Listening to limericks: a pupillometry investigation of perceivers’ expectancy

What features of a poem make it captivating, and which cognitive mechanisms are sensitive to these features? We addressed these questions experimentally by measuring pupillary responses of 40 participants who listened to a series of Limericks. The Limericks ended with either a semantic, syntactic, rhyme or metric violation. Compared to a control condition without violations, only the rhyme violation condition induced a reliable pupillary response. An anomaly-rating study on the same stimuli showed that all violations were reliably detectable relative to the control condition, but the anomaly induced by rhyme violations was perceived as most severe. Together, our data suggest that rhyme violations in Limericks may induce an emotional response beyond mere anomaly detection

Caracterização de grumussolos no sudoeste do Rio Grande do Sul. III. Morfologia e classificação

A morphological study was conducted on five pedons corresponding to the map units, Bagé, Aceguá, Hulha Negra, São Gabriel and Piraí. The soils were morphological developed as: Aceguá < Hulha Negra < Piraí < São Gabriel < Bagé ----------------- development---------------→ Following the American comprehensive System the Aceguá soil was classified as Vertisol and the rest, as Mollisols. All of the Mollisols pertain to the Subgroup Vertie. The classification was correlated with mineralogy and geomorphology.Estudos de morfologia foram efetuados em cinco pedons, correspondentes às unidades de mapeamento Bagé, Aceguá, Hulha Negra, São Gabriel e Piraí. Esses solos foram assim ordenados quanto ao desenvolvimento morfológico: Aceguá < Hulha Negra < Piraí < São Gabriel < Bagé ---------------- desenvolvimento --------------→ Segundo o Sistema Compreensivo Americano, o solo Aceguá foi classificado como Vertissolo e os demais, como Molissolos. Todos os Molissolos pertencem ao subgrupo Vertie. A classificação foi correlacionada com a mineralogia e a geomorfologia

Characterization of grumusols of southwestern Rio Grande do Sul. I. Physical properties limiting their use

Estudos de propriedades físicas, que dificultam o cultivo, foram efetuados em cinco pedons correspondentes às unidades de mapeamento Bagé, São Gabriel, Piraí, Hulha Negra e Aceguá. Com exceção do solo São Gabriel, os demais haviam sido classificados, provisoriamente, como Grumussolos, pela Equipe de Pedologia e Fertilidade do Solo. Esses solos ocorrem na Depressão Central do Rio Grande do Sul sobre argilitos e siltitos dos Grupos Geológicos Passa-Dois e Tubarão. Todos os solos apresentam: a) altos índices de plasticidade, sendo classificados como materiais com limitações para obras de engenharia; b) alta densidade volumétrica e baixa porosidade; c) elevada expansão volumétrica (até 50%); d) granulometria fina, sendo especialmente ricos em argila fina (<0,2 µ). Algumas recomendações práticas são sugeridas, em face às propriedades adversas ao cultivo.A study of the physical properties that made cultivation difficult were made on five pedons of the soil units of Bagé, São Gabriel, Piraí, Hulha Negra and Aceguá. With the exception of the São Gabriel soil, they have been classified provisionally as Grumusols by the Division of Pedology and Soil Fertility. These soils occur in the central depression of Rio Grande do Sul on clays and silts of the geological groups Passa-Dois and Tubarão. All of the soils had the following characteristics: (a) indication of high plasticity, being classified as materials with limitations for engineering work; (b) high bulk density and low porosity; (c) high volumetric expansion (up to 59%); (d) fine granulares being specially high in fine clay (< 0,2 micron). Some pratical recommendations are suggested based on the limitations of the physical properties of these soils for cultivations.

Observations of Microwave Continuum Emission from Air Shower Plasmas

We investigate a possible new technique for microwave measurements of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) extensive air showers which relies on detection of expected continuum radiation in the microwave range, caused by free-electron collisions with neutrals in the tenuous plasma left after the passage of the shower. We performed an initial experiment at the AWA (Argonne Wakefield Accelerator) laboratory in 2003 and measured broadband microwave emission from air ionized via high energy electrons and photons. A follow-up experiment at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) in summer of 2004 confirmed the major features of the previous AWA observations with better precision and made additional measurements relevant to the calorimetric capabilities of the method. Prompted by these results we built a prototype detector using satellite television technology, and have made measurements indicating possible detection of cosmic ray extensive air showers. The method, if confirmed by experiments now in progress, could provide a high-duty cycle complement to current nitrogen fluorescence observations of UHECR, which are limited to dark, clear nights. By contrast, decimeter microwave observations can be made both night and day, in clear or cloudy weather, or even in the presence of moderate precipitation.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure

Planning the Future of U.S. Particle Physics (Snowmass 2013): Chapter 4: Cosmic Frontier

These reports present the results of the 2013 Community Summer Study of the APS Division of Particles and Fields ("Snowmass 2013") on the future program of particle physics in the U.S. Chapter 4, on the Cosmic Frontier, discusses the program of research relevant to cosmology and the early universe. This area includes the study of dark matter and the search for its particle nature, the study of dark energy and inflation, and cosmic probes of fundamental symmetries.Comment: 61 page

The ROTSE-III Robotic Telescope System

The observation of a prompt optical flash from GRB990123 convincingly demonstrated the value of autonomous robotic telescope systems. Pursuing a program of rapid follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts, the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment (ROTSE) has developed a next-generation instrument, ROTSE-III, that will continue the search for fast optical transients. The entire system was designed as an economical robotic facility to be installed at remote sites throughout the world. There are seven major system components: optics, optical tube assembly, CCD camera, telescope mount, enclosure, environmental sensing & protection and data acquisition. Each is described in turn in the hope that the techniques developed here will be useful in similar contexts elsewhere.Comment: 19 pages, including 4 figures. To be published in PASP in January, 2003. PASP Number IP02-11

A stem-cell-derived platform enables complete Cryptosporidium development in vitro and genetic tractability

Despite being a frequent cause of severe diarrheal disease in infants and an opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients, Cryptosporidium research has lagged due to a lack of facile experimental methods. Here, we describe a platform for complete life cycle development and long-term growth of C. parvum in vitro using air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures derived from intestinal epithelial stem cells. Transcriptomic profiling revealed that differentiating epithelial cells grown under ALI conditions undergo profound changes in metabolism and development that enable completion of the parasite life cycle in vitro. ALI cultures support parasite expansion \u3e 100-fold and generate viable oocysts that are transmissible in vitro and to mice, causing infection and animal death. Transgenic parasite lines created using CRISPR/Cas9 were used to complete a genetic cross in vitro, demonstrating Mendelian segregation of chromosomes during meiosis. ALI culture provides an accessible model that will enable innovative studies into Cryptosporidium biology and host interactions