the emotional context in everyday life and the development of research activities. The views expressed by different scientists (A. Adler, H. Gadamers, A. Bandura) about the importance of imitation skills for pupils with disorders of mental development compared. The practical study summarizes and analyzes the results of the survey the participants of which were 27 special education teacher…
Isolation and Characterization of High-Efficiency Rhizobia From Western Kenya Nodulating With Common Bean.
2021
Common bean is one of the primary protein sources in third-world countries. They form nodules with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia, which have to be adapted to the local soils. Commercial rhizobial strains such as Rhizobium tropici CIAT899 are often used in agriculture. However, this strain failed to significantly increase the common bean yield in many places, including Kenya, due to the local soils’ low pH. We isolated two indigenous rhizobial strains from the nodules of common bean from two fields in Western Kenya that have never been exposed to commercial inocula. We then determined their ability to fix nitrogen in common beans, solubilize phosphorus, and produce indole acetic acid. In greenhou…
Does Microfinance Cause or Reduce Suicides? Policy Recommendations for Reducing Borrower Stress
2011
At a time when suicides by microfinance borrowers in Andhra Pradesh are extensively discussed, this paper makes an initial tentative exploration into the impact of microfinance on suicides. Does MF reduce or increase suicides? Data limitations imply methodological limitations and provisional conclusions. The literature review, starting with Emile Durkheim, of research on suicides brings out the importance of psychological factors, divorce, and unemployment. We investigate time series data on suicides in India and find a just significantly positive correlation with male suicide rates and slightly negative correlations (not significant) with female suicide rates – but no relation between micr…
Architecture to Serve Disabled and Elderly
2013
We propose an architecture (discussed in the context of a dressing and cleaning application for impaired and elderly persons) that combines a cognitive framework that generates motor commands with the MOSAIC architecture which selects the right motor command according to the proper context. The ambition is to have robots able to understand humans intentions (dressing or cleaning intentions), to learn new tasks only by observing humans, and to represent the world around it by using conceptual spaces. The cognitive framework implements the learning by demonstration paradigm and solves the related problem to map the observed movement into the robot motor system. Such framework is assumed to wo…
Leaf water potential meaning of different modalities of measurements
2004
<p style="text-align: justify;">An experiment on Syrah in the Ecotron design of the AGRO Montpellier/INRA campus vineyard, with the control of different water regimes, allowed to test the physiological meaning and the field of application of different modalities of leaf water potential measurements : predawn and daily potential for leaves in a normal micro-environment (which keep all of their interest and generality), « stem » potential (which must be called differently and reserved to particular conditions) for shadow enveloped leaves. Field observations on Syrah and Merlot confirm the interest of some methods.</p>
Mobility decline in old age.
2012
Mobility is important for community independence. With increasing age, underlying pathologies, genetic vulnerabilities, physiological and sensory impairments, and environmental barriers increase the risk for mobility decline. Understanding how mobility declines is paramount to finding ways to promote mobility in old age. peerReviewed
Contribution of musculoskeletal pain to postural balance in community-dwelling people aged 75 years and older.
2010
Background. Balance is among the most important prerequisites for safe and independent mobility. Whether musculoskeletal pain is related to standing balance impairment has received limited attention. The aim of this study was to examine the association of musculoskeletal pain with the control of balance in older people. Methods. A total of 605 participants aged 75 years and older (mean age 80.4, 71 % women) were interviewed about presence and severity of musculoskeletal pain. Balance was measured by a force platform, and impaired balance was defined as a high sway velocity moment or inability to maintain semitandem standing. Results. Musculoskeletal pain was reported by 48% of the participa…
L'ornementation des bracelets de l'âge du Bronze européen : analyse descriptive et perspectives
2013
This paper discusses the ornamental patterns of metal bracelets worn on the arms and legs of people during the European Bronze Age. A method has been specially created to study geometric patterns. Some sets of metal bands (bracelets métalliques) of Bronze Age reach a high level of complexity due to the use of combined patterns in an overall structure. This paper deals with an experimental criterion concerning this phenomenon. The methodology, developed for the purpose i.e. the experimental criterion developed for the purpose of this study, was to extract geometric patterns from the original media. The principle is to release the geometrical compositions of the deformations induced by the mo…