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Report of Investigations No. 123 Petroleum Potential of the Palo Duro Basin, Texas Panhandle
UT Librarie
Tracking environmental trends in the Great Bay Estuarine System through comparisons of historical and present-day green and red algal community structure and nutrient content
Monitoring macroalgae populations is an effective means of detecting long term water quality changes in estuarine systems. To investigate the environmental status of New Hampshireâs Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, this study assessed the abundance/distribution of macrophytes, particularly Gracilaria and Ulva species, relative to eutrophication patterns; compared historical (1970s-1990s) and current algal biomass/cover at several sites; and compared Ulva and Gracilaria tissue N/P content to ambient and historical levels. Ulva and Gracilaria biomass/cover have increased significantly at several sites. Cover by Ulva species, at seasonal maxima, was over 90 times the value recorded in the 1970s at Lubberland Creek, and exceeded 50% at all sites in the upper estuary. Gracilaria cover was greater than 25% at Depot Road in the upper estuary, whereas the historical measure was 1%. Sequencing of ITS2, rbcL and CO1 revealed the presence of previously undetected Ulva and Gracilaria species, including Gracilaria vermiculophylla (Ohmi) Papenfuss, an invasive species of Asian origin. Gracilaria vermiculophylla has exceeded G. tikvahiae as the dominant Gracilaria species in Great Bay. Historical voucher specimen screening suggests G. vermiculophylla was introduced as recently as 2003. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are elevated in the estuary. We should expect continued seasonal nuisance algal blooms
Metallicity Evolution in the Early Universe
Observations of the damped Lya systems provide direct measurements on the
chemical enrichment history of neutral gas in the early universe. In this
Letter, we present new measurements for four damped Lya systems at high
redshift. Combining these data with [Fe/H] values culled from the literature,
we investigate the metallicity evolution of the universe from z~1.5-4.5.
Contrary to our expectations and the predictions of essentially every chemical
evolution model, the N(HI)-weighted mean [Fe/H] metallicity exhibits minimal
evolution over this epoch. For the individual systems, we report tentative
evidence for an evolution in the unweighted [Fe/H] mean and the scatter in
[Fe/H] with the higher redshift systems showing lower scatter and lower typical
[Fe/H] values. We also note that no damped Lya system has [Fe/H] < -2.7 dex.
Finally, we discuss the potential impact of small number statistics and dust on
our conclusions and consider the implications of these results on chemical
evolution in the early universe.Comment: 6 pages, 2 encapsulated figures, Latex2e, uses emulateapj.sty and
onecolfloat.sty. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters: Feb 28, 200
Voices in the mental lexicon: Words carry indexical information that can affect access to their meaning
Available online 11 May 2019The speech signal carries both linguistic and non-linguistic information (e.g., a talkerâs voice qualities; referred to as indexical information). There is evidence that indexical information can affect some aspects of spoken word recognition, but we still do not know whether and how it can affect access to a wordâs meaning. A few studies support a dual-route model, in which inferences about the talker can guide access to meaning via a route external to the mental lexicon. It remains unclear whether indexical information is also encoded within the mental lexicon. The present study tests for indexical effects on spoken word recognition and referent selection within the mental lexicon.
In two experiments, we manipulated voice-to-referent co-occurrence, while preventing participants from using indexical information in an explicit way. Participants learned novel words (e.g., bifa) and their meanings (e.g., kite), with each talkerâs voice linked (via systematic co-occurrence) to a specific referent (e.g., bifa spoken by speaker 1 referred to a specific picture of a kite). In testing, voice-to-referent mapping either matched that of training (congruent), or not (incongruent). Participantsâ looks to the targetâs referent were used as an index of lexical activation. Listeners looked faster at a targetâs referent on congruent than incongruent trials. The same pattern of results was observed in a third experiment, when testing was 24 hrs later.
These results show that indexical information can be encoded in lexical representations and affect spoken word recognition and referent selection. Our findings are consistent with episodic and distributed views of the mental lexicon that assume multi-dimensional lexical representations.Support for this project was provided by the Spanish Ministry of
Science and Innovation, Grant # PSI2014-53277 and # PSI2017-82563-
P awarded to A.G.S., the Spanish Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness, Juan de la Cierva-FormaciĂłn fellowship awarded to
E.C.K., and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness,
âSevero Ochoaâ Programme for Centres/Units of Excellence in R&D
(SEVâ2015â490)
Reconciling the Contradictory Effects of Production on Word Learning: Production May Help at First, but It Hurts Later
Published: March 2022Does saying a novel word help to recognize it later? Previous research on the effect of production on
this aspect of word learning is inconclusive, as both facilitatory and detrimental effects of production
are reported. In a set of three experiments, we sought to reconcile the seemingly contrasting findings by
disentangling the production from other effects. In Experiment 1, participants learned eight new words
and their visual referents. On each trial, participants heard a novel word twice: either (a) by hearing the
same speaker produce it twice (Perception-Only condition) or (b) by first hearing the speaker once and
then producing it themselves (Production condition). At test, participants saw two pictures while hearing
a novel word and were asked to choose its correct referent. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1,
except that in the Perception-Only condition each word was spoken by 2 different speakers (equalizing
talker variability between conditions). Experiment 3 was identical to Experiment 2, but at test words
were spoken by a novel speaker to assess generalizability of the effect. Accuracy, reaction time, and
eye-movements to the target image were collected. Production had a facilitatory effect during early
stages of learning (after short training), but its effect became detrimental after additional training. The
results help to reconcile conflicting findings regarding the role of production on word learning. This
work is relevant to a wide range of research on human learning in showing that the same factor may
play a different role at different stages of learning.Support for this project was provided by the
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, Grant PSI2017-82563-P,
awarded to Arthur G. Samuel and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and
Competitiveness through the Juan de la Cierva-FormaciĂłn fellowship,
FJCI-2016â28019, awarded to Efthymia C. Kapnoula. This work was
partially supported by the Basque Government through the BERC
2018â2021 and BERC 2022â2025 programs, and by the Spanish State
Research Agency through BCBL Severo Ochoa excellence accreditation
SEV-2015-0490 and CEX2020-001010-S. This project has received
funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020 research and innovation
program, under the Marie SkĆodowska-Curie grant agreement 793919,
awarded to Efthymia C. Kapnoula
Gravitational Leakage into Extra Dimensions: Probing Dark Energy Using Local Gravity
The braneworld model of Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) is a theory where
gravity is modified at large distances by the arrested leakage of gravitons off
our four-dimensional universe. Cosmology in this model has been shown to
support both "conventional" and exotic explanations of the dark energy
responsible for today's cosmic acceleration. We present new results for the
gravitational field of a clustered matter source on the background of an
accelerating universe in DGP braneworld gravity, and articulate how these
results differ from those of general relativity. In particular, we show that
orbits nearby a mass source suffer a universal anomalous precession as large as
5 microarcseconds/year, dependent only on the graviton's effective linewidth
and the global geometry of the full, five-dimensional universe. Thus, this
theory offers a local gravity correction sensitive to factors that dictate
cosmological history.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, revtex. Reference updated. Footnote change
Communications of the lunar planetary laboratory, volume 3, no. 40- the system of lunar craters, quadrant ii
Observable properties of craters in second lunar quadran
Distribution of Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbers in a Lambda Cold Dark Matter Universe
We present the results of a numerical study of a galactic wind model and its
implications on the properties of damped Lyman-alpha absorbers (DLAs) using
cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We vary both the wind strength and the
internal parameters of the the wind model in a series of cosmological SPH
simulations that include radiative cooling and heating by a UV background, star
formation, and feedback from supernovae and galactic winds. To test our
simulations, we examine the DLA `rate-of-incidence' as a function of halo mass,
galaxy apparent magnitude, and impact parameter. We find that the statistical
distribution of DLAs does not depend on the exact values of internal numerical
parameters that control the decoupling of hydrodynamic forces when the gas is
ejected from starforming regions. The DLA rate-of-incidence in our simulations
at z=3 is dominated by the faint galaxies with apparent magnitude R_AB < 25.5.
However, interestingly in a `strong wind' run, the differential distribution of
DLA sight-lines is peaked at Mhalo = 10^{12} Msun/h (R_AB~27), and the mean DLA
halo mass is Mmean=10^{12.4} Msun/h (R_AB ~ 26). These mass-scales are much
larger than those if we ignore winds, because galactic wind feedback suppresses
the DLA cross section in low-mass halos and increases the relative contribution
to the DLA incidence from more massive halos. The DLAs in our simulations are
more compact than the present-day disk galaxies, and the impact parameter
distribution is very narrow unless we limit the search for the host galaxy to
only bright LBGs. The comoving number density of DLAs is higher than that of
LBGs down to R_AB=30 mag if the physical radius of each DLA is smaller than 5
kpc/h_70. We discuss conflicts between current simulations and observations,
and potential problems with simulations based on the CDM model.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures. Accepted to ApJ. Additional numerical tests of
the internal parameters of the galactic wind model are presente
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