109 research outputs found
Cortical Tracking of Syntax in Post-Stroke Aphasia: An EEG Investigation of Disrupted Sentence Comprehension
No full textPurpose. People with aphasia following stroke commonly exhibit marked difficulties in sentence comprehension, referred to as receptive agrammatism. However, theories of receptive agrammatism differ in their assumptions regarding the underlying mechanisms of impairment. Representation-based theories ascribe receptive agrammatism to a loss of grammatical knowledge. Processing-based theories suggest that individuals with receptive agrammatism have intact grammatical knowledge but may possess insufficient neurocognitive resources to apply this knowledge within cognitively demanding contexts. In this study, we used electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate whether these perspectives may be disambiguated by the neural activity profiles of people with aphasia during comprehension. For this purpose, we examined aphasia-related changes in cortical “tracking” of phrases—which has been suggested as a neural correlate of successfully encoded grammatical content. By considering cortical tracking alongside subject-specific performance on a set of clinical assessments, we aimed to identify which cognitive-linguistic mechanisms best explain the patterns of impaired sentence comprehension presented by individuals with receptive agrammatism.
Methods. Nine individuals with post-stroke aphasia and nine age- and education-matched neurologically healthy controls participated in this study. All were native English speakers. Language abilities were assessed using the Quick Aphasia Battery, and working memory was assessed using a modified listening span task. Following assessment, we recorded EEG as participants listened to sentences that varied in their syntactic and semantic complexity. After each sentence, participants were asked to identify pictures that matched the sentence they had just heard. Cortical tracking was quantified via Mutual Information (MI) between EEG responses and the syntactic features of the sentences. We evaluated how cortical tracking differed between groups and across levels of linguistic complexity, as well as whether these differences predicted participant performance.
Results. Both groups tracked syntactic structure similarly and showed delayed cortical responses for trials where they responded incorrectly. Both groups also showed increased tracking for semantically reversible sentences. However, people with aphasia performed worse on these items than controls, and there was no clear relationship between cortical tracking and task performance. Further investigation revealed that scores on offline clinical assessments of sentence processing were significant predictors of cortical tracking, whereas performance on the sentence-picture matching task was best explained by age, overall severity, and decreases in theta band (4-7Hz) power.
Conclusion. Our findings suggested that people with aphasia may be subtly impaired in their syntactic abilities. Our EEG findings also suggested that patients presented with delayed syntactic processing speeds and increased reliance on phonological working memory when sentences were semantically reversible. Moreover, individuals with aphasia may have possessed insufficient neural resources for post-interpretive task completion, when task-demands were high and sentence content was complex. We interpret these findings as being consistent with processing-based accounts of receptive agrammatism
SYNTHESIS AND PHENOTYPIC DISCOVERY OF MOLECULAR PROBES OF BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
No full textThe Peterson laboratory has had a long-standing interest in fluorescent probes of biological systems. My research in the Peterson group has focused on the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of fluorescent small molecules that exhibit specific patterns of subcellular localization and studies of their downstream biological effects. The relationship between this approach and the strategy of phenotypic drug discovery is described in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 describes the discovery of the intrinsic blue fluorescence of the potent anti- cancer/anti-viral compound AKT inhibitor-IV (AKTIV), and how we used this property to discover that its mechanism of biological action involves accumulation in mitochondria and associated effects on mitochondrial morphology and cellular bioenergetics. Chapter 3 describes the synthesis of a novel class of hydrophobic fluorinated rhodol fluorophores that selectively accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum. These fluorophores were shown to enable delivery of linked small- molecules to control a specific biological pathway in this organelle. Building on these studies, Chapter 4 describes screening of a variety of fluorescent probes against the vertebrate model organism zebrafish (Danio rerio). These studies led to the discoveries that hydrophobic rhodamines can be used to target zebrafish mitochondria, and acid-activated fluorophores can accumulate in acidic tissues of the embryonic yolk. Chapter 5 describes another project involving the synthesis of novel cholesteryl dimers and analysis of the in vitro stability of liposomes that incorporate these compounds
Statistical Warfare: The Casualties of Higher Learning
No full textMatthew D. Kelley
Acceptance Over Time Equals Change
Author Blake Gumphrect in his book, The American College Town, discusses how defining characteristics of a college town are: progressive, liberal-minded, and socially mingled spaces. However, researching with various sources throughout Marshall University, I find that those characteristics aren’t always the case. This presentation examines veterans from World War II (1940’s) returning to school and how their attendance and presence at Marshall University influenced the school.
As seen in copies of The Parthenon, Marshall University’s student newspaper Marshall’s attendance dropped significantly during the 1940’s and grew post world war II. There are many classes and programs offered post-war, which increased the population at Marshall and the city of Huntington. Each year during the WWII, Marshall’s attendance grew with the help of veterans, both active and inactive. The veterans coming home also allowed Marshall to become more diverse; not only socially, but economically. The GI Bill being introduced helped Marshall’s income thus being able to accommodate its tuition; and set up better financial aid and scholarships to those who needed it.
With Marshall’s growth on campus in diversity, but most importantly in socioeconomics as result of veterans returning to campus; they weren’t just local veterans returning but different and diverse groups joining as well. This is evident through Marshall’s enrollment history through campus records, which is displayed through enrollment and tuition. The socioeconomic movement from veterans returning began the journey for Marshall University to become an openly accepting university
Tough Talk, Cheap Talk, and Babbling: Government Unity, Hawkishness and Military Challenges
No full textA number of puzzles exist regarding the role of domestic politics in the likelihood of international conflict. In particular, the sources of incomplete information remain under-theorized and the microfoundations deficient. This study will examine the role that the unity of the government and the views of the government towards the use of force play in the targeting of states. The theory presented argues that divided dovish governments are particularly likely to suffer from military challenges. In particular, divided governments have difficulty signaling their intentions, taking decisive action, and may appear weak. The theory will be tested on a new dataset created by the author that examines the theory in the context of international territorial disputes. A number of significant findings emerge from the data. First, divided governments are significantly more likely to face challenges and increasing government unity markedly decreases the likelihood of a challenge. Second, unified hawkish governments were far less likely to be the targets of challenges than divided dovish governments. Finally, the substantive impact of key variables was much greater than that of the control variables. The causal process postulated in the theory is examined in eight case studies, two for each of the four government types. These case studies show that government type not only impacts the signaling of democratic states but also influences the perceptions of potential challengers.</p
Reading acts of narrative appropriation: four instances of fraudulent memoir
No full textPhDThis thesis examines acts of narrative appropriation, the telling of purportedly‘authentic’ life stories by those for whom the stories are not theirs to tell. This
misuse or subversion of genre - the discipline of historical writing and the category
of autobiography - becomes a means for cultural, social and political dissimulation,
and the analysis focuses both on the act: the event, trespass, or ‘theft’ of another’s
life story, and on the cultural meaning that this event reveals. These narrative acts
are approached theoretically through discussions of what it means to be an author, a
reader, and through the consideration of literary and social genre, category and form.
In exploring identities at particular risk of appropriation, this thesis shows how
fraudulent appropriated narratives affect our reading of the world, and in turn
influence our perception of already marginalized social groups. My primary
examples include prostitution ‘narratives’, Native North American ‘memoir,’ and
fraudulent Holocaust survivor ‘testimony,’ with each text providing decoded
evidence of ‘genre-bending’ exhibiting a social and political intent. These works
seek to be read as authentic personal narratives, as autobiography, and that is how
they have been presented to the reader. However, they are imposters – fictional tales
desiring the elevated status of historical authenticity and willing to bend the rules
and contracts of genre to achieve their end. Here the appearance of authenticity is
achieved through the use of cultural and social ‘myth,’ or perceptions of cultural
identity, and as such its fraudulent construction is first and foremost a social act,
with a social and economic motivation. As this thesis concludes, these texts are
most successful when their own political and social ideologies echo and confirm that
of the readership; when their subjects, the fraudulent ‘I’ at the center of the text is
also a performative elaboration of cultural belief
Understanding defence failures and coastal flood events: a case study approach
No full textExtreme sea level events are a current global threat, whilst sea-level rise (SLR) and climate change over the 21st century will increase the frequency and severity of flooding in most coastal regions. Numerical model simulations can help to understand and predict coastal floods (e.g. flood mapping and forecasting) but in comparison to flood sources (waves and water levels) coastal flood pathways (defence failures and inundation) are presently less integrated within these models. This thesis develops and demonstrates a methodology to rapidly simulate and understand the consequences of coastal flood events, with an emphasis upon regions where the risks of flooding are not well understood and could change quickly with SLR. The Solent on the south coast of England is the case study, and is prone to frequent flooding. This region is currently differentiated from the UK east and west coasts by experiencing smaller storm surges, and is characterised by undefended sections of shoreline and small floodplains. Within the Solent is Portsmouth, a city of national flood significance (only London and Hull contain more people considered at risk of coastal flooding in the UK). However, life threatening floods have not occurred in living memory. An integrated modelling approach is developed, coupling loads and defence failures with two-dimensional simulations of floodplain inundation. Observations collated from a real storm surge and flood event are shown to generate a validation data set, which indicates that this model can predict floodplain water levels to a good level of accuracy, whilst highlighting implications of such data collection. Solent-wide analysis includes simulations of hypothetical coastal flood events based upon scenarios that cover the full range of coastal loadings (realistic waves and water levels) and defence failures (overflow, outflanking, overtopping and breaching). More detailed case-studies are also applied at two sites within the region (including Portsmouth). This analysis generates peak flood water depths and an overview of impacts across this spectrum of possible floods.This research improves the existing knowledge of coastal flooding in the case study, and highlights a number of generic concepts that should be applied to others. For example the combination of flood simulation methods with real flood event analysis is essential for optimising the interpretation of model outputs whilst supporting inferences about flood consequences associated with extreme loading events (including how these may change with SLR). Simple methods estimated that >24,000 properties are within a 1 in 200 year flood event outline; and incorporating defence failures, flood dynamics, validation and detailed case studies substantially refine the assessment of places likely to experience damages. Breach defence failures generate the worst flood impacts, although in the Solent this failure mechanism is presently less of a threat than outflanking, overflow and wave overtopping. The modelling system includes easily interpreted outputs, whilst being computationally fast; therefore with potential applications including supporting land-use and defence planning, and real-time flood forecasting and warning
THE MILLIMETER SPECTRUM OF METHYL ACETATE
No full textAuthor Institution: Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Division of Geology and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,; California 91125The millimeter rotational spectra of methyl acetate, CHCOOCH, has been acquired and assigned over the 225 - 360 GHz region. The presence of two internal rotors, one of relatively low barrier (100 cm) and one of higher barrier (425 cm), make fitting difficult, though assignments have been made using a program written by Peter Groner} \textbf{1997}, 107, 4483-4498.}. Methyl acetate is possibly synthesized through multiple reaction pathways from molecules previously detected in hot cores, most notably from acetic acid and methanol via esterification. Esterification beyond the formation of methyl formate has not yet been observed in the interstellar medium. Consequently, we have begun searches for methyl acetate in cores where acetic acid has been found, using the results of the laboratory studies presented here. If detected, methyl acetate, consisting of 11 atoms, would be one of the larger complex organic molecules discovered in the interstellar medium and could point to previously unconsidered reaction mechanisms
Reinventing (with) theory in rhetoric and writing studies: essays in honor of Sharon Crowley
No full textIncludes bibliographical references and index.Scholarship that takes up and extends the practices of inventive theorizing characterized by Crowley's work. Showing that theory is a continual rhetorical process that is indispensable for understanding situations and their potential significance--and a means of persuasion. Includes a foreword, afterword, and interview with Crowley.--Provided by publisher.The fallacy of reason / Dawn Penich-Thacker -- A brief etiology of violence: the logic of identity and the metaphysics of presence / Judy Holiday -- Toward a working theory of institutional rhetorics / Ryan Skinnell -- The sophist as mentor: Sharon Crowley's rhetoric as a theory and practice of mentoring / William Lalicker, James C. McDonald, and Susan Wyche -- Reflections on being against audience with Sharon and others / Victor J. Vitanza -- Ludic rhetorics: theories of play in rhetoric and writing / Joshua Daniel-Wariya -- Unhurried conversations: writing center models for ideological intervention / Joshua C. Hilst and Rebecca Disrud -- No body is disinterested: the discursive materiality of composition in the university / Kirsti Cole -- Once more with feeling / Jennifer Lin LeMesurier -- Theory building in the rhetoric of health & medicine / J. Blake Scott and Catherine C. Gouge -- Victimless leather: toward a new materialist ethics of invention / Jason Barrett-Fox and Geoffrey Clegg -- Corporeal rhetoric as embodied action: composing in/through bodily motion / Bre Garrett -- Rhetorical futurity, or desiring theory / Kendall Gerdes -- Black religion matters: African American prophecy as a theoretical frame for rhetorical interpretation, invention, and critique / David G. Holmes -- When queers listen / Timothy Oleksiak -- Rhetoric in dimness / Matthew Heard -- Afterword: feeling and historiography / Debra Hawhee
Rooted in all its story, more is meant than meets the ear : a study of the relational and revelational nature of George MacDonald's mythopoeic art
No full textScholars and storytellers alike have deemed George MacDonald a great mythopoeic writer, an exemplar of the art. Examination of this accolade by those who first applied it to him proves it profoundly theological: for them a mythopoeic tale was a relational medium through which transformation might occur, transcending boundaries of time and space. The implications challenge much contemporary critical study of MacDonald, for they demand that his literary life and his theological life cannot be divorced if either is to be adequately assessed. Yet they prove consistent with the critical methodology MacDonald himself models and promotes. Utilizing MacDonald’s relational methodology evinces his intentional facilitating of Mythopoesis. It also reveals how oversights have impeded critical readings both of MacDonald’s writing and of his character. It evokes a redressing of MacDonald’s relationship with his Scottish cultural, theological, and familial environment – of how his writing is a response that rises out of these, rather than, as has so often been asserted, a mere reaction against them. Consequently it becomes evident that key relationships, both literary and personal, have been neglected in MacDonald scholarship – relationships that confirm MacDonald’s convictions and inform his writing, and the examination of which restores his identity as a literature scholar. Of particular relational import in this reassessment is A.J. Scott, a Scottish visionary intentionally chosen by MacDonald to mentor him in a holistic Weltanschauung. Little has been written on Scott, yet not only was he MacDonald’s prime influence in adulthood, but he forged the literary vocation that became MacDonald’s own. Previously unexamined personal and textual engagement with John Ruskin enables entirely new readings of standard MacDonald texts, as does the textual engagement with Matthew Arnold and F.D. Maurice. These close readings, informed by the established context, demonstrate MacDonald’s emergence, practice, and intent as a mythopoeic writer
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