scholarly journals Grasping Social Apathy: The Role of Reach-To-Grasp Action Kinematics for the Assessment of Social Apathy in Mild Neurocognitive Disorders

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Valeria Manera ◽  
Guenda Galperti ◽  
Erika Rovini ◽  
Radia Zeghari ◽  
Gianmaria Mancioppi ◽  
...  

Background: Social apathy, a reduction in initiative in proposing or engaging in social activities or interactions, is common in mild neurocognitive disorders (MND). Current apathy assessment relies on self-reports or clinical scales, but growing attention is devoted to defining more objective, measurable and non-invasive apathy proxies. Objective: In the present study we investigated the interest of recording action kinematics in a social reach-to-grasp task for the assessment of social apathy. Methods: Thirty participants took part in the study: 11 healthy controls (HC; 6 females, mean age = 68.3±10.5 years) and 19 subjects with MND (13 females, mean age = 75.7±6.3 years). Based on the Diagnostic Criteria for Apathy, MND subjects were classified as socially apathetic (A-MND, N = 9) versus non-apathetic (NA-MND, N = 10). SensRing, a ring-shaped wearable sensor, was placed on their index finger, and subjects were asked to reach and grasp a can to place it into a cup (individual condition) and pass it to a partner (social condition). Results: In the reach-to-grasp phase of the action, HC and NA-MND showed different acceleration and velocity profiles in the social versus individual condition. No differences were found for A-MND. Conclusion: Previous studies showed the interest of recording patients’ level of weekly motor activity for apathy assessment. Here we showed that a 10-min reach-to-grasp task may provide information to differentiate socially apathetic and non-apathetic subjects with MND, thus providing a tool easily usable in the clinical practice. Future studies with a bigger sample are needed to better characterize these findings.

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (S6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Manera ◽  
Guenda Gualperti ◽  
Erika Rovini ◽  
Radia Zeghari ◽  
Gianmaria Mancioppi ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 147470491201000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albrecht I. Schulte-Hostedde ◽  
Mark A. Eys ◽  
Michael Emond ◽  
Michael Buzdon

Sport provides a context in which mate choice can be facilitated by the display of athletic prowess. Previous work has shown that, for females, team sport athletes are more desirable as mates than individual sport athletes and non-participants. In the present study, the perceptions of males and females were examined regarding potential mates based on sport participation. It was predicted that team sport athletes would be more positively perceived than individual sport athletes and non-participants by both males and females. A questionnaire, a photograph, and manipulated descriptions were used to gauge perceptual differences with respect to team sport athletes, individual sport athletes, and extracurricular club participants for 125 females and 119 males from a Canadian university. Both team and individual sport athletes were perceived as being less lazy, more competitive, and healthier than non-participants by both males and females. Interestingly, females perceived male athletes as more promiscuous than non-athletes, which upholds predictions based on previous research indicating (a) athletes have more sexual partners than non-athletes, and (b) females find athletes more desirable as partners than non-participants. Surprisingly, only males perceived female team sport athletes as more dependable than non-participants, and both team and individual sport athletes as more ambitious. This raises questions regarding the initial hypothesis that male team athletes would be perceived positively by females because of qualities such as the ability to cooperate, likeability, and the acceptance of responsibilities necessary for group functioning. Future studies should examine similar questions with a larger sample size that encompasses multiple contexts, taking into account the role of the social profile of sport in relation to mate choice and perception.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 945-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Wang ◽  
Shun Peng ◽  
Huang Li ◽  
Yunshi Peng

We investigated the relationships among the social stigma associated with depression, somatization of depression-related symptoms, and help seeking. Participants were 357 Chinese undergraduate students. Stigma, somatization, and help seeking were measured with a neuropsychological assessment and validated clinical scales. We performed a path (principal components) analysis of the role of somatization as a mediator in the relationship between depression stigma and help seeking, and found that the hypothesized mediation model fit the data well. Our results confirm previous findings on the mediating role of depression somatization in the relationship between depression stigma and attitude towards help seeking. The identification of mediators contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms that prevent help seeking among Chinese college students.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-182
Author(s):  
Łukasz Blechar ◽  
Patrycja Zalewska

AbstractIntroduction. Currently we observe a change in the labor market. It is caused by the new developments in the field of artificial Intelligence.Aim. We would like to present current trends affecting the work of nurses and midwives around the world in order to raise the social awareness of these changes among Polish healthcare workers. Moreover, we want to emphasize the fact that it is necessary to involve them as the stakeholders in the ongoing discussions and research projects in order to better understand their needs and expectations.Discussion. The article revolves around the current state of technology. We begin by outlining the framework of the perceived changes in the nurses’ structures and tasks around the world. Then we provide the examples of a variety of robots already executing those tasks. We start with the robots whose purpose is the elimination of simple, routine activities such as TUG or HOMER. After doing so, we move on to possible solutions how to eliminate the need for personal involvement in invasive (such as BloodBot) and non-invasive procedures (CLARA). We finish by introducing the machines used to replicate animal therapy, which can be used to treat patients who have difficulties with communicating their needs.Conclusions. We would like to present the future of nursing closely related to machines. We want to emphasize the element of complementarity of this relation and the fact that performing some tasks by robots is not connected with replacing people, but rather with enabling them to shift their focus from the performance of arduous duties to spending more time on empathic work with the patient.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (spe) ◽  
pp. 346-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Rodrigues Silva

This study focuses on the social and economic aspects and institutional relationships that determined a unique pattern of inequality. We aim to examine the particular role of accounting as a practice used to dehumanize an entire class of people. The primary purpose of this study is not to examine slavery's profitability but rather to identify how accounting practices served slavery. A qualitative research method is applied in this study. Regarding technical procedures, this study makes use of bibliographic and documentary sources. For the purpose of this investigation, and in accordance with bibliographic and documentary research methods, we analyze scientific articles, books and documents from the Brazilian National Archive, the Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute and the Brazilian National Library Foundation. In light of what was discovered through the study's development, we can consider accounting as a tool that is more active than passive and, therefore, as a tool that was used to support the slave regime. In essence, accounting was used to convert a human's qualitative attributes into a limited number of categories (age, gender, race), through which slaves were differentiated and monetized to facilitate commercial trafficking. We believe that accounting practices facilitated slave trading, conversion and exploitation, procedures that completely ignored qualitative and human dimensions of slavery. Opportunities for future studies on accounting in the slave period, as is the case of other oppressive regimes, are infinite, especially in the case of Brazil.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Bastida ◽  
Enrico Bracci ◽  
Zahirul Hoque

PurposeThis paper aims at reflecting on the role of accounting and accountability mechanisms in pre-COVID-19 conditions and how it may evolve in “new normal”, post-COVID-19 conditions.Design/methodology/approachMoving from the papers in this special issue, the authors draw on the literature on the social construction and reflective approaches to understand pre- and post-COVID-19 events and the role of accounting therein.FindingsThe “new normal” may exacerbated the difficulty of public sector organizations to manage the uncertainties and risks associated to the new context. While “old” wicked issues remain, such as social inclusion, poverty and corruption, new ones come. The authors speculate on the “new” and “old” roles accounting and accountability can play to support governments.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by setting new research avenues for future studies in a post-COVID-19 era.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 1677-1687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Era ◽  
Salvatore Maria Aglioti ◽  
Matteo Candidi

Abstract Competitive and cooperative interactions are based on anticipation or synchronization with the partner’s actions. Both forms of interaction may either require performing imitative or complementary movements with respect to those performed by our partner. We explored how parietal regions involved in the control of imitative behavior (temporo-parietal junction, TPJ), goal coding and visuo-motor integration (anterior intraparietal sulcus, aIPS) contribute to the execution of imitative and complementary movements during cooperative and competitive interactions. To this aim, we delivered off-line non-invasive inhibitory brain stimulation to healthy individuals’ left aIPS and right TPJ before they were asked to reach and grasp an object together with a virtual partner by either performing imitative or complementary interactions. In different blocks, participants were asked to compete or cooperate with the virtual partner that varied its behavior according to cooperative or competitive contexts. Left aIPS and right TPJ inhibition impaired individuals’ performance (i.e., synchrony in cooperative task and anticipation in competition) during complementary and imitative interactions, respectively, in both cooperative and competitive contexts, indicating that aIPS and TPJ inhibition affects own-other action integration and action imitation (that are different in complementary vs imitative interactions) more than action synchronization or anticipation (that are different in cooperative vs competitive contexts).


Author(s):  
Julien Walzberg ◽  
Alberta Carpenter ◽  
Garvin A. Heath

AbstractBy 2050, the cumulative mass of end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) modules may reach 80 Mt globally. The impacts could be mitigated by module recycling, repair and reuse; however, previous studies of PV circularity omit the consideration of critical social factors. Here we used an agent-based model to integrate social aspects with techno-economic factors, which provides a more realistic assessment of the circularity potential for previously studied interventions that assesses additional interventions that cannot be analysed using techno-economic analysis alone. We also performed a global sensitivity analysis using a machine-learning metamodel. We show that to exclude social factors underestimates the effect of lower recycling prices on PV material circularity, which highlights the relevance of considering social factors in future studies. Interventions aimed at changing customer attitudes about used PV boost the reuse of modules, although used modules can only satisfy one-third of the US demand during 2020–2050, which suggests that reuse should be complemented by recycling.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Gago ◽  
Danilo M. Daloso ◽  
Marc Carriquí ◽  
Miquel Nadal ◽  
Melanie Morales ◽  
...  

Besides stomata, the photosynthetic CO2 pathway also involves the transport of CO2 from the sub-stomatal air spaces inside to the carboxylation sites in the chloroplast stroma, where Rubisco is located. This pathway is far to be a simple and direct way, formed by series of consecutive barriers that the CO2 should cross to be finally assimilated in photosynthesis, known as the mesophyll conductance (gm). Therefore, the gm reflects the pathway through different air, water and biophysical barriers within the leaf tissues and cell structures. Currently, it is known that gm can impose the same level of limitation (or even higher depending of the conditions) to photosynthesis than the wider known stomata or biochemistry. In this mini-review, we are focused on each of the gm determinants to summarize the current knowledge on the mechanisms driving gm from anatomical to metabolic and biochemical perspectives. Special attention deserve the latest studies demonstrating the importance of the molecular mechanisms driving anatomical traits as cell wall and the chloroplast surface exposed to the mesophyll airspaces (Sc/S) that significantly constrain gm. However, even considering these recent discoveries, still is poorly understood the mechanisms about signaling pathways linking the environment a/biotic stressors with gm responses. Thus, considering the main role of gm as a major driver of the CO2 availability at the carboxylation sites, future studies into these aspects will help us to understand photosynthesis responses in a global change framework.


2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Gérald Delelis ◽  
Véronique Christophe

Abstract. After experiencing an emotional event, people either seek out others’ presence (social affiliation) or avoid others’ presence (social isolation). The determinants and effects of social affiliation are now well-known, but social psychologists have not yet thoroughly studied social isolation. This study aims to ascertain which motives and corresponding regulation strategies participants report for social isolation following negative emotional events. A group of 96 participants retrieved from memory an actual negative event that led them to temporarily socially isolate themselves and freely listed up to 10 motives for social isolation. Through semantic categorization of the 423 motives reported by the participants, we found that “cognitive clarification” and “keeping one’s distance” – that is, the need for cognitive regulation and the refusal of socioaffective regulation, respectively – were the most commonly and quickly reported motives for social isolation. We discuss the findings in terms of ideas for future studies aimed at clarifying the role of social isolation in health situations.


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