All we need is the candidate’s face: the irrelevance of information about political coalition affiliation and campaign promises

Recent research has indicated that judgments of competence based on very short exposure to political candidates' faces reliably predict electoral success. An unexplored question is whether presenting written information of the kind to which voters are typically exposed during an election alongside candidates' faces affects competence judgments. We conducted three studies using photographs of 16 pairs of competing politicians in 16 medium-sized towns of northeast Italy as stimuli. Study 1 confirmed the external validity of earlier research in which participants were exposed to candidates' faces without providing any other information. Study 2a showed that competence judgments were not subject to in-group favoritism: candidates' faces were presented alongside information about the political coalition to which they belonged (center left; center right) to participants who declared a left or right political orientation. Finally, Study 2c compared the competence inferences made in Study 1 (face-only condition) with those of Study 2a (face plus political coalition label) and with new inferences (Study 2b) based on candidates' faces plus information about campaign promises (greater equality; lower taxes). The results showed that automatic competence inferences are not substantially modified when relevant written information is presented alongside candidates' faces

Left threatened by Right: political intergroup bias in the contemporary Italian context.

Using different evaluation targets (i.e., politicians’ pictures, ideological words, items referring to features attributed to political ingroup/outgroup) we characterized the intergroup bias among political groups in the Italian context (Study 1-2-3) and tested a model that may account for the bias itself (Study 3). For all evaluation targets, left-wing participants -compared to right wing participants - showed a greater intergroup bias, expressing more negative emotions towards the outgroup. The process was influenced by a greater perceived threat of the outgroup. Conversely, right-wing participants expressed the bias only when presented with ideological words. Our results provide a detailed description of how intergroup bias in Italy is differently expressed by the two ideological groups depending on the targets used to represent the political counterpart. Moreover, the results show that the stronger bias expressed by left-wing participants is driven by perceived threat of the outgroup

Malleability of the self: electrophysiological correlates of the enfacement illusion

Self-face representation is fundamentally important for self-identity and self-consciousness. Given its role in preserving identity over time, self-face processing is considered as a robust and stable process. Yet, recent studies indicate that simple psychophysics manipulations may change how we process our own face. Specifically, experiencing tactile facial stimulation while seeing similar synchronous stimuli delivered to the face of another individual seen as in a mirror, induces 'enfacement' illusion, i.e. the subjective experience of ownership of the other’s face and a bias in attributing to the self, facial features of the other person. Here we recorded visual Event-Related Potentials elicited by the presentation of self, other and morphed faces during a self-other discrimination task performed immediately after participants received synchronous and control asynchronous Interpersonal Multisensory Stimulation (IMS). We found that self-face presentation after synchronous as compared to asynchronous stimulation significantly reduced the late positive potential (LPP; 450-750 ms), a reliable electrophysiological marker of self-identification processes. Additionally, enfacement cancelled out the differences in LPP amplitudes produced by self- and other-face during the control condition. These findings represent the first direct neurophysiological evidence that enfacement may affect self-face processing and pave the way to novel paradigms for exploring defective self-representation and self-other interactions

O EDITOR NÃO CONFIÁVEL DE "A MULHER DE BRANCO"

A formal achievement that stands out in Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White (1860) is the wide variety of narrators, presented in such a way as to turn each one of them into a witness who assists in solving the plot’s central crime, that is, the identity theft of Laura Fairlie and Anne Catherick. Although this feature adorns the text with a democratic mantle of selfless search for the truth and legitimized by the formal imitation of a Court of Justice, as if its sole intention were the unbiased reconstruction of the facts and as if the testimonies divergent from those of the protagonists had equal space and weight as the others, it is proposed that, in fact, the character Walter Hartright edits the accounts of other narrators, structuring the novel with mechanisms borrowed from journalistic and, mainly, legal practices, in order to support the organization and display of the evidence in the way that best suits him, and thus stand out as the hero of a Manichean conflict and as to justify his social ascension. In other words, it is proposed that Hartright is an unreliable editor, using high values, such as the search for truth for the sake of justice, and analogous discursive practices, journalistic and legal, to extol what was, ultimately, a personal gain.Uma conquista formal que se destaca em A Mulher de Branco (1860), de Wilkie Collins, é a grande variedade de narradores, apresentados de tal modo a convertê-los em testemunhas que auxiliam na resolução do crime central do enredo, isto é, a troca das identidades de Laura Fairlie e Anne Catherick. Apesar de esse recurso adornar o texto com um manto de busca desinteressada pela verdade e legitimada pela imitação formal de uma Corte de Justiça, como se seu único objetivo fosse a reconstrução imparcial dos fatos e como se os testemunhos divergentes daqueles dos protagonistas tivessem igual espaço e peso que os demais, propõe-se que, na realidade, a personagem Walter Hartright edita os relatos dos outros narradores, estruturando o romance com mecanismos emprestados das práticas jornalística e, principalmente, jurídica, de modo a amparar a organização e a apresentação que faz das evidências, da maneira que melhor lhe convém para se destacar como o herói de um conflito maniqueísta e justificar sua ascensão social. Em outras palavras, propõe-se que Hartright seja um editor não confiável, que se utiliza de valores elevados, como a busca pela verdade em prol da justiça, e de práticas discursivas análogas, a jornalística e a jurídica, para enaltecer o que foi, em última instância, um ganho próprio

Validation of a Wearable System for Respiratory Rate Monitoring in Dogs

One of the most relevant physiological parameters in dogs is respiratory rate (RR). The aim of this paper is to present a novel wearable system that allows to accurately estimate RR in dogs, and to compare it to a gold standard in static conditions. Data from 12 dogs were acquired while the animals were anesthetized and attached to a vital signs monitor. The experimental setup consisted of three Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) applied on the dog, and a video camera filming the RR value shown on the monitor. The range of RR values analyzed in the study is 0 to 29 breaths per minute, read by the vital signs monitor. The mean RMSE for the data acquisitions is 1.68 breaths per minute. The values of the filtering parameters that allow to obtain the best performance depend on the specific acquisition. This result demonstrates that adaptive filtering is a viable method for the application. Future developments include tests on a larger dataset, and trials on dogs in unconstrained environments and during movement

illusory and veridical mapping of tactile objects in the primary somatosensory and posterior parietal cortex

Ilaria Bufalari1,2, Francesco Di Russo3,4 and Salvatore Maria Aglioti1,2 Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universita degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", I-00185 Rome, Italy, Laboratorio di Neuroscienze Sociali, Centro Ricerche Neuropsicologia, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, I-00179 Rome, Italy and Dipartimento di Scienze Motorie, Umane e della Salute, Universita degli Studi di Roma "Foro Italico", I-00135 Rome, Ital

Self-identification with another person's face. The time relevant role of multimodal brain areas in the enfacement illusion

Illusory subjective experience of looking at one's own face while in fact looking at another person's face can surprisingly be induced by simple synchronized visuo-tactile stimulation of the two faces. Recently, Apps and colleagues (Cerebral Cortex, 2014) investigated for the first time the role of visual unimodal and temporo-parietal multimodal brain areas in the enfacement illusion, and suggested a model in which multisensory mechanisms are crucial to construct and update self-face representation

Interpersonal multisensory stimulation reduces the overwhelming distracting power of self-gaze: psychophysical evidence for 'engazement'.

One's own face and gaze are never seen directly but only in a mirror. Yet, these stimuli capture attention more powerfully than others' face and gaze, suggesting the self is special for brain and behavior. Synchronous touches felt on one's own and seen on the face of others induce the sensation of including others in one's own face (enfacement). We demonstrate that enfacement may also reduce the overwhelming distracting power of self-gaze. This effect, hereafter called 'engazement', depends on the perceived physical attractiveness and inner beauty of the pair partner. Thus, we highlight for the first time the close link between enfacement and engazement by showing that changes of the self-face representation induced by facial visuo-tactile stimulation extend to gaze following, a separate process likely underpinned by different neural substrates. Moreover, although gaze following is a largely automatic, engazement is penetrable to the influence of social variables, such as positive interpersonal perception

Comparison between the effects of epidural lidocaine, tramadol, and lidocaine-tramadol on postoperative pain in cats undergoing elective orchiectomy

Background: In veterinary clinical practice, orchiectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures for cats and is performed mainly in young animals. The purpose of this study was to compare three different epidural (EP) analgesic protocols used in cats undergoing orchiectomy in order to determine which protocol resulted in superior outcomes in terms of perioperative analgesia. Twenty-one client-owned male cats were premedicated with a combination of dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg) and midazolam (0.2 mg/kg) injected intramuscularly. Anesthesia was induced intravenously with propofol. Cats were randomly divided in three treatment groups of seven animals each: Group L received EP lidocaine (2 mg/kg), Group T received EP tramadol (1 mg/kg), and Group LT received EP lidocaine (2 mg/kg) plus tramadol (1 mg/kg). The post-operative pain level was assessed using two different scales: the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale-Feline (CMPS-F) and the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS). Rescue analgesia was administered when the CMPS-F total score was ≥5 or the FGS total score was ≥4. Results: No adverse effects related to tramadol or lidocaine were observed. Based on post-operative pain assessments, significant differences between groups were observed according to both pain scoring systems. In particular, in Group LT, the CMPS-F and FGS scores decreased significantly in the first six hours following castration. Conclusions: Based on our results, EP lidocaine plus tramadol provided the best post-operative analgesic effects in cats submitted to orchiectomy lasting 6 h and could also be a choice to consider for longer surgical procedures

Management of Candida guilliermondii joint infection in a dog

Background: Candida spp. are dimorphic fungi in the family Cryptococcaceae. Infections with Candida spp. are usually rare conditions in dogs, but immunocompromised patients have a higher risk for developing invasive candidal infections. Case presentation: A 5-year-old male Boxer, positive to Leishmania infantum, was referred to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Italy for examination of a non-weight bearing left hind limb lameness of a duration of at least 3 months. During this period, treatment involved systemic anti-inflammatory medications and intra-articular corticosteroid administration. On presentation, clinical examination and radiographic findings were suggestive of cranial cruciate ligament deficiency. To support this diagnosis a stifle arthroscopy was performed: it confirmed a partial rupture of cranial cruciate ligament. Samples culture of synovial fluid and membrane was routinely collected as well, and revealed Candida guilliermondii joint infection. Treatment for the C. guilliermondii joint infection involved systemic anti-fungal therapy, joint lavage and intra-articular administration of antifungal drugs. Lameness improved markedly during this treatment, but lameness did not resolve completely, probably due to cranial cruciate ligament deficiency. Tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA) was chosen in order to treat stifle instability and was performed 4 weeks following cessation of treatment of the C. guilliermondii joint infection. Six month after TTA the dog showed a completely recovery with no lameness. Conclusions: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case of Candida spp. joint infection reported in dogs. The cause of the progression of the joint C. guilliermondii infection remains unclear but it may be associated with leishmaniasis or intra-articular corticosteroid injections. Treatment with systemic and intra-articular anti-fungal therapies was successful. In the evaluation of hind limb lameness in a chronically immunocompromised dog, it would be advisable to consider also an intra-articular Candida spp. infection