Assessing the ecological validity of soundscape reproduction in different laboratory settings.

The ever-growing body of soundscape research includes studies conducted both in everyday life environments and in laboratory settings. Yet, laboratory settings differ from in-situ and therefore may elicit different perceptions. The present study explores the ecological validity of soundscape reproduction in the laboratory using first-order Ambisonics and of different modes of questionnaire administration.

Quieted City Sounds during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Montreal.

This paper investigates the transformation of urban sound environments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Canada. We report on comparisons of sound environments in three sites, before, during, and after the lockdown. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Montreal festival district (Quartier des Spectacles) as part of the Sounds in the City partnership.

Parasites on parasites: hyper-, epi-, and autoparasitism among flowering plants.

All organisms engage in parasitic relations, as either parasites or hosts. Some species may even play both roles simultaneously. Among flowering plants, the most widespread form of parasitism is characterized by the development of an intrusive organ called the haustorium, which absorbs water and nutrients from the host.

A Tale of Three Misters: The Effect of Water Features on Soundscape Assessments in a Montreal Public Space.

The acoustic environments of small, central urban parks are often dominated by traffic sounds. Water sounds can be used to mitigate the negative impacts of unwanted sounds through masking. Studies comparing the effects of different water sounds are typically conducted using recordings in laboratory settings where ecological validity is limited.

Kin Recognition in the Parasitic Plant Is Mediated Through Root Exudates.

is a facultative parasitic plant in the Orobanchaceae that parasitizes the roots of a wide range of host plants including , , rice and maize. The important exception to this broad host range is that rarely parasitize other . We explored self and kin recognition in and showed that exudates collected from roots of host species, and , induced haustorium development when applied to the roots of seedlings while those collected from did not.

Small-Molecule Screens Reveal Novel Haustorium Inhibitors in the Root Parasitic Plant .

Root parasitic weeds in Orobanchaceae pose a tremendous threat to agriculture worldwide. We used an in vitro assay to screen libraries of small molecules for those capable of inhibiting or enhancing haustorium development in the parasitic plant . Several redox-modifying molecules and one structural analog of 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquine (DMBQ) inhibited haustorium development in the presence of the haustorium-inducing factor DMBQ, some of these without apparent growth inhibition to the root.

Soundtracking the Public Space: Outcomes of the Musikiosk Soundscape Intervention.

Decades of research support the idea that striving for lower sound levels is the cornerstone of protecting urban public health. Growing insight on urban soundscapes, however, highlights a more complex role of sound in public spaces, mediated by context, and the potential of soundscape interventions to contribute to the urban experience. We discuss Musikiosk, an unsupervised installation allowing users to play audio content from their own devices over publicly provided speakers.

Situational and person-related factors influencing momentary and retrospective soundscape evaluations in day-to-day life.

Soundscape research draws on both experiments conducted in laboratory settings and studies in the field to explore peoples' perception and understanding of their acoustic environments. One opportunity to combine the strength of both approaches is the so-called Experience Sampling Method (ESM). This method was used to investigate the influence of situational and person-related variables on soundscape evaluations.

Evaluation of the shadow shield technique for the measurement of scattered radiation.

ISO standard 4037 specifies the characteristics and production methods of x-ray and gamma-ray reference radiation for calibrating protection-level dosimeters and rate dosimeters. The standard limits scattered radiation to 5%. The shadow shield technique is a widely accepted test used to determine scatter contribution.