Effects of utterance length on lip kinematics in aphasia

Most existing models of language production and speech motor control do not explicitly address how language requirements affect speech motor functions, as these domains are usually treated as separate and independent from one another. This investigation compared lip movements during bilabial closure between five individuals with mild aphasia and five age and gender-matched control speakers when the linguistic characteristics of the stimuli were varied by increasing the number of syllables. Upper and lower lip movement data were collected for mono-, bi- and tri-syllabic nonword sequences using an AG 100 EMMA system. Each task was performed under both normal and fast rate conditions. Single articulator kinematic parameters (peak velocity, amplitude, duration,and cyclic spatio-temporal index) were measured to characterize lip movements. Results revealed that compared to control speakers, individuals with aphasia showed significantly longer movement duration and lower movement stability for longer items (bi- and tri-syllables). Moreover, utterance length affected the lip kinematics, in that the monosyllables had smaller peak velocities, smaller amplitudes and shorter durations compared to bi- and trisyllables, and movement stability was lowest for the trisyllables. In addition, the rate-induced changes (smaller amplitude and shorter duration with increased rate) were most prominent for the short items (i.e., monosyllables). These findings provide further support for the notion that linguistic changes have an impact on the characteristics of speech movements, and that individuals with aphasia are more affected by such changes than control speakers.

Large-scale length and time scales for use with stochastic convective parameterization

Many numerical models for weather prediction and climate studies are run at resolutions that are too coarse to resolve convection explicitly, but too fine to justify the local equilibrium assumed by conventional convective parameterizations. The Plant-Craig (PC) stochastic convective parameterization scheme, developed in this paper, solves this problem by removing the assumption that a given grid-scale situation must always produce the same sub-grid-scale convective response. Instead, for each timestep and gridpoint, one of the many possible convective responses consistent with the large-scale situation is randomly selected. The scheme requires as input the large-scale state as opposed to the instantaneous grid-scale state, but must nonetheless be able to account for genuine variations in the largescale situation. Here we investigate the behaviour of the PC scheme in three-dimensional simulations of radiative-convective equilibrium, demonstrating in particular that the necessary space-time averaging required to produce a good representation of the input large-scale state is not in conflict with the requirement to capture large-scale variations. The resulting equilibrium profiles agree well with those obtained from established deterministic schemes, and with corresponding cloud-resolving model simulations. Unlike the conventional schemes the statistics for mass flux and rainfall variability from the PC scheme also agree well with relevant theory and vary appropriately with spatial scale. The scheme is further shown to adapt automatically to changes in grid length and in forcing strength.

The effect of the spacer length on the nature of coupling in side chain liquid crystals polymers and elastomers

Side chain liquid crystal polymers and elastomers exhibit a rich phase behaviour which arises from the antagonistic influences of the entropically disordered polymer chain configuration and the long range orientational ordering of the mesogenic units. This competition arises since the natural macroscopic phase separation is inhibited by the inherent chemical connectivity of the system. At the heart of this connectivity is the spacer link and we consider here its influence on the phase behaviour. In particular we consider a series of elastomers in which the number of alkyl units in the spacer is systematically varied from 2 to 6. The lengthening of the coupling spacer is accompanied by an alternation of the sign of coupling between the polymer chain and the mesogenic unit. These results demonstrate the dominating influence of the so-called hinge effect in determining the phase behaviour. In addition to the alternation of the sign there is some decrease in the magnitude of the coupling with increasing spacer length.

Side-chain liquid crystalline elastomers: the relationship between the orientational ordering of the polymer backbone and the length of the coupling chain

The influence of cross-linking on the phase behaviour of a series of side-chain liquid crystalline elastomers has been studied. For samples cross-linked in the temperature range corresponding to the nematic phase, the phase transition was shifted compared to that observed when an identical sample was cross-linked in the isotropic phase. This shift represented a stabilisation of the nematic phase in the former case, in line with theoretical expectations. By utilising a novel, slow cross-linking method, which allows the polymer backbone to take up an equilibrium conformation prior to network formation, it proved possible to monitor the shifts in phase transition temperature as a function of the length of the methylene chain coupling the mesogenic units to the polymer backbone. The results obtained are related to the backbone anisotropy and indicate that the level of orientational order of the polymer in the nematic phase backbone increases with a reduction in the length of the coupling chain.

Enhancing the catalytic repertoire of nucleic acids: a systematic study of linker length and rigidity

The incorporation of potentially catalytic groups in DNA is of interest for the in vitro selection of novel deoxyribozymes, A series of 10 C5-modified analogues of 2'-deoxyuridine triphosphate have been synthesised that possess side chains of differing flexibility and bearing a primary amino or imidazole functionality, For each series of nucleotide analogues differing degrees of flexibility of the C5 side chain was achieved through the use of alkynyl, alkenyl and alkyl moieties, The imidazole function was conjugated to these CS-amino-modified nucleotides using either imidazole 4-acetic acid or imidazole 4-acrylic acid (urocanic acid), The substrate properties of the nucleotides (fully replacing dTTP) with Taq polymerase during PCR have been investigated in order to evaluate their potential applications for in vitro selection experiments, 5-(3-Aminopropynyl)dUTP and 5-(E-3-aminopropenyl)dUTP and their imidazole 4-acetic acid- and urocanic acid-modified conjugates were found to be substrates, In contrast, C5-amino-modified dUTPs with alkane or Z-alkene linkers and their corresponding conjugates were not substrates, The incorporation of these analogues during PCR has been confirmed by inhibition of restriction enzyme digestion using XbaI and by mass spectrometry of the PCR products.

The role of phase separation and feed cycle length in leach beds coupled to methanogenic reactors for digestion of a solid substrate (Part 2): Hydrolysis, acidification and methanogenesis in a two-phase system

The effect of phase separation and batch duration on the trophic stages of anaerobic digestion was assessed for the first time in leach beds coupled to methanogenic reactors digesting maize (Zea mays). The system was operated for consecutive batches of 7, 14 and 28 days for ~120 days. Hydrolysis rate was higher the shorter the batch, reaching 8.5 gTSdestroyed d-1 in the 7-day system. Phase separation did not affect acidification but methanogenesis was enhanced in the short feed cycle leach beds. Phase separation was inefficient on the 7-day system, where ~89% of methane was produced in the leach bed. Methane production rate increased with shortening the feed cycle, reaching 3.523 l d-1 average in the 7-day system. Low strength leachate from the leach beds decreased methanogenic activity of methanogenic reactors’ sludges. Enumeration of cellulolytic and methanogenic microorganisms indicated a constant inoculation of leach beds and methanogenic reactors through leachate recirculation.

The role of phase separation and feed cycle length in leach beds coupled to methanogenic reactors for digestion of a solid substrate (Part 1): Optimisation of reactors’ performance

A two-phase system composed by a leach bed and a methanogenic reactor was modified for the first time to improve volumetric substrate degradation and methane yields from a complex substrate (maize; Zea mays). The system, which was operated for consecutive feed cycles of different durations for 120 days, was highly flexible and its performance improved by altering operational conditions. Daily substrate degradation was higher the shorter the feed cycle, reaching 8.5 g TSdestroyed d�1 (7-day feed cycle) but the overall substrate degradation was higher by up to 55% when longer feed cycles (14 and 28 days) were applied. The same occurred with volumetric methane yields, reaching 0.839 m3 (m3)�1 d�1. The system performed better than others on specific methane yields, reaching 0.434 m3 kg�1 TSadded, in the 14-day and 28-day systems. The UASB and AF designs performed similarly as second stage reactors on methane yields, SCOD and VFA removal efficiencies.