Biogeochemical Cycling of Selenium in the Arctic Ocean

Changes in the global climate may have a pronounced effect on the biogeochemical cycling of trace elements like selenium (Se) in the Arctic Ocean. This study described the first quantitative examination of the biogeochemical cycle of selenium in the Amerasian Basin, providing the baseline from which future changes can be identified. Aerosol, dissolved and particulate water samples were collected for Se determinations during the U.S. GEOTRACES GN01 Arctic expedition that sampled the two parts of the Amerasian Basin in 2015: The Makarov Basin on the way to the North Pole and the Canada Basin on the return trip to Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Particulate Se concentrations were low throughout the cruise with the highest concentrations occurring at the bottom depths of the shallow shelf stations (0.06 nM). Particulate Se to particulate organic carbon atomic ratios were around phytoplankton ratios (~10-6) on the shelf, but were elevated (10-5) in the basin. Aerosol Se concentrations were low (0.01 – 0.11 nmol m-3, n=13), but enrichment factors were elevated and ranged from 1540 to 66698, suggesting distant fossil fuel combustion or local gaseous sources such as marine biogenic release of dimethyl selenide as a dominant source of aerosol Se. Generally, the depth profiles of the dissolved Se species did not resemble those of nutrient-like profiles seen in other ocean basins. Prediction of selenite and selenate concentrations using silicate and phosphate concentrations, shown to be accurate in other oceans, tended to overestimate selenate and underestimate selenite concentration throughout the Amerasian Basin. This lack of agreement suggests a slower than normal oxidation rate from selenite to selenate. Estimated fluxes of total dissolved Se indicate that 1.0 ± 0.5 x 108 mol Se enter and 1.0 ± 0.1 x 108 mol Se leave the Amerasian Basin each year. The Atlantic Ocean is the dominant factor in both input and removal of water to and from the Arctic. Therefore, it likely plays a major role in the Se budget of the Arctic and future efforts should be made to directly measure the input and removal of Se via the Atlantic Ocean. The overlap in total input and removal fluxes suggest that the Se cycling in the Amerasian Basin is at steady state. Due to the cycle being in steady state, residence times of Se were calculated throughout the basin. Selenium was calculated to have a total Amerasian Basin residence time of 149 ± 112 years and 151 ± 27 years by dividing the Se inventory by the total input rate and total removal rate respectively. Se in the intermediate basin layer, the basin water above the Lomonosov Ridge sill depth, had a residence time of 71 ± 22 years. These residence times are roughly 5 and 2 times longer than the residence time of the water highlighting the high rate of dissolved Se regeneration. The Arctic Ocean will continue to change in response to a warming climate. Increased river discharge, smaller ice extent, and ice-free summers are likely to modify the biogeochemical behavior of trace elements in the Arctic and this study provides information on how the Se cycle might be affected

Internalising symptoms and working memory as predictors of mathematical attainment trajectories across the primary-secondary education transition

The transition from primary to secondary education is a critical period in early adolescence which is related to increased anxiety and stress, increased prevalence of mental health issues, and decreased maths performance, suggesting it is an important period to investigate maths attainment. Previous research has focused on anxiety and working memory as predictors of maths, without investigating any long-term effects around the education transition. This study examined working memory and internalizing symptoms as predictors of children's maths attainment trajectories (age 7–16) across the transition to secondary education using secondary longitudinal analysis of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). This study found statistically significant, but very weak evidence for the effect of internalizing symptoms and working memory on maths attainment. Greater parental education was the strongest predictor, suggesting that children of parents with a degree (compared with those with a CSE) gain the equivalent of almost a year's schooling in maths. However, due to methodological limitations, the effects of working memory and internalizing symptoms on attainment cannot be fully understood with the current study. Additional research is needed to further uncover this relationship, using more time-appropriate measures

Psychophysiology in games

Psychophysiology is the study of the relationship between psychology and its physiological manifestations. That relationship is of particular importance for both game design and ultimately gameplaying. Players’ psychophysiology offers a gateway towards a better understanding of playing behavior and experience. That knowledge can, in turn, be beneficial for the player as it allows designers to make better games for them; either explicitly by altering the game during play or implicitly during the game design process. This chapter argues for the importance of physiology for the investigation of player affect in games, reviews the current state of the art in sensor technology and outlines the key phases for the application of psychophysiology in games.The work is supported, in part, by the EU-funded FP7 ICT iLearnRWproject (project no: 318803).peer-reviewe

A Reflection on Economic Uncertainty and Fertility in Europe: The Narrative Framework

none5openVignoli, Daniele; Guetto, Raffaele; Bazzani, Giacomo; Pirani, Elena; Minello, AlessandraVignoli, Daniele; Guetto, Raffaele; Bazzani, Giacomo; Pirani, Elena; Minello, Alessandr

Architecture for animation of affective behaviors in pedagogical agents

This article introduces an open-source module responsible for the presentation of verbal (speech) and corporal (animation) behaviors of animated pedagogical agents. This module can be inserted into any learning environment regardless of application domain and platform, being executable under different operating systems. It was implemented in Java as a reactive agent (named Body agent) that communicates with the agent’s Mind through a language known as FIPA-ACL. Therefore, it may be inserted into any intelligent learning environment that is also capable to communicate using FIPA-ACL. Persistence of information is ensured by XML files, increasing the agent’s portability. The agent also includes a mechanism for automatically updating new behaviors and characters once available in the server. A simulation environment was conceived to test the proposed agent

Architecture for Affective Social Games

Abstract. The importance of affect in delivering engaging experiences in entertainment and education is well recognized. We introduce the Koko architecture, which describes a service-oriented middleware that reduces the burden of incorporating affect into games and other entertainment applications. Koko provides a representation for affect, thereby enabling developers to concentrate on the functional and creative aspects of their applications. The Koko architecture makes three key contributions: (1) improving developer productivity by creating a reusable and extensible environment; (2) yielding an enhanced user experience by enabling independently developed applications to collaborate and provide a more coherent user experience than currently possible; (3) enabling affective communication in multiplayer and social games.