Confidence Reports

We advocate and develop a states-based semantics for both nominal and adjectival confidence reports, as in "Ann is confident/has confidence that it's raining", and their comparatives "Ann is more confident/has more confidence that it's raining than that it's snowing". Other examples of adjectives that can report confidence include "sure" and "certain". Our account adapts Wellwood's account of adjectival comparatives in which the adjectives denote properties of states, and measure functions are introduced compositionally. We further explore the prospects of applying these tools to the semantics of probability operators. We emphasize three desirable and novel features of our semantics: (i) probability claims only exploit qualitative resources unless there is explicit compositional pressure for quantitative resources; (ii) the semantics applies to both probabilistic adjectives (e.g., "likely") and probabilistic nouns (e.g., "probability"); (iii) the semantics can be combined with an account of belief reports that allows thinkers to have incoherent probabilistic beliefs (e.g. thinking that A & B is more likely than A) even while validating the relevant purely probabilistic claims (e.g. validating the claim that A & B is never more likely than A). Finally, we explore the interaction between confidence-reporting discourse (e.g., "I am confident that...") and belief-reports about probabilistic discourse (e.g.,"I think it's likely that..")

An investigation of the optimum intensity of physiotherapy after stroke

We do not known the optimum amount of physiotherapy for individual patients and recent trials have been inconclusive. We conducted an individual-patient-data meta-analysis of trials testing increased levels of physiotherapy input. Results: We incorporated 9 trials (951 subjects). We found no statistically significant differences between patients receiving intensive or standard amounts of physiotherapy, in terms of overall disability or overall impairment scores, length of hospital stay or survival. Secondary analyses showed improvements on Motricity Index scores for the upper limbs (5.2 units, 95% CI 1.5 to 8.8, P=0.0058) and lower limbs (6.8 units, 95% CI 2.2-11.4, P=0.0042), Improvements were also seen in Action Research Arm Test scores (1.8 units, 95% CI – 1.2 to 4.8, P=0.25) in younger patients (under 70 years) and those with higher baseline Barthel scores, and in recovery of walking speed (increase of 0.0.56 m/s, 95% CI -0.018 to 0.130, P=0.14) (when the target of treatment was lower limb or gait focused). There was no significant difference in change in ADL (measured by BI (7 trials)) between the groups (0.15 units of change in BI, 95% CI -0.38 to 0.67, P=0.58). There were increased odds of a “good recovery” i.e. (improvement of 6 points or up to the maximum of 20 / 20 on BI), (odds ratio 1.33; 0.96 – 1.85; P=0.09) and of “excellent recovery” (> 8 points or up to the maximum on BI), (odds ratio 1.47; 1.03 – 2.05; P=0.04) in the augmented group. The higher contrast trials in our study (typically 15 – 44 hrs additional physiotherapy, with earlier onset at 7-10 days after admission, higher daily contrast and longer duration) are more likely to show treatment effects than lower contrast trials, with respect to impairment measured by the Motricity index and disability measured by the BI

Framing events in the logic of verbal modification

I ask what a small set of modification data requires of clausal event semantics. Classic Davidsonian semantics posits that modifiers like "in the hallway" express properties of events, and expects that iterations of such modifiers will simply contribute additional conjuncts at logical form. The data I consider challenges this view, and others cast in the Davidsonian spirit, at least so long as we hope to preserve an important and plausible semantic principle, Role Exhaustion (Williams 2015). As I show, preserving the principle and accounting for the facts can be accomplished by adopting two independently-motivated sets of claims: first, that verbs introduce existential closure over their event argument, and modifiers take verb meanings as semantic arguments (Champollion 2015); second, that simple clauses have two layers of event description, "framing" and "framed" (Schein 2016). In the end, I sketch two possible extensions of the approach, towards the interpretation of temporal modification and negative perceptual reports

Nonboolean Conditionals

On standard analyses, indicative conditionals behave in a Boolean fashion when interacting with and and or. We test this prediction by investigating probability judgments about sentences of the form "If A, then B {and, or} if C, then D". Our findings are incompatible with a Boolean picture. This is challenging for standard analyses of ICs, as well as for several nonclassical analyses. Some trivalent theories, conversely, may account for the data

Studies on the Effects of Ageing on the Physiology and Pharmacology of the Autonomic Nervous System

The work described in this thesis involved investigations into the effect of ageing on the physiology and pharmacology of the sympathetic nervous system. Noradrenaline is the principal neurotransmitter of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system. It is found in increased concentration in the plasma of elderly people. The reasons for this increase could be: [1] An increase in the spillover of noradrenaline from the nerve terminal, [2] A reduction in clearance of noradrenaline from the plasma, and [3] a combination of both. The rates of noradrenaline release into, and clearance from the circulation were measured in two groups of young and elderly volunteers. The resting noradrenaline concentrations were higher in the elderly subjects. There was no change in the rate of clearance of noradrenaline between the groups but the elderly had a higher rate of noradrenaline spillover into the circulation. The activity of the cardiac beta-1-adrenoceptor reduces with age. There was no corresponding information concerning the activity of the alpha-1-adrenoceptor. The second study described in this thesis examined the responses of human isolated arteries to noradrenaline. This provided evidence of the sensitivity of the alpha-1-adrenoceptor free from the complicating influence of the baroreceptors. There was no change in the sensitivity of this receptor across a wide age range. Prazosin is an alpha-1-adrenoceptor antagonist. It has been used in the treatment of hypertension, heart failure and prostatism. The third study examined the pharmacokinetics of prazosin in two groups of young and elderly volunteers. Prazosin was administered intravenously and orally on two separate days. By this means, a measure of the drug bioavailability and clearance may be measured. In the elderly, there was no change in the rate of clearance of prazosin but there was a reduction in bioavailability. The fourth study reported in this thesis concerned a combined examination of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of three antihypertensive drugs: Trimazosin, an alpha-1-adrenoceptor antagonist; acebutolol, a beta-1-adrenoceptor antagonist; and tolmesoxide, a non-specific vasodilator. This study not only provided information about the relative effect of age on the clearance of these drugs but also on the effect of age on the sensitivity to the drugs (as measured by fall in systolic blood pressure per unit of plasma drug concentration). There was an increased effect of trimazosin with increasing age. This was due to a reduction in drug clearance. The sensitivity of the alpha-1-adrenoceptor remained unchanged. There was a reduced effect of acebutolol with increasing age. This was due to an decrease in the sensitivity of the beta-1-adrenoceptor, the drug clearance remaining unchanged. There was no change in the sensitivity or clearance of tolmesoxide with age. The increase in the plasma concentration of noradrenaline and the lack of change in the sensitivity of the alpha-1-adrenoceptor provides evidence for the suggestion that alpha-1-adrenoceptor antagonists might be useful in the treatment of hypertension in the elderly. Prazosin is limited by a short duration of action and by a first dose hypotensive effect. Doxazosin, which is chemically related to prazosin, has a longer half life, and the potential for once daily dosing. The last study in this thesis describes the effect of doxazosin on elderly hypertensive patients. Doxazosin produced statistically significant, but modest, falls in diastolic pressure 24 hours post dose. There was no change in systolic pressure

Predictors for being physically active to keep fit and/or to lose weight after stroke: South London stroke register

Introduction: Increased physical activity and weight loss (if appropriate) after stroke is recommended for secondary prevention in the National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke (2008). However, there is a lack information about the proportion and the characteristics of stroke patients currently undertaking physical activity to keep fit and/or lose weight. Method: Data were collected from the South London Stroke Register (SLSR), a population based stroke register covering a multiethnic source population of 271,817 inhabitants (2001) in South London. Information on stroke patients’ level of physical activity was collected 12 months post stroke. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors for increased physical activity to keep fit and/or lose weight post stroke, including age, sex, ethnicity, stroke severity (Barthel Index) and risk factors. Results: Between Jan 2004 and December 2006, 358 first ever stroke patients were followed up 12 months post stroke. Mean age was 69, 45% were female: ethnicity was categorized as white (65%), black (25%) and other (10%).Overall, 45% of surviving stroke patients reported undertaking exercise, 25% and 1% reported exercising to keep fit and lose weight respectively, 19% reported exercising to keep fit and lose weight. In multivariate analysis, being physically active was associated with younger age (p<0.001), less severe disability (p<0.001) and black ethnicity (p<0.005). Conclusion: This study identified only one half of stroke survivors participate in physical activity at 12 months post stroke. Stroke survivors reported being physically active for different reasons but are less likely to do so to lose weight

Events and Processes in Language and Mind

Semantic theories predict that the dimension for comparison given a sentence like A gleebed more than B depends on what the verb gleeb means: if gleeb expresses a property of events, the evaluation should proceed by number; if it expresses a property of processes, any of distance, duration, or number should be available. An adequate test of theories like this requires first determining, independently of language, the conditions under which people will understand a novel verb to be true of a series of events or a single ongoing process. We investigate this prior question by studying people’s representation of two cues in simple visual scenes: a) whether some happening is interrupted by temporal pauses, and b) whether and how the speed of an object’s motion changes. We measured representation by probing people’s choice of verb in free-form descriptions of the scenes, and how they segment the scenes for the purposes of counting. We find evidence that both types of cues shape people’s representation of simple motions as events or processes, but in different ways

Effect of Panel Density on Major Properties of Oriented Strandboard

An extensive experimental study was carried out to systematically investigate the influence of panel density on oriented strandboard (OSB) properties. Nine sets of 711 × 711 × 11.1-mm aspen OSB panels with a target density varying 449-705 kg/m3 were manufactured. The panels were tested for major properties, including modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), internal bond strength (IB), water absorption (WA), and thickness swell (TS) after 24-h soaking and rolling shear strength (RS). The results indicated that, in general, panel density positively affected the properties of the OSB panels. Effects of panel density on parallel MOR and MOE, IB, and RS were nonlinear and could be described with convex quadratic curves. TS and WA linearly decreased with increasing panel density

How similar are objects and events?

Semanticists often assume an ontology for natural language that includes not only ordinary objects, but also events, and other sorts of entities. We link this ontology to how speakers represent static and dynamic entities. Specifically, we test how speakers determine whether an entity counts as “atomic” by using count vs. mass (e.g., some gleebs, some gleeb) and distributive vs. non-distributive descriptions (e.g., gleeb every second or so, gleeb around a little). We then seek evidence for atomic representation in a non-linguistic task. Ultimately we suggest that natural language ontology reveals properties of language-independent conceptualization