Auditory-Motor Adaptation to Frequency-Altered Auditory Feedback Occurs When Participants Ignore Feedback

Background Auditory feedback is important for accurate control of voice fundamental frequency (F0). The purpose of this study was to address whether task instructions could influence the compensatory responding and sensorimotor adaptation that has been previously found when participants are presented with a series of frequency-altered feedback (FAF) trials. Trained singers and musically untrained participants (nonsingers) were informed that their auditory feedback would be manipulated in pitch while they sang the target vowel [/ɑ /]. Participants were instructed to either ‘compensate’ for, or ‘ignore’ the changes in auditory feedback. Whole utterance auditory feedback manipulations were either gradually presented (‘ramp’) in -2 cent increments down to -100 cents (1 semitone) or were suddenly (’constant‘) shifted down by 1 semitone. Results Results indicated that singers and nonsingers could not suppress their compensatory responses to FAF, nor could they reduce the sensorimotor adaptation observed during both the ramp and constant FAF trials. Conclusions Compared to previous research, these data suggest that musical training is effective in suppressing compensatory responses only when FAF occurs after vocal onset (500-2500 ms). Moreover, our data suggest that compensation and adaptation are automatic and are influenced little by conscious control

Gregory Hawco, percussion

Gregory Hawco, percussionGismonti, Egberto written as Gismonti Egbort

Gregory Hawco, percussion

Gregory Hawco, percussionGismonti, Egberto written as Gismonti Egbort

Structural characterization of natural nickel and copper binding ligands along the US GEOTRACES Eastern Pacific Zonal Transect

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Frontiers in Marine Science 3 (2016): 243, doi:10.3389/fmars.2016.00243.Organic ligands form strong complexes with many trace elements in seawater. Various metals can compete for the same ligand chelation sites, and the final speciation of bound metals is determined by relative binding affinities, concentrations of binding sites, uncomplexed metal concentrations, and association/dissociation kinetics. Different ligands have a wide range of metal affinities and specificities. However, the chemical composition of these ligands in the marine environment remains poorly constrained, which has hindered progress in modeling marine metal speciation. In this study, we detected and characterized natural ligands that bind copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) in the eastern South Pacific Ocean with liquid chromatography tandem inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LC-ICPMS), and high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS). Dissolved Cu, Ni, and ligand concentrations were highest near the coast. Chromatographically unresolved polar compounds dominated ligands isolated near the coast by solid phase extraction. Offshore, metal and ligand concentrations decreased, but several new ligands appeared. One major ligand was detected that bound both Cu2+ and Ni2+. Based on accurate mass and fragmentation measurements, this compound has a molecular formula of [C20H21N4O8S2+M]+ (M = metal isotope) and contains several azole-like metal binding groups. Additional lipophilic Ni complexes were also present only in oligotrophic waters, with masses of 649, 698, and 712 m/z (corresponding to the 58Ni metal complex). Molecular formulae of [C32H54N3O6S2Ni]+ and [C33H56N3O6S2Ni]+ were determined for two of these compounds. Addition of Cu and Ni to the samples also revealed the presence of additional compounds that can bind both Ni and Cu. Although these specific compounds represent a small fraction of the total dissolved Cu and Ni pool, they highlight the compositional diversity and spatial heterogeneity of marine Ni and Cu ligands, as well as variability in the extent to which different metals in the same environment compete for ligand binding.Support was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) program in Chemical Oceanography (OCE-1356747, OCE-1233261, OCE-1233733, OCE-1233502, and OCE-1237034), the NSF Science and Technology Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (C-MORE; DBI-0424599), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (#3298 and 3934), and the Simons Foundation (#329108, DR)

A dissolved cobalt plume in the oxygen minimum zone of the eastern tropical South Pacific

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 13 (2016): 5697-5717, doi:10.5194/bg-13-5697-2016.Cobalt is a nutrient to phytoplankton, but knowledge about its biogeochemical cycling is limited, especially in the Pacific Ocean. Here, we report sections of dissolved cobalt and labile dissolved cobalt from the US GEOTRACES GP16 transect in the South Pacific. The cobalt distribution is closely tied to the extent and intensity of the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern South Pacific with highest concentrations measured at the oxycline near the Peru margin. Below 200 m, remineralization and circulation produce an inverse relationship between cobalt and dissolved oxygen that extends throughout the basin. Within the oxygen minimum zone, elevated concentrations of labile cobalt are generated by input from coastal sources and reduced scavenging at low O2. As these high cobalt waters are upwelled and advected offshore, phytoplankton export returns cobalt to low-oxygen water masses underneath. West of the Peru upwelling region, dissolved cobalt is less than 10 pM in the euphotic zone and strongly bound by organic ligands. Because the cobalt nutricline within the South Pacific gyre is deeper than in oligotrophic regions in the North and South Atlantic, cobalt involved in sustaining phytoplankton productivity in the gyre is heavily recycled and ultimately arrives from lateral transport of upwelled waters from the eastern margin. In contrast to large coastal inputs, atmospheric deposition and hydrothermal vents along the East Pacific Rise appear to be minor sources of cobalt. Overall, these results demonstrate that oxygen biogeochemistry exerts a strong influence on cobalt cycling.This work was funded by NSF awards OCE-1233733 to MAS, OCE-1232814 to BST, and OCE-1237011 to JAR

The Role of External Inputs and Internal Cycling in Shaping the Global Ocean Cobalt Distribution: Insights From the First Cobalt Biogeochemical Model

©2018. The Authors. Cobalt is an important micronutrient for ocean microbes as it is present in vitamin B 12 and is a co-factor in various metalloenzymes that catalyze cellular processes. Moreover, when seawater availability of cobalt is compared to biological demands, cobalt emerges as being depleted in seawater, pointing to a potentially important limiting role. To properly account for the potential biological role for cobalt, there is therefore a need to understand the processes driving the biogeochemical cycling of cobalt and, in particular, the balance between external inputs and internal cycling. To do so, we developed the first cobalt model within a state-of-the-art three-dimensional global ocean biogeochemical model. Overall, our model does a good job in reproducing measurements with a correlation coefficient of > 0.7 in the surface and > 0.5 at depth. We find that continental margins are the dominant source of cobalt, with a crucial role played by supply under low bottom-water oxygen conditions. The basin-scale distribution of cobalt supplied from margins is facilitated by the activity of manganese-oxidizing bacteria being suppressed under low oxygen and low temperatures, which extends the residence time of cobalt. Overall, we find a residence time of 7 and 250 years in the upper 250 m and global ocean, respectively. Importantly, we find that the dominant internal resupply process switches from regeneration and recycling of particulate cobalt to dissolution of scavenged cobalt between the upper ocean and the ocean interior. Our model highlights key regions of the ocean where biological activity may be most sensitive to cobalt availability

Transforming Public Libraries as Spaces of Refuge & Resiliency During Climate Crisis: Toronto Public Library Youth and Staff Perspectives

As climate change progresses and environmental degradation threatens life on earth, public libraries have the potential and obligation to transform their roles to become a true place of refuge and resiliency for their communities. This can be accomplished through a dramatic change in their vision, to include: focusing heavily on their environmental responsibility to their communities, enhancing environmental literacy education, furthering environmentally-friendly organizational practices, and creating solid community networks to manage climate emergencies which will result in more resilient communities. As a Toronto Public Library employee for over eight years, my own experiences and reflections are discussed. Interviews were conducted with four children who frequent the Toronto Public Library Jane Sheppard branch and one Toronto Public Library Librarian. As one of the leading public library systems in the world, the Toronto Public Library has the capacity to become a prime example of developing their branches successfully to be hubs of the community providing refuge and resiliency during climate crisis

Reclaiming the Ocean - The Palm Islands

As the human race continues to populate all reaches of our planet, the amount of land available for inhabitation becomes drastically decreased. This is particularly relevant in the case of premier property locations on the coastlines of tropical regions. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a small Arab country on the Persian Gulf located approximately 24 degrees north of the equator. This country is faced with the problem of limited coastline availability for residence to live upon and have taken a future orientated approach of reclaiming the land out of the sea to solve their problem. The three palm islands and other Dubai reclamation projects are developed by the company Nakheel and consist of the Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira, The World, The Universe, and the Dubai Waterfront. The reclamation projects on the Dubai coastline are in various stages of completion and will increase the available coastline length immensely. In recent years the projects have faced financial difficulties as well as engineering difficulties in dealing with rising sea levels and erosive ocean activity. This paper will focus on the history and background of the creation of the palm islands, the struggles and successes of the project, and what the future holds for other ocean reclamation projects

Coastal sources, sinks and strong organic complexation of dissolved cobalt within the US North Atlantic GEOTRACES transect GA03

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 14 (2017): 2715-2739, doi:10.5194/bg-14-2715-2017.Cobalt is the scarcest of metallic micronutrients and displays a complex biogeochemical cycle. This study examines the distribution, chemical speciation, and biogeochemistry of dissolved cobalt during the US North Atlantic GEOTRACES transect expeditions (GA03/3_e), which took place in the fall of 2010 and 2011. Two major subsurface sources of cobalt to the North Atlantic were identified. The more prominent of the two was a large plume of cobalt emanating from the African coast off the eastern tropical North Atlantic coincident with the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) likely due to reductive dissolution, biouptake and remineralization, and aeolian dust deposition. The occurrence of this plume in an OMZ with oxygen above suboxic levels implies a high threshold for persistence of dissolved cobalt plumes. The other major subsurface source came from Upper Labrador Seawater, which may carry high cobalt concentrations due to the interaction of this water mass with resuspended sediment at the western margin or from transport further upstream. Minor sources of cobalt came from dust, coastal surface waters and hydrothermal systems along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The full depth section of cobalt chemical speciation revealed near-complete complexation in surface waters, even within regions of high dust deposition. However, labile cobalt observed below the euphotic zone demonstrated that strong cobalt-binding ligands were not present in excess of the total cobalt concentration there, implying that mesopelagic labile cobalt was sourced from the remineralization of sinking organic matter. In the upper water column, correlations were observed between total cobalt and phosphate, and between labile cobalt and phosphate, demonstrating a strong biological influence on cobalt cycling. Along the western margin off the North American coast, this correlation with phosphate was no longer observed and instead a relationship between cobalt and salinity was observed, reflecting the importance of coastal input processes on cobalt distributions. In deep waters, both total and labile cobalt concentrations were lower than in intermediate depth waters, demonstrating that scavenging may remove labile cobalt from the water column. Total and labile cobalt distributions were also compared to a previously published South Atlantic GEOTRACES-compliant zonal transect (CoFeMUG, GAc01) to discern regional biogeochemical differences. Together, these Atlantic sectional studies highlight the dynamic ecological stoichiometry of total and labile cobalt. As increasing anthropogenic use and subsequent release of cobalt poses the potential to overpower natural cobalt signals in the oceans, it is more important than ever to establish a baseline understanding of cobalt distributions in the ocean.We also gratefully acknowledge support of funding agencies on the following grants: the US National Science Foundation (NSF-OCE 0928414, 1233261, 1435056) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant 3738)

The palaeontology of Ediacaran Avalonia: new insights using morphometrics and multivariate statistical analyses

The Avalonian Ediacaran fossil assemblage of Newfoundland, Canada contains abundant fossils with a wide range of morphologies and preservational styles. Quantitative morphological and statistical analysis in Ediacaran fossil assemblages has recently been used to recognize natural morphological groupings, providing evidence for variability within and between taxa. This approach is first used herein to test the grouping of the serially arranged, millimeterscale chambered organism known as Palaeopascichnus. The combined morphometric and statistical analytical approach was applied to collected specimens from Ferryland, and demonstrates constrained, discrete growth patterns. The same technique was used to compare fossil palaeopascichnids with extant Protista, which has supported the protistan affinity for the hitherto enigmatic palaeopascichnids. This thesis also statistically investigates an Ediacaran taxonomic dispute known as the Beothukis/Culmofrons problem. The two taxa (Beothukis mistakensis and Culmofrons plumosa) were established separately, but were later synonymized. To determine the validity of this taxonomic reassignment, this thesis investigates the clustering of specimens based on their morphology and morphometrics and assesses the validity of certain taxonomic characters within the specimen dataset. These findings validate the original genus-level differentiation of Beothukis and Culmofrons, while also showing evidence for previously unrecognized variation within the genus Beothukis. Overall, this technique has led to the finding that more morphotypes may exist within the Ediacaran biota than originally thought, and proves the utility of detailed statistical and morphological analysis in determining morphological diversity and disparity