243 research outputs found
Acoustic emphasis in four year olds
Acoustic emphasis may convey a range of subtle discourse distinctions, yet little is known about how this complex ability develops in children. This paper presents a first investigation of the factors which influence the production of acoustic prominence in young children’s spontaneous speech. In a production experiment, SVO sentences were elicited from 4 year olds who were asked to describe events in a video. Children were found to place more acoustic prominence both on ‘new’ words and on words that were ‘given’ but had shifted to a more accessible position within the discourse. This effect of accessibility concurs with recent studies of adult speech. We conclude that, by age four, children show appropriate, adult-like use of acoustic prominence, suggesting sensitivity to a variety of discourse distinctions
Language Experience Predicts Eye Movements During Online Auditory Comprehension
Experience-based theories of language processing suggest that listeners use the properties of their previous linguistic input to constrain comprehension in real time (e.g. MacDonald & Christiansen, 2002; Smith & Levy, 2013; Stanovich & West, 1989; Mishra, Pandey, Singh, & Huettig, 2012). This project investigates the prediction that individual differences in experience will predict differences in sentence comprehension. Participants completed a visual world eye-tracking task following Altmann and Kamide (1999) which manipulates whether the verb licenses the anticipation of a specific referent in the scene (e.g. The boy will eat/move the cake). Within this paradigm, we ask (1) are there reliable individual differences in language-mediated eye movements during this task? If so, (2) do individual differences in language experience correlate with these differences, and (3) can this relationship be explained by other, more general cognitive abilities? Study 1 finds evidence that language experience predicts an overall facilitation in fixating the target, and Study 2 replicates this effect and finds that it remains when controlling for working memory, inhibitory control, phonological ability, and perceptual speed
The clustering of galaxies at z~0.5 in the SDSS-III Data Release 9 BOSS-CMASS sample: a test for the LCDM cosmology
We present results on the clustering of 282,068 galaxies in the Baryon
Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) sample of massive galaxies with
redshifts 0.4<z<0.7 which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III project.
Our results cover a large range of scales from ~0.5 to ~90 Mpc/h. We compare
these estimates with the expectations of the flat LCDM cosmological model with
parameters compatible with WMAP7 data. We use the MultiDark cosmological
simulation together with a simple halo abundance matching technique, to
estimate galaxy correlation functions, power spectra, abundance of subhaloes
and galaxy biases. We find that the LCDM model gives a reasonable description
to the observed correlation functions at z~0.5, which is a remarkably good
agreement considering that the model, once matched to the observed abundance of
BOSS galaxies, does not have any free parameters. However, we find a deviation
(>~10%) in the correlation functions for scales less than ~1 Mpc/h and ~10-40
Mpc/h. A more realistic abundance matching model and better statistics from
upcoming observations are needed to clarify the situation. We also estimate
that about 12% of the "galaxies" in the abundance-matched sample are satellites
inhabiting central haloes with mass M>~1e14 M_sun/h. Using the MultiDark
simulation we also study the real space halo bias b(r) of the matched catalogue
finding that b=2.00+/-0.07 at large scales, consistent with the one obtained
using the measured BOSS projected correlation function. Furthermore, the linear
large-scale bias depends on the number density n of the abundance-matched
sample as b=-0.048-(0.594+/-0.02)*log(n/(h/Mpc)^3). Extrapolating these results
to BAO scales we measure a scale-dependent damping of the acoustic signal
produced by non-linear evolution that leads to ~2-4% dips at ~3 sigma level for
wavenumbers k>~0.1 h/Mpc in the linear large-scale bias.Comment: Replaced to match published version. Typos corrected; 25 pages, 17
figures, 9 tables. To appear in MNRAS. Correlation functions (projected and
redshift-space) and correlation matrices of CMASS presented in Appendix B.
Correlation and covariance data for the combined CMASS sample can be
downloaded from http://www.sdss3.org/science/boss_publications.ph
Transcriptome profiling of grapevine seedless segregants during berry development reveals candidate genes associated with berry weight
Indexación: Web of Science; PubMedBackground
Berry size is considered as one of the main selection criteria in table grape breeding programs. However, this is a quantitative and polygenic trait, and its genetic determination is still poorly understood. Considering its economic importance, it is relevant to determine its genetic architecture and elucidate the mechanisms involved in its expression. To approach this issue, an RNA-Seq experiment based on Illumina platform was performed (14 libraries), including seedless segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight at fruit setting (FST) and 6–8 mm berries (B68) phenological stages.
Results
A group of 526 differentially expressed (DE) genes were identified, by comparing seedless segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight: 101 genes from the FST stage and 463 from the B68 stage. Also, we integrated differential expression, principal components analysis (PCA), correlations and network co-expression analyses to characterize the transcriptome profiling observed in segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight. After this, 68 DE genes were selected as candidate genes, and seven candidate genes were validated by real time-PCR, confirming their expression profiles.
Conclusions
We have carried out the first transcriptome analysis focused on table grape seedless segregants with contrasting phenotypes for berry weight. Our findings contributed to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in berry weight determination. Also, this comparative transcriptome profiling revealed candidate genes for berry weight which could be evaluated as selection tools in table grape breeding programs.http://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-016-0789-
First-Year Spectroscopy for the SDSS-II Supernova Survey
This paper presents spectroscopy of supernovae discovered in the first season
of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey. This program searches for
and measures multi-band light curves of supernovae in the redshift range z =
0.05 - 0.4, complementing existing surveys at lower and higher redshifts. Our
goal is to better characterize the supernova population, with a particular
focus on SNe Ia, improving their utility as cosmological distance indicators
and as probes of dark energy. Our supernova spectroscopy program features
rapid-response observations using telescopes of a range of apertures, and
provides confirmation of the supernova and host-galaxy types as well as precise
redshifts. We describe here the target identification and prioritization, data
reduction, redshift measurement, and classification of 129 SNe Ia, 16
spectroscopically probable SNe Ia, 7 SNe Ib/c, and 11 SNe II from the first
season. We also describe our efforts to measure and remove the substantial host
galaxy contamination existing in the majority of our SN spectra.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal(47pages, 9
figures
What Qualities Are Most Important to Making a Point of Care Test Desirable for Clinicians and Others Offering Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing?
To investigate the possible effects of different levels of attributes of a point-of-care test (POCT) on sexually transmitted infection (STI) professionals' decisions regarding an ideal POCT for STI(s).An online survey was designed based on a large-scale in-depth focus discussion study among STI experts and professionals. The last section of the survey "build your own POCT" was designed by employing the discrete choice experiment approach. Practicing clinicians from two venues, STI-related international conference attendees and U.S. STD clinic clinicians were invited to participate in the survey. Conditional logistical regression modeling was used for data analysis.Overall, 256 subjects took the online survey with 218 (85%) completing it. Most of the participants were STD clinic clinicians who already used some POCTs in their practice. "The time frame required" was identified as a major barrier that currently made it difficult to use STI POCTs. Chlamydia trachomatis was the organism chosen as the top priority for a new POCT, followed by a test that would diagnose early seroconversion for HIV, and a syphilis POCT. Without regard to organism type selected, sensitivity of 90-99% was always the most important attribute to be considered, followed by a cost of $20. However, when the test platform was prioritized for early HIV seroconversion or syphilis, sensitivity was still ranked as most important, but specificity was rated second most important.STI professionals preferred C. trachomatis as the top priority for a new POCT with sensitivity over 90%, low cost, and a very short completion time
The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III
The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the
scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a
larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys
of large scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as
i=19.9 over 10,000 square degrees to measure BAO to redshifts z<0.7.
Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Lyman alpha forest in more than 150,000
quasar spectra (g<22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15<z<3.5.
Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale
three-dimensional clustering of the Lyman alpha forest and a strong detection
from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive
galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield
measurements of the angular diameter distance D_A to an accuracy of 1.0% at
redshifts z=0.3 and z=0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the
same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyman alpha forest constraints predict a
measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate
D_A(z) and H^{-1}(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z~2.5 when the survey
is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic
targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of
BOSS.Comment: 49 pages, 16 figures, accepted by A
Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding
eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers
with zenith angles greater than detected with the Pierre Auger
Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum
confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above
eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law with
index followed by
a smooth suppression region. For the energy () at which the
spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence
of suppression, we find
eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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