New Derivatives of Vanillin

Monobromovanillin was prepared by Carles (Bull. Soc. Chim., 17, 12 (1872) and further investigated by Tiemann and Haarman (Ber., 7, 615 (1874). More recently, Brady and Dunn CJ. Chem. Soc., 107, 1859 (1915) studied the corresponding oxime, which was found to exist in but one of the stereoisomeric forms required by the theory. In the present work a dibromo derivative of vanillin, which has not hitherto been reported, has been prepared by a method that gives a high yield. Among its derivatives it has been found that the oxime exists in but one form, and that the nitril obtained from it resists hydrolysis to an extraordinary degree. The determination of the structure of the dibromo compound is in progress

“Not The Truth But The Way”: The Ethics Of Irony In World Literature

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. June 2019. Major: English. Advisor: Timothy Brennan. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 218 pages.Scholars have dismissed literary irony for many reasons; two common objections contend that the device facilitates social disengagement disguised as textual play and that it requires of the reader such extensive social, historical, and linguistic knowledge that it cannot be fully appreciated outside its context of production. In “‘Not the truth but the way’: The Ethics of Irony in World Literature” I refute these myths and demonstrate that the device’s social engagement facilitates readers’ understanding of both irony and the socio-historical context that the author describes in the work. I first tackle claims about the device’s capacity for ethical social engagement. In contradiction to Anglo-American formalism and its resonances in subsequent schools of literary theory, Søren Kierkegaard’s concept of controlled irony provides a framework for understanding how it operates as a mode of social critique. The fact that the device can function in this socially engaged way both challenges the assertion that irony is always apolitical and signals to the reader the author’s socio-political concerns. In analyzing a moment of indirect critique, readers learn about the defining concerns of the author’s context; in this way, irony can function as an Ansatzpunkt, Erich Auerbach’s term for a point of departure, through which readers learn about different nations, cultures, and eras. I analyze three world literary texts—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust and two twentieth-century adaptations of it, Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita and Wilson Harris’s The Infinite Rehearsal—to illustrate this idea. Not only can irony be socially engaged and be understood outside its original context, the device also facilitates the circulation of world literature in the global marketplace. Irony thus contributes to cross-cultural understanding, an ethical stage necessary to the process of historical development

Vocal differentiation parallels development of auditory saccular sensitivity in a highly soniferous fish

Vocal differentiation is widely documented in birds and mammals but has been poorly investigated in other vertebrates, including fish, which represent the oldest extant vertebrate group. Neural circuitry controlling vocal behaviour is thought to have evolved from conserved brain areas that originated in fish, making this taxon key to understanding the evolution and development of the vertebrate vocal-auditory systems. This study examines ontogenetic changes in the vocal repertoire and whether vocal differentiation parallels auditory development in the Lusitanian toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus (Batrachoididae). This species exhibits a complex acoustic repertoire and is vocally active during early development. Vocalisations were recorded during social interactions for four size groups (fry: 25 cm, standard length). Auditory sensitivity of juveniles and adults was determined based on evoked potentials recorded from the inner ear saccule in response to pure tones of 75-945 Hz. We show an ontogenetic increment in the vocal repertoire from simple broadband-pulsed 'grunts' that later differentiate into four distinct vocalisations, including low-frequency amplitude-modulated 'boatwhistles'. Whereas fry emitted mostly single grunts, large juveniles exhibited vocalisations similar to the adult vocal repertoire. Saccular sensitivity revealed a three-fold enhancement at most frequencies tested from small to large juveniles; however, large juveniles were similar in sensitivity to adults. We provide the first clear evidence of ontogenetic vocal differentiation in fish, as previously described for higher vertebrates. Our results suggest a parallel development between the vocal motor pathway and the peripheral auditory system for acoustic social communication in fish.Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia, Macau S.A.R.; Fundaçao para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT); Royalty Research Fund, US

Ontogeny of hearing in the plainfin midshipman, <italic>Porichthys notatus</italic>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2013The plainfin midshipman, Porichthys notatus, has become a model for vocal communication and auditory reception because acoustic communication plays an important role in spawning behavior in this fish species. The auditory system of the teleost fish, P. notatus, is an important sensory receiver system used to encode intraspecific social communication signals in adults, but the response properties and function of this receiver system in pre-adult stages are less known. I describe what is known about the ontogeny of auditory sensitivity in juvenile and larval stages as well as other important background information in chapter one. In chapter two, I examine the response properties of auditory evoked potentials from the midshipman saccule, the main organ of hearing in this species, to determine whether the frequency response and auditory threshold of saccular hair cells to behaviorally relevant single tone stimuli change during ontogeny. I address the question of auditory sensitivity during larval development in chapter three and discuss when in the larval stage audition begins using the innate acoustically evoked behavioral response (AEBR) as a hearing assay. Specifically, I demonstrate that auditory reception develops early in larval development and that auditory sensitivity is similar throughout all larval stages. Additionally, during ontogeny, the saccule undergoes profound growth. I examine the saccular epithelia of larval, juvenile, and adult plainfin midshipman in order to describe the morphological changes that occur in saccular ultrastructure during development. These results are described in greater detail in chapter four. The results from chapters two through four are summarized and placed into broader contexts and I suggest future studies in chapter five

The power spectrum of the complex click stimulus used to identify the size/age for the onset of the acoustically evoked behavioral response.

<p>The majority of the energy in the stimulus is located below 700 µPa or −15.2 dB re 1 g in the Z-axis of stimulation. Juvenile and adult midshipman have greatest auditory sensitivity at frequencies below 300 Hz.</p

The acoustically evoked behavioral response (AEBR) of fish to a complex click stimulus with a peak SPL of 154 dB re 1 µPa or −15.2 dB re 1 g in the Z-axis of stimulation.

<p>The AEBRs are shown as the percentage of the tested fish (60 midshipman larvae and 2 juveniles) that responded to the stimulus. Note that none of the small midshipman larvae less than 1.4 cm TL responded to the stimulus, whereas all of the midshipman larvae greater than 1.8 cm TL responded. Thus onset of the acoustically evoked behavioral response is estimated to occur between 1.4–1.8 cm TL. The solid line represents a best-fit sigmoidal curve.</p

Best evoked frequency (BEF) histograms of the acoustically evoked behavioral response in midshipman larvae based on sound pressure level (SPL, black bars) and particle acceleration (gray bars).

<p>The distribution of the BEF for the AEBR is based on the individual AEBR profiles for all the midshipman larval groups tested. Note that the BEF is defined as the frequency with the lowest threshold to evoke the AEBR).</p