Affect & Arousal

Introduction
Analysis of the spatial and temporal trends of precipitation is pertinent for the future sustainable management of water resources. Urbanization and climate change affected local rainfall and intensity. As rainfall characteristics are often used to design urban drainage systems, so watershed modeling, and estimate of the flood properties, updating and reviewing rainfall characteristics is necessary. The Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves are a suitable tool to estimate the threshold values of precipitation in different return periods. IDF curves should be prepared based on the long-term rainfall statistics in each region and can change under the influence of climate change. These curves which indicate the frequency and maximum intensity of annual rainfall in the different return periods are suitable tools for planning and managing the water resources. IDF curves are broadly used for different purposes, such as the design of flood control and diversion structures in the cities. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of climate change on temperature, precipitation, and IDF curves in the different return periods in an arid environment.

Materials and Methods
In this research, the effect of climate change on IDF curves was investigated in Kashan City as a dry region. Kashan city with an area of 9647 km2 is located in the northern part of the Isfahan Province. In this study, RCP8.5, RCP4.5, and RCP2.6 scenarios (which are introduced as optimistic, intermediate, and pessimistic scenarios) reported in the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), were used to predict the impacts of climate change on temperature and precipitation changes. Then, IDF curves were calculated evaluated, and compared for the basic (1993-2017) and future periods (2011-2070). To examine the impact of climate change on the rainfall intensity patterns, it is necessary to extract IDF curves in different climate conditions. Bell's method is a usual method for extraction of the IDF curves, which was promoted by Gharehman-Abkhezr in Iran. In this study, the latest promoted relationships developed were for the desert and southern regions (e.g;Nizar-Salfachgan, Kuhpayeh, Herat, and Jiroft basins in the central Provinces, Qom, Isfahan, Kerman, and Yazd) have been presented and used to extract IDF curves. To investigate the effects of climate change on IDF curves, first, the base period curves were extracted via rainfall data measured at the Kashan synoptic station. Then, using the new climate scenarios (RCP8.5, RCP4.5, and RCP2.6) and the output data of the LARS exponential microscale model, the IDF curves were extracted for different climate scenarios in the future (2011-2030), (2031-2050), and (2051-2070). Finally, the results of these curves were compared with the base period.

Results and Discussion
According to the results, for the base period, the precipitation and temperature data were predicated with an acceptable accuracy by the LARS model. The accuracy of the model has been higher in estimating the minimum and maximum temperature. the Nash and explanation coefficients for the maximum and minimum temperatures were 0.99 and 0.99, respectively. While, the explanatory and Nash coefficients for precipitation data were 0.95 and 0.93, respectively. Based on the results, the rainfall intensity will have fewer changes compared to the base period for long-term duration rainfall compared to short-duration rainfall (less than four hr. The maximum changes are related to rainfalls with a duration of less than one hour, whereas the minimum changes are predicted for 24- hr rainfalls. For all studied scenarios, a significant difference (P<0.05) was predicted between the average rainfall intensity of 0.17 to 24 hr in the region. As in the two-year return period and under the 2.6 scenario, rainfall intensity was increased from 10.75 to 30.54 mm hr-1 for the duration time of 0.17 hr.

Conclusion
An increase in air temperature, decrease in rainfall, change in the rainfall pattern, decrease in river discharge, and increase in sudden floods, followed by an increase in soil erosion, and a decrease in the amount of agricultural products are the results of climate change. Therefore, the long-term analysis and monitoring of climatic conditions can be very effective for crisis management caused by climate changes such as floods and droughts. Based on the results, the effect of climate change on the intensity of short-term rainfall is greater than long-term duration rainfall, as the intensity of short-term rainfall will increase more than long-term rainfalls.

Introduction
The limitation of water resources, increase in water demand for food supply, land use changes, climate change, and reduction of soil fertility are the most important challenges facing the world's food security. Various approaches have been used to reduce water demand and increase production per unit area of ​​agricultural products, including modifying cropping patterns and planting methods, using scheduled deficit irrigation, and implementing new policies and laws in water resources management. Among these approaches, some researchers suggest that intercropping is the most sustainable method to improve the use of production resources. The intercropping system is the simultaneous growth of two or more crops in one part of the land. Intercropping has potential benefits such as higher crop yields, more efficient use of resources (sunlight, water, and fertilizers), reduced disease and pests, and improved environmental conditions. The intercropping farming can be an efficient solution to improve the productivity of water resources, especially in areas with limited water resources such as Iran. So far, no study has been conducted on the efficiency of water and land use in the maize-mung bean cropping system. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of maize-mung bean intercropping in different cropping patterns and different water stress conditions on water productivity.

Materials and Methods
The field experiment was a split plot experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Ilam University during the 2020-2021 growing season. Treatments included four levels of irrigation including 40, 60, 80, and 100 % of crop water requirement as main plots, and four planting pattern levels including additive intercropping series (100 % corn + 50 % mung bean), replacement intercropping series (50 % corn + 50 % mung bean) and monocultures of mung bean and corn, as subplots. The application of drought stress started after the establishment stage of the plant and continued until the harvest. The irrigation requirement was determined based on the TDR method and was applied using the drip irrigation method. At the end of the growth period, some parameters of both plants were measured, including plant height, thousand seed weight, grain yield, biological yield, and harvest index. Moreover, water use efficiency (WUE), land equality ratio (LER), and water equality ratio (WER) indicators were used to check the effectiveness of the intercropping system. Finally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using Minitab 17 software, and the means were compared by Duncan's test at a 5 % probability level (p≤0.05).

Results and Discussion
The results showed that the water use efficiency of mung bean was significantly lower than that of mung bean monoculture in two patterns of mixed and incremental cultivation. The highest mung bean water use efficiency occurred at the irrigation level of 80% of the water requirement and single crop (0.51 kg m-3). Maize water productivity in all cropping patterns decreases with increasing irrigation water consumption. There was no significant difference between the water productivity of the additive intercropping and the monoculture of maize, but the water productivity of the replacement intercropping had a significant difference with the other two cropping patterns. The highest value of LER was obtained in the additive intercropping as 1.56 and 1.52 in 80 and 100% of water requirement, respectively, which was equivalent to a 56 and 52% increase in profitability compared to a monoculture of the two species. WER was greater than 1 in all water levels and two intercropping patterns, which indicated the superiority of intercropping with less water than monoculture. Also, the results showed that the highest WER value was 1.46 in the additive intercropping treatment with an 80% water consumption level. Additionally, the comparison of LER and WER indices showed that intercropping makes more efficient use of water and land resources. Also, the results indicated that the highest LER and WER occurred in the additive intercropping and the irrigation level was 80%. Therefore, additive intercropping and the use of an 80% irrigation level make the most efficient use of water and land resources.

Conclusion
The higher WER and LER indexes in this study suggest that an intercropping system may save 45%–56% of water and farmland, achieving similar yields in comparison to sole maize and sole mung bean. Thus, the intercropping system would be an advantageous cropping system for sustaining crop productivity and improving water and land use efficiency. However, additional research is required to comprehend the resource capture mechanism of intercrop species in intercropping systems under the changing climate. Especially, a series of comprehensive studies to develop the best management approaches regarding fertilization, irrigation, and pest control would support the sustainability of intercropping systems and farmer adoption. The successful adoption of the intercropping system will play an important role in meeting the food requirements of the increasing population, especially in arid and semiarid countries such as Iran which are facing challenges in resource limitation. The results of this study showed that by using intercropping system and optimal management of water consumption, it is possible to achieve performance similar to single crop cultivation with 45% less water and 56% less land use. However, more research is needed to understand the mechanism of how resources are absorbed by mixed species in intercropping systems, especially under different climatic conditions.

Disturbances or specific challenges present in the environment generate modifications in the internal biological states, which most of the time require an adapted response in order to maintain homeostasis, which guarantees safety and well-being. The cognitive capacity of an individual to represent these modifications, to record them and then to restore them and modulate them in order to develop a behavioral response, guarantees the coherence and the temporality of the psycho-behavioral systems that underpin the identity of a unified Self and serves as a basis for the production of complex emotions, such as caregiving, social, or existential emotions. This article posits an orchestration function within the executive systems that seems to emerge around the contribution areas of the cingulate cortex, a key domain for prosocial behaviors, requiring the adaptation and cognitive modulation of emotions and behaviors.
The degradation of this orchestration function, induced by chronic post-traumatic stress, seems to alter the historical continuity of the Self and its identity over time in favor of survival-oriented behavior, and could give rise to the notion of a breaking point in the dynamic organization of brain networks.

In tien thematische stappen schetst Paul Timmermans een breed en genuanceerd panorama van de hedendaagse muziek. Voor de nieuwsgierige leek vormt dit een toegankelijke inleiding tot een veelzijdige wereld van klankexperiment, technologische vernieuwing en artistieke grensverlegging. Voor de kenner biedt het een gestructureerd en veelstemmig overzicht van de uiteenlopende stromingen en praktijken die sinds de historische avant-garde tot vandaag hun stempel hebben gedrukt: van minimalisme tot elektronica, van soundobjects en soundscapes tot multimedia en AI-gestuurde creatie. Daarbij vindt de lezer achteraan een selectie van aanbevolen bronnen en referenties, evenals een verklarende lijst van namen en vakjargon die de tekst extra toegankelijk maakt. Het resultaat is een actuele mini-geschiedenis van de eigentijdse muziek — compact, inzichtelijk en inspirerend, met oog voor zowel traditie als toekomst.

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Introduction: Obesity and overweight is a critical public health problem. Worldwide, many natural products for treatment of obesity and weight loss have been used. It seems natural supplement usage, based on traditional plants is the safest approach for obesity. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of herbal supplements containing four herbs including Origanum vulgare, Carumcarvi, Trachyspermum copticum and Ruta Graveolen,based on traditional medicine with placebo plus a weight loss diet on some biochemical parameters and anthropometric indices in obese subjects. Methods: This study is a double-blind controlled clinical on adult obese subjects with a BMI of over 30 and age range of 20 to 50 years. The study period was 8 weeks. Signing an informed testimonial, Sixty-four subjects were randomly assigned into two groups of placebo (n=33) and treated (n=31). Anthropometric indices, dietary intake and biochemical parameters were measured at baseline and after the intervention...

Successful formation of long-term declarative memory is influenced, among other things, by attention, emotion, and deviation from expectations. A unique form of expectation can be elicited through musical tension, evoked by the prolongation of certain musical progressions. We examined the effect that musical tension exerts on the formation of declarative memory, by composing three original music pieces that contained tension segments, achieved by delays in release from dominant to tonic harmonies. Music-evoked tension was validated using music information retrieval (MIR) analysis, as well as skin conductance response (SCR) measures. Indeed, tension-evoking musical excerpts were associated with heightened SCR, corroborated by increased subjective ratings of tension, as compared to neutral excerpts. In the main experiment, 50 participants listened to the three musical pieces while they were presented with unique images that were randomly assigned to four conditions: tension, tension-release, neutral music, and silence. One day later, their memory for the images was examined using a recognition test. We found that memory performance was enhanced for images presented during both neutral and tense music compared to silence. Moreover, we observed a tradeoff effect between post-experiment tension perception and memory, such that individuals who perceived musical tension as such displayed reduced memory performance for images encoded during musical tension, whereas tense music benefited memory for those with lower musical tension perception. Understanding the interrelations between musical components, which exert powerful and fundamental responses in humans, and cognitive faculties, may provide insights as to the basic features of memory formation.

The present study was conducted to design an employee behavioral ambidexterity model in knowledge-based companies. It used a qualitative research method based on the systematic Grounded Theory. The sampling was done theoretically and using purposive and snowball techniques, based on which semi-structured interviews were conducted with the experienced managers and senior experts of knowledge-based companies and academic elites in the field of health. To ensure the reliability and validity of the interviews, the researchers reviewed the previous studies, took advantage of the opinions of experts in all stages and processes of this study, and used three strategies developed by Creswell and Miller. The results of the analysis of the data obtained from the interviews during the open, axial and selective coding process led to the development of the Grounded Theory in the field of employee behavioral ambidexterity for knowledge-based companies.

Buddhist Jhāna meditation and the Christian practice of speaking in tongues appear wildly distinct. These spiritual techniques differ in their ethical, theological, and historical frames and seem, from the outside, to produce markedly different states of consciousness-one a state of utter calm and the other of high emotional arousal. Yet, our phenomenological interviews with experienced practitioners in the USA found significant points of convergence. Practitioners in both traditions describe a dynamic relationship between focused attention, aroused joy, and a sense of letting go or release that they describe as crucial to their practice. This paper highlights these shared phenomenological features and theorizes possible underlying mechanisms. Analyzing our phenomenological data through the lens of various theories of brain function, including sensory gating and predictive processing, we propose that these practices both engage an autonomic field built through a spiral between attention, arousal, and release (AAR).

Evaluating digital games is challenging since success is defined by enjoyment and gameplay experience, two factors that are hard to measure. While several works presented methods to analyze these factors, it is rare to find studies that evaluate the impact that the input methods (gamepads, touch, keyboards) have on the experience. We now introduce an exploratory user experience and usability study that compares two radically different game controllers: a mobile touch-based controller and a traditional gamepad, using subjective and objective user data. Results of this exploratory study indicate that while the general user experience and usability were similar with both controllers, the physiological measures indicate that the emotions differ between interfaces. In our final thoughts, we provide insights about how to evaluate and compare the experience with game controllers.

Many cognitive accounts of emotional processing assume that emotions have representational content that can be influenced by beliefs and desires. It is generally thought that emotions also have non-cognitive, affective components, including valence and arousal. To clarify the impact of cognition on these affective components we asked participants to rate sentences along cognitive and affective dimensions. For the former case, participants rated the believability of the material. For the latter case, they provided valence and arousal ratings. Across two experiments, we show that valence and arousal are differently influenced by beliefs, suggesting that these two largely independent affective components of emotion differ in their cognitive penetrability. While both components depended upon overall comprehension of sentence meaning, only valence was influenced by the consistency of the sentences with participants' beliefs (i.e., whether it was believable or unbelievable). We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding cognitionÁemotion relationships.

Narratives are pervasive in video games and have been found to increase physical activity in active video games. However, the effect of incorporating narrative elements has seldom been examined in fully immersive virtual reality games. We investigated the effect of narrative element incorporation (between-subject: narrative vs. no narrative) in active virtual reality and sedentary virtual reality games (within-subject) and examined between-and within-subject effects on physical activity behavior, game experience, and physical activity engagement. We randomized 36 sedentary college students to either the narrative or the non-narrative group. All participants played an active virtual reality and a sedentary virtual reality game in counterbalanced order. Before each game session, they either watched a 5-min narrative video (narrative) or directly played the original virtual reality games without narratives (non-narrative). We collected participants' physical activity data using wrist-worn accelerometers; we obtained their game experience and physical activity engagement via questionnaires. The narrative group spent a greater proportion of time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (%) and had less non-movement time during the active virtual reality gameplay than the non-narrative group (all p values < .05). The active virtual reality sessions induced a greater positive affect and greater physical activity engagement ratings than the sedentary virtual reality sessions. The incorporation of narrative elements in active virtual reality increased the relative time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and reduced non-movement time, compared to the non-narrative group. Active virtual reality encouraged more activity by participants and offered them a more enjoyable gaming experience in which they engaged more. Active virtual reality is a feasible physical activity promotion option among sedentary adults; the incorporation of narrative elements in active virtual reality helps increase relative moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and should be further explored for its efficacy.

Biped robots with point feet demonstrate faster gaits and more natural dynamics while their gait planning is very difficult due to their underactuation. This research focuses on modelling, optimization and gait generation of two different real biped models including a telescopic springy biped model and compass gait biped with kneed swing leg. All of these models have point feet and their torso angle is constrained and they move in sagittal plane. The main difference of these models with their corresponding theoretical models is that to give realization to the gaits of these models the knee of their swing leg bends, clears the ground and straightens before touch-down. This increases degrees of freedom and divides single support phase to two sub-phases. Different phases of walking gait of each model including single support phase, touch-down event and double support phase are modeled using Lagrange equation and validity of equations are demonstrated. Then the dynamic equations of the phases are combined together to make dynamic model of a full walking gait. Afterwards, optimization parameters, objective functions and constraints are presented and successive stages of optimization are performed to find optimal gaits. The optimization diagrams are discussed and the needed motor torques for the optimal gait of each model are illustrated.

To create a relative movement between connected members in a mechanism, the presence of clearance in the joints is inevitable. In addition to raise errors in positioning accuracy, the presence of clearance is one of the most important factors in causing impact, shock, and thus the production of vibrations and sound during the operation of the mechanism. Tolerances and errors due to the process of design and construction, wear and corrosion of joints after a certain period of work and thermal effects are known as the most important sources in creating and increasing clearance. Obviously, if there is a clearance in the revolute joints, one or two degrees of uncontrollable freedom are added to the mechanism, which can be the source of the error. In this paper, the clearance effects of revolute joints on the kinematic behavior of a 3RPR parallel robot are examined. Parallel robots are modeled in the Adams Dynamic Analysis Software, and the simulation results are compared for two ideal (without clearance) and real mode (with clearance). The effects of joint clearance size and its effect on robot behavior are also evaluated. Numerical results show that by growing the size of the clearance, the values of velocity and acceleration increase dramatically.

Pseudoneurological symptoms (i.e., conversion disorder), historically subsumed within the "hysteria" concept alongside phenomena such as psychogenic amnesia and multiple personality disorder, have been classified as somatoform disorders since DSM-III. Since then, there have been repeated calls to reclassify conversion disorder with the dissociative disorders, as in ICD-10. The authors review issues such as the high correlations between pseudoneurological and dissociative symptoms, the high rates of trauma reported for both groups, and the position that these phenomena share underlying processes. Although reintegrating pseudoneurological symptoms with the dissociative disorders is not without complications, there is a strong case for such a reclassification.

There is increased interest in the development of cognitive training targeting working memory (WM) to alleviate anxiety symptoms, but the effectiveness of such an approach is unclear. Improved understanding of the effect of cognitive training on anxiety may facilitate the development of more effective cognitive training treatment for anxiety disorders. This study uses an experimental approach to examine the interplay of WM and anxiety following WM training. Previous studies show that increased demand on WM reduces concurrent anxiety evoked by threat of shock (induced anxiety). However, improving WM pharmacologically or via exercise prevents this anxiolytic effect. Conceivably, improving WM frees up cognitive resources to process threat information, thereby increasing anxiety. The present study tested the hypothesis that practicing a high load WM (i.e., increased demand) task would improve WM, and thus, free cognitive resources to process threat of shock, resulting in more anxiety (i.e., greater startle) during a subsequent WM task. Participants were randomly assigned to two training groups. The active-training group (N = 20) was trained on a 1- (low load) & 3-back (high load) WM task, whereas the control-training group (N = 20) performed a 0-back WM task. The experimental phase, similar in both groups, consisted of a 1- & 3-back WM task performed during both threat of shock and safety. As predicted, active training improved WM accuracy and increased anxiety during the experimental 3-back WM task. Therefore, improving WM efficiency can increase anxiety, possibly by freeing WM resources to process threat information.

There is increased interest in the development of cognitive training targeting working memory (WM) to alleviate anxiety symptoms, but the effectiveness of such an approach is unclear. Improved understanding of the effect of cognitive training on anxiety may facilitate the development of more effective cognitive training treatment for anxiety disorders. This study uses an experimental approach to examine the interplay of WM and anxiety following WM training. Previous studies show that increased demand on WM reduces concurrent anxiety evoked by threat of shock (induced anxiety). However, improving WM pharmacologically or via exercise prevents this anxiolytic effect. Conceivably, improving WM frees up cognitive resources to process threat information, thereby increasing anxiety. The present study tested the hypothesis that practicing a high load WM (i.e., increased demand) task would improve WM, and thus, free cognitive resources to process threat of shock, resulting in more anxiety (i...

Genital and subjective sexual arousal in response to sexual imagery was studied. In a previous study subjects who were encouraged to process information on sexual stimuli and sexual responses were more sexually aroused than subjects encouraged to process information on sexual stimuli only. In the present study, the reverse effeet was found in subjeets who had reeeived further verbal training to differentially proeess information on sexual stimuli or responses. This suggests two different kinds of processing information on sexual responses. They may result from simple encouragement or verbal training to proeess sexual information.

The authors investigated the effects of violent portrayals in movie previews on viewers' arousal and anticipated enjoyment of movies based on their arousal-seeking tendencies. A total of 159 college students watched 6 movie previews, each in a violent or nonviolent version, and reported their expectations of enjoying watching the movies. The results show that high arousal seekers reported a higher level of anticipated enjoyment after watching the violent previews than the nonviolent previews. In contrast, low arousal seekers did not expect much difference in their enjoyment between the two versions. In line with the theory of optimal stimulation level, the results indicate that viewers' anticipated enjoyment of movies after watching violent images in previews is moderated by individuals' arousal-seeking tendencies.

Sexual desire is typically higher in men than in women, with testosterone (T) thought to account for this difference as well as within-sex variation in desire in both women and men. However, few studies have incorporated both hormonal and social or psychological factors in studies of sexual desire. The present study addressed how three psychological domains (sexual-relational, stress-mood, body-embodiment) were related to links between T and sexual desire in healthy adults and whether dyadic and solitary desire showed associations with T. Participants (n = 196) were recruited as part of the Partnering, Physiology, and Health study, which had 105 men and 91 women who completed questionnaires and provided saliva for cortisol and T assays. T was positively linked to solitary desire in women, with masturbation frequency influencing this link. In contrast, T was negatively correlated with dyadic desire in women, but only when cortisol and perceived social stress were controlled. Replicating past findings, no significant correlations between T and desire in men were apparent, but these analyses showed that the null association remained even when psychological and confound variables were controlled. Men showed higher desire than women, but masturbation frequency ratherthanTinfluencedthisdifference. Results were discussed in terms of challenges to assumptions of clear links between T and desire, gendered approaches to T, and the unitarity of desire.

This paper is a study ofthe concept ofwork feeling. I t serks to establish what a work feeling is and what scientific psychology can say about it. T h e paper begins by reviewing the scientific literature on work feelings. This literature is found to say very little about the way people feel when working, but rather much more about the judgments they make about their work (see, Locke, 1976). T h e paper continues by proposing a concept of work feeling based on the idea that feeling emerges from ongoing work activity as a property of its form. This concept is developed from investigations of: I) what is felt in work; 2) the distinction and relation betwen work feelings and thoughts about work; and 3) how work feelings are influenced by characteristics of the work, worker, and work situation. The paper concludes with a discussion ofthe implications of the proposed concept of work feding for expanding the scope of scientific research on work. TWO IDEAS ABOUT FEELING Below are four well-known descriptions of feeling, one concerned specifically with work feelings, the other three are more general. These descriptions are similar in essential respects to those found elsewhere (e.g.,

The medial frontal cortex, including anterior midcingulate cortex, has been linked to multiple psychological domains, including cognitive control, pain, and emotion. However, it is unclear whether this region encodes representations of these domains that are generalizable across studies and subdomains. Additionally, if there are generalizable representations, do they reflect a single underlying process shared across domains or multiple domain-specific processes? We decomposed multivariate patterns of functional MRI activity from 270 participants across 18 studies into study-specific, subdomain-specific, and domain-specific components and identified latent multivariate representations that generalized across subdomains but were specific to each domain. Pain representations were localized to anterior midcingulate cortex, negative emotion representations to ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and cognitive control representations to portions of the dorsal midcingulate. These findings provi...

This paper describes the design, development and evaluation of BrainSnake, a cooperative multi-brain closelycoupled brain-computer interface (BCI) game based on alpha activity. BrainSnake uses communication to address common shortcomings of BCI as an interaction modality. A within-subject study was performed to understand the value of communication in a BCI setting by putting players in both a "co-present" and "remote" condition. Results draw a complex picture of player experience but indicate that participants attributed more control over the snake character and less frustration to the co-present condition. Moreover, there was a preference for balancing communication and BCI input while playing the game. Recommendations for future design of cooperative multi-brain BCI games are derived.

Research investigating the link between stress and sexual activity has been limited and the findings equivocal. We examined the stress-sexual activity link and the moderating effects of gender and relationship satisfaction using a daily diary methodology. Seventy-five heterosexual Israeli adults were asked in an initial session to report on their relationship satisfaction. Then, these participants were asked to provide daily diary measures of stress and sexual activity for a period of 18 consecutive weekdays. We found that stressful days increased the probability of having sex on a subsequent day, and that sexual intercourse relieved stress for both men and women in satisfying relationships, but not in unsatisfying relationships. The discussion emphasizes the importance of sex in regulating emotions and maintaining psychological wellbeing, especially among those satisfied with their relationships.

Psychophysiological and neuroscience studies of emotional processing undertaken by investigators at the University of Florida Laboratory of the Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention (CSEA) are reviewed, with a focus on reflex reactions, neural structures and functional circuits that mediate emotional expression. The theoretical view shared among the investigators is that expressed emotions are founded on motivational circuits in the brain that developed early in evolutionary history to ensure the survival of individuals and their progeny. These circuits react to appetitive and aversive environmental and memorial cues, mediating appetitive and defensive reflexes that tune sensory systems and mobilize the organism for action and underly negative and positive affects. The research reviewed here assesses the reflex physiology of emotion, both autonomic and somatic, studying affects evoked in picture perception, memory imagery, and in the context of tangible reward and punishment, and using the electroencephalograph (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), explores the brain's motivational circuits that determine human emotion. The general thesis examined here is that experienced emotions are founded on the activation of neural circuits that evolved in the mammalian brain to ensure the survival of individuals and their progeny. Primitively, these motive circuits were engaged by external stimuli that are appetitive and potentially life sustaining, or alternatively, represent threats to the organism's survival. The psychobiological consequences of this neural firing are potentially twofold: On the one hand, they engage sensory systems that increase attention and facilitate perceptual processing, and on the other, they initiate reflex responses that mobilize the organism and prompt motor action.

Based on a model of recovery from depression drawn from hopelessness theory (Needles & Abramson, 1990), we expected that in the presence of favorable events, cognitive style would predict the development of hope, and thus recovery from dysphoria. Among 91 subjects initially scoring 9 or above on the Beck Depression Inventory, a stable, global attributional style for positive events, in the presence of positive events, tended to predict recovery by a 3-week followup assessment. However, contrary to our prediction, inferring positive characteristics about the self from the occurrence of good events was associated with more subsequent depressive symptoms. An exploratory measure of overgeneralization of negative events predicted more subsequent symptoms.

According to the correlated transmitter-receptor based structure of the inferior parietal cortex (IPC), this brain area is divided into three clusters, namely, the caudal, the middle and the rostral. Nevertheless, in associating different cognitive functions to the IPC, previous studies considered this part of the cortex as a whole and thus inconsistent results have been reported about the functions of the IPC. Using multiband EPI, in this study, we investigated the connectivity profile of the middle IPC while participants performed a task demanding cognitive control. The middle IPC demonstrated functional associations which do not have similarity to a contributing part in the frontoparietal network, in processing cognitive control. At the same time, this part of the cortex showed negative functional connectivity with both the precuneus cortex, which is restingstate related, and brain areas related to general cognitive functions. That is, the functions of the middle IPC are not accommodated by the traditional categorization of different brain areas i.e. resting state-related or task-related networks. This advanced our hypothesis about modulating cortical areas as a new brain functional category with modulating functions. Such brain areas are characterized by their negative functional connectivity with parts of the cortex involved in task performance, proportional to the difficulty of the task; yet, their functional associations are inconsistent with resting state-related cortical areas.

Introduction:Doxorubicin is a universal drug in treatment of all types of cancers, which is limited in its use due to various side effects in body tissues, so the present study investigated effect of aerobic exercise and use of curcumin nanomicelles on gene expression of the enzymes (GlutathionePeroxidase) GPX, (Catalase) Cat (Superoxidedismutase) SOD and (Malondialdehyde) MDA was investigated in the heart tissue of BalbC female rats with induced breast cancer in the treatment phase of doxorubicin. method: This research was practical, it was experimental in terms of control of variables and it was a laboratory in terms of place of implementation. Thirty-six BalbC mice were randomly divided into 6 groups (n=6): healthy, patient, doxorubicin patient, doxorubicin patient and aerobic exercise, doxorubicin patient and nanocurcumin supplement, and doxorubicin patient, aerobic exercise and supplementation. Breast cancer induction was done with MC4-L2 cells. Doxorubicin 2mg/kg was injected subcutaneously 6 times on days 1,7,14,21,28 and 35. Aerobic program consisted of 5 sessions per week for 42 days with an increase in the speed of the treadmill every two weeks, including 14, 16 and 18meters per minute and the use of nanocurcumin at a dose of 100mg/kg.The data collected with SPSS version16 and two-way analysis of variance and for the normality of the frequency distribution with skewness and non-parametric Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were performed with a significance level of P ≤ 0.05. Results: Six weeks of aerobic training had no effect on the expression of GPX, MDA and SOD genes in the target groups, but it significantly increased the expression of Catgene (P ≤ 0.05). The use of nanocurcurmin supplement for 6 weeks decreased the expression of MDA gene and significantly increased the expression of GPX, SOD and Catgenes. Six weeks of aerobic training along with nanocorcurmin supplementation significantly increased Cat gene expression (P≤0.05), but had no effect on GPX, MDA and SOD gene expression. Conclusion: Aerobic exercises and the use of nanocurcurmin supplement separately or at the same time can be effective in reducing the cardiac toxicity of doxorubicin in the patients with breast cancer.

The present study was implemented to compare the effectiveness of network presentation and MindMapper software with linear presentation and PowerPoint software on achievement of experimental sciences and achievement of learners. Research design used in this study is a semi-experimental with pretest and posttest of compared groups. The study subjects were 110 elementary school student's sixth grade (the Population of the first class is 37, the second class 38 and the class 35 people) in boys of Khoy who were chosen by available sampling method. An experimental sciences achievement test was used to measure the cognitive outputs. The results of Covariance analysis showed that the use of the Mind-Mapper software as a represent of the network presentation compared with the PowerPoint software as a representative of the linear manner information presentation has a significance impact on the experimental sciences achievement (retention& understanding). Pairwise Comparisons showed concept map mean to linear presentation significanc (1/96, 3/13), difference between methods.

Immersion and Flow are important parameters when it comes to an enjoyable experience of video games. To measure these mental states usually self-assessment questionnaires, answered by the subject after the experience, are used. Because of the shortcomings of this method, the ultimate goal is to establish an alternative measuring method through correlations of physiological sensor data. While there are many physiological data sources to be looked at, such as recording the heartrate or skin conductance, measuring brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG) is one of the most promising candidates towards a way of objectively measuring Immersion and Flow. In this paper, an experiment to record EEG data during and questionnaire data after game play is presented. As a proof of concept, the experiment is tested with an initial test study on three subjects and the recorded data is used for analysis and a first correlation attempt. Although the results are not yet generalizable, they indicate that increased overall beta and frontal theta activity may be related to Flow and Immersion. This remains to be proven by conducting further studies in the future to achieve statistical significance.

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In different cultures, people use space to make linguistic representations of time. In general, there are two different approaches toward deictic time expressions: a Moving Time Metaphor and a Moving Ego Metaphor. In the Moving Time metaphor, time is conceived as moving forward, while in a Moving Ego Metaphor, a moving observer is conceptualized. The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of cultural artifacts on metaphorical comprehension of time expressions in Persian language. In this regard, following Duffy and Feist (2014), the present study was carried out based on the ambiguous question: Wednesday's Meeting suggested by McGlone and Harding (1998). The first experiment directly explores the relationship between responses to the Wednesday's Meeting question in two calendar and metalanguage conditions. The second experiment examines the special cultural relations between space and time and the role of the Persian orthography direction in the time reasoning. In the third experiment, based on circular representations of time, the role of the analog clock in resolving the ambiguity is examined from the Noon's Meeting question. This was done by comparing the responses of the participants with the clockwise clock and counterclockwise clock. To this end, 40 Persian speakers were selected from the students of Sistan and Baluchestan University. Chisquare test (using SPSS software) was used for statistical analysis. The findings of this study show that the viewpoint of individuals about the motion of events in time is not only due to their experience in space movement, but also is rooted in their interactive patterns of cultural artifacts as well. In addition, the results show that in interpreting ambiguous metaphorical time expressions, individuals automatically access spatial representations of time and use them. The participants who encountered with reverse space-time mappings had an interference in their responses, reflected through their time reasoning. Consequently, they provide a more precise form of representations of time than merely symbolic speech. Hence, cultural artifacts play an important role in the cognitive process of embodiment, which not only help to recognize embodiment, but also affect it.

Cette recherche s'intéresse aux mécanismes d'activation impliqués dans le traitement des informations émotionnelles, en référence aux perspectives épisodique et fonctionnelle de la mémoire. Deux épreuves d'amorç age de répétition ont été utilisées impliquant la présentation d'expressions faciales émotionnelles (EFE). Dans ces tâches d'amorç age, la manipulation de facteurs tels que le type de lien ou le décours temporel entre l'amorce et la cible (SOA) a permis de sonder les processus impliqués dans l'activation des informations mnésiques. Les résultats montrent un effet d'amorç age lors du traitement de la cible pour les SOA courts (100 ms), quelle que soit l'émotion présentée (tristesse ou joie). En revanche, pour les SOA plus longs (500 ms et 1000 ms), l'effet d'amorç age n'est présent que pour les essais où l'amorce présentait une expression faciale de tristesse. Ces résultats sont discutés en référence aux traitements automatiques des informations émotionnelles.

Inhibitory control is the capacity to withhold or suppress a thought or action intentionally. The anterior Midcingulate Cortex (aMCC) participates in response inhibition, a proxy measure of inhibitory control. Recent research suggests that response inhibition is modulated by individual variability in the aMCC sulcal morphology. However, no study has investigated if this phenomenon is associated with neurofunctional differences during a task. In this study, 42 participants performed an Attention Network Task and a Numerical Stroop task in an MRI scanner. We investigated differences in brain activity and response inhibition efficiency between individuals with symmetric and asymmetric aMCC sulcal patterns. The results showed that aMCC morphological variability is partly associated with inhibitory control, and revealed greater activation in individuals with symmetric patterns during the Stroop task. Our findings provide novel insights into the functional correlates of the relationship b...

In different cultures, people use space to make linguistic representations of time. In general, there are two different approaches toward deictic time expressions: a Moving Time Metaphor and a Moving Ego Metaphor. In the Moving Time metaphor, time is conceived as moving forward, while in a Moving Ego Metaphor, a moving observer is conceptualized. The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of cultural artifacts on metaphorical comprehension of time expressions in Persian language. In this regard, following Duffy and Feist (2014), the present study was carried out based on the ambiguous question: Wednesday's Meeting suggested by McGlone and Harding (1998). The first experiment directly explores the relationship between responses to the Wednesday's Meeting question in two calendar and metalanguage conditions. The second experiment examines the special cultural relations between space and time and the role of the Persian orthography direction in the time reasoning. In the third experiment, based on circular representations of time, the role of the analog clock in resolving the ambiguity is examined from the Noon's Meeting question. This was done by comparing the responses of the participants with the clockwise clock and counterclockwise clock. To this end, 40 Persian speakers were selected from the students of Sistan and Baluchestan University. Chisquare test (using SPSS software) was used for statistical analysis. The findings of this study show that the viewpoint of individuals about the motion of events in time is not only due to their experience in space movement, but also is rooted in their interactive patterns of cultural artifacts as well. In addition, the results show that in interpreting ambiguous metaphorical time expressions, individuals automatically access spatial representations of time and use them. The participants who encountered with reverse space-time mappings had an interference in their responses, reflected through their time reasoning. Consequently, they provide a more precise form of representations of time than merely symbolic speech. Hence, cultural artifacts play an important role in the cognitive process of embodiment, which not only help to recognize embodiment, but also affect it.

The midcingulate cortex (MCC) is associated with cognition and emotion regulation. Structural and correlational functional evidence suggests that rather than being homogenous, the MCC may have dissociable functions that can be mapped onto distinct subregions. In this study, we use the marmoset monkey to causally investigate the contributions of two proposed subregions of the MCC: the anterior and posterior midcingulate cortices (aMCC and pMCC) to behavioral and cardiovascular correlates of threat processing relevant to anxiety disorders. Transient inactivation of the aMCC decreased anxiety-like responses to a postencounter distal threat, namely an unfamiliar human intruder, while inactivation of the pMCC showed a mild but opposing effect. Furthermore, although inactivation of neither MCC subregions had any effect on basal cardiovascular activity, aMCC inactivation blunted the expression of both cardiovascular and behavioral conditioned responses to a predictable proximal threat (a rubber snake) during the extinction in a Pavlovian conditioning task, with pMCC inactivation having again an opposing effect, but primarily on the behavioral response. These findings suggest that the MCC is indeed functionally heterogeneous with regards to its role in threat processing, with aMCC providing a marked facilitative contribution to the expression of the emotional response to both proximal and distal threat.

Climate prediction demonstrates that the earth temperature has increased due to increases in concentrations of greenhouse gases. So that led to significant changes in meteorological elements. In this research the effect of climate change on rainfall and temperature at stations of Gorganrood-Gharesoo watershed for the period of 1987-2008 were examined. Daily data output by HadCM3 and ECHAM4 under scenarios of climate models using LARS-WG were downscaling and predicted for the period of 2030-2011. The results showed that based on HadCM3, the amount of rainfall 12.6, 3.3 and 3.5% and temperatures as 0.5, 0.3 and 0.31 °C respectively in the scenarios A2, B1 and A1B increased compared to the base period. Moreover, ECHAM4 model shows increases in temperature in all three scenarios. However rainfall by -11.6% under scenario B1 decreased. The results of this research could be used in water resources management planning and agriculture sector.

Though theoretical models propose that courage can be 'activated,' little experimental work exists to support this idea. The current study examines a writing intervention that asks individuals to reflect on experiences in which they faced their fears (thus demonstrating courage) to determine if such reflection would promote more approach-oriented cognition (Study 1) and behavioral intentions (Study 2). As expected, when asked to decide if they could/would engage in various approach behaviors related to their fear, participants in the courage condition chose 'yes' more often and were comparatively faster to choose 'yes' and slower to choose 'no.' Furthermore, participants in the courage condition demonstrated greater intentions of approach behavior toward feared situations in the laboratory. These results, though small in effect, suggest that the writing intervention can activate a 'courageous mindset' and can promote more courageous behavioral intentions.

This study assessed sexual orientation and psychobiological stress indices in relation to salivary sex hormones as part of a well-validated laboratory-based stress paradigm. Participants included 87 healthy adults that were on average 25 years old who self-identified as lesbian/bisexual women (n=20), heterosexual women (n=21), gay/bisexual men (n=26), and heterosexual men (n=20). Two saliva samples were collected fifteen minutes before and fifteen minutes after exposure to a modified Trier Social Stress Test to determine testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone concentrations via enzyme-immune assaying. Mean sex hormones were further tested in association to stress indices related to cortisol systemic output (area under the curve with respect to ground) based on ten measures throughout the two-hour visit, allostatic load indexed using 21 biomarkers, and perceived stress assessed using a well-validated questionnaire. Results revealed that lesbian/bisexual women had higher overall te...

Narratives are pervasive in video games and have been found to increase physical activity in active video games. However, the effect of incorporating narrative elements has seldom been examined in fully immersive virtual reality games. We investigated the effect of narrative element incorporation (between-subject: narrative vs. no narrative) in active virtual reality and sedentary virtual reality games (within-subject) and examined between- and within-subject effects on physical activity behavior, game experience, and physical activity engagement. We randomized 36 sedentary college students to either the narrative or the non-narrative group. All participants played an active virtual reality and a sedentary virtual reality game in counter-balanced order. Before each game session, they either watched a 5-min narrative video (narrative) or directly played the original virtual reality games without narratives (non-narrative). We collected participants’ physical activity data using wrist...

Objective. Recent models of sexual response have challenged the traditional view of spontaneity of sexual desire and argue that desire is context specific and not so obviously spontaneous. However, the Inner responsive desire has been theorized mainly with regard to women's sexuality. Design and method. For measurement of sexual desire, I distinguished state and trait levels of desire and applied Imagined Social Situation Exercise (ISSE) measures. Results. The trait level of sex desire was significantly different for men and women and state sex desire before the experiment was equal. The sex manipulation changed sex desire level compared with the controls and it worked equally for both men and women. Conclusions. Based on my results I can conclude that state and trait desire levels are similar for men and women and applying ISSE really increases state level of sexual desire. No sex differences were found and it seems that trait and state levels of sexual desire work relatively independently from each other.

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) was designed to measure patterns of maladaptive thinking held by depressed individuals. Despite its wide use as a research and clinical tool, only a few studies have been carried out to examine its psychometric properties in a high school student population in Iran. The objective of this study was to validate the Iranian version of the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale Form A in the context of Iranian students. A total of 522 Iranian students (275 females and 225 males) from high schools participated in the study. Participants completed a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and an Automatic Thought Questionnaire (ATQ). Exploratory factor analysis, reliability analyses and confirmatory factor analysis were undertaken to assess the psychometric properties and validation of the DAS. Exploratory factor analyses showed a four-factor model of dysfunctional attitude scale. The fit of the proposed four-factor model was not promising. The internal consistency of the DAS (40 items) was reasonable (Cronbach's = 0.72).The DAS correlated with the GHQ (r = 0.28) and the ATQ (r = 0.35). The results of exploratory factor analyses fairly supported the four-factor framework with Iranian students; however, confirmatory factor analysis was not fit with the model. Implications are discussed in detail.

Aim: Dentine hypersensitivity (DH) is characterized by a short, sharp pain arising from exposed dentin. Most published literature reports on peripheral neural aspects of this pain condition. The current investigation focused on differential cerebral activity elicited by stimulation of sensitive and insensitive teeth by means of natural air stimuli. Materials and Methods: Five graded stimulus strengths were randomly applied by means of a multi-injector air jet delivery system, each followed by an individual rating of perceived stimulus intensity. Brain activity was analysed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results: Stimulation of sensitive teeth induced significant activation in the thalamus, somatosensory cortices (SI & SII), anterior, middle and posterior insular cortices, anterior mid cingulate cortex, perigenual anterior cingulate cortex and frontal regions (BA10 and BA46). Differential responses to DH and painless perceptions were observed in the anterior insula and anterior midcingulate cortex. Conclusion: For the first time, this fMRI study demonstrates the feasibility of investigating cerebral processes related to DH evoked by natural (air) stimuli. Our neuroimaging data additionally provide evidence that differential activity in the anterior Insula (aIC) and anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) may represent clinically relevant pain experienced by DH patients.

Software is primarily developed for people by people and human factors must be studied in all software engineering phases. Creativity is the source to improvise solutions to problems for dominating complex systems such as software development. However, there is a lack of knowledge in what creativity is in software development and what its dynamics are. This study describes the current state of the research plan towards a theory on creativity in software development. More specifically, it (1) states the motivation for studying creativity in software development under a multidisciplinary view; it (2) provides a first review of the literature identifying the shortcomings in the field; it (3) proposes a research design, which includes rarely employed methods in software engineering. To understand creativity in software development will provide a better knowledge of the software construction process and how individuals intellectually contribute to the creation of better, innovative products.

People often learn game-related information in video games by taking turns playing and watching each other play. This type of in-game learning involves both observation and imitation of actions. However, games are also made to be learnt individually during gameplay. Our study seeks to assess which is more effective for learning: just playing a game yourself or watching somebody play it first. We compare two gameplay situations: playing a digital game before watching a gameplay video and playing a digital game after watching a gameplay video. Using a between-participants design, to measure learning effectiveness we recorded Mu rhythms, which are indirectly linked to mirror neuron activation during imitation learning. We also analyze hemispheric frontal alpha asymmetry. Our results indicate that presentation order of the video game matters and players are more aroused when watching a gameplay video before playing.