Integration of audio-visual information in 8-months-old infants

The results from a series of perception experiments designed to test 8-month-old infants’ ability to derive linguistic information from audio-visual events are reported in this presentation. Using a visual preference technique, groups of 8-month-old infants were tested on their ability to extract linguistic information implicit in short video sequences where the images displayed different puppets and the audio tracks presented sentences describing the puppets in naturalistic infant-directed speech style. To assess the relative importance of memory and attention factors, the prosodic and syntactic structure of the speech materials was systematically changed across different groups of subjects. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of the emergentistic acquisition model discussed in the paper presented by Lacerda et al. (“Ecological theory of language acquisition”)

Ecological Theory of Language Acquisition

This poster outlines an Ecological Theory of Language Acquisition (ETLA). The theory views the early phases of the language acquisition process as an emergent consequence of the interaction between the infant and its linguistic environment. The newborn infant is considered to be linguistically and phonetically naïve but endowed with the ability to register a wide range of multi-sensory inputs along with the ability to detect similarity between the multi-sensory stimuli it is exposed to. The initial steps of the language acquisition process are explained as unintended and inevitable consequences of the infant’s multisensory interaction with the adult. The theoretical model deriving from ETLA is tested using the experimental data presented in the two additional contributions from our research team (Gustavsson et al, “Integration of audiovisual information in 8-months-old infants”; Lacerda, Marklund et al. “On the linguistic implications of context-bound adult-infant interactions”). The generality of the ETLA’s concept is likely to be of significance for a wide range of scientific areas, like robotics, where a central issue concerns addressing general problems of how organisms or systems might develop the ability to tap on the structure of the information embedded in their operating environments

On the linguistic implications of context-bound adult-infant interactions

This poster presents a study of the linguistic information potentially available in adult speech directed to 3-month-old infants. The repetitive nature of the speech directed to young infants and the ecological context of the adult-infant natural interaction setting are analyzed in the light of the “Ecological theory of language acquisition” proposed by Lacerda et al. (2004, this volume). The analysis of transcripts of adult-infant interaction sessions suggests that enough information to derive general noun associations may be available as a consequence of the particular context of the adult-infant interactions during the early stages of the language acquisition process

Emerging Linguistic Functions in Early Infancy

This paper presents results from experimental studies on early language acquisition in infants and attempts to interpret the experimental results within the framework of the Ecological Theory of Language Acquisition (ETLA) recently proposed by (Lacerda et al., 2004a). From this perspective, the infant’s first steps in the acquisition of the ambient language are seen as a consequence of the infant’s general capacity to represent sensory input and the infant’s interaction with other actors in its immediate ecological environment. On the basis of available experimental evidence, it will be argued that ETLA offers a productive alternative to traditional descriptive views of the language acquisition process by presenting an operative model of how early linguistic function may emerge through interaction

Att upprätta en mjölkordningslista

I Sverige drabbas årligen många mjölkkor av mastit, vilket medför stor kostnader för lantbrukaren och lidande för kon. Genom att först välja ut vilka kor som är intressanta för provtagning och framodling av bakterier i mjölken kan man senare upprätta en mjölkordningslista och på så vis förebygga mastiter. Målet med detta examensarbete är att öka kunskapen om olika mastitbakterier och hur man själv kan förebygga sjukdomsfall av mastit. I litteraturstudien har fakta sammanställts om de olika bakterierna, hur de tar sig in i juvret och hur de kan förebyggas. För var bakterie anges även en lista med konkreta åtgärder och vad man bör göra då kon har insjuknat. Provtagningen har skett på gården Lillegård som har problem med många sjukdomsfall av mastit. Under två tillfällen har utvalda kor från Lillegård CMT-testats och vid behov togs mjölkprov för framodling av bakterier. Efter det att proverna analyserats har korna delats in i sex olika grupper beroende på vilken bakterie de har haft i mjölken och hur smittsam bakterien är. Eventuella åtgärder har föreslagits och en mjölkordningslista har upprättatas. I arbetet framgår tillvägagångssättet när en mjölkordningslista upprättas, dock inte vilken effekt en mjölkordningslista har för att minska antal mastiter eller för att få ett lägre celltal i mjölktanken. Betydelsen framgår inte eftersom det tar lång tid att se effekterna av att ändra mjölkordningen i en besättning och tiden för examensarbetet var begränsat. För att få fram fakta om mjölkordningslistan minskar antalet kor som drabbas av mastit och sänker besättningens celltal bör en längre vidare studie göras. Slutsatsen är att mastiter går mer eller mindre att förbygga. Särskilt S. aureus går att begränsa genom en mjölkordningslista. Viktigaste förberedande åtgärden mot alla mastitbakterierna är fasta och bra mjölkningsrutiner som tillåter kon att förbereda sig för mjölkning samt en mjölkutrustning som är servad och fungerar på ett bra sätt. Även god hygien i kons närmiljö och foderkvalité spelar stor roll för att kons motståndskraft mot mastitbakterierna ska vara på topp.Mastitis is a common disease in Swedish dairy cattle and results in large costs for the farmers and cows suffer. The aim of this work was to collect knowledge about common mastitis bacteria and about setting up a special milking order of the cows to prevent infections of mastitis in a herd. In the literature study facts were compiled about different mastitis bacteria, how they infect the cows, and how they could be prevented. For each bacterium a list of practical recommendations to prevent and treat mastitis is stated. In herds with high number of infected cows, control and decreased number of mastitis may be obtained by establish a special milking order of the cows. A special milking order was established at Lillegård, a farm with problems associated with many cases of mastitis. At two occasions, cows of special interest were selected, CMT-tested and if necessary milk sampling for cultivation occurred. Samples were analyzed and the cows were divided into six groups depending on the bacteria found in the milk. Possible measures were proposed, and a milking order established. This work shows how a milking order has been established, but not the effect of the milking order on somatic cell count and number of cows infected with mastitis. To be able to show this effect a longer further study has to be done. The conclusions are that mastitis can more or less be prevented. In particular, S. aureus could be reduced by establish a special milking order to the herd. The most important measures against all mastitis are solid and good milking routines that allow the cows to be prepared to milking and well served milking equipment that works properly. Good hygiene in cows’ environment and good feed quality are also of importance to cows’ resistances against mastitis

A Genome-Wide Immunodetection Screen in S. cerevisiae Uncovers Novel Genes Involved in Lysosomal Vacuole Function and Morphology

Vacuoles of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are functionally analogous to mammalian lysosomes. Both are cellular organelles responsible for macromolecular degradation, ion/pH homeostasis, and stress survival. We hypothesized that undefined gene functions remain at post-endosomal stage of vacuolar events and performed a genome-wide screen directed at such functions at the late endosome and vacuole interface – ENV genes. The immunodetection screen was designed to identify mutants that internally accumulate precursor form of the vacuolar hydrolase carboxypeptidase Y (CPY). Here, we report the uncovering and initial characterizations of twelve ENV genes. The small size of the collection and the lack of genes previously identified with vacuolar events are suggestive of the intended exclusive functional interface of the screen. Most notably, the collection includes four novel genes ENV7, ENV9, ENV10, and ENV11, and three genes previously linked to mitochondrial processes – MAM3, PCP1, PPE1. In all env mutants, vesicular trafficking stages were undisturbed in live cells as assessed by invertase and active α-factor secretion, as well as by localization of the endocytic fluorescent marker FM4-64 to the vacuole. Several mutants exhibit defects in stress survival functions associated with vacuoles. Confocal fluorescence microscopy revealed the collection to be significantly enriched in vacuolar morphologies suggestive of fusion and fission defects. These include the unique phenotype of lumenal vesicles within vacuoles in the novel env9Δ mutant and severely fragmented vacuoles upon deletion of GET4, a gene recently implicated in tail anchored membrane protein insertion. Thus, our results establish new gene functions in vacuolar function and morphology, and suggest a link between vacuolar and mitochondrial events

A Genome Scan for Positive Selection in Thoroughbred Horses

Thoroughbred horses have been selected for exceptional racing performance resulting in system-wide structural and functional adaptations contributing to elite athletic phenotypes. Because selection has been recent and intense in a closed population that stems from a small number of founder animals Thoroughbreds represent a unique population within which to identify genomic contributions to exercise-related traits. Employing a population genetics-based hitchhiking mapping approach we performed a genome scan using 394 autosomal and X chromosome microsatellite loci and identified positively selected loci in the extreme tail-ends of the empirical distributions for (1) deviations from expected heterozygosity (Ewens-Watterson test) in Thoroughbred (n = 112) and (2) global differentiation among four geographically diverse horse populations (FST). We found positively selected genomic regions in Thoroughbred enriched for phosphoinositide-mediated signalling (3.2-fold enrichment; P<0.01), insulin receptor signalling (5.0-fold enrichment; P<0.01) and lipid transport (2.2-fold enrichment; P<0.05) genes. We found a significant overrepresentation of sarcoglycan complex (11.1-fold enrichment; P<0.05) and focal adhesion pathway (1.9-fold enrichment; P<0.01) genes highlighting the role for muscle strength and integrity in the Thoroughbred athletic phenotype. We report for the first time candidate athletic-performance genes within regions targeted by selection in Thoroughbred horses that are principally responsible for fatty acid oxidation, increased insulin sensitivity and muscle strength: ACSS1 (acyl-CoA synthetase short-chain family member 1), ACTA1 (actin, alpha 1, skeletal muscle), ACTN2 (actinin, alpha 2), ADHFE1 (alcohol dehydrogenase, iron containing, 1), MTFR1 (mitochondrial fission regulator 1), PDK4 (pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase, isozyme 4) and TNC (tenascin C). Understanding the genetic basis for exercise adaptation will be crucial for the identification of genes within the complex molecular networks underlying obesity and its consequential pathologies, such as type 2 diabetes. Therefore, we propose Thoroughbred as a novel in vivo large animal model for understanding molecular protection against metabolic disease

Gendered vocational identities – female students\u27 strategies for identity formation during workplace-based learning in male-dominated work

Purpose: This article investigates female vocational students\u27 strategies for becoming part of a workplace community, what these strategies are and how they are tied to the formation of vocational identities within male-dominated industrial work. Of particular interest is how female students enrolled on Swedish upper secondary industrial programmes experience workplace-based learning at industrial workplaces as part of their vocational education. The theoretical framework derives from Wenger\u27s concept of community of practice, but his theoretical concept does not explicitly include gender dimensions. Therefore, the concept of community of practice is also combined with Paechter\u27s assumption of gender, whereby femininity and masculinity can be considered as different communities of practice. Methods: The article draws on evidence from a Swedish study based on interviews with 20 female students enrolled on the industrial programme at six upper secondary schools. In this vocational programme, there is a distinct gender distribution and only a small minority of the students on the programme are girls. In the analysis, the focus is on the female students\u27 strategies used during workplace-based learning to become part of the work community which consists almost exclusively of male workers. Findings: The female students deliberately negotiated vocational identities as female industrial workers to become accepted in the male-dominated work community. The findings highlight three specific strategies that the female students used: Acting like gender does not matter, acting like boys (not like drama queens), and acting tough and joking around. The female students\u27 strategies were part of – and tied to – a complex vocational identity formation process that featured contradictory requirements. By taking individual responsibility, they identified relevant information for becoming industrial workers and chose to act like boys. The female students saw no problem with being a girl, yet they struggled with implicit, diffuse and hidden gender structures and prejudices in the male-dominated industrial companies. Nevertheless, they strived for what they perceived to be an attractive vocational identity as industrial workers; it was an alternative, atypically feminine way of being that attracted the female students. Conclusions: The study concludes that female students mostly rely on their individual agency when interacting with others in the male-dominated workplace community. A "gendered vocational identity" is formed which shows that the identity formation of female students is a complex double process, in which vocational and gender identities are formed simultaneously and in parallel within the male-dominated workplace. (DIPF/Orig.