The Half-Empty/Full Glass in Mental Health: A Reference-Dependent Computational Model of Evaluation in Psychopathology

Evaluation (the process attributing value to outcomes) underlies “hot” aspects of cognition, such as emotion, affect, and motivation. In several psychopathologies, such as depression and addiction, impairments in evaluation are critical. Contemporary theories highlight the reference-dependent nature of evaluation, whereby outcomes are evaluated relative to their context. Surprisingly, reference-dependent evaluation remains to be explored in the context of psychopathology. We offer a computational theory of how impaired reference-dependent evaluation might underlie mental illness. The theory proposes that evaluation derives from comparing an outcome against a reference point parameter and by weighting any discrepancy by an uncertainty parameter. Maladaptive evaluation is proposed to occur when these parameters do not reflect the true context statistics. Depending on which parameter is altered, different forms of maladaptive evaluation emerge, each associated with specific clinical conditions. This model highlights how the concept of reference-dependent evaluation can elucidate several clinical conditions, including perfectionism, depression, and addiction.

Growth curve of pacu and the patinga hybrid farmed in a semi-intensive system

The growth curve is a tool that can be used to determine the performance potential of fish at different ages. The aim of this study was to evaluate the growth curve of pacu (P. mesopotamicus) and the patinga hybrid (P. mesopotamicus × P. brachypomus) cultivated in a semi-intensive system. In the initial phase of the experiment, the pacu and patinga fish weighed 32.6 ± 7.5 g and 24.9 ± 7.1 g, respectively. The Gompertz model was adopted to describe the growth curve. At the end of the experiment, body weight, standard length, head length, body height and body width did not differ significantly between the pacu (625.9 g; 25.6 cm; 7.2 cm; 12.1 cm; 4.5 cm) and the patinga hybrid (727.1 g; 27.3 cm; 7.6 cm; 13.2 cm; 4.9 cm). The asymptotic value (parameter A), relative growth rate (parameter B), and age at the inflection point (parameter C) of the growth curve of the two species were similar for weight and for the evaluated morphometric traits. The asymptotic values obtained for weight in the pacu and the patinga hybrid were 1212.0 g and 1348.0 g, respectively. The growth curve of the patinga hybrid is similar to that of pacu, contrasting with the belief of many fish farmers

Mechanical Simulation of Thermoplastic Composite Fiber Variable-Angle Laminates

By changing the placement angle of the placement path, the fiber direction can be controlled and adjusted to change the load distribution in the laminate, and the stress and natural frequency performances of the laminate can then be altered to finally obtain laminates with desired mechanical properties. In this paper, the finite element analysis model of variable-stiffness laminates is established based on the fiber placement reference path defined by the Bezier curve method. Based on the analysis of the mechanical properties of the thermoplastic fiber variable-angle laminates obtained by variable-angle trajectory planning, the changes in the stress and deformation of the thermoplastic fiber variable-angle laminate with the connection point parameter β under a compressive load are analyzed. The influence of the parameter β on the static performances of the variable-angle laminates is studied. The simulation results indicate that the maximum stress of the laminate increases first and then decreases as the parameter β increases and reaches the maximum value when the parameter β is 0.5. The minimum stress also shows the same trend as that of the maximum stress and reaches the minimum value when the connection point parameter β is 0.3. The deformation of the variable-angle laminates varies with the change of the connection point parameter β. The maximum deformation increases at first and then decreases for the laminate with the parameter β increasing and reaches the maximum value when the parameter β is 0.8. The minimum deformation of the laminate decreases initially and then increases as the connection point parameter β increases and reaches the minimum value when the parameter β is 0.6. The deformation gradually decreases from the upper and lower ends to the middle, and the deformation area has a symmetrical form. The initial regular rectangular area gradually changes to an elliptical distribution and the area of maximum deformation gradually decreases.

Quasi-exact description of the γ-unstable shape phase transition

The equation of the [Formula: see text]-unstable Bohr Hamiltonian, with particular forms of the sextic potential in the [Formula: see text] shape variable, is exactly solved for a finite number of states. The shape of the quasi-exactly solvable potential is then defined by the number of exactly determined states. The effect of exact solvability order on the spectral characteristics of the model is closely investigated, especially, concerning the critical point of the phase transition from spherical to deformed shapes. The energy spectra and the [Formula: see text] transition probabilities, up to a scaling factor, depend only on a single-free parameter, while for the critical point, parameter-free results are available. Several numerical applications are done for nuclei undergoing a [Formula: see text]-unstable shape phase transition in order to identify critical nuclei based on the most suitable exact solvability order.

Flash point vs. explosiveness points: a study in the similarity of chosen parameters of hazardous substances’ explosiveness

The article discusses the similarities and differences between two explosiveness parameters, i.e. flash point and explosion point. Literature overview, experimental measurements and computational studies were performed on the explosion point parameter, which is also called temperature flammability limits. Research was conducted in accordance with the PN-EN 15794 standard, which specifically refers to determining the explosion point parameter of flammable liquids. The article also contains the authors’ insight on the measurements methodology, as well as accuracy validation of various estimation methods. The obtained results can be used for explosion protection of technological processes which involve flammable liquids.

STRUCT: A Second-Generation URANS Approach for Effective Design of Advanced Systems

This work presents the recently developed STRUCT hybrid turbulence model and assesses its potential to address the poor grid consistency and limited engineering applicability typical of hybrid models. Renouncing the ability to consistently bridge RANS, LES and DNS based on the computational grid size, we aim at addressing the engineering design needs with a different mindset. We opt to leverage the robustness and computational efficiency of URANS in all nearly homogeneous flow regions while extending it to locally resolve complex flow structures, where the concept of Reynolds averaging is poorly applicable. The proposed approach is best characterized as a second generation URANS closure, which triggers controlled resolution of turbulence inside selected flow regions. The resolution is controlled by a single-point parameter representing the turbulent timescale separation, which quantitatively identifies topological flow structures of interest. The STRUCT approach demonstrates LES-like capabilities on much coarser grids, and consistently increases the accuracy of the predictions from the baseline URANS at increasing grid finesse. The encouraging results show the potential to support effective design application through resolution of complex flow structures while controlling the computational cost. The ultimate objective is to continue improving the robustness and computational efficiency while further assessing the accuracy and range of applicability.

Evaluation of Palm Olein as Shaft Lubricant

The demand and usage of vegetable oil utilization in lubricants for many applications increased prompting by continued growing environmental concerns. Today, vegetable oil attracts attention as biodegradable alternates for synthetic esters because they are cheaper and can be obtained from sources that are renewable. The main objectives of this experiment were to measure the friction force at various speeds and to observe the surface roughness before and after experiment. In this experiment, RBD palm olein as represented vegetable oil has been tested by compare the result with fully synthetic oil and mineral-based oil by using modified pin-on-disc machine. Pure RBD palm olein, recorded only 7.4% of increment of maximum friction force compared to results for mineral-based oil. Observation based on surface roughness show that RBD palm olein works as effective as fully synthetic and mineral-based oil since only 14.6% increment of overall surface roughness for the whole shaft. Therefore, the performance of vegetable oil which in this experiment is RBD palm olein, can be improve by adding additive so increase it properties such as can withstand at high load, high flash point parameter, small wear scar diameter, less oxidation rate, and coefficient of friction.