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We describe an experiment that explores the contribution of auditory and other features to the illusion of plausibility in a virtual environment that depicts the performance of a string quartet. 'Plausibility' refers to the component of presence that is the illusion that the perceived events in the virtual environment are really happening. The features studied were: Gaze (the musicians ignored the participant, the musicians sometimes looked towards and followed the participant's movements), Sound Spatialization (Mono, Stereo, Spatial), Auralization (no sound reflections, reflections corresponding to a room larger than the one perceived, reflections that exactly matched the virtual room), and Environment (no sound from outside of the room, birdsong and wind corresponding to the outside scene). We adopted the methodology based on color matching theory, where 20 participants were first able to assess their feeling of plausibility in the environment with each of the four features at their highest setting. Then five times participants started from a low setting on all features and were able to make transitions from one system configuration to another until they matched their original feeling of plausibility. From these transitions a Markov transition matrix was constructed, and also probabilities of a match conditional on feature configuration. The results show that Environment and Gaze were individually the most important factors influencing the level of plausibility. The highest probability transitions were to improve Environment and Gaze, and then Auralization and Spatialization. We present this work as both a contribution to the methodology of assessing presence without questionnaires, and showing how various aspects of a musical performance can influence plausibility.

Music is a potent mood regulator that can induce relaxation and reduce anxiety in different situations. While several studies demonstrate that certain types of music have a subjective anxiolytic effect, the reported results from physiological responses are less conclusive. Virtual reality allows us to study diverse scenarios of real life under strict experimental control while preserving high ecological validity. We aimed to study the modulating effect of music on the anxiety responses triggered by an immersive virtual reality scenario designed to induce fear of heights. Subjects experienced a virtual scenario depicting an exterior elevator platform ascending and descending the total height of its 350 meters tall supporting structure. Participants were allocated to either a group that experienced the elevator ride with background music or without, in a between-groups design. Furthermore, each group included participants with different degrees of fear of heights, ranging from low to high fear. Recordings of heart rate, galvanic skin response, body balance, and head movements were obtained during the experiments. Subjective anxiety was measured by means of three questionnaires. The scenario produced significant changes in subjective and physiological measures, confirming its efficacy as a stressor. A significant increase in state anxiety was found between pre and post-assessment in the silence group, but not in the music group, indicating that post-stress recovery was faster in the musical group. Results suggest that music can ameliorate the subjective anxiety produced by fear of heights.

Background/Objectives: Gait retraining is widely used in orthopedic rehabilitation to address abnormal movement patterns. However, retaining walking modifications can be challenging without guidance from physical therapists. Real-time auditory biofeedback can help patients learn and maintain gait alterations. This study piloted the feasibility of the musification of feedback to medialize the center of pressure (COP). Methods: To provide musical feedback, COP and plantar pressure were captured in real time at 100 Hz from a wireless 16-sensor pressure insole. Twenty healthy subjects (29 ± 5 years old, 75.9 ± 10.5 Kg, 1.73 ± 0.07 m) were recruited to walk using this system and were further analyzed via marker-based motion capture. A lowpass filter muffled a pre-selected music playlist when the real-time center of pressure exceeded a predetermined lateral threshold. The only instruction participants received was to adjust their walking to avoid the muffling of the music. Results: All participants significantly medialized their COP (−9.38% ± 4.37, range −2.3% to −19%), guided solely by musical feedback. Participants were still able to reproduce this new walking pattern when the musical feedback was removed. Importantly, no significant changes in cadence or walking speed were observed. The results from a survey showed that subjects enjoyed using the system and suggested that they would adopt such a system for rehabilitation. Conclusions: This study highlights the potential of musical feedback for orthopedic rehabilitation. In the future, a portable system will allow patients to train at home, while clinicians could track their progress remotely through cloud-enabled telemetric health data monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sense of body ownership has been studied using rubber hand illusion (RHI) and full-body illusion (FBI). It has recently become clear that consciously interpreting a fake body as one's own in a top-down manner influences these body illusions. Furthermore, a study interestingly found that the influence of top-down interpretation was moderated by the degree of depersonalization, which was a symptom of a lack of sense of body ownership. In a case study on depersonalization, the top-down interpretation of one's body was suggested to be a negative physical state that made it difficult to feel a sense of body ownership. However, this has not been examined. We examined the influence of negative top-down interpretation using an FBI procedure. A fake body was instructed to be viewed as a negative self-body ("view the virtual body's back while regarding the virtual body as your own experiencing abdominal pain"). To examine the influence of a negative top-down interpretation, participants were instructed to interpret the body as their own (neutral self-body) as a control condition. We used skin conductance responses to a fearful stimulus presented after an illusion procedure to measure the degree of FBI experienced. Results indicated a significant difference in the skin conductance response between the synchronous and asynchronous presentation of visual-tactile stimuli in the control condition, which confirmed the occurrence of the illusion. However, the occurrence of the illusion was not confirmed when the participants were instructed to interpret the virtual body as their own in a negative physical state, and the degree of FBI was smaller than the control condition. Our finding that an FBI was inhibited by manipulation of the top-down interpretation suggested that it could be a factor that inhibited the creation of a sense of body ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age-induced alterations in human immunity are often considered deleterious and are referred to as immunosenescence. The immune system monitors the number of senescent cells in the body, while immunosenescence may represent the initiation of systemic aging. Immune cells, particularly T cells, are the most impacted and involved in age-related immune function deterioration, making older individuals more prone to different age-related diseases. T-cell senescence can impact the effectiveness of immunotherapies that rely on the immune system's function, including vaccines and adoptive T-cell therapies. The research and practice of using senescent T cells as therapeutic targets to intervene in age-related diseases are in their nascent stages. Therefore, in this review, we summarize recent related literature to investigate the characteristics of senescent T cells as well as their formation mechanisms, relationship with various aging-related diseases, and means of intervention. The primary objective of this article is to explore the prospects and possibilities of therapeutically targeting senescent T cells, serving as a valuable resource for the development of immunotherapy and treatment of age-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulating the experience of flight is a key objective of virtual reality (VR) technology. To enhance the sense of flying and immersion, we developed Drone Rider, a VR system that simulates free-flight atop a drone. In this study, we investigated whether delivering vibratory stimuli to the user's feet could improve these sensations. While high-frequency drone propeller vibrations typically induce sensory numbness, alternative vibration patterns were explored. In Experiment 1, participants rated 13 different vibration patterns derived from various mechanical sounds, such as those from chainsaws, motorcycles, and washing machines. The motorcycle-based vibrations were most effective in enhancing both the sense of flight and immersion. In Experiment 2, we synthesized new vibration patterns by superimposing the highest-rated vibrations from Experiment 1, but no combination outperformed the original motorcycle vibration. These findings suggest that vibrations with multiple components below 100 Hz may reduce sensory adaptation and enhance the sense of flight and immersion in VR. This work provides valuable insights for developers aiming to optimize haptic feedback in VR flight simulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans' sense of the passage of time is subjective and determined by psychophysiological responses to the environment. The passing of time has been perceived to significantly slow in stressful situations, such as accidents or virtual threats. The current study will explore distortions in the perception of passage of time when threat is simulated using virtual reality (VR). 44 participants negotiated a large (13.6 × 8.4 m) virtual environment designed to maximise the realism of a physical threat by exposing participants to a virtual height of 200m. Subjective perception of passage of time and time estimation were used as independent variables, whereas the movement of participants, and ambulatory psychophysiology, e.g., electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate, served as dependent variables. The independent variables were examined in relation to the dependent variables through a regression analysis, which allowed for the identification of the specific weight of each variable. Our analyses revealed that passage of time was perceived to decrease (i.e., time slowed down) for those participants who exhibited the higher levels of skin conductance (SCL). It is argued that this finding can be explained by individual differences in self-regulatory strategies during the task and the effectiveness of VR as means to simulate threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the potential benefits of conveying biofeedback stimulus using a musical signal have appeared in recent years with the intent of harnessing the strong effects that music listening may have on subjects. While results are encouraging, the fundamental question has yet to be addressed, of how combined music and biofeedback compares to the already established use of either of these elements separately. This experiment, involving young adults (N = 24), compared the effectiveness at modulating participants' states of physiological arousal of each of the following conditions: A) listening to pre-recorded music, B) sonification biofeedback of the heart rate, and C) an algorithmically modulated musical feedback signal conveying the subject's heart rate. Our hypothesis was that each of the conditions (A), (B) and (C) would differ from the other two in the extent to which it enables participants to increase and decrease their state of physiological arousal, with (C) being more effective than (B), and both more than (A). Several physiological measures and qualitative responses were recorded and analyzed. Results show that using musical biofeedback allowed participants to modulate their state of physiological arousal at least equally well as sonification biofeedback, and much better than just listening to music, as reflected in their heart rate measurements, controlling for respiration-rate. Our findings indicate that the known effects of music in modulating arousal can therefore be beneficially harnessed when designing a biofeedback protocol., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

It has been shown that it is possible to generate perceptual illusions of ownership in immersive virtual reality (IVR) over a virtual body seen from first person perspective, in other words over a body that visually substitutes the person's real body. This can occur even when the virtual body is quite different in appearance from the person's real body. However, investigation of the psychological, behavioral and attitudinal consequences of such body transformations remains an interesting problem with much to be discovered. Thirty six Caucasian people participated in a between-groups experiment where they played a West-African Djembe hand drum while immersed in IVR and with a virtual body that substituted their own. The virtual hand drum was registered with a physical drum. They were alongside a virtual character that played a drum in a supporting, accompanying role. In a baseline condition participants were represented only by plainly shaded white hands, so that they were able merely to play. In the experimental condition they were represented either by a casually dressed dark-skinned virtual body (Casual Dark-Skinned - CD) or by a formal suited light-skinned body (Formal Light-Skinned - FL). Although participants of both groups experienced a strong body ownership illusion towards the virtual body, only those with the CD representation showed significant increases in their movement patterns for drumming compared to the baseline condition and compared with those embodied in the FL body. Moreover, the stronger the illusion of body ownership in the CD condition, the greater this behavioral change. A path analysis showed that the observed behavioral changes were a function of the strength of the illusion of body ownership towards the virtual body and its perceived appropriateness for the drumming task. These results demonstrate that full body ownership illusions can lead to substantial behavioral and possibly cognitive changes depending on the appearance of the virtual body. This could be important for many applications such as learning, education, training, psychotherapy and rehabilitation using IVR.

FAM20C, a member of the family with sequence similarity 20, is involved in many physiological functions. Obesity, characterized by excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, has attracted more and more attention as a worldwide health problem. Here we generated adipocyte‐specific FAM20C knockout mice to investigate the role of FAM20C in adipose tissue expansion and obesity. Our results demonstrate that knockout mice are protected against high fat diet‐induced obesity, adiposity, and fatty liver disease. Additionally, knockout mice exhibited improved metabolic phenotypes, including enhanced glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity compared with control mice. Furthermore, we observed reduced inflammatory infiltration and collagen deposition in the adipose tissues of knockout mice. Taken together, our results indicate that targeting FAM20C in adipocytes may be a promising strategy for the treatment of obesity and associated metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The metaverse offers new technological possibilities for conducting 3D immersive meetings with head-mounted displays that can enrich virtual teamwork. To conceptualize this new interaction space, we synthesize interdisciplinary findings from human-computer interaction literature, group research, and meeting science. We develop a conceptual framework of 3D immersive group meetings that integrates technological design characteristics, subjective attendee experiences, mediating mechanisms, and meeting outcomes. As a first empirical glimpse into this framework, we include a pilot study of group member's self-reported experiences and observed group dynamics in the metaverse. Building on our framework and first empirical insights, we discuss implications for future investigations of group dynamics in the metaverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In virtual reality (VR), users can embody a wide variety of avatars, fromdigital replicas of themselves through diverse human body styles and appearances to non-humanoid representations. Although choosing a body to inhabit is part of what makes VR such an engaging experience, various studies have shown how embodiment may change the way we perceive ourselves and others both inside and outside VR. In our study, we explored whether first-person versus third-person avatar customization would lead to changes in embodiment. Furthermore, participants were embodied in larger-sized avatars based on the hypothesis that embodiment would lead to a change in implicit bias toward larger-sized people. Our results show that third-person avatar customization led to a decrease in the perceived embodiment of the larger-sized avatar and that, on the contrary, higher embodiment was associated with a reduction in implicit biases toward larger-sized people in the first-person avatar customization mode. These findings suggest that third-person avatar customization leads to reduced feelings of embodiment, while first-person avatar customization may support more radical body changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a book review of David Chalmers' "Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy." It praises the book's inclusive approach to philosophy and its exploration of virtual reality. However, it criticizes the book for not delving into the practical aspects of current VR technology and suggests that philosophers and technologists should collaborate to address philosophical questions in existing VR systems. The article emphasizes the importance of considering software and hardware development, socio-political environments, and ethical concerns in virtual spaces. It concludes that the book may be interesting for general readers but lacks depth for specialists. [Extracted from the article]

The multifaceted nature of body experience, encompassing affective, cognitive, and perceptual components, plays a critical role in the development and persistence of conditions such as anorexia nervosa (AN). Recent research attempted to address such disturbance to improve therapeutical effectiveness, using mirror exposure (ME) and body‐swapping (BS) techniques in immersive virtual reality (VR). Procedures from a third‐person perspective—as mirror‐like experiences—were primarily used to address bodily cognitive and affective components, whereas first‐person ones—as BS—were used to correct distorted body perception. This study investigated the effect of spatial reference frame on body self‐consciousness and body perception during BS. Data revealed two main findings: Even though embodiment was significantly enhanced when participants engaged with a virtual body from a first‐person viewpoint, both egocentric and allocentric perspectives influenced body size estimation (BSE), suggesting that both spatial perspectives critically form and sustain body self‐perception. We discussed predictive coding theory to explain spatial perspective influence on body experience, highlighting the potential therapeutic benefits of incorporating first and third‐person perspectives on body illusions (BIs) for more effective interventions targeting body‐related disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucocorticoids (GC) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) are widely used therapeutic endocrine hormones where their effects on bone and joint arise from actions on multiple skeletal cell types. In osteocytes, GC and PTH exert opposing effects on perilacunar canalicular remodeling (PLR). Suppressed PLR can impair bone quality and joint homeostasis, including in GC-induced osteonecrosis. However, combined effects of GC and PTH on PLR are unknown. Given the untapped potential to target osteocytes to improve skeletal health, this study sought to test the feasibility of therapeutically mitigating PLR suppression. Focusing on subchondral bone and joint homeostasis, we hypothesize that PTH(1-34), a PLR agonist, could rescue GC-suppressed PLR. The skeletal effects of GC and PTH(1-34), alone or combined, were examined in male and female mice by microcomputed tomography, mechanical testing, histology, and gene expression analysis. For each outcome, females were more responsive to GC and PTH(1-34) than males. GC and PTH(1-34) exerted regional differences, with GC increasing trabecular bone volume but reducing cortical bone thickness, stiffness, and ultimate force. Despite PTH(1-34)'s anabolic effects on trabecular bone, it did not rescue GC's catabolic effects on cortical bone. Likewise, cartilage integrity and subchondral bone apoptosis, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) activity, and osteocyte lacunocanalicular networks showed no evidence that PTH(1-34) could offset GCdependent effects. Rather, GC and PTH(1-34) each increased cortical bone gene expression implicated in bone resorption by osteoclasts and osteocytes, including Acp5, Mmp13, Atp6v0d2, Ctsk, differences maintained when GC and PTH(1-34) were combined. Since PTH(1-34) is insufficient to rescue GC's effects on young female mouse bone, future studies are needed to determine if osteocyte PLR suppression, due to GC, aging, or other factors, can be offset by a PLR agonist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aims to assess the efficacy of traditional virtual reality (VR) and Immersive Multi-sensory Environments (IME) in mitigating anxiety levels among university students. The study can address the following research questions: 1) What disparities exist in anxiety levels before and after exposure to traditional VR and IME? 2) How do anxiety levels compare between participants exposed to IME and those in a VR environment? Methods: The research adopted a twophase approach involving participants exhibiting moderate to high-stress levels. In the second phase, participants were randomly assigned to either a VR group (solely visual stimulation) or an IME group (comprising visual, auditory, and olfactory stimuli). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were utilized to assess stress and anxiety levels before and after each experiment. Results: The findings suggest that participants' experiences in both VR and IME environments effectively contributed to reducing anxiety levels and fostering a tranquil atmosphere. Both experimental groups reported a significantly heightened sense of relaxation post-experiments. Although the disparity was not statistically significant, the IME group displayed a more pronounced reduction in stress levels compared to the VR group. Discussion: The research underscores the significance of considering the built environment and sensory design in addressing mental health challenges among college students. Further exploration and integration of such approaches into educational settings could significantly contribute to establishing more supportive and conducive environments for student success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans' inherent fascination for stories can be observed throughout most of our documented history. If, for a long time, narratives were told through paintings, songs, or literature, recent technological advances such as immersive virtual reality have made it possible for us to interact with storylines and characters in a completely new manner. With these new technologies came the need to study how people interact with them and how they affect their users. Notably, research in this area has revealed that users of virtual environments tend to display behaviors/attitudes that are congruent with the appearance of the avatars they embody; a phenomenon termed the Proteus effect. Since its introduction in the literature, many studies have demonstrated the Proteus effect in various contexts, attesting to the robustness of the effect. However, beyond the first articles on the subject, very few studies have sought to investigate the social, affective, and cognitive mechanisms underlying the effect. Furthermore, the current literature appears somewhat disjointed with different schools of thought, using different methodologies, contributing to this research topic. Therefore, this work aims to give an overview of the current state of the literature and its shortcomings. It also presents a critical analysis of multiple theoretical frameworks that may help explain the Proteus effect. Notably, this work challenges the use of self-perception theory to explain the Proteus effect and considers other approaches from social psychology. Finally, we present new perspectives for upcoming research that seeks to investigate the effect of avatars on user behavior. All in all, this work aims to bring more clarity to an increasingly popular research subject and, more generally, to contribute to a better understanding of the interactions between humans and virtual environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Inflammasomes comprise a group of protein complexes with fundamental roles in the induction of inflammation. Upon sensing stress factors, their assembly induces the activation and release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and -18 and a lytic type of cell death, termed pyroptosis. Recently, CARD8 has joined the group of inflammasome sensors. The carboxy-terminal part of CARD8, consisting of a function-to-find-domain (FIIND) and a caspase activation and recruitment domain (CARD), resembles that of NLR family pyrin domain containing 1 (NLRP1), which is recognized as the main inflammasome sensor in human keratinocytes. The interaction with dipeptidyl peptidases 8 and 9 (DPP8/9) represents an activation checkpoint for both sensors. CARD8 and NLRP1 are activated by viral protease activity targeting their amino-terminal region. However, CARD8 also has some unique features compared to the established inflammasome sensors. Activation of CARD8 occurs independently of the inflammasome adaptor protein apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), leading mainly to pyroptosis rather than the activation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. CARD8 was also shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activity. It interacts with, and inhibits, several proteins involved in inflammation and cell death, such as the inflammasome sensor NLRP3, CARD-containing proteins caspase-1 and -9, nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain containing 2 (NOD2), or nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CARD8, some of them occurring at high frequencies, are associated with various inflammatory diseases. The molecular mechanisms underlying the different pro- and anti-inflammatory activities of CARD8 are incompletely understood. Alternative splicing leads to the generation of multiple CARD8 protein isoforms. Although the functional properties of these isoforms are poorly characterized, there is evidence that suggests isoform-specific roles. The characterization of the functions of these isoforms, together with their cell- and disease-specific expression, might be the key to a better understanding of CARD8's different roles in inflammation and inflammatory diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isomeric decays with multipolarity λ ≥ 3 are discussed. Parity changing E3, M4, E5 decays are more widespread within the nuclide chart when compared to parity conserving M3, E4 and M5 transitions, which is the consequence of the properties of the nuclear shell model. The E3 transitions around 208 Pb are classified depending on their origins. Systematics of M4 and E5 transitions are presented. These provide an excellent test to the study of shell evolution in different parts of the nuclide chart as well as the nature of the effective charges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]