Zazie@60: some linguistic considerations

This article considers the colloquial language used in Zazie dans le métro from a sociolinguistic viewpoint. To the extent that a fictional work can be said to provide evidence of linguistic variation, Zazie offers glimpses into the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of French at the time it was written, as well as confirmation of other sources regarding social variation, notably working-class speech and the style dimension, partly in relation to regional variation, or rather its absence. For this reason, the novel remains a valuable point of reference for contemporary linguists. The novel, in conjunction with other works by Queneau, prompts further questions to do with the level of cognition at work when linguistic variation takes place

Diverse definitions of the early course of schizophrenia - a targeted literature review

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder and patients experience significant comorbidity, especially cognitive and psychosocial deficits, already at the onset of disease. Previous research suggests that treatment during the earlier stages of disease reduces disease burden, and that a longer time of untreated psychosis has a negative impact on treatment outcomes. A targeted literature review was conducted to gain insight into the definitions currently used to describe patients with a recent diagnosis of schizophrenia in the early course of disease ('early' schizophrenia). A total of 483 relevant English-language publications of clinical guidelines and studies were identified for inclusion after searches of MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, relevant clinical trial databases and Google for records published between January 2005 and October 2015. The extracted data revealed a wide variety of terminology and definitions used to describe patients with 'early' or 'recent-onset' schizophrenia, with no apparent consensus. The most commonly used criteria to define patients with early schizophrenia included experience of their first episode of schizophrenia or disease duration of less than 1, 2 or 5 years. These varied definitions likely result in substantial disparities of patient populations between studies and variable population heterogeneity. Better agreement on the definition of early schizophrenia could aid interpretation and comparison of studies in this patient population and consensus on definitions should allow for better identification and management of schizophrenia patients in the early course of their disease

Céramiques antiques de Saint-Georges-de-Reneins et d’Anse.

International audienc

Do employed and not employed 55 to 64-year-olds' memory complaints relate to memory performance? A longitudinal cohort study

Background: Whether middle-aged individuals are capable of employment continuation may be limited by poor memory. Subjective memory complaints may be used to identify those at risk of poor memory. Research questions, therefore, were (i) are prevalent memory complaints associated with relevantly poor memory performance and decline in 55 to 64-year-olds; (ii) are incident memory complaints associated with relevant memory decline; and (iii) do these associations differ between employed and not employed individuals? Methods: Participants of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were examined. Data were weighted by sex, age and region. To examine the association of prevalent memory complaints with relevantly poor learning ability (n = 903) and delayed recall (n = 897; both assessed with the Auditory Verbal Learning Test), subnormal (mean-1 SD) and impaired (mean-1.5 SD) memory performance were defined. To examine the association of prevalent and incident memory complaints with relevant decline after 3 years in learning ability (n = 774 and 611, respectively) and delayed recall (n = 768 and 603, respectively), above normal (mean-1 SD) and clinically relevant (mean-1.5 SD) memory decline were investigated. Logistic regression analyses were applied. Results: Adjusted for gender, education and age, individuals with memory complaints more often had impaired delayed recall and clinically relevant decline in learning ability. Incident memory complaints were borderline significantly associated with clinically relevant decline in learning in continuously employed individuals (paid job 1 h weekly), but not in continuously not employed individuals. Conclusion: Memory complaints may identify 55 to 64-year-olds at risk of memory impairment and decline. Our results provide hypotheses about the association between memory complaints and decline in employed 55 to 64-year-olds. © 2012 The Author