The preferential attachment mechanism that forms scale-free network cannot display assortativity, i.e., the degree of one node is positively correlated with that of their neighbors in the network. Given the attributes of network nodes, a cultural trait-matching mechanism is further introduced in this paper. Both theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that the higher selection probability of such mechanism, the more obvious the assortativity is shown in networks. Further, the degree of nodes presents a positive logarithm correlation with that of (...) adjacent ones. Finally, this study discusses the theoretical and practical significances of the introduction of such a cultural trait-matching mechanism. (shrink)

This study in 29 Chinese organizations contributes to our understanding about work-related values in China. Empirical research in Chinese organizations indicates differences in work-related values between different age groups. The authors compared people (older age group) with work experience from the pre-reform period – pre-1978 China, with those who started their work life in a society that had already changed and become open to foreign investments (younger age group). The authors created a model of institutionally sensitive work-related values. The results (...) could help multinational companies achieve competitive advantage. (shrink)

In recent years, the incidence of depressive symptoms among Chinese college students has been increasing. Studies have shown that depressive symptoms are related to a variety of psychosocial factors, among which neuroticism, resilience, and attention bias are most notably related, but the correlation among the three is not clear. This study aimed to investigate the influence mechanisms of different degrees of resilience, attentional bias, and neuroticism in the formation of depressive symptoms. The college freshmen of this study were selected through (...) stratified multi-stage cluster sampling. Students provided informed consent and then completed a general situation questionnaire and four scales: the Chinese version of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, the Attention to Positive and Negative Information Scale, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Zung Self-Rating Depressive Symptoms Scale. In total, 1,493 freshmen participated in the research group. Our results showed that low resilience, negative attention bias, and high neuroticism jointly increased the risk of depressive symptoms. There is a significant correlation between these three factors and depressive symptoms. Additionally, strength, tenacity, and attention bias all had more significant effects on the occurrence of depressive symptoms. These findings indicate that there may be an important psychological mechanism for the occurrence, development, and poor prognosis of depressive symptoms. (shrink)

Following the successful cloning of genes for mostly rare genetic diseases in the early 1990s, there was a nearly universal enthusiasm that similar approaches could be employed to hunt down genes predisposing people to complex diseases. Around 1996, several well-funded international gene-hunting teams, enticed by the low cost of collecting biological samples and China’s enormous population, and ushered in by some well-connected Chinese intermediaries, came to China to hunt down disease susceptibility genes. This alarmed and, in some cases, enraged many (...) poorly funded Chinese scientists, who perceived them as formidable competitors. Some depicted foreign gene-hunters as greedy pilferers of the vast Chinese genetic gold mine, comparing it to the plundering of national treasures from China by invaders in the past, and called upon the government and their fellow countrymen to rise up and protect China’s genetic gold mine. Media uproar ensued, proclaiming the imminent “gene war of the century.” This article chronicles the key events surrounding this “war” and its aftermath, exposes some inherent complexities in identifying susceptibility genes for complex diseases, highlights some issues obscured or completely overlooked in the passionate and patriotic rhetoric, and debunks some misconceptions embedded in this conflict. In addition, it argues that during the entire course of this “war,” the public’s interest went conspicuously unmentioned. Finally, it articulates several lessons that can be learned from this conflict, and outlines challenges facing human genetics researchers. (shrink)

Governing greenwashing in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure is an important issue, but relevant literature is scant. Based on the data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2012 to 2021, we investigate the governance role of corporate digital transformation (DT) in ESG greenwashing and its influencing mechanism. We find that DT significantly inhibits ESG greenwashing. Moreover, DT mitigates ESG greenwashing by enhancing corporate green technology innovation (i.e., innovation channel), reducing information asymmetry (i.e., information channel), and increasing trade credit (i.e., (...) resource channel). From the perspective of investor attention, we find that both retail investors' online opinions and institutional investors' site visits strengthen the inhibitory effect of DT on ESG greenwashing. Furthermore, such an inhibitory effect is more pronounced in large firms, industries with high competition, and regions with strong intellectual property protection. This research provides new insights and policy suggestions for governing corporate ESG greenwashing behavior. (shrink)

ObjectivesIn this study, the effect of WeChat use on the subjective health of older adults was examined.MethodsUsing 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study survey data, we attempted to rule out potential endogeneity bias by employing instrumental variable regression to estimate the effects of WeChat use on the health of older individuals. Mobile phone price was chosen as the instrumental variable, and the health of older adults was measured from two aspects: self-rated health and the Center for Epidemiological Studies of (...) Depression Scale.ResultsWeChat use has a significant positive impact on the subjective health of older adults and can significantly improve their self-rated health and mental health status. WeChat use has significant positive effects on the subjective health of both older men and women, but relatively younger older adults obtain more health benefits from WeChat use.ConclusionThe virtual social participation prompted by WeChat use affects the health of older adults. This finding provides a reference for promoting the active integration of older adults into digital life. (shrink)

Tactile emotion recognition provides a lot of valuable information in human-computer interaction, and it has strong application prospects in many aspects such as smart home and medical treatment. So this situation raises a question: How to quickly and efficiently let the robot perform the correct emotion recognition? In this work, we develop a lifelong learning algorithm which is based on the efficient dictionary learning technology, to tackle the tactile emotion recognition across different tasks. To verify the efficiency of the proposed (...) method, we applied it to two data sets for experimentation: Corpus of Social Touch (CoST) and our dataset(We built it with a 12X12 array sensor). The results show that the proposed lifelong learning algorithm achieves satisfactory results. (shrink)

This study investigated inverse preference effects in L2 structural priming of English relative clauses and their potential influences on subsequent learning of target structures. One hundred fourteen Chinese learners of English at a low-to-intermediate proficiency level participated in a structural priming experiment with a pretest-posttest design. The experimental group underwent a priming task in which they orally produced syntactic structures immediately after viewing English object or passive relative clauses as primes, whereas the control group only read sentences unrelated to English (...) relative clauses. A grammaticality judgment task and a sentence completion task were used to measure the inverse preference effect and its subsequent effects on L2 learning. The results showed the presence of structural priming and inverse preference effects in immediate production, which extended to subsequent learning of L2. In subsequent grammaticality judgments and production, L2 learners performed better with English object relative clauses than with English passive relative clauses in comparison with the pretest. The results are discussed in terms of the structural frequency in both L1 and L2 as well as the implicit learning mechanisms of structural priming. (shrink)

In order to obtain continuous stratum information during TBM tunneling, using TBM tunneling parameters, stratum recognition is carried out through the K-nearest neighbor model, and the model is improved by the entropy weight method to improve the stratum recognition rate. By analyzing the correlation between TBM tunneling characteristic parameters and stratum, the tunneling characteristic parameter vector which is most sensitive to the stratum is obtained by sensitivity analysis, and the stratum recognition model based on the K-nearest neighbor algorithm is established. (...) Aiming at the problem that the model has a large error in complex formation recognition, a formation recognition model based on the entropy weight K-nearest neighbor algorithm is established, and the wrong data of the K-nearest neighbor model is recalculated. The recognition rate of the stratum in the new model is increased from 90.95% to 98.55%. The results show that the K-nearest neighbor model has a better recognition effect for the interval with single stratum distribution, and the recognition rate of entropy weight K-nearest neighbor model for complex stratum is significantly improved, which provides an effective method to obtain stratum information by using tunneling characteristic parameters. (shrink)

Enhancing urban development vitality and optimizing the allocation of regional industrial factors require a comprehensive analysis of listed companies, such as the overall distribution network, agglomeration evolution trend, industrialization layout, and driving mechanism. Using 1,624 A-share listed companies in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt as research area, this study integrated trend surface analysis, exploratory spatial data analysis, standard deviation ellipse, and spatial regression model methods. The main results are as follows: The overall quantity scale of the listed companies in the (...) Yangtze River Economic Belt has achieved significant growth, but the spatial difference of location selection persists. The spatial configuration formed a hierarchical urban distribution pattern with the Yangtze River Delta region as the agglomeration core and the provincial capitals as the fulcrum. Listed companies accelerate the expansion of the Yangtze River Delta region. Chengdu, Wuhan, Changsha, and other central-western provincial capitals gradually increased the region’s attractiveness. High-high and low-low agglomerations remain the main forms of agglomeration. There are significant differences in the location selection of listed companies with varying specialization levels, forming a relatively different alienated high-value distribution structure among various industry types. The levels of knowledge spillover, city scale, and policy support level are major factors affecting the location selection process of listed companies in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. For low-level city network with few listed companies, city scale and knowledge spillover levels are significant determinants for the development of headquarters’ economy. For high-level city network, along with the level of knowledge spillovers and policy support, globalization level has an important contribution to the shaping of the location advantages of attracting the layout of listed companies. (shrink)

Let ∃n denote the set of all formulas ∃x1…∃xn[P = 0], where P is a polynomial with integer coefficients. We prove a new relation-combining theorem from which it follows that if ∃n is undecidable over N, then ∃2n+2 is undecidable over Z.

PurposeDespite the number of studies on abusive supervision and voice, there is still limited knowledge on why individuals refrain themselves from information sharing. Moreover, very little is known on when individuals become cynical and when they do not under abusive supervision. Hence, to address the existing gaps in the literature this study aims to investigate the moderating role of positive reappraisal on the link between abusive supervision and cynicism; the associations between cynicism and two forms of voice, promotive and prohibitive; (...) and the mediating effect of cynicism on the relationship between abusive supervision and voice.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a survey among 685 highly skilled employees and their immediate supervisors in manufacturing companies. Among the 685 responses, we excluded 258 incomplete questionnaires and thus analyzed a total of 427 responses. Hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modeling were utilized to assess the validity of the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings indicate that positive reappraisal moderates the link between abusive supervision and cynicism; furthermore, cynicism is negatively related to promotive voice and mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and promotive voice. Moreover, the results reveal that the association between cynicism and prohibitive voice is nonsignificant and that cynicism does not mediate the link between abusive supervision and prohibitive voice.Originality/valueThis study is the first to provide empirical evidence on the moderating role of positive reappraisal on the relationship between abusive supervision and cynicism, the association between cynicism and promotive voice and the mediating role of cynicism on the link between abusive supervision and promotive voice.Future research directionsWe recommend that future research consider other forms of voice, such as acquiescent and prosocial voice, in investigating the links between cynicism and employee voice. (shrink)

Resumen: El corpus, siendo una herramienta eficaz, se está empleando en múltiples ámbitos, entre los que se encuentran los estudios de traducción. Sin embargo, dicho recurso no se utiliza con mucha frecuencia en las investigaciones traductológicas cuando una de las lenguas en cuestión es chino clásico (la lengua escrita empleada antiguamente en China), y autores que sí hacen estas investigaciones suelen no mencionar los pasos a seguir cuando se trata un corpus paralelo ad hoc. El objetivo del presente artículo es (...) presentar cómo se elabora un corpus paralelo chino clásico-español tomando como ejemplo la novela histórica Romance de los Tres Reinos y sus traducciones al español. Para ello, hemos descrito la problemática de creación y explotación de este tipo de corpus, siguiendo el orden de las fases del proceso. Resulta que algunas fases del proceso son universales, mientras que otras son propias de lenguas clásicas y de la combinación lingüística chino-otra lengua, en cuyo caso sí faltan aplicaciones eficaces. Con el trabajo, esperamos deparar información a los estudiosos que quieran realizar y profundizar las investigaciones basadas en corpus paralelo y en las obras clásicas de China. Abstract: The corpus, being an effective tool, is utilized in multiple fields. One of them is the Translation. However, this resource isn´t used frequently in translation studies when one of the languages in question is classical chinese (written language used anciently in China). And when it comes to an ad hoc parallel corpus, the steps of how to create it are usually omitted by researchers who make such investigations. The objective of this article is to present how to elaborate a classic Chinese-Spanish parallel corpus taking as example the historic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and its two translations into Spanish. To reach the objective, we have described the problem of creation and exploitation of this type of corpus, following the order of the phases of the process. We’ve found that some of the phases are universal while other phases are unique for old languages and for the linguistic combination Chinese-other language. And in this latter case, there’s a lack of effective applications. With the current work, we hope to offer useful information to those scholars who are willing to carry out their own investigations based on self-built parallel corpus and at the same time related to the classic Chinese works. (shrink)

To evaluate the performance of rural land circulation mode through the analytic network hierarchy process, based on the results of the performance evaluation with analytic network process, we implemented efficiency analysis on five types of rural land circulation mode by two improved efficiency analytic procedures. Finally, we implemented sensitivity analysis for each criterion layer of the evaluation index system with the performance evaluation data, interpreted five types of rural land circulation mode from three perspectives including benefits, costs, and risks with (...) sensitivity analysis results, and drew related conclusions including higher revenue which will lead to smaller difficulty of the rural land circulation. Cost variables were negative variables of the selected rural land circulation mode, and higher risk would lead to the greater difficulty of rural land circulation and related conclusions. (shrink)

Resumen: El corpus, siendo una herramienta eficaz, se está empleando en múltiples ámbitos, entre los que se encuentran los estudios de traducción. Sin embargo, dicho recurso no se utiliza con mucha frecuencia en las investigaciones traductológicas cuando una de las lenguas en cuestión es chino clásico (la lengua escrita empleada antiguamente en China), y autores que sí hacen estas investigaciones suelen no mencionar los pasos a seguir cuando se trata un corpus paralelo ad hoc. El objetivo del presente artículo es (...) presentar cómo se elabora un corpus paralelo chino clásico-español tomando como ejemplo la novela histórica Romance de los Tres Reinos y sus traducciones al español. Para ello, hemos descrito la problemática de creación y explotación de este tipo de corpus, siguiendo el orden de las fases del proceso. Resulta que algunas fases del proceso son universales, mientras que otras son propias de lenguas clásicas y de la combinación lingüística chino-otra lengua, en cuyo caso sí faltan aplicaciones eficaces. Con el trabajo, esperamos deparar información a los estudiosos que quieran realizar y profundizar las investigaciones basadas en corpus paralelo y en las obras clásicas de China. Abstract: The corpus, being an effective tool, is utilized in multiple fields. One of them is the Translation. However, this resource isn´t used frequently in translation studies when one of the languages in question is classical chinese (written language used anciently in China). And when it comes to an ad hoc parallel corpus, the steps of how to create it are usually omitted by researchers who make such investigations. The objective of this article is to present how to elaborate a classic Chinese-Spanish parallel corpus taking as example the historic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms and its two translations into Spanish. To reach the objective, we have described the problem of creation and exploitation of this type of corpus, following the order of the phases of the process. We’ve found that some of the phases are universal while other phases are unique for old languages and for the linguistic combination Chinese-other language. And in this latter case, there’s a lack of effective applications. With the current work, we hope to offer useful information to those scholars who are willing to carry out their own investigations based on self-built parallel corpus and at the same time related to the classic Chinese works. (shrink)

In recent years, the method of the complex network has been applied to various fields. Dynamics research in complex networks is also an important branch. There are many types of research into dynamic complex network, but few scholars use bibliometrics to study it. Therefore, this paper adopts the method of bibliometrics to analyze the development history and status quo of dynamic complex network, providing a summary description of this research field. We used CiteSpace and Pajek to analyze 2936 relevant papers (...) on the website of Web of Science and further interpreted and summarized the analysis results. To fully show the bibliometric results, we further derive the productive countries, institutions, sources, and authors and some main research directions in the dynamic complex network research. The research results show that the dynamic complex network research method was applied to various fields after the dynamic research method had been integrated into the complex network. According to the subject analysis of the cited papers, we find that the dynamic complex network method has been widely used in various subjects. Through emergent analysis, we found that the latest hot research trends are the study of infectious diseases and applications in neural networks. At the same time, through the main path analysis, we find the essential literature to elaborate on the development context of a dynamic complex network at different time points. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of dynamic complex network research and provides some enlightenment for the future research direction. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of group art therapy using traditional Chinese materials on improving the self-efficacy and social function of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. In China, little research has been conducted on patients to measure the effectiveness of group art therapy, especially using traditional Chinese materials. To address this research gap, 104 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia were tested in a group art therapy program that included 30 treatment sessions and used a wide variety of (...) materials, including traditional Chinese materials, such as Chinese calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, Chinese embroidery, and Chinese beads. The effect of art therapy was analyzed using the General Self-Efficacy Scale and Scale of Social Skills for Psychiatric Inpatients. This study demonstrates that group art therapy using traditional Chinese materials can improve self-efficacy and social function, reducing social and life function problems, and promote the recovery of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. (shrink)

This article focuses on the multidimensional construction of the multimedia network public opinion supervision mechanism, puts the research on the background of the era of big data, and based on the analysis and definition of the difference between network public opinion and network public opinion, deeply summarizes the network public opinion in the era of big data. New features analyze the opportunities and challenges faced by online public opinion in the era of big data. Based on the rational construction of (...) the index system, this paper studies the multimedia network public opinion evaluation and prediction algorithm. Existing network public opinion assessment and prediction algorithms have shortcomings in capturing the characteristics of data sequences and the long-term dependence of data sequences, and the problems of overfitting and gradient disappearance may occur during training. Because of the above problems, based on the long-term and short-term memory network model, a regularized method is used to construct a multimedia network public opinion prediction model algorithm. This paper builds a multimedia network public opinion threat rating evaluation model based on the public opinion supervision prediction model and conducts analysis. The model constructed this time can not only improve the accuracy of public opinion assessment and prediction but also better avoid the problem of gradient disappearance and overfitting. (shrink)

BackgroundTinnitus is a common disease, and sound therapy is an effective method to alleviate it. Previous studies have shown that notched sound not only changes levels of cortical blood oxygen, but affects blood oxygen in specific cerebral cortical areas, such as Brodmann area 46, which is associated with emotion. Extensive evidence has confirmed that tinnitus is closely related to emotion. Whether notched sound plays a role in regulating the emotional center is still unclear.MethodsThis study included 29 patients with newly diagnosed (...) chronic tinnitus who were treated with notched sound. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was conducted before and after treatment to observe bilateral changes in cortical blood oxygen in the cerebral hemispheres. We compared the changes in connectivity between the two regions of interest, as wells as other cortical regions before and after treatment.ResultsThe results showed That global connectivity between the bilateral auditory cortex of the superior temporal sulcus and the ipsilateral cortex did not change significantly between baseline and the completion of treatment, and That the connectivity between channel 14 and the right superior temporal sulcus decreased after treatment. The overall connectivity between the right BA46 region and the right cortex decreased after treatment, and decreases in connectivity after treatment were specifically found for channels 10 and 14 in the right parietal lobe and channels 16, 20, 21, and 22 in the frontal lobe, while there was no significant change on the left side. There were no significant changes in the questionnaire measures of tinnitus, anxiety, or depression before and after treatment.ConclusionThe results of the study indicate that cerebral cortex reorganization occurs in tinnitus patients after submitted to treatment with notched sound for 1 month, and that notched sound decreases the connectivity between the auditory cortex and specific brain regions.SignificanceNotched sound not only regulates the auditory center through lateral inhibition, but also alleviates tinnitus by reorganizing the emotional control center. (shrink)

The creative thinking and ability of top management team members is important in coping with rapid changes in the external environment and improving the competitive advantage of an organization. This research focuses on the CEO–TMT interface to explain how CEOs influence TMT characteristics, which in turn affects TMT outcomes. Based on social learning theory, this study examines the associations among CEO ethical leadership, TMT cohesion and TMT creativity in a Chinese context using a total of 91 top management teams. To (...) verify the reliability and validity of the constructs, a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were run. The results showed that the hypothesized model captured distinct constructs and fits the data well. Multistep regression method was used to test hypotheses. The results indicated that (a) CEO ethical leadership has a positive effect on TMT creativity; (b) TMT cohesion plays a mediating role in the relationship between CEO ethical leadership and TMT creativity; and (c) power distance plays a moderating role in the relationship between CEO ethical leadership and TMT creativity. The greater the power distance, the weaker the positive relationship between CEO ethical leadership and TMT creativity. This study demonstrates the value of CEO ethical leadership and advocates the importance of establishing team cohesion and building a psychologically safe environment to motivate top managers within an organization to share information and knowledge to improve creativity. (shrink)

This co-edited volume compares Chinese and Western experiences of engineering, technology, and development. In doing so, it builds a bridge between the East and West and advances a dialogue in the philosophy of engineering. Divided into three parts, the book starts with studies on epistemological and ontological issues, with a special focus on engineering design, creativity, management, feasibility, and sustainability. Part II considers relationships between the history and philosophy of engineering, and includes a general argument for the necessity of dialogue (...) between history and philosophy. It continues with a general introduction to traditional Chinese attitudes toward engineering and technology, and philosophical case studies of the Chinese steel industry, railroads, and cybernetics in the Soviet Union. Part III focuses on engineering, ethics, and society, with chapters on engineering education and practice in China and the West. The book’s analyses of the interactions of science, engineering, ethics, politics, and policy in different societal contexts are of special interest. The volume as a whole marks a new stage in the emergence of the philosophy of engineering as a new regionalization of philosophy. This carefully edited interdisciplinary volume grew out of an international conference on the philosophy of engineering hosted by the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. It includes 30 contributions by leading philosophers, social scientists, and engineers from Australia, China, Europe, and the United States. (shrink)

The spread of the COVID-19 virus shows that it is time to re-emphasize the ethical attitude of “awe of others, awe of nature, and awe of life.” It once again reveals the importance of green development. In this study, we introduce awe into the context of COVID-19 and construct an “emotion-motivation-behavior” framework, aiming to explore the relationship between the epidemic and green purchasing behavior from a psychological perspective. Study 1 demonstrates the effect of awe on green purchasing and examines the (...) mediating role of the motivation perspective, to reveal the potential different path. Specifically, prosocial motivation mediates the effect of positive awe evoked by COVID-19 on green purchasing; risk avoidance motivation mediates the effect of negative awe evoked by COVID-19 on green purchasing. Study 2 examined the moderating effect of self-construal. These findings have important management implications for enterprises to correctly use emotional guidance strategies and promote green marketing practices during the COVID-19. (shrink)

The sizes of individual data files have steadily increased along with rising demand for customized services, leading to issues such as low efficiency of web-based geographical information system -based data compression, transmission, and rendering for rich Internet applications in complicated visualization systems. In this article, a WebGIS-based technical solution for the efficient transmission and visualization of meteorological big data is proposed. Based on open-source technology such as HTML5 and Mapbox GL, the proposed scheme considers distributed data compression and transmission on (...) the server side as well as distributed requests and page rendering on the browser side. A high-low 8-bit compression method is developed for compressing a 100 megabyte file into a megabyte-scale file, with a compression ratio of approximately 90%, and the recovered data are accurate to two decimal places. Another part of the scheme combines pyramid tile cutting, concurrent domain name request processing, and texture rendering. Experimental results indicate that with this scheme, grid files of up to 100 MB can be transferred and displayed in milliseconds, and multiterminal service applications can be supported by building a grid data visualization mode for big data and technology centers, which may serve as a reference for other industries. (shrink)

In the process of rapid urbanization, urban heat island effect has been showing more and more significant impacts on human well-being. Therefore, a more detailed understanding of the impact of three-dimensional building morphology on UHI effect across a continuum of spatial scales will be necessary to guide and improve the human settlement.This study selected 31 provincial capital cities of mainland China to analyze the impacts of the 3D building morphology, including the number, area, height, volume, and the surface area of (...) the buildings, on the land surface temperature. By exploring how the influence of 3D building morphology on LST changes with the increase of spatial scale, this study finally recognized which 3D building morphology index is the most significant index affecting LST in different cities, and which spatial scale these 3D building morphology indexes have the most significant impact on LST. The results showed that the building area is the most important 3D building morphology parameter affecting the LST, while the building height has the slightest influence on the LST. These effects are more significant in the spatial scale of 150 m–540 m, and the spatial scale increases with the increase of building areas in developed cities. These results highlight the necessity of considering fine-grained management in the governance and alleviating of the urban thermal environment through urban planning and urban renewal strategies. (shrink)

Reinforcement learning relies on the reward prediction error (RPE) signals conveyed by the midbrain dopamine system. Previous studies showed that dopamine plays an important role in both positive and negative reinforcement. However, whether various reinforcement processes will induce distinct learning signals is still unclear. In a probabilistic learning task, we examined RPE signals in different reinforcement types using an electrophysiology index, namely, the feedback-related negativity (FRN). Ninety-four participants were randomly assigned into four groups: base (no money incentive), positive reinforcement (presentation (...) of money rewards), negative reinforcement (removal of money losses), and combined reinforcement (money rewards and removal of money losses) groups. In addition, in order to evaluate the engagement of emotional activity in the different reinforcement processes, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form (PANAS-X) scales were applied before and after the experiment to detect the emotional changes. The results showed that there was no difference between groups in the dopamine-related learning bias. However, compared to the other three groups, negative reinforcement elicited smaller FRN (the difference-wave measure) during the learning, stronger positive affect and joviality, and less fatigue after the learning, in which the difference between the negative and positive reinforcement groups was smaller. The results indicated that pure avoidance motivation may induce distinct emotional fluctuations, which influence the feedback processing. (shrink)

Background and PurposeTranscranial direct current stimulation is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation technique for focal epilepsy. Because epilepsy is a disease affecting the brain network, our study was aimed to evaluate and predict the treatment outcome of cathodal tDCS by analyzing the ctDCS-induced functional network alterations.MethodsEither the active 5-day, −1.0 mA, 20-min ctDCS or sham ctDCS targeting at the most active interictal epileptiform discharge regions was applied to 27 subjects suffering from focal epilepsy. The functional networks before and after ctDCS were (...) compared employing graph theoretical analysis based on the functional magnetic resonance imaging data. A support vector machine prediction model was built to predict the treatment outcome of ctDCS using the graph theoretical measures as markers.ResultsOur results revealed that the mean clustering coefficient and the global efficiency decreased significantly, as well as the characteristic path length and the mean shortest path length at the stimulation sites in the fMRI functional networks increased significantly after ctDCS only for the patients with response to the active ctDCS. Our prediction model achieved the mean prediction accuracy of 68.3% after the nested cross validation. The mean area under the receiver operating curve was 0.75, which showed good prediction performance.ConclusionThe study demonstrated that the response to ctDCS was related to the topological alterations in the functional networks of epilepsy patients detected by fMRI. The graph theoretical measures were promising for clinical prediction of ctDCS treatment outcome. (shrink)