On word class-specification: evidence from linguistics and cognitive neuroscience

The aim of the present paper is to provide a clear answer to critical aspects of the following key questions: 1) is word class-specification necessarily incorporated into lexical items? 2) does the organization of word knowledge in the brain rely on word class-specific information? To do this we combine diachronic evidence and typological observations on word classes with data on the noun/verb processing in aphasia and neuroimaging findings on the representation of verbs, adjectives and nouns and, consequently, show how linguistics and cognitive neuroscience crucially benefit from each other

Advanced Conducting Project

An American Elegy by Frank Ticheli -- Kentucky 1800 by Clare Grundman -- On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss by David R. Holsinger -- Shenandoah by Frank Ticheli -- Suite from Bohemia by Vaclav Nelhybel -- With Quiet Courage by Larry Daehn

(Re)Canonizing the Tool: Constructions and Insincerity in the Digital Age

This thesis conceptually frames and accompanies the MFA body of work (Re)Canonizing the Tool: Constructions and Insincerity in the Digital Age done by Danielle Romagno. Using lenses of relationship between humans and tools, a desire to problematize our world, absurdity, and reimagined function, this document explores the work’s connection to the contemporary superficiality of online media like infomercials and YouTube DIY tutorials

The aorist in -ην in Homeric Greek: at the morphosyntax/semantics interface. A thorough analysis of Iliad and Odyssey.

In the present paper, we report the results of a study of all the occurences of the aorist in -ην in Homeric poems. It is shown that the Greek aorist in -ην constitutes a strategy to encode the anticausative member of the causative/anticausative alternation represented in change of state verbs, and the few instances of non-anticausative values (i.e., passive, reflexive and bare temporal) are epiphenomena of either the presence of specific components or the absence of an affected argument in the semantic structure of verb lexemes. Moreover, the relationship between the aorist in -ην, the perfect system and the middle voice is discussed

Exploring the neurocognitive basis of language processing: the case of word classes and the key role of interface semantics

In the present paper, we address the question of the linking mechanisms of the multifactorial and graded conceptual space with the formally discrete language structures by 1) investigating the neurocognitive basis of interface semantics and 2) exploring the representation of word classes in the brain. Data from cognitive neuropsychological and brain imaging studies are discussed, and an answer is provided to certain critical aspects of the relationship between conceptual categorization and linguistic categorization. KEYWORDS: Conceptual categorization, linguistic categorization, interface semantics, word classes, cognitive neuropsychology, fMRIIn the present paper, we address the question of the linking mechanisms of the multifactorial and graded conceptual space with the formally discrete language structures by 1) investigating the neurocognitive basis of interface semantics and 2) exploring the representation of word classes in the brain. Data from cognitiveneuropsychological and brain imaging studies are discussed, and an answer is provided to certain critical aspects of the relationship between conceptual categorization and linguistic categorization. KEYWORDS: Conceptual categorization, linguistic categorization, interface semantics, word classes, cognitive neuropsychology, fMR

Low cost seismic constructions: design and dissemination in developing socio-economic areas

The paper describes a procedure for establishing and disseminating a sustainable technique for the construction of low-cost seismic structures, by using reinforced bamboo elements. The procedure is illustrated via the example of a small public building, suitable for use as a primary school or health centre. Furthermore, on the basis of sociolinguistic investigations, we propose a multi-pronged strategy for disseminating specific technical knowledge, involving different means of communication, and including various types of linguistic acts, that are appropriate to the various socio-economic segments identified in the local population

Molecular and classical cytogenetic analyses demonstrate an apomorphic reciprocal chromosomal translocation in Gorilla gorilla

The existence of an apomorphic reciprocal chromosomal translocation in the gorilla lineage has been asserted or denied by various cytogeneticists. We employed a new molecular cytogenetic strategy (chromosomal in situ suppression hybridization) combined with high-resolution banding, replication sequence analysis, and fluorochrome staining to demonstrate that a reciprocal translocation between ancestral chromosomes homologous to human chromosome 5 and 17 has indeed occurred

Evolution of human chromosome 7: new information from the mapping of Williams- Beuren locus on non-human primates chromosomes

Human chromosome 7 (HSA7) derives, by a pericentric inversion and a paracentric inversion, from an ancestral chromosome homologous to chromosome 10 of Pongo pygmaeus (the Asiatic Orang-Utan). Nevertheless the genesis of this autosome during primates evolution is not clear. Even if chromosome painting shows that HAS 7 synteny is highly conserved, GTG-banding comparison in Hominoidea and Cercopithecoidea indicates the probable occurrence of complex rearrangements during the evolution. In this study we used a single locus FISH approach, a powerful tool to detect fine rearrangements, in order to investigate the evolution of HAS 7. We report the chromosome mapping of Williams-Beuren syndrome locus (WS - HSA 7q11.23) on Macaca fascicularis (MFA), Cercopithecus (Chlorocebus) aethiops (CAE) and Trachypithecus cristatus (TCR) (Cercopithecoidea, Primates). The probe hybridises on all species tested and demonstrates the occurrence of rearrangements like fusion, fission and pericentric plus paracentric inversions respectively in MFA, CAE and TCR. Together with the first chromosome mapping of WS locus in Cercopithecoidea, this study confirms that single locus mapping is a very efficacious tool for the analysis of chromosomal rearrangements as it gave the opportunity to have a fine molecular confirmation to proposed banding patterns homologies

Geni TBX e patologia umana

TBX genes belong to a family of homeotic genes (t-boxes) for which it has been proved that gene mutations have serious consequences on the development. In particular, there is significant evidence to support the involvement of the TBX1 gene in DiGeorge / Velocardiofacial syndrome (DGS/VCFS) and it has been proved that the TBX3 and TBX5 genes are implicated, respectively, in UMS (Ulnar Mammary Syndhrome) and in Holt-Oram syndrome (HOS). The book collects information available in the literature up to October 2001 on human TBX genes. The review of the data allowed to come to interesting considerations and offers ideas for orienting further research

Independent Representations of Verbs and Actions in Left Lateral Temporal Cortex

Verbs and nouns differ not only on formal linguistic grounds but also in what they typically refer to: Verbs typically refer to actions, whereas nouns typically refer to objects. Prior neuroimaging studies have revealed that regions in the left lateral temporal cortex (LTC), including the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), respond selectively to action verbs relative to object nouns. Other studies have implicated the left pMTG in action knowledge, raising the possibility that verb selectivity in LTC may primarily reflect action-specific semantic features. Here, using functional neuroimaging, we test this hypothesis. Participants performed a simple memory task on visually presented verbs and nouns that described either events (e.g., "he eats" and "the conversation") or states (e.g., "he exists" and "the value"). Verb-selective regions in the left pMTG and the left STS were defined in individual participants by an independent localizer contrast between action verbs and object nouns. Both regions showed equally strong selectivity for event and state verbs relative to semantically matched nouns. The left STS responded more to states than events, whereas there was no difference between states and events in the left pMTG. Finally, whole-brain group analysis revealed that action verbs, relative to state verbs, activated a cluster in pMTG that was located posterior to the verb-selective pMTG clusters. Together, these results indicate that verb selectivity in LTC is independent of action representations. We consider other differences between verbs and nouns that may underlie verb selectivity in LTC, including the verb property of predication.Psycholog