Relationship of speech rhythm, stuttering frequency and discourse type

The present study aimed to compare the speech rhythm of reading and conversation in Cantonese and investigates the relationship between stuttering frequency and speech rhythm across the two types of discourse. Eight native Cantonese-speaking adults diagnosed with stuttering participated in the study. Each participant read a non-emotion-provoking expository passage in the reading task and engaged in conversation on casual topics with the investigator in the conversation task. Speech rhythm and stuttering frequency of the collected speech samples were analyzed. Speech pattern in reading was shown to be more syllable-timed than in conversation using acoustic analysis. However, results showed no significant difference in stuttering frequency in reading and conversation. The relationship between difference in speech rhythm and stuttering frequency in reading and conversation in Cantonese was discussed with reference to the current model of causes of stuttering and the linguistic features of Cantonese. The findings provided insight on appropriate use of reading and conversation tasks in clinical assessment and treatment of stuttering.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Human lymphoma mutations reveal CARD11 as the switch between self-antigen-induced B cell death or proliferation and autoantibody production

Self-tolerance and immunity are actively acquired in parallel through a poorly understood ability of antigen receptors to switch between signaling death or proliferation of antigenbinding lymphocytes in different contexts. It is not known whether this tolerance-immunity switch requires global rewiring of the signaling apparatus or if it can arise from a single molecular change. By introducing individual CARD11 mutations found in human lymphomas into antigen-activated mature B lymphocytes in mice, we find here that lymphoma-derived CARD11 mutations switch the effect of self-antigen from inducing B cell death into T cell- independent proliferation, Blimp1-mediated plasmablast differentiation, and autoantibody secretion. Our findings demonstrate that regulation of CARD11 signaling is a critical switch governing the decision between death and proliferation in antigen-stimulated mature B cells and that mutations in this switch represent a powerful initiator for aberrant B cell responses in vivo

Position referenced force augmentation in teleoperated hydraulic manipulators operating under delayed and lossy networks: a pilot study.

Position error between motions of the master and slave end-effectors is inevitable as it originates from hard-to-avoid imperfections in controller design and model uncertainty. Moreover, when a slave manipulator is controlled through a delayed and lossy communication channel, the error between the desired motion originating from the master device and the actual movement of the slave manipulator end-effector is further exacerbated. This paper introduces a force feedback scheme to alleviate this problem by simply guiding the operator to slow down the haptic device motion and, in turn, allows the slave manipulator to follow the desired trajectory closely. Using this scheme, the master haptic device generates a force, which is proportional to the position error at the slave end-effector, and opposite to the operator's intended motion at the master site. Indeed, this force is a signal or cue to the operator for reducing the hand speed when position error, due to delayed and lossy network, appears at the slave site. Effectiveness of the proposed scheme is validated by performing experiments on a hydraulic telemanipulator setup developed for performing live-line maintenance. Experiments are conducted when the system operates under both dedicated and wireless networks. Results show that the scheme performs well in reducing the position error between the haptic device and the slave end-effector. Specifically, by utilizing the proposed force, the mean position error, for the case presented here, reduces by at least 92% as compared to the condition without the proposed force augmentation scheme. The scheme is easy to implement, as the only required on-line measurement is the angular displacement of the slave manipulator joints

Tell me, show me, involve me: Supercharging Collaborative Diagnosis with Augmented Reality

Augmented reality has been broadly employed to help remote individuals communicate and coordinate. In this study, we develop and test a model that explains how augmented reality can facilitate collaborative diagnosis on an unexpected technical breakdown involving two complete strangers. Drawing on the affordance theory, we integrate the dual-task interference literature to reveal frustration valence and arousal as the underlying mechanisms. We tested our hypothesis in a laboratory experiment involving a custom-built augmented reality environment and physiological measurements. Overall, this study contributes to information system literature, human-computer interaction literature, and dual-task interference research by unearthing the effects of augmented reality characteristics on enhancing collaborative diagnosis performance

Estrogen improves vascular function via peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor-γ

The exact mechanism of estrogen in cardiovascular disease is not fully understood. As estrogen receptors (ERs), the peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor-gamma (PPRA-gamma) belongs to the family of ligands activated nuclear receptors regulating atheroprective genes. The aim of this project was to investigate whether vascular effects of estrogen are mediated via PPAR-gamma regulation in the vascular compartment. Estrogen deficient ovariectomized Wildtype-mice (OVX) displayed significant reduction of PPAR-gamma expression in the aortic tissue compared to Wiltype-mice with intact ovarian function (Sham). Hormone replacement with subdermal 17-beta-estradiol pellets significantly increased vascular PPAR-gamma expression in ovariectomized female Wildtype-mice (OVX/E2). Analagous to Wildtype-mice, estrogen-deficient OVX ApoE-/- mice had low vascular PPAR-gamma expression associated with ROS generation, endothelial dysfunction and atherogenesis. Estrogen replacement (OVX/E2) rescued vascular PPAR-gamma expression, reduced ROS generation, monocyte recruitment, atherosclerotic lesion formation and improved endothelial function. Inhibition of PPAR-gamma by GW9662, a specific PPAR-gamma antagonist reduced 17-beta-estradiol mediated vascular effects (OVX/E2 + GW9662). Finally, despite estrogen deficiency treatment with pioglitazone (OVX +pioglitazone), a selective PPAR-gamma agonist, compensates deterioration of vascular morphology and function. 17-beta-estradiol regulates vascular PPAR-gamma expression in Wildtype- and ApoE-/- mice. The present data demonstrate the fundamental relevance of PPAR-gamma as downstream target of 17-beta-estradiol related anti-inflammatory and atheroprotective effects within the vascular wall independent of its cardiovascular risk factor modification.Die genauen Wirkmechanismen der Vaskuloprotektion von Östrogen bei kardio-vaskulären Erkrankungen sind nicht vollständig aufgeklärt. Die geringe Inzidenz von Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankungen bei Frauen vor der Menopause und die Zunahme von kardiovaskulären Ereignissen nach der Menopause suggerieren eine wichtige Rolle von 17ß-Östrogen in der Pathogenese der Atherosklerose. Wie auch Östrogenrezeptoren (ER) gehört der Peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor-gamma (PPARγ) zur Familie der ligandenaktivierten Kernrezeptoren, die unter anderem atheroprotektive Gene regulieren. Das Ziel dieses Projekts war es, in einem tierexperimentellen Ansatz aufzuklären, ob die Östrogen-induzierten vaskulären Effekte über PPARγ vermittelt werden. Die PPARγ-Expression wurde mittels Western Blot und quantitativer Polymerase Kettenreaktion (RT-PCR) im Aortengewebe von Mäusen untersucht. Östrogen-defizient ovarektomierte Wildtyp-Mäuse (OVX) zeigten eine signifikante Reduktion der PPARγ Expression im Vergleich zu Wildtyp-Mäusen mit intakter Ovarialfunktion (Sham). Durch eine Hormonersatztherapie mit subdermalen 17ß-Östrogen-Pellets konnte die PPARγ Expression in ovarektomi erten Wildtyp-Mäusen (OVX/E2) signifikant verbessert werden. Analog zu den Wildtyp-Mäusen hatten Östrogen-defizient ovarektomierte ApoE-/--Mäuse eine niedrige vaskuläre PPARγ-Expression, eine erhöhte ROS-Freisetzung sowie eine endotheliale Dysfunktion und gesteigerte Atherogenese. Eine Östrogenersatztherapie (OVX/E2) konnte die PPARγ-Expression signifikant anheben, die ROS-Freisetzung, die Monozyteninfiltration und die atherosklerotische Plaqueformation reduzieren. Auch die endotheliale Funktion verbesserte sich. Durch Inhibition von PPARγ mit GW9662, einem spezifischen PPARγ-Antagonist (OVX/E2+GW9662) konnten die gezeigten atheroprotektiven Effekte der Östrogensubstitution aufgehoben werden. Schließlich konnte trotz Östrogendepletion eine Behandlung mit Pioglitazon (OVX+Pioglitazon), einem selektiven PPARγ-Agonist, die atherosklerotischen Veränderungen reduziert werden. Die erhobenen Daten zeigen, dass 17ß-Östrogen die vaskuläre PPAR γ-Expression in Wildtyp- und in ApoE-/--Mäusen reguliert. Weiterhin zeigen diese Daten die Relevanz von PPAR γ als Ziel-Rezeptor der Östrogen-induzierten antiinflammatorischen und atheroprotektiven Effekte im vaskulären System.<br /

Development of human single-chain antibodies against SARS-associated coronavirus.

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), caused by a distinct coronavirus, in 2003 greatly threatened public health in China, Southeast Asia as well as North America. Over 1,000 patients died of the SARS virus, representing 10% of infected people. Like other coronaviruses, the SARS virus also utilizes a surface glycoprotein, namely the spike protein, to infect host cells. The spike protein of SARS virus consists of 1,255 amino acid residues and can be divided into two sub-domains, S1 and S2. The S1 domain mediates the binding of the virus to its receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is abundantly distributed on the surface of human lung cells. The S2 domain mediates membrane fusion between the virus and the host cell. Hence two strategies can be used to block the infection of the SARS virus, either by interfering with the binding of the S1 domain to the receptor or by blocking the fusion of the virus with the cell membrane mediated by the S2 domain. Several antibodies against the S1 domain have been generated and all of them are able to neutralize the virus in vitro and in vivo using animal models. Unfortunately, point mutations have been identified in the S1 domain, so that the virus isolated in the future may not be recognized by these antibodies. As no mutation has been found in the S2 domain indicating that this region is more conserved than the S1 domain, it may be a better target for antibody binding. After predicting the immunogenicity of the epitopes of the S2 domain, we chemically synthesized two peptides and also expressed one of them using a recombinant DNA method. We screened a phage displaying library of human single-chain antibodies (ScFv) against the predicted epitopes and obtained a human ScFv which can recognize the SARS virus in vitro

Comparative transcriptomics of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in response to antibiotic treatments

Abstract Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, a major hospital-acquired pathogen, is a serious health threat and poses a great challenge to healthcare providers. Although there have been many genomic studies on the evolution and antibiotic resistance of this species, there have been very limited transcriptome studies on its responses to antibiotics. We conducted a comparative transcriptomic study on 12 strains with different growth rates and antibiotic resistance profiles, including 3 fast-growing pan-drug-resistant strains, under separate treatment with 3 antibiotics, namely amikacin, imipenem, and meropenem. We performed deep sequencing using a strand-specific RNA-sequencing protocol, and used de novo transcriptome assembly to analyze gene expression in the form of polycistronic transcripts. Our results indicated that genes associated with transposable elements generally showed higher levels of expression under antibiotic-treated conditions, and many of these transposon-associated genes have previously been linked to drug resistance. Using co-expressed transposon genes as markers, we further identified and experimentally validated two novel genes of which overexpression conferred significant increases in amikacin resistance. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first comparative transcriptomic analysis of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii under different antibiotic treatments, and revealed a new relationship between transposons and antibiotic resistance

TRA-935: REPAIRING HIGH VOLUME HMA HIGHWAYS WITH PRECAST CONCRETE INLAY PANELS

The pavements which make up Canada’s high volume highways are subjected to some of the most demanding conditions in the world. They must structurally be capable of supporting significant traffic loading, which can exceed an average of 30,000 trucks per day. They must be capable of supporting these loads throughout the wide variety of environmental conditions to which they are exposed, ranging from hot summers to cold winters. In order to achieve service lives which do not necessitate frequent maintenance and repair activities, these pavement structures are required to be very resilient. A complication to constructing the resilient pavement structures is that construction activities on high volume highways are generally limited to over-night construction windows that are six to eight hours long. At the end of this construction window, full traffic must typically be reinstated. Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has a number of high volume highways which have been reaching the end of their service lives prematurely due to deep-seated pavement rutting issues. These highways have previously been rehabilitated using a mill and replace strategy. In response to this issue and the restricted construction windows for rehabilitation operations, a new rehabilitation strategy has been developed for rehabilitating high volume hot mix asphalt (HMA) highways. This strategy is the use of Precast Concrete Inlay Panels (PCIPs) which are placed within a partially milled HMA pavement structure. A trial section of the PCIP strategy has been designed and proposed to the MTO for implementation and this paper outlines the development of the rehabilitation strategy, with specific focus on details produced to address to the unique nature of this rehabilitation strategy. These details include panel support conditions, built in design details, and construction specifications that address various constructability and performance concerns

Intraosseous angiosarcoma with secondary aneurysmal bone cysts presenting as an elusive diagnostic challenge

Angiosarcoma of bone is an exceedingly rare primary bone malignancy that can present as an aggressive osteolytic lesion. Histological diagnosis can be extremely challenging, as the pathological features often resemble that of aneurysmal bone cysts. We report an interesting and peculiar case of an intraosseous angiosarcoma that presented as a diagnostic dilemma and discuss the relevant radiological and pathologic findings