Modifying result states in Turkish

This study investigates the properties of a durative modifier that exclusively targets result states in Turkish. We call this modifier RSM, standing for Result State Modifier. What is peculiar about RSM is that it can express the actual duration of a result state, as well as a non-actual duration for an actual result state. Our goal is to describe the conditions under which these two interpretations are licensed and to provide a compositional analysis of how these interpretations are derived. We argue that dispositions play a key role in the way RSM can describe a non-actual duration for an actual result state

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

When tense shifts expressive presuppositions: hani and monstrous semantics

I will present a study I conducted with Furkan Dikmen and Ömer Demirok on the semantic and pragmatic properties of the Turkish ‘discourse partıcle’ hani. On the one hand, the function of hani is merely pragmatic, on the other hand, it is subject to the truth-conditional effect of other constituents at LF. In this study, we introduce the first formal semantic and pragmatic treatment of clauses containing hani. Unlike previous accounts (see Erguvanlı-Taylan (Studies on Turkish and Turkic languagesproceedings of the ninth international conference on Turkish linguistics, 133–143, 2000), Akar et al. (Discourse meaning, 57–78, 2020), and Akar and Öztürk (Information-structural perspectives on discourse particles, 251–276, 2020), we claim that hani can have one of the following two major pragmatic functions: making salient a proposition in the Common Ground or challenging one in a past Common Ground, therefore requiring a Common Ground revision. Despite its variety of occurrences, we argue that hani has a uniform interpretation and provide a compositional analysis of the different construals that it is associated with. Furthermore, we show that a formally explicit and accurate characterization of hani-clauses requires operating on indexical parameters, in particular the context time. Therefore, if our proposal is on the right track, hani clauses may provide indirect empirical evidence in favour of the existence of “monstrous” phenomena, adding to the accumulating cross-linguistic evidence in this domain (see Schlenker in Linguistics and Philosophy 26(1):29–120, 2003 and much work since then). The definition of monsters is intended as in Kaplan (Themes from Kaplan, 481–563, 1989)

When tense shifts presuppositions

This study shows that the Turkish expression hani exhibits interesting properties for the study of the semantics and pragmatics interface, because, on the one hand, its function is merely pragmatic, but on the other hand, it is subject to the truth-conditional effect of other constituents at LF. This notwithstanding, studies on this expression are remarkably scarce. The only attempts to describe its properties are Erguvanlı-Taylan (Studies on Turkish and Turkic languagesproceedings of the ninth international conference on Turkish linguistics, 133–143, 2000), Akar et al. (Discourse meaning, 57–78, 2020), and Akar and Öztürk (Information-structural perspectives on discourse particles, 251–276, 2020). In the present study, we introduce the first formal semantic and pragmatic treatment of clauses containing hani. Unlike previous accounts, we claim that hani can have one of the following two major pragmatic functions: making salient a proposition in the Common Ground or challenging one in a past Common Ground, therefore requiring a Common Ground revision. Despite its variety of occurrences, we argue that hani has a uniform interpretation and provide a compositional analysis of the different construals that it is associated with. Furthermore, we show that a formally explicit and accurate characterization of hani clauses requires operating on indexical parameters, in particular the context time. Therefore, if our proposal is on the right track, hani clauses may provide indirect empirical evidence in favour of the existence of “monstrous” phenomena, adding to the accumulating cross-linguistic evidence in this domain (see Schlenker in Linguistics and Philosophy 26(1):29–120, 2003 and much work since then). The definition of monsters is intended as in Kaplan (Themes from Kaplan, 481–563, 1989)

Revisiting the Bjerrum's correction factor: Use of the liquidity index for assessing the effect of soil plasticity on undrained shear strength

The undrained shear strength (su) of fine-grained soils that can be measured in situ and in laboratory is one of the key geotechnical parameters. The unconfined compression test (UCT) is widely used in laboratory to measure this parameter due to its simplicity; however, it is severely affected by sample disturbance. The vane shear test (VST) technique that is less sensitive to sample disturbance involves a correction factor against the soil plasticity, commonly known as the Bjerrum's correction factor, μ. This study aims to reevaluate the Bjerrum's correction factor in consideration of a different approach and a relatively new method of testing. Atterberg limits test, miniature VST, and reverse extrusion test (RET) were conducted on 120 remolded samples. The effect of soil plasticity on undrained shear strength was examined using the liquidity index instead of Bjerrum's correction factor. In comparison with the result obatined using the Bjerrum's correction factor, the undrained shear strength was better represented when su values were correlated with the liquidity index. The results were validated by the RET, which was proven to take into account soil plasticity with a reliable degree of accuracy. This study also shows that the RET has strong promise as a new tool for testing undrained shear strength of fine-grained soils

Incidence, Risk Factors, and Prognosis of Bloodstream Infections in COVID-19 Patients in Intensive Care: A Single-Center Observational Study

Background Critically ill COVID-19 patients are prone to bloodstream infections (BSIs). Aim To evaluate the incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of BSIs developing in COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods Patients staying at least 48 h in ICU from 22 March 2020 to 25 May 2021 were included. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were analyzed. Results The median age of the sample (n = 470) was 66 years (IQR 56.0-76.0), and 64% were male. The three most common comorbidities were hypertension (49.8%), diabetes mellitus (32.8%), and coronary artery disease (25.7%). Further, 252 BSI episodes developed in 179 patients, and the BSI incidence rate was 50.2 (95% CI 44.3-56.7) per 1000 patient-days. The source of BSI is central venous catheter in 42.5% and lower respiratory tract in 38.9% of the episodes. Acinetobacter baumannii (40%) and carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (21%) were the most common pathogens. CRP levels were lower in patients receiving tocilizumab. Multivariable analysis revealed that continuous renal replacement therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and treatment with a combination of methylprednisolone and tocilizumab were independent risk factors for BSI. The estimated cumulative risk of developing first BSI episode was 50% after 6 days and 100% after 25 days. Of the 179 patients, 149 (83.2%) died, and a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) was found in the survival distribution in favor of the group without BSI. Conclusion BSI is a common complication in COVID-19 patients followed in the ICU, and it can lead to mortality. Failure in infection control measures, intensive immunosuppressive treatments, and invasive interventions are among the main factors leading to BSIs

Tocilizumab in COVID-19: The Cerrahpas , a-PREDICT score

Background: Cytokine release syndrome (CRS), characterized by overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in the course of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been suggested as the major cause of mortality. Tocilizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against human IL-6 receptor, poses a therapeutic option for the treatment of CRS leading to severe acute respiratory syndrome in coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective study to reveal the outcome of COVID-19 patients on tocilizumab and proposed "the Cerrahpas,a-PREDICT score", a new clinical scoring system using clinical and laboratory parameters that would help predicting the 28-day mortality of COVID-19 patients receiving tocilizumab. Results: Eighty-seven patients (median age: 59 years) were included of whom 75.8% were male. Tocilizumab use significantly improved clinical and laboratory parameters. The 28-day mortality rate on tocilizumab was 16.1%. The Cerrahpas,a-PREDICT score, consisting of platelet counts, procalcitonin, D-dimer levels, SO2R and the time from symptom onset to tocilizumab administration had a positive predictive value of 94.5% and negative predictive value of 92.9% for anticipating 28-day mortality. Conclusions: Severe COVID-19 should closely be monitored for the signs of hyperinflammation. We showed that administration of tocilizumab early in the course of the disease (prior to ICU admission) resulted in a favorable outcome. Close monitoring usually aids identifying patients who would benefit from tocilizumab. In this regard, the Cerrahpas,a-PREDICT score might serve as a practical tool for estimating the 28-day mortality in COVID-19 patients who received tocilizumab and would facilitate timely recognition of fatal cases to be evaluated for other therapeutic options