Reading Poetry and Prose: Eye Movements and Acoustic Evidence

We examined genre-specific reading strategies for literary texts and hypothesized that text categorization (literary prose vs. poetry) modulates both how readers gather information from a text (eye movements) and how they realize its phonetic surface form (speech production). We recorded eye movements and speech while college students (N = 32) orally read identical texts that we categorized and formatted as either literary prose or poetry. We further varied the text position of critical regions (text-initial vs. text-medial) to compare how identical information is read and articulated with and without context; this allowed us to assess whether genre-specific reading strategies make differential use of identical context information. We observed genre-dependent differences in reading and speaking tempo that reflected several aspects of reading and articulation. Analyses of regions of interests revealed that word-skipping increased particularly while readers progressed through the texts in the prose condition; speech rhythm was more pronounced in the poetry condition irrespective of the text position. Our results characterize strategic poetry and prose reading, indicate that adjustments of reading behavior partly reflect differences in phonetic surface form, and shed light onto the dynamics of genre-specific literary reading. They generally support a theory of literary comprehension that assumes distinct literary processing modes and incorporates text categorization as an initial processing step

Light depolarization effects during the Fréedericksz transition in nematic liquid crystals

This work is aimed to the photopolarimetric characterization of the disorder evolution occurring in homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal films during the electrically induced Freedericksz transition. The molecular director dynamics and the transversal reorientation modes are investigated by the analysis of the depolarization of the light beam emerging from the sample. Our measurements reveal unexpected depolarization effects at the transition, which we interpret in terms of director field unhomogeneity and defects creation. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America

How Does the Mind Do Literary Work?

Literary linguistics assumes the forms of literature emerge from the human capacity for language. In this view, the regularities and peculiarities of literary form can be captured by the machinery of linguistic theory. This paper argues against this assumption, considering evidence from literary forms that do not generalise to the formalisms of linguistic theory. Instead, we argue that literary forms are related to, but distinct from, the linguistic system, and that their diversity requires a clear-cut distinction between the different domains. To understand how literary forms may require specific systems, we first discuss a number of mismatches between metrical and linguistic form (here, mainly phonological and semantic form). In our proposal, they all constitute evidence for the domain specificity of meter. Following Fabb & Halle (2008), we then show that metricality is best captured by form-specific computations, rather than by regular phonological processes. The empirical advantages of this theory are finally shown by the scansion of loose meters, which the extra-linguistic metrical system explain in a way that strictly phonological systems cannot (Fabb 2008). We then consider whether syntax may be given a similar explanation. The syntax of poetic texts can be highly unusual, often contrived to meet the demands of formal characteristics like metricality or parallelism. As with meter, these literary forms are often analysed as products of a `poetic syntax' (Fowler 1966; Austin 1984; Fitzgerald 2007), a variation on the standard syntax; however, we show that these systems cannot generate the variety of syntactic forms found in literary texts. Instead we demonstrate that these forms are generated by a separate mental system which obeys general principles of mental computation. This system is shown to be removed from syntax just like the metrical system is removed from phonology. To conclude, we consider the possible relationship between these two extralinguistic mental systems. The evidence discussed provides a clear indication that literary linguistics need not assume that the forms of literature are a natural outgrowth of linguistic systems. The variety of forms in literature indicate an ontologically radical theory of how the mind processes literature has significant advantages, both empirically, in accounting for a greater range of forms, and theoretically, in opening the way towards a more coherent theory of literary form. We finally propose that a theory of literary cognition must develop into a modular approach to forms. References Austin, T., 1984. "Language crafted: a linguistic theory of poetic syntax." Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Fabb, N., 2008. "What is a line of verse?." Paper delivered at ESSE 2008, Aarhus. Fabb, N., M. Halle, 2008. "Meter in poetry: a new theory". Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fitzgerald, C., 2007. "An optimality treatment of syntactic inversions in English verse", Language Sciences Vol. 29, pp. 203-217. Fowler, R., 1966. "Essays on style and language: linguistic and critical approaches to literary style". London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Hanson, Kristin & Paul Kiparsky. 1996. "A parametric theory of poetic meter", Language 72, 2: 287-335. Hayes Bruce. 1989. "The Prosodic Hierarchy in Meter". In Paul Kiparsky and Gilbert Youmans, eds., Rhythm and Meter, Orlando, FL: Academic Press, pp. 201-260. Hayes, Bruce. 2000. "Faithfulness and Componentiality in Metrics". To appear in The nature of the word: Essays in honor of Paul Kiparsky, ed. by Kristin Hanson and Sharon Inkelas. Cambridge: MIT Press. Nespor, M., I. Vogel. 1986 "Prosodic Phonology". Dordrecht, Foris

Bayesian Function-on-Function Regression for Multilevel Functional Data

Medical and public health research increasingly involves the collection of complex and high dimensional data. In particular, functional data—where the unit of observation is a curve or set of curves that are finely sampled over a grid—is frequently obtained. Moreover, researchers often sample multiple curves per person resulting in repeated functional measures. A common question is how to analyze the relationship between two functional variables. We propose a general function-on-function regression model for repeatedly sampled functional data on a fine grid, presenting a simple model as well as a more extensive mixed model framework, and introducing various functional Bayesian inferential procedures that account for multiple testing. We examine these models via simulation and a data analysis with data from a study that used event-related potentials to examine how the brain processes various types of images

Impact of Disease-Modifying Therapies on Gut–Brain Axis in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, autoimmune-mediated, demyelinating disease whose pathogenesis remains to be defined. In past years, in consideration of a constantly growing number of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the impacts of different environmental factors in the pathogenesis of the disease have been largely studied. Alterations in gut microbiome composition and intestinal barrier permeability have been suggested to play an essential role in the regulation of autoimmunity. Thus, increased efforts are being conducted to demonstrate the complex interplay between gut homeostasis and disease pathogenesis. Numerous results confirm that disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) used for the treatment of MS, in addition to their immunomodulatory effect, could exert an impact on the intestinal microbiota, contributing to the modulation of the immune response itself. However, to date, the direct influence of these treatments on the microbiota is still unclear. This review intends to underline the impact of DMTs on the complex system of the microbiota–gut–brain axis in patients with multiple sclerosis

Examining adherence to activity monitoring devices to improve physical activity in adults with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review

Background Activity monitoring devices are currently being used to facilitate and monitor physical activity. No prior review has examined adherence to the use of activity monitoring devices amongst adults with cardiovascular disease. Methods Literature from June 2012 to October 2017 was evaluated to examine the extent of adherence to any activity monitoring device used to collect objective physical activity data. Randomized control trials comparing usual care against the use of an activity monitoring device, in a community intervention for adults from any cardiovascular diagnostic group, were included. A systematic search of databases and clinical trials registers was conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. Results Of 10 eligible studies, two studies reported pedometer use and eight accelerometer use. Six studies addressed the primary outcome. Mean adherence was 59.1% (range 39.6% to 85.7%) at last follow-up. Studies lacked equal representation by gender (28.6% female) and age (range 42 to 82 years). Conclusion This review indicates that current research on activity monitoring devices may be overstated due to the variability in adherence. Results showed that physical activity tracking in women and in young adults have been understudied

Spontaneous Learning of Visual Structures in Domestic Chicks

Effective communication crucially depends on the ability to produce and recognize structured signals, as apparent in language and birdsong. Although it is not clear to what extent similar syntactic-like abilities can be identified in other animals, recently we reported that domestic chicks can learn abstract visual patterns and the statistical structure defined by a temporal sequence of visual shapes. However, little is known about chicks’ ability to process spatial/positional information from visual configurations. Here, we used filial imprinting as an unsupervised learning mechanism to study spontaneous encoding of the structure of a configuration of different shapes. After being exposed to a triplet of shapes (ABC or CAB), chicks could discriminate those triplets from a permutation of the same shapes in different order (CAB or ABC), revealing a sensitivity to the spatial arrangement of the elements. When tested with a fragment taken from the imprinting triplet that followed the familiar adjacency-relationships (AB or BC) vs. one in which the shapes maintained their position with respect to the stimulus edges (AC), chicks revealed a preference for the configuration with familiar edge elements, showing an edge bias previously found only with temporal sequences

Noxious stimulation induces self-protective behavior in bumblebees

It has been widely stated that insects do not show self-protective behavior towards noxiously-stimulated body parts, but this claim has never been empirically tested. Here, we tested whether an insect species displays a type of self-protective behavior: self-grooming a noxiously-stimulated site. We touched bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) on the antenna with a noxiously-heated (65°C) probe and found that, in the first two minutes after this stimulus, bees groomed their touched antenna more than their untouched antenna and more than bees that were touched with an unheated probe or not touched at all. Our results present evidence that bumblebees display self-protective behavior. We discuss the potential neural mechanisms of this behavior and the implications for the topic of insect pain