Turkish palatalized consonants

This study aims to explore the nature of consonant-final Turkish roots that select suffixes with front vowels despite having a back vowel in their final syllable, thus seemingly violating palatal harmony. While there is little controversy that final laterals in such roots are palatalized, opinions vary about the phonetic and phonological nature of the other final consonants. We want to argue that all word-final (or occasionally penultimate) consonants of these roots are palatalized, and that this palatalization is the underlying cause of ‘disharmony’. The phonetic evidence supporting our claims comes from an experiment in which we matched 12 irregular roots with their regular counterparts and asked 10 native speakers of Turkish to read these words. We found that, compared to ‘regular’ roots ending with a plain consonant, the final consonants of ‘irregular’ roots have a significantly higher F2. The last vowels of ‘irregular’ roots were also found to have a somewhat higher F2 than the last vowels of ‘regular’ roots at their offset, but the difference fairly rapidly decreases at vowel midpoint, and at vowel onset F2 values are very similar in both ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ roots. These combined results suggest that the final consonant of the ‘irregular’ roots has an underlying palatal secondary articulation, while fronting in the preceding vowels is likely due to co-articulation

Binomial expressions as a window on the phonological system of Turkish

The principles governing word order in binomial expressions have been investigated in a few languages, revealing the relevance of several interacting semantic and phonological constraints, some of them universal or near-universal while others appear to be more language-specific. This paper presents the results of a preliminary quantitative analysis of some constraints influencing word order in Turkish irreversible binomials. We found that semantic constraints referring to the semantic prominence and iconic order of the items of the binomial, a constraint placing loanwords in final position, suprasegmental phonological constraints referring to syllable count, presence of onsets and presence of codas, segmental phonological constraints referring to the sonority of consonants, vowel roundness and presence of an initial labial consonant, all influence word order in Turkish irreversible binomials. Furthermore, the evidence from the segmental constraints may also shed light on some aspects of the Turkish phonological system, i.e. the markedness of rounded vowels and labial consonants, the properties of the sonority scale in Turkish and the featural specification of Turkish /j/

High vowel shortening in Turkish

High vowel weakening is a common phenomenon that usually depends on purely phonetic factors. This study aims to present the findings of an experiment we have conducted on a total of 14 native speakers to see if Turkish has high vowel weakening and if yes, to figure out whether it is phonological or phonetic. Our data show a large amount of variation and little correlation between a vowel’s F1 and its duration within the high ([+high], /i, u, y, ɯ/) and non-high ([-high], /a, e, o, ø/) categories in all environments (stressed and unstressed, in open and closed syllables, in all consonantal environments). On the other hand, comparing the duration of [+high] and [-high] vowels reveals that non-high vowels are rarely as short as, or shorter than, high vowels. However, this shortening process is not a purely phonetic phenomenon. What matters for this process to apply is the phonological category of the vowel. All [+high] vowels are shortened, largely irrespective of variation in their F1; conversely, [-high] vowels are not shortened, largely irrespective of variation in their F1

Monovalent modified-live vaccine against bluetongue serotype 1: safety and efficacy studies in sheep

Vaccination against Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an essential tool for the control of the disease and for safe trade of live ruminants in accordance to OIE standards and EU legislation. The aim of this study was to determine the safety of a BTV1 modified-live virus (MLV) vaccine and its efficacy in protecting sheep against bluetongue infection. Moreover, in this study we performed a challenge trial with virulent strain BTV2 in vaccinated sheep in order to verify evidence of crossprotection. The administration of BTV1 MLV vaccine resulted to be safe, not causing in vaccinated animals significant clinical effects and haematological modifications, not showing any adverse effects in pregnant ewes if administered in the second half of gestation. However, titres and duration of viraemia recommend an awaiting period before shipment of vaccinated animals (60 days) to prevent the spread of the virus. Furthermore, this vaccine showed an appropriate balance between attenuation of virulence and ability to replicate in sheep. The antigenic stimulus provided by its replication elicits complete protection against challenge using a virulent homologous virus and does not cause any detectable viraemia in serologically positive vaccinated animals. In conclusion, the administration of BTV1 MLV vaccine was safe, not causing particular drawbacks and effective, stimulating an adequate protection of animals in case of infection with wild strain of homologous serotype

The voiced and voiceless outcomes of intervocalic -SJ- in Old Tuscan

This paper deals with the non-systematic voicing of intervocalic sj in Old Tuscan. Old Tuscan displays both voiceless [ʃ] and voiced [ʒ] as outcomes of intervocalic sj, without an obvious phonological conditioning determining them. None of the existing attempts to account for this dual outcome – the search for a Neogrammarian regularity, the supposed introduction of [ʒ] through lexical borrowing, the hypothesis of a variable sound change – is completely satisfactory. It will be proposed that the hypothesis of a variable result of this sound change can be theoretically refined and given new empirical arguments. Specifically, it will be argued that an allophonic voicing rule may be followed by a partial lexical re-categorization of its output, and it will be shown that the outcome [ʒ] is most likely when the following vowel is low and/or stressed

Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis: clinical and therapeutic aspects.

Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIO) is the most common form of secondary osteoporosis. Fractures, which are often asymptomatic, may occur in as many as 30_50% of patients receiving chronic glucocorticoid therapy. Vertebral fractures occur early after exposure to glucocorticoids, at a time when bone mineral density (BMD) declines rapidly. Fractures tend to occur at higher BMD levels than in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Glucocorticoids have direct and indirect effects on the skeleton. They impair the replication, differentiation, and function of osteoblasts and induce the apoptosis of mature osteoblasts and osteocytes. These effects lead to a suppression of bone formation, a central feature in the pathogenesis of GIO. Glucocorticoids also favor osteoclastogenesis and as a consequence increase bone resorption. Bisphosphonates are the most effective of the various therapies that have been assessed for the management of GIO. Anabolic therapeutic strategies are under investigation. Teriparatide seems to be also efficacious for the treatment of patients with GIO

A filosofia da qualidade total aplicada a uma empresa do sector alimentar

Mestrado em Controlo de Gestão e dos NegóciosA presente dissertação tem como objetivo abordar a filosofia da qualidade total. A palavra qualidade e a suas implicações dentro de uma organização têm evoluído significativamente nos últimos anos. Parte desta evolução é consequência da abertura dos mercados e a alta competitividade com a globalização como estandarte. A qualidade deixou de ser exclusivamente uma responsabilidade do departamento de produção para ser um compromisso por parte de toda a organização. Atualmente, a qualidade é considerada como uma arma poderosa para melhorar a competitividade das empresas e garantir o posicionamento nos mercados. Definir qualidade não é uma tarefa fácil, e existem várias definições para este tema. Diferentes autores coincidem em destacar como conceitos relevantes para a definição de qualidade: as características do produto e/ou serviço e as suas capacidades de satisfazer as exigências e necessidades dos clientes. Cabe à organização encontrar a sua própria definição de qualidade e, como desafio, aos gestores de topo promover a qualidade nos diferentes departamentos, tendo sempre presente que, além de ser um fator crítico, a qualidade é uma vantagem competitiva e parte de uma visão a longo prazo.The goal of this thesis is to introduce the total quality philosophy The meaning of quality and its impact inside the organizations has been changed quiet faster in the last years. The opening of the markets as a result of globalization is responsible for this revolution where higher and stronger competitiveness are part of the game.Quality is not any more just a concern of the production department; it has become a compromise of the entire organization. Today quality is considered a strong weapon to ensure the competitiveness of the companies and a solid place in the markets. To define the concept of quality is not an easy task as there are a lot of definitions available. However, most of the specialists in the matters highlight two important characteristics that the concept should encompass: the specifications of the product or service and the ability to satisfy the customers’ needs. Each organization needs to find and adopt the concept of quality that best fits with them. Although this is not the only challenge companies have as managers should promote the total quality philosophy around the organization and remember, in their daily work that quality is not only an “x factor” but it is also a competitive edge part of a long term vision

The voiced and voiceless outcomes of intervocalic -SJ- in Old Tuscan

This paper deals with the non-systematic voicing of intervocalic sj in Old Tuscan. Old Tuscan displays both voiceless [ʃ] and voiced [ʒ] as outcomes of intervocalic sj, without an obvious phonological conditioning determining them. None of the existing attempts to account for this dual outcome – the search for a Neogrammarian regularity, the supposed introduction of [ʒ] through lexical borrowing, the hypothesis of a variable sound change – is completely satisfactory. It will be proposed that the hypothesis of a variable result of this sound change can be theoretically refined and given new empirical arguments. Specifically, it will be argued that an allophonic voicing rule may be followed by a partial lexical re-categorization of its output, and it will be shown that the outcome [ʒ] is most likely when the following vowel is low and/or stressed