scholarly journals Crossmodal Interactions Between Olfaction and Touch Affecting Well-Being and Perception of Cosmetic Creams

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Courrèges ◽  
Rim Aboulaasri ◽  
Anjali Bhatara ◽  
Marie-Héloïse Bardel

In the present series of studies, we investigated crossmodal perception of odor and texture. In four studies, participants tried two textures of face creams, one high viscosity (HV) and one low viscosity (LV), each with one of three levels of added odor (standard level, half of standard, or base [no added odor]), and then reported their levels of well-being. They also reported their perceptions of the face creams, including liking (global liking of the product, liking of its texture) and “objective” evaluations on just about right (JAR) scales (texture and visual appearance evaluations). In Study 1, women in France tried the creams on their hands, as they would when testing them in a store, and in Study 2, a second group of French women tried the creams on their faces, as they would at home. In Studies 3 and 4, these same two procedures were repeated in China. Results showed that both odor and texture had effects on well-being, liking, and JAR ratings, including interaction effects. Though effects varied by country and context (hand or face), the addition of odor to the creams generally increased reports of well-being, global liking and texture liking, in some cases affecting the “objective” evaluations of texture. This is one of the first investigations of crossmodal olfactory and tactile perception's impacts on well-being, and it reinforces previous literature showing the importance of olfaction on well-being.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer S Mascaro ◽  
Sean Kelley ◽  
Alana Darcher ◽  
Lobsang Negi ◽  
Carol Worthman ◽  
...  

Increasing data suggest that for medical school students the stress of academic and psychologicaldemands can impair social emotions that are a core aspect of compassion and ultimately physiciancompetence. Few interventions have proven successful for enhancing physician compassion inways that persist in the face of suffering and that enable sustained caretaker well-being. To addressthis issue, the current study was designed to (1) investigate the feasibility of cognitively-basedcompassion training (CBCT) for second-year medical students, and (2) test whether CBCT decreasesdepression, enhances compassion, and improves daily functioning in medical students. Comparedto the wait-list group, students randomized to CBCT reported increased compassion, and decreasedloneliness and depression. Changes in compassion were most robust in individuals reporting highlevels of depression at baseline, suggesting that CBCT may benefit those most in need by breakingthe link between personal suffering and a concomitant drop in compassion


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Ali Alrahlah ◽  
Abdel-Basit Al-Odayni ◽  
Haifa Fahad Al-Mutairi ◽  
Bashaer Mousa Almousa ◽  
Faisal S. Alsubaie ◽  
...  

This study aimed to synthesize new bisphenol A-glycidyl methacrylate (BisGMA) derivatives, targeting a reduction in its viscosity by substituting one of its OH groups, the leading cause of its high viscosity, with a chlorine atom. Hence, this monochloro-BisGMA (mCl-BisGMA) monomer was synthesized by Appel reaction procedure, and its structure was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy. The viscosity of mCl-BisGMA (8.3 Pa·s) was measured under rheometry conditions, and it was found to be more than 65-fold lower than that of BisGMA (566.1 Pa·s) at 25 °C. For the assessment of the viscosity changes of model resins in the presence of mCl-BisGMA, a series of resin matrices, in which, besides BisGMA, 50 wt % was triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, were prepared and evaluated at 20, 25, and 35 °C. Thus, BisGMA was incrementally replaced by 25% mCl-BisGMA to obtain TBC0, TBC25, TBC50, TBC75, and TBC100 blends. The viscosity decreased with temperature, and the mCl-BisGMA content in the resin mixture increased. The substantial reduction in the viscosity value of mCl-BisGMA compared with that of BisGMA may imply its potential use as a dental resin matrix, either alone or in combination with traditional monomers. However, the various properties of mCl-BisGMA-containing matrices should be evaluated.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 442
Author(s):  
Meiqing Wang ◽  
Ali Youssef ◽  
Mona Larsen ◽  
Jean-Loup Rault ◽  
Daniel Berckmans ◽  
...  

Heart rate (HR) is a vital bio-signal that is relatively easy to monitor with contact sensors and is related to a living organism’s state of health, stress and well-being. The objective of this study was to develop an algorithm to extract HR (in beats per minute) of an anesthetized and a resting pig from raw video data as a first step towards continuous monitoring of health and welfare of pigs. Data were obtained from two experiments, wherein the pigs were video recorded whilst wearing an electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring system as gold standard (GS). In order to develop the algorithm, this study used a bandpass filter to remove noise. Then, a short-time Fourier transform (STFT) method was tested by evaluating different window sizes and window functions to accurately identify the HR. The resulting algorithm was first tested on videos of an anesthetized pig that maintained a relatively constant HR. The GS HR measurements for the anesthetized pig had a mean value of 71.76 bpm and standard deviation (SD) of 3.57 bpm. The developed algorithm had 2.33 bpm in mean absolute error (MAE), 3.09 bpm in root mean square error (RMSE) and 67% in HR estimation error below 3.5 bpm (PE3.5). The sensitivity of the algorithm was then tested on the video of a non-anaesthetized resting pig, as an animal in this state has more fluctuations in HR than an anaesthetized pig, while motion artefacts are still minimized due to resting. The GS HR measurements for the resting pig had a mean value of 161.43 bpm and SD of 10.11 bpm. The video-extracted HR showed a performance of 4.69 bpm in MAE, 6.43 bpm in RMSE and 57% in PE3.5. The results showed that HR monitoring using only the green channel of the video signal was better than using three color channels, which reduces computing complexity. By comparing different regions of interest (ROI), the region around the abdomen was found physiologically better than the face and front leg parts. In summary, the developed algorithm based on video data has potential to be used for contactless HR measurement and may be applied on resting pigs for real-time monitoring of their health and welfare status, which is of significant interest for veterinarians and farmers.


Aerospace ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Sicong Yu ◽  
Xufeng Zhang ◽  
Xiaoling Liu ◽  
Chris Rudd ◽  
Xiaosu Yi

In this concept-proof study, a preform-based RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) process is presented that is characterized by first pre-loading the solid curing agent onto the preform, and then injecting the liquid nonreactive resin with an intrinsically low viscosity into the mold to infiltrate and wet the pre-loaded preform. The separation of resin and hardener helped to process inherently high viscosity resins in a convenient way. Rosin-sourced, anhydrite-cured epoxies that would normally be regarded as unsuited to liquid composite molding, were thus processed. Rheological tests revealed that by separating the anhydrite curing agent from a formulated RTM resin system, the remaining epoxy liquid had its flowtime extended. C-scan and glass transition temperature tests showed that the preform pre-loaded with anhydrite was fully infiltrated and wetted by the liquid epoxy, and the two components were diffused and dissolved with each other, and finally, well reacted and cured. Composite laminates made via this approach exhibited roughly comparable quality and mechanical properties with prepreg controls via autoclave or compression molding, respectively. These findings were verified for both carbon and ramie fiber composites.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155982762110081
Author(s):  
Neha Pathak ◽  
Amanda McKinney

Global environmental degradation and climate change threaten the foundation of human health and well-being. In a confluence of crises, the accelerating pace of climate change and other environmental disruptions pose an additional, preventable danger to a global population that is both aging and carrying a growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Climate change and environmental disruption function as “threat multipliers,” especially for those with NCDs, worsening the potential health impacts on those with suboptimal health. At the same time, these environmental factors threaten the basic pillars of health and prevention, increasing the risk of developing chronic disease. In the face of these threats, the core competencies of lifestyle medicine (LM) present crucial opportunities to mitigate climate change and human health impacts while also allowing individuals and communities to build resilience. LM health professionals are uniquely positioned to coach patients toward climate-healthy behavior changes that heal both people and the planet.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 807
Author(s):  
María-José Foncubierta-Rodríguez ◽  
Rafael Ravina-Ripoll ◽  
José Antonio López-Sánchez

Climate change is emerging as an issue of progressive attention, and therefore awareness, in societies. In this work, the problem is addressed from a generational perspective in Spanish society and is carried out from the approaches of awareness, human action, and self-responsibility. All this from the search of the subjective well-being and the citizens’ happiness, as one of the bases of sustainable development initiatives. With data from the European Social Survey R8, from EUROSTAT, we work in two phases: (1) descriptive and inferential on possible associations of the items with the variable Age, and (2) calculation of probabilities between groups through logistic regression. The results confirm a general awareness, but with apparent statistical differences between age groups. In general, the youngest are the most aware, blame human activity most intensely, are the most concerned, and are the most willing to act. And it is the older people who are less aware of all these issues. Based on this finding, and from the approach mentioned above, it is recommended that leaders, both in the macroeconomic and microeconomic sectors, develop initiatives that sensitize and encourage older age groups.


2020 ◽  
pp. 073401682095770
Author(s):  
Kate Kelly ◽  
Nai Soto ◽  
Nadi Damond Wisseh ◽  
Shaina A. Clerget

Although often left out of public health efforts and policy decisions, prisons, jails, and detention centers are integral to community health. With an average of 650,000 citizens returning home from prison each year in the United States, and thousands of correctional staff members returning home every night, there are millions of touchpoints between outside communities and carceral settings. For this reason, carceral communities should be central to planning and policy making in response to the spread of the COVID-19 illness. As social workers and clinicians, we are urgently concerned that efforts to prevent COVID-19 infections in prisons are underdeveloped and inadequate in the face of a fast-spreading virus. In this commentary, we outline a set of public health, policy, and clinical recommendations based upon the existing literature to mitigate various risks to the well-being of carceral communities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 783-786 ◽  
pp. 2537-2540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Sunada ◽  
Norio Nunomura ◽  
Sayaka Hirata ◽  
Naoki Nagase

Since Fe-Cu-C sintered steels are easily rusted, they are coated with rust preventive oils. High viscosity of those rust preventive oils decrease workability, and low viscosity deteriorates rust preventive performance. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new rust preventive oils with contradictory properties of low viscosity and superior rust prevention. However, precise methodology to evaluate rust prevention ability has not been established. In this study, we developed new technique to quantitatively evaluate rust prevention ability by measuring the open circuit potential through thin corrosive solution on Fe-Cu-C sintered steels coated with a rust preventive oils. As a result, the ability for rust prevention can be measured quantitatively, and it decreases slowly over time, with repeating destruction and restoration. Furthermore, it was found that the deteriorating processes of rust prevention ability for rust prevention oils are composed of three characteristics steps respectively. That is, in the first step the great open circuit potential changes from 0V to-0.3V with repetition were observed where the excellent rust prevention ability was kept, in the second step it decreases slowly from-0.1V to-0.4V with oscillation of the small potential changes where the gradual decrease of rust prevention ability was recognized and in the third step it decreases monotonously in the lower potential than-0.4V where the rust was observed because of the remarkable deteriorating of the rust prevention ability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 640-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Slovic ◽  
Daniel Västfjäll ◽  
Arvid Erlandsson ◽  
Robin Gregory

The power of visual imagery is well known, enshrined in such familiar sayings as “seeing is believing” and “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Iconic photos stir our emotions and transform our perspectives about life and the world in which we live. On September 2, 2015, photographs of a young Syrian child, Aylan Kurdi, lying face-down on a Turkish beach, filled the front pages of newspapers worldwide. These images brought much-needed attention to the Syrian war that had resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and created millions of refugees. Here we present behavioral data demonstrating that, in this case, an iconic photo of a single child had more impact than statistical reports of hundreds of thousands of deaths. People who had been unmoved by the relentlessly rising death toll in Syria suddenly appeared to care much more after having seen Aylan’s photograph; however, this newly created empathy waned rather quickly. We briefly examine the psychological processes underlying these findings, discuss some of their policy implications, and reflect on the lessons they provide about the challenges to effective intervention in the face of mass threats to human well-being.


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