Interpersonal Rhetoric: An Approach to Bettering Oneself and Others

Although interpersonal interaction is predominantly studied through the lens of communication studies, the field was originally studied primarily by scholars of rhetoric. Though this paradigm was instrumental in the founding of interpersonal communication, interpersonal rhetoric has largely been ignored by the discipline. However, throughout the last few decades, a few scholars have attempted to reinvigorate the study of interpersonal communication through the lens of rhetoric. This paper explores the several key concepts and perspectives within the history of the rhetorical approach to interpersonal communication, i.e., interpersonal rhetoric

Madrilena : Fantaisie Espagnole

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/1137/thumbnail.jp

Thermodynamics of Constituent Quarks

We investigate the thermal behavior of quarks and antiquarks interacting via a temperature-dependent linear potential. The quarks are constituent quarks with dynamically generated masses from the background linear $\sigma$-model.We find a transition from a system of bound mesons to a correlated quark gas at the same temperature as the chiral transition temperature.Comment: 24 pages, 5 Postscript figures, uses article.sty, epsf.sty, epsfig.st

Traditional, Cyber and Combined Bullying Roles: Differences in Risky Online and Offline Activities

This study (1) reports frequency rates of mutually exclusive traditional, cyber and combined (both traditional and cyber) bullying roles; and (2) investigates whether adolescents belonging to particular bullying roles show higher levels of involvement in risky online activities (Compulsive Internet Use (CIU), online grooming victimization, and sexting) and risky offline activities (bad behavior in school, drinking alcohol and truancy) than non-involved adolescents. The sample comprised self-reports of 1928 German, Dutch and Thai adolescents (Age = 12–18; M = 14.52; SD = 1.6). The results revealed age, sex and country differences in bullying frequency rates. CIU, sending of sexts and risky offline activities were most strongly associated with combined bully-victims. The receiving of sexts was most strongly associated with combined bullies; and online grooming victimization was most strongly related to cyber bully-victims. Another important finding is that the associations between risky offline activities and combined bullying are stronger than for traditional and cyber bullying. The findings contribute to better understanding of the associations between varying bullying roles and risky online and offline activities among adolescents. In sum, the results underscore the need to promote life skills rather than adopting more conventional approaches, which focus almost exclusively on reduction of risks

Engineering a multicompartment in vitro model for dorsal root ganglia phenotypic assessment

Despite the significant global prevalence of chronic pain, current methods to identify pain therapeutics often fail translation to the clinic. Phenotypic screening platforms rely on modeling and assessing key pathologies relevant to chronic pain, improving predictive capability. Patients with chronic pain often present with sensitization of primary sensory neurons (that extend from dorsal root ganglia [DRG]). During neuronal sensitization, painful nociceptors display lowered stimulation thresholds. To model neuronal excitability, it is necessary to maintain three key anatomical features of DRGs to have a physiologically relevant platform: (1) isolation between DRG cell bodies and neurons, (2) 3D platform to preserve cell–cell and cell-matrix interactions, and (3) presence of native non-neuronal support cells, including Schwann cells and satellite glial cells. Currently, no culture platforms maintain the three anatomical features of DRGs. Herein, we demonstrate an engineered 3D multicompartment device that isolates DRG cell bodies and neurites and maintains native support cells. We observed neurite growth into isolated compartments from the DRG using two formulations of collagen, hyaluronic acid, and laminin-based hydrogels. Further, we characterized the rheological, gelation and diffusivity properties of the two hydrogel formulations and found the mechanical properties mimic native neuronal tissue. Importantly, we successfully limited fluidic diffusion between the DRG and neurite compartment for up to 72 h, suggesting physiological relevance. Lastly, we developed a platform with the capability of phenotypic assessment of neuronal excitability using calcium imaging. Ultimately, our culture platform can screen neuronal excitability, providing a more translational and predictive system to identify novel pain therapeutics to treat chronic pain

Quantification of Phenotypic Change Resulting in Sensitization of Primary Sensory Neurons due to Oxidative Stress

84% of the population will suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives, and 39% of the cases may be related to pain originating from the intervertebral disc (IVD) also known as discogenic pain. Age or injury can cause progressive degeneration of the IVD, and this can allow innervation by nociceptive (pain-sensing) neurons from the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) into the inner IVD.6 Long-term exposure to pain-inducing stimuli can cause nociceptor sensitization, manifested as increased pain sensation in response to non-painful or painful stimuli.7 Sensitization results in the nociceptors responding more strongly to a stimulus, and the activation energy required for response is reduced.8 During IVD degeneration, inflammation and oxidative stress create excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) .9 ROS such as superoxide may play a role in nociceptive signaling and lead to nociceptor sensitization.8 ROS are involved in the chronic pain that results from nerve injury or inflammation in many contexts and may be involved in discogenic pain as well.10 The focus of this study is to determine if long-term oxidative stress causes a change in the DRG nociceptive neuron phenotype related to sensitization. This would increase the expression of pain-related ion channels and lower the neuronal activation threshold. 1. DePalma et al. (2011) 2. Balague et al. (2012) 3. Zhang et al. (2010) 4. Humzah et al. (1988) 5. Ohtori et al. (2015) 6. Yang et al. (2018) 7. Woolf et al. (2010) 8. Chung et al. (2004) 9. Nasto et al. (2013) 10. Yowtak et al. (2011

Real-Time Hand Shape Classification

The problem of hand shape classification is challenging since a hand is characterized by a large number of degrees of freedom. Numerous shape descriptors have been proposed and applied over the years to estimate and classify hand poses in reasonable time. In this paper we discuss our parallel framework for real-time hand shape classification applicable in real-time applications. We show how the number of gallery images influences the classification accuracy and execution time of the parallel algorithm. We present the speedup and efficiency analyses that prove the efficacy of the parallel implementation. Noteworthy, different methods can be used at each step of our parallel framework. Here, we combine the shape contexts with the appearance-based techniques to enhance the robustness of the algorithm and to increase the classification score. An extensive experimental study proves the superiority of the proposed approach over existing state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 11 page