Cognitive Linguistics: Looking Back, Looking Forward

Since its conception, Cognitive Linguistics as a theory of language has been enjoying ever increasing success worldwide. With quantitative growth has come qualitative diversification, and within a now heterogeneous field, different – and at times opposing – views on theoretical and methodological matters have emerged. The historical “prototype” of Cognitive Linguistics may be described as predominantly of mentalist persuasion, based on introspection, specialized in analysing language from a synchronic point of view, focused on West-European data (English in particular), and showing limited interest in the social and multimodal aspects of communication. Over the past years, many promising extensions from this prototype have emerged. The contributions selected for the Special Issue take stock of these extensions along the cognitive, social and methodological axes that expand the cognitive linguistic object of inquiry across time, space and modalit

Hydronephrosis caused by kidney malrotation.

Hydronephrosis associated with kidney malrotation can be a surgical challenge. We present the case of a 3.5 y.o.-boy presenting with left pyelo-ureteric obstruction caused by kidney hyperrotation (270°) resulting in recurring urinary tract infection. After complete radiological work-up, we opted for a primary laparoscopic ureterocalicostomy, which allowed for complete resolution of the pelvic dilatation. Kidney malrotation can present with a wide variation in anatomic features. Radiological work-up is the cornerstone of surgical strategy planning. Laparoscopic ureterocalicostomy is a useful primary option in unusual anatomical situations

Less is more: possibility and necessity as centres of gravity in a usage-based classification of core modals in Polish

In this paper we present the results of an empirical study into the cognitive reality of existing classifications of modality using Polish data. We analyzed random samples of 250 independent observations for the 7 most frequent modal words (móc, można, musieć, należy, powinien, trzeba, wolno), extracted from the Polish national corpus. Observations were annotated for modal type according to a number of classifications, including van der Auwera and Plungian (1998), as well as for morphological, syntactic and semantic properties using the Behavioral Profiling approach (Divjak and Gries 2006). Multiple correspondence analysis and (polytomous) regression models were used to determine how well modal type and usage align. These corpus-based findings were validated experimentally. In a forced choice task, naive native speakers were exposed to definitions and prototypical examples of modal types or functions, then labeled a number of authentic corpus sentences accordingly. In the sorting task, naive native speakers sorted authentic corpus sentences into semantically coherent groups. We discuss the results of our empirical study as well as the issues involved in building usage-based accounts on traditional linguistic classifications

Children's sequential information search is sensitive to environmental probabilities

AbstractWe investigated 4th-grade children’s search strategies on sequential search tasks in which the goal is to identify an unknown target object by asking yes–no questions about its features. We used exhaustive search to identify the most efficient question strategies and evaluated the usefulness of children’s questions accordingly. Results show that children have good intuitions regarding questions’ usefulness and search adaptively, relative to the statistical structure of the task environment. Search was especially efficient in a task environment that was representative of real-world experiences. This suggests that children may use their knowledge of real-world environmental statistics to guide their search behavior. We also compared different related search tasks. We found positive transfer effects from first doing a number search task on a later person search task

Lack of PRSS1 and SPINK1 polymorphisms in Serbian acute pancreatitis patients

© 2015 University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science. All rights reserved. Acute pancreatitis represents an acute nonbacterial inflammation of the pancreas caused by a premature and ectopic activation of pancreatic digestive enzymes. Two of the most important genes in pancreatic autodigestion, PRSS1 and SPINK1, were implicated in the earliest discoveries of the genetic background of pancreatitis. However, the distribution of their variations displays interethnic variability, which could significantly affect the magnitude of their proposed effects on this disease worldwide. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of the most important functional variations of PRSS1 (86A>T and 365G>A) and SPINK1 (101A>G), and their influence on the clinical course of acute pancreatitis in Serbian patients. The study enrolled 81 subjects, the severity of disease course was determined using the Atlanta Classification system, and the genotyping was conducted using a PCR-RFLP method. PRSS1 86A>T and 365G>A SNPs were not observed in the study population, while SPINK1 101A>G was present with the frequency of 0.62% (95% CI: 0.00, 3.83%). Due to extremely low frequencies or absences of examined variations, the proposed effect of these SNPs on the severity of acute pancreatitis could not be confirmed. The results do not support routine genotyping of either PRSS1 or SPINK1 in Serbs

VALIDATION of the STUDY BURNOUT INVENTORY and the COPENHAGEN BURNOUT INVENTORY for the USE among MEDICAL STUDENTS

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Serbian versions of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and the Study Burnout Inventory (SBI) among fifth-year medical students at 5 universities in Serbia. Material and Methods: The study included 573 fifth-year medical students at 5 universities in Serbia. The research instrument consisted of SBI and CBI. The reliability of these instruments was assessed using an internal consistency measure (Cronbach's α), an intra-class coefficient (ICC) and factor analysis. Results: Cronbach's α for SBI was 0.83, including for exhaustion 0.73, for cynicism 0.70, and for inadequacy 0.48. The test-retest reliability (ICC) was 0.75. Cronbach's α for personal burnout on CBI was 0.89, for the faculty-related burnout 0.86, and for the faculty-members-related burnout 0.92. Cronbach's α for CBI was 0.93. The factor analysis for SBI showed 2 factors and for CBI 3 factors. Conclusions: This study revealed that the Serbian versions of both SBI and CBI could be used for the assessment of burnout in this population

EQ-5D studies in nervous system diseases in eight Central and East European countries: a systematic literature review

Backround: Guidelines for economic analyses of health care technologies require local input data for reimbursement decisions in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The aim of this study was to systematically review and analyse the available empirical studies using the EQ-5D instrument as a measure of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with neurological diseases. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed up to 1st April 2018 to identify relevant studies in eight selected CEE countries. Original articles reporting on studies of neurological diseases using the EQ-5D instrument were analysed. Results: Thirty-six articles, describing the results of 38 samples of patients and a total of 13,005 patients were included in the review. Most studies were from Hungary (44.4%) and none from Romania or Slovakia. EQ-5D utility scores were reported in 33 (91.7%) articles. In multiple sclerosis (MS) being the most represented disease, the average utility scores ranged from 0.49 in Austria to 0.80 in Poland with a weighted average of 0.69. EQ VAS scores for MS ranged from 39 in Czech Republic to 72.0 in Poland, with weighted average of 59.1. MS patients, together with epilepsy and essential tremor patients, estimated their HRQoL among the highest. Conclusions: EQ-5D research activity in neurology has been increasing through the years in studied CEE countries. There are clinical areas with the significant social burden, such as a migraine or meningitis, that are completely lacking data, other areas, such as stroke or epilepsy, with very scarce data