Investigation of Heater Structures for Thermal Conductivity Measurements of SiO and AlO Thin Films Using the 3-Omega Method.

A well-known method for measuring thermal conductivity is the 3-Omega (3) method. A prerequisite for it is the deposition of a metal heater on top of the sample surface. The known design rules for the heater geometry, however, are not yet sufficient.

Neural processing of poems and songs is based on melodic properties.

The neural processing of speech and music is still a matter of debate. A long tradition that assumes shared processing capacities for the two domains contrasts with views that assume domain-specific processing. We here contribute to this topic by investigating, in a functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) study, ecologically valid stimuli that are identical in wording and differ only in that one group is typically spoken (or silently read), whereas the other is sung: poems and their respective musical settings.

Electrophysiological correlates of proportion congruency manipulation in a temporal flanker task.

Response conflict evoked by a distractor stimulus object in interference tasks is associated with longer reaction times and a pronounced ERP component referred to as the fronto-central N2. Increasing the proportion congruency (PC, i.e.

Associations Between Mental Health Problems in Adolescence and Educational Attainment in Early Adulthood: Results of the German Longitudinal BELLA Study.

Mental health problems (MHP) in adolescence are a major public health concern of the 21st century. Global prevalence estimates range between 10 and 20%. Most MHP manifest by adolescence and persistence rates are high, often accumulating further impairment in early adulthood and beyond.

Industrial exoskeletons for overhead work: Circumferential pressures on the upper arm caused by the physical human-machine-interface.

This study investigated the pressures occurring within the arm human-machine-interfaces (HMI) of four different exoskeletons that support static and dynamic work at or above head level, and the effects of the HMI on neurovascular supply of the upper extremity using an orthopedic provocation maneuver with raised arms with and without the exoskeletons. Decreased time in the provocation maneuver with exoskeletons indicated a negative effect of the HMIs on the vascular and neural supply of the arm. Average pressure in the static situation was 3.

Low-Cost Force Sensors Embedded in Physical Human-Machine Interfaces: Concept, Exemplary Realization on Upper-Body Exoskeleton, and Validation.

In modern times, the collaboration between humans and machines increasingly rises, combining their respective benefits. The direct physical support causes interaction forces in human-machine interfaces, whereas their form determines both the effectiveness and comfort of the collaboration. However, their correct detection requires various sensor characteristics and remains challenging.

Experiences and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Distance Learning Among Teachers of Students With Special Educational Needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on school learning so far, creating a new and potentially stressful situation during school closures for teachers and students. The sudden switch to distance learning might have been especially hard to cope with for students with special educational needs (SEN). Teachers of student with SEN might thus face greater obstacles when establishing and dealing with distance learning.

The Influence of Relaxing and Self-Selected Stimulating Music on Vertical Jump Performance in Male Volleyball Players.

Most research concerning the effects of music on physical performance was conducted using endurance parameters. This study investigated the effects of relaxing (RLX) vs. self-selected stimulating music (SM) vs.

Informed consent in psychotherapy: a survey on attitudes among psychotherapists in Switzerland.

Background: The legal and ethical guidelines of psychological professional associations stipulate that informed consent by patients is an essential prerequisite for psychotherapy. Despite this awareness of the importance of informed consent, there is little empirical evidence on what psychotherapists' attitudes towards informed consent are and how informed consent is implemented in psychotherapeutic practice.

Methods: 155 psychotherapists in Switzerland completed an online survey assessing their attitudes regarding informed consent.

Tasting rewards. Effects of orosensory sweet signals on human error processing.

Human research has shown interactions between rewards and cognitive control. In animal models of affective neuroscience, reward administration typically involves administering orosensory sugar signals (OSS) during caloric-deprived states. We adopted this procedure to investigate neurophysiological mechanisms of reward-cognitive control interactions in humans.

Does self-reported chronic pain influence savoring of aesthetic experiences?

Background: Aesthetic experiences elicit a wide range of positive emotions and have a positive impact on various health outcomes. In this context, savoring refers to a cognitive form of emotion regulation used to maintain and extend positive emotional experiences and is considered to contribute to health and well-being. Chronic pain has been linked to reduced reward-seeking behavior.

Interruption, work rumination, and stress as indicators of reduced working memory resources affect aesthetic experiences.

Do we savour aesthetic experiences less when distracted by interrupted tasks, work rumination, or stress? Evidence suggests that the ability to concentrate on the aesthetic experience is crucial for initiating a processing mode of conscious aesthetic reception that results in more positive emotions. When working memory resources are otherwise occupied, people are less able to concentrate on aesthetic experiences. Aesthetic savouring, in particular-a cognitive form of emotion regulation that is used to maintain and extend aesthetic experiences-is thought to be impaired under those circumstances.

Assessing the extent and timing of chemosensory impairments during COVID-19 pandemic.

Chemosensory impairments have been established as a specific indicator of COVID-19. They affect most patients and may persist long past the resolution of respiratory symptoms, representing an unprecedented medical challenge. Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic started, we now know much more about smell, taste, and chemesthesis loss associated with COVID-19.

The Continuous Matching Task (CMT) - real-time procedural stimulus generation for adaptive testing of attention.

The Continuous Matching Task (CMT) is a novel paradigm designed to measure sustained attention and alertness. It is a special type of Continuous Performance Task (CPT) that utilizes truly continuous stimulus material. Stimuli are generated in real-time by a procedural algorithm which also enables adaptive testing.

Methodologies for evaluating exoskeletons with industrial applications.

Industrial exoskeletons are globally developed, explored, and increasingly implemented in industrial workplaces. Multiple technical, physical, and psychological aspects should be assessed prior to their daily application in various occupational environments. The methodology for evaluating these aspects is not standardised and differs in terms of focussed research objectives, used types of analyses, applied testing procedures, and use cases.

"I'm getting too old for this stuff": The conceptual structure of tattoo aesthetics.

While body modifications have increasingly gained acceptance and popularity, how different subpopulations aesthetically appreciate tattoos remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the conceptual structure underlying tattoo aesthetics, focusing on the effects of internalized social norms and expertise. Using a timed free-listing task, three groups (≤49 years, ≥50 years, and experts) comprising 497 participants were asked to write down adjectives that could describe tattoo aesthetics.

Debt Relief as a Last Resort for the Lender of Last Resort?: Monetary Financing - Doing It Right.

The coronavirus crisis has led to a sharp increase in the debt-to-GDP ratios of the euro area member states. Without external support, access to the capital market could be seriously threatened in the medium term for Italy, but also for other member states. While the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, which is designed as a monetary policy instrument, is regarded by some as a violation of the prohibition of monetary financing, the Next Generation EU recovery fund is likely to direct the fundamental structures of the European Union towards a fiscal union with considerable redistribution elements.

Early alpha/beta oscillations reflect the formation of face-related expectations in the brain.

Although statistical regularities in the environment often go explicitly unnoticed, traces of implicit learning are evident in our neural activity. Recent perspectives have offered evidence that both pre-stimulus oscillations and peri-stimulus event-related potentials are reliable biomarkers of implicit expectations arising from statistical learning. What remains ambiguous, however, is the origination and development of these implicit expectations.

Dimensions and Clusters of Aesthetic Emotions: A Semantic Profile Analysis.

Aesthetic emotions are elicited by different sensory impressions generated by music, visual arts, literature, theater, film, or nature scenes. Recently, the AESTHEMOS scale has been developed to facilitate the empirical assessment of such emotions. In this article we report a semantic profile analysis of aesthetic emotion terms that had been used for the development of this scale, using the GRID approach.

Informing About the Nocebo Effect Affects Patients' Need for Information About Antidepressants-An Experimental Online Study.

Understanding patients' informational needs and adapting drug-related information are the prerequisites for a contextualized informed consent. Current information practices might rather harm by inducing nocebo effects. To investigate whether informing about the nocebo effect using a short information sheet affects patients' need for information about antidepressants.

Word class and word frequency in the MMN looking glass.

The effects of lexical meaning and lexical familiarity on auditory deviance detection were investigated by presenting oddball sequences of words, while participants ignored the stimuli. Stimulus sequences were composed of words that were varied in word class (nouns vs. functions words) and frequency of language use (high vs.

Adjustments of selective attention to response conflict - controlling for perceptual conflict, target-distractor identity, and congruency level sequence pertaining to the congruency sequence effect.

The congruency sequence effect (CSE) describes the performance difference of congruent trials (in which target and distractor stimuli are associated with the same response) compared to incongruent trials (in which target and distractor stimuli are associated with different responses) as a function of the preceding congruency level (congruent trials relative to incongruent trials). The CSE is commonly interpreted as a measure of conflict-induced attentional adjustment. Although previous research has made substantial progress aiming at controlling for alternative explanations of the CSE, both task-specific and fundamental confounds have remained.

Side effects of the metacognitive training for depression compared to a cognitive remediation training in patients with depression.

Although awareness of side effects over the course of psychotherapy is growing, side effects are still not always reported. The purpose of the present study was to examine side effects in a randomized controlled trial comparing Metacognitive Training for Depression (D-MCT) and a cognitive remediation training in patients with depression. 84 patients were randomized to receive either D-MCT or cognitive remediation training (MyBrainTraining) for 8 weeks.