The Role of Self-Compassion and Social Anxiety in the Relationship Between Cognitive Distortions and Emotional Eating.

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of self-compassion and social anxiety in the relationship between cognitive distortions and emotional eating. The research was carried out on 406 adult individuals between the ages of 18-25 living in different regions of Turkey. To measure research variables, Liebowitz social anxiety, thought types, self-sensitivity, and Turkish emotional eating scale were used. The scales were distributed to the participants online. The data were analyzed through the SPSS program. In the study, it was determined that self-compassion predicted emotional eating negatively and social anxiety predicted emotional eating positively. According to the results of the serial mediation analysis, it was determined that self-compassion and social anxiety mediated the relationship between cognitive distortions and emotional eating separately.

Insights into conscious cognitive information processing.

For over a century, the neuro- and pathophysiological, behavioral, and cognitive correlates of consciousness have been an active field of theoretical considerations and empirical research in a wide range of modern disciplines. Conscious cognitive processing of information cannot be observed directly, but might be inferred from step-like discontinuities in learning performance or sudden insight-based improvements in problem solving behavior. It is assumed that a sudden step of knowledge associated with insight requires a creative reorganization of mental representations of task- or problem-relevant information and the restructuration of the task, respectively problem to overcome an cognitive dead-end or impasse. Discontinuities in learning performance or problem solving after an insight event can be used as time-tags to capture the time window in which conscious cognitive information processing must have taken place. According to the platform theory of conscious cognitive information processing, the reorganization and restructuration processes, require the maintenance of task- or problem-relevant information in working memory for the operation of executive functions on these mental representations. Electrophysiological evidence suggests that the reorganization and restructuration processes in working memory, that precede insight-based problem solutions are accompanied by an increase in the power of gamma oscillations in cortical areas including the prefrontal cortex. Empirical evidence and theoretical assumptions argue for an involvement of gap junction channels and connexin hemichannels in cortical gamma-oscillations and working memory processes. Discontinuities in learning or problem solving performance might be used as time-tags to investigate the implication of gap junction channels and hemichannels in conscious cognitive processing.

Sustainability risk management: Exploring the role of artificial intelligence capabilities through an information-processing lens.

The global sustainability movement is reshaping the operational requirements and managerial approaches of maritime firms, resulting in the emergence of unprecedented and complex risks in the sector. This has driven maritime firms to leverage digital tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, to enhance their sustainability risk management (SRM) endeavors. Drawing on the organizational information-processing theory (OIPT), this study proposes four AI capabilities: customer value proposition, key process optimization, key resource optimization, and societal good. It examines their influence on sustainability-related knowledge management capabilities (SKMC), stakeholder engagement, and SRM. A survey questionnaire was used to gather responses from 157 maritime professionals across various sectors of the industry, providing empirical data for analysis. Employing structural equation modeling, the findings reveal that AI capabilities can improve SKMC. These findings enhance existing literature by using OIPT concepts to investigate the interplay among the constructs that lead to better SRM in maritime firms. Furthermore, the study offers managerial guidance by providing insights into AI capabilities that maritime firms should incorporate into their operations, fostering best practices to effectively manage sustainability risks and ensure the firm's long-term survival.

The moderating role of information processing speed in the relationship between brain remodeling and episodic memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

INTRODUCTION: The role of information processing speed (IPS) on relationships between episodic memory (EM) and central remodeling features in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) was investigated. METHODS: Neuropsychological evaluations and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging were performed on 48 patients diagnosed with aMCI and 50 healthy controls (HC). Moderation models explored the moderating effect of IPS on associations between EM and imaging features at single-region, connectivity, and network levels. RESULTS: IPS significantly enhanced the positive correlations between recall and cortical thickness of left inferior temporal gyrus. IPS also notably amplified negative correlations between recognition and functional connectivity (FC) of left inferior parietal lobe and right occipital, as well as between recall/recognition and nodal clustering coefficient of left anterior cingulate cortex. DISCUSSION: IPS functioned as a moderator of associations between recall and neuroimaging metrics at the "single region-connectivity-network" level, providing new insights for cognitive rehabilitation in aMCI patients. HIGHLIGHTS: aMCI patients exhibited brain functional and structural remodeling alterations. IPS moderated relations between episodic memory and brain remodeling metrics. Therapy targeted at IPS can be considered for improving episodic memory in aMCI.

Adaptive robustness through incoherent signaling mechanisms in a regenerative brain.

Animal behavior emerges from collective dynamics of neurons, making it vulnerable to damage. Paradoxically, many organisms exhibit a remarkable ability to maintain significant behavior even after large-scale neural injury. Molecular underpinnings of this extreme robustness remain largely unknown. Here, we develop a quantitative pipeline to measure long-lasting latent states in planarian flatworm behaviors during whole-brain regeneration. By combining >20,000 animal trials with neural network modeling, we show that long-range volumetric peptidergic signals allow the planarian to rapidly restore coarse behavior output after large perturbations to the nervous system, while slow restoration of small-molecule neuromodulator functions refines precision. This relies on the different time and length scales of neuropeptide and small-molecule transmission to generate incoherent patterns of neural activity that competitively regulate behavior. Controlling behavior through opposing communication mechanisms creates a more robust system than either alone and may serve as a generalizable approach for constructing robust neural networks.

Advancing Chinese biomedical text mining with community challenges.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to review the recent advances in community challenges for biomedical text mining in China. METHODS: We collected information of evaluation tasks released in community challenges of biomedical text mining, including task description, dataset description, data source, task type and related links. A systematic summary and comparative analysis were conducted on various biomedical natural language processing tasks, such as named entity recognition, entity normalization, attribute extraction, relation extraction, event extraction, text classification, text similarity, knowledge graph construction, question answering, text generation, and large language model evaluation. RESULTS: We identified 39 evaluation tasks from 6 community challenges that spanned from 2017 to 2023. Our analysis revealed the diverse range of evaluation task types and data sources in biomedical text mining. We explored the potential clinical applications of these community challenge tasks from a translational biomedical informatics perspective. We compared with their English counterparts, and discussed the contributions, limitations, lessons and guidelines of these community challenges, while highlighting future directions in the era of large language models. CONCLUSION: Community challenge evaluation competitions have played a crucial role in promoting technology innovation and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in the field of biomedical text mining. These challenges provide valuable platforms for researchers to develop state-of-the-art solutions.

The Measurement of Reactions to Face Masks and the Relation to Social Anxiety.

Introduction: Following a period of social isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic, social interactions may be particularly complicated for individuals with elevated levels of social anxiety. One potential implication relates to the use of face masks. Face masks have been used as an effective tool to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. However, for individuals with elevated social anxiety, face masks may be a form of avoidance and type of safety behavior and discontinued use of face masks may be associated with increases in social anxiety. In response to these possibilities, the purpose of this study was to develop a measure to assess potential anxiety-related reactions to face masks. Method: Participants were 564 nonreferred young adults who completed a measure developed for this study to assess behaviors and reactions to face masks (Reaction to Face Masks Questionnaire), including anxiety and avoidance behaviors. Measures of social anxiety, more general avoidance, and safety behaviors were also included. Results: Based on an exploratory factor analysis, a two-factor model was retained. Safety-Seeking and Avoidance (SSA) measures reductions in social anxiety derived from a feeling of safety when wearing a face mask, and Social Interference measures increases in social anxiety symptoms related to the interference/inhibition of social interactions related to wearing masks. Both subscales were found to be associated with general measures of social anxiety, more general avoidance, and safety behaviors; however, the correlations were more robust for the SSA subscale. Discussion: Based on the current findings, general social anxiety and common correlates of social anxiety, including safety-seeking behaviors, were found to be associated with face mask anxiety and avoidance. Implications for future research and potential clinical practice are discussed.

The effects of age and gender and elite levels on perceptual-cognitive skills of adolescent badminton athletes.

Introduction: This study aimed to examine perceptual-cognitive skills across age, gender and elite levels of badminton adolescent athletes. Methods: A total of 57 badminton athletes divided into junior high school athletes (age = 13.36 ± 1.14 years, females = 22, males = 11) and senior high school athletes (age = 16.25 ± 0.84 years, females = 11, males = 13) were evaluated using a cognitive component skills approach. Elite levels were classified as semi-elite (n = 29, score = 3.23) and competitive elite (n = 28, score = 5.84) levels. Each group completed a cognitive test, including an evaluation of their capacity for Corsi block-tapping (CCT) and spatial priming tasks (SPT). Results: No gender effects were found in the perceptual skills of the adolescent players, and the age effect was consistent across gender. For the elite levels, the perceptual-cognitive skills of SPT of reaction time was performed equally in the groups of semi-elite and competitive players, however, in the CCT Span of working-memory (WM), competitive-elite players outperformed semi-elite players. Conclusion: We found that perceptual-cognitive skills of WM play crucial roles in the open-skill sports of badminton. Thus, when developing advanced skills to higher elite levels in adolescent players, perceptual-cognitive skills should be considered.

Effects of attention on the processing of physical and abstract auditory regularities: An exploratory MMN study.

The mismatch-negativity (MMN) component of the auditory event-related potential (ERP) reflects preattentive memory mechanisms encoding various types of regularities in the auditory environment. In an oddball paradigm, two types of deviant stimuli (in separate blocks) were presented among frequent standard stimuli: physical deviants (higher in pitch than the standards) and more complex, "abstract" deviants (tone pairs descending in pitch, presented among ascending standard tone pairs). The attentional load of the participant was manipulated under three conditions, where the participants either (1) watched a silent video, (2) played a computer game (Tetris) or (3) attended to the auditory stimuli and tried to detect infrequent target stimuli which were of lower intensity than the standard stimuli. The goal was to find out, whether the possible attention effects (suppression/enhancement) on the MMN are similar or different to stimuli requiring the extraction of either physical or abstract invariances. Both the physical and abstract deviants elicited in all conditions MMNs but no statistically significant amplitude differences between the conditions were found. The N2b and P3b components were elicited only in the attend condition and only by the soft target tones. The results further confirm that the MMN is a robust response to various types of regularity violations, showing no major effects of attentional manipulations. The results also suggest that the most commonly used primary task in MMN experiments, watching a silent video, usually keeps the participants' attention well enough directed away from the auditory stimuli. However, in cases where a cognitively more demanding but still participant-friendly primary task is needed, a simple computer game such as Tetris can be used, enabling better control of the participants' attention and vigilance.

Visual contrast sensitivity in clinical high risk and first episode psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Individuals at Clinical High Risk (CHR) for psychosis or in their First Episode (FE) of psychosis are in a pivotal time in adolescence or young adulthood when illness can greatly impact their functioning. Finding relevant biomarkers for psychosis in the early stages of illness can contribute to early diagnosis, therapeutic management and prediction of outcome. One such biomarker that has been studied in schizophrenia (SZ) is visual contrast sensitivity (VCS). VCS can be used to differentiate visual information processing function in the magnocellular versus parvocellular visual pathways. Few studies have assessed VCS in early psychosis. METHODS: Participants included CHR (n = 68), FE psychosis (n = 34) and Healthy Comparison (HC) (n = 63). All were clinically assessed and completed a VCS paradigm that involved near threshold luminance and chromatic stimuli. RESULTS: CHR and FE participants had lower VCS in the luminance condition (F[2166] = 3.42, p < 0.05) compared to HC. There was also a significant sex X group interaction (F[5163] = 4.3, p < 0.001) in the luminance condition (F[5163] = 4.3, p < 0.001) as FE males (p < 0.01) and CHR females (p < 0.01) had the greatest deficits compared to male and female HC participants respectively. VCS deficits in the luminance condition were associated with more thought disorder, slower processing speed, worse executive functioning and poor global functioning (r's 0.25-0.50, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study supports the hypothesis that there are deficits in visual information processing, particularly in tasks that emphasize the magnocellular pathway, in patients experiencing early psychosis. VCS therefore has the potential to be used as a biomarker in this population.

Reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits based on quantum dots.

Quantum photonic integrated circuits, composed of linear-optical elements, offer an efficient way for encoding and processing quantum information on-chip. At their core, these circuits rely on reconfigurable phase shifters, typically constructed from classical components such as thermo- or electro-optical materials, while quantum solid-state emitters such as quantum dots are limited to acting as single-photon sources. Here, we demonstrate the potential of quantum dots as reconfigurable phase shifters. We use numerical models based on established literature parameters to show that circuits utilizing these emitters enable high-fidelity operation and are scalable. Despite the inherent imperfections associated with quantum dots, such as imperfect coupling, dephasing, or spectral diffusion, we show that circuits based on these emitters may be optimized such that these do not significantly impact the unitary infidelity. Specifically, they do not increase the infidelity by more than 0.001 in circuits with up to 10 modes, compared to those affected only by standard nanophotonic losses and routing errors. For example, we achieve fidelities of 0.9998 in quantum-dot-based circuits enacting controlled-phase and - not gates without any redundancies. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of quantum emitter-driven quantum information processing and pave the way for cryogenically-compatible, fast, and low-loss reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits.

Development and Effects of Adult Nursing Education Programs Using Virtual Reality Simulations.

A virtual-reality-simulation-based nursing education program incorporating an information processing model helps nursing students develop their learned knowledge as nursing behavior and develop their ability to cope with complex clinical challenges. The purpose of this study is to develop a nursing education program using an immersive virtual reality simulation app for clinical situations based on an information processing model and identify the effects. A non-quantitative control group pretest-post-test design was employed. The programs were developed using the ADDIE model and an information processing model. In order to verify the effectiveness of the program, six adult nursing learning issues were taught to the experimental group over 6 weeks. The nursing education program in this study provides comprehensive experiential learning through advanced virtual simulation, significantly enhancing nursing students' performance confidence, critical-thinking abilities, and problem-solving skills across a wide range of clinical scenarios. By repeatedly engaging with diverse learning topics related to adult nursing, this program not only equips students with essential practical skills but also contributes to the overall improvement of patient safety and the quality of medical care.

Complex decongestive therapy improves finger tapping score in patients with breast cancer-related lymphedema.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) impairs upper limb function and cognitive performance. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of fifteen sessions of complex decongestive therapy (CDT) on fine motor performance and information processing speed in women with BCRL. METHODS: Thirty-eight women with BCRL (54.97 ± 10.78 years) were recruited in the study. Participants either received five times weekly CDT consisting of manual lymphatic drainage, skin care, compression bandaging, and remedial exercises (n = 19) or served as a wait-list control group (n = 19). We used the Finger Tapping Task to assess fine motor performance and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test to assess information processing speed. ANCOVA was performed to analyze the effect of CDT on the dependent variables, adjusting for covariates and baseline values. RESULTS: CDT significantly improved finger tapping score (p < 0.001) compared to the wait-list to the control group, whereas information processing speed did not significantly change (p = 0.673). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that CDT is an effective conservative therapeutic approach to improve upper extremity fine motor function in women with BCRL. Future studies are needed to investigate the effect of CDT on different cognitive domains.

Efficiency in redundancy.

In engineering, redundancy is the duplication of vital systems for use in the event of failure. In studies of human cognition, redundancy often refers to the duplication of the signal. Scores of studies have shown the salutary effects of a combined auditory and visual signal over single modality, the advantage of processing complete faces over facial features, and more recently the advantage of two observers over one. But what if the signal (or the number of observers) is fixed and cannot be altered or augmented? Can people improve the efficiency of information processing by recruiting an additional, redundant system? Here we demonstrate that recruiting a second redundant system can, under reasonable assumptions about human capacity, result in improved performance. Recruiting a second redundant system may come with a higher energy cost, but may be worthwhile in high-stakes situations where processing information accurately is crucial.

Emergence of information processing in biological systems and the origin of life.

As every life form is composed of cells, elements of consciousness, namely memory and sentience, must be grounded in mechanisms that are integral to unicellular organisms. Earlier studies indicated that cellular cytoskeletal structures consisting of excitable, flexible, and oscillating polymers such as microtubules, along with quantum events, are potentially responsible for information processing and thus consciousness. This work attempts to solve the unknown, that is, how, at the spark of life, the phenomenon of cellular information processing first appears. This study posits that the spatially distributed wave energy of the molecules of an incepting cell interacts with space and generates a rotating bioinformation field, forming a vortex. This vortex, the local energy maximum, whose inbound and outbound energy fluxes represent signal reception and dispersal, is a critical step in the spark of life responsible for information storage, and with incremental wave superpositions, exhibits information processing. The vorticity of the rotating field is computed, and the obtained field characteristics indicated the emergence of a prebiotic complex to initiate information processing. Furthermore, the developed system model explains how perturbations from the environment are converted into response signals for the emanation of sense, locomotion, nutrition, and asexual reproduction, the fundamental evolutionary building blocks of prokaryotes. Further research directions include explaining how the energy potential available in the bio-information field and the vortex leads to the first formation of genetic material, emergence of cytoskeleton, and extension of bio-information field to multi-cellular organisms.

Self-Controlled Feedback in Motor Learning: The Effects Depend on the Frequency of Request.

The benefits of allowing learners to control when to receive knowledge of results (KR) compared to a yoked group has been recently challenged and postulated to be mild at best. A potential explanation for such dissident findings is that individuals differentially utilize the autonomy provided by the self-controlled condition, which, in its turn, affects the outcomes. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of self-controlled KR on motor learning focusing on the frequency of KR requests when performing an anticipatory timing task. Self-controlled groups were created based on participants' KR frequency of request (High, Medium, and Low referring to fifth, third, and first quintile) and, then, Yoked groups were created self-control condition pairing the KR request of the Self-controlled groups. We also measured self-efficacy and processing time as means to verify potential correlates. The results supported the expected interaction. While no difference between self-controlled and yoked groups were found for low frequencies of KR, a moderate amount of KR request was related to better results for the self-controlled group. Nonetheless, the opposite trend was observed for high frequencies of KR; the yoked group was superior to the self-controlled group. The results of this study allow us to conclude that the choices made, and not just the possibility of choosing, seem to define the benefits of KR self-control in motor learning.

The role of extrinsic and intrinsic factors in perceptual filling-in of the blind-spot with variegated color and texture stimuli.

Vision scientists dedicated their efforts to unraveling the mechanism of filling-in at the blind-spot (BS) through numerous psychophysical experiments. The prevalent interpretation, emphasizing active filling-in, has spurred extensive research endeavors. In a parallel vein, a pertinent study highlighted the predominance of the nasal Visual Field (VF) over the temporal one and postulated the role of the Cortical Magnification Factor (CMF) in explaining the asymmetry of filling-in. In this study, we first replicated this experiment and then conducted BS-specific psychophysical experiments employing various bi-colored and bi-textured (patterned) stimuli. We observed that nasal dominance is not persistent in the context of the spread of perception for BS filling-in. We posit that the visual information processing priority index (VIPPI), comprising the CMF (an intrinsic factor unaffected by stimulus characteristics) and relative luminance (an extrinsic factor dependent on stimulus characteristics), governs the spread of perception for filling-in in case of diverse neighborhoods of the BS.

Aggressiveness, inhibitory control, and emotional states: A provocation paradigm.

The current study examines the effects of trait aggressiveness, inhibitory control and emotional states on aggressive behavior in a laboratory paradigm. One hundred and fifty-one adult participants took part (73 men, 71 women, and 7 nondisclosed). Event Related Potentials (ERPs) during a Go/No-Go task were utilized to capture the extent of inhibitory processing, with a laboratory provocation paradigm used to assess aggression. Contrary to the expectations, negative affective responses to provocation were negatively associated only with short-lived aggression and only among those with high past aggressiveness. Furthermore, past aggressiveness was related to a continuous increase in laboratory aggressive behavior regardless of the level of inhibitory control (P3 difference amplitude). However, feeling hostile was associated with short-lived aggressive behavior, only in those with lower levels of inhibitory control. These findings demonstrate the effect of distinct mechanisms on different patterns of aggressive behavior.

Using magnons as a quantum technology platform: a perspective.

Traditional electronics rely on charge currents for controlling and transmitting information, resulting in energy dissipation due to electron scattering. Over the last decade, magnons, quanta of spin waves, have emerged as a promising alternative. This perspective article provides a brief review of experimental and theoretical studies on quantum and hybrid magnonics resulting from the interaction of magnons with other quasiparticles in the GHz frequency range, offering insights into the development of functional magnonic devices. In this process, we discuss recent advancements in the quantum theory of magnons and their coupling with various types of qubits in nanoscale ferromagnets, antiferromagnets, synthetic antiferromagnets, and magnetic bulk systems. Additionally, we explore potential technological platforms that enable new functionalities in magnonics, concluding with future directions and emerging phenomena in this burgeoning field.