Content of Selected Macro- and Microelements in Surface Formations of Organic Soils in NE Poland

The research was carried out in the morainic areas and in river valleys in NE Poland, where seven sites located in the macroregion of Masurian Lakeland were selected. Thirteen soil profiles representing the following organic soils were studied: earth-covered murshic soils (OMnm), murshic peat soils (OTmu), hemic murshic soils (OMhe) and sapric murshic soils (OMsa). The aim of the research was to investigate the content of selected macro- and microelements in surface formations of organic soils and to determine the influence of sedimentation processes on their spatial distribution. In terms of quantity, the analyzed macro- and microelements can be arranged as follows: Ca > Al > Fe > K > Mg > Na > P > Mn > Zn > Pb > Cr > Ni > Cu > Co. Organic soils situated in the depressions had various degrees of silting with mineral sediments from the nearby areas. Along with erosive waters, deluvial material rich in minerals was flowing along the morainic slopes. Therefore, mineral-organic formations (AO) located in the ecotone zone between mineral and organic soils had the highest content of total Mg – 4.85 g kg-1, K – 5.94 g kg-1, Al – 24.87 g kg-1, Fe – 17.77 g kg-1, Zn – 0.066 g kg-1, Cr – 0.046 g kg-1, Ni – 0.025 g kg-1, Pb – 0.060 g kg-1. The highest content of total calcium, manganese, iron, copper and cobalt was found in mineral-organic formations (AO) and strongly silted murshes (Mtsz). The contents of calcium and sodium were significantly positively and the contents of other macro- and microelements were significantly negatively correlated with the amount of organic matter, organic carbon and total nitrogen

Visible movements of the orofacial area: evidence for gestural or multimodal theories of language evolution?

The age-old debate between the proponents of the gesture-first and speech-first positions has returned to occupy a central place in current language evolution theorizing. The gestural scenarios, suffering from the problem known as “modality transition” (why a gestural system would have changed into a predominantly spoken system), frequently appeal to the gestures of the orofacial area as a platform for this putative transition. Here, we review currently available evidence on the significance of the orofacial area in language evolution. While our review offers some support for orofacial movements as an evolutionary “bridge” between manual gesture and speech, we see the evidence as far more consistent with a multimodal approach. We also suggest that, more generally, the “gestural versus spoken” formulation is limiting and would be better expressed in terms of the relative input and interplay of the visual and vocal-auditory sensory modalities

Self-regulators - a hidden dimension of interaction: movement similarity and temporal proximity increase the perception of interpersonal coordination in third party observers

In everyday circumstances, humans use a variety of cues to draw rich inferences about the nature of interaction. Among these, we focus on sequences of self-regulatory movements, such as touching behaviours and postural changes, that have long been related to interpersonal coordination understood both in terms of mimicry and synchrony. So far, there has been a severe lack of studies on the third party perception of interactional phenomena, including self-regulators. Here, we investigate which elements of the interactional dynamics induce the perception of interactants' behaviours (represented by self-regulators) as causally related, and show that the most important factor responsible for such attribution is the similarity of observed movements. On a more general plane, we hope to make a step towards uncovering perceptual biases that evolved for interpersonal coordination, thus shedding some light on the human interactional potential and its evolution

Vocal-auditory feedback and the modality transition problem in language evolution

This is a pre-print version. This article has been published in Reti Saperi Linguaggi, 1/2016 a. 5 (9), 157–178, [DOI: 10.12832/83923]. Copyright Società editrice il Mulino. The publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use or reprint the material in any form.The gestural theories, which see the origins of (proto)linguistic communication not in vocalization but rather in manual gesture, have come to take center stage in today’s academic reflection on the roots of language. The gestural theories, however, suffer from a near-fatal problem of the so-called «modality switch», i.e. of how and why language could have transferred from the mostly-visual to the mostly-vocal form that it now has in human societies almost universally. In our paper, we offer a potential and partial solution to this problem. We take as our starting point a gestural scenario on which emerging language-like communication involves orofacial gestures, and we complement such a scenario with the inclusion of vocal-auditory feedback, which aids signal production. Such benefits of more articulatory precision that accrue to the signal producersmight have constituted one reason behind supplementing orofacial gestures with sound and so increasing the role of vocalization in the emerging (proto)language

Adaptors and the Turn-Taking Mechanism: The Distribution of Adaptors Relative to Turn Borders in Dyadic Conversation

Turn-taking – the coordinated and efficient transition between the roles of sender and receiver in communication – is a fundamental property of conversational interaction. The turn-taking mechanism depends on a variety of linguistic factors related to syntax, semantics and prosody, which have recently been subject to vigorous research. This contrasts with the relative lack of studies on the role of non-verbal visual signals and cues in effecting turn-transitions. In this paper, we consider the relation between this phenomenon and adaptors: a class of non-verbal behaviors prototypically involving touching one’s own body or manipulating external objects. We recorded 10 semi-scripted conversations between a total of 12 subjects and annotated the material for discrete adaptors and turn borders. We found that participants produced discrete adaptors significantly more frequently close to floor transfers (turn borders). Our result goes against the long-standing tradition of interpreting adaptors as unrelated to speech and, more generally, communicative interaction

Particle-Size Distribution in Soils in Various Ground Moraine Catenas in The Masurian Lakeland

The aim of the work has been to compare the particle-size distribution in the soils of two catenas located in two mesoregions in the Masurian Lakeland and formed within two phases of the Vistula Glaciation. The studied catenas are located in the Olsztyn Lakeland within the Pomeranian phase (Pierwągi catena) and the Mragowo Lakeland within the Poznan phase of the Vistula Glaciation (Linowo catena). The soil sequence in the catenas was as follows: Haplic Cambisol (Eutric) – Mollic Gleysol (Colluvic) – Umbric Gleysol – Limnic Sapric Histosol. In 34 soil samples collected from genetic horizons, the particle size was analysed as well as sedimentological and granulometric indices were calculated. The soils of the two studied catenas (except for two soil horizons) had similar texture of sandy loam. The translocation of the silt fraction occurred down the slope. The soils located in land depressions contained 40% more of the silt fraction than the soils on the summit of the slope. This process was not noted for the clay fraction. The studied soils were weakly and very weakly sorted and were variously sedimented in different environments. The soils formed from postglacial loam had a smaller mean grain diameter (up to 0.051 mm) than the soils formed from colluvialdeposits. Among the studied granulometric fractions, fine and very fine sand prevailed

Variability of Some Physical Properties of Limnic Rendzinas in the Mazurian Lakeland (NE Poland)

The variability of some physical properties of limnic rendzinas in the Mazurian Lakeland are discussed in the paper. For the study, six sites (68 soil carbonate samples) in NE Poland were examined in terms of their physical properties: total porosity, specific density, wet and dry bulk densities, volumetric and gravimetric water content. Moreover, the content of organic matter, CaCO3 and non-calcareous fractions were also analysed to determine the type of soil calcareous sediments, and on this basis, three groups were isolated: calcareous gyttja, meadow limestone, lacustrine chalk. The highest values of specific and bulk densities were stated in lacustrine chalk, whereas the lowest ones – in calcareous gyttja. The highest total porosity was noted in calcareous gyttja, and the lowest one in meadow limestone. Lacustrine chalk and calcareous gyttja had the highest water content, and the differences between physical properties and soil calcareous materials were statistically significant. However, the differences between soil physical properties in surface soil horizons and calcareous materials were not statistically significant. Correlation coefficients showed that there were statistical dependencies between the examined soil properties, and the principal component analysis proved that soil physical properties were dependent mainly on organic matter

Soil Air-Water Properties in Catena of Sepopol Lowland

In the sequence of soil composed of black earths, deluvial soils, organic soils covered with a thin layer of mineral-organic deposit and moorsh soils, soil texture, bulk density, content of organic carbon and organic matter, total porosity, total and readily available water as well as resources of organic matter and water in 0-25 cm and 0-100 cm layers of the soil profile were studied. A catenal variabilities of organic matter content and physical-water properties were found. Physical properties and the contents of total and readily available water depended on soil texture, organic matter content and location in a relief. Total porosity, field water capacity and volume of macropores were positively correlated with organic matter content, and negatively with bulk density. Differences in studied properties between the pedons of black earths and deluvial soils were small, whereas these differences between deluvial and moorsh soils were distinct. In the development of water resources in the profiles of these soils, presence of organic subsoil with high retention capacity played the important role. The studied soils had unfavorable distribution of soil pores, resulting from a small volume of air pores

Problem ‘zmiany modalności’ w hipotezach pierwszeństwa gestów w ewolucji języka: w stronę hipotez multimodalnych

Niniejszy tekst jest wersją preprint (nie poddaną korekcie) artykułu Orzechowski, S., Sławomir Wacewicz and Przemysław Żywiczyński 2016. "Problem ‘zmiany modalności’ w hipotezach pierwszeństwa gestów w ewolucji języka: w stronę hipotez multimodalnych". Studia semiotyczne 18-19, 335-369. Jego opublikowana wersja jest dostępna pod adresem: http://studiasemiotyczne.pts.edu.pl/tomy/xxviii_xxix_teksty/19.pdf Obszerne fragmenty artykułu weszły w skład książki Żywiczyński, P. i Wacewicz, S. (2015): Ewolucja języka. W stronę hipotez gesturalnych. Toruń, Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK za zgodą wszystkich autorów oraz Redaktora Naczelnego pisma.Hipotezy pierwszeństwa gestów, względnie gesturalne, zajmują centralne miejsce w aktualnych rozważaniach nad pojawieniem się i ewolucją ludzkiej zdolności językowej. Zgodnie z nimi język filogenetycznie wywodzi się od systemu komunikacji gestowej, a nie głosowej (choć ta druga możliwość jest bardziej intuicyjna i z racji tego wielu autorów wersję głosową niesłusznie zakłada jako oczywistą). Przyjmujemy tu szeroką definicję gestów, zaliczając do nich większość sygnałów cielesnych w modalności wizualnej, czyli odbieranych wzrokowo. Jakkolwiek same hipotezy gesturalne są szeroko omawiane w literaturze przedmiotu (choć nie polskojęzycznej), wiele opracowań wskazuje na ich zasadniczy problem: jeśli komunikacja językowa miała pierwotnie charakter gestowy to dlaczego, kiedy i w jaki sposób nastąpiła zmiana, czyli przejście języka do modalności głównie głosowej? Jak dotąd problem ten nie znalazł satysfakcjonującego rozwiązania. W naszej pracy, po pierwsze, przybliżamy tę tematykę polskiemu czytelnikowi, krótko referując argumenty na rzecz hipotez gesturalnych, i po drugie, proponujemy rozwiązania problemu zmiany modalności. W zasadniczej części sprowadzają się one do przyjęcia perspektywy multimodalnej, która zakłada, iż ewolucja języka zachodziła z udziałem obu modalności - wizualnej i głosowej - jednocześnie. Założenie to pozwala nie tylko rozwiązać problem zmiany modalności, z jakim borykają się hipotezy pierwszeństwa gestów, ale tłumaczy także głęboką integrację mowy i gestów ucieleśniających ludzką zdolność językową

Water Permeability of Soils Amended with Sewage Sludge on Short-Rotation Plantations in Europe

Soil permeability is the measure of the soil’s ability to permit water to flow through soil pores. It depends chiefly on the volume and geometry of soil pores, bulk density, and soil structure. Studied soils were overgrown with short-rotation plantations of Salix and amended with sewage sludge in Germany, Estonia, and Poland. Sewage sludge application as well as the use of soils influenced water permeability