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Objective: The study aimed to analyse personality disorders among patients in the early phase of psychotherapy as a source of variance in the quality of the emerging alliance. Methods: The sample consisted of 131 individual psychotherapy patients with borderline (BPD), narcissistic (NPD), dependent (DPD) and obsessive–compulsive (OCPD) personality disorders and 131 psychotherapists. Different sources of alliance estimation were included. Therapeutic alliance was operationalized on several dimensions. The hypothesis was tested using an independent samples one‐way analysis of variance. Results: The study revealed a significant effect of personality disorder type on early therapeutic alliance quality. BPD patients rated their early alliance the lowest compared to NPD, DPD and OCPD patients. This trend was dominant and replicated regardless of who rated the alliance and which dimension of alliance was estimated. Conclusions: NPD, DPD and OCPD patients have better initial therapeutic alliances than BPD patients, and their alliances do not differ significantly. BPD patients build weaker alliances, and what poses a challenge for them is not only developing a strong and close bond but also conceptualizing goals and reaching agreement on tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flow is an intrinsic motivational state associated with full task engagement, positive affect, and enhanced performance. While research has examined how different language tasks interact with flow experiences, no study has examined learner flow experiences in a wide range of tasks using an experience sampling method to determine how universal basic task features (e.g., modality, participant structure, information distribution, and targeted skills) interact with flow. The present study aims to respond to this gap in the research. Participants were 13 teachers and 327 students from 18 intact French L2 classes in a Canadian postsecondary school. Teachers selected and implemented an average of six tasks from their personal repertoires at random moments throughout the semester. Immediately following each task, learners anonymously completed a flow experience questionnaire (N = 1408; α = 0.91), and teachers a task description questionnaire containing 17 basic task features (N = 81). Statistical analyses show that 10 of the 17 variables significantly interacted with learners' flow experiences. The results not only validate a frequently used flow measurement and establish norms for future research but also outline a framework language teachers can use to evaluate and modify practices to improve learners' subjective classroom experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In classrooms that use small‐group tasks, some groups may finish earlier than others and there may be concern that early finishers will become disengaged. However, early finishing remains relatively under‐examined. This paper uses conversation analysis to investigate how EFL students in a Japanese university finish tasks early. It describes a set of practices students use to finish tasks and reveals how students orient to the achievement of task outcomes. The study finds that students may have more to say on task topics than a task allows, and early finishers may develop these topics in post‐task talk in the target language. The paper argues that early finishing may lead to useful language practice and teachers should therefore be cautious when assigning extra work to early finishers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While task repetition is effective for improving oral fluency, some teachers are reluctant to use it in their classrooms due to the alleged negative perceptions of learners toward repetitive practice. To address this concern, the participants in the current study completed a posttask questionnaire probing their perceptions toward task repetition practice, focusing on metacognitive judgment (i.e., the number of task repetitions considered effective) and emotional engagement (i.e., enjoyment and concentration). Prior to taking the survey, 64 second language learners individually performed the same picture‐description task six times under one of the three repetition schedules (massed, short‐spaced, and long‐spaced condition). Their posttask questionnaire results indicated that task repetition was perceived as an effective and engaging activity (about four to five performances were deemed to be most optimal). Relative to massed task repetition, short‐ and long‐spaced schedules led to higher perceived effectiveness and emotional engagement. Moreover, while the short‐spaced group made accurate metacognitive judgment of their fluency gains, learners in the massed practice condition overestimated their fluency gains, possibly due to enjoyment and illusion of high competence. These findings indicate that spacing between task repetitions can influence learners' engagement in the task, which can impact their fluency development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A time interval can be presented as a duration (e.g., 10 days) or a calendar date (e.g., May 10). This study examines the influence of time descriptions on task scheduling. Results of 10 studies (N = 2,129) present evidence that people tend to schedule their tasks earlier when the time interval is described as a duration than a date. This time description effect is accounted for by different mindsets. People tend to have an implemental mindset when time is described as a duration (vs. date) because of stronger feelings of being inside the time frame. This mindset affects decisions on scheduling when to initiate future tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relations between two forms of joint action (JA)—movement coordination (MC) and goal attainment—and theory of mind (ToM), contrasting the interactionist and traditional cognitivist views. A custom task was carried out to measure the properties of the JAs between children and their parents, while classical tasks were performed to measure first‐ and second‐order ToM. Thereafter, cross‐recurrence quantification analysis was applied to quantify participants' movements. The children were from Poland and were aged 42, 66, and 78 months (N = 297, 133 girls, White, from a large city). The results suggested that the characteristics of dyad MC influence goal attainment and are related to children's first‐order ToM (R2 =.447) but not to their second‐order ToM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an ongoing debate on how different components of the event‐related potential (ERP) to threat‐related facial expressions are modulated by attentional conditions and interindividual differences in trait anxiety. In the current study (N = 80), we examined ERPs to centrally presented, task‐irrelevant fearful and neutral faces, while participants had to solve a face‐unrelated visual task, which differed in difficulty and spatial position. Critically, we used a fixation‐controlled experimental design and ensured the spatial attention manipulation by spectral analysis of the EEG. Besides the factors emotion, spatial attention, and perceptual load, we also investigated correlations between trait anxiety and ERPs. While P1 emotion effects were insignificant, the N170 was increased to fearful faces regardless of load and spatial attention conditions. During the EPN time window, a significantly increased negativity for fearful faces was observed only during low load and spatial attention to the face. We found no significant relationship between ERPs and trait anxiety, questioning the hypothesis of a general hypersensitivity toward fearful expressions in anxious individuals. These results show a high resistance of the N170 amplitude increase for fearful faces to spatial attention and task load manipulations. By contrast, the EPN modulation by fearful faces index a resource‐dependent stage of the ERP, requiring both spatial attention at the location of faces and low load of the face‐irrelevant task. The human brain responds differentially to fearful expressions. It remains unclear how and when attentional constraints attenuate differential processing. We systematically tested how spatial attention, task load, and trait anxiety affect neuronal processing to resolve this question. We found that early (N170) ERP responses to fearful faces were independent of attention task manipulations, in contrast to a subsequent resource‐dependent processing stage (EPN). Further, we found no significant relationship between ERP responses and trait anxiety, questioning the hypothesis of a general hypersensitivity toward fearful expressions in anxious individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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., the proportion of trials in which target and distractor are associated with the same response) is assumed to enhance distractor‐evoked conflict via defocusing of attention. Findings concerning the effect of the PC on the N2 in Eriksen flanker task experiments have been inconsistent, however, lending little support to the notion that the N2 reflects a conflict monitoring process. Here, we analyze the N2 in a temporal flanker task, in which the distractor stimuli, presented in advance of the target, elicit pronounced activation of the associated responses (as inferred from the lateralized readiness potential) when the PC is high. Consistent with result pattern obtained in other tasks involving successive presentation of the distractor and the target, conflict trials in a high‐PC condition evoked a particularly large N2. These findings accord with the assumption that the N2 reflects either conflict monitoring or conflict‐induced regulatory measures (i.e., reactive control). In light of the discrepancy of results obtained under conditions of simultaneous and successive distractor–target presentation, we speculate that the N2 is pronounced in situations that offer strong hints for classifying dominating response activation as incorrect, possibly reflecting particular control to counter this activation. Additional properties of the temporal flanker task, related to ERP investigations, are discussed. We present novel evidence concerning the role of the fronto‐central N2 in conflict tasks. Although our results meet the predictions of a conflict monitoring account, they suggest particular sensitivity of the N2 to dominance of (discernibly) incorrect response activation. This may be helpful in reconciling discrepant findings of proportion congruency modulations obtained with different types of conflict tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edge computing is expected to be a promising paradigm to provide low‐latency services. Tasks from resource‐limited users can be offloaded to edge servers for efficient execution within a limit time. This innovative technique has attracted widespread attention. Task migration is one of the important problems in mobile edge computing (MEC). Taking vehicle network as an example, during the moving process, a vehicle passes through multiple edge servers and decisions about where to migrate the task need to be made. The moving direction should be emphasized since it directly determines a vehicle's trajectory. Nevertheless, few existing works take the moving direction into consideration. In this paper, task migration issue during the vehicle's mobility process is investigated and the moving direction is specifically considered. The direction helps exclude meaningless selections. The moving process can be formulated as a Markov decision process (MDP) and effort is made to design an adaptive algorithm with direction consideration, aiming at minimizing the total communication time while satisfying the deadline of each task. Based on deep Q network (DQN), we devise a Soft update and parameter Noise applied algorithm DQN‐SN, trying to enlarge action exploration space and stabilize the target network's parameter placement in training process. Besides, with the goal of building credible MEC, a credit‐based scheme is also introduced to establish a trusted edge environment. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of our proposed algorithm. Compared to Greedy algorithm and DQN, the total consumed task communication time of DQN‐SN shows 10–20% reduction. Furthermore, the algorithms with the direction factor always outperform the algorithms without direction consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of Internet‐of‐Things (IoT) and mobile devices, the IoT applications become more computation‐intensive and latency‐sensitive, which bring severe challenges to the resource‐limited devices. Mobile Edge Computing has served as a key promising method to enhance the network's computing capability by enabling resource‐constrained devices to offload tasks to the edge servers. A major challenge, which has been overlooked by most existing works on task offloading, is the dependencies among tasks and subtasks. In this paper, the subtask offloading with logical dependency for IoT applications is focused on. Specifically, subtask dependent graphs are employed to explore the dependency of subtasks and consider the priority of task scheduling. Further, an offloading scheme is put forward for minimizing both task latency and energy consumption of the device with dependency guarantees for all IoT tasks in multi‐server edge networks. Finaly, the simulation results demonstrate that the overall reduction rate is around 14% and relatively stable can effectively reduce task latency in multi‐server edge networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a three‐stage algorithm based on clustering decomposition and task allocation—improved clustering planning algorithm (iK‐iD‐N), aiming at the optimization task allocation problem of drones in actual application to meet the task demand constraints. The algorithm solves the problem of the number of drones demanded and the initial delivery range of each drone by introducing dual‐objective planning into the clustering decomposition. Combining improved Dijkstra algorithm (iK‐D) with neighbourhood insertion algorithm into task allocation, to get high‐quality solutions and solve efficiently. Compared with the existing ant colony algorithm, the iK‐iD‐N algorithm proposed in this paper is more efficient and can obtain the best and stable solutions while evenly distributing tasks. Then it is compared with the improved clustering algorithm combined with the basic iK‐D to get better solutions of the iK‐iD‐N algorithm at any time, and compared with the basic clustering algorithm with the improved task allocation algorithm (K‐iD‐N) that iK‐ iD‐N can get a better solution with high probability. The thesis also simulates and analyzes the impact of uncertainty requirements on the solutions based on drone demand and task allocation models, and discusses the impact of drone load capability and endurance capability constraints on the final solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel co‐operative mean field type game based task offloading strategy is proposed for multi‐access edge computing networks. The objective is to optimally determine the tasks offloaded to each edge computing node (ECN) in the network so that to balance the overall system performance and individual revenue of each ECN. To do so, the utility function of each ECN is first formulated, which is the payback of his time and energy cost for processing the tasks, tailed with the penalty from the network for not processing the tasks on time. A mean field type game is then formulated, where each ECN can either cooperate or compete with each other to maximize their own utility. With respect to the proposed game, the direct method is applied to find the final solutions. Simulation results reveal that the proposed strategy can well balance the utility of each ECN and the overall efficiency of the system, leading to a better performance compared with its cooperative‐ and competitive‐counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power equipment detection and localization is the key component of automatic inspection tasks in substations. To solve the challenges such as complex environment and lack of training data, utilization of context information is considered here. For substation scenes, object relation modelling (RM) is proven to be useful, but an end‐to‐end efficient framework which is suitable for non‐Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) is still missing. Therefore, an extended Transformer network with an elaborately designed RM module is proposed. As the foundation, transformer network is better than CNN in terms of context dependency construction. On top of that, an RM module is plugged to adjust the decoded feature embeddings based on their appearance, position and class information. The module is based on a graph attention neural network which uses similarity as weights of nodes. The experiments show that the proposed method has a 16.2% improvement in accuracy compared to pipeline, and even 6.4% higher than the most recent models, largely promoting the construction of intelligent substations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Therapist appropriate responsivity to client ambivalence and resistance is considered an important interpersonal skill to avoid disengagement and ensure a continued collaborative, productive process. The present study examined the predictive validity of the newly developed Resistance Vignette Task (RVT), a 10‐item rapidly administered measure of therapist ability to appropriately respond to various presentations of client resistance. Methods: Following a resistance management workshop, the concurrent and prospective predictive capacity of RVT scores were examined through test interviews with ambivalent simulators and volunteers. Results: Prospectively, in test interviews with ambivalent interviewees, higher RVT scores immediately postworkshop were associated with significantly greater responsivity (appropriate responsivity and fewer responsivity errors) at 4‐month follow‐up. RVT scores at the 4‐month follow‐up point were also concurrently associated with significantly greater therapist responsivity and lower levels of interviewee resistance. Conclusions: These findings provide further validation for the RVT as a measure of therapist responsivity in vivo, in actual interviews by predicting and being concurrently associated with therapist performance in response to client resistance. Thus, the RVT holds promise in advancing therapist training, as well as research on resistance as it represents an efficient measure of this key therapist skill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children engage cognitive control reactively when they encounter conflicts; however, they can also resolve conflicts proactively. Recent studies have begun to clarify the mechanisms that support the use of proactive control in children; nonetheless, sufficient knowledge has not been accumulated regarding these mechanisms. Using behavioral and pupillometric measures, we tested the novel possibility that 5‐year‐old children (N = 58) learn to use proactive control via the acquisition of abstract task knowledge that captures regularities of the task. Participants were assigned to either a proactive training group or a control training group. In the proactive training group, participants engaged in a training phase where using proactive control was encouraged, followed by a test phase using different stimuli where both proactive and reactive control could be used. In the control training group, participants engaged in a training phase where both cognitive control strategies could be used, followed by a similarly‐structured test phase using different stimuli. We demonstrated children in the control training group responded more quickly and accurately and showed greater cue‐related pupil dilation in the test phase than in the training phase. However, there were no differences in response times, accuracies, and pupil dilation between the proactive and control training groups in the training and test phases. These findings suggest that prior task experience, that goes beyond specific knowledge about the timing of task goal activation, can lead children to engage more proactive control endogenously, even if they are not directly encouraged to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Cloud computing is the provision of on‐demand computing resources over the internet and on a pay‐as‐you‐go basis, ranging from software to computation power. Task scheduling and its execution is a fundamental requirement of cloud environment. However, dynamic scheduling of tasks on basis of priority is a challenging area such that the tasks finish before their deadline. Earliest Deadline First (EDF) has been considered in literature for task scheduling to meet the deadlines. However, basic EDF (i.e., which schedules tasks on basis of deadline only)is not suitable for cloud environment. Therefore, this work proposes modified Preemptive EDF (p‐EDF) and Non‐Preemptive EDF (np‐EDF) algorithms considering task priority and cloud provider cost. As both algorithms have their own merits and de‐merits, a hybrid EDF is further proposed which makes decision dynamically whether to cause preemption or not, using a Determiner function. The objective of the work is to avoid unnecessary wastage of CPU power and time due to unnecessary preemptions, along with avoiding unnecessary deadline misses such that the high priority task does not wait for the low priority task to end. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms other considered benchmark scheme for different performance parameters such as Deadline Miss Count, Preemption Count and average waiting time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review and meta‐analysis considered evidence of guided play compared to direct instruction or free play to support children's learning and development. Interventions from 39 studies were reviewed (published 1977–2020); 17 were included in meta‐analysis (Ntotal = 3893; Mchildage = 1–8 years; Mgirls 49.8%; Methnicity White 41%, African American/Black 28%, Hispanic 19%). Guided play had a greater positive effect than direct instruction on early maths skills (g = 0.24), shape knowledge (g = 0.63), and task switching (g = 0.40); and than free play on spatial vocabulary (g = 0.93). Differences were not identified for other key outcomes. Narrative synthesis highlighted heterogeneity in the conceptualization and implementation of guided play across studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual search is speeded when a target item is positioned consistently within an invariant (repeatedly encountered) configuration of distractor items ("contextual cueing"). Contextual cueing is also observed in cross‐modal search, when the location of the—visual—target is predicted by distractors from another—tactile—sensory modality. Previous studies examining lateralized waveforms of the event‐related potential (ERP) with millisecond precision have shown that learned visual contexts improve a whole cascade of search‐processing stages. Drawing on ERPs, the present study tested alternative accounts of contextual cueing in tasks in which distractor‐target contextual associations are established across, as compared to, within sensory modalities. To this end, we devised a novel, cross‐modal search task: search for a visual feature singleton, with repeated (and nonrepeated) distractor configurations presented either within the same (visual) or a different (tactile) modality. We found reaction times (RTs) to be faster for repeated versus nonrepeated configurations, with comparable facilitation effects between visual (unimodal) and tactile (crossmodal) context cues. Further, for repeated configurations, there were enhanced amplitudes (and reduced latencies) of ERPs indexing attentional allocation (PCN) and postselective analysis of the target (CDA), respectively; both components correlated positively with the RT facilitation. These effects were again comparable between uni‐ and crossmodal cueing conditions. In contrast, motor‐related processes indexed by the response‐locked LRP contributed little to the RT effects. These results indicate that both uni‐ and crossmodal context cues benefit the same, visual processing stages related to the selection and subsequent analysis of the search target. Current theories of the memory‐guided search almost entirely draw on findings from unisensory visual search tasks. By tracking preattentive and postselective attentional processes in milliseconds precisions in uni‐ and cross‐modal search, our results provide new evidence that both visual and tactile context cues benefit the same, visual processing stages related to the selection and subsequent analysis of the search target, supporting a single, supramodal mechanism underlying contextual cueing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing energy consumption under processors' temperature constraints has recently become a pressing issue in real‐time multiprocessor systems on chips (MPSoCs). The high temperature of processors affects the power and reliability of the MPSoC. Low energy consumption is necessary for real‐time embedded systems, as most of them are portable devices. Efficient task mapping on processors has a significant impact on reducing energy consumption and the thermal profile of processors. Several state‐of‐the‐art techniques have recently been proposed for this issue. This paper proposes Q‐scheduler, a novel technique based on the deep Q‐learning technology, to dispatch tasks between processors in a real‐time MPSoC. Thousands of simulated tasks train Q‐scheduler offline to reduce the system's power consumption under temperature constraints of processors. The trained Q‐scheduler dispatches real tasks in a real‐time MPSoC online while also being trained regularly online. Q‐scheduler dispatches multiple tasks in the system simultaneously with a single process; the effectiveness of this ability is significant, especially in a harmonic real‐time system. Experimental results illustrate that Q‐scheduler reduces energy consumption and temperature of processors on average by 15% and 10%, respectively, compared to previous state‐of‐the‐art techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates whether symbolic cues that are relevant biologically (e.g., eye gaze) and behaviorally (e.g., arrows) have analogous characteristics and function similarly in terms of attentional resource consumption. Both cues induce attentional orienting when they do not indicate a target location, but it remains unclear whether cuing effects by those cues have similar characteristics. We recently found that cuing effects by non‐predictive gaze cues remain intact when a spatial working memory task is concurrently performed. Here, we examined whether non‐predictive arrow cues induce cuing effects when spatial working memory is occupied. To this end, we conducted a dual‐task paradigm consisting of cuing (gaze and arrow) and spatial working memory tasks. In the cuing task, participants judged whether a peripherally presented target was positioned at left or right while ignoring the centrally presented cues. In the spatial working memory task, participants performed a change‐detection task. In the dual‐task condition, participants performed the two tasks on the same trial. In Experiment 1, we observed cuing effects by both gaze and arrows, even when the spatial working memory task was concurrently performed, although reaction times were overall faster in the gaze than arrow conditions. In Experiment 2, we rejected the possibility that automatic visual orienting found in Experiment 1 had been induced by simple motion perception of gaze and arrow cues. The present study suggests that biologically and behaviorally relevant symbolic cues have analogous traits with respect to resource processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining autonomy is a key aspect of growing up and cognitive control development across childhood. However, little is known about how children engage cognitive control in an autonomous (or self‐directed) fashion. Here, we propose that in order to successfully engage self‐directed control, children identify, and achieve goals by tracking contextual information and using this information to select relevant tasks. To disentangle the respective contributions of these processes, we manipulated the difficulty of context‐tracking via altering the presence or absence of contextual support (Study 1) and the difficulty of task selection by varying task difficulty (a)symmetry (Study 2) in 5–6 and 9‐10‐year‐olds, and adults. Results suggested that, although both processes contribute to successful self‐directed engagement of cognitive control, age‐related progress mostly relates to context‐tracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of hemispheric specialization have traditionally cast the left hemisphere as specialized for language and the right hemisphere for spatial function. Much of the supporting evidence for this separation of function comes from studies of healthy adults and those who have sustained lesions to the right or left hemisphere. However, we know little about the developmental origins of lateralization. Recent evidence suggests that the young brain represents language bilaterally, with 4–6‐year‐olds activating the left‐hemisphere regions known to support language in adults as well as homotopic regions in the right hemisphere. This bilateral pattern changes over development, converging on left‐hemispheric activation in late childhood. In the present study, we ask whether this same developmental trajectory is observed in a spatial task that is strongly right‐lateralized in adults—the line bisection (or "Landmark") task. We examined fMRI activation among children ages 5–11 years as they were asked to judge which end of a bisected vertical line was longer. We found that young children showed bilateral activation, with activation in the same areas of the right hemisphere as has been shown among adults, as well as in the left hemisphere homotopic regions. By age 10, activation was right‐lateralized. This strongly resembles the developmental trajectory for language, moving from bilateral to lateralized activation. We discuss potential underlying mechanisms and suggest that understanding the development of lateralization for a range of cognitive functions can play a crucial role in understanding general principles of how and why the brain comes to lateralize certain functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tablets are becoming increasingly important in the classroom. They enable the augmentation of established teaching forms (e. g., working on tasks) but also new formats (e. g., creation of explanatory videos by the learners). In the study presented here, the effectiveness of using tablets in the acquisition phase and internalization phase is evaluated. For this purpose, a digital learning environment for introducing the basic concept of the chemical reaction is evaluated to guide the students through the two teaching phases. The intervention takes place within the framework of a project day in initial chemistry tuition with six teaching units of 45 minutes each. During the acquisition phase, the students are provided with input in form of interactive information. After that, this information is applied and consolidated by experiments. For the internalization phase, the class is divided into two groups: One half of the learners creates their own explanatory videos, while the other half works on tasks on the iPads. In particular, the evaluation is carried out with regard to the increase in knowledge and the assessment of the learning materials by the students. The comparison of the two groups allows conclusions concerning the effectiveness of both internalization methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guidance has been proposed as a conceptual framework to understand how mixed‐initiative visual analytics approaches can actively support users as they solve analytical tasks. While user tasks received a fair share of attention, it is still not completely clear how they could be supported with guidance and how such support could influence the progress of the task itself. Our observation is that there is a research gap in understanding the effect of guidance on the analytical discourse, in particular, for the knowledge generation in mixed‐initiative approaches. As a consequence, guidance in a visual analytics environment is usually indistinguishable from common visualization features, making user responses challenging to predict and measure. To address these issues, we take a system perspective to propose the notion of guidance tasks and we present it as a typology closely aligned to established user task typologies. We derived the proposed typology directly from a model of guidance in the knowledge generation process and illustrate its implications for guidance design. By discussing three case studies, we show how our typology can be applied to analyze existing guidance systems. We argue that without a clear consideration of the system perspective, the analysis of tasks in mixed‐initiative approaches is incomplete. Finally, by analyzing matchings of user and guidance tasks, we describe how guidance tasks could either help the user conclude the analysis or change its course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tablets are becoming increasingly important in the classroom. They enable the augmentation of established teaching forms (e. g., working on tasks) but also new formats (e. g., creation of explanatory videos by the learners). In the study presented here, the effectiveness of using tablets in the acquisition phase and internalization phase is evaluated. For this purpose, a digital learning environment for introducing the basic concept of the chemical reaction is evaluated to guide the students through the two teaching phases. The intervention takes place within the framework of a project day in initial chemistry tuition with six teaching units of 45 minutes each. During the acquisition phase, the students are provided with input in form of interactive information. After that, this information is applied and consolidated by experiments. For the internalization phase, the class is divided into two groups: One half of the learners creates their own explanatory videos, while the other half works on tasks on the iPads. In particular, the evaluation is carried out with regard to the increase in knowledge and the assessment of the learning materials by the students. The comparison of the two groups allows conclusions concerning the effectiveness of both internalization methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the effect of combined top‐down and bottom‐up attentional control sources, using known attention‐related EEG components that are thought to reflect target selection (N2pc) and distractor suppression (PD). We used endogenous cues (valid vs. neutral) for top‐down attentional control, and salience in the form of color singletons (either the target or a distractor) for bottom‐up attentional control in visual search. Crucially, in two experiments, the task was of increasing difficulty, reporting the orientation of a tilted target (Experiment 1), or the position of a small gap within the target among tilted non‐targets (Experiment 2). Our results showed strong cueing effects on RT and accuracy in both experiments, demonstrating a general facilitation of responses to validly cued targets. Whereas the processing of salient targets was not improved compared with non‐salient targets, the presence of a salient distractor consistently worsened performance. The N2pc and PD were only observed in trials where targets were preceded by neutral cues in Experiment 1, and for validly cued targets and salient neutrally cued targets in Experiment 2. A cueing effect was found on the PD in Experiment 1, showing an amplitude reduction in trials where the target was validly cued. These results support the idea that bottom‐up attentional allocation occurs only when top‐down allocation of attention is absent or inefficient. Therefore, these results indicate that attentional selection and suppression during visual search are both influenced by top‐down cueing and give support to theories that focus on the interaction between the two types of attention. Our study provides an extensive examination of the combination of top‐down attentional guidance via endogenous cues and bottom‐up attentional allocation by salience. Our findings demonstrate the interaction between these sources as reflected in EEG markers related to selection (N2pc) and distractor suppression (PD). Critically, we demonstrate that bottom‐up capture of attention is enabled when top‐down guidance is inefficient as a result of task difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with left unilateral spatial neglect (USN) typically place the subjective midpoint to the right of the objective centre. Based on the previous findings (e.g., Ishiai et al. 1989, Brain, 112, 1485), we hypothesized that the patients with left USN may see the representational image of a line that extends equally towards either side of the subjective midpoint depending not upon the information about the leftward extent. The present study tested whether patients with left USN would place the subjective midpoint at the centre of their mental representation of the line. The participants were 10 patients with left USN and 10 neurologically healthy controls. We devised a new 'endpoint reproduction task' using a computer display with a touch panel to seek the representational image when patients with left USN bisect lines and asked the participants to reproduce the location of the right or left endpoint after bisecting lines. The results showed that the representational image of the bisected line depends primarily on the location of the objective right endpoint, not on the location of the objective left endpoint in space. The analyses of the estimated right and left representational extents confirmed our hypotheses that patients with left USN would bisect a line seeing the representational line image that centred across their subjective midpoint. We believe that the findings of the present study with the use of the endpoint reproduction task will contribute to a better understanding of the visuospatial process underlying line bisection of patients with left USN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A free sorting task was applied to sort chocolate proteins bars by trained and untrained panelists. Trained and untrained panelists sorted the nine chocolate proteins bars samples into groups. They were then asked to describe in their own words after the sorting was done. Multidimensional Scaling and Correspondence Analysis were performed on these data. Results showed that trained and untrained panels sorted the chocolate proteins bars in a similar way (RV coefficient value). The results also show that the trained panel was significantly more objective than the untrained panel. However, comparable terms were used similarly by both panels and statistical results indicated that untrained and trained panels could be used for free sorting tasks as both panels were able to perform the test being discriminative. Practical Applications: The free sorting task method was used for the first time to differentiate a complex food product with trained and untrained panelists. This task associated with word association was a success and enable the use of this sensory method to potentially understand a strategic local market with consumer feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Losses usually have greater subjective value (SV) than gains of equal nominal value but often cause a relative deterioration in effortful performance. Since losses and gains induce differing approach/avoidance behavioral tendencies, we explored whether incentive type interacted with approach/avoidance motor‐sets. Alpha‐ and beta‐band event‐related desynchronization (ERD) was hypothesized to be weakest when participants expected a loss and prepared an inhibitory motor‐set, and strongest when participants expected a gain and prepared an active motor‐set. It was also hypothesized that effort would modulate reward and motor‐set–related cortical activation patterns. Participants completed a cued Go/NoGo task while expecting a reward (+10p), avoiding a loss (−10p), or receiving no incentive (0p); and while expecting a NoGo cue with a probability of either.75 or.25. Pre‐movement alpha‐ and beta‐band EEG power was analyzed using the ERD method, and the SV of effort was evaluated using a cognitive effort discounting task. Gains incentivized faster RTs and stronger preparatory alpha band ERD compared to loss and no incentive conditions, while inhibitory motor‐sets resulted in significantly weaker alpha‐band ERD. However, there was no interaction between incentive and motor‐sets. Participants were more willing to expend effort in losses compared to gain trials, although the SV of effort was not associated with ERD patterns or RTs. Results suggest that incentive and approach/avoidance motor tendencies modulate cortical activations prior to a speeded RT movement independently, and are not associated with the economic value of effort. The present results favor attentional explanations of the effect of incentive modality on effort. This study investigates the effect of gains and losses on cognitive effort using pre‐movement event‐related desynchronization to measure attention and approach/avoidance motor tendencies. The results showed, for the first time, that approach/avoidance motor tendencies act independently of incentive modality, and that monetary gains contributed to improved effortful performance through increased attentional engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which dimension of a set of objects is more salient to young children: number or size? The 'Build‐A‐Train' task was developed and used to examine whether children spontaneously use a number or physical size approach on an un‐cued matching task. In the Build‐A‐Train task, an experimenter assembles a train using one to five blocks of a particular length and asks the child to build the same train. The child's blocks differ in length from the experimenter's blocks, causing the child to build a train that matches based on either the number of blocks or length of the train, as it is not possible to match on both. One hundred and nineteen children between 2 years 2 months and 6 years 0 months of age (M = 4.05, SD = 0.84) completed the Build‐A‐Train task, and the Give‐a‐Number task, a classic task used to assess children's conceptual knowledge of verbal number words. Across train lengths and verbal number knowledge levels, children used a number approach more than a size approach on the Build‐A‐Train task. However, children were especially likely to use a number approach over a size approach when they knew the verbal number word that corresponded to the quantity of blocks in the train, particularly for quantities smaller than four. Therefore, children's attention to number relates to their knowledge of verbal number words. The Build‐A‐Train task and findings from the current study set a foundation for future longitudinal research to investigate the causal relationship between children's acquisition of symbolic mathematical concepts and attention to number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active exploration of novel spatial environments enhances memory for subsequently presented explicit, declarative information in humans. These effects have been attributed to novelty promoting dopamine release via mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways in the brain. As procedural motor learning has been linked to dopamine as well, we predict that novelty effects extend to this domain. To test this hypothesis, the present study examined whether spatial novelty exploration benefits subsequent sensorimotor adaptation. Participants explored either two different virtual environments (i.e., novelty condition; n = 210) or two identical environments (i.e., familiar condition; n = 253). They then performed a manual adaptation task in which they had to adapt joystick movements to a visual perturbation. We assessed the rate of adaptation following the introduction of this perturbation, and the rate of deadaptation following its removal. While results showed reliable adaptation patterns and similar adaptation rates across both conditions, individuals in the novelty condition showed slower deadaptation. This suggests that exposure to spatial novelty induced stronger sensorimotor representations during adaptation, potentially through novelty‐induced dopaminergic effects in mesocortical and/or nigrostriatal pathways. Novelty exposure may be employed to promote motor learning on tasks that require precision movements in altered sensory contexts, for example, in astronauts moving in microgravity or patients with impaired motor processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using established needle‐ and tip‐based liquid‐handlers partially restricts applications that require the handling of greater sample amounts, options for filtration or handling of liquids with uncommon behavior. In this paper the prototype development of a versatile liquid pouring device (vLiPD) is described, which offers complementary features to usual liquid‐handling solutions. For mapping the container characteristics, a geometrical and an on 3D‐CAD‐model‐based approach are introduced and compared. Influences by the liquids' behaviors are compensated by liquid‐specific calibration factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern fluoroscopes used for image guidance have become quite complex. Adding to this complexity are the many regulatory and accreditation requirements that must be fulfilled during acceptance testing of a new unit. Further, some of these acceptance tests have pass/fail criteria, whereas others do not, making acceptance testing a subjective and time‐consuming task. The AAPM Task Group 272 Report spells out the details of tests that are required and gives visibility to some of the tests that while not yet required are recommended as good practice. The organization of the report begins with the most complicated fluoroscopes used in interventional radiology or cardiology and continues with general fluoroscopy and mobile C‐arms. Finally, the appendices of the report provide useful information, an example report form and topics that needed their own section due to the level of detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To unpack the relationship between employees' job insecurity and their timely completion of work tasks, this study proposes a mediating role of beliefs about work‐induced mental health deprivation and a moderating role of religious faith. Three‐wave survey data from Pakistan‐based workers and supervisors in the banking industry indicate a critical reason that an unstable job situation diminishes the chances that employees finish work activities on time: their convictions that the employer compromises their mental health. Religious faith mitigates this harmful effect, through diminished work‐induced mental health deprivation, such that the impact on work activities is weaker among employees who can draw from their religious beliefs. For human resource managers, this study highlights a salient risk for employees who worry about their future in the organization and make the situation worse by failing to meet deadlines; it also reveals some options to mitigate this risk by leveraging employees' pertinent personal resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conduct a field experiment to test the non‐monotonic effect of deadline length on task completion. Participants are invited to complete an online survey in which a donation goes to charity. They are given either 1 week, 1 month, or no deadline to respond. Responses are lowest for the 1‐month deadline and highest when no deadline is specified. No deadline and the 1‐week deadline feature a large number of early responses, while providing a 1‐month deadline appears to give people permission to procrastinate. If they are inattentive, they might forget to complete the task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Routine action sequences can share a great deal of similarity in terms of their stimulus response mappings. As a consequence, their correct execution relies crucially on the ability to preserve contextual and temporal information. However, there are few empirical studies on the neural mechanism and the brain areas maintaining such information. To address this gap in the literature, we recently recorded the blood‐oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response in a newly developed coffee–tea making task. The task involves the execution of four action sequences that each comprise six consecutive decision states, which allows for examining the maintenance of contextual and temporal information. Here, we report a reanalysis of this dataset using a data‐driven approach, namely multivariate pattern analysis, that examines context‐dependent neural activity across several predefined regions of interest. Results highlight involvement of the inferior‐temporal gyrus and lateral prefrontal cortex in maintaining temporal and contextual information for the execution of hierarchically organized action sequences. Furthermore, temporal information seems to be more strongly encoded in areas over the left hemisphere. Routine action sequences critically rely on neural mechanisms maintaining contextual and temporal information to disambiguate similar tasks (e.g. making coffee or tea). In this study we show the involvement of areas in temporal and lateral prefrontal cortices in maintaining temporal and contextual information for the execution of hierarchically‐organized action sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated how different environmental cue and the proficiency of body motion influenced detour learning behaviour and cue preference in cue conflict situations. Domestic chicks were trained to detour around an obstacle and follow a fixed route to rejoin with their partners. When the environmental cue was red versus blue vertical stripes, the chicks learned the detour task quicker, and as the number of training trials after route acquisition increased, they switched their preference from the environmental cue to a body-motion cue in the cue conflict test. On the other hand, when the environmental cue was vertical versus horizontal blue stripes, the chicks learned the detour task slower and showed a dependence on the body-motion cue regardless of the number of training trials performed after route acquisition. When the environmental cue was removed, most chicks could still successfully detour according to the specific route on which they had been trained. Furthermore, a significant difference in detour latency was found between chicks using the environmental cue and chicks using the body-motion cue, suggesting separate neuronal circuits responsible for processing the two types of information. Our results demonstrated that young domestic chicks could use both environmental cue and body-motion cues to memorize the route during the detour learning task; however, the detour route preference could be dynamically modulated by difference of the environmental cue and the number of training trials they received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines learner deliberations over their discursive plans during second language (L2) instructional tasks, which we call intersubjectivity negotiation episodes (INEs). We argue that these provide essential contexts for negotiations over L2 form‐meaning mappings, known as language related episodes (LREs). Our data comes from two intact third‐year Spanish classes at a U.S. public high school, where four groups of 19 total learners completed four communicative tasks over three 90‐minute lessons. We found that learners spent more time in INEs than LREs overall, and in most task performances. We identified four INE functions: deliberations over discursive goals and means, progress toward task completion, and the interpretive framing of contributions. Among these, tasks with greater potentially relevant content yielded more means and progress INEs, while those requiring content from personal experience yielded more framing INEs. Individual agency and group composition also affected the amount of INEs. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore how elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) responded to students' hypothetical misconceptions about volume measurement. We carried out both pre‐assessments and follow‐up interviews with 17 PSTs, with tasks focused on both volume content knowledge and hypothetical student responses to volume tasks. Preliminary findings indicated a preference toward show‐and‐tell responses, often with a focus correct or incorrect use of the volume formula. Although PSTs were frequently able to correctly identify students' learning challenges and make conceptual pedagogical suggestions with regards to volume, they experienced difficulty in addressing those challenges with more student—centered suggestions. Recommendations for supporting PSTs in teacher education programs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An individualized model that predicts trial‐by‐trial working memory performance is instrumental for personalized interventions. Here, we propose a single‐trial electroencephalography (EEG) classification process predicting individuals' responses, that is, target correct versus target non‐correct during a working memory task, N‐back. We used event‐related (de‐)synchronization (ERD and ERS) prior to an anticipatory cue as features. The proposed comprehensive process addresses single‐trial EEG classification challenges such as temporal overlap between training and testing datasets, feature selection's stability, and significance of the classification accuracy which have been often overlooked. Our model identified for the first time a few (ranged between 4 and 10) brain regions and oscillations where ERD and ERS predicted an individual's performance. Mean (SD) prediction accuracy across 50 participants (mean age [SD] = 28.56 [7.55]) was 69.51% (8.41). Accuracy was significantly above chance in 34 participants. This machine learning‐based approach provides a proof of principle for individualizing EEG targets for potential interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to proponents of the generalized magnitude system proposal (GMS), SNARC‐like effects index spatial mappings of magnitude and provide crucial evidence for the existence of a GMS. Casasanto and Pitt (2019) have argued that these effects, instead, reflect mappings of ordinality, which people compute on the basis of differences among stimuli that vary either qualitatively (e.g., musical pitches) or quantitatively (e.g., dots of different sizes). In response to our paper, Prpic et al. (2021) argued that both magnitude and ordinality play a role in SNARC‐like effects. Here, we address each of their arguments and conclude that magnitude is relevant to these effects only insofar as it serves as a basis for ordinality. For this reason and others, SNARC or SNARC‐like effects cannot provide evidence for the putative generalized magnitude system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysing data from experiments is a complex, multi‐step process, often with multiple defensible choices available at each step. While analysts often report a single analysis without documenting how it was chosen, this can cause serious transparency and methodological issues. To make the sensitivity of analysis results to analytical choices transparent, some statisticians and methodologists advocate the use of 'multiverse analysis': reporting the full range of outcomes that result from all combinations of defensible analytic choices. Summarizing this combinatorial explosion of statistical results presents unique challenges; several approaches to visualizing the output of multiverse analyses have been proposed across a variety of fields (e.g. psychology, statistics, economics, neuroscience). In this article, we (1) introduce a consistent conceptual framework and terminology for multiverse analyses that can be applied across fields; (2) identify the tasks researchers try to accomplish when visualizing multiverse analyses and (3) classify multiverse visualizations into 'archetypes', assessing how well each archetype supports each task. Our work sets a foundation for subsequent research on developing visualization tools and techniques to support multiverse analysis and its reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baseline and task‐evoked pupil measures are known to reflect the activity of the nervous system's central arousal mechanisms. With the increasing availability, affordability and flexibility of video‐based eye tracking hardware, these measures may one day find practical application in real‐time biobehavioural monitoring systems to assess performance or fitness for duty in tasks requiring vigilant attention. But real‐world vigilance tasks are predominantly visual in their nature and most research in this area has taken place in the auditory domain. Here, we explore the relationship between pupil size—both baseline and task‐evoked—and behavioural performance measures in two novel vigilance tasks requiring visual target detection: (1) a traditional vigilance task involving prolonged, continuous and uninterrupted performance (n = 28) and (2) a psychomotor vigilance task (n = 25). In both tasks, behavioural performance and task‐evoked pupil responses declined as time spent on task increased, corroborating previous reports in the literature of a vigilance decrement with a corresponding reduction in task‐evoked pupil measures. Also in line with previous findings, baseline pupil size did not show a consistent relationship with performance measures. Our data offer novel insights into the complex interplay of brain systems involved in vigilant attention and question the validity of the assumption that baseline (prestimulus) pupil size and task‐evoked (poststimulus) pupil measures reflect the tonic and phasic firing modes of the locus coeruleus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anterograde interference emerges when two opposite (B → A) or identical tasks (A → A) are learned in close temporal succession, suggesting that interference cannot be fully accounted for by competing memories. Informed by neurobiological evidence, this work tested the hypothesis that interference depends upon the degree of overlap between the neural networks involved in the learning of two tasks. In a fully within‐subject and counterbalanced design, participants (n = 24) took part in two learning sessions where the putative overlap between learning‐specific neural networks was behaviourally manipulated across four conditions by modifying reach direction and the effector used during gradual visuomotor adaptation. The results showed that anterograde interference emerged regardless of memory competition—that is, to a similar extent in the B → A and A → A conditions—and along a gradient as a function of the tasks' similarity. Specifically, learning under similar reaching conditions generated more anterograde interference than learning under dissimilar reaching conditions, suggesting that putatively overlapping neural networks are required to generate interference. Overall, these results indicate that competing memories are not the sole contributor to anterograde interference and suggest that overlapping neural networks between two learning sessions are required to trigger interference. One discussed possibility is that initial learning modifies the properties of its neural networks to constrain further plasticity induction and learning capabilities, therefore causing anterograde interference in a network‐dependent manner. One implication is that learning‐specific neural networks must be maximally dissociated to minimize the interfering influences of previous learning on subsequent learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working memory is a subcategory of short‐term memory that voluntarily maintains behaviourally relevant information to prepare for a subsequent action. An established theory is that working memory is supported by the prefrontal cortex (PFC) for executive control, while the hippocampus (HPC) is largely involved in long‐term episodic memory. Recent studies suggest that the HPC is also involved in perception and short‐term storage. However, it remains unclear whether the HPC supports active maintenance of short‐term memory as working memory. To address this question, we devised a new delayed matching‐to‐sample task in which two visual items were presented at different locations one by one as samples. The sequential presentations of sample stimuli allowed us to dissociate the contents of working memory (i.e., identities and locations of two samples) from the constituent perceived information of single samples. By applying representational similarity analysis (RSA) to the blood‐oxygen‐level‐dependent (BOLD) signals of human participants, we investigated the delay activity after the two sample presentations. The results of the RSA showed that the right HPC signalled only the second sample as a conjunctional representation of its item identity and location. In contrast, the right PFC, including both lateral and medial parts, represented the conjunctional information of both samples. These results suggested that the HPC may support short‐term memory for retrospective coding to retain information of the last event rather than for prospective coding coupled with working memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laboratory electroencephalography (EEG) studies have already provided important insights into the neuronal mechanisms of performance monitoring. However, to our knowledge no study so far has examined neuronal correlates of performance monitoring using an ecologically valid task outside a typical laboratory setting. Therefore, we examined midfrontal theta and the feedback‐related negativity (FRN) using mobile EEG in a physical shooting task within an ecologically valid environment with highly dynamical visual feedback. Participants shot a target using a toy gun while moving and looking around freely. Shots that missed the target evoked stronger midfrontal theta activity than hits and this response was rather phase‐unlocked. There was no difference between misses and hits in the FRN. The results raise the question whether the absence of certain ERP components like the FRN could be due to methodological reasons or to the fact that partially different neuronal processes may be activated in the laboratory as compared to more ecologically valid tasks. Overall, our results indicate that crucial neurocognitive processes of performance monitoring can be assessed in highly dynamic and ecologically valid settings by mobile EEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous event‐related potential (ERP) studies have suggested that self‐related and non‐self‐related outcomes are processed simultaneously. However, the studies investigated situations in which individuals had sufficient attentional/cognitive resources to process both of the outcomes. It is unknown whether self‐related and non‐self‐unrelated outcomes could still be processed simultaneously when resources are limited. To address this issue, 32 female participants in the present study were asked to perform a working memory task. To manipulate the amount of available attentional/cognitive resources, participants were asked to memorize a letter in the low load condition and five letters in the high load condition. During letter consolidation, participants were informed that they and another player each performed a gambling task and were subsequently presented with both of the outcomes. ERP results showed that others' monetary loss elicited larger P200 and late positive potential amplitudes than others' monetary gain under a low working memory load, whereas a high load reduced these effects. However, working memory load did not influence the effect of self‐outcome on ERP responses. Therefore, the findings suggest that the amount of available attentional/cognitive resources alters the evaluation of non‐self‐related but not self‐related outcomes. The current results are consistent with theories and literatures regarding outcome evaluations, in which the valence of the outcome can be evaluated irrespective of whether the outcome is self‐related or not. More importantly, we complement previous theories and literatures by demonstrating that the amount of attentional/cognitive resources alters the evaluations involving non‐self‐related outcomes but not self‐related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: With the emergence of intelligent vehicles, how to satisfy the demands of the vehicles with computing‐intensive and delay‐sensitive tasks has become a challenging issue. Vehicular edge computing (VEC) is proposed as an advanced paradigm to improve the service of vehicles through offloading the task to the VEC servers. Nevertheless, VEC servers always have limited computation resources and do not satisfy the offloading requirements of vehicles. To this end, in this paper, we propose a more flexible offloading scheme by jointly considering the offloading strategies and the price strategy. In the proposed scheme, where the task can be dynamically divided into two parts parallel executed at the vehicles and VEC servers. A multi‐leader and multi‐follower Stackelberg game ‐based distributed algorithm is proposed to maximize the utilities of the vehicles and the VEC servers under the delay constraint. Finally, the game equilibrium is analyzed and achieved. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed offloading scheme converges fast and always outperforms the existing schemes in terms of the vehicular utility under different network conditions. For instance, the proposed scheme achieves the utility improvement over 56.62% compared to the fixed selection strategy and achieves the utility improvement up to 161.0% compared to the complete offloading with fixed price strategy when the number of vehicles is 10. Additionally, the effects of key parameters such as the offloading strategies and, the price strategy, and the computation resource on the average utility of vehicles are also discussed and analyzed based on the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconciliation is a fundamentally theological reality grounded in the being, work, and aims of the triune God. In light of this, how ought the reconciling ministry of Jesus inform and shape the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:17‐21) to which Christians are called? In this article, I argue that a sufficiently robust gospel of reconciliation has dynamic, identity‐shaping power, informing a rewarding mission and ministry of reconciliation. My classical theological approach will use "promise" to interrelate gospel, reconciliation, and identity, situating reconciliation within the overarching biblical narrative plot. In doing so, I will distinguish my proposal from a progressive Christian "alter‐globalism" approach, identifying and constructively critiquing the latter's shortcomings. These include truncating the reconciliation and the flourishing life to an immanent vision, reducing reconciliation to concepts and tasks of justice work, insufficiently connecting reconciliation to its larger soteriological framework, and failing to use the gospel for identity formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Task‐based functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neuroimaging for the study of cognitive neuroscience provides insight into how the brain responds to increasing cognitive demands. Theoretical models of neural–cognitive relationships define neural efficiency and neural capacity as two parameters to describe the rate of gain of brain activity and the upper limits of the increases, respectively. Although qualitatively well described, there are limited discussions and demonstrations of estimating these parameters from data. The current work presents a method using a quadratic equation model of cognitive demands. The methods were applied to 21 healthy young adults while engaging in four levels of the verbal n‐back working memory task (0, 1, 2 and 3‐back). Measures of the area under the curve captured both linear and curvilinear responses to quantify the locations and amounts of task‐related increases in brain activity. In addition, we calculated voxel‐wise maps of neural efficiency and neural capacity. Results showed increases in brain activation in regions typically involved in working memory. The relationships between increasing cognitive demands and brain activity also differed across the brain within and between individuals, as indicated by differential neural efficiency and neural capacity values. This approach provides tools for evaluating current theories about the relationships between brain activity and cognition. Neural efficiency and neural capacity provide physiological measures of brain activity, which will help evaluate how age, disease and intervention processes affect brain activity. Finally, all presented methods are readily applicable using standard current software packages for neuroimaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]