Special issue on studies in Late Modern English historical phonology using the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP): introduction

Since Charles Jones referred to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the ‘Cinderellas of English historical linguistic study’ (1989: 279), there has been a great deal of progress in research on this period, but, as Beal (2012: 22) points out, much of this has been in the fields of syntax, morphology, lexis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and the normative tradition. Beal argues that the availability of corpora of Late Modern English texts has greatly facilitated research in these areas, but, since creating phonological corpora for periods antedating the invention of sound recording is a challenging proposition, the historical phonology of Late Modern English has benefited much less from the corpus revolution. To redress this imbalance, the editors of this issue, with technical support from the Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield, created the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP), which is freely available at www.dhi.ac.uk/projects/ecep

A European perspective on nosocomial urinary tract infections II. Report on incidence, clinical characteristics and outcome (ESGINI–04 study)

ObjectivesTo estimate the incidence of nosocomially acquired urinary tract infections (NAUTI) in Europe and provide information on the clinical characteristics, underlying conditions, etiology, management and outcome of patients.Materials and methodsWe collected clinical information from NAUTI patients with a microbiology report on the named study day.ResultsA total of 141 hospitals from 25 European countries participated in the study. Written institutional bladder catheter guidelines were in place in 90.3% of EU hospitals and 55% of non-EU hospitals (P <0.05). The total number of new NAUTI episodes on the day of the study was 298, representing an incidence of 3.55 episodes/1000 patient-days and an estimated prevalence of 10.65/1000. The five most commonly isolated micro-organisms were Escherichia coli, Enterococcus sp., Candida sp., Klebsiella sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Patients from non-EU countries were younger, with more severe underlying diseases with a higher incidence of obstructive uropathy/lithiasis. Overall, 22.8% of patients had no ‘classic’ UTI-predisposing factors. Catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI) was present in 187 patients (62.8%). A closed drainage system was used in only 78.5% of catheterised patients. The indication for bladder catheterisation was not considered adequate in 7.6% of cases and continuation of bladder catheterisation was considered unnecessary in 31.3%. Opening of the closed drainage system was the most frequent major error in catheter management (16.8%). Antimicrobial treatment was not considered adequate in 19.8% of all cases.ConclusionsThe incidence of NAUTI in a large European population is 3.55/1000 patient-days. There is clearly room for improvement in the area of bladder catheterisation, catheter care and medical management of NAUTI. We recommend that European authorities draw up and implement practical and specific guidelines to reduce the incidence of this infection

Characterization of 1- and 2-mu m-wavelength laser-produced microdroplet-tin plasma for generating extreme-ultraviolet light

Experimental spectroscopic studies are presented, in a 5.5-25.5 nm extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength range, of the light emitted from plasma produced by the irradiation of tin microdroplets by 5-ns-pulsed, 2-mu m-wavelength laser light. Emission spectra are compared to those obtained from plasma driven by 1-mu m-wavelength laser light over a range of laser intensities spanning approximately (0.3-5) x 10(11) W/cm(2), under otherwise identical conditions. Over this range of drive laser intensities, we find that similar spectra and underlying plasma charge state distributions are obtained when keeping the ratio of 1- to 2-mu m laser intensities fixed at a value of 2.1(6), which is in good agreement with RALEF-2D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. Our experimental findings, supported by the simulations, indicate an approximately inversely proportional scaling similar to lambda(-1) of the relevant plasma electron density, and of the aforementioned required drive laser intensities, with drive laser wavelength lambda. This scaling also extends to the optical depth that is captured in the observed changes in spectra over a range of droplet diameters spanning 16-51 mu m at a constant laser intensity that maximizes the emission in a 2% bandwidth around 13.5 nm relative to the total spectral energy, the bandwidth relevant for EUV lithography. The significant improvement of the spectral performance of the 2-mu m- versus 1-mu m driven plasma provides strong motivation for the development of high-power, high-energy near-infrared lasers to enable the development of more efficient and powerful sources of EUV light

Regional-scale vegetation heterogeneity in northeastern Patagonia: Environmental and spatial components

Our aim was to describe vegetation heterogeneity at a regional scale in northeastern Patagonia and to identify the environmental variables associated to it. The study area encompasses 13 144 km2 and is characterized by a mixture of species typical of Patagonian steppes and Monte Desert. We performed 48 vegetation relevés, which were randomly assigned to a training set and to a validation set (32 and 16 relevés, respectively). Training set was subjected to cluster analysis, which allowed the identification of two plant communities one related to Patagonian steppes and another to the Monte desert. We derived 3 attributes of the seasonal curve of the NDVI as indicators of ecosystem function: the seasonal amplitude (SA), the date of the maximum (DOM), and the large seasonal integral (LSI). We explored the relationship between NDVI attributes and communities by classification tree analysis. LSI was the strongest predictor among NDVI attributes, separating both communities without misclassification errors. Patagonian steppes occupy areas with higher LSI. The partial RDA analysis explained 38.1% of total data variation, of which 16.5% was ascribed to environment, 7.9% to space, and 13.7% to spatial component of environment. Patagonian steppes are closer to the coast, in areas exhibiting higher annual precipitation and lower annual temperature range than Monte deserts. Our results indicate the occurrence of two plant communities in the study area and highlight the significance of climatic variables to explain their spatial distribution. As most scenarios of future climate predict greater annual thermal amplitude in the study area, the limit between both communities could be displaced eastward

Effectiveness and safety of glimepiride and iDPP4, associated with metformin in second line pharmacotherapy of type 2 diabetes mellitus: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Our review analyses the studies that have specifically compared the association iDPP4/metformin with glimepiride/metformin, both in second line pharmacotherapy of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). Methods: Systematic literature review with a meta-analysis of clinical trials comparing glimepiride with any iDPP4, both used together with metformin as a second line treatment of DM2. The effectiveness variables used were as follows: %HbA1c variation, fasting plasma glucose variation, patients achieving the therapeutic objective of HbA1c <7%, treatment dropouts due to lack of effectiveness and rescue treatments needed. The safety variables included were as follows: weight variation at the end of treatment; presentation of any type of adverse event; presentation of serious adverse events; patients who experienced any type of hypoglycaemia; patients who experienced severe hypoglycaemia; treatments suspended due to adverse effects; and deaths for any reason. Results: Four studies met the inclusion criteria. The group treated with glimepiride showed better results in all effectiveness variables. Regarding safety variables, the main differences observed were in the greater number of cases with hypoglycaemia in the group treated with glimepiride, and the serious adverse events or treatment discontinuations due to these which occurred in slightly over 2% more cases in this group compared to the iDPP4 group. The remaining adverse events, including mortality, did not show any differences between both groups. The variation in the weight difference between groups (2.1 kg) is not considered clinically relevant. Conclusions: A greater effectiveness is seen in the glimepiride/metformin association, which should not be diminished by slight differences in adverse effects, with absence of severe hypoglycaemia in over 98% of patients under treatment. The association of glimepiride/metformin, both due to cost as well as effectiveness and safety, may be the preferential treatment for most DM2 patients, and it offers a potential advantage in refractory hyperglycemic populations, tolerant to treatment.S

EUV spectroscopy of Sn5+-Sn(10+)ions in an electron beam ion trap and laser-produced plasmas

Emission spectra from multiply-charged Sn5+ –Sn10+ions are recorded from an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) and from laser-produced plasma (LPP) in the extreme ultraviolet range relevant for nanolithographic applications. Features in the wavelength regime between 12.6 and 20.8 nm are studied. Using the Cowan code, emission line features of the charge-state-resolved Sn ion spectra obtained from the EBIT are identified. Emission features from tin LPP either from a liquid micro-droplet or planar solid target are subsequently identified and assigned to specific charge states using the EBIT data. For the planar solid tin target, the 4d–5p transitions of Sn8+ –Sn10+ions are shown to dominate the long-wavelength part of the measured spectrum and transitions of type 4d–4f + 4p–4d are visible in absorption. For the droplet target case, a clear increase in the charge state distribution with increasing laser intensity is observed. This qualitatively demonstrates the potential of using long-wavelength out-of-band emission features to probe the charge states contributing to the strong unresolved transition array at 13.5 nm relevant for nanolithography