Active Drumming Experience Increases Infants' Sensitivity to Audiovisual Synchrony during Observed Drumming Actions

In the current study, we examined the role of active experience on sensitivity to multisensory synchrony in six-month-old infants in a musical context. In the first of two experiments, we trained infants to produce a novel multimodal effect (i.e., a drum beat) and assessed the effects of this training, relative to no training, on their later perception of the synchrony between audio and visual presentation of the drumming action. In a second experiment, we then contrasted this active experience with the observation of drumming in order to test whether observation of the audiovisual effect was as effective for sensitivity to multimodal synchrony as active experience. Our results indicated that active experience provided a unique benefit above and beyond observational experience, providing insights on the embodied roots of (early) music perception and cognition

Novel analytical dimensions in exploratory field studies of air particulate matter

Exploratory (“scoping”, “pilot”) studies of limited size and duration, but capable of pinpointing the best sampling strategy, as well as helping to select the most informative analytical methods and parameters for subsequent large scale studies, can save time and money. The authors have field-tested several rapid, exploratory PM10/2.5 characterization techniques under the auspices of the EPA-sponsored SCERP (Southwest Center for Environmental research and Policy) Paso del Norte air quality research program at the USA/Mexico border. (1) The following combination of methods has proven to be a valuable exploratory tool: organic characterization of circadian samples (obtained with a mobile 16.7pm sampler at 2-hr intervals) by thermal desorption GC/MS; (2) inorganic characterization of circadian samples (obtained with a mobile 16.7 1pm streaker-type sampler at 2-hr intervals) by computer-controlled SEM with energy-dispersive Xray detection (CCSEM-EDAX); (3) Organic (GC/MS) and inorganic (xrf, pixe) characterization of 24-hr samples collected from stationary, spatially-distributed hi-vol and dichot sampling stations, respectively; (4) on-site, size-distributed particle counting at 1-5 minute intervals by means of a multichannel particle counter; and (5) data fusion, reduction and correlation by means of principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and related chemometric methods. Identification of inorganic, inorganic and mixed source contribution is performed by PCA of periodic or episodic trends and events in circadian receptor sample profiles, as well as by spatially distributed concentration variations among 24-hr samples. Additional inorganic sources are identifiable by cluster analysis of elemental association patterns among individual particles, as measured by CCSEM-EDAX, as well as by morphological analysis of individual particle images. Comparison of temporally –and spatially-resolved spectroscopic data, e.g. by multi-way canonical source locations dorm receptor data. This is especially valuable for locating sources under windless or near-windless inversion conditions which prevent source backtracking by mean of diagnostic meteorological models. In the absence of quantitative source profiles for the multitude of poorly accessible individual PM sources in the Paso del Norte airshed, preliminary source apportionment is being attempted by using pooled source category and/or source cluster profiles calibrated by means of size-distributed particle counting methods, instead of conventional mass balance techniques

Effect of metal impurities on the adsorption of gold by activated carbon in cyanide solutions /

Bibliography: p. 7.Mode of access: Internet

Comparing apples to manzanas and oranges to naranjas: A new measure of English‐Spanish vocabulary for dual language learners

Abstract The valid assessment of vocabulary development in dual‐language‐learning infants is critical to developmental science. We developed the Dual Language Learners English‐Spanish (DLL‐ES) Inventories to measure vocabularies of U.S. English‐Spanish DLLs. The inventories provide translation equivalents for all Spanish and English items on Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) short forms; extended inventories based on CDI long forms; and Spanish language‐variety options. Item‐Response Theory analyses applied to Wordbank and Web‐CDI data ( n  = 2603, 12–18 months; n  = 6722, 16–36 months; half female; 1% Asian, 3% Black, 2% Hispanic, 30% White, 64% unknown) showed near‐perfect associations between DLL‐ES and CDI long‐form scores. Interviews with 10 Hispanic mothers of 18‐ to 24‐month‐olds (2 White, 1 Black, 7 multi‐racial; 6 female) provide a proof of concept for the value of the DLL‐ES for assessing the vocabularies of DLLs

Measuring, modeling and mapping ecosystem services in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania

In light of the significance that ecosystem service research is likely to play in linking conservation activities and human welfare, systematic approaches to measuring, modeling and mapping ecosystem services (and their value to society) are sorely needed. In this paper we outline one such approach, which we developed in order to understand the links between the functioning of the ecosystems of Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains and their impact on human welfare at local, regional and global scales. The essence of our approach is the creation of a series of maps created using field-based or remotely sourced data, data-driven models, and socio-economic scenarios coupled with rule-based assumptions. Here we describe the construction of this spatial information and how it can help to shed light on the complex relationships between ecological and social systems. There are obvious difficulties in operationalizing this approach, but by highlighting those which we have encountered in our own case-study work, we have also been able to suggest some routes to overcoming these impediment