Family can mean different things to different folks it might be your relatives, the people you live with, or even close friends who feel like family. Families have their own little traditions, like holiday get-togethers, birthday celebrations, or regular dinners, which help everyone feel connected. How a family talks to each other really shapes the vibe at home. Some families focus a lot on sticking to rules and agreement, while others are all about chatting openly and sharing ideas. The mix of those two styles decides if a family feels more relaxed and open or a bit strict and quiet.

I wonder what the differences of play in different cultures is/ Historically each culture has had some form of play or the other. So I wonder what similarities and differences the different forms of play in different cultures had. Every culture is somewhat different, but could play be something common among them all?

This also makes me wonder how many people use play as a way not just to escape their own realities, but to escape all of the laws, rules, and regulations that accompany everyday life.

I am noticing that the author is constantly going back to this theory of competition and how it is in human nature to enjoy competition and thus, enjoy play.

I find it interesting that the author believes that play is never done out of moral duty or as a task, but the author still related play to themes of law and justice? I find it interesting how that the definition of play continues to fluctuate throughout this paper. What exactly is play?

I find it interesting that this author finds a way to related various aspects within society to play. I would not traditionally assume law and order, commerce, profit, and etc to be a part of play so I find it fascinating that play can relate to even the most "non playful" things.

I find this really really interesting. Humans get very caught up. on the rationality of everything so I find it really interesting that the author highlights the irrationality of play, and how despite it being irrational it is still part of human society.

The idea that play is something that is older then cultures and even older than society is very interesting. Play is in fact present not just among humans but also among animals, but this makes me wonder hoe than is play related to culture? There are not really specific "cultures" within the animal kingdom, and thus how can play exist without culture and before culture, while still having a direct relationship with culture?

Usually when thinking of play I notice that I more over look at it from a psychological or scientific perspective rather then a scientific one. I find it interesting that this study looks at it from a more cultural lens, as I never really saw play as related to culture. I am looking forward to learning more about the exact relationship between play and culture.

Like the connection here. As an example, football field sometimes seems like huge ritual place, considering how people are hyped up for the game.

I disagree with the statement about wisdom and folly. Even though someone considered smart might not perform as well in certain games, lots of the "good" players are smart people. I agree with the part regrading good and evil.

I think the author pointed out the essential element of the game. There are rules set within the game and players voluntarily follow it, no matter who the players are.

Cannot deny that play is made for entertainment. Even though there are serious side of the game, it also gives entertainment to people who feels it from doing serious games.

My favorite part about the concept of game, which, I believe, is maximized through modern form of "play," video games.

I always liked this question: why does people never question the rule of the game itself? In chess, such thoughts created rules like en passant and castling.

Considering how ancient people also played things like boardgame, the argument sounds convincing.

Friendships come in all sorts of forms some are just casual hangouts, some are really close, and others are more about working together. They usually follow a kind of pattern: you meet, spend time together, grow closer, and sometimes drift apart or even end. As we get older, the way we connect with friends changes too teen friendships might be about doing stuff together, while adult friendships often focus on emotional support, and later in life, friends offer comfort and companionship. Culture plays a big role in how friendships look and what people expect from them, and guys and girls might handle friendships a bit differently when it comes to sharing feelings. Basically, friendships grow and change depending on where you are in life and the people around you.

Personal relationships are the close ones, like with family or best friends, where emotions run deep. Social relationships are more casual, like the connections you have with coworkers or people you hang out with sometimes. Relationships tend to follow a kind of path—from first meeting, to getting closer, facing rough spots, and sometimes growing apart or changing. The social exchange idea is like keeping score, where we think about what we’re getting out of a relationship versus what it costs us. Most of us stick around when we feel like the good stuff outweighs the bad.

Self-disclosure is basically when you open up and share personal stuff about yourself with someone else. There’s this idea that relationships get stronger as people slowly reveal more, and that we also figure out who we are by comparing ourselves to others—both help explain why we share. What you decide to share depends a lot on how much you trust someone, where you are, and how close you feel to them. When you share the right amount at the right time, it helps build trust and bring you closer. But if you overshare or do it in a way that feels off, it can make things weird or even push people away.

Emotions are basically the feelings we get from what’s going on around us, like happiness, anger, or sadness. They’ve been around forever to help us survive like fear warning us of danger but culture also shapes how we show and understand those feelings. Different places might express emotions in their own unique ways. To handle your emotions better, it helps to recognize what you’re feeling and find ways to deal with it that work for you. And when you respond to others with empathy, it makes connecting and communicating a lot easier.

Interpersonal conflict comes up when people don’t see eye to eye or want different things. There are a few common ways folks handle it: sometimes they avoid it, sometimes they push to win, or they might give in, meet halfway, or try to work things out together. How we think about the conflict and where we come from culturally can really change how we deal with it. What feels okay or respectful in one culture might not in another, so it’s good to keep that in mind. When you’re managing conflict, it helps to stay calm, really listen, be open about what you’re thinking, and look for a way that works for everyone.

Interpersonal communication is basically how we talk and connect with people one-on-one or in small groups. It’s not just about getting stuff done, like making plans, but also about feeling understood and supported. The way we communicate can really change depending on our cultural backgrounds things like how close we stand or how direct we are. Being aware of these differences helps avoid mix-ups and makes relationships stronger. So, it’s really about both sharing information and building real connections with others.

To make your message easy to follow, keep it simple and organized around what your listeners care about. When you’re giving feedback, try to be honest but also kind, pointing out the good stuff along with what could be better. To check how you’re doing, record yourself or think back on how people reacted to what you said. Paying attention to your tone and body language can also show you how clear your message really is. Being open to hearing what others think and making changes will help you get better at communicating over time.

Being a better listener starts with really tuning in pay attention, try to understand what’s being said, think it over, respond clearly, and remember it later. Active listening means you're fully present, showing with your body language and responses that you're actually engaged. Critical listening is useful in everyday conversations, school, or even when you're watching the news—it’s about thinking deeper and not just taking everything at face value. Empathetic listening is more about just being there for someone, letting them talk, and trying to truly understand how they feel without rushing to fix it. Whether you're at work, in a relationship, or talking with people from different backgrounds, listening with respect and intention goes a long way.

It can be hard to listen well when there’s a lot of background noise, distractions, or even if you’re just too far away to hear someone clearly. Physical things like being tired, hungry, or sick also make it tough to stay focused. Sometimes, our own thoughts or emotions get in the way—like when you're stressed, daydreaming, or already judging what someone’s saying before they finish. People also fall into bad listening habits, like interrupting, zoning out, or just waiting for their turn to talk. Noticing these habits and distractions is the first step to actually getting better at listening

Listening happens in steps you first hear what’s being said, try to understand it, decide what you think about it, respond, and hopefully remember it later. We listen in different ways depending on the situation: sometimes to learn something, sometimes to judge what we hear, sometimes to support someone emotionally, and other times just for fun. People also have different listening styles some care most about facts, some tune into emotions, some want things short and to the point, and others are more laid-back about it. Different styles work better depending on who you’re talking to and what the situation is. Knowing your own style and being able to adapt can really help you communicate better with others.

Thank you @neil for all your amazing nodes through the ages!

Nonverbal communication plays a big part in how we connect with others, especially in close relationships where things like eye contact, body language, and touch say a lot. In professional settings, the way you stand, speak, or make eye contact can shape how people see you confident, respectful, or unsure. What’s normal in one culture might be totally different in another; for example, some places see eye contact as polite, while others see it as disrespectful. Men and women also tend to use nonverbal cues differently women might show more emotion through facial expressions, while men often use more space or stronger tone. Knowing these differences makes it easier to understand people and avoid mixed signals.

I.e., it's primarily used by academics and working professionals

To get better at sending nonverbal messages, just pay attention to your body language and make sure it lines up with what you’re saying. Work on things like keeping good eye contact, using clear gestures, and matching your tone to the situation. It also helps to read the room and adjust how you act depending on who you’re with. When you’re trying to understand someone else’s nonverbal cues, look at a bunch of signals together and think about what’s going on around you. And if you’re ever confused, just ask they’ll usually appreciate you wanting to understand better.

Kinesics is all about the way we use our body things like gestures and facial expressions while haptics covers touch, like hugs or handshakes. Vocalics is how we use our voice, like the tone or how loud we speak, and proxemics is about personal space and how close we stand to people. Chronemics deals with how we handle time, like showing up on time or how long we wait before responding. The way we dress and take care of ourselves sends messages too, and our surroundings, like whether a room is tidy or messy, also say something about us. All these nonverbal signals help others pick up on what we’re feeling or thinking, even when we don’t say a word.

Nonverbal communication is how we send messages without using actual words things like facial expressions, gestures, how we stand, our tone, and eye contact. It’s different from verbal communication, which is all about the words we say or write, but both work together to get our point across. Nonverbal stuff often reveals what we really feel or adds extra meaning to what we’re saying. It’s always happening, can be a bit unclear sometimes, and usually depends on the situation to make sense. For example, a smile shows friendliness, a raised eyebrow might mean someone’s skeptical, and crossed arms can suggest someone’s feeling defensive.

When we talk with others, there are social rules like taking turns and making eye contact that help things flow smoothly. How people use language changes a lot depending on their culture—some are more formal, others more laid-back, and what’s polite somewhere might not be in another place. Sometimes we switch up how we talk or change our style to fit in better, which is called accommodation or code-switching. Cultural bias is when we judge people unfairly based on where they come from, and that can cause misunderstandings. Knowing about these biases helps us be more respectful and avoid stepping on toes.

Non-heroic, communal, playful forms of storytelling (folk tales, humor, novels) carry the alternative narrative.

She critiques how the dominant story of “progress” is tied to violence, war, and destruction.

Le Guin contrasts weapons with containers (bags, baskets, vessels).

Interesting choice of word to describe the container. A "recipient" could have double meaning in the context of the essay.

implying that, other than hunting, pre-historic men did not contribute much to society in pre-historic times.

it wast't the meat that made the difference. It was the story.

Men got to venture out and hunt and, therefore, make up stories and songs of the "Hero" and his actions. Women stayed in camp and "gathered", decreasing their chances to make the same stories and songs as the males.

Sure thing! Here’s a more casual, natural version of that summary:

Abstraction is when we use general or vague words, which can make things confusing sometimes. To get your point across clearly, it helps to add specific details along with the bigger ideas. Using things like metaphors or colorful descriptions makes what you’re saying more interesting and easier to remember. It’s also important to be honest and respectful with your words, so you don’t mislead or hurt anyone. When you communicate clearly and ethically, it builds trust and helps people understand each other better.

Linguistic expressions come in different forms words, phrases, sentences, and whole conversations. Language is a way we show who we are, earn trust, influence people, and even do things like make promises just by talking. It’s also a lot of fun, with jokes, puns, and playful ways of using words that keep things interesting. New slang and made-up words keep language fresh and always changing. Sometimes language can make people feel left out, but it also has the power to bring us together and create a sense of belonging.

The triangle of meaning is all about how words are just symbols that connect to the ideas we have, not the actual things themselves. Denotation is the plain, dictionary meaning of a word, while connotation is the extra feelings or thoughts that come with it. Language has rules like grammar and word order that help us make sense of what people are saying. We pick up language naturally as kids by listening and copying the people around us. Over time, this helps us learn new words and figure out how to put them together the right way.

Self-concept is basically how we see ourselves, and it grows from our experiences and what other people tell us. Self-esteem is how much we like ourselves, and that also depends a lot on the kind of feedback we get. We often figure out who we are by comparing ourselves to others and noticing the difference between who we are and who we want to be. Things like family, culture, and the media also shape how we think about ourselves and what’s expected. Self-presentation is just how we choose to show ourselves to others, sometimes by highlighting our best qualities or acting differently depending on who we’re with.

Perception is basically how we notice stuff and figure out what it means. We tend to focus on things that stand out to us, like something unusual or really important that’s called salience. When we take in information, we sort it by grouping similar things together or by how close they are. Schemata are like mental shortcuts or frames we’ve built from past experiences that help us make sense of what we see. They help us quickly fill in missing pieces and understand new things without having to think too hard.

Internal attributions mean we think someone’s behavior comes from who they are, while external attributions blame the situation they’re in. We often mess up by assuming people act a certain way because of their personality (that’s the fundamental attribution error) or by giving ourselves too much credit and blaming outside stuff when things go wrong (that’s the self-serving bias). First impressions stick with us because of the primacy effect, but the last things we notice can also shape how we see someone thanks to the recency effect. How someone looks, acts, or the environment they’re in can really affect how we judge them. Plus, the horn effect makes us see people negatively based on one bad thing, and the halo effect does the opposite, while culture and personality also play a big part in how we understand others.

I didn't realize that preschoolers are impacted at an early age with racism. How can teach our preschoolers to be comfortable with their ethnicities?

I like how he connected his ideas while relating it back to the invention of things like radio

I agree with this because I definitely do this when I'm driving and see a cop. I get extremely nervous and will slow down even if I'm driving the speed limit. Just because.

Communication is basically how we share ideas and information, whether by talking, writing, or even body language. It started a long time ago with things like cave drawings and storytelling and has now grown into things like social media and the internet. There are five main types of communication: talking to yourself, chatting one-on-one, working in groups, speaking in front of crowds, and sharing messages with lots of people through media. Knowing the difference between these helps us communicate better depending on the situation. Plus, studying communication can lead to lots of cool jobs like marketing, journalism, or public relations.

Communication is basically how we share ideas and information, whether by talking, writing, or even body language. It started a long time ago with things like cave drawings and storytelling and has now grown into things like social media and the internet. There are five main types of communication: talking to yourself, chatting one-on-one, working in groups, speaking in front of crowds, and sharing messages with lots of people through media. Knowing the difference between these helps us communicate better depending on the situation. Plus, studying communication can lead to lots of cool jobs like marketing, journalism, or public relations.

There are three main ways to understand how communication works: the transmission, interaction, and transaction models. The transmission model is the most basic, where one person sends a message and the other just receives it. The interaction model shows communication as more of a back-and-forth, with feedback and context added in. The transaction model is the most realistic, showing both people communicating at the same time through words, tone, and body language. I recently had a conversation with a friend that matched the transaction model because we were both reacting to each other in the moment and working together to clear up a misunderstanding.

Communication plays a huge role in my everyday life. It’s how I connect with people, get things done, and express what I’m thinking or feeling. Whether I’m having a conversation with a friend, asking a question in class, or just texting someone, I’m using communication in one form or another. It also meets a lot of basic needs. It helps with physical and emotional health by making us feel connected to others. It helps with practical, everyday things like asking for help or making plans. It’s key to building and maintaining relationships, and it also shapes how we see ourselves and how others see us. Communication isn’t just something that happens once—it’s a process. It’s ongoing, and it changes depending on who you're talking to, what’s going on, and where you are. How we say things can be just as important as what we’re saying. Culture and context also make a big difference. The way we communicate depends a lot on our background, our values, and the situation we’re in. Something that feels normal in one setting might not be in another, so it’s important to be aware of that and adjust when needed.

Communication competence is about being both effective and appropriate in how we interact with others. It means being able to adapt to different situations, show empathy, and understand the context of the conversation. To build this skill, it’s important to be self-aware, open to feedback, and willing to practice. Emotional intelligence also plays a big role.

I wonder what effect the pandemic had on this move to online instruction?

I wonder if one of the reasons is student attention. I know when I am sitting watching a video, it doesn't hold my attention as closely as a live person talking to me. Is there also an interaction piece to this? Sitting and watching a talking head on TV and not being able to ask that person to re-phrase their comment can make learning more difficult for some.

I find it very interesting that schools reduced the use of audiovisual instruction while the military and industry increased its use. The military and industry relies on standard procedures and can cover a larger geographic area. They need all of their members/employees to do the same processes the same way regardless of if they are in NY or CA. How long have lesson plans been used in education? I'm not familiar with grade schools curriculum. Is the same information taught in 4th grade in NY and in CA?

I'm probably opening a can of worms with this, but did they really need to add and, looking forward, retain the term ethical? Shouldn't teachers/educators act ethically?

This is a misconception I had myself--thinking of instructional technologies as a medium rather than processes. Already beginning to shift my understanding of the subject.

I like this definition. It's clean and concise, but does it hit all domains of learning (Affective, Cognitive, Psychomotor)?

These are great! I use these all the time in my class. I have students give a short (no more than 1 minute) talk on their understanding of a pathology.

eLife Assessment

This important study describes the development and validation of an Automated Reproducible Mechano-stimulator (ARM), a tool for standardizing and automating tactile behavior experiments. The data supporting the use of the ARM system are compelling, and demonstrate that by removing experimenter effects on animals, it reduces variability in various parameters of stimulus application. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that any noise emitted from the ARM does not induce an increased stress state. Once commercially available, the ARM system has the potential to increase experimental reproducibility between laboratories in the somatosentation and pain fields.

Reviewer #1 (Public review):

Allodynia is commonly measured in the pain field using von Frey filaments, which are applied to a body region (usually hindpaw if studying rodents) by a human. While humans perceive themselves as being objective, as the authors noted, humans are far from consistent when applying these filaments. Not to mention, odors from humans, including of different sexes, can influence animal behavior. There is thus a major unmet need for a way to automate this tedious von Frey testing process, and to remove humans from the experiment. I have no major scientific concerns with the study, as the authors did an outstanding job of comparing this automated system to human experimenters in a rigorous and quantitative manner. They even demonstrated that their automated system can be used in conjunction with in vivo imaging techniques.

While it is somewhat unclear how easy and inexpensive this device will be, I anticipate everyone in the pain field will be clamoring to get their hands on a system like this. And given the mechanical nature of the device, and propensity for mice to urinate on things, I also wonder how frequently the device breaks/needs to be repaired. Perhaps some details regarding cost and reliability of the device would be helpful to include, as these are the two things that could make researchers hesitant to adopt immediately.

The only major technical concern, which is easy to address, is whether the device generates ultrasounic sounds that rodents can hear when idle or operational, across the ultrasonic frequencies that are of biological relevance (20-110 kHz). These sounds are generally alarm vocalizations and can create stress in animals, and/or serve as cues of an impending stimulus (if indeed they are produced by the device).

Comments on revisions:

Was Fig. 1 updated with the new apparatus design? i.e. to address issue of animal waste affecting function over time?

I have no further comments.

Reviewer #2 (Public review):

Summary:

Burdge, Juhmka et al describe the development and validation of a new automated system for applying plantar stimuli in rodent somatosensory behavior tasks. This platform allows the users to run behavior experiments remotely, removing experimenter effects on animals and reducing variability in manual application of stimuli. The system integrates well with other automated analysis programs that the lab has developed, providing a complete package for standardizing behavior data collection and analysis. The authors present extensive validations of the system against manual stimulus application. Proof of concept studies also show how the system can be used to better understand the effect of experimenters on behavior and the effects of how stimuli are presented on the micro features of the animal withdrawal response.

Strengths:

If widely adopted, ARM has the potential to reduce variability in plantar behavior studies across and within labs and provide a means to standardize results. It provides a way to circumvent the confounds that humans bring into performing sensitive plantar behavior tests (e.g. experimenter odors, experince, physical abilities, variation in stimulus application, sex). Furthermore, it can be integrated with other automated platforms, allowing for quicker analysis and potentially automated stimulus delivery. The manuscript also presents some compelling evidence on the effects of stimulus application time and height on withdrawals, which can potentially help labs that are manually applying stimuli standardize applications. The system is well validated and the results are clear and convincingly presented. Claims are well supported by experimental evidence.

Weaknesses:

ARM seems like a fantastic system that could be widely adopted, a primary weakness is that it is not currently available to other labs. This will eventually be remedied as it is commercialised.

Reviewer #3 (Public review):

Summary:

This report describes the development and initial applications of the ARM (Automated Reproducible Mechano-stimulator), a programmable tool that delivers various mechanical stimuli to a select target (most frequently, a rodent hindpaw). Comparisons to traditional testing methods (e.g., experimenter application of stimuli) reveal that the ARM reduces variability in the anatomical targeting, height, velocity, and total time of stimulus application. Given that the ARM can be controlled remotely, this device was also used to assess effects of experimenter presence on reflexive responses to mechanical stimulation. Although not every experimenter had notable sex-dependent effects on animal behavior, use of the ARM never had this effect (for obvious reasons!). Lastly, the ARM was used to stimulate rodent hindpaws while measuring neuronal activity in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA), a brain region that is associated with the negative affect of pain. This device, and similar automated devices, will undoubtedly reduce experimenter-related variability in reflexive mechanical behavior tests; this may increase experimental reproducibility between laboratories who are able to invest in this type of technology.

Strengths:

Clear examples of variability in experimenter stimulus application are provided and then contrasted with uniform stimulus application that is inherent to the ARM.

The ARM is able to quickly oscillate between delivery of various mechanical stimuli; this is advantageous for experimental efficiency.

New additions to the ARM and PAWS platforms have been methodically tested to ensure reproducibility and reliability.

Author response:

The following is the authors’ response to the original reviews.

Reviewer #1 (Public review):

(1) Given the mechanical nature of the device and the propensity for mice to urinate on things, I also wonder how frequently the device breaks/needs to be repaired. Perhaps some details regarding the cost and reliability of the device would be helpful to include, as these are the two things that could make researchers hesitant to adopt immediately.

We thank the reviewer for their astute observations. We also noted the problem of mouse waste and incorporated this concern into the redesign we mention in the text.

“Mouse waste getting on mechanical parts was found to be a major concern for the initial version of the device. As part of the redesign, the linear stages were moved out from under the mice to avoid this problem. Despite this problem, the original version of the device has not had any of its stages break down yet. A common problem though was that stimulus tips would blunt or break if they hit the mesh of the mesh table, requiring replacement. This has been solved in the latest version through a new feature where the mesh is detected via the force sensor, prompting immediate stimulus withdrawal, avoiding damage.”

In regards to cost and adoption, we have added this sentence to the final line of the discussion:

“To promote wide adaptation of this device across as many labs as possible, a company, Tactorum Inc., has been formed.”

(2) The only major technical concern, which is easy to address, is whether the device generates ultrasonic sounds that rodents can hear when idle or operational, across the ultrasonic frequencies that are of biological relevance (20-110 kHz). These sounds are generally alarm vocalizations and can create stress in animals, and/or serve as cues of an impending stimulus (if indeed they are produced by the device).

The reviewer brings up an interesting question. The ARM does not make a lot of noise, but some of the noise it emits does range into the 20-110 kHz range, though besides this does not qualitatively have other similarities to a mouse vocalization. Based on this we tested whether the noise produced by the ARM causes stress in naïve mice.

“A concern was raised that the noise of the ARM may cause stress in the mice tested. To test this, the open field test was performed with naïve mice (n=10) 2 feet from the ARM while the ARM either sat silent or ran through its habituation program, producing noise. The mouse's center point movement was then tracked in relation to the chamber, its edges, and center. No significant differences were found in distance traveled, center entrances, center, time in center, and latency to center entrance based on a student’s two-tailed t-test (Figure S1D-G). Based on this, neither stress nor locomotion differences were detected by this test, indicating the ARM does not induce an increased stress state due to its noise, even in non-habituated mice.”

(3) This sentence in the intro may be inaccurate: "or the recent emergence of a therapeutic targeting voltage-gated sodium channels, that block pain in both rodents and humans such as VX-548 for NaV1.8 (Jones 2023)" Despite extensive searching, I have been unable to find a reference showing that VX-548 is antinociceptive in rodents (rats or mice). As for why this is the case, I do not know. One speculation: this drug may be selective for the human Nav1.8 channel (but again, I have found no references comparing specificity on human vs rodent Nav1.8 channels). To not mislead the field into thinking VX-548 works for rodents and humans, please remove "both rodents and" from the sentence above (unless you find a reference supporting VX-548 as being effective in pain assays with rodents. There is a PK/PD paper with rodents, but that only looks at drug metabolism, not efficacy with pain assays).

We agree with the reviewer and have removed mention of the new Nav1.8 therapeutic also working in rodents.

(4) In the intro paragraph where variability in measuring mechanical stimuli is described, there is a new reference from the Stucky lab that further supports the need for an automated way to measure allodynia, as they also found variability between experimenters. This would be a relevant reference to include: Rodriguez Garcia (2024) PMID: 38314814.

Thanks to the reviewer for this relevant citation and we have updated the text to incorporate this:

“Recent studies utilizing the manual highspeed analysis of withdrawal behavior analysis developed by Abdus-Saboor et al. 2019 has reproduced this sizable experimenter effect using the new technique. (Rodríguez García 2024)”

(5) "a simple sin wave motion": should be "sine", correct throughout (multiple instances of "sin")

Corrections made where relevant.

Reviewer #2 (Public review):

(1) ARM seems like a fantastic system that could be widely adopted, but no details are given on how a lab could build ARM, thus its usefulness is limited.

The reviewer raises a good point, unfortunately the authors are constrained by university policies around patent law. That said efforts are being made to make the ARM widely available to interested researchers. As mentioned above to Reviewer 1’s comments, we end the discussion section with this sentence:

“To promote wide adaptation of this device across as many labs as possible, a company, Tactorum Inc., has been formed.”

(2) The ARM system appears to stop short of hitting the desired forces that von Frey filaments are calibrated toward (Figure 2). This may affect the interpretation of results.

The reviewer gives an important observation. We amended the text to include more clarity on the max forces induced, and comments on causes beyond the delivery mechanism. It should be noted that a newly bought fresh set of von Frey’s was used.

“With the same 1.4 and 2 g von Frey filaments Researcher 1 delivered max average forces of 1.5 g and 2.7 g, and Researcher 2 1.35 g and 2.4 g. The ARM delivered average max forces closest to the targeted forces, with 1.36 g and 1.9 g. (Figure 2C) Some of the error observed could be due to the error rate (+/- 0.05 g) in the force gauge and the von Frey set used.”

(3) The authors mention that ARM generates minimal noise; however, if those sounds are paired with stimulus presentation, they could still prompt a withdrawal response. Including some 'catch' trials in an experiment could test for this.

The reviewer makes a very useful suggestion that we incorporated into our carrageenan experiments. This new data can be found in Supplemental Figure 3F.

“For the carrageenan model, three replicates of the force ramp stimulus were delivered to each paw, and catch trials were performed every 3^rd trial to test whether the mice would respond to the noise of the ARM alone. During catch trials, the stimulus was delivered to the open air behind the mouse, and any movement within 5 seconds of stimulus delivery was counted as a response. These trials found a 96% response rate in true trials, with only a 7% rate in catch trials, indicating responses were not being driven by device noise.”

(4) The experimental design in Figure 2 is unclear- did each experimenter have their own cohort of 10 mice, or was a single cohort of mice shared? If shared, there's some concern about repeat testing.

Further clarification was added to avoid confusion on the methods used here.

“Separate cohorts of 10 mice were used for ARM and manual delivery, with a week given between each researcher to avoid sensitization.”

(5) In Figure 5 and S4, the order of the legends does not match the order of the graphs. This can be particularly confusing as the color scheme is not colorblind-friendly. Please consider revising the presentation of these figures.

Corrections made where relevant.

Reviewer #3 (Public review):

(1) Limited details are provided for statistical tests and inappropriate claims are cited for individual tests. For example, in Figure 2, differences between researchers at specific forces are reported to be supported by a 2-way ANOVA; these differences should be derived from a post-hoc test that was completed only if the independent variable effects (or interaction effect) were found to be significant in the 2-way ANOVA. In other instances, statistical test details are not provided at all (e.g., Figures 3B, 3C, Figure 4, Figure 6G).

We would like to thank the reviewer for pointing out the lack of clarity in the text on these statistical methods. We have added further details across the manuscript and shown below here in order to address this concern.

“Both manual delivery and the ARM produced significant paw withdrawal percentage curves, a standard traditional measurement of mechanical sensitivity in the field (von Frey 1896, Dixon 1980, Chaplan 1994)(Figure 2E), with a 2-way ANOVA and a posthoc Tukey test detecting significant increases in comparing the 3 lower force VFH’s (0.02g, 0.07g, 0.16g) to the 2 highest force VFH’s (1g, 1.4g). This demonstrates that the ARM delivers results comparable to highly experienced researchers. However, a 2-way ANOVA and a posthoc Tukey test found that Researcher 2 elicited a significantly higher (p=0.0008) paw withdrawal frequency than Researcher 1 (Figure S2A) which corresponded with Researcher 2’s higher VFH application time as measured by the force sensor (Figure 2B).”

“Adjustments were then made to the PAWS software to automate the measurement of withdrawal latency based on pose tracking data of the withdrawal response and the trajectory of the stimulus delivery encoded into the ARM. Testing of C57/BL6J (n=15) at baseline found significant decreases in withdrawal latency for pinprick compared to cotton swab stimuli delivered in identical ways by the ARM (Figure 3B) based on a 2-tailed student t-test.”

“Mice injected with carrageenan (n=15) showed elevated shaking behavior (p=0.0385, 2-way ANOVA and a posthoc Tukey test) in response to pinprick stimuli in comparison to measurements at baseline (Figure 3C).”

“Remote habituated mice showed a significant decrease (p=0.0217, 2-way ANOVA) in time to rest over the 3 days (Figure 4B), but no significant differences for any single day. The number of turns was measured for each group during the first 10 minutes of day 1 to act as a baseline, and then from 20 to 30 minutes for each day. Turn counts were then compared as a percentage of the baseline count for each group. This period was chosen as it the period when experiments start after the day of habituation on experimental days. It was found that remote-habituated mice showed significantly less turning on day 2 compared to mice habituated with a researcher present (p=0.024, 2-way ANOVA posthoc Tukey test), and that only the remote-habituated mice showed significantly decreased turning behavior on day 3 compared to day 1 (p=0.0234, 2-way ANOVA posthoc Tukey test) (Figure 4C).”

“Sex-dependent differences were found in reflexive and affective behavioral components of the mouse withdrawal response when a researcher was present versus not for both reactions to innocuous and noxious stimuli. A 2-way ANOVA and a posthoc Tukey test found that cotton swab stimuli elicited increased male mouse reflexive paw withdrawal features, including max paw height (p=0.0413) and max paw velocity (Y-axis) (p=0.0424) when Researcher 1 was present compared to when no researcher was present (Figure 4E-F). Pinprick stimuli (Figure 4H-I) on the other hand led to increased max paw height (p=0.0436) and max paw velocity (Y-axis) (p=0.0406) in male mice compared to female mice when Researcher 1 was present.

Analysis of the shaking behavior elicited by cotton swab and pinprick stimuli found no significant differences in shaking behavior duration (Figure 4SA-B) but found sex-dependent differences in paw distance traveled after the initial withdrawal, including during shaking and guarding behaviors. For cotton swab (Figure 4G) male mice showed significantly increased paw distance traveled compared to female mice when Researcher 2 was present (p=0.0468, 2-way ANOVA posthoc Tukey test) but not when Researcher 2 was present or no researcher was present. Pinprick stimuli also elicited sex-based increases in paw distance traveled (Figure 4J) in male mice when Researcher 2 was present compared to both male mice when no researcher was present (p=0.0149, 2-way ANOVA posthoc Tukey test) and female mice when Researcher 1 was present (p=0.0038, 2-way ANOVA posthoc Tukey test).”

(2) In the current manuscript, the effects of the experimenter's presence on both habituation time and aspects of the withdrawal reflex are minimal for Researcher 2 and non-existent for Research 1. This is surprising given that Researcher 2 is female; the effect of experimenter presence was previously documented for male experiments as the authors appropriately point out (Sorge et al. PMID: 24776635). In general, this argument could be strengthened (or perhaps negated) if more than N=2 experiments were included in this assessment.

The reviewer makes an important point regarding this data and the need for further experiments. We designed a new set of experiments to examine the effect of male and female researchers overall. It should be noted that this is rather noisy data given it was collected by three sets of male and female researchers over 3 weeks. That said a significant difference was found between mouse sexes when a male researcher was present. This is consistent with previous data, but as we discuss this does not invalidate previous data as researcher gender appears to be only one of the factors at work in researcher presence effects on mouse behavior, leading to individuals having the potential for greater or lesser effects than their overall gender. Our new results can be found in Figure 4K.

“These results indicate that researcher presence at baseline can lead to significant differences in reflexive and affective pain behavior. In this case, male mice showed increased behavioral responses to both touch and pain behavior depending on whether the researcher was present. This led to sex differences in the affective and reflexive component of the withdrawal response when a researcher is present, which disappears when no researcher is present, or a different researcher is present. For this set of researchers, the female researcher elicited the greater behavioral effect. This appeared at first to contradict previous findings (Sorge 2024, Sorge 2014), but it was hypothesized that the effect of an individual researcher could easily vary compared to their larger gender group. To test this, 6 new researchers, half male and half female, were recruited and a new cohort of mice (n=15 male, n=15 female) was tested in each of their presence over the course of 3 weeks, controlling for circadian rhythms (Figure 4K). The newly added force ramp stimulus type was used for these experiments, with three replicates per trial, to efficiently measure mechanical threshold in a manner comparable to previous work. It was found that female mice showed significantly decreased mechanical threshold compared to male mice (p=0.034, Šídák's multiple comparisons test and student’s t-test) when a male researcher was present. This did not occur when a female researcher or no researcher was present. In the latter case of slight trend towards this effect was observed, but it was not significant (p=0.21), and may be the result of a single male researcher being responsible for handling and setting up the mice for all experiments.”

“These findings indicate that sex-dependent differences in evoked pain behavior can appear and disappear based on which researcher/s are in the room. There is a trend towards male researchers overall having a greater effect, but individuals may have a greater or lesser effect on mouse behavior, independent of the gender or sex. This presents a confound that must be considered in the analysis of sex differences in pain and touch behavior which may explain some of the variation in findings from different researchers. Together, these results suggest that remote stimulus delivery may be the best way to eliminate variation caused by experimenter presence while making it easier to compare with data from researchers in your lab and others.”

(3) The in vivo BLA calcium imaging data feel out of place in this manuscript. Is the point of Figure 6 to illustrate how the ARM can be coupled to Inscopix (or other external inputs) software? If yes, the following should be addressed: why do the up-regulated and down-regulated cell activities start increasing/decreasing before the "event" (i.e., stimulus application) in Figure 6F? Why are the paw withdrawal latencies and paw distanced travelled values in Figures 6I and 6J respectively so much faster/shorter than those illustrated in Figure 5 where the same approach was used?

Thanks to the reviewer for bringing up this concern. We have included further text discussing this behavioral data and how it compares to previous work in this study.

“Paw height and paw velocity were found to be consistent with data from figures 4E-I (male researcher and male mice) and 5C (stimulus intensity 2.5 and 4.5) for similar data, with slightly elevated measures of paw distance traveled and decreased paw withdrawal latency for the pinprick stimulus. This was likely caused by sensitization due to multiple stimulus deliveries over the course of the experiment, as due to logistics, 30 stimulus trials were delivered per session due to logistical constraints vs the max of 3 that were performed during previous experiments.”

“This data indicates that the ARM is an effective tool for efficiently correlating in vivo imaging data with evoked behavioral data, including sub-second behavior. One limitation is that the neural response appears to begin slightly before stimulus impact (Figure 6F, 6SB). This was likely caused by a combination of the imprecise nature of ARM v1 paw contact detection and slight delays in the paw contact signal reaching the Inscopix device due to flaws in the software and hardware used, slowing down the signal. Improvements have been made to eliminate this delay as part of the ARM v2, which have been shown to eliminate this delay in vivo fiber photometry data recorded as part of new projects using the device.”

(4) Another advance of this manuscript is the integration of a 500 fps camera (as opposed to a 2000 fps camera) in the PAWS platform. To convince readers that the use of this more accessible camera yields similar data, a comparison of the results for cotton swabs and pinprick should be completed between the 500 fps and 2000 fps cameras. In other words, repeat Supplementary Figure 3 with the 2000 fps camera and compare those results to the data currently illustrated in this figure.

The reviewer makes a good point about the need for direct comparison between 500 fps and 2000 fps data. To address this we added data from same mice, from 2 weeks prior with a comparable set up. These new results can be found in Supplemental Figure 3.

“Changes were made to PAWS to make it compatible with framerates lower than 2000 fps. This was tested using a 0.4 MP, 522 FPS, Sony IMX287 camera recording at 500 fps, and data recorded at 2000 fps by the previously used photron fastcam (Figure 3SC-F). The camera paired with PAWS was found to be sufficient to separate between cotton swab and pinprick withdrawal responses, suggesting it may be a useful tool for labs that cannot invest in a more expensive device. PAWS features measured from 500 fps video data were not significantly different from the 2000 fps data based on a 2 way ANOVA.”

(5) In Figure 2F, the authors demonstrate that a von Frey experiment can be completed much faster with the ARM vs. manually. I don't disagree with that fact - the data clearly show this. I do, however, wonder if the framing of this feature is perhaps too positive; many labs wait > 30 s between von Frey filament applications to prevent receptive field sensitization. The fact that an entire set of ten filaments can be applied in < 50 s (< 3 s between filaments given that each filament is applied for 2 s), while impressive, may never be a feature that is used in a real experiment.

The reviewer makes an important point about how different researchers perform these tests and the relevant timings. We have moderated the framing of these results to address this concern.

“Further, we found that the ARM decreased the time needed to apply a stimulus 10 times to a mouse paw by 50.9% compared to manual delivery (Figure 2F). This effect size may decrease for researchers who leave longer delays between stimulus delivery, but the device should still speed up experiments by reducing aiming time and allowing researchers to quickly switch to a new mouse while waiting for the first.”

(6) Why are different affective aspects of the hindpaw withdrawal shown in different figures? For example, the number of paw shakes is shown in Figure 3C, whereas paw shaking duration is shown in Figure 5D. It would be helpful - and strengthen the argument for either of these measures as being a reproducible, reliable measure of pain - if the same measure was used throughout.

Thanks to the reviewer for pointing out this discrepancy. We have adjusted the figures and text to only use the Number of Paw Shakes for better consistency (Figure 5D and Figure 5-figure supplement 1C).

(7) Is the distance the paw traveled an effective feature of the paw withdrawal (Figure 5E)? Please provide a reference that supports this statement.

A relevant citation and discussion of this metric based on previous studies has been added.

“Mice injected with carrageenan (n=15) showed elevated shaking behavior (p=0.0385) in response to pinprick stimuli in comparison to measurements at baseline (Figure 3C). This aligned with previous findings where PAWS has detected elevations in shaking and/or guarding behavior, examples of affective pain behavior, and post-peak paw distance traveled, which correlates with these behaviors in carrageenan pain models and has been to found to be a good measure of them in past studies (Bohic et al. 2023).”

(8) Dedek et al. (PMID: 37992707) recently developed a similar robot that can also be used to deliver mechanical stimuli. The authors acknowledge this device's ability to deliver optogenetic and thermal stimuli but fail to mention that this device can deliver mechanical stimuli in a similar manner to the device described in this paper, even without experimenter targeting. Additional discussion of the Dedek et al. device is warranted.

We would like to thank the reviewer for identifying  this omission. Discussion of this as well as further discussion of Dedek et al.’s automation prototyping work has been added.

“Previous attempts at automating mechanical stimulus delivery, including the electronic von Frey (Martinov 2013) and dynamic plantar asthesiometer (Nirogi 2012), have focused on eliminating variability in stimulus delivery. In contrast to the ARM, both of these devices rely upon a researcher being present to aim or deliver the stimulus, can only deliver vFH-like touch stimuli, and only measure withdrawal latency/force threshold. Additionally, progress has been made in automating stimulus assays by creating devices with the goal of delivering precise optogenetic and thermal stimuli to the mouse’s hind paw (Dedek 2023, Schorscher-Petchu 2021). The Prescott team went farther and incorporated a component into their design to allow for mechanical stimulation but this piece appears to be limited to a single filament type that can only deliver a force ramp. As a result these devices and those previously discussed lack of customization for delivering distinct modalities of mechanosensation that the ARM allows for. Moreover, in its current form the automated aiming of some of these devices may not provide the same resolution or reliability of the ARM in targeting defined targets (Figure 1C), such as regions of the mouse paw that might be sensitized during chronic pain states. Due to the nature of machine learning pose estimation, substantial work, beyond the capacity of a single academic lab, in standardizing the mouse environment and building a robust model based on an extensive and diverse training data set will be necessary for automated aiming to match the reliability or flexibility of manual aiming. That said, we believe this work along with that of that of the other groups mentioned has set the groundwork from which a new standard for evoked somatosensory behavior experiments in rodents will be built.”

(9) Page 2: von Frey's reference year should be 1896, not 1986.

This typo has been fixed, thanks to the reviewer for noting it.

“For more than 50 years, these stimuli have primarily been the von Frey hair (vFH) filaments that are delivered to the mouse paw from an experimenter below the rodent aiming, poking, and subsequently recording a paw lift (von Frey 1896, Dixon 1980, Chaplan 1994).”

(10) Page 2: Zumbusch et al. 2024 also demonstrated that experimenter identification can impact mechanical thresholds, not just thermal thresholds.

Text has been updated in order to note this important point.

“A meta-analysis of thermal and mechanical sensitivity testing (Chesler 2002, Zumbusch 2024) found that the experimenter has a greater effect on results than the mouse genotype, making data from different individual experimenters difficult to merge.”

(11) Page 2: One does not "deliver pain in the periphery". Noxious stimuli or injury can be delivered to the periphery, but by definition, pain is a sensation that requires a central nervous system.

Text has been updated for improved accuracy.

“Combining approaches to deliver painful stimuli with techniques mapping behavior and brain activity could provide important insights into brain-body connectivity that drives the sensory encoding of pain.”

E: Hector means- to act in an arrogant or intimidating way or to play the bully (Merriam Webster).

do you have an example of what this discourser should look like?

A big change came to tv when brands could sponsor television companies to buy advertisements time in the form of commercials. It contrasts British commercial TV and their own beliefs. . Ads’s were deemed as interruptions and only happened during “natural breaks”. This shows the difference in cultures when it comes to commercial television. With one wanting to please the audience and the other wanting to please advertisers.

TV created a planned sequence of programs, or even different possible sequences, that flowed together as one continuous stream. Viewers experienced this flow as a single, easy operation. By just turning on the TV, rather than choosing each event separately. This highlights how television shaped the way people consumed media as an ongoing stream instead of individual, isolated events.

In my opinion, all broadcasters should aim to do this. I would be fine if there were interruptions, however they must at least continue the flow from film to ad back to film in order to guarantee that viewers won't just stop watching, which I feel many do.

It most definitely is an interruption and I'm sure the producers know it. This is why people purchase ad-free streaming subscriptions because they don't want to be interrupted when watching shows or movies.

It is almost as if producers created shows obviously for entertainment, but also do create business. I believe that intentionally putting breaks within shows in order to allow an interval of advertisements ruins the experience for the audience and makes it predictable to know when an advertisement is coming.

The use of real world thinking inside the virtual world feel more dramatic as it feels as if were making decisions based on the real world similar to “adventures with anxiety” where our decisions are based on what we would feel in real life.

This is kind of like false hope. We have agency in the game where we can make decisions that have impacts, but if these results lead to no end, no matter how immersive or engaging the environment is, the feeling of agency is bound to disappear.

This could be seen as a more figurative sense as well, by how the frightening place with all the dangers is the internal conflicts that people have to deal with. Adventures with Anxiety is a great example for that, with how the objective of the game is to struggle with the human's internal anxiety as the wolf and make sure that the human doesn't do anything bad. Dealing with those internal conflicts could lead to that mental freedom, which is the great reward that is mentioned.

This reminds me of the point in Quing's Quest when we are surrounded by the authorities and there are many options to choose from and they seemingly all did not work, but then it just took a bunch of clicks to realize that dancing was the way we would get out of the situation by turning the authorities into glitter.

Also connects to the section further down the page on how puzzles are an effective way of instilling agency

This concept of the violence hub (or just a hub) as a story structure seems to me to be a really interesting way to show multiple viewpoints in a story!!

Maze-based games give the player a larger sense of agency due to having more free will to explore whatever they want for however long they want

The violence hub is used as a narrative structure that decentralizes storytelling to bring out more emotional complexity and control perspective for the reader

This goes back to an idea where Murray compares exploring downtown Boston amd the forests of Maine to going to a dentists office. Because of the limited option that we have in going to a dentists office, it can make that goal undesirable and not enjoyable at all. Although mazes offer free navigation of space and challenges, the single goal of a maze can be constricting.

Murray begins with this proposition about agency as causal----a kind of input/output sequence and then expands on it later in this section by thinking about intentional navigation. I see that idea of thinking of the digital screen as space through which we travel opens up a kind of radical way of thinking about storytelling and giving it some dimensionality

Very different than Adventures with Anxiety or Quings Quest because those games are designed to deliver a message, while these types of literature are designed for the reader or player to have their own interpretation.

I think that this is not similar to either of the games we have played because this is more describing a "sandbox" style game, but there are endings in Quing's Quest and Adventures with Anxiety.

This sentence ties to the big idea that when on a story journey, you should be questioning why everything is happening, even if we don't get all the answers we are looking for. This is similarly seen in Adventures With Anxiety, with how each of the choices makes you think about how it would have been different with another choice and what caused the specific reaction. Overall, it ends with you wondering whether or not you made all the right choices still and you won't truly know unless you play the game again.

Interesting take, but what about stories/games with multiple endings? Like choose-your-own-adventures. Multiform stories don’t necessarily always have one ending.

Understanding how the mind works and accepting facts in order to figure out why something happened, and getting passed the event. (just like adventure with anxiety how they had to accept they are broken)

Puzzles can be satisfying, but for them to be effective in enhancing the feeling of agency, they should not require a further suspension of disbelief. A game should work within the logic and rules that it's already established - such as Myst's elevator puzzle, in which it would be somewhat reasonable to have a hidden entrance; conversely, The Seventh Guest's cake puzzle is unrealistic as there is no reason to cut a cake past the game instructing the player to do so. Thus, the player feels as if they have effectively more agency in Myst than The Seventh Guest.

A puzzle/adventure game could be physically very open yet have many moral paths/choices

Not like adventures with anxiety at all bc there’s clear cut dialogue choices of what will lead to what

The puzzles that are solved add depth to the virtual space, making it even more meaningful to navigate through the space

The key idea in why Odysseus's story was so satisfying, and why it's getting adopted into games.

These sentences add to the author's definition of agency as a feeling of determination to solve a mystery or face the truth, is satisfactory. This is similar to finding the ending of the Adventures with Anxiety game, as we were "staring at the threatening beast" while still trying finish the game.

New way of agency, now you are not just navigating a game space, but you must solve a problem like a puzzle(direct user input that decides whether you win or not) in order to advance and navigate

Expands on this idea with conceptions of a hero's journey through various narrative structures

This was a very intricate way of explaining poetry.

Poetry is important for a way of life, it isn't just a silly little reading to some people it is so much more than that.

Because of the similarity between TSH and a hormone that increases in pregnancy (human chorionic gonadotropin, hCG), a temporary gestational hyperthyroidism may develop with increasing hCG levels during pregnancy causing a thyrotoxicosis (discussed below).

same comment as earlier- TPO is located on the membrane. This figure 14 is also based on Figure 5, so if Fig 5 is changed, Figs 10 and 14 could also be changed.

While methimazole and propylthiouracil (PTU) both block thyroid hormone synthesis by inhibiting the PTO enzyme, PTU also inhibits peripheral T4 deiodination to active T3 so is used when a significant reduction in circulating thyroid hormone is required, as in a thyroid storm.

to be consistent with text, change to "Graves' disease" and add "gestational thyrotoxicosis" to the other causes of hyperthyroidism

Why is there a question mark in a box below the figure?

autoimmune destruction of the pituitary (hypophysis) (lymphocytic hypophysitis)

Fig 10 does not show methimazole inhibiting TPO which is the drug target. This detail would connect this discussion with the one illustrated in Figure 5. If Figure 5 is redrawn as suggested, Fig 10 could also be redrawn, as it is based on Figure 5 information.

...globulin, a carrier protein that binds to thyroid hormone in the blood.

the uptake of iodide via the sodium/iodide symporter, resulting in reduced organification and synthesis of thyroid hormone, a phenomenon...

"thyroglobulin by the apical plasma membrane protein thyroid peroxidase (TPO)," (Figure 5 is incorrect because TPO is on the plasma membrane, so it probably should be redrawn. However if it isn't redrawn, adding the above phrase may help with confusion over its location. If the figure 5 is redrawn, pendrin can be added on the membrane where iodide (add a negative charge on iodide I-) crosses the membrane to the colloid.)

Thyroglobulin is synthesized in the thyroid follicular cells and moved via exocytosis to the colloid space where it is stored. Iodide is moved from the follicular cell to the colloid via the anion transporter protein Pendrin. (Mutations in the pendrin gene can cause Pendred syndrome, with deficiencies in hearing and thyroid function).

iodinated thyroglobulin with the newly formed T4 and T3 residues.

remain part of the thyroglobulin protein at this point.

a sodium gradient resulting from the action of a

an acellular, amorphous gel-like colloid that changes its density depending on the activity of the thyroid. The colloid portion of the thyroid contains nascent....

Are the labels on the figure inappropriately shifted to the right?

Your current and desired comprehension of the material is a great way to decide how much time you need to study and understand.

Time is everything. use it wisely.

people limiting their own 1st Amendment rights out of fear of the administration

trump is cutting funding because of the pro-palestine protests => harvard is saying that they don't like the pro-palestine protests either?

In the 1970s, Raymond Williams described flow as something people experienced by watching TV that connected them to local and national culture, almost like part of being a citizen. In today's age things are a lot different. With digital technology and the internet, there is less focus on consumer data as a whole and focuses on individual “user” data. Instead of just watching as citizens, people are now treated like active parts of online networks, where media constantly flows through endless platforms and connections.

Flow was first used to explain how traditional TV worked, but now that media has changed so much with cable, streaming, and online platforms, the concept is now being reimagined to help understand how flow can work in today’s age.

Flow was most useful when broadcast TV was the main way people watched, with fixed schedules and channels. Today, with streaming and on-demand services, viewers have more control, so the flow model does not explain everything about how people watch media now.

This shows that Television is more than just watching Television, but rather something that reshaped the culture of society.

I believe this is important because generally, obviously TV is continuous however the point of using the term flow was to describe how smoothly producers and broadcasters integrated advertisements or sponsors into broadcasted Television.

Imagine all of the hidden gems that are currently out there that people don’t even realize that they’re writing.

In the 1970s, stereotypes about Africa were found in American textbooks. A 1978 study showed schools were spreading myths due to authors using weak sources, leading to a misrepresented imagined version of Africa.

It would be nice if they could find a different way to describe how their technology works as the term: X-ray glasses, won't fully encapsulate the intricacies of said software.

This shows how the kiwibot adapts to its physical environment and is able to work around objects.

I think it should include the specifics when saying the data was collected from different datasets, and also what environments and scenarios they were in.

I found this section interesting because it talked about the different things that they had struggled with along the way of creating the Kiwibot. They brought in the idea that yes, there were challenges, but they created solutions for each one of them, and they were honest about it. The author introduced the idea of errors, but ensured that they were efficient.

This sentence is concise with correct grammar. By doing this, it relays a clear point without overcomplicating the choice of words.

One of the first things I noticed while reading this article is the language. The author uses a familiar tone that blends complex terms with very casual language, mixing in several analogies to help encourage understanding. I did notice a spelling error in this sentence which is why I chose to highlight it, I found it ironic. I think the article would benefit from images or diagrams so that the reader could better visualize the technology discussed, as not everyone learns the same way. The article is clearly written from a marketing perspective, with the purpose being to advertise and promote the Kiwibots. Maybe it seeks to address one of the more common questions the company recieves from potential buyers/consumers.

Using personal references allows for connection with the audience.

This is a unique example of how the company pushes to the future. The bots learn from their own mistakes/successes and shows how they use a sort of "human" processing.

This is the most interesting part to me as the Kiwi Bots are programmed to create their own pathing around campus. It seems as though they should be able to determine when potholes develop; this would allow them to have a more concise route that avoids personal damage. I would relate this to how students cut paths through grass patches creating a more time-efficient route.

This is showing reader that they are continuously getting better.

Mindfulness is often the most important thing in class. What you are writing, your audience and where your ideas and thoughts come from all need to be considered!

ever stuck in writing a email or not knowing what to do, this sample is a good way to start up your email.

college writing is not just for english class, it is a use for everything in this world to communicate on whatever your topic might be.

Interesting

This seems very similar to the early days of the country, where the looser of the election would be Vice President.

The articles of confederation was too small and weak to govern effectively, and unable to properly enforce and pass the laws that they made.

Why are these the options for ratification?

here is info on the court case: https://www.oyez.org/cases/1997/97-1374

assuming this won't be visible in the finished page and both buttons will just take you through submitting the found pet report first?

just a heads up that all boxes currently display 'Step NaN of X' when you finish the click-throughs

maybe some things we think are true actually arent true because of this

Can't tell what's real and what's A.I nowadays

AI being context dependent?

It's not like the workforce is checking to make sure all of your work is authentic

There is a pressure from everyone to have good grades (university, parents, self, future job/ college) so there is always a drive to do well no matter what. How could you change this do reduce the motivation to use AI?

Kind of sounds like SDSU. How is AI supposed to affect or not affect our work if it is given to us for free by the university and we are encouraged to use it by the university

wondering if it's worth providing examples of what 'immediate help' means? feels like some people may be frantic enough that they might jump to this without doing the above

confirming if vaccination records should be outside of the parenthesis?

How can we as students make the consistency of printing, then annotating the physical copy sustainable?

I find myself eventually overflowing with many papers which leads to disorganization.

I agree with this movement. To help improve America and the life of its people it should focus on what is best for the people.

I agree with this. With America developing at this time the boom of people coming from the gold rush played a significant role in the development of America.

I question why people vote for a third party? There has never been a president elected from the third party so why wouldn't they vote one or the other? Is it to make a statement about what they believe in?

When they talked about fair wage did they mean equal wages between men and women? Or did they want men to still be paid more?

These types of maps are used for more than just helping us navigate to get somewhere. They display statistics.

These observations wouldn't have been made if it weren't for aerial photographs because maps can not show us this information.

This is important because many maps are incorrect because the creators of those maps don't use the same scaling for the whole map which leads to an inaccurate representation of a place.

Being able to reflect on yourself is extremely important. I think this is a very important skill that you need to have for an A. But the other thing that comes to my mind here is a level of vagueness. It is hard to determine whether a specific student has an eye to the constant and substantial improvements of their own work. It is surely possible to judge whether someone improves, but the nuances behind the effort that comes with small or large improvements is harder to see. I still agree with this point, but it is something we all need to keep in mind.

I think this is a good basis for a grade C. You need to at least do the readings on time and also submit the assignments. This is the baseline of what you have to do, and succeeding in this will help you to be better. Having clear baselines of what you have to do helps us students to know what is expected.

Especially in a course about the Russian political system, this is very important. Russia is in many ways not like the US or Europe. If you are unable to be curious about new subjects and especially new perspectives, you won't be able to really learn about them. If you want to be an A student, you have to have the quality to be curious and the time to learn about other people and perspectives.

catholic king would've plunged them into catholic monarchy, disloyal to england

Maybe it's just me but I have always wondered what is the point of these stones. Were they for a use or purpose? Were they a sacred space for something like worship?

Just the fact that these people disappeared basically without a trace is really interesting to me. Where did they go?

I feel like this could really be an actual reason and it seems interesting. I feel like majority of people spend time trying to find out other complex reasons for this but it actually takes more thinking and being more creative to come up with the idea that it literally could have been an accident.

I just find it really interesting how a mummified body over 5,300 can be discovered and still tell a lot of information. Like the age of death and his diet.

she is in regret

She is stuck and is in pain already just as he is in hell doesn't mean anything

these lines show that he is lost and stuck and nobdy understands her

appreciation of the little things

While I think Caswell makes some great points throughout the article, I can not help but wonder how it would be received by the humanity scholars discussed. The tone reads as somewhat condescending and aggressive, and when it does not, it sways in a way that feels detrimental to those same points. Whether Caswell is right or wrong to hold the opinions mentioned, I think readers are likely to reject what might come off as self-righteousness. If two parties are to accept and promote one another, it seems best to strive to strengthen relations. For example, where Caswell uses the word 'begin' here to describe and act that a generalized group of people should take on, it is implied that no one has ever done so. I can not help but feel like someone has, and if someone is trying their best, why take a jab at that person. I read another comment on the article by someone who read Caswell's Urgent Archives for 701. I remember listening to a presentation about Urgent Archives where the students who had read the book all mentioned finding Caswell's tone and sometimes message off-putting. Is being on the offensive really the way the way to bridge gaps, spark community action, and make change? I am doubtful that Caswell is really the voice archivists need advocating for them, having read this article and heard the opinions of other readers.

This motivates me that if I try more, I can get smarter.

Makes me think how stereotypes like “girls are bad at math” or “immigrants struggle in English” can be broken with this mindset.

real, measurable academic improvement. Study skills alone didn’t help because motivation was missing.

Does fear of failure push students to cheat more?

Praise can actually backfire, lowering resilience.

Intelligence praise = fear of mistakes, avoidance of challenge.

I sometimes pick the easy option just to not look bad.

different age or ethnictities seem don't change the result at all.

This will grab whoever your emails intended for's attention attention quicker.

Grammar and spelling in emails will make you sound like you care more about the class.

This will give your teacher an idea of what the email will be about.

End of email should be one singular concluding email to wrap things up.

Always start the email by referring to them as their preferred name.

this statement expands on the personal tone the author creates transitioning from a friendly to an aggressive tone emphasizing the importance of the subject being talked about

Title the email regarding the topic/question you will be talking about, therefor the professor will know the point of the email.

Not proof reading is the biggest mistake, always proofread everything.

When writing an email to a professor, you should keep it short and fairly straight to the point

This is very helpful after the email that i will use with the professors

This is key as not to bore the professor or the person you're trying to email.

These are all very helpful excerpts from the email that I will use with my professors.

It's strange how much appeal "the lexer hack" has for being such a bad solution to the problem.

The most reasonable thing is to just not care about whether your lexer can distinguish between whether an identifier refers to a type or to another sort of identifier. Just report that it's an identifier. In practice, this doesn't very much change how you have to implement the parser, and the symbol table can remain local to the higher-level parser machinery where it was always going to be anyway.

The lexer hack sucks.

This is a good sentence and reminder. If we note take as we go, we are less likely not to remember the topic because we have it in our notes.

We just learned what exactly the word rhetoric means so understanding this part of this chapter comes easy

This is the meaning of "Content Analysis"

To destroy and to create reminds me of the phrase, “I brought you into this world and I’ll take you out.” But there is no bad without the good, just a need for balance.

Notice how the strength is being shown within the writer’s words.

As being in the university, discipline is a big part of your academic career. It is up to you if you want to get it done or wait last minute.

wrong, this still works in chrome and firefox