Social Intelligence and Academic Achievement as Predictors of Adolescent Popularity

This study compared the effects of social intelligence and cognitive intelligence, as measured by academic achievement, on adolescent popularity in two school contexts. A distinction was made between sociometric popularity, a measure of acceptance, and perceived popularity, a measure of social dominance. Participants were 512, 14–15 year-old adolescents (56% girls, 44% boys) in vocational and college preparatory schools in Northwestern Europe. Perceived popularity was significantly related to social intelligence, but not to academic achievement, in both contexts. Sociometric popularity was predicted by an interaction between academic achievement and social intelligence, further qualified by school context. Whereas college bound students gained sociometric popularity by excelling both socially and academically, vocational students benefited from doing well either socially or academically, but not in combination. The implications of these findings were discussed

A turn to ergonomics in translator and interpreter training

This introductory article will illustrate how ergonomics has come to occupy a prominent place in translation and interpreting studies. It will review the studies that have been carried out in recent years to measure physical, cognitive and organisational conditions within the language industry. It will be argued that, despite the growing awareness of the need to develop and teach sustainable practices within the classroom (see EMT Expert Group 2017), only scant attention has been paid to ergonomics in translator and interpreter training. This article seeks to map out the (largely unchartered) territory of ergonomics in translator and interpreter training and provide an overview of the contributions to this Special Issue of ITT

Peripheral chemoreceptors tune inspiratory drive via tonic expiratory neuron hubs in the medullary ventral respiratory column network

Models of brain stem ventral respiratory column (VRC) circuits typically emphasize populations of neurons, each active during a particular phase of the respiratory cycle. We have proposed that “tonic” pericolumnar expiratory (t-E) neurons tune breathing during baroreceptor-evoked reductions and central chemoreceptor-evoked enhancements of inspiratory (I) drive. The aims of this study were to further characterize the coordinated activity of t-E neurons and test the hypothesis that peripheral chemoreceptors also modulate drive via inhibition of t-E neurons and disinhibition of their inspiratory neuron targets. Spike trains of 828 VRC neurons were acquired by multielectrode arrays along with phrenic nerve signals from 22 decerebrate, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked, artificially ventilated adult cats. Forty-eight of 191 t-E neurons fired synchronously with another t-E neuron as indicated by cross-correlogram central peaks; 32 of the 39 synchronous pairs were elements of groups with mutual pairwise correlations. Gravitational clustering identified fluctuations in t-E neuron synchrony. A network model supported the prediction that inhibitory populations with spike synchrony reduce target neuron firing probabilities, resulting in offset or central correlogram troughs. In five animals, stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors evoked changes in the firing rates of 179 of 240 neurons. Thirty-two neuron pairs had correlogram troughs consistent with convergent and divergent t-E inhibition of I cells and disinhibitory enhancement of drive. Four of 10 t-E neurons that responded to sequential stimulation of peripheral and central chemoreceptors triggered 25 cross-correlograms with offset features. The results support the hypothesis that multiple afferent systems dynamically tune inspiratory drive in part via coordinated t-E neurons

A metadata approach to documenting sex in phylum Rotifera: diapausing embryos, males, and hatchlings from sediments

We present a survey of the literature documenting sexuality in monogonont rotifers, including reports of diapausing embryos (DEs), males, and/or hatchlings from dry sediments. Of 30 families, 27 possess species with documented occurrences of sex. Information on DEs is lacking in 41 genera. Of ~300 species with evidence of sexuality (~20% of ~1500 monogononts), only 172 had direct observations of DEs; in the others, DE production was inferred from observations of males and/or hatchlings. DEs are sufficiently widespread to affirm that their presence is plesiomorphic, however few DE characteristics show a phylogenetic signature. They differ widely in volume (~0.11–100 × 105 µm3) and have a varied surface morphology (smooth to highly structured and ornamented). Some species retain DEs within their bodies; others carry them, deposit them on or attach them to surfaces, or release them free into the water. To better understand the evolutionary forces that influence monogonont sexuality and DE biology, a more comprehensive and uniform reporting scheme is needed. To enhance information dissemination, we propose that new and existing data on sex in monogonont rotifers (DEs, males, and hatchlings from dry sediments) be placed in an Internet-based repository