Mechanisms of Creativity Differences Between Art and Non-art Majors: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study

Creativity is considered the ability to generate new ideas or behaviors, an ability that have diverse expressions in different human groups, such as painters and non-painters. Art major students require more creative activities than non-art students do. In this study, we plan to explore the figural creativity abilities of art major students and whether these students exhibited higher figural creativity scores and why their brain structure of gray matter are lower which may benefit from their professional training relative to non-art majors. Therefore, in this study, we use voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify different behavioral and brain mechanisms between art major students and non-art major students by using the figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. Our results showed that the TTCT-figural (TTCT-F) scores of art majors were higher than those of non-art majors. The TTCT-F score of art major students and practicing and study time have positive correlations which means art major’s figural creativity score benefit from there art professional training in some degree. Subsequently, the interaction analysis revealed that the TTCT-figural scores of art majors and non-majors exhibited significant correlations with the gray matter volumes (GMV) of the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the left medial frontal gyrus (MFG). While the simple slope analysis showed that art majors, compared with non-art majors, exhibited a marginal significantly positive association with the left ACC and MFG, non-art majors exhibited a significantly negative association with the left ACC and MFG. Overall, our study revealed that people who major in artistic work are more likely to possess enhanced figural creative skills relative to non-artistic people. These results indicated that professional artistic programs or training may increase creativity skills via reorganized intercortical connections

Numerical Simulation Method for Fracture Effect of Corroded Steel Strand Under Tension

Steel strand presents characteristic pitting corrosion in chloride environment, which leads PC structures to a serious structural failure even with light presentational corrosion. So it is necessary to analyze the fracture effect of steel strand caused by pitting corrosion. The theoretical analyses are difficult for the presence of complicated threedimension pits, so numerical method becomes a feasible choice. A numerical simulation method for fracture effect of corroded steel strand under tension by the ANSYS software is introduced in this paper, which contains mainly four issues such as fracture criterion, constitutive relation, geometrical models, and simplified mechanical models. The Mises strain is fixed as the fracture criterion parameter because the fracture is stemmed from overlarge plastic deformation. A type of three-line constitutive relation model based on experiment is fixed. The geometrical models of corroded wires with one of the two type pits, namely spheroidic pit and anticlastic pit, are both came from the cylinder cut by a surface rotated from a segment of circular arc. A simplified mechanical model is fixed as the analyzing model, which is a cylinder with 50 mm length and one pit, one end is fixed rigidly and another end is restricted along the longitudinal axis and applied with area load

Pre‐symptomatic transmission of novel coronavirus in community settings

We used contact tracing to document how COVID‐19 was transmitted across 5 generations involving 10 cases, starting with an individual who became ill on January 27. We calculated the incubation period of the cases as the interval between infection and development of symptoms. The median incubation period was 6.0 days (interquartile range, 3.5‐9.5 days). The last two generations were infected in public places, 3 and 4 days prior to the onset of illness in their infectors. Both had certain underlying conditions and comorbidity. Further identification of how individuals transmit prior to being symptomatic will have important consequences.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163478/2/irv12773.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163478/1/irv12773_am.pd

Using Adaptive Directed Acyclic Graph for Human In-Hand Motion Identification with Hybrid Surface Electromyography and Kinect

The multi-fingered dexterous robotic hand is increasingly used to achieve more complex and sophisticated human-like manipulation tasks on various occasions. This paper proposes a hybrid Surface Electromyography (SEMG) and Kinect-based human in-hand motion (HIM) capture system architecture for recognizing complex motions of the humans by observing the state information between an object and the human hand, then transferring the manipulation skills into bionic multi-fingered robotic hand realizing dexterous in-hand manipulation. First, an Adaptive Directed Acyclic Graph (ADAG) algorithm for recognizing HIMs is proposed and optimized based on the comparison of multi-class support vector machines; second, ten representative complex in-hand motions are demonstrated by ten subjects, and SEMG and Kinect signals are obtained based on a multi-modal data acquisition platform; then, combined with the proposed algorithm framework, a series of data preprocessing algorithms are realized. There is statistical symmetry in similar types of SEMG signals and images, and asymmetry in different types of SEMG signals and images. A detailed analysis and an in-depth discussion are given from the results of the ADAG recognizing HIMs, motion recognition rates of different perceptrons, motion recognition rates of different subjects, motion recognition rates of different multi-class SVM methods, and motion recognition rates of different machine learning methods. The results of this experiment confirm the feasibility of the proposed method, with a recognition rate of 95.10%

Using Adaptive Directed Acyclic Graph for Human In-Hand Motion Identification with Hybrid Surface Electromyography and Kinect

The multi-fingered dexterous robotic hand is increasingly used to achieve more complex and sophisticated human-like manipulation tasks on various occasions. This paper proposes a hybrid Surface Electromyography (SEMG) and Kinect-based human in-hand motion (HIM) capture system architecture for recognizing complex motions of the humans by observing the state information between an object and the human hand, then transferring the manipulation skills into bionic multi-fingered robotic hand realizing dexterous in-hand manipulation. First, an Adaptive Directed Acyclic Graph (ADAG) algorithm for recognizing HIMs is proposed and optimized based on the comparison of multi-class support vector machines; second, ten representative complex in-hand motions are demonstrated by ten subjects, and SEMG and Kinect signals are obtained based on a multi-modal data acquisition platform; then, combined with the proposed algorithm framework, a series of data preprocessing algorithms are realized. There is statistical symmetry in similar types of SEMG signals and images, and asymmetry in different types of SEMG signals and images. A detailed analysis and an in-depth discussion are given from the results of the ADAG recognizing HIMs, motion recognition rates of different perceptrons, motion recognition rates of different subjects, motion recognition rates of different multi-class SVM methods, and motion recognition rates of different machine learning methods. The results of this experiment confirm the feasibility of the proposed method, with a recognition rate of 95.10%

Effect of Rare Earth Yttrium on Inclusion Characteristics of Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel

To investigate the influence of heavy rare earth element yttrium on the type, morphology, and quantity distribution of inclusions in grain-oriented silicon steel, thermodynamic calculation was carried out on the typical rare earth inclusions in grain-oriented silicon steel containing yttrium. The main inclusions in the experimental steels with and without yttrium were observed and analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM, Zeiss Gemini SEM 300) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS, OXFORD Ultim Extreme). The electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD, OXFORD Symmetry) was used to analyze the local average misorientation of the hot-rolled plate. The results show that the inclusions in the Y-free steel are mainly long MnS, irregular Al2O3 and MnS-Al2O3. The inclusions in the Y-bearing steel are spherical rare earth compounds. The number of inclusions in Y-bearing steel decreases and the size increases compared with Y-free steel. The mean value of local average misorientation and the dislocation density of Y-bearing steel are smaller compared with Y-free steel, which could avoid the cracking problem caused by dislocation accumulation during hot rolling. After heating the rough-rolling sample to 1350 °C, there is no obvious difference in the inclusions type between the Y-free steel and Y-bearing steel. However, the area fraction of inclusions in Y bearing steel increases slightly. According to the thermodynamic calculation results, there are mainly three kinds of rare earth inclusions, YS, Y2S3 and Y2O2S, in Y-bearing steel, among which YS has the strongest stability and the stability of Y2O2S is the weakest. The rare earth element yttrium can effectively modify the inclusions, transforming the irregular Al2O3 inclusions, formed during the deoxidation of silicon steel into spherical rare earth inclusions, which suppress the precipitation of long MnS inclusions. Thus, the formability of the steel could be improved

Hepatitis B Virus X Protein Promotes Degradation of SMC5/6 to Enhance HBV Replication

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) regulatory protein X (HBx) activates gene expression from the HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) genome. Interaction of HBx with the DDB1-CUL4-ROC1 (CRL4) E3 ligase is critical for this function. Using substrate-trapping proteomics, we identified the structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complex proteins SMC5 and SMC6 as CRL4HBx substrates. HBx expression and HBV infection degraded the SMC5/6 complex in human hepatocytes in vitro and in humanized mice in vivo. HBx targets SMC5/6 for ubiquitylation by the CRL4HBx E3 ligase and subsequent degradation by the proteasome. Using a minicircle HBV (mcHBV) reporter system with HBx-dependent activity, we demonstrate that SMC5/6 knockdown, or inhibition with a dominant-negative SMC6, enhance HBx null mcHBV-Gluc gene expression. Furthermore, SMC5/6 knockdown rescued HBx-deficient HBV replication in human hepatocytes. These results indicate that a primary function of HBx is to degrade SMC5/6, which restricts HBV replication by inhibiting HBV gene expression

Relationship of close contact settings with transmission and infection during the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 epidemic in Shanghai

Introduction We analysed case-contact clusters during the Omicron BA.2 epidemic in Shanghai to assess the risk of infection of contacts in different settings and to evaluate the effect of demographic factors on the association of infectivity and susceptibility to the Omicron variant.Methods Data on the settings and frequency of contact, demographic characteristics and comorbidities of index cases, contacts and secondary cases were analysed. Independent effect of multiple variables on the risk for transmission and infection was evaluated using generalised estimating equations.Results From 1 March to 1 June 2022, we identified 450 770 close contacts of 90 885 index cases. The risk for infection was greater for contacts in farmers’ markets (fixed locations where farmers gather to sell products, adjusted OR (aOR): 3.62; 95% CI 2.87 to 4.55) and households (aOR: 2.68; 95% CI 2.15 to 3.35). Children (0–4 years) and elderly adults (60 years and above) had higher risk for infection and transmission. During the course of the epidemic, the risk for infection and transmission in different age groups initially increased, and then decreased on about 21 April (17th day of citywide home quarantine). Compared with medical workers (reference, aOR: 1.00), unemployed contacts (aOR: 1.77; 95% CI 1.53 to 2.04) and preschoolers (aOR: 1.61; 95% CI 1.26 to 2.05) had the highest risk for infection; delivery workers (aOR: 1.90, 95% CI 1.51 to 2.40) and public service workers (aOR: 1.85; 95% CI 1.64 to 2.10) had the highest risk for transmission. Contacts who had comorbidities (aOR: 1.10; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.12) had a higher risk for infection, particularly those with lung diseases or immune deficiency.Conclusion Farmers’ markets and households were the main setting for transmission of Omicron. Children, the elderly, delivery workers and public service workers had the highest risk for transmission and infection. These findings should be considered when implementing targeted interventions

<b>Suzuki–Miyaura Cross-Coupling of Amides by N–C Cleavage Mediated by Air-Stable, Well-Defined [Pd(NHC)(sulfide)Cl₂] Catalysts: Reaction Development, Scope, and Mechanism</b>

The Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling of amides by selective N–C acyl bond cleavage represents a powerful tool for constructing biaryl ketones from historically inert amide bonds. These amide bond activation reactions hinge upon efficient oxidative addition of the N–C acyl bond to Pd(0). However, in contrast to the well-researched activation of aryl halides by C(sp2)–X oxidative addition, very few studies on the mechanism of C(acyl)–N bond oxidative addition and catalyst effect have been reported. Herein, we report a study on [Pd(NHC)(sulfide)Cl2] catalysts in amide N–C bond activation. These readily prepared, well-defined, air- and moisture-stable Pd(II)–NHC catalysts feature SMe2 (DMS = dimethylsulfide) or S(CH2CH2)2 (THT = tetrahydrothiophene) as ancillary ligands. The reaction development, kinetic studies, and reaction scope are presented. Extensive DFT studies were conducted to gain insight into the mechanism of C(acyl)–N bond oxidative addition and catalyst activation. We expect that [Pd(NHC)(sulfide)Cl2] precatalysts featuring sulfides as well-defined, readily accessible ancillary ligands will find application in C(acyl)–X bond activation in organic synthesis and catalysis