Spontaneous grip force fluctuations mirror semantic numerical magnitude processing: Larger numbers elicit larger forces.

This study investigated the relationship between semantic numerical magnitudes and motor magnitudes. We asked whether the processing of numbers can affect motor behavior such as the size of numbers affecting the size of motor actions. For this, we recorded continuous grip force fluctuations from 43 healthy adults during a symbolic magnitude comparison task.

"Ick bin een Berlina": dialect proficiency impacts a robot's trustworthiness and competence evaluation.

Robots are increasingly used as interaction partners with humans. Social robots are designed to follow expected behavioral norms when engaging with humans and are available with different voices and even accents. Some studies suggest that people prefer robots to speak in the user's dialect, while others indicate a preference for different dialects.

Ecological Meanings: A Consensus Paper on Individual Differences and Contextual Influences in Embodied Language.

Embodied theories of cognition consider many aspects of language and other cognitive domains as the result of sensory and motor processes. In this view, the appraisal and the use of concepts are based on mechanisms of simulation grounded on prior sensorimotor experiences. Even though these theories continue receiving attention and support, increasing evidence indicates the need to consider the flexible nature of the simulation process, and to accordingly refine embodied accounts.

How to not induce SNAs: The insufficiency of directional force.

People respond faster to smaller numbers in their left space and to larger numbers in their right space. Here we argue that movements in space contribute to the formation of spatial-numerical associations (SNAs). We studied the impact of continuous isometric forces along the horizontal or vertical cardinal axes on SNAs while participants performed random number production and arithmetic verification tasks.

Refraining from interaction can decrease fear of physical closeness during COVID-19.

Perception of peripersonal space (PPS) and interpersonal distance (IPD) has been shown to be modified by external factors such as perceived danger, the use of tools, and social factors. Especially in times of social distancing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital to study factors that modify PPS and IPD. The present work addresses the question of whether wearing a face mask as a protection tool and social interaction impact the perception of IPD.

S3 Guideline Urticaria. Part 2: Treatment of urticaria - German-language adaptation of the international S3 guideline.

This publication is the second part of the German-language S3 guideline on urticaria. It covers the management of urticaria and should be used together with Part 1 of the guideline on classification and diagnosis. This publication was prepared according to the criteria of the AWMF on the basis of the international English-language S3 guideline with special consideration of health system conditions in German-speaking countries.

Space-valence mapping of social concepts: Do we arrange negative and positive ethnic stereotypes from left to right?

Introduction: The body-specificity hypothesis states that in right-handers, positive concepts should be associated with the right side and negative concepts with the left side of the body. Following this hypothesis, our study postulated that negative out-group ethnic stereotypes would be associated with the left side, and positive in-group stereotypes would be associated with the right side.

Methods: The experiment consisted of two parts.

During the COVID-19 pandemic participants prefer settings with a face mask, no interaction and at a closer distance.

Peripersonal space is the space surrounding our body, where multisensory integration of stimuli and action execution take place. The size of peripersonal space is flexible and subject to change by various personal and situational factors. The dynamic representation of our peripersonal space modulates our spatial behaviors towards other individuals.

A pre-registered, multi-lab non-replication of the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE).

The Action-sentence Compatibility Effect (ACE) is a well-known demonstration of the role of motor activity in the comprehension of language. Participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences by producing movements toward the body or away from the body. The ACE is the finding that movements are faster when the direction of the movement (e.

Separation/connection procedures: From cleansing behavior to numerical cognition.

Lee and Schwarz (L&S) suggest that separation is the grounded procedure underlying cleansing effects in different psychological domains. Here, we interpret L&S's account from a hierarchical view of cognition that considers the influence of physical properties and sensorimotor constraints on mental representations. This approach allows theoretical integration and generalization of L&S's account to the domain of formal quantitative reasoning.

The Human Takes It All: Humanlike Synthesized Voices Are Perceived as Less Eerie and More Likable. Evidence From a Subjective Ratings Study.

The increasing involvement of social robots in human lives raises the question as to how humans perceive social robots. Little is known about human perception of synthesized voices. To investigate which synthesized voice parameters predict the speaker's eeriness and voice likability; to determine if individual listener characteristics (e.

Action processing in the motor system: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) evidence of shared mechanisms in the visual and linguistic modalities.

In two experiments, we compared the dynamics of corticospinal excitability when processing visually or linguistically presented tool-oriented hand actions in native speakers and sequential bilinguals. In a third experiment we used the same procedure to test non-motor, low-level stimuli, i.e.

Is Embodied Cognition Bilingual? Current Evidence and Perspectives of the Embodied Cognition Approach to Bilingual Language Processing.

Accumulating behavioral and neurophysiological evidence supports the idea of language being grounded in sensorimotor processes, with indications of a functional role of motor, sensory and emotional systems in processing both concrete and abstract linguistic concepts. However, most of the available studies focused on native language speakers (L1), with only a limited number of investigations testing embodied language processing in the case of a second language (L2). In this paper we review the available evidence on embodied effects in L2 and discuss their possible integration into existing models of linguistic processing in L1 and L2.

Synthesis, F-labelling and radiopharmacological characterisation of the C-terminal 30mer of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin as a potential claudin-targeting peptide.

The cell surface receptor claudin-4 (Cld-4) is upregulated in various tumours and represents an important emerging target for both diagnosis and treatment of solid tumours of epithelial origin. The C-terminal fragment of the Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin cCPE appears as a suitable ligand for targeting Cld-4. The synthesis of this 30mer peptide was attempted via several approaches, which has revealed sequential SPPS using three pseudoproline dipeptide building blocks to be the most efficient one.

6% Hydroxyethyl starch (HES 130/0.4) diminishes glycocalyx degradation and decreases vascular permeability during systemic and pulmonary inflammation in mice.

Background: Increased vascular permeability is a pathophysiological hallmark of sepsis and results in increased transcapillary leakage of plasma fluid, hypovolemia, and interstitial edema formation. 6% hydroxyethyl starch (HES 130/0.4) is commonly used to treat hypovolemia to maintain adequate organ perfusion and oxygen delivery.

The why and how of amino acid analytics in cancer diagnostics and therapy.

Pathological alterations in cell functions are frequently accompanied by metabolic reprogramming including modifications in amino acid metabolism. Amino acid detection is thus integral to the diagnosis of many hereditary metabolic diseases. The development of malignant diseases as metabolic disorders comes along with a complex dysregulation of genetic and epigenetic factors affecting metabolic enzymes.

Directed transport of neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles enables platelet-mediated innate immune response.

The innate immune response to bacterial infections requires the interaction of neutrophils and platelets. Here, we show that a multistep reciprocal crosstalk exists between these two cell types, ultimately facilitating neutrophil influx into the lung to eliminate infections. Activated platelets adhere to intravascular neutrophils through P-selectin/P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1)-mediated binding, a primary interaction that allows platelets glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα)-induced generation of neutrophil-derived extracellular vesicles (EV).

High Glucose Induces Reactivation of Latent Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus.

A high prevalence of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is seen in diabetic patients. It is unknown if the physiological conditions of diabetes contribute to KS development. We found elevated levels of viral lytic gene expression when Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV)-infected cells were cultured in high-glucose medium.

[DaVinci robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy: benefit for obese men? - A matched-pair analysis].

Background: Open radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) in obese patients (BMI ≥30) is associated with increased perioperative morbidity. The aim of the study was to evaluate the possible benefit of DaVinci robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RARP) compared to RRP in obese patients.

Patients And Methods: We identified 255 patients with a localized prostate cancer (PCa) and BMI ≥30 treated with radical prostatectomy from January 2009 to December 2011.

FBN1 gene mutation characteristics and clinical features for the prediction of mitral valve disease progression.

Background: Until today, FBN1 gene mutation characteristics were not compared with clinical features for the prediction of mitral valve disease progression.

Methods: Therefore, we conducted a study of 116 patients (53 men, 63 women aged 33 ± 15 years) with a causative FBN1 gene mutation and ≤ moderate mitral valve regurgitation at baseline.

Results: During 7.

Transcriptional modulation of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli virulence genes in response to epithelial cell interactions.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to diarrheal illness in developing countries. There is currently no effective vaccine against these important pathogens. Because genes modulated by pathogen-host interactions potentially encode putative vaccine targets, we investigated changes in gene expression and surface morphology of ETEC upon interaction with intestinal epithelial cells in vitro.