Treatment-resistant depression is a severe form of major depressive disorder and deep brain stimulation is currently an investigational treatment. The stimulation\'s therapeutic effect may be explained through the functional and structural connectivities between the stimulated area and other brain regions, or to depression-associated networks. In this longitudinal, retrospective study, four female patients with treatment-resistant depression were implanted for stimulation in the nucleus accumbens area at our center. We analyzed the structural and functional connectivity of the stimulation area: the structural connectivity was investigated with probabilistic tractography; the functional connectivity was estimated by combining patient-specific stimulation volumes and a normative functional connectome. These structural and functional connectivity profiles were then related to four clinical outcome scores. At 1-year follow-up, the remission rate was 66%. We observed a consistent structural connectivity to Brodmann area 25 in the patient with the longest remission phase. The functional connectivity analysis resulted in patient-specific R-maps describing brain areas significantly correlated with symptom improvement in this patient, notably the prefrontal cortex. But the connectivity analysis was mixed across patients, calling for confirmation in a larger cohort and over longer time periods.

The exact mechanism involved in the development of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is not yet known. The objective of this study was to evaluate longitudinal functional connectivity (FC) changes in the neuroimaging case series of patients with acute herpes zoster (HZ). Cases: This study included five patients who had symptoms of HZ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted at enrollment and 3 months to determine FC changes. Of the five patients, three developed PHN. In the PHN subjects, the FC of the left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were activated. The left SFG is known to contribute to higher cognitive functions and working memory. The right IFG is associated with pain processing and empathy for pain. Conclusions: Although only a few patients were enrolled in this study, the PHN could be affected by pain itself, as well as pain memory and psychological aspects such as empathy for pain.

Agoraphobia is a visuo-vestibular-spatial disorder that may involve dysfunction of the vestibular network, which includes the insular and limbic cortex. We sought to study the neural correlates of this disorder in an individual who developed agoraphobia after surgical removal of a high-grade glioma located in the right parietal lobe, by assessing pre- and post-surgery connectivities in the vestibular network. The patient underwent surgical resection of the glioma located within the right supramarginal gyrus. The resection interested also portions of the superior and inferior parietal lobe. Structural and functional connectivities were assessed through magnetic resonance imaging before and 5 and 7 months after surgery. Connectivity analyses focused on a network comprising 142 spherical regions of interest (4 mm radius) associated with the vestibular cortex: 77 in the left and 65 in the right hemisphere (excluding lesioned regions). Tractography for diffusion-weighted structural data and correlation between time series for functional resting-state data were calculated for each pair of regions in order to build weighted connectivity matrices. Graph theory was applied to assess post-surgery changes in network measures, such as strength, clustering coefficient, and local efficiency. Structural connectomes after surgery showed a decrease of strength in the preserved ventral portion of the supramarginal gyrus (PFcm) and in a high order visual motion area in the right middle temporal gyrus (37dl), and decrease of the clustering coefficient and of the local efficiency in several areas of the limbic, insular cortex, parietal and frontal cortex, indicating general disconnection of the vestibular network. Functional connectivity analysis showed both a decrease in connectivity metrics, mainly in high-order visual areas and in the parietal cortex, and an increase in connectivity metrics, mainly in the precuneus, parietal and frontal opercula, limbic, and insular cortex. This post-surgery reorganization of the vestibular network is compatible with altered processing of visuo-vestibular-spatial information, yielding agoraphobia symptoms. Specifically, post-surgical functional increases of clustering coefficient and local efficiency in the anterior insula and in the cingulate cortex might indicate a more predominant role of these areas within the vestibular network, which could be predictive of the fear and avoiding behavior characterizing agoraphobia.

Connectivity studies with nuclear medicine systems are scarce in literature. They mainly employ PET imaging and group level analyses due to the low temporal resolution of PET and especially SPECT imaging. Our current study analyses connectivity at an individual level using dynamic SPECT imaging, which has been enabled by the improved temporal resolution performances provided by the 360°CZT cameras. We present the case of an 80-year-old man referred for brain perfusion SPECT imaging for cognitive disorders for whom a dynamic SPECT acquisition was performed utilizing a 360°CZT camera (temporal sampling of 15 frames × 3 s, 10 frames × 15 s, 14 frames × 30 s), followed by a conventional static acquisition of 15 m. Functional SPECT connectivity (fSPECT) was assessed through a seed correlation analysis and 5 well-known resting-state networks were identified: the executive, the default mode, the sensory motor, the salience, and the visual networks. This case report supports the feasibility of fSPECT imaging to identify well known resting-state networks, thanks to the novel properties of a 360°CZT camera, and opens the way to the development of more dedicated functional connectivity studies using brain perfusion SPECT imaging.

Hong Kong is a compact city with high activity and travel intensity. In the past decades, many footbridges and underpasses were installed to reduce the pedestrian-vehicle conflicts on urban roads. However, it is rare that the effects of configuration of pedestrian network on pedestrian crashes are investigated. In Hong Kong, many footbridges and underpasses are connected to major transport hubs and commercial building development and become parts of giant elevated and underground walkway systems. It is challenging to characterize such a complicated pedestrian network. In this study, a three-dimensional digital map is applied to estimate the connectivity and accessibility of pedestrian network, and measure the relationship between pedestrian network characteristics and pedestrian safety at the macroscopic level. Hence, the effects of footbridge and underpass on pedestrian safety are examined. For example, comprehensive built environment, pedestrian network, traffic, and crash data are aggregated to 379 grids (0.5 km × 0.5 km). Then, multivariate Poisson lognormal regression approach is applied to model fatal and severe injury (FSI) and slight injury pedestrian crashes, with which the effects of unobserved heterogeneity, spatial correlation, and correlation between crash counts are accounted. Results indicate that population density, traffic volume, walking trip, footpath density, node density, number of vertices per footpath segment, bus stop, metro exit, residential area, commercial area, and government and utility area are positively associated with pedestrian crashes. In contrast, average gradient, accessibility of footbridge, accessibility of underpass, and number of crossings per road segment are negatively associated with pedestrian crashes. In other word, pedestrian safety would be improved when footbridge and underpass are more accessible. Findings have implications for the design and planning of pedestrian network to promote walkability and improve pedestrian safety.

Despite significant population declines and targeted European Union regulations aimed at Anguilla anguilla conservation, little attention has been given to their status at their easternmost range. This study applies wide-scale integrated monitoring to uncover the present-day eel distribution in Cyprus\' inland freshwaters. These are subject to increasing pressures from water supply requirements and dam construction, as seen throughout the Mediterranean. We applied environmental DNA metabarcoding of water samples to determine A. anguilla distribution in key freshwater catchments. In addition, we present this alongside 10 years of electrofishing/netting data. Refuge traps were also deployed to establish the timing of glass eel recruitment. These outputs are used together, alongside knowledge of the overall fish community and barriers to connectivity, to provide eel conservation and policy insights. This study confirm the presence of A. anguilla in Cyprus\' inland freshwaters, with recruitment occurring in March. Eel distribution is restricted to lower elevation areas, and is negatively associated with distance from coast and barriers to connectivity. Many barriers to connectivity are identified, though eels were detected in two reservoirs upstream of dams. The overall fish community varies between freshwater habitat types. Eels are much more widespread in Cyprus than previously thought, yet mostly restricted to lowland intermittent systems. These findings make a case to reconsider the requirement for eel management plans. Environmental DNA-based data collected in 2020 indicate that \"present-day\" eel distribution is representative of 10-year survey trends. Suggesting that inland freshwaters may act as an unrealized refuge at A. anguilla\'s easternmost range. Conservation efforts in Mediterranean freshwaters should focus on improving connectivity, therefore enabling eels to access inland perennial refugia. Thus, mitigating the impact of climate change and the growing number of fragmented artificially intermittent river systems.

The rapid development of economy and society leads to the rapid expansion of cities, resulting in the atrophy of urban ecological space and the decline of ecological function, as well as a serious threat to urban ecological security. It is of great significance for the sustainable development of a city to systematically analyze the structure of urban ecological space and put forward targeted protection and optimization measures. Taking Changzhou City as the research area and considering the natural ecological function and social service function of urban ecological space, we constructed two ecological networks, the \"source-corridor\" ecological network based on natural ecology and the \"supply-demand\" ecological network based on human ecology. For the \"source-corridor\" ecological network, quantitative analysis was mainly carried out from the importance of nodes, network connectivity and stability. For the \"supply-demand\" ecological network, quantitative analysis was mainly carried out from the importance of nodes, supply-demand equilibrium and stability. The results showed that the levels of connectivity and stability of the \"source-corridor\" ecological network in the main urban area of Changzhou were not high, the stability level of the \"supply-demand\" ecological network was general, and there was spatial mismatch between service supply and demands. From the perspective of connectivity and stability improvement, an optimization scheme of \"source-corridor\" ecological network with 12 additional source nodes and 57 corridors was proposed. From the perspective of supply-demand balance and stability improvement, an optimization scheme of \"supply-demand\" ecological network with 22 new supply nodes was proposed. Compared with the original \"source-corridor\" ecological network, the connectivity level of the optimized network was improved by 10%, and the network stability was improved by 0.05. Compared with the initial \"supply-demand\" ecological network, the service level of the optimized network was improved by 4%, and the network stability was improved by 0.10. Finally, we integrated the two ecological networks, and formulated the implementation plan of protection and management for both the current protected patches and the new ecological nodes.
经济社会的高速发展带来城市的快速扩张,造成城市生态空间的萎缩和生态功能的下降,城市生态安全受到严重威胁。系统研究城市生态空间结构,提出针对性保护和优化措施,对于城市的可持续发展具有重大意义。本研究以常州市为研究区,考虑城市生态空间的自然生态功能和社会服务功能两方面,构建基于自然生态的“源地-廊道”与基于人文生态的“供给-需求”两类生态网络,对于源地廊道生态网络,主要从节点重要性、网络连通性与稳定性进行定量分析,对于供给需求生态网络,主要从节点重要性、供需均衡与稳定性进行定量分析。结果表明: 常州市主城区源地廊道生态网络的连通性与稳定性水平不高,供给需求生态网络的稳定性水平一般且存在服务供给与需求的空间错位。从连通性与稳定性提升角度,提出新增12个源地节点与57条廊道的源地廊道生态网络优化方案;从供需均衡与稳定性提升角度,提出新增22个供给节点的供给需求生态网络优化方案。对比初始源地廊道生态网络,优化网络连通性水平提升10%,稳定性提升0.05;对比初始供给需求生态网络,优化网络的服务水平提升4%,网络稳定性提升0.10。最后,综合两类生态网络,分别针对现状保护斑块与新增节点两类对象,提出了保护与管理实施方案。.

Urbanization leads to land use change and fragmentation of green patches, affecting natural habitats and their connectivity. Scientific prediction and analysis of the impact of future land use change on green space connectivity are an effective tool for planning and evaluating urban sustainable development, especially for ecological protection in rapidly developing areas. In this study, an integrated method is proposed that uses the CA-Markov method and combines a morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) with a graph theory analysis to jointly evaluate the impact of land use change on the habitat connectivity index under different urban development scenarios from two aspects of structural and functional connectivity. Using China\'s rapidly developing Nanjing as the study area, the land use changes under four scenarios in 2030 are forecast, and the connectivity index is analyzed. The results showed that only under the ecological land protection scenario will forest and grassland increase, but the strong barrier effect is still brought about by urban expansion from the analysis of the structural connectivity. At the level of functional connectivity, we identified the important connecting patches and future change trends of species with different diffusion distances. In addition, we identified the key connecting patches (i.e., stepping stones) and changes and suggested giving priority to the protection of these patches. This method can be applied to other rapidly developing cities, and the conclusions can be used as a spatial explicit tool for urban green space and land use planning.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is part of state-of-the-art treatment for medically refractory Parkinson\'s disease, essential tremor or primary dystonia. However, there are multiple movement disorders that present after a static brain lesion and that are frequently refractory to medical treatment. Using Holmes tremor (HT) as an example, we discuss the effectiveness of currently available treatments and, performing simulations using a Markov Chain approach, propose that DBS with iterative parameter optimization is expected to be more effective than an approach based on sequential trials of pharmacological agents. Since, in DBS studies for HT, the thalamus is a frequently chosen target, using data from previous studies of lesion connectivity mapping in HT, we compared the connectivity of thalamic and non-thalamic targets with a proxy of the HT network, and found a significantly higher connectivity of thalamic DBS targets in HT. The understanding of brain networks provided by analysis of functional connectivity may thus provide an informed framework for proper surgical targeting of individual patients. Based on these findings, we argue that there is an ethical imperative to at least consider surgical options in patients with uncommon movement disorders, while simultaneously providing consistent information regarding the expected effectiveness and risks, even in a scenario of surgical-risk aversion. An approach based on n-of-1 DBS trials may ultimately significantly improve outcomes while informing on optimal therapeutic targets and parameter settings for HT and other disabling and rare movement disorders.

One of the risks faced by habitat restoration practitioners is whether habitats included in restoration planning will be used by the target species or, conversely, whether habitats excluded from restoration planning would have benefited the target species. With the goal of providing a quantitative decision-making approach that represented varying levels of risk tolerance, we used multiple probability decision thresholds (PDT) to predict the range of occurrence for three anadromous fishes (Oncorhynchus spp.) in a watershed in southwestern Washington, USA. For each species, we compared the predicted range of occurrence to the distribution used for restoration planning and quantified the amount of habitat blocked by anthropogenic barriers. Coho salmon (O. kisutch) had the broadest predicted range of occurrence (3061.6-6357.9 km; 0.75-0.25 PDT), followed by steelhead trout (O. mykiss; 1828.8-2836.8 km) and chum salmon (O. keta; 1373.9-1629.1 km). For each species, the predicted range of occurrence was similar or greater than the distribution used for restoration planning, suggesting that the current plan may exclude habitats that would benefit each species. Coho salmon had the greatest percentage of habitat blocked by anthropogenic barriers, followed by steelhead trout and chum salmon, respectively. Modeling species distributions at multiple risk-tolerance scenarios acknowledges uncertainty in restoration planning and allows practitioners to weigh the ecological benefits and budgetary constraints when considering locations for restoration. To effectively communicate restoration science to support practitioners in decision-making, we developed an R Shiny application online user interface available at: https://shiny.wdfw-fish.us/ChehalisRiverBasinSalmonidRangeOfOccurence/.