Love is . . . an abstract word: the influence of phonological and semantic factors on verbal short-term memory in Williams syndrome

It has been claimed that verbal short-term memory in Williams syndrome is characterised by an over-use of phonological coding alongside a reduced contribution of lexical semantics. We critically examine this hypothesis and present results from a memory span task comparing performance on concrete and abstract words, together with a replication of a span task using phonologically similar and phonologically dissimilar words. Fourteen participants with Williams syndrome were individually matched to two groups of typically developing children. The first control group was matched on digit span and the second on vocabulary level. Significant effects were found for both the semantic and the phonological variables in the WS group as well as in the control groups, with no interaction between experimental variable and group in either experiment. The results demonstrate that, despite claims to the contrary, children and adults with WS are able to access and make use of lexical semantics in a verbal short-term memory task in a manner comparable to typically developing individuals

Concept design of a fast sail assisted feeder container ship

An environmentally sustainable fast sail-assisted feeder-container ship concept, with a maximum speed of 25 knots, has been developed for the 2020 South East Asian and Caribbean container markets. The use of low-carbon and zero-sulphur fuel (liquefied natural gas) and improvements in operational efficiency (cargo handling and scheduling) mean predicted Green house gas emissions should fall by 42% and 40% in the two selected operational regions. The adoption of a Multi-wing sail system reduces power requirement by up to 6% at the lower ship speed of 15 knots. The predicted daily cost savings are respectively 27% and 33% in South East Asian and the Caribbean regions.Two hull forms with a cargo capacity of 1270TEU utilising different propulsion combinations were initially developed to meet operational requirements. Analysis & tank testing of different hydrodynamic phenomena has enabled identification of efficiency gains for each design. The final propulsion chosen is a contra-rotating podded drive arrangement. Wind tunnel testing improved Multi-wing sail performance by investigating wing spacing, wing stagger and sail-container interactions. The associated lift coefficient was increased by 32%. Whilst savings in sail-assisted power requirement are lower than initially predicted an unexpected identified benefit was motion damping.The fast feeder-container ship is a proposed as a viable future method of container transhipment

A longitudinal study of factors associated with acute and chronic mastitis and their impact on lamb growth rate in 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain

A 2-year prospective, longitudinal study of 10 suckler sheep flocks in Great Britain was run to identify factors associated with acute mastitis (AM) and chronic mastitis, and their impact on lamb growth rate. Data were collected on AM, intramammary masses (IMM; a marker for chronic mastitis), udder and teat conformation, teat lesions, body condition, ewe nutrition, litter size, lamb weight and general flock management. Each flock was visited twice each year, approximately 4 weeks before lambing and 9 weeks into lactation, for two years and all ewes present at a visit were examined. There were 7021 examinations in total. AM was reported in 2.1–3.0% of ewes/year; this ranged from 0.0% to 37.1% by flock. IMM were detected in 4.7% of ewes in pregnancy and 10.9% of ewes in lactation. Once an IMM had been detected there was an increased risk of future IMM although IMM were not consistently present. The majority of ewes had good udder conformation to suckle lambs. Factors associated with AM, IMM in pregnant and lactating ewes, udder conformation and lamb daily live weight gain were explored using mixed effect multivariable models. An increased risk of AM was associated with underfeeding protein in pregnancy (OR 4.05), forward pointing teats (OR 2.54), downward pointing teats (OR 4.68), rearing ≥ 2 lambs (OR 2.65), non-traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.09); and marginally associated with the presence of IMM. An increased risk of IMM in lactation was associated with AM during lactation (OR 12.39), IMM in pregnancy (OR 4.79), IMM in the previous lactation (OR 4.77), underfeeding energy in pregnancy (OR 6.66) and traumatic teat lesions (OR 2.48). An increased risk of IMM in pregnancy was associated with IMM in the previous pregnancy, IMM in the previous lactation and underfeeding energy in the previous lactation (OR 2.95). Lower lamb daily live weight gain was associated with traumatic teat lesions, IMM in lactation (−0.01 kg/day) and AM (−0.04 kg/day). We conclude that inadequate nutrition is an important cause of mastitis in suckler ewes which farmers could address in part using current nutritional guidelines but further work is needed. The relationship between AM and IMM indicates that separating or culling ewes with IMM would help reduce AM

First record of verticillium wilt (Verticillium longisporum) in winter oilseed rape in the UK

Verticillium longisporum is an important pathogen of oilseed rape (OSR) and vegetable brassicas in several European countries, but has not been reported previously in the UK (Karapapa et al., 1997; Steventon et al., 2002). In 2007, Verticillium wilt was suspected in UK crops of winter OSR (W-OSR) on cv. Castille in Romney Marsh, Kent and on cv. Barrel near Hereford. At these two locations, 32 and 10% of the plants, respectively, appeared to be affected, but the presence of stem canker may have masked some infections. Symptoms were first seen as the crops began to ripen (seeds green-brown to brown, Growth Stage: 6,4-6,5) and included brown and dark grey vertical bands on the stems from soil level into the branches, and premature ripening of some branches (Fig. 1). Microsclerotia were observed on stem samples collected in the field (Fig. 2), suggesting V. longisporum as the causal agent. Cultures were prepared from field samples by immersing stem pieces in 5% sodium hypochlorite solution for one minute, washing twice in sterile distilled water and plating onto potato dextrose agar containing 25 mg/l streptomycin sulphate. Isolates from three plants per outbreak were identified morphologically as V. longisporum. Mean conidial dimensions (25 spores per isolate) were 8.80-9.65 μm (length) and 2.50-2.85 μm (width) and all isolates produced elongated microsclerotia, characters typical of V. longisporum (Karapapa et al., 1997). The identity was confirmed by PCR using species-specific primers (Steventon et al., 2002) and, as a member of the α sub-group, by direct sequencing of the amplicons from primer pairs ITS4-ITS5 and DB19-DB22 (Collins et al., 2003; 2005). Sequences for isolate 003 from Kent were deposited in GenBank (Accession Nos. HQ702376 and HQ702377). All isolates tested from 2008 and 2009 were identical with previously deposited sequences for European OSR isolates (e.g. AF363992 and AF363246 respectively). Pathogenicity was confirmed by inoculating three OSR cv. Castille seedlings per isolate using the root dip technique with 1 x 106 spores/ml (Karapapa et al., 1997) under heated glasshouse conditions at 19°C. Leaf yellowing and blackening of the leaf veins were found 26 days after inoculation (Fig. 3). Yellowing affecting the three oldest leaves increased for seven to nine days. After five weeks the final mean leaf area affected was 63-78% with no differences between isolates. No leaf yellowing occurred in the controls. After five weeks, V. longisporum was re-isolated from all the inoculated seedlings, but not from the non-inoculated controls. In June 2008, infection of W-OSR crops in different fields on the same farms was found on cv. Es Astrid in Kent (56% incidence) and on cv. Lioness in Hereford (15% incidence). The Kent farm had been growing W-OSR alternating with winter wheat for at least 10 years whilst the Hereford farm had grown W-OSR one year in four. These short rotations of OSR may be contributing to the appearance of this disease. This study confirms the identification of V. longisporum on any host in the UK, through molecular studies and detailed spore measurements that were not reported in an earlier review (Gladders, 2009). This pathogen occurs in several European countries and, since OSR may be traded freely, following a Defra consultation, no statutory plant health action is to be taken

Testing the public’s response to receiving severe flood warnings using simulated cell broadcast

European Governments must implement a public alerting system to reach mobile phone users affected by major emergencies and disasters by June 2022. Cell Broadcast is used to issue emergency alerts in several countries but has not yet been introduced in the UK. This paper presents the results of a joint research exercise that explored recipients’ responses to cell broadcast messages that warned of floods of varying certainty, severity, and urgency. We adopted a mixed-methods approach employing semi-structured questions and focus groups to assess the perceptions of 80 workshop participants who received simulated emergency alerts on pre-prepared handsets. Our results suggest that although emergency alerting is welcomed, it is necessary to provide accurate and verifiable information, address accessibility challenges, and state location clearly and understandably. This life-saving technology, if used aptly by not over-alerting, specifying the specific urgency, certainty, severity and location of the flood risk, has the real potential of upgrading flood warnings in the UK

Heritability of phenotypic udder traits to improve resilience to mastitis in Texel ewes

There are no estimates of the heritability of phenotypic udder traits in suckler sheep, which produce meat lambs, and whether these are associated with resilience to mastitis. Mastitis is a common disease which damages the mammary gland and reduces productivity. The aims of this study were to investigate the feasibility of collecting udder phenotypes, their heritability and their association with mastitis in suckler ewes. Udder and teat conformation, teat lesions, intramammary masses (IMM) and litter size were recorded from 10 Texel flocks in Great Britain between 2012 and 2014; 968 records were collected. Pedigree data were obtained from an online pedigree recording system. Univariate quantitative genetic parameters were estimated using animal and sire models. Linear mixed models were used to analyse continuous traits and generalised linear mixed models were used to analyse binary traits. Continuous traits had higher heritabilities than binary with teat placement and teat length heritability (h2) highest at 0.35 (SD 0.04) and 0.42 (SD 0.04), respectively. Udder width, drop and separation heritabilities were lower and varied with udder volume. The heritabilities of IMM and teat lesions (sire model) were 0.18 (SD 0.12) and 0.17 (SD 0.11), respectively. All heritabilities were sufficiently high to be in a selection programme to increase resilience to mastitis in the population of Texel sheep. Further studies are required to investigate genetic relationships between traits and to determine whether udder traits predict IMM, and the potential benefits from including traits in a selection programme to increase resilience to chronic mastitis

Movement of Bacteria Through Macropores to Ground Water

Effects of soil type, flow rate, antecedent soil moisture and other factors on transport of E. coli through soils was measured on disturbed and intact columns 20 cm in diameter by 25 to 30 cm in depth. Added E. coli were distinguished from indigenous microbes using an antibiotic resistance marker. Transport of Cl- and 3H2O was also measured. Up to 96 percent of the bacteria irrigated onto the surface of intact columns were recovered in the effluent. Soil structure appeared to be related to the extent of transport. Columns prepared from mixed, repacked soil were much more effective bacterial filters than the intact soils. As rate of water input increased, the fraction of E. coli recovered in the effluent increased. We concluded that flow through soil macropores, which by-passes the adsorptive or retentive capacities of the soil matrix, is conclusion was supported by the behavior of a common phenomenon. This conclusion was supported by the behavior of Cl- and 3H2O. In waste disposal systems dependent on purification in the soil profile, this could significantly increase the probability of groundwater contamination by microbes. The effects of native soil structure (macropores) must be considered in the evaluation of these purification systems

Accurate <i>ab initio</i> ro-vibronic spectroscopy of the X²&#8719; CCN radical using explicitly correlated methods

Explicitly correlated CCSD(T)-F12b calculations have been carried out with systematic sequences of correlation consistent basis sets to determine accurate near-equilibrium potential energy surfaces for the X&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;&#8719; and a&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;&#931;&lt;sup&gt;−&lt;/sup&gt; electronic states of the CCN radical. After including contributions due to core correlation, scalar relativity, and higher order electron correlation effects, the latter utilizing large-scale multireference configuration interaction calculations, the resulting surfaces were employed in variational calculations of the ro-vibronic spectra. These calculations also included the use of accurate spin-orbit and dipole moment matrix elements. The resulting ro-vibronic transition energies, including the Renner-Teller sub-bands involving the bending mode, agree with the available experimental data to within 3 cm&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt; in all cases. Full sets of spectroscopic constants are reported using the usual second-order perturbation theory expressions. Integrated absorption intensities are given for a number of selected vibronic band origins. A computational procedure similar to that used in the determination of the potential energy functions was also utilized to predict the formation enthalpy of CCN, &#916;H&lt;sub&gt;f&lt;/sub&gt;(0K) = 161.7 &#177; 0.5 kcal/mol

A single‐synapse resolution survey of PSD95‐positive synapses in twenty human brain regions

Mapping the molecular composition of individual excitatory synapses across the mouse brain reveals high synapse diversity with each brain region showing a distinct composition of synapse types. As a first step towards systematic mapping of synapse diversity across the human brain, we have labelled and imaged synapses expressing the excitatory synapse protein PSD95 in twenty human brain regions, including 13 neocortical, two subcortical, one hippocampal, one cerebellar and three brainstem regions, in four phenotypically normal individuals. We quantified the number, size and intensity of individual synaptic puncta and compared their regional distributions. We found that each region showed a distinct signature of synaptic puncta parameters. Comparison of brain regions showed that cortical and hippocampal structures are similar, and distinct from those of cerebellum and brainstem. Comparison of synapse parameters from human and mouse brain revealed conservation of parameters, hierarchical organization of brain regions and network architecture. This work illustrates the feasibility of generating a systematic single-synapse resolution atlas of the human brain, a potentially significant resource in studies of brain health and disease