A rigorous approach for testing the constructionist hypotheses of brain function

Although the target article provides strong evidence against the locationist view, evidence for the constructionist view is inconclusive, because co-activation of brain regions does not necessarily imply connectivity between them. We propose a rigorous approach wherein connectivity between co-activated regions is first modeled using exploratory Granger causality, and then confirmed using dynamic causal modeling or Bayesian modeling.     

论孟子伦理思想的务实精神

历史上孟子一直被误解为“迂远而阔于事情”。其实,孟子的思想是非常注重实际的,尤其是他的伦理主张,更强调物质生活和人们的生存环境对道德行为的影响。孟子认为贴近日常生活的道德才是正常的,他坚持从生活来理解道德,其伦理思想体现出浓郁的生活气息。     

Philosophy as Elevation of Spheres of Living: Understanding Z<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">hang</Emphasis> Shiying’s “The Myriad Things as One Body”

Zhang Shiying 張世英 has been widely acclaimed as a master (dashi 大師) of philosophy in mainland China. His new claim of “the myriad things as one body” (wanwuyiti 萬物一體) remains greatly influential in philosophy and aesthetics. It cannot be categorized under Marxism, Western philosophy, or traditional Chinese philosophy, because it stands on its own right. As a creative synthesizing of the three traditions, Zhang’s claim answers some important and immediate problems that China is facing. It is a pity that this claim seems unknown to the West. This article tries to introduce two crucial parts of the claim: its ontology and its theory of “spheres of living” (rensheng jingjie 人生境界).     

Atomic imaging of the interface between M23C6-type carbide and matrix in a long-term ageing polycrystalline Ni-based superalloy

Besides the well-known cube-on-cube orientation relationship (OR) between M₂₃C₆ carbide and matrix, we have determined a new OR named as the twin-related OR in a long-term ageing Ni-based superalloy on the basis of the extensive and detailed electron diffraction analyses. Furthermore, by means of atomic-resolution high angle annular dark-field imaging technique which is implemented in the aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope, we elucidated the interfacial characteristics between M₂₃C₆ and matrix for above two types of ORs. Taking into account of the interfacial characteristics, we propose that the twin-related OR possesses a higher total interfacial energy. Thus, its frequency of occurrence is lower than that of the cube-on-cube OR though both ORs are usually seen in the long-term ageing samples.     

数字媒体使用与心理健康的理论争议和研究证据

采用系统综述的方法对数字媒体使用与心理健康的不同关系类型做了详细梳理并总结了争议的原因。结果发现,目前理论上的争议可归纳为四大类：负相关、正相关、不相关以及U形关系。研究结果不一致的原因可能与数字媒体的使用性质、心理健康的内涵、研究的取向和设计形式以及被试群体有关。该结果有助于从宏观上把握数字媒体使用与心理健康的研究动态并批判性地看待既有研究结果。未来应将数字媒体使用做精细化区分并加强实验研究准确揭示因果关系,以便厘清该领域的争论。

     

The Mystery in the Kitchen: Culinary Creativity

This article highlights the impact of technology on the ability of individuals to be creative within society. The role of computers in the creative act is explored from a broad perspective to allow for the discovery of general principles of creativity. Insight into the barriers that individuals must overcome to function creatively in the information age are then presented. To this end, the process by which creativity occurs is reviewed, and the consequences of the development of technology and the impact of computers on creativity are discussed. Examples of computers used to facilitate creativity are then illustrated. Finally, the necessary conditions for creativity to exist in society are highlighted, and suggestions are offered for the coexistence of creativity and technology in the future.     

Increasing Students' Scientific Creativity: The “Learn to Think” Intervention Program

The “Learn to Think” (LTT) Intervention Program was developed for raising thinking abilities of primary and secondary school students. It has been implemented in more than 300 schools, and more than 200,000 students took part in the experiment over a 10‐year span. Several longitudinal intervention studies showed that LTT could promote the development of students' thinking ability, learning motivation, and learning strategy as well as raise academic performance in primary schools. This article describes a study of the influence and the delayed effects of LTT on the scientific creativity of secondary school students. One hundred and seven students were selected from a secondary school, 54 of them participated in the LTT every 2 weeks and the rest had not. The intervention lasted 2 years, and the delayed effect was explored half a year after terminating the intervention. The Scientific Creativity Test for Secondary School Students was used four times from pre‐test to delayed post‐test. The results indicated that the LTT did promote the development of scientific creativity of secondary school students, and the effects on the scientific creativity were not necessarily immediate, but tended to be long‐lasting.     

On the detection of time-reversal symmetry breaking by photoemission with circularly polarized light in the high- T c superconductor Bi2212

We argue that that in their recent experiment in which they claim to have found evidence for a time-reversal symmetry broken state, Kaminski et al. () (Nature, 416, p. 610) overlooked small temperature-dependent changes in the superstructure of Bi2212. These subtle changes may manifest themselves by changing the final state configurations of the photoemission process and thus invalidate their ultimate conclusions.     

Crystallization behaviour of Al-based amorphous alloy and nanocomposites by rapid quenching

The microstructure and crystallization behaviour of melt-spun Al₈₈Ni₉Ce₂Fe₁ amorphous alloy and nanophase composites have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning and isothermal calorimetry. The diffraction patterns from Al₈₈Ni₉Ce₂Fe₁ amorphous alloys are diffuse, indicating a basically amorphous structure but contain two rings presumed to be associated with quenched-in nuclei. In the cases of Al₈₈Ni₉Ce₂Fe₁ nanophase composites, nanoscale precipitated particles are homogeneously dispersed in an amorphous matrix, and the crystallite diameter and volume fraction are sensitive to quenching conditions. During thermal crystallization, a two-step phase transformation occurs in the amorphous alloy and nanocomposites, which is characterized by a diffusion-controlled precipitation of nanoscale Al particles and the growth of a Al₃(Ni, Fe) nanophase prior to a Al₁₁Ce₃ nanophase. This study gives insight into structure-control for obtaining nanophases dispersed in an amorphous matrix by rapid quenching.     

Resurgence of goal-directed actions and habits

This study investigated how goal-directed and habitual behaviors recover after extinction within the context of the resurgence effect, a form of relapse induced by the removal or worsening of alternative reinforcement. Rats were trained to press a target lever with one reinforcer (O1) for either minimal (4) or extended (16) sessions. An extinction test after the completion of O1 devaluation confirmed that minimal and extended training formed goal-directed and habitual behaviors, respectively. Then, pressing an alternative lever was reinforced with a second reinforcer (O2) while the target response was placed on extinction. When O2 was discontinued, the minimally trained target response resurged with goal-directed status as in the extinction test. However, the extinguished habitual behavior in the extensively trained rats did not recover as a habit but instead with goal-directed status, possibly due to the context specificity of habits or the introduction of a new response–reinforcer contingency. The critical finding that reinforcer devaluation consistently led to less resurgence regardless of the amount of acquisition training provides a clinical implication that coupling differential-reinforcement-of-alternative-behavior (DRA) treatments with the devaluation of the associated reinforcer of problematic behavior could effectively diminish its recurrence.