Fantasia Frontiers

[Isabella Kells]

Playhas proved to have a central role in children's development, most notably in rule learning (Piaget, 1965; Sutton-Smith, 1979) and negotiation of roles and goals (Garvey, 1974; Bruner et al., 1976). Yet very little research has been done on early play. The present study focuses on early social games, i.e., vocal-kinetic play routines that mothers use to interact with infants from very early on. We explored 3-month-old infants and their mothers performing a routine game first in the usual way, then in two violated conditions: without gestures and without sound. The aim of the study is to investigate infants' participation and expectations in the game and whether this participation is affected by changes in the multimodal format of the game. Infants' facial expressions, gaze, and body movements were coded to measure levels of engagement and affective state across the three conditions. Results showed a significant decrease in Limbs Movements and expressions of Positive Affect, an increase in Gaze Away and in Stunned Expression when the game structure was violated. These results indicate that the violated game conditions were experienced as less engaging, either because of an unexpected break in the established joint routine, or simply because they were weaker versions of the same game. Overall, our results suggest that structured, multimodal play routines may constitute interactional contexts that only work as integrated units of auditory and motor resources, representing early communicative contexts which prepare the ground for later, more complex multimodal interactions, such as verbal exchanges.

Figure 1. Individual Limbs Movements of R. playing Row Row the Boat in the three conditions. The order of condition presented was normal, no-gesture, and no-sound. A score of 2 indicates that movements of both the arms and the legs simultaneously, whereas a score of 1 indicate a single movement of either the arms or the legs. A score of 0 indicate absence of movement.

Figure 2. Individual Limbs Movements of K. playing Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes in the three conditions. The order of condition presented was normal, no-sound and no-gesture. A score of 2 indicates that movements of both the arms and the legs simultaneously, whereas a score of 1 indicate a single movement of either the arms or the legs. A score of 0 indicate absence of movement.

Copyright 2014 Fantasia, Fasulo, Costall and Lpez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Valentina Fantasia and Alessandra Fasulo, Department of Psychology, Centre for Situated Action and Communication, University of Portsmouth, King Henry 1 Street, PO4 0EB Portsmouth, UK e-mail: valentina...@port.ac.uk; alessand...@port.ac.uk

A project helmed by Roy E. Disney, would take the Fantasia movies to new frontiers and new places, from Russia to Africa to Australia and beyond. It was even intended to have a sequence featuring the music of The Beatles.

Unfortunately, after the disappointing performance of Treasure Planet, and the cuts at the Walt Disney Feature Animation, and the decision that Home on the Range would be the final 2D, hand drawn Disney feature ever, Fantasia 2006 was cut from production and pronounced dead in the water.

The evaluation support panel was coordinated by Luis Calvo Calvo, CSIC Delegate in Catalonia and Director of the Mila i Fontanals Institution for Research in the Humanities (IMF, CSIC) and formed by: Mara Gembero Ustrroz, Scientific Researcher at the Mila i Fontanals Institution for Research in the Humanities (IMF, CSIC); Mariano Gmez Aranda, Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near East (ILC-CCHS, CSIC); David Irving, ICREA Professor at the Mila i Fontanals Institution for Research in the Humanities (IMF, CSIC); and Andrea Puentes Blanco, Tenured Scientist at the Mila i Fontanals Institution for Research in the Humanities (IMF, CSIC).

The BBVA Foundation centers its activity on the promotion of world-class scientific research and cultural creation, and the recognition of talent.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, funded with 400,000 euros in each of their eight categories, recognize and reward contributions of singular impact in physics and chemistry, mathematics, biology and biomedicine, technology, environmental sciences (climate change, ecology and conservation biology), economics, social sciences, the humanities and music, privileging those that significantly enlarge the stock of knowledge in a discipline, open up new fields, or build bridges between disciplinary areas. The goal of the awards, established in 2008, is to celebrate and promote the value of knowledge as a public good without frontiers, the best instrument to take on the great global challenges of our time and expand the worldviews of individuals for the benefit of all humanity. Their eight categories address the knowledge map of the 21st century.

The second biannual Frontiers in Photochemistry (FIP) Conference focused on both fundamental and application aspects of photons in chemistry. The full conference schedule features sessions on biological and bioinspired photochemistry, photoswitches, ultrafast processes, photoactive materials, photocatalytic mechanisms, upconversion/singlet fission, and new chromophore design. The sessions featured talks from renowned chemists in each field - Michael Wasielewski (Northwestern), Claudia Turro (Ohio State), Phil Castellano (NC State), Amy Prieto (Colorado), James McCusker (Michigan State), Leif Hammarstrom (Uppsala), and Malcolm Forbes (BGSU). Although, the comments from conference attendees was consistently that every talk was stellar and communicated meaningful take-away messages.

The meeting was chaired by Profs. Amanda J. Morris (Virginia Tech), Maria Abrahamsson (Chalmers), and Jeffrey Rack (University of New Mexico). The meeting audience was composed of leading researchers and excellent PhD students and Post-Docs from the USA, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. We are also extremely proud to have a strong gender balance within our speaker line up, with 47% female and 53% male.

The conference features a unique format to other photochemistry meetings. First and foremost, the Fusion framework provides for an intimate conference experience. Indeed, the small size of the conference enables participants to talk to the vast majority (if not all) conference attendees. These informal interactions facilitated by the mentoring luncheon, networking refreshment breaks, poster sessions, and group dinners lead to insight sharing across fields (e.g. from molecules to materials), collaborations, and meaningful connections across different academic levels (e.g. graduate students and renowned professors). Second, the conference location and all-inclusive nature keeps conference participants engaged and interacting even during the ample free time provided. It should also be noted that the Bahamas location provides a nice respite from the colder winter months for many of us. Lastly, the conference is family-friendly and many participants bring along guests. The guests were welcome at all conference activities including poster sessions, group dinners, and the gala dinner. Therefore, parents of young children can fully participate in the conference, while also enjoying their family. Taken together, the benefits of the Fusion conferences solidify FIP as a unique and appreciated addition to the photochemistry field.

We are thankful for our sponsors and media partners - Magnitude Instruments (represented at the meeting by Eric Kennehan), Bowling Green State University and the Center for Photochemical Sciences (represented at the meeting by Alexis Ostrowski and Malcolm Forbes), ACS Applied Energy Materials, American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry (represented by Lisa Berreau, Ana de Bettencourt-Dias, Jeffrey Rack, and Claudia Turro), Virginia Tech College of Science, and Virginia Tech Department of Chemistry. These sponsors contributions were used to support travel funding for younger faculty to attend the meetings from across the globe and our poster/short talk awards.

The evaluation of the first FIP conference suggested four points to address; a higher number of female speakers and session chairs, larger attendance in general and more sponsorship. The chairs together with the Fusion team addressed all of these matters, contributing to the success of the meeting.

Take advantage of this fantastic opportunity for students! Any fully paying academic can bring a student for only $850. Unfortunately, Postdocs are not eligible for this offer. Both registration packages include; accommodation for the 22, 23, 24 February 2020 (on a shared basis for students) and a 24hour all-inclusive food and beverage package for the conference period. Once registered, please contact Chloe Trundle to obtain a special registration link for your student.

Scientists working in the broad field of photochemical sciences will be interested in the conference. This may include those from academia, national laboratories, research institutes, and/or related industries. We expect a good mix of both young, emerging chemists and established leaders in the field. Additionally, efforts will be undertaken to provide representation across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Important Note: Accompanying child fees are applicable for children aged 2-12 years. Children younger than 2 years stay free of charge with a parent. Children aged 13-17 years will be charged $377 per child. 18 years + will be classified as an adult at this venue (Melia Nassau Beach, Bahamas). Please kindly ensure your child / children are supervised at all times during conference and related events. Childcare services are available at the hotel, please contact Chloe Trundle for further information.

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