Experimentation and thermodynamic representations of binaries containing compounds of low boiling points: pentane and alkyl methanoates

[EN]This work presents experimental mixing properties, hEand vE, at several temperatures and the iso-baric vapor–liquid equilibria (iso-p VLE) at 101.32 kPa for four binaries containing pentane and four alkyl(methyl to butyl) methanoates. Particular conditions are established to work with these solutions withhighly volatile compounds, especially for the case of methyl methanoate + pentane system, for whicha continuous feeding device is designed and constructed for measuring the densities.

Neurolinguistic analysis: aspects of language and speech deviations in Palestinian Arabic aphasics

The characteristics of aphasics’ speech in various languages have been the core of numerous studies, but Arabic in general, and Palestinian Arabic in particular, is still a virgin field in this respect. However, it is of vital importance to have a clear picture of the specific aspects of Palestinian Arabic that might be affected in the speech of aphasics in order to establish screening, diagnosis and therapy programs based on a clinical linguistic database. Hence the central questions of this study are what are the main neurolinguistic features of the Palestinian aphasics’ speech at the phonetic-acoustic level and to what extent are the results similar or not to those obtained from other languages. In general, this study is a survey of the most prominent features of Palestinian Broca’s aphasics’ speech. The main acoustic parameters of vowels and consonants are analysed such as vowel duration, formant frequency, Voice Onset Time (VOT), intensity and frication duration. The deviant patterns among the Broca’s aphasics are displayed and compared with those of normal speakers. The nature of deficit, whether phonetic or phonological, is also discussed. Moreover, the coarticulatory characteristics and some prosodic patterns of Broca’s aphasics are addressed. Samples were collected from six Broca’s aphasics from the same local region. The acoustic analysis conducted on a range of consonant and vowel parameters displayed differences between the speech patterns of Broca’s aphasics and normal speakers. For example, impairments in voicing contrast between the voiced and voiceless stops were found in Broca’s aphasics. This feature does not exist for the fricatives produced by the Palestinian Broca’s aphasics and hence deviates from data obtained for aphasics’ speech from other languages. The Palestinian Broca’s aphasics displayed particular problems with the emphatic sounds. They exhibited deviant coarticulation patterns, another feature that is inconsistent with data obtained from studies from other languages. However, several other findings are in accordance with those reported from various other languages such as impairments in the VOT. The results are in accordance with the suggestions that speech production deficits in Broca’s aphasics are not related to phoneme selection but rather to articulatory implementation and some speech output impairments are related to timing and planning deficits.

The language of others mirrored in thy face: The role of political affiliation in automatic facial effects of language

People tend to automatically mimic facial expressions of others. If clear evidence exists on the effect of non-verbal behavior (emotion faces) on automatic facial mimicry, little is known about the role of verbal behavior (emotion language) in triggering such effects. Whereas it is well-established that political affiliation modulates facial mimicry, no evidence exists on whether this modulation passes also through verbal means. This research addressed the role of verbal behavior in triggering automatic facial effects depending on whether verbal stimuli are attributed to leaders of different political parties. Study 1 investigated the role of interpersonal verbs, referring to positive and negative emotion expressions and encoding them at different levels of abstraction, in triggering corresponding facial muscle activation in a reader. Study 2 examined the role of verbs expressing positive and negative emotional behaviors of political leaders in modulating automatic facial effects depending on the matched or mismatched political affiliation of participants and politicians of left-and right-wing. Study 3 examined whether verbs expressing happiness displays of ingroup politicians induce a more sincere smile (Duchenne) pattern among readers of same political affiliation relative to happiness expressions of outgroup politicians. Results showed that verbs encoding facial actions at different levels of abstraction elicited differential facial muscle activity (Study 1). Furthermore, political affiliation significantly modulated facial activation triggered by emotion verbs as participants showed more congruent and enhanced facial activity towards ingroup politicians’ smiles and frowns compared to those of outgroup politicians (Study 2). Participants facially responded with a more sincere smile pattern towards verbs expressing smiles of ingroup compared to outgroup politicians (Study 3). Altogether, results showed that the role of political affiliation in modulating automatic facial effects passes also through verbal channels and is revealed at a fine-grained level by inducing quantitative and qualitative differences in automatic facial reactions of readers.

Visual-somatosensory interactions in mental representations of the body and the face

The body is represented in the brain at levels that incorporate multisensory information. This thesis focused on interactions between vision and cutaneous sensations (i.e., touch and pain). Experiment 1 revealed that there are partially dissociable pathways for visual enhancement of touch (VET) depending upon whether one sees one’s own body or the body of another person. This indicates that VET, a seeming low-level effect on spatial tactile acuity, is actually sensitive to body identity. Experiments 2-4 explored the effect of viewing one’s own body on pain perception. They demonstrated that viewing the body biases pain intensity judgments irrespective of actual stimulus intensity, and, more importantly, reduces the discriminative capacities of the nociceptive pathway encoding noxious stimulus intensity. The latter effect only occurs if the pain-inducing event itself is not visible, suggesting that viewing the body alone and viewing a stimulus event on the body have distinct effects on cutaneous sensations. Experiment 5 replicated an enhancement of visual remapping of touch (VRT) when viewing fearful human faces being touched, and further demonstrated that VRT does not occur for observed touch on non-human faces, even fearful ones. This suggests that the facial expressions of non-human animals may not be simulated within the somatosensory system of the human observer in the same way that the facial expressions of other humans are. Finally, Experiment 6 examined the enfacement illusion, in which synchronous visuo-tactile inputs cause another’s face to be assimilated into the mental self-face representation. The strength of enfacement was not affected by the other’s facial expression, supporting an asymmetric relationship between processing of facial identity and facial expressions. Together, these studies indicate that multisensory representations of the body in the brain link low-level perceptual processes with the perception of emotional cues and body/face identity, and interact in complex ways depending upon contextual factors.

The role of language in tv shows and its impact on the audience: A linguistic analysis of Game of Thrones

Through the analysis of American TV show Game of Thrones, this dissertation will focus on the linguistic issues concerning the adaptation from books to television, the power of language over the audience, and the creation of two languages, with all the linguistic and cultural implications related to this phenomenon.

Periodic Higgs-de Rham flows and representations of algebraic fundamental groups

Let k := bar{F}_p for p > 2, W_n(k) := W(k)/p^n and X_n be a projective smooth W_n(k)-scheme which is W_{n+1}(k)-liftable. For all n > 1, we construct explicitly a functor, which we call the inverse Cartier functor, from a subcategory of Higgs bundles over X_n to a subcategory of flat Bundles over X_n. Then we introduce the notion of periodic Higgs-de Rham flows and show that a periodic Higgs-de Rham flow is equivalent to a Fontaine-Faltings module. Together with a p-adic analogue of Riemann-Hilbert correspondence established by Faltings, we obtain a coarse p-adic Simpson correspondence.

Representations of semisimple Lie algebras

La tesi è dedicata allo studio delle rappresentazioni delle algebre di Lie semisemplici su un campo algebricamente chiuso di caratteristica zero. Mediante il teorema di Weyl sulla completa riducibilità, ogni rappresentazione di dimensione finita di una algebra di Lie semisemplice è scrivibile come somma diretta di sottorappresentazioni irriducibili. Questo permette di poter concentrare l'attenzione sullo studio delle rappresentazioni irriducibili. Inoltre, mediante il ricorso all'algebra inviluppante universale si ottiene che ogni rappresentazione irriducibile è una rappresentazione di peso più alto. Perciò è naturale chiedersi quando una rappresentazione di peso più alto sia di dimensione finita ottenendo che condizione necessaria e sufficiente perché una rappresentazione di peso più alto sia di dimensione finita è che il peso più alto sia dominante. Immediata è quindi l'applicazione della teoria delle rappresentazioni delle algebre di Lie semisemplici nello studio delle superalgebre di Lie, in quanto costituite da un'algebra di Lie e da una sua rappresentazione, dove viene utilizzata la tecnica della Z-graduazione che viene utilizzata per la prima volta da Victor Kac nello studio delle algebre di Lie di dimensione infinita nell'articolo ''Simple irreducible graded Lie algebras of finite growth'' del 1968.

Determination of Language Dominance: Wada Test and fMRI Compared Using a Novel Sentence Task

This study aimed to develop a new linguistic based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)-sentence decision task that reliably detects hemispheric language dominance.

Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on behaviour and electrophysiology of language production

Excitatory anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (A-tDCS) over the left dorsal prefrontal cortex (DPFC) has been shown to improve language production. The present study examined neurophysiological underpinnings of this effect. In a single-blinded within-subject design, we traced effects of A-tDCS compared to sham stimulation over the left DPFC using electrophysiological and behavioural correlates during overt picture naming. Online effects were examined during A-tDCS by employing the semantic interference (SI-)Effect – a marker that denotes the functional integrity of the language system. The behavioural SI-Effect was found to be reduced, whereas the electrophysiological SI-Effect was enhanced over left compared to right temporal scalp-electrode sites. This modulation is suggested to reflect a superior tuning of neural responses within language-related generators. After -(offline) effects of A-tDCS were detected in the delta frequency band, a marker of neural inhibition. After A-tDCS there was a reduction in delta activity during picture naming and the resting state, interpreted to indicate neural disinhibition. Together, these findings demonstrate electrophysiological modulations induced by A-tDCS of the left DPFC. They suggest that A-tDCS is capable of enhancing neural processes during and after application. The present functional and oscillatory neural markers could detect positive effects of prefrontal A-tDCS, which could be of use in the neuro-rehabilitation of frontal language functions.