The effect of speaker age on the perception of ironic insults

We investigated a cue that readers may use in determining whether a remark such as “You are so helpful!” is intended as a compliment or as an ironic insult. The cue was the age of the speaker. Remarks were preceded by a sentence that either invited a literal or ironic interpretation of the remark. Data were collected on the familiarity of the remark as an ironic statement, and the incongruity of the remark with the prior context. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to rate the intent of the speaker as to how ironic, mocking, polite, and funny they intended their remark to be. In Experiment 2, participants read the scenarios as their eye movements were tracked. The results showed that age of the speaker had an impact on first pass reading times when statements were not familiar as ironic statements. Our younger adult participants did not appear to immediately activate a nonliteral interpretation of an ambiguous remark made by an older adult unless they had evidence from past experience that the remark is often used as an insult. However, ratings of the ironic intent of the statements were unaffected by speaker age; the age of the speaker affects the ease of interpretation but not the final outcome. The results are consistent with constraint-based theories of sentence comprehension

Nonlinear dynamics of global atmospheric and Earth-system processes

General Circulation Model (GCM) studies of the atmospheric response to change boundary conditions are discussed. Results are reported on an extensive series of numerical studies based on the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model (CCM) general circulation model. In these studies the authors determined the response to systematic changes in atmospheric CO2 ranging from 100 to 1000 ppm; to changes in the prescribed sea surface temperature (SST) in the Gulf of Mexico, such as occurred during the deglaciation phase of the last ice age; to changes in soil moisture over North America; and to changes in sea ice extent in the Southern Hemisphere. Study results show that the response of surface temperature and other variables is nearly logarithmic, with lower levels of CO2 implying greater sensitivity of the atmospheric state to changes in CO2. It was found that the surface temperature of the Gulf of Mexico exerts considerable control over the storm track and behavior of storm systems over the North Atlantic through its influence on evaporation and the source of latent heat. It was found that reductions in soil moisture can play a significant role in amplifying and maintaining North American drought, particularly when a negative soil moisture anomaly prevails late in the spring

Nonlinear dynamics of global atmospheric and Earth-system processes

Researchers are continuing their studies of the nonlinear dynamics of global weather systems. Sensitivity analyses of large-scale dynamical models of the atmosphere (i.e., general circulation models i.e., GCM's) were performed to establish the role of satellite-signatures of soil moisture, sea surface temperature, snow cover, and sea ice as crucial boundary conditions determining global weather variability. To complete their study of the bimodality of the planetary wave states, they are using the dynamical systems approach to construct a low-order theoretical explanation of this phenomenon. This work should have important implications for extended range forecasting of low-frequency oscillations, elucidating the mechanisms for the transitions between the two wave modes. Researchers are using the methods of jump analysis and attractor dimension analysis to examine the long-term satellite records of significant variables (e.g., long wave radiation, and cloud amount), to explore the nature of mode transitions in the atmosphere, and to determine the minimum number of equations needed to describe the main weather variations with a low-order dynamical system. Where feasible they will continue to explore the applicability of the methods of complex dynamical systems analysis to the study of the global earth-system from an integrative viewpoint involving the roles of geochemical cycling and the interactive behavior of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

Manejo da pastagem de inverno afetando atributos de solo e da cultura do milho, em sistema de integração lavoura-pecuária com gado leiteiro.

Carla Maria Pandolfo3, EPAGRI ? Campos Novos, SC Alvadi Antonio Balbinot Junior

Application of dynamical systems theory to global weather phenomena revealed by satellite imagery

Theoretical studies of low frequency and seasonal weather variability; dynamical properties of observational and general circulation model (GCM)-generated records; effects of the hydrologic cycle and latent heat release on extratropical weather; and Earth-system science studies are summarized

Atributos físicos do solo em formas de semeadura da pastagem de inverno associadas a intervalos entre pastejos.

O cultivo de pastagens de inverno em áreas de lavoura e o seu manejo sob pastejo direto pode provocar alterações nos atributos físicos do solo, cuja intensidade depende do grau de mobilização do solo, do intervalo entre pastejos, da carga animal e das condições climáticas. Para estudar esses aspectos, foi conduzido durante quatro anos um experimento com delineamento em blocos casualizados com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições. Nas parcelas principais foram aplicadas duas formas de semeadura da cultura de inverno (semeadura direta e semeadura + gradagem) e, nas subparcelas, quatro intervalos entre pastejos (sem pastejo e pastejo em intervalos de 7, 14 e 28 dias). Amostras de solo com estrutura preservada foram coletadas logo após a dessecação da pastagem, na camada de 0,00-0,05 m para determinação da condutividade hidráulica saturada e estabilidade de agregados e nas camadas de 0,00-0,05, 0,05-0,10, 0-10-0,15 e 0,15-0,20 m para determinar a densidade e as classes de poros do solo. A semeadura direta da pastagem aumenta a condutividade hidráulica saturada e reduz a densidade do solo em relação à semeadura + gradagem, enquanto o pisoteio aumenta a densidade do solo e reduz a macroporosidade apenas na camada mais superficial do solo, entre 0,00-0,05 m de profundidade. As diferenças nos atributos físicos do solo são maiores entre anos de amostragem do que entre intervalos de entrada dos animais na pastagem

Manejo da pastagem anual de inverno afetando a emergência de plantas daninhas na cultura do milho em sucessão.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de duas formas de semeadura e quatro intervalos entre pastejos, sem e com adubação nitrogenada da pastagem de inverno, sobre a emergência de plantas daninhas na cultura do milho em sucessão. A densidade de plantas daninhas monocotiledôneas na cultura do milho não foi influenciada pela forma de implantação, intervalos entre pastejo e adubação da pastagem de inverno. A densidade de plantas daninhas dicotiledôneas na cultura do milho foi reduzida pela implantação da pastagem de inverno sem uso de grade e pelo maior intervalo entre os pastejos

Manejo da pastagem de inverno afetando fitomassa remanescente, cobertura do solo, plantas daninhas e rendimento de culturas.

O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar, durante quatro anos de experimentação, o efeito de formas de semeadura da pastagem anual de inverno, do intervalo entre pastejos e da adubação nitrogenada em cobertura na pastagem sobre a fitomassa remanescente da pastagem, cobertura do solo, emergência de plantas daninhas e rendimento de grãos de feijão ou de massa verde de milho cultivado em sucessão. As formas de semeadura de pastagem anual de inverno e a aplicação de nitrogênio em cobertura na pastagem não afetam a fitomassa de pastagem remanescente, mas ocorre redução desta e aumento da percentagem de solo descoberto e da emergência de plantas daninhas com a redução do intervalo entre pastejos. As formas de semeadura de pastagem anual de inverno e o intervalo entre pastejos não afetam o rendimento de massa verde de milho para silagem e de grãos de feijão cultivados em sucessão à pastagem, mas há efeito residual do nitrogênio aplicado em cobertura na pastagem sobre o rendimento de grãos de feijão

Immunosenescence, Inflammaging, and Frailty: Role of Myeloid Cells in Age-Related Diseases

The immune system is the central regulator of tissue homeostasis, ensuring tissue regeneration and protection against both pathogens and the neoformation of cancer cells. Its proper functioning requires homeostatic properties, which are maintained by an adequate balance of myeloid and lymphoid responses. Aging progressively undermines this ability and compromises the correct activation of immune responses, as well as the resolution of the inflammatory response. A subclinical syndrome of “homeostatic frailty” appears as a distinctive trait of the elderly, which predisposes to immune debilitation and chronic low-grade inflammation (inflammaging), causing the uncontrolled development of chronic and degenerative diseases. The innate immune compartment, in particular, undergoes to a sequela of age-dependent functional alterations, encompassing steps of myeloid progenitor differentiation and altered responses to endogenous and exogenous threats. Here, we will review the age-dependent evolution of myeloid populations, as well as their impact on frailty and diseases of the elderly