Papers by Maria Bulgheroni
Research Square (Research Square), Mar 7, 2024
Pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) can sense the presence of potential supports in the environment and... more Pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) can sense the presence of potential supports in the environment and exibly adapt their behavior to clasp it. How pea plants control and perfect this behavior during growth remains unexplored. Here, we attempt to ll this gap by studying the movement of the apex and the tendrils at different leaves using three-dimensional (3D) kinematical analysis. We hypothesized that plants accumulate information and resources through the circumnutation movements of each leaf. Information generates the kinematical coordinates for the nal launch towards the potential support. Results suggest that developing a functional approach to grasp movement may involve an interactive trial and error process based on continuous cross-talk across leaves. This internal communication provides evidence that plants adopt plastic responses in a way that optimally corresponds to support search scenarios.
Proceedings of International Conference of Experimental Linguistics
Language production and comprehension can provide a useful perspective into an individual's menta... more Language production and comprehension can provide a useful perspective into an individual's mental health and cognitive abilities. SPEAKapp is a mobile application designed to deliver and analyze speech and language data for clinical and research purposes. It implements pre-and post-processing techniques based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Distributional Semantic Models (DSM) of language. The first functional prototype was tested for accuracy of data acquisition and elaboration, as well as for usability and acceptability in a pilot sample of fragile users. SPEAKapp showed good accuracy and replicability of results, and participants felt comfortable using the application. Further developments of the application are presented.
This is the data set used in the paper "Free context smartphone based application for motor ... more This is the data set used in the paper "Free context smartphone based application for motor activity levels recognition", 2016 IEEE 2nd International Forum on Research and Technologies for Society and Industry Leveraging a better tomorrow (RTSI), Bologna, 2016, pp1-4. The data refer to three subjects (i.e. subject1, subject2 and subject3). For each subject a folder is created. The folder contains data used for training and for test in all the conditions addressed by the reference paper. Activities are labeled by the last character of the filename as follows: 1-2 resting; 3-6 walking; 7-8 running; 9-12 climbing stairs
Research Square (Research Square), Oct 17, 2023
Keywords: Stroke ; Rehabilitation ; Home Treatment ; Technology Reference EPFL-CONF-184511View re... more Keywords: Stroke ; Rehabilitation ; Home Treatment ; Technology Reference EPFL-CONF-184511View record in Web of Science Record created on 2013-02-27, modified on 2017-05-10
Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 2012
PubMed, Nov 4, 1998
The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a 3D kinematic method of evaluating mo... more The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of a 3D kinematic method of evaluating movements of the cervical spine. Range of motion (ROM) of the cervical spine was evaluated in 8 control subjects during flexion-extension, rotation and lateral bending movements. The test was repeated on two separate occasions. The ROM test-retest difference ranged from 1.42 degrees for right axial rotation to 9.11 degrees for left axial rotation. The test showed good reliability, with an intraclass correlation coefficient which was higher than 0.74 in extension movement and excellent in flexion, axial rotation and lateral bending. In conclusion, the method proposed for the 3D kinematic analysis of neck movement proved to be useful and non-invasive and to show good-excellent reproducibility. Furthermore the method is easily applicable in clinical practice to evaluate neck function in cervical spine disorders.
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy, Jan 25, 1997
Social Science Research Network, 2023
Background: Smartphone use is widely spreading in society. Their embedded functions and sensors m... more Background: Smartphone use is widely spreading in society. Their embedded functions and sensors may play an important role in therapy monitoring and planning. However, the use of smartphones for intrapersonal behavioral and physical monitoring is not yet fully supported by adequate studies addressing technical reliability and acceptance. Objective: The objective of this paper is to identify and discuss technical issues that may impact on the wide use of smartphones as clinical monitoring tools. The focus is on the quality of the data and transparency of the acquisition process. Methods: QuantifyMyPerson is a platform for continuous monitoring of smartphone use and embedded sensors data. The platform consists of an app for data acquisition, a backend cloud server for data storage and processing, and a web-based dashboard for data management and visualization. The data processing aims to extract meaningful features for the description of daily life such as phone status, calls, app use, GPS, and accelerometer data. A total of health subjects installed the app on their smartphones, running it for 7 months. The acquired data were analyzed to assess impact on smartphone performance (ie, battery consumption and anomalies in functioning) and data integrity. Relevance of the selected features in describing changes in daily life was assessed through the computation of a k-nearest neighbors global anomaly score to detect days that differ from others. Results: The effectiveness of smartphone-based monitoring depends on the acceptability and interoperability of the system as user retention and data integrity are key aspects. Acceptability was confirmed by the full transparency of the app and the absence of any conflicts with daily smartphone use. The only perceived issue was the battery consumption even though the trend of battery drain with and without the app running was comparable. Regarding interoperability, the app was successfully installed and run on several Android brands. The study shows that some smartphone manufacturers implement power-saving policies not allowing continuous sensor data acquisition and impacting integrity. Data integrity was 96% on smartphones whose power-saving policies do not impact the embedded sensor management and 84% overall. Conclusions: The main technological barriers to continuous behavioral and physical monitoring (ie, battery consumption and power-saving policies of manufacturers) may be overcome. Battery consumption increase is mainly due to GPS triangulation and may be limited, while data missing because of power-saving policies are related only to periods of nonuse of the phone since the embedded sensors are reactivated by any smartphone event. Overall, smartphone-based passive sensing is fully feasible and scalable despite the Android market fragmentation.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Apr 16, 1992
ISBS - Conference Proceedings Archive, 1992
Knee, Sep 1, 1997
Ten subjects with symptomatic ACL deficiency and 10 normal subjects were analyzed. Gait analysis ... more Ten subjects with symptomatic ACL deficiency and 10 normal subjects were analyzed. Gait analysis was performed by using a 3D optoelectronic system, a force platform and a telemetric electromyograph. The kinematic data were recorded from the hip, knee and ankle joints. The examined muscles were Vastus Lateralis, Rectus Femoris, Biceps Femoris and Semitendinosus. M'odifications to external moments in the sagittal plane were apparent at all examined joints. The patterns of the EMGs confirmed these results with altered activity of both flexors and extensors groups. The hip and knee joints also showed modifications to the adduction moment during the stance phase. These changes would affect the loading features of the knee structures and thus could contribute causing joint degenerative changes. Gait analysis is confirmed to be an important tool in treatment planning.
Journal of Biomechanics, Jul 1, 1992
This study examined mechanical interactions between upper and lower limbs in standing up in order... more This study examined mechanical interactions between upper and lower limbs in standing up in order to deduce key relationships between the goal of this multijoint action and its kinematics and kinetics.
European Psychiatry, Apr 1, 2017
Journal of Biomechanics, Jul 1, 1992
The purpose of this study was to develop a method for simultaneous intramuscular EMG recordings f... more The purpose of this study was to develop a method for simultaneous intramuscular EMG recordings from the psoas and iliacus muscles and to study their respective activation patterns during a variety of standardized motor tasks in standing sitting and lying positions. Bipolar fiie wire electrodes were inserted via needles under guidance of ultra-sound unilaterally into the respective muscles; psoas from the back at L3-IA level and iliacus from the front just below the inguinal ligament. Body movements were recorded with goniometers. The main finding was that the two individual portions of the iliopsoas muscle could be selectively activated in certain motor tasks. An example thereof was upright sitting, where the psoas muscle was active, probably stabilizing the lower spine, whereas the iliacus was completely silent. An example of the reversed situation was contralateral leg extension in a standing position. Under most conditions the two muscles were activated in concert and contributing to hip flexor torque, such as in various sit-up exercises, although the relative activation of the respective muscle could vary. Thus, recordings of iliacus muscle activity appears to be representative for the whole iliopsoas muscle in certain situations, whereas under other conditions, the iliacus and psoas appear to be separated into two functional units.
Springer eBooks, Oct 16, 2018
The RETRAINER (Reaching and grasping Training based on Robotic hybrid AssIstance for Neurological... more The RETRAINER (Reaching and grasping Training based on Robotic hybrid AssIstance for Neurological patients: End users Real life evaluation) project is an Innovation Action funded by the European Commission under the H2020 research framework programme. The project aims at a full technology transfer of the results of a previous FP7 project, MUNDUS, aimed at the development of upper limb assistive technologies, to a robotic system for upper limb and hand rehabilitation to be tested in a wide clinical trial with stroke survivors in two clinical centers. The final result of the project is the design of a validated system suitable to address the rehabilitation market. Along this project's path, several issues affecting both development and validation have been pointed out and are here summarized to serve as lesson learnt for prospective projects and challenges.
Orthopaedic Proceedings, Oct 1, 2006
Aim of this study is the investigation of lower limbs biomechanics before and after meniscectomy.... more Aim of this study is the investigation of lower limbs biomechanics before and after meniscectomy. Materials and methods: Ten volunteers candidate to partial medial meniscectomy underwent motion analysis before surgery, six months and one year after. Ten healthy volunteers acted as a control group Data were acquired by means of Vicon motion analysis system Results: In gait patterns investigation, joint kinematics does not show significant modifications before and 6 months after surgery, 12 months after surgery hip and knee show a greater flexion. The dynamic analysis stresses alterations in knee sagittal moment. Before surgery the knee flexion moment is reduced. After partial meniscectomy the knee flexion moment increases in both the limbs. In squatting investigation, main focus was on repeatability. Before surgery high inter subjects variability affects knee joint angle; while after surgery high variability affects also hip and ankle. Conclusions: After meniscectomy, gait and squatting patterns are still altered. Before surgery, the joint mechanical structure is not highly altered and modifications are mainly due to pain avoidance schemas; after partial meniscectomy, pain disappears and the new joint behaviours are probably caused by the new mechanical asset and/or proprioceptive mechanisms.
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Papers by Maria Bulgheroni