Bedform characterization (Knudedyb, Danish Wadden Sea)

Continuous Wavelet Transform was applied to bed elevation profiles (BEP) and used in the study in order to recognise the spatial distribution of bedforms and discriminate between their hierarchical scales. In particular, the spatial distribution of the hierarchical scales is highlighted by averaging wavelet power spectra over different bands, and displayed as the wavelet variance of the BEP (see map). Four dune classes were defined, following Ashley (1990): small dunes (1-5 m), medium dunes (5-10 m), large dunes (10-100 m), and very large dunes (>100 m).

Health beliefs and folk models of diabetes in British Bangladeshis: a qualitative study

Objective: To explore the experience of diabetes in British Bangladeshis, since successful management of diabetes requires attention not just to observable behaviour but to the underlying attitudes and belief systems which drive that behaviour.

A large-capacity memory system that recognizes the calls and songs of individual birds.

Auditory responses in the caudomedial neostriatum (NCM) of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) forebrain habituate to repeated presentations of a novel conspecific song. This habituation is long lasting and specific to individual stimuli. We here test the acoustic and ethological basis of this stimulus-specific habituation by recording extracellular multiunit activity in the NCM of awake male and female zebra finches presented with a variety of conspecific and heterospecific vocalizations, white noise, and tones. Initial responses to conspecific song and calls and to human speech were higher than responses to the other stimuli. Immediate habituation rates were high for all novel stimuli except tones, which habituated at a lower rate. Habituation to conspecific calls and songs outlasted habituation to other stimuli. The extent of immediate habituation induced by a particular novel song was not diminished when other conspecific songs were presented in alternation. In addition, the persistence of habituation was not diminished by exposure to other songs before testing, nor was it influenced by gender or laterality. Our results suggest that the NCM is specialized for remembering the calls and songs of many individual conspecifics.

Women's Songs. The Lullaby in the Spanish Autonomous Region of Valencia

A lullaby is a song performed almost exclusively by women in all cultures to make children fall asleep. But traditional lullaby singing has declined due to social change. This study analyzes its structure and content thoroughly and aspects of this tradition providing information on usage, customs, themes and types of melody, and reflecting the importance of this form of cultural expression.