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In identifying the print colors of words when some combinations of color and word occur more frequently than others, people quickly show evidence of learning these associations. This contingency learning effect is evident in faster and more accurate responses to high-contingency combinations than to low-contingency combinations. Across four experiments, we systematically varied the number of response-irrelevant word stimuli connected to response-relevant colors. In each experiment, one group experienced the typical contingency learning paradigm with three colors linked to three words; other groups saw more words (six or twelve) linked to the same three colors. All four experiments disconfirmed a central prediction derived from the Parallel Episodic Processing (PEP 2.0) model (Schmidt et al., 2016)—that the magnitude of the contingency learning effect should remain stable as more words are added to the response-irrelevant dimension, as long as the color-word contingency ratios are maintained. Responses to high-contingency items did slow down numerically as the number of words increased between groups, consistent with the prediction from PEP 2.0, but these changes were unreliable. Inconsistent with PEP 2.0, however, overall response time did not slow down and responses to low-contingency items actually sped up as the number of words increased across groups. These findings suggest that the PEP 2.0 model should be modified to incorporate response interference caused by high-probability associations when responding to low-probability combinations.

IntroductionConsidering the dangers of adolescent tobacco use, the successful design of behavioral programs is crucial for tobacco prevention. According to preliminary research, social game interventions can improve adolescent tobacco outcomes. The current qualitative study aims to (1) uncover the gaming elements that adolescents deem important for a positive learning experience, and (2) confirm these gaming elements with adolescents who are presented with a tobacco prevention game concept that applies these elements.MethodsFindings from this study are drawn from two phases. Phase 1 involved in-person focus group discussions (n = 15) and Phase 2 included three online focus groups and a paired interview with another set of adolescents (n = 15). The study was conducted under a project that aimed to design and test a social game-based tobacco prevention program for adolescents (Storm-Heroes). With open coding and thematic analysis, two research team members identified repeated topics and relevant quotes to organize them into themes. The themes evolved as new content was identified during the process. This process was repeated until thematic saturation was reached.ResultsThematic analysis across Phase 1 and Phase 2 revealed four major themes: 1) Balance during gaming challenges, 2) Healthy social interaction, 3) Performance and creative freedom, and 4) Fictional world and game mechanics for tobacco prevention.ConclusionThis study identified specific intervention features that best fit the needs of adolescents in the context of a social game for tobacco prevention. For future research, we will use a participatory approach to allow adolescents to take part in the design process, improve Storm-Heroes, and develop health promotional messages that can be incorporated into the program. Ultimately, a board game for tobacco prevention is expected to bring adolescents together to create lasting memories that nudge them away from tobacco use and the harm it can cause.

Una especie de insecto de escama que es nueva en la Florida es potencialmente una de las plagas más devastadoras de arboles y arbustos en la historia del estado. La escama lobada de laca, Paratachardina lobata (Chamberlin)(Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Kerriidae), un insecto de escama nativo de la India y Sri Lanka, se encontró por primera vez en la Florida en agosto de 1999 por personal del Departamento de Agricultura y Servicios para Consumidores, División de Industria de Plantas (DIP)(Hamon 2001). This document is EENY-309, one of a series of Featured Creatures from the Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: September 2003. Revised: April 2004, May 2004. EENY-309/IN586: La Escama Lobada de Laca, Paratachardina pseudolobata Kondo & Gullan (Insecta: Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Kerriidae) (ufl.edu)

Measurement of the semantic and syntactic similarity of human utterances is essential in allowing machines to understand dialogue with users. However, human language is complex, and the semantic meaning of an utterance is usually dependent upon the context at a given time and learnt experience of the meaning of the words that are used. This is particularly challenging when automatically understanding the meaning of social media, such as tweets, which can contain non-standard language. Short Text Semantic Similarity measures can be adapted to measure the degree of similarity of a pair of tweets. This work presents a new Semantic and Syntactic Similarity Measure (TSSSM) for political tweets. The approach uses word embeddings to determine semantic similarity and extracts syntactic features to overcome the limitations of current measures which may miss identical sequences of words. A large dataset of tweets focusing on the political domain were collected, pre-processed and used to train the word embedding model, with various experiments performed to determine the optimal model and parameters. A selection of tweet pairs were evaluated by humans for semantic equivalence and correlated against the measure. The new measure can be used in a variety of applications, including for identifying and analyzing political narratives. Experiments on three diverse human-labelled test datasets demonstrate that the measure outperforms an existing measure, performs well on tweets from the political domain and may also generalize outside the political domain.

Abstract Background Brain tumor etiology is poorly understood. Based on their ability to pass through the blood–brain barrier, it has been hypothesized that exposure to metals may increase the risk of brain cancer. Results from the few epidemiological studies on this issue are limited and inconsistent. Methods We investigated the relationship between glioma risk and occupational exposure to five metals - lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium and iron- as well as to welding fumes, using data from the seven-country INTEROCC study. A total of 1800 incident glioma cases and 5160 controls aged 30–69 years were included in the analysis. Lifetime occupational exposure to the agents was assessed using the INTEROCC JEM, a modified version of the Finnish job exposure matrix FINJEM. Results In general, cases had a slightly higher prevalence of exposure to the various metals and welding fumes than did controls, with the prevalence among ever exposed ranging between 1.7 and 2.2% for cadmium to 10.2 and 13.6% for iron among controls and cases, respectively. However, in multivariable logistic regression analyses, there was no association between ever exposure to any of the agents and risk of glioma with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) ranging from 0.8 (0.7–1.0) for lead to 1.1 (0.7–1.6) for cadmium. Results were consistent across models considering cumulative exposure or duration, as well as in all sensitivity analyses conducted. Conclusions Findings from this large-scale international study provide no evidence for an association between occupational exposure to any of the metals under scrutiny or welding fumes, and risk of glioma.

A species of scale insect new to Florida is potentially one of the most devastating pests of trees and shrubs in the state's history. The lobate lac scale, Paratachardina lobata lobata (Chamberlin) (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Kerriidae), a scale insect native to India and Sri Lanka, was found for the first time in Florida in August 1999 by personnel of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry (DPI) (Hamon 2001). This document is EENY-276, one of a series of the Department of Entomology, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Date printed: November 2002. Revised: May 2004. EENY-276/IN471: Lobate Lac Scale, Paratachardina lobata lobata (Chamberlin) (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Kerriidae) (ufl.edu)