Process Streams Research Articles

Comparing the 'When' and the 'Where' of Electrocortical Activity in Patients with Tourette Syndrome, Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Background/Objectives: Tourette Syndrome (TS), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB) are three disorders that share many similarities in terms of phenomenology, neuroanatomy, and functionality. However, despite the literature pointing toward a plausible spectrum of these disorders, only a few studies have compared them. Studying the neurocognitive processes using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) offers the advantage of assessing brain activity with excellent temporal resolution. The ERP components can then reflect specific processes known to be potentially affected by these disorders. Our first goal is to characterize 'when' in the processing stream group differences are the most prominent. The second goal is to identify 'where' in the brain the group discrepancies could be. Methods: Participants with TS (n = 24), OCD (n = 18), and BFRB (n = 16) were matched to a control group (n = 59) and were recorded with 58 EEG electrodes during a visual counting oddball task. Three ERP components were extracted (i.e., P200, N200, and P300), and generating sources were modelized with Standardized Low-Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography. Results: We showed no group differences for the P200 and N200 when controlling for anxiety and depressive symptoms, suggesting that the early cognitive processes reflected by these components are relatively intact in these populations. Our results also showed a decrease in the later anterior P300 oddball effect for the TS and OCD groups, whereas an intact oddball effect was observed for the BFRB group. Source localization analyses with sLORETA revealed activations in the lingual and middle occipital gyrus for the OCD group, distinguishing it from the other two clinical groups and the controls. Conclusions: It seems that both TS and OCD groups share deficits in anterior P300 activation but reflect distinct brain-generating source activations.

An integrated urban water resources management approach for infrastructure and urban planning

Transportation projects are crucial for the overall success of major urban, metropolitan, regional, and national development according to their capacity by bringing significant changes in socio-economic and territorial aspects. In this context, sustaining and development of economic and social activities depend on having sufficient Water Resources Management. This research helps to manage transport project planning and construction phases to analyze the surface water flow, high-level streams, wetland sites for development of transportation infrastructure planning, implementing, maintenance, monitoring and long-term evaluations to better face the challenges and solutions associated with effective management and enhancement to deal with Low, Medium, High levels of impact. A case study was carried out using the Arc Hydro extension within ArcGIS for processing and presenting spatially-referenced Stream Model. Geographical information systems have the potential to improve water resources planning and management. The study framework would be useful for water resources problem solving by enabling decision makers to collect qualitative data more effectively and gather them into the water management process by a systematic framework.

Position- and scale-invariant object-centered spatial localization in monkey frontoparietal cortex dynamically adapts to cognitive demand.

Egocentric encoding is a well-known property of brain areas along the dorsal pathway. Different to previous experiments, which typically only demanded egocentric spatial processing during movement preparation, we designed a task where two male rhesus monkeys memorized an on-the-object target position and then planned a reach to this position after the object re-occurred at variable location with potentially different size. We found allocentric (in addition to egocentric) encoding in the dorsal stream reach planning areas, parietal reach region and dorsal premotor cortex, which is invariant with respect to the position, and, remarkably, also the size of the object. The dynamic adjustment from predominantly allocentric encoding during visual memory to predominantly egocentric during reach planning in the same brain areas and often the same neurons, suggests that the prevailing frame of reference is less a question of brain area or processing stream, but more of the cognitive demands.

Techno-economic evaluation of antimony and bismuth upcycling from pyrometallurgical copper wastes

The recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) is important to reduce the supply risk disruption and the dependency on third-countries within the European Union (EU). The present study evaluates the techno-economic implications of antimony (Sb) and bismuth (Bi) recovery from the process stream produced in the polishing stages of the copper electrorefining circuit. The upcycling process was based on the selective precipitation of Sb and Bi from the concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl) (up to 5–6 M) process stream containing high arsenic (As) concentrations. Four different scenarios were included in the evaluation, in which Sb and Bi were recovered as Sb4O5Cl2(s)/Sb2O3(s) and BiOCl(s)/Bi2O3(s), respectively. The results showed that implementing Bi and Sb upcycling configurations in the copper metallurgical facilities was economically feasible when recovering BiOCl(s)/Sb4O5Cl2(s) and BiOCl(s)/Sb2O3(s) from the eluate stream. Sb recovery was the most cost-intensive process in all the configurations evaluated due to the high chemical requirements needed to neutralize the free HCl excess. The consumption of chemicals represented the most important cost contributor, since high amounts of chemicals are needed for the selective Sb and Bi precipitation. The sensitivity analysis illustrated that recovering these CRMs was economically attractive for all the configurations when achieving Sb and Bi prices above 8.5 and 9.5 €/kg, respectively. Under these CRM prices, the payback period and internal rate of return for the different scenarios range from 4 to 19 years and from 6 to 28 %, respectively. This output highlights that future increase in CRM prices can be an important driver to implement Sb and Bi recovery schemes. Overall, the results of this study highlight the economic potential of implementing Sb and Bi recovery schemes in copper metallurgical plants to align with the ambitious circular economy objectives established by the EU.

Modeling hydrodynamic and biomass pyrolysis effects of recycled product gases in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor

Fast pyrolysis of biomass in a fluidized bed reactor is typically conducted in a nitrogen gas environment. Recycling product gas can improve the economics of operating such a system by reducing reliance on pure process streams, but much less is known about how recycling pyrolysis product gas may affect fluidization behavior and pyrolysis kinetics. Therefore, gas effects in a fluidized bed biomass pyrolysis reactor were investigated using engineering correlations, low-order models, and CFD simulations for N2, H2, CO, CO2, and CH4 carrier gas mixtures. Our findings reveal viscosity of a gas mixture can be significantly underestimated depending on the model and correlation. Furthermore, fluidization characteristics such as Umf and gas-solid convective heat transfer can be greatly affected by the gas properties. By utilizing H2 as the fluidizing gas (instead of N2), while maintaining a constant fluidization ratio (Us/Umf), the bio-oil yields can be increased ∼5%. This is due to the lower density H2 producing similar hydrodynamics as N2 at higher gas flow rates. These higher flow rates result in shorter gas residence times, and as a result, less secondary reactions that convert bio-oil to light gases and char. Model results also suggest that bio-oil yield is not significantly affected by the type of carrier gas used, with bio-oil yield varying by ∼2% across different gas mixtures while maintaining constant flow rate. This indicates that recycled pyrolytic gas can be used as the carrier gas for biomass pyrolysis.

Innovative pilot-scale process for sustainable rare earth oxide production from coal byproducts: A comprehensive environmental impact assessment

This study developed a pilot-scale process feeding with two different materials resulting from a column leaching process and acid mine drainage (AMD) streams to recover rare earth elements (REEs). A life cycle assessment (LCA) study was done to evaluate the environmental impacts of rare earth production from deleterious material in the form of highly contaminated leachate (HCL) and low-contaminated leachate (LCL). The results indicate that the main contributors to environmental categories that produce RE-hydroxide stages are NaOH and electricity. Also, oxalic acid, Na2CO3, and hydrochloric acid significantly contribute to the production stage of individual rare earth oxides (REOs), including solvent extraction (SX) and precipitation steps. The HCL route has higher environmental impacts than LCL due to higher chemical/energy and H2SO4 usage, so 468 and 292 kg of carbon dioxide are generated to produce 1 t of individual REOs from HCL and LCL routes, respectively. Moreover, the carbon dioxide emitted from the process, including the RE-hydroxide production, SX, and REOs production, is less than 10 t CO2. A sensitivity analysis was also performed to assess the changeability of the environmental footprints of the main inputs in the SX process, as the main stage has a higher contribution to the whole process. This LCA study is the first step toward understanding the environmental influence of new processing methods to produce REEs from coal by-products through a developed pilot-scale process.

Recent University Research, Implementation and Education in Support of Pyrometallurgical Lead Processing

The increasing chemical complexity of lead process streams encountered in industrial high temperature processing operations, as the result of declining primary resources, increased metal recycling and increased overall range of metals in modern devices has highlighted the urgent need for new predictive tools, fundamental phase equilibria and thermodynamic information and thermodynamic models to characterise the chemical behaviour of these systems. The paper examines recent progress in experimental and thermodynamic modelling research on process fundamentals, the availability of advanced, predictive computer-based tools and the implementation of the research outcomes into industrial practice. A wide range of chemical systems and phase assemblages have been studied. Some examples are taken from the current research program at PYROSEARCH, which involves the characterisation of multi-component, multi-phase gas-slag-matte-speiss-metal-solids systems with the PbO-ZnO-“Cu2O”-FeO-Fe2O3-CaO-Al2O3-MgO-SiO2-S as major and As-Sn-Sb-Bi-Ag-Au-Ni-Co-Cr-Na as minor elements with focus on systems directly relevant to lead primary and recycling pyrometallurgical processes. Examples of the application of advanced analytical techniques to fundamental and applied industrial research are also given. The implementation of new research outcomes into industrial practice depends critically on commitments by research staff as well as industry management and the availability of well-trained metallurgical engineers. We examine the current status of research implementation, university research, metallurgical engineering education and the availability of suitable educational pathways and initiatives that can be taken to increase undergraduate enrolments. Active engagement and support by industry is critical in ensuring the continuation of academic programs and advanced technical skills required by the industry.

A novel model for sustainable production scheduling of an open-pit mining complex considering waste encapsulation

This work presents a novel mixed integer programming model for simultaneous optimisation of ore production and waste dumping schedule for an open-pit mining complex. The model maximises net present value and generates an optimal flow of materials from multiple sources (open pits, stockpiles) to destinations (processing streams, stockpiles, waste dumps) within the supply chain of a mining complex. In addition, the proposed model implements sustainable mining practices as it ensures the responsible disposal of potentially acid forming waste. An application of the new simultaneous and the traditional two-step (or sequential) methods confirms that the proposed method derives higher net present value and reflects a distinct advantage in addressing the acid mine drainage problem through encapsulation of potentially acid forming wastes. In addition, the results reveal that the new model requires less waste haulage work leading to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

A novel design approach of plate heat exchangers considering the economic impact of chevron angles

This work introduces a novel design approach for plate and frame heat exchangers for single and multi-stream units. Chevron-type plate corrugations are commonly used in these exchangers. When the plate length and width are fixed, the corrugation angle becomes a degree of freedom that can be modified to meet a specific heat load. The fact that chevron angles are commercially available at discrete values can limit design options, but this can be overcome by treating the corrugation angle as a design parameter. For the design of a two-stream heat exchanger, using plate dimensions of 0.661 × 0.21 m the best design is obtained for a corrugation angle of 46° and 166 thermal plates. In the case of heat recovery networks, it is shown how five single-phase heat exchangers can be replaced by a single minimum cost multi-stream unit with a plate dimension of 0.661 × 0.21 m and chevron angles for the different process and cold utility streams of: 30°, 38°, 54°,58° and 60° In this application, surface area can be reduced by 95 % and the annualised total cost by $1,283.30 USD, equivalent to 55 % reduction.

Addressing raw material variability: In-line FTIR sugar composition analysis of lignocellulosic process streams

For a sustainable economy, biorefineries that use second-generation feedstocks to produce biochemicals and biofuels are essential. However, the exact composition of renewable feedstocks depends on the natural raw materials used and is therefore highly variable. In this contribution, a process analytical technique (PAT) strategy for determining the sugar composition of lignocellulosic process streams in real-time to enable better control of bioprocesses is presented. An in-line mid-IR probe was used to acquire spectra of ultra-filtered spent sulfite liquor (UF-SSL). Independent partial least squares models were developed for the most abundant sugars in the UF-SSL. Up to 5 sugars were quantified simultaneously to determine the sugar concentration and composition of the UF-SSL. The lowest root mean square errors of the predicted values obtained per analyte were 1.02 g/L arabinose, 1.25 g/L galactose, 0.50 g/L glucose, 1.60 g/L mannose, and 0.85 g/L xylose. Equipped with this novel PAT tool, new bioprocessing strategies can be developed for UF-SSL.

Attention to audiovisual speech shapes neural processing through feedback-feedforward loops between different nodes of the speech network.

Selective attention-related top-down modulation plays a significant role in separating relevant speech from irrelevant background speech when vocal attributes separating concurrent speakers are small and continuously evolving. Electrophysiological studies have shown that such top-down modulation enhances neural tracking of attended speech. Yet, the specific cortical regions involved remain unclear due to the limited spatial resolution of most electrophysiological techniques. To overcome such limitations, we collected both electroencephalography (EEG) (high temporal resolution) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (high spatial resolution), while human participants selectively attended to speakers in audiovisual scenes containing overlapping cocktail party speech. To utilise the advantages of the respective techniques, we analysed neural tracking of speech using the EEG data and performed representational dissimilarity-based EEG-fMRI fusion. We observed that attention enhanced neural tracking and modulated EEG correlates throughout the latencies studied. Further, attention-related enhancement of neural tracking fluctuated in predictable temporal profiles. We discuss how such temporal dynamics could arise from a combination of interactions between attention and prediction as well as plastic properties of the auditory cortex. EEG-fMRI fusion revealed attention-related iterative feedforward-feedback loops between hierarchically organised nodes of the ventral auditory object related processing stream. Our findings support models where attention facilitates dynamic neural changes in the auditory cortex, ultimately aiding discrimination of relevant sounds from irrelevant ones while conserving neural resources.

The glass transition temperature of isolated native, residual, and technical lignin

Abstract The glass transition temperatures (T g) of native, residual, and technical lignins are important to lignocellulose pulping, pulp processing and side stream utilization; however, how the structural changes from native to residual and technical lignin influences T g has proven difficult to elucidate. Since the T g of macromolecules is greatly influenced by the molecular weight, low-molecular-weight fractions, such as milled wood lignin (MWL), are poor representatives of lignin in the cell wall. To circumvent this problem, lignins of both high yield and purity were isolated from Norway spruce and softwood kraft pulp using the enzymatic mild acidolysis lignin (EMAL) protocol. Technical softwood kraft lignin was also fractionated into groups of different molecular weights, to acquire lignin that spanned over a wide molecular-weight range. A powder sample holder for dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), was used to determine the T g of lignins, for which calorimetric methods were not sensitive enough. The T gs of EMAL were found to be closer to their in situ counterparts than MWL.

What do voices contribute to acoustic context effects in speech perception?

All perception takes place in context, and speech perception is no exception. Surrounding sounds form a context that guides speech perception. This is particularly true when earlier sounds inform the perception and/or recognition of later sounds. Several lines of research have advanced models where listeners use preceding context to account for characteristics of the talker’s voice, such as vocal tract properties, articulatory maneuvers, or the speaker’s identity. Conversely, research with nonspeech sounds and/or nonhuman animals has advanced alternative models where perception is responding more to signal acoustics than to vocal characteristics. In this talk, I will review recent evidence from our research on acoustic context effects and talker normalization when hearing speech and nonspeech (music) sounds. Parallel patterns of performance across speech and music domains are conducive to, but not definitive evidence of, acoustic context being utilized according to general signal acoustics, with speech- and voice-specific contributions coming later in the processing stream.

Accurate assessment of land–atmosphere coupling in climate models requires high-frequency data output

Abstract. Land–atmosphere (L–A) interactions are important for understanding convective processes, climate feedbacks, the development and perpetuation of droughts, heatwaves, pluvials, and other land-centered climate anomalies. Local L–A coupling (LoCo) metrics capture relevant L–A processes, highlighting the impact of soil and vegetation states on surface flux partitioning and the impact of surface fluxes on boundary layer (BL) growth and development and the entrainment of air above the BL. A primary goal of the Climate Process Team in the Coupling Land and Atmospheric Subgrid Parameterizations (CLASP) project is parameterizing and characterizing the impact of subgrid heterogeneity in global and regional Earth system models (ESMs) to improve the connection between land and atmospheric states and processes. A critical step in achieving that aim is the incorporation of L–A metrics, especially LoCo metrics, into climate model diagnostic process streams. However, because land–atmosphere interactions span timescales of minutes (e.g., turbulent fluxes), hours (e.g., BL growth and decay), days (e.g., soil moisture memory), and seasons (e.g., variability in behavioral regimes between soil moisture and latent heat flux), with multiple processes of interest happening in different geographic regions at different times of year, there is not a single metric that captures all the modes, means, and methods of interaction between the land and the atmosphere. And while monthly means of most of the LoCo-relevant variables are routinely saved from ESM simulations, data storage constraints typically preclude routine archival of the hourly data that would enable the calculation of all LoCo metrics. Here, we outline a reasonable data request that would allow for adequate characterization of sub-daily coupling processes between the land and the atmosphere, preserving enough sub-daily output to describe, analyze, and better understand L–A coupling in modern climate models. A secondary request involves embedding calculations within the models to determine mean properties in and above the BL to further improve characterization of model behavior. Higher-frequency model output will (i) allow for more direct comparison with observational field campaigns on process-relevant timescales, (ii) enable demonstration of inter-model spread in L–A coupling processes, and (iii) aid in targeted identification of sources of deficiencies and opportunities for improvement of the models.

Physicochemical and Fatty Acid Profile of Refined Tuna Fish Oil By-Product from Canning and Meal Fish Industries

Fish oil by-product (FOB) recovered from the precooking process in the cannery industry and the pressing process in fish meal production are potential resources. However, this fish oil still needs a refinery process to improve the quality of fish oil. This study aimed to identify the physicochemical characteristics of the initial fish oil by-product, the physicochemical profiles, and fatty acids of the fish oil by-product after degumming neutralization and bleaching (bentonite, zeolite, and carbon adsorbents) processes from the cannery and fish meal industry. Results showed the initial physicochemical characteristics of fish oil waste from fish flour have lower quality than canned products (acid value, free fatty acids, PV, AV, TOTOX value, viscosity, and refractive index) but are inversely proportional to the iodine value. Results showed degumming (D) and neutralization (N) processes from the Fish oil canning process (FCP) and Fish oil meal process (FMP) could improve the quality parameters of fish oil by-products by reducing the acid value (7.90, 0.65, 9.17, 0.58 mg KOH/g), respectively; free fatty acid (3.97, 0.33, 4.60, 0.29 % oleic) respectively; peroxide value (PV) (15.18, 7.38, 17.64, 7.10 mEq/kg), respectively; anisidine value (AV) (14.36, 6.61, 14.64, 6.51) respectively; total oxidation (TOTOX) value (44.72, 21.37, 49.64, 20.71) respectively; and iodine (167, 153, 163, 155 mg/100 g), respectively as well as increasing the lightness (23.80, 25.70, 20.65, 26.00), respectively. In the bleaching process (B), zeolite (15 %) was an effective adsorbent to obtain oil with the best quality parameters due to zeolite possessed greater polarity and surface area at a higher concentration, which resulted in the acid value for FCP and FMP (0.26, 0.22 mg KOH/g); free fatty acid (0.13, 0.15 % oleic); PV (2.44, 5.71 mEq/kg); AV (2.5, 4.9); TOTOX value (7.16, 9.11); and iodine (138, 151 mg/100 g) as well as increasing the lightness (37.08, 36.74) that are appropriate to International Fishmeal & Oil Manufacturers Association (IFOMA), Codex Alimentarius Committee (CAC), and International Fish Oils Standards (IFOS) standards (p < 0.05). All adsorbents effectively increase the brightness of the FOB. The higher the concentration of adsorbents, the higher the clarity of the FOB. For zeolite absorbents, there was an increase of 16.73 - 32.3 % for FCP and 15.39 - 32.69 % for FMP, but the viscosity decreased with a range of 24.50 - 36.50 cPs. FCP contains 14 fatty acids, while FMP contains 12 fatty acids. The number of SFA and MUFA detected in FCP is lower than in FMP. In contrast, the amount of PUFA in FCP is relatively higher than in FMP. The percentage of EPA and DHA in FCP is lower than in FMP. Overall, the refining process affects the fatty acid composition of fish oil by-products both in the canning process and in fish meal. HIGHLIGHTS Fish oil by-product (FOB) of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) from the fish canning process (CP), and fish meal process (MP) streams were successfully purified through a chemical process which was by IFOMA, CAC, and IFOSH standards Zeolite resulted in the best fish oil quality at higher concentrations The Final Fish oil canning process (FCP) was mainly composed of linoleic, whereas the Fish oil meal process (FMP) was highly distributed in oleic and palmitic acid The sum of PUFA in FCP after bleaching was relatively higher than in FMP GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Desalting Plasma Protein Solutions by Membrane Capacitive Deionization.

Plasma protein therapies are used by millions of people across the globe to treat a litany of diseases and serious medical conditions. One challenge in the manufacture of plasma protein therapies is the removal of salt ions (e.g., sodium, phosphate, and chloride) from the protein solution. The conventional approach to remove salt ions is the use of diafiltration membranes (e.g., tangential flow filtration) and ion-exchange chromatography. However, the ion-exchange resins within the chromatographic column as well as filtration membranes are subject to fouling by the plasma protein. In this work, we investigate the membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) as an alternative separation platform for removing ions from plasma protein solutions with negligible protein loss. MCDI has been previously deployed for brackish water desalination, nutrient recovery, mineral recovery, and removal of pollutants from water. However, this is the first time this technique has been applied for removing 28% of ions (sodium, chloride, and phosphate) from human serum albumin solutions with less than 3% protein loss from the process stream. Furthermore, the MCDI experiments utilized highly conductive poly(phenylene alkylene)-based ion exchange membranes (IEMs). These IEMs combined with ionomer-coated nylon meshes in the spacer channel ameliorate Ohmic resistances in MCDI improving the energy efficiency. Overall, we envision MCDI as an effective separation platform in biopharmaceutical manufacturing for deionizing plasma protein solutions and other pharmaceutical formulations without a loss of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Radiochemical and chemical characterization of fuel, salt, and deposit from the electrorefining of irradiated U-6 wt% Zr in hot cells

Abstract Metal fuels are considered as the promising candidates for future fast breeder reactors. Pyro-chemical reprocessing is the ideal method for reprocessing spent metallic fuels due to the inherent process advantages. Electrorefining run was demonstrated in a hot cell facility with irradiated U-6 wt% Zr alloy at 500 °C using LiCl–KCl eutectic melt. In order to understand the behavior of the actinides and various fission products during high-temperature electrolysis, various process streams, viz., irradiated metal alloy fuel, the eutectic salt, and the cathode deposit were analyzed for the uranium, plutonium, and other fission product contents. Various methods employed for characterizing the process streams and the behaviors of some of the fission products during the electrolysis process are highlighted. The major gamma emitting radionuclides present in the irradiated fuel were 106Ru, 125Sb, 134Cs, 137Cs, 144Ce, and 154Eu. During electrorefining, cesium, cerium and europium were oxidized and dissolved in the molten media, whereas ruthenium and antimony remained in the anode basket. A minor contamination of zirconium was found in the cathode deposit.

Reverse phase liquid chromatographic method for the measurement of uranium in process stream solutions from uranium extraction facility

Abstract The present paper describes a simple method for the determination of uranium in uranium process stream solutions by reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method using C18 column, mixture of α-hydroxy isobutyric acid and methanol as eluent and flow-through spectrophotometer detector. This method has an advantage that interfering elements like rare-earth elements do not retain on the column and elute near the solvent peak thereby not interfering with uranium elution peak. Different eluents and parameters like pH, concentration of eluent are studied for the purpose. The spiking standard recovery was found to be more than 90 %. The developed method has been compared with other techniques and found to be in agreement.

Electrophysiological correlates of self-related processing in adults with autism.

The term "self-bias" refers to the human propensity to prioritize self- over other-related stimuli and is believed to influence various stages of the processing stream. By means of event-related potentials (ERPs), it was recently shown that the self-bias in a shape-label matching task modulates early as well as later phases of information processing in neurotypicals. Recent claims suggest autism-related deficits to specifically impact later stages of self-related processing; however, it is unclear whether these claims hold based on current findings. Using the shape-label matching task while recording ERPs in individuals with autism can clarify which stage of self-related processing is specifically affected in this condition. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the temporal course of self-related processing in adults with and without autism. Thirty-two adults with autism and 27 neurotypicals completed a shape-label matching task while ERPs were concomitantly recorded. At the behavioral level, results furnished evidence for a comparable self-bias across groups, with no differences in task performance between adults with and without autism. At the ERP level, the two groups showed a similar self-bias at early stages of self-related information processing (the N1 component). Conversely, the autism group manifested a lessened differentiation between self- and other-related stimuli at later stages (the parietal P3 component). In line with recent claims of later phases of self-related processing being altered in autism, we found an equivalent self-bias between groups at an early, sensory stage of processing, yet a strongly diminished self-bias at a later, cognitive stage in adults with autism.

Characterizing the discriminability of visual categorical information in strongly connected voxels

Functional brain responses are strongly influenced by connectivity. Recently, we demonstrated a major example of this: category discriminability within occipitotemporal cortex (OTC) is enhanced for voxel sets that share strong functional connectivity to distal brain areas, relative to those that share lesser connectivity. That is, within OTC regions, sets of ‘most-connected’ voxels show improved multivoxel pattern discriminability for tool-, face-, and place stimuli relative to voxels with weaker connectivity to the wider brain. However, understanding whether these effects generalize to other domains (e.g. body perception network), and across different levels of the visual processing streams (e.g. dorsal as well as ventral stream areas) is an important extension of this work. Here, we show that this so-called connectivity-guided decoding (CGD) effect broadly generalizes across a wide range of categories (tools, faces, bodies, hands, places). This effect is robust across dorsal stream areas, but less consistent in earlier ventral stream areas. In the latter regions, category discriminability is generally very high, suggesting that extraction of category-relevant visual properties is less reliant on connectivity to downstream areas. Further, CGD effects are primarily expressed in a category-specific manner: For example, within the network of tool regions, discriminability of tool information is greater than non-tool information. The connectivity-guided decoding approach shown here provides a novel demonstration of the crucial relationship between wider brain connectivity and complex local-level functional responses at different levels of the visual processing streams. Further, this approach generates testable new hypotheses about the relationships between connectivity and local selectivity.