3,592 research outputs found
Complex Tasks Force Hand Laterality and Technological Behaviour in Naturalistically Housed Chimpanzees: Inferences in Hominin Evolution
Clear hand laterality patterns in humans are widely accepted. However, humans only elicit a significant hand laterality pattern when performing complementary role differentiation (CRD) tasks. Meanwhile, hand laterality in chimpanzees is weaker and controversial. Here we have reevaluated our results on hand laterality in chimpanzees housed in naturalistic environments at Fundació Mona (Spain) and Chimfunshi Wild Orphanage (Zambia). Our results show that the difference between hand laterality in humans and chimpanzees is not as great as once thought. Furthermore, we found a link between hand laterality and task complexity and also an even more interesting connection: CRD tasks elicited not only the hand laterality but also the use of tools. This paper aims to turn attention to the importance of this threefold connection in human evolution: the link between CRD tasks, hand laterality, and tool use, which has important evolutionary implications that may explain the development of complex behaviour in early hominins
Experiments on a videotape atom chip: fragmentation and transport studies
This paper reports on experiments with ultra-cold rubidium atoms confined in
microscopic magnetic traps created using a piece of periodically-magnetized
videotape mounted on an atom chip. The roughness of the confining potential is
studied with atomic clouds at temperatures of a few microKelvin and at
distances between 30 and 80 microns from the videotape-chip surface. The
inhomogeneities in the magnetic field created by the magnetized videotape close
to the central region of the chip are characterized in this way. In addition,
we demonstrate a novel transport mechanism whereby we convey cold atoms
confined in arrays of videotape magnetic micro-traps over distances as large as
~ 1 cm parallel to the chip surface. This conveying mechanism enables us to
survey the surface of the chip and observe potential-roughness effects across
different regions.Comment: 29 pages, 22 figures
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Semantic fluency in deaf children who use spoken and signed language, in comparison to hearing peers
Background
Deafness has an adverse impact on children’s ability to acquire spoken languages. Signed languages offer a more accessible input for deaf children, but because the vast majority are born to hearing parents who do not sign, their early exposure to sign language is limited. Deaf children as a whole are therefore at high risk of language delays.
Aims
We compared deaf and hearing children’s performance on a semantic fluency task. Optimal performance on this task requires a systematic search of the mental lexicon, the retrieval of words within a subcategory, and, when that subcategory is exhausted, switching to a new subcategory. We compared retrieval patterns between groups, and also compared the responses of deaf children who used British Sign Language (BSL) to those who used spoken English. We investigated how semantic fluency performance related to children’s expressive vocabulary and executive function skills, and also re-tested semantic fluency in the majority of the children nearly two years later, in order to investigate how much progress they had made in that time.
Methods and procedures
Participants were deaf children aged 6-11 years (N=106, comprising 69 users of spoken English, 29 users of BSL and 8 users of Sign Supported English) compared to hearing children (N=120) of the same age who used spoken English. Semantic fluency was tested for the category “animals”. We coded for errors, clusters (e.g., “pets”, “farm animals”) and switches. Participants also completed the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test and a battery of six non-verbal executive function tasks. In addition, we collected follow-up semantic fluency data for 70 deaf and 74 hearing children, nearly 2 years after they were first tested.
Outcomes and results
Deaf children, whether using spoken or signed language, produced fewer items in the semantic fluency task than hearing children, but they showed similar patterns of responses for items most commonly produced, clustering of items into subcategories and switching between subcategories. Both vocabulary and executive function scores predicted the number of correct items produced. Follow-up data from deaf participants showed continuing delays relative to hearing children two years later.
Conclusions and implications
We conclude that semantic fluency can be used experimentally to investigate lexical organisation in deaf children, and that it potentially has clinical utility across the heterogeneous deaf population. We present normative data to aid clinicians who wish to use this task with deaf children
Bose-Einstein Condensation on a Permanent-Magnet Atom Chip
We have produced a Bose-Einstein condensate on a permanent-magnet atom chip
based on periodically magnetized videotape. We observe the expansion and
dynamics of the condensate in one of the microscopic waveguides close to the
surface. The lifetime for atoms to remain trapped near this dielectric material
is significantly longer than above a metal surface of the same thickness. These
results illustrate the suitability of microscopic permanent-magnet structures
for quantum-coherent preparation and manipulation of cold atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Published in Phys. Rev. A, Rapid Com
Tunneling in a cavity
The mechanism of coherent destruction of tunneling found by Grossmann et al.
[Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 516 (1991)] is studied from the viewpoint of quantum
optics by considering the photon statistics of a single mode cavity field which
is strongly coupled to a two-level tunneling system (TS). As a function of the
interaction time between TS and cavity the photon statistics displays the
tunneling dynamics. In the semi-classical limit of high photon occupation
number , coherent destruction of tunneling is exhibited in a slowing down of
an amplitude modulation for certain parameter ratios of the field. The
phenomenon is explained as arising from interference between displaced number
states in phase space which survives the large limit due to identical
scaling between orbit width and displacement.Comment: 4 pages Revtex, 2 PS-figures, appears in The Physical Review
Bose-Einstein Condensation on a Permanent-Magnet Atom Chip
We have produced a Bose-Einstein condensate on a permanent-magnet atom chip
based on periodically magnetized videotape. We observe the expansion and
dynamics of the condensate in one of the microscopic waveguides close to the
surface. The lifetime for atoms to remain trapped near this dielectric material
is significantly longer than above a metal surface of the same thickness. These
results illustrate the suitability of microscopic permanent-magnet structures
for quantum-coherent preparation and manipulation of cold atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Published in Phys. Rev. A, Rapid Com
Nuevos datos sobre los Pamphagidae (Orthoptera, Caelifera) de la Península Ibérica I. Nueva subespecie de Eumigus Bolívar, 1878 de la Sierra de Alcaraz (Albacete, España)
Eumigus punctatus calarensis, a new subspecies of Pamphagidae, is described from Sierra de Alcaraz, in Albacete province (Spain), and its characteristics are discussed. We present data about its sound production and acoustic signals. New data on other species of Pamphagidae are given; including discussion of the taxonomic status of Acinipe mabillei, its account as valid species is proposed. We present the first known data on sound production by flapping method in Iberian Pamphagidae, for Eumigus punctatus punctatus. Lectotype and paralectotype of Kurtharzia nugatoria are designated.Se describe una nueva subespecie de Pamphagidae, Eumigus punctatus calarensis, de la Sierra de Alcaraz (Albacete, España), discutiéndose sus características diferenciales. Se presentan los datos sobre la producción de sonido y las manifestaciones acústicas. Se aportan nuevos datos sobre otras especies de Pamphagidae; entre ellos se discute la situación taxonómica de Acinipe mabillei, proponiéndose su consideración como especie válida, y se presentan los primeros datos conocidos sobre producción de sonido por el método del batido de tegminas (flapping) en panfágidos ibéricos, en Eumigus punctatus punctatus. Se designan lectotipo y paralectotipo de Kurtharzia nugatoria
Phase diffusion as a model for coherent suppression of tunneling in the presence of noise
We study the stabilization of coherent suppression of tunneling in a driven
double-well system subject to random periodic function ``kicks''. We
model dissipation due to this stochastic process as a phase diffusion process
for an effective two-level system and derive a corresponding set of Bloch
equations with phase damping terms that agree with the periodically kicked
system at discrete times. We demonstrate that the ability of noise to localize
the system on either side of the double-well potenital arises from overdamping
of the phase of oscillation and not from any cooperative effect between the
noise and the driving field. The model is investigated with a square wave
drive, which has qualitatively similar features to the widely studied
cosinusoidal drive, but has the additional advantage of allowing one to derive
exact analytic expressions.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Far Ultraviolet Spectra of B Stars near the Ecliptic
Spectra of B stars in the wavelength range of 911-1100 A have been obtained
with the EURD spectrograph onboard the Spanish satellite MINISAT-01 with ~5 A
spectral resolution. IUE spectra of the same stars have been used to normalize
Kurucz models to the distance, reddening and spectral type of the corresponding
star. The comparison of 8 main-sequence stars studied in detail (alpha Vir,
epsilon Tau, lambda Tau, tau Tau, alpha Leo, zeta Lib, theta Oph, and sigma
Sgr) shows agreement with Kurucz models, but observed fluxes are 10-40% higher
than the models in most cases. The difference in flux between observations and
models is higher in the wavelength range between Lyman alpha and Lyman beta. We
suggest that Kurucz models underestimate the FUV flux of main-sequence B stars
between these two Lyman lines. Computation of flux distributions of
line-blanketed model atmospheres including non-LTE effects suggests that this
flux underestimate could be due to departures from LTE, although other causes
cannot be ruled out. We found the common assumption of solar metallicity for
young disk stars should be made with care, since small deviations can have a
significant impact on FUV model fluxes. Two peculiar stars (rho Leo and epsilon
Aqr), and two emission line stars (epsilon Cap and pi Aqr) were also studied.
Of these, only epsilon Aqr has a flux in agreement with the models. The rest
have strong variability in the IUE range and/or uncertain reddening, which
makes the comparison with models difficult.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa
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