The Influence of Induced Emotions on Distance and Size Perception and on the Grip Scaling During Grasping

Previous studies have shown that our perception of stimulus properties can be affected by the emotional nature of the stimulus. It is not clear, however, how emotions affect visually-guided actions toward objects. To address this question, we used toy rats, toy squirrels, and wooden blocks to induce negative, positive, and neutral emotions, respectively. Participants were asked to report the perceived distance and the perceived size of a target object resting on top of one of the three emotion-inducing objects; or to grasp the same target object either without visual feedback (open-loop) or with visual feedback (closed-loop) of both the target object and their grasping hand during the execution of grasping. We found that the target object was perceived closer and larger, but was grasped with a smaller grip aperture in the rat condition than in the squirrel and the wooden-block conditions when no visual feedback was available. With visual feedback present, this difference in grip aperture disappeared. These results showed that negative emotion influences both perceived size and grip aperture, but in opposite directions (larger perceived size but smaller grip aperture) and its influence on grip aperture could be corrected by visual feedback, which revealed different effects of emotion to perception and action. Our results have implications on the understanding of the relationship between perception and action in emotional condition, which showed the novel difference from previous theories.

Eliciting End-State Comfort Planning in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder Using a Hammer Task: A Pilot Study

The end-state comfort (ESC) effect refers to the consistent tendency of healthy adults to end their movements in a comfortable end posture. In children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD), the results of studies focusing on ESC planning have been inconclusive, which is likely to be due to differences in task constraints. The present pilot study focused on the question whether children with and without DCD were able to change their planning strategy and were more likely to plan for ESC when demanded by complex object manipulations at the end of a task. To this end, we examined ESC planning in 18 children with and without DCD (aged 5–11years) using the previously used sword-task and the newly developed hammer-task. In the sword-task, children had to insert a sword in a wooden block, which could be relatively easily completed with an uncomfortable end-posture. In the hammer-task, children had to strike down a nail in a wooden pounding bench, which required additional force and speed demands, making it relatively difficult to complete the movement with an uncomfortable end-posture. In line with our hypothesis, the results demonstrated that children with and without DCD were more likely to plan for ESC on the hammer-task compared with the sword-task. Thus, while children with and without DCD show inconsistent ESC planning on many previously used tasks, the present pilot study shows that many of them are able to take into account the end-state of their movements if demanded by task constraints.

MUMMIFIED BURIAL OF A CHILD FROM THE SARYG-BULUN BURIAL GROUND (CENTRAL TUVA). NEW DATA FROM ARCHAEOLOGY, RADIOGRAPHY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND GENETICS

In 1988 on the right bank of the Yenisei River in Central Tuva, two burial mounds from the Saryg-Bulun burial ground were excavated. Burial № 5 attracted special attention of archaeologists — it contained the partially mummified remains of a child with a rich and unusual inventory (bow, quiver with arrows, a hat, engraving on a wooden handle) in a wooden block. A recent genetic analysis made it possible to establish, contrary to expectations, the female sex of an individual. Over the years, thanks to the development of natural scientific methods, it was possible to gradually obtain new data on the life and death of this girl. The article presents the results of an examination of the mummy by the method of microfocus digital radiography and a new paleogenetic study, which made it possible to determine the child’s mitochondrial haplogroup (D4g2, which is widespread in East and Central Asia). The rich grave goods indicate the high status. Her biological age was determined — 6–7 years. Indicators of physiological stress (Harris lines), the presence of noticeable physical exertion on the belt of the upper extremities during the child’s life, and rickets were revealed. Radiography made it possible to detect artifacts invisible during a superficial examination, for example, a knife that was previously unnoticed in the deck. Genetic data are consistent with observations on the possible horizontal flattening of the girl’s facial skeleton and the spatula-like shape of her upper incisor. The applied methods and the results obtained allow authors to look in a new light at the issues of the genesis of the Aldy-Bel culture and the theme of childhood in the early Scythian time.

The Rabbit Listened by C. Doerrfeld

Doerrfeld, Cori. The Rabbit Listened. Dial-Penguin Random House, 2018. This picture book, both written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld, is a lovely book for encouraging listening skills and overall calm in children aged 1-5. As the implicit meaning can run very deep, adults would also benefit from the messaging. It is about a young girl, a toddler named Taylor, who is grieving. At the beginning of the story, Taylor is in her comfy pyjamas and has just finished building a substantial wooden block tower. It then comes crashing down, providing a strong, simple, and non-threatening metaphor to the adversities of everyday life. As a result, Taylor is very sad and would like to express her feelings in a certain way, yet she is unsure of what way that is or is unable to articulate her emotion. Several different types of animals come by to try to cheer her up. A chicken tries to get her to talk (and will not be quiet), a bear tries to get her to shout (displaying anger), etc. The variety of animals chosen is wonderful symbolism that kids can relate to and are a great visual metaphor for feelings. At the end of the story, Taylor realizes she just wants to be alone and be quiet. The rabbit was the only animal to recognize this. The rabbit just listened. The story includes soft, calm, and simple crayon-type illustrations that are so cute, they are almost tactile. The background of each page is stark white, placing the focus of the story solely on the characters. This book would appeal to just about anyone reflecting on their feelings during a time of loss, difficulty, or even trauma. As some of the less obvious metaphors would be lost on a younger audience, this book is a great stepping stone to begin and facilitate conversations between children and adults about feelings and how to cope with challenging life circumstances. Highly recommended: 4 out of 5 starsReviewer: Rachel Radmanovich

Behavior of Timber-Steel Composite with Dowel Connection under Fire

Recently, a hybrid structure called Timber-Steel Composite (TSC), which is assembled by a central steel I beam with wooden block covered, is expected to introduce a potential strength for the design of modern wooden structure. However, information on this type of structure under the influence of fire is not yet sufficiently explicit to provide designers with a reliable index. The aim of this research was to study the behavior of TSC with dowel connection under fire. Three TSC with bolt connected were tested and were burnt under temperature 700 °C within 10 minutes. Testing results showed that after 10-minute fire burning, the temperature of central I beam is not of great increased, indicating that the wooden block help transmits heat although the dowel connections which connect steel and wood is directly exposed to the fire. It is also observed that dowel connection and air gaps caused a relatively high percentage of char for the wood surrounding the bolt as 13% of total area. In conclusion, a useful prediction on char depth no more than 5cm could be estimated for 1-hour testing validating the purpose of applying TSC in future.

A Novel Method of Assessing Floor Friction in Cowsheds and Its Association with Cow Health

Measurement of friction of cowshed floors to determine slipperiness potential is important for cow comfort. Existing methods require elaborate equipment and procedures. A quick method for assessment of friction characteristics is proposed. Friction was measured in 54 cattle housing and yard facilities with earth, brick, concrete, and stone floors, and its association with cattle health parameters was investigated through assessment of 30 animals per facility. A 156 g cuboidal wooden block attached to a spring balance was pulled over 3 m, and the coefficient of friction was recorded as the force required to move the block at a constant speed. The coefficient of friction ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 and was lowest for concrete and highest for earth floors. A multivariate analysis found that cows were standing more and could be more easily approached when they were on floors with high friction levels. The proportion of cows with dirty hind limbs declined with increasing friction of the floor, probably reflecting the fact that they felt more confident to stand rather than lie on high friction floors. This simple measure of frictional characteristics of cattle floors offers promise to be included in welfare measures as an indicator of cow welfare.

Using Acoustic Emission Technique to Detect Termite Activities in Wood: Laboratory Experiment

This experiment studied and analyzed termite activities in wooden blocks. The purpose of the study was to develop and test a strategy for isolating termite acoustic emissions (AE) from background noise. This task is not trivial, and therefore the achievement of a clean signal that can be directly associated with termite activities is a good outcome. It is an important step toward achieving an accurate, nondestructive system to detect termite activities in wood. The wooden blocks were immersed in jars that were filled with termites to expose the blocks to termite infestation. The termites' AE, due to their activity in the wood, was recorded using microphones that were fitted in the center of each wooden block. The Cool Edit Pro 2.1 (Syntrillium Software Corporation) sound recording application was used to filter the recorded AE signals. The filtered AE signals were then analyzed using the Matlab application. The wooden blocks experiment showed that termite activities in the wood could be detected using AE recording. Termite activities are clear and detectable in the 4.5- to 5-kHz range of frequencies. Results could also assist in defining the termites' AE signature, to some extent, by analyzing the generated sound due to termite activities in the wood. A clean termite-related AE was successfully extracted from the general AE in the wooden blocks using Matlab R2015a tools.

Do Children Have the Same Capacity to Perceive Affordances as Adults? An Investigation of Tool Selection and Use

This study investigated whether 5- to 11-year-old children perceive affordances in the same way as adults (Mage = 22.93, SD = 2.16) when presented with a task and four tools (nail in a block of wood and a hammer, rock, wrench, and comb; bucket of sand and a shovel, wooden block, rake, and tweezers; and a screw in a block of wood and a screwdriver, knife, dime, and crayon). Participants were asked to select the best tool and act on an object until all four assigned tools had been selected. No explicit instructions were provided because we were interested in how task perception would influence tool selection and action. Results support the notion that the capacity to perceive affordances increases with age. Furthermore, differences in the way in which 5-year-olds acted on the screw in a block of wood demonstrated that the ability to detect some affordances takes longer to refine. Findings help to further the understanding of the development of perception-action coupling.