The structural and functional connectivity of the posterior cingulate cortex : comparison between deterministic and probabilistic tractography for the investigation of structure–function relationships

The default mode network (DMN) is one of the most studied resting-state networks, and is thought to be involved in the maintenance of consciousness within the alert human brain. Although many studies have examined the functional connectivity (FC) of the DMN, few have investigated its underlying structural connectivity (SC), or the relationship between the two. We investigated this question in fifteen healthy subjects, concentrating on connections to the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), commonly considered as the central node of the DMN. We used group independent component analysis (GICA) and seed-based correlation analysis of fMRI data to quantify FC, and streamline and probabilistic tractography to identify structural tracts from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. We first assessed the presence of structural connections between the DMN regions identified with GICA. Of the 15 subjects, when using the probabilistic approach 15 (15) demonstrated connections between the PCC and mesial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), 11 (15) showed connections from the PCC to the right inferior parietal cortex (rIPC) and 8 (15) to the left IPC. Next, we assessed the strength of FC (magnitude of temporal correlation) and SC (mean fractional anisotropy of reconstructed tracts (streamline), number of super-threshold voxels within the mask region (probabilistic)). The lIPC had significantly reduced FC to the PCC compared to the mPFC and rIPC. No difference in SC strength between connections was found using the streamline approach. For the probabilistic approach, mPFC had significantly lower SC than both IPCs. The two measures of SC strength were significantly correlated, but not for all paired connections. Finally, we observed a significant correlation between SC and FC for both tractography approaches when data were pooled across PCC-lIPL, PCC-rIPL and PCC-mPFC connections, and for some individual paired connections. Our results suggest that the streamline approach is advantageous for characterising the connectivity of long white matter tracts (PCC-mPFC), whilst the probabilistic approach was more reliable at identifying PCC-IPC connections. The direct comparison of FC and SC indicated that pairs of nodes with stronger structural connections also had stronger functional connectivity, and that this was maintained with both tractography approaches. Whilst the definition of SC strength remains controversial, our results could be considered to provide some degree of validation for the measures of SC strength that we have used. Direct comparisons of SC and FC are necessary in order to understand the structural basis of functional connectivity, and to characterise and quantify the changes in the brain's functional architecture that occur as a result of normal physiology or pathology

The vegetarian, de Han Kang literatura coreana traduzida no Brasil

Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Letras, Departamento de Línguas Estrangeiras e Tradução, Curso de Letras – Tradução – Inglês, 2016.A literatura coreana passa por um processo de internacionalização, recebendo reconhecimento da mídia e crítica literária. A obra The Vegetarian de Han Kang escrita em 2007, em especial, sua versão inglesa traduzida por Deborah Smith em 2015, possui uma enorme importância para a divulgação dessa literatura tão rica. Contudo, essa literatura não tido uma recepção abrangente no Brasil por motivos como distância cultural e falta de tradutores qualificados no português e coreano. O objetivo deste trabalho, portanto, é por meio de uma tradução comparada experimental, abordar questões de estratégia de traduções desta obra em inglês e português e o manuseio do capital cultural e identidade da cultura e obra, a fim de melhor compreender a situação da literatura coreana no Brasil. O embasamento teórico é voltado para a Teoria dos Polissistemas e abordagem de Cultural Turn, assim como questionamentos de invisibilidade do tradutor e fatores de influência. A metodologia de análise utilizada foram as tendências deformadoras da analítica da tradução de Antoine Berman e a produção da tradução executada no software de tradução Memsource Cloud e Editor.The Korean literature goes through a process of globalization, receiving recognition from the media and literary critics. The book The Vegetarian written by Han Kang in 2007, specially its’ English version translated by Deborah Smith in 2015, has been given importance for its’ role in promoting this rich literature. However, this literature has not yet received a broad reception in Brazil for reasons such as cultural distance and lack of translators qualified in Portuguese and Korean. The main objective of this study is, therefore, to present an experimental comparative translation, and through it discuss the translation strategies used in the English and Brazilian translations and the manipulation of cultural capital and cultural identity in the literary work, in order to better comprehend the position of Korean literature in Brazil. The theory approach is based on the Polysystem Theory and Cultural Turn approach, as well as questions of translator’s invisibility and influence factors. The analysis methodology used were the deforming tendencies proposed by Antoine Berman. The translation was produced used the CAT Tool software called Memsource Cloud and Editor

Estimating the likelihood of epilepsy from clinically noncontributory electroencephalograms using computational analysis:A retrospective, multisite case–control study

Objective: This study was undertaken to validate a set of candidate biomarkers of seizure susceptibility in a retrospective, multisite case–control study, and to determine the robustness of these biomarkers derived from routinely collected electroencephalography (EEG) within a large cohort (both epilepsy and common alternative conditions such as nonepileptic attack disorder). Methods: The database consisted of 814 EEG recordings from 648 subjects, collected from eight National Health Service sites across the UK. Clinically noncontributory EEG recordings were identified by an experienced clinical scientist (N = 281; 152 alternative conditions, 129 epilepsy). Eight computational markers (spectral [n = 2], network‐based [n = 4], and model‐based [n = 2]) were calculated within each recording. Ensemble‐based classifiers were developed using a two‐tier cross‐validation approach. We used standard regression methods to assess whether potential confounding variables (e.g., age, gender, treatment status, comorbidity) impacted model performance. Results: We found levels of balanced accuracy of 68% across the cohort with clinically noncontributory normal EEGs (sensitivity =61%, specificity =75%, positive predictive value =55%, negative predictive value =79%, diagnostic odds ratio =4.64, area under receiver operated characteristics curve =.72). Group level analysis found no evidence suggesting any of the potential confounding variables significantly impacted the overall performance. Significance: These results provide evidence that the set of biomarkers could provide additional value to clinical decision‐making, providing the foundation for a decision support tool that could reduce diagnostic delay and misdiagnosis rates. Future work should therefore assess the change in diagnostic yield and time to diagnosis when utilizing these biomarkers in carefully designed prospective studies