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Background: Insomnia is highly prevalent and cognitive behavioural therapy is the first-line treatment for it. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of remote cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, specifically, treatment fully delivered through the internet, mobile phones and telephones for sleep and other health outcomes in adults diagnosed with insomnia or reporting insomnia symptoms. This study also aimed to evaluate the effect of various intervention components as subgroup variables to explain the efficacy of remote cognitive behavioural therapy on health outcomes. Methods: Randomised controlled trial studies were obtained from five electronic databases. The PEDro scale was used to assess the quality of the studies. A random effect model was used to assess the mean difference, standardised mean difference and standard deviation of the outcome variables. Heterogeneity among the study articles was assessed using I2 and Q tests. Egger regression analysis was used to assess publication bias. Results: Remote cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia had significant and positive effects on improving sleep outcomes, depression, anxiety, fatigue and mental health compared with the control conditions. Its effect on physical health was not significant. The effect of the therapy was enhanced when the total length of intervention was shorter than 6 weeks, delivered via the internet and did not include therapist support. Conclusion: Remote cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is effective in improving sleep quality, depression, anxiety, fatigue and mental health in insomnia patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key to the sustainable development of family farms and ranches is to solve the problem of financing difficulty, and the construction of the credit rating system of family farms and ranches is the basis of solving the financing difficulty. Therefore, the construction of the credit rating system of family farms and ranches is not only a theoretical problem but also has strong practical significance. On the basis of dichotomous method and improved DEA technology, this paper sets up a credit rating model based on dynamic cycle dichotomous DEA method with the goal of maximizing the efficiency value of credit scoring of family farm and ranch and the constraint of increasing default loss rate. The first feature of this paper is that it constructs a direct mapping from the credit index system to the credit score through the three-stage DEA model, which avoids the disadvantages of the classical linear weighting formula that relies heavily on the measurement results of different weights, and obtains more accurate and stable credit score results of family farms and pastures. Second, the three-stage DEA efficiency value is used as the credit score value of the family farm and pasture, and whether it is located in the optimal preset interval is taken as the basis for efficiency dichotomy. The DEA credit score of the family farm and pasture is calculated by dynamic cycle, and the samples belonging to each level of the family farm and pasture are calculated successively according to the order of the credit grade from high to low. Finally, the result of reasonable credit rating of family farm and ranch with high default loss rate and low credit score was obtained. The pyramid test results of matching credit rating and default loss rate show that this research method is effective and has a good pyramid shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-entropy carbide ceramics have received extensive attention because of their excellent mechanical properties and better oxidation resistance. However, the additive phase of Ti(C,N)-based cermets has not been reported yet. In this study, (HfZrTaNbTi)C 5 high-entropy ceramics (HECs) with equal atomic ratios were successfully prepared by high-energy ball milling. The results show that the HECs possess a single-phase cubic rock salt structure, fine grains, and a uniform element distribution. Then, it was used as the additive phase of Ti(C,N)-based cermets. And with AlCoCrFeNi 2.1 high-entropy alloy (HEA) as binder, Ti(C,N)-HECs-HEA high-entropy cermet block materials was successfully prepared by SPS technology. The room temperature mechanical properties and high-temperature oxidation properties of high-entropy cermets have been studied. The results show that unlike traditional Ti(C,N)-based cermets, the hard phase of high-entropy cermets is composed of black core-white inner ring-grey outer ring grains and grey grains. The grey contrast phase is the newly formed (HfZrNbTaTi)(C,N) high-entropy ceramic phase. Compared with traditional Ti(C,N)-based cermets, high-entropy cermets not only have a considerable hardness (1780.3 HV) but also have relatively higher Vickers indentation fracture toughness (9.22 MPa m1/2) and bending strength (1315 MPa). After being oxidized in air at 1000 °C for 60 min, the high-entropy cermets shows excellent oxidation resistance, with a dense oxide layer and fine oxide particles. The continuous and dense oxide layer effectively prevents the transport of oxygen into the cermets matrix. And the lattice distortion effect and slow diffusion effect of high-entropy alloys and high-entropy ceramics retard the diffusion of elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the high temperature oxidation behavior of Ti and C-added FeCoCrNiMn high entropy alloys (HEAs). Design/methodology/approach: Cyclic oxidation method was used to obtain the oxidation kinetic profile and oxidation rate. The microstructures of the surface and cross section of the samples after oxidation were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Findings: The results show that the microstructure of the alloy mainly consisted of FCC (Face-centered Cubic Structure) main phase and carbides (M7C3, M23C6 and TiC). With the increase of Ti and C content, the microhardness, strength and oxidation resistance of the alloy were effectively improved. After oxidation at a constant temperature of 800 °C for 100 h, the preferential oxidation of chromium in the chromium carbide determined the early formation of dense chromium oxide layers compared to the HEAs substrate, resulting in the optimal oxidation resistance of the TC30 alloy. Originality/value: More precipitated CrC can preferentially oxidize and rapidly form a dense Cr2O3 layer early in the oxidation, which will slow down the further oxidation of the alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, small enterprises have a direct role in economic growth, but they have difficulty in financing development. To address this problem, this paper creates a small business credit evaluation index using a two-stage Bayesian discriminant model. In the first stage, customers are distinguished by whether they are in default, and in the second stage, customers with continuing default are divided into those with a high default loss rate and those with a low default loss rate. The literature to date has identified a credit index only for the first stage; the credit evaluation index proposed here is based on two stages, which is more sensitive. Then, we conduct an empirical analysis using credit data on 3,111 small enterprises in China with a two-stage nonparametric Bayesian discriminant model and a parametric discriminant model, and then, we test the two indicator systems with discriminant accuracy and an ROC curve; the discriminant accuracy of the established index system is 77.95% and 70.95%, respectively, and their prediction accuracy is 0.902 and 0.866, respectively; they show that the constructed indicator system is robust and effective. Finally, we conduct a comparative analysis of discriminant accuracy in three models, finding that the two-stage nonparametric model is optimal, the two-stage logistic regression model is suboptimal, and the two-stage parametric model is poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the characterization of microstructure and tensile properties, the feasibility of preparing Fe 50 Mn 30 Co 10 Cr 10 high-entropy alloys (HEAs) via powder metallurgy was explored, and the effect of sintering temperature and deformation temperature on the microstructure and tensile properties of the alloy was investigated. The alloys sintered at different temperatures possessed a dual-phase structure with face-centered cubic (FCC) and hexagonal close-packed (HCP). The average grain size, HCP phase fraction, and twinning boundary fraction increased with the sintering temperature. The best combination of strength and ductility was obtained in the alloy sintered at 1000 °C, which exhibited a strongly temperature-dependent mechanical behavior, i.e., when the deformation temperature decreased from 298 to 77 K, the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength increased from ∼287 to ∼490 MPa and from ∼745 to ∼1107 MPa, respectively, with only a tiny loss of uniform elongation; this is mainly attributed to the deformation mode of the alloy varied with deformation temperature. During tensile deformation at 298 K, dislocation slip, phase transformation, detwinning of annealing twins, and mechanical twinning were the dominant mechanisms, while no mechanical twinning was activated at 77 K. The excellent combination of strength and ductility for the alloy at 77 K relative to 298 K is mainly attributed to a more significant TRIP effect. Powder metallurgy can be used as a promising way for manufacturing metastable high entropy alloys with excellent tensile properties. • The metastable Fe 50 Mn 30 Co 10 Cr 10 HEAs were prepared via powder metallurgy. • The properties of the HEAs can be adjusted by changing the sintering temperature. • A stronger TRIP effect was observed at 77 K than at 298 K. • The strength increased at 77 K relative to 298 K with only a tiny loss of elongation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of metal materials, deformation and annealing play an irreplaceable role in improving the microstructure and optimizing the properties. In this study, we prepared Al 0.5 CoFeCrNiSi 0.25 dual-phase high-entropy alloys (DHEAs) by vacuum arc melting and investigated their microstructure evolution and mechanical properties at different rolling and annealing temperatures. The results showed that the volume ratio of the FCC phase remained largely unchanged with increasing annealing temperature, with only small recovery for 10% reduction alloy. In contrast, the volume fraction and recrystallization ratio of the FCC phase in a 40% reduction alloy increased, and its recrystallization rate was higher than that of the BCC phase. Annealing the alloys at 900 °C formed the FCC, BCC, σ, L1 2, and B2 phases. As the annealing temperature increased to 1100 °C, the lamellar structure was changed, and the L12 and σ phases dissolved, leading to the gradual increase in the spacing size and volume fraction of the FCC phase. Increasing the annealing temperature reduced the yield strength but enhanced the ductility of DHEAs. Annealing for 1 h at 900 °C after 40% cold rolling enhanced their strength to 1360.61 MPa due to the high dislocation density and presence of σ phases but led to poor ductility. Annealing for 1 h at 1100 °C after 40% cold rolling produced a good combination of tensile strength (∼1267.8 MPa) and ductility (uniform elongation of ∼34.4%). Such remarkable strength and ductility may be attributed to the increased volume fraction of the FCC phase and the dual-phase heterogeneous deformation induction strain hardening effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The micro enterprises’ credit indicators with credit identification ability are selected by the two classification models of Support Vector Machine for the first round of indicator selection and then for the second round of indicator selection, deleting credit indicators with redundant information by clustering variables through the principle of minimum sum of deviation squares. This paper provides a screening model for credit evaluation indicators of micro enterprises and uses credit data of 860 micro enterprises samples in Inner Mongolia in western China for application analysis. The test results show that, first, the constructed final micro enterprises’ credit indicator system is in line with the 5C model; second, the validity test based on the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curve reveals that each of the screened credit evaluation indicators is valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing high entropy alloys that possess both high strength and high ductility have achieved significant progress in recent years. In this study, the metastable high entropy alloy Fe 50 Mn 30 Co 10 Cr 10 with Al-Ti addition was formed by SLM technology. The effect of Al-Ti addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties were investigates. The results shown that: with the addition of Al-Ti addition content, the grain size of the alloy decreases gradually. And also the TiAl intermetallic compounds and nanoscale L1 2 phase are precipitated in the matrix. The phase transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) effect and twin-induced plasticity (TWIP) effect can be activated during the plastic deformation of the alloy. Strength and ductility have been well balanced because of the combination of multiple mechanisms. In the alloy with addition of 1at. % Al and 1 at. % Ti, the yield strength, tensile strength and elongation are 543.5 MPa, 854.2 MPa and 31.8 % respectively, which are increased by 110.2 %, 35.5 % and 70.1 % compared with Fe 50 Mn 30 Co 10 Cr 10 alloy without Al-Ti addition. • Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 metastable high-entropy alloys contenting Al-Ti elements were formed by selective laser melting. • The grain size in the alloys was negatively correlated with the content of Al-Ti elements • With the increase of Al-Ti elements content, the TRIP effect was gradually suppressed during plastic deformation. • L1 2 phase was precipitated in the alloys with Al-Ti elements. • The addition of Al-Ti significantly improves the strength and ductility of SLM-ed metastable high-entropy alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, FeCoCrNiMnSi x (x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2, molar ratio) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) were prepared via arc melting, and subsequently deformed via cold rolling and annealing (CRA). The effects of Si content and annealing temperature on the microstructural evolution and tensile properties of the alloys were systematically investigated. The results indicate that a single-phase FCC structure of coarse-grained FeCoCrNiMnSix HEAs was obtained after homogenized annealing (HOA), and the distribution of each element was uniform. When the molar ratio of Si was increased from 0 to 0.2, the strength of the HOA HEAs increased by nearly 50%, and the elongation did not decrease, largely due to solid solution strengthening and the reduction in stacking fault energy. Conversely, as Si content increased, the recrystallization ratio decreased during annealing. A heterogeneous grain structure composed of recrystallized and residual deformation regions (high density of dislocations and deformation twinning) was obtained by changing the CRA temperature and Si content. A heterogeneous grain structure of CRA HEAs with an annealing temperature of 700 ℃ and Si content of 0.2 exhibits approximately fourfold higher yield strength (733 MPa) compared to that of HOA FeCoCrNiMn HEAs (185.27 MPa). The structure's tensile strength and ductility were measured at 959 MPa and 29.5%, respectively. The high strength was mainly attributed to the combined effect of multiple strengthening mechanisms. Heterogeneous deformation-induced strain hardening and twinning-induced plasticity provide good ductility. • Si decrease the stacking fault energy of FeCoCeNiMn HEAs. • The strength of the HOA HEAs increased with increasing Si content, and the ductility did not decrease. • A heterogeneous grain structure can be tailored by changing Si content and annealing temperatures. • The yield strength of Si2-CRA-700 HEAs is about 4 times higher than Si0-HOA HEAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A surface layered structure of the Al 0.5 CoCrFeNiSi 0.25 high-entropy alloys was prepared via laser remelting (LR). The microstructures were characterized via optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron backscatter diffraction techniques. The microhardness and wear properties of the LR alloys were evaluated in comparison with the as-cast alloy. The results showed that the microstructure of the surface layers can be tailored by changing laser scanning speed. With increasing the laser scanning speed from 3 mm/s to 7 mm/s, the thickness of the molten pool gradually decreased. Meanwhile, the microstructure of the layers changed from BCC + FCC dual-phase layers to BCC phase layers (BCC + B2 phase). And the thickness of BCC + FCC dual-phase layers gradually decreased. When the laser scanning speed reached 7 mm/s, the microstructure of the surface layer was only the BCC phase and the hardness of the BCC layer was doubled compared with the as-cast alloy, which also resulted in a sequential increase in scratch resistance. The relatively high hardness of the layered structure also led to its macroscopic wear resistance higher than that of the as-cast alloy, and the wear mechanism was mainly abrasive wear. • A layered structure with difference microstructure can be tailored by changing laser scanning speed. • The BCC phase layer is achieved with high laser scanning speed of 7 mm/s and its hardness is doubled than the as-cast alloy. • The hardness and wear resistance is enhanced after remelting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, CoCrNi MEAs added with different silicon contents (0, 0.1, 0.2 for molar ratio) were prepared by arc melting. The cold rolled and annealed microstructural evolution and tensile mechanical behavior of the alloys were systematically investigated. The results show that the distribution of elements in the alloys after homogenization annealing is uniform. As the rolling reduction increased from 20% to 60%, SEM-BSE characterization showed that the deformed microstructure of the alloys transformed from neatly aligned slip bands to tangled shear bands. TEM characterizations show that the alloys have typical cold rolling-induced microbands, dislocation cells, and high-density dislocation walls caused by plane slip after cold rolling for 60%. Also, these deformed microstructures are finer in size concerning silicon-alloyed MEAs compared to silicon-free MEAs. After annealing at 650 °C for 60 min, the deformed microstructure was replaced by a heterogeneous grain structure composed of ultrafine grains, micron-scale grains, high-density dislocation regions, and residual deformation regions. With the increase of Si content, the yield strength and tensile strength increased with the change of the heterogeneous grain structure. The tensile strength of the Si0.2 MEAs even exceeds 1.5 GPa, and still maintains a uniform elongation greater than 20% at 77 K. The evolution of the cold-rolled microstructure of silicon alloyed MEAs are mainly related to the reduction of stacking fault energy and a strong dependence on grain orientation and applied stress direction. The formation of nano-DTs and HCP phases resulted in the excellent combination of strength and ductility at 77 K. The typical heterogeneous grain structure realizes the strength–ductility synergy of the alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Youth with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are at risk of experiencing comorbid psychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Studies of Chinese adolescents with OCD are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of depression, anxiety, and helplessness with the occurrence of OCD in Chinese adolescents. Methods This study consisted of two stages. The first stage used a cross-sectional design involving a stratified clustered non-clinical sample of 3174 secondary school students. A clinical interview procedure was then employed to diagnose OCD in students who had a Leyton ‘yes’ score of 15 or above. The second phase used a case-control study design to examine the relationship of OCD to depression, anxiety and helplessness in a matched sample of 288 adolescents with clinically diagnosed OCD and 246 students without OCD. Results Helplessness, depression and anxiety scores were directly associated with the probability of OCD caseness. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that the OCD correlated significantly with depression, anxiety, and helplessness. Cluster analysis further indicated that the degree of the OCD is also associated with severity of depression and anxiety, and the level of helplessness. Conclusion These findings suggest that depression, anxiety and helplessness are important correlates of OCD in Chinese adolescents. Future studies using longitudinal and prospective designs are required to confirm these relationships as causal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equiatomic refractory high entropy alloy (HEA) TiZrNbMoTa was investigated. The alloyed powders with face-centered cubic (FCC) structured solid solution phase were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) and then sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1300, 1400, 1500, and 1600 °C. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the bulk alloy were investigated. The body-centered cubic (BCC) structured solid solution phase and the ZrO 2 phase precipitated from the FCC structured solid solution phase during cool-down from sintering. The highest compression fracture strength (3759 MPa) and fracture strain (12.1%) were obtained in the refractory HEA sintered at 1400 °C. The grain boundary strengthening, precipitation strengthening, solid solution strengthening, transformation-induced plastic (TRIP) effect, and toughening effect of the ZrO 2 phase are the important factors for the high strength and ducitily of the refractory HEA prepared in this study. • TiZrNbMoTa refractory HEA was prepared by powder metallurgy (MA and SPS). • The TiZrNbMoTa refractory HEA with dual-phase (FCC and BCC) solid solution structure was successfully prepared. • TiZrNbMoTa refractory HEA exhibits excellent mechanical properties superior than the refractory HEAs prepared by arc-melting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FeCoCrNiAl high-entropy alloys (HEA) was used as binder of the Ti(C, N)–TiB 2 composite cermets. The Ti(C, N)–TiB 2 –FeCoCrNiAl HEA composite cermets were successfully fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and vacuum hot-pressing sintering (VHPS) at different sintering temperatures. The microstructure, room-temperature hardness, fracture toughness, bending strength, high-temperature hardness and oxidation behavior were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Vickers hardness testing, indentation method, three point bending method, high-temperature vacuum hardness testing and cyclic oxidation. For the Ti(C, N)–TiB 2 -HEA composite cermets, apart from Ti(C, N) and TiB 2 phases, also a minority Fe 2 B were detected in the XRD patterns. TEM observation revealed that the structure of the HEA binder was a solid solution where the Ti(C, N) and TiB 2 were tightly bound. The Ti(C, N)–TiB 2 composite cermets with a Ni/Co binder was selected as a reference. The experimental results indicated that the composite cermets with the HEA binder possesses excellent oxidation resistance. This is attributed to the formation of a continuous and dense external oxide scale and TiO 2 layer that effectively impede inward oxygen transport, which leads to a remarkable improvement in the oxidation resistance. The Ti(C, N)–TiB 2 -HEA composite cermets sintered at 1500 °C showed excellent fracture toughness of 7.9 ± 0.1 MPa.m1/2. And the Ti(C, N)–TiB 2 -HEA composite cermets sintered at 1550 °C showed excellent hardness and bending strength of 1977.3 ± 20 HV 10 and 768.6 ± 20 MPa, respectively. The high-temperature hardness of the HEA binder composite cermets was 993.7 ± 30 HV 20 , which was superior to the Ni/Co binder value of 668.1 ± 30 HV 20 at 1000 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics of 'not just right experiences' (NJREs) in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders (ADs) or major depressive disorder (MDD), compared with those of healthy controls (HCs). Method: One hundred adults with OCD, 86 adults with ADs, 57 adults with MDD and 60 HCs were enrolled in the study. The Not Just Right Experiences Questionnaire Revised (NJRE‐QR), Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (Y‐BOCS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used to evaluate clinical symptoms in patients with OCD, ADs or MDD. The Obsessive Belief Questionnaire‐44 (OBQ‐44) was used to evaluate OC beliefs in the OCD patients. The HCs only received assessment using the NJRE‐QR. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and covariance (ANCOVA) were performed to compare the NJREs scores across the groups, while Pearson correlation and partial correlation analyses were used to examine the association between NJREs and other clinical features. The contribution of NJREs to predict OC symptoms was determined by multiple stratified linear regression. Results: Individuals with OCD had significantly higher scores for the number of NJREs than ADs, but not MDD. The severity of NJREs was also significantly higher in patients with OCD than those with MDD or ADs (F = 5.23 and F = 19.79, respectively, P < 0.01). All the clinical scores in the NJRE‐QR were significantly higher than those in the HC group. The number and severity of NJREs correlated significantly with the Y‐BOCS total score (r = 0.29 and r = 0.39, respectively, P < 0.01). NJREs showed an independent contribution to OC symptoms, which alone explained 8% of the variation (F = 16.49, ΔR2 = 0.08; P < 0.01). Conclusion: NJREs are related closely to OC symptoms, with their severity discriminating between OCD patients and those with ADs or MDD. NJREs were more specific for OCD in the Chinese population and are therefore worthy of further study in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bulimia nervosa (BN) is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating and compensatory behaviors. The thalamus plays a crucial role in the neural circuitry related to eating behavior and needs to be further explored in BN. Methods: In this study, 49 BN patients and 44 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. We applied the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation to investigate regional brain activity in the thalamus and functional connectivity (FC) to examine the synchronization of activity between thalamic subregions and other brain regions in both groups. All results underwent false discovery rate (p < 0.05, FDR correction) correction. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the patients' abnormal clinical performance and the thalamic alterations (p < 0.05, FDR correction). Results: We found no significant differences in neural activity between BN patients and HCs in the sixteen thalamic subregions. However, compared to the HCs, the individuals with BN showed decreased FC between the thalamic subregions and several regions, including the bilateral prefrontal cortex, right inferior parietal lobule, right supplementary motor area, right insula, cingulate gyrus and vermis. Additionally, BN patients showed increased FC between the thalamic subregions and visual association regions, primary sensorimotor cortex, and left cerebellum. These altered FC patterns in the thalamus were found to be correlated with clinical variables (the frequency of binge eating/purging per week and external eating behavior scale scores) in the BN group. All results have passed FDR correction. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that there is disrupted FC between thalamic subregions and other brain regions in BN patients during resting state. These regions are primarily located within the frontoparietal network, default mode network, somatosensory, and visual network. These findings elucidate the neural activity characteristics underlying BN and suggest that thalamic subregions have potential as targets for future neuromodulation interventions. Plain English summary: The high recurrence rate of bulimia nervosa (BN) poses a clinical challenge, and thus, it is crucial to improve the characterization and identification of brain functional abnormalities as direct targets for novel therapies. To investigate the neural circuitry associated with BN, the thalamus is a critical node since it serves as a higher-order relay point in the cortico-thalamo-cortical information pathway. Our findings reveal that altered functional connectivity (FC) between thalamic nuclei and other brain regions is evident throughout the whole brain, particularly within the frontoparietal network, default mode network, somatosensory, and visual network. These changes in FC are significantly associated with disordered eating behavior and the severity of illness in BN patients. Therefore, these findings help identify the neural mechanisms underlying disordered eating behavior and BN severity and suggest potential targets for future neuromodulation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess brain functional alterations in BN patients with affective disorders and their association with maladaptive eating behaviors. A total of 42 BN patients with affective disorders (anxiety and depression) and 47 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. The resting-state fMRI data were analyzed for functional changes as indicated by regional homogeneity based on Kendall's coefficient of concordance (KCC-ReHo) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC). A principal component analysis (PCA) model was used to identify the commonalities within the behavioral questionnaires from the BN group. Patients in the BN group showed decreased ReHo in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and right supramarginal gyrus (SMG). Additionally, the BN group showed increased FC between the left MFG and the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG); decreased FC between the right MFG and the bilateral insula and the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG); and decreased FC between the right SMG and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In the FC-behavior association analysis, the second principal component (PC2) was negatively correlated with FC between the left MFG and the right ITG. Based on a brain functional analysis (ReHo and FC), this study revealed significant aberrant changes in the frontal-temporal regions of BN patients with affective disorders. These regions, which serve as fronto-temporal circuitry, are associated with restraint and emotional eating behaviors. Our findings shed new light on the neural mechanisms underlying the condition. • Anxiety and depression are the most common affective comorbidities in patients with bulimia nervosa • Little is known about the neuropathic mechanisms underlying comorbid affective disorders in bulimia nervosa • Potential disturbance in the recruitment of fronto-temporal circuitry in BN patients with comorbid affective disorders • The brain functional changes were correlated with disordered eating behaviors • Interplay between BN-specific and comorbid psychopathological effects may contribute to specific brain functional activity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although studies have demonstrated the involvement of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the neurobiology of eating disorders, its alterations in bulimia nervosa (BN) remain largely unknown. This study investigated the structural and functional properties of NAc in patients with BN. Method: Based on the resting‐state functional MRI and high‐resolution anatomical T1‐weighted imaging data acquired from 43 right‐handed BN patients and 40 sex‐, age‐ and education‐matched right‐handed healthy controls (HCs), the group differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (fALFF) in slow‐4 and ‐5 bands and functional connectivity (FC) of NAc subregions (core and shell) were compared. The relationships between MRI and clinical data were explored in the BN group. Results: Compared with HCs, BN patients showed preserved GMV, decreased fALFF in slow‐5 band of the left NAc core and shell, decreased FC between left NAc core and right caudate, and increased FC between all NAc subregions and frontal regions, between all NAc subregions (except the right NAc core) and the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and between right NAc shell and left middle temporal gyrus. FC between the NAc and SMG was correlated with emotional eating behaviors. Discussion: Our study revealed preserved GMV, local neuronal activity reduction and functional network reorganization of the NAc in BN. The functional network reorganization of the NAc mainly occurred in the frontal cortex and was correlated with emotional eating behavior. These findings may provide novel insights into the BN using NAc as an entry point. Public significance: Although studies have demonstrated the involvement of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the neurobiology of eating disorders, its alterations in bulimia nervosa (BN) remain largely unknown. We used a multimodal MRI technique to systematically investigate structural and functional alterations in NAc subregions of BN patients and explored the associations between such alterations and maladaptive eating behaviors, hoping to provide novel insights into BN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In China, patients with somatoform disorders (SFD) often seek medical treatment repeatedly in outpatient clinics of general hospitals, which increases unreasonable medical expenses. It is imperative to provide early screening to these patients and specialized treatment to reduce the unnecessary cost. This study aimed to screen patients with SFD in general hospitals using a new Chinese questionnaire and explore the characteristics and economic burden of these patients. Methods: Patients (n = 1497) from the outpatient department of neurology, cardiology and gastroenterology of three large general hospitals were included. Participants were screened using a newly developed questionnaire, the Self-screening Questionnaire for Somatic Symptoms (SQSS), to identify the patients with SFD (total SQSS score ≥ 29 points). We compared the demographics and clinical information of patients with and without SFD. Logistic regression was used to explore potential factors related to medical expenses, visits to doctors and sick leave days taken. Results: The frequency of detection of patients with SFD was 17.03%. There were significant differences in employment, doctor visits, symptom duration, medical expenses, sick leave days, PHQ-15 scores, and PHQ-9 scores between patients with SFD and without SFD. General nonspecific somatic symptoms were frequently present in patients with SFD. Several potential factors were associated with higher medical expenses, repeated doctor visits, and sick leave days taken in the regression analysis. Conclusion: The findings indicate that patients with SFD are common in general hospitals, and their direct and indirect economic burden is higher than that of non-SFD patients, which indicates that more screening effort should be made to this group to early identify their problems. Certain characteristics were identified among patients with SFD and several factors were associated with negative consequences of SFD, all of which might be prevented by developing a preventive intervention program to reduce the economic burden of the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

FeCoCrNiMnTi 0.1 C 0.1 (TiC10 alloy) high-entropy alloy (HEA) was successfully prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) and vacuum hot-pressing sintering (VHPS) at different temperatures (850, 900, 950 and 1000 °C). During the MA process, the constituent elements were gradually alloyed and formed FCC solid solutions. The microstructure of bulk TiC10 alloy is mainly composed of FCC phase as the matrix phase and a small quantity of M 23 C 6 , M 7 C 3 and TiMnO 3 phases. The TiC10 alloy has relatively good comprehensive mechanical properties when sintered at 900 °C. The yield strength and hardness of the alloy reached 1652 MPa and 461 HV, respectively. In this study, a close relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties was discussed. Grain boundary strengthening is the dominant strengthening mechanism. • FeCoCrNiMn high-entropy alloy (HEA) with addition of 0.1 at.% Ti and C were prepared by MA and VHPS. • The effect of sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties was studied. • The alloy sintering at 900 °C shows excellent mechanical properties with yield strength of 1652 MPa and the ductility of 10%. • The quantitative contribution of different strengthening mechanisms in the bulk alloy was calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bulimia nervosa is a recurrent eating disorder with uncertain pathogenesis. Recently, there has been growing interest in using neuroimaging techniques to explore brain structural and functional alterations in bulimia nervosa, but the findings of previous studies have a great number of inconsistencies. Methods: Here, we collected anatomical and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 43 bulimia nervosa patients and 34 matched healthy controls (HCs). We applied a surface‐based morphology analysis to explore brain cortical morphology differences and a novel surface‐based functional connectivity (FC) analysis to investigate functional abnormalities. Principal component analysis was performed to analyze the behavioral data of the participants. We further analyzed the relationships between abnormalities in cortical characteristics or FC and clinical features. Results: We observed increased greater sulcal depth in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the right medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) in bulimia nervosa patients than in the HCs. Additionally, the patients exhibited increased FC between the right STG and right ventral tegmental area but decreased function between the right mOFC and right putamen, which was significantly negatively correlated with the first principal component reflecting the severity of bulimia nervosa symptom. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence of neuroanatomical and functional abnormalities in bulimia nervosa patients. Moreover, the FC between the right mOFC and right putamen was associated with symptom severity of bulimia nervosa, which may be a neural marker and involved in the neuropathological mechanism of bulimia nervosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panic disorder (PD) is an anxiety disorder that impairs life quality and social function and is associated with distributed brain regions. However, the alteration of the structural network remains unclear in PD patients. This study explored the specific characteristics of the structural brain network in patients with PD by graph theory analysis of diffusion tensor images (DTI). A total of 81 PD patients and 48 matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. The structural networks were constructed, and the network topological properties for individuals were estimated. At the global level, the network efficiency was higher, while the shortest path length and clustering coefficient were lower in the PD group compared to the healthy control (HC) group. At the nodal level, the PD group showed a widespread higher nodal efficiency and lower average shortest path length in the prefrontal, sensorimotor, limbic, insula, and cerebellum regions. Overall, the current results showed that the alteration of information processing in the fear network might play a role in the pathophysiology of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing structural materials that possess both high strength and high ductility is a classic challenge in the design of alloys. Here, we use thermomechanical treatment to improve the strength and ductility of the Al 0.5 CoCrFeNiSi 0.25 dual-phase high entropy alloy (DHEA). The homogenized DHEAs are cold-rolled at 40 % and then annealed at 1100 ℃ for 1 h, 5 h, and 10 h. The effects of annealing time on microstructure and mechanical properties are investigated. The results show that the microstructure of the alloy consisted of FCC/BCC dual-phase phase. The microstructure morphologies become from the fine-lamellar structure of as-cast alloy to the coarse-lamellar structure of the homogenized alloy. After thermomechanical treatment, a large number of Ʃ3 twin boundaries appeared in the FCC phase, and B2 phase particles are dispersed in the BCC phase. The average grain size remain at the sub-micron level. In addition, annealing time has little effect on the phase proportion of the alloy after 1 h treatment. The homogenized Al 0.5 CoCrFeNiSi 0.25 DHEA annealed for 1 h at 1100 ℃ after cold rolling overcomes the strength-ductility trade-off, with high tensile strength of is 1267.8 MPa, and an excellent elongation to fracture of 34.4 %. With the increase of annealing time, the tensile strength of the alloy decreases, and the ductility appears to increase firstly then decrease. • Al 0.5 CoCrFeNiSi 0.25 dual-phase high-entropy alloy with high strength and high toughness was successfully prepared. • A high entropy alloy with a tensile strength of 1267.8 MPa and a fracture toughness of 34.4 % was obtained. • The changes in the strengthening mechanism of the alloy after thermomechanical treatment were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powder metallurgy possesses the advantages of low energy consumption, less material consumption, uniform composition, and near-final forming. In order to improve the mechanical properties and high-temperature oxidation resistance of CoCrNi medium-entropy alloy (MEA), CoCrNiAlX (X = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7) MEAs were prepared using mechanical alloying (MA) and spark-plasma sintering (SPS). The effect of aluminum content on the microstructure and properties of the MEAs was investigated. The results show that the CoCrNi MEA is composed of face center cubic (fcc) phase and some carbides (Cr23C6). With the increase in Al content, there exists Al2O3 precipitation. When the Al content is increased to Al0.5 and Al0.7, the body center cubic (bcc) phase begins to precipitate. The addition of aluminum significantly enhances the properties of the alloys, especially those containing fcc+bcc dual-phase solid solutions. The yield strength, compressive strength, and hardness of CoCrNiAl0.7 alloy are as high as 2083 MPa, 2498 MPa, and 646 HV, respectively. The high-temperature resistance also reaches the oxidation resistance level. Different oxides include Cr2O3, Al2O3, and (Co, Ni) Cr2O4 and NiCrO3 spinel oxides formed on the surface of alloys. The formation of an Al2O3 oxidation film prevents the further erosion of the matrix by oxygen elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eutectic high-entropy alloys (EHEAs) are usually prepared by melting method. Here, bulk eutectic high-entropy alloys, AlCoCrFeNi 2.1 , with a phase constitution of FCC and BCC phases, was successfully prepared by spark plasma sintering using gas-atomized powders as starting materials. With the increase of sintering temperature, a gradual microstructure evolution from lamellar eutectic to massive eutectic was observed, which should be caused by the decrease of surface energy. When sintering temperature was 1200 °C, the lamellar eutectic microstructure was completely transformed into a massive eutectic microstructure. The bulk EHEA shows the best mechanical performance when the sintering temperature is 1000 °C. The compressive yield strength, fracture strength, and ductility reached 758.60 MPa, 2626.29 MPa, and 45.45%, respectively. Furthermore, the tensile yield strength, fracture strength and ductility reached 538.13 MPa, 963.55 MPa, and 13.31%, respectively. The improved properties can be attributed to phase interfaces between FCC and BCC, and lamellar microstructures in EHEA, strengthening the alloys by inhibiting dislocation motion. The hardness of the alloy sintered at 1000 °C also reached a maximum value of 294.3 HV at 1000 °C, which has the best wear resistance, and the wear mechanism was adhesive wear. The phase interface orientation relationship of AlCoCrFeNi 2.1 EHEA satisfies the N-M relationship, which is < 110> FCC //<100> BCC ,{111} FCC //{110} BCC. • AlCoCrFeNi 2.1 bulk eutectic HEA was prepared with gas-atomized powders via spark plasma sintering. • The lamellar eutectic microstructure has eventually transformed into a massive eutectic microstructure. • The alloy sintered at 1000 °C has good comprehensive properties in strength, ductility and wear resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of high entropy alloys are highly dependent on phase structure. Therefore, accurate prediction of the phase structure is a guide to composition selection and performance enhancement, and it saves both experimental and financial expenditure. In this study, seven classification models were selected to predict the phase structure of high-entropy alloys and six regression models were selected to predict the hardness, and it was found that the XGB model performed best in both classification and regression predictions, where in the prediction phase structure, the XGB model has an error rate of 4.5% in the 10% prediction set, 11.6% in the 20% prediction set and 6.25% in the 30% prediction set. In predicting the hardness, the RMSE and MAE evaluation indexes of the XGB model are 52.66, 26.49. The δ (atomic radius difference) feature parameter having the strongest contribution to the phase formation in the high-entropy alloys. In addition, valence electron concentration(VEC), y/n BCC (The presence or absence of BCC) and y/n lm (The presence or absence of other phases) were key features affecting the hardness. Predictive analysis of two high-entropy alloys, AlCoCrFeNi and AlCoCrFeNiTi 0.5 , and a characterization effect map based on the Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) framework were developed to provide decision support for hardness assessment. • The XGB ML models were found to be most suitable for designing new HEAs. • Modeling analysis of δ features. The δ had a maximum value in the range of 6.32–6.66, reaching approximately 601.808 HV. • The XGB model explains the characteristics of the HEAs and compares the effects of the characteristic parameters of the two HEAs on hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computerized cognitive remediation therapy (CCRT) is generally effective for the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. However, there is much uncertainty about what factors mediate or moderate effectiveness and are therefore important to personalize treatment and boost its effects. Method: In total, 311 Chinese inpatients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV schizophrenia were randomized to receive CCRT or Active control for 12 weeks with four to five sessions per week. All participants were assessed at baseline, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up. The outcomes were cognition, clinical symptoms and functional outcomes. Results: There was a significant benefit in the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) total score for CCRT (F1,258 = 5.62; p = 0.02; effect size was 0.27, 95% confidence interval 0.04–0.49). There were no specific moderators of CCRT improvements. However, across both groups, Wisconsin Card Sort Test improvement mediated a positive effect on functional capacity and Digit Span benefit mediated decreases in positive symptoms. In exploratory analyses younger and older participants showed cognitive improvements but on different tests (younger on Symbol Coding Test, while older on the Spatial Span Test). Only the older age group showed MSCEIT benefits at post-treatment. In addition, cognition at baseline negatively correlated with cognitive improvement and those whose MCCB baseline total score was around 31 seem to derive the most benefit. Conclusions: CCRT can improve the cognitive function of patients with schizophrenia. Changes in cognitive outcomes also contributed to improvements in functional outcomes either directly or solely in the context of CCRT. Age and the basic cognitive level of the participants seem to affect the cognitive benefits from CCRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The front longitudinal beam (FLB) is the most important energy-absorbing and crashing force–transmitting structure of a vehicle under front-impact collision. For better weight reduction and crashworthiness of the FLB, a new structure, variable rolled blank–variable cross-sectional shape FLB (VRB-VCS FLB), is proposed. It has both the continuous variation of thickness and variable cross-sectional shape in space. As the thickness distribution and cross-sectional shape change continuously, the proposed structure evolves into three distinct forms, i.e., the uniform-thickness FLB, variable rolled blank FLB, and variable cross-sectional shape FLB. However, literature on parametric modeling and crashworthiness design optimization of the VRB-VCS FLB is very limited. This paper proposes a parametric modeling method of VRB-VCS FLB with manufacturing constraints. Multiobjective crashworthiness design optimization is performed to explore the lightweightness and crashworthiness performance of the VRB-VCS FLB. Firstly, thickness distribution and cross-sectional shape parameters are defined. Secondly, local parametric subsystem front-impact model is established to balance accuracy and efficiency. Thirdly, a multiobjective optimization model of VRB-VCS FLB is constructed. Finally, a fully automated design of experiment platform is established to improve the data collection efficiency, and epsilon-support vector regression technique and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II are utilized to search the Pareto optimal frontier. The numerical results show that the lightweightness and crashworthiness of the VRB-VCS FLB are significantly improved when compared with the uniform-thickness FLB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • RCT was conducted for first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients using brief CBT. • CBT targeting relapse prevention and positive symptom was effective in FES patients. • Significantly reductions in relapse, as well as improvements in positive symptoms. Abstract The present study aimed to provide preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of a brief CBT intervention focusing on relapse prevention and positive symptom in a Chinese first episode schizophrenia (FES) population. This randomized controlled trial recruited eighty outpatients with FES (as determined using the DSM-IV), aged 16–45 years, and on a current atypical antipsychotic. Patients were randomized to either 10 sessions of individual CBT (intervention group) adjunctive to treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone (control group). Outcome assessment of symptoms, relapse, hospitalization, insight and social functioning were administered at baseline and then post treatment (10 weeks), and at 6-month and 12-month follow ups. At 12 months, patients in the intervention group had significantly greater improvements in positive symptoms, general psychopathology and social functioning, as well as significantly lower rates of relapse, compared to the control group. Although patients in both groups demonstrated significantly improved negative symptom and insight scores from baseline, no group differences were found. This RCT demonstrates that FES patient can greatly benefit from CBT designed to target relapse prevention and positive symptom, with improvements sustained for 1 year following treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reinforcement learning is a new research hotspot in the artificial intelligence community. Q learning as a famous reinforcement learning algorithm can achieve satisfactory control performance without need to clarify the complex internal factors in controlled objects. However, discretization state is necessary which limits the application of Q learning in energy management for hybrid electric bus (HEB). In this paper the deep Q learning (DQL) is adopted for energy management issue and the strategy is proposed and verified. Firstly, the system modeling of bus configuration are described. Then, the energy management strategy based on deep Q learning is put forward. Deep neural network is employed and well trained to approximate the action value function (Q function). Furthermore, the Q learning strategy based on the same model is mentioned and applied to compare with deep Q learning. Finally, a part of trained decision network is analyzed separately to verify the effectiveness and rationality of the DQL-based strategy. The training results indicate that DQL-based strategy makes a better performance than that of Q learning in training time consuming and convergence rate. Results also demonstrate the fuel economy of proposed strategy under the unknown driving condition achieves 89% of dynamic programming-based method. In addition, the technique can finally learn to the target state of charge under different initial conditions. The main contribution of this study is to explore a novel reinforcement learning methodology into energy management for HEB which solve the curse of state variable dimensionality, and the techniques can be adopted to solve similar problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), the treatment mechanisms remain poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of CBT on changes in the intrinsic whole‐brain functional network of OCD patients. Materials and Methods: Twenty drug‐naive and noncomorbid OCD patients were recruited, and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed before and after 12 weeks of CBT. Moreover, 20 healthy controls were scanned twice with a 12‐week interval. A graph‐theory degree centrality (DC) approach and functional connectivity method were used to analyze the whole‐brain functional network hub and connectivity changes in OCD patients before and after CBT treatment. Results: A significant group × time interaction on DC was found in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC); the DC in the left DLPFC was significantly reduced after CBT treatment. Resting‐state functional connectivity (RSFC) between the left DLPFC and right orbitofrontal cortex was increased in the OCD patients at baseline, and normalized after CBT treatment. RSFC changes between the left DLPFC and default mode network (DMN) positively correlated with changes in clinical symptoms in OCD patients. Conclusions: These findings suggest that CBT can modulate changes in intrinsic functional network hubs in the cortico–striato–thalamo‐cortical circuit in OCD patients. Cognitive control network and DMN connectivity may be a potential imaging biomarker for evaluating CBT treatment for OCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural dynamics of membrane permeabilization are investigated systematically and compared between viral fusion peptides (VFPs) and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). It is revealed that the permeabilization process can be divided into two phases: a fast motion phase in water (first phase) and a slow diffusion phase in lipid (second phase). Difference in peptide permeability to neutrally or weakly charged mammalian membrane and to negatively charged bacterial membrane is primarily determined by the first phase, which is dominated by the direct electrostatic interaction between peptide and the hydrophilic surface of membranes. With the harvested knowledge we attempt to rationally design anti-Gram-positive AMPs based on the VFP scaffold of Chikungunya virus fusion domain, which is an 18-mer polypeptide segment (VT18, 84 VYPFMWGGAYCFCDAENT 101 ) located in the structural glycoprotein E1 of viral envelope. Our simulations and previous NMR study suggest that the isolated VT18 peptide can be well structured into a double-stranded β -sheet conformation in water, but would become intrinsically disordering in lipid. Converting the negatively charged VT18 (charge = −2) to two positively charged peptides VT18-KKLV (VYPFMWGGAYCFCKAKLV-NH 2 ) (charge = +3) and VT18-CAKKLV (VYPFCWGGAYAFCKAKLV-NH 2 ) (charge = +3) by residue substitution and C-terminal amidation can largely promote peptide approaching to bacterial membrane surface, thus rendering the peptide with a substantially increased antibacterial activity against Gram-positive Streptococcus pneumoniae (MIC changes from >200 to 52–105 and 58–90 μg/ml, respectively). A further cyclization of linear peptide VT18-CAKKLV by adding a disulfide bond across its two strand arms, which results in a cyclic peptide cVT18-CAKKLV ( Image 2 ) (charge = +3), can effectively stabilize the peptide β -sheet conformation in lipid, thus improving its membrane compatibility in second phase and enhancing its antibacterial potency (MIC = 35–67 μg/ml). We also demonstrated that the designed AMPs have no or only a moderate cytotoxic effect and hemolytic activity on human normal cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastable high entropy alloys possesses excellent ductility and toughness, but its low strength hinders its engineering applications. Therefore, many studies have been carried out to improve the strength of metastable high entropy alloys while maintaining high ductility. In this paper, a new high entropy alloy is fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) with the addition of Si powder into Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 metastable high entropy alloy powders, with compositions (Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10) 100-x Si x (x = 0, 1, 3, 5). The results show that the yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of Si-containing metastable high-entropy alloys gradually increase with the increase of Si elements, and the performance is far better than that of without Si addition. The Si element increases the metastability of the γ(FCC) phase in the high-entropy alloy, and promotes the phase transformation-induced plasticity by adjusting the twinning strain during the deformation process; so that the total elongation of the material prepared by SLM can reach 30% and above. The combined effect of multiple strengthening mechanisms such as dislocation, deformation twinning, and phase transformation has greatly increased the strength of high-entropy alloys. In addition, the excellent strength-ductility combination of the alloy containing Si element indicates that the composition has good printability for laser additive manufacturing, which can provide a reference for expanding the diversification of high-entropy alloys in the additive manufacturing process. • Si-containing Fe50Mn30Co10Cr10 metastable high-entropy alloys were fabricated by selective laser melting. • During the tensile test, the fraction of HCP phase in Si-containing alloys gradually increased. • The addition of Si significantly improves the strength and ductility of SLMed metastable high-entropy alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder defined by recurrent thoughts, intrusive and distressing impulses, or images and ritualistic behaviors. Although focal diverse regional abnormalities white matter integrity in specific brain regions have been widely studied in populations with OCD, alterations in the structural connectivities among them remain poorly understood. Objective: The aim was to investigate the abnormalities in the topological efficiency of the white matter networks and the correlation between the network metrics and Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale scores in unmedicated OCD patients, using diffusion tensor tractography and graph theoretical approaches. Methods: This study used diffusion tensor imaging and deterministic tractography to map the white matter structural networks in 26 OCD patients and 39 age- and gender-matched healthy controls; and then applied graph theoretical methods to investigate abnormalities in the global and regional properties of the white matter network in these patients. Results: The patients and control participants both showed small-world organization of the white matter networks. However, the OCD patients exhibited significant abnormal global topology, including decreases in global efficiency (t =−2.32, p =0.02) and increases in shortest path length, Lp (t =2.30, p =0.02), the normalized weighted shortest path length, λ (t =2.08, p =0.04), and the normalized clustering coefficient, γ (t =2.26, p =0.03), of their white matter structural networks compared with healthy controls. Further, the OCD patients showed a reduction in nodal efficiency predominately in the frontal regions, the parietal regions and caudate nucleus. The normalized weighted shortest path length of the network metrics was significantly negatively correlated with obsessive subscale of the Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (r =−0.57, p =0.0058). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the abnormal topological efficiency in the white matter networks in OCD patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Limited research has specifically examined the nature of the dysfunction in emotion categorization representation in schizophrenia. The current study aimed to investigate the perception bias of morphed facial expression in subjects with schizophrenia and healthy controls in the emotion continua. Twenty-eight patients with schizophrenia and thirty-one healthy controls took part in this study. They were administered a standardized set of morphed photographs of facial expressions with varying emotional intensities between 0% and 100% of the emotion, in 10% increments to provide a range of intensities from pleasant to unpleasant and approach to withdraw. Shift points, indicating the time point that the subjects’ emotion identification begins to change, and response slopes, indicating how rapidly these changes have happened at the shift points in the emotion continuum, were measured. Patients exhibited a significantly greater response slope (i.e., patients’ perception changed more rapidly) and greater shift point (i.e., patients still perceived mild expressions of anger as happy faces) with increasing emotion signal compared with healthy controls when the facial expression morphed from happy to angry. Furthermore, patients with schizophrenia still perceived mild expressions of fear as angry faces(a greater shift point) and were less discriminative from angry to fearful emotion(a flatter response slope). They were sensitive to sadness (a smaller shift point) and the perception changed rapidly (a sharper response slope) as compared with healthy controls in the emotion continuum of happy to sad. In conclusion, patients with schizophrenia demonstrated impaired categorical perception of facial expressions, with generally ‘rapid’ but ‘late’ discrimination towards social threat-related stimuli such as angry facial expression. Compared with healthy controls, these patients have a sharper discrimination perception pattern in the emotion continua from positive valence to negative valence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Although a number of studies have found prospective memory (PM) impairment in patients with schizophrenia, very little is known about the PM performance in non-psychotic relatives of these patients. The current study aimed to explore the PM performance in non-psychotic first-degree relatives of these patients. Two groups of participants (26 non-psychotic first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and 26 healthy comparison participants) were administered three PM tasks (time-, event-, and activity-based) and a set of neurocognitive tests. Results showed that the relatives performed significantly worse than the comparisons on most indices of the PM tasks, with a similar pattern of impairment found in other neurocognitive measures. Together with findings from previous studies, results of the current study suggest that PM may be a potential endophenotype for schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to carry out an intended action in the future and it is an important function for everyday living. Studies have found that the neural basis of PM is located mainly in the prefrontal lobes (particularly in Brodmann Area 10) and patients with schizophrenia have functional deficits in this area. The present study provided a meta-analytic review of PM performances in patients with schizophrenia in 11 studies. A total of 485 patients with schizophrenia and 409 controls were included. Results showed that patients with schizophrenia exhibited impairments in all time- (d =−1.33), event- (d =−0.827), and activity-based (d =−0.729) PM, with time-based PM more impaired than event-based PM. In addition, PM was found to be significantly correlated with negative symptoms (r =−0.18), general psychopathology (r =−0.168), medication dosage (r =−0.119), duration of illness (r =−0.131), age (r =−0.23), education (r =0.249), IQ (r =0.439) and premorbid IQ (r =0.356). It has theoretical and clinical implications. Theoretically, the results indicate time-based PM involves more initiation than event-based PM. Clinically, the results indicate patients on high dose of antipsychotic medication and with long duration of illness need special attention from care givers for PM problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Emotion perception deficits have been well documented in schizophrenia. However, very little is known about decoding of emotion cues in daily communication in this clinical group. The aim of the current study is to examine whether patients with schizophrenia experience difficulties in decoding other people''s emotional cues, such as prosody, in daily conversations. Eighteen patients with schizophrenia and nineteen matched controls were administrated an emotion and intention identification task in a series of conversations with a prosody manipulation and a questionnaire that specifically captured subjective experiences of pleasure. Compared with the healthy controls, the patients with schizophrenia exhibited a chance-level performance in emotion identification in the presence of negative prosody. These findings suggest that patients with schizophrenia have a specific deficit in recognizing negative emotion in conversation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to execute a delayed intention and is different from retrospective memory (RM) in its nature and underlying mechanism (e.g., intention formation, maintenance, detection of PM cue and intention execution). Although preliminary studies have found PM impairment in patients with schizophrenia, the nature and magnitude of this problem in this clinical group is not yet fully known. The current study aimed to further clarify the nature of this impairment in schizophrenia. Fifty-four patients with schizophrenia and fifty-four healthy volunteers matched on demographic variables, IQ and executive functions took part in the study. Time-, event-, and activity-based PM tasks and a set of neurocognitive tests were administered to the participants. Results showed that patients with schizophrenia performed significantly worse on all sub-types of PM tasks, even after controlling for neurocognitive functions such as working memory, verbal memory, visual memory, and executive function. These findings suggest PM deficit is a primary deficit rather than a secondary consequence of neurocognitive impairments in schizophrenia. Analysis found that PM deficits may be mainly due to the impairment of the cue detection and intention retrieval stage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: While a number of studies have shown that individuals with schizophrenia are impaired on various types of prospective memory, few studies have examined the relationship between subjective and objective measures of this construct in this clinical group. The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between computer-based prospective memory tasks and the corresponding subjective complaints in patients with schizophrenia, individuals with schizotypal personality features, and healthy volunteers. The findings showed that patients with schizophrenia demonstrated significantly poorer performance in all domains of memory function except visual memory than individuals with schizotypal personality disorder and healthy controls. More importantly, there was a significant interaction effect of prospective memory type and group. Although patients with schizophrenia were found to show significantly poorer performance on computer-based measures of prospective memory than controls, their level of subjective complaint was not found to be significantly higher. While subjective complaints of prospective memory were found to associate significantly with self-reported executive dysfunctions, significant relationships were not found between these complaints and performance on a computer-based task of prospective memory and other objective measures of memory. Taken together, these findings suggest that subjective and objective measures of prospective memory are two distinct domains that might need to be assessed and addressed separately. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered a first-line treatment for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and it possesses advantages over pharmacological treatments in stronger tolerance to distress, lower rates of drop out and relapse, and no physical "side-effects". Previous studies have reported CBT-related alterations in focal brain regions and connections. However, the effects of CBT on whole-brain structural networks have not yet been elucidated. Here, we collected diffusion MRI data from 34 unmedicated OCD patients before and after 12 weeks of CBT. Fifty healthy controls (HCs) were also scanned twice at matched intervals. We constructed individual brain white matter connectome and performed a graph-theoretical network analysis to investigate the effects of CBT on whole-brain structural topology. We observed significant group-by-time interactions on the global network clustering coefficient and the nodal clustering of the left lingual gyrus, the left middle temporal gyrus, the left precuneus, and the left fusiform gyrus of 26 CBT responders in OCD patients. Further analysis revealed that these CBT responders showed prominently higher global and nodal clustering compared to HCs at baseline and reduced to normal levels after CBT. Such significant changes in the nodal clustering of the left lingual gyrus were also found in 8 CBT non-responders. The pre-to-post decreases in nodal clustering of the left lingual gyrus and the left fusiform gyrus positively correlated with the improvements in obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the CBT-responding patients. These findings indicated that the network segregation of the whole-brain white matter network in OCD patients was abnormally higher and might recover to normal after CBT, which provides mechanistic insights into the CBT response in OCD and potential imaging biomarkers for clinical practice. • The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) effects on brain structural network in OCD were elucidated. • CBT responders showed higher network clustering at baseline and recovered to normal after treatment compared with HCs. • The pre-to-post decreases in nodal clustering positively correlated with symptoms improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Increased fALFF value in the DLPFC and its functional connectivity to the cerebellum in medication-free patients with OCD. • Provide evidence for the hypoconnectivity between the somatomotor network and the DMN. • Provide new insights for current knowledge based on the traditional CSTC circuitry model of OCD. Neuroimaging studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often focus on the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuitry, but recent studies have found abnormal spontaneous brain activity in regions outside the CSTC circuitry in patients with OCD using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Researchers have not clearly determined whether changes in spontaneous brain activity within and beyond the CSTC circuitry coexist in medication-free patients with OCD. To address this question, we recruited 64 medication-free patients with OCD and 60 matched healthy controls (HCs) to investigate their spontaneous brain activity by measuring the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and resting-state functional connectivity. Patients with OCD showed increased fALFF values in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and decreased fALFF values in the right rolandic operculum compared with HCs. Furthermore, patients with OCD exhibited significantly increased functional connectivity between the left DLPFC and the left cerebellum and reduced negative functional connectivity between the right rolandic operculum and the left precuneus. These findings provided new insights into the pathophysiological model of OCD, which may include CSTC circuitry and regions outside this circuitry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a theoretical model is developed to reveal the bending collapse of top-hat thin-walled structures by dividing a top-hat thin-walled structure into a top-hat element and flat-plate element. A theoretical formula is also developed to describe the bending deformation and energy-absorption of the structures. The theoretical model is capable of predicting the bending collapse and energy-absorption of top-hat thin-walled structures with different thickness and material specification. The accuracy and generality of the theoretical prediction model is validated by performing three-point bending tests and finite element simulations. Then, both theoretical prediction formulas and finite element analysis (FEA) based surrogate models are employed to perform the crashworthiness optimization of top-hat thin-walled structures. The results show that (i) the theoretical prediction model is capable of producing results that can be directly used to optimize the thicknesses, cross-sectional geometry, and material specifications for top-hat thin-walled structures, which will increase the efficiency and shorten the cycle time of crashworthiness design optimization for this type of structure; and (ii) steel-aluminum hybrid top-hat thin-walled structure has a larger energy-absorption capacity than high-strength steel without exceeding the initial weight, whereas a lightweight design is more feasible with an aluminum alloy than with high-strength steel without sacrificing the energy absorption of the baseline design. • A theoretical model is developed to reveal the bending collapse of top-hat tubes. • A theoretical formula is given to predict the energy-absorption of the structures. The proposed theoretical model is applicable for optimizing the different aspects of top-hat tubes. • The efficiency of design optimization for top-hat tubes is improved using the theoretical-formulas based optimization. • The energy-absorption capacity of steel-aluminum hybrid tubes is better than the high-strength steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Structural and functional white matter defects may suggest a vital neurobiological basis of OCD. However, the effects of CBT on white matter in OCD remain unknown. Objective: The aim was to investigate white matter changes and the effect of CBT on white matter in OCD patients. Methods: Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were acquired using DTI. Participants included 85 patients with OCD and 90 healthy controls. VBM was then performed to detect regions with significant group differences. Results: Obsessive–compulsive disorder patients exhibited significantly reduced FA values in bilateral OFC, right cerebellum, and left SPG, while higher FA values were observed in right PUT compared with healthy controls. Following CBT, OCD patients showed higher FA values in right MFG, left OFC, right cerebellum, and left MTG, and decreased FA values in right PUT in comparison with pretreatment. Furthermore, FA values in the left OFC of patients were significantly positively correlated with the Y‐BOCS and its associated Compulsions subscale, and FA values in the right PUT were positively correlated with Compulsions subscale. In addition, the percentage change in FA values in left MTG was positively correlated with the percentage reduction in Compulsions subscale, while the percentage change in FA values in left OFC and right PUT was negatively correlated with the percentage reductions in Obsessive and Compulsions subscale, respectively. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the abnormalities of white matter microstructure in unmedicated patients with OCD. These abnormalities may be partly reversed by CBT. Little is known about the effects of CBT on white matter in OCD patients. We investigated white matter changes and the effect of CBT on white matter in unmedicated OCD patients using diffusion tensor tractography. OCD patients showed significant abnormalities of white matter microstructure in some brain areas, and these abnormalities may be partly reversed by CBT. The recovery of white matter fiber connections was correlated with an improvement in obsessive–compulsive symptoms. CBT inversion of partial white matter microstructure abnormalities can be used as an imaging index to predict the efficacy of CBT in the treatment of OCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]