1,721,749 research outputs found
Looking at ancillary systems for verb recovery: Evidence from non-invasive brain stimulation
No full textSeveral behavioural and neuroimaging studies have suggested that the language function is not restricted into the left areas but it involves regions not predicted by the classical language model. Accordingly, the Embodied Cognition theory postulates a close interaction between the language and the motor system. Indeed, it has been shown that non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is effective for language recovery also when applied over sensorimotor regions, such as the motor cortex, the cerebellum and the spinal cord. We will review a series of NIBS studies in post-stroke aphasic people aimed to assess the impact of NIBS on verb recovery. We first present results which, following the classical assumption of the Broca's area as the key region for verb processing, have shown that the modulation over this area is efficacious for verb improvement. Then, we will present experiments which, according to Embodied Cognition, have directly investigated through NIBS the role of different sensorimotor regions in enhancing verb production. Since verbs play a crucial role for sentence construction which are most often impaired in the aphasic population, we believe that these results have important clinical implications. Indeed, they address the possibility that different structures might support verb processing
Conversational Therapy in Aphasia: From Behavioral Intervention to Neuromodulation
No full textThis article describes the conversational therapy approach for the treatment of persons with aphasia (PWAs). Around 1970s, this approach was inspired by a series of pragmatic principles and techniques to aphasia rehabilitation whose main objective was to set up a condition of communicative exchange with the PWA using his/her own available communicative resources. Indeed, although language represents the most powerful behavior that humans use for communicating, within the conversational approach any intentional action (i.e., gestures, body movements, facial expression, drawing) can be used to communicate. For this reason, its application is particularly suitable for severe PWAs whose damage has compromised all the modalities of language (i.e., production, comprehension, reading, and writing). In this perspective, the speech-language pathologist's (SLP's) goal is not necessarily focused on restoring the damaged linguistic functions, still today pursued by the cognitive approach, but to ameliorate the use of language by teaching the PWA compensatory, productive strategies, and strengthening his/her residual communicative abilities. In this review, the fundamental principles of the conversational approach together with its modalities of treatment, which emphasize the importance of an active interaction between the SLP and the PWA, are reported. A brief summary of recent experimental evidence which combines conversational therapy with a noninvasive brain stimulation technique, transcranial direct current stimulation, is also included
Editorial: New perspectives and methodologies in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of aphasia
Full text link: Aphasia is a highly disabling acquired language disorder, usually caused by left-lateralized brain damage [...]
Postprandial glucose control in type 1 diabetes:importance of the gastric emptying rate
No full textThe achievement of optimal post-prandial (PP) glucose control in patients with type diabetes (T1DM) remains a great challenge. This review summarizes the main factors contributing to PP glucose response and discussesthe likely reasons why PP glucose control is rarely achieved in T1DM patients. The macronutrient composition of the meal, the rate of gastric emptyingand premeal insulin administration are key factors affecting the PP glucoseresponse in T1DM. Although the use of continuous insulin infusion systems has improved PP glucose control compared to conventional insulin therapy, there is still need for further ameliorations. T1DM patients frequently present a delayed gastric emptying (GE) that produces a lower but more prolongedPP hyperglycemia.In addition, delayed GE is associated with a longer time to reach the glycemic peak, with a consequent mismatch between PP glucose elevation and the timing of premeal insulin action. On this basis, including GE time and meal composition in the algorithms for insulin bolus calculation of the insulin delivery systems could be an important step forward for optimization of PP glucose control in T1DM
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Implantable photonic nano-modulators open perspectives for advanced optical interfaces with deep brain areas
Full text linkAn emerging trend at the forefront of optical neural interfaces leverages the optical properties of photonic nanostructures to modulate light delivery and collection patterns in deep brain regions. This perspective article surveys the early works that have spearheaded this promising strategy, and discusses its promise towards the establishment of a class of augmented nano-neurophotonic probes
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Input of advanced geotechnical modelling to the design of offshore wind turbine foundations (Apport de la modélisation géotechnique avancée au dimensionnement de fondations d’éoliennes offshore)
No full textThe offshore wind sector is skyrocketing worldwide, with a clear trend towards wind farms installed in increasingly deep waters and harsh marine environments. This is posing significant engineering challenges, including those regarding the design of support structures and foundations for offshore wind turbines (OWTs). Substantial research efforts are being devoted to the geotehnical design of monopile foundations, currently supporting about 80% of OWTs in Europe. This paper overviews recent work carried out at TU Delft on the numerical integrated modelling of soil-monopile-OWT systems, and its input to the improvement of geotechnical design approaches. The benefits of incorporating advanced soil constitutive modelling in three-dimensional finite element simulations are highlighted, with emphasis on the interplay of cyclic soil behaviour and dynamic OWT performance. Ongoing research on high-cyclic soil plasticity modelling is also presented, and related to the analysis of monopile tilt under irregular environmental loading.Accepted Author ManuscriptGeo-engineerin
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