Connectivity Research Articles

CONNECTIVITY: THE SPACE OF DOCUMENTARY SEQUENCES IN THREE FICTION FILMS OF RIGA FILM STUDIO

The subject of this study is the augmentation of portrayal of reality in fiction films by inclusion of documentary sequences. This article explores a hypothesis that in the spacetime continuum, film borders of cinematic genres, the divide between documentary and fiction cinema is disregarded. This divide appears if not artificial, then subordinated to the unity of each particular film as a text. The concept of con- nectivity can be applied to describe the relation of spaces of the documentary and the fictional sequences in a film. The Latvian cinema offers a wide range of instances for the generic fusion of the documentary and the fiction film as genre. The practice of including documentary sequences into the fiction films – in a tradition of the Riga poetic documentary school in the case of this study – (re)presents historical dynamics in film poetics. The appearance of several genre s paces in one spacetime continuum of a film (re)constructs the social space of film’s production momentum. The documentary sequences in the fiction film function both as an added and illustrative value to the main fictional visual narrative, and gradually become a meaning-making element in the wholeness of this cinematic text. Initially in the short film Divi (“Two”, 1965), directed by Mihails Bogins, filmed by Rihards Pīks, and later by Henrihs Pilipsons the documentary sequences were employed to (re)create the modern urban space. Later, as the practice of documentary inclusion became common in the middle of 1960s, the documentary sequences appeared in the musical film Elpojiet dziļi (“Breathe Deeply”, 1967, directed by Rolands Kalniņš, cinematographed by Miks Zvirbulis) to construct multiplicity of spaces, uniting creative and factual realities in the narrated space of the film. The film Elpojiet dziļi demonstrates that the merger of genres, styles and spaces is creative to the extent of spilling off the screen and into the non-cinematic reality. The film is a story of a fictional boy band. It inspired formation of the band Menuets to re-enact the songs written for and performed in the film. The con nectivity of the documentary and the fiction sequences in this film achieve a level of connection where it is no longer possible to speak of subjugation of one genre to the other. It can be described as a construction of a new connected and permeable cinematic space. A further instance of the connectivity of documentary and fiction generic spaces in a film is the film Ābols upē (“Apple in the River”, 1974, directed by Aivars Freimanis, cinematographed by Dāvis Sīmanis (sen)). This film represents a stream of multiple genres and a flow of various citations, inspirations and ideas featuring the cultural space of late Soviet republic of Latvia. In this film the connectivity of the documentary and the fictional episodes becomes rhetorical means of cinematic expression.

Automating t-SNE parameterization with prototype-based learning of manifold connectivity

We harness topological information about a data manifold revealed through neural prototype-based learning to automate t-SNE parameterization. This information is contained in the CONN (CONNectivity) similarity of neural prototypes, which grades the strength (weakness) of topological connectivity at various points within a data manifold. CONN suggests a data-driven specification of localized versions (varying across the manifold) of t-SNE’s perplexity parameter which, in turn, defines the high-dimensional similarities P that t-SNE attempts to preserve. We further imbue P with CONN’s graded similarity to reduce mismatch between the topology of the manifold and its embedded representation. Experiments show these improvements, collectively called CONNt-SNE, are capable of producing meaningful and trustworthy low-dimensional embeddings without the need to heuristically optimize over (i.e., grid search) t-SNE’s perplexity space. Data-driven t-SNE parameterization improves our confidence that any structure appearing in the embeddings is valid and not merely an artifact of spurious parameterization.

422-P: Intrinsic Brain Connectivity in Chronic Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: A Resting-State fMRI Study

Painful diabetic neuropathy (DN) is a common, distressing complication of diabetes that is discordant with the degree of peripheral nerve pathology. Very little is known about the cerebral processes involved in pain processing in painful DN. Here we investigated resting-state brain connectivity associated with prolonged pain in DN. Methods: 58 subjects and 36 matched controls were compared with regard to both behavioural measures of pain perception and resting-resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The resting-state fMRI brain connectivity was investigated using 20 seed regions located in cardinal pain processing brain regions. Resting-state fMRI analysis was performed using the NITRC Functional Connectivity (CONN) Toolbox and SPM8 (welcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging London, UK) in Matlab 2014a (the MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA). Functional connectivity matrices between the pre-specified seeds were calculated and the HV versus painful DN phenotype interaction examined. Results: Relative to controls, painful DPN patients displayed increased brain connectivity predominately for the supplementary motor areas (p<0.01) and the primary sensorimotor cortex (p<0.001). Similar results were found when painful DPN subjects were compared with those with No DPN. Conversely, we observed an increase in brain connectivity between the primary somatosensory cortex and cingulate cortex (p<0.01), prefrontal cortex (p<0.01) and amygdala (p<0.01) between painful and painless DPN patients. Conclusion: Our study provides experimental evidence of increased connectivity between frontal midline regions that are implicated in affective pain processing and bilateral sensorimotor regions in painful DPN patients. Disclosure K. Teh: None. I. D. Wilkinson: None. P. Shillo: None. G. P. Sloan: None. S. Tesfaye: Advisory Panel; Self; Angellini, Bayer AG, Eva Pharma, Wörwag Pharma, Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Abbott, AstraZeneca, Grunenthal Group, MSD Corporation, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer Inc. D. Selvarajah: None. Funding Health Education England/University of Sheffield Knowledge Exchange Fund; National Institute for Health Research; EME

Cognitive reserve moderates the functional connectivity changes in resting-state

Cognitive reserve moderates the functional connectivity changes in resting-state

Landmarks of Indignation: Archiving Urban (Dis)Connectivity at Johannesburg's Margins

Landmarks of Indignation: Archiving Urban (Dis)Connectivity at Johannesburg's Margins

Survivability of underwater communication system based on node connectivity

Survivability of underwater communication system based on node connectivity

Amphibian habitat network planning based on the graph theory: A case study of Pelophylax nigromaculata.

Both biodiversity conservation and the construction of biological habitat networks are key components of territorial spatial planning in China. Improving the landscape functional connectivity of biological habitat networks plays a vital role in biodiversity conservation. Although biological habitat network planning is a hot topic in literature, there is still lack of operable technological and methodological support in practical planning. According to the graph theory, the following three different aspects of biodiversity conservation and ecological network construction should be addressed in territorial spatial planning. First, the importance of biological habitat patches should be evaluated to determine the priority of patch protection. Second, the best locations for adding new elements should be identified to increase landscape functional connectivity of biological habitat network. Third, the impacts of construction projects should be judged and the potential impact of new construction projects according to the reduction of landscape function connectivity should be evaluated. We applied such framework to the network planning of amphibian (Pelophylax nigromaculata) habitat in Xiong'an New Area. The results showed that graph theory approach effectively met the requirements of those three aspects. The identification of the five optimal locations of new habitats of P. nigromaculata improved the overall landscape functional connectivity of habitat network by 19%. Four optimal locations of cross passage were identified to reduce the impacts of G45 expressway by assessing its impacts on functional connectivity of the amphibian habitat network.

Potential Access Issues for Remotely-Based Students - Challenges for Connectivity and Online Resources in context to Covid-19

Potential Access Issues for Remotely-Based Students - Challenges for Connectivity and Online Resources in context to Covid-19

Education in Connectivity

Education in Connectivity

A Study on Multitasking Robot for Military Services

There are multiple types of robot that are used in security, spying and other applications .A virtual artificial agent or electro-mechanical machine which can be guided through a program or electronic circuitry is called as ROBOT. In case for security, spying i.e. raw agency and other some areas involve a great risk and hence those tasks must be performed by robots. The proposed intelligent robot with camera and other special functions can be operated remotely for monitoring and controlling purpose. Android will be used as advance remote controller for the robot which will be connected through Bluetooth with android phone. The Android provide access to wide range of libraries that can be used to build rich applications and also includes full set of tools that provides high productivity and deep insight for the applications. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are open standard specification technology for radio frequency which is directly based on short range connectivity that helps in wireless communication. The data which will be received through Bluetooth in android smart phone is given as input to controller and hence controller will act accordingly.

Long-lived Female Wolverines (Gulo gulo) Documented at the Southern Edge of Recolonization

Wolverines (Gulo gulo) were nearly eliminated from the contiguous U.S. by the mid-1920s, when they began to naturally recolonize portions of their historical range. Currently, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Wyoming represents the southernmost distribution. Using remote cameras, we detected two female wolverines in 2016 and 2017 in Wyoming, originally captured as juveniles. At nearly 11 and 12 y old, both were documented in the same areas where they appeared to set up home ranges previously, suggesting continued residency. The presence of long-lived females near the southern boundary of recolonization is important to the persistence of residents as well as population expansion. However, nearest habitat to the south is ≥130 km across open land atypical of wolverine habitat. Connectivity between island-like patches of habitat will be critical to continued recolonization, although active restorations may still be needed in areas unlikely to receive females through natural dispersal.

“We Are Going to Enable a New Wave of Safe Connectivity”

“We Are Going to Enable a New Wave of Safe Connectivity”

The Influence of “Smartwatch” Attributes towards Users’ Purchase Intentions in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area

This study aims to develop understanding of the relationship between the product attributes of smartwatches, emotional and functional customers’ experiences, and purchase intentions. The attributes examined in this study include Connectivity (CN), Interactivity (IA), Sense of Presence (SP), Intelligence (IT), Convenience (CV), and Security (S) among users of smartwatches in the Bangkok Metropolitan area. An on-line survey questionnaire was conducted among 400 respondents during July - October 2018. Multiple Regression was used to test the hypothesized relationship. Results showed that Sense of Presence (SP), Intelligence (IT), Convenience (CN), and Connectivity (CN) positively influenced emotional experience, whereas Intelligence (IT), Security (S), Sense of Presence (SP), Interactivity (IA), and Convenience (CV) positively influenced functional experience. Both emotional experience and functional experience positively influenced users’ purchase intentions (R2 32.8 %). The results of this study support the importance of customers’ experiences in smartwatch purchase decision making and so the key elements of product attributes that smartwatch developers should pay attention to are proposed.

Sex-specific differences in resting-state functional connectivity of large-scale networks in postconcussion syndrome

Concussions are associated with a range of cognitive, neuropsychological and behavioral sequelae that, at times, persist beyond typical recovery times and are referred to as postconcussion syndrome (PCS). There is growing support that concussion can disrupt network-based connectivity post-injury. To date, a significant knowledge gap remains regarding the sex-specific impact of concussion on resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC). The aims of this study were to (1) investigate the injury-based rs-FC differences across three large-scale neural networks and (2) explore the sex-specific impact of injury on network-based connectivity. MRI data was collected from a sample of 80 concussed participants who fulfilled the criteria for postconcussion syndrome and 31 control participants who did not have any history of concussion. Connectivity maps between network nodes and brain regions were used to assess connectivity using the Functional Connectivity (CONN) toolbox. Network based statistics showed that concussed participants were significantly different from healthy controls across both salience and fronto-parietal network nodes. More specifically, distinct subnetwork components were identified in the concussed sample, with hyperconnected frontal nodes and hypoconnected posterior nodes across both the salience and fronto-parietal networks, when compared to the healthy controls. Node-to-region analyses showed sex-specific differences across association cortices, however, driven by distinct networks. Sex-specific network-based alterations in rs-FC post concussion need to be examined to better understand the underlying mechanisms and associations to clinical outcomes.

Exploring Spatial Patterns and Determinants of Poverty: New Evidence from Pakistan

This study aims to explore two types of spatial determinants of district level poverty in Pakistan: factors that have direct effect, and indirect or spillover effect, on poverty levels of neighbouring districts. The Spatial Autoregressive (SAR) model has been applied to estimate previously mentioned objectives. Data of 148 districts were collected from the National Socio- Economic Registry (NSER), and provincial development statistics. The Small Area Estimation (SAE) technique provides district level poverty estimates. Empirical results reveal that spatial autocorrelation arises owing to the lag effect of outcome variables, and autocorrelation of error terms with neighbouring districts. Moreover, results are suggestive of factors that have direct influence on poverty levels of respective districts. These include urbanisation, population growth rate, average family size, education, road infrastructure as well as climatic factors (i.e. monthly temperature and rainfall). Apart from direct effects, some determinants of district level poverty have spillover or indirect impact on poverty levels of neighbouring districts. Such factors include level of employment, road length, literacy rate, and climatic factors. Poverty in one district itself has a spillover impact on determining poverty level of adjacent districts. The findings of this paper suggest that the government should enhance regional connectivity, which may be helpful in exploiting the spillover effect of road, health, and education infrastructure to reduce regional poverty levels in Pakistan.

Deficient functional MRI selectivity and connectivity in developmental prosopagnosia is specific to face regions

Deficient functional MRI selectivity and connectivity in developmental prosopagnosia is specific to face regions

Dynamic changes of green-space connectivity based on remote sensing and graph theory: A case study in Zhengzhou, China

Dynamic changes of green-space connectivity based on remote sensing and graph theory: A case study in Zhengzhou, China

Comunicación y Educación en un mundo digital y conectado

La transformación digital construye sociedades basadas en lógicas participativas y conectadas donde los ciudadanos se convierten en usuarios en red que participan en igualdad de condiciones desde dispositivos móviles. La cada vez más naturalizada interacción virtual, acentuada tras los últimos sucesos de confinamiento global por la pandemia Covid-19, obliga a una continua reflexión en la que la comunicación y la educación son factores determinantes en el avance de la sociedad. La cuestión que emerge ante un panorama de inexorable penetración tecnológica y conectividad es si se están realizando las acciones y prácticas adecuadas para que esa participación resulte crítica y democrática. En este contexto se presenta este monográfico donde comunicación y educación se entrelazan para ofrecer aportes significativos en cuatro áreas: 1) la comunicación tratada en el ámbito educativo: el periodismo en el aula y las competencias transmedia; 2) las redes sociales como espacios para la comunicación y la educación: uso de Twitter e Instagram en contexto educativo, bots, desinformación, bulos y competencias digitales; 3) las nuevas generaciones conectadas, y 4) actores emergentes en la comunicación y la educación: youtubers, gamers plataformas OTT y responsabilidad familiar.

AN APPROACH TOWARDS FARMBEATS: IOT BASED DATA-DRIVEN AGRICULTURE SYSTEM

Data-driven techniques help boost agricultural productivity by increasing yields, reducing losses and cutting down input costs. However, these techniques have seen sparse adoption owing to high costs of manual data collection and limited connectivity solutions. In this paper, I present Farm Beats, an end-to-end IoT platform for agriculture that enables seamless data collection from various sensors. The main motive of the paper is to improvise the process of organization of agriculture fraternity in India, eventually leading to eradicate the suicides of farmers and stabilize the prices of agriculture produce in India. This paper deals with data driven techniques to achieve the objective.

IOT BASED SMART HELMET TO DETECT THE HAZARDOUS SITUATIONS AND ACCIDENT ALERTS

At present, India is the biggest marketplace for 2- Wheeler’s (China being 2d) within the global. further India is still developing country ac coring to mining industry lots of injuries happens while in working. this leads to sometime serious issue and deaths also. the main reason of both domains are not Warring the helmets properly. Therefore helmets must be used while riding the motor cycle and working in mining industry. by using this a person or victims get some proper medical help and delivering the alert message to registered mobile number. so for this am developing the smart helmet to make the journey and working safer and more comfortable. Smart helmet provides the complete safety measures while include both accident detection and mining industry purpose also. smart helmet consist of sensors GSM, GPS module, crush sensor strap switch, MQ3 and MQ7 sensors each of sensors does there jobs independently generates SOS messages. smart helmet promotes the user by its features like connectivity with a phone using GSM technology and detecting hazardous situations,gases,CO2 percentage, crush of an object, strap status,. etc WI-FI, IOT, IR sensor, GSM, GPS, MASTER and SLAVE, SOS, ESP32, MQ3, MQ7, CRUSH, STRAP etc