Variations V: "Escaping Stagnation" Through Movement of Signification

To understand the movement of Variations V is not to grasp just the politics of representation in the presence of its sights and sounds, but also the signification that could result through the potentiality of the culture of indeterminacy. The slippage of dijferance allows for any number of ecological, political, or technological statements. Through this Derridean play, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and the rest of the collaborators of Variations V critically engaged with American culture during the 1960s

Effect of individual on group therapies in aphasia

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityCurrently, two treatment orientations exist in remediation of aphasia: an impairment-based approach and a socially oriented approach. Both are theoretically driven and strive to improve communication in aphasia, yet rarely are they administered in a collaborative, integrated manner. Based on a review of these orientations, it was hypothesized that chronic patients with aphasia (PWA) would benefit from treatment that is grounded in both philosophies. Additionally, there is evidence that greater intensity of treatment leads to better outcomes and that interdisciplinary treatment might be beneficial. There are currently no studies of the effects of intensive, short duration, interdisciplinary treatments of PWA that use both impairment-based and socially oriented approaches. The present research evaluated the benefits of such a treatment program. In Study 1, 14 PWA were provided with 30 hours of interdisciplinary treatment a week for four weeks in both individual and group formats. Strong levels of change were observed post treatment, and targeted areas of language function continued to improve at three months post treatment suggesting lasting results from treatment. In Study 2, we examined the effectiveness of training verbs in a combined treatment model (individual + group) compared to those trained for the same duration in only individual or group paradigms a new cohmt of 12 PWA. No significant effect was seen for verbs trained in one condition over another; however, all verbs demonstrated significant improvements as a result of treatment. Strong treatment effects were seen for the group on generalized measures of noun and verb naming as well as the number of complete sentences produced in constrained picture description tasks. Moderate changes in functional communication and quality of life measures also were seen as a result of this treatment. Overall, the findings demonstrate significant linguistic and psychosocial changes as a result of intensive, short duration, interdisciplinary treatment of chronic PWA. This may have clinical implications. There was no benefit of an integrated approach over impairment-based or socially oriented approaches alone. The failure of the integrated approach to achieve better results may be due to the uncontrolled use of target items in the socially oriented approach in all conditions

Biologic and biochemical features of prion pathogenesis

Includes bibliographical references.2016 Fall.Prions are the causative agents of a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Prions are unique in that disease is initiated when the normal prion protein (PrPC) undergoes a conformational change and propagates through a process of templated conversion to an infectious, misfolded, isoform (PrPRES, PrPCWD, or PrPSc) which can assemble into oligomers and amyloid fibrils. Disease is associated with prion accumulation in the central nervous system, causing the pathologic lesions of neurodegeneration, white matter spongiosis, and a reactive astrogliosis. Previous work has demonstrated the process of prion propagation and disease pathogenesis can be influenced by conversion cofactors, inhibitors, and biologic systems. Heat shock proteins have been shown to protect against the toxic disease effects of denatured and aggregated proteins in several models of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and spinocerebellar ataxia. In this dissertation, I investigated if heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) expression in neurons could protect against prion disease-associated pathology through a cell culture and mouse model of murine-adapted scrapie strain RML. In contrast to the role in other neurodegenerative diseases, HSP72 did not alter the prion disease course or amount of prion conversion in either disease model. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a naturally occurring, horizontally transmitted prion disease affecting wild and captive cervid populations that is rapidly expanding into new states and countries. Studies investigating the distribution of PrPCWD during early subclinical CWD infection have detected prions in the oropharyngeal lymphoid tissues as early as 1.5 months; however, the complete tissue distribution of PrPCWD immediately following prion exposure and the chronological progression of prion tissue accumulation remains unknown. Here, I show prions initially accumulate in the oropharyngeal lymphoid tissues following mucosal exposure and rapidly disseminate to all systemic lymphoid tissues prior to neuroinvasion. These findings will help better understand the early pathogenesis of CWD prior to clinical disease and potentially identify therapeutic targets. Prion disease diagnosis relies on demonstration of the misfolded isoform by immunodetection, amyloid seeding assays, or animal bioassays, all assays which may require separate sample preparations precluding examination by multiple tests. To address this limitation, I developed a new technique to detect PrPCWD amyloid seeding in fixed paraffin-embedded (FPE) tissues by real-time quaking induced conversion (RT-QuIC). FPE RT-QuIC proved to be more sensitive than IHC for prion detection and the use of RT-QuIC amyloid formation kinetics yielded a semi-quantitative estimate of the prion burden in samples without the cost and time of animal bioassays. The normal cellular prion protein resides in cell membrane lipid rafts, which has been shown to be a site of pathogenic conversion. Previous in vitro assays have highlighted the ability of lipids to promote prion formation but knowledge is limited regarding the capacity of lipids to inhibit prion formation. Here, I show endogenous polar brain lipids directly inhibit prion amyloid formation in RT-QuIC in a dose-dependent manner. This work is the first to identify an inhibitory role of lipids and suggests the prion conversion process is influenced by a balance of pro-conversion and inhibitory molecules

Effects of Individual and Group Therapies on Verb Production in Aphasia

Language interventions are frequently classified along a continuum (Paul & Cascella, 2007). At one end of the continuum are impairment-based approaches that aim to remediate a particular language skill. Successful treatments often utilize models of cognitive-linguistic processing and have been shown to improve language performance in individuals with aphasia (Thompson & Shapiro, 2005; Whitworth, Webster, & Howard, 2005, Wertz et al 1981). At the other end of the continuum is the participant-centered approach. These types of interventions place the client at the center of the intervention. Group treatment is a socially oriented intervention and an example of a participant-centered approach. Studies support the use of conversation group treatments to improve language performance in individuals with aphasia (Wertz et al., 1981, Elman & Bernstein-Ellis, 1999b). Considerable evidence exists in the literature to support both these types of interventions and both interventions seek to improve communication in the individual with aphasia (Martin, Thompson & Worrall, 2008). However, there have been no studies that compare the effects of these two approaches. This study compared the effect of these two approaches on remediation of verb production in aphasia. The goals were 1) to determine if performance on verbs trained in an impairment-based approach, a participant-centered approach, or an integrated context that used both approaches improved to a greater extent, and 2) to determine whether combining these training approaches led to improvements in related language functions and in verbal communication

SOUND, LIGHT, AND MOTION: THE ABSTRACTION AND REPRESENTATION OF INNER OCCURRENCES IN SCHOENBERG'S DIE GLÜCKLICHE HAND

In January 1911, Arnold Schoenberg and Wassily Kandinsky initiated a correspondence which revealed extraordinary parallels in expressing the spiritual in art. Schoenberg emphasized an "art of the representation of inner occurrences" and Kandinsky repeatedly discussed an "inner spirit of art," the mantra of his book, Concerning the Spiritual in Art. Between 1910 and 1914, Schoenberg worked on one piece which spanned the duration of his correspondence with Kandinsky: Die glückliche Hand. Seeking to put Schoenberg's intentions in their original context, I employ the dynamic color theory outlined in Concerning the Spiritual in Art to trace spiritual motion throughout the monodrama, Die glückliche Hand. For every scene, Schoenberg indicates specific transitions of colored light which correspond to the protagonist's internal state. How does Schoenberg mirror the transformation of colored light musically in order to reflect the inner spirit of this protagonist? My analysis not only demonstrates how Schoenberg composed the monodrama with Kandinsky's theory of color in mind, but also illuminates the aural and visual possibilities of abstracting and representing human spirituality. According to Kandinsky, a work of art is defined as a "complex of vibrations;" these vibrations are the "definite activity of the soul." My analysis demonstrates how Die glückliche Hand may be considered a dynamic creation infused with vibrations of sound and light, a reflection of the artistic environment in Western Europe during the beginning of the twentieth century and its portrayal of human spirituality

"I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY AND I AM SAYING IT": COLLABORATION, COLLAGE, AND THE MEETING OF INDETERMINACIES IN AMERICAN AVANT-GARDE PERFORMANCES OF THE 1960S

When approaching the 1960s, histories of the United States commonly emphasize the dynamic movements of the decade such as fighting for equality, traveling through space and moving upwards in “the Great Society.” These movements captivated both the eyes and ears of Americans through a collage of television, radio, records, newspapers, magazines and journals—a multi-mediated culture that fashioned new political platforms for change. Whereas the roles of popular musicians during the 1960s have been well researched, investigations of American avant-garde music have been limited to studies of individual composers and their compositional methods, largely ignoring these musicians’ role in the germination of a collective consciousness that questioned established aesthetic paradigms and cultivated unique exchanges between multiple forms of artistic media. This study focuses on the so-called “New York School”—a diverse group comprised of, among others, John Cage, Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, and David Tudor. I reassess the cultural, social and aesthetic importance of these figures by examining their work in multimedia collaborations. I offer three case studies each organized around an avant-garde event whose premiere performance and/or subsequent renditions marked the 1960s. Chapter 2 elucidates the interplay of indeterminate and determined relations between collaborators in John Cage’s and Merce Cunningham’s Variations V by conceptualizing a “collage of authorities” that thematizes a Derridean play of différance. In Chapters 3 and 4, I detail the textual and perceptual collage that reinforces a Bergsonian notion of order in the “feedback conditions” of Earle Brown’s Calder Piece. In Chapter 5, I unravel and analyze the surfaces of Merce Cunningham’s choreography, Robert Rauschenberg’s décor and Morton Feldman’s music, which together creates a performative collage in the ballet Summerspace. I argue that, as multitudinous collages, these collaborations continued the modernist legacy of questioning conventional musical (and visual) languages while simultaneously projecting traits we now associate with postmodernism, such as theatricality and potentiality through variously constituted indeterminacies. Questioning the very grounds of mainstream communication, these dynamic events offered their own terms for linking politics and aesthetics during the 1960s

Review of Breast Conservation Therapy: Then and Now

Breast conservation therapy (BCT), which is the marriage of breast conserving surgery and radiation therapy to the breast, has revolutionized the treatment of breast cancer over the last few decades. Surgical direction had seen a heightened interest in the performance of cosmetically superior partial and segmental resections in breast conservation as well as increased demand by patients for breast preservation. The broadening of approaches to delivery of breast irradiation from whole breast to accelerated partial breast has allowed more patients to opt for breast conservation and allowed for what appears to be comparable measurable outcomes in emerging data. As well, the addition of state-of-the-art chemotherapeutic and hormonal therapies has allowed improved outcomes of patients from both local regional recurrence and overall survival standpoints. This paper will provide an overview of BCT and review some of the newest developments in optimizing this therapy for patients with breast cancer from a surgical-, medical-, and radiation-oncology standpoint

An Intensive, Interdisciplinary Treatment Program for Persons with Aphasia

Traditionally, much of individual aphasia therapy has been focused on attempts to remediate underlying linguistic deficits. While many treatments have been shown to improve discrete language functions (Robey et al, 1998), those newly learned skills do not always transfer readily to non-trained environments. Over the past two decades, a growing number of aphasiologists have begun to focus their attention on social approaches to aphasia assessment and treatment (Elman, 2007). One such approach, group treatment, serves as a natural and dynamic vehicle to improve social communication, which has been shown to improve discrete language skills in persons with aphasia (pwa), (Elman & Bernstein-Ellis, 1999). Group treatment frequently co-occurs with individual therapy, but is rarely used as a formal mechanism to train generalization. Another area of broad discussion in aphasia rehabilitation is the concept of treatment intensity. Basso (2005) reported that pwa who received a higher number of therapy sessions improved more than those who received a lower number of therapy sessions. Bhogal et al (2003) found that treatment provided on a more intense level (>8.8 hours/week) for a shorter period of time resulted in stronger improvements compared to treatment provided on a less intense level over a longer period of time. A final issue is that individuals with stroke-induced aphasia often present with concomitant motor, cognitive and dietary/cardiac issues. Thus it seems that an interdisciplinary approach incorporating physical, occupational and nutritional therapy would also be beneficial. This paper explores the speech-language effects of a treatment program, which attempts to incorporate evidenced-based treatment, in an intensive, interdisciplinary format. Pilot data from an initial cohort completed June 2011 as well as multiple-baseline data from a second cohort completed June 2012 is presented

Plant genotype and induced defenses affect the productivity of an insect-killing obligate viral pathogen

© 2017 Elsevier Inc. Plant-mediated variations in the outcomes of host-pathogen interactions can strongly affect epizootics and the population dynamics of numerous species, including devastating agricultural pests such as the fall armyworm. Most studies of plant-mediated effects on insect pathogens focus on host mortality, but few have measured pathogen yield, which can affect whether or not an epizootic outbreak occurs. Insects challenged with baculoviruses on different plant species and parts can vary in levels of mortality and yield of infectious stages (occlusion bodies; OBs). We previously demonstrated that soybean genotypes and induced anti-herbivore defenses influence baculovirus infectivity. Here, we used a soybean genotype that strongly reduced baculovirus infectivity when virus was ingested on induced plants (Braxton) and another that did not reduce infectivity (Gasoy), to determine how soybean genotype and induced defenses influence OB yield and speed of kill. These are key fitness measures because baculoviruses are obligate-killing pathogens. We challenged fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, with the baculovirus S. frugiperda multi-nucleocapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV) during short or long-term exposure to plant treatments (i.e., induced or non-induced genotypes). Caterpillars were either fed plant treatments only during virus ingestion (short-term exposure to foliage) or from the point of virus ingestion until death (long-term exposure). We found trade-offs of increasing OB yield with slower speed of kill and decreasing virus dose. OB yield increased more with longer time to death and decreased more with increasing virus dose after short-term feeding on Braxton compared with Gasoy. OB yield increased significantly more with time to death in larvae that fed until death on non-induced foliage than induced foliage. Moreover, fewer OBs per unit of host tissue were produced when larvae were fed induced foliage than non-induced foliage. These findings highlight the potential importance of plant effects, even at the individual plant level, on entomopathogen fitness, which may impact epizootic transmission events and host population dynamics

Integrative Genomics Reveals the Genetics and Evolution of the Honey Bee’s Social Immune System

Social organisms combat pathogens through individual innate immune responses or through social immunity—behaviors among individuals that limit pathogen transmission within groups. Although we have a relatively detailed understanding of the genetics and evolution of the innate immune system of animals, we know little about social immunity. Addressing this knowledge gap is crucial for understanding how life-history traits influence immunity, and identifying if trade-offs exist between innate and social immunity. Hygienic behavior in the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, provides an excellent model for investigating the genetics and evolution of social immunity in animals. This heritable, colony-level behavior is performed by nurse bees when they detect and remove infected or dead brood from the colony. We sequenced 125 haploid genomes from two artificially selected highly hygienic populations and a baseline unselected population. Genomic contrasts allowed us to identify a minimum of 73 genes tentatively associated with hygienic behavior. Many genes were within previously discovered QTLs associated with hygienic behavior and were predictive of hygienic behavior within the unselected population. These genes were often involved in neuronal development and sensory perception in solitary insects. We found that genes associated with hygienic behavior have evidence of positive selection within honey bees (Apis), supporting the hypothesis that social immunity contributes to fitness. Our results indicate that genes influencing developmental neurobiology and behavior in solitary insects may have been co-opted to give rise to a novel and adaptive social immune phenotype in honey bees.York University Librarie