The motor core of speech: a comparison of serial organization patterns in infants and languages

Comparison of serial organization of infant babbling and early speech with that of 10 languages reveals four movement-related design features reflecting a deep evolutionary heritage: (1) the cyclical consonant-vowel alternation underlying the syllable, a "Frame" for speech consisting of mandibular oscillation, possibly evolving from ingestive cyclicities (e.g., chewing) via visuofacial communicative cyclicities (e.g., lipsmacks); (2) three intracyclical consonant-vowel co-occurrence preferences reflecting basic biomechanical constraints-coronal consonants-front vowels, dorsal consonants-back vowels, and labial consonants-central vowels; (3) a developmental progression from above-chance to below-chance levels of intercyclical consonant repetition; (4) an ease-related labial consonant-vowel-coronal consonant sequence preference for word initiation. These design features presumably result from self-organizational responses to selection pressures, primarily determined by motor factors. No explanation for these design features is available from Universal Grammar, and, except for feature 3, perceptual-motor learning seems to have only a limited causal role in acquisition of any design feature.     

Leisure time physical activity in Australian women: relationship with well being and symptoms

This paper explores the association between moderate levels of physical activity (PA) and health benefits in well being and symptoms such as tiredness, back pain, and constipation. Participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, 14,502 young women (ages 18-23 years), 13,609 middle-age women (45-50 years), and 11,421 older women (ages 70-75 years), answered questions about vigorous and less vigorous exercise (used to determine a physical activity score), well being (SF-36), symptoms, and medical conditions. There were significant associations between the PA score and SF-36 in each cohort. Odds ratios (OR) for a range of symptoms and conditions were lower for women who reported low to moderate activity than for sedentary women, for example, for young women or for constipation = 0.76 (CI, 0.65-0.89), for middle-age women or for tiredness = 0.70 (0.63-0.78). There was no threshold of PA at which health benefits increased significantly. Although cross-sectional, the findings suggest that low-to-moderate levels of exercise are associated with a range of health benefits for women of all ages. These preliminary findings will be followed up during the longitudinal study.     

影响青少年长跑运动员训练的一些因素

青少年长跑运动员的训练尽管与成人的训练有些基本的相同点,但在其准备阶段还有些需要考虑的因素。这些特定的因素中最重要的有以下几条。——考虑特定的年龄特点。——采用均衡提高休能的原则。——使用的训练方法和手段能为将来取得最     

亚特兰蒂斯:失落的大陆

亚特兰蒂斯,一个传说中拥有高度文明的国度,一个在一夜之间消失得无影无踪的帝国……亚特兰蒂斯的故事始于柏拉图的两篇对话录:《齐麦亚》和《克里齐》。这是唯一已知的专门提到"亚特兰蒂斯"这一失落文明的记载。许多人认为这个传说纯属杜撰,而另一些人则认为它源自摧毁克里特岛和锡拉岛的米诺斯文明的灾