The Effects of Body Posture on Emotion Perception: A Developmental and Theoretical Analysis

Previously, studies investigating emotional face perception - regardless of whether they involved adults or children - presented participants with static photos of faces in isolation. In the natural world, faces are rarely encountered in isolation. In the few studies that have presented faces in context, the perception of emotional facial expressions is altered when paired with an incongruent context. For both adults and 8- year-old children, reaction times increase and accuracy decreases when facial expressions are presented in an incongruent context depicting a similar emotion (e.g., sad face on a fear body) compared to when presented in a congruent context (e.g., sad face on a sad body; Meeren, van Heijnsbergen, & de Gelder, 2005; Mondloch, 2012). This effect is called a congruency effect and does not exist for dissimilar emotions (e.g., happy and sad; Mondloch, 2012). Two models characterize similarity between emotional expressions differently; the emotional seed model bases similarity on physical features, whereas the dimensional model bases similarity on underlying dimensions of valence an . arousal. Study 1 investigated the emergence of an adult-like pattern of congruency effects in pre-school aged children. Using a child-friendly sorting task, we identified the youngest age at which children could accurately sort isolated facial expressions and body postures and then measured whether an incongruent context disrupted the perception of emotional facial expressions. Six-year-old children showed congruency effects for sad/fear but 4-year-old children did not for sad/happy. This pattern of congruency effects is consistent with both models and indicates that an adult-like pattern exists at the youngest age children can reliably sort emotional expressions in isolation. In Study 2, we compared the two models to determine their predictive abilities. The two models make different predictions about the size of congruency effects for three emotions: sad, anger, and fear. The emotional seed model predicts larger congruency effects when sad is paired with either anger or fear compared to when anger and fear are paired with each other. The dimensional model predicts larger congruency effects when anger and fear are paired together compared to when either is paired with sad. In both a speeded and unspeeded task the results failed to support either model, but the pattern of results indicated fearful bodies have a special effect. Fearful bodies reduced accuracy, increased reaction times more than any other posture, and shifted the pattern of errors. To determine whether the results were specific to bodies, we ran the reverse task to determine if faces could disrupt the perception of body postures. This experiment did not produce congruency effects, meaning faces do not influence the perception of body postures. In the final experiment, participants performed a flanker task to determine whether the effect of fearful bodies was specific to faces or whether fearful bodies would also produce a larger effect in an unrelated task in which faces were absent. Reaction times did not differ across trials, meaning fearful bodies' large effect is specific to situations with faces. Collectively, these studies provide novel insights, both developmentally and theoretically, into how emotional faces are perceived in context.

Generic finite-size enhancement of pairing in mesoscopic Fermi systems

The finite-size-dependent enhancement of pairing in mesoscopic Fermi systems is studied under the assumption that the BCS approach is valid and that the two-body force is size independent. Different systems are investigated such as superconducting metallic grains and films as well as atomic nuclei. It is shown that the finite size enhancement of pairing in these systems is in part due to the presence of a surface which accounts quite well for the data of nuclei and explains a good fraction of the enhancement in Al grains.

Bio-chemical changes associated with processing of shell fishes and flavour constituents of body meat and claw meat'of crab

In this thesis all these aspects are taken into consideration. Extensive studies were conducted on all aspects of processing of crabs, mussels and clams. The species taken for studies are commercially used ones namely Scylla sereta, perna viridis, and villorita cyprinoids. In Chapter 4.1 with regard to crab) the following aspects on their handling and processing are reported seasonal variation of chemical constituents, changes taking place during ice storage, freezing, canning etc. In Chapter 4._2 with regard to mussel, the relation between age (size) and chemical constituents, changes taking place during ice storage, freezing, canning etc. are reported and in Chapter 4.3 the changes taking place in clam muscle during icing and freezing are reported and the ame rebility of ice stored clams for canning purpose is reported.The interference of high concentration of glycogen in mussel and clam muscles during the colour development of ribose (Me-jbaum's method) is observed and remedial step are taken to minimise the interference.

Slave-boson approach to the size-dependent transition from van der Waals to covalent bonding in Hg_n clusters

We use a microscopic theory to describe the dynamics of the valence electrons in divalent-metal clusters. The theory is based on a many-body model Harniltonian H which takes into account, on the same electronic level, the van der Waals and the covalent bonding. In order to study the ground-state properties of H we have developed an extended slave-boson method. We have studied the bonding character and the degree of electronic delocalization in Hg_n clusters as a function of cluster size. Results show that, for increasing cluster size, an abrupt change occurs in the bond character from van der Waals to covalent bonding at a critical cluster size n_c ~ 10-20. This change also involves a transition from localized to delocalized valence electrons, as a consequence of the competition between both bonding mechanisms.

Viewing the body modulates tactile receptive fields

Tactile discrimination performance depends on the receptive field (RF) size of somatosensory cortical (SI) neurons. Psychophysical masking effects can reveal the RF of an idealized "virtual" somatosensory neuron. Previous studies show that top-down factors strongly affect tactile discrimination performance. Here, we show that non-informative vision of the touched body part influences tactile discrimination by modulating tactile RFs. Ten subjects performed spatial discrimination between touch locations on the forearm. Performance was improved when subjects saw their forearm compared to viewing a neutral object in the same location. The extent of visual information was relevant, since restricted view of the forearm did not have this enhancing effect. Vibrotactile maskers were placed symmetrically on either side of the tactile target locations, at two different distances. Overall, masking significantly impaired discrimination performance, but the spatial gradient of masking depended on what subjects viewed. Viewing the body reduced the effect of distant maskers, but enhanced the effect of close maskers, as compared to viewing a neutral object. We propose that viewing the body improves functional touch by sharpening tactile RFs in an early somatosensory map. Top-down modulation of lateral inhibition could underlie these effects.

Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle

As an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. Here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola. The body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 Mb. Despite its status as an obligate parasite, it retains a remarkably complete basal insect repertoire of 10,773 protein-coding genes and 57 microRNAs. Representing hemimetabolous insects, the genome of the body louse thus provides a reference for studies of holometabolous insects. Compared with other insect genomes, the body louse genome contains significantly fewer genes associated with environmental sensing and response, including odorant and gustatory receptors and detoxifying enzymes. The unique architecture of the 18 minicircular mitochondrial chromosomes of the body louse may be linked to the loss of the gene encoding the mitochondrial single-stranded DNA binding protein. The genome of the obligatory louse endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola encodes less than 600 genes on a short, linear chromosome and a circular plasmid. The plasmid harbors a unique arrangement of genes required for the synthesis of pantothenate, an essential vitamin deficient in the louse diet. The human body louse, its primary endosymbiont, and the bacterial pathogens that it vectors all possess genomes reduced in size compared with their free-living close relatives. Thus, the body louse genome project offers unique information and tools to use in advancing understanding of coevolution among vectors, symbionts, and pathogens.

Differential effects of two fermentable carbohydrates on central appetite regulation and body composition

BACKGROUND: Obesity is rising at an alarming rate globally. Different fermentable carbohydrates have been shown to reduce obesity. The aim of the present study was to investigate if two different fermentable carbohydrates (inulin and b-glucan) exert similar effects on body composition and central appetite regulation in high fat fed mice. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Thirty six C57BL/6 male mice were randomized and maintained for 8 weeks on a high fat diet containing 0% (w/w) fermentable carbohydrate, 10% (w/w) inulin or 10% (w/w) b-glucan individually. Fecal and cecal microbial changes were measured using fluorescent in situ hybridization, fecal metabolic profiling was obtained by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), colonic short chain fatty acids were measured by gas chromatography, body composition and hypothalamic neuronal activation were measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and manganese enhanced MRI (MEMRI), respectively, PYY (peptide YY) concentration was determined by radioimmunoassay, adipocyte cell size and number were also measured. Both inulin and b-glucan fed groups revealed significantly lower cumulative body weight gain compared with high fat controls. Energy intake was significantly lower in b-glucan than inulin fed mice, with the latter having the greatest effect on total adipose tissue content. Both groups also showed an increase in the numbers of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus-Enterococcus in cecal contents as well as feces. b- glucan appeared to have marked effects on suppressing MEMRI associated neuronal signals in the arcuate nucleus, ventromedial hypothalamus, paraventricular nucleus, periventricular nucleus and the nucleus of the tractus solitarius, suggesting a satiated state. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although both fermentable carbohydrates are protective against increased body weight gain, the lower body fat content induced by inulin may be metabolically advantageous. b-glucan appears to suppress neuronal activity in the hypothalamic appetite centers. Differential effects of fermentable carbohydrates open new possibilities for nutritionally targeting appetite regulation and body composition.

Suppression of gliadins results in altered protein body morphology in wheat

Wheat gluten proteins, gliadins and glutenins, are of great importance in determining the unique biomechanical properties of wheat. Studies have therefore been carried out to determine their pathways and mechanisms of synthesis, folding, and deposition in protein bodies. In the present work, a set of transgenic wheat lines has been studied with strongly suppressed levels of γ-gliadins and/or all groups of gliadins, using light and fluorescence microscopy combined with immunodetection using specific antibodies for γ-gliadins and HMW glutenin subunits. These lines represent a unique material to study the formation and fusion of protein bodies in developing seeds of wheat. Higher amounts of HMW subunits were present in most of the transgenic lines but only the lines with suppression of all gliadins showed differences in the formation and fusion of the protein bodies. Large rounded protein bodies were found in the wild-type lines and the transgenic lines with reduced levels of γ-gliadins, while the lines with all gliadins down-regulated had protein bodies of irregular shape and irregular formation. The size and number of inclusions, which have been reported to contain triticins, were also higher in the protein bodies in the lines with all the gliadins down-regulated. Changes in the protein composition and PB morphology reported in the transgenic lines with all gliadins down-regulated did not result in marked changes in the total protein content or instability of the different fractions.

Dynamic picture of the inner asteroid belt: implications for the density, size and taxonomic distributions of real objects

In this paper, we construct a dynamic portrait of the inner asteroidal belt. We use information about the distribution of test particles, which were initially placed on a perfectly rectangular grid of initial conditions, after 4.2 Myr of gravitational interactions with the Sun and five planets, from Mars to Neptune. Using the spectral analysis method introduced by Michtchenko et al., the asteroidal behaviour is illustrated in detail on the dynamical, averaged and frequency maps. On the averaged and frequency maps, we superpose information on the proper elements and proper frequencies of real objects, extracted from the data base, AstDyS, constructed by Milani and Knezevic. A comparison of the maps with the distribution of real objects allows us to detect possible dynamical mechanisms acting in the domain under study; these mechanisms are related to mean-motion and secular resonances. We note that the two- and three-body mean-motion resonances and the secular resonances (strong linear and weaker non-linear) have an important role in the diffusive transportation of the objects. Their long-lasting action, overlaid with the Yarkovsky effect, may explain many observed features of the density, size and taxonomic distributions of the asteroids.