BrainCove: A Tool for Voxel-wise fMRI Brain Connectivity Visualization

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a non-invasive neuroimaging technique that utilizes spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations of blood-oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) signals to examine resting-state functional connectivity in the brain. In the past two decades, this technique has been increasingly utilized to investigate properties of large-scale functional neural networks as well as their alterations in various cognitive and disease states. However, much less is known about large-scale functional neural networks of the rodent brain, particularly in the awake state. Therefore, we attempted to unveil local and global functional connectivity in awake rat through a combination of seed-based analysis, independent component analysis and graph-theory analysis. In the current studies, we revealed elementary local networks and their global organization in the awake rat brain. We further systematically compared the functional neural networks in awake and anesthetized states, revealing that the rat brain was locally reorganized while maintaining global topological properties from awake to anesthetized states. Furthermore, specific neural circuitries of the rat brain were examined using resting-state fMRI. First anticorrelated functional connectivity between infralimbic cortex and amygdala were found to be evident with different preprocessing methods (global signal regression, regression of ventricular and white matter signal and no signal regression). Secondly the thalamocortical connectivity was mapped for individual thalamic groups, revealing group-specific functional cortical connections that were generally consistent with known anatomical connections in rat. In conclusion, large-scale neural networks can be robustly and reliably studied using rs-fMRI in awake rat, and with this technique we established a baseline of local and global neural networks in the awake rat brain as well as their alterations in the anesthetized condition.

The human brain connectome is a new and rapidly developing project in neuroscience. The pattern of structural and functional connectivity in the brain is not fixed, but is continuously changing in response to experiences. Ex­ploring these phenomena opens a powerful arsenal of analyses and computational approaches that could provide important new insights into clinical and cognitive neuroscience. The aim of the present study was to investigate the structural plasticity of the cortical areas of the brain during a memory task performance using functional MRI. Fifteen right-handed male subjects and fourteen right-handed female subjects were scanned during memory par­adigm performance. The scanning of the participants was performed with a 3Т MRI system - GE Discovery 750 w with a protocol including structural scan - Sag 3D T1 F-BRAVO FSPGR, slice thickness 1 mm, matrix 256N…256, flip angle 10о and standard block design functional scan - 2D EPI, slice thickness 3 mm, matrix 64N…64, TR (rep­etition time) - 3000 msec, TE (echo time) -30, flip angle 90о. Data were analysed using the SPM 12 (Statistical Paramertic Mapping) software running on MATLAB R2015 for Windows. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Statistical significance in brain cortical activation was not found between males and females. We found reliable occipital and temporal signal response across the block design contrasts with statistically significant differenc­es within the groups in both genders. The results highlighted several detailed differences between males and fe­males and potential future directions in brain activation studies.

Over recent years there has been a growing interest in molecular semiconductors of the oligoacene family. The interest has been spurred by the unique properties of these materials for applications for electronic devices, namely being °exible, cheap and exhibit- ing relatively high charge-carrier mobilities. Despite this interest, the nature of charge transport in the materials has remained the subject of intense debate. When these oligoacenes are used for device applications, they will often be evaporated as a ¯lm onto a substrate, since the fabrication process and the handling of these thin ¯lms is easier and cheaper than using single crystals. Besides the fundamental bulk properties, for the usage in devices it is also of high importance to know how the properties of these materials di®er at the interface with metals, since the substrates and contacts are often metallic. Therefore in this work both the vibrational and electronic properties of thin ¯lms of pentacene have been investigated as well as the intrinsic charge transport mechanism for the single-crystalline bulk material of pentacene and rubrene. The ¯rst main focus in this study was on the electronic and vibrational properties of thin layers of pentacene (ranging from 1 monolayer to 6 layers of pentacene molecules) evaporated on metal surfaces. These pentacene layers have been investigated using High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (HREELS), which is a surface sensitive technique that probes both the vibrational and electronic states of the top layers of the sample by detecting the loss in energy of a beam of monochromatic electrons. The main advantages of this technique in comparison to techniques like IR and Raman spectroscopy are the surface sensitivity, the high spectral resolution (FWHM of 13 cm¡1), the broad energy range (from lattice phonons to surface plasmons and interband transitions) and the ability to measure as a function of wave vector transfer. Pentacene was grown upon Ag(111) and Au(100) surfaces, forming thin layers of var- ious thicknesses. The obtained vibrational spectra were compared to the vibrational modes for an isolated molecule calculated using DFT methods. The spectra of ¯lms of over 4 molecular layers showed contributions from all the optical active modes predicted by the calculation as is expected for a non-frustrated Van Der Waals bonded crystalline material. Furthermore the spectra showed low energetic features related to the lattice phonons. Both inter- and intramolecular modes showed little to no dispersion. The spec- tra for a monolayer deviated strongly from the vibrational structure of the multi-layers. Not only were the intermolecular modes absent, all intramolecular optical active modes with a dipole moment parallel to the interface were screened by the metal surface. In the case of a monolayer of pentacene on Ag(111) the interaction with the surface is so strong that the symmetric Ag modes became optically active as a result of charge transfer from the metallic substrate. For the intermediate regime (layers of 2 to 4 molecules) the spectra showed several contributions that cannot be explained using the calculated data on the symmetry and energy of the intramolecular modes. With HREELS not only the vibrational aspects of the thin ¯lms were studied but also the electronic transitions. The spectra for layers of more than four molecular layers could be modeled by combining calculations on the position of both excitonic and band levels and calculations of the vibronic ¯ne structure. For a monolayer of pentacene, states within the electronic gap were observed, the so-called Charge Neutrality Levels, which are substrate dependent. With increasing thickness the observed presence and position of the exciton states di®ered, thereby giving more insight in the structure of pentacene near the interface. Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy (THz TDS) is a technique that allows determin- ing the complex frequency dependent conductivity and is a powerful tool to investigate the charge transport mechanism in materials. THz TDS was used to study the charge trans- port as a function of temperature for single crystals of both pentacene and rubrene. For pentacene the conductivity spectra at various temperatures showed a strong absorption for the low energetic vibrational modes and thereby gave evidence for the model proposed by A. Troisi and G. Orlandi. This model describes the charge transport behaviour by one single mechanism: the large °uctuations in the intermolecular coupling of electronic states caused by thermal molecular motions. Furthermore it is shown that the charge density, and as a result the interaction between charges, plays an important role in the conductivity of these materials. In conclusion, this work shows that vibrational aspects are a key factor in under- standing the charge transport in oligoacene materials, and that good knowledge of the properties of these materials at the interface is essential, since di®erences in both struc- ture and electronic interaction with the substrate give rise to di®erent vibrational and electronic states in oligoacene materials.

The Hypertext 2015 Doctorial Consortium session is held the first day of the 26th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media. It offers Ph.D. students an opportunity to present their ongoing research towards obtaining a Ph.D. degree in the disciplines related to the conference, mostly in Computer and Information Sciences but not limited to them. The themes of the submissions are strongly connected to the research tracks of this year's conference: Digital Connectivity, Data Connectivity and Digital Humanities. The Digital Connectivity track targets developing insights into the mechanisms of information generation and dissemination, characterization of evolutionary processes on online social networks, and studies of models and systems that support these processes. The second track, Data Connectivity, deals with the methods, techniques and technologies that can be used to make data available on the Web, with a special focus on how heterogeneous data sources can be connected to each other. Finally, the track of Digital Humanities seeks to attract work from an interdisciplinary perspective, on the intersection between computer science on one hand, and the humanities and social sciences on the other. During the DC session, students receive constructive feedback from their peers and from a panel of mentors to support them in envisioning added-value contributions to the state-of-the-art research in Hypertext and Social Media. The consortium session is open to all doctorial students by application. Each submission was reviewed by three senior researchers in the topics the students made their submissions. The DC session is aimed in particular at students who have defined a dissertation topic but are still more than one year from graduating at the time of application in order to obtain benefits from feedback. This year, the committee has accepted three contributions to be presented during the Doctorial Consortium session: Automated Methods for Identity Resolution in Heterogeneous Social Platforms by Paridhi Jahin. In this work, connected to the digital and data connectivity tracks of the conference, the author proposes novel methods to search and link user identities scattered across heterogeneous social networks. The methods consider carefully users' privacy, so they are designed to access only public and historic data. The evaluation is proposed on large datasets over multiple platforms to prove their significance in identity resolution of an online user. Language Innovation and Change in On-line Social Networks by Daniel Kershaw. As a fundamental aspect for human communication, this research focuses on forecasting online language change through the use of predictive and descriptive methodologies. This work is framed within structuration theory which helps the researcher in structuring the analysis of the dynamics of language (re)production - i.e. by the agent (user), the social structure and their interplay. A Framework to Provide Customized Reuse of Open Corpus Content for Adaptive Systems by Mostafa Bayomi. This work deals with issues of reusability of contents on adaptive systems. Adaptive systems tailor content specific to user's needs, but they face two big problems: (a) they use a closed corpus content that has been prepared for them a priori, and (b) the content is tightly coupled with other parts of the system, which hinders its reusability. This work presents a proposal that leverages the semantic web by extending an existing content provision system, Slice-pedia.

As increasing numbers of processors and agents pervade the human environment, societies comprising both humans and agents will emerge. Presently, it is unknown how a person might fair in such mixed societies. For the societies to operate effectively and efficiently, it is important for the humans and agents to recognize and understand each other's behavior. This paper provides an initial step in that understanding via two contributions: (1) we provide models, within a limited domain, for agents that behave like humans and (2) we present the results of simulated interactions between the human-like agents and a variety of purely rational agents. Our models for the behaviors of people are based on recent sociological research by Simpson and Willer [10] that explores humans' cooperative prosocial behavior, a conceivably non-rational process. Modeling human behaviors presents a means of exploring and understanding motivations, consequences, and resolutions to human-agent interactions. We aspire to exploit measured human behavior in order to observe its ramifications in an agent world, and to motivate development of human-agent societies. Our results show that, although there are pitfalls to which humans are vulnerable, there exist niches for human prosperity in a rational agent world.

Studies Reveal Rx for Doctors: A Daily Dose of Meditation

目的 探讨精神分裂症患者脑静息态默认网络、中心执行网络及突显网络的网络内及网络间的功能连接特点.方法 对74例精神分裂症患者(患者组)和79名相匹配的健康者(对照组)进行静息态fMRI扫描.采取功能连接分析方法,以内侧前额叶皮质及右侧前岛叶为感兴趣区域分别提取默认网络、中心执行网络及突显网络,分析3个网络内及网络间静息态功能连接情况;并对有差异的功能连接与精神症状及病程等进行偏相关分析.结果 与对照组相比,患者组内侧前额叶皮质与双侧背外侧前额叶皮质(左侧-0.02±0.18与-0.12±0.12,t=4.25,P＜0.01;右侧-0.02±0.11与-0.10±0.10,t=5.40,P＜0.01)、双侧豆状壳核(左侧0.14±0.12与0.04±0.10,t=5.03,P＜0.01;右侧0.13±0.11与0.03±0.98,t=4.96,P＜0.01)的功能连接增强;右侧前岛叶与左侧额中回(-0.05±0.17与-0.07±0.17,t=4.60,P＜0.01)及楔前叶/后扣带回(0.01±0.13与-0.09±0.14,t=4.01,P＜0.01)的功能连接增强(均采用高斯随机场理论校正,体素水平P＜0.01,簇水平P＜0.05);默认网络与中心执行网络、突显网络间的负向功能连接减小甚至消失(Bonferroni校正P＜0.05).患者组PANSS阳性症状分与右侧前岛叶与楔前叶/后扣带回皮质间的功能连接呈正相关(r=0.232,P=0.025);患者组病程与右侧前岛叶与左侧额中回(r=0.288,P=0.007)、楔前叶/后扣带回(r=0.196,P=0.049)间的功能连接呈正相关.结论 精神分裂症患者存在静息态默认网络、中心执行网络及突显网络3个网络间的连接异常,可能与精神分裂症的病理机制有关.

This paper describes two approaches to the automatic generation of behavioral VHDL models from descriptions written in natural language. Both approaches are based on a modeling style in which behavior is represented by a system of interconnected processes. The first approach employs a semantic grammar to directly generate a single VHDL process from a paragraph written in a restricted English called ModelSpeak. The second approach accepts more general English and generates models consisting of multiple processes. series of sentences describing the behavior of a single process and generated correct VHDL code for it. This interface requires the behavior be expressed in a highly restricted English called ModelSpeak (10). Conditional expressions (if statements) may be nested to two levels, and interaction is invoked by the interface to resolve scope ambiguity of loops. This interface is implemented with a semantic grammar (3) in Prolog. The second interface (Approach II) to the Modeler's Assistant for natural language is substantially more complex, but accepts more general English expressions and generates multiple-process models. In this approach, each sentence is parsed by a bottom-up, parallel chart parser to generate a set of valid parse trees. The trees are examined by a Semantic Analyzer (7) to determine one which is semantically correct, and a conceptual graph (14) (semantic network) of its meaning is generated. Once the conceptual graph of individual sentences are joined together (12), a program called the Linker (8) analyzes the graph to produce a Process Model Graph and VHDL process code for the Modeler's Assistant. Nodes in the conceptual graph representing verbs typically generate processes or the conditions which govern them. Nodes representing objects generate signals. The modeling style underlying the Linker produces a sizable collection of processes, each consisting of a single if_then statement. To avoid unnecessary bus resolutions, multiple processes assigning to the same signal are merged. Since signal types are generally not expressed in the English description, they may be added interactively later. Before describing the approaches in more detail, related research on natural language interfaces is reviewed briefly.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) provides a non-invasive manner to aid clinical diagnosis, while its limitation is the slow scanning speed. Recently, due to the high costs of health care and taking account of patient comfort, some methods such as Parallel MRI (pMRI) and compressed sensing MRI have been developed to reduce the MR scanning duration under the sampling process. It is almost unavoidable to accept some doses of X-rays in computed tomography (CT scans). If one could find a more efficient way to represent the required visual information, the tasks of image processing and medical imaging would become easier and less troublesome. In this paper, first, we used pMRI on complex double data of brain magnetic resonance image. pMRI significantly reduces the number of measurements in the Fourier domain because each coil only acquires a small fraction of the whole measurements. It is important to reconstruct the original MR image efficiently and precisely for better diagnosis. In this research, we proposed a new super resolution and deblurring algorithm with dictionary learning, based on assuming a local Sparse-Land model on image patches, serving as regularization, then we validated the proposed method by using another one called the adaptive selection of sub dictionaries- adaptive reweighted sparsity regularization. Visual comparison and significant difference in psnr calculation (0.8111db) and time complexity showed that the proposed method had much better results.

BackgroundPatients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) show functional and structural connectivity alterations in the default mode network (DMN) while cerebrovascular disease (CeVD) shows functional and structural connectivity changes in the executive control network (ECN). Such disruptions are associated with memory and executive function impairment, respectively. Concurrent AD and CeVD pathology is associated with a higher rate of cognitive decline and differential neurodegenerative patterns. Together, such findings are likely reflective of different underlying pathology in AD with and without CeVD. However, few studies have examined the effect of CeVD on network functional connectivity (task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)) and structural connectivity (diffusion MRI) of the DMN and ECN in aMCI and AD using a hypothesis-driven multiple seed-based approach.MethodsWe examined functional and structural connectivity network changes in 39 aMCI, 50 aMCI+CeVD, 47 AD, 47 AD+CeVD, and 65 healthy controls (HCs) and their associations with cognitive impairment in the executive/attention and memory domains.ResultsWe demonstrate divergent DMN and ECN functional connectivity changes in CeVD and non-CeVD subjects. Compared with controls, intra-DMN hippocampal functional connectivity reductions were observed in both AD and AD+CeVD, while intra-DMN parietal and medial prefrontal-parietal functional connectivity was higher in AD+CeVD and aMCI+CeVD, but lower in AD. Intra-ECN frontal functional connectivity increases and fronto-parietal functional connectivity decreases occurred in CeVD but not non-CeVD subjects. Such functional connectivity alterations were related with cognitive impairment in a dissociative manner: intra-DMN functional connectivity changes were associated with worse cognition primarily in non-CeVD groups, while intra-ECN functional connectivity changes were associated with worse cognition primarily in CeVD groups. Additionally, CeVD and non-CeVD groups showed overlapping and distinct alterations in inter-network DMN-ECN functional connectivity depending on disease severity. In contrast to functional connectivity, CeVD groups had greater network structural connectivity damage compared with non-CeVD groups in both aMCI and AD patients. Network structural connectivity damage was associated with worse cognition.ConclusionsWe demonstrate differential functional and structural network changes between aMCI and AD patients with and without CeVD through diverging and deleterious network-based degeneration underlying domain-specific cognitive impairment.

Reading is of enormous importance in our modern information-based society and an essential activity in everyday life. While most children successfully learn to read within a few years, reading acquisition is severely impaired in about 5-10% of children, resulting in a specific reading disorder called “developmental dyslexia”. One of the core deficits of individuals with dyslexia is impaired automatic word recognition, which leads to slow, dysfluent reading. Neuroimaging studies in adult readers have linked this orthographic processing deficit to deficits in a specific section of the left occipitotemporal cortex (the visual word form area; VWFA) involved in visual word processing. However, the exact function of the VWFA and the larger left occipitotemporal VWF-system in healthy children, as well as its dysfunctioning in dyslexic children is still unclear. In addition, since the VWF-system and its core region (the VWFA) are part of the typical language network that encompasses several other regions crucially involved in reading, there is considerable interest in examining the connectivity between those brain areas. This Ph.D. thesis aimed to investigate both the function and functional connectivity comparing control children and children with dyslexia. In Study A we examined (i) two levels of functional specialization of visual word processing − (a) coarse specialization for print and (b) sensitivity to orthographic familiarity of letter strings − in the left occipitotemporal VWFsystem in control children, and (ii) whether these types of specialization were impaired in children with dyslexia. In Study B we investigated (i) the functional connectivity of the VWF-system and other major components of the language network in control children, and (ii) whether these connections were different in dyslexic children. We tested 18 dyslexic and 24 age-matched control children (age 9.7- 12.5 years) while they indicated if visual stimuli (real words, pseudohomophones, pseudowords and false-fonts) sounded like a real word. Five adjacent regions of interest (ROIs) in the bilateral occipitotemporal cortex were selected to cover the full anterior-posterior extent of the VWFsystem. In Study A, we used functional MRI to assess the brain activity in response to four types of visual letter strings varying in orthographic familiarity. In Study B, we used functional connectivity MRI to examine interregional cooperation within the language network, focussing on the VWFA. The results from Study A revealed that control children show a dissociation of two functional levels of specialization within the VWF-system: (1) coarse specialization for print, i.e. different processing of letter strings than of visual control stimuli and (2) sensitivity to orthographic familiarity of letter strings. Furthermore, we showed that both of these functional levels of VWF-system specialization could not be detected in children with dyslexia in the entire VWF-system. To answer the question whether this functional impairment of the VWF-system is associated with impaired cooperation of this system with other language areas, we looked at the functional connectivity of these regions. The results from Study B revealed that, in control children, the functional connections with typical language areas (left inferior parietal lobule and left inferior frontal gyrus) were specific for the VWFA and did not generalize to left occipitotemporal regions neighbouring the VWFA. In addition, we demonstrated that these functional connections between the VWFA and other major language areas are disrupted in children with dyslexia, whereas those of neighbouring areas were not affected. The results of both studies reveal an impairment of both function (of the VWF-system) and functional connectivity (of the VWFA with left inferior parietal and inferior frontal cortex) in dyslexic children. In conclusion, the findings presented in this work demonstrate that (1) word processing deficits in dyslexic children are associated with a pervasive developmental dysfunction of the entire VWF-system, and that (2) brain regions necessary for fluent, skilled reading may not work together properly during reading.

Mainero C, Boshyan J, Hadjikhani N. Altered functional magnetic resonance imaging resting-state connectivity in periaqueductal gray networks in migraine. Annals of Neurology 2011;70:838-845. Objective: The periaqueductal gray matter (PAG), a known modulator of somatic pain transmission, shows evidence of interictal functional and structural abnormalities in migraineurs, which may contribute to hyperexcitability along spinal and trigeminal nociceptive pathways, and lead to the migraine attack. The aim of this study was to examine functional connectivity of the PAG in migraine. Methods: Using resting-state functional MRI, we compared functional connectivity between PAG and a subset of brain areas involved in nociceptive/somatosensory processing and pain modulation in 17 subjects with migraine, during a pain-free state, versus 17 genderand age-matched controls. We also assessed the relation between intrinsic resting-state correlations within PAG networks and the average monthly frequency of migraine attacks, as well as allodynia. Results: Our findings show stronger connectivity between the PAG and several brain areas within nociceptive and somatosensory processing pathways in migraineurs versus controls. In addition, as the monthly frequency of migraine attacks worsens, the strength of the connectivity in some areas within these pathways increases, whereas a significant decrease in functional resting-state connectivity between the PAG and brain regions with a predominant role in pain modulation (prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, amygdala) can be evidenced. Finally, migraineurs with a history of allodynia exhibit significantly reduced connectivity between PAG, prefrontal regions, and anterior cingulate compared to migraineurs without allodynia. Interpretation: These data reveal interictal dysfunctional dynamics within pain pathways in migraine manifested as an impairment of the descending pain modulatory circuits, likely leading to loss of pain inhibition, and hyperexcitability primarily in nociceptive areas. Comments: Functional neuroimaging techniques have helped elucidate the underlying physiology of migraines. Unlike traditional functional magnetic resonance imaging scans done during a task, resting state functional connectivity is a relatively new neuroimaging technique in which participants are scanned at rest, and the lowfrequency spontaneous fluctuations found to be highly correlated are thought to represent brain areas that are functionally connected at baseline. Mainero et al recently conducted this study to assess the functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) (a region previously implicated in the pathogenesis of migraine) to other brain regions in 17 migraineurs interictally compared with 17 age-/gendermatched controls. They found that compared with the controls, the migraineurs had increased resting state functional connectivity between the PAG, and somatosensory and nociceptive processing pathways. The connections between the PAG and the supramarginal gyrus, anterior insula, and hypothalamus were increased in migraineurs with more frequent attacks, while the connections between PAG and the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, amygdala, and medial thalamus were decreased in migraineurs with more frequent attacks. The 5 migraineurs with allodynia also had significantly reduced connectivity between the PAG and the anterior insula, anterior cingulate, and prefrontal cortex vs genderand age-matched migraineurs without allodynia. This study is one of the first to use resting state functional connectivity analyses to compare the intrinsic neural connections in migraineurs vs controls. As expected, many of the connections between the PAG, and nociceptive and sensory processing pathways were increased in the migraineurs, and some of those connections were stronger in those with more frequent attacks. However, unexpectedly, those with more frequent migraines and those with allodynia had decreased connections between the PAG and areas involved in the cognitive modulation of pain. This suggests that From the Graham Headache Center, Faulkner/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA,

Objective Using olfactory task functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the difference in brain olfactory activation between patients with subjective cognitive decline and normal elderly subjects, and to explore the objective image markers for early identification and evaluation the progression from SCD to Alzheimer′s disease (AD). Methods Twenty patients with SCD (SCD group) and twenty matched normal elderly subjects (NC group) were recruited from the community from March 2017 to December 2018. A full neuropsychological scale tests battery, olfactory behavioral tests and olfactory task-fMRI were performed. The differences between olfactory behavior, neuropsychological scales, and task-fMRI brain activation between the two groups were tested. Further, brain regions, which had significantly different activations under task-fMRI, were used as seeds for resting state functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Finally, the correlations between brain activation and olfactory behavior along with clinical neuropsychological scale tests were examined. Results The results of this study showed SCD had a significant decrease in olfactory behavior (olfactory recognition ability) compared with NC (t=-3.042, P<0.01), and there was no statistically significant difference in olfactory threshold. Significant declines were also observed in the SCD self-rating scale (t=6.973, P<0.01), the immediate (t=-4.623, P<0.01) and delayed (t=-2.746, P<0.01) testing of Philadelphia word learning, while the remaining neuropsychological scales were normal. In the olfactory task-fMRI, activation of bilateral primary olfactory cortical regions was significantly reduced in SCD patients, including bilateral entorhinal cortex, amygdala, piriform cortex, anterior olfactory nucleus, and head of the hippocampus. The resting state functional connectivity with the primary olfactory cortex (POC) as the seed showed that the functional connectivity between the olfactory system and the default model network (DMN) of SCD patients was significantly weakened (AlphaSim correction with voxel level P<0.01 and cluster level P<0.05). The Beta value of the left POC was significantly positively correlated with the olfactory threshold and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) (r=0.329, P=0.041; r=0.317, P=0.046). Partial correlation analysis indicated that there was a significantly positive correlation between the FC of the left POC with the right/left inferior frontal gyrus, the left frontal middle gyrus and the right inferior parietal, and the score of immediate Philadelphia word learning test(r=0.411, P=0.008; r=0.400, P=0.011; r=0.329, P=0.003; r=0.454, P=0.003). The FC between the left POC and the right inferior temporal gyrus was negatively correlated with the score of trail making test (TMT) B, and the FC between the left POC and the right inferior was negatively correlated with score of language fluency test (r=-0.317, P=0.047; r=-0.333, P=0.036). The FC between the right POC and the left inferior parietal was positively correlated with the score of immediate Philadelphia word learning (r=0.315, P=0.048), while the FC between right POC and left middle occipital gyrus was negatively corrected with Language Fluency Test (r=-0.403, P=0.01). Conclusion Olfactory function has been impaired in SCD patients with normal standard cognition and phychiatric rating scales, and the changes in the activation of the primary olfactory cortex, such as the entorhinal cortex, may be an early neural circuit damage biomarker for objective evaluation of SCD. Key words: Subjective cognitive decline; Olfactory perception; Magnetic resonance imaging

The aim of the current research is to compare the capabilities of a thesaurus and an ontology for retrieval of concepts. The research also develops the methodology of ontology construction by implementing domain analysis methodology. The present work by applying the domain analysis approach developed a prototype ontology named ASFAOnt in the domain of Indexing by reengineering a current thesaurus in Persian language named ASFA. The ontology was evaluated by a retrieval test in which the usability and the performance of the ontology were investigated. Usability and performance were compared with a baseline, a classic-type thesaurus with the conventional thesaurus structure, ASFA thesaurus. The evaluation was carried out as a controlled experiment in which a group of information searchers, LIS master students, used the thesaurus and ontology to extract three keywords according to their in mind search queries. The evaluative study was followed by a qualitative analysis of the nature of concepts, individual relationships and the textual and visual display so as to provide an understanding of and insight into the quality of the ontology as well as to gather ideas for further development. In order to gather more validated data on users’ performance and satisfaction, thinking aloud technique was used. Also the experimental retrieval test in the usability test was followed by a questionnaire survey, constructed on the basis of ONTOMETRIC approach. The result of the study indicates that ontology structure is useful and provides valuable inspiration for the user. Providing enriched conceptual content and specific relationships have stimulated users to do more interaction with the ontology and to achieve more satisfaction with the applicability and potential of the ontology in comparison with the thesaurus in the traditional structure.

textabstractThis paper proposes to understand the globalizing of online Social Network Sites (SNS) through the spatial metaphor of global parks. It builds upon a commonly accepted ideation of the city as socially-constructed and that which has been harnessed to understand the spatiality of the Internet. Over the decades we have learnt to conceptualize the Internet with the aid of metaphors, including that of the city to grasp its intricate information highways, networks and connectivity, the underlying logic that dictates movement within these spaces and nodes of concentrated social action. By equating the Internet to the city, we are compelled to extend our imagination by applying our understandings of urban planning and geography to current vital conversations on the shaping of Internet spaces. The persistence of this parallel has matured our thinking significantly from the utopic notion of the web as a frontier of limitless and depoliticized space to a more architected and socio-economic phenomenon of a propertied and contextual digital place. Given that the city has been a useful analogy for the Internet to confront its directionality and political intent in design and usage, this paper takes this parallel further, delving into a segment of the Internet that is currently in the midst of tremendous speculation- that of Social Network Sites (SNS) and its seemingly open, democratic, social and inclusive nature. If we narrow our attention to a domain of the city that is imbued with a similar rhetoric of being open, social and leisurely, we find ourselves in the presence of urban parks. By drawing this linkage, we become aware of the deeply historical and transnational character of public leisure spaces. This paper takes this dialogue further by investigating the globalization of the Internet and that of social network sites. This argument uses the metaphorical parallel of the city = Internet as a starting point and capitalizes on the rich literature surrounding the globalization of the cityscape or what is popularly referred to as the global city; these are spaces that serve as a fulcrum for the industrial, the creative, the leisurely, and the privileged as well as the temporal laboring and migrant class. This effort allows us to constructively borrow from the field of urban studies and extend important debates surrounding globalization of the material domain to its virtual counterpart- the Internet and its social network sites to better confront the political, socio-cultural and economic dimensions of globalization and its online/offline intermediations.