Case report: the effects of cerebellar tDCS in bilingual post-stroke aphasia

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation may be a useful neuromodulation tool for enhancing the effects of speech and language therapy in people with aphasia, but research so far has focused on monolinguals. We present the effects of 9 sessions of anodal cerebellar tDCS (ctDCS) coupled with language therapy in a bilingual patient with chronic post-stroke aphasia caused by left frontal ischemia, in a double-blind, sham-controlled within-subject design. Language therapy was provided in his second language (L2). Both sham and anodal treatment improved trained picture naming in the treated language (L2), while anodal ctDCS in addition improved picture naming of untrained items in L2 and his first language, L1. Picture description improved in L2 and L1 after anodal ctDCS, but not after sham

A Distinct Layer of the Medulla Integrates Sky Compass Signals in the Brain of an Insect

Mass migration of desert locusts is a common phenomenon in North Africa and the Middle East but how these insects navigate is still poorly understood. Laboratory studies suggest that locusts are able to exploit the sky polarization pattern as a navigational cue. Like other insects locusts detect polarized light through a specialized dorsal rim area (DRA) of the eye. Polarization signals are transmitted through the optic lobe to the anterior optic tubercle (AOTu) and, finally, to the central complex in the brain. Whereas neurons of the AOTu integrate sky polarization and chromatic cues in a daytime dependent manner, the central complex holds a topographic representation of azimuthal directions suggesting a role as an internal sky compass. To understand further the integration of sky compass cues we studied polarization-sensitive (POL) neurons in the medulla that may be intercalated between DRA photoreceptors and AOTu neurons. Five types of POL-neuron were characterized and four of these in multiple recordings. All neurons had wide arborizations in medulla layer 4 and most, additionally, in the dorsal rim area of the medulla and in the accessory medulla, the presumed circadian clock. The neurons showed type-specific orientational tuning to zenithal polarized light and azimuth tuning to unpolarized green and UV light spots. In contrast to neurons of the AOTu, we found no evidence for color opponency and daytime dependent adjustment of sky compass signals. Therefore, medulla layer 4 is a distinct stage in the integration of sky compass signals that precedes the time-compensated integration of celestial cues in the AOTu

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The way we (make) sense. Exploring multisensory research methods in a Belgian neighborhood in transition

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Een introductie in artistiek geïnspireerde onderzoeksmethoden

In “arts-based research” spelen artistieke methoden een primaire rol in onderzoek. Verschillende kunstvormen worden gebruikt in één of meerdere onderzoeksfasen: het formuleren van de onderzoeksvraag, het genereren en/of analyseren van onderzoeksmateriaal of het presenteren van de onderzoeksresultaten. Zowel de onderzoeker als de participant krijgen hierbij de vrijheid en de verantwoordelijkheid om buiten de traditionele kwalitatieve onderzoeksmethoden (zijnde observaties, interviews, focusgroepsgesprekken) op ontdekkingstocht te gaan en de grens op te zoeken tussen kunst en wetenschap. Dit gastcollege start met een korte introductie tot deze onderzoeksbenadering. Ik sta stil bij de specifieke kenmerken van deze benadering en schets kort de geschiedenis van dit (vrij recent) type van onderzoek. Daarnaast wordt de diversiteit aan methoden binnen deze benadering duidelijk doordat een aantal kunstvormen en diens toepassing binnen een onderzoekscontext worden geïllustreerd. Tot slot geef ik een inkijk in mijn eigen doctoraatsstudie, waarin ik het potentieel van deze participatieve benadering in het onderzoeken van de relatie tussen mens en zijn veranderende omgeving bestudeer.status: publishe

Variante uitvoeringsmethode rioleringswerken Groot-Gelmen

Deze bachelorproef is gekoppeld aan mijn stagewerf in Groot-Gelmen. Groot-Gelmen ligt tussen Borgloon en Sint-Truiden, in het midden van de fruitstreek. De werf is gelegen in vochtig haspengouw, met een ondergrond bestaande uit leem en klei. De studie is een vergelijking van verschillende uitvoeringen, zowel qua kostprijs als planning. Op de werf wordt er een gescheiden rioleringsstelsel en een nieuwe verharding aangelegd. De werken bestaan uit 6 fasen met in het totaal 2872 meter riool. De ondergrond van de volledige werf bestaat uit leem. Deze is niet herbruikbaar zonder een tussenbewerking. Verder zijn er ook grote hoogteverschillen, waardoor de riolering op bepaalde plaatsen vrij diep moet voorzien worden. Het eerste deel van de bachelorproef gaat over het verbeteren van de leemgronden. In het bestek is er een terrein voorzien waar de verbetering kan gebeuren. Dit terrein is tussen de plantages gelegen, wat ervoor zorgt dat er geen behandeling in openlucht mag plaats vinden. Misschien is het interessanter om een ander terrein te zoeken, waar mengen in openlucht wel toegelaten is. Vervolgens zijn er in het bestek grindpalen voorzien, waar de ondergrond onstabiel is. Ook hier zijn variante uitvoeringen mogelijk. De grindpalen kunnen vervangen worden door grondverbetering of houten palen. Alle uitvoeringen hebben voor-en nadelen. Door deze tegen elkaar af te wegen kan de beste methode voor deze werf gekozen worden. Door voor alle werken de meest gunstige uitvoeringsmethode te kiezen ondervinden zowel het bestuur als de aannemer voordelen. Voor de grondverbetering blijkt de beste oplossing op zoek te gaan naar een extern terrein, waar mengen in openlucht toegelaten is. Ook de uitvoering met houten palen in plaats van grindpalen is voordeliger

Making sense through art: A material-discursive approach to study urban environments

In the last decades, the methodological interest in arts-based research and sensory ethnography has been growing considerably. Building on these two strands of research, in this doctoral thesis the potential of an aesthetic orientation to our physical surroundings is explored. Three empirical studies were carried out to investigate how we can, through exploring a changing neighbourhood, recast our methodological ways of thinking about collecting, analyzing and disseminating research findings. The first part of this doctoral dissertation involves a mapping exercise of the use of arts-based research in community-based projects and contributes to a furthered understanding of this emerging and expansive field of research. Chapter 1 presents the findings of a scoping review that covers arts-based literature published over a twenty years' time span. It encompasses community-based scholarship wherein art is used in one or more phases of a research process, with an active involvement of the researchers in the process of art-making or in guiding research participants in creative processes. The chapter provides a descriptive analysis of the field of arts-based research focusing particularly on community building initiatives, and offers guidance to future researchers and practitioners that want to adopt creative methods in their projects. In chapter 2, one specific segment of the included articles of the scoping review is scrutinized in detail. The available photovoice studies, a specific arts-based methodology that reflects the critical pedagogy tradition and combines photography with grassroots social action, are critically investigated. The paper draws attention to the positioning of authors and the conceptualizations of 'voice' and empowerment within photovoice studies targeting female participants. In light of the findings of this mapping exercise, the second part reports on three empirical studies. The specific setting in which these methodological explorations took place concerns a Flemish urban neighbourhood in transition, the Vaartkom. These studies describe how adult residents, art students, and youngsters were invited to 'turn on' their senses to identify the multiple lived and experienced aspects of places. Chapter 3 presents a study with adult residents that walked together with the researchers in the urban area and shared their lived experiences during sensory go-along interviews. The chapter builds on the substantial body of literature on the sensory revolution and on walking methodologies. By providing thematic findings and reflective notes, this paper delves into the implications of using a sensory research approach. Chapter 4 discusses a study in which art students were involved in a research activity that incorporated the creation of a design as a form of expression of their sensory experiences gathered from walking through the neighbourhood. The study was set up to explore how art works produced in the context of a sensory research project can be seen as data, and how they can contribute to articulating the kind of city its dwellers want. The paper proposes a material-discursive framework to analyze the research creations produced by participants. Chapter 5 presents a study in which youngsters, artists, youth workers and researchers were engaged in a series of collective sensorial walks throughout the changing urban landscape, in upcycling art workshops, and in a public exhibition in the particular neighbourhood. It offers a theoretical reflection on how the elements of a response-able pedagogy sparked the researchers' wonderings about public spaces and participatory work. The general conclusion provides a reflection on the contributions and limitations of this dissertation, including suggestions for future research. In this conclusion, the necessary connections between theoretical, methodological and empirical work are acknowledged, since disruptive frictions on one of these dimensions have inevitably implications for the other dimensions.status: publishe

Applied biostatistical approaches to rejection and outcomes after kidney transplantation. With focus on survival, longitudinal and joint modeling.

status: publishe