Further evidence on the effect of symbolic distance on Stroop-like interference

Pavese and Umiltà found that, in an enumeration task, Stroop-like interference is larger when the digit identity is symbolically close to the enumeration response than when it is symbolically far. In two experiments testing 49 undergraduates, we further explored this phenomenon using Francolini and Egeth's paradigm. We found that symbolic distance affected interference even when the stimulus was briefly presented and masked. In Exp. 2, which tested numerosities outside the subitizing range, individuals used a different enumeration strategy but showed the same symbolic distance effect. These results support the hypothesis that Stroop interference found in enumeration tasks depends on a rapid and automatic activation of digits' magnitude representation

Anatomy of word and sentence meaning

Reading and listening involve complex psychological processes that recruit many brain areas. The anatomy of processing English words has been studied by a variety of imaging methods. Although there is widespread agreement on the general anatomical areas involved in comprehending words, there are still disputes about the computations that go on in these areas. Examination of the time relations (circuitry) among these anatomical areas can aid in under-standing their computations. In this paper we concentrate on tasks which involve obtaining the meaning of a word in isolation or in relation to a sentence. Our current data support a finding in the literature that frontal semantic areas are active well before posterior areas. We use the subject’s attention to amplify relevant brain areas involved either in semantic classification or in judging the relation of the word to a sentence in order to test the hypothesis that frontal areas are concerned with lexical semantics while posterior areas are more involved in comprehension of propositions that involve several words

The influence of affective factors on time perception

Several studies have suggested that both affective valence and arousal affect the perception of time. How-ever, in previous experiments these two affective dimensions were not systematically controlled. In the present study, a set of emotional slides rated for valence and arousal (International Affective Picture System) were projected to two groups of subjects for 2, 4 and 6 sec. One group estimated the duration on an analog scale and a second group reproduced the interval by pushing a button. Heart rate and skin conductance responses were also recorded. A highly significant valence by arousal interaction affected duration judg-ments. For low arousal stimuli, the duration of negative slides was judged relatively shorter than the duration of positive slides. For high arousal stimuli, the duration of negative slides was judged longer than the dura-tion of positive slides. These results are interpreted within a model of action tendency, in which the level of arousal controls two different motivational mechanisms, one emotional and the other attentional

A low-cost portable vocal analyser for long-term monitoring and clinical investigation

A low-cost portable device has been developed at Politecnico di Torino to provide traceable measurements of vocal parameters during long-term monitoring as well as short ambulatory tests. The device, named Voice Care, is based on a contact microphone that is attached to the jugular notch of the subject under monitoring and on a wearable data acquisition unit that stores the raw samples of the signal generated by the vocal folds’ vibration. Post processing algorithms have been assessed to evaluate the vocal effort and the vocal load that voice professionals are subjected to during their daily activity, estimating the parameters sound pressure level, fundamental frequency and phonation time percentage. Other investigations are related to the length of voiced and unvoiced frames, whose distribution are dependent on the acoustic characteristics of the environment where the voice monitoring takes place. Another application of the Voice Care is related to short-term ambulatory tests, which allows the cooperation with physicians to make the device a reliable diagnostic tool. Processing algorithms have been extended to estimate other parameters, such as jitter, shimmer and voice quality indexes, that allow the phonatory status of the subject under monitoring to be evaluated. An experimental campaign has been performed involving thirty teachers in four primary schools who have been monitored for two to four days across one week of teaching. The effectiveness of the proposed device has been shown by the obtained results, which were in good agreement with the subjective impression and the classroom acoustics. Other specific tests have been performed in very different acoustic environments (anechoic, reverberant and semi- reverberant chambers) to highlight the device capability in evaluating the environment effects on the vocal production. Ambulatory tests for the optimization of the Voice Care as a diagnostic tool are planned to be carried out soon

On the Change of Substances of Strawberry Fruit

1. 水田裏作として栽培されたオランダイチゴ, ダナー種の完熟果実を室温中に貯蔵し, その含有成分の変化の過程を調査した。収穫当日に含まれていた80%エタノール可溶性N化合物, 糖類の含有量は次第に減少したが, 有機酸の量は殆んど変化がなかった。しかし, 収穫後の水分含有率の低下は収穫後の日数と共に著しく。従って各成分の濃度(含有率)は相対的に高くなり, その結果N化合物の含有率の低下は比較的緩慢となり, 糖類の含有率は殆んど変化なく, 有機酸は上昇した。糖の種類は, グルコース, フラクトース, キシロース及び蔗糖であるが, 収穫後次第にグルコース及び蔗糖が減少し, キシロースがやゝ増加した。有機酸は大部分がクエン酸で, リンゴ酸, コハク酸及び痕跡の酒石酸が認められたが, 減少したのはリンゴ酸のみであった。2. 排水良き砂壌土の圃場に於て, 栽培された4品種のオランダイチゴ(紅露・幸玉, アメリカ・ダナー)の果実について収穫後に於ける諸成分の含有率の変化を比較した。N化合物・糖類・有機酸についてみると, その含有率自体は品種の特性を示し, 夫々非常に異なっているが, 含有率の貯蔵中の変化は互に平行的に推移し同様の傾向を示した。この実験の果実成分のペーパークロマトグラフィーの結果は, 水田裏作のダナー種に比べて, 糖類の内, フラクトースが特に多く, 蔗糖が少かった。品種間差異は特にグルコースに認められた。有機酸では, 酒石酸がかなり多く, 紅露及び幸玉ではα-ケトグルタル酸を認めた。品種間の差異は, 大部分をクエン酸に, 次いで酒石酸によって影響された。 / 1. The studies were conducted to obtain the fundamental information on the change of the substances in the postharvest strawberry fruit, which was cultivated for the second crop on the rice field (heavy clay soil). The amounts of soluble total-N (in 80% ethanol), amino-N, total sugar and reducing sugar were decreased in the postharvest period. But the organic acid was constant. In the postharvest period, the water content of the strawberry fruit was decreased extremely. Therefore the percentage of the N-compounds and the sugars were not so low, and the organic acid became high percentage after the harvested. On the paperchromatography in the extracts of the strawberry fruit, glucose, fractose, xylose and sucrose were found. And the xylose was increased and the glucose and sucrose were decreased after the harvested. The most of organic acid was citric acid and there were also found succinic acid, malic acid and trace of tartaric acid. The malic acid was decreased after the harvested. 2. The differences of the contents in the fruit were studied among four varieties of the strawberry (Koro, Kogyoku, America and Danner) cultivated on the field of sandy loam soil. Each % of the substances in the fruit was very different among the four varieties, but the processes of the changing had parallel tendency during the postharvest period. The results of paperchromatographic study were compared with them of strawberry fruit cultivated on the rice field. Consequently, more fractose was recognized and the sucrose was slightly. There were much tartaric acid and the trace of α-keto gulutaric acid

Position Paper of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology on Early Palliative Care in Oncology Practice (Simultaneous Care)

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