The syntactic and prosodic effects of long-distance wh-movement in Italian

Peer reviewe

Focus in wh-questions : Evidence from Italian

This paper addresses two long-standing issues concerning focus: first, the question of whether the focal interpretation is directly read off the prosodic structure of a sentence, or it is rather mediated by a [focus] feature encoded in the syntactic representation; second, whether interrogativewh-phrases are inherently endowed with a [focus] feature. We provide evidence from two prosodic experiments on directwh-questions in Italian, showing that the Nuclear Pitch Accent (NPA) and main stress fall on the lexical verb, without a concomitant focal interpretation of the latter. Furthermore, we show that NPA assignment is sensitive to the derivational history of thewh-phrase under short-distance vs. long-distance extraction. We account for the observed NPA distribution in terms of a [focus] feature which is bundled with the [wh] in direct questions, and is specified on each phase head that hosts in its edge one link of thewh-chain. Thus, v degrees is specified for the feature bundle {wh, focus} and attracts the assignment of the NPA, which is then realized on the lexical verb. Our findings, thus, cast doubt on the direct association between prosodic prominence and a focal interpretation.Peer reviewe

Syntactic and prosodic effects of long-distance wh-movement in Italian

In this paper we discuss postverbal subjects in Italian direct wh-questions. We show that, in this context, subject inversion is not determined by the information-structural, semantic, or pragmatic conditions that rule ‘free’ subject inversion in declarative clauses: it is rather the consequence of a purely syntactic mechanism, namely, successive cyclic wh-movement, which directly affects the syntactic position of the subject, as well as the prosody of the sentence (in particular, the distribution of the nuclear pitch accent). We propose that the movement of the wh-element to the local CP inhibits the position SubjP, which hosts preverbal subjects in Italian. This syntactic restriction, we argue, is due to a case of relativized minimality: given that the preverbal subject would count as an intervener that blocks wh-movement, SubjP is not projected in the syntactic structure of wh-questions and the subject must obligatorily occur postverbally

Leucoreduction of blood components. an effective way to increase blood safety?

Over the past 30 years, it has been demonstrated that removal of white blood cells from blood components is effective in preventing some adverse reactions such as febrile non-haemolytic transfusion reactions, immunisation against human leucocyte antigens and human platelet antigens, and transmission of cytomegalovirus. In this review we discuss indications for leucoreduction and classify them into three categories: evidence-based indications for which the clinical efficacy is proven, indications based on the analysis of observational clinical studies with very consistent results and indications for which the clinical efficacy is partial or unproven

Efficient design of multiple-fed leaky wave/Fabry-Perot antennas

A simple transmission line approach for the rapid analysis of multiple fed Leaky Wave antennas based on Fabry-Perot cavities is presented. The method is based on the superposition of the travelling leaky waves excited by each of the applied source. The propagation constant of the leaky waves inside the Fabry-Perot cavity is computed the Transverse Resonance Technique (TRM). The procedure is completely analytic since the antenna does not require a superstrate composed by unconventional FSS elements. This antenna configuration allows the synthesis of very high gain antennas while preserving reasonable bandwidth

Composite material comprising pectin and calcium phosphate and method for its realisation

A method for obtaining a composite material including an aqueous solution of pectin and a suspension/solution of calcium phosphate mixed together, wherein said solution of pectin cross-links with a portion of the calcium obtained from the solution of calcium phosphate and wherein a portion of the calcium phosphate in suspension remains as inorganic phase and composite materials obtained by this method

Digital Libraries and Educational Resources: the AquaRing Semantic Approach

Large amounts of scientific digital contents are nowadays held by scientific institutions which collect, pro- duce and store information valuable for dissemination, work, study and research. In this context, the development of the web and of learning technologies has brought new opportunities for teachers and learners to retrieve and share pedagogical objects. This paper introduces the use of a se- mantic approach developed within the EC funded AquaR- ing project with the aim of improving access to the vast amount of digital content concerning the aquatic environ- ment and its resources, as well as supporting enhanced edu- cation and informal learning in this specific domain. In or- der to achieve these goals, a semantic framework and an educational ontology were developed and implemented. Both were used to support the indexing of learning re- sources and to provide several educational services to end- users (especially children, students, parents and teachers). Index Terms—Digital Libraries, Learning Objects, Ontolo- gies, Semantic Web

Blood Pressure Target Achievement Under Monotheraphy. A Real-Life Appraisal

Introduction: Despite hypertension guidelines suggest that the most effective treatment strategy to improve blood pressure (BP) target achievement is to implement the use of combination treatment, monotherapy is still widely used in the clinical practice of hypertension. Aim: To investigate BP control under monotherapy in the setting of real-life. Methods: We extracted data from a medical database of adult outpatients who were referred to the Hypertension Unit, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome (IT), including anthropometric data, CV risk factors and comorbidities, presence or absence of antihypertensive therapy and concomitant medications. Among treated hypertensive patients, we identified only those under single antihypertensive agent (monotherapy). Office BP treatment targets were defined according to 2018 ESC/ESH guidelines as: (a) < 130/80 mmHg in individuals aged 18-65 years; (b) < 140/80 mmHg in those aged > 65 years. Results: From an overall sample of 7797 records we selected 1578 (20.2%) hypertensive outpatients (47.3% female, age 59.5 ± 13.6 years, BMI 26.6 ± 4.4 kg/m2) treated with monotherapies, among whom 30.5% received ACE inhibitors, 37.7% ARBs, 15.8% beta-blockers, 10.6% CCBs, 3.0% diuretics, and 2.0% alpha-blockers. 36.6% of these patients reached the conventional clinic BP goal of < 140/90 mmHg, whilst the 2018 European guidelines BP treatment targets were fulfilled only in 14.0%. In particular, 10.2% patients aged 18-65 years and 20.4% of those aged > 65 years achieved the recommended BP goals. All these proportions results significantly lower than those achieved with dual (18.2%) or triple (22.2%) combination therapy, though higher than those obtained with life-style changes (10.8%). Proportions of patients on monotherapies with normal home and 24-h BP levels were 22.0% and 30.2%, respectively, though only 5.2% and 7.3% of these patients achieved sustained BP control, respectively. Ageing and dyslipidaemia showed significant and independent positive predictive value for the achievement of the recommended BP treatment targets, whereas European SCORE resulted a negative and independent predictor in outpatients treated with monotherapies. Conclusions: Our data showed a persistent use of monotherapy in the clinical practice, though with unsatisfactory BP control, especially in light of the BP treatment targets suggested by the last hypertension guidelines