Compte rendu

1. Introduction Solomiac’s book is a welcome and much needed addition to the literature on Northwestern Mande languages and languages of the Samogo group in particular. This group, consisting of around six small languages spoken in Mali and Burkina Faso (Dzùùngoo, Duungooma, Bankagooma, Jowulu, Seenku, and Kpeengo), has until now received only scant attention in the literature. Published sources include only a description of the phonology of Jowulu published in the same series (Djilla, Eenkho..

Lighting the Fuse: Building regional identity through public library services in rural Central Appalachia

This presentation will relate survey and interview data that explore the perceptions and beliefs of librarians concerning the role of public libraries in fostering regional identity with a focus on libraries in rural Central Appalachia. As public libraries across the nation work to strengthen their connections to the communities they serve, the role of the library is being refined and redefined in relation to local needs and interests. During the past decade, the archival branch of librarianship has come to terms with the notion that by denying the inherently subjective nature of core archival duties such as acquisition, description, and providing access, archivists have been complicit in excluding the narratives of marginalized groups by preserving and perpetuating dominant historical, social, and cultural narratives. Often described as the ‘people’s university’, public libraries demonstrate a similar diligence in ensuring that their resources and services reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Especially in the Appalachian region, where some believe that established narratives have often been constructed to support corporate and government agendas and can result in stigmatization of the region and its people, the public library can provide an important counterpoint to stereotypical portrayals that distort the image of Appalachian communities

What is the best treatment for analgesic rebound headaches?

Abrupt discontinuation of the offending analgesic(s), and treating rebound headaches with dihydroergotamine (DHE) as needed, results in significant improvement for most patients (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C; based on case series). Amitriptyline does not affect the frequency or severity of rebound headaches, but it may improve quality of life (SOR: B, low-powered randomized controlled trial). Prednisone or naratriptan (Amerge) lessen acute withdrawal symptoms from analgesics and reduce the need for rescue medications during the first 6 days of treatment; however, they do not affect headache frequency or severity (SOR: B, low-quality randomized controlled trial)

A semi-automated workflow for producing time-aligned intermediate tonal representations

Tone can be one of the most daunting aspects of a language to document, particularly at the beginning of a project. Even if tonal categories can be determined in elicitation contexts, tone in running speech and narratives, the core focus of documentary linguistics, is notoriously difficult even for seasoned tonal specialists. When tone marking is included, they are the researcher’s analytical conclusions (e.g. H, L) rather than a representation of the speech melody itself. To address these issues and facilitate the inclusion of objective replicable tonal annotations in language documentation, we have developed a semi-automated computational workflow to take raw phonetic data (fundamental frequency, or f0) and turn it into a more easily interpretable intermediate representation: a system of levels, already used as a descriptive lingua franca in reference grammars either numerically or using dashes (e.g. HL = 51 = ). The analyst can set the number of levels to reflect the desired level of detail. For instance, if the researcher suspects a two-tone system, she may set the number of levels at 4 or 5 to reflect processes such as declination, downdrift or upstep. For more complex tone systems, more levels might be employed. The workflow begins in Praat by creating a TextGrid annotation delimiting the tonal spans to be analyzed; for the most part, these will be vowels or syllable rimes so as to analyze only tone bearing units. A Praat script extracts f0 from multiple points in each span. Next, a Python script converts these f0 values to semitones based on the speaker’s mean f0, excluding outliers. The speaker’s pitch range, excluding these outliers, is then divided into the desired number of levels, and each point designated by the researcher within a syllable (e.g. 20% and 80%) is assigned a number corresponding to that level. The output of the Python script is a text file with time stamps for each annotation, which can be imported into Elan, thus tying together searchable tonal information with the broader text transcription. In this talk, we describe the workflow and demonstrate some analytical uses for the tool, including comparison of elicitation and free speech, interspeaker variation, and first-look analysis of unanalyzed tonal data

Iridium Corroles Exhibit Weak Near-Infrared Phosphorescence but Efficiently Sensitize Singlet Oxygen Formation.

Six-coordinate iridium(III) triarylcorrole derivatives, Ir[TpXPC)]L2, where TpXPC = tris(para-X-phenyl)corrole (X = CF3, H, Me, and OCH3) and L = pyridine (py), trimethylamine (tma), isoquinoline (isoq), 4-dimethylaminopyridine (dmap), and 4-picolinic acid (4pa), have been examined, with a view to identifying axial ligands most conducive to near-infrared phosphorescence. Disappointingly, the phosphorescence quantum yield invariably turned out to be very low, about 0.02 - 0.04% at ambient temperature, with about a two-fold increase at 77 K. Phosphorescence decay times were found to be around ~5 µs at 295 K and ~10 µs at 77 K. Fortunately, two of the Ir[TpCF3PC)]L2 derivatives, which were tested for their ability to sensitize singlet oxygen formation, were found to do so efficiently with quantum yields Φ(1O2) = 0.71 and 0.38 for L = py and 4pa, respectively. Iridium corroles thus may hold promise as photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT). The possibility of varying the axial ligand and of attaching biotargeting groups at the axial positions makes iridium corroles particularly exciting as PDT drug candidates

Abnormal synergies and associated reactions post-hemiparetic stroke reflect muscle activation patterns of brainstem motor pathways

Individuals with moderate-to-severe post-stroke hemiparesis cannot control proximal and distal joints of the arm independently because they are constrained to stereotypical movement patterns called flexion and extension synergies. Accumulating evidence indicates that these synergies emerge because of upregulation of diffusely projecting brainstem motor pathways following stroke-induced damage to corticofugal pathways. During our recent work on differences in synergy expression among proximal and distal joints, we serendipitously observed some notable characteristics of synergy-driven muscle activation. It seemed that: paretic wrist/finger muscles were activated maximally during contractions of muscles at a different joint; differences in the magnitude of synergy expression occurred when elicited via contraction of proximal vs. distal muscles; and associated reactions in the paretic limb occurred during maximal efforts with the non-paretic limb, the strength of which seemed to vary depending on which muscles in the non-paretic limb were contracting. Here we formally investigated these observations and interpreted them within the context of the neural mechanisms thought to underlie stereotypical movement patterns. If upregulation of brainstem motor pathways occurs following stroke-induced corticofugal tract damage, then we would expect a pattern of muscle dependency in the observed behaviors consistent with such neural reorganization. Twelve participants with moderate-to-severe hemiparetic stroke and six without stroke performed maximal isometric torque generation in eight directions: shoulder abduction/adduction and elbow, wrist, and finger flexion/extension. Isometric joint torques and surface EMG were recorded from shoulder, elbow, wrist, and finger joints and muscles. For some participants, joint torque and muscle activation generated during maximal voluntary contractions were lower than during maximal synergy-induced contractions (i.e., contractions about a different joint), particularly for wrist and fingers. Synergy-driven contractions were strongest when elicited via proximal joints and weakest when elicited via distal joints. Associated reactions in the wrist/finger flexors were stronger than those of other paretic muscles and were the only ones whose response depended on whether the non-paretic contraction was at a proximal or distal joint. Results provide indirect evidence linking the influence of brainstem motor pathways to abnormal motor behaviors post-stroke, and they demonstrate the need to examine whole-limb behavior when studying or seeking to rehabilitate the paretic upper limb

On latent nasals in Samogo

Languages in the Samogo group display a phenomenon referred to as “floating” or “latent” nasals. Though belonging to the end of a word (either synchronically or diachronically) in coda position, latent nasals more often appear as mutations or modifications to either the initial consonant of the following morpheme or the preceding vowel. This paper draws together extant descriptive data on Samogo nasals and considers them in the broader typology of consonant and vowel nasality in Mande. Finally, the question of phonological representation vs. phonetic realization is considered with preliminary acoustic data from Seenku [sos]; the weak surface realization of the nasal raises questions about an analysis in which it is floating and suggests that recent developments in Gradient Symbolic Representation (Smolensky & Goldrick 2016) may be applicable to the data.Les langues du groupe samogo montrent un phénomène que l'on peut appeler des nasales "flottantes" ou "latentes". Bien que ces nasales fassent partie du coda d'un mot (soit synchroniquement, soit diachroniquement), elles apparaissent le plus souvent comme des mutations ou modifications de la consonne initiale du morphème suivant ou de la voyelle précédente. Cet article rassemble les données descriptives existantes sur les nasales samogo et les examine dans le contexte typologique de la nasalité vocalique et consonantique en mandé. Enfin, je considère la question de la représentation phonologique par rapport à la réalisation phonétique avec des données acoustiques préliminaires en seenku [sos]; la réalisation faible du nasale remet en question une analyse où elle est "flottante" et suggère plutôt que des développements récents dans le cadre de la théorie Gradient Symbolic Representation (Smolensky & Goldrick 2016) peuvent être utiles pour ces données.Языки группы самого демонстрируют явление, которое обычно называют «плавающими» или «латентными» носовыми элементами. Эти элементы локализуются в конце слова (и в синхронном, и в диахроническом отношении), но проявляются чаще всего в изменениях или чередованиях начальных согласных последующих морфем или предшествующих гласных. В статье сводятся воедино доступные данные о носовых в языках самого, и эти данные рассматриваются в контексте более широкой типологии консонантной и вокалической назальности в семье манде. Вопрос о фонологическом представлении в отношении к фонетической реализации рассматривается применительно к предварительным акустическоим данным языка сенко [sos]: слабая поверхностная назализация носового ставит вопрос о возможности интерпретации его как плавающего, выдвигается предположение о том, что к этим данным может быть пременена методика Gradient Symbolic Representation (Smolensky & Goldrick 2016)

The morphosyntax of adjectives in Seenku [sos]

Seenku (Samogo, Northwestern Mande) contains a small class of adjectives, which differ morphosyntactically from deverbal modifiers (qualificational verbs) and nouns. This paper describes the morphosyntax of these adjectives as both modifiers and predicates. Modifiers follow the noun, with no tonal interactions. Plural marking is obligatory on the adjective through reduplication and suffixation, the latter of which is optionally doubled on the noun. As predicates, adjectives follow the copular verb but are always preceded by a reflexive pronoun coindexed with the subject. I compare these constructions to other Mande languages and suggest a diachronic path for the unusual predicate construction.Le seenku (Samogo, Mandé Nord-ouest) contient un inventaire limité d’adjectifs, qui diffèrent en morphosyntaxe des modificateurs verbaux (verbes qualificatifs) et des noms. Cet article décrit la morphosyntaxe de ces adjectifs en tant que déterminants et prédicats. Les déterminants suivent le nom sans interaction tonale. Le pluriel est obligatoirement marqué sur l’adjectif avec la réduplication et la suffixation, celui-ci étant facultativement marqué sur le nom aussi. En tant que prédicats, les adjectifs suivent le verbe copulaire mais ils sont toujours précédés par un pronom réfléchi co-indexé avec le sujet. Je compare ces constructions avec celles dans les autres langues mandé et je suggère un chemin diachronique pour cette construction prédicative atypique.Сеенку (группа самого, северозападные манде) имеет ограниченное количество прилагательных, которые отличаются морфосинтаксически от глаголов-модификаторов (квалитативных глаголов) и от существительных. В статье описан морфосинтаксис этих прилагательных в функции определений и предикатов. В функции определения, прилагательное следует за существительным, не вступая с ним в тональное взаимодействие. Множественное число обязательно маркируется на прилагательном редупликацией или суффиксацией, причём суффикс может факультативно присоединяться также к существительному. В функции предиката пилагательное следует за глаголом-копулой, помимо этого, ему обязательно предшествует также рефлексивное местоимение, кореферентное подлежащему. Я сравниваю эти конструкции с таковыми в других языках манде и предлагаю диахронический маршрут для этой нестандартной предикативной конструкции