The different time course of phonotactic constraint learning in children and adults : evidence from speech errors

Speech errors typically respect the speaker’s implicit knowledge of language-wide phonotactics (e.g., /ŋ/ cannot be a syllable onset in the English language). Previous work demonstrated that adults can learn novel experimentally-induced phonotactic constraints by producing syllable strings in which the allowable position of a phoneme depends on another phoneme within the sequence (e.g., /t/ can only be an onset if the medial vowel is /i/), but not earlier than the second day of training. Thus far, no work has been done with children. In the current 4-day experiment, a group of Dutch-speaking adults and nine-year-old children were asked to rapidly recite sequences of novel word-forms (e.g., kieng nief siet hiem) that were consistent with phonotactics of the spoken Dutch language. Within the procedure of the experiment, some consonants (i.e., /t/ and /k/) were restricted to onset or coda position depending on the medial vowel (i.e., /i/ or “ie” versus /øː/ or “eu”). Speech errors in adults revealed a learning effect for the novel constraints on the second day of learning, consistent with earlier findings. A post-hoc analysis at trial-level showed that learning was statistically reliable after an exposure of 120 sequence-trials (including a consolidation period). In contrast, cChildren, however, started learning the constraints already on the first day. More precisely, the effect appeared significantly after an exposure of 24 sequences. These findings indicate that children are rapid implicit learners of novel phonotactics, which bears important implications for theorizing about developmental sensitivities in language learning

The use of procedural fairness in electronic reverse auctions to enhance relationship quality

In this study, the use of procedural fairness by a buying organization in an electronic reverse auction (ERA) is examined. Drawing on the literature, a conceptual model is developed that relates procedural fairness to two key ERA outcomes: relationship quality and quality of the offering. The hypothesized relationships between procedural fairness and quality outcomes are empirically tested through a global field study with 179 procurement professionals in multinational companies, and explored through a supporting field study with 31 sales professionals from supplier firms. The results show that the use of procedural fairness by a buying organization is positively related to relationship quality and quality of the offering, without jeopardizing price savings. In addition, the positive association between procedural fairness and relationship quality is found to increase in the case of a repeat auction. This study contributes to the relationship marketing literature by examining how procedural fairness can mitigate relationship quality concerns in ERA use by buying organizations. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Population genomic structure of the gelatinous zooplankton species Mnemiopsis leidyi in its nonindigenous range in the North Sea

Nonindigenous species pose a major threat for coastal and estuarine ecosystems. Risk management requires genetic information to establish appropriate management units and infer introduction and dispersal routes. We investigated one of the most successful marine invaders, the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, and used genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) to explore the spatial population structure in its nonindigenous range in the North Sea. We analyzed 140 specimens collected in different environments, including coastal and estuarine areas, and ports along the coast. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were called in approximately 40 k GBS loci. Population structure based on the neutral SNP panel was significant (F-ST .02; p < .01), and a distinct genetic cluster was identified in a port along the Belgian coast (Ostend port; pairwise F-ST .02-.04; p < .01). Remarkably, no population structure was detected between geographically distant regions in the North Sea (the Southern part of the North Sea vs. the Kattegat/Skagerrak region), which indicates substantial gene flow at this geographical scale and recent population expansion of nonindigenous M. leidyi. Additionally, seven specimens collected at one location in the indigenous range (Chesapeake Bay, USA) were highly differentiated from the North Sea populations (pairwise F-ST .36-.39; p < .01). This study demonstrates the utility of GBS to investigate fine-scale population structure of gelatinous zooplankton species and shows high population connectivity among nonindigenous populations of this recently introduced species in the North Sea. OPEN RESEARCH BADGES This article has earned an Open Data Badge for making publicly available the digitally-shareable data necessary to reproduce the reported results. The data is available at: The DNA sequences generated for this study are deposited in the NCBI sequence read archive under SRA accession numbers -, and will be made publically available upon publication of this manuscript

Overexpression of GA20-OXIDASE1 impacts plant height, biomass allocation and saccharification efficiency in maize

Increased biomass yield and quality are of great importance for the improvement of feedstock for the biorefinery. For the production of bioethanol, both stem biomass yield and the conversion efficiency of the polysaccharides in the cell wall to fermentable sugars are of relevance. Increasing the endogenous levels of gibberellic acid (GA) by ectopic expression of GA20-OXIDASE1 (GA20-OX1), the rate-limiting step in GA biosynthesis, is known to affect cell division and cell expansion, resulting in larger plants and organs in several plant species. In this study, we examined biomass yield and quality traits of maize plants overexpressing GA20-OX1 (GA20-OX1). GA20-OX1 plants accumulated more vegetative biomass than control plants in greenhouse experiments, but not consistently over two years of field trials. The stems of these plants were longer but also more slender. Investigation of GA20-OX1 biomass quality using biochemical analyses showed the presence of more cellulose, lignin and cell wall residue. Cell wall analysis as well as expression analysis of lignin biosynthetic genes in developing stems revealed that cellulose and lignin were deposited earlier in development. Pretreatment of GA20-OX1 biomass with NaOH resulted in a higher saccharification efficiency per unit of dry weight, in agreement with the higher cellulose content. On the other hand, the cellulose-to-glucose conversion was slower upon HCl or hot-water pretreatment, presumably due to the higher lignin content. This study showed that biomass yield and quality traits can be interconnected, which is important for the development of future breeding strategies to improve lignocellulosic feedstock for bioethanol production

The role of case marking and word order in cross‐linguistic structural priming in late L2 acquisition

Several studies found cross-linguistic structural priming with various language combinations. Here, we investigated the role of two important domains of language variation: case marking and word order, for transitive and ditransitive structures. We varied these features in an artificial language learning paradigm, using three different artificial language versions in a between-subjects design. Priming was assessed between Dutch (no overt case marking, SVO word order) and a) an SVO order version, b) a case marking version, and c) an SOV order version. Similar within-language and cross-linguistic priming was found in all versions for transitives, indicating that cross-linguistic structural priming was not hindered. In contrast, for ditransitives we found similar within-language priming for all versions, but no cross-linguistic priming. The finding that cross-linguistic priming is possible between languages that vary in morphological marking or word order, is compatible with studies showing cross-linguistic priming between natural languages that differ on these dimensions