Combining Multiple Perspectives in Language Production: A Probabilistic Model

While speakers tailor referring expressions to the knowledgeof their addressees, they do so imperfectly. Our goal here is toprovide an explanation for this type of pattern by extending aprobabilistic model introduced to explain perspective-takingbehavior in comprehension. Using novel production data froma type of knowledge mismatch not previously investigated inproduction, we show that production patterns can also beexplained as arising from the probabilistic combination of thespeaker’s and the addressee’s perspectives. These resultsshow the applicability of the multiple-perspectives approachto language production, and to different types of knowledgemismatch between conversational partners

A Verticillium longisporum pleiotropic drug transporter determines tolerance to the plant host beta-pinene monoterpene

Terpenes constitute a major part of secondary metabolites secreted by plants in the rhizosphere. However, their specific functions in fungal-plant interactions have not been investigated thoroughly. In this study we investigated the role of monoterpenes in interactions between oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and the soilborne pathogen Verticillium longisporum. We identified seven monoterpenes produced by B. napus, and production of alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, 3-carene, and camphene was significantly increased upon fungal infection. Among them, beta-pinene was chosen for further analysis. Transcriptome analysis of V. longisporum on exposure to beta-pinene resulted in identification of two highly expressed pleotropic drug transporters paralog genes named VlAbcG1a and VlAbcG1b. Overexpression of VlAbcG1a in Saccharomyces cerevisiae increased tolerance to beta-pinene, while deletion of the VlAbcG1a homologous gene in Verticillium dahliae resulted in mutants with increased sensitivity to certain monoterpenes. Furthermore, the VlAbcG1a overexpression strain displayed an increased tolerance to beta-pinene and increased virulence in tomato plants. Data from this study give new insights into the roles of terpenes in plant-fungal pathogen interactions and the mechanisms fungi deploy to cope with the toxicity of these secondary metabolites

The use of semiochemical mass traps to reduce mirid damage in strawberry crops.

Advances in the identification of attraction of mirids to semiochemicals has provided the opportunity to exploit synthetically produced sex pheromones and plant produced compounds for controlling pest species in crops. Sex pheromones of mirids are important for long range attraction of males to females and plant volatiles indicate egg laying sites for female mirids. The European tarnished plant bug (Lygus rugulipennis) causes large yield losses (10->80%) in conventional and organic strawberry. Following the successful development of these semiochemicals in combination with effective traps we investigated the ability of a mass trapping system to reduce damage in strawberry crops in combination with another strawberry pest, strawberry blossom weevil (Anthonomus rubi). Attractive traps and lures with host plant volatiles and sex or aggregation pheromones were deployed in strawberry crops at 50 per hectare in several European countries. Trap catches were monitored in relation to fruit damage and compared to untreated crops. Traps successfully captured both target pest species. In this paper we will present the results of the potential to reduce crop damage using mass traps and discuss the benefits and difficulties in using these techniques as part of integrated or organic pest management

Two terpene synthases are responsible for the major sesquiterpenes emitted from the flowers of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa)

Kiwifruit vines rely on bees for pollen transfer between spatially separated male and female individuals and require synchronized flowering to ensure pollination. Volatile terpene compounds, which are important cues for insect pollinator attraction, were studied by dynamic headspace sampling in the major green-fleshed kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) cultivar ‘Hayward’ and its male pollinator ‘Chieftain’. Terpene volatile levels showed a profile dominated by the sesquiterpenes α-farnesene and germacrene D. These two compounds were emitted by all floral tissues and could be observed throughout the day, with lower levels at night. The monoterpene (E)-β-ocimene was also detected in flowers but was emitted predominantly during the day and only from petal tissue. Using a functional genomics approach, two terpene synthase (TPS) genes were isolated from a ‘Hayward’ petal EST library. Bacterial expression and transient in planta data combined with analysis by enantioselective gas chromatography revealed that one TPS produced primarily (E,E)-α-farnesene and small amounts of (E)-β-ocimene, whereas the second TPS produced primarily (+)-germacrene D. Subcellular localization using GFP fusions showed that both enzymes were localized in the cytoplasm, the site for sesquiterpene production. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that both TPS genes were expressed in the same tissues and at the same times as the corresponding floral volatiles. The results indicate that two genes can account for the major floral sesquiterpene volatiles observed in both male and female A. deliciosa flowers

Odour Maps in the Brain of Butterflies with Divergent Host-Plant Preferences

Butterflies are believed to use mainly visual cues when searching for food and oviposition sites despite that their olfactory system is morphologically similar to their nocturnal relatives, the moths. The olfactory ability in butterflies has, however, not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, we performed the first study of odour representation in the primary olfactory centre, the antennal lobes, of butterflies. Host plant range is highly variable within the butterfly family Nymphalidae, with extreme specialists and wide generalists found even among closely related species. Here we measured odour evoked Ca2+ activity in the antennal lobes of two nymphalid species with diverging host plant preferences, the specialist Aglais urticae and the generalist Polygonia c-album. The butterflies responded with stimulus-specific combinations of activated glomeruli to single plant-related compounds and to extracts of host and non-host plants. In general, responses were similar between the species. However, the specialist A. urticae responded more specifically to its preferred host plant, stinging nettle, than P. c-album. In addition, we found a species-specific difference both in correlation between responses to two common green leaf volatiles and the sensitivity to these compounds. Our results indicate that these butterflies have the ability to detect and to discriminate between different plant-related odorants

Characterizing the scent and chemical composition of Panthera leo marking fluid using solid-phase microextraction and multidimensional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry-olfactometry

Lions (Panthera leo) use chemical signaling to indicate health, reproductive status, and territorial ownership. To date, no study has reported on both scent and composition of marking fluid (MF) from P. leo. The objectives of this study were to: 1) develop a novel method for simultaneous chemical and scent identification of lion MF in its totality (urine + MF), 2) identify characteristic odorants responsible for the overall scent of MF as perceived by human panelists, and 3) compare the existing library of known odorous compounds characterized as eliciting behaviors in animals in order to understand potential functionality in lion behavior. Solid-phase microextraction and simultaneous chemical-sensory analyses with multidimensional gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry improved separating, isolating, and identifying mixed (MF, urine) compounds versus solvent-based extraction and chemical analyses. 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine, 4-methylphenol, and 3-methylcyclopentanone were isolated and identified as the compounds responsible for the characteristic odor of lion MF. Twenty-eight volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from MF were identified, adding a new list of compounds previously unidentified in lion urine. New chemicals were identified in nine compound groups: ketones, aldehydes, amines, alcohols, aromatics, sulfur-containing compounds, phenyls, phenols, and volatile fatty acids. Twenty-three VOCs are known semiochemicals that are implicated in attraction, reproduction, and alarm-signaling behaviors in other species

Discourse coherence and the interpretation of accented pronouns

It has long been argued that accenting or stressing a pronoun (i.e., making it prosodically prominent) changes its interpretation as compared to its unaccented counterpart. However, recent experimental work demonstrated that this generalization does not apply when the alternative interpretation of the pronoun is not plausible (Taylor et al., 2013). In a series of three experiments that use an offline comprehension task, we show, first, that the lack of reversal is observed when plausibility is controlled for. We furthermore show that a new generalization cannot be formed by excluding cases where the bias towards the unmarked interpretation is strong or cases where the character in the alternative interpretation is low in salience. Instead, we conclude that what constrains the interpretation of accented pronouns is coherence relations, with parallel discourses exhibiting reversal and result discourses not exhibiting reversal. We propose that the difference between coherence relations should be viewed in what would be the minimal change in order to create a ‘surprising’ or expected’ event, which is the characteristic of accenting more generally

Verb Aspect and World Knowledge in the Mental Representation of Text: Evidence from Eye Movements

Reading involves the dynamic construction of a mental model corresponding to the situation described in a text. This representation draws on the semantic and grammatical content of the text and also involves inferences for unstated information and the sequencing of events in time. In the current study, an eye-tracking methodology was used to explore the critical role of grammatical aspect in this process. The results showed that, following an event expressed in imperfective aspect, the reading of a necessarily later event was slowed compared to when the earlier event was expressed in perfective aspect. However, the effect depended on world knowledge—when the first event was typically of short duration, it did not evoke an "ongoing" interpretation to the same degree compared to when it was of long duration. The results highlight comprehenders' use of world knowledge and subtle grammatical cues in the representation of event information during on-line reading.MAS

Managing Privileged Knowledge about Identity in Language Comprehension

A central claim in research on language comprehension is that assumptions about other’s knowledge are essential to guide language users’ understanding of utterances in both interactive conversations and fictional narratives. Past studies have suggested that listeners or readers are able to suppress privileged knowledge about the existence of entities from the earliest moments of processing. In the present dissertation, it is investigated whether this ability extends to cases where comprehenders possess privileged knowledge about the identity of an entity. This question is motivated by the central role played by identity in various semantic phenomena, as well as children’s well-documented difficulties in managing “identity” discrepancies in theory of mind tasks. Using a visual world eye-tracking paradigm, Experiment 1 shows that knowledge that is in conflict with an object's outward features (e.g., knowing that the object that looks like a lightbulb is actually a candle) is readily accessible to comprehension systems as listeners hear object descriptions unfold in time. Experiment 2 then verifies that, without the foreknowledge, the visually-misleading objects are identified in terms of their outward appearance. The validated stimulus objects are then used in Experiments 3 and 4, which evaluate the extent to which listeners suppress their privileged knowledge about object identity during real-time conversation. Similarly, Experiments 5 and 6 are conducted to explore whether listeners suppress privileged knowledge about the identity of entities during the comprehension of fictional narratives. In this case, interpretation patterns are examined as listeners hear the discourse “spoken” by fictional characters whose knowledge states are again varied. The results from both kinds of tasks reconfirm previous findings showing that language users rapidly take into account a speaker’s awareness of the existence of a referential entity. In contrast, however, the experiments show that comprehenders do not suppress private knowledge about the identity of an entity during referential processing—an effect that occurs even when the perspective of another individual is emphasized and regardless of whether the context involves conversational interaction or fictional narratives. Together, the results reveal important differences in the way in which distinct types of perspective-based cues are integrated in real- time language comprehension.Ph.D

Chemical communication in leaf mining moths of the genus phyllonorycter

Laboratory studies of pheromone release behaviour haverevealed that virgin females of all of the nine species of thegenus Phyllonorycter investigated demonstrated the samepheromone release posture. Their calling activity wasregistered at the beginning of the photophase. This is anunusual time for calling in moths. Our hypothesis is, that thisuncommon timing of the pheromone communication may have beencaused by the sensitivity of the males to sex attractionantagonists, released into the environment by females of otherspecies at other times of the day. The diurnal calling behaviour of virgin Ph. junoniellafemales was more pronounced under a cyclic thermal regime(close to the natural conditions) than under constanttemperature. We assume, that the occurrence of an extra peak inthe pheromone release behaviour as well as the extension of thecalling period to cover the larger part of the light period maybe adaptive for Ph. junoniella with a sex ratio stronglyshifted towards females (8:1 females to males), as it may leadto an increased proportion of males mated. It was found, that the leaf miner moth Ph. emberizaepenellareproduced by parthenogenesis of the thelytoky type. Despite acomplete lack of males, the females demonstrated a callingposture with a sex pheromone release with the typical diurnalrhythm of that behaviour. Theoretical speculations that in thelytoky, where there is no need to attract a sexual partner, thefemales benefit by reducing their sexual behaviour, was notconfirmed for Ph. emberizaepenella. Ten compounds used in the sex communication of fivephyllonoryctid species were identified from calling virginfemales: Z10-, Z8- and E10-14:OAc for Ph. acerifoliella;E10-12:OAc, 12:OAc and E10-12:OH for Ph. blancardella;E8,E10-14:OAc and E8,E10-14:OH for Ph. emberizaepenella;Z8-14:OAc, 14:OAc and Z8-14:OH for Ph.heegerella; as well asZ10-14:OAc for Ph. ulmifoliella. The Solid Phase MicroExtraction technique was applied for the first time to collecta sex pheromone from a single calling microlepidopteran femaleand our data clearly demonstrated the advantages of thismethod. Our field screening tests in Lithuania disclosed new sexattractants for five phyllonoryctid species: E10-12:OH for Ph.sorbi; E10-12:OAc for Ph. cydoniella and Ph.oxyacanthae;Z10-12:OAc for Ph. junoniella; as well as Z10-14:OAc in a 1:10mixture with E9-14:OAc for Ph. acerifoliella. The lattermixture was also found to be a potential sex attractant for Ph.coryli and Ph. heegerella. In addition, field trapping experiments revealed fourteensex attraction antagonists for males of seven Phyllonorycterspecies: E10-12:OH for Ph. acerifoliella and Ph.cydoniella;E10-12:OAc and Z10-14:OAc for Ph. heegerella; Z10-, E10-12:OHand E10-14:OH for Ph. mespilella; Z10-12:OH for Ph.oxyacanthae; Z7-, Z9- and Z10-12:OAc for Ph. sorbi; as well asZ8-, Z9-, E9-, E10- and E11-14:OAc for Ph.ulmifoliella. Schemes of probable interactions by means of allelochemicalsacting between Ph.blancardella and 7 other moth species, Ph.ulmifoliella and 414,Ph. sorbi and 243, Ph.mespilella and 11as well as Ph. acerifoliella and 7 other moth species arepresented. Basing both on our own results and on data published byothers, we conclude that the pheromones used by gracillariidshave appeared at a period lasting between the formation oflower and of higher Heteroneura. Key words: Phyllonorycter, Gracillariidae, Lepidoptera, sexpheromone, sex attractant, sex attraction antagonist, callingbehaviour, calling posture, olfactometer, sex ratio,parthenogenesis, evolution, ecology, Solid Phase MicroExtraction.NR 2014080