Handedness and the cerebral representation of speech

Hand preferences vary not discretely but continuously and the continuum of preference is closely and reliably linked with a continuous roughly Normal distribution of differences between the hands in skill. Questions about handedness can be usefully formulated in terms of the distribution of differences in skill and in terms of the theshold or criterion which divided those likely to be classified as right handers from those likely to be classified as left handers. A theory of the origin of hand preferences suggests that three factors are involved. The first in non-genetic accidental variation in the development of the two sides of the body in all bilaterally symmetrical species showing limb preferences. The second in a systematic bias to the right hand in man, probably linked with the tendency for the left hemisphere to serve speech. The third is socio-cultural factors affecting the expression of sinistrality. An explanation of the relation between hand preference and cerebral speech laterality requires the assumption that in some individuals the factor biasing speech to the left hemisphere is absent. This would imply that the bias is not a universal species character but that it is subject to genetic variation. Making the simplest possible further assumptions that in the absence of bias, the laterality of handedness and of cerebral speech are independent and each governed by chance, it is possible to account for the distribution of right and left handers with dysphasias following right and left unilateral cerebral lesions.     

Trust and team development to fight chaos: three student reports

The world is increasingly developing towards complex and chaotic behaviour. Enterprises are challenged to establish flexible but trustworthy structures of doing business within global instability. We need to educate our students today for coping with such chaotic patterns in their professional future. As an example, the student-run Europe-wide organisation ESTIEM is offering the 2-week Summer Academy (SAC) to develop the communication skills corresponding. It also means among other aims to strengthen mutual trust through interaction of the students. In 2011, one of the SAC took place in Serbia. About 15 students attended it from all over Europe. In the paper, three of these students report on their experiences as a set of suggestions of how to develop further engineering and economics teaching towards international trust and stability.     

3-<Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-Propyl cellulose: cellulose ether with exceptionally low flocculation temperature

The synthesis of 3-O-propyl cellulose with degree of substitution (DS) ranging from 0.19 to 1.02 was carried out via 2,6-di-O-thexyldimethylsilyl cellulose. The products were characterized by means of one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy after peracetylation. The dissolution behavior of 3-mono-O-propyl cellulose in water was studied and compared with propyl cellulose derivatives having different degree of substitution and distribution of functional groups. Depending on the DS, exceptionally low flocculation temperatures between 15 and 23 °C were found for 3-O-propyl celluloses.     

Affective dimensions of odor perception: A comparison between Swiss, British, and Singaporean populations.

Do affective responses to odors vary as a function of culture? To address this question, we developed two self-report scales in the United Kingdom (Liverpool: LEOS) and in Singapore (city of Singapore: SEOS), following the same procedure as used in the past to develop the Geneva Emotion and Odor Scale (GEOS: Chrea, Grandjean, Delplanque et al., 2009). The final scales were obtained by a three-step reduction of an initial pool of 480 affective terms, retaining only the most relevant terms to describe odor-related subjective affective states and comprised of six (GEOS) or seven affective dimensions (LEOS and SEOS). These included dimensions that were common to the three cultures (Disgust, Happiness Well-being, Sensuality Desire, and Energy), common to the two European samples (Soothing Peacefulness), and dimensions that were culture specific (Sensory Pleasure in Geneva; Nostalgia and Hunger Thirst in Liverpool; Intellectual Stimulation, Spirituality, and Negative Feelings in Singapore). A comparative approach showed that the dimensional organization of odor-related affective terms in a given culture better explained data variability for that culture than data variability for the other cultures, thus highlighting the importance of culture-specific tools in the investigation of odor-related affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hydrogeochemische Hintergrundwerte der Grundw?sser Deutschlands als Web Map Service

One of the main objectives of the EC water framework directive is to ensure good chemical status for all groundwater bodies. For this reason the geological surveys of Germany have produced a nationwide map of the background values of groundwater. Only naturally occurring inorganic parameters were taken into account, including the relevant major and trace elements. Based on the hydrogeological map of Germany at the scale of 1:200,000 (HüK 200), and its delimited hydrogeological regions, a total of 186 hydrogeochemical units were defined and mapped geochemically. This involved collection of more than 52,000 groundwater samples in a database and allocation to their appropriate hydrogeochemical units. In order to separate anomalies within the data-sets from the underlying normal population, probability nets were used as a statistical tool. The procedure allowed to determine the normal populations of the investigated parameters within the hydrogeochemical units and to quantify them in the form of percentiles. The resulting hydrogeochemical background values are accessible through an internet web map service that includes an online map application. The main intention of this technical note is to inform the reader about the existing internet service, which necessitates some web-site content duplication.     

Influence of sorption to dissolved humic substances on transformation reactions of hydrophobic organic compounds in water. I. Chlorination of PAHs

The effect of sorption to dissolved humic acids (HAs) on the chlorination of PAHs in aqueous solution was studied. The addition of HA accelerated the chlorination of fluoranthene and naphthalene in hypochlorite solutions at pH 5, the stronger effect being observed for fluoranthene that is sorbed to a higher extent than naphthalene. Sorption coefficients (K(DOC)) of the analytes were determined by solid-phase microextraction (SPME). The observed rate constant for fluoranthene chlorination is, for example, larger by a factor of 5 in the presence of 10 mg L(-1) of an aquatic HA as compared to HA-free solution (k' = 0.02 h(-1) at 60 mg L(-1) active chlorine, pH 5, without HA). While Cl2 is the dominant reactive species in pure aqueous solution for both PAHs, the reaction of fluoranthene seems to involve an additional pathway of chlorination by HOCl in the presence of HA. It was found that not only did HA not protect PAHs from the electrophilic attack of the chlorinating species, but the sorption of PAHs on the hydrophobic domains of the HA favored instead the extent of the chlorination reaction.