Social buffering of brain cell proliferation and behavioral responses to tail injury in weakly electric fish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus

Social interactions can mitigate the damaging effects of threatening stimuli, a phenomenon termed ‘social buffering’. In two different forms of social buffering, social interactions reduce stress-induced decreases in brain cell proliferation and enhance recovery from somatic injury. However, the positive effects of social interactions on the brain cell proliferation response to somatic injury have not been extensively examined. Here, I investigated the social buffering of the brain cell proliferation response to tail injury in an electric fish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus. I ask three major questions: 1) Does social interaction mitigate the decrease in brain cell proliferation caused by simulated predatory tail injury?; 2) Does the timing of social interaction relative to injury alter this social buffering response?; and 3) Does tail injury modify affiliation with a non-injured social partner? I mimicked predatory injury through experimental tail amputation, exposed fish to paired interactions that varied in timing, duration, and recovery period, and measured cell proliferation (PCNA+ cell density) in the forebrain and midbrain. I also measured social affiliation based on the position of fish in retreat sites located near or distant to a stimulus fish. Social interaction either before or after tail amputation mitigated the negative effects of tail injury on brain cell proliferation. This buffering effect was specific to the forebrain and occurred after short-term (1 d) or long-term (7 d) recovery periods following tail amputation. However, social interaction both before (4 d) and after (7 d) tail amputation produced an even greater buffering effect in localized regions of the forebrain and midbrain. Similarly, fish exposed to social interaction both before and after tail amputation sought close affiliation with non-injured stimulus fish, but this effect did not occur in fish exposed to social interaction only after injury. Thus, despite the social buffering response on brain cell proliferation, it remains unclear whether fish modify their affiliation behavior in response to tail injury

Applying action research in CAD teaching to improve the learning experience and academic level

A project involving innovation in university education is described in this paper. It was implemented in a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) course on the Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering. Several studies have been published about CAD curricula, yet to the best of our knowledge nothing on applying Action Research (AR) to CAD teaching. The project was carried out over a two-year period, after detecting that academic results were not very good even when the course was not very demanding. In the first year, an experiment based on the AR methodology was planned and put into practice. We took the figure of the teacher-researcher as our own, owing to our conviction that teachers themselves must study their own work and reflect on it critically. Encouraged by the good results, throughout the following year, more changes were made in order to further improve the learning experience. The main actions were to develop self-learning material and to use rubrics for assessment, together with an increase in the level of difficulty in some parts of the evaluation. A detailed chronological description of the actions that were carried out, the implied motivations and both the expected results and those actually obtained are presented.The authors are grateful for support from the Unitat de Suport Educatiu of Jaume I University through project Ref: 2793/13 and for the comments made by the reviewers, which were very helpful

Aplicación de principios de Kansei en el diseño cerámico

El estudio de las impresiones afectivas provocadas por los productos es un tema de gran interés tanto en investigación como en el mundo empresarial. Entre las técnicas para cuantificar los significados y emociones de producto destaca la Ingeniería Kansei, que estudia la relación de características concretas de diseño con las impresiones subjetivas generadas. El presente trabajo analiza la influencia de parámetros objetivos de diseño de los pavimentos cerámicos en la percepción afectiva que el producto provoca. Los participantes en el estudio valoran un conjunto de impresiones subjetivas relacionadas con ocho variantes de un pavimento cerámico, en el que se modifican características de diseño relacionadas con su color, brillo y formato. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que para el pavimento estudiado, las características de color y brillo asignadas influyen en los significados generados por el producto e incluso en el caso del brillo, se observa influencia sobre las preferencias de producto. Dichos resultados son, evidentemente, altamente cambiantes en función de las tendencias, y dependen, entre otras cosas, del momento temporal, la localización del mercado objetivo, o el tipo concreto de producto estudiado. Con todo, su aplicación puede mejorar el conocimiento sobre los motivos por los que ciertas variantes de diseño son mejor aceptadas y tienen un mayor éxito en el mercado.The study of the affective impressions consumers have on a product raises particular interest both in business contexts and the academia. Among the techniques used in order to quantify the different product meanings and emotions stands Kanei Engineering, which studies the relation between particular design characteristics and the subjective impressions generated. This paper analyses the influence of objective design parameters within the ceramic pavement context and the affective perception the product itself provokes. Participants in the study assessed a number of subjective impressions linked to eight design variations of a ceramic pavement in terms of colour, brightness and format. The results obtained show that, in the particular case of the ceramic pavement studied, the colour and brightness features do have an impact in the generated meanings of the product. When it came to brightness, a particular product preference trend is observed. It goes without saying that the results change highly according to fashion trends and depend, among other parameters, on the timeframe, the location of the objective market or even the type of product studied. Still, the application of the latter may result in a better understanding of the reasons why particular design variations are better accepted and more successful in the market.Agradecemos a la Fundació Caixa Castelló-Bancaixa y a la Universitat Jaume I el apoyo económico recibido a través del proyecto Ref. P1-1B2008-21

Application to ceramic tile floorings

This work aims to validate a conceptual framework which establishes the main relationships between subjective elements in human–product interaction, such as meanings, emotions, product preferences, and personal values. The study analyzes the relationships between meanings and emotions, and between these and preferences, as well as the influence of personal values on such relationships. The study was applied to ceramic tile floorings. A questionnaire with images of a neutral room with different ceramic tile floorings was designed and distributed via the web. Results from the study suggest that both meanings and emotions must be taken into account in the generation of product preferences. The meanings given to the product can cause the generation of emotions, and both types of subjective impressions give rise to product preferences. Personal reference values influence these relationships between subjective impressions and product preferences. As a consequence, not only target customers' demographic data but specifically their values and criteria must be taken into account from the beginning of the development process. The specific results of this paper can be used directly by ceramic tile designers, who can better adjust product design (and the subjective impressions elicited) to the target market. Consequently, the chance of product success is reinforced

Ingeniería Kansei. Una potente metodología aplicada al diseño emocional

En el mercado actual, el consumidor no valora únicamente la funcionalidad, usabilidad, seguridad y adecuado precio de los productos, sino también las emociones y los sentimientos que le proporcionan. En consecuencia, y ante un mercado cada vez más competitivo, un buen producto debería satisfacer todas las expectativas del consumidor, pero especialmente la de provocar una respuesta emocional positiva. La Ingeniería Kansei (IK) es una de las metodologías precursoras y más completas en el campo del diseño emocional. Se trata de una herramienta de ingeniería que permite captar las necesidades emocionales de los usuarios y establecer modelos de predicción matemáticos para relacionar las características de los productos con esas necesidades emocionales. En este artículo se resume el estado del arte de estas metodologías y las aportaciones más recientes que los autores han hecho en este campo a través de diferentes experimentos

Principles of Affective Design in Consumers’ Response to Sustainability Design Strategies

The aim of this paper is to explore the generation of consumers’ responses to sustainabilitydesign strategies by considering the principles of affective design. A conceptual model of consumers’response, in which a distinction is made between subjective impressions and behavioral responses,is defined and validated by conducting an experiment. Six wardrobes, representing sustainabilitydesign strategies (refurbishment, adaptability, durability, personalization, maintenance and flexibility)were selected. Eighty-seven participants assessed 14 impressions of the wardrobes including long-life,functional, aesthetic, emotional and environmental aspects as well as behavioral responses (productattachment and willingness to keep). Long-life impressions are more related to willingness to keep,while aesthetic ones are more closely linked to attachment. Practical and emotional impressionsare associated with both behavioral responses. Design strategies and personal concerns have aninfluence on consumer response. These results are expected to help managers and designers promotea sustainable behavior by selecting the most suitable design strategies

Dorsal and palmar aspect dimensions of hand anthropometry for designing hand tools and protections

Most hand anthropometric studies are performed on the palmar aspect, while dimensions of the dorsal aspect are also useful in ergonomics and hand modelling. A survey of hand anthropometrics for a Spanish population (69 females, 70 males) is presented. Landmarks were selected to compare lengths from the dorsal and palmar aspects and to be useful for hand modelling and ergonomics design. Ninety-nine dimensions of fingers and thumb of the right hand (41 lengths, 32 depths, 26 breadths) were collected, including thumb breadths and depths. Descriptive statistics of all the dimensions are presented. Lengths were measured from both dorsal and palmar aspects and paired lengths compared through T-tests. Significant differences were found in almost all the lengths, showing that databases should explicitly state the aspect (dorsal or palmar) where dimensions have been measured. The data provided are useful for designing tools and hand protections and developing hand models more accurately

Sharing of hand kinematic synergies across subjects in daily living activities

The motor system is hypothesised to use kinematic synergies to simplify hand control. Recent studies suggest that there is a large set of synergies, sparse in degrees of freedom, shared across subjects, so that each subject performs each action with a sparse combination of synergies. Identifying how synergies are shared across subjects can help in prostheses design, in clinical decision-making or in rehabilitation. Subject-specific synergies of healthy subjects performing a wide number of representative daily living activities were obtained through principal component analysis. To make synergies comparable between subjects and tasks, the hand kinematics data were scaled using normative range of motion data. To obtain synergies sparse in degrees of freedom a rotation method that maximizes the sum of the variances of the squared loadings was applied. Resulting synergies were clustered and each cluster was characterized by a core synergy and different indexes (prevalence, relevance for function and within-cluster synergy similarity), substantiating the sparsity of synergies. The first two core synergies represent finger flexion and were present in all subjects. The remaining core synergies represent coordination of the thumb joints, thumb-index joints, palmar arching or fingers adduction, and were employed by subjects in different combinations, thus revealing different subject-specific strategies

Alma, Mito y Cosmovisión en un Mundo Cambiante: Esenciales de la Psicología Analítica y del Camino Descendente

This essay addresses the fundamental role of analytical psychology in our changing world: promoting the expansion of the worldview of Humanity. In current times of constant transformation, it becomes imperative to adopt a conception of the total world, which includes the 360 degrees of existence: not only the daytime 180 degrees of ascent, light and order, but also the lower 180 degrees of the unconscious. , the nocturnal and the mysterious. The integration of the descending realm in our psychic world, however, contrasts with our Western worldview, which conceives both fields as opposed and exclusive. The mytho-poetic language, and the mythologems manifested in various myths, open the psychic space to delve into the deep paradoxes of the total worldview. Myths such as Añañuca (Chile), Osiris (Egypt), Dionysus (Greece), or Innana (Sumeria) emphasize the downward path, narrating a key moment of archetypal transformation in which opposites merge—Life and Death, ascent and descent. , birth and decline. In order to integrate this paradoxical and generative way of experiencing transformation, individuals must search for their personal myth not in external circumstances, but within themselves, from where the Supersense is revealed.Este ensayo aborda el rol fundamental de la psicología analítica en nuestro mundo cambiante: promover la expansión de la cosmovisión de la Humanidad. En tiempos actuales de constante transformación, se vuelve imperativo adoptar una concepción de mundo total, que incluya los 360 grados de existencia: no solo los 180 grados diurnos del ascenso, la luz y el orden, pero también los 180 grados inferiores, de lo inconsciente, lo nocturno y lo misterioso. La integración del ámbito descendente en nuestro mundo psíquico, sin embargo, contrasta con nuestra visión de mundo Occidental, que concibe ambos campos como opuestos y excluyentes. El lenguaje mito-poético, y los mitologemas manifestados en diversos mitos, abren el espacio anímico para adentrarse en las paradojas profundas de la cosmovisión total. Mitos tales como Añañuca (Chile), Osiris (Egipto), Dionisio (Grecia), o Innana (Sumeria) enfatizan el camino descendente, narrando un momento clave de transformación arquetípica en el que se funden los opuestos—Vida y Muerte, ascenso y descenso, nacimiento y decline. A fin de integrar esta manera paradójica y generativa de vivir la transformación, los individuos deben buscar su mito personal no en las circunstancias externas, sino dentro de sí mismos, desde donde se revela el Suprasentido

Estudios de caracterización cinemática de la mano sana en actividades de la vida diaria

El aumento de la esperanza de vida ha incrementado la prevalencia de enfermedades que afectan en gran medida a la capacidad manipulativa de la mano y por tanto al desarrollo de actividades de la vida diaria (AVD) necesarias para una vida independiente. Además, existe interés por evaluar más objetivamente la funcionalidad en el desarrollo de AVD, ya que en la práctica, los métodos de evaluación funcional de la mano son altamente subjetivos y poco orientados a las AVD. En esta comunicación se presentan diferentes estudios que desarrolla el grupo de Biomecánica y Ergonomía sobre caracterización cinemática del agarre humano en AVD. En un primer estudio se grabaron tareas representativas de los diferentes ámbitos de la vida personal (aseo, preparar comida, comer, limpieza y orden en casa, conducción, etc.) y se analizó la frecuencia de uso con cada mano de distintos tipos de agarre (de una clasificación con 9 categorías) en los diferentes ámbitos (Vergara et al. 2014). Posteriormente, con la ayuda de guantes instrumentados y goniómetros, en ambiente controlado de laboratorio, se han registrado los movimientos de las articulaciones de la mano y la muñeca en tareas representativas de las AVD, seleccionadas de acuerdo a la Clasificación Internacional de Funcionamiento, Discapacidad y Salud (CIF) de la OMS. Algunas se han realizado, además de con productos estándar, con productos adaptados comerciales. Se pretende además registrar a sujetos con algunas de las patologías de mano más frecuentes. El objetivo final de estos estudios es caracterizar la cinemática de la mano sana durante el desarrollo de AVD en base a patrones posturales, sus rangos y velocidades. Se establecerá una base de datos de ‘normalidad’ y se identificarán los parámetros cinemáticos que permitan evaluar más objetivamente la disfuncionalidad en sujetos lesionados o patológicos.A la Universitat Jaume I por la financiación del proyecto P1·1B2014-10 y al Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y a la Comunidad Europea (fondos FEDER) por la financiación del proyecto DPI2014-52095-P