The sound of meaning: theories of voice in twentieth-century thought and performance

This dissertation addresses the problem of the denigration of the voice in poststructural theory and contemporary performance criticism. The problem has antecedents in twentieth-century language philosophy. Saussure defines language as a compendium of arbitrary words recognized according to the degrees of phonetic difference between them. Since for Saussure the arbitrary words of language also designate arbitrary concepts, he concludes that the sounds of words cannot be thought constituent of their sense. After Saussure, structuralism dislodges the voice from its privileged position in the phonologic discourses of Western thought. Poststructuralism views meaning as a product of socially constructed language systems, and it argues that neither the voice nor the speaking subject can be afforded linguistic agency. A strain of contemporary theatre criticism, premised upon poststructuralism, interprets the postmodern stage as a site in which the voice, language, and the speaking subject come under critique and suspicion, stripped of agency and communicative efficacy. This dissertation investigates twentieth-century theories of voice, language, and speech in order to define the status of the voice in various disciplines ranging from paleoanthropology, phenomenology, structuralism, speech act theory, theatre semiotics, the philosophies of technology, and media studies. By comparing the status of the voice in other disciplines, this dissertation argues for a recuperation of the voice against the denigration evident in poststructural theory and performance criticism. Relying on Heidegger\u27s phenomenal view of language, the autonomy of the voice in speech act theory and theatre semiotics, the centrality of vocalized language in human evolution, and the resurgence of orality in electronic media, this dissertation argues that the voice continues to act as an important and primary signifying agent on the postmodern stage, regardless of poststructural arguments to the contrary

Some Structural Features of Mycorrhizae on Coniferous Seedlings

Development of mycorrhizae was found to be promoted by inoculating nursery soil with humus and top soil from well-established coniferous plantations, or by application of phosphorus fertilizer. Two types of host cell fungus relationships have been observed. In one type the root has a mantle of mycelium with abundant clamp connections. The internal mycelium is intercellular and segmented into short, straight-sided cells. The second type has a mantle of much coarser, monilioid mycelium

Novel use of field-portable-XRF for the direct analysis of trace elements in marine macroalgae.

Samples of dried marine macroalgae (Fucus serratus, Palmaria palmata and Ulva lactuca) have been analysed for trace elements by a novel, non-destructive approach involving a Niton field-portable-X-ray fluorescence (FP-XRF) spectrometer configured in a low density plastics mode with thickness correction. Detection limits for a 200-s counting time ranged from <5 μg g(-1) for As and Pb in F. serratus and As in P. palmata to several tens of μg g(-1) for Cd, Sb and Sn in all species tested. Arsenic, Cu, Pb and Zn were detected by the XRF in samples collected from a protected beach (n = 18) and in samples therefrom that had been exposed to additional aqueous elements in combination (n = 72) with concentrations returned (in μg g(-1)) ranging from 3.9 to 39.7 for As, 13.0 to 307 for Cu, 6.1 to 14.7 for Pb and 12.5 to 522 for Zn. Independent measurements of trace elements in the macroalgae by ICP-MS following nitric acid digestion revealed a direct and significant proportionality with concentrations returned by the XRF, with slopes of the XRF-ICP relationships (As = 1.0; Cu = 2.3; Pb = 2.4; Zn = 1.7) that can be used to calibrate the instrument for direct measurements. The approach shows potential for the in situ monitoring of macroalgae in coastal regions that is currently being investigated

Circumferential strain predicts major adverse cardiovascular events following an acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction

Purpose: To investigate the prognostic value of circumferential left ventricular (LV) strain measured by using cardiac MRI for prediction of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) following an acute ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Materials and Methods: Participants with acute STEMI were prospectively enrolled from May 11, 2011, to November 22, 2012. Cardiac MRI was performed at 1.5 T during the index hospitalization. Displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) and feature tracking of cine cardiac MRI was used to assess circumferential LV strain. MACE that occurred after discharge were independently assessed by cardiologists blinded to the baseline observations. Results: A total of 259 participants (mean age, 58 years ± 11 [standard deviation]; 198 men [mean age, 58 years ± 11] and 61 women [mean age, 58 years ± 12]) underwent cardiac MRI 2.2 days ± 1.9 after STEMI. Average infarct size was 18% ± 13 of LV mass and circumferential strain was −13% ± 3 (DENSE method) and −24% ± 7 (feature- tracking method). Fifty-one percent (131 of 259 participants) had presence of microvascular obstruction. During a median follow-up period of 4 years, 8% (21 of 259) experienced MACE. Area under the curve (AUC) for DENSE was different from that of feature tracking (AUC, 0.76 vs 0.62; P = .03). AUC for DENSE was similar to that of initial infarct size (P = .06) and extent of microvascular obstruction (P = .08). DENSE-derived strain provided incremental prognostic benefit over infarct size for prediction of MACE (hazard ratio, 1.3; P &lt; .01). Conclusion: Circumferential strain has independent prognostic importance in study participants with acute ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction

Visualizing sound emission of elephant vocalizations: evidence for two rumble production types

Recent comparative data reveal that formant frequencies are cues to body size in animals, due to a close relationship between formant frequency spacing, vocal tract length and overall body size. Accordingly, intriguing morphological adaptations to elongate the vocal tract in order to lower formants occur in several species, with the size exaggeration hypothesis being proposed to justify most of these observations. While the elephant trunk is strongly implicated to account for the low formants of elephant rumbles, it is unknown whether elephants emit these vocalizations exclusively through the trunk, or whether the mouth is also involved in rumble production. In this study we used a sound visualization method (an acoustic camera) to record rumbles of five captive African elephants during spatial separation and subsequent bonding situations. Our results showed that the female elephants in our analysis produced two distinct types of rumble vocalizations based on vocal path differences: a nasally- and an orally-emitted rumble. Interestingly, nasal rumbles predominated during contact calling, whereas oral rumbles were mainly produced in bonding situations. In addition, nasal and oral rumbles varied considerably in their acoustic structure. In particular, the values of the first two formants reflected the estimated lengths of the vocal paths, corresponding to a vocal tract length of around 2 meters for nasal, and around 0.7 meters for oral rumbles. These results suggest that African elephants may be switching vocal paths to actively vary vocal tract length (with considerable variation in formants) according to context, and call for further research investigating the function of formant modulation in elephant vocalizations. Furthermore, by confirming the use of the elephant trunk in long distance rumble production, our findings provide an explanation for the extremely low formants in these calls, and may also indicate that formant lowering functions to increase call propagation distances in this species'

Predictors of segmental myocardial functional recovery in patients after an acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Objective: We hypothesized that Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes (DENSE) and feature-tracking derived circumferential strain would provide incremental prognostic value over the extent of infarction for recovery of segmental myocardial function. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-one patients (mean age 59 years, 73% male) underwent MRI 2 days post-ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and 241 (92%) underwent repeat imaging 6 months later. The MRI protocol included cine, 2D-cine DENSE, T2 mapping and late enhancement. Wall motion scoring was assessed by 2-blinded observers and adjudicated by a third. (WMS: 1=normal, 2=hypokinetic, 3=akinetic, 4=dyskinetic). WMS improvement was defined as a decrease in WMS ≥ 1, and normalization where WMS = 1 on follow-up. Segmental circumferential strain was derived utilizing DENSE and feature-tracking. A generalized linear mixed model with random effect of subject was constructed and used to account for repeated sampling when investigating predictors of segmental myocardial improvement or normalization Results: At baseline and follow-up, 1416 segments had evaluable data for all parameters. Circumferential strain by DENSE (p &lt; 0.001) and feature-tracking (p &lt; 0.001), extent of oedema (p &lt; 0.001), infarct size (p &lt; 0.001), and microvascular obstruction (p &lt; 0.001) were associates of both improvement and normalization of WMS. Circumferential strain provided incremental predictive value even after accounting for infarct size, extent of oedema and microvascular obstruction, for segmental improvement (DENSE: odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals: 1.08 per −1% peak strain, 1.05–1.12, p &lt; 0.001, feature-tracking: odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals: 1.05 per −1% peak strain, 1.03–1.07, p &lt; 0.001) and segmental normalization (DENSE: 1.08 per −1% peak strain, 1.04–1.12, p &lt; 0.001, feature-tracking: 1.06 per −1% peak strain, 1.04–1.08, p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: Circumferential strain provides incremental prognostic value over segmental infarct size in patients post STEMI for predicting segmental improvement or normalization by wall-motion scoring

Behavioral Artistry: Examining the Relationship Between the Interpersonal Skills and Effective Practice Repertoires of Applied Behavior Analysis Practitioners

Article describes study which investigated interpersonal skills associated with the concept of behavioral artistry (BA), a repertoire of practitioner behaviors including care, attentiveness, and creativity, among others, associated with the effective delivery of applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment

Tamm Review: Management of mixed-severity fire regime forests in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California

Increasingly, objectives for forests with moderate- or mixed-severity fire regimes are to restore successionally diverse landscapes that are resistant and resilient to current and future stressors. Maintaining native species and characteristic processes requires this successional diversity, but methods to achieve it are poorly explained in the literature. In the Inland Pacific US, large, old, early seral trees were a key historical feature of many young and old forest successional patches, especially where fires frequently occurred. Large, old trees are naturally fire-tolerant, but today are often threatened by dense understory cohorts that create fuel ladders that alter likely post-fire successional pathways. Reducing these understories can contribute to resistance by creating conditions where canopy trees will survive disturbances and climatic stressors; these survivors are important seed sources, soil protectors, and critical habitat elements. Historical timber harvesting has skewed tree size and age class distributions, created hard edges, and altered native patch sizes. Manipulating these altered forests to promote development of larger patches of older, larger, and more widely-spaced trees with diverse understories will increase landscape resistance to severe fires, and enhance wildlife habitat for underrepresented conditions. Closed-canopy, multi-layered patches that develop in hot, dry summer environments are vulnerable to droughts, and they increase landscape vulnerability to insect outbreaks and severe wildfires. These same patches provide habitat for species such as the northern spotted owl, which has benefited from increased habitat area. Regional and local planning will be critical for gauging risks, evaluating trade-offs, and restoring dynamics that can support these and other species. The goal will be to manage for heterogeneous landscapes that include variably-sized patches of (1) young, middle-aged, and old, closed canopy forests growing in upper montane, northerly aspect, and valley bottom settings, (2) a similar diversity of open-canopy, fire-tolerant patches growing on ridgetops, southerly aspects, and lower montane settings, and (3) significant montane chaparral and grassland areas. Tools to achieve this goal include managed wildfire, prescribed burning, and variable density thinning at small to large scales. Specifics on ‘‘how much and where?” will vary according to physiographic, topographic and historical templates, and regulatory requirements, and be determined by means of a socio-ecological process