BACKGROUND It has been suggested that dogs display a secure base effect similar to that found in human children (i.e., using the owner as a secure base for interacting with the environment). In children, this effect influences their daily lives and importantly also their performance in cognitive testing. Here, we investigate the importance of the secure base effect for dogs in a problem-solving...

Visible (VIS)-light and thermal infrared (IR) inferior mirages in the 8-14 μm waveband have been observed simultaneously for the takeoff and landing of various airplanes at distances of several kilometers. Similarities as well as differences between the VIS and IR mirages are discussed.

BACKGROUND Web-based medical service (WBMS), a cooperative relationship between medical service and Internet technology, has been called one of the most innovative services of the 21st century. However, its business promotion and implementation in the medical industry have neither been expected nor executed. Few studies have explored this phenomenon from the viewpoint of inexperienced patients....

In order to have a robotic system able to effectively learn by imitation, and not merely reproduce the movements of a human teacher, the system should have the capabilities of deeply understanding the perceived actions to be imitated. This paper deals with the development of a cognitive framework for learning by imitation in which a rich conceptual representation of the observed actions is buil...

People's reactions to offenders and victims of crime follow different rationales. Whereas the punishment of the offender is primarily determined by the severity of the crime (which includes its foreseeable harmful consequences), the actual harm that is experienced by the victim drives the need for his or her support and assistance. With the introduction of the Victim Impact Statement (VIS), in ...

We contrast some recent uses of the concept of male-female conflict, with the type of conflict that is inherent in traditional Darwinian female choice. Females in apparent conflict situations with males may suffer reduced lifetime reproduction, but nevertheless benefit because they obtain sons with superior manipulative abilities. Female defences against male manipulations may not be 'imperfect...

BACKGROUND Early stone tools provide direct evidence of human cognitive and behavioral evolution that is otherwise unavailable. Proper interpretation of these data requires a robust interpretive framework linking archaeological evidence to specific behavioral and cognitive actions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here we employ a data glove to record manual joint angles in a modern experimenta...

Two main accusations made against gamification are exploitation and manipulation [3, 4, 5]. I explain under what circumstances gamification can be exploitative or manipulative. I maintain that gamification is characteristically vulnerable to an expressive form of exploitation and a non-reason-tracking form of manipulation. I suggest solutions.

Patients who receive medical care for musculoskeletal pain of rheumatic diseases often benefit from additional osteopathic manipulative treatment. This article offers a brief description of commonly used treatment modalities. It also includes discussion of indications as well as contraindications of operator-director versus operator-monitored techniques.