Learning a novel phonological contrast depends on interactions between individual differences and training paradigm design

Studies evaluating phonological contrast learning typically investigate either the predictiveness of specific pretraining aptitude measures or the efficacy of different instructional paradigms. However, little research considers how these factors interact--whether different students learn better from different types of instruction--and what the psychological basis for any interaction might be. The present study demonstrates that successfully learning a foreign-language phonological contrast for pitch depends on an interaction between individual differences in perceptual abilities and the design of the training paradigm. Training from stimuli with high acoustic-phonetic variability is generally thought to improve learning; however, we found high-variability training enhanced learning only for individuals with strong perceptual abilities. Learners with weaker perceptual abilities were actually impaired by high-variability training relative to a low-variability condition. A second experiment assessing variations on the high-variability training design determined that the property of this learning environment most detrimental to perceptually weak learners is the amount of trial-by-trial variability. Learners' perceptual limitations can thus override the benefits of high-variability training where trial-by-trial variability in other irrelevant acoustic-phonetic features obfuscates access to the target feature. These results demonstrate the importance of considering individual differences in pretraining aptitudes when evaluating the efficacy of any speech training paradigm.     

Low-temperature Mössbauer studies of FeNb2O6

Fe⁵⁷ Mössbauer spectra of FeNb₂O₆ were obtained from 15.0K down to 1.9 K. The isomer shift, 1.42±0.01 mm sec^?1 relative to Cr, was found to be temperature independent, whereas the magnitude of the quadrupole splitting was observed to decrease slightly with temperature. The quadrupole splitting and the hyperfine field at 1.9 K are -2.41±0.01 mm sec^?1 and 34.6±0.3 kOe respectively. The directions of the hyperfine fields experienced by the Fe nuclei are in the a-c plane symmetrically displaced with respect to the crystallographic axes.     

On free quadratic extensions of rings

The quaternion algebraB[j] over a commutative ringB with 1 defined byS. Parimala andR. Sridharan is generalized in two directions: (1) the ringB may be non-commutative with 1, and (2)j ² may be any invertible element (not necessarily –1). LetG={} be an automorphism group ofB of order 2, andA={b inB| (b)=b}. LetB[j] be a generalized quaternion algebra such thataj (a) for eacha inB. It will be shown thatB is Galois (for non-commutative ring extensions) overA which is contained in the center ofB if and only ifB[j] is Azumaya overA. Also,A[j] is a splitting ring forB[j] such thatA[j] is Galois overA. Moreover, we shall determine which automorphism group ofA[j] is a Galois group.     

两种可溶性聚乙炔衍生物的飞秒发光动力学研究

采用飞秒频率上转换技术测量了两种可溶聚乙炔衍射生物ｐｏｌｙ（ｐｈｅｎｙｌａｃｅｔｙｌｅｎｅ（ＰＰＡ）和ｐｏｌｙ（１－ｐｈｅｎｙｌ－１－ｂｕｔｙ１）ＰＰＢ）的发光动力学过程。采用非均匀展宽态密我规行走理论对上述结果进行了分析。     

Lp-spectra of strongly Carleman pseudo-differential operators

The spectrum and essential spectrum in L^p($\text{R}$ⁿ) of a strongly Carleman pseudo-differential operator with symbol of class S_?,0^m, 0 ? p ? 1, are shown to coincide with the range of the symbol for some (but need not be all) p different from 2. The absolutely continuous spectra of perturbations of operators with strongly Carleman symbols (but without the assumption of being in S_?,0^m) are also investigated.     

黄钾铁矾的生物合成与鉴定

利用氧化亚铁硫杆菌的生物催化氧化作用,在FeSO4—K2SO4—H2O体系中和常温常压条件下合成赭黄色的黄钾铁矾。借助SEM,XRD,FTIR,ICP—AES等方法对它的化学组成和结构进行了分析与表征。结果表明,Thiobacillus ferrooxidans休止细胞可在2天内将FeSO4-K2SO4-H2O体系中的Fe^2 全部氧化为Fe^3 ,Fe^3 在高浓度硫酸根、K^ 存在和酸性条件下水解生成赭黄色高铁沉淀,经鉴定为黄钾铁矾,其晶体粒径均匀,分散性好,且没有无定形的羟基硫酸高铁副产物。     

The absence of physical-aging effects on the surface relaxations of rubbed polystyrene

Extensive experimental results are presented to reveal the relaxations of polystyrene surface deformed by rubbing with a velvet cloth. We found that surface topographic features, such as ditches and ridges created by rubbing, relax at temperatures at about 20^° C below the bulk glass transition temperature of the polystyrene for a molecular weight of 442 kg/mol, even though we estimate the Laplace Pressure driving the relaxation to be 1/500 of the yield limit. The relaxation is independent of the thermal history before the rubbing process, and post rubbing thermal history below 55^° C . In other words, physical-aging processes at 23^° C for up to 7 days and at 50^° C for 2 days, which would have drastic effects on the relaxations of bulk polymers, have little effects on the relaxations of rubbed surfaces. This is consistent with the mobility enhancement in the surface layer previously reported in the literature.     

Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy: A Powerful Technique to Directly Study Small Gas Molecules Adsorbed in Metal–Organic Frameworks

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown great potential in gas separation and storage, and the design of MOFs for these purposes is an on-going field of research. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy is a valuable technique for characterizing these functional materials. It can provide a wide range of structural and motional insights that are complementary to and/or difficult to access with alternative methods. In this Concept article, the recent advances made in SSNMR investigations of small gas molecules (i.e., carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen gas and light hydrocarbons) adsorbed in MOFs are discussed. These studies demonstrate the breadth of information that can be obtained by SSNMR spectroscopy, such as the number and location of guest adsorption sites, host–guest binding strengths and guest mobility. The knowledge acquired from these experiments yields a powerful tool for progress in MOF development.     

A Model for Evaluation of Transport Policies in Multimodal Networks with Road and Parking Capacity Constraints

This paper presents a model for evaluation of transport policies in multimodal networks with road and parking capacity constraints. The proposed model simultaneously considers choices of travelers on route, parking location and mode between auto and transit. In the proposed model, it is assumed that auto drivers make a simultaneous route and parking location choice in a user equilibrium manner, and the modal split between auto and transit follows a multinomial logit formulation. A mathematical programming model with capacity constraints on road link and parking facilities is proposed that generates optimality conditions equivalent to the requirements for multimodal network equilibrium. An augmented Lagrangian dual algorithm embedded by partial linearization approach is developed to solve the proposed model. Numerical results on two example networks are presented to illustrate the proposed methodology. The results show that the service level of transit, parking charges, road link and parking capacities, and addition of a new parking location may bring significant impacts on travelers’ behavior and network performance. In addition, transport policies may result in paradoxical phenomenon.