Recently our lab has shown that with broadband stimuli (either visual noise or natural scenes), performance for detecting oriented content is worst at horizontal, best at the obliques, and intermediate at vertical orientations--an anisotropy...
Evidence suggests that cortical minicolumns are reduced in size and increased in number in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). More specifically minicolumns in individuals with...
Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are type of unmanned aircraft with a maximum length of 150 mm (6 in.) and flight speed of less than 10 m/s. Because their flight speed is comparable to the environmental wind speed coupled with their small size and low...
Previous research has indicated the important role of visual information in the speech perception process. These studies have elucidated the areas of the brain involved in the processing of audiovisual stimuli. The McGurk effect, an audiovisual...
Electromyography; Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries
Introduction: Approximately 12,000 new cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) are reported each year in the US. Currently, the most widely used method of assessing the recovery of voluntary capability after spinal cord injury is the American Spinal...
When observers view a naturalistic (l/f) broadband image, the various spatial components present in the image stimulate many detecting-mechanisms that suppress each other. This suppression is anisotropic, being relatively greater for mechanisms...
Cortical and tectal inputs to the caudal LPN in the rat were examined using anatomical and physiological techniques. Pyramidal cells in layer 6 of the visual cortex and wide-field vertical cells in the stratum opticum of the superior colliculus...
Neuropsychology; Motor ability; Eye-hand coordination
Two major theoretical models, Direct Mapping and Functional Equivalence, suggest that the observation of action and imagery of action, respectively, involve activation of similar motor related areas. Despite the wealth of evidence that supports...
Anxiety in children; Anxiety--Physiological aspects
Anxiety disorders are prevalent in both adult and child populations, and are associated with significant economic and psychosocial costs. There are clearly familial patterns of transmission within the anxiety disorders, and the inherited risk is...
The use of fiber reinforced polymer materials (composite FRP materials) to
strengthen existing concrete structures continues to expand as our current infrastructure
ages. However, one of the concerns when using FRP systems in this manner is...
Dynamic analysis and parameter identification of a single mass elastomeric isolation system represented by Maxwell model is examined using both analytical and experimental approaches in this dissertation. Influences that the stiffness and damping...
Speech intelligibility has been found to improve with prior exposure to a reverberant room environment. It is believed that perceptual mechanisms help maintain accurate speech perception under these adverse conditions. Potential factors underlying...
High dynamic range imaging involves imaging at a bit depth higher than the typical 8-12 bits offered by standard video equipment. We propose a method of imaging a scene at high dynamic range, 14+ bits, to detect motion correlated with changes in...
Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an electrokinetic force capable of attracting or repelling neutrally charged particles due to a non-uniform electric field [1, 2]. Positive dielectrophoresis attracts particles in the region of the highest electric field...
We have measured the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, K(T) of single walled carbon nanotubes from 300 K to 8 K by 3w methods. K(T) exhibits linear temperature dependence in the entire temperature range. Our results are in good agreement...
Electroencephalography; Visual evoked response; Drug addicts--Research
In 2006 it was estimated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA, 2007) that 19.9 million Americans used illicit drugs, computing to roughly 8.0 % of the United States population. In 2007, there were 2.1 million...
Introduction: Children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often lack the ability to recognize and properly respond to emotional stimuli. These emotional deficits are also observed in children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity...
Night vision--Genetic aspects; Vision disorders--Genetic aspects
Mutations in the NYX gene, encoding the novel protein nyctalopin, cause human congenital stationary night blindness type 1 (CSNB1). CSNB1 is an X-linked recessive condition and is identified by a loss of the electroretinogram (ERG) b-wave while the...
Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries--Complications; Respiratory organs
Pulmonary complications associated with persistent respiratory muscle weakness and paralyses are critical problems faced by patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the role of neurological...
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis--Data processing
Since its development, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become one of the primary methods of chemists for structure elucidation, which is the determination of a compound's molecular structure. Current software packages enable scientists to...