Sensory Intensity and Illness in Lawrence

Lawrence repeatedly associates illness with moments of bodily intensity. His ill protagonists show opposing tendencies: demonstrating a failed integration with the body, but also moments of heightened existence and revelation. Lawrence develops a physiological conception of the subject, judging culture and bodily experience, using pathological ideas. He interweaves the ill body’s literal and metaphorical aspects in discussions of education, sympathy, and writing. ‘Sun’ and Sons and Lovers use illness to stage failures of interpersonal relations. This is contrasted with the positive valence of illness in The Rainbow, where a fever brings revelation. Finally, the chapter juxtaposes afflictions in ‘The Blind Man’ with Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The former depicts blindness heightening affective, bodily potency. The latter shows injury estranging Chatterley from his body, reducing its desires and sensations. Mellors is contrasted not as an example of healthful virility, but of sensuality grounded in affliction.

Dynamical behaviors and spatial diffusion in a psychologically realistic rumor spreading model

The spread of rumors has caused serious social and economic problems, especially during emergencies. Reducing the harm caused by rumors requires understanding the dynamical mechanism by which they propagate. To include the influence of time-dependent psychological factors, this paper proposes an improved rumor spreading model and derives mean-field equations describing the dynamics of rumor spreading. The psychological factors considered are the attenuation of individual interest, the cumulative effect of memory, and changes in sensory intensity with time. We also obtain the threshold condition of rumor spreading. Numerical simulations are used to verify our theoretical results. It is proved that the extremum of the cumulative effect of memory and the rumor attraction rate are positively correlated with the peak number of rumor spreaders, and negatively with the time required to reach the final rumor size. Time grows geometrically, while sensory intensity grows arithmetically. The initial approval rate of the memory accumulation effect and the stifling mechanism have little effect on the final rumor size. Finally, it is found that increasing the attenuation of interest coefficient reduces the time needed for the rumor to reach its final size.

Physiological mechanisms of dyspnea during exercise with external thoracic restriction: Role of increased neural respiratory drive

We tested the hypothesis that neuromechanical uncoupling of the respiratory system forms the mechanistic basis of dyspnea during exercise in the setting of “abnormal” restrictive constraints on ventilation (VE). To this end, we examined the effect of chest wall strapping (CWS) sufficient to mimic a “mild” restrictive lung deficit on the interrelationships between VE, breathing pattern, dynamic operating lung volumes, esophageal electrode-balloon catheter-derived measures of the diaphragm electromyogram (EMGdi) and the transdiaphragmatic pressure time product (PTPdi), and sensory intensity and unpleasantness ratings of dyspnea during exercise. Twenty healthy men aged 25.7 ± 1.1 years (means ± SE) completed symptom-limited incremental cycle exercise tests under two randomized conditions: unrestricted control and CWS to reduce vital capacity (VC) by 21.6 ± 0.5%. Compared with control, exercise with CWS was associated with 1) an exaggerated EMGdi and PTPdi response; 2) no change in the relationship between EMGdi and each of tidal volume (expressed as a percentage of VC), inspiratory reserve volume, and PTPdi, thus indicating relative preservation of neuromechanical coupling; 3) increased sensory intensity and unpleasantness ratings of dyspnea; and 4) no change in the relationship between increasing EMGdi and each of the intensity and unpleasantness of dyspnea. In conclusion, the increased intensity and unpleasantness of dyspnea during exercise with CWS could not be readily explained by increased neuromechanical uncoupling but likely reflected the awareness of increased neural respiratory drive (EMGdi) needed to achieve any given VE during exercise in the setting of “abnormal” restrictive constraints on tidal volume expansion.

Sensation Seeking and Subjective Unpleasantness Ratings of Stimulus Intensity

Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale measures tendency to seek novel, varied, complex, and intense sensations and experiences and the willingness to take risks for the sake of such experiences. In this study, the subjective experience of sensory intensity change was explored by asking six high and six low sensation seekers to expose themselves to a combined sound and vibration stimulus that increased in intensity until one of three different levels of subjective unpleasantness was reached. Analysis showed that high sensation seekers consistently exposed themselves to longer periods of stimulation and thus higher intensities.