Developing a cross-cultural annotation system and metacorpus for studying infants' real world language experience

Recent issues around reproducibility, best practices, and cultural bias impact naturalistic observational approaches as much as experimental approaches, but there has been less focus onthis area. Here, we present a new approach that leverages cross-laboratory collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts to examine important psychological questions. We illustrate this approach with a particular project that examines similarities and differences in children's early experiences with language. This project develops a comprehensive start-to-finish analysis pipeline by developing a flexible and systematic annotation system, and implementing this system across a sampling from a metacorpus of audiorecordings of diverse language communities. This resource is publicly available for use, sensitive to cultural differences, and flexible to address a variety of research questions. It is also uniquely suited for use in the development of tools for automated analysis.Fil: Soderstrom, Melanie. University of Manitoba; CanadáFil: Casillas, Marisa. University of Chicago; Estados UnidosFil: Bergelson, Elika. University of Duke; Estados UnidosFil: Rosemberg, Celia Renata. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J. A. Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Alam, Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J. A. Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Warlaumont, Anne S.. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Bunce, John. California State University; Estados Unido

Quantifying child directed speech cross-culturally across development

Child-directed speech (CDS) influences language development (e.g., Golinkoff et al., 2015), but varies across cultural and demographic groups (Hoff, 2006). Recent work examining speech heard by North American English (NAE) infants found an increased proportion of CDS with age (Bergelson et al., 2018). Quantity of CDS remained relatively constant across age, while quantity of adult-directed speech (ADS) decreased. We replicate these findings using a different methodology, and expand them to include other language communities. Our data come from daylong audio recordings of 58 children ages 2?36 months from the ACLEW dataset (Bergelson et al., 2017; 30 children acquiring NAE, 10 UK English, 8 Argentinian Spanish, and 10 Tseltal/Mayan). Ten randomly selected 2-min segments (Tseltal: nine 5-min segments) from each child were annotated for speaker gender, age (child or adult), and addressee for each utterance. We calculated the minutes per hour of CDS, ADS, and all speech. Preliminary analyses find high variability in overall language input across individuals, age, and culture, and partially replicate the Bergelson et al. (2018) pattern of results. Ongoing annotation will permit finer-grained analyses of sub-group differences. Further analyses will examine the influence of factors such as speaker gender, number of speakers, and maternal education.Fil: Bunce, John. University of Manitoba; CanadáFil: Casillas, Marisa. Max Planck Institute For Psycholinguistics; Países BajosFil: Bergelson, Elika. University of Duke; Estados UnidosFil: Stein, Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J. A. Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Waurlamont, Anne. University of California at Los Angeles; Estados UnidosFil: Rosemberg, Celia Renata. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J. A. Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Kirby, Jessica. University of Manitoba; CanadáFil: Soderstrom, Melanie. University of Manitoba; Canadá177 Meeting of the Acoustic Society of AmericaLouisvilleEstados UnidosAcoustical Society of Americ

Sheep Updates 2007 - part 2

This session covers six papers from different authors: CONCURRENT SESSIONS FINISHING LAMB AND BEEF 1. Precision Feedlot Lamb, Ian McFarland, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia 2. Feeding sheep under high heat load did not decrease intake of feedlot rations, Catherine Stockman, Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia & Murdoch University, Anne Barnes, Murdoch University David Pethick, Murdoch University 3. Taking the stress out of fifishing lambs and cattle - EasyFeed solutions, Jenny Davis, Brett Thomson, Milne AgriGroup, Welshpool WA, Ron Leng, Emeritus Professor, University of New England, Armidale, NSW WOOL 4. DAFWA algorithm selects Western Australian fine tip wool from auction, Sara Pieruzzini Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia 5. Why is adoption of forward contracts by Western Australian producers so limited? Elizabeth Jackson, Mohammed Quaddus, Curtin University of Technology, Nazrul Islam, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, John Stanton, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology 6. Genetic programs and the imposition of contract supply conditions on wool fibre diameter, John Stanton, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology, Melanie Dowling, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australi

Structural and functional analyses of the shedding protease ADAM17 in HoxB8-Immortalized macrophages and dendritic-like cells

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) 17 has been implicated in many shedding processes. Major substrates of ADAM17 are TNF-α, IL-6R, and ligands of the epidermal growth factor receptor. The essential role of the protease is emphasized by the fact that ADAM17 deficiency is lethal in mice. To study ADAM17 function in vivo, we generated viable hypomorphic ADAM17 mice called ADAM17ex/ex mice. Recent studies indicated regulation of proteolytic ADAM17 activity by cellular processes such as cytoplasmic phosphorylation and removal of the prodomain by furin cleavage. Maturation and thus activation of ADAM17 is not fully understood. So far, studies of ADAM17 maturation have been mainly limited to mouse embryonic fibroblasts or transfected cell lines relying on nonphysiologic stimuli such as phorbol esters, thus making interpretation of the results difficult in a physiologic context. In this article, we present a robust cell system to study ADAM17 maturation and function in primary cells of the immune system. To this end, HoxB8 conditionally immortalized macrophage precursor cell lines were derived from bone marrow of wild-type and hypomorphic ADAM17ex/ex mice, which are devoid of measurable ADAM17 activity. ADAM17 mutants were stably expressed in macrophage precursor cells, differentiated to macrophages under different growth factor conditions (M-CSF versus GM-CSF), and analyzed for cellular localization, proteolytic activity, and podosome disassembly. Our study reveals maturation and activity of ADAM17 in a more physiological-immune cell system. We show that this cell system can be further exploited for genetic modifications of ADAM17 and for studying its function in immune cells

Functional connectivity among brain regions affected in Alzheimer's disease is associated with CSF TNF-alpha in APOE4 carriers

It is now recognized that understanding how neuroinflammation affects brain function may provide new insights into Alzheimer's pathophysiology. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, an inflammatory cytokine marker, has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD), as it can impair neuronal function through suppression of long-term potentiation. Our study investigated the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid TNF-α and functional connectivity (FC) in a cohort of 64 older adults (μ age = 69.76 years; 30 cognitively normal, 34 mild AD). Higher cerebrospinal fluid TNF-α levels were associated with lower FC among brain regions important for high-level decision-making, inhibitory control, and memory. This effect was moderated by apolipoprotein E-ε4 (APOE4) status. Graph theory metrics revealed there were significant differences between APOE4 carriers at the node level, and by diagnosis at the network level suggesting global brain network dysfunction in participants with AD. These findings suggest proinflammatory mechanisms may contribute to reduced FC in regions important for high-level cognition. Future studies are needed to understand the role of inflammation on brain function and clinical progression, especially in APOE4 carriers

Public attitudes towards alcohol control policies in Scotland and England: Results from a mixed-methods study

The harmful effects of heavy drinking on health have been widely reported, yet public opinion on governmental responsibility for alcohol control remains divided. This study examines UK public attitudes towards alcohol policies, identifies underlying dimensions that inform these, and relationships with perceived effectiveness. A cross-sectional mixed methods study involving a telephone survey of 3477 adult drinkers aged 16-65 and sixteen focus groups with 89 adult drinkers in Scotland and England was conducted between September 2012 and February 2013. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to reduce twelve policy statements into underlying dimensions. These dimensions were used in linear regression models examining alcohol policy support by demographics, drinking behaviour and perceptions of UK drinking and government responsibility. Findings were supplemented with a thematic analysis of focus group transcripts. A majority of survey respondents supported all alcohol policies, although the level of support varied by type of policy. Greater enforcement of laws on under-age sales and more police patrolling the streets were strongly supported while support for pricing policies and restricting access to alcohol was more divided. PCA identified four main dimensions underlying support on policies: alcohol availability, provision of health information and treatment services, alcohol pricing, and greater law enforcement. Being female, older, a moderate drinker, and holding a belief that government should do more to reduce alcohol harms were associated with higher support on all policy dimensions. Focus group data revealed findings from the survey may have presented an overly positive level of support on all policies due to differences in perceived policy effectiveness. Perceived effectiveness can help inform underlying patterns of policy support and should be considered in conjunction with standard measures of support in future research on alcohol control policies

Crop wild relatives of the United States require urgent conservation action

The contributions of crop wild relatives (CWR) to food security depend on their conservation and accessibility for use. The United States contains a diverse native flora of CWR, including those of important cereal, fruit, nut, oil, pulse, root and tuber, and vegetable crops, which may be threatened in their natural habitats and underrepresented in plant conservation repositories. To determine conservation priorities for these plants, we developed a national inventory, compiled occurrence information, modeled potential distributions, and conducted threat assessments and conservation gap analyses for 600 native taxa. We found that 7.1% of the taxa may be critically endangered in their natural habitats, 50% may be endangered, and 28% may be vulnerable. We categorized 58.8% of the taxa as of urgent priority for further action, 37% as high priority, and 4.2% as medium priority. Major ex situ conservation gaps were identified for 93.3% of the wild relatives (categorized as urgent or high priority), with 83 taxa absent from conservation repositories, while 93.1% of the plants were equivalently prioritized for further habitat protection. Various taxonomic richness hotspots across the US represent focal regions for further conservation action. Related needs include facilitating greater access to and characterization of these cultural-genetic-natural resources and raising public awareness of their existence, value, and plight