Rurality, productivity and skills in the East Midlands: final report

This report sets out the findings of research into the relationship between rurality, skills and productivity in the East Midlands. The report has been prepared by the Enterprise Research and Development Unit (ERDU) at the University of Lincoln on behalf of the East Midlands Development Agency (emda)

Analysis of the visual spatiotemporal properties of American Sign Language.

Careful measurements of the temporal dynamics of speech have provided important insights into phonetic properties of spoken languages, which are important for understanding auditory perception. By contrast, analytic quantification of the visual properties of signed languages is still largely uncharted. Exposure to sign language is a unique experience that could shape and modify low-level visual processing for those who use it regularly (i.e., what we refer to as the Enhanced Exposure Hypothesis). The purpose of the current study was to characterize the visual spatiotemporal properties of American Sign Language (ASL) so that future studies can test the enhanced exposure hypothesis in signers, with the prediction that altered vision should be observed within, more so than outside, the range of properties found in ASL. Using an ultrasonic motion tracking system, we recorded the hand position in 3-dimensional space over time during sign language production of signs, sentences, and narratives. From these data, we calculated several metrics: hand position and eccentricity in space and hand motion speed. For individual signs, we also measured total distance travelled by the dominant hand and total duration of each sign. These metrics were found to fall within a selective range, suggesting that exposure to signs is a specific and unique visual experience, which might alter visual perceptual abilities in signers for visual information within the experienced range, even for non-language stimuli

Motion detection in normal infants and young patients with infantile esotropia

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate asymmetries in detection of horizontal motion in normal infants and children and in patients with infantile esotropia. Motion detection thresholds (% motion signal) were measured in 75 normal infants and in 36 eyes of 27 infants with infantile esotropia (ET), using a forced-choice preferential looking paradigm with random-dot patterns. Absolute motion detection sensitivity and asymmetries in sensitivity for nasalward (N) vs. temporalward (T) directions of motion were compared in normal and patient populations, ranging in age from 1 month to 5 years. In normal infants, N and T thresholds were equivalent under 2.5 months of age, whereas a superiority for monocular detection of N motion was observed between 3.5 and 6.5 months of age. The nasalward advantage gradually diminished to symmetrical T:N performance by 8 months of age, matching that of adults. No asymmetry was observed in 15 normal infants who performed the task binocularly, hence, the asymmetry was not a leftward/rightward bias. In the youngest infantile ET patients tested, at 5 months of age, a nasalward superiority in motion detection was observed and was equivalent to that of same-age normal infants. However, unlike normals, this asymmetry persists in older patients. This greater asymmetry in infantile ET represents worse detection of T than N motion. This is the first report of an asymmetry in motion detection in normal infants across a wide age range. Initially, motion detection is normal in infants with infantile esotropia. Cumulative abnormal binocular experience in these patients may disrupt motion mechanisms

Rurality, productivity and skills in the East Midlands: exec summary

Exec Summary to the Rurality Productivity and Skill

Motives and comprehension in a public goods game with induced emotions

This study analyses the sensitivity of public goods contributions through the lens of psychological motives. We report the results of a public goods experiment in which subjects were induced with the motives of care and anger through autobiographical recall. Subjects’ preferences, beliefs, and perceptions under each motive are compared with those of subjects experiencing a neutral autobiographical recall control condition. We find, but only for those subjects with the highest comprehension of the game, that care elicits significantly higher contributions than anger, with the control treatment in between. This positive influence of the care motive on unconditional giving is accounted for partly by preferences for giving and partly by beliefs concerning greater contributions by others. Anger also affects attention to own and other’s payoffs (measured by mouse tracking) and perceptions of the game’s incentive structure (cooperative or competitive)

Visual attention for linguistic and non-linguistic body actions in non-signing and native signing children

Evidence from adult studies of deaf signers supports the dissociation between neural systems involved in processing visual linguistic and non-linguistic body actions. The question of how and when this specialization arises is poorly understood. Visual attention to these forms is likely to change with age and be affected by prior language experience. The present study used eye-tracking methodology with infants and children as they freely viewed alternating video sequences of lexical American sign language (ASL) signs and non-linguistic body actions (self-directed grooming action and objectdirected pantomime). In Experiment 1, we quantified fixation patterns using an area of interest (AOI) approach and calculated face preference index (FPI) values to assess the developmental differences between 6 and 11-month-old hearing infants. Both groups were from monolingual English-speaking homes with no prior exposure to sign language. Six-month-olds attended the signer’s face for grooming; but for mimes and signs, they were drawn to attend to the “articulatory space” where the hands and arms primarily fall. Eleven-montholds, on the other hand, showed a similar attention to the face for all body action types. We interpret this to reflect an early visual language sensitivity that diminishes with age, just before the child’s first birthday. In Experiment 2, we contrasted 18 hearing monolingual English-speaking children (mean age of 4.8 years) vs. 13 hearing children of deaf adults (CODAs; mean age of 5.7 years) whose primary language at home was ASL. Native signing children had a significantly greater face attentional bias than non-signing children for ASL signs, but not for grooming and mimes. The differences in the visual attention patterns that are contingent on age (in infants) and language experience (in children) may be related to both linguistic specialization over time and the emerging awareness of communicative gestural acts

How do I sound to me? Perceived changes in communication in Parkinson's disease

Objective: To examine self and carer perceived changes in communication associated with Parkinson's disease and relate these to speech intelligibility, gender, age and other disease measures. Design: Cross-sectional survey of a hospital- and community-based sample of 176 people with Parkinson's disease and their carers using a questionnaire based on semantic differential techniques. Participants: One hundred and four people with Parkinson's disease with no history of communication difficulties prior to onset of their Parkinson's disease and 45 primary carers who returned completed questionnaires. Main outcome measures: Differences in ratings for `before' the onset of Parkinson's disease versus present status. Results: There was a strong perception of negative impact on communication between `before' and `now', irrespective of age and gender and largely independent of disease severity and duration, intelligibility and cognitive status. Activities of daily living (assessed by Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) II) and depression rating scale scores had the strongest association with change (adjusted R 2 0.27). There was a significant correlation between the rank order of perceived change in features examined in people with Parkinson's disease versus their carers, though in general carers rated change as having less impact. Conclusions: Parkinson's disease exercises a strong influence on communication even before apparent alterations to intelligibility or motor status

Analysis of milling of dry compacted ribbons by distinct element method

Fine cohesive powders are often dry granulated to improve their flowability. Roller compaction is commonly used to produce dense ribbons which are then milled. The material properties of the powder and the conditions in the roller compactor affect the strength of the ribbons, however there is no method in the literature to predict the size distribution of the product of ribbon milling. Here we introduce a method, by using the Distinct Element Method (DEM) to determine the prevailing impact velocities and stresses in the mill, with bonded spheres representing the ribbons. The bond strength is calibrated by matching experimental results of three point bend measurements and predictions from numerical simulations. The ribbons are then exposed to the dynamic conditions predicted by the DEM, by dropping them from a controlled height to cause fragmentation, and subsequently stressing them in a shear cell under the conditions again predicted by the DEM. The fragments are sheared under these conditions to represent repeated passage of bars over the fragments at the mill base. Sieve analysis is used here to determine the particle size distribution under given mill conditions. The predicted size distribution of the mill product compares well with the plant data. It is found that the mill speed and length of ribbons fed to the mill have no significant influence on the product size distribution for the range tested