Contact and Contrast in Valley Spanish.

Linguistic features that are transferred through language contact are distributed over social contexts as a result of their role in a system of social meaning. In this dissertation, I investigate the distribution of Quechua contact features in Spanish over different social contexts in a community in central Bolivia. Through the process of enregisterment, contact features participate in a system of social meaning that contrasts "traditional" categories (encompassing the feminine, rural, highland, Quechua-speaking, etc.) with "modern" categories (associated with male, urban, lowland, Spanish-speaking, etc.). Local identity, however, is produced through a fusion of these categories, often associated with a particular style of speech centrally involving contact features. The question of how and why contact features are distributed leads inevitably to the question of what contact features mean for speakers. I suggest that the meaning of contact features is not fixed, but rather is accomplished through comparison to, and in contrast with, expected patterns of speech, both in terms of contexts of speech and in terms of individual speakers. In order to understand why contact features are used, it is necessary to develop a model of what is expected of certain speakers in certain situations. Yet it is equally important to recognize that the way speakers depart from expected templates is as meaningful as the way they conform to them. Both events and speakers are always textured by reference to diverse parts of a semiotic field of meaning. Contact features participate in a local, and locally dynamic, system of social meaning. It is speakers' reference to this system that governs the distribution of contact features over different contexts of speech. Through participation in this system, contact features become an integral part of the representations that speakers construct of themselves and for others. The role of enregistered contact features as indices that speakers use to position themselves with respect to a semiotic field influences their distribution, and ultimately, their persistence or disappearance.Ph.D.Linguistics and AnthropologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77866/1/ambabel_1.pd

Phenoxazine Based Units- Synthesis, Photophysics and Electrochemistry

A few new phenoxazine-based conjugated monomers were synthesized, characterized, and successfully used as semiconducting materials. The phenoxazine-based oligomers have low ionization potentials or high-lying HOMO levels (~4.7 eV), which were estimated from cyclic voltammetry. Conjugated oligomers offer good film—forming, mechanical and optical properties connected with their wide application. These results demonstrate that phenoxazine-based conjugated mers are a promising type of semiconducting and luminescent structures able to be used as thin films in organic electronics

Zum Zusammenhang von Geschlechterungleichheiten in Bildung, Beruf und Karriere : ein Ausblick

Ziel der folgenden Ausführungen im abschliessenden Teil dieses Sammelbands zur Entwicklung und Genese von geschlechtsspezifischen Bildungsungleichheiten ist es, den Blick zu öffnen in Richtung Berufsleben. Wie sind die verbesserten Bildungsmöglichkeiten von Frauen zu interpretieren? Ist es in den letzten Jahrzehnten gelungen, eines der grundlegendsten gesellschaftlichen Ungleichheitsverhältnisse zu beseitigen? Oder beginnt sich dieses sogar zu verkehren in eine gesellschaftliche Benachteiligung der Männer? Wir gehen bei unseren Überlegungen von der These aus, dass ein Abbau von Benachteiligungen der Frauen im Bildungssystem für sich genommen noch wenig aussagekräftig ist, wenn wir uns mit der klassischen soziologischen Frage der Persistenz bzw. des Wandels von gesellschaftlichen Ungleichheiten befassen wollen. Erst wenn die ganze Verknüpfung von Bildung und gesellschaftlicher Ungleichheit in den Blick genommen wird und sich dabei zeigt, dass Frauen ihre Bildungsgewinne auch in entsprechende Chancen im Beschäftigungssystem umsetzen können, sind ihre verbesserten Bildungschancen ein Gewinn für die Individuen und ein Fortschritt für die Gesellschaft – und erst dann könnten mögliche Bildungsvorteile von Frauen, wie sie in den vorliegenden Aufsätzen z.T. diagnostiziert werden, gar als neue gesellschaftliche Benachteiligungen von Männern skandalisiert werden

Effect of Hydrocortisone on Mortality and Organ Support in Patients With Severe COVID-19: The REMAP-CAP COVID-19 Corticosteroid Domain Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Evidence regarding corticosteroid use for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is limited. Objective: To determine whether hydrocortisone improves outcome for patients with severe COVID-19. Design, Setting, and Participants: An ongoing adaptive platform trial testing multiple interventions within multiple therapeutic domains, for example, antiviral agents, corticosteroids, or immunoglobulin. Between March 9 and June 17, 2020, 614 adult patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were enrolled and randomized within at least 1 domain following admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) for respiratory or cardiovascular organ support at 121 sites in 8 countries. Of these, 403 were randomized to open-label interventions within the corticosteroid domain. The domain was halted after results from another trial were released. Follow-up ended August 12, 2020. Interventions: The corticosteroid domain randomized participants to a fixed 7-day course of intravenous hydrocortisone (50 mg or 100 mg every 6 hours) (n = 143), a shock-dependent course (50 mg every 6 hours when shock was clinically evident) (n = 152), or no hydrocortisone (n = 108). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was organ support-free days (days alive and free of ICU-based respiratory or cardiovascular support) within 21 days, where patients who died were assigned -1 day. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model that included all patients enrolled with severe COVID-19, adjusting for age, sex, site, region, time, assignment to interventions within other domains, and domain and intervention eligibility. Superiority was defined as the posterior probability of an odds ratio greater than 1 (threshold for trial conclusion of superiority >99%). Results: After excluding 19 participants who withdrew consent, there were 384 patients (mean age, 60 years; 29% female) randomized to the fixed-dose (n = 137), shock-dependent (n = 146), and no (n = 101) hydrocortisone groups; 379 (99%) completed the study and were included in the analysis. The mean age for the 3 groups ranged between 59.5 and 60.4 years; most patients were male (range, 70.6%-71.5%); mean body mass index ranged between 29.7 and 30.9; and patients receiving mechanical ventilation ranged between 50.0% and 63.5%. For the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively, the median organ support-free days were 0 (IQR, -1 to 15), 0 (IQR, -1 to 13), and 0 (-1 to 11) days (composed of 30%, 26%, and 33% mortality rates and 11.5, 9.5, and 6 median organ support-free days among survivors). The median adjusted odds ratio and bayesian probability of superiority were 1.43 (95% credible interval, 0.91-2.27) and 93% for fixed-dose hydrocortisone, respectively, and were 1.22 (95% credible interval, 0.76-1.94) and 80% for shock-dependent hydrocortisone compared with no hydrocortisone. Serious adverse events were reported in 4 (3%), 5 (3%), and 1 (1%) patients in the fixed-dose, shock-dependent, and no hydrocortisone groups, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: Among patients with severe COVID-19, treatment with a 7-day fixed-dose course of hydrocortisone or shock-dependent dosing of hydrocortisone, compared with no hydrocortisone, resulted in 93% and 80% probabilities of superiority with regard to the odds of improvement in organ support-free days within 21 days. However, the trial was stopped early and no treatment strategy met prespecified criteria for statistical superiority, precluding definitive conclusions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02735707

Understanding, diagnosing, and treating Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome - State of the art: Report of the 2nd international meeting at the Charité fatigue center.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a devastating disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Due to the 2019 pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we are facing a significant increase of ME/CFS prevalence. On May 11th to 12th, 2023, the second international ME/CFS conference of the Charité Fatigue Center was held in Berlin, Germany, focusing on pathomechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment. During the two-day conference, more than 100 researchers from various research fields met on-site and over 700 attendees participated online to discuss the state of the art and novel findings in this field. Key topics from the conference included: the role of the immune system, dysfunction of endothelial and autonomic nervous system, and viral reactivation. Furthermore, there were presentations on innovative diagnostic measures and assessments for this complex disease, cutting-edge treatment approaches, and clinical studies. Despite the increased public attention due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent rise of Long COVID-19 cases, and the rise of funding opportunities to unravel the pathomechanisms underlying ME/CFS, this severe disease remains highly underresearched. Future adequately funded research efforts are needed to further explore the disease etiology and to identify diagnostic markers and targeted therapies

La importancia del contexto en la interpretación de las variantes lingüísticas

This article focuses on the use of contact features as social indexes in a Quechua-influenced variety of Spanish in central Bolivia. I suggest that context of use is important in producing social meaning, and indeed that context can redefine the indexical relationship between any particular sociolinguistic variable and its social referent or referents (Eckert 2008; Silverstein 2003). Spanish-Quechua contact features, acting as part of a system or pattern of enregistered features, do not have a single indexical meaning. Rather, their meaning is built through contrast to or congruence with the expected forms of speech for a speaker or group (Agha 2007; Babel 2011). These expected forms of speech are related to a listener’s personal experience with the speaker over time, and with their conceptions of the types of speech that members of certain groups engage in. I argue that speakers form expectations about typical distributions of linguistic features, but that the interpretations of these patterns are highly context dependent and produced through microlevel interactional dynamics. Through these types of social negotiations, we can observe a system that produces meaning at a variety of scales and over a variety of dimensions, as part of a constantly shifting mosaic of linguistic performance.Este artículo se enfoca en el uso de los rasgos de contacto como índices sociales en una variedad del español influenciado por el quechua en Bolivia central. Propongo que el contexto del uso es importante al producir el significado social de las variantes sociolingüísticas, además el contexto puede redefinir la relación indicial entre cualquier variable sociolingüística determinada y su referente o referentes sociales (Eckert 2008; Silverstein 2003). Los rasgos de contacto quechua-español funcionan como parte de un sistema o de un patrón de rasgos registrados, no tienen un único significado, sino que su significado se construye por un contraste o una semejanza con las formas esperadas del habla de una persona o de un grupo social (Agha 2007; Babel 2011). Estas formas “esperadas” del habla se relacionan con la experiencia personal del oyente con el hablante en el trascurso del tiempo, tanto como sus concepciones de las variedades del habla que utilizan los miembros de determinados grupos. Por ende, argumento que los hablantes forman expectativas acerca de las distribuciones típicas de los rasgos lingüísticos, pero que las interpretaciones de esos patrones dependen fundamentalmente de los contextos, y se producen a nivel de la micro-dinámica de las interacciones. A través de esta clase de negociaciones sociales podemos observar un sistema que da un significado a una gama de niveles y a varias dimensiones, como parte del mosaico dinámico de la actuación lingüística

La importancia del contexto en la interpretación de las variantes lingüísticas

This article focuses on the use of contact features as social indexes in a Quechua-influenced variety of Spanish in central Bolivia. I suggest that context of use is important in producing social meaning, and indeed that context can redefine the indexical relationship between any particular sociolinguistic variable and its social referent or referents (Eckert 2008; Silverstein 2003). Spanish-Quechua contact features, acting as part of a system or pattern of enregistered features, do not have a single indexical meaning. Rather, their meaning is built through contrast to or congruence with the expected forms of speech for a speaker or group (Agha 2007; Babel 2011). These expected forms of speech are related to a listener’s personal experience with the speaker over time, and with their conceptions of the types of speech that members of certain groups engage in. I argue that speakers form expectations about typical distributions of linguistic features, but that the interpretations of these patterns are highly context dependent and produced through microlevel interactional dynamics. Through these types of social negotiations, we can observe a system that produces meaning at a variety of scales and over a variety of dimensions, as part of a constantly shifting mosaic of linguistic performance.Este artículo se enfoca en el uso de los rasgos de contacto como índices sociales en una variedad del español influenciado por el quechua en Bolivia central. Propongo que el contexto del uso es importante al producir el significado social de las variantes sociolingüísticas, además el contexto puede redefinir la relación indicial entre cualquier variable sociolingüística determinada y su referente o referentes sociales (Eckert 2008; Silverstein 2003). Los rasgos de contacto quechua-español funcionan como parte de un sistema o de un patrón de rasgos registrados, no tienen un único significado, sino que su significado se construye por un contraste o una semejanza con las formas esperadas del habla de una persona o de un grupo social (Agha 2007; Babel 2011). Estas formas “esperadas” del habla se relacionan con la experiencia personal del oyente con el hablante en el trascurso del tiempo, tanto como sus concepciones de las variedades del habla que utilizan los miembros de determinados grupos. Por ende, argumento que los hablantes forman expectativas acerca de las distribuciones típicas de los rasgos lingüísticos, pero que las interpretaciones de esos patrones dependen fundamentalmente de los contextos, y se producen a nivel de la micro-dinámica de las interacciones. A través de esta clase de negociaciones sociales podemos observar un sistema que da un significado a una gama de niveles y a varias dimensiones, como parte del mosaico dinámico de la actuación lingüística

Negotiating one position: Switzerland at the Global Forum on Migration and Development

The paper explores intra-governmental processes in migration policy-making, using the example of Switzerland and examining its preparations for chairing the Global Forum on Migration and Development 2011. Switzerland’s “one joint position”, presented at the forum, required intensive negotiations and cooperation between different Swiss federal offices. The paper highlights how and why Switzerland achieved this joint position. It analyses the intra-governmental tensions between national securitisation and global migration and development debates and how they were overcome. This experience of a “whole-of-government approach” offers an insight into politics underlying migration and development debates within donor countries, and its implications for global migration debates. Cet article examine les processus intergouvernementaux en matière de formulation de politiques générales sur la migration, en utilisant l’exemple de la Suisse et en examinant ses préparatifs en vue de sa présidence du Forum mondial sur la migration et le développement 2011. La « position conjointe unique » de la Suisse, présentée lors du forum, a demandé des négociations intensives et une coopération entre différents bureaux fédéraux suisses. Cet article souligne comment et pourquoi la Suisse est parvenue à cette position conjointe. Il analyse les tensions intragouvernementales entre la sécurisation nationale et la migration mondiale et les débats en matière de développement et la manière dont ils ont été résolus. Cette expérience d’une « approche du développement dans son ensemble » donne un aperçu des dimensions politiques qui étayent la migration et les débats sur le développement au sein des pays donateurs, et de ses implications pour les débats sur la migration mondiale. El presente artículo examina los procesos intragubernamentales a partir de los cuales se determinan las políticas migratorias, centrándose en el ejemplo de Suiza mediante el análisis de los preparativos que efectuó para presidir el Foro Mundial sobre Migración y Desarrollo realizado en 2011. Para que se lograra llegar a tener la “posición conjunta única” presentada por Suiza en dicho foro, fue necesario emprender intensas negociaciones y establecer la cooperación entre las distintas instancias federales suizas. El artículo da cuenta de cómo y por qué Suiza logró esta posición conjunta única, analizando las tensiones intragubernamentales surgidas en los debates centrados en la seguridad nacional, la migración y el desarrollo mundiales, y cómo las diferencias pudieron ser superadas. Esta experiencia de “enfoque gubernamental integrado” aporta varios hallazgos relativos a las políticas que están en el fondo de los debates sobre migración y desarrollo en los países donantes, así como sobre sus consecuencias para los debates en torno a la migración a nivel mundial

Fieldwork inhabitants in Zurich, Switzerland

nalysis of how urban diversity and policies and arrangements affect different population groups living in Zurich in terms of social cohesion and social mobility