131. Packing patterns of silica nanoparticles on surfaces of armored polystyrene latex particlesSara Fortuna, Catheline A. L. Colard, Stefan A. F. Bon, Alessandro Troisi, 2009, original scientific article Abstract: Fascinating packing patterns of identical spherical and discotic objects on curved surfaces occur readily in nature and science. Examples include C60 fullerenes,(1, 2)13-atom cuboctahedral metal clusters,(3) and S-layer proteins on outer cell membranes.(4) Numerous situations with surface-arranged objects of variable size also exist, such as the lenses on insect eyes, biomineralized shells on coccolithophorids,(5) and solid-stabilized emulsion droplets(6) and bubbles.(7) The influence of size variations on these packing patterns, however, is studied sparsely. Here we investigate the packing of nanosized silica particles on the surface of polystyrene latex particles fabricated by Pickering miniemulsion polymerization of submicrometer-sized armored monomer droplets. We are able to rationalize the experimental morphology and the nearest-neighbor distribution with the help of Monte Carlo simulations. We show that broadening of the nanoparticle size distribution has pronounced effects on the self-assembled equilibrium packing structures, with original 12-point dislocations or grain-boundary scars gradually fading out.
Keywords: packing patterns, silica, simulation, Monte Carlo, order, disorder, transition, armored particles, nanoparticles, Pickering emulsion
Published in RUNG: 10.10.2016; Views: 4729; Downloads: 0
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132. Microfluidic flow injection thermal lens microscopy for high throughput and sensitive analysis of sub-μL samplesMingqiang Liu, Sara Malovrh, Mladen Franko, 2016, original scientific article Abstract: An analytical method combining microfluidic flow injection analysis (μFIA) with thermal lens microscopy (TLM) was developed for high throughput and sensitive analysis of sub-μL samples. Performance of the μFIA-TLM was validated for detection of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] in water samples. At different sample injection volumes, detection positions and flow rates, influences of the reaction time and the diffusion of Cr-diphenylcarbazone (DPCO) complexes on the μFIA-TLM signal were investigated. Photodegradation of the Cr-DPCO complex was clearly observed when the absorbed photons per Cr-DPCO is above 1600. After optimization of the TLM with respect to rapid flows (up to 10 cm/s), we achieved a limit of detection of 0.6 ng/mL for Cr(VI) in a 50-μm deep channel. Impacts of interfering ions [V(V), Mo(VI), Fe(III)] on the Cr(VI) determination were found to be small. Cr(VI) in real samples from a cement factory were determined and found in good agreement with results of spectrophotometry. This μFIA-TLM shows advantages over its conventional counterpart, such as eliminating additional sample conditioning, reducing over 100 times the sample consumption to sub-μL and over 10 times the time required for one sample injection to a few seconds (up to 20 samples/min). The optimized μFIA-TLM setup can be applied for fast and sensitive analysis of nonfluoresent sub-μL samples in rapidly flowing mediums.
Keywords: Spektrometrija TLS, mikroskopija TLM, mikrofluidika, krom (VI)
Published in RUNG: 01.06.2016; Views: 5320; Downloads: 271
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133. Age-related effects on language production : A combined psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic perspectiveAndrea Marini, Sara Andreetta, 2016, independent scientific component part or a chapter in a monograph Abstract: This chapter focuses on the effects of aging on the process of language production from a psycholinguistic, and neurolinguistic perspective. The first section provides a detailed description of the language production system by outlining the notions of micro- and macrolinguistic processing and introducing to some of the most influential psycholinguistic models of message production. The second part focuses on psycholinguistic investigations assessing age-related variations in the ability to produce a verbal message. A conclusive section outlines the complex interplay between the neural changes induced by aging and the reorganization of the language production system.
Keywords: aging, language, neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics
Published in RUNG: 09.05.2016; Views: 4990; Downloads: 0 |
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135. The effect of bilingualism on the processing of scalar implicaturesPenka Stateva, Sara Andreetta, Ludivine Dupuy, Anne Cheylus, Viviane Déprez, Jean-Baptiste van der Henst, Jacques Jayez, Arthur Stepanov, Anne Reboul, 2016, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: Scalar implicatures have been extensively investigated in the experimental literature, but almost exclusively in monolingual speakers. Very little research has been conducted on the pragmatic abilities of multilingual populations, including early bilinguals to L2 learners, a gap the current study aims to remedy.
Keywords: L2 learning and early bilingualism, comprehension of scalar implicatures
Published in RUNG: 22.04.2016; Views: 5005; Downloads: 0
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136. Vpliv onesnažil iz okoljskih aerosolov na tarčne celice v pljučihSara Pribovšek, 2016, undergraduate thesis Abstract: Diplomsko delo obravnava vpliv onesnažil iz okoljskih aerosolov na dva celična tipa, ki jih najdemo v pljučih, pljučne epitelijske celice A549 in makrofage J774A.1. Kot vir onesnažil smo uporabili ekstrakt saj iz zračnega filtra. Uporabili smo kvarčne zračne filtre z delci črnega ogljika, ki so nastali kot posledica gorenja sveče. V laboratorijskih poskusih smo testirali neposredni vpliv saj na celično živost (viabilnost) pljučnih epitelijskih celic in makrofagov po 24 urah in 48 urah inkubacije z različnimi koncentracijami saj in kontrolama. Celično živost smo merili s pomočjo reagenta Presto Blue. Posreden vpliv saj na pljučne epitelijske celice smo preverjali z merjenjem celične živosti po 24 urah in 48 urah inkubacije s topnimi dejavniki, ki so jih sprostili tretirani in kontrolni makrofagi (gojišče MCM). Gojišče MCM smo pripravili tako, da smo makrofage 48 ur aktivirali z raztopino saj oziroma jih nismo aktivirali (kontrolno gojišče MCM). Na koncu smo pri obeh celičnih tipih ugotavljali tudi gensko stabilnost s pomočjo posredne imunofluorescentne metode. Celice smo označili s protitelesi anti-fosfo histon H2A.X, ki so se vezala na mesta, kjer je zaradi izpostavljenosti raztopini saj prišlo do poškodb DNA. Rezultati so pokazali, da raztopina saj vpliva na celično živost pljučnih epitelijskih celic in makrofagov v obratno sorazmernem trendu v odvisnosti od koncentracije saj. Raztopina saj je imela vpliv tudi na morfološke spremembe obeh celičnih linij. Rezultati vpliva topnih dejavnikov makrofagov na epitelijske pljučne celice niso pokazali statistično značilnih razlik, zato posrednega vpliva saj na viabilnost pljučnih celic zaradi kompleksnosti delovanja topnih faktorjev makrofagov nismo dokazali. Pokazali pa smo, da imajo saje velik vpliv tudi na gensko stabilnost pljučnih epitelijskih celic in makrofagov. V diplomskem delu smo tako pokazali, da že krajša izpostavljenost onesnažilom iz zraka vodi do poškodb DNA in zmanjšane celične živosti tarčnih celic, kar je bilo še zlasti izrazito pri makrofagih.
Keywords: makrofagi, pljučne epitelijske celice, delci, policiklični aromatski ogljikovodiki, celična živost, genotoksičnost.
Published in RUNG: 09.03.2016; Views: 6896; Downloads: 195
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137. A multi-level approach to the analysis of narrative language in aphasiaAndrea Marini, Sara Andreetta, Silvana Del Tin, Sergio Carlomagno, 2011, original scientific article Abstract: Several studies have shown that traditional standardised aphasia tests may not be sensitive enough to adequately assess linguistic deficits and recovery patterns in persons with aphasia. As a result, both functional and structural methods for the ana- lysis of connected language samples from people with aphasia have been devised (see Armstrong, 2000; Prins & Bastiaanse, 2004).
The present article focuses on our attempt to provide a comprehensive, multi-level procedure for both structural and functional analysis of narrative discourse produced by speakers with brain damage. Accordingly, we will describe a method for analysis of connected language samples elicited on single picture and cartoon story description tasks. This method has proven sensitive in the assessment of language deficits in many neurogenic populations.
A comprehensive description of the language production sys- tem, a thorough discussion of the different approaches to discourse analysis in persons with aphasia, and the procedure for the analysis of narrative discourse are detailed. The characteristics of the eliciting stimuli, the procedures for their administration and the transcription of the language samples are carefully explained. The analysis focuses on four main aspects of linguistic processing: productivity, lexical and grammatical pro- cessing, narrative organisation, and informativeness. To further illustrate the analytic procedure, two case reports and an appendix with the analysis of a narrative sample are provided.
We will provide direct evidence of the usefulness of the multi-level procedure for discourse analysis for assessing changes in discourse performance of two persons with fluent aphasia, with different aetiologies, that were not captured by tradi- tional standardised aphasia tests.
The method of analysis presented in this paper has strong grounds in linguistic and psychological theories of linguistic structure and functioning. It also has the advantage of being both quantitative and functional as it captures selective aspects of linguistic processing, and can provide relevant information about the person's communicative and informative skills.
Keywords: aphasia, language, narrative analysis
Published in RUNG: 07.03.2016; Views: 4470; Downloads: 1
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138. Narrative discourse in anomic aphasiaSara Andreetta, Anna Cantagallo, Andrea Marini, 2012, original scientific article Abstract: Anomic aphasia is a disturbance affecting lexical retrieval. Nonetheless, persons with this disorder may also experience difficulties in the construction of coherent narratives. Whether this symptom is a sign of a macrolinguistic difficulty per se or reflects the lexical disorder is still an open debate. In order to analyze the effect of the lexical impairment on macrolinguistic processing, we compared the narrative skills of a group of ten participants with chronic anomic aphasia with those of ten healthy control individuals matched for age and educational level. The anomic participants produced narratives with lowered speech rate, reduced mean length of utterance, fewer grammatically well-formed sentences, more semantic paraphasias. The macrolinguistic analysis showed that they also produced more errors of cohesion and global coherence and fewer lexical information units. Interestingly, their levels of thematic selection were normal. A bivariate correlational analysis showed a strong correlation between the production of errors of cohesion and production of complete sentences, and between production of errors of global coherence and lexical information units. These correlations showed that aspects related to lexical retrieval may affect macrolinguistic processing during the construction of a narrative. Indeed, it is suggested that lexical deficits lead to two main consequences: First, patients with anomia frequently interrupt the utterances they are producing and this reduces the levels of sentence completeness and the overall degree of cohesion across the utterances; Second, they use strategies to cope with the lexical impairment and produce a quantity of lexical fillers and repetitions that, clustered in utterances, reduce the levels of global coherence.
Keywords: aphasia, neurolinguistics, speech disorders, discourse analysis
Published in RUNG: 07.03.2016; Views: 4640; Downloads: 0
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139. Patterns of impairment of narrative language in mild traumatic brain injuryValentina Galetto, Sara Andreetta, Marina Zettin, Andrea Marini, 2013, original scientific article Abstract: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) represents a condition whose cognitive and behavioral sequelae are often underestimated, even when it exerts a profound impact on the patients’ every-day life. The present study aimed to analyze the features of narrative discourse impairment in a group of adults with mTBI. 10 mTBI non-aphasic speakers (GCS > 13) and 13 neurologically intact participants were recruited for the experiment. Their cognitive, linguistic and narrative skills were thoroughly assessed. The group of mTBIs exhibited normal phonological, lexical and grammatical skills. However, their narratives were characterized by the pres- ence of frequent interruptions of ongoing utterances, derailments and extraneous utterances that at times made their discourse vague and ambiguous. They produced more errors of global coherence [F (1; 21)1⁄424.242; p1⁄4.000; h2p1⁄40. 536] and fewer Lexical Information Units [F (1; 21) 1⁄4 7.068; p 1⁄4 .015; h2p 1⁄4 .252]. The errors of global coherence correlated negatively with non- perseverative errors on the WCST (r 1⁄4 1⁄4.755; p < .012). The mac- rolinguistic problems made their narrative samples less informa- tive than those produced by the group of control participants. These disturbances may reflect a deficit at the interface between cognitive and linguistic processing rather than a specific linguistic disturbance. These findings suggest that also persons with mild forms of TBI may experience linguistic disturbances that may hamper the quality of their every-day life.
Keywords: mild traumatic brain injury, narrative analysis, neurolinguistics, neuropsychology
Published in RUNG: 07.03.2016; Views: 4833; Downloads: 1
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140. The effect of lexical deficits on narrative disturbances in fluent aphasiaSara Andreetta, Andrea Marini, 2015, original scientific article Abstract: Background: The label “fluent aphasia” applies to different aphasic syndromes char- acterised by fluent speech with difficulties in lexical retrieval and/or grammatical processing.
Aims: This study aims at investigating microlinguistic and macrolinguistic skills in persons with fluent aphasia. We hypothesised that their lexical and syntactic (i.e., microlinguistic) difficulties would affect also their narrative (i.e., macrolinguistic) skills.
Methods & Procedures: Growing evidence shows that traditional tests may not be sensitive enough to capture the patterns of the linguistic impairments observed in these persons. Therefore, we used a narrative task to elicit linguistic samples. Spontaneous speech was elicited through a picture description task. The narrative samples were analysed with a multilevel approach that allows clinicians to quantify their productivity levels as well as their lexical, grammatical, and narrative skills. The spontaneous speech produced by a group of 20 persons with fluent aphasia was compared to that of a group of 20 healthy participants. All participants with aphasia were in the phase of neurological stability. The two groups were matched for age and level of formal education.
Outcomes & Results: Results showed that the lexical impairment observed in the group of participants with fluent aphasia hampered the ability to produce well-formed sentences that, in turn, lowered the levels of cohesion of their narrative samples. Furthermore, the reduced levels of lexical informativeness were found correlated also to the production of errors of global coherence.
Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that in these patients, microlin- guistic difficulties might affect macrolinguistic processing. Furthermore, these results stress the importance of a multilevel approach to assess linguistic skills in patients with fluent aphasia, as it assesses both microlinguistic and macrolinguistic dimensions in parallel. Therefore, it allows linguists, psychologists, and clinicians to observe how the linguistic levels interact during natural language processing.
Keywords: neurolinguistics, aphasia, discourse analysis, coherence
Published in RUNG: 07.03.2016; Views: 4632; Downloads: 0
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