Towards structured sharing of raw and derived neuroimaging data across existing resources

Data sharing efforts increasingly contribute to the acceleration of scientific discovery. Neuroimaging data is accumulating in distributed domain-specific databases and there is currently no integrated access mechanism nor an accepted format for the critically important meta-data that is necessary for making use of the combined, available neuroimaging data. In this manuscript, we present work from the Derived Data Working Group, an open-access group sponsored by the Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN) and the International Neuroimaging Coordinating Facility (INCF) focused on practical tools for distributed access to neuroimaging data. The working group develops models and tools facilitating the structured interchange of neuroimaging meta-data and is making progress towards a unified set of tools for such data and meta-data exchange. We report on the key components required for integrated access to raw and derived neuroimaging data as well as associated meta-data and provenance across neuroimaging resources. The components include (1) a structured terminology that provides semantic context to data, (2) a formal data model for neuroimaging with robust tracking of data provenance, (3) a web service-based application programming interface (API) that provides a consistent mechanism to access and query the data model, and (4) a provenance library that can be used for the extraction of provenance data by image analysts and imaging software developers. We believe that the framework and set of tools outlined in this manuscript have great potential for solving many of the issues the neuroimaging community faces when sharing raw and derived neuroimaging data across the various existing database systems for the purpose of accelerating scientific discovery

Living Within the Margins: The Constitutional Culture of Irish Life Law and Literature

Serving as a stepping stone to asserting independence from British authority and oppression, the Bunreacht Na hÉireann, Ireland’s modern constitution, allowed the nation and its people finally to shape themselves by their own legal standards, customs, and norms. Yet, after years of oppression from forced British standards, Ireland began the search for its own distinct voice as a newly liberated, competitive country. This thesis explores how the Irish Constitution contributes to shaping a homogenous society that promotes normative views and behaviors that damagingly marginalize minority groups–who differ from such social standards. By examining the specific language, diction, order and structure of the redrafted 1937 version of the Irish Constitution, this project conducts a comparative study of law and literature that illustrates exactly how the words and structures (or lack-thereof) within the Bunreacht Na hÉireann juxtapose the major marginalized communities they govern, which include Irish Travelers, women, immigrants, emigrants, and the disabled. By taking this constitutional analysis and setting it in dialogue with the social and legal themes explored within the imaginative literature of Donal Ryan–particularly within his novels The Spinning Heart (2012), The Thing About December (2013), A Slanting of the Sun (2015), and All We Shall Know (2016)–as well as the legal theories of Robert Cover, Ireland’s case law, and the country’s current journalism, I unveil the significant degree to which the language of certain provisions under the Irish Constitution–mainly those concerning fundamental and personal rights–anthropologically and sociologically shape the way in which contemporary Irish society functions. Explicitly or tacitly, the Bunreacht Na hÉireann, through its interpretations by the government, courts, and modern Irish society, promotes a dated sense of “Irishness,” one mainly dominated by the early values of the 1900s placed upon white, Irish-born, Catholic males and families, that in turn isolate people of heterogeneous cultures regardless of whether they are Irish or non-Irish, citizens or foreigners. By constitutional default, those that fail to fit the idealized Irish mold are stigmatized as liminal others or as outsiders at the margins of Irish society. Centered around the constitutional themes of citizenship, education, and religion, the project at hand discusses and questions the social and legal permissibility, as well as the consequences, of stifling the voices and rights of minority groups who have now taken on the role of the once colonized Irish. This thesis not only acknowledges Ireland’s marginalized populations but also creates a better understanding of the residual effects of colonization that the Bunreacht Na hÉireann aims to eschew but, paradoxically, promotes in the present because of its current linguistic construction

Hemangioblastic foci in human first trimester placenta: distribution and gestational profile

INTRODUCTION: The human placenta is a site of both hematopoiesis and vasculogenesis. There are reports of hemangioblastic foci (HAF) in the first trimester placenta, but little published information about their spatiotemporal incidence. METHODS: We have used semi-thin sections and whole mount staining techniques on archival early pregnancy hysterectomy material as well as freshly-collected termination tissue. RESULTS: We report a description of the distribution of HAF, their gestational profile, and some characteristics of the constituent cells. We show crypt-shaped HAF are present in villi at different levels from 4 to 11 weeks and in the chorionic plate from 4 to 9 weeks. In the villous placenta, the foci often approach closely at one end to the trophoblast basement membrane. Morphologically they show remarkable similarity to those found in the yolk sac at similar stages. In some crypts, all cells are CD34+, but CD34 and nestin progressively segregate into the endothelial lineage. Brachyury is present in less differentiated cells. The erythroid lineage is dominant, as shown by the widespread expression of CD235a/glycophorin and characteristic erythroid morphologies, indicating various degrees of differentiation. However, CD41 is also present in non-endothelial cells. Initially a discontinuous UEA-1/CD31-positive endothelium forms at the periphery of the foci. These cells appear to become integrated into the developing vasculogenic/angiogenic vessel network. We also demonstrate that, independent of HAF, vasculogenesis occurs near the tips of growing villi during the first trimester. DISCUSSION: We suggest HAF interface with the developing vascular network, producing communication channels that allow erythrocytes to enter the placental-embryonic circulation. We speculate that the erythroid cells act as oxygen reservoirs during the period before flow of maternal blood through the intervillous space of the placenta, allowing a slow feed of oxygen-rich cells to the developing embryo

Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation as an Adjuvant for Nonfluent Aphasia Therapy: A Proof-Of-Concept Study

Identifying effective and efficient rehabilitation tools is crucial to improve language outcomes for persons living with chronic aphasia. Speech entrainment has proved to be particularly successful in improving speech output in nonfluent aphasia. It is hypothesized that, for patients with aberrant oscillatory synchronization between anterior and posterior language regions of the left hemisphere, speech entrainment may act as an external gaiting mechanism to bolster an impaired efference copy and improve synchrony between these regions. Theoretical and empirical evidence supports this idea that speech production relies on anterior-posterior connectivity in the left hemisphere. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) delivers low, periodically-alternating currents to improve functional connectivity between targeted brain regions through the amplification and entrainment of endogenous oscillations. Previous work suggests that in-phase tACS (alternating current with 0° relative phase difference) improves behavioral performance while anti-phase stimulation (current delivered with 180° phase difference) results in impaired behavioral performance secondary to impeded network synchronization. The goals of the present investigation were to determine: 1) if HD-tACS boosts behavioral outcomes (as measured by speech fluency and timing in a speech entrainment task) and 2) the extent to which stroke-induced damage predicts HD-tACS-induced effects on fluency. This was a preliminary and proof-of-concept study in which high definition transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) was paired with a speech entrainment paradigm in a cohort of persons with nonfluent aphasia. 1 mA of HD-tACS at a theta frequency (7 Hz) was applied to anterior and posterior regions of the left hemisphere across three stimulation conditions: 1) in-phase stimulation, 2) anti-phase stimulation, 3) sham. Group level analyses failed to support these hypotheses. Although not statistically significant, the primary behavioral outcome measure (the proportion of correct script words) and secondary measures such as the number of total correct words demonstrated a higher median for the in-phase condition while the number of speech errors was higher during the ‘anti-phase’ condition. Spectral-temporal analysis used mel-frequency cepstral coefficients in a dynamic time warping algorithm to examine the temporal distance between the AV model and patient productions during the task. Results suggest that patients’ speech was better entrained (as evidenced by a smaller distance between the model and participant) during the in-phase stimulation condition as compared to sham. Retrospective neuroimaging data suggest that patients who demonstrated better behavioral performance during the in-phase stimulation, had greater preservation of the inferior temporal gyrus (z = 4.26) and poorer coherence as measured by rsfMRI between anterior and posterior regions (inferior frontal gyrus, pars opercularis to middle temporal gyrus; z = -2.51). The current study relied on a network approach and, for the first time, introduced alternating electrical current stimulation to synchronize anterior-posterior language regions in the left hemisphere. Preliminary data are encouraging and suggest that tACS may improve speech output for some speakers with nonfluent aphasia during a speech entrainment task. Data also suggest improved temporal alignment (entrainment) for some participants with aphasia during the in-phase stimulation condition. These pilot data contribute to a growing body of research that applies noninvasive brain stimulation as an adjuvant to speech-language therapies and further inform how external modulation may facilitate neural plasticity in stroke survivors

The Role of Negativity Bias in Emotional and Cognitive Dysregulation: A Neuroimaging Study in Anxiety Disorders

Negativity bias, the cognitive tendency to prioritize negative stimuli, is commonly observed in anxiety disorders and contributes to emotional and cognitive dysregulation. This study investigated the associations between conscious negativity bias, brain function, reported symptoms, and cognitive performance in 1990 patients with anxiety disorders. We hypothesized that greater negativity bias would be linked to altered brain function in regions involved in cognitive control and attention, deficits in memory, stress and anxiety control, resilience, and symptoms of negative affect and emotional instability. Voxel-based analysis of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scans revealed significant hypoperfusion in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, regions critical for cognitive control and emotional regulation. Increased perfusion in cerebellar lobules IV–VI, associated with somatomotor and emotional processing, was also observed. These neural patterns were strongly aligned with patient-reported symptoms, including elevated anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, decreased motivation, and suicidal ideation. In addition, cognitive assessments from the total brain platform showed that higher negativity bias was linked to deficits in emotional regulation, memory, stress and anxiety control, and resilience. These findings suggest that negativity bias contributes to widespread brain dysfunction, exacerbating emotional instability, and cognitive control deficits in patients with anxiety disorders. This study highlights the importance of targeting negativity bias in therapeutic interventions to improve emotional and cognitive outcomes. Future research should investigate the neural mechanisms linking negativity bias to mental health outcomes

Interfaith Dialogue: The Art of Listening

The political climate and discourse during the 2016 presidential campaign was divisive and unwelcoming of refugees, immigrants, Muslims, and other religious minorities. This toxic atmosphere was reflected on college and university campuses throughout the country. At Westfield State University, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim students were the targets of verbal attacks, prejudice, and disrespect. The Muslim students, in particular, were afraid to walk around campus and attend their classes. The Interfaith Chaplains Council, along with the Interfaith Advisory Council comprised of faculty, staff, and students, met to discuss the current concerns of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim students, and collaborated to create a listening event based on the World Café model. This article addresses listening as a contemplative practice for building just communities and shares the process that went into the creation of the “Interfaith Dialogue: The Art of Listening” event, as well as participants’ responses to the event

The Company Prosodic Deficits Keep Following Right Hemisphere Stroke: A Systematic Review

Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to identify the presence and nature of relationships between specific forms of aprosodia (i.e., expressive and receptive emotional and linguistic prosodic deficits) and other cognitive-communication deficits and disorders in individuals with right hemisphere damage (RHD) due to stroke. Methods: One hundred and ninety articles from 1970 to February 2020 investigating receptive and expressive prosody in patients with relatively focal right hemisphere brain damage were identified via database searches. Results: Fourteen articles were identified that met inclusion criteria, passed quality reviews, and included sufficient information about prosody and potential co-occurring deficits. Twelve articles investigated receptive emotional aprosodia, and two articles investigated receptive linguistic aprosodia. Across the included studies, receptive emotional prosody was not systematically associated with hemispatial neglect, but did co-occur with deficits in emotional facial recognition, interpersonal interactions, or emotional semantics. Receptive linguistic processing was reported to co-occur with amusia and hemispatial neglect. No studies were found that investigated the co-occurrence of expressive emotional or linguistic prosodic deficits with other cognitive-communication impairments. Conclusions: This systematic review revealed significant gaps in the research literature regarding the co-occurrence of common right hemisphere disorders with prosodic deficits. More rigorous empirical inquiry is required to identify specific patient profiles based on clusters of deficits associated with right hemisphere stroke. Future research may determine whether the co-occurrences identified are due to shared cognitive-linguistic processes, and may inform the development of evidence-based assessment and treatment recommendations for individuals with cognitive-communication deficits subsequent to RHD

The Open-Source Neuroimaging Research Enterprise

While brain imaging in the clinical setting is largely a practice of looking at images, research neuroimaging is a quantitative and integrative enterprise. Images are run through complex batteries of processing and analysis routines to generate numeric measures of brain characteristics. Other measures potentially related to brain function – demographics, genetics, behavioral tests, neuropsychological tests – are key components of most research studies. The canonical scanner – PACS – viewing station axis used in clinical practice is therefore inadequate for supporting neuroimaging research. Here, we model the neuroimaging research enterprise as a workflow. The principal components of the workflow include data acquisition, data archiving, data processing and analysis, and data utilization. We also describe a set of open-source applications to support each step of the workflow and the transitions between these steps. These applications include DIGITAL IMAGING AND COMMUNICATIONS IN MEDICINE viewing and storage tools, the EXTENSIBLE NEUROIMAGING ARCHIVE TOOLKIT data archiving and exploration platform, and an engine for running processing/analysis pipelines. The overall picture presented is aimed to motivate open-source developers to identify key integration and communication points for interoperating with complimentary applications