Frequency-Dependent Relationship Between Resting-State fMRI and Glucose Metabolism in the Elderly

Both glucose metabolism and resting-state fMRI (RS-fMRI) signal reflect hemodynamic features. The objective of this study was to investigate their relationship in the resting-state in healthy elderly participants (n = 18). For RS-fMRI signal, regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF), fractional ALFF (fALFF), and degree of centrality (DC) maps were generated in multiple frequency bands. Glucose uptake was acquired with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Linear correlation of each pair of the FDG-PET and RS-fMRI metrics was explored both in across-voxel way and in across-subject way. We found a significant across-voxel correlation between the FDG-PET and BOLD-fMRI metrics. However, only a small portion of voxels showed significant across-subject correlation between FDG-PET and BOLD-fMRI metrics. All these results were similar across all frequency bands of RS-fMRI data. The current findings indicate that FDG-PET and RS-fMRI metrics share similar spatial pattern (significant across-voxel correlation) but have different underlying physiological importance (non-significant across-subject correlation). Specifically, FDG-PET measures the mean glucose metabolism over tens of minutes, while RS-fMRI measures the dynamic characteristics. The combination of FDG-PET and RS-fMRI provides complementary information to reveal the underlying mechanisms of the brain activity and may enable more comprehensive interpretation of clinical PET-fMRI studies. Future studies would attempt to reduce the artifacts of RS-fMRI and to analyze the dynamic feature of PET signal

The Atypical Effective Connectivity of Right Temporoparietal Junction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Multi-Site Study

Social function impairment is the core deficit of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although many studies have investigated ASD through a variety of neuroimaging tools, its brain mechanism of social function remains unclear due to its complex and heterogeneous symptoms. The present study aimed to use resting-state functional magnetic imaging data to explore effective connectivity between the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ), one of the key brain regions associated with social impairment of individuals with ASD, and the whole brain to further deepen our understanding of the neuropathological mechanism of ASD. This study involved 1,454 participants from 23 sites from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) public dataset, which included 618 individuals with ASD and 836 with typical development (TD). First, a voxel-wise Granger causality analysis (GCA) was conducted with the RTPJ selected as the region of interest (ROI) to investigate the differences in effective connectivity between the ASD and TD groups in every site. Next, to obtain further accurate and representative results, an image-based meta-analysis was implemented to further analyze the GCA results of each site. Our results demonstrated abnormal causal connectivity between the RTPJ and the widely distributed brain regions and that the connectivity has been associated with social impairment in individuals with ASD. The current study could help to further elucidate the pathological mechanisms of ASD and provides a new perspective for future research

Frequency-dependent alterations in regional homogeneity in young carriers of the apolipoprotein E genotype

Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rfMRI), previous studies showed that the APOE ε4 allele might affect the functional connectivity between remote brain regions. However, the local functional connectivity of APOE e4 carriers has rarely been explored

Frequency-dependent changes in the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in internet gaming disorder

Neuroimaging studies have revealed that the task-related functional brain activities are impaired in Internet gaming disorder (IGD) subjects. However, little is known about the alternations in spontaneous brain activities about them. Recent studies have proposed that the brain activities of different frequency ranges are generated by different nervous activities and have different physiological and psychological functions. Thus, in this study, we set to explore the spontaneous brain activities in IGD subjects by measuring the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF), to investigate band-specific changes of resting-state fALFF. We subdivided the frequency range into five bands based on literatures. Comparing to healthy controls, the IGD group showed decreased fALFF values in the cerebellum posterior lobe and increased fALFF values in superior temporal gyrus. Significant interactions between frequency bands and groups were found in the cerebellum, the anterior cingulate, the lingual gyrus, the middle temporal gyrus and the middle frontal gyrus. Those brain regions are proved related to the executive function and decision-making. These results revealed the changed spontaneous brain activity of IGD, which contributed to understanding the underlying pathophysiology of IGD

Development Status and Trend of Standards Digitization

Standards digitization is the inevitable result of economic and social development, digital technology change, and international strategic game. It is the key to realize the digital transformation of National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) and has strategic significance for the construction of Digital China. This study reviews the demands of standards digitization and the research and practice of standardization organizations and key countries. The future development trends of standards digitization are analyzed in depth from the aspects of performance form, development mode, and social influence. Furthermore, it puts forward several suggestions for the standards digitization in China considering these trends. Specifically, a standards digital transformation organization should be established to improve the working mechanism, generic and key technologies need to be developed to lay a science and technology foundation for standards digitization, the pilot scope should be expanded to cultivate an industrial ecology, and international cooperation and exchanges should be encourage to integrate China into the global wave of standards digitization

Predicting shear strength in UHPC beams through an innovative neural network with SHAP interpretation

Ultra-High performance concrete (UHPC) has garnered considerable attention in the construction industry due to its exceptional mechanical properties and durability. In the design of UHPC beams, accurately predicting shear strength is crucial. Inspired by the dense blocks in DenseNet, this paper proposes a novel neural network for predicting the shear strength of UHPC beams. A comprehensive database of UHPC beams was initially established through extensive literature data collection, amassing 619 experimental data samples. Preprocessing was subsequently conducted using mahalanobis distance (DM) to eliminate outliers. Subsequently, the database underwent detailed parameter analysis. In practical testing, the novel neural network model exhibited superior accuracy in predicting the shear strength of UHPC beams, surpassing traditional machine learning (ML) models and empirical formulas. Furthermore, it demonstrated excellent generalization capabilities, achieving an R2 value of 0.988 in the training set and 0.964 in the test set. The study introduced the shapley additive explanations (SHAP) method to conduct global and local interpretability analysis of the network model, demonstrating the contributions of each input parameter to the model predictions. Finally, based on this network model, a graphical user interface (GUI) was developed for researchers engaged in UHPC beam design, enabling users to easily input relevant parameters and obtain shear strength predictions. The findings of this study are expected to promote the application of ML models in predicting the complex nonlinear behavior of UHPC structures, providing strong support for engineering practice

Frequency-Dependent Amplitude Alterations of Resting-State Spontaneous Fluctuations in Late-Onset Depression

There is limited amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in late-onset depression (LOD) but reported different results. This may be due to the impact of different frequency bands. In this study, we examined the ALFF in five different frequency bands (slow-6: 0–0.01 Hz; slow-5: 0.01–0.027 Hz; slow-4: 0.027–0.073 Hz; slow-3: 0.073–0.167 Hz, and slow-2: 0.167–0.25 Hz) within the whole brain during resting-state fMRI in 16 LOD patients and 16 normal control (NC) subjects. The ALFF of primary effect of disease was widely distributed over left cerebellum anterior lobe, left cerebellum posterior lobe, left middle orbitofrontal gyrus, left superior occipital, and right superior parietal, while the interaction effect of disease and frequency was distributed over right superior frontal gyrus. Further relationship analysis findings suggest these abnormal ALFF may relate to cognitive dysfunction of LOD. Therefore, our data show that LOD patients have widespread abnormalities in intrinsic brain activity, which is dependent on the frequency band, and suggest that future studies should take the frequency bands into account when measuring intrinsic brain activity

Frequency-specific alterations of the resting-state BOLD signals in nocturnal enuresis: an fMRI Study

Abstract Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of nocturnal enuresis have focused primarily on regional metrics in the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal ranging from 0.01 to 0.08 Hz. However, it remains unclear how local metrics show in sub-frequency band. 129 children with nocturnal enuresis (NE) and 37 healthy controls were included in this study. The patients were diagnosed by the pediatricians in Shanghai Children’s Medical Center affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, according to the criteria from International Children's Continence Society (ICCS). Questionnaires were used to evaluate the symptoms of enuresis and completed by the participants. In this study, fALFF, ReHo and PerAF were calculated within five different frequency bands: typical band (0.01–0.08 Hz), slow-5 (0.01–0.027 Hz), slow-4 (0.027–0.073 Hz), slow-3 (0.073–0.198 Hz), and slow-2 (0.198–0.25 Hz). In the typical band, ReHo increased in the left insula and the right thalamus, while fALFF decreased in the right insula in children with NE. Besides, PerAF was increased in the right middle temporal gyrus in these children. The results regarding ReHo, fALFF and PerAF in the typical band was similar to those in slow-5 band, respectively. A correlation was found between the PerAF value of the right middle temporal gyrus and scores of the urinary intention-related wakefulness. Results in other bands were either negative or in white matter. NE children might have abnormal intrinsic neural oscillations mainly on slow-5 bands

Effects of Building Design Elements on Residential Thermal Environment

Residential thermal environment affects the life of residents in terms of their physical and mental health. Many studies have shown that building design elements affect the urban thermal environment. In this study, Nanjing City was used as the study area. A three-dimensional microclimate model was used to simulate and analyze the effects of four main factors, namely, building height, density, layout and green ratio, on thermal environment in residential areas. Results showed that 25% building density obtained a low average air temperature (ATa) and average predicted mean vote (APMV) during 24 h. Thus, a higher building height indicates a lower ATa and APMV and better outdoor comfort level. In addition, peripheral layout had the lowest ATa and APMV, followed by the determinant and point group layouts. The green ratio increased from 0% to 50% with a 10% step and the ATa and APMV decreased gradually. However, when the green ratio increased from 30% to 40%, ATa and APMV decreased most. The effects of building height, density and green ratio on the thermal environment in residential areas were interactive. The effects of building density, green ratio and layout on hourly air temperature and hourly predicted mean vote in daytime varied from these indicators during night time. How the four building design elements interact with thermal environment were probed from two aspects of air temperature and thermal comfort based on the validated ENVI-met, which is the element of novelty in this study. However, thermal comfort has rarely been considered in the past studies about urban outdoor thermal environment

Altered Amplitude of Low-Frequency Fluctuations in Inactive Patients with Nonneuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective.This study is aimed at investigating the characteristics of the spontaneous brain activity in inactive patients with nonneuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (non-NPSLE). Methods. Thirty-one female inactive patients with non-NPSLE and twenty healthy controls were examined by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI). Three amplitude methods including amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), and percent amplitude of fluctuation (PerAF) (with and without standardization) were applied to evaluate the spontaneous brain activity. The correlation was performed between low-frequency oscillations and clinical and neuropsychological factors in inactive patients with non-NPSLE. Results. Compared to healthy controls, patients with non-NPSLE showed increased standardized ALFF (mALFF) in the left inferior temporal gyrus and left putamen, decreased PerAF in the right postcentral gyrus and bilateral precentral gyrus, and increased standardized PerAF (mPerAF) in the left putamen and decreased mPerAF in the right postcentral gyrus and bilateral precentral gyrus. By standardized fALFF (mfALFF), no significant brain regions were found between the two groups. Correlation analysis revealed significantly positive correlations between glucocorticoid dose and PerAF in the right precentral gyrus and mPerAF in the left putamen, and Complement 3 (C3) and mPerAF in the right postcentral gyrus. There was a significant negative correlation between C3 and mALFF in the left putamen. Conclusion. Abnormal low-frequency oscillations in multiple brain regions were found in inactive patients with non-NPSLE, indicating that the alteration of mALFF, PerAF, and mPerAF in specific brain regions might be an imaging biomarker of brain dysfunction in inactive patients with non-NPSLE