Training flexibility in fixed expressions in non-fluent aphasia: A case series report

Background: Many speakers with non-fluent aphasia (NFA) are able to produce some well-formed word combinations such as ‘I like it’ or ‘I don't know’, although they may not use variations such as ‘He likes it’ or ‘I don't know that person’. This suggests that these utterances represent fixed forms. Aims: This case series investigation explored the impact of a novel intervention aimed at enhancing the connected speech of individuals with NFA. The intervention, motivated by usage-based principles, involved filling open slots in semi-fixed sentence frames. Methods & Procedures: Five participants with NFA completed a 6-week intervention programme. The intervention trained participants to insert a range of different lexical items into the open slots of high-frequency phrases such as ‘I like it’ to enable more productive sentences (e.g., ‘they like flowers’). The outcomes and acceptability were examined: The primary outcome measure focused on changes in connected narrative, and the availability of trained constructions (e.g., ‘I like it’) was explored through a story completion test. Two baseline measures of behaviour were taken prior to intervention, and outcomes assessed immediately after intervention and at a 6-week maintenance assessment. Outcome & Results: A pre-/post-treatment comparison of connected speech measures showed evidence of enhanced connected speech for two of the five participants (P2 and P5). An analysis of story completion test scores revealed positive change for two participants (P1 and P2). Findings were mixed with regard to baseline stability of outcome measures and post-intervention stability of language changes. The intervention was acceptable to all participants. Conclusion & Implications: While this pilot study yielded promising findings with regard to the intervention's acceptability and increased connected speech for some participants, the findings were mixed across the sample of five participants. This research helps inform hypotheses and selection criteria for future studies

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

The synthesis, structure, and photocatalytic water splitting performance of two new titania (TiO2)/gold(Au)/Bombyx mori silk hybrid materials are reported. All materials are monoliths with diameters of up to ca. 4.5 cm. The materials are macroscopically homogeneous and porous with surface areas between 170 and 210 m2/g. The diameter of the TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) – mainly anatase with a minor fraction of brookite – and the Au NPs are on the order of 5 and 7–18 nm, respectively. Addition of poly(ethylene oxide) to the reaction mixture enables pore size tuning, thus providing access to different materials with different photocatalytic activities. Water splitting experiments using a sunlight simulator and a Xe lamp show that the new hybrid materials are effective water splitting catalysts and produce up to 30 mmol of hydrogen per 24 h. Overall the article demonstrates that the combination of a renewable and robust scaffold such as B. mori silk with a photoactive material provides a promising approach to new monolithic photocatalysts that can easily be recycled and show great potential for application in lightweight devices for green fuel production

Syzygies in equivariant cohomology for non-abelian Lie groups

We extend the work of Allday-Franz-Puppe on syzygies in equivariant cohomology from tori to arbitrary compact connected Lie groups G. In particular, we show that for a compact orientable G-manifold X the analogue of the Chang-Skjelbred sequence is exact if and only if the equivariant cohomology of X is reflexive, if and only if the equivariant Poincare pairing for X is perfect. Along the way we establish that the equivariant cohomology modules arising from the orbit filtration of X are Cohen-Macaulay. We allow singular spaces and introduce a Cartan model for their equivariant cohomology. We also develop a criterion for the finiteness of the number of infinitesimal orbit types of a G-manifold.Comment: 28 pages; minor change

Few smooth d-polytopes with n lattice points

We prove that, for fixed n there exist only finitely many embeddings of Q-factorial toric varieties X into P^n that are induced by a complete linear system. The proof is based on a combinatorial result that for fixed nonnegative integers d and n, there are only finitely many smooth d-polytopes with n lattice points. We also enumerate all smooth 3-polytopes with at most 12 lattice points. In fact, it is sufficient to bound the singularities and the number of lattice points on edges to prove finiteness.Comment: 20+2 pages; major revision: new author, new structure, new result

A Novel Technique for Mitigating Multipactor by Means of Magnetic Surface Roughness

Multipactor phenomena which are closely linked to the SEY (secondary electron yield)can be mitigated by many different methods including groves in the metal surface as well as using electric or magnetic bias fields. However frequently the application of global magnetic or electric bias field is not practicable considering the weight and power limitations on-board satellites. Additionally, surface grooves may degrade the RF performance. Here we present a novel technique which is based on a magnetostatic field pattern on the metallic surface with fast spatial modulation in the order of 30 micron. This field pattern is produced by proper magnetization of an underlying ferromagnetic layer such as nickel. Simulations and preliminary experimental results will be shown and a number of applications, both for particle accelerators and satellite microwave payloads are discussed

Squeeze, rock and roll: Can tangible interaction with affective products produce stress reduction

ABSTRACT Affective computing focuses on the interpretation of users emotions via physiological and behavioral inputs. Irrelevant gestures with a pen were found to increase when users were given a mentally demanding task. Accordingly, an embedded tangible interface was developed which afforded and measured a rolling behavior, and guided the user towards reaching a balanced state of movement. During informal evaluations users acknowledged how the device could contribute to stress reduction. Conclusion, tangible interfaces appear to offer a non-obtrusive means towards interpreting and reducing stress in the office work context