Learning auditory warnings: The effects of sound type, verbal labelling and imagery on the identification of alarm sounds

This study looks at the effect of sound type, training cue and cue source on people's ability to learn and retain a set of twelve warning-type sounds. Each participant was required to learn and retain each of the twelve sounds using one of four learning methods. One group was required to learn the sounds according to verbal labels given to them by the experimenter; a second group generated their own verbal labels; a third group was required to learn the sounds using graphic images (the waveform of the sound) given to them by the experimenter; and the fourth group was allowed to generate their own graphic images. Three classes of sound were tested: real, environmental sounds, semi-abstract monitoring-type sounds, and abstract sounds already used as hospital warnings. The results show that the verbal labels worked better than graphic images, but only when these were given by the experimenter. When participants generated their own cues, performance was equally good in both graphic and verbal conditions. Across the sounds, it was found that real sounds were easier to learn than the other two groups, although this effect again disappeared when participants were allowed to generate their own cues. The implications for auditory warning design and training are discussed within a broader theoretical and practical context.

Relevance to industry

This paper shows that the difficulty with which alarm-type sounds can be learned depends not only on the type of sounds to be learned, but the way in which they are learnt. Apparent advantages to using environmental sounds and verbal labels disappears as soon as participants are allowed to generate their own learning aids.     

A quantitative relationship between capacity factor and selector concentration in capillary electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography: evidence from the enantioselective resolution of benzoin using human serum albumin as a chiral selector

Many selectors are used both in pressure-driven liquid chromatography (LC) and in electrokinetic chromatography (EKC), particularly chiral species such as cyclodextrins and proteins. It should be possible to readily apply information gleaned using one technique to the other, since in both techniques the underlying molecular interactions which lead to separations are expected to be the same. Superficially this may be the case, but an exact transfer of operating conditions, i.e., background electrolyte (BGE) composition/mobile phase composition, assuming that these meet certain minimum requirements for each technique, is not often possible. To investigate the reason for this we have measured retention (k') of a neutral solute (racemic benzoin) in HPLC and EKC using an identical range of BGE/mobile phase conditions in both techniques. The selector used was human serum albumin. The k' measurements obtained for each benzoin enantiomer were consistently higher in HPLC than in EKC. This can be explained very simply if one considers that retention in both systems is related to the selector concentration [S], by the expression k'=K[S], where K is the affinity constant. In EKC, [S] is simply the concentration of free selector in the BGE, while in LC, [S] = m(p)/Vo, where m(p) is the number of moles of accessible selector, and Vo is the column void volume. In LC, [S] is generally considerably higher than in EKC, leading to larger values of k'.     

Divergence in proteins, mitochondrial DNA, and reproductive compatibility across the isthmus of Panama

It is widely believed that gene flow connected many shallow water populations of the Caribbean and eastern Pacific until the Panama seaway closed 3.0 to 3.5 million years ago. Measurements of biochemical and reproductive divergence for seven closely related, transisthmian pairs of snapping shrimps (Alpheus) indicate, however, that isolation was staggered rather than simultaneous. The four least divergent pairs provide the best estimate for rates of molecular divergence and speciation. Ecological, genetic, and geological data suggest that gene flow was disrupted for the remaining three pairs by environmental change several million years before the land barrier was complete.     

Effect of hexachlorocyclohexane on hsp26 expression in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster

The type and amount of lipophilic antioxidants in plasma of hyperlipidemic patients are of great importance since they play a central role in preventing deleterious oxidation of blood lipids and proteins. Isolation and quantitation of lipophilic antioxidants from hyperlipidemic plasma samples meet great obstacles because of increased levels of various intermediary lipid products. This study was designed to develop a rapid and efficient extraction and separation procedure for simultaneous analysis of ubiquinone-9 and -10 as well as alpha-, delta-, and gamma-tocopherol isomers. The levels of ubiquinone-10, alpha- and gamma-tocopherol were analyzed in human plasma samples using high-performance liquid chromatography. Lipid extraction was performed by petroleum ether/methanol/water. After phase separation, ubiquinone was reduced to ubiquinol by sodium borohydride and the lipids were separated on a C18 column. A binary gradient with solvents containing lithium perchlorate was used, and an electrochemical detector was employed for quantitation. This procedure was also efficient for the analysis of antioxidant lipids in samples containing a large number of accumulated and interfering lipid intermediates. Thus, the procedure described here is useful for efficient and rapid quantitation of ubiquinones and tocopherols in human plasma samples, especially those originating from hyperlipidemic patients.     

Overexpression of transforming growth factor-beta1 in scirrhous carcinoma of the stomach correlates with decreased survival

BACKGROUND: Several reports in the 1970s suggested that etidronate disodium might be clinically useful to prevent calcium stones, but the use of etidronate in the urolithiasis field was discontinued due to adverse effects of this drug on skeletal turnover and mineralization. Because the drug might affect not only crystallization, but also crystal-tubular interactions, we investigated the minimum dose of etidronate necessary to effectively prevent stone recurrence without adverse side effects. METHODS: We examined the effect of etidronate on the crystallization of calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate and magnesium ammonium phosphate using synthetic urine and measured by an aggregometer. We also studied its effect on the adhesion of calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals to Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells in vitro. RESULTS: Etidronate affected the crystallization+ of not only calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate, but also magnesium ammonium phosphate in synthetic urine. The inhibitory activities on these crystallizations were detected at extremely low drug concentrations. Etidronate also had a strong inhibitory activity against the adhesion of calcium oxalate crystals to MDCK cells. CONCLUSION: Although further studies are necessary regarding the effects of etidronate on crystallization and crystal adhesion both in vivo and in vitro, and the appropriate schedule of dosing to prevent side effects, it is possible that etidronate may be useful in the treatment of urinary stones.