Unfamiliar voice identification: effect of post-event information on accuracy and voice ratings

This study addressed the effect of misleading post-event information (PEI) on voice ratings, identification accuracy, and confidence, as well as the link between verbal recall and accuracy. Participants listened to a dialogue between male and female targets, then read misleading information about voice pitch. Participants engaged in verbal recall, rated voices on a feature checklist, and made a lineup decision. Accuracy rates were low, especially on target-absent lineups. Confidence and accuracy were unrelated, but the number of facts recalled about the voice predicted later lineup accuracy. There was a main effect of misinformation on ratings of target voice pitch, but there was no effect on identification accuracy or confidence ratings. As voice lineup evidence from earwitnesses is used in courts, the findings have potential applied relevance

Data Stewardship: Environmental Data Curation and a Web-of-Repositories

Scientific researchers today frequently package measurements and associated metadata as digital datasets in anticipation of storage in data repositories. Through the lens of environmental data stewardship, we consider the data repository as an organizational element central to data curation. One aspect of non-commercial repositories, their distance-from-origin of the data, is explored in terms of near and remote categories. Three idealized repository types are distinguished – local, center, and archive - paralleling research, resource, and reference collection categories respectively. Repository type characteristics such as scope, structure, and goals are discussed. Repository similarities in terms of roles, activities and responsibilities are also examined. Data stewardship is related to care of research data and responsible scientific communication supported by an infrastructure that coordinates curation activities; data curation is defined as a set of repeated and repeatable activities focusing on tending data and creating data products within a particular arena. The concept of “sphere-of-context” is introduced as an aid to distinguishing repository types. Conceptualizing a “web-of-repositories” accommodates a variety of repository types and represents an ecologically inclusive approach to data curation

Resident Perceptions of Human–Beaver Conflict in a Rural Landscape in Alberta, Canada

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) plays a key ecological role in wetland systems, yet their activities can result in costly damage to human infrastructure. Although qualitative research on human perceptions of beavers is rare, studies on human–beaver conflict in the United States identified generally positive attitudes toward beavers and opposition to lethal management, yet in Alberta, Canada, 79% of municipalities that managed beavers reported using trapping and shooting to remove problem beavers. Given the important ecological contributions of beavers and their potential conflict with humans, qualitative research is needed to assess perspectives of stakeholders who directly experience beaver-related impacts. To address this need, from August to September 2014, we conducted semi-structured, in-person interviews with 9 residents who lived in rural areas of Beaver County, Alberta, Canada, where the potential for human–beaver conflict was high. This pilot study involved purposive sampling to select a sample of county residents who had direct interactions with beavers on or adjacent to their properties. We found that perceptions of beaver-related impacts varied across individuals, although many respondents emphasized negative impacts to agricultural production. There were also conflicts concerning local government management actions, including both support for and opposition to lethal control. This lack of consensus among the public poses a challenge to management agencies that lack time and resources to consult with all stakeholders on a multitude of issues related to human–wildlife interactions. However, our results suggest that consultation with landowners by the government is necessary to fully understand the negative impacts residents experience, the positive impacts they desire, and the socially acceptable means for managing them

Polyelectrolyte adsorption on metals : effects of an applied surface potential.

Electrostatic interactions may direct the behavior of polyelectrolytes at solution/solid interfaces, with these comparatively long-ranged interactions influencing both the adsorbed chain conformation and the amount of polymer adsorbed. The microscopic structure of adsorbed polyelectrolyte layers is difficult to measure, however, and present knowledge on the subject derives from a relatively small number of experiments. To provide further insight into the role of electrostatic interactions, this thesis examines, using in situ ellipsometry, the effect of a variable applied surface potential on the structure of an adsorbed polyelectrolyte layer at the solution/metal interface. Previous investigators reported that significant changes in layer thickness accompanied variations in surface potential, a phenomenon presumably traced to the attraction or repulsion of segments from the surface. However, oxidation/reduction of the surface also accompanies variations in this potential, and these chemical rearrangements were ignored when the ellipsometric data were analyzed, resulting in an inaccurate determination of thicknesses and adsorbances. Our study is thus the first to establish a method by which ellipsometry can be combined with voltammetry to correctly determine the effects of an applied surface potential on the structure of an adsorbed polyelectrolyte layer. As part of this method, we have established a protocol by which ellipsometric results can be corrected for surface oxidation/reduction. Two amphoteric polyelectrolyte systems are examined: $\gamma$-globulin, which possesses a rigid globular structure, and gelatin, which exhibits a flexible coil conformation in solution. Both are adsorbed onto platinum from phosphate buffers at pH values above their isoelectric points, creating a net negative polymer charge. Locally, however, both positive and negative charges exist simultaneously on the polymer chains. Due to the extremely rigid conformation of $\gamma$-globulin, provided by 16 disulfide bond linkages, no potential-induced changes in adsorbed layer thickness or plateau adsorbance are observed after ellipsometric data is corrected for surface oxidation/reduction. In contrast, gelatin\u27s flexible nature would appear more conducive to adsorbed layer alterations with surface potential. Again, however, upon investigation, no changes in adsorbed layer thickness or amount adsorbed are detected, irrespective of ionic strength. The results suggest that lateral segment-segment interactions within a flexible polyelectrolyle layer are more important to layer structure than long-range segment-surface interactions

The Digital Public Library of America and Academic Libraries: How the DPLA Advances Teaching, Learning, and Research

A timeline detailing some of the more significant events in DPLA history

The Digital Public Library of America and Academic Libraries: How the DPLA Advances Teaching, Learning, and Research

Within a very short period of time, the Digital Public Library of America has become an important institution and infrastructure for discovering and working with materials in libraries, archives, and museums. As a portal, platform, and public option for access, DPLA creates exciting opportunities for innovative teaching, learning, and research within academic institutions. DPLA staff and Community Representatives will facilitate a discussion about DPLA’s promising role in fostering collaboration among academic libraries and user communities

Towards Standardization: A Participatory Framework for Scientific Standard-Making

In contemporary scientific research, standard-making and standardization are key processes for the sharing and reuse of data. The goals of this paper are twofold: 1) to stress that collaboration is crucial to standard-making, and 2) to urge recognition of metadata standardization as part of the scientific process. To achieve these goals, a participatory framework for developing and implementing scientific metadata standards is presented. We highlight the need for ongoing, open dialogue within and among research communities at multiple levels. Using the Long Term Ecological Research network adoption of the Ecological Metadata Language as a case example in the natural sciences, we illustrate how a participatory framework addresses the need for active coordination of the evolution of scientific metadata standards. The participatory framework is contrasted with a hierarchical framework to underscore how the development of scientific standards is a dynamic and continuing process. The roles played by ‘best practices’ and ‘working standards’ are identified in relation to the process of standardization

Forensic voice discrimination: the effect of speech type and background noise on performance

In forensic settings, lay (non‐expert) listeners may be required to compare voice samples for identity. In two experiments we investigated the effect of background noise and variations in speaking style on performance. In each trial, participants heard two recordings, responded whether the voices belonged to the same person, and provided a confidence rating. In Experiment 1, the first recording featured read speech, while the second featured read or spontaneous speech. Both recordings were presented in quiet, or with background noise. Accuracy was highest when recordings featured the same speaking style. In Experiment 2, background noise either occurred in the first or second recording. Accuracy was higher when it occurred in the second. The overall results reveal that both speaking style and background noise can disrupt accuracy. Whilst there is a relationship between confidence and accuracy in all conditions, it is variable. The forensic implications of these findings are discussed

The effects of alcohol intoxication on accuracy and the confidence-accuracy relationship in photographic simultaneous lineups

(Summary) Acute alcohol intoxication during encoding can impair subsequent identification accuracy, but results across studies have been inconsistent, with studies often finding no effect. Little is also known about how alcohol intoxication affects the identification confidence-accuracy relationship. We randomly assigned women (N = 153) to consume alcohol (dosed to achieve a 0.08% blood alcohol content) or tonic water, controlling for alcohol expectancy. Women then participated in an interactive hypothetical sexual assault scenario and, 24 hours or 7 days later, attempted to identify the assailant from a perpetrator present or a perpetrator absent simultaneous line-up and reported their decision confidence. Overall, levels of identification accuracy were similar across the alcohol and tonic water groups. However, women who had consumed tonic water as opposed to alcohol identified the assailant with higher confidence on average. Further, calibration analyses suggested that confidence is predictive of accuracy regardless of alcohol consumption. The theoretical and applied implications of our results are discussed