Integration Task Research Articles

Enhanced dual-mode imaging: Superior photoacoustic and ultrasound endoscopy in live pigs using a transparent ultrasound transducer.

Dual-mode photoacoustic/ultrasound endoscopy (ePAUS) is a promising tool for preclinical and clinical interventions. To be clinically useful, ePAUS must deliver high-performance ultrasound imaging comparable to commercial systems and maintain high photoacoustic imaging performance at long working distances. This requires a transducer with an intact physical aperture and coaxial alignment of acoustic and optical beams within the probe, a challenging integration task. We present a high-performance ePAUS probe with a miniaturized, optically transparent ultrasonic transducer (TUT) called ePAUS-TUT. The 1.8-mm-diameter probe, fitting into standard endoscopic channels, aligns acoustic and optical beams efficiently, achieving commercial-level ultrasound and high-resolution photoacoustic imaging over long distances. These imaging capabilities were validated through in vivo imaging of a rat's rectum and a pig's esophagus. The ePAUS-TUT system substantially enhances feasibility and potential for clinical applications.

Modeling Group Exercise Members Continuation

This research presents a conceptual model that investigates group exercise program continuation, influenced by membership price, service quality, and group cohesion. A random sample of members from recreation fitness centers completed a group exercise questionnaire (three locations, n= 200). The study measured members’ perceptions of class social cohesion, group exercise service quality, price satisfaction, and continuation. Results show that Price Satisfaction, Group Exercise Service Quality (GXSQ) and Group Integration Task (GI-T) have a direct significant relationship with Intent to Repurchase. GXSQ and Price mediate the relationship of GI-T and Continuation. Price mediating the relationship of GXSQ and intent to repurchase. GI-S does not contribute to the model. The results emphasize the importance of the quality of the program (instructor and operations) and the price point when deciding to repurchase classes. The collective task and how participants perceived satisfaction are influenced by these factors, and a positive experience leads to program continuation.

Persistence of training-induced visual improvements after occipital stroke.

Damage to the primary visual cortex causes homonymous visual impairments that appear to benefit from visual discrimination training. However, whether improvements persist without continued training remains to be determined and was the focus of the present study. After a baseline assessment visit, 20 participants trained twice daily in their blind-field for a minimum of six months (median=155 sessions), using a motion discrimination and integration task. At the end of training, a return study visit was used to assess recovery. Three months later, 14 of the participants returned for a third study visit to assess persistence of recovery. At each study visit, motion discrimination and integration thresholds, Humphrey visual fields, and structural MRI scans were collected. Immediately after training, all but four participants showed improvements in the trained discrimination task, and shrinkage of the perimetrically-defined visual defect. While these gains were sustained in seven out of eleven participants who improved with training, four participants lost their improvement in motion discrimination thresholds at the follow-up visit. Persistence of recovery was not related to age, time since lesion, number of training sessions performed, proportion of V1 damaged, deficit size, or optic tract degeneration measured from structural MRI scans. The present findings underscore the potential of extended visual training to induce long-term improvements in stroke-induced vision loss. However, they also highlight the need for further investigations to better understand the mechanisms driving recovery, its persistence post-training, and especially heterogeneity among participants.

Consolidation of Higher Education in Upstate New York: The SUNY Chancellor Under Pressure to Set Priorities for an Integration Task Force

Consolidation of Higher Education in Upstate New York: The SUNY Chancellor Under Pressure to Set Priorities for an Integration Task Force

Concurrent Image Differentiation and Integration Processings Enabled By Polarization‐Multiplexed Metasurface

AbstractOptical computing and image processing performed by sensor front‐end metasurfaces is receiving increasing interest because of advantages such as significant reduction of latency time, energy consumption, and system complexity. Despite the rapid progress, concurrent processing, the most important feature of electronic computing, has not yet been well implemented in optical computing. Here, a metasurface‐based optical image processor that can perform optical differentiation and integration tasks simultaneously is proposed. This optical front‐end processor integrates two coherent transfer functions corresponding to differential and integral convolution kernels into a built‐in metasurface by polarization encoding, allowing concurrent processing of multiple all‐optical computational tasks. The simultaneous differentiation and integration operations on images for edge enhancement and denoising are demonstrated at multiple visible wavelengths. This concurrent processing architecture paves a promising pathway toward multifunctional and higher‐speed image processing for machine vision and biomedical imaging and shows the potential to expedite and potentially supplant certain digital neural network algorithms.

Wearable EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interface for Stress Monitoring.

Detecting stress is important for improving human health and potential, because moderate levels of stress may motivate people towards better performance at cognitive tasks, while chronic stress exposure causes impaired performance and health risks. We propose a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) system to detect stress in the context of high-pressure work environments. The BCI system includes an electroencephalogram (EEG) headband with dry electrodes and an electrocardiogram (ECG) chest belt. We collected EEG and ECG data from 40 participants during two stressful cognitive tasks: the Cognitive Vigilance Task (CVT), and the Multi-Modal Integration Task (MMIT) we designed. We also recorded self-reported stress levels using the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire (DSSQ). The DSSQ results indicated that performing the MMIT led to significant increases in stress, while performing the CVT did not. Subsequently, we trained two different models to classify stress from non-stress states, one using EEG features, and the other using heart rate variability (HRV) features extracted from the ECG. Our EEG-based model achieved an overall accuracy of 81.0% for MMIT and 77.2% for CVT. However, our HRV-based model only achieved 62.1% accuracy for CVT and 56.0% for MMIT. We conclude that EEG is an effective predictor of stress in the context of stressful cognitive tasks. Our proposed BCI system shows promise in evaluating mental stress in high-pressure work environments, particularly when utilizing an EEG-based BCI.

The effect of object perception on event integration and segregation.

The perceptual system must integrate information from various points in time and space to interpret continuous sensory input into meaningful units, such as visual objects or events. To explore the relationship between the perception of spatial objects and temporal events, we modified the missing element task, a typical temporal integration task, by inserting a simple spatial object. The aim was to determine whether the perceptual processing of the object would have an impact on the frequency of temporal integration and segregation. Temporal integration was most successful when the missing element was located within the object, less successful when there was no object, and least successful when the missing element appeared outside the object. The advantage of the location of the missing element within the object was observed at display durations from 30 ms to 150 ms. Interestingly, the object provided the same benefit for integration and segregation despite their opposing perceptual demands. This study demonstrates the relationship that exists between the processing of temporal events and spatial objects, and shows how such spatial information can facilitate temporal integration.

A Comparative Study of Team Dynamics among Different Level of Football Players

Team dynamics are the unconscious, psychological forces that influence the direction of a team’s behaviour and performance (Myers, 2013). The purpose of the present study was to compare the team dynamics among male football players of U-15, U-17 and senior level. The Team Dynamics of 90 male state and national level football players were collected through the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ). To determine the difference of Team Dynamics level among players One-Way ANOVA was used for determining the differences across groups and was tested at 0.05 level. The results revealed that there was a significant difference found in the sub factors of team dynamics such as Attraction to Group Social, Attraction to Group Task, Group Integration Social among the levels but significant difference was not seen in the sub-factor of Group Integration Task. Also, results showed that the U-17 football players had significantly high scores on all the sub-factors of team dynamics as compared to the other two levels or groups.

Exploring age-related functional brain changes during audio-visual integration tasks in early to mid-adulthood

The seamless integration of visual and auditory information is a fundamental aspect of human cognition. Although age-related functional changes in Audio-Visual Integration (AVI) have been extensively explored in the past, thorough studies across various age groups remain insufficient. Previous studies have provided valuable insights into age-related AVI using EEG-based sensor data. However, these studies have been limited in their ability to capture spatial information related to brain source activation and their connectivity. To address these gaps, our study conducted a comprehensive audio-visual integration task with a specific focus on assessing the brain maturation effects in various age groups, particularly in early-mid adulthood. We presented visual, auditory, and audio-visual stimuli and recorded EEG data from Young (18–25 years), Transition (26–33 years), and Middle (34–50 years) age cohort healthy participants. We utilized source-based features for the classification of these age groups. We aimed to understand how aging affects brain activation and functional connectivity among hubs during audio-visual tasks. Our findings unveiled diminished levels of brain activation among middle-aged individuals, which escalate when exposed to AVI stimuli. Lower frequency bands showed substantial changes with increasing age during AVI. Our results demonstrated that implementing the k-means elbow method during the AVI task successfully categorized brain regions into five distinct brain networks. Additionally, we observed increased functional connectivity in middle age, particularly in the frontal, temporal, and occipital regions. These results highlight the compensatory neural mechanisms involved in aging during cognitive tasks.

Effects of different sensory integration tasks on the biomechanical characteristics of the lower limb during walking in patients with patellofemoral pain.

This study aimed to analyze the biomechanical characteristics of the lower limb in patients with patellofemoral pain (PFP) while walking under different sensory integration tasks and elucidate the relationship between these biomechanical characteristics and patellofemoral joint stress (PFJS). Our study's findings may provide insights which could help to establish new approaches to treat and prevent PFP. Overall, 28 male university students presenting with PFP were enrolled in this study. The kinematic and kinetic data of the participants during walking were collected. The effects of different sensory integration tasks including baseline (BL), Tactile integration task (TIT), listening integration task (LIT), visual integration task (VIT) on the biomechanical characteristics of the lower limb were examined using a One-way repeated measures ANOVA. The relationship between the aforementioned biomechanical characteristics and PFJS was investigated using Pearson correlation analysis. The increased hip flexion angle (P = 0.016), increased knee extension moment (P = 0.047), decreased step length (P < 0.001), decreased knee flexion angle (P = 0.010), and decreased cadence (P < 0.001) exhibited by patients with PFP while performing a VIT were associated with increased patellofemoral joint stress. The reduced cadence (P < 0.050) achieved by patients with PFP when performing LIT were associated with increased patellofemoral joint stress. VIT significantly influenced lower limb movement patterns during walking in patients with PFP. Specifically, the increased hip flexion angle, increased knee extension moment, decreased knee flexion angle, and decreased cadence resulting from this task may have increased PFJS and may have contributed to the recurrence of PFP. Similarly, patients with PFP often demonstrate a reduction in cadence when exposed to TIT and LIT. This may be the main trigger for increased PFJS under TIT and LIT.

Enhanced functional brain network integration in mild cognitive impairment during cognitive task performance: A compensatory mechanism or a result of neural disinhibition?

Although previous studies have observed increased global network integration during tasks in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the association between this integration and actual task performance has remained unexplored. Understanding this link is crucial for uncovering the underlying mechanism behind these changes in network integration and their potential role in MCI. Here, to find such a link, we investigated brain network integration derived from electroencephalography recordings during a visual motion discrimination task in older adults with MCI and those with normal cognition. We focused on a critical period just before stimulus presentation, which is known to be important for task performance. Our results revealed that during this period, MCI patients exhibited increased network integration compared to controls. Interestingly, increased integration was associated with worse task performance in the MCI group, suggesting it was not beneficial. No such association was found in the control group. Notably, this difference existed despite similar overall task performance between the groups. This suboptimal integration pattern during the cognitive task might reflect network de-differentiation due to disinhibition in MCI patients. Collectively, our study highlights the potential of analysing network integration during tasks to identify cognitive impairment and suggest a distinct role for network integration in MCI patients compared with healthy controls.

Spiking mode-based neural networks.

Spiking neural networks play an important role in brainlike neuromorphic computations and in studying working mechanisms of neural circuits. One drawback of training a large-scale spiking neural network is that updating all weights is quite expensive. Furthermore, after training, all information related to the computational task is hidden into the weight matrix, prohibiting us from a transparent understanding of circuit mechanisms. Therefore, in this work, we address these challenges by proposing a spiking mode-based training protocol, where the recurrent weight matrix is explained as a Hopfield-like multiplication of three matrices: input modes, output modes, and a score matrix. The first advantage is that the weight is interpreted by input and output modes and their associated scores characterizing the importance of each decomposition term. The number of modes is thus adjustable, allowing more degrees of freedom for modeling the experimental data. This significantly reduces the training cost because of significantly reduced space complexity for learning. Training spiking networks is thus carried out in the mode-score space. The second advantage is that one can project the high-dimensional neural activity (filtered spike train) in the state space onto the mode space which is typically of a low dimension, e.g., a few modes are sufficient to capture the shape of the underlying neural manifolds. We successfully apply our framework in two computational tasks-digit classification and selective sensory integration tasks. Our method thus accelerates the training of spiking neural networks by a Hopfield-like decomposition, and moreover this training leads to low-dimensional attractor structures of high-dimensional neural dynamics.

Prestimulus Alpha Phase Modulates Visual Temporal Integration.

When presented shortly after another, discrete pictures are naturally perceived as continuous. The neuronal mechanism underlying such continuous or discrete perception is not well understood. While continuous alpha oscillations are a candidate for orchestrating such neuronal mechanisms, recent evidence is mixed. In this study, we investigated the influence of prestimulus alpha oscillation on visual temporal perception. Specifically, we were interested in whether prestimulus alpha phase modulates neuronal and perceptual processes underlying discrete or continuous perception. Participants had to report the location of a missing object in a visual temporal integration task, while simultaneously MEG data were recorded. Using source reconstruction, we evaluated local phase effects by contrasting phase angle values between correctly and incorrectly integrated trials. Our results show a phase opposition cluster between -0.8 and -0.5 s (relative to stimulus presentation) and between 6 and 20 Hz. These momentary phase angle values were correlated with behavioral performance and event-related potential amplitude. There was no evidence that frequency defined a window of temporal integration.

Effective Communication and Group Cohesiveness in the Outdoor Recreation Program Curriculum

This research endeavor seeks to explore the correlation between effective communication and group cohesiveness within the framework of outdoor recreational programs' curriculum. The study delves into the two fundamental components of effective communication: external perception encompassing clarity and information dissemination, and internal dissemination focusing on conflict resolution. In addition, the analysis of group cohesiveness entails an examination of four dimensions: individual attractions towards the group in social contexts (ATG-S), individual attractions towards the group in task-oriented settings (ATG-T), group integration-social (GI-S) and group integration-task (GI-T). A set of questionnaires based on Interpersonal Communication Skills (ICS) and Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) was completed by 100 students who took an outdoor recreation program. The respondent in this study consists of male (n=58) and female (n=42) respondents. The result revealed that external perception is positively associated with group integration social (GI-S) but negatively associated with individual attraction to the group task (ATG-T). Internal disseverance is not associated with individual attraction to the group social (ATG-S) and group integration task (GI-T). Conversely, negatively associated with group integration social (GI-S) and individual attraction to the group task (ATG-T). The findings underscore the complex interplay between external factors (such as perception) and internal group dynamics (such as conflict management) in shaping overall group cohesiveness and member engagement. These findings could help students and academicians understand the elements of group cohesiveness which can lead to more effective group work and improved learning experience for better educational achievement.

Dissociable roles of the dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex in human categorization.

Models of human categorization predict the prefrontal cortex (PFC) serves a central role in category learning. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) have been implicated in categorization; however, it is unclear whether both are critical for categorization and whether they support unique functions. We administered three categorization tasks to patients with PFC lesions (mean age = 69.6 years; 5 men, 5 women) to examine how prefrontal subregions contribute to categorization. These included a rule-based (RB) task that was solved via a unidimensional rule, an information integration (II) task that was solved by combining information from two stimulus dimensions, and a deterministic/probabilistic (DP) task with stimulus features that had varying amounts of category-predictive information. Compared to healthy comparison participants, both patient groups had impaired performance. Impairments in the dlPFC patients were largest during the RB task, whereas impairments in the vmPFC patients were largest during the DP task. A hierarchical model was fit to the participants' data to assess learning deficits in the patient groups. PFC damage was correlated with a regularization term that limited updates to attention after each trial. Our results suggest that the PFC, as a whole, is important for learning to orient attention to relevant stimulus information. The dlPFC may be especially important for rule-based learning, whereas the vmPFC may be important for focusing attention on deterministic (highly diagnostic) features and ignoring less predictive features. These results support overarching functions of the dlPFC in executive functioning and the vmPFC in value-based decision making.Significance Statement Category learning creates flexible memory representations that easily generalize to novel situations. Although it is generally established that the prefrontal cortex is central to categorization, it is unclear how different prefrontal subregions contribute to learning. Separate literatures have implicated both the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in categorization, but there has been little effort to bridge these literatures. The current study is the first to examine categorization in patients with lesions centered in the dlPFC and vmPFC. We found that, as a whole, the PFC orients attention to relevant stimulus information. The dlPFC is important for rule-based learning, whereas the vmPFC is important for focusing attention on highly diagnostic features and ignoring less predictive features.

EEG connectivity in functional brain networks supporting visuomotor integration processes in dominant and non-dominant hand movements

Objective. This study explores the changes in the organization of functional brain networks induced by performing a visuomotor integration task, as revealed by noninvasive spontaneous electroencephalographic traces (EEG). Approach. EEG data were acquired during the execution of the Nine Hole Peg Test (NHPT) with the dominant and non-dominant hands in a group of 44 right-handed volunteers. Both spectral analysis and phase-based connectivity analysis were performed in the theta (ϑ), mu ( μ ) and beta (ß) bands. Graph Theoretical Analysis (GTA) was also performed to investigate the topological reorganization induced by motor task execution. Main results. Spectral analysis revealed an increase of frontoparietal ϑ power and a spatially diffused reduction of µ and ß contribution, regardless of the hand used. GTA showed a significant increase in network integration induced by movement performed with the dominant limb compared to baseline in the ϑ band. The µ and ß bands were associated with a reduction in network integration during the NHPT. In the µ rhythm, this result was more evident for the right-hand movement, while in the ß band, results did not show dependence on the laterality. Finally, correlation analysis highlighted an association between frequency-specific topology measures and task performance for both hands. Significance. Our results show that functional brain networks reorganize during visually guided movements in a frequency-dependent manner, differently depending on the hand used (dominant/non dominant).

Beyond words: an investigation of fine motor skills and the verbal communication spectrum in autism.

This study investigated the associations between fine motorskills and expressive verbal abilities in a group of 97 autistic participants (age 8-17, mean=12.41) and 46 typically developing youth (age 8-17, mean=12.48). Participants completed assessments of motor and verbal communication skills, including finger tapping speed, grooved pegboard, grip strength, visual-motor integration tasks, and measures of speech and communication skills. ASD group performance on motor tests was compared to controls. Non-parametric tests were used to analyze group differences and correlations between motor and verbal communication skills. Based on prior research, we hypothesized that individuals on the autism spectrum would exhibit deficits in fine motor speed, dexterity, pencil motor control, but not manual motor strength. Additionally, we expected that impaired fine motor skills would be linked to poorer performance on standardized measures of verbal abilities. The results indicated that 80% of autistic participants demonstrated an impairment on at least one measure of motor skills, and as a group, they exhibited significantly poorer fine motor performance compared to the non-ASD group in dominant hand finger tapping speed, bilateral fine motor dexterity measured via the grooved pegboard task, and pencil motor coordination and visual-motor integration measured on the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration-Sixth Edition. Moreover, impaired fine motor skills were associated with poorer performance on standardized clinical measures of verbal abilities, including articulation errors, receptive and expressive language and vocabulary, rapid naming, oromotor sequencing, and parent reported functional communication skills and social communication symptoms. Overall,our findings suggest there is a high prevalence of fine motor impairments in ASD, and these impairments were associated with a range of verbal abilities. Further research is warranted to better understand the underlying mechanisms of these associations and develop targeted interventions to address both fine motor and verbal impairments in ASD.

Hierarchical Predictions of Fine-to-Coarse Time Span and Atmospheric Field Reconstruction for Typhoon Track Prediction

The prediction of typhoon tracks in the Northwest Pacific is key to reducing human casualties and property damage. Traditional numerical forecasting models often require substantial computational resources, are high-cost, and have significant limitations in prediction speed. This research is dedicated to using deep learning methods to address the shortcomings of traditional methods. Our method (AFR-SimVP) is based on a large-kernel convolutional spatio-temporal prediction network combined with multi-feature fusion for forecasting typhoon tracks in the Northwest Pacific. In order to more effectively suppress the effect of noise in the dataset to enhance the generalization ability of the model, we use a multi-branch structure, incorporate an atmospheric reconstruction subtask, and propose a second-order smoothing loss to further improve the prediction ability of the model. More importantly, we innovatively propose a multi-time-step typhoon prediction network (HTAFR-SimVP) that does not use the traditional recurrent neural network family of models at all. Instead, through fine-to-coarse hierarchical temporal feature extraction and dynamic self-distillation, multi-time-step prediction is achieved using only a single regression network. In addition, combined with atmospheric field reconstruction, the network achieves integrated prediction for multiple tasks, which greatly enhances the model’s range of applications. Experiments show that our proposed network achieves optimal performance in the 24 h typhoon track prediction task. Our regression network outperforms previous recurrent network-based typhoon prediction models in the multi-time-step prediction task and also performs well in multiple integration tasks.

Does Timed Testing Affect the Interpretation of Efficiency Scores?—A GLMM Analysis of Reading Components

AbstractThe efficiency of cognitive component skills is typically assessed with speeded performance tests. Interpreting only effective ability or effective speed as efficiency may be challenging because of the within‐person dependency between both variables (speed‐ability tradeoff, SAT). The present study measures efficiency as effective ability conditional on speed by controlling speed experimentally. Item‐level time limits control the stimulus presentation time and the time window for responding (timed condition). The overall goal was to examine the construct validity of effective ability scores obtained from untimed and timed condition by comparing the effects of theory‐based item properties on item difficulty. If such effects exist, the scores reflect how well the test‐takers were able to cope with the theory‐based requirements. A German subsample from PISA 2012 completed two reading component skills tasks (i.e., word recognition and semantic integration) with and without item‐level time limits. Overall, the included linguistic item properties showed stronger effects on item difficulty in the timed than the untimed condition. In the semantic integration task, item properties explained the time required in the untimed condition. The results suggest that effective ability scores in the timed condition better reflect how well test‐takers were able to cope with the theoretically relevant task demands.

Міжсекторальна співпраця в контексті соціального розвитку територіальних громад України

The article examines the social aspects of the organization of intersectoral cooperation as one of the sources of the development of territorial communities and their adaptation to the complex socio-political and socio-economic conditions of the war period. The need to speed up recovery processes and successfully develop the country’s economy in combination with the European integration tasks currently makes this area of scientific research relevant. The purpose of the article is to determine the transformational changes in the development of intersectoral cooperation in territorial communities with the substantiation of stimulating mechanisms in the context of their social development tasks. The novelty is the generalization of the results of changes which took place in the organization of intersectoral cooperation in the field of social service provision in communities during the war period. The article uses the methods of system analysis, generalization and comparison, economic and statistical analysis. It was revealed that intersectoral cooperation in the territorial communities of the country has not yet acquired a systemic nature with appropriate legislative and regulatory support and is practiced only in case of critical exacerbation of local socio-economic or socio-ecological problems. The specifics of the modern organization of intersectoral interaction in the communities of the country was considered and the main trends of its development in the field of social service provision, as well as the possibility of overcoming the wartime barriers, were identified. It was found that the main obstacles to the development of intersectoral cooperation are related to its informal nature, the low level of complementarity of interacting parties’ interests, and the lack of platforms for communication. In the absence of a comprehensive concept of the development of territorial communities’ social sphere in the war period, an assessment of the sphere of social service provision in the communities was carried out, and the problems of its digitalization and staffing were determined from the perspective of the possibilities for development of various social interaction forms. The need to transition to a new format of intersectoral cooperation based on partnership, social responsibility, and constructive dialogue between participants in order to successfully implement local initiatives and minimize the negative consequences of competition between various entities and social groups has been proved. Actively spreading the possibilities of cross-sectoral cooperation, formed on collective efforts and joint responsibility on a partnership basis, to the social development of communities will ensure the successful solution of local socio-economic, information &amp; communication, environmental protection problems, taking into account the interests of local residents. The article defines directions and conditions of the organization of intersectoral cooperation that are strategically significant for the social development of the country’s territorial communities and suggests appropriate mechanisms capable of strengthening its potential in the near future.