Greater Connectivity Research Articles

P035 An examination of resting state functional connectivity in patients with active Crohn’s disease

Abstract Background Crohn’s disease (CD) and its comorbidities may be associated with a specific intrinsic neural phenotype that can be measured using resting state functional connectivity (RSFC). RSFC alterations have been reported in CD in remission but have not been investigated in the active phase of the disease. Here, the primary aim was to study the effects of active CD on resting state networks (RSNs), hence identifying RSFC alterations specific to active CD status. A second aim was to investigate associations between disease duration and abdominal pain with RSFC in active CD. Methods 25 active CD patients and 25 age-, BMI- and gender-matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited. Active disease was defined as CRP > 5 mg/dl, or faecal calprotectin (FCP) >250 μg/g or through ileocolonoscopy or MRE. RsfMRI datasets were acquired on a 3T Philips Achieva scanner, with data corrected for physiological noise and motion. ICA analysis was carried out using MELODIC (FSL software). A multi-session temporal concatenation was used to generate 30 independent component (IC) maps of RSNs. A dual regression analysis with variance normalization, using group IC maps from HC group as the network template, was performed. Differences in RSN between HCs and CD patients and associations with covariates of interest were assessed. Results RSNs comprising the visual, cerebellar, frontal parietal and frontal RSN, default mode network (DMN), salience, temporal and dorsal attention RSN were identified. Enhancement of activity and increase connectivity in the medial visual RSN (orbital frontal cortex), in the frontal parietal network (occipital fusiform gyrus, thalamus, caudate, posterior cingulate cortex, postcentral gyrus) were observed in CD relative to HC. Further, decreased activity was seen in the salience network (cerebellum, postcentral gyrus), cerebellar network (occipital fusiform gyrus, cerebellum) and the DMN (parahippocampal gyrus, cerebellum) in CD relative to HC. Greater abdominal pain scores were associated with lower connectivity in the precuneus in the medial visual RSN, in the parietal operculum in the salience RSN, as well as reduced connectivity in the cerebellum in the frontal RSN. Finally, greater disease duration was associated with greater connectivity in the visual RSN in the middle temporal gyrus and planum temporale. Conclusion Alterations in RSFC between active CD and HC in RSNs implicated in cognition, attention, emotion and pain may reflect neuroplasticity in response to chronic systemic inflammation, abdominal pain, disease duration and severity. Identification of a neural phenotype specific to active CD status, may help guide intervention constituting a neurobehavioural precision medicine approach to treatment.

Comparison of bacterial and fungal diversity and network connectivity in karst and non-karst forests in southwest China

Microbial communities contribute to sustaining the function of terrestrial ecosystems and are influenced by soil type and climate gradients. The effects of karst and non-karst soils on bacterial and fungal profiles for seven climate gradients were assessed to better understand bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition in response to soil type with changes in soil physicochemical properties under different temperatures and precipitations. Bacterial and fungal abundance, diversity, and community composition differed between karst and non-karst forests. Bacterial and fungal richness, Shannon index, and bacterial abundance in karst forests were higher than non-karst forests, but the fungal abundance was lower. Mean annual temperature was negatively correlated with bacterial diversity in the karst forest and fungal abundance in karst and non-karst forests. The community composition of bacteria and fungi differed among these two soil types. The karst forest had greater connectivity among bacterial and fungal communities than non-karst forests. The bacterial members of Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and fungal groups of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were mainly connected with other taxa in the network, implying that taxa were associated with highly functional potential. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Ascomycota was higher in karst than in non-karst forests. Proteobacteria and Basidiomycota showed the opposite results. A random forest and multiple regression tree analyses revealed that soil properties, specifically pH, calcium, and total nitrogen, were the main factors influencing the variation in bacterial and fungal profiles between karst and non-karst forests. This study provides novel evidence that the abundant microbial taxa were kinless hubs in co-occurrence patterns. Controlling complex networks of species interactions may contribute to improving soil nutrient processes rather than microbial diversity, enhancing our understanding of developing sustainable recovery strategies in fragile ecosystems.

Physical activity is associated with increased resting-state functional connectivity in networks predictive of cognitive decline in clinically unimpaired older adults.

IntroductionPhysical activity (PA) promotes resilience with respect to cognitive decline, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We examined the associations between objectively measured PA and resting‐state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs‐fcMRI) across seven anatomically distributed neural networks.Methodsrs‐fcMRI, amyloid beta (Aβ) positron emission tomography (PET), PA (steps/day × 1 week), and longitudinal cognitive (Preclinical Alzheimer's Cognitive Composite) data from 167 cognitively unimpaired adults (ages 63 to 90) were used. We used linear and linear mixed‐effects regression models to examine the associations between baseline PA and baseline network connectivity and between PA, network connectivity, and longitudinal cognitive performance.ResultsHigher PA was associated selectively with greater connectivity in three networks previously associated with cognitive decline (default, salience, left control). This association with network connectivity accounted for a modest portion of PA's effects on Aβ‐related cognitive decline.DiscussionAlthough other mechanisms are likely present, PA may promote resilience with respect to Aß‐related cognitive decline, partly by increasing connectivity in a subset of cognitive networks.

Electrophysiological connectivity markers of preserved language functions in post-stroke aphasia

Post-stroke aphasia is a consequence of localized stroke-related damage as well as global disturbances in a highly interactive and bilaterally-distributed language network. Aphasia is increasingly accepted as a network disorder and it should be treated as such when examining the reorganization and recovery mechanisms after stroke. In the current study, we sought to investigate reorganized patterns of electrophysiological connectivity, derived from resting-state magnetoencephalography (rsMEG), in post-stroke chronic (>6 months after onset) aphasia. We implemented amplitude envelope correlations (AEC), a metric of connectivity commonly used to describe slower aspects of interregional communication in resting-state electrophysiological data. The main focus was on identifying the oscillatory frequency bands and frequency-specific spatial topology of connections associated with preserved language abilities after stroke.RsMEG was recorded for 5 min in 21 chronic stroke survivors with aphasia and in 20 matched healthy controls. Source-level MEG activity was reconstructed and summarized within 72 atlas-defined brain regions (or nodes). A 72 × 72 leakage-corrected connectivity (of AEC) matrix was obtained for frequencies from theta to low-gamma (4–50 Hz). Connectivity was compared between groups, and, the correlations between connectivity and subscale scores from the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) were evaluated in the stroke group, using partial least squares analyses. Posthoc multiple regression analyses were also conducted on a graph theory measure of node strengths, derived from significant connectivity results, to control for node-wise properties (local spectral power and lesion sizes) and demographic and stroke-related variables.Connectivity among the left hemisphere regions, i.e. those ipsilateral to the stroke lesion, was greatly reduced in stroke survivors with aphasia compared to matched healthy controls in the alpha (8–13 Hz; p = 0.011) and beta (15–30 Hz; p = 0.001) bands. The spatial topology of hypoconnectivity in the alpha vs. beta bands was distinct, revealing a greater involvement of ventral frontal, temporal and parietal areas in alpha, and dorsal frontal and parietal areas in beta. The node strengths from alpha and beta group differences remained significant after controlling for nodal spectral power. AEC correlations with WAB subscales of object naming and fluency were significant. Greater alpha connectivity was associated with better naming performance (p = 0.045), and greater connectivity in both the alpha (p = 0.033) and beta (p = 0.007) bands was associated with better speech fluency performance. The spatial topology was distinct between these frequency bands. The node strengths remained significant after controlling for age, time post stroke onset, nodal spectral power and nodal lesion sizes.Our findings provide important insights into the electrophysiological connectivity profiles (frequency and spatial topology) potentially underpinning preserved language abilities in stroke survivors with aphasia.

Population genomics of free-ranging Great Plains white-tailed and mule deer reflects a long history of interspecific hybridization.

Hybridization is a natural process at species‐range boundaries that may variably promote the speciation process or break down species barriers but minimally will influence management outcomes of distinct populations. White‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) have broad and overlapping distributions in North America and a recognized capacity for interspecific hybridization. In response to contemporary environmental change to any of one or multiple still‐unknown factors, mule deer range is contracting westward accompanied by a westward expansion of white‐tailed deer, leading to increasing interactions, opportunities for gene flow, and associated conservation implications. To quantify genetic diversity, phylogenomic structure, and dynamics of hybridization in sympatric populations of white‐tailed and mule deer, we used mitochondrial cytochrome b data coupled with SNP loci discovered with double‐digest restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing. We recovered 25,018 SNPs across 92 deer samples from both species, collected from two regions of western Kansas. Eight individuals with unambiguous external morphology representing both species were of hybrid origin (8.7%), and represented the product of multi‐generational backcrossing. Mitochondrial data showed both ancient and recent directional discordance with morphological species assignments, reflecting a legacy of mule deer males mating with white‐tailed deer females. Mule deer had lower genetic diversity than white‐tailed deer, and both mitochondrial and nuclear data suggest contemporary mule deer effective population decline. Landscape genetic analyses show relative isolation between the two study regions for white‐tailed deer, but greater connectivity among mule deer, with predominant movement from north to south. Collectively, our results suggest a long history of gene flow between these species in the Great Plains and hint at evolutionary processes that purge incompatible functional genomic elements as a result of hybridization. Surviving hybrids evidently may be reproductive, but with unknown consequences for the future integrity of these species, population trajectories, or relative susceptibility to emerging pathogens.

Physical activity is associated with increased resting‐state fcMRI in networks predictive of cognitive decline in clinically unimpaired older adults

AbstractBackgroundWhile physical activity (PA) may promote resilience to cognitive decline and AD dementia, the mechanisms underlying this effect are poorly understood. Our group previously demonstrated lower levels of functional connectivity (rs‐fcMRI) in the default, salience, and control networks were associated with greater prospective cognitive decline, both alone and synergistically with β‐amyloid (Buckley and Schultz et al., 2017). In this context, we assessed whether higher PA may be associated with greater connectivity, and whether PA effects on connectivity may mediate the relationship of PA to prospective cognitive decline.MethodA waist mounted pedometer was used to record PA (steps/day during one week) in 167 cognitively unimpaired adults aged 63‐90 (mean 74.0; SD 6.1) participating in the Harvard Aging Brain Study. Participants underwent baseline rs‐fcMRI and β‐amyloid imaging with Pittsburgh Compound B PET. We analyzed rs‐fcMRI in the 3 networks previously associated with cognitive decline (default, salience, and control) as well as in 4 motor or sensory networks in which connectivity strength is not associated with cognitive change. Cognition was measured annually with the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC). We used linear regression to examine associations between PA and connectivity in these networks, controlling for age, sex, and APOE e4 status. We conducted exploratory analyses using linear mixed effects models to examine if associations between PA and connectivity strength may partially explain PA associations with cognitive decline in the context of elevated β‐amyloid.ResultHigher baseline PA was significantly associated with increased connectivity in the default, salience, and control networks (all p<0.017) after adjusting for covariates and controlling for multiple comparisons. PA was not associated with connectivity in any of the other networks examined. Greater connectivity in these networks was a weak partial mediator of PA's association with longitudinal PACC decline in participants with elevated β‐amyloid (figure 1).ConclusionGreater PA is associated with increased connectivity in three networks (default, salience, and control) in which greater connectivity is associated with less cognitive decline. One potential mechanism by which PA may promote resilience to cognitive decline is through increased functional connectivity in a core set of AD‐relevant cognitive networks.

Difference in allostatic interoceptive network connectivity by cognitive status

AbstractBackgroundThe allostatic interoceptive network (AIN) has been proposed as central to linking interoceptive processing and autonomic regulation and involved in emotional experience. Early pathologic changes in AD occur in hubs of the AIN, and changes in emotional reactivity have been identified at both the MCI and dementia stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Interoception has been proposed as a core feature in psychiatric disease, though relatively little attention has been paid to altered interoception in neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia. We conducted a pilot analysis in cognitively normal (CN) participants and those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to identify alterations in functional connectivity of the AIN, default mode, and salience networks.MethodTwenty‐two participants from the Wake Forest Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Clinical Core cohort including CN participants (n = 11, mean age = 67 ± 7) and MCI (n = 11, mean age = 72 ± 7) received 3T brain MRI using T1 for gray/white matter segmentation and BOLD for resting‐state functional connectivity. BOLD time series data were pre‐processed and de‐noised using standard techniques. Connectivity analyses were performed using the CONN functional connectivity toolbox. Briefly, we performed a comparison of within‐network connectivity of the allostasis and interoception system (comprised of the DMN, SN, and AIN seed regions) between MCI and NC participants while adjusting for age (p < 0.05 uncorrected).Result Table lists the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics for CN and MCI groups. Participants with MCI had greater connectivity between limbic regions of the AIN and salience network compared with the CN group, and decreased connectivity between the left lateral parietal cortex and multiple hubs of the salience network. Within the AIN seed regions, the amygdala and dorsal posterior and mid insula had increased connectivity (Figure; p < 0.05 uncorrected).ConclusionWe find differences in functional connectivity between CN adults and persons with MCI for three brain networks. Our analyses provide preliminary support that changes in an integrated allostasis and interoceptive system, integrating components of the DMN and SN, may have implications for emotional dysregulation in ADRD.

Parietal and hippocampal hyper-connectivity is associated with low math achievement in adolescence - A preliminary study.

Mathematical cognition requires coordinated activity across multiple brain regions, leading to the emergence of resting-state functional connectivity as a method for studying the neural basis of differences in mathematical achievement. Hyper-connectivity of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), a key locus of mathematical and numerical processing, has been associated with poor mathematical skills in childhood, whereas greater connectivity has been related to better performance in adulthood. No studies to date have considered its role in adolescence. Further, hippocampal connectivity can predict mathematical learning, yet no studies have considered its contributions to contemporaneous measures of math achievement. Here, we used seed-based resting-state fMRI analyses to examine IPS and hippocampal intrinsic functional connectivity relations to math achievement in a group of 31 adolescents (mean age=16.42 years, range 15-17), whose math performance spanned the 1% to 99% percentile. After controlling for IQ, IPS connectivity was negatively related to math achievement, akin to findings in children. However, the specific temporo-occipital regions were more akin to the posterior loci implicated in adults. Hippocampal connectivity with frontal regions was also negatively correlated with concurrent math measures, which contrasts with results from learning studies. Finally, hyper-connectivity was not a global feature of low math performance, as math performance did not modulate connectivity of Heschl's gyrus, a control seed not involved in math cognition. Our results provide preliminary evidence that adolescence is a transitional stage in which patterns found in childhood and adulthood can be observed; most notably, hyper-connectivity continues to be related to low math ability into this period.

Effects of Gender Role Beliefs on Social Connectivity and Marital Safety: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Study Among Married Adolescent Girls in India

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to examine associations of gender role beliefs with marital safety as well as social and digital connectivity among married adolescent girls in India. MethodsWe analyzed cross-sectional survey data from married adolescent girls from rural Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India in 2015–2016 (N = 4,893). Gender role belief items assessed participants' beliefs regarding appropriateness of female marital choice and economic decision-making, male childcare responsibility, and marital violence. The outcomes were time with friends (social connection), freedom of movement, mobile phone ownership and internet access (digital connection), and safety from marital violence (marital safety). Adjusted regression models examined associations between gender role beliefs and outcomes, caste/religion beliefs related to segregation, and demographics. ResultsBeliefs supportive of female marital choice (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00–1.88, p = .048) and female economic decision-making (AOR 1.43, 95% CI 1.03–1.99, p = .03) were associated with social connection. Beliefs supportive of female marital choice (AOR 1.88, 95% CI 1.31–2.71, p = .001), female economic decision-making (AOR 1.67, 95% CI 1.03–2.72, p = .04), and male childcare responsibilities (AOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.05–1.94, p = .03) were associated with freedom of movement. Belief supporting female marital choice was associated with mobile phone ownership (AOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.01–1.50, p = .04), and belief supporting male childcare responsibility was associated with internet access (AOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.11–2.77, p = .02). Beliefs supportive of female marital choice (AOR .73, 95% CI .59–.89, p = .003), male childcare responsibility (AOR 1.26, 95% CI 1.03–1.54, p = .02), and unacceptability of marital violence (AOR 1.72, 95% CI 1.38–2.15, p < .001) were associated with safety from marital violence. ConclusionsProgressive gender role beliefs regarding female choice, control, and safety in marriage are associated with greater connectivity and safety for married adolescent girls in India. Future studies that can longitudinally assess these associations are warranted.

EPTS: Energy-saving pre-emptive task scheduling for homogeneous cloud systems

The importance of cloud computing grows staggeringly by the day as newer technology is introduced resulting in greater connectivity across systems worldwide inculcating higher demand for resources supplied by cloud providers. Every datacentre responsible for providing these resources consumes a hefty amount of power and cloud service providers have to bear the monetary costs that come with it. Recent studies show that energy consumption of resources at utilizations over 70% grows non-linearly and hence it is best to avoid resources reaching high levels of utilization. In this paper, we introduce EPTS (Energy-saving Pre-emptive Task Scheduling) that utilizes the 0-70% interval of utilization of resources and evenly distributes the energy consumption of tasks by pre-empting tasks consuming high amounts of power by less power-demanding tasks. These pre-empted tasks are rescheduled into the virtual machines where they may result in lower utilization rates, hence increasing energy conservation. We compare EPTS with MaxUtil and FCFS (First Come First Serve) via thorough experimentation on different synthetic datasets and show that EPTS outperforms MaxUtil and FCFS by approximately 50% in terms of energy consumption.

The Perfect Storm: A Subcultural Analysis of the QAnon Movement

In this study, we examine the social phenomenon known as ‘QAnon’. While QAnon is typically thought of as an exclusively online cultural phenomenon, and thus easily dismissed, it has played a significant role in promoting physical acts of violence—including multiple murders and the attack on the United States Capital on 6 January 2021. Utilizing a qualitative analysis of 300 hours of QAnon-related content, we argue that the widespread beliefs held by QAnon supporters were only possible due to the confluence of feelings of distrust in government and other public officials, purveyors of QAnon that profited in the movement’s success, and a populist digital media environment in which extremist ideas are housed and promoted. We conclude by asking if this is a phenomenon created by greater connectivity, or if this is a byproduct of late-stage capitalism in which social relations continue to be atomized.

Uzbekistan's Strategy for Building Greater Trans-Regional Connectivity

Uzbekistan's Strategy for Building Greater Trans-Regional Connectivity

Abnormal functional connectivity of the salience network in insomnia.

The salience network plays an important role in detecting stimuli related to behavior and integrating neural processes. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in functional connectivity of the salience network in insomnia patients. Independent component analysis combined with a dual regression approach was used to examine functional connectivity differences in the salience network between patients with insomnia (n = 33) and healthy controls (n = 33). Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between differences in functional connectivity and the clinical characteristics of insomnia patients. Compared to healthy controls, insomnia patients showed increased functional connectivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex within the salience network, as well as greater connectivity between the salience network and other brain regions including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, sensorimotor area and brain stem. The correlation analysis showed that increased functional connectivity between the salience network and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was positively correlated with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index score. Increased functional connectivity between salience network and several brain regions may be related to hyperarousal in insomnia patients. The connectivity between salience network and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex may potentially be used as a neuroimaging biomarker of sleep quality.

Postpartum Depression Is Associated With Altered Neural Connectivity Between Affective and Mentalizing Regions During Mother-Infant Interactions.

Although there has been growing interest in mood-related neural alterations in women in the initial weeks postpartum, recent work has demonstrated that postpartum depression often lingers for months or years following birth. However, research evaluating the impact of depression on maternal brain function during mother-infant interactions in the late postpartum period is lacking. The current study tested the hypothesis that depressive symptoms at 12-months postpartum are associated with neural alterations in affective and social neural regions, using near-infrared spectroscopy during in vivo mother-infant interactions. Participants were 23 birth mothers of 12-month-old infants (60% boys). While undergoing near-infrared spectroscopy, mothers engaged in an ecologically valid interactive task in which they looked at an age-appropriate book with their infants. Mothers also reported on their depressive symptoms in the past week and were rated on their observed levels of maternal sensitivity during mother-infant play. Greater depressive severity at 12-months postpartum was related to lower connectivity between the right temporoparietal junction and the lateral prefrontal cortex, but greater connectivity between the right temporoparietal junction and anterior medial prefrontal cortex during mother-infant interaction. Given the putative functions of these neural regions within the maternal brain network, our findings suggest that in the context of depression, postpartum mothers' mentalizing about her infants' thoughts and feelings may be related to lower ability to express and regulate her own emotions, but greater ability to engage in emotional bonding with her infant. Future work should explore how connectivity among these regions is associated with longitudinal changes in maternal behavior, especially in the context of changes in mothers' depressive symptoms (e.g., with treatment) over time.

Genetic variation in endocannabinoid signaling is associated with differential network-level functional connectivity in youth.

The endocannabinoid system is an important regulator of emotional responses such as fear, and a number of studies have implicated endocannabinoid signaling in anxiety. The fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) C385A polymorphism, which is associated with enhanced endocannabinoid signaling in the brain, has been identified across species as a potential protective factor from anxiety. In particular, adults with the variant FAAH 385A allele have greater fronto-amygdala connectivity and lower anxiety symptoms. Whether broader network-level differences in connectivity exist, and when during development this neural phenotype emerges, remains unknown and represents an important next step in understanding how the FAAH C385A polymorphism impacts neurodevelopment and risk for anxiety disorders. Here, we leveraged data from 3,109 participants in the nationwide Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study℠ (10.04±0.62years old; 44.23% female, 55.77% male) and a cross-validated, data-driven approach to examine associations between genetic variation and large-scale resting-state brain networks. Our findings revealed a distributed brain network, comprising functional connections that were both significantly greater (95% CI for p values=[<0.001, <0.001]) and lesser (95% CI for p values=[0.006, <0.001]) in A-allele carriers relative to non-carriers. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between genotype and the summarized connectivity of functional connections that were greater in A-allele carriers, such that non-carriers with connectivity more similar to A-allele carriers (i.e., greater connectivity) had lower anxiety symptoms (β=-0.041, p=0.030). These findings provide novel evidence of network-level changes in neural connectivity associated with genetic variation in endocannabinoid signaling and suggest that genotype-associated neural differences may emerge at a younger age than genotype-associated differences in anxiety.

Intrinsic Functional Connectivity of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Is Associated with Tolerance to Distress.

The ability to adapt under significant adversity, defined as psychological resilience, is instrumental in preventing stress-related disorders. An important aspect of resilience is the capacity to endure affective distress when in pursuit of goals, also known as distress tolerance. Evidence that links intrinsic baseline interactions within large-scale functional networks with performance under distress remains missing. We hypothesized that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) may engage in distress tolerance because of its involvement in attention and emotion regulation. Accordingly, we tested whether behavioral performance under distress is associated with baseline resting-state ACC functional connectivity (FC). Distress tolerance was measured in 97 participants using the behavioral indicator of resiliency to distress (BIRD) task. Analyses contrasted participants who quit the task before its designated termination (n = 51) with those who persisted throughout it (n = 46). Seed-based FC analysis indicated greater connectivity between the ACC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in subjects who persisted throughout the task, along with greater FC between the ACC and the precentral gyrus in those who quit before its termination. The results shed light on the mechanisms underlying interindividual differences in the ability to handle distress.

Huge Impacts AI on Sports

The Covid-19 pandemic has thrust the digitalization of the sports region firmly into the spotlight. Although emerging technologies had been ushering in a new age of personalization and interactivity thru gamification and esports for some time, the fact that players are competing in empty stadiums is accelerating the need to reinterpret the complete sports revel in. Various AI utilized in the sports industry. Overall, AI is disrupting fate and advancing the sport in earnest. Coaches and athletes are searching out deeper insights to take their sport to the subsequent degree, referees require help to make the right decisions in moments that count, and the sport enthusiasts are demanding more personalized reviews and greater connectivity. AI gives an avenue to cope with some of these needs. © 2021. RIGEO. All Rights Reserved.

China Quick-Fix

China Quick-Fix introduces and explores a photographic archive of improvised repairs made in China. It reframes the quick-fix by putting aside the negative connotations that come with the term and understands quick-fixes in a more sympathetic light. It looks at how they represent a creative practice that generates environmentally sustainable personal geographies in increasingly alienated urban environments and it looks at how quick-fixes offer a valuable method with which to view contemporary Chinese society as a whole. Rather than looking at the city from a top down point of view, China Quick-Fix offers a street level view of the everyday problems people face and the solutions they arrive at. These solutions cover a range from the ingenious to the inadequate and they are rarely celebrated or even noticed; they represent an unselfconscious aesthetic that is antithetical to the state aesthetic which promotes power, modernity and unity. China quick-fix makes a case for understanding the seeming opposites of the grand project and the quick-fix as having a symbiotic relationship to one another. By looking at how sites of political and economic power are themselves often designed to serve shifting political exigencies and how, once opened, are maintained through an army of quick-fixers, it is clear that the quick-fix is not only the work of the left behind but is also an unofficial state aesthetic. While the quick-fix is commonly understood as resulting from economic necessity, within this body of know-how there exist a great many useful skills and principles that could and should be more fully recognised. Quite specifically, they offer a precise understanding of the real local economy, they promote recycling and on a psychological level stimulate creativity, active citizenship and greater connectivity to place.

Intrinsic Functional Connectomes Characterize Neuroticism in Major Depressive Disorder and Predict Antidepressant Treatment Outcomes

BackgroundAntidepressant efficacy in people with major depressive disorder remains modest, yet identifying treatment-predictive neurobiological markers may improve outcomes. While disruptions in functional connectivity within and between large-scale brain networks predict poorer treatment outcome, it is unclear whether higher trait neuroticism, which has been associated with generally poorer outcomes, contributes to these disruptions and to antidepressant-specific treatment outcomes. Here, we used whole-brain functional connectivity analysis to identify a neural connectomic signature of neuroticism and tested whether this signature predicted antidepressant treatment outcome. MethodsParticipants were 226 adults with major depressive disorder and 68 healthy control subjects who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging and were assessed on clinical features at baseline. Participants with major depressive disorder were then randomized to 1 of 3 commonly prescribed antidepressants and after 8 weeks completed a second functional magnetic resonance imaging and were reassessed for depressive symptom remission/response. Baseline intrinsic functional connectivity between each pair of 436 brain regions was analyzed using network-based statistics to identify connectomic features associated with neuroticism. Features were then assessed on their ability to predict treatment outcome and whether they changed after 8 weeks of treatment. ResultsHigher baseline neuroticism was associated with greater connectivity within and between the salience, executive control, and somatomotor brain networks. Greater connectivity across these networks predicted poorer treatment outcome that was not mediated by baseline neuroticism, and connectivity strength decreased after antidepressant treatment. ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that neuroticism is associated with organization of intrinsic neural networks that predict treatment outcome, elucidating its biological underpinnings and opportunity for better treatment personalization.

COVID-19 lockdown has altered the dynamics between affective symptoms and social isolation among older adults: results from a longitudinal network analysis

The COVID-19 lockdown has drastically limited social interactions and brought about a climate of fear and uncertainty. These circumstances not only increased affective symptoms and social isolation among community dwelling older adults but also alter the dynamics between them. Using network analyses, we study the changes in these dynamics before and during the lockdown. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 419) completed questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety, and social isolation, before the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of a cohort study, and during the lockdown period. The total scores of these questionnaires were compared across time. For the network analyses, partial correlation networks were constructed using items in the questionnaires as nodes, separately at both timepoints. Changes in edges, as well as nodal and bridge centrality were examined across time. Depression and anxiety symptoms, and social isolation had significantly increased during the lockdown. Significant changes were observed across time on several edges. Greater connectivity between the affective and social isolation nodes at lockdown was observed. Depression symptoms have become more tightly coupled across individuals, and so were the anxiety symptoms. Depression symptoms have also become slightly decoupled from those of anxiety. These changing network dynamics reflect the greater influence of social isolation on affective symptoms across individuals and an increased vulnerability to affective disorders. These findings provide novel perspectives and translational implications on the changing mental health context amidst a COVID-19 pandemic situation.