Parent-child agreement using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale and a thermometer in children with autism spectrum disorder

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience high anxiety which often prompts clinical referral and requires intervention. This study aimed to compare parent and child reports on the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and a child-reported "worry thermometer" in 88 children aged 8-13 years, 44 with ASD and 44 age, gender, and perceptual IQ matched typically developing children. There were no gender differences in child report on the SCAS and worry thermometers. Results indicated generally good correlations between parent and child self-reported SCAS symptoms for typically developing children but poor agreement in parent-child ASD dyads. The worry thermometer child-report did not reflect child or parent reports on the SCAS. Findings suggest 8-13-year-old children with ASD may have difficulties accurately reporting their anxiety levels. The clinical implications were discussed.

A non-contact measurement system for the range of motion of the hand

An accurate and standardised tool to measure the active range of motion (ROM) of the hand is essential to any progressive assessment scenario in hand therapy practice. Goniometers are widely used in clinical settings for measuring the ROM of the hand. However, such measurements have limitations with regard to inter-rater and intra-rater reliability and involve direct physical contact with the hand, possibly increasing the risk of transmitting infections. The system proposed in this paper is the first non-contact measurement system utilising Intel Perceptual Technology and a Senz3D Camera for measuring phalangeal joint angles. To enhance the accuracy of the system, we developed a new approach to achieve the total active movement without measuring three joint angles individually. An equation between the actual spacial position and measurement value of the proximal inter-phalangeal joint was established through the measurement values of the total active movement, so that its actual position can be inferred. Verified by computer simulations, experimental results demonstrated a significant improvement in the calculation of the total active movement and successfully recovered the actual position of the proximal inter-phalangeal joint angles. A trial that was conducted to examine the clinical applicability of the system involving 40 healthy subjects confirmed the practicability and consistency in the proposed system. The time efficiency conveyed a stronger argument for this system to replace the current practice of using goniometers.

The relationships between common measurements of taste function

BACKGROUND: There are five common, independent measures used to characterize taste function in humans: detection and recognition thresholds (DT and RT), suprathreshold intensity ratings of prototypical tastants, propylthiouracil (PROP) bitterness intensity, and fungiform papillae (FP) number. METHODS: We employed all five methods to assess taste function of 65 women (21.5 ± 4 years, BMI 22.3 ± 2.8 kg/m(2)). Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between the different measures. RESULTS: The DT and RT were positively correlated for sweet, bitter, sour, and umami (p < 0.05), but not for salt. The DT or RT did not correlate with suprathreshold intensity ratings, except for umami (suprathreshold intensity and RT: r = -0.32, p = 0.009). FP number did not correlate with any measurement of taste function. PROP bitterness intensity ratings did not correlate with any measurement of taste function, except for suprathreshold ratings for saltiness (r = 0.26, p = 0.033). CONCLUSION: As most of the individual measures of taste function did not correlate with each other, with exception of the two threshold measures, we conclude that there are multiple perceptual phases of taste, with no single measure able to represent the sense of taste globally.

On a neglected argument in French philosophy: Sceptical humanism in Montaigne, Voltaire and Camus

This paper wants to draw out a common argument in three great philosophers and littérateurs in modern French thought: Michel de Montaigne, Voltaire, and Albert Camus. The argument makes metaphysical and theological scepticism the first premise for a universalistic political ethics, as per Voltaire's: "it is clearer still that we ought to be tolerant of one another, because we are all weak, inconsistent, liable to fickleness and error." The argument, it seems to me, presents an interestingly overlooked, deeply important and powerful contribution to the philosophical discourse of modernity. On one hand, theological and post-structuralist critics of "humanism" usually take the latter to depend either on an essentialist philosophical anthropology, or a progressive philosophy of history. The former, it is argued, is philosophically contestable and ethically contentious (since however we define the human "essence," we are bound to exclude some "others"). The latter, for better or worse, is a continuation of theological eschatology by another name. So both, if not "modernity" per se, should somehow be rejected. But an ethical universalism - like that we find in Montaigne, Bayle, Voltaire, or Camus - which does not claim familiarity with metaphysical or eschatological truths, but humbly confesses our epistemic finitude, seeing in this the basis for ethical solidarity, eludes these charges. On the other hand, philosophical scepticism plays a large role in the post-structuralist criticisms of modern institutions and ideas in ways which have been widely taken to license forms of ethics which problematically identify responsibility, with taking a stand unjustifiable by recourse to universalizable reasons. But, in Montaigne, Voltaire and Camus, our ignorance concerning the highest or final truths does not close off, but rather opens up, a new descriptive sensitivity to the foibles and complexities of human experience: a sensitivity reflected amply, and often hilariously, in their literary productions. As such, a critical agnosticism concerning claims about things "in the heavens and beneath the earth" does not, for such a "sceptical humanism," necessitate decisionism or nihilism. Instead, it demands a redoubled ethical sensitivity to the complexities and plurality of political life which sees the dignity of "really-existing" others, whatever their metaphysical creeds, as an inalienable first datum of ethical conduct and reflection. After tracking these arguments in Montaigne, Voltaire, and Camus, the essay closes by reflecting on, and contesting, one more powerful theological argument against modern agnosticism's allegedly deleterious effects on ethical culture: that acknowledging ignorance concerning the highest things robs us of the basis for awe or wonder, the wellspring of human beings' highest ethical, aesthetic, and spiritual achievements.

A sibling romance: the sound of romance reimagined

 A Sibling Romance: The Sound of Romance Reimagined explores the interplay between lived perceptual and sensual experience and the visual representation of it in the romantic novel and asks what happens to and within a creative artifact if the hierarchy of the senses is reimagined.

An integrative framework for the appraisal of coloration in nature

The world in color presents a dazzling dimension of phenotypic variation. Biological interest in this variation has burgeoned, due to both increased means for quantifying spectral information and heightened appreciation for how animals view the world differently than humans. Effective study of color traits is challenged by how to best quantify visual perception in nonhuman species. This requires consideration of at least visual physiology but ultimately also the neural processes underlying perception. Our knowledge of color perception is founded largely on the principles gained from human psychophysics that have proven generalizable based on comparative studies in select animal models. Appreciation of these principles, their empirical foundation, and the reasonable limits to their applicability is crucial to reaching informed conclusions in color research. In this article, we seek a common intellectual basis for the study of color in nature. We first discuss the key perceptual principles, namely, retinal photoreception, sensory channels, opponent processing, color constancy, and receptor noise. We then draw on this basis to inform an analytical framework driven by the research question in relation to identifiable viewers and visual tasks of interest. Consideration of the limits to perceptual inference guides two primary decisions: first, whether a sensory-based approach is necessary and justified and, second, whether the visual task refers to perceptual distance or discriminability. We outline informed approaches in each situation and discuss key challenges for future progress, focusing particularly on how animals perceive color. Given that animal behavior serves as both the basic unit of psychophysics and the ultimate driver of color ecology/evolution, behavioral data are critical to reconciling knowledge across the schools of color research.

Eight very vary(s): towards a program of mistakes-on-purpose

In 2007, I spent eight weeks in Residency at the Architectural body Research Foundation (Houston Street, NY, NY) with Arakawa and Madeline. In addition to discussion current projects, meeting researcher practitioners and students who would come by the office or talking to people on the phone who had just written or done something of interest, reviewing texts and discussing pressing ideas, Madeline had started work on an Encyclopaedia of Mistakes prompted by the mistakes on Purpose procedure. Every afternoon we would spend three hours or more at the end of the day working on the spectrum and placement of mistakes on the spectrum, lists of mistakes and refinement of what the role of mistakes might be across the organism-person-surround and the potential for perceptual knowing. As the work is an unfinished 31 page manuscript, I will not cite it directly but rather speak about it and the thinking process that went into the many many versions and amendments that produced in February and March of 2007.

Multiple days of heat exposure on firefighters' work performance and physiology

This study assessed the accumulated effect of ambient heat on the performance of, and physiological and perceptual responses to, intermittent, simulated wildfire fighting tasks over three consecutive days. Firefighters (n = 36) were matched and allocated to either the CON (19°C) or HOT (33°C) condition. They performed three days of intermittent, self-paced simulated firefighting work, interspersed with physiological testing. Task repetitions were counted (and converted to distance or area) to determine work performance. Participants were asked to rate their perceived exertion and thermal sensation after each task. Heart rate, core temperature (Tc), and skin temperature (Tsk) were recorded continuously throughout the simulation. Fluids were consumed ad libitum. Urine volume was measured throughout, and urine specific gravity (USG) analysed, to estimate hydration. All food and fluid consumption was recorded. There was no difference in work output between experimental conditions. However, significant variation in performance responses between individuals was observed. All measures of thermal stress were elevated in the HOT, with core and skin temperature reaching, on average, 0.24 ± 0.08°C and 2.81 ± 0.20°C higher than the CON group. Participants' doubled their fluid intake in the HOT condition, and this was reflected in the USG scores, where the HOT participants reported significantly lower values. Heart rate was comparable between conditions at nearly all time points, however the peak heart rate reached each circuit was 7 ± 3% higher in the CON trial. Likewise, RPE was slightly elevated in the CON trial for the majority of tasks. Participants' work output was comparable between the CON and HOT conditions, however the performance change over time varied significantly between individuals. It is likely that the increased fluid replacement in the heat, in concert with frequent rest breaks and task rotation, assisted with the regulation of physiological responses (e.g., heart rate, core temperature).

Mechanisms of anxiety related attentional biases in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have high levels of anxiety. It is unclear whether they exhibit threat-related attentional biases commensurate with anxiety disorders as manifest in non-ASD populations, such as facilitated attention toward, and difficulties disengaging engaging from, threatening stimuli. Ninety children, 45 cognitively able with ASD and 45 age, perceptual-IQ, and gender matched typically developing children, aged 7–12 years, were administered a visual dot probe task using threatening facial pictures. Parent-reported anxiety symptoms were also collected. Children with ASD showed similarly high levels of anxiety compared with normative data from an anxiety disordered sample. Children with ASD had higher levels of parent-reported anxiety but did not show differences in disengaging from, or facilitated attention toward, threatening facial stimuli compared with typically developing children. In contrast to previously published studies of anxious children, in this study there were no differences in attentional biases in children with ASD meeting clinical cutoff for anxiety and those who did not. There were no correlations between attentional biases and anxiety symptoms and no gender differences. These findings indicate the cognitive mechanisms underlying anxiety in cognitively able children with ASD could differ from those commonly found in anxious children which may have implications for both understanding the aetiology of anxiety in ASD and for anxiety interventions

A new fuzzy peer assessment methodology for cooperative learning of students

In this paper, a new fuzzy peer assessment methodology that considers vagueness and imprecision of words used throughout the evaluation process in a cooperative learning environment is proposed. Instead of numerals, words are used in the evaluation process, in order to provide greater flexibility. The proposed methodology is a synthesis of perceptual computing (Per-C) and a fuzzy ranking algorithm. Per-C is adopted because it allows uncertainties of words to be considered in the evaluation process. Meanwhile, the fuzzy ranking algorithm is deployed to obtain appropriate performance indices that reflect a student's contribution in a group, and subsequently rank the student accordingly. A case study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology is described. Implications of the results are analyzed and discussed. The outcomes clearly demonstrate that the proposed fuzzy peer assessment methodology can be deployed as an effective evaluation tool for cooperative learning of students.

Kaleidescope: women and cinematic change from the silent era to now

We must join women's film history to the process of its theoretical reflection.This will allow us to see the crucial teen years in film history not as an inevitable step towards the longer playing narrative film, but a space in which we might explore the perceptual realities opened up and enabled by film. At the same time that we open film history to disciplines and theories 'separate' from the literary base traditionally brought to film, we must also research and explore film as a transnational undertaking. Western film history has, to date, neglected and elided a number of important regions and cinematic practices that we must now include in research and discussion.

Application of extended multivariate modeling for information flow analysis of event related responses

Event related potential (ERP) analysis is one of the most widely used methods in cognitive neuroscience research to study the physiological correlates of sensory, perceptual and cognitive activity associated with processing information. To this end information flow or dynamic effective connectivity analysis is a vital technique to understand the higher cognitive processing under different events. In this paper we present a Granger causality (GC)-based connectivity estimation applied to ERP data analysis. In contrast to the generally used strictly causal multivariate autoregressive model, we use an extended multivariate autoregressive model (eMVAR) which also accounts for any instantaneous interaction among variables under consideration. The experimental data used in the paper is based on a single subject data set for erroneous button press response from a two-back with feedback continuous performance task (CPT). In order to demonstrate the feasibility of application of eMVAR models in source space connectivity studies, we use cortical source time series data estimated using blind source separation or independent component analysis (ICA) for this data set.

Applying inverse just-noticeable-differences of velocity to position data for haptic data reduction

ust-Noticeable-Differences (JND) as a dead-band in perceptual analysis has been widely used for more than a decade. This technique has been employed for data reduction in hap tic data transmission systems by several researchers. In fact, researchers use two different JND coefficients that are JNDV and JNDF for velocity and force data respectively. For position data, they usually rely on the resolution of hap tic display device to omit data that are unperceivable to human. In this paper, pruning undesirable position data that are produced by the vibration of the device or subject and/or noise in transmission line is addressed. It is shown that using inverse JNDV for position data can prune undesirable position data. Comparison of the results of the proposed method in this paper with several well known filters and some available methods proposed by other researchers is performed. It is shown that combination of JNDV could provide lower error with desirable curve smoothness, and as little as possible computation effort and complexity. It also has been shown that this method reduces much more data rather than using forward-JNDV.