Associations between Feeling and Judging the Emotions of Happiness and Fear: Findings from a Large-Scale Field Experiment

Background: How do we recognize emotions from other people? One possibility is that our own emotional experiences guide us in the online recognition of emotion in others. A distinct but related possibility is that emotion experience helps us to learn how to recognize emotions in childhood. Methodology/Principal Findings: We explored these ideas in a large sample of people (N = 4,608) ranging from 5 to over 50 years old. Participants were asked to rate the intensity of emotional experience in their own lives, as well as to perform a task of facial emotion recognition. Those who reported more intense experience of fear and happiness were significantly more accurate (closer to prototypical) in recognizing facial expressions of fear and happiness, respectively, and intense experience of fear was associated also with more accurate recognition of surprised and happy facial expressions. The associations held across all age groups. Conclusions: These results suggest that the intensity of one's own emotional experience of fear and happiness correlates with the ability to recognize these emotions in others, and demonstrate such an association as early as age 5

Ethical Standards to Guide the Development of Obesity Policies and Programs; Comment on “Ethical Agreement and Disagreement about Obesity Prevention Policy in the United States”

The recent report by Barnhill and King about obesity prevention policy raises important issues for discussion and analysis. In response, this article raises four points for further consideration. First, a distinction between equality and justice needs to be made and consistently maintained. Second, different theories of justice highlight one additional important source of disagreement about the ethical propriety of the proposed obesity prevention policies. Third, another point of contention arises with respect to different understandings of the principle of respect for autonomy due to its often-mistaken equation with simple, unfettered freedom. Finally, based on a more robust definition of autonomy, the key issues in obesity prevention policies can be suitably re-framed in terms of whether they advance just social conditions that enable people to realize human capabilities to the fullest extent possible

The Ethical Value & Challenges of Community Engaged Research

One of two presentations during a breakout session about the ethical value and challenges of community-engaged research. Buchanan discusses: community collaboration as ethical obligation; power, procedural justice & representation; and respect & exploitation

Building a bisque kiln

The electric kiln in the studio of the ceramic artist is one of many important and significant pieces of equipment. It is the goal of this paper to provide a guide to anyone who needs to repair, rebuild, or build from scratch an entire kiln. These step-by-step instructions for building a kiln from bought materials will provide the information necessary to fix minor and major kiln rebuilding projects.;This manual/guide is the result of researching kilns, both in terms of doing extensive reading on the subject and gaining real experience. Found in the way of rebuilding/rebricking heavily abused kilns, rewiring, and setting up kilns for the first time with the hard wiring from the electrical entrance to the receptacle. Doing this hands-on research allowed me to find out how the kiln works, how it\u27s assembled and to learn what procedures it\u27s designed to execute

Comparing Antonovsky's sense of coherence scale across three UK post-industrial cities

Objectives: High levels of ‘excess’ mortality (ie, that seemingly not explained by deprivation) have been shown for Scotland compared to England and Wales and, especially, for its largest city, Glasgow, compared to the similarly deprived English cities of Liverpool and Manchester. It has been suggested that this excess may be related to differences in ‘Sense of Coherence’ (SoC) between the populations. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether levels of SoC differed between these cities and whether, therefore, this could be a plausible explanation for the ‘excess’. Setting: Three post-industrial UK cities: Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. Participants: A representative sample of more than 3700 adults (over 1200 in each city). Primary and secondary outcome measures: SoC was measured using Antonovsky's 13-item scale (SOC-13). Multivariate linear regression was used to compare SoC between the cities while controlling for characteristics (age, gender, SES etc) of the samples. Additional modelling explored whether differences in SoC moderated city differences in levels of self-assessed health (SAH). Results: SoC was higher, not lower, among the Glasgow sample. Fully adjusted mean SoC scores for residents of Liverpool and Manchester were, respectively, 5.1 (−5.1 (95% CI −6.0 to −4.1)) and 8.1 (−8.1 (−9.1 to −7.2)) lower than those in Glasgow. The additional modelling confirmed the relationship between SoC and SAH: a 1 unit increase in SoC predicted approximately 3% lower likelihood of reporting bad/very bad health (OR=0.97 (95% CI 0.96 to 0.98)): given the slightly worse SAH in Glasgow, this resulted in slightly lower odds of reporting bad/very bad health for the Liverpool and Manchester samples compared to Glasgow. Conclusions: The reasons for the high levels of ‘excess’ mortality seen in Scotland and particularly Glasgow remain unclear. However, on the basis of these analyses, it appears unlikely that a low SoC provides any explanation

A Bell in the Storm: Persistent unexplained pain and the language of the uncanny in the creative neurophenomenal reference

A Bell in the Storm - Persistent unexplained pain and the language of the uncanny in the creative neurophenomenal reference is a doctoral work comprised of three parts. Part 1 is an exegesis Persistent unexplained pain and the language of the uncanny in the creative neurophenomenal reference; Part 2 is The Plays, A Bell in the Storm (produced by deckchair theatre in May, 2005) and the radio play To Fall Without Landing (produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission for Radio National in October 2005); and, Part 3 the book of monochord poems, Secrets of the Driftwood

Space station full-scale docking/berthing mechanisms development

One of the most critical operational functions for the space station is the orbital docking between the station and the STS orbiter. The program to design, fabricate, and test docking/berthing mechanisms for the space station is described. The design reflects space station overall requirements and consists of two mating docking mechanism halves. One half is designed for use on the shuttle orbiter and incorporates capture and energy attenuation systems using computer controlled electromechanical actuators and/or attenuators. The mating half incorporates a flexible feature to allow two degrees of freedom at the module-to-module interface of the space station pressurized habitat volumes. The design concepts developed for the prototype units may be used for the first space station flight hardware

Evolutionary Divergence in Developmental Strategies and Neuromodulatory Control Systems of Two Amphibian Locomotor Networks

Attempts to understand the neural mechanisms which produce behaviour must consider both prevailing sensory cues and the central cellular and synaptic changes they direct. At each level, neuromodulation can additionally shape the final output. We have investigated neuromodulation in the developing spinal motor networks in hatchling tadpoles of two closely related amphibians, Xenopus laevis and Rana temporaria to examine the subtle differences in their behaviours that could be attributed to their evolutionary divergence. At the point of hatching, both species can swim in response to a mechanosensory stimulus, however Rana embryos often display a more forceful, non-locomotory coiling behaviour. Whilst the synaptic drive that underlies these behaviours appears similar, subtle inter-specific differences in neuronal properties shape motor outputs in different ways. For example, Rana neurons express N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)/serotonin (5-HT)-dependent oscillations, not present in hatchling Xenopus and many also exhibit a prominent slow spike after-hyperpolarisation. Such properties may endow the spinal circuitry of Rana with the ability to produce a more flexible range of outputs. Finally, we compare the roles of the neuromodulators 5-HT, noradrenaline (NA) and nitric oxide (NO) in shaping motor outputs. 5-HT increases burst durations during swimming in both Xenopus and Rana, but 5-HT dramatically slows the cycle period in Rana with little effect in Xenopus. Three distinct, but presumably homologous NO-containing brainstem clusters of neurons have been described, yet the effects of NO differ between species. In Xenopus, NO slows and shortens swimming in a manner similar to NA, yet in Rana NO and NA elicit the non-rhythmic coiling pattern