Two Tongues, One Brain: Imaging Bilingual Speech Production

This review considers speaking in a second language from the perspective of motor–sensory control. Previous studies relating brain function to the prior acquisition of two or more languages (neurobilingualism) have investigated the differential demands made on linguistic representations and processes, and the role of domain-general cognitive control systems when speakers switch between languages. In contrast to the detailed discussions on these higher functions, typically articulation is considered only as an underspecified stage of simple motor output. The present review considers speaking in a second language in terms of the accompanying foreign accent, which places demands on the integration of motor and sensory discharges not encountered when articulating in the most fluent language. We consider why there has been so little emphasis on this aspect of bilingualism to date, before turning to the motor and sensory complexities involved in learning to speak a second language as an adult. This must involve retuning the neural circuits involved in the motor control of articulation, to enable rapid unfamiliar sequences of movements to be performed with the goal of approximating, as closely as possible, the speech of a native speaker. Accompanying changes in motor networks is experience-dependent plasticity in auditory and somatosensory cortices to integrate auditory memories of the target sounds, copies of feedforward commands from premotor and primary motor cortex and post-articulatory auditory and somatosensory feedback. Finally, we consider the implications of taking a motor–sensory perspective on speaking a second language, both pedagogical regarding non-native learners and clinical regarding speakers with neurological conditions such as dysarthria

LESA MS imaging of heat preserved and frozen tissue:Benefits of multi-step static FAIMS

We have previously demonstrated liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA) high field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) mass spectrometry imaging of proteins in thin tissue sections of brain and liver. Here, we present an improved approach that makes use of multiple static FAIMS parameters at each sampled location and allows a significant improvement in the number of proteins, lipids, and drugs that can be imaged simultaneously. The approach is applied to the mass spectrometry imaging of control and cassette-dosed rat kidneys. Mass spectrometry imaging of kidneys typically requires washing to remove excess hemoglobin; however, that is not necessary with this approach. Multistep static FAIMS mass spectrometry resulted in a 6- to 16-fold increase in the number of proteins detected in the absence of FAIMS, in addition to smaller increases over single step static FAIMS (chosen for optimum transmission of total protein ions). The benefits of multistep static FAIMS mass spectrometry for protein detection are also shown for sections of testes. The numbers of proteins detected following multistep FAIMS increased between 2- and 3-fold over single step FAIMS and between 2- and 14-fold over LESA alone. Finally, to date, LESA mass spectrometry of proteins in tissue has been undertaken solely on fresh frozen samples. In this work, we demonstrate that heat-preserved tissues are also suitable for these analyses. Heat preservation of tissue improved the number of proteins detected by LESA MS for both kidney and testes tissue (by between 2- and 4-fold). For both tissue types, the majority of the proteins additionally detected in the heat-treated samples were subsequently detected in the frozen samples when FAIMS was incorporated. Improvements in the numbers of proteins detected were observed for LESA FAIMS MS for the kidney tissue; for testes tissue, fewer total proteins were detected following heat preservation; however, approximately one-third were unique to the heat-preserved samples

Note and Comment

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Physiological and thermoregulatory effects of oral taurine supplementation on exercise tolerance during forced convective cooling

We investigated the effects of taurine supplementation on cycling time to exhaustion in cold conditions. Eleven males cycled to exhaustion at a power output equivalent to the mid-point between ventilatory threshold and maximum aerobic power following 15-min rest in the cold (apparent temperature of ∼ 4 °C; air flow of 4.17 m·s-1). Two-hours before, participants ingested taurine (50 mg·kg-1) or placebo beverage. Pulmonary gases, carbohydrate (CHO) and fat oxidation, body temperatures, mean local sweat rate, heart rate, rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and thermal comfort were recorded. Time to exhaustion was not different between trials (taurine = 14.6 ± 4.7 min; placebo = 13.4 ± 5.6 min, P = 0.061, d = 0.27). There were no effects (P > 0.05) of taurine on core temperature, mean skin temperature or local sweat rates. However, the placebo condition showed greater (P < 0.05) reductions in arm-to-finger temperature gradient (i.e. vasodilation) across pre-exercise passive cold exposure and increased CHO oxidation (P < 0.05). Participants also reached a thermally ‘comfortable’ level quicker in the taurine condition (P < 0.05). A 50 mg·kg-1 dose of taurine did not statistically benefit endurance exercise after moderate cold exposure but conferred some potential vascular and metabolic effects

Harnessing the Power of Stories for Rural Sustainability: Reflections on Community-Based Research on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland

Stories have the power to shape understanding of community sustainability. Yet in places on the periphery of capitalist systems, such as rural and resource-based regions, this power can be used to impose top–down narratives on to local residents. Academic research often reinforces these processes by telling damage-centric narratives that portray communities as depleted and broken, which perpetuates power imbalances between academia and community members, while disempowering local voices. This article explores the potential of storytelling as a means for local actors to challenge top–down notions of rural sustainability, drawing on a community-based research initiative on the Great Northern Peninsula (GNP) of Newfoundland. Five of the authors are community change-makers and one is an academic researcher. We challenge deficiencies-based narratives told about rural Newfoundland and Labrador, in which the GNP is often characterised by a narrow set of socio-economic indicators that overlook the region’s many tangible and intangible assets. Grounded in a participatory asset mapping and storytelling process, a ‘deep story’ of regional sustainability based on community members’ voices contrasts narratives of decline with stories of hope, and shares community renewal initiatives told by the dynamic individuals leading them. This article contributes to regional development efforts on the GNP, scholarship on sustainability in rural and remote communities, and efforts to realise alternative forms of university-community engagement that centre community members’ voices and support self-determination

Emissions impact of home working in Scotland

Working from home leads to a reduction in commuting and office emissions, and an increase in home emissions from heating. How these emission changes balance out for an individual defines their emissions impact from home working. This report assesses the impact of home working on Scottish greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by analysing: • the Scottish-specific emissions impact of home working; and • the drivers in personal emissions increases and decreases from a switch to home working. The analysis has found that if post pandemic trends result in a higher proportion of people working from home across all types of houses and commuting behaviours, the overall impact on emissions will be small. However, given Scotland’s carbon reduction targets, every emission reduction pathway should be considered and actions which increase emissions avoided