Examining the Relationships Among Parental Overprotection, Military Life Adjustment, Social Anxiety, and Collective Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to verify the relationships among parental overprotection (PO), military life adjustment (MLA), social anxiety, and collective efficacy (CE). There have been studies examining the influence of each of these variables in isolation, but no study has examined these variables simultaneously. Two hundred and thirty-one male conscript soldiers participated in the study. Results indicated that all four variables were correlated with one another. Through hierarchical regression analysis, we determined that social anxiety fully mediated the relationship between PO and MLA. Furthermore, we found that CE moderated the relationship between PO and social anxiety. Finally, we confirmed the moderated mediation effect of CE in our proposed model. We discuss the implications and limitations of this model.

Rotational Skin Stretch Feedback: A Wearable Haptic Display for Motion

We present a wearable haptic feedback device that imparts rotational skin stretch to the hairy skin, along with the results of psychophysical tests to determine its resolution and accuracy for motion display. Tracking experiments with visual markers reveal the pattern of skin motion and strain imparted by the device, confirming subjective impressions that the design represents a trade-off between perception at low stimulus levels and comfort at maximum stimulus levels. In an isolated environment, users were able to discriminate between different rotational displacements of stretch within two to five degrees, depending on the reference stimulus. In a more realistic setting, subjects were able to use feedback from the device to control the positioning of a virtual object within six degrees or ±6.5 degrees of the total range of motion. When subjects were passive and exposed to arbitrary rotations of the device, the accuracy was poorer, although it improved with training. The results suggest that wearable skin stretch devices can be an effective means of providing feedback about a user's controlled joint or limb motions for motion training and similar applications.

Polyphosphate-dependent enzymes in some coryneform bacteria isolated from sewage sludge

Eleven isolates obtained from a laboratory sewage treatment plant, most of them presumptively assigned to the coryneform genera Curtobacterium and Aureobacterium were studied for the presence of intracellular polyphosphates and polyphosphate dependent enzymes. All isolates stored polyphosphates and showed adenylate kinase activities ranging from 64 to 815 mU mg-1. Polyphosphate:AMP phosphotransferase could only be detected in one isolate. Three isolates showed a polyphosphate kinase activity also in minor amounts from 15 to 17 mU mg-1. A polyphosphate dependent NAD or 3-phosphoglycerate kinase could not be detected. Polyphosphate glucokinase activity was measured in cell-free extracts of nine isolates ranging from 2 to 376 mU mg-1. Three isolates showed in addition to the polyphosphate glucokinase, a glucose-6-phosphate-dependent NAD kinase. For the regeneration of NADP from NAD and polyphosphate, this enzyme system may give the isolates a distinct competitive advantage, especially for anabolic processes. The polyphosphate-dependent enzymes reported here may play an additional role in the complex process of 'biological' phosphate removal from wastewater.