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The analogy between acoustic modes in nonlinear metamaterials and quantum computing platforms constituted of correlated two-level systems opens new frontiers in information science. We use an inductive procedure to demonstrate scalable initialization of and scalable unitary transformations on superpositions of states of multiple correlated logical phi-bits, classical nonlinear acoustic analog of qubits. A multiple phi-bit state representation as a complex vector in a high-dimensional, exponentially scaling Hilbert space is shown to correspond with the state of logical phi-bits represented in a low-dimensional linearly scaling physical space of an externally driven acoustic metamaterial. Manipulation of the phi-bits in the physical space enables the implementation of a non-trivial multiple phi-bit unitary transformation that scales exponentially. This scalable transformation operates in parallel on the components of the multiple phi-bit complex state vector, requiring only a single physical action on the metamaterial. This work demonstrates that acoustic metamaterials offer a viable path toward achieving massively parallel information processing capabilities that can challenge current quantum computing paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This quality improvement (QI) programme was proposed to integrate co-production principles into rehabilitation psychiatry, focusing on enhancing patient-centred care and promoting positive step-down discharges within the mental health system. The backdrop of the QI programme was the essential role of rehabilitation psychiatry in aiding the recovery and reintegration of individuals with mental health challenges, and sub-optimal audit results about patient's attendance and positive step-down discharges at an in-patient psychiatric unit. Objectives: The QI programme aimed to implement and explore Co-production, a transformative approach involving patients and healthcare professionals as equal partners. - To promote co-production in psychiatric in-patient service - To improve patient experience in the CPA meetings - To reduce anxiety associated with the CPA meetings and discharge planning - To assess staff's limitations and barriers in promoting co-production. Methods: The QI programme was divided into phases, including diagnostic, problem-solving, and evaluation. It employed diagnostic tools such as the fishbone cause and effect diagram and the 5-Why Technique for root cause analysis. The project's aim was aligned with the Model of Improvement, guided by the three fundamental questions. Change ideas were developed using driver's diagram and were then evaluated through PDSA cycles. Quantitative analysis utilized paired t-tests to assess the significance of changes, and qualitative analysis focused on patient perspectives gathered through the co-produced CPA questionnaire. Emerging themes from the questionnaire responses were integrated into the project's trajectory through narrative synthesis. Predictions were formulated to measure project success: 50% patient attendance in the next CPA meetings, 70% positive step-down discharges, and improved Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) scores. Results: The iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles demonstrated the evolving impact of interventions on patient engagement and discharge outcomes. Implementation of patient information leaflets, staff training, and a CPA agenda template led to increased attendance and positive step-down discharges. Analysis of HAM-A scores revealed a substantial decline in anxiety levels for almost all participants, suggesting the effectiveness of the interventions. Discharge outcomes were influenced by patient engagement and tailored interventions. Patient responses revealed themes such as challenges during transitions to community care, empowerment from shared decision-making, and diverse experiences in communication with healthcare professionals. Conclusions: The CPA agenda template improved patient experiences by enhancing communication and patient-centeredness. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Psychotic syndromes can have autoimmune-mediated causes in some patients. Thus, this retrospective work aims to investigate the role of rheumatological markers in the development of psychosis., Patients and Methods: In total, 224 patients with psychotic syndromes receiving a "rheumatological laboratory screening" (including C-reactive protein [CRP], immunofixation, complement factors, rheumatoid factor [RF], antiphospholipid antibodies [APAs], antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies [ANCAs], and antinuclear antibodies [ANAs]) were analyzed. A further diagnostic work-up included investigations of neuronal antibodies and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), as well as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. ANA testing was routinely performed in all patients using serum on human epithelioma-2 (Hep2) cells, and a subset of patients (N = 73) also underwent tissue-based assays from serum and CSF. The number of cases with autoimmune psychotic syndromes was descriptively collected, and ANA-positive and -negative patients were compared in detail., Results: CRP was elevated in 9 % of patients, immunofixation identified alterations in 8 %, complement factor C3 was decreased in 14 %, RF was elevated in 1 %, APAs were elevated in 7 %, ANCAs were not clearly positive, and ANAs were positive in 19 % (extractable nuclear antigen [ENA] differentiation resulted in positive findings in 14 patients). From the 73 patient samples additionally investigated using tissue-based assays, there were 26 positive results for some kind of ANA (36 %), and overall using both methods, 54 patients (24 %) were considered positive for ANAs. A neuropsychiatric evaluation revealed a possible autoimmune psychotic syndrome in seven patients (3 %) and a probable autoimmune psychotic syndrome in two patients (1 %). ANA-positive patients were more frequently treated with antidepressants (p = 0.040) and had a higher number of somatic comorbidities (p < 0.001). In addition, (chronic) inflammatory MRI lesions (p = 0.008) and focal atrophies (p = 0.012) were found more frequently in ANA-positive than ANA-negative patients., Discussion: Rheumatological screening led to suspicion of a possible or probable autoimmune psychotic syndrome in 4%. ANAs were associated with MRI pathologies. Therefore, rheumatological processes may contribute to the development of psychotic syndromes in rare cases., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Potential competing interests KD: Formerly: Steering Committee Neurosciences and speaker honoraria, Janssen-Cilag, within the last three years. LTvE: Advisory boards, lectures, or travel grants within the last three years: Roche, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Shire, UCB, GSK, Servier, Janssen and Cyberonics. All other authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Some topographies in plate structures can hide cracks and make it difficult to monitor damage growth. This is because topographical features convert homogeneous structures to heterogeneous one and complicate the wave propagation through such structures. At certain points destructive interference between incident, reflected and transmitted elastic waves can make those points insensitive to the damage growth when adopting acoustics based structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques. A newly developed nonlinear ultrasonic (NLU) technique called sideband peak count - index (or SPC-I) has shown its effectiveness and superiority compared to other techniques for nondestructive testing (NDT) and SHM applications and is adopted in this work for monitoring damage growth in plate structures with topographical features. The performance of SPC-I technique in heterogeneous specimens having different topographies is investigated using nonlocal peridynamics based peri-ultrasound modeling. Three types of topographies - "X" topography, "Y" topography and "XY" topography are investigated. It is observed that "X" and "XY" topographies can help to hide the crack growth, thus making cracks undetectable when the SPC-I based monitoring technique is adopted. In addition to the SPC-I technique, we also investigate the effectiveness of an emerging sensing technique based on topological acoustic sensing. This method monitors the changes in the geometric phase; a measure of the changes in the acoustic wave's spatial behavior. The computed results show that changes in the geometric phase can be exploited to monitor the damage growth in plate structures for all three topographies considered here. The significant changes in geometric phase can be related to the crack growth even when these cracks remain hidden for some topographies during the SPC-I based single point inspection. Sensitivities of both the SPC-I and the topological acoustic sensing techniques are also investigated for sensing the topographical changes in the plate structures., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cryptography is crucial in protecting sensitive information and ensuring secure transactions in a time when data security and privacy are major concerns. Traditional cryptography techniques, which depend on mathematical algorithms and secret keys, have historically protected against data breaches and illegal access. With the advent of quantum computers, traditional cryptography techniques are at risk. In this work, we present a cryptography idea using logical phi-bits, which are classical analogues of quantum bits (qubits) and are supported by driven acoustic metamaterials. The state of phi-bits displays superpositions similar to quantum bits, with complex amplitudes and phases. We present a representation of the state vector of single and multi-phi-bit systems. The state vector of multiple phi-bits system lies in a complex exponentially scaling Hilbert space and is used to encode information or messages. By changing the driving conditions of the metamaterial, the information can be encrypted with exceptional security and efficiency. We illustrate experimentally the practicality and effectiveness of encoding and encryption of a message using a 5 phi-bits system and emphasize the scalability of this approach to an N phi-bits system with the same processing time., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The electroretinogram (ERG), a non-invasive electrophysiological tool used in ophthalmology, is increasingly applied to investigate neural correlates of depression. The present study aimed to reconsider previous findings in major depressive disorder (MDD) reporting (1) a diminished contrast sensitivity and (2) a reduced patten ERG (PERG) amplitude ratio, and additionally, to assess (3) the photopic negative response (PhNR) from the flash ERG (fERG), with the RETeval® device, a more practical option for clinical routine use. We examined 30 patients with a MDD and 42 healthy controls (HC), assessing individual contrast sensitivity thresholds with an optotype-based contrast test. Moreover, we compared the PERG ratio, an established method for early glaucoma detection, between both groups. The handheld ERG device was used to measure amplitudes and peak times of the fERG components including a-wave, b-wave and PhNR in both MDD patients and HCs. MDD patients exhibited diminished contrast sensitivity together with a reduced PERG ratio, compared to HC. With the handheld ERG device, we found reduced a-wave amplitudes in MDD, whereas no significant differences were observed in the fERG b-wave or PhNR between patients and controls. The reduced contrast sensitivity and PERG ratio in MDD patients supports the hypothesis that depression is associated with altered visual processing. The findings underscore the PERG's potential as a possible objective marker for depression. The reduced a-wave amplitude recorded with the RETeval® system in MDD patients might open new avenues for using handheld ERG devices as simplified approaches for advancing depression research compared to the PERG., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Poor self-rated health (SRH) is a well-established risk factor for premature employment exit through unemployment, work disability, and early retirement. However, it is unclear whether the premature employment exit risk associated with underlying cardio-metabolic health conditions is fully captured by poor SRH. This study examines the metabolic syndrome (MetS), an early-stage risk factor for cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes mellitus, as a risk factor for premature employment exit while controlling for poor SRH., Methods: We analyzed data from N = 55 016 Dutch workers (40-64 years) from five waves of the Lifelines Cohort Study and Biobank. MetS components were based on physical measures, blood markers, and medication use. SRH and employment states were self-reported. The associations between MetS, SRH, and premature employment exit types were analyzed using competing risk regression analysis., Results: During 4.3 years of follow-up, MetS remained an independent risk factor for unemployment [adjusted subdistribution hazard ratio (SHR): 1.14, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.25] and work disability (adjusted SHR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.58) when adjusted for poor SRH, common chronic diseases related to labor market participation (i.e., cancer, musculoskeletal-, pulmonary-, and psychiatric diseases), and sociodemographic factors. MetS was not associated with early retirement., Conclusions: Poor SRH did not fully capture the risk for unemployment and work disability associated with MetS. More awareness about MetS as a 'hidden' cardio-metabolic risk factor for premature employment exit is needed among workers, employers, and occupational health professionals. Regular health check-ups including MetS assessment and MetS prevention might help to prolong healthy working lives., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Since the retina shares its embryological origin with the central nervous system, optical coherence tomography (OCT), an imaging technique frequently employed in ophthalmology to analyze the macula and intraretinal layer thicknesses and volumes, has recently become increasingly important in psychiatric research. We examined 34 autistic and 31 neurotypical adults (NT) using OCT. Autistic adults had reduced overall macular and outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness and volume compared to NT. Both macular and ONL thickness showed significant inverse associations with the severity of autistic symptoms measured with the Social Responsiveness Scale 2 (SRS-2). Longitudinal studies across different age groups are required to clarify whether retinal changes may represent a possible trait marker., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette syndrome (TS) are related mental disorders that share genetic, neurobiological, and phenomenological features. Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a neuropsychiatric autoimmune disorder with symptoms of OCD and/or TS associated with streptococcal infections. Therefore, PANDAS represents a strong link between OCD, TS, and autoimmunity. Notably, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses can provide insight into the central nervous processes in OCD, TS, and PANDAS., Methods: A systematic literature search according to the PRISMA criteria was conducted to collect all CSF studies in patients with OCD, TS, and PANDAS. The total number of cases and the heterogeneity of the low number of studies were not sufficient for a meta-analysis to provide a high level of evidence. Nevertheless, meta-analytical statistics could be performed for glutamate, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (degradation product of serotonin), homovanillic acid (degradation product of dopamine), 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (major metabolite of noradrenaline), and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in OCD. A risk-of-bias assessment was implemented using the Cochrane ROBINS-E tool., Results: Meta-analytical testing identified elevated glutamate levels in the CSF of OCD patients compared with healthy controls, while no significant differences were found in other neurotransmitters or CRH. Single studies detected novel neuronal antibodies in OCD patients and elevated oligoclonal bands in TS patients. For TS and PANDAS groups, there was a dearth of data. Risk of bias assessment indicated a substantial risk of bias in most of the included studies., Conclusions: This systematic review of available CSF data shows that too few studies are currently available for conclusions with good evidence. The existing data indicates glutamate alterations in OCD and possible immunological abnormalities in OCD and TS. More CSF studies avoiding sources of bias are needed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: KD: Formerly: Steering Committee Neurosciences and speaker honoraria, Janssen-Cilag, within the last three years. LTvE: Advisory boards, lectures, or travel grants within the last three years: Roche, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Shire, UCB, GSK, Servier, Janssen and Cyberonics. All other authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)