The fields of psychology and rhetoric share the goal of improving human mental health and behavior through persuasion. This thesis traces the history of rhetoric and psychology theory, focusing on the parallel theories of Nienkamp's internal rhetoric and Herman's dialogical self. Both theories model the human mind as having multiple psyches that actively interact to interpret human experience and project human behavior. I conclude with a case study of anorexic patients using ethos, pathos, and logos in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), arguing that principles of rhetoric can help patients with mental disorders cognitively realign their thinking more effectively than drug treatments can.

Alzheimers sjukdom (AD, eng. Alzheimer’s disease) upptäcktes för 111 år sedan av Alois Alz-heimer. Idag är det den ledande orsaken till demens hos äldre, och incidencen förväntas öka med befolkningens ökande livslängd. År 2050 förutspås antalet patienter med AD nå 10 miljoner personer [1]. Det har gjorts många försök att angripa AD via dess främsta kännetäcken, såsom plack av beta-amyloid (Aβ), Aβ-oligomerer, och ansamlingar av tau-protein, kallat tau-trassel. Trots att forskning om AD bedrivits i flera årtionden är dess orsak alltjämt okänd.På sistone har det funnits ett fokus på de inflammatoriska komponenterna inom AD. Det finns en utbredd aktivering av immunförsvaret i det centrala nervsystemet hos patienter med AD, men varken dess orsak eller dess roll inom AD är känd. Däremot finns det tydliga tecken på att inflammationen är av autoimmun art. Med detta i åtanke är det tydligt att det finns ett stort behov att utröna auto-immunitetens roll inom AD. I denna forskningsstudie användes proteomik-metoder för att bestämma autoantikroppsprofilerna inom plasma och cerebrospinalvätska (CSF, eng. cerebrospinal fluid) hos AD-patienter och en frisk kontrollgrupp.I denna studie användes par av plasma- och CSF-prover från 23 friska individer och 49 patien-ter. Dessutom inkluderades 2 plasmaprover och 18 CSF-prover från patienter. En 380-faldig och en 314-faldig riktad analys gjordes med hjälp utav suspension bead array-teknologi (SBA). Varje SBA bestod av färgkodade, magnetiska mikrosfärer i suspension, med antigen immobiliserade på kulornas yta. Denna analysmetod användes för att undersöka autoantikropssprofilerna i alla prover. Resul-taten visade en ökad respons från autoantikroppar mot antigenen SLC17A6 (Solute Carrier Family 17 Member 6), MAP1A (Microtubule Associated Protein 1A), och MAP2 (Microtubule Associated Protein 2) i patiener gentemot friska individer. Dock har dessa antigen uppvisat en bred reaktivitet i tidigare, opublicerade studier. Därför behövs ytterligare forskning för att fastställa deras roll inom AD.Dessutom användes paren av plasma- och CSF-prover för att undersöka autoantikroppsprofilernas överrensstämmelse inom varje patient. Det visade sig att korrelationen följde en normalfördelning, med starkare korrelation inom antigen med starkare reaktivitet mot den motsvarande autoantikroppen. Denna studie utgör en av de första storskaliga forskningsstudierna av överrensstämmelsen mellan autoantikroppsprofilerna inom plasma och CSF. / Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was discovered 111 years ago by Alois Alzheimer. Today, it is the leading cause of dementia in elderly, and incidence is expected to increase with life expectancy. By 2050, the number of a˙ected individuals is predicted to reach 10 million [1]. There have been numerous attempts to describe AD by its primary hallmarks, including amyloid plaques, amyloid beta (Aβ) oligomers, and tau tangles. However, despite several decades of intense research, the cause of AD remains unknown.Recently, there has been a focus on the inflammatory components of AD. There is an extensive activation of the immune system within the CNS of AD patients, but neither its cause nor its role in AD is known. However, there are strong indications that the inflammation has an autoimmune character. Considering this, there is an imperative need to examine autoimmunity within AD. In the present study, a proteomic approach was used to determine the autoantibody profiles within plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within AD patients and healthy controls.Paired plasma and CSF samples from 23 healthy controls and 49 patients were included in the present study. In addition, 2 plasma samples and 18 CSF samples from patients were included (not paired). One 380-plex and one 314-plex targeted suspension bead array (SBA), each consisting of color-coded magnetic microspheres with immobilized antigens, were used to analyze autoantibody profiles in all samples. The resulting data revealed an increased autoantibody response towards anti-gens SLC17A6 (Solute Carrier Family 17 Member 6), MAP1A (Microtubule Associated Protein 1A), and MAP2 (Microtubule Associated Protein 2) in patients compared to healthy controls. However, as these antigens have displayed wide reactivities in previous, unpublished studies, they require further investigation to determine their role in AD.Furthermore, the paired CSF and plasma samples were used to investigate the correlation of autoantibody profiles within patients. The correlation was found to follow a normal distribution, with correlation being higher in antigens displaying stronger autoantibody reactivity. This work represents one of the first large-scale studies on the correlation of autoantibody profiles in plasma and CSF.

L’expression faciale est un vecteur de communication important dans l’expérience de douleur. Cependant, les corrélats neuronaux associés à cette manifestation de la douleur demeurent peu investigués. Le but de ce mémoire était de développer un modèle neurobiologique permettant de prédire l’expression faciale évoquée par des stimuli douloureux afin d’approfondir nos connaissances sur les mécanismes cérébraux de la douleur et de la communication non verbale. La signature cérébrale de l’expression faciale de la douleur a été élaborée sur un jeu de données d’IRMf acquis chez des adultes en santé en utilisant des algorithmes d’apprentissage machine pour prédire des scores d’expression faciale évoquée par des stimulations douloureuses phasiques (c.-à-d. de courtes stimulations) à l’échelle de la population. Les résultats suggèrent qu’il est possible de prédire ces réponses faciales à partir d’un patron d’activation multivoxels. Cette signature cérébrale se distingue, du moins partiellement, de signatures cérébrales prédictives de l’intensité et du caractère déplaisant de la douleur rapportée et de la valeur future de la douleur. Bien que d’autres études soient nécessaires pour examiner la spécificité et la généralisabilité de la signature cérébrale de l’expression faciale de la douleur, ce mémoire souligne l’existence d’une représentation cérébrale spatialement distribuée prédictive des réponses faciales en lien avec la douleur, et suggère l’importance de cette mesure comportementale dans l’expérience de la douleur comme étant complémentaire aux mesures autorapportées de l’intensité perçue. / Facial expression is an important communication vector in the experience of pain. However, the neural correlates associated with this manifestation of pain remain relatively unexplored. The goal of this thesis was to develop a neurobiological model to predict facial expression evoked by painful stimuli in order to expand our knowledge of the brain mechanisms of pain and non-verbal communication. The brain signature of facial expressions of pain was developed on a dataset including healthy adults using machine learning algorithms to predict facial expression scores evoked by phasic painful stimuli (i.e., short stimulation) at the population level. The results suggest that it is possible to predict the facial expression of pain from a multivoxel activation pattern. This brain signature of facial pain expression is at least partially distinct from other brain signatures predictive of reported pain intensity and unpleasantness, and future pain value. Although further studies are needed to examine the specificity and generalizability of the brain signature of facial expression of pain, this master thesis highlights the existence of a spatially distributed brain representation predictive of pain-related facial responses, and suggests the importance of this behavioural measure in the experience of pain as complementary to self-reported measures of pain intensity.

his project aims to find a method that will help fill the information gaps in electroencephalography (EEG) brain-computer interfaces (BCI) research, by creating a pipeline method that allows for quicker research iterations than current state-of-the-art methods. The pipeline method is a multi-step processstarting from the recording EEG data from a subject performing a thought paradigm action, continuing with processing and decoding of the data, and ending with visualization and analysis the decoded results. Thought paradigms are in this project defined as different ways that the subject can think, with different words and different ways of thinking of those words. The pipeline will utilize various machine learning methods to be able to reach the two main goals of quickly being able to analyze and compare different paradigms and methods. Regarding the accuracy of the models, a minimum level of higher than random chance accuracies is needed if the pipeline should be considered to be useful for analyzing and comparing paradigms and methods, while a higher level of having accuracies comparable with state-of-the-art methods will allow for comparisons with paradigms and methods from other research methods as well. In the pipeline, various simple feature extraction methods are tested, such as the Fourier transform (FT) and low pass filtering. As well as features based on covariance between channels and data gradients. A specific way to baseline correct the features is also proposed and tested. The results of the project show that the pipeline method is a viable way of quickly testing and comparing paradigms and methods. With results that are comparable to state of the art methods. While also allowing for quick iteration and comparison. Future possibilities using this method are discussed

Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) makes use of traffic engineering (TE) techniques and a variety of protocols to establish pre-determined highly efficient routes in Wide Area Network (WAN). Unlike IP networks in which routing decision has to be made through header analysis on a hop-by-hop basis, MPLS makes use of a short bit sequence that indicates the forwarding equivalence class (FEC) of a packet and utilises a predefined routing table to handle packets of a specific FEC type. Thus header analysis of packets is not required, resulting in lower latency. In addition, packets of similar characteristics can be routed in a consistent manner. For example, packets carrying real-time information can be routed to low latency paths across the networks. Thus the key success to MPLS is to efficiently control and distribute the bandwidth available between applications across the networks. A lot of research effort on bandwidth management in MPLS networks has already been devoted in the past. However, with the imminent roll out of 5G, MPLS is seen as a key technology for mobile backhaul. To cope with the 5G demands of rich, context aware and multimedia-based user applications, more efficient bandwidth management solutions need to be derived. This thesis focuses on the design of bandwidth management algorithms, more specifically QoS scheduling, in MPLS network for 5G mobile backhaul. The aim is to ensure the reliability and the speed of packet transfer across the network. As 5G is expected to greatly improve the user experience with innovative and high quality services, users’ perceived quality of service (QoS) needs to be taken into account when deriving such bandwidth management solutions. QoS expectation from users are often subjective and vague. Thus this thesis proposes the use of fuzzy logic based solution to provide service aware and user-centric bandwidth management in order to satisfy requirements imposed by the network and users. Unfortunately, the disadvantage of fuzzy logic is scalability since dependable fuzzy rules and membership functions increase when the complexity of being modelled increases. To resolve this issue, this thesis proposes the use of neuro-fuzzy to solicit interpretable IF-THEN rules.The algorithms are implemented and tested through NS2 and Matlab simulations. The performance of the algorithms are evaluated and compared with other conventional algorithms in terms of average throughput, delay, reliability, cost, packet loss ratio, and utilization rate. Simulation results show that the neuro-fuzzy based algorithm perform better than fuzzy and other conventional packet scheduling algorithms using IP and IP over MPLS technologies. / Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)

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A significant subset of women plagued with breast cancer continue to experience chronic neuropathic pain (CNP) long after undergoing cancer treatment. Medical interventions such as pharmacotherapy and/or surgery have been most widely used to abate painful symptoms with limited efficacy. Other alternatives are required given a heavy reliance on pharmaceuticals can lead to tolerance, dependence and severe side effects. Possibilities include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), physical therapy, and mindfulness interventions to supplement pharmacotherapies. Mindfulness practice in particular has been offered to a variety of chronic pain groups including breast cancer patients, however evidence is lacking to support its effectiveness in CNP for breast cancer survivors (BCS). The purpose of the present study was to explore the benefits a mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) may have on altering the underlying neuronal correlates linked with pain-related symptoms associated with CNP in BCS. The primary objective was to investigate how mindfulness training might possibly mediate the brain’s capacity for emotional reactivity, white matter integrity, and activation of the default mode network (DMN) and how these changes may correlate with levels of pain severity and pain interference, improving overall quality of life. To achieve these results, several brain imaging techniques were used in order to observe the correlation between the subjective experience of pain and the objective manifestation of brain changes that may be potentiated by MBSR training. A total of 23 participants were placed in either an 8 week MBSR intervention group (n=13) or a waitlist control group (n =10). All women were scanned with MRI before and after the 8 week intervention regardless of group allotment. The following neuroimaging modalities were used for each scanning session: resting state fMRI (rsfMRI) to monitor changes to functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN); Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to assess the structural integrity of white matter tracts; and the Emotional Stroop Task (EST) to examine emotional reactivity in response to pain related stimuli. Exploratory results from this pilot study indicate that improvements to functional connectivity were apparent in the MBSR group relative to control, indicative of more efficient communication in areas related to attention, self-awareness, emotion regulation and pain. Improvements were also noted as increased cerebral white matter health and reduced emotional reactivity to pain related stimuli in the group of MBSR trained participants relative to control. Additionally, these functional and structural changes correlated with the self-reported pain measures in the MBSR group, suggesting that the MBSR group demonstrated improvements to ratings of pain severity and pain interference whereas the opposite occurred with the control group. The results have been interpreted as improvements to patients’ perception of pain and quality of life post MBSR training, however, were not limited to the subjective experience of pain. The inclusion of neuroimaging modalities provides objective and empirical support for MBSR training as it highlights the underlying brain mechanisms that were altered as part of MBSR treatment. Ultimately, the evidence suggests that MBSR could be incorporated as part of the treatment protocol for women experiencing CNP post breast cancer treatment.

Les études neurophysiologiques de la prise de décision, traditionnellement ancrées dans des principes neuro-économiques, ont évoluées pour inclure une variété d’aires du cerveau. Partant d’abord du lobe frontal associé aux jugements de valeur, le champ s’est élargi pour inclure d’autres types de décisions incluant les décisions perceptuelles et les décisions incarnées qui impliquent notamment les aires sensorimotrices du cerveau. La théorie moderne de la prise de décision modèle l’activité neurale dans ces régions comme une compétition entre les différents stimuli et actions considérés par un individu. Cette compétition est résolue lorsque l’activité neurale associée à un stimulus ou une action choisie atteint un seuil critique. Toutefois, il reste à éclaircir comment ce modèle s’applique aux décisions effectuées alors que l’individu est déjà engagé dans une activité. Dans ce mémoire nous examinons ce type de décision chez des sujets humains dans une tâche de suivi continu. Des cibles « choix » apparaissaient sur un écran pendant que le sujet suivait de la main une cible qui se déplaçait doucement en continu. Le sujet pouvait ignorer ces cibles choix, ou abandonner la cible suivie pour toucher une cible choix, dans quel cas la cible sélectionnée devenait la nouvelle cible à suivre du doigt. Tel qu’attendu, nous avons observé que les sujets favorisaient les cibles plus proches, plus grandes, et les cibles alignées avec l’axe du mouvement. Toutefois nous avons été surpris de constater que les sujets ignoraient les coûts énergétiques du mouvement, tel que modélisés. Un biais pour minimiser les coûts du mouvement fut réintroduis lorsque la tâche fut divisée en séries de mouvements point-à-point, plutôt qu’un mouvement continu. Même si nous ne pouvons expliquer ce résultat surprenant, nous espérons qu’il inspire de futures études utilisant le paradigme expérimental de décision durant l’action. / Neurophysiological studies of decision-making have expanded over decades to involve many brain areas. The field broadened from neuroeconomics, mainly concerned with frontal regions, to perceptual or embodied decision-making involving several sensorimotor areas where neural activity is linked to the stimuli and actions necessary for the decision process. Current models of decision-making envision this neural activity as a competition between different actions that is resolved when enough activity favors one over the other. However, it is unclear how such models can explain decisions often present in natural behavior, where deliberation takes place while already engaged in an action. In this thesis, we examined the choices human subjects made as they were engaged in a continuous tracking task. While they were manually tracking a target on a flat screen, subjects were occasionally presented with a new target to which they could freely choose to switch, whereupon it became the new tracked target. As expected, we found that subjects were more likely to move to closer targets, bigger targets, or targets that were aligned to the direction of movement. However, we were surprised that subjects did not choose targets that minimized energetic cost, as calculated by a biomechanical model of the arm. A biomechanical bias was restored when the continuous movement was broken up into a series of point to point movements. While we cannot yet explain these findings with certainty, we hope they will inspire further studies using decide-while-acting paradigms.

La compréhension des propriétés biomécaniques de la tête du nerf optique (TNO) est cruciale pour la gestion de conditions telles que le glaucome et le Syndrome Neuro-Oculaire Lié à l'Espace (SNOE). Cette thèse propose d’utiliser l'imagerie par tomographie de cohérence optique vidéo à haute fréquence (V-OCT) traitée avec des algorithmes de traitement d'image existants pour évaluer quantitativement la déformation pulsatile de la TNO due aux cycles cardiaques. Cette méthode est utilisée afin d’investiguer deux phénomènes: la réponse biomécanique de la TNO dans les conditions terrestres; et la réponse du TNO dans l'environnement de microgravité de l'espace. Le premier segment de cette thèse présente une nouvelle méthode non-invasive pour mesurer le déplacement pulsatile de la TNO via l'OCT vidéo (V-OCT), offrant des progrès significatifs dans la quantification des propriétés biomécaniques de l'œil in vivo. Une validation approfondie de cette technique, à la fois numérique et expérimentale, a confirmé la sensibilité de l'algorithme aux déformations induites, sa robustesse face à divers niveaux de bruit, et sa répétabilité. Deux groupes d’individus, sains et myopes, ont été évalués sous différentes conditions de contrainte physiologique. La déformation pulsatile des tissus de la TNO a été capturée quantitativement et représentée sous forme de cartes de déformation, montrant la sensibilité de la méthodologie aux déformations induites et la robustesse aux interférences de bruit élevé. Pour les sujets dont les yeux ont une longueur axiale de moins de 25mm, des différences notables de déformation pulsatile médiane ont émergé entre les positions primaires et en abduction de l'œil, avec une reproductibilité confirmée via des coefficients de corrélation intra-classe élevés. Ayant validé la méthode, elle a donc a été appliquée à une cohorte de glaucomateux pour examiner l'impact de la réduction de la pression intraoculaire (PIO) sur le déplacement pulsatile de la TNO. Chez les patients atteints de glaucome primaire à angle ouvert (GPAO), en particulier ceux sans myopie axiale, les interventions abaissant la PIO ont conduit à une réduction significative de la pulsation de la TNO. Cependant, les patients glaucomateux myopes n'ont affiché aucun changement substantiel, suggérant une relation nuancée entre la modulation de la PIO et la biomécanique de la TNO. Une étude de cohorte n’a révélé aucune différence marquée dans la pulsation de la TNO à travers divers degrés de gravité du glaucome. Pourtant, la déformation pulsatile a été corrélée à l'épaisseur de la couche de fibres nerveuses rétiniennes et à des mesures hémodynamiques spécifiques, soulignant les interconnexions complexes entre la biomécanique et l'hémodynamique oculaires. La dernière partie de cette thèse aborde les modifications de la rigidité oculaire chez les astronautes avant et après des vols spatiaux prolongés. En analysant les données de 26 yeux de 13 astronautes, la recherche a démontré des réductions significatives de la rigidité oculaire, de la pression intraoculaire et de l'amplitude du pouls oculaire après la mission. Ces découvertes explorent des effets précédemment inconnus de la microgravité sur les propriétés mécaniques de l'œil, améliorant notre compréhension du SNOE. Cette étude, tout en approfondissant notre compréhension des complexités biomécaniques et hémodynamiques de la TNO, démontre le potentiel du V-OCT comme outil pour le diagnostic et le suivi des conditions du nerf optique. Les techniques et les perspectives acquises ici posent également les bases pour de futures explorations prometteuses à la fois pour les patients atteints de glaucome et pour les astronautes. / The eye is a semi-rigid sphere with complex biomechanical properties. Chronic disease or stress like space flight can interfere with these properties, leading to vision loss. Noninvasive measurements of the biomechanical properties of the optic nerve head (ONH) could provide better tracking and management of conditions such as glaucoma and Space-Related Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS). This thesis proposes to use high-frequency optical coherence tomography video imaging (V-OCT) with existing image processing algorithms to quantitatively evaluate the pulsatile displacement of the ONH due to cardiac cycles. This methodology is applied across two streams of research: examining the ocular biomechanical response of the ONH under terrestrial conditions; and the ONH deformation in the microgravity environment of space. The first section of this thesis introduces a non-invasive method to measure ONH pulsatile displacement via video-based OCT (V-OCT), quantifying biomechanical eye properties in vivo. A thorough validation of this technique, both numerically and experimentally, confirmed the algorithm’s sensitivity to induced deformation, robustness against various noise levels, and repeatability. Two groups, healthy and myopic individuals, underwent assessment under different physiological strain conditions. Pulsatile ONH tissue deformation was quantitatively captured and represented as deformation maps. For those subjects with eyes with an axial length of less than 25mm, notable median pulsatile displacement differences were found between primary and abducted eye positions. Reproducibility was confirmed via high intraclass correlation coefficients. Building on this foundation, the method was applied to a cohort of glaucoma patients to examine the impact of IOP reduction on ONH pulsatile displacement. In primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients, particularly those without axial myopia, IOP-lowering interventions significantly reduced ONH pulsation. However, myopic glaucoma patients displayed no substantial changes, suggesting that myopic status moderates the relationship between IOP modulation and ONH biomechanics. This pilot study was expanded to a larger cross-sectional cohort study (N=176), revealing a decrease in ONH pulsatile displacement in people with early and moderate glaucoma compared to controls. . In addition, pulsatile displacement correlated with retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and specific hemodynamic measures, showing that ocular biomechanics and hemodynamics are closely linked. The last section of the thesis investigates ocular rigidity alterations in astronauts before and after extended space flights. Analyzing data from 26 eyes of 13 astronauts, significant reductions in ocular rigidity were observed; similarly, intraocular pressure and ocular pulse amplitude were reduced post-mission. These findings reveal previously undocumented microgravity effects on the eye's mechanical properties, improving our comprehension of SANS. This thesis demonstrates the potential of V-OCT as a tool for the diagnosis and assessment of the progression of optic nerve conditions. By gaining a deeper understanding of the biomechanical and hemodynamic intricacies of the ONH, we lay the groundwork for future explorations that hold promise for both glaucoma patients and astronauts.