Pragmatic language disorder in Parkinson's disease and the potential effect of cognitive reserve

It is known that patients with Parkinson\u2019s Disease (PD) may show deficits in several areas of cognition, including speech and language abilities. One domain of particular interest is pragmatics, which refers to the capacity of using language in context for a successful communication. Several studies showed that some specific aspects of pragmatics \u2013 both in production and in comprehension \u2013 might be impaired in patients with PD. However, a clear picture of pragmatic abilities in PD is still missing, as most of the existing studies focused on specific aspects of the pragmatic competence rather than on sketching a complete pragmatic profile. Moreover, little is known on the potential role of protective factors in compensating the decline of communicative skills as the disease progresses. The present study has two aims: (1) to provide a complete picture of pragmatic abilities in patients with PD, by using a comprehensive battery (Assessment of Pragmatic Abilities and Cognitive Substrates, APACS) and by investigating the relationship with other aspects of cognitive functioning (e.g., working memory and Theory of Mind) and (2) to investigate whether Cognitive Reserve, i.e., the resilience to cognitive impairment provided by life experiences and activities, may compensate for the progressive pragmatic deficits in PD. We found that patients with PD, compared to healthy matched controls, had worse performance in discourse production and in the description of scenes, and that these impairments were tightly correlated with the severity of motor impairment, suggesting reduced intentionality of engaging in a communicative exchange. Patients with PD showed also an impairment in comprehending texts and humor, suggesting a problem in inferring from stories, which was related to general cognitive impairment. Notably, we did not find any significant difference between patients and controls in figurative language comprehension, a domain that is commonly impaired in other neurodegenerative diseases. This might be indicative of a specific profile of pragmatic impairment in patients with PD, worth of further investigation. Finally, Cognitive Reserve measures showed a high degree of association with pragmatic comprehension abilities, suggesting that the modification of life-styles could be a good candidate for compensating the possible problems in understanding the pragmatic aspects of language experienced by patients with PD

Alpha particle production by molecular single-particle effect in reactions of 9^{9}Be just above the Coulomb barrier

The $\alpha$-particle production in the dissociation of $^{9}$Be on $^{209}$Bi and $^{64}$Zn at energies just above the Coulomb barrier is studied within the two-center shell model approach. The dissociation of $^{9}$Be on $^{209}$Bi is caused by a molecular single-particle effect (Landau-Zener mechanism) before the nuclei reach the Coulomb barrier. Molecular single-particle effects do not occur at that stage of the collision for $^{9}$Be+$^{64}$Zn, and this explains the absence of fusion suppression observed for this system. The polarisation of the energy level of the last neutron of $^{9}$Be and, therefore the existence of avoided crossings with that level, depends on the structure of the target.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Effect of continuum couplings in fusion of halo 11^{11}Be on 208^{208}Pb around the Coulomb barrier

The effect of continuum couplings in the fusion of the halo nucleus $^{11}$Be on $^{208}$Pb around the Coulomb barrier is studied using a three-body model within a coupled discretised continuum channels (CDCC) formalism. We investigate in particular the role of continuum-continuum couplings. These are found to hinder total, complete and incomplete fusion processes. Couplings to the projectile $1p_{1/2}$ bound excited state redistribute the complete and incomplete fusion cross sections, but the total fusion cross section remains nearly constant. Results show that continuum-continuum couplings enhance the irreversibility of breakup and reduce the flux that penetrates the Coulomb barrier. Converged total fusion cross sections agree with the experimental ones for energies around the Coulomb barrier, but underestimate those for energies well above the Coulomb barrier.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

State of the Climate in 2016: Global Ocean Phytoplankton

Marine phytoplankton contribute roughly half the net primary production (NPP) on Earth, fixing atmospheric CO2 into food that fuels global ocean ecosystems and drives biogeochemical cycles. Satellite ocean color sensors, such as SeaWiFS, MODIS, and VIIRS, provide observations of sufficient frequency and geographic coverage to globally monitor changes in the near-surface concentrations of the phytoplankton pigment chlorophyll-a (Chla; mg -cu m) that serve as a proxy for phytoplankton abundance. Here, global Chla distributions for 2016 are evaluated within the context of the 19-year continuous record provided through the combined observations of SeaWiFS (19972010), MODIS on Aqua (MODISA, 2002present), and VIIRS on Suomi-NPP (2011present). All Chla data used in this analysis correspond to version R2014.0, which utilized common algorithms and calibration methods to maximize consistency in the multi-mission satellite record

Breakup of 17^{17}F on 208^{208}Pb near the Coulomb barrier

Angular distributions of oxygen produced in the breakup of $^{17}$F incident on a $^{208}$Pb target have been measured around the grazing angle at beam energies of 98 and 120 MeV. The data are dominated by the proton stripping mechanism and are well reproduced by dynamical calculations. The measured breakup cross section is approximately a factor of 3 less than that of fusion at 98 MeV. The influence of breakup on fusion is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Detection and isolation of circulating tumor cells with single-cell resolution: A successful lab-on-a-chip device

This paper was presented at the 3rd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2011), which was held at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki in Greece. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Thessaly, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute.This paper presents the unique features of DEPArray™ an automated system enabling image-based cell sorting with single-cell resolution and describes its potential application in the field of oncology

Extended Optical Model Analyses of Elastic Scattering, Direct Reaction, and Fusion Cross Sections for the 9Be + 208Pb System at Near-Coulomb-Barrier Energies

Based on the extended optical model approach in which the polarization potential is decomposed into direct reaction (DR) and fusion parts, simultaneous $\chi^{2}$ analyses are performed for elastic scattering, DR, and fusion cross section data for the $^{9}$Be+$^{208}$Pb system at near-Coulomb-barrier energies. Similar $\chi^{2}$ analyses are also performed by only taking into account the elastic scattering and fusion data as was previously done by the present authors, and the results are compared with those of the full analysis including the DR cross section data as well. We find that the analyses using only elastic scattering and fusion data can produce very consistent and reliable predictions of cross sections particularly when the DR cross section data are not complete. Discussions are also given on the results obtained from similar analyses made earlier for the $^{9}$Be+$^{209}$Bi system.Comment: 5 figure

Some Finite Size Effects in Simulations of Glass Dynamics

We present the results of a molecular dynamics computer simulation in which we investigate the dynamics of silica. By considering different system sizes, we show that in simulations of the dynamics of this strong glass former surprisingly large finite size effects are present. In particular we demonstrate that the relaxation times of the incoherent intermediate scattering function and the time dependence of the mean squared displacement are affected by such finite size effects. By compressing the system to high densities, we transform it to a fragile glass former and find that for that system these types of finite size effects are much weaker.Comment: 12 pages of RevTex, 4 postscript figures available from W. Ko