How to buy a nuclear power plant: Procurement contracting in risky long-term projects

How to buy a nuclear power plant: Procurement contracting in risky long-term project

Cortical Sequence of Word Perception in Beginning Readers

Efficient analysis of written words in normal reading is likely to reflect use of neural circuits formed by experience during childhood rather than an innate process. We investigated the cortical sequence of word perception in first-graders (7–8 years old), with special emphasis on occipitotemporal cortex in which, in adults, letter-string-sensitive responses are detected at 150 ms after stimulus. To identify neural activation that is sensitive to either the amount of basic visual features or specifically to letter strings, we recorded whole-head magnetoencephalography responses to words embedded in three different levels of noise and to symbol strings. As was shown previously in adults, activation reflecting stimulus nonspecific visual feature analysis was localized to occipital cortex in children. It was followed by letter-string-sensitive activation in the left occipitotemporal cortex and, subsequently, in the temporal cortex. These processing stages were correlated in timing and activation strength. Compared with adults, however, the timing of activation was clearly delayed in children, and the delay was progressively increased from occipital to occipitotemporal and further to temporal areas. This finding is likely to reflect increasing immaturity of the underlying neural generators when advancing from low-level visual analysis to higher-order areas involved in written word perception. When a salient occipitotemporal letter-string-sensitive activation was detected (10 of 18 children), its strength was correlated with phonological skills, in line with the known relevance of phonological awareness in reading acquisition.Peer reviewe

Left hemisphere enhancement of auditory activation in language impaired children

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a developmental disorder linked to deficient auditory processing. In this magnetoencephalography (MEG) study we investigated a specific prolonged auditory response (N250m) that has been reported predominantly in children and is associated with level of language skills. We recorded auditory responses evoked by sine-wave tones presented alternately to the right and left ear of 9–10-year-old children with SLI (n = 10) and children with typical language development (n = 10). Source analysis was used to isolate the N250m response in the left and right hemisphere. In children with language impairment left-hemisphere N250m responses were enhanced compared to those of controls, while no group difference was found in the right hemisphere. Consequently, language impaired children lacked the typical right-ward asymmetry that was found in control children. Furthermore, left but not right hemisphere N250m responses correlated positively with performance on a phonological processing task in the SLI group exclusively, possibly signifying a compensatory mechanism for delayed maturation of language processing. These results suggest that enhanced left-hemisphere auditory activation reflects a core neurophysiological manifestation of developmental language disorders, and emphasize the relevance of this developmentally specific activation pattern for competent language development. © 2019, The Author(s).Peer reviewe

Spatiotemporal dynamics of activation in motor and language areas suggest a compensatory role of the motor cortex in second language processing

The involvement of the motor cortex in language understanding has been intensively discussed in the framework of embodied cognition. Although some studies have provided evidence for the involvement of the motor cortex in different receptive language tasks, the role that it plays in language perception and understanding is still unclear. In the present study, we explored the degree of involvement of language and motor areas in a visually presented sentence comprehension task, modulated by language proficiency (L1: native language, L2: second language) and linguistic abstractness (literal, metaphorical, and abstract). Magnetoencephalography data were recorded from 26 late Chinese learners of English. A cluster-based permutation F-test was performed on the amplitude of the source waveform for each motor and language region of interest (ROI). Results showed a significant effect of language proficiency in both language and motor ROIs, manifested as overall greater involvement of language ROIs (short insular gyri and planum polare of the superior temporal gyrus) in the L1 than the L2 during 300–500 ms, and overall greater involvement of motor ROI (central sulcus) in the L2 than the L1 during 600–800 ms. We interpreted the over-recruitment of the motor area in the L2 as a higher demand for cognitive resources to compensate for the inadequate engagement of the language network. In general, our results indicate a compensatory role of the motor cortex in L2 understanding.Peer reviewe

Immediate political actions need to be prioritised in the sustainability crises

The current political actions towards sustainability are insufficient and not in line with the urgency of the intertwined climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Instead of far-reaching future objectives, which shift the responsibility away from the current decision-makers, actions need to be implemented right now. We immediately need to: - Shift away from economic values and business-as-usual practices - Prioritize multi-stakeholder inclusion in decision-making and policies - Define terms and clarify the objectives within legal and political systems - Prevent lobbying of polluting companies - Regulate overconsumption and improve citizens’ education - Improve the independence of environmental agencies - Reinforce inspection authorities in charge of monitoring and enforcing regulationsNon peer reviewe

Attentional modulation of interhemispheric (a)symmetry in children with developmental language disorder

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).The nature of auditory processing problems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) is still poorly understood. Much research has been devoted to determining the extent to which DLD is associated with general auditory versus language-specific dysfunction. However, less emphasis has been given to the role of different task conditions in these dysfunctions. We explored whether children with DLD demonstrate atypical interhemispheric asymmetry during the auditory processing of speech and non-speech sounds and whether this interhemispheric balance is modulated by attention. Magnetoencephalography was used to record auditory evoked fields in 18 children (9 to 10 years old), 9 with DLD and 9 with language typical development, during active or passive listening to speech and non-speech sounds. A linear mixed model analysis revealed a bilateral effect of attention in both groups. Participants with DLD demonstrated atypical interhemispheric asymmetry, specifically in the later (185–600 ms) time window but only during the passive listening condition. During the active task, the DLD group did not differ from the typically developed children in terms of hemispheric balance of activation. Our results support the idea of an altered interhemispheric balance in passive auditory response properties in DLD. We further suggest that an active task condition, or top–down attention, can help to regain leftward lateralization, particularly in a later stage of activation. Our study highlights the highly dynamic and interhemispheric nature of auditory processing, which may contribute to the variability in reports of auditory language processing deficits in DLD.Peer reviewe

Työelämän digitalisoituminen ja media-alan työ työmarkkinajärjestöjen ulostuloissa

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Mustasotilaskärpäsen (Hermetia illucens) kasvatus Keski-Suomen olosuhteissa ja hyödyntäminen biomassojen käsittelyssä

Jyväskylän ammattikorkeakoulun Biotalouskampuksella toteutettiin hyönteiskasvatuksen demonstraatioympäristö VinsectS – Hyönteistalous osana Viitasaari-Saarijärvi seutukunnan kiertotaloutta –hankkeessa keväällä 2018.  Hankkeessa tutkittiin mustasotilaskärpäsen (Hermetia illucens) ympärivuotisia kasvatusmahdollisuuksia Keski-Suomen olosuhteissa sekä toukkien kykyä hyödyntää erilaisia biomassasivuvirtoja ravinnokseen. Mustasotilaskärpänen on tropiikin hajottaja, jolla on nopea elinkierto ja tehokas biomassan hyödynnyskyky. Optimissa kasvatusolosuhteissa sen elinkierto on 35–42 päivää, joista 14–24 päivää se viettää biomassaa prosessoivana toukkana. Toukka syö kaksi kertaa loppupainonsa verran ja konvertoi biomassasta 50–80 % toukkamassaksi. Mustasotilaskärpänen ei ole tautivektori ja toukkien biomassan prosessoinnin on havaittu vähentävän bakteerimassaa ja nopeuttavan lääkeaineiden hajoamista sekä vähentävän kasvihuonekaasupäästöjä. Hyönteiskasvattamo rakennettiin 6 metrin ISO-konttiin, johon asennettiin olosuhdehallintalaitteisto, etävalvonta ja kasvatusrullakot. Kontti eristettiin ympärivuotista kasvatusta varten. Kasvattamossa käytetään IoT-tekniikkaa automatisoidussa olosuhdehallinnassa.  Hankkeen aikana ympärivuotisen hyönteiskasvatuksen havaittiin olevan mahdollista olosuhteiden pysyessä tavoitearvoissa niin kesällä kuin talvellakin. Kasvattamon lämpötila pysyi tasaisena, ilmankosteuteen ulkoiset tekijät kuitenkin vaikuttivat. Ilmankosteudella onkin suuri rooli hyönteisten elinkierron optimointiin. Hankkeen mittakaavassa hyönteiskasvatus ei tuottanut haitallisia määriä kaasuja, vaan kasvattamon hiilidioksidi- ja ammoniakkipitoisuudet pysyivät sisätyöympäristön viitearvoissa. Mustasotilaskärpäsillä suoritettiin ruokintakokeita erilaisten biomassojen rehuarvojen määrittämiseksi. Biomassat kattoivat sivuvirtoja catering-jakeista siipikarjan lantaan. Biomassojen verrokkina käytettiin teollista siipikarjan rehua. Ruokintakokeet toteutettiin punnitsemalla 100 toukan alku- ja loppupaino ja jäljelle jääneen biomassan jäännöspaino ja kuiva-aineosuus toukkien syönnin määrittämiseksi. Lisäksi tarkkailtiin toukkien kuolleisuutta. Tuloksista voidaan päätellä usean biomassan olevan vähintään yhtä hyvää, ellei parempaa rehua mustasotilaskärpäsille kuin siipikarjan rehun. Esiin nousivat hiilihydraattipitoiset elintarvikepohjaiset biomassat kuten catering- ja leipomojakeet. Korkean (yli 20%) rasvapitoisuuden biomassat ja vaikeasti prosessoitavat kuidut, kuten ligniini, puolestaan soveltuvat heikommin mustasotilaskärpäsen rehuiksi. VinsectS-hankkeessa kartoitettiin seutukunnan hyönteistalouteen soveltuvien sivuvirtojen ja biomassojen lähteitä sekä hyönteiskasvatukseen soveltuvia ja kiinnostuneita yrityksiä ja yrittäjiä. Tulosten pohjalta hankkeessa luotiin hyönteistalouden tiekartta ja arvoketju Viitasaari-Saarijärven seutukunnalle. Mm.  Euroopan aluekehitysrahaston (EAKR) rahoittama ja VTT:n hallinnoima hanke toteutettiin 5.2.2018–30.11.2019

Children show right-lateralized effects of spoken word-form learning

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