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The field of multisensory integration in human speech perception has been well explored throughout a multitude of studies. Perceptual phenomena and models have been reported, including most notably, the McGurk effect and the Morton-Massaro law of information integration. Existing research of multimodal integration in human perception, include studies that involve perception of drinks and food. Beyond this, scientists have also studied how non-human species, such as dolphins and bats, integrate different sources of information. The purpose of the current study was to test whether multimodal sensory integration is used by humans when perceiving the size of dogs. Three separate audio-visual sources of barking dogs – sized small, medium, and large – were used. A 3x3 expanded factorial design was applied to test all possible pairings of auditory and visual combinations from the three sources. The stimuli were included on a questionnaire and then digitally distributed to participants, the majority of whom were high-school students aged 13-17. After viewing each stimulus, participants were prompted to answer what sized dog barked. The results of the current study were consistent with the McGurk effect. When the auditory-visual stimuli were consistent, participants were able to accurately identify what kind of dog barked. However, when the auditory-visual stimuli were inconsistent, the intermediate responses were most frequent. Thus, the results of this study are not consistent with the motor theory of perception. This study yields practical applications in the field of interspecies perception and human-canine communication.

Neoclassical thinkers and artists defined several facial proportions that supposedly evaluate facial attractiveness in an objective manner. While these neoclassical canons are highly influential in Western art and beauty cultures, their influences on East Asian beauty perception are unclear. This research paper explores the relevance of three neoclassical canons on South Korean beauty standards by calculating three facial proportions of 31 attractive female South Korean celebrities and comparing the average values of each proportion with the corresponding neoclassical canon. This study presents further insight to anthropologists about the cultural influences on beauty perception. Furthermore, these findings can also help plastic surgeons offer more practical advice to clients of different ethnicities with facial features that may not conform to the beauty standards defined by neoclassical canons and clients who subscribe to different beauty standards.

The present study compared the first (EC1) and second (EC2) bouts of whole-body eccentric exercises to examine the effects of the magnitude of muscle damage on changes in blood bone markers. Fifteen sedentary young men performed nine eccentric exercises of arm, leg, and trunk muscles, and repeated them 2 weeks later. Blood samples were taken before and 2 h and 1-5 days following each bout to analyze plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity and myoglobin concentration, serum tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), type 1 C-terminal telopeptide (CTX-1), procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (P1NP), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), undercarboxylated-osteocalcin (ucOCN), carboxylated-osteocalcin (cOCN), and leptin concentrations. All except ucOCN changed significantly (p 0.05) after both bouts. When comparing bouts for peak changes, P1NP (bone formation marker) and CTX-1 (bone resorption marker) increased less after EC2 (peak: 137±96% and 7±6%, respectively) than after EC1 (146 ± 80% and 30 ± 21%, respectively), whereas BAP (bone formation marker) increased more after EC2 (18 ± 16%) than after EC1 (4 ± 15%) (p 0.05). Leptin (49 ± 58%) and cOCN (14 ± 10%) increased more (p 0.05) after EC2 than after EC1 (-30 ± 15%, 9 ± 26%). Significant (p 0.05) correlations were evident between peak CK activity and peak CTX-1 (r = 0.847), P1NP (r = 0.815), BAP (r = -0.707), ucOCN (r = 0.627), cCON (r = -0.759), and leptin (r = -0.740) changes after EC1, but many of these correlations disappeared after EC2. This was also found for the relationships between other muscle damage markers (myoglobin, muscle soreness, and muscle strength) and the bone markers. It was concluded that bone turnover was affected by eccentric exercise, but muscle damage was unfavorable for bone formation.

While the public's perception and knowledge of renewable and nuclear energy sources have been studied extensively, not as much emphasis has been placed on high school students. This study’s goal was to explore this topic amongst high schoolers specifically in the San Francisco Bay Area and investigate pre-existing findings while addressing gaps in previous research. From the study, positive support for renewable energy and critical opinions on nuclear energy were reciprocated. A notable gender difference regarding perception of nuclear energy was also supported: female students tended to respond more negatively toward nuclear energy compared to male students. Public school students were found to have a more positive perception toward renewable energy compared to private school students. This study also revealed school and the internet as crucial sources of renewable and nuclear energy knowledge among high school students, pointing to their significance in the spread of information about these energy types. Finally, a weak positive correlation between the perception of nuclear and renewable energies was discovered.

A compact long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) borescope imaging sensor operating in the wavelength range of 8–14 μm is designed and developed for non-contact two-dimensional (2D) surface temperature measurements in gas-turbine engines. The LWIR detection minimizes optical interferences from hot combustion gases and soot (emission within UV–mid IR region). Using simulations, the system is optimized for improving the signal collection efficiency and minimize image aberrations. The LWIR borescope probe is shielded by the custom-build compact water-cooled probe housing (outer diamter (OD) 19 mm, inner diameter (ID) 10 mm), which can sustain flame temperature up to 2400 K at a pressure of 50 bar. It facilitates long-term optical diagnostics inside the actual high-pressure combustion facilities where extreme thermal acoustic perturbation and intense heat fluxes are encountered. The design, construction, and characterization of the LWIR borescope sensor are discussed in detail. We present the 2D surface temperature measurements of a V-gutter bluff-body with simple nitrogen gas cooling in a laboratory testbed. The results indicate the sensor’s ability to accurately measure surface temperature with low background noise and to track transient cooling effect. The water-cooled probe housing was tested to verify the effectiveness of fast heat dissipation in high-temperature combustion environment to avoid unwanted thermal signals from the LWIR probe window. The developed LWIR sensor suite has promising applications in surface temperature measurements of engine components. The findings of this study may aid propulsion system engineers and researchers in designing thermal management systems and optimizing operation.

This study examined whether a second bout of maximal eccentric exercise performed 3 days after the first exercise bout would produce further changes in muscle damage and electromyographic activity (EMG). Male students (n=26) were randomly assigned to experimental 70 (EX70; n=9), experimental 30 (EX30; n=8), and control (CON; n=9) groups. The initial exercise was 30 maximal voluntary isokinetic eccentric contractions (MAX1) on non-dominant elbow flexors at 60 degrees s(-1) (1.05 rad s(-1)). The EX70 and EX30 groups performed a second bout of 70 and 30 eccentric contractions (MAX2), respectively, 3 days after MAX1. Upper arm circumference, range of motion, strength, integrated EMG (IEMG), and mean power frequency (MPF) were measured before, immediately after, and once a day for 9 days after MAX1. Plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity and muscle soreness were assessed before and for 9 days after MAX1. Total work, work per contraction, IEMG, and MPF were also recorded during MAX1 and MAX2. All indicators of muscle damage changed following MAX1 for each group (P0.05), but no indicators of additional damage (P0.05) were apparent after MAX2 for either the EX70 or EX30 groups. IEMG (P=0.03) and MPF (P=0.04) were lower for MAX2 compared with MAX1 for both the EX30 and EX70 groups. It is concluded that performing a second bout of eccentric exercise with damaged muscles 3 days after the initial bout does not produce further damage or retard recovery, even when the second bout of exercise is more strenuous. EMG findings were consistent with reduced activation of fast-twitch motor units during the second eccentric bout. These results may be interpreted as evidence of a neural protective mechanism.

The first purpose of this study was to determine a possible explanation for the variability in the response to eccentric exercise by having participants repeat the same exercise 1 year apart. The second purpose was to examine whether initial injury in response to eccentric exercise was associated with the extent of the repeated bout effect (RBE). Male students performed 30 eccentric contractions (ECC) of the elbow flexors using a dumbbell set at 80% of the pre-exercise maximal isometric force (MIF). Participants were then classified into low (LR; n=6), medium (MR; n=6), high (HR; n=5), and higher (HrR; n=7) based on the increase in blood creatine kinase (CK) activity. A year later, participants repeated this exercise (ECC30). Four days after ECC30, participants performed 70 eccentric contractions (ECC70). Range of motion, MFI upper arm circumference, soreness, and blood CK activity were measured before and up to 9 days after each bout. The change in the criterion measures following ECC and ECC30 were similar for each group. There were no further changes in all parameters after ECC70 for MR, HR, and HrR, although there was a small increase in CK after ECC70 for LR. LR showed a smaller RBE after ECC70 compared with the other groups. It is concluded that participants who exercised 1 year apart showed remarkably similar responses between the bouts. The extent of the RBE following the second bout for the LR group is less for participants who demonstrate the least evidence of muscle damage after a first exercise bout.