Kinematic and correlational analyses on labial and lingual functions during syllable repetitions in Cantonese dysarthric speakers with Parkinson's disease of varying severity using electromagnetic articulography (EMA)

Articulatory imprecision in Parkinson patients with hypokinetic dysarthria has been attributed to articulatory undershooting. However, contradictory results in terms of acoustics and instrumental investigation has been reported in the literature throughout the years. The present study aimed to investigate labial and lingual kinematics in dysarthric Cantonese speakers with Parkinson’s disease (PD) of different severity (in terms of dysarthria) during rapid syllable repetitions and compared the measures with that of healthy age-matched controls using a 3-dimensional Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA). Dysarthria severity was also correlated with labial and lingual kinematics. Tongue tip, tongue back, upper and lower lips and jaw motion in five PD and six normal participants during repetitions of /pa/, /ta/ and /ka/ were recorded. Participants were also rated perceptually on their dysarthria severity. When compared to the normal group, the PD group showed reduced velocity in lingual movement and reduced distance travelled and velocity in labial movements. Correlational analysis between dysarthria severity and kinematic data revealed positive correlation for duration of lingual movement. Negative correlation was identified for the velocity and rate of lingual movement, and for distance travelled and velocity of labial movement. The present results supported the hypothesis of articulatory undershooting as a contributing factor of articulatory imprecision in hypokinetic dysarthria, while tongue and lip tremor might also cause such consonant imprecision. Possible differential effect of dopamine deficiency on the different cranial nerves has been hypothesized. Keywords:published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

High-dimensional variable selection and time series classification and forecasting with potential change-points

This thesis studies high-dimensional variable selection and time series with potential changepoints. In Chapter 1 we propose Combined Selection and Uncertainty Visualiser (CSUV), which estimates the set of true covariates in high-dimensional linear regression and visualises selection uncertainties by exploiting the (dis)agreement among different base selectors. Our proposed method selects covariates that get selected the most frequently by the different variable selection methods on subsampled data. The method is generic and can be used with different existing variable selection methods. We demonstrate its variable selection performance using real and simulated data. The variable selection method and its uncertainty illustration tool are publicly available as R package CSUV (https://github.com/christineyuen/ CSUV). The graphical tool is also available online via https://csuv.shinyapps.io/csuv. In Chapter 2 we explore the potential and shortcomings of the “estimation-simulationclassification” approach for time series model identification. Assume there is only one realisation of a time series available and we would like to find the true model specification for a given time series. With the success of deep learning in classification in recent years, we explore the possibility of using classifiers for model identification. The application of classifiers on model identification is not straightforward as classifiers require a sufficient number of observations to train but we only have one time series at hand. One possible solution is to generate pseudo training data that is similar to the observed time series, and use them to fit the classifiers. We call it the “estimation-simulation-classification” (ESC) approach. We find that if the model complexity is not taken into account, more flexible models are favoured by this approach. The advantage of using a good classifier can be discounted by the ignorance of the model complexity, and some simple methods (e.g. information criteria) that take into account the model complexity may outperform classifiers with the ESC approach. Based on our observations on the ESC approach, we propose using BIC and consider ResNet via the ESC approach for time series model identification. The newly proposed methods are implemented in R and will be available online via https://github.com/christineyuen/ESC. In Chapter 3, we propose different procedures to extend the use of Narrowest-Over- Threshold (NOT) to time series with dependent noise, with the objective to provide better forecasting performance. The new method takes into account the potential dependent structure of the noise. We also explore using cross-validation to select the set of changepoints from the NOT solution path. We demonstrate the prediction performance of the proposed procedures using real and simulated data, and compare the performance with some other methods in different settings. The newly proposed methods are implemented in R and will be available online via https://github.com/christineyuen/NOT-ARMA

淺論小說《悟空傳》的反抗意識

《悟空傳》是一本由網絡作家今何在於二千年寫成，共二十章的中短篇網絡小說，作品面世後隨即因其風格突破創新而廣受讀者青睞。二零零一年正式出版成書，後來經歷多次加印再版，並被改編成由郭子健執導的同名電影《悟空傳》，可見此作的文學價值和地位廣受認可。電影二零一七年上映至今，原著小說《悟空傳》亦因而受到更多的目光注視，研究此作及改編電影的論文漫山遍野，惟那些論題多集中探討《悟空傳》電影及小說之異同，鮮少論及原著小説《悟空傳》本身的文學價值，而在各大論壇上提及小說《悟空傳》的文章則只是簡單概述小說內容、將人物故事線分開陳述或單單對情節安排作出猜測，猜測內容的同時並無引用任何學說或理論以加強合理性，引致其中某些猜測顯得異想天開，故這類文章只能顯示《悟空傳》一書受到大眾熱烈的討論，並不算是正式的研究。 有見及此，本論文將從兩個方向入手分析小說《悟空傳》的反抗意識，首先指出孫悟空一角於前文本及現文本中反抗形象之流變，再從英雄形象及二心（妄心與本心）角度說明《悟空傳》對前文本的顛覆，然後從現文本與現實的關係著手，印證小說提出對神佛崇拜及社會的再思考，以證《悟空傳》文學價值之所在

Telomere dynamics in the Pacific crown-of-thorns seastar (Acanthaster cf. solaris): effect of age, diet, and tissue type

Population irruptions of crown-of-thorns seastar (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) represent a perennial threat to Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Age determination of CoTS is challenging, thereby hindering understanding and management of this nuisance species. Telomeres, which are protective DNA structure found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes that shorten at each cell division, have been used to estimate age in wild animals. To investigate the use of telomeres in CoTS, we optimized a quantitative PCR protocol to measure relative telomere length (rTL) in CoTS for the first time. Comparing rTL among four age groups (4, 7, 16, > 24 months post-settlement), we found that adult CoTS generally exhibit shorter rTL than juveniles, which is the first evidence of age-related telomere attrition in CoTS. However, there was large within-age class variation, and no significant relationships were found between adult CoTS rTL and potential age-indicating external features. Furthermore, we found accelerated telomere attrition under sub-optimal diet, where individuals that were fed crustose coralline algae for 16 months exhibited shorter rTL than their counterparts fed on coral. A positive correlation was found between rTL of tube feet and pyloric caeca, suggesting synchronization of telomere dynamics across somatic tissues in CoTS. Overall, our results suggest that rTL could be used to classify CoTS into broad age groups, though individual variation constrains the ability to resolve specific cohorts. The present study contributes to the understanding of telomere dynamics in marine invertebrates, while laying the groundwork for future research into rTL as biomarker for age and potentially stress for CoTS

從《聊齋誌異．青蛙神》看文學對蛙神話的吸收、轉化與以意創造

中國蛙神話並不限於中原地區及南方地區，藏族地區、北方少數民族也流傳著各種形態的蛙神話及其變體、變異的民間文學作品128。在考古的發現中， 彩陶蛙紋的分佈地區廣泛，從中原綿延至西北，如：河南省澠池縣的仰韶村、 陝縣的廟底溝、陝西省華陰縣的西關堡、臨潼縣的姜寨、甘肅省的馬家窯、青海省樂都縣的柳灣等129，可見中國的蛙崇拜出現很早，且出現於不同的地區。 文學創作雖然為文學家天馬行空的想像，但也往往能表現當時社會的一些文化、習俗，故本文欲借《聊齋誌異‧青蛙神》討論文學作品對蛙神話的吸收、 轉化與以意創造