Linking sentence production and comprehension: The neural mechanisms underlying production and comprehension control processes

This thesis investigated the relationship between sentence production and comprehension. A combination of behavioural and neuroimaging techniques were used to examine the extent to which sentence production and comprehension engage common or distinct mechanisms, with specific focus on the processes engaged by semantic/syntactic competition. Behavioural studies in Chapter 2 indicated that high-competition cases were more difficult to understand and produce than low-competition cases, and that difficulty varied as a function of the number of alternative associations entertained during performance in both tasks. In Chapter 3, an fMRI study indicated that production and comprehension shared a common competition mechanism within left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG). However, they engage distinctive networks that interact with LIFG, with production eliciting a larger network including areas involved in sentence planning and memory retrieval. Further asymmetries across tasks were revealed in Chapter 4, in which behavioural results and neural networks were compared across adults and adolescents. This study also demonstrated the occurrence of shifts in the neural networks involved in competition resolution throughout development, thereby providing a strong link between poor behavioural performance and the underdevelopment of pre-frontal inhibitory mechanisms in adolescents. Chapter 5 used an improved experimental paradigm from that in Chapters 3 and 4. The results showed that production elicits more activity than comprehension in the dorsal language route thus confirming the engagement of task-specific control processes. Interestingly, this study also revealed a common area of LIFG involved in both tasks, but also differences within LIFG, suggesting the possibility of task-specific circuitry. Together, the findings suggest that production and comprehension share fronto-temporal areas that store and manage abstract linguistic associations between words and structures. However, they differ in the manner in which linguistic information is used, as is evident by the recruitment of distinct networks. Implications for models of language processing are discussed

Optimalisasi Ukuran Manipulabilitas Robot Stanford Menggunakan Metode Pseudo-inverse

Robot is one of the most important element in the industrial world which has been growing very rapidly. Stanford robot arm is one of robot that use in industry, it has five degrees of freedom (DOF). Movement of the robot arm in his workspace called manipulability or manipulability measure. More the optimal manipulability measure manipulator, the more movement of the robotic arm will be more flexible in his workspace. The purpose of this research are to get knowledge and learn how to solve inverse kinematics using the Pseudo-Inverse at Stanford robot and to compare the characteristic of redundant and nonredundant manipulability measure optimization at Stanford robot arm. This simulations are used to determine manipulability measure optimization by using Matlab 7.6 software. This research produced that the maximum value of the redundancy manipulabilty measure is 7,391, while the value manipulability measure without redundancy was only 4,207. Simulations with redundancy manipulability measure value is high than the value of manipulability measure without redundancy. It means that manipulability measure at Stanford robot that use the redundancy is more optimal than the Stanford robot that does not use redundancy. Thus proved that for optimize manipulability measure is use redundancy

Hak-hak Normatif Pekerja Secara Finansial Dan Non-finansial Berdasarkan UU No. 13 Tahun 2003 Tentang Ketenagakerjaan

Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana perlindungan hak normatif pekerja secara finansial menurut UU No. 13 Tahun 2003 dan bagaimana perlindungan hak normatif pekerja secara non finansial menurut UU No. 13 Tahun 2003. Dengan menggunakan metode penelitian yuridis normatif, maka dapat disimpulkan: 1. Undang-Undang ketenagakerjaan mengatur hubungan kerja antara pekerja dengan majikan/pengusaha yang ditandai dengan perjanjian kerja. Hubungan kerja kedua belah pihak menimbulkan hak dan kewajiban ini berlaku timbal Balik, disyaratkan adanya pekerjaan; adanya upah dan adanya perintah pemberi kerja. Pekerja dibidang ketenagakerjaan melekat hak normatif sebagai hak dasar yang harus mendapat jaminan perlindungan seperti upah. Ini merupakan bagian integral dari ekonomi yang dapat disebut secara finansial sebagai hak normatif pekerja. Upah bagi pekerja secara finansial menjadi kebutuhan hidup pekerja yang mencakup pemenuhan berbagai kebutuhan hidupnya; upah terdiri upah pokok; tunjangan tetap; tunjangan tidak tetap, UU Ketenagakerjaan diatur upah minimum provinsi Kabupaten/Kota (Regional), upah paling rendah yang dibayar oleh Perusahaan/pengusaha disamping itu juga terdapat upah lembur; upah dibayar dengan rupiah; hak normatif pekerja secara finansial juga terdapat THR (Tunjangan Hari Raya) yang dibayar setiap akhir tahun. 2. Perlindungan hak normatif pekerja secara non finansial , yang tidak dapat dihindari dari aktifitas di dunia USAha terdapat hak politik, misalnya hak membentuk serikat pekerja, menjadi atau tidak menjadi anggota serikat pekerja; hak tidak diskriminatif; hak medis; hak sosial yang dijamin oleh hukum atas perlindungannya sebagai hak normatif pekerja secara non finansial; termasuk perlakuan kesetaraan segala bentuk diskriminatif terhadap hak perempuan sama dengan hak pria di bidang pekerjaan; perlindungan terhadap pekerja perempuan dan anak untuk tidak dipekerjakan pada malam hari; kondisi tempat kerja yang berbahaya (tambang). Perlindungan hak pekerja atas keselamatan; kesehatan; istirahat; hak melahirkan dan menyusui anak bagi pekerja perempuan diatur oleh peraturan Perundang-undangan yang berlaku/terkait bidang ketenagakerjaan

Similarity-based competition in relative clause production and comprehension

This work investigates the role of semantic similarity in sentence production and comprehension. Previous research suggests that animacy and conceptual similarity of the noun concepts within complex descriptive phrases modulate structural preferences in production, and processing cost in comprehension. For example, animate-head phrases such as the girl that the boy is pulling are rare in production and more difficult to understand in comprehension. In contrast, phrases with passive clauses such as the girl being pulled by the boy are commonly produced and more easily understood, as are inanimate-head structures such as the truck the boy is pulling. In three picture-based studies, we examined the mechanisms underlying semantic similarity effects in producing and comprehending these phrases. Study 1 investigated structural preferences in production, whereas Study 2 investigated processing cost in comprehension. Study 3 used eye-tracking to examine the time-course of production processes. The results showed that semantic similarity elicited competition during phrase planning, influenced the choice of syntactic structure in production, and engendered comprehension difficulty in animate-head active configurations. Structural preferences, fixation probabilities reflecting production planning processes and comprehension cost significantly correlated with measures of conceptual similarity across the three studies. We argue that similarity-based competition modulates sentence production and comprehension processes when verbs are planned or interpreted, i.e., when event-based semantic or syntactic roles are determined. In addition to task-specific processes, we suggest that a similar and shared semantic competition mechanism underlies both production and comprehension, a view consistent with existing evidence for common brain regions recruited in both tasks

Makna Filosofis Tari Topeng Cirebon Menggunakan Eksplorasi Visual dalam Video Mapping Performance

Semakin berkembangnya era globalisasi, eksistensi kesenian Indonesia semakin pudar meskipun kesenian Indonesia kaya akan makna dan sejarah.Tari Topeng Cirebon merupakan salah satu kesenian asli Indonesia yang perlu dilestarikan karena tarian ini mengandung pesan moral yang dapatditerapkan di kehidupan sehari-hari. Di zaman dimana teknologi telah berkembang dengan pesat ini, kesenian tradisional dapat menggunakanperpaduan teknologi untuk menciptakan pelestarian budaya yang inovatif dan modern. Video Mapping merupakan salah satu media yang tergolongbaru dan berkembang. Kehadirannya dapat membantu melestarikan Tari Topeng Cirebon dengan perpaduan yang melahirkan sebuah video mappingperformance

How Can Conservation Organizations Help Development Go Where It “Should”?

Report of the 2011 Berkley Workshop Held at the IslandWood Center, Bainbridge Island, Washington - July 201