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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive disorder associated with cognitive dysfunction that alters the brain’s functional connectivity. Assessing these alterations has become a topic of increasing interest. However, a few studies have examined different stages of AD from a complex network perspective that cover different topological scales. This study used resting state fMRI data to analyze the trend of functional connectivity alterations from a cognitively normal (CN) state through early and late mild cognitive impairment (EMCI and LMCI) and to Alzheimer’s disease. The analyses had been done at the local (hubs and activated links and areas), meso (clustering, assortativity, and rich-club), and global (small-world, small-worldness, and efficiency) topological scales. The results showed that the trends of changes in the topological architecture of the functional brain network were not entirely proportional to the AD progression. There were network characteristics that have changed non-linearly regarding the disease progression, especially at the earliest stage of the disease, i.e., EMCI. Further, it has been indicated that the diseased groups engaged somatomotor, frontoparietal, and default mode modules compared to the CN group. The diseased groups also shifted the functional network towards more random architecture. In the end, the methods introduced in this paper enable us to gain an extensive understanding of the pathological changes of the AD process.

A causal interpretation of the quantum world needs second quantization in order to cover phenomena like creation and annihilation of particles, and this leads to quantum field theory. The causal effects of the second quantization can be described through a new quantum potential. In this article we have dealt with the second quantization of Schrodinger and its effects on the path of a particle. This generalization leads to a modified Schrodinger which affects the particle through a modified quantum potential and a new term in the continuity equation. We have shown that these effects can provide a framework for the explanation of the creation and annihilation phenomena and other effects of quantum field theory on the development of a particle., Comment: 8 pages, This manuscript has been published in Heliyon as ,SupA, of article entitled ,A proposed mechanism for mind-brain interaction using extended Bohmian quantum mechanics in Avicenna's monotheistic perspective

Complex systems in the real world can be modeled as a network of connected components. The human brain, as a network of neurons among which the interactions cause perception, is a complex network. Synchronization is a dynamical phenomenon that can be seen in the brain. The network topology has a remarkable impact on both the function and the dynamics of neural networks. In this research, synchronization of neural networks is scrutinized through creating various topologies. These networks include both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We investigate the dynamics of different networks by random rewiring of the synaptic connections. In this manner, a regular network transforms into a small-world network and then becomes a random network. Coherence level which is measured and utilized as the criteria to analyze synchronicity, experiencing a sharp increase as the network changes into the small-world network and growing steadily by the end. On the other hand, a decreasing trend of coherence level is revealed starting from a complete excitatory network and gradually increasing of inhibitory neurons. Thus, the coherence level reaches approximately zero in a complete inhibitory network. By increasing the number of neurons in the network, the degree of synchronization follows a power-law distribution; however, the number of synaptic connections of each neuron and their conductance have a positive impact on synchronization. By applying the model to a C-elegance neural network, not only the mentioned parameters but also the role of the degree distribution are highlighted.