Intelligibility of American Sign Language Dialogue in Popular Media

69 pagesThis thesis examines the intelligibility of American Sign Language (ASL) dialogue in contemporary movies and TV shows. ASL and Deaf people have historically been represented inaccurately onscreen by hearing actors with poor signing skills. In recent decades, however, this has changed for the better, with directors hiring fluent Deaf actors and ASL dialogue coaches. Still, there has never been a study quantifying how intelligible the ASL dialogue in contemporary media is to actual signers. Through an online survey for ASL signers, participants were shown 45 ASL dialogue clips from 9 different movies and TV shows. Participants rated how well they could understand the clips based on the actors’ ASL proficiency and the way the dialogue was filmed. Analysis of this data found that even in films with fluent Deaf actors and ASL dialogue coaches, the dialogue was often highly unintelligible, due to culturally ignorant framing and editing of actors’ signing. The film CODA (2021) was a notable exception, with comparatively well-filmed ASL. Based on feedback from survey participants and additional research, this thesis recommends that directors hire ASL cinematographers to supervise and guide the filming and editing of ASL dialogue, to ensure that the final product is intelligible for a signing audience

Electric Birefringence Spectroscopy of Montmorillonite Particles

Full version available at http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2016/SM/C6SM00512H#!divAbstractElectric birefringence (EB) of suspensions of anisotropic particles can be considered an electrokinetic phenomenon in a wide sense, as both liquid motions and polarization of the electrical double layer (EDL) of the particles participate in the process of particle orientation under the applied field. The EB spectrum can be exploited for obtaining information on the dimensions, average value and anisotropy of the surface conductivity of the particles, and concentration and Maxwell-Wagner polarization of the EDLs. It is thus a highly informative technique, applicable to non-spherical particles. In this paper, we investigate the birefringent response of plate-like montmorillonite particles as a function of the frequency and amplitude of the applied AC electric field, for different compositions (pH, ionic strength, particle concentration) of the suspensions. The transient electric birefringence (i.e., the decay of the refractive index anisotropy with time when the field is switched off) is used for estimating the average dimensions of the particle axes, by modeling it as an oblate spheroid. The obtained values are very similar to those deduced from electron microscopy determinations. The frequency spectra show a very distinct behaviour at low (on the order of a few Hz) and high (up to several MHz) frequencies: the $\alpha$ and Maxwell-Wagner-O'Konski relaxations, characteristic of EDLs, are detected at frequencies above 10 kHz, and they can be well explained using electrokinetic models for the polarization of EDLs. At low frequencies, in contrast, the birefringence changes to negative, an anomalous response meaning that the particles tend to orient with their symmetry axis parallel to the field. This anomaly is weaker at basic pHs, high ionic strengths and low concentrations. The results can be explained by considering the polydispersity of real samples: the fastest particles redistribute around the slowest ones, inducing a hydrodynamic torque opposite to that of the field, in close similarity with results previously described for mixtures of anisometric particles with small amounts of spherical nanoparticles.Junta de Andalucía, Spain (PE2012-FQM0694)MINECO, Spain (project No. FIS2013-47666-C3-1-R)Ramón y Cajal Programme (RYC-2014-16901)[EMBARGADO hasta mayo 2017

Effect of high electric fields on the isotropic phase of a lyotropic liquid-crystalline system

The effect of high (>1000 V/mm) electric fields on solutions of a lyotropic liquid-crystalline polymer, poly( n -hexyl isocyanate) in p-xylene, is presented. The concentrations are adjusted such that the solutions are strictly within the isotropic phase domain region, thus exhibiting no spontaneous liquid crystallinity. The effects of field strength, frequency, and concentration are varied and the morphological changes are noted. The results are analyzed with birefringence measurements via comparison with the optical Kerr effect. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 4116–4125, 2004Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35008/1/20219_ftp.pd

Src Dependent Pancreatic Acinar Injury Can Be Initiated Independent of an Increase in Cytosolic Calcium

Several deleterious intra-acinar phenomena are simultaneously triggered on initiating acute pancreatitis. These culminate in acinar injury or inflammatory mediator generation in vitro and parenchymal damage in vivo. Supraphysiologic caerulein is one such initiator which simultaneously activates numerous signaling pathways including non-receptor tyrosine kinases such as of the Src family. It also causes a sustained increase in cytosolic calcium- a player thought to be crucial in regulating deleterious phenomena. We have shown Src to be involved in caerulein induced actin remodeling, and caerulein induced changes in the Golgi and post-Golgi trafficking to be involved in trypsinogen activation, which initiates acinar cell injury. However, it remains unclear whether an increase in cytosolic calcium is necessary to initiate acinar injury or if injury can be initiated at basal cytosolic calcium levels by an alternate pathway. To study the interplay between tyrosine kinase signaling and calcium, we treated mouse pancreatic acinar cells with the tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor pervanadate. We studied the effect of the clinically used Src inhibitor Dasatinib (BMS-354825) on pervanadate or caerulein induced changes in Src activation, trypsinogen activation, cell injury, upstream cytosolic calcium, actin and Golgi morphology. Pervanadate, like supraphysiologic caerulein, induced Src activation, redistribution of the F-actin from its normal location in the sub-apical area to the basolateral areas, and caused antegrade fragmentation of the Golgi. These changes, like those induced by supraphysiologic caerulein, were associated with trypsinogen activation and acinar injury, all of which were prevented by Dasatinib. Interestingly, however, pervanadate did not cause an increase in cytosolic calcium, and the caerulein induced increase in cytosolic calcium was not affected by Dasatinib. These findings suggest that intra-acinar deleterious phenomena may be initiated independent of an increase in cytosolic calcium. Other players resulting in acinar injury along with the Src family of tyrosine kinases remain to be explored. © 2013 Mishra et al

A Portable Wireless Particulate Sensor System for Continuous Real-Time Environmental Monitoring

Airborne particulate matter has been shown to be associated with morbidity and mortality, and may interfere with certain sensitive experiment. Understanding the levels and movements of particulate matter in an enclosed space can lead to a reduction in the impact of this material on health and experimental results. A system of environmental sensors including particulate matter, selected gasses, humidity, temperature, and pressure can be used to assist in tracking air movement, providing real-time mapping of potential contaminants as they move through a space. In this paper we present a system that is capable of sensing these environmental factors, collecting data from multiple dispersed nodes and presenting the aggregated information in real-time. The highly modular system is based on a flexible and scalable framework developed for use in aircraft cabin environments. Use of this framework enables the deployment of a custom suite of sensors with minimal development effort. Individual nodes communicate using a self-organizing mesh network and can be powered from a variety of sources, bringing a high level of flexibility in the arrangement and distribution of the sensor array. Sensor data is transmitted to a coordinator node, which then passes the time-correlated information to a server-hosted database through a choice of wired or wireless networks. Presentation software is used to either monitor the real-time data stream, or to extract records of interest from the database. A reference implementation has been created for the National Institutes of Health consisting of a custom optical particle counter and off-the-shelf sensors for CO2, CO, temperature, humidity, pressure, and acoustic noise. The total environmental sensing system provides continuous, real-time data in a readable format that can be used to analyze ambient air for events of interest

TEPID PARTNERS: THE RIO TREATY AND COLLECTIVE INTER-AMERICAN SECURITY

The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, also known as the Rio Treaty, is one of the Organization of American States’ (OAS) founding agreements. The treaty includes language that provides for collective hemispheric defense, and it has been invoked on multiple occasions. However, Rio Treaty invocations have consistently struggled to generate salient multilateral security cooperation. This thesis hypothesizes, and finds, that the Rio Treaty has been unsuccessful at producing meaningful security cooperation because of repeated misuse by its signatories. To prove the hypothesis, this thesis examines OAS involvement in two regional crises, the 1965 Dominican Civil War and the Falklands/Malvinas War, in search of common themes. In both cases, a treaty signatory executed a fait accompli and then turned to the OAS in need of international legitimacy rather than strategic need. During the Dominican Civil War, the Rio Treaty was not invoked when it likely should have been. As a result, the Inter-American Peace Force (IAPF), which the OAS dispatched in response to the crisis, would remain forever unformalized. Argentina misused the Rio Treaty by invoking it after it had to face the military consequences of a conflict that it instigated with Great Britain. The vastly different OAS response to each case can be explained by vested U.S. interest in each conflict.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. distribution is unlimite