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The effects of an unfamiliar experimenter on proactive and reactive control in children
No full textCognitive control development across childhood is critical for later academic achievement. Despite recent advances in the comprehension of how the context influences cognitive control development, no study has ever addressed whether one of the most frequent contextual features of children’s lives (i.e., the presence of another person) impacts control engagement. Here, 123 Chinese children aged 5 and 9 years-old performed, either in the presence of an experimenter or alone, an AX-CPT, a task assessing reactive and proactive control. We found that children were overall negatively affected by the experimenter presence in terms of latencies but not of accuracy. Further, when analysing the trial types separately, we observed that this effect mainly concerned trials requiring children to engage more proactive control and was greater for younger than older children. These results indicate that direct social factors such as the presence of an unfamiliar experimenter seem to modulate cognitive control performance. Future research should continue to examine these effects in the light of the numerous existing social presence theories in order to unravel what are the cognitive mechanisms affected by social presence in childhood
Whale song shows language-like statistical structure
No full textHumpback whale song is a culturally transmitted behavior. Human language, which is also culturally transmitted, has statistically coherent parts whose frequency distribution follows a power law. These properties facilitate learning, and may therefore arise because of their contribution to the faithful transmission of language over multiple cultural generations. If so, we would expect to find them in other culturally transmitted systems. Here, we apply methods based on infant speech segmentation to eight years of humpback recordings, uncovering the same statistical structure that is a hallmark of human language in whale song. This commonality, in two evolutionarily distant species, points to the role of learning and cultural transmission in the emergence of properties thought to be unique to human language
Using existing research to inform curriculum development:an illustration for business English practitioners
No full textFlipping a three-day TESOL Taster Course
No full textThis talk analyses how we implemented Flipped Learning (FL) and looped input while serving as a blueprint for TESOL taster courses interested in embracing a similar approach. Our course aims to raise awareness of key competencies included in the British Council CPD framework (2018). However, it is designed primarily for undergraduate students taking a Teaching Assistant position. This introduction to TESOL theories and practices acts as a springboard to help them facilitate learning and teaching in their TA roles. Our challenge lies on the intensive nature of the course along with the trainees’ lack of theoretical and practical TESOL knowledge. Our results show a positive reception of the combination of FL and looped input. While flipped content allowed our trainees to engage with conceptually challenging materials, scaffolded to inform their practice; loop input provided a reliable model for implementing tasks and techniques. Both FL and looped input are rooted in strong pedagogical principles while FL appears in initial teacher training qualifications (Lue & Martin, 2020; Hudson, 2022). Looped input is presented as a key feature of teacher trainers’ courses (Melia-Leigh and Northall, 2020). By combining both approaches in our course, we shifted the focus from ‘How would you teach this? To how are you teaching this? By providing practical tips on combining FL and looped input in TESOL taste courses, this talk may be relevant to both teacher educators and course designers
Modelling interventions to combat antibacterial resistance in East Africa using causal Bayesian networks
No full textAntibacterial resistance (ABR) poses significant challenges to combating infections worldwide. ABR drivers are interconnected, complicating identification of intervention points. Researchers need a systems-based perspective that considers interrelated drivers collectively. We focus on urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are increasingly impacted by emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria. We analysed 2,007 adult outpatients with UTIs in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in 2019-2020. We applied structure learning in Bayesian networks, a graphical probabilistic model, alongside expert knowledge to construct a causal diagram of drivers of prevalence of MDR UTI. MDR prevalence was influenced more by demographic, socioeconomic and environmental conditions than recent antibiotic use. We conducted hypothetical interventions to estimate drivers' causal effects, revealing that improving education access, providing protected drinking water and flush toilets, and reducing overcrowding would decrease MDR prevalence. A systems-based approach identified underlying causal patterns contributing to prevalence of MDR, and could guide the development of complexity-aware targeted interventions.</p
Between Women: Franki Raffles, Sylvia Grace Borda, Sandra George, Carolyn Scott and Niu Weiyu
No full textLong-term interventions by conservation and development projects support successful recovery of tropical peatlands in Amazonia
No full text1. Rural communities in Amazonia rely on harvesting Mauritia flexuosa fruit, a dominant peatland palm, for their subsistence and income. However, these palms are felled to harvest the fruits, which has led to reduced resource availability due to the pressure exerted by the increasing fruit demand. As a result, climbing has been proposed as a means to harvest the fruits sustainably. However, the long-term ecological and socio-economic impacts of climbing, rather than felling, palms remain unknown. 2. We evaluate whether M. flexuosa populations and fruit production in managed peatland palm swamps have recovered within two rural communities in Peru where climbing to harvest palm fruits was adopted between 1999 and 2002. Since then, these communities have been supported by conservation and development projects. 3. We conducted interviews with community members to assess perceptions of change since the introduction of climbing and carried out forest inventories to estimate changes in two socio-economic indicators (volume of harvested M. flexuosa fruits and income) and three ecological indicators (pole stem density of M. flexuosa, seedling and sapling density, and the sex ratio of adult palms). 4. Our results reveal that the adoption of climbing has improved the health of the forest stands and incomes in both rural communities. Recovery of M. flexuosa populations was supported by local perceptions of increases in stand productivity, improved values of most indicators within managed stands compared to reference data from unmanaged stands in the region, and continuous recovery of degraded stands over time following the adoption of climbing by both communities. 5. Synthesis and applications. We demonstrate how long-term conservation and development initiatives can lead to successful outcomes for rural communities and peatland ecosystems. However, urgent adoption of sustainable harvesting techniques, such as the palm climbing in our study, is needed across Amazonia to safeguard the ecological integrity of peatlands, below carbon storage, and livelihoods. This transition will require long-term collaboration among different stakeholders, affordable management plans, and fair prices for sustainable management for peatland resources
Microrheology of the cumulus-oocyte matrix using optical tweezers
No full textOptical tweezers have emerged as a powerful, versatile approach for a range of studies in cellular and molecular biology. A particular highlight has been its use for microrheology measurements in miniscule sample volumes. In this study, we demonstrate the application of optical tweezers to investigate the viscosity of the extracellular matrix surrounding mammalian oocytes and determine whether this is associated with oocyte developmental potential. By analysing the motion of a trapped particle, we can quantify the mechanical properties of this matrix, thus overcoming limitations of traditional passive microrheology techniques that rely on free diffusion. We utilise two maturation methods—in vivo and in vitro—to generate oocytes with differing developmental potential. Our findings indicate that oocytes matured in vivo exhibit higher viability post-fertilisation compared to their in vitro counterparts and we establish a positive correlation between extracellular matrix viscosity and oocyte developmental potential. This work demonstrates that optical tweezers are a novel, non-invasive tool for assessing oocyte quality, contributing to valuable insights to the field of reproductive biology
Review of <i>Umberto Roberto: Diocleziano.</i> <i>Il principe carismatico e autoritario, salvatore dell' Impero, che abdicò in cerca di pace e silenzio</i> (= Profili; 61), Roma: Salerno Editrice 2023, 392 S., ISBN 978-88-6973-765-7, EUR 25,00
No full textCO isotopologue-derived molecular gas conditions and CO-to-H<sub>2</sub> conversion factors in M51
No full textOver the past decade, several millimeter interferometer programs have mapped the nearby star-forming galaxy M51 at a spatial resolution of ≤170 pc. This study combines observations from three major programs: the PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS), the SMA M51 large program (SMA-PAWS), and the Surveying the Whirlpool at Arcseconds with NOEMA (SWAN). The dataset includes the (1-0) and (2-1) rotational transitions of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O isotopologues. The observations cover the r<3kpc region including center and part of the disk, thereby ensuring strong detections of the weaker 13CO and C18O lines. All observations are convolved in this analysis to an angular resolution of 4′′, corresponding to a physical scale of ∼170 pc. We investigate empirical line ratio relations and quantitatively evaluate molecular gas conditions such as temperature, density, and the CO-to-H2 conversion factor (αCO). We employ two approaches to study the molecular gas conditions: (i) assuming local thermal equilibrium (LTE) to analytically determine the CO column density and αCO, and (ii) using non-LTE modeling with RADEX to fit physical conditions to observed CO isotopologue intensities. We find that the αCO values {in the center and along the inner spiral arm} are ∼0.5 dex (LTE) and ∼0.1 dex (non-LTE) below the Milky Way inner disk value. The average non-LTE αCO is 2.4±0.5 M⊙ pc−2 (K km s−1)−1. While both methods show dispersion due to underlying assumptions, the scatter is larger for LTE-derived values. This study underscores the necessity for robust CO line modeling to accurately constrain the molecular ISM's physical and chemical conditions in nearby galaxies