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Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic mental disorder that profoundly impacts patients' everyday lives. The illness's core features include positive and negative symptoms and cognitive impairments. In particular, deficits in the social cognition domain showed a tighter connection to patients' everyday functioning than the other symptoms. Social remediation interventions have been developed, providing heterogeneous results considering the possibility of generalizing the acquired improvements in patients' daily activities. In this pilot randomized controlled trial, we investigated the feasibility of combining fifteen daily cognitive and social training sessions with non-invasive brain stimulation to boost the effectiveness of the two interventions. We delivered intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Twenty-one patients were randomized into four groups, varying for the assigned stimulation condition (real vs. sham iTBS) and the type of cognitive intervention (training vs. no training). Clinical symptoms and social cognition tests were administered at five time points, i.e., before and after the treatment, and at three follow-ups at one, three, and six months after the treatments' end. Preliminary data show a trend in improving the competence in managing emotion in participants performing the training. Conversely, no differences were found in pre and post-treatment scores for emotion recognition, theory of mind, and attribution of intentions scores. The iTBS intervention did not induce additional effects on individuals' performance. The methodological approach's novelty and limitations of the present study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared thermography has been under review in the last 30 years due to its versatility and potential in the detection of the thermal signature associated with intrinsic energy phenomena due to dissipative processes, specifically those relying on mechanical fatigue. Nowadays, it is a well‐established technique that can support mechanical and structural engineers to implement a damage‐tolerant design, assess the residual life, and finally characterize the fatigue behavior of materials. The aim of this work is to review all thermography‐based approaches and procedures for fatigue limit estimation by rapid tests, drawing considerations on the applicability of thermal methods in fatigue assessment of mechanical components, proposing the capabilities of different thermal indices in fatigue assessment, and discussing the pros and cons of each method as well as the open points. On one hand, this review intends to sum up what has already been done in the field; on the other hand, it provides a guideline to direct new researches toward issues that should be resolved or understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document discusses the fatigue and fracture behavior of composite materials. Composites are lightweight and resistant materials that are being used in various industrial sectors as an alternative to metal alloys. However, they have complex damage mechanisms and a brittle behavior, making the study and prediction of their fatigue and fracture mechanics challenging. The document highlights recent advances in research on these topics, including new structural functions and methodologies for assessing damage behavior. It also presents contributions on modeling composite behavior, evaluating material response through experimental techniques, and exploring new functions for composite repair. The document concludes by emphasizing the importance of experimental techniques for structural monitoring and the need for further research on damage parameters and strategies to prevent fatigue and fracture processes in composites. [Extracted from the article]

Subsurface defects can be detected by the pulsed thermography (PT) technique analysing the raw thermal data with the application of different post-processing algorithms. In this regard, different methods, based on one-dimensional models, are used in the literature to estimate the depth and size of defects. Two of the most established methods are the thermal signal reconstruction (TSR) and the pulsed phase thermography (PPT) algorithms. These latter require a careful set up of the testing parameters such as the frame rate, the truncation window size, and the energy density to obtain an accurate estimation of both depths and sizes of defects. Even if some works have already investigated the issue of defect characterization, there are few works in which the correct procedures to obtain both the size and depth were deeply explained, above all for real components with real defects. The aim of this work is to propose a new empirical procedure to obtain depth and size estimation of the defects using the pulsed thermography technique and in particular the principal component thermography (PCT) algorithm. The proposed procedure is based on the experimental observation that exists a linear correlation between the defect contrasts and the relative aspect ratios. In this way, by means of a master specimen, a calibration curve can be obtained considering a suitable truncation window of the analysed data. Then, the size and depth of defects have been retrieved imposing threshold criteria. The procedure is quite general, and it can be also tested with other algorithms. Different experimental tests have been carried out on two materials, aluminium and glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and then the procedure has been applied and validated both on simulated (flat bottom holes) and real defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subjects affected by schizophrenia present significant deficits in various aspects of social cognition, such as emotion processing, social perception and theory of mind (ToM). These deficits have a greater impact than symptoms on occupational and social functioning. Therefore, social cognition represents an important therapeutic target in people with schizophrenia. Recent meta-analyses showed that social cognition training (SCT) is effective in improving social cognition in subjects with schizophrenia; however, real-life functioning is not always ameliorated. Integration of SCT with an intervention targeting metacognitive abilities might improve the integration of social cognitive skills to daily life functioning. Our research group has implemented a new individualized rehabilitation program: the Social Cognition Individualized Activities Lab, SoCIAL, which integrates SCT with a module for narrative enhancement, an intervention targeting metacognitive abilities. The present multi-center randomized controlled study will compare the efficacy of SoCIAL and treatment as usual (TAU) in subjects diagnosed with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder. The primary outcome will be the improvement of social cognition and real-life functioning; while the secondary outcome will be the improvement of symptoms, functional capacity and neurocognition. The results of this study will add empirical evidence to the benefits and feasibility of SCT and narrative enhancement in people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Negative symptoms (NS) appear early in subjects at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis and may increase the risk of conversion to psychotic disorders and poor outcome. Contrary to schizophrenia, there is no consensus on the conceptualization and factor structure of NS in UHR subjects. This study aims to explore NS prevalence, factor structure, and impact on the outcome of UHR state in children and adolescents. Methods 71 UHR were recruited at the Neuropsychiatry Unit of the Hospital Bambino Gesù in Rome. We examined the prevalence of NS of at least moderate severity, the factor structure of NS by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and correlations between extracted factors and functioning. We also evaluated the severity of baseline NS in subjects who converted to psychosis (converters) and in those who did not convert (nonconverters) at 1-year follow-up. Results At baseline, all participants showed at least one NS of at least moderate severity. PCA and CFA yielded a two-factor solution: an "Expressive" and an "Experiential" factor. Only the Experiential factor was associated with functioning. At baseline, severity of NS did not differ between converters (N = 16) and nonconverters (N = 55). Conclusions In UHR children and adolescents NS have a high prevalence, a significant impact on functioning, and cluster in two-factors. Replications by independent studies, with state-of-the-art instruments and longer duration of follow-up, are needed to improve the characterization of NS in this population, clarify their impact on the outcome and enhance their early identification, prevention, and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the analysis in the frequency domain of the temperature signal and mechanical energy rate of C45 steel under two different fatigue stepwise loading series at stress ratios of 0.1 and −1. It was first investigated the energy distribution among the harmonic components of the signals to understand possible variations caused by a different stress ratio. In addition, the second amplitude harmonic (SAH) of heat dissipated and mechanical energy rates have been considered in the analysis, and their relationship was investigated. It has been shown as it depends only on the material, and hence, it is valid whatever the kind of the test is without any assumption on the energy supplied to the material or material hysteresis loop stabilization. The adopted approach allows the analysis of intrinsic dissipations by means of rapid, full‐field, and contactless techniques without any specific requirement on loading condition or temperature signal stabilization. Highlights: Analysis in frequency domain of the temperature signal and mechanical energy signalStudy of energy distribution over the spectrum component at two stress ratiosLinear relationship between SAHs of energy dissipated and mechanical energy ratesThe relationship is independent on the fatigue damage and depends only on materialDirect investigation of the material fatigue behavior from temperature acquisitions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes an automatic approach for segmenting inclusion defects in composite materials inspected by lock-in thermography (LT) in a heat source invariant way. In the proposed pipeline, temperature maps are preliminarily processed to enhance the contrast between sound and defective areas, reduce the acquisition noise, and mitigate the effect of nonuniform heat excitation. Then, the enhanced sequences are grouped in highly local sets, the input of a convolution residual neural network, which segments the defects focusing on the temporal evolution of the temperature. Experiments have been run on a dataset acquired from a CFRP specimen tested under five different heat source configurations. Here, a brief study of signal variations associated with the heat source configuration is presented. Then, an ablation study has been presented to compare different architectures of increasing complexity. The best results are achieved by using the proposed preliminary processing, the residual layers, and an input set of temperature signals of size $3 \times 3$. This network can reach a global intersection over union (IOU) of 0.78, while defects are segmented with an IOU value of 0.58. In addition, the balanced segmentation accuracy of the test reaches 94.78%, with a maximum recall of the defective class of 91.41%. Further cross validation changing the source configurations of the training and test sets produces comparable results of IOU and balanced accuracy, which are on average equal to 0.71 and 84.02%, respectively. A final evaluation of the trained network is performed on a new dataset augmented through a vertical stretch. Results are still comparable with an average IOU and balanced accuracy of 0.74 and 87.15%, respectively. These results prove the capability of the method to segment inclusion defects of any shape without being affected by the configuration of the heating sources used in the LT inspections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social dysfunctions (SD) are frequently observed in subjects with schizophrenia. Some of these dysfunctions are also observed in other neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), major depression, bipolar disorder, or Alzheimer disease. Recently, a characterization of a specific type of SD in schizophrenia has been proposed, with the concept of dis-sociality, which form the core aspect of "Schizophrenic Autism" (SA). The present study aimed to explore the presence in people with schizophrenia of SA, independent of other autistic traits, which can be often found in schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders. We used a structured interview—the Autism Rating Scale (ARS), an instrument devised to detect and measure SA. Fifty-one outpatients affected by schizophrenia (26 remitted, SCZ-r) and 28 affected by bipolar disorder type 1, with psychotic features, in the euthymic phase (BD-e) were recruited. Before assessing the specificity for schizophrenia of SA, we tested the internal consistency, the convergent and divergent validity of the ARS in the schizophrenia sample. Specificity was assessed by examining potential differences in ARS scores between SCZ-r and BD-e subjects. ARS showed good internal consistency, as well as convergent and divergent validity. ARS items were more frequently of moderate severity in SCZ-r than in BD-e subjects. This scale can contribute to establish more precise phenomenal boundaries between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and opens up the possibility of identifying a different type of SD in schizophrenia, independent of autistic traits and negative symptoms, which might benefit from different treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stiffness degradation represents one of the most interesting damage phenomena used for describing the fatigue behaviour of composites. A critical aspect of modelling the damage is represented by the simulation of the whole behaviour of the composite and by the assessment of the actual stiffness for the models validation. In this work, the stiffness degradation of quasi‐isotropic carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) obtained by automated fibre placement has been assessed by means of thermoelastic stress analysis. The amplitude of temperature signal at the mechanical frequency (thermoelastic signal) was considered as an indicator of material degradation and compared with the data provided by an extensometer. The correlation between thermoelastic and mechanical data allowed to build a new experimental model for evaluating and predicting material stiffness degradation by just using thermoelastic data. The proposed approach seems to be very promising for stiffness degradation assessment of real and complex mechanical components subjected to actual loading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of mental health is still widely discussed among philosophers and scientists. The emphasis on positive emotions and functional aspects of the World Health Organization definition has sometimes been called into question. This paper will focus on recently proposed mental health definitions, and in particular on mental health normative criteria involved in each of them. The criteria are divided in two broad categories: biomedical and cultural criteria. Strengths and weaknesses of each definition are illustrated in order to highlight research needs likely to support further progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with schizophrenia display experiential anomalies in their feelings and cognitions arising in the domain of their lived body. These abnormal bodily phenomena (ABP) are not part of diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. One of the reasons is the difficulty to assess specific ABP for schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The present study aimed to explore the presence in patients with schizophrenia of specific ABP. Methods: We used a semistructured interview--the Abnormal Bodily Phenomena questionnaire (ABPq), an instrument devised to detect andmeasureABP specific to patientswith schizophrenia. Fifty-one outpatients affected by schizophrenia and 28 euthymic outpatients affected by bipolar disorder type Iwith psychotic features (BD-pf-e)were recruited. Before assessing the specificity for schizophrenia of the observed ABP, we tested the internal consistency and the convergent validity of the ABPq in patients with schizophrenia. Specificity was assessed by examining potential differences in ABPq among the patients with schizophrenia in remission (SCZ-r) and BD-pf-e. Results: The ABPq shows strong internal consistency and convergent validity. As to the specificity, ABP measured by ABPq were more frequent and severe in SCZ-r than in BD-pf-e. In particular, all ABPq dimensions, except "Coherence," had at least mild severity in over 50% of SCZ-r, while dimensions with at least mild severity were observed in 5-10% of the BD-pf-e. Conclusions: These findings can contribute to establish more precise phenomenal boundaries between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, to explore the borders between nonpsychotic and psychotic forms of ABP, between ABP and negative and disorganized symptoms, and to enlighten core aspects of schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Computerized Interactive Remediation of Cognition – Training for Schizophrenia (CIRCuiTS) is a form of cognitive remediation therapy developed to target neurocognitive and metacognitive deficits of people with schizophrenia, which have a detrimental impact on real-life functioning. The English version of CIRCuiTS demonstrated good acceptability and feasibility. A recent randomized controlled trial provided evidence that the program improves memory and functioning, and that the impact on functional outcome is mediated by metacognition. The next steps in the development of CIRCuiTS include both: 1) the translation and adaptation of the program in different cultural settings; and 2) the demonstration of feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of a standardized method to administer CIRCuiTS remotely. Purpose: To implement the CIRCuiTS Italian version and to assess acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of a standardized method to administer CIRCuiTS remotely. Methods: Participants were assessed at baseline and received up to 40 CIRCuiTS therapy sessions, three times a week, for about 1 hr over a three-month period. Participants were reassessed post-treatment. Results: The program demonstrated good feasibility and high acceptability when assessed by the number of dropouts and evaluation of patients' satisfaction. Participants improved in learning, speed of processing, working memory and executive control. They showed a reduction in disorganization and improvement in self-esteem, functional capacity, and real-life functioning. Conclusion: In this study, a standardized protocol for using CIRCuiTS from home was implemented. The first set of data showed in the paper is encouraging. The proposed procedure could lead to a dropout reduction while maintaining the efficacy of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The contemporary Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) represents a case of morphological and genetic uniqueness. Today, Italian wolves are also the only documented population to fall exclusively within the mitochondrial haplogroup 2, which was the most diffused across Eurasian and North American wolves during the Late Pleistocene. However, the dynamics leading to such distinctiveness are still debated. Methods: In order to shed light on the ancient genetic variability of this wolf population and on the origin of its current diversity, we collected 19 Late Pleistocene-Holocene samples from northern Italy, which we analyzed at a short portion of the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial DNA, highly informative for wolf and dog phylogenetic analyses. Results: Four out of the six detected haplotypes matched the ones found in ancient wolves from northern Europe and Beringia, or in modern European and Chinese wolves, and appeared closely related to the two haplotypes currently found in Italian wolves. The haplotype of two Late Pleistocene samples matched with primitive and contemporary dog sequences from the canine mitochondrial clade A. All these haplotypes belonged to haplogroup 2. The only exception was a Holocene sample dated 3,250 years ago, affiliated to haplogroup 1. Discussion: In this study we describe the genetic variability of the most ancient wolf specimens from Italy analyzed so far, providing a preliminary overview of the genetic make-up of the population that inhabited this area from the last glacial maximum to the Middle Age period. Our results endorsed that the genetic diversity carried by the Pleistocene wolves here analyzed showed a strong continuity with other northern Eurasian wolf specimens from the same chronological period. Contrarily, the Holocene samples showed a greater similarity only with modern sequences from Europe and Asia, and the occurrence of an haplogroup 1 haplotype allowed to date back previous finding about its presence in this area. Moreover, the unexpected discovery of a 24,700-year-old sample carrying a haplotype that, from the fragment here obtained, falls within the canine clade A, could represent the oldest evidence in Europe of such dog-rich clade. All these findings suggest complex population dynamics that deserve to be further investigated based on mitochondrial or whole genome sequencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared thermography allows an alternative energy‐based approach for studying the fatigue behaviour of materials to better understand damage phenomena. In particular, the methodology of infrared thermography can explain the complex dissipative mechanisms promoted by the input parameters, such as the loading ratio, can rapidly provide information about the fatigue strength, and has low cost. In this work, analysis of the thermographic sequences of ASTM A 182 grade F6NM steel obtained during fatigue testing provided four thermal indexes that were used to investigate the thermoelastic and plastic behaviour of material. Fatigue tests at two opportunely chosen loading ratios (R = −0.1, R = 0.5) were performed to investigate the relation between the material behaviour and each index at a specific loading ratio. Finally, estimation of the fatigue strength by means of suitable analysis procedures allowed for an investigation of the damage behaviour of materials under specific loading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding process, based on frictional and stirring phenomena, that offers many advantages with respect to the traditional welding methods. However, several parameters can affect the quality of the produced joints. In this work, an experimental approach has been used for studying and optimizing the FSW process, applied on 5754-H111 aluminum plates. In particular, the thermal behavior of the material during the process has been investigated and two thermal indexes, the maximum temperature and the heating rate of the material, correlated to the frictional power input, were investigated for different process parameters (the travel and rotation tool speeds) configurations. Moreover, other techniques (micrographs, macrographs and destructive tensile tests) were carried out for supporting in a quantitative way the analysis of the quality of welded joints. The potential of thermographic technique has been demonstrated both for monitoring the FSW process and for predicting the quality of joints in terms of tensile strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the efficacy of a new social cognition (SC) remediation intervention, the Social Cognition Individualized Activities Lab (SoCIAL), for subjects with schizophrenia. The training includes a module for emotion recognition and one for theory of mind. A comparison with a validated cognitive remediation intervention, the Social Skills And Neurocognitive Individualized Training (SSANIT), was conducted to verify the efficacy of the SoCIAL in improving SC. Ten stabilized patients with schizophrenia accepted to participate. Five patients were randomized to SoCIAL and five to SSANIT. The SoCIAL intervention includes individual sessions of neurocognitive individualized training (NIT) and group sessions of SC training. SSANIT includes individual sessions of NIT and group sessions of social skills individualized training. The interventions were matched for the overall treatment duration (20 weeks) and for the frequency of the sessions (two times a week, one for SoCIAL or social skills individualized training and one for NIT, with a duration of 80 minutes for each session). Results showed a significant treatment effect (effect size: Cohen's d 0.32) on the primary outcome; in fact, only the SoCIAL intervention improved theory of mind. Patients receiving the SoCIAL intervention also showed an improvement of avolition. These preliminary findings support further development of the SoCIAL and suggest that cognitive remediation should include an SC module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standards and conventional procedures used for analysing fatigue damage in composite materials involve high experimental campaign costs due to time-consuming tests. This aspect becomes relevant for large structures where the cost of experimental setup tends to rise according to structure dimensions. In this regard, in recent years, efforts to produce fatigue characterisation of materials have made use of several experimental techniques, i.e. thermographic techniques. Most of these, however, refer to Standard specimens and laboratory equipment and set-up. Through the use of Thermography, in this work a new procedure has been developed which is capable of monitoring damage in GFRP composite material. The analysis of thermal signal in the frequency domain allows for the isolation of indexes which are related to the thermoelastic and dissipative heat sources. In particular, the phase of thermoelastic signal, associated with intrinsic dissipation processes occurring in the material, has been used to localize and assess the damaged areas in a quantitative manner. Moreover, the thermoelastic phase analysis leads to an evaluation of the endurance limit of composites. In fact, by comparing the results with those provided by the standard test methods, the potential has been shown of the proposed procedure firstly as a non-destructive technique for continuous monitoring of damage in composite structures undergoing fatigue loadings, and secondly, as a fatigue limit index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional procedures and methods used for obtaining the fatigue performance of materials represent a critical aspect of mechanical characterization because of time consuming tests with a high number of specimens. In the last few years, great efforts have been made to develop a number of methods aimed at reducing testing time and, subsequently, the cost of the experimental campaign. In the process, thermographic methods have shown to be a useful tool for the rapid evaluation of fatigue damage and fatigue limit. This work deals with a new procedure for the evaluation of fatigue limit and the monitoring of damage in GFRP material by means of thermography. Although damage mechanisms in composite materials are difficult to understand, the proposed procedure allows us to obtain a number of parameters providing information relating to the onset of failure phenomena. It is worth noting that the reported procedure provides results in good agreement with those attained by the standard test methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]