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IntroductionRecently, the use of animal-facilitated therapy has become widespread. Higher survival rates have been observed in patients with heart failure who are pet owners compared to those who are not 1 . Dog owners are motivated to take daily walks and respond to stress more effectively 2 . It has also been reported that living with a pet decreases blood pressure and stabilizes the heart rate 3 . As a type of animal-facilitated therapy, dolphin-assisted therapy has been shown to have positive effects on human behavior, emotion and speech ability in autistic children 4,5 . We recently showed that touching a dolphin reduced the respiratory Abstract : Among animal-facilitated therapies, dolphin-facilitated therapy has been shown to bene cially affect human behavior, emotion and speech ability.We recently showed that touching a dolphin reduced the respiratory rate and state anxiety in healthy children. In this study, we collected electroencephalographic data EEG , widely used for examining various brain functions, before and after touching dolphins. We examined the relationship between EEG power spectra and individual trait anxiety scores. The results showed that the appearance of slow waves in the frontal area increased significantly after touching a dolphin. Furthermore, the difference in slow wave activity was negatively, but signi cantly, correlated with trait anxiety in the frontal area. This negative correlation showed that slow wave power was greater in subjects with lower trait anxiety, indicating that touching a dolphin may be more effective for subjects with low trait anxiety than those with high trait anxiety. However, even though the increase in slow wave power was lower in subjects with high trait anxiety, touching a dolphin appeared to affect brain rhythms by increasing slow waves.

The United States and Western Europe are key markets for luxury goods, yet it is the latter that is best known for the traditional high-quality craftsmanship and materials that are central to the appeal of luxury goods today. By providing an overview of key features of the markets for luxury in the United States and Western Europe, this chapter will reveal not only differences in demand but also how the luxury industries in these two key areas are converging in many ways. The chapter is based on research in Euromonitor International’s database and reports and is organised around three key cornerstones of luxury, namely, rarity, emotion, and quality.