Can verbal suggestions strengthen the effects of a relaxation intervention?

Short stress management interventions such as relaxation therapy have demonstrated preliminary effectiveness in reducing stress-related problems. A promising tool to strengthen the effectiveness of relaxation-based interventions is the use of verbal suggestions, as previous research provided evidence that verbal suggestions can induce positive outcome expectancies, facilitate adaptive responses to stress and improve health outcomes. The present experimental proof-of-concept study aimed to investigate the effects of a brief relaxation intervention and specifically the role of verbal suggestions on stress-related outcomes assessed by self-report questionnaires and psychophysiological data. 120 participants (mean age = 22.1 years) were randomized to one of four intervention conditions: a brief relaxation intervention plus verbal suggestions condition, a brief relaxation intervention only condition, a verbal suggestions only condition, and a control condition. Afterwards, participants were subjected to a psychosocial stress challenge to assess reactivity to a stressful event. Immediately after both relaxation interventions (with and without verbal suggestions), lower self-reported state anxiety was found compared to the control condition, but no differences were observed in response to the stressor. The verbal suggestions only condition did not impact state anxiety. No significant effects were found for verbal suggestion interventions on cortisol, alpha amylase, heart rate and skin conductance. This is the first study investigating the role of verbal suggestions in the effectiveness of a brief relaxation intervention. Although this experimental proof-of-concept study provides support for the effectiveness of a brief relaxation intervention in lowering state anxiety directly after the intervention, the effects did not impact the response to a subsequent stressor and we did not observe any evidence for the add-on effectiveness of verbal suggestions. The effectiveness of brief relaxation interventions on stress responses should be investigated further in future research by incorporating interventions that are tailored to the specific stress challenge and various types of verbal suggestions

Cannabis and creativity: highly potent cannabis impairs divergent thinking in regular cannabis users

Stress-related psychiatric disorders across the life spa

Enhanced EKF and SVSF for state of charge estimation of Li‐ion battery in electric vehicle using a fuzzy parameters model

Abstract The precision of equivalent circuit model (ECM)‐based state of charge (SoC) estimation methods is vulnerable to the variation of the battery parameters, due to several internal and external factors. In this regard, this study proposes a fuzzy logic method for the approximate estimation of the ECM parameters at different temperatures and SoC levels. The fuzzy inference system is designed to handle the non‐linear deviation of the battery parameters from their reference values. On this basis, the extended Kalman filter and smooth variable structure filter are used to estimate the SoC. The two algorithms with fuzzy parameters (FP), namely FP‐EKF and FP‐SVSF, are tested on a 20 Ah Nickel Manganese Cobalt cell with maximum voltage of 4.2 V. The results show that the maximum root mean square error (RMSE) of the estimated SoC is kept within 1.51% with the FP‐EKF and 0.68% with the FP‐SVSF. Moreover, the reduction of the maximum absolute error may reach 0.34% with the FP‐EKF, and 0.82% with the FP‐SVSF, compared to the same algorithms without the proposed FP method. The executable codes are implemented on a low‐cost controller, and the average computational time is obtained as 215 μs, which confirms the real‐time practicality of the proposed method

Running head: Preferred temperature predicts working memory depletion Correspondence:

ABSTRACT 2 The present study investigated the relationship between objective temperature and subjective temperature preferences in predicting performance in simple and complex cognitive tasks. We assessed the impact of room temperature (warm and cold) on the ability to “update ” (and monitor) working memory (WM) representations in two groups of participants, who differed in their subjective temperature preferences (warm-preferred vs. cold-preferred). Participants performed an N-back task in which conditions (1-back and 2-back) differ in their WM load and cognitive demands. Results showed that the preferred, but not the objective temperature predicts WM performance in the more resource-demanding (the 2-back) condition. We propose that subjective preferences are more reliable predictors of performance than objective temperature and that performing under the preferred temperature may counteract “ego-depletion ” (i.e. reduced self-control after an exhausting cognitive task) when substantial cognitive control is required. Our findings do not only favor a cognitive approach over the environmental/physical approaches dominating the research on cognitionenvironment interactions, they also have important, straightforward practical implications for the design of workplaces.

Linear magnetoresistance at low temperatures

RATIONALE: Cannabis users often claim that cannabis has the potential to enhance their creativity. Research suggests that aspects of creative performance might be improved when intoxicated with cannabis; however, the evidence is not conclusive. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of cannabis on creativity. METHODS: We examined the effects of administering a low (5.5 mg delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC]) or high (22 mg THC) dose of vaporized cannabis vs. placebo on creativity tasks tapping into divergent (Alternate Uses Task) and convergent (Remote Associates Task) thinking, in a population of regular cannabis users. The study used a randomized, double-blind, between-groups design. RESULTS: Participants in the high-dose group (n = 18) displayed significantly worse performance on the divergent thinking task, compared to individuals in both the low-dose (n = 18) and placebo (n = 18) groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that cannabis with low potency does not have any impact on creativity, while highly potent cannabis actually impairs divergent thinking