IDLaS-NL – A platform for running customized studies on individual differences in Dutch language skills via the internet

We introduce the Individual Differences in Language Skills (IDLaS-NL) web platform, which enables users to run studies on individual differences in Dutch language skills via the internet. IDLaS-NL consists of 35 behavioral tests, previously validated in participants aged between 18 and 30 years. The platform provides an intuitive graphical interface for users to select the tests they wish to include in their research, to divide these tests into different sessions and to determine their order. Moreover, for standardized administration the platform provides an application (an emulated browser) wherein the tests are run. Results can be retrieved by mouse click in the graphical interface and are provided as CSV-file output via email. Similarly, the graphical interface enables researchers to modify and delete their study configurations. IDLaS-NL is intended for researchers, clinicians, educators and in general anyone conducting fundamental research into language and general cognitive skills; it is not intended for diagnostic purposes. All platform services are free of charge. Here, we provide a description of its workings as well as instructions for using the platform. The IDLaS-NL platform can be accessed at www.mpi.nl/idlas-nl

Imaging the water snowline in a protostellar envelope with H13^{13}CO+^+

Snowlines are key ingredients for planet formation. Providing observational constraints on the locations of the major snowlines is therefore crucial for fully connecting planet compositions to their formation mechanism. Unfortunately, the most important snowline, that of water, is very difficult to observe directly in protoplanetary disks due to its close proximity to the central star. Based on chemical considerations, HCO$^+$ is predicted to be a good chemical tracer of the water snowline, because it is particularly abundant in dense clouds when water is frozen out. This work maps the optically thin isotopologue H$^{13}$CO$^+$ ($J=3-2$) toward the envelope of the low-mass protostar NGC1333-IRAS2A (observed with NOEMA at ~0.9" resolution), where the snowline is at larger distance from the star than in disks. The H$^{13}$CO$^+$ emission peaks ~2" northeast of the continuum peak, whereas the previously observed H$_2^{18}$O shows compact emission on source. Quantitative modeling shows that a decrease in H$^{13}$CO$^+$ abundance by at least a factor of six is needed in the inner ~360 AU to reproduce the observed emission profile. Chemical modeling predicts indeed a steep increase in HCO$^+$ just outside the water snowline; the 50% decrease in gaseous H$_2$O at the snowline is not enough to allow HCO$^+$ to be abundant. This places the water snowline at 225 AU, further away from the star than expected based on the 1D envelope temperature structure for NGC1333-IRAS2A. In contrast, DCO$^+$ observations show that the CO snowline is at the expected location, making an outburst scenario unlikely. The spatial anticorrelation of the H$^{13}$CO$^+$ and H$_2^{18}$O emission provide a proof of concept that H$^{13}$CO$^+$ can be used as a tracer of the water snowline.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in A&

Shared lexical access processes in speaking and listening? An individual differences study

- * indicates joint first authorship - Lexical access is a core component of word processing. In order to produce or comprehend a word, language users must access word forms in their mental lexicon. However, despite its involvement in both tasks, previous research has often studied lexical access in either production or comprehension alone. Therefore, it is unknown to which extent lexical access processes are shared across both tasks. Picture naming and auditory lexical decision are considered good tools for studying lexical access. Both of them are speeded tasks. Given these commonalities, another open question concerns the involvement of general cognitive abilities (e.g., processing speed) in both linguistic tasks. In the present study, we addressed these questions. We tested a large group of young adults enrolled in academic and vocational courses. Participants completed picture naming and auditory lexical decision tasks as well as a battery of tests assessing non-verbal processing speed, vocabulary, and non-verbal intelligence. Our results suggest that the lexical access processes involved in picture naming and lexical decision are related but less closely than one might have thought. Moreover, reaction times in picture naming and lexical decision depended as least as much on general processing speed as on domain-specific linguistic processes (i.e., lexical access processes)

Economic values for ecosystem services:A global synthesis and way forward

This paper presents a global synthesis of economic values for ecosystem services provided by 15 terrestrial and marine biomes. Information from over 1,300 studies, yielding over 9,400 value estimates in monetary units, has been collected and organised in the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD). This is a substantial expansion of data since the de Groot et al. (2012) description of the ESVD and provides an important juncture to explore developments in the use of valuation methods and the contexts in which valuations are conducted. In this paper we provide summary values for 23 ecosystem services from 15 biomes to represent the magnitude, variation and gaps in economic values. To enable the comparison and synthesis of values, estimates in the ESVD are standardised to a common set of units (Int$/ha/year at 2020 price levels). This data provides a basis for value transfers to inform decision-making in current policy contexts but requires due consideration and adjustment for context specific determinants of value. Although the coverage of the ESVD is global, the geographic distribution of data is not even. There is a particularly high representation of European ecosystems and relatively little information for Russia, Central Asia and North Africa. Therefore, the data are not globally representative of biophysical and socio-economic contexts. The distribution of data across ecosystem services is also far from even, with some services very well represented (e.g. recreation, wild fish and wild animals, ecosystem and species appreciation, air filtration and global climate regulation) and others with almost no value estimates (e.g. disease control, water baseflow maintenance, rainfall pattern regulation). In the past decade, there has been a notable increase in demand for information on the economic value of ecosystem services from both public and private institutions to improve the conservation and management of natural capital. The literature is developing to meet this demand but there is a need for targeted and refined valuation research to ensure sufficient certainty, comparability, and representativeness of the data, and to enable transferability and fill knowledge gaps. This paper concludes by identifying avenues for future development to further increase the amount, quality, representativeness and application of data on economic values for ecosystem services.</p

Complex organic molecules in low-mass protostars on Solar System scales -- II. Nitrogen-bearing species

The chemical inventory of planets is determined by the physical and chemical processes that govern the early phases of star formation. The aim is to investigate N-bearing complex organic molecules towards two Class 0 protostars (B1-c and S68N) at millimetre wavelengths with ALMA. Next, the results of the detected N-bearing species are compared with those of O-bearing species for the same and other sources. ALMA observations in Band 6 ($\sim$ 1 mm) and Band 5 ($\sim$ 2 mm) are studied at $\sim$ 0.5" resolution, complemented by Band 3 ($\sim$ 3 mm) data in a $\sim$ 2.5" beam. NH2CHO, C2H5CN, HNCO, HN13CO, DNCO, CH3CN, CH2DCN, and CHD2CN are identified towards the investigated sources. Their abundances relative to CH3OH and HNCO are similar for the two sources, with column densities that are typically an order of magnitude lower than those of O-bearing species. The largest variations, of an order of magnitude, are seen for NH2CHO abundance ratios with respect to HNCO and CH3OH and do not correlate with the protostellar luminosity. In addition, within uncertainties, the N-bearing species have similar excitation temperatures to those of O-bearing species ($\sim$ 100 $\sim$ 300 K). The similarity of most abundances with respect to HNCO, including those of CH2DCN and CHD2CN, hints at a shared chemical history, especially the high D/H ratio in cold regions prior to star formation. However, some of the variations in abundances may reflect the sensitivity of the chemistry to local conditions such as temperature (e.g. NH2CHO), while others may arise from differences in the emitting areas of the molecules linked to their different binding energies in the ice. The two sources discussed here add to the small number of sources with such a detailed chemical analysis on Solar System scales. Future JWST data will allow a direct comparison between the ice and gas abundances of N-bearing species.Comment: Accepted to A&A, 41 pages, 37 figure

Comprehensive Gene-Expression Survey Identifies Wif1 as a Modulator of Cardiomyocyte Differentiation

During chicken cardiac development the proepicardium (PE) forms the epicardium (Epi), which contributes to several non-myocardial lineages within the heart. In contrast to Epi-explant cultures, PE explants can differentiate into a cardiomyocyte phenotype. By temporal microarray expression profiles of PE-explant cultures and maturing Epi cells, we identified genes specifically associated with differentiation towards either of these lineages and genes that are associated with the Epi-lineage restriction. We found a central role for Wnt signaling in the determination of the different cell lineages. Immunofluorescent staining after recombinant-protein incubation in PE-explant cultures indicated that the early upregulated Wnt inhibitory factor-1 (Wif1), stimulates cardiomyocyte differentiation in a similar manner as Wnt stimulation. Concordingly, in the mouse pluripotent embryogenic carcinoma cell line p19cl6, early and late Wif1 exposure enhances and attenuates differentiation, respectively. In ovo exposure of the HH12 chicken embryonic heart to Wif1 increases the Tbx18-positive cardiac progenitor pool. These data indicate that Wif1 enhances cardiomyogenesis

Identification of Radiopure Titanium for the LZ Dark Matter Experiment and Future Rare Event Searches

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will search for dark matter particle interactions with a detector containing a total of 10 tonnes of liquid xenon within a double-vessel cryostat. The large mass and proximity of the cryostat to the active detector volume demand the use of material with extremely low intrinsic radioactivity. We report on the radioassay campaign conducted to identify suitable metals, the determination of factors limiting radiopure production, and the selection of titanium for construction of the LZ cryostat and other detector components. This titanium has been measured with activities of $^{238}$U$_{e}$~$<$1.6~mBq/kg, $^{238}$U$_{l}$~$<$0.09~mBq/kg, $^{232}$Th$_{e}$~$=0.28\pm 0.03$~mBq/kg, $^{232}$Th$_{l}$~$=0.25\pm 0.02$~mBq/kg, $^{40}$K~$<$0.54~mBq/kg, and $^{60}$Co~$<$0.02~mBq/kg (68\% CL). Such low intrinsic activities, which are some of the lowest ever reported for titanium, enable its use for future dark matter and other rare event searches. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to assess the expected background contribution from the LZ cryostat with this radioactivity. In 1,000 days of WIMP search exposure of a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, the cryostat will contribute only a mean background of $0.160\pm0.001$(stat)$\pm0.030$(sys) counts.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic