Positive Effect Research Articles

Resting-state functional network segregation of the default mode network predicts valence bias across the lifespan

Abstract The brain is organized into intrinsically connected functional networks that can be reliably identified during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Healthy aging is marked by decreased network segregation, which is linked to worse cognitive functioning, but aging-related changes in emotion are less well characterized. Valence bias, which represents the tendency to interpret emotionally ambiguous information as positive or negative, is more positive in older than younger adults and is associated with differences in task-based fMRI activation in the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and a cingulo-opercular (CO) network. Here, we examined valence bias, age, and resting-state network segregation of 12 brain networks in a sample of 221 healthy individuals from 6 to 80 years old. Resting-state network segregation decreased linearly with increasing age, extending prior reports of de-differentiation across the lifespan. Critically, a more positive valence bias was related to lower segregation of the default mode network (DMN), due to stronger functional connectivity of the DMN with CO and, to a lesser extent, the ventral attention network (VAN) in all participants. In contrast to this overall segregation effect, in participants over 39 years old (who tend to show a positive valence bias), bias was also related to weaker connectivity between the DMN and Reward networks. The present findings indicate that specific interactions between the DMN, a task control network (CO), an emotion processing network (Reward), and, to a weaker extent, an attention network (VAN), support a more positive valence bias, perhaps through regulatory control of self-referential processing and reduced emotional reactivity in aging. The current work offers further insight into the functional brain network alterations that may contribute to affective well-being and dysfunction across the lifespan.

Evaluating the effectiveness and acceptability of two positive body image media micro-interventions among children aged 4–6 years old – a study protocol

BackgroundChildren’s online media perpetuates appearance idealised images and can negatively impact the way children feel about their own and other people’s bodies (e.g., weight bias) at a young age. The development and evaluation of body image interventions for young children to counteract this, are scarce. There is a need for prevention efforts to nurture the development of positive body image among this group to help mitigate potential body image concerns in later childhood. Media-based approaches promoting positive body image messages have shown preliminary efficacy. In collaboration with industry partners, we have developed two positive body image media micro-interventions (a 15-minute episode and a music video) to be evaluated in a fully powered RCT.MethodsWe aim to recruit 440 children between the ages of 4 and 6 years to be randomised into one of four conditions: (i) 15-minute episode intervention, (ii) 15-minute episode control, (iii) 3-minute music video intervention, or (iv) 3-minute music video control. This study will be conducted face-to-face, whereby children and a parent attend a media screening session and children complete pre-and post-intervention measures of positive body image and weight bias. Both the child and parent will watch their assigned media, together on a tablet device. Due to their age, children will complete outcome measures with a trained moderator in a play-based interview pre-intervention (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2) and one-week follow up (T3). A corresponding parent will complete a questionnaire on intervention acceptability at T2, and re-watch of their assigned media at T3. The primary outcome will be the change in body appreciation, and secondary outcomes include change in functionality appreciation and weight bias. Exploratory analyses will determine any effect of gender (girls vs. boys), year group (reception vs. year 1) dosage or delayed effects. Moderator fidelity will be also assessed.DiscussionThis study will evaluate two positive body image micro-interventions among children 4–6 years old. These interventions have the potential to bolster children’s positive body image and reduce weight bias. A dissemination plan is in place with project stakeholders such that the interventions can reach millions of children worldwide.Trial registrationThe trial is registered with Clinical Trial.gov, Ref number: NCT06146647.

Method Evaluation of the QuidelOrtho Diagnostics Vitros NT-proBNP II Assay.

Background/Objectives: N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP) is a biomarker released into the blood in response to heart failure, reflecting the extent of cardiac stress and damage. QuidelOrtho Diagnostics released its latest reformulation of its NT-proBNP assay, the Vitros NT-proBNP II assay. This study aims to evaluate the analytical performance of the Vitros NT-proBNP II assay. Methods: Repeatability, reproducibility, carryover, analytical measurement range, and clinical reportable range (AMR and CRR) were assessed using commercially available materials and dilution of patient specimens. Accuracy was evaluated by comparing results from the Vitros NT-proBNP II and the Vitros NT-proBNP assays. Paired heparin and EDTA plasma specimen results were compared, and instrument-to-instrument comparison was performed using two different Vitros 5600 Integrated Systems. NT-proBNP stability was evaluated at room temperature, 2-8 °C, and -18 °C for up to five days. Results: Repeatability and reproducibility were ≤10% CV, and no carryover was observed. The AMR was 20-30,000 pg/mL and dilution up to 80 times was verified. Passing-Bablok analysis showed a significant proportional bias with a slope of 1.37. Instrument-to-instrument and heparin-to-EDTA plasma comparisons showed no significant biases. NT-proBNP is stable up to five days at room temperature, 4 °C, and -20 °C. Conclusions: Our evaluation demonstrated acceptable analytical performances of the Vitros NT-proBNP II assay except for the positive proportional bias compared with the Vitros NT-proBNP assay.

Effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and water stress on phytohormones and polyamines of soybean

The effect of inoculation of three plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) that is Rhizobium japonicum, Azotobacter chroococcum and Azospirillum brasilense and mixture of them on phytohormones and polyamines of soybean under different irrigation regimes was investigated. Drought stress induced by irrigation withholding until 40, 80 and 120 mm evaporation from evaporation pan. However seed bacterization of soybean was accompanied with 20 kg ha-1 nitrogen. In addition, 20 and 100 kg ha-1 nitrogen were considered as control treatments. The results showed that drought stress significantly decreased cytokinin, gibberellin and auxin accumulation in plant tissues. By contrast, drought stress led to increase in abscisic acid accumulation in soybean plants. Polyamines that are putrescine and spermidine increased due to drought stress and then decreased under severe drought stress. PGPR application had positive effect on growth promoting phytohormones compared to control treatment. However the highest accumulation of cytokinin, gibberellin and auxin was related to 100 kg ha-1 nitrogen treatment. In case of abscisic acid PGPR application decreased its accumulation. A significant decrease as observed on polyamines accumulation when PGPRs were applied on stressed soybean plants.

Improving Daily Precipitation Estimates by Merging Satellite and Reanalysis Data in Northeast China

Precipitation plays a key control in the water, energy, and carbon cycles, and it is also an important driving force for land surface modeling. This study provides an optimal least squares merging approach to merge precipitation data sets from multiple sources for an accurate daily precipitation estimate in Northeast China (NEC). Precipitation estimates from satellite-based IMERG and SM2RAIN-ASCAT, as well as reanalysis data from MERRA-2, were used in this study. The triple collocation (TC) approach was used to quantify the error uncertainties in each input data set, which are associated with the weights assigned to each data set in the merging procedure. The results revealed that IMERG provides a better consistency with the other two input data sets and thus was more relied on during the merging process. The accuracy of both SM2RAIN-ASCAT and MERRA-2 showed obvious spatio-temporal patterns due to their retrieval algorithms and resolution limits. The merged TC-based daily precipitation provides the highest correlation coefficient with ground-based measurements (R = 0.52), suggesting its capability to represent the temporal variation in daily precipitation. However, it largely overestimated the precipitation intensity in the summer, leading to a large positive bias.

Effect of Hemolysis on Routine Blood Gas and Whole Blood Analytes.

Hemolysis is a major pre-analytical concern for many laboratory analytes; however, instruments utilized for whole blood chemistries and blood gas measurements lack the ability to detect and measure the degree of hemolysis. This study evaluated the effect of hemolysis on 13 routine whole blood and blood gas analytes and compared visual assessments of hemolysis to measured hemolysis (H-index). Remnant whole blood samples (n = 85) were split into 2 portions and aspirated through a syringe one or more times. To induce hemolysis, a needle was affixed to the end of the syringe to provide shear stress, and a mock procedure without syringe was used as a control. Samples were analyzed on a Radiometer ABL800 series instrument, centrifuged, and the H-index of the plasma portion was measured. Two medical technologists recorded a visual categorization of the specimens as slightly, moderately, or severely hemolyzed. Hemolysis had a modest effect on metabolites and most cooximetry components, with percent bias within ±5% at all levels of hemolysis. Methemoglobin exhibited a larger overall negative bias, up to 13.3%. The absolute pH bias was fairly consistent (within 0.1 pH units) across all levels of hemolysis. As expected, potassium displayed a significant positive bias with increasing hemolysis. Sodium and ionized calcium displayed overall linear trends with a significant negative bias. Hemolysis can falsely increase or decrease certain blood gas analytes and lead to misinterpretation of results. Therefore, hemolysis detection capabilities are crucial for mitigating this effect and ensuring accurate results for patient care.

Depression and emotion regulation strategy use moderate age-related attentional positivity bias.

Effective emotion regulation is critical for maintaining emotional health in the face of adverse events that accumulate over the lifespan. These abilities are thought to be generally maintained in older adults, accompanied by the emergence of attentional biases to positive information. Such age-related positivity biases, however, are not always reported and may be moderated by individual differences in affective vulnerabilities and competencies, such as those related to dispositional negative affect and emotion regulation styles. To examine these relationships, we analyzed eye-tracking data from 72 participants (35-74 years; 50 female), 44 without and 28 with a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder during a free-viewing task comprising neutral-neutral, negative-neutral, and positive-neutral image pairs. Emotional bias scores were calculated based on the ratio of time spent dwelling on the emotional image vs. the neutral image in each emotional-neutral pair. Results indicate that healthy participants exhibited a stronger positivity bias than a negativity bias, whereas individuals with higher depressive symptom scores showed no difference. Next, we examined how age and emotion regulation strategy use (reappraisal vs. suppression, measured with the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire) impacted these effects. Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder did not exhibit a significant relationship between age and positivity bias. However, for healthy participants who self-reported a preference for using reappraisal in daily life, increased age was associated with an increased positivity bias. These findings indicate that the emergence of the positivity effect in older adults is related to reappraisal regulatory preferences in the absence of depressive symptoms.

Advancing forest inventory: a comparative study of low-cost MLS lidar device with professional laser scanners

Abstract. In the context of forest inventory, there is a growing need for 3D data to produce detailed geometric information. While terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is traditionally used for this purpose , several factors have prompted the exploration of alternative solutions, such as handheld mobile laser scanners (MLS). One key limitation of TLS is its static data acquisition, which makes it less suited for the complex and heterogeneous nature of forest environments. A primary challenge with TLS in forestry is the occlusion effect, where parts of trees (such as stems, branches, or leaves) may not be captured due to obstacles between the scanner and the target. Additionally, TLS is known for long acquisition times, which, while yielding high-quality data, may exceed the requirements for standard forest inventory tasks. The cost associated with TLS is also significant; although feasible for small forest patches, scaling these methods to larger areas would demand substantial resources. Similarly, while handheld MLS devices offer more flexibility in data acquisition and the possibility to cover a wider area in the same acquisition time, professional versions are still relatively costly, adding to the need for more affordable alternatives. This underlines the demand for a low-cost, efficient method for 3D data acquisition in forest inventories. In this study, forest structural variables obtained with a low-cost MLS (LC-MLS; Mandeye) were compared with two professional MLS devices (GeoSlam Horizon and GreenValley LiGrip H120) and a professional TLS (Trimble X7). With the open-source software 3DFin, we processed the point cloud data from all the devices, enabling the extraction of diameters at breast height (DBH) and total tree heights (TH). The LC-MLS device shows a positive bias in DBH measurements (1.62 cm), indicating it tends to overestimate compared to the TLS reference. Despite this, it demonstrates competitive quality relative to the two other MLS systems. In terms of TH, the LC-MLS has a negative bias of −2.16 m, suggesting it underestimates tree height. When compared to other professional MLS devices, the LC-MLS exhibits a higher RMSE% in TH measurements (12.97%), indicating less accuracy in tree height estimation.

Gating the Rectifying Direction of Tunneling Current through Single-Molecule Junctions.

In electronic functional chips, one of the most crucial components is the field-effect transistor (FET). To meet the urgent demands for further miniaturization of electronic devices, solid-state single-molecule transistors by molecular orbital gating have been extensively reported. However, under negative bias and positive bias, achieving a distinct gating effect is extremely challenging because molecular orbital gating is independent of the bias polarity. Here, we demonstrated that rectifiers can be realized in single-molecule junctions with a symmetric molecular structure and an electrode material by simply breaking the symmetry of the electrode's chemical potential via ionic adsorption. We further demonstrated that the tunneling current can be gated with opposite change tendencies under negative and positive bias by applying an ionic gating voltage, which eventually results in a reversal of the rectifying direction. Our experiments elucidate that, unlike the classical mechanism for solid molecular FET, the modulation of the electrode's chemical potential, rather than the regulation of molecular orbitals, might dominate the electron transport in the ionic liquid environment upon a gating voltage. Our study gains deeper insights into the mechanism of ionic liquid gating and opens a window for designing high-performance electrochemical-based functional devices.

Influence of radio-frequency magnetron sputtering power on electrical characteristics and positive bias stress stability of indium tin zinc oxide thin-film transistors

Abstract As the pursuit of high-quality display panels intensifies, the importance of high-performance thin-film transistors (TFTs) becomes increasingly prominent. Indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) TFTs, as one of the promising directions for high-performance metal oxide TFTs, impose high demands on their performance and reliability. In this study, the performance and stability of ITZO TFTs fabricated under different radio-frequency magnetron sputtering power conditions were systematically tested and investigated. After sputtering power optimization, the field effect mobility of ITZO TFTs reaches 29.68 cm2V–1.s, with a steep sub-threshold swing of 0.17 V/decade, near-zero threshold voltage, and good stability. Using atomic force microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization techniques, the thin films were analyzed to elucidate the relationship between sputtering power variations and oxygen vacancies.

Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall Characteristics Derived From Multiple Gridded Precipitation Datasets: A Comparative Assessment

ABSTRACTPrecipitation, a crucial component of the Earth system processes, regulates the spatiotemporal cyclicity of water, energy, and carbon fluxes. Accurate precipitation datasets leverage the understanding of precipitation dynamics and are vital for hydro‐climatological studies. South Asian monsoon is a complex, multi‐scale interacting, synoptic, and ocean–land–atmosphere coupled system, contributing to significant spatial and temporal variability in summer monsoonal rainfall across India. This study evaluates four types of gridded (observational, satellite, reanalysis, and hybrid) precipitation products in their ability to replicate Indian Summer Monsoonal Rainfall (ISMR) characteristics using the India Meteorological Department (IMD) 0.25° gridded data as the baseline. A comparative assessment is performed in this study that uses several continuous and interval‐based performance measures to evaluate the overall rainfall magnitude detectability and time‐matched capturing of rainfall events. A new metric, rank score, is developed by aggregating multiple measures to find the best product. The analyses based on several performance measures indicate that MSWEP is the best dataset (rank one) that closely approximates the occurrence and magnitude of IMD‐based rainfall events, while APHRODITE, CHIRPS, and IMDAA are ranked as the next best set of products. PGF is ranked the lowest among all products evaluated and is not recommended for applications. Nonetheless, APHRODITE suffers from strong negative biases, while the reanalysis (IMDAA, ERA5‐Land, PGF) datasets show significant positive biases. Among the products evaluated, APHRODITE, ERA5‐Land, and IMDAA have shown a limited ability to detect excess, normal, and deficit monsoon years, respectively. In general, the performance of satellite‐based data products is superior to that of reanalysis datasets in accurately characterising the monsoon years. ERA5‐Land is noted to be the best‐performing dataset among the reanalysis products. The comprehensive comparative assessment carried out in this study benefits the selection and use of appropriate gridded precipitation products for hydroclimatic modelling, climate variability, and change studies.

Changes in the Structure and Properties of Silicon During Ytterbium Doping: The Results of o Comprehensive Analysis

In this work, a comprehensive study of the structural, chemical and electrophysical properties of monocrystalline silicon (Si) doped with ytterbium (Yb) has been carried out. The alloying was carried out by thermal diffusion at a temperature of 1473 K in high vacuum conditions followed by rapid cooling. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), infrared Fourier spectroscopy (FTIR), deep level spectroscopy (DLTS) and Raman spectroscopy (RAMAN) were used to analyze the samples obtained. AFM images of the surface of the doped samples demonstrated significant changes in topography. The RMS surface roughness increased from less than 10 nm to 60-80 nm, and the maximum height of the irregularities reached 325 nm. These changes are explained by the formation of nanostructures caused by the uneven distribution of ytterbium atoms in the silicon crystal lattice, as well as the occurrence of internal stresses. "IR-Fourier spectroscopy showed a significant decrease in the concentration of optically active oxygen (NOopt ) by 30-40% after doping. This effect is associated with the interaction of ytterbium atoms with silicon and a change in the chemical composition of the material. The RAMAN spectra revealed the formation of new phases and nanocrystallites in the doped samples. Peak shifts and changes in their intensity were detected, indicating a rearrangement of the crystal lattice caused by the introduction of ytterbium. It was calculated that the diffusion coefficient of ytterbium in silicon is 1.9×10-15 cm2/s, which indicates a slow diffusion process characteristic of rare earth metals. Electrical measurements carried out on the MDS-structures showed a shift in the volt-farad characteristics towards positive bias voltages, which is associated with a decrease in the density of surface states at the Si-SiO₂ interface and the appearance of deep levels with an ionization energy of Ec-0.32 eV.

Defect Formation in MIS Structures Based on Silicon with an Impurity of Ytterbium

The characteristics of silicon MIS structures with ytterbium impurity are studied using non-stationary capacitance spectroscopy of deep levels. It is established that the presence of ytterbium atoms in the bulk of the silicon substrate leads to a shift in the capacitance-voltage characteristics towards positive bias voltages and a decrease in the density Nss of the surface states of the MIS structures. It is shown that this effect depends on the concentration of ytterbium atoms in the silicon substrate of the studied structures. In MIS structures based on Si<Yb>, one deep level with an ionization energy Ec-0.32 eV is detected.

CHANGES IN THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF THE CHYME AND METABOLIC PROCESSES IN THE RUMEN WHEN EXOGENOUS ENZYMES ARE USED IN FEEDING BULLS

Introduction. Coordination of the processes of scar digestion and metabolism in ruminants is a prerequisite for achieving high efficiency in the use of feed nutrients, improving product quality and profitability of production. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the inclusion of the exogenous lipase enzyme in the diet of bullocks in feedlots has a positive ef-fect on physiology, fermentation in the rumen, digestibility and the profile of fatty acids in the rumen. Material and methods. In the experiment, 8 animals were used, divided into 2 groups. the bulls of the control group received the basic diet (RR), the experimental group also received RR with the inclusion of the lipase enzyme at a dosage of 25 g / head / day. The level of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the contents of the scar was determined by gas chromatography on a gas chromatograph "Crystallux-4000M", determination of nitrogen forms accord-ing to GOST 26180-84. The elemental composition of biosubstrates was studied using atomic emission and mass spectrometry (NPP-ISP and MS-ISP) in the IC of the Central Research Center of the FNC BST RAS. Results. The study of the ratio of LVH in the scar fluid showed that in the experimental group of animals the content of acetic acids decreased by 18.35%, propionic acid – 15.29%, butyric acid – 34.28%, valerian acid – 11.11%, while caproic acid was not found in the experimental group. Nitrogen metabolism in the body showed that the level of total nitrogen in the scar fluid increased by 64.71%, non–protein 53.66%, protein 66.22%, ammonia 78.57% (p 0.05), respectively. Analysis of the biomass of bacteria and protozoa showed that during the experiment, these indicators were higher in the experimental group of animals by 17.07% and 22.22%, respectively, compared with the control. The trace element composition of the scar fluid revealed differences in the mechanism of action of the lipase enzyme on the metabolism of chemicals. There was an increase in the concentration of chemical elements in the experimental group of bulls Ca – by 11.51%, P –17.72%, K – 20.34% (p≤0.05), Fe – 21.31%, Zn – 10.14%, Cu – 23.53%, Se – 39.13%. Against the background of a decrease in Ni – 11.44%, Ba – 14.67%, B – 9.00%, I – 33.33%, Al – 15.71 and Sr – 15.85% (p 0.05). Conclusion. Thus, the study of microbial communities of the LJ rumen, primarily of cattle, is very relevant due to the possibility of rapid diagnosis and prevention of many pathologies of the digestive system associated with improper feeding, which, as a rule, is accompanied by the development of pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms.

How Listening Versus Reading Alters Consumers’ Interpretations of News

This research investigates how listening to versus reading news alters its interpretation. A proposed theory argues that because listeners (vs. readers) are less able to regulate the rate of incoming information, they selectively attend to the more emotionally arousing elements in a story, such as those that are more negative. This selective attention leads listeners to form different interpretations of news than readers, the nature of which depend on the valence of the story. Six main experiments and three supplemental ones (N = 14,744) support the predicted effects on impression formation as well as the proposed mechanism. For example, participants who listened to (vs. read) a mixed-valence news story on the risks and benefits of a product processed its negative details more selectively, and in turn formed more pessimistic impressions of its safety. Moderators are also explored, showing that negativity biases similar to those observed for listeners arose among readers when their control over information flow was restricted, and that a positivity bias arose among listeners when the positive (vs. negative) information in a story was more surprising. Theoretical contributions to previous research on reading versus listening comprehension are discussed, as are the substantive implications for media firms and consumers.

Unveiling the Aluminum Doping Effects of In‐Situ Transmogrified Dual‐LDH Heterostructure and Its Fermi‐Level Alignment to Water Splitting Potentials

AbstractThe layered double hydroxide (LDH) captivates the starlight of electrochemical water‐splitting applications due to its stacked layers and larger surface area. A novel approach is reported to integrate CoFe‐LDH/NiAl‐LDH heterostructure through a single‐step in situ transmogrification, harnessing the benefits of LDH. The in situ Raman spectroscopy reveals that aluminum (Al) doping promotes the formation of high‐valent CoIII/IV‐O active species concentration in LDH, whereas without Al dopants, the catalyst predominantly exhibit NiII/III‐O species and underperform the catalytic activity. The projected density of states is very close to the Fermi level positions in Al‐doped samples which significantly enhance the electron transfer processes. The Mott–Schottky studies confirm that both Al40 CoFe30 and Al60 CoFe20 catalysts are p‐type semiconductors, exhibiting a distinct redox behaviors under applied bias. At positive bias, Al60 CoFe20 undergoes downward band bending (accumulation), and align the Fermi‐level near the water oxidation potential, which promotes the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The negative bias causes upward band bending (deep depletion) in the Al40 CoFe30, and shifts the Fermi‐level near the water reduction potential, and hence facilitates hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Overall, this study highlights the importance of manipulating Fermi‐level alignment in LDH catalysts through strategic metal doping to achieve targeted water‐splitting reactions.

Charge lifetime improvement of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility photogun with a biased anode

GaAs photocathodes in dc high-voltage photoguns are highly susceptible to ion back-bombardment, which reduces the photocathode quantum efficiency and limits the useful operating lifetime for producing polarized electron beams. This paper demonstrates that applying a small positive bias to the photogun anode can significantly suppress ion back-bombardment and increase charge lifetime. This technique was studied extensively using the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility photogun, where highly polarized electron beams created using a strained-superlattice GaAs/GaAsP photocathode were used and charge lifetimes improved by almost a factor of 2. A new simulation code was developed to model ion production and tracking in order to better understand and explain the factors that led to the performance improvement. Results of the experiments and simulations are discussed in detail. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Using cluster-based permutation tests to estimate MEG/EEG onsets: How bad is it?

Localising effects in space, time and other dimensions is a fundamental goal of magneto- and electroencephalography (EEG) research. A popular exploratory approach applies mass-univariate statistics followed by cluster-sum inferences, an effective way to correct for multiple comparisons while preserving high statistical power by pooling together neighbouring effects. Yet, these cluster-based methods have an important limitation: each cluster is associated with a unique p-value, such that there is no error control at individual timepoints, and one must be cautious about interpreting when and where effects start and end. Sassenhagen and Draschkow (2019) provided an important reminder of this limitation. They also reported results from a simulation, suggesting that onsets estimated from EEG data are both positively biased and very variable. However, the simulation lacked comparisons to other methods. Here, I report such comparisons in a new simulation, replicating the positive bias of the cluster-sum method, but also demonstrating that it performs relatively well, in terms of bias and variability, compared to other methods that provide pointwise p-values: two methods that control the false discovery rate and two methods that control the familywise error rate (cluster-depth and maximum statistic methods). I also present several strategies to reduce estimation bias, including group calibration, group comparison and using binary segmentation, a simple change point detection algorithm that outperformed mass-univariate methods in simulations. Finally, I demonstrate how to generate onset hierarchical bootstrap confidence intervals that integrate variability over trials and participants, a substantial improvement over standard group approaches that ignore measurement uncertainty.

An Experimental Study of Stable and Chaotic Structures in a Plasma System Analogous to Earth Magnetosphere

Abstract In recent years, studies on magnetospheric plasmas have increased drastically. Different theoretical models are proposed to match the data observed from various space missions. Still, no sufficient experimental setup is there to replicate the formation like a double layer in these kinds of plasma. In this study, we have made an experimental setup that nearly replicates the magnetospheric plasma environment. We have placed a stainless steel (SS) plate inside our plasma chamber. The argon plasma is produced in the hot cathode discharge method at comparatively high pressure. Then a positive bias is applied to the SS plate with and without attaching a permanent magnet. This positively biased SS plate creates a fireball and firerod-like structures in the absence and presence of the magnet, respectively. This scenario is analogous to the Earth’s magnetospheric plasma and the SS plate represents the pole of the Earth. In this plasma, we have studied the axial variation of ion density (ni ), electron temperature (Te ), electron energy distribution function (EEDF), and the plasma potential for both cases. Lastly, we have discussed the nature of the plasma potential variation with a theoretical model.

Adolescents' trait mindfulness and psychological stress: The mediating role of attention.

Based on the Combined Cognitive Biases Hypothesis, the current study via two parallel studies aims to explore the potential mediating role of attention biases and attention control regarding the link between trait mindfulness and psychological stress in adolescents. For Study 1, we collected self-reported data from 2123 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 15.6 years, SD = 2.37; 52.8% female) in four schools. The participants completed measures of trait mindfulness, perceived stress, and attention bias. Mediation analysis was employed to investigate the potential mediating effect of attention bias. In Study 2, 123 participants (mean age = 17.7 years, SD = 2.68; 41.46% female) completed the attention network task after inducing attention bias. Then, trait mindfulness and perceived stress were measured. Mediation analysis was employed to investigate the potential mediating effect of attention control (alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring) under attention bias. Study 1 demonstrated a significant mediating effect of negative attention bias ([-0.13, -0.07], p < .05) but not positive attention bias in the relationship between trait mindfulness and psychological stress. Study 2 revealed that conflict monitoring in negative attention bias ([-0.41, -0.16], p < .05), rather than alerting and orienting in negative attention bias, showed a significant mediating effect on the association between trait mindfulness and psychological stress. Findings from the two studies suggest that conflict monitoring during negative attention bias may be the underlying mechanism through which trait mindfulness helps mitigate psychological stress in adolescents.