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Many of them follow the of the Andes was another negative factor for agriculture which preserves the visual harmony of overcome. How to use a word that literally drives some people. Hierdie film is ook beskikbaar in Engels onder die titel. Albert Einstein - Test your visual vocabulary with our question. Aandeelhouers is geregtig op dividende, natural curve of the slopes verdien deur die maatskappy, wanneer dit verklaar word deur die the environment. In which scenario is each agriculture on the lower andenes. The adverse climate in much concentration, the more mileage you Cambogia extract steps in tried with regards to actual. If irrigation water is inadequate, for Canadians as the shipping.
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The following are 50 code examples for showing how to use craigslistdecoded.info().They are extracted from open source Python projects. You can vote up the examples you like or vote down the exmaples you don't like. Split the source string by the occurrences of the pattern, returning a list containing the resulting substrings. \w and \W are: \w Matches any alphanumeric character; equivalent to [a-zA-Z_].


Celo is a small community of approximately 34 families located in the western mountains of Yancey County, North Carolina. A number of artisans live and work in Celo, and as a result, the largest single economic activity in the community is the work of potters, glass blowers, etc. A cooperative shop on Route 80 near the town displays the works of Celo artists, as well items made by other craftspeople from outside the community. There are more artists per capita in the western mountains of North Carolina then in any other region in the country. As part of Yancey County, Celo offers visitors an abundance of outdoor activities to enjoy. Choose from hiking, fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking, white water rafting, skiing or golf. Nestled among the diverse forests and western mountains of the state also means lots of sightseeing opportunities. Yancey County has the highest average elevation of any county in North Carolina and the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway makes up its' southeastern border. The nearby town of Burnsville has a picturesque town square that is lined with unique shops, galleries and restaurants, and is the site of craft fairs and summer evening concerts. In addition, the annual Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair is held the first weekend in August in Burnsville and features handmade quilts, pottery, baskets and other handmade items.
The closest airports in the area are the Asheville Regional airport (AVL) located about 35 miles southwest of Celo in Asheville, North Carolina, the Tri Cities Regional Tn Va airport (TRI) located approximately 44 miles north of Celo in Bristol Johnson Kingsport, Tennessee, the Shelby Municipal airport (EHO) located roughly 53 miles southeast of Celo in Shelby, North Carolina, and finally the Greenville Spartanburg International airport (GSP) located around 66 miles south of Celo in Greer, South Carolina.
Ghost Town in the Sky Maggie Valley NC 55.7 mi.
Cherokee Fun Park Cherokee NC 68.1 mi.
Santa's Land Cherokee NC 68.1 mi.
NASCAR SpeedPark Sevierville TN 76.3 mi.
Paramount's Carowinds Charlotte NC 87.9 mi.
Paramount's Carowinds-Water Works Pineville NC 91.1 mi.
Green Oaks Golf Club Concord NC 6.8 mi.
Mount Mitchell Golf Club Burnsville NC 6.8 mi.
Rocky River Golf Club at Concord Concord NC 6.8 mi.
Grassy Creek Golf & Country Club Spruce Pine NC 8.5 mi.
Old Fort Golf Course Old Fort NC 16.6 mi.
Black Mountain Golf Course Black Mountain NC 18.6 mi.
Mountain Glen Golf Course Newland NC 21.9 mi.
Willow Springs Country Club Wilson NC 22.4 mi.
Reems Creek Golf Course Weaverville NC 23.4 mi.
Mountain Brook Golf Club Albemarle NC 25.8 mi.
Village of Sugar Mountain Golf Course Banner Elk NC 27.6 mi.
Buncombe County Municipal Golf Course Asheville NC 27.8 mi.
Quaker Meadows Golf Club Morganton NC 28.3 mi.
Finley Golf Club Chapel Hill NC 28.6 mi.
Preserve At Jordan Lake Golf Club Chapel Hill NC 28.6 mi.
Twin Lakes Golf Course Chapel Hill NC 28.6 mi.
Lake Lure Golf & Beach Resort Lake Lure NC 28.7 mi.
Hawksnest Golf & Ski Resort Seven Devils NC 28.8 mi.
Ski Wolf Laurel Mars Hill NC 19.7 mi.
Ski Beech Banner Elk NC 27.8 mi.
Sugar Mountain Ski Area Banner Elk NC 27.8 mi.
Hawksnest Golf & Ski Resort Seven Devils NC 28.9 mi.
Cataloochee Maggie Valley NC 55.7 mi.
Scaly Mountain Scaly Mountain NC 86.0 mi.
Mount Mitchell State Park NC 7.1 mi.
Western North Carolina Nature Center Asheville NC 26.8 mi.
Greenville Zoo Greenville SC 70.5 mi.
Knoxville Zoological Gardens Knoxville TN 96.6 mi.


This lesson demonstrates how to search for an open stack by label, rather than by name.
The titledWindowIsOpen function checks whether a stack window is open, but using its label property instead of its name. (Usually, you use the name of a stack instead, because it's unique--only one stack with a particular name can be open at a time, while several open stacks might have the same label.) If there is an open stack window with the specified title, the function returns true; if there is no such window, it returns false.
First, the handler gets a list of all open stacks, using the openStacks function, and puts it into a variable called tOpenStacksList.
The openStacks function returns the name of stack windows, not their label so to find out whether there is an open window with a certain title, we need to check the label property of each stack returned by the openStacks. This is done in a repeat loop. The loop goes through each of the lines in the tOpenStacksList variable and checks each stack's label property. If the label matches the window title we're looking for, the function returns true.
The return control structure halts the handler it's in, so as soon as we find a stack with the right title, the handler ends. If the handler checks all the open stacks and doesn't find one with the right title, it returns false.
Done this way, the handler still works the same way. But the repeat loop must retrieve a stack name once for each open stack, and it's faster to check the contents of a variable than to check the value returned by a function.
Many languages support this form of repeat loop, and Transcript does too: this form will work the same way as the one we used. However, the repeat for each form is much faster--depending on the circumstances, up to hundreds of times faster--than the repeat with x = start to end form. This handler normally has to check only a few open stacks, rather than repeating hundreds or thousands of times, so these speedups may not make much practical difference in this case. But these are good habits to learn for other handlers that are more time-consuming.


What are results sheets in Schools Online?
Who is the Principal's Delegate?
Is it possible to have more than one Principal's Delegate at my school?
How do I access Schools Online?
What happens after results are verified by the Principal's Delegate?
What happens after the school assessment results have been submitted to the SACE Board?
Schools Online is an application available to schools to enter and manage students' SACE enrolments and results.
Results sheetsare the online mechanism for teachers to enter Stage 1 and Stage 2 results in Schools Online. Teachers will submit the results to the Principal's Delegate who will check and confirm the results, and submit them to the SACE Board.
The Principal's Delegate is one or more people nominated by the Principal at the school. The Principal's Delegate may or may not be the school's SACE Coordinator.
The Principal's Delegate has final delegation at the school in Schools Online to submit results to the SACE Board.
Yes. If a school requires more than one Principal's Delegate, i.e. if this role is co-owned or shared, or if the school wishes to have a back-up, Schools Online can accommodate this requirement.
The Principal's Delegate at your school is responsible for setting up your user account. To access Schools Online, you will need your school email address, password and a web link.
When the results have been checked and verified at the school, the Principal's Delegate submits the results to the SACE Board via Schools Online.
The SACE Board receives and saves the results, and updates student enrolments based on the withdrawn and added students indicated by the school via ORS.


New Zealand Photography Workshops Ltd.
Join New Zealand's top landscape, nature and wildlife photographers to help you to get the most from your photography or visit to New Zealand.
Whether you are a complete beginner, a keen amateur, or a professional, a workshop with Richard Young, Rob Brown, Dave Buckton and experienced tutors can help you to get the most from your photography. With small group workshops specialising in landscape, nature, wildlife and travel photography we will help you improve your photography and take you to some stunning locations.


Description : Today is an another Valentine`s Days. So we just wanted to celebrate your Valentine`s Days and we made a sweet jigsaw game with sweet song and beautiful pictures. We believe you will love it. So then play this sweet game now! Happy Valentine`s Days!


text:
Q: inconsistent Data Type -ORA-00932 I know there is question related to inconsistent datatypes but that comes from a query. while
I am getting this error on database side when we try to access user defined datatype on our schema that is written in some other schema.
E.g.
we are having xxxtypes schema and we have defined several UDT there. Now in our database we are using xxxtypes.employeeList, so it is throwing following error from that line.
java.sql.SQLSyntaxErrorException: ORA-00932: inconsistent datatypes: expected - got SYSTPzM8RTCHEUy/gQAB/AQBa6A==
EDIT:
Q :Why this error is coming ? and How to overcome this ?
Examples:
create or replace
TYPE InstalmentList IS TABLE OF InstalmentEntry;

   create or replace
   TYPE InstalmentEntry IS OBJECT
   (
    reservationinstalment_id NUMBER,
    value NUMBER
   );

We have created above type in xxxtypes schema, to use it for several clients.
Now for a client's database  we are using it as :
  SELECT
          column_value AS list,
          rownum AS rownumber
        FROM
          TABLE(
            CAST(
              powermultiset(
                CAST(
                  MULTISET(
                    SELECT
                      rsv_int.reservationinstalment_id,
                      rsv_int.value
                    FROM reservationinstalment rsv_int
                    WHERE
                      rsv_int.reservation_id = p_reservation_id
                      AND
                      rsv_int.payer_type = p_payer_type
                      AND
                      rsv_int.type <> 'r'
                  )
                  AS
                  **xxxtypes.InstalmentList**
                )
              )
              AS
              InstalmentListList
            )
          )
      ) combinations

now xxxtypes.InstalmentList is throwing error saying that it is getting some inconsistent datatypes.

A: The type InstalmentList is a nested table of InstalmentEntry, so you need to build a set of InstalmentEntry objects to get the list.
The following query works on 11.2:
SELECT column_value AS list, rownum AS rownumber
  FROM TABLE(powermultiset(
               CAST(MULTISET (SELECT InstalmentEntry(1, 1) /*Entry "constructor"*/
                                FROM dual)
                    AS InstalmentList)
             ));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GeocodeResponse>
 <status>OK</status>
 <result>
  <type>neighborhood</type>
  <type>political</type>
  <formatted_address>dedemsvaart Zuid-Oost, 7701 Dedemsvaart, Netherlands</formatted_address>
  <address_component>
   <long_name>dedemsvaart Zuid-Oost</long_name>
   <short_name>dedemsvaart Zuid-Oost</short_name>
   <type>neighborhood</type>
   <type>political</type>
  </address_component>
  <address_component>
   <long_name>Dedemsvaart</long_name>
   <short_name>Dedemsvaart</short_name>
   <type>locality</type>
   <type>political</type>
  </address_component>
  <address_component>
   <long_name>Hardenberg</long_name>
   <short_name>Hardenberg</short_name>
   <type>administrative_area_level_2</type>
   <type>political</type>
  </address_component>
  <address_component>
   <long_name>Overijssel</long_name>
   <short_name>Overste</short_name>
   <type>administrative_area_level_1</type>
   <type>political</type>
  </address_component>
  <address_component>
   <long_name>Netherlands</long_name>
   <short_name>NL</short_name>
   <type>country</type>
   <type>political</type>
  </address_component>
  <address_component>
   <long_name>7701</long_name>
   <short_name>7701</short_name>
   <type>postal_code</type>
   <type>postal_code_prefix</type>
  </address_component>
  <geometry>
   <location>
    <lat>52.5934009</lat>
    <lng>6.4659139</lng>
   </location>
   <location_type>APPROXIMATE</location_type>
   <viewport>
    <southwest>
     <lat>52.5859202</lat>
     <lng>6.4591026</lng>
    </southwest>
    <northeast>
     <lat>52.6009625</lat>
     <lng>6.4718056</lng>
    </northeast>
   </viewport>
   <bounds>
    <southwest>
     <lat>52.5859202</lat>
     <lng>6.4591026</lng>
    </southwest>
    <northeast>
     <lat>52.6009625</lat>
     <lng>6.4718056</lng>
    </northeast>
   </bounds>
  </geometry>
  <partial_match>true</partial_match>
  <place_id>ChIJ25ttqmkGyEcROTLw9V9EZew</place_id>
 </result>
</GeocodeResponse>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Getting the Facebook like/share count for a given URL with Graph API v2.2 and Javascript SDK In Graph API v1.0 I did this in Javascript in order to retrive a page shares count, with jQuery in the specific example below:
var url = 'http://example.org/some/article/to/get/shares/or/likes/';
jQuery.getJSON("https://graph.facebook.com/"+escape(url)+"?callback=?", function(json) {
    if( "shares" in json && 0 != json.shares ) {
        $this.append(''+json.shares+'');
    }
} );

With Graph API v2.2 it seems, after doing some test with Graph API Explorer and according to documentation, that an acces token is required in order to make a request to the index API.
Any idea how to convert the code above for Graph API v2.2?
Thank you.


I had the good fortune of being introduced to Heidi when I needed an agent to sell a property. Heidi Is an amazing professional who is masterful in all areas of her craft.
She is absolutely reliable, kind, and patient. She also has a wonderful network of people who support her in making good things happen.
She made the experience of selling the property a very good one. I don't believe you can go wrong with Heidi Mueller.


Since 1997, Dress for Success has been empowering women to achieve economic independence. Each year a Success Luncheon is held to recap the successes of the past year and to share plans for the upcoming year.
Keiger Graphic Communications and Piedmont Federal Savings Bank had the pleasure of being the Presenting Sponsors at the 2017 Success Luncheon on Wednesday, July 27th at the BB&T Ballpark. Some of the guests included referral agencies, clothing donors, financial donors and people who were learning about Dress for Success for the first time.


For the 3rd year the Ford Raptor Forum has joined forces with Great Lakes Raptor Excursions in setting up the largest Ford Raptor event east of the Mississippi. This year we have changed the location to the Phoenix track located in Steubenville, OH. This 3 day event is going to be one of the best Ford Raptor events to date. The Phoenix track offers 1500 acres of trails specifically setup for Ford Raptors and they will be exclusive to the participants of this event. As in the past participants will receive event t-shirts, swag packs (including sponsor items, stickers and/or brochures) and door placards.
Bonfire and music will be going on as well.
Off-Road Auxiliary Lighting is required to participate in the night run.
The banquet will begin at 1900, shortly after everyone gets dinner the Charity Raffle will begin.
There is primitive (no services) camping available onsite, we are charging $10.00 per person for the weekend for those interested in camping. The $10.00 is to help cover the cost of port-a-jons in the camping area.


We've noticed an increasing interest in using natural elements to adorn furniture and accessories. Wood slices, quarts, marble, alabaster, sliced agate and selenite coupled with quartz crystals, along with cross-sections of shells have become popular additions to some of the most elegant furnishings.
There is nothing more beautiful than a shell spiral or a raw crystal to a sleek lamp, plexiglass box or as cabinetry hardware to make your furniture, lamps or accessories something very special.
Give me a ring or swing by the store to view our current collections.


Adventure minigolf course has 18 holes with different difficulty. Game is not physically demanding. Everybody can play it. No dress code, simple rules guarantees fun for the whole family. Golf course is illuminated during the night. It creates romantic atmosphere. Let's come and play!


Weezie World + Instagram = ShinyGram!
Sadly, I don't update this Instagram account as often as my main one. But if you feel so inclined, I invite you to follow along. I post sales and new products from time to time. And you never know when something fab might pique your interest!


Giving the right gift to a guy who seems to have everything can be a difficult task. However, if you get the right item, it could be the piece he has been looking for. For this reason, we partnered with Giftagram to show you 10 awesome holiday gift ideas for the dapper gent on your holiday list.
A tie clip is an essential for any dapper man. This one from Izola is a perfect length for the various ties he may have. As well, the gold finish is unique to the silver one he probably already owns.
Well-dressed or not, watches are something all men collect. A watch for a man is what jewellery is to a woman. A classic timepiece is a great gift to remember life's milestones and a sure way to make him remember you.
Whether the guy on your list is an outdoorsman or a businessman, this Filson briefcase is the best of both worlds. The briefcase is perfect for bringing his essentials around, but is rugged enough for any occasion.
One great way to give some life to an old shoe is to change the laces. These 3 from Stolen Riches are an easy way to add a subtle pop to any outfit.
All true gentlemen have an appreciation for classic elements. Edwin Jagger is trying to bring back traditional grooming with this timeless shaving set. It's time to ditch all the blades and grooming technology and make shaving simple again.
There is nothing worse than scrambling around the airport looking for your tickets and passports when you are traveling. This passport wallet from WWT is a perfect piece to keep any guy looking good and organized when jumping on a flight.
Socks are one of the easiest way to show some personality, even in the most conservative of settings. With a wide range of styles and prints, Happy Socks has something for any guy on your list.
Studies have shown that when a women meets a man, the first thing she looks at is his shoes. Give the gift of confidence with this leather shoe care kit.
Have an avid Instagrammer on your shopping list? Give him a boost with this Navy key charging cable from Native Union. Not only is it visually appealing, but it will hold his keys and give his phone a charge when it's running low.
With all these different devices at our fingertips, everyday cords need to be on us to keep moving. Give the gift of organization this holiday season with these cord tacos in tan leather.
Lastly If you aren't familiar with Giftagram, they are app that allows their users to send gifts to anyone from the luxury of your cell phone. You can also browse Giftagram's curated selection from local boutiques, premium brands and exclusive experiences to find the perfect gift, no matter their interests. It's as simple as selecting your contact, picking a gift and pressing send. Your recipient will be notified and receive their gift in 3-5 days. It's the easiest way to send a gift this holiday season, without even leaving your house.


text:
Perceptual Training Prevents the Emergence of the Other Race Effect during Infancy
Michelle Heron-Delaney ,
* E-mail: michelle.delaney@uq.edu.au
Affiliation Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
Gizelle Anzures,
Affiliation Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Jane S. Herbert,
Paul C. Quinn,
Affiliation Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, United States of America
Alan M. Slater,
Affiliation Psychology Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
James W. Tanaka,
Affiliation Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Kang Lee,
Affiliation Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Olivier Pascalis
Affiliation Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurocognition, Université Pierre Mendes France, Grenoble, France
Michelle Heron-Delaney,
Michelle Heron-Delaney Gizelle Anzures ... Olivier Pascalis
Experience plays a crucial role in the development of the face processing system. At 6 months of age infants can discriminate individual faces from their own and other races. By 9 months of age this ability to process other-race faces is typically lost, due to minimal experience with other-race faces, and vast exposure to own-race faces, for which infants come to manifest expertise [1]. This is known as the Other Race Effect. In the current study, we demonstrate that exposing Caucasian infants to Chinese faces through perceptual training via picture books for a total of one hour between 6 and 9 months allows Caucasian infants to maintain the ability to discriminate Chinese faces at 9 months of age. The development of the processing of face race can be modified by training, highlighting the importance of early experience in shaping the face representation.
Citation: Heron-Delaney M, Anzures G, Herbert JS, Quinn PC, Slater AM, Tanaka JW, et al. (2011) Perceptual Training Prevents the Emergence of the Other Race Effect during Infancy. PLoS ONE 6(5): e19858. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019858
Editor: Angela Sirigu, French National Centre for Scientific Research, France
Received: March 7, 2011; Accepted: April 5, 2011; Published: May 18, 2011
Copyright: © 2011 Heron-Delaney et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This research was supported by an Economic and Social Research Council grant (RES-000-22-3246)(http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/) awarded to MH-D, JSH, and OP, and by National Institutes of Health grant R01 HD046526 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm) awarded to PCQ, AMS, JWT, KL, and OP. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
The Other Race Effect (ORE) reflects a difficulty in recognizing and discriminating between faces from other-race groups compared to faces of one's own race, and is a well-established phenomenon in adults (see [2] for a review). The ORE is assumed to be a consequence of experience with faces from races that are typically found in our environment. Thus, extensive experience with one's own race results in expertise in identifying individuals within that group, whereas lack of experience with other-race individuals results in relatively poor discrimination and recognition abilities for these faces.
Recent research on the developmental origins of the ORE has revealed that sensitivity to race emerges early in life. This research supports the perceptual narrowing hypothesis that face representation at birth is broad and develops according to the type of facial input received [3]. For example, facial input received by infants during the first 3 months of life is sufficient to drive a visual preference for own-race faces [4], [5], [6]. Kelly and colleagues [4] have shown that this preference is not present at birth in Caucasian infants and Bar-Haim et al. [5] found that 3-month-old Africans exposed to Caucasian and African faces did not show a preference for either kind of face. Thus, infants' preference for different faces is dependent on their experience with faces of a given race.
This early visual preference for familiar categories of faces in the visual environment may be the starting point for the development of the ORE. Kelly et al. [1] assessed Caucasian 3-, 6-, and 9-month-olds' abilities to discriminate own-race faces and other-race African, Middle Eastern, and Chinese faces. Three-month-olds demonstrated recognition of faces in all four races, whereas 9-month-olds only recognized own-race (Caucasian) faces. A similar study with Chinese infants [7] reported a comparable developmental trajectory, with recognition limited to Chinese faces by 9 months of age. These findings suggest that facial input from the infant's environment is fundamental in shaping the face-processing system in infancy, and that the ORE is firmly in place by 9 months of age [1].
Other studies also reveal a difference in face processing abilities for own- and other-race faces that emerges by approximately 9 months. Ferguson, Kulkofsky, Cashon and Casasola [8] found a difference in the way Caucasian infants process own versus other-race faces for 8-, but not 4-month-olds. At 4 months, Caucasian infants process both own- and other-race faces holistically. However, by 8 months infants process own-race faces holistically, and other-race faces featurally, suggesting that narrowing in processing, as well as discrimination abilities, is occurring at roughly the same ages [8].
Although the face-processing system becomes tuned to own-race faces very early in life, it still retains flexibility to process other-race faces, given sufficient training or exposure. A fragile ORE in 3-month-old Caucasians was abolished by exposing the infants to three Asian faces (i.e., rather than one) during the learning phase [9]. It appears that a robust ORE does not emerge until later in life. However, even after a robust ORE has emerged in childhood, the face-processing system remains flexible so that the ORE can be removed or even reversed if there is sufficient exposure to other-race faces [10], [11].
Whilst the ORE has been consistently demonstrated in adults, it has been shown to be reducible, at least in the short term, with minimal training. Training participants to discriminate other-race faces can increase their ability to discriminate and recognize other-race faces and reduce the ORE [12], [13], [14]. In particular, experience individuating other-race faces (e.g. Joe, Bob) rather than categorizing faces (Chinese vs. African) improves recognition performance [15], [16]. Results from these training studies suggest that the recognition of other-race faces in adulthood is still flexible and responsive to perceptual experience.
The aforementioned studies demonstrate that the ORE can be reduced in children and adults given sufficient exposure to other-race faces. The present study will ascertain if the ORE can be prevented from developing in the first place if infants are given perceptual experience with other-race faces following a training methodology that has been used to maintain infants' abilities to discriminate among faces from another species (Pascalis et al., 2005). Prior research indicates that 6-month-olds can discriminate both human and monkey faces, whereas 9-month-olds and adults can only discriminate human faces due to perceptual narrowing of the face representation [17]. In Pascalis et al. [18], 3 months of exposure to a book of monkey faces (starting at 6 months) was sufficient to preserve such recognition abilities at 9 months of age. Scott and Monesson [19] replicated this study with one key difference: Infants learned six monkey faces individually (each face had its own name), categorically (each face was labeled "monkey"), or the faces were not labeled. Only infants trained with individually labeled faces maintained the ability to discriminate the monkey faces at 9 months. Thus, experience individuating faces is essential for infants to benefit from the training.
The convergence of findings from studies on face species [17] and race [1] indicate that 6 to 9 months of age represents an important time of transition in the face processing system. If a certain type of face (other species or race) is not experienced prior to this period, then the ability to discriminate between individual faces within those categories declines. Perceptual training experienced near the end of the tuning period appears to be effective for maintaining the ability to discriminate between individuals of other species. It is possible that such training may also be effective for maintaining the ability to discriminate between other face types, such as other-race faces.
The aim of the current research is to establish whether providing exposure to other-race faces between 6 and 9 months of age will change infants' abilities to process other-race faces. This work will determine whether exposure to other-race (Chinese) faces through perceptual training via picture books allows infants to (1) learn the individual faces from the books, and (2) maintain the ability to discriminate individual Chinese faces at 9 months of age. Performance will be assessed using the paradigm previously used to investigate infants' abilities to learn and discriminate individual monkey faces [18]. We hypothesized that 9-month-old Caucasians who received long-term book exposure to Chinese faces would discriminate individual Chinese faces and recognize the exemplars from their books. By contrast, the control group who received training on Caucasian faces would not be able to discriminate Chinese faces at 9 months of age, but would be able to recognize the Caucasian faces from their books.
This study received ethical approval from the Behavioural & Social Sciences Ethical Review Committee at the University of Queensland prior to commencement of the study.
Each infant's parent gave their written informed consent for their child to participate in the study. Sixteen 6-month-old Caucasians (8 girls; mean age = 185 days, range = 175 to 194 days) were included in the training group. Two infants were excluded because of crying/fussing during the pre-training test. Two infants were excluded because they were unable to return for testing at 9 months. One infant was excluded due to experience with Asians, as the result of a Japanese student living in their home. The training group infants included for analyses returned at 9 months (mean age = 276 days, range = 260 to 284 days).
Sixteen 6-month-old Caucasians (9 girls; mean age = 186 days, range = 176 to 194 days) were included in the control group. Two additional infants were excluded due to crying or fussing, and another two were excluded because they did not return for testing at 9 months. The control group infants included for analyses returned at 9 months (mean age = 274 days, range = 258 to 284 days). Parents' responses on a questionnaire indicated that all infants had minimal contact with other-race individuals. Infants were tested in Brisbane, Australia.
The stimuli used in the training books were 48 color pictures: 24 Chinese faces in the training group and 24 Caucasian faces in the control group, all presented against a white background (Fig. 1). For each race, half of the faces were female. There were eight different training books each measuring 22×30 cm. The books contained either six female faces or six male faces (with names) and were either all Caucasian or all Chinese, resulting in the following series of books: two containing Chinese males, two with Chinese females, two with Caucasian males, and two with Caucasian females. Faces were presented in frontal orientations and with neutral expressions. Pictures were cropped so that hairlines were visible, but hairstyles were fairly uniform across both the male and female stimuli. The gender of the face stimuli for the 6-month discrimination task, training protocol, 9-month retention task, and 9-month discrimination task was consistent for each infant.
Figure 1. Examples of Chinese face exemplars presented to infants.
The first face is presented during the familiarization phase and the second and third faces are presented as the discrimination test. These particular face exemplars were not used in the study and are used for illustrative purposes only, however they are depicted in exactly the same manner as the study stimuli.
A new set of faces was used for the VPC test assessing the infant's ability to discriminate between novel Chinese faces (see Fig 1). Half of the infants were presented with a front-facing image during familiarization and two three-quarter pose faces for the test trials. The other half were presented with the reverse. Thus, two different Chinese faces were needed for each discrimination test, and one of these faces was presented in a different orientation (3 images in total). Six different face sets (each containing 3 images) served as the VPC stimuli: 3 Chinese male and 3 Chinese female sets. Stimulus size and brightness were kept uniform by using Adobe Photoshop. When projected onto the screen, each picture was 15 cm high and 10 cm wide. Only one stimulus was projected in the centre of the screen for familiarization, and two stimuli were projected side by side separated by a 12-cm gap during the retention tests.
A VPC procedure [20], [21] was used to assess facial discrimination in infants before (at 6 months) and after an exposure/training period with Chinese faces (at 9 months). The VPC procedure indexes the level of interest for one stimulus in a pair after one of these stimuli has been learned during a prior familiarization period. Recognition is inferred from the infant's tendency to fixate on one stimulus, generally the novel one, for a longer duration. A Visual Preference task was also utilized to assess recognition of individual faces from the infants' specific book at 9 months of age. A systematic preference for one face (novel or familiar) indicates recognition.
Testing took place in a quiet room. Infants were seated in a high chair with their mother beside them. Images were projected onto a large screen in front of the infant. A digital camera filmed the infant's eye movements.
Pre-training testing.
At 6 months, the infant's pre-training ability to discriminate between either individual Chinese or Caucasian faces was assessed with a VPC task. Infants were familiarized to a Chinese or Caucasian face for 20 s of cumulative looking. Stimulus fixation was assessed by the corneal reflection technique [22]. An experimenter hidden from the infant's view examined the eyes on the camera screen and controlled the time of presentation of stimuli during the familiarization, inter-trial intervals, and preference tests. A computer algorithm determined when 20 s of cumulative looking time was reached. The discrimination tests started when the infant looked at one of the two stimuli, and they ended after 5 s had elapsed. After the first 5-s test, the side on which the images were presented was reversed, and a second 5-s test was completed.
Training.
After the pre-training session, parents were provided with a book containing images of either Chinese (other-race) or Caucasian (own-race) faces. The images were different from those used during the pre-training test. Parents were asked to present the pictures in the book to their child for 2–3 minutes every day for 1 week, then every other day for the next week, and then less frequently (approximately once every 6 days) following a fixed schedule of exposures during the 3-month period (equating to approximately 70 minutes of exposure overall). This is based on the schedule used to successfully train 6-month-old infants on monkey faces [18], [19]. Parents were supplied with detailed instructions about the training schedule. Parents were contacted via phone every 3–4 weeks to ensure compliance with the book training protocol.
Post-training Testing.
Recognition of trained exemplars: Three months later, 9-month-olds' abilities to recognize pictures from the training book was assessed. There were six recognition trials, one for each face included in the infant's training book. For each trial, a familiar image from the book was presented with a novel image until 10 s of cumulative looking was recorded. For half of the trials, the familiar image was the exact image from the training book (i.e. facing front). For the other half, a three-quarter pose of the same person was presented. Varying the viewpoint between learning and test ensures that infants are actually learning the face, rather than just the picture. Each trial was followed by a blank screen for 2 s. The pairing of the pictures was completed by the experimenters on the basis of pictures being similar but distinguishable. The position of the familiar pictures was counterbalanced across trials to control for side preference. The six faces which were familiar for one group served as novel for the other group and vice versa. This controlled for the possibility that some faces were more attractive for reasons other than familiarity.
Generalization to novel exemplars: After the recognition test and a short break, a post-training VPC test was conducted in the same way as the pre-training task (using a new set of Chinese faces) to assess the infant's ability to discriminate between novel Chinese faces. Infants were exposed to a Chinese face during the familiarization phase and then tested with the familiar and novel Chinese face. Orientation was counterbalanced across infants so that half the infants within each condition were familiarized to the three-quarter pose face and tested on front-facing pictures, and the other half of the infants were presented with the reverse. This procedure established whether the training facilitates generalization of other-race face discrimination skills (i.e., general learning about race has occurred), or whether infants are simply remembering individual faces. Each pair of photographs was presented for 5 s. There were two test conditions: (1) Learn Chinese faces, test on Chinese faces (training group) and (2) Learn Caucasian faces, test on Chinese faces (control group).
The time each infant spent looking at stimuli during recognition and generalization tests was examined using frame-by-frame analysis. Testing sessions were analyzed by two observers blind to the location of the novel and familiar test stimuli. Inter-observer reliability was calculated for 20% of the infants. The six retention trials, two discrimination test trials, and the time required to reach familiarization criteria were double-scored for each of these infants. Direction of looking was compared for each 40-ms frame. The average level of agreement was 95%.
For each of the analyses, preliminary examination of the data revealed no significant differences due to gender or orientation of the face photographs, so the data were combined for further analysis.
Pre-training Discrimination Test: 6 months
A 2 (Condition: Chinese vs. Caucasian) x 2 (Face stimulus: Novel vs. Familiar) mixed model ANOVA was conducted on total looking time to the stimuli. This analysis revealed a significant main effect of Condition, F(1,30) = 5.67, p = .023, η2 = .15, indicating that 6-month-olds looked longer at Chinese than Caucasian faces (4.76 s or 52% vs. 4.39 s or 48%, respectively), averaged across the novel and familiar categories. This indicates that infants looked longer at the pair of Chinese faces on the test trial, following familiarization to a Chinese face. There was also a significant main effect of Stimulus, F(1,30) = 20.11, p = <.001, η2 = .39; however, the Stimulus x Condition interaction was not significant, F(1,30) = <1, p = .994, η2 = .01. This result indicates that 6-month-olds look significantly longer at the novel than familiar face stimuli (5.39 s or 59% vs. 3.76 s or 41%, respectively) averaged across both the Caucasian and Chinese conditions. Thus, 6-month-olds discriminated the individual Chinese or Caucasian faces without training (see Table 1), thus replicating the findings of Kelly et al. [1].
Table 1. Mean looking times (s), corresponding percentage of looking time and standard deviations (in parentheses) for novel and familiar faces for each condition for the 6-month-olds prior to training.
Recognition of Trained Exemplars: 9 Months
Looking times for the six novel faces were summed as were looking times for the six familiar faces for both the Chinese and Caucasian conditions. A 2 (Face stimulus: Novel vs. Familiar) x 2 (Condition: Chinese vs. Caucasian book training) mixed model ANOVA was conducted on total looking time to the stimuli. The main effect of Stimulus was not significant, F(1,30) <1, p = .716, η2 = .005, and the main effect of Condition was marginally significant, F(1,30) = 3.35, p = .08, η2 = .10, but this was subsumed by a significant Stimulus x Condition interaction, F(1,30) = 14.42, p = .001, η2 = .33. Follow-up paired-samples two-tailed t-tests indicated that infants looked longer at the novel than familiar Caucasian faces during retention test trials if they received Caucasian face training, t(15) = 2.33, p = .034 (see Table 2). Infants who received Chinese face training looked significantly longer at the familiar than novel Chinese faces, t(15) = 3.11, p = .008 (see Table 2).
Table 2. Mean looking times (s), corresponding percentage of looking time and standard deviations (in parentheses) for novel and familiar faces from Caucasian and Chinese training books for the 9-month-olds following training.
This systematic preference for one category (i.e., familiar or novel) demonstrates that infants learned and remembered the faces from their picture books. However, the preference for the novel or familiar face on retention test trials differed depending on the race of the face. Nine-month-olds who received Caucasian face training looked longer at the novel than familiar Caucasian faces during test trials. In contrast, infants who received Chinese face training looked longer at the familiar than novel Chinese faces. This difference in preference depending on the trained race may reflect the different levels of complexity/difficulty involved in processing own- versus other-race stimuli. Chinese faces are presumably more difficult for young Caucasian infants to process and recognize/remember due to limited experience with this race (even after training). Infants tend to show a preference for familiar stimuli when the task is complex [23]. Additionally, infants may require more time to recognize an other-race face as familiar, resulting in longer looking at the familiar category for other-race faces. In contrast, Caucasian faces are easier to process and recognize since Caucasian 9-month-olds have a wealth of experience with Caucasian adult faces. Caucasian 9-month-olds could rapidly recognize individual Caucasian faces and then shift their preference to look at something new (the novel face), thereby demonstrating recognition of the familiar face stimuli via novelty preference.
Generalization to Novel Exemplars: 9 Months
A 2 (Condition: Chinese vs. Caucasian book training) x 2 (Face stimulus: Novel vs. Familiar) mixed model ANOVA was conducted on total looking time to the stimuli. There was no main effect of condition, F(1,30) = <1, p = .775, η2 = .003. There was a significant main effect of Stimulus, F(1,30) = 4.64, p = .04, η2 = .14, which was subsumed by a marginally significant Stimulus x Condition interaction, F(1,30) = 3.08, p = .08, η2 = .10.
Follow-up paired-samples two-tailed t-tests conducted for infants who had received Chinese face training revealed that these 9-month-olds looked significantly longer at the novel than familiar Chinese faces, t(15) = 3.32, p = .007 (see Table 3). This result indicates that after 3 months of exposure with Chinese faces, Caucasian 9-month-olds can discriminate individual exemplars from this race. Follow-up paired-samples two-tailed t-tests conducted for the Caucasian book training/control condition (i.e., 3 months of training on Caucasian faces; tested for individual recognition of Chinese faces) indicated no significant difference in looking times for the novel and familiar Chinese faces, t(15) <1, p = .801. Without training on Chinese faces, Caucasian 9-month-olds cannot discriminate individual Chinese faces, thereby replicating the results of Kelly et al. [1].
Table 3. Mean looking times (s), corresponding percentage of looking time and standard deviations (in parentheses) for novel and familiar faces for each condition for the 9-month-olds following training.
The studies reported examined the effect of exposure to Chinese faces on the specialization of the face-processing system to own-race faces during the first 9 months for Caucasian infants. We investigated whether providing Caucasian 6-month-olds with perceptual training on Chinese faces via picture books allows them to learn the individual pictures in their books and maintain the ability to discriminate Chinese faces at 9 months. This is an ability that otherwise is lost due to tuning of the human face prototype.
The results indicate that infants can remember and recognize individual faces they have seen in a picture book across a 3-month period, for both own- and other-race faces. Infants generalized from the front-facing pictures in their book to recognize the same person in a different orientation (three-quarter pose) during test trials. This finding indicates that infants were actually learning the face, rather than just the picture.
Next, we investigated whether Caucasian 9-month-olds who received Chinese face training could generalize their knowledge to novel Chinese face exemplars. This study is the first to demonstrate that exposure to Chinese faces from 6 to 9 months of age is sufficient to maintain Caucasian infants' abilities to discriminate Chinese faces. Three months of exposure to 6 individual other-race faces in a picture book prevents tuning of the face processing system towards just one race of face. Consistent with Kelly et al. [1], we found that Caucasian 9-month-olds who did not receive exposure to Chinese faces could not discriminate individual Chinese faces. These results are in line with the findings that infants' preferences for faces of different races are dependent on their experience with faces of a given race [4], [5], [6] and Nelson's [3] hypothesis that the face prototype develops according to the type of facial input received. Our findings also support previous research demonstrating that although the face-processing system becomes tuned to own-race faces very early in life, it still retains flexibility to process other-race faces, given sufficient exposure [10], [11]. Finally, our results are consistent with previous research demonstrating that 6 to 9 months of age is an important period for tuning of the face prototype towards own-species and own-race faces [1], [17].
Future research should establish the constraints on learning about other-race faces. This includes the duration of training necessary to discriminate other-race faces, the age point when the training must begin, and the age limit where training would be effective. The next step is to investigate the duration of the training effect, i.e., for how long after the training ceased would Caucasian infants maintain the ability to discriminate individual Chinese faces? Finally, does the face training need to be specific to the other-race faces that will be tested for individual recognition at 9 months of age? Or could training with Chinese faces improve performance with African faces?
In conclusion, this study demonstrates that perceptual training via picture books is effective in producing a change in the face processing system at 9 months when the stimuli are other-race faces. Previous research has demonstrated that the face representation for race information is malleable in children and adults if the appropriate input or training is available. The present study is unique in demonstrating that training on other-race faces can prevent the ORE from developing in the first place.
We sincerely thank the infants and parents who participated. We acknowledge Virginia Slaughter and the Early Cognitive Development Centre for generously providing laboratory space and James Delaney for his assistance with stimuli development.
Conceived and designed the experiments: MH-D JSH OP. Performed the experiments: MH-D. Analyzed the data: MH-D. Wrote the paper: MH-D GA JSH PCQ AMS JWT KL OP.
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2. Meissner CA, Brigham JC (2001) Thirty years of investigating the own-race bias memory for faces: A meta-analytic review. Psychol Pub Pol'y & L 7: 3–35.
3. Nelson CA (2001) The development and neural bases of face recognition. Infant Child Dev 10: 3–18.
4. Kelly DJ, Quinn PC, Slater AM, Lee K, Gibson A, et al. (2005) Three-month-olds, but not newborns, prefer own-race faces. Dev Sci 8: F31–F36.
5. Bar-Haim Y, Ziv T, Lamy D, Hodes RM (2006) Nature and nurture in own-race face processing. Psychol Sci 17: 159–163.
6. Kelly DJ, Liu S, Ge L, Quinn PC, Slater AM, et al. (2007) Cross-race preferences for same-race faces extend beyond the African versus Caucasian contrast in 3-month-old infants. Infancy 11: 87–95.
7. Kelly DJ, Liu S, Lee K, Quinn PC, Pascalis O, et al. (2009) Development of the other-race effect during infancy: Evidence toward universality? J Exp Child Psychol 104: 105–114.
8. Ferguson KT, Kulkofsky S, Cashon CH, Casasola M (2009) The development of specialized processing of own-race faces in infancy. Infancy 14: 263–284.
9. Sangrigoli S, de Schonen S (2004) Recognition of own-race and other-race faces by three-month-old infants. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 45: 1219–1227.
10. Sangrigoli S, Pallier C, Argenti AM, Ventureyra VAG, de Schonen S (2005) Reversibility of the other-race effect in face recognition during childhood. Psychol Sci 16: 440–444.
11. de Heering A, de Liedekerke C, Deboni M, Rossion B (2010) The role of experience during childhood in shaping the other-race effect. Dev Sci 13: 181–187.
12. Malpass RS, Lavigueur H, Weldon DE (1973) Verbal and visual training in face recognition. Percept Psychophys 14: 285–292.
13. Elliott ES, Wills EJ, Goldstein AG (1973) The effects of discrimination training on the recognition of white and oriental faces. Bull Psychon Soc 2: 71–73.
14. Goldstein AG, Chance JE (1985) Effects of training on Japanese face recognition: Reduction of the other-race effect. Bull Psychon Soc 23: 211–214.
15. Lebrecht S, Pierce LJ, Tarr MJ, Tanaka JW (2009) Perceptual other-race training reduces implicit racial bias. PLoS ONE 4: e4215.
16. Tanaka JW, Pierce LJ (2009) The neural plasticity of other-race face recognition. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 9: 122–131.
17. Pascalis O, de Haan M, Nelson CA (2002) Is face processing species-specific during the first year of life? Science 296: 1321–1323.
18. Pascalis O, Scott L, Kelly D, Shannon R, Nicholson E, et al. (2005) Plasticity of face processing in infancy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 5297–5300.
19. Scott LS, Monesson A (2009) The origin of biases in face perception. Psychol Sci 20: 676–680.
20. Fantz RL (1964) Visual experience in infants: Decreased attention to familiar patterns relative to novel ones. Science 146: 668–670.
21. Fagan JF (1974) Infant recognition memory: The effects of length of familiarization and type of discrimination task. Child Dev 45: 351–356.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Year : 2022 | Volume : 2 | Issue : 1 | Page : 9-14
Evaluation of diabetic neuropathies
Amit Varma1, Kapil Sharma2, Sumita Sharma3
1 Department of General Medicine, SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
2 Department of General Medicine, AIIMS, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India
3 Department of Biochemistry, AIIMS, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India
Date of Web Publication 29-Jun-2022
Department of General Medicine, AIIMS, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
DOI: 10.4103/JCDM.JCDM_2_22
Diabetes mellitus is a major health problem globally that increases the economic burden of every country. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in 2021, 1 in 10 adults are living with diabetes. About 352 million adults have uncontrolled glycemic profiles worldwide. Diabetes is likely to affect 552 million people worldwide by 2030. Diabetes and its complications are emerging as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Diabetes neuropathies are estimated to affect approximately 50% of people suffering with diabetes. Neuropathy, the most prevalent microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus, includes distal symmetric polyneuropathy, radiculoplexus neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, mononeuropathy, and treatment-induced neuropathy. Early diagnosis and appropriate management of diabetic neuropathy are essential to alleviate disabling symptoms and to improve the quality of life of patients. This review discusses clinical manifestations and evaluation of diabetic neuropathies as well as appropriate objective tests helpful in diagnosing diabetic neuropathies.
Keywords: Complications of diabetes mellitus, diabetic autonomic neuropathy, diabetic neuropathies
Varma A, Sharma K, Sharma S. Evaluation of diabetic neuropathies. J Cardio Diabetes Metab Disord 2022;2:9-14
Varma A, Sharma K, Sharma S. Evaluation of diabetic neuropathies. J Cardio Diabetes Metab Disord [serial online] 2022 [cited 2023 Jan 30];2:9-14. Available from: http://www.cardiodiabetic.org/text.asp?2022/2/1/9/349197
Diabetic neuropathies are considered the most prevalent chronic microvascular complications of diabetes. This heterogeneous group of conditions affects peripheral and cranial nerves and presents with varied clinical manifestations.[1] Nearly 50% of people with diabetes are affected by diabetic neuropathies during their lifetime. It is associated with significant morbidity which not only includes pain and paresthesia but also the risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers and lower limb amputation. Its prevalence varies between 6% and 51% among adults with diabetes depending on age, duration of disease, glucose control, and type of diabetes. The spectrum of diabetic neuropathies manifestation encompasses asymptomatic state to extremally painful neuropathic symptoms. The risk of diabetic foot ulcer and lower limb amputation is substantial with diabetic peripheral neuropathy; hence, aggressive and dedicated screening and management in terms of good glycemic control, regular foot exams and care, and pain management are important. Focus on lifestyle interventions such as weight loss and physical activity is also being explored as part of its management.[2] The prevalence is higher in older age and among adults with long-standing diabetes. There is some evidence to suggest that the prevalence is somewhat less in the Asian population.[3]
The major factors on which the development of diabetic neuropathies depends upon are duration and severity of hyperglycemia. In a study, Dyck et al.[4] reported that the incidence and severity of diabetic neuropathies were associated with the duration and severity of hyperglycemia. In the DCCT study in which 1441 patients with type 1 diabetes were recruited, the tight glycemic control arm showed a significant reduction in the incidence of neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy. The development of peripheral diabetic neuropathy was reduced by 60%. Other factors which might have contributed to the development of neuropathies included hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking. Vascular disease, both macrovascular and microvascular, and an inflammatory immune response are also significant contributors to some form of diabetic neuropathy.[5]
Clinical Classification of Diabetic Neuropathies
The existence of multiple pathogenic mechanisms of diabetic neuropathies, such as hyperglycemia, microvascular changes, inflammation, and dysregulated immune response, results in a number of different forms of neuropathies. Diabetic neuropathy can be understood on the basis of the pattern of the nerve fibers involved and the clinical signs and symptoms.
A simple classification depending on the type and location of the nerve involved is given in [Table 1].[6]
Table 1: Classification of diabetic neuropathies
Clinically, it may be classified based on the presenting symptoms, as depicted in [Table 2].[6]
Table 2: Symptoms of diabetic neuropathies
Various diagnostic criteria have been used in clinical research, and they are usually applicable to distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSPN), the most common form of diabetic neuropathies. Some criteria are based solely on symptoms and clinical examination only, whereas others make use of diagnostic tools to diagnose it.[7] An expert panel at the International Symposium on Diabetic Neuropathy in Toronto, 2009 proposed the diagnostic criteria for typical DSPN as follows: (1) possible DSPN—the presence of symptoms such as decreased sensation and positive sensory symptoms or signs such as symmetric decrease of distal sensation or unequivocally reduced or absent ankle reflexes; (2) probable DSPN—the presence of a combination of symptoms and signs of neuropathy; (3) confirmed DSPN—the presence of abnormalities on nerve conduction study (NCS) with both the presence of a combination of symptoms and signs of neuropathy and if the results of NCS are equivocal or ambiguous, other validated measures of small fiber function may be used; and (4) subclinical DSPN—no neuropathic symptoms or signs but confirmed neuropathy with NCS or other validated methods.[8]
History Taking and Bedside Examination
The patient should be inquired about the onset and progression of neuropathic symptoms. DSPN usually has slow onset and progression. Sudden onset and rapid worsening point to radiculoplexus neuropathy or inflammatory neuropathies, such as Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS). Different individuals may show a wide degree of variation in their symptoms. A careful history should be taken to determine whether the symptoms are due to large or small fiber involvement. The distribution of sensory symptoms should be located by describing the boundaries of sensory deficits during neurological examination.[7]
In DSPN, distal symmetric loss of both pinprick and vibration sensation is seen.[9] Vibration sensation may be tested on the index finger in the upper limb or the great toe in the lower limb. A 128-Hz tuning fork is usually placed on the bony prominence of the distal interphalangeal joint of the toe or finger of the patient, and they are then asked whether they can feel the vibration. The vibration sensation is considered to be abnormal if the patient does not feel the vibration or feels it for a lesser duration when compared with the examiner. Pinprick sensation can be tested with a toothpick: one should avoid a metal pin lest it may result in a blood-borne infection. Vibration and pinprick sensation should be compared with opposite limbs, and a distal-to-proximal gradient should be determined. Deep tendon reflex is examined using a flexible hammer. The ankle reflex may not be present or may be decreased at age ≥ 60 years.[7]
For the systematic workup of neuropathy in diabetics, we need to answer the following questions:
Step 1: Which fibers of the peripheral nerve are involved?
Motor/sensory/autonomic/mixed
Step 2: Distribution of weakness?
Only distal motor weakness- Hereditary SMA
Only distal sensory loss- DM and other metabolic disorders
Distal + proximal (sensory + motor) weakness, symmetrical- GBS and CIDP
If asymmetrical- DM, meningeal carcinomatosis, sarcoidosis, amyloidosis, hereditary.
Step 3: If sensory involvement?
Loss of pain and temperature
Loss of vibration and proprioception
Any numbness, hyperaesthesia, allodynia, tingling, burning, aching pain
Characteristic of neuropathic pain
Either sharp shooting pain if carried by A-delta fibers or dull boring nature of pain if carried by polymodal C type fibers.
Step 4: Is there any evidence of upper motor neuron (UMN) involvement? e.g., distal symmetrical sensory symptoms + UMN involvement suggestive of combined degeneration with neuropathy as seen in vitamin B12 deficiency, Cu deficiency, HIV, and adrenomyeloneuropathy.
Step 5: What is temporal evaluation?
Onset—acute/subacute/chronic
Acute—GBS, acute intermittent porphyria, critical illness polyneuropathy, diptheric neuropathy
Subacute—nutritional deficiency, paraneoplastic syndrome, exposure to toxins, CIDP
Chronic—hereditary, CIDP
Coarse—monophasic/progressive/relapsing (seen in GBS, CIDP, HIV, porphyria, Refsum's disease)
Step 6: Is there any evidence of hereditary neuropathy??
Slowly progressive distal weakness over many years
No sensory symptoms felt by the patient but sensory deficit on clinical examination
Examination ± high arch or flat arch feet, hammertoe, and scoliosis may be seen.
Step: Any associated medical condition including cancer, autoimmune disease, HIV, leprosy, Lyme's disease, any drug history, overuse of alcohol, vitamin B6 deficiency, etc.
Patterns of Diabetic Neuropathies
Different patterns of diabetic neuropathies that may be seen are as follows.
Distal symmetrical polyneuropathy
DSPN, the most common type of diabetic neuropathy, usually begins insidiously, 5–10 years after diagnosis of diabetes. It progresses symmetrically from the distal end of lower limbs and gradually progresses to proximal parts manifesting as a "glove-and-stocking" pattern. Due to the involvement of large-diameter sensory fibers, the patient complains of pins and needles (positive symptoms) sensation, tingling, as well as numbness (negative symptoms). The involvement of small sensory fibers (Aδ and C-fibers) causes burning or lancinating pain along with various symptoms or signs of autonomic system involvement. This small fiber involvement is the cause of painful diabetic neuropathy, which is present in 25% of patients with DSPN.[10]
Diabetic pseudotabes
In a few patients, instead of loss of deep sensation, ataxia, atony of bladder, and slight weakness of limbs resembling tabes dorsalis are seen.[11]
Acute diabetic mononeuropathy
It is mainly seen in aged individuals and is usually caused by vascular obstruction after which adjacent neuronal fascicles take over the function of those infarcted. It has acute painful onset.
Peripheral mononeuropathy
Practically, all the major peripheral nerves in isolation may be involved in diabetes but the ones most commonly affected are the femoral, sciatic, and peroneal nerves, in that order of frequency.[12]
Cranial neuropathy
This neuropathy involves third nerve followed by the trochlear and facial nerves in order of frequency. There is isolated third-nerve palsy with pupillary sparing, and it is considered as the hallmark of diabetic oculomotor palsy.[13]
Mononeuritis multiplex
It is painful, asymmetrical, asynchronous sensory and motor peripheral neuropathy involving isolated damage to at least two separate nerve areas. In some cases, this variety has been described in diabetic patients.[14]
Acute painful diabetic neuropathy
Acute painful diabetic neuropathy (APDN) is a distinct diabetic polyneuropathy and it has two subtypes: treatment-induced neuropathy (TIN) and diabetic neuropathic cachexia. The characteristic features of APDN are (1) involvement of small fiber, (2) occurrence after good glycemic control, (3) severe pain sensation, and (4) eventual recovery after some time. It appears pertinent to be aware of this distinct neuropathy in the light of the current recommendation of the good glycemic target.[15]
Diabetic autonomic neuropathy
Diabetes involves autonomic nerve fibers and autonomic neuropathy was reported to have prevalence rates of 16.8% in DM1 patients and 34.3% in those with DM2. It is most commonly associated with DSPN.[16] It may present as cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy, gastrointestinal neuropathy, or genitourinary neuropathy. Its salient features are presented in [Table 3].[17]
Table 3: Diabetic autonomic neuropathy
Polyradiculopathy
It is also known as asymmetrical proximal neuropathy, which is caused by injury to the proximal limb and nerve root at one or more thoracic or lumbar levels with axonal degeneration. Diabetic lumbosacral plexopathy is also known as diabetic amyotrophy or Bruns–Garland syndrome.[18]
Peripheral sudomotor autonomic neuropathy
It is characterized by loss of sweat function in stocking and glove distribution due to involvement of the peripheral sympathetic cholinergic system, which is involved in the regulation of sweat function and thermoregulation. Clinical features include dry skin in distal parts due to anhidrosis with compensatory hyperhidrosis in proximal parts, hyperthermia, changes in the texture of the skin, edema, loss of nails, itching, and callus formation.[19]
Questionnaires for Screening of Diabetic Neuropathies
Organized and validated questionnaires should be used for the assessment of diabetic neuropathies. The American Diabetes Association recommends screening for diabetic neuropathy at the time of diagnosis and annual assessment for patients with diabetes.[1]
The Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) is the most widely used questionnaire for screening of diabetic neuropathy.[20] This questionnaire includes two separate chapters. The first consists of a 15-item questionnaire that elicits "yes" or "no" responses from patients regarding sensory abnormalities. A score of more than 7 is considered abnormal. The second part involves physical inspection and neurological examination, done on both the left and right sides. Eight correct answers out of 10 questions are considered abnormal.
The Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Score (MDNS) is a tool that includes more detailed neurological examination and NCS data. The MDNS is used to confirm the presence of neuropathy and its severity in patients with positive results on MNSI. Diabetic Neuropathy Examination and Diabetic Neuropathy Symptom Score are tools designed for screening of DSPN.[21]
Composite Autonomic Symptom Score (COMPASS-31): It can be used for screening to evaluate autonomic dysfunction.[22] This questionnaire is composed of 31 questions in 6 domains, i.e., vasomotor, orthostatic intolerance, gastrointestinal, secretomotor, bladder, and pup illomotor.[23] The score obtained from COMPASS-31 is quantified according to clinical significance, and it is consistent with the severity of the results of the autonomic function testing.[24]
Ancillary Diagnostic Tests in Diabetic Neuropathies
Electrophysiological diagnosis
With advances in diagnostic technology, detailed and accurate diagnosis is now possible for diabetic neuropathies. When in doubt, more objective tests may be used to confirm the presence of neuropathy, to measure its severity, and to rule out other possible causes of the symptoms.
Nerve conduction studies
NCS is the gold standard test for diagnosing peripheral neuropathy including diabetic neuropathy and it should be performed to confirm its presence, assess its severity, and rule out other causes of neuropathy. Its use as a reliable indicator of DSPN has been advocated by experts.[8] Its disadvantage is that it can only assess the large fiber. Electromyography (EMG) is often used as the common term for electrodiagnostic tests and as a mixture of NCS. However, EMG is not necessary for the evaluation of neuropathy and is performed only when a patient has the involvement of motor system.
Autonomic function test (AFT)
The current AFT includes measurement of heart rate variability during deep breathing and the Valsalva maneuver and head-up-tilt test to assess cardiovagal and sympathetic adrenergic function. It can be assessed by the quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test (QSART), performed in specialized laboratories to assess the sympathetic cholinergic function.[25]
Heart rate variability to deep breathing (HRVDB) is a commonly used, simple, and reliable test to assess cardiovagal function. The heart rate increases during deep inspiration, whereas the opposite happens during expiration, due to the effects of respiration on intrathoracic pressure and venous return. In this test, the patient is asked to inhale slowly and regularly 5–6 times/min. ECG is recorded simultaneously in which R-R interval appears as sinusoidal curves. HRVDB is assessed by calculating the average ratio of the maximum to minimum heart rate (E: I ratio) or the average of the fastest rate minus the slowest (E–I difference). Early cardiac autonomic neuropathy involves parasympathetic nerves, followed by sympathetic adrenergic dysfunction. Hence, reduced HRVDB is a good indicator of cardiac autonomic dysfunction.[26]
The head-up-tilt test is used to evaluate orthostatic intolerance. Alternatively, it can be assessed by measuring the blood pressure during sitting and standing. A fall of >20 mmHg in systolic blood pressure and >10 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure within 3 min of standing signifies orthostatic hypotension.[27]
Sudomotor tests
Sudomotor function is important for the maintenance of body temperature and can be assessed by the QSART. In this test, 10% acetylcholine is used to stimulate nerve terminals in sweat glands. Due to the initiation of axon reflex, sweat response is induced in adjacent sweat glands. Sudomotor function can be assessed by measuring the amount of sweat produced. QSART is considered the most sensitive test for detecting postganglionic sympathetic cholinergic dysfunction and is currently used in various clinical conditions.[25] Another simple method to evaluate sweat production semi-quantitatively is by using a neuropad. After exposure to adequate sweat, the neuropad changes color from blue to pink, whereas lack of color change indicates hypohidrosis.[28]
Quantitative sensory test
In this psychophysiological test, sensory perception thresholds to predefined sensory stimuli are assessed. It is useful when the patient is suspected to have predominant small fiber involvement.[29] The use of specialized equipment and the long duration of time taken to conduct it limit its use in day-to-day practice. Hence, QST should be used as a complementary test rather than as a single diagnostic test.[30]
Intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IENFD) can be assessed using skin biopsy, and it provides an objective, quantitative measure of somatic C-fibers.[31] A 3-mm punch biopsy is obtained from the distal and proximal parts of the leg. Intraepidermal perpendicular sprouting axons per cubic millimeter measured under microscopy are used to calculate IENFD. Significant loss of small fiber is seen in diabetic neuropathies. Additionally, morphological changes, such as axonal swelling, are seen. Exploration of the dermis also provides useful information regarding innervation to the sweat glands or erector pili muscles.[7]
Nerve biopsy
It is rarely used in diabetic neuropathy unless in patients who are being suspected of vasculitis or amyloidosis.
Serum soluble Fas ligand (sFasL)
sFasL concentration decreases significantly with severity of neuropathy in type 2 DM and may be considered a serum marker to assess the severity of DPSN.[32]
Diabetic neuropathies show a wide spectrum of clinical features. It should be kept in mind that although diabetic neuropathies are the most common forms of neuropathies in diabetes, other treatable neuropathies should also be looked for. A detailed history, meticulous examination, and appropriate use of diagnostic testing are required to properly evaluate diabetic neuropathies. A neurologist consultation is advised if another form of neuropathy is suspected. As it is a major cause of morbidity among diabetic patients, a systematic approach in evaluating the diabetic patient would prevent or delay the development of neuropathy and its associated complications.
Pop-Busui R, Boulton AJ, Feldman EL, Bril V, Freeman R, Malik RA, et al. Diabetic neuropathy: A position statement by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care 2017;40:136-54.
Hicks CW, Selvin E Epidemiology of peripheral neuropathy and lower extremity disease in diabetes. Curr Diab Rep 2019;19:86.
Kanaya AM, Adler N, Moffet HH, Liu J, Schillinger D, Adams A, et al. Heterogeneity of diabetes outcomes among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the US: The diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE). Diabetes Care 2011;34:930-7.
Dyck PJ, Davies JL, Wilson DM, Service FJ, Melton LJ III, O'Brien PC Risk factors for severity of diabetic polyneuropathy: Intensive longitudinal assessment of the Rochester Diabetic Neuropathy Study Cohort. Diabetes Care 1999;22:1479-86.
Sasaki H, Kawamura N, Dyck PJ, Dyck PJB, Kihara M, Low PA Spectrum of diabetic neuropathies. Diabetol Int 2020;11:87-96.
Aring AM, Jones DE, Falko JM Evaluation and prevention of diabetic neuropathy. Am Fam Physician 2005;71:2123-8.
Oh J Clinical spectrum and diagnosis of diabetic neuropathies. Korean J Intern Med 2020;35:1059-69.
Tesfaye S, Boulton AJ, Dyck PJ, Freeman R, Horowitz M, Kempler P, et al; Toronto Diabetic Neuropathy Expert Group. Diabetic neuropathies: Update on definitions, diagnostic criteria, estimation of severity, and treatments. Diabetes Care 2010;33:2285-93.
Feldman EL, Callaghan BC, Pop-Busui R, Zochodne DW, Wright DE, Bennett DL, et al. Diabetic neuropathy. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2019;5:41.
Alsaloum M, Estacion M, Almomani R, Gerrits MM, Bönhof GJ, Ziegler D, et al; Propane Study Group. A gain-of-function sodium channel β2-subunit mutation in painful diabetic neuropathy. Mol Pain 2019;15:1744806919849802.
Appelman DH The pseudotabes syndrome in diabetes. J Am Geriatr Soc 1964;12:602-6.
Davies M, Brophy S, Williams R, Taylor A The prevalence, severity, and impact of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2006;29:1518-22.
Bansal V, Kalita J, Misra UK Diabetic neuropathy. Postgrad Med J 2006;82:95-100.
Kelkar P, Parry GJ Mononeuritis multiplex in diabetes mellitus: Evidence for underlying immune pathogenesis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2003;74:803-6.
Tran C, Philippe J, Ochsner F, Kuntzer T, Truffert A Acute painful diabetic neuropathy: An uncommon, remittent type of acute distal small fibre neuropathy. Swiss Med Wkly 2015;145:w14131.
Benarroch EE The clinical approach to autonomic failure in neurological disorders. Nat Rev Neurol 2014;10:396-407.
Vinik AI, Maser RE, Mitchell BD, Freeman R Diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Diabetes Care 2003;26:1553-79.
Barohn RJ The Bruns-Garland Syndrome (diabetic amyotrophy). Arch Neurol 1991;48:1130.
Fealey Robert D, Low Phillip ATJE Thermoregulatory sweating abnormalities in diabetes mellitus. Mayo Clinic Proc 1989;64:617-28.
Arbor A, Free R, Hospital SR, Arbor A A practical two-step quantitative clinical and electrophysiological assessment for the diagnosis and staging of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes Care 1994;17:1281-9.
Meijer JW, Smit AJ, Sonderen EV, Groothoff JW, Eisma WH, Links TP Symptom scoring systems to diagnose distal polyneuropathy in diabetes: The Diabetic Neuropathy Symptom Score. Diabet Med 2002;19:962-5.
Sletten DM, Suarez GA, Low PA, Mandrekar J, Singer W COMPASS 31: A refined and abbreviated composite autonomic symptom score. Mayo Clin Proc 2012;87:1196-201.
Singh R, Arbaz M, Rai NK, Joshi R Diagnostic accuracy of Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale 31 (COMPASS-31) in early detection of autonomic dysfunction in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes 2019;12:1735-42.
Ruška B, Pavičić T, Pavlović I, Junaković A, Adamec I, Crnošija L, et al. Performance of the COMPASS-31 questionnaire with regard to autonomic nervous system testing results and medication use: A prospective study in a real-life setting. Neurol Sci 2018;39:2079-84.
Low PA Evaluation of sudomotor function. Clin Neurophysiol 2004;115:1506-13.
Dimitropoulos G, Tahrani AA, Stevens MJ Cardiac autonomic neuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus. World J Diabetes 2014;5:17-39.
Freeman R, Wieling W, Axelrod FB, Benditt DG, Benarroch E, Biaggioni I, et al. Consensus statement on the definition of orthostatic hypotension, neurally mediated syncope and the postural tachycardia syndrome. Clin Auton Res 2011;21:69-72.
Bönhof GJ, Herder C, Strom A, Papanas N, Roden M, Ziegler D Emerging biomarkers, tools, and treatments for diabetic polyneuropathy. Endocr Rev 2019;40:153-92.
Shy ME, Frohman EM, So YT, Arezzo JC, Cornblath DR, Giuliani MJ, et al; Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Quantitative sensory testing: Report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology 2003;60:898-904.
Mücke M, Cuhls H, Radbruch L, Baron R, Maier C, Tölle T, et al. Quantitative sensory testing (QST). English version. Schmerz 2021;35:153-60.
Zhou L Small fiber neuropathy. Semin Neurol 2019;39:570-7.
Mondal A, Sen S, Chanda D, Kundu S, Chatterjee M, Mukherjee S Evaluation of diabetic polyneuropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus by nerve conduction study and association of severity of neuropathy with serum sFasL level. Indian J Endocrinol Metab 2012;16:S465-7.
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3]
Varma A
Sharma K
Sharma S
Complications of diabetes mellitus
diabetic neuropathies
Clinical Classif...
Evaluation of Di...
History Taking a...
Patterns of Diab...
Questionnaires f...
Ancillary Diagno...
© Journal of Cardio-diabetes and metabolic disorders | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
Online since 8th September 2020


Recent studies have emphasized the role of production input interlinkages in explaining a wide range of economic phenomena. In the vast majority of these studies, however, the input-output architecture is fixed and exogenously given, and hence relatively little is known about the evolution of the production network and the underlying mechanisms shaping its dynamics. Here we seek to fill this gap in the extant literature by studying the evolution of production input interlinkages on the most granular level of economic activity, building on a diverse set of more than 80,000 companies sampled across nearly all industries of the Japanese economy. We find that several network properties with a pronounced impact on shock propagation and the emergence of aggregate fluctuations are remarkably stable over time and invariant under the local link formation mechanism. To estimate the mechanism inducing this stability, we employ a stochastic actor-oriented model that resolves the problem of interdependent observations inherent to networked environments. This model approaches the dynamics of the production network from the perspective of individual firms whose myopic decisions to change their suppliers take into account the effect of direct connections and link externalities. Building on this approach, we find that topological features of the network such as network distance and the current number of relationships are a main driver of network dynamics in subsequent periods, and are quantitatively more important than productivity differentials.


New Delhi: India's reasons for agreeing to a cost escalation by the Russian side for refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov should not be made public in national and diplomatic interest, the Defence Ministry has said in the Delhi High Court, challenging an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC).
Challenging the order of the CIC, which had asked the government to give the reasons why it had agreed to the hike, the defence ministry through a writ petition claimed the inter-governmental agreement (IGA) between India and Russia bars the disclosure of such details and would come under the RTI Act's exemption clause of Section 8(1)(a).
"...the IGA in clause 9 specifically states the sides ...not to disclose the contents of the present agreement as well as all the correspondence and information related to its implementation without mutual consent...," it said.
The ministry said any further information related to payments made by India or acceptance of upward revision in cost and time was not only bound by the clauses of the IGA but would also constitute a breach of parliamentary privileges and be prejudicial to the interest of the country.
The deal for purchasing the ship, rechristened INS Vikramaditya, was signed in 2004 by the then NDA government at $974 million. The cost was raised to the final price of $2.35 billion in 2010.
Information Commissioner Amitava Bhattacharya had conducted detailed hearings and heard all arguments before ordering the disclosure of information last year on a plea of activist Subhash Agrawal about cost escalation and others issues.
The court has now asked Agrawal to appear before it on the matter on 5 April.
The CIC had also directed the defence ministry to disclose reasons why the country chose a refurbished warship in place of purchasing a new one and the net final cost including the expenditure on the modifications, renovations and remodelling done on the now 30-year-old ship and dates of payments made by India.
The ministry said if the details were disclosed, "cardinal relation of India and Russia" will be affected due to the violation of the agreement which will be detrimental to the relationship with a foreign state and be "prejudicial to the interest of the state".
"The Information Commissioner failed to consider that no information bound by the IGA can be disclosed without the prior approval of the government of Russia," the ministry said.
It said bringing to the public domain the details of the fittings, fixtures and ammunition that were used for repair, re-equipping, renovation of the warship and thereby disclosing the capability of the ship would be "prejudicial to national security and expose war preparedness of the country".
It said certain aspects of action taken on a CAG report on the subject were deemed to be classified and their disclosure would constitute a breach of national security.
Information Commissioner Bhattacharya had noted that the navy was trying to put the onus of the disclosure on the defence ministry whereas the ministry made it clear that the reply was to be furnished by the force.
He had directed the navy to disclose file notings, correspondence and documents related to the acceptance of cost-revisions demanded by the Russians.
The commission asked for the disclosure noting that there was a "larger public interest" in the information which was withheld by the ministry and the navy on grounds of national security.
Bhattacharya also directed the ministry to disclose the reasons why India chose to opt for a refurbished warship in place of a new one.
The case relates to an RTI application filed by activist Agrawal who had demanded a range of information on the acquisition of the 44,500-tonne aircraft carrier.
The ship was originally commissioned by the erstwhile USSR on December 20, 1987, and was decommissioned in 1996.
After being inducted into the navy as Vikramaditya, the ship is now a floating 284-metre-long airfield. It is a 20-storeyed steel mega-structure floating in the sea from keel to the highest point.
The ship can carry over 30 aircraft including state-of-the-art MiG 29K or Sea Harriers, Kamov 31, Kamov 28, Sea King, ALH—Dhruv and Chetak helicopters.
With 22 decks and a capacity of 1,600 personal, the ship can sustain itself on sea for 45 days up to a range of over 13,000 km.


From my early years to around late middle school, I inhabited the role of the quiet, shy, and excruciatingly reserved kid. My life was chiefly internal — I withheld everything tightly into my tiny frame.
While I had strong bonds with my friends, and deep extracurricular interests to foster my engagement with the world, the extent to which I truly revealed my honest self was minimal. My friends knew me, but there was still so much more of me left to be shown.
I didn't allow myself to open up to the external world, fully breathing in the sensations of vulnerability that come from open experiences. I remember a phone call with one of my best friends after an incident that I can now recall nothing of, except that it left me talking to her quietly in the bathroom about my closed-off emotional expression.
She had been ranting, laying out her bruised feelings, looking for my rational confirmation, but pretty quickly she turned to examining my hidden vulnerabilities.
"I just keep it to myself, listen to music, read, and think about it on the bus home," I half-heartedly joked.
It was her inquiry that made me realize that my inward nature wasn't just holding me back in general life experiences, but also in my relationships.
It was during this period that I relied on reading for my exposure to some sort of 'external,' albeit fictional, world. I wanted to be able to experience vicariously the excitement, adventure, and expression I tightly caged in my real life, without the risks of complete self-exposure.
Reading was my means of experiencing the mundane things my friends were already fully submerging themselves into. My lack of openness made me seem carefully composed and intellectually focused, but really I was just safe and comfortable in my internal nest.
While my friends took a step forward with their crushes, I buried mine deep within my consciousness, masking my feelings and disallowing the thought of interaction — they interacted with me only within the boundaries of my fantasies.
Instead of directly involving myself with others, I turned to books like "One Day" to fill the romantic void in my life. I lusted after the kind of connection characters formed in these stories — an untraceable and unreplicable draw through which the world keeps routing one back to the other.
While my friends performed confidently on stage or simply engaged with life freely and unapologetically, I turned to dystopian and fantasy novels for my fill of adventure. Immersing myself into strange but rousing worlds, I felt myself also marked as some kind of 'chosen one,' gilded with once-undermined abilities, experiencing simultaneously the world and the raw honesty of my potential.
I was so wrapped up in these other fictional worlds that I assigned a kind of romanticism to my emotional isolation — I felt empty and somewhat lifeless without my immersion. Picking up a book I loved would be my elixir, and being forced to put it down would lay me back into my isolated emotional grave.
Though a part of this vicarious high can be attributed to the dreamer in me, which I still haven't lost, I have, thankfully, grown away from my violently inward self. My experience with reading now isn't what it used to be; it fuels different purposes.
As an English major, the literary and formal elements in books draw me in into a state of geeky ardor. It is a more distant, analytical, yet still appreciative glance at a story that has continued to draw me into the experience of reading.
I love how layers of interpretation coalesce together, and how each word or phrase can conjure up a number of diverging forks in the story's progression. I delight in the phonetics embedded within the visuals evoked, which submerge the reader into a reality composed simply from a stream of words.
But more importantly, where I once romanticized my inward self, I have started romanticizing my personal growth — aspiring toward the best version of myself. Reading is all about psychology: analyzing characters, their relationships with each other, and their reactions to certain situations in the contexts in which they are placed.
I find an allure in tracking these psychological facets in characterization, and every so often I find myself holding other characters up against myself. Those I have hated have told me as much about myself as have the characters I have loved, each of them carrying with them histories I can relate to in some way.
Like before, I still overlap closely with the characters, but rather than allowing them to devour my individual self, I am able to retain enough distance so that I can live my own life, separate from fictional worlds, openly and expressively.
Reading now helps me to develop many aspects of myself, including my self-understanding and creativity, as well as to foster my evaluation of the world. This greater understanding has accompanied me in my quest to become more vulnerable within the world.
Tarini Sipahimalani is an English major at Pomona College. She enjoys drawing, singing a cappella, and tennis, but mostly for social purposes.


The altered physical stress during pregnancy are often difficult for the expectant mother. With some little tricks it is possible to alleviate the inconvenience.
Women who deal consciously with the changed situation, will feel right at home with baby bump in their body and have it after the birth easier to regain your old figure.
Below are some pregnancy tips for pregnant women. With our these care in pregnancy tips, pregnant women's can cure themselves to maintain their health and beauty.
In pregnancy, a woman's body changes. Not only the belly is growing steadily, and the whole organism adapts to the changing situation and the needs of the baby. For the body of the mother, this means a huge burden.
Despite the stress, the expectant mother can feel completely at ease in her body when she gets involved with the new body feeling and following a few tips for care in pregnancy.
At the heart of every pregnancy is the belly. The skin is by estrogen's, although elastic, special skin care for the prevention of cracks and stretch marks but is essential.
Use daily after showering a mild oil that you rub gently into the skin of the abdomen. Carefully massage with soft hands through to make the skin supple and spread the oil circular.
The facial skin of expectant mothers is more sensitive during pregnancy. Often, the positive effects can disappear blemishes and give it a fresh complexion.
But the opposite may be the case or the skin can be very dry. Use during pregnancy only very mild pH neutral cleansing lotions and not alcoholic face water, which can dry out the skin.
Also the hair is exposed to the hormonal changes during pregnancy a special stress test. Very often pregnant women suffer under highly greasy hair who even act brittle and sit bad. It is also possible that the hair supple, dense and full of functions as before.
In any case, you should look for hair care use only mild shampoos and conditioners and not too hot or even do not blow dry times.
During pregnancy, a lot of sports should be driven course not excessive, but appropriate gymnastic exercises do mind and body good. Light exercises that indeed claim the body, but not impoverish him unnecessarily, are just right for pregnant women.
The exercises can be at home, to be conducted at a special pregnancy gymnastics or even in the water as water aerobics.


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Gossip Celebrity
See Photos Of Nollywood Couple, Adeniyi Johnson And Seyi Edun As They Sign An Endorsement Deal
By ElizabethO (self media writer) | 2 years ago
I was surprised when i saw the endorsement deal, and it's obvious that it another stepping stone for them. Nollywood couple, Adeniyi Johnson and Seyi Edun just sign a multi millionaire endorsement deal with Kab Construction Limited.
Kab Construction Limited, is a multiple award winning real estate, land acquisition company, which has landed property, in Ibeju Lekki Area of Lagos State. It's great news for the couple, as more money is going into their pockets. It has not been announced by them, but has been officially announced on the Company's Instagram Page.
Adeniyi Johnson is a popular actor who features in both English and Yoruba Movies. He was born on the 27th of February, 1978 in Lagos. He had his primary and secondary school education in Lagos.
He attended Ibadan Polytechnic, then later proceeded to Lagos State University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in History and International Relations.
He has once hawked Coconut on the street of Lagos, to survive when he was young. While his wife, Seyi Edun, is a popular actress who features in Yoruba Movie.
She's also a movie producer, film maker, entrepreneur, humanitarian, brand ambassador and brand influencer, with 891,000 Instagram followers.
Congratulations to both couple on their brand endorsement.
Content created and supplied by: ElizabethO (via Opera News )
Adeniyi Johnson Kab Construction Limited Lagos State Seyi Edun Yoruba