Impulse Strength Research Articles

Fear in the Chinese Population: Influential Patterns in the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Major global public health emergencies challenge public mental health. Negative emotions, and especially fear, may endanger social stability. To better cope with epidemics and pandemics, early emotional guidance should be provided based on an understanding of the status of public emotions in the given circumstances. From January 27 to February 11, 2020 (during which the cases of COVID-19 were increasing), a national online survey of the Chinese public was conducted. A total of 132,482 respondents completed a bespoke questionnaire, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ). Results showed that at the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic, 53.0% of the Chinese population reported varying degrees of fear, mostly mild. As seen from regression analysis, for individuals who were unmarried and with a relatively higher educational level, living in city or area with fewer confirmed cases, cognitive reappraisal, positive expressivity and negative inhibition were the protective factors of fear. For participants being of older age, female, a patient or medical staff member, risk perception, negative expressivity, positive impulse strength and negative impulse strength were the risk factors for fear. The levels of fear and avoidant behavior tendencies were risk factors for disturbed physical function. Structural equation modeling suggested that fear emotion had a mediation between risk perception and escape behavior and physical function disturbance. The findings help to reveal the public emotional status at the early stage of the pandemic based on a large Chinese sample, allowing targeting of the groups that most need emotional guidance under crisis. Findings also provide evidence of the need for psychological assistance in future major public health emergencies.

Interlayer synchronization of duplex time-delay network with delayed pinning impulses

This paper mainly focuses on interlayer synchronization in a duplex network setting with the intralayer coupling delay and the interlayer transmission delay via pinning impulsive control. Firstly, based on Lyapunov stability theory, a general pinning impulsive strategy guaranteeing interlayer synchronization is obtained. Then, the minimum number of pinned nodes and the maximum impulse interval needed theoretically for interlayer synchronization are obtained. Moreover, when some parameters, including the impulse strengths, the ratio of pinned nodes and the impulse interval, are fixed certain values, their influences on the stable region are further discussed. It is found that the stable region becomes smaller as the ratio of pinned nodes decreases, and gets larger as the impulse strength with no delay is closer to −1 and that with delay is closer to 0. At the same time, the small intralayer coupling delay and interlayer transmission delay can enlarge the stable region. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness and correctness of our results.

Exponential Synchronization of Delayed Switching Genetic Oscillator Networks via Mode-Dependent Partial Impulsive Control

This paper investigates the global exponential synchronization problem of switching genetic oscillator networks with time-varying delays by using a newly-designed partial impulsive control scheme. This scheme is only required to control partial molecules of each gene node, different from the traditional pinning impulsive control scheme, in which all the molecules of the chosen nodes are assumed to be under control. Besides, both the number of controlled molecules and the impulsive strength of the presented control scheme are mode-dependent, either identical or different with respect to different topologies. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory and comparison principle, the sufficient criteria for guaranteeing the exponential synchronization of genetic oscillator networks with finite arbitrarily switching topologies are established. Finally, two illustrative examples are presented to verify the main results.

Prescribed-Time Synchronization of Coupled Memristive Neural Networks with Heterogeneous Impulsive Effects

This paper is concerned with the prescribed-time synchronization of coupled memristive neural networks (MNNs). The impulsive effects with heterogeneous impulsive instants and impulsive strengths are considered. Different from related results on the fixed-time synchronization, this paper focuses on the prescribed-time synchronization of coupled MNNs, in which the settling time can be prescribed according to task requirements. A sufficient criterion is derived to ensure the prescribed-time synchronization of coupled MNNs. Besides, the proposed design method provides less conservatism compared with the existing results. A numerical example and an application in secure communication are provided to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results

Differential response to pharmacological intervention in ADHD furthers our understanding of the mechanisms of interference control

ABSTRACT The deficit in “interference control” found in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) could be due to two distinct processes, which are not disentangled in most studies: a larger susceptibility to activating prepotent response impulses and a deficit in suppressing them. Here, we investigated the effect of 1/ADHD and 2/ methylphenidate (MPH), on these two components of interference control. We compared interference control between untreated children with ADHD, children with ADHD under MPH, and typically developing children performing a Simon task. The main findings were that 1/ children with ADHD were more susceptible to reacting impulsively and less efficient at suppressing impulsive actions, and 2/ MPH improved the selective inhibition of impulsive actions but did not modify the strength of response impulse. This work provides an example of how pharmacological interventions and selective responses to them can be used to investigate and further our understanding of cognitive processing.

Exponential synchronization of fractional-order reaction-diffusion coupled neural networks with hybrid delay-dependent impulses

This paper is concentrated on exploring the exponential synchronization of reaction-diffusion coupled neural networks with fractional-order and impulses. Firstly, an extended Halanay-type inequality is established to cope with the hybrid delay-dependent impulsive problem by utilizing the mathematical induction. Furthermore, a direct error method is introduced by constructing Lyapunov function for the addressed networks to investigate the exponential synchronization under impulsive effects. By utilizing the technique of average impulsive interval and strength, some sufficient synchronization criteria are derived, which are closely associated with time delay and the commensurate order for fractional-order systems. Lastly, three numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the correctness for established results.

Early detection of bearing faults using minimum entropy deconvolution adjusted and zero frequency filter

A method based on minimum entropy deconvolution with convolution adjustment and zero frequency filter is presented for the identification of weak faults in rolling element bearings. Localized fault present in rolling element bearings causes periodic impulses in the bearing vibration signal. The zero frequency filtering of the bearing vibration signal keeps only the localized disturbances at the impulse locations while attenuating the non-impulsive components of the signal. The effectiveness of zero frequency filtering depends on the strength of impulses present in the measured faulty bearing signal in time domain. In the present work, Minimum entropy deconvolution adjusted is used as a preprocessor to improve the strength of impulses in the measured time-domain bearing signal. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is tested with simulated signals for the faulty bearing vibration at different levels of added Gaussian noise. The algorithm is also validated using experimental bearing vibration dataset. Results from the proposed algorithm are compared with the results of the zero frequency filter and local mean subtraction-based technique for rolling element bearings’ fault identification. The proposed algorithm performs better detection in case of a weak fault signal.

Breakdown Strength of TiO2/Epoxy Nanocomposites Using Centrifugation Agglomerate Removal

In this study, TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> /epoxy nanocomposites are evaluated for impulse and AC breakdown strength when agglomerations of TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> nanofillers are removed by centrifugation. It is found that the nanocomposites with micrometric agglomerates exhibit lower breakdown strengths than that of unfilled epoxy resin. However, with the removal of agglomerates larger than 0.5 μm for 0.4 vol% filler concentration, the breakdown strengths are higher than that of unfilled epoxy resin. Micrometric agglomerates of TiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> nanoparticles behave as defects, thus lowering the breakdown strength of the nanocomposites. When such agglomerates are removed prior to curing, an improvement of the breakdown strengths is observed with very low filler concentration.

Modelling and dynamic behaviour analysis of the software rejuvenation system with periodic impulse

ABSTRACT Software rejuvenation is a policy to counter the phenomenon of software ageing. However, how to implement software rejuvenation is still an important issue. In this paper, periodic impulse control is proposed as an effective tool to perform software rejuvenation and improve the availability of software system. First, we formulate the software rejuvenation system with periodic impulse by a group of coupled differential equations with impulsive action. Then the well-posedness of the system is demonstrated by using operator semigroup theory. At the end of the paper, numerical examples are shown to illustrate the dynamic behaviour of the system and the relationship between the system instantaneous availability and the impulsive indexes, including impulse interval and impulse strength, which yields that the system availability can be improved by adjusting the impulsive indexes.

A Review on Synthetic Ester Liquids for Transformer Applications

Synthetic esters have become more and more popular in last few decades, explaining the increasing number of units filled with this liquid year by year. They have been investigated under different aspects, both from the fundamental point of view and breakdown mechanisms, well as from the application point of view. However, their use in high voltage equipment is always a challenge and deeper knowledge of the various aspects that can be encountered in their exploitation is needed. The intent of this review paper is to present the recent research progress on synthetic ester liquid in relation to the selected issues, most important for ester development in the authors’ opinion. The described issues are the breakdown performance of synthetic esters, lightning impulse strength and pre-breakdown phenomena of synthetic esters, synthetic esters-based nanofluids, combined paper-synthetic ester based insulating systems, application of synthetic ester for retro-filling and drying of mineral oil-immersed transformers, DGA(dissolved gas analysis)-based diagnosis of synthetic esters filled transformers as well as static electrification of synthetic esters. The different sections are based both on the data available in the literature, but above all on the authors’ own experience from their research work on synthetic ester liquids for electrical application purposes.

Synchronization Control for Neutral Stochastic Delay Markov Networks via Single Pinning Impulsive Strategy

This paper considers the problems on the mean square exponential synchronization and the almost surely exponential synchronization for neutral stochastic dynamical delay networks with Markovian switching via the single pinning impulsive control. By using a unified approach incorporating the concept of average impulsive interval and Lyapunov function, and the Borel-Cantelli lemma, two criteria on the mean square exponential stability and the almost surely exponential stability for impulsive neutral stochastic delay systems with Markovian switching are derived. It is shown that the impulsive control with a suitable impulsive strength can stochastically stabilize the underlying systems. With the symmetry and irreducibility of the switching topologies, and the obtained stochastic stability criteria, sufficient conditions are derived to determine the mean square exponential synchronization of the underlaying networks via the single pinning impulsive controller, which are given with algebraic inequalities and M -matrix. The almost surely exponential synchronization is also analyzed. Two examples are given to verify the validity of the theoretic results presented.

Primary caregiver emotional expressiveness relates to toddler emotion understanding

The present study examined the impact of emotional expressiveness in toddlers’ environments on their emotion understanding. Primary caregivers of 35 toddlers completed two surveys regarding the family’s emotional expressiveness and the primary caregiver’s expressivity. Toddlers participated in the Affective Knowledge Test to measure emotion understanding. Toddler emotion understanding related to primary caregiver expressivity, but not family expressiveness. Further, toddler emotion understanding related to primary caregiver Impulse Strength, but not Negative or Positive Emotionality. This suggests that primary caregivers with more impulsive emotional response tendencies may help their children to identify associations between emotional events and reactions.

Stability and Stabilization of Delayed Neural Networks with Hybrid Impulses

In this paper, the stability and stabilization issues for a class of delayed neural networks with time-varying hybrid impulses are investigated. The hybrid effect of two types of impulses including both stabilizing and destabilizing impulses is considered simultaneously in the analysis of systems. To characterize the occurrence features of impulses, the concepts of average impulse interval and average impulse strength are employed. Based on the analysis of stability, a pinning impulsive controller which can ensure the global exponential stability of the studied neural networks is designed by pinning a small fraction of neurons. Finally, two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes for delayed neural networks with hybrid impulses.

The relationship of coronal trunk motion on the hip abductor moment impulse in pre-operative hip pathology patients during walking

BackgroundCompensatory mechanisms for hip pain, pathology, and weakness include excessive trunk lean towards the stance limb, counteracting pelvic drop to maintain stability during single leg stance. Trunk lean shifts the center of mass towards the hip joint center to decrease the moment arm and reduce hip abductor demand. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether adolescent patients with symptomatic hip pain demonstrate excessive trunk lean and the effect on the hip abductor moment impulse. MethodsSelf-selected speed walking data collected through an approved study were reviewed on pre-operative patients clinically diagnosed with a hip deformity. Instrumented motion analysis was performed to analyze trunk kinematics and the hip abductor moment impulse. FindingsThere was a weak, but significant correlation between hip abductor moment impulse and trunk lean. Patients diagnosed with Acetabular Dysplasia demonstrated an increased trunk lean and a decreased hip abductor moment impulse (r = − 0.311, p = 0.001). Of those who presented with excessive trunk lean, 62% of these patients had a normal hip abductor moment impulse. There was no correlation between hip abductor moment impulse and hip abductor strength. InterpretationExcessive trunk lean was not seen uniformly across adolescent patients with symptomatic hip deformities, despite pain being reported in 80% of patients. Furthermore, a majority of those that presented with excessive trunk lean did not present with a reduced moment, suggesting that although the amount of lean was greater than normal, it was not enough to significantly reduce the demand on the hip musculature.

Developing eco-friendly nanostructured oil: Partial discharge and breakdown voltage characterization of transformer corn oil

This paper focuses on characterization of a natural ester oil, based on corn, which has been nanostructured by carbon quantum dots (CQD) decorated nano fillers. Partial discharge (PD), lightning impulse (LI) and AC power frequency breakdown strength of corn oil, pure and nanostructured by CQD-treated SiO 2 and TiO 2 nanoparticles, are measured for different concentration of nanofillers with mass fractions of 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1. It is shown that the addition of CQD-treated SiO 2 nanofillers improve considerably oil insulation performance already at very low nanoparticle concentration, which indicates promising potentiality for transformer insulation applications, from compact design to long-term performance.

Exponential synchronization of neural networks with time-varying delays and stochastic impulses

This paper concentrates on the exponential synchronization problem of the delayed neural networks (DNNs) with stochastic impulses. First, the impulsive Halanay differential inequality is further extended to the case that the impulsive strengths are random variables. Then, based on the generalized inequalities, synchronization criteria are respectively proposed for DNNs with two kinds of stochastic impulses, i.e., impulses with independent property/Markovian property. It should be pointed out that only some basic statistical characteristics are needed to verify the proposed criteria. Numerical examples are provided to show the validation of the obtained theoretical results at the end of this paper.

Leader-Following Pinning Synchronization of Multiagent Systems With Impulsive Interlayer Coupling

This article is mainly concerned with leader-following pinning synchronization of multiagent systems in a multiplex network setting, where the interlayer couplings are impulsive. The goal is to enforce all the followers to asymptotically synchronize with the leader via impulsive pinning control. Firstly, based on the Lyapunov stability theory of impulsive differential equations, some general synchronization criteria are derived. The synchronization index is then defined. We explore how the synchronization index is effected by major network parameters, including the impulse strength, the impulse interval, the pinning gain and the number of layers. In particular, with equivalent impulse intervals, when both the impulse strength and the pinning gain are constant, it is found that the least number of pinned nodes needed for achieving complete synchronization (CS) decreases with decreasing impulse intervals, whereas it firstly decreases and then increases with increasing impulse strength and pinning gain. Furthermore, the synchronization region enlarges as the impulse interval decreases, while narrows as the number of layers increases. Numerical simulations verify the correctness of these results.

Relations between Emotional Expressivity Dimensions and DSM-5 PTSD Symptom Clusters in a Trauma-Exposed Community Sample.

AbstractBackground and Objective. A growing body of literature indicates a significant contribution and role of positive and negative emotions (specifically expressivity) in post-traumatic stress disorder's (PTSD) symptomatology. The current study examined the facet-level relationships between emotional expressivity and PTSD. Specifically, we investigated which emotional expressivity dimension (impulse strength, negative emotional expressivity, and positive emotional expressivity) most strongly related to DSM-5 PTSD symptom clusters severity (intrusions, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity). Methods. The sample of 123 trauma-exposed participants seeking mental health treatment completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ). Results. Results of multivariate multiple regression analysis indicated that only intensity of emotion and difficulty in controlling such emotions (i.e., impulse strength) was strongly related to all four PTSD symptom clusters. The valence of emotional expressivity (positive or negative) was not related to any of the PTSD symptom clusters. Conclusions. Study findings highlight the role of emotional expressivity, specifically impulse strength, in PTSD's symptomatology and may inform guidelines for emotion-focused clinical work for trauma-exposed individuals with PTSD symptoms.

M185. THE EFFECTS OF GROUP ARTS THERAPY BASED ON EMOTION MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON THE EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION, ALEXITHYMIA, DEPRESSION AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to investigate the effects of group arts therapy based on emotion management training on emotional expression, positive emotion and negative emotion, alexithymia, depression and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.Methods24 of 160 in-patients with schizophrenia, according to DSM-IV from H Mental Health Hospital, were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Each group were consisting of 12 patients. Group arts therapy was conducted on the experimental group twice a week, 60 minutes per session, for a total of 16 sessions, while the control group was left untreated. The following scales were used for assessment: Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ), Positive Affective and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Toronto Alexithymia Scale-Korean vesion (TAS-20K), Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (K-CDSS), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS-R4K). Independent t-test was conducted to confirm the homogeneity, and to find the effects of group arts therapy, Repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to confirm the differences for scores of each scales regarding groups, measuring timing, and also the interaction between groups and measuring timing by pre, post and follow-up test.ResultsThe result of this study are as follows.First, total score, expressivity factors and impulse strength factors of emotional expressivity were significantly increased after group arts therapy compared to the control group.Second, positive emotion was significantly increased and negative emotion was significantly decreased after group integrative therapy compared to the control group.Third, total score, difficulty identifying feelings of Alexithymia were significantly decreased after group arts therapy compared to the control group.Fourth, depression was significantly decreased after group integrative arts therapy compared to the control group.Fifth, negative syndromes and general psychopathology were significantly decreased after group arts therapy compared to the control group.Sixth, quality of life was significantly increased after group arts therapy compared to the control group.DiscussionThe group arts therapy have significantly improved the emotional expression, positive emotion, negative emotion and Alexithymia in patients with schizophrenia and also improved negative syndromes, general psychopathology, depression and quality of life. These result suggest that group arts therapy based on emotion management training could be a useful intervention for emotional disturbance treatment for in patients with schizophrenia.

Spinal cord stimulators and implications for anaesthesia

Spinal cord stimulators and implications for anaesthesia