The median eminence (ME) of the hypothalamus comprises the hypothalamic nerve terminals, glia (especially tanycytes) and the portal capillary vasculature that transports hypothalamic neurohormones to ...the anterior pituitary gland. The ultrastructure of the ME is dynamically regulated by hormones and undergoes organizational changes during development and reproductive cycles in adult females, but relatively little is known about the ME during aging, especially in nonhuman primates. Therefore, we used a novel transmission scanning electron microscopy technique to examine the cytoarchitecture of the ME of young and aged female rhesus macaques in a preclinical monkey model of menopausal hormone treatments. Rhesus macaques were ovariectomized and treated for 2 years with vehicle, estradiol (E2), or estradiol + progesterone (E2 + P4). While the overall cytoarchitecture of the ME underwent relatively few changes with age and hormones, changes to some features of neural and glial components near the portal capillaries were observed. Specifically, large neuroterminal size was greater in aged compared to young adult animals, an effect that was mitigated or reversed by E2 alone but not by E2 + P4 treatment. Overall glial size and the density and tissue fraction of the largest subset of glia were greater in aged monkeys, and in some cases reversed by E2 treatment. Mitochondrial size was decreased by E2, but not E2 + P4, only in aged macaques. These results contrast substantially with work in rodents, suggesting that the ME of aging macaques is less vulnerable to age-related disorganization, and that the effects of E2 on monkeys' ME are age specific.
Reconstruction of neural circuits from volume electron microscopy data requires the tracing of cells in their entirety, including all their neurites. Automated approaches have been developed for ...tracing, but their error rates are too high to generate reliable circuit diagrams without extensive human proofreading. We present flood-filling networks, a method for automated segmentation that, similar to most previous efforts, uses convolutional neural networks, but contains in addition a recurrent pathway that allows the iterative optimization and extension of individual neuronal processes. We used flood-filling networks to trace neurons in a dataset obtained by serial block-face electron microscopy of a zebra finch brain. Using our method, we achieved a mean error-free neurite path length of 1.1 mm, and we observed only four mergers in a test set with a path length of 97 mm. The performance of flood-filling networks was an order of magnitude better than that of previous approaches applied to this dataset, although with substantially increased computational costs.
The study examines the relations of self-concept, self-esteem, and racial preference to the academic achievement of African American preschool children. The children were 49 to 63 months of age and ...enrolled in a Head Start program. Three self-perception measures were obtained for each child, and a measure of academic achievement was obtained yielding 2 scores: a Knowledge Cluster Score and a Skills Cluster Score. Regression analyses indicated that academic self-esteem accounted for a significant amount of the variance in both the Knowledge and Skills Cluster Scores of the children. Racial attitude was also a significant predictor of Knowledge Cluster scores, and self-concept predicted Skills Cluster scores; however, these measures accounted for less variance in achievement than did academic self-esteem. Findings suggest that the development of academic self-esteem is important for the school achievement of minority children.
This paper examines the similarities and differences of the terminal native Hawaiian speech of two generations, the parent and the offspring. Uncommon to a pure linguistic analysis, attention is ...afforded to the style of the conversational register of language and the conveyance of language identity. The major outcome of this examination of the terminal native spoken Hawaiian is the verification of vulnerable and enduring language components in the final life stages of native Hawaiian speech. Identification of those components can inform second language teaching of Hawaiian. The study provides a methodology for measuring the identified components of Hawaiian speech that can be used in a variety of contexts. Another important consequence of this study heightened understanding of the importance of specific realms vital for a language's survival. The documented spoken conversational language register of a mother and two of her daughters is the native Hawaiian speech data for this investigation. The audio documentation of the mother was conducted first in 1986 and subsequently her two daughters were recorded at four separate times between 2008 and 2012. The native Hawaiian speech data for this study represents the very end of Hawai`i's last two generations of native Hawaiian speakers, outside of the Ni`ihau community. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by addressing your request to ProQuest, 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346. Telephone 1-800-521-3042; e-mail: disspub@umi.com
This paper examines the similarities and differences of the terminal native Hawaiian speech of two generations, the parent and the offspring. Uncommon to a pure linguistic analysis, attention is ...afforded to the style of the conversational register of language and the conveyance of language identity. The major outcome of this examination of the terminal native spoken Hawaiian is the verification of vulnerable and enduring language components in the final life stages of native Hawaiian speech. Identification of those components can inform second language teaching of Hawaiian. The study provides a methodology for measuring the identified components of Hawaiian speech that can be used in a variety of contexts. Another important consequence of this study heightened understanding of the importance of specific realms vital for a language's survival. The documented spoken conversational language register of a mother and two of her daughters is the native Hawaiian speech data for this investigation. The audio documentation of the mother was conducted first in 1986 and subsequently her two daughters were recorded at four separate times between 2008 and 2012. The native Hawaiian speech data for this study represents the very end of Hawai`i's last two generations of native Hawaiian speakers, outside of the Ni`ihau community.
This paper, written entirely in the Hawaiian language for the requirements of the Masters' Degree in Hawaiian Language and Literature of Ka Haka 'Ula O Ke'elikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, ...focuses on the poetry of the first part of the ancient Hawaiian epic, “Hiiakaikapoliopele” written by Joseph M. Poepoe and published in the Hawaiian language newspaper Ka Nupepa Kuokoa Home Rula in 1908. This is a structural analysis of the poetry with emphasis on devices linking paired utterances. These paired utterances are connected in their qualities of sound, meaning and grammatical use. Each of these three qualities consists of various features which are also analyzed. The qualities and features of the paired utterances are arranged into 15 patterns which have been categorized and labeled into three major types. The appendices consist of the original poetry items as printed in the first part of “Hiiakaikapoliopele” of the Hawaiian language newspaper Ka Nupepa Kuokoa Home Rula, 1908; the modernized spelling of the poetry texts with schematic drawing to indicate paired and triplet and more utterances; a record of all paired utterances with analysis of qualities and features for each pair; a list of patterns for triplet and more utterances; and a list of new lexicon.
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