Recapitulative linkage in Mavea

This chapter concentrates on recapitulative linkage in Mavea, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu. I present the formal characteristics of recapitulative linkage and assess its discourse functions in two texts: a procedural text and a legend. Recapitulative linkage is compared to verbal repetition, another productive discourse strategy in Oceanic languages. I show that recapitulative linkage in Mavea is identified through a constellation of features. Syntactically, it is an instance of main clause coordination; prosodically it is marked with continuation intonation; semantically,it indicates temporal succession; and in discourse, it signals thematic continuity or rhetorical underlining

Recapitulative linkage in Mavea

This chapter concentrates on recapitulative linkage in Mavea, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu. I present the formal characteristics of recapitulative linkage and assess its discourse functions in two texts: a procedural text and a legend. Recapitulative linkage is compared to verbal repetition, another productive discourse strategy in Oceanic languages. I show that recapitulative linkage in Mavea is identified through a constellation of features. Syntactically, it is an instance of main clause coordination; prosodically it is marked with continuation intonation; semantically,it indicates temporal succession; and in discourse, it signals thematic continuity or rhetorical underlining

A Grammar of Mavea: an oceanic language of Vanuatu

Spoken on Mavea Island by approximately 32 people, Mavea is an endangered Oceanic language of Vanuatu. This work provides grammatical descriptions of this hitherto undescribed language. Fourteen chapters, containing more than 1,400 examples, cover topics in the phonology and morphosyntax of Mavea, with an emphasis on the latter. Of particular interest are examples of individual speaker variation presented throughout the grammar; the presence of three linguo-labials (still used today by a single speaker) that were unexpectedly found before the rounded vowel /o/; and a chapter on numerals and the counting system, which have long been replaced by Bislama's but are remembered by a handful of speakers. Most of the grammatical descriptions derive from a corpus of texts of various genres (conversations, traditional stories, personal histories, etc.) gathered during the author’s fieldwork, conducted for eleven months between 2005 and 2007

Bridging constructions in typological perspective

In this chapter, we undertake a cross-linguistic examination of bridging constructions, which we define as the sequence of two clauses: the first clause (called the reference clause) ends a discourse unit, the second clause (called the bridging clause)typically repeats the first clause at the beginning of a new discourse unit. Based on published language data and data from the volume, we identify three different types of constructions subsumed under the label bridging construction (§2 and §3): recapitulative linkage, summary linkage, and mixed linkage. They differ in the form that the bridging clause takes on: broadly speaking, verbatim lexical recapitulation of the reference clause; a light verb summarizing the reference clause; or a mix of these two strategies. Because bridging constructions lie at the interface of discourse and syntax, we dedicate §4 to explaining their discourse functions. Amid the cross-linguistic variation, we found two recurrent discourse functions: emphasizing sequentiality and cohesively structuring discourse. Finally, we establish a list of questions to guide the documentation of these linguistic patterns

Native speakers as documenters: a student initiative at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

The Language Documentation Training Center (LDTC), a student-run initiative in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hawai'i at Miinoa, is an innovative program which brings native speakers into the field of documentary linguistics and elevates their roles to central participants in the documentary process. At LDTC, graduate students in linguistics partner up with native speakers of underdocumented languages during a series of workshops where native speakers learn best practices in documentary linguistics. While the linguistic training is pared down to the skills and knowledge relevant to the native speakers' languages, the documentary training empowers the speakers to undertake further documentation efforts in their own communities. This paper details the methods and practices of the LDTC

Patterns of Shelter Use Among Men New to Homelessness in Later Life: Duration of Stay and Psychosocial Factors Related to Departure

People who become homeless for the first time in late life are a growing but understudied population. This study draws on administrative data from one shelter (N = 1,214 first-time homeless) to assess the extent to which age is related to shelter stay and, to examine psychosocial factors that may be associated with shelter departure. Our bivariate and survival analysis results suggest that older homeless men stay in the shelter 2 weeks longer than younger clients. Older men with pending legal issues and mobility concerns were more likely to leave the shelter than those without such concerns. Findings highlight the impact of age and other psychosocial variables on shelter stay, and provide direction from which to address homelessness among men who are new to homelessness in later life

Hippocampal and cortical mechanisms at retrieval explain variability in episodic remembering in older adults

Age-related episodic memory decline is characterized by striking heterogeneity across individuals. Hippocampal pattern completion is a fundamental process supporting episodic memory. Yet, the degree to which this mechanism is impaired with age, and contributes to variability in episodic memory, remains unclear. We combine univariate and multivariate analyses of fMRI data from a large cohort of cognitively normal older adults (N=100) to measure hippocampal activity and cortical reinstatement during retrieval of trial-unique associations. Trial-wise analyses revealed that (a) hippocampal activity scaled with reinstatement strength, (b) cortical reinstatement partially mediated the relationship between hippocampal activity and associative retrieval, (c) older age weakened cortical reinstatement and its relationship to memory behaviour. Moreover, individual differences in the strength of hippocampal activity and cortical reinstatement explained unique variance in performance across multiple assays of episodic memory. These results indicate that fMRI indices of hippocampal pattern completion explain within-and across-individual memory variability in older adults

Identification of Stage-Specific Breast Markers using Quantitative Proteomics

YesMatched healthy and diseased tissues from breast cancer patients were analyzed by quantitative proteomics. By comparing proteomic profiles of fibroadenoma (benign tumors, three patients), DCIS (noninvasive cancer, three patients), and invasive ductal carcinoma (four patients), we identified protein alterations that correlated with breast cancer progression. Three 8-plex iTRAQ experiments generated an average of 826 protein identifications, of which 402 were common. After excluding those originating from blood, 59 proteins were significantly changed in tumor compared with normal tissues, with the majority associated with invasive carcinomas. Bioinformatics analysis identified relationships between proteins in this subset including roles in redox regulation, lipid transport, protein folding, and proteasomal degradation, with a substantial number increased in expression due to Myc oncogene activation. Three target proteins, cofilin-1 and p23 (increased in invasive carcinoma) and membrane copper amine oxidase 3 (decreased in invasive carcinoma), were subjected to further validation. All three were observed in phenotype-specific breast cancer cell lines, normal (nontransformed) breast cell lines, and primary breast epithelial cells by Western blotting, but only cofilin-1 and p23 were detected by multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry analysis. All three proteins were detected by both analytical approaches in matched tissue biopsies emulating the response observed with proteomics analysis. Tissue microarray analysis (361 patients) indicated cofilin-1 staining positively correlating with tumor grade and p23 staining with ER positive status; both therefore merit further investigation as potential biomarkers.Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, Yorkshire Cancer Researc

Precision global health : a roadmap for augmented action

With increased complexity in various global health challenges comes a need for increased precision and the adoption of more tailored health interventions. Building on precision public health, we propose precision global health (PGH), an approach that leverages life sciences, social sciences, and data sciences, augmented with artificial intelligence (AI), in order to identify transnational problems and deliver targeted and impactful interventions through integrated and participatory approaches. With more than four billion Internet users across the globe and the accelerating power of AI, PGH taps on our current augmented capacity to collect, integrate, analyse and visualise large volumes of data, both non-specific and specific to health. With the support of governments and donors, and together with international and non-governmental organisations, universities and research institutions can generate innovative solutions to improve health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable populations around the world. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, we propose here a road map for the development and implementation of PGH.https://jphe.amegroups.compm2021Immunolog

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives