Introduction: Seven types of continuity in discourse

This issue of Language Variation and Change brings together seven articles from four continents, North and South America, Europe, and Australia, dealing with Québec French, Brazilian Portuguese, British and Australian English, respectively. Although the geographical spread is great, the articles have in common a focus on how various discourse strategies and devices (punctors, pragmatic expressions, extension particles) maintain coherence or continuity in spoken discourse, and all subscribe to the importance of a rigorous quantitative methodology. They thus bear testimony to the important development in linguistics in recent years that regards discourse processes found mainly in unedited oral speech as crucial data offering a key to the functioning of human language (Ducrot, 1980; Roulet et al., 1985; Schegloff et al., 1977; Schiffrin, 1987; Stenström, 1990

Ecstatic prophecy in the Old Testament

When speaking of prophets in our culture, we usually have the Old Testament classical prophets in mind. At the mention of prophetic ecstasy the immediate reaction is often, "That would be Saul and the asses or Elijah and the prophets of Baal". A sharp distinction is often made between the so-called primitive prophets and the classical prophets. Bearing in mind that the Chronicles mention chronicles, prophesies, visions and narratives of various non-classical prophets there is a certain danger that we make a distinction between different prophetic types more sharply than was done in Old Testament times. In this paper ecstasy is treated purely in its own terms

Growing up with Dyslexia : Cognitive and Psychosocial Impact, and Salutogenic Factors

The studies in this doctoral thesis report aspects of cognitive and socio emotional development in a group of teenagers and young adults with dyslexia. The 75 subjects, between 14 and 25 years of age, had been diagnosed in the latter half of the 1990s, and the collection of quantitative and qualitative data was performed in 2003-04. Study I investigated the stability of intelligence. Earlier research had shown contradictory results. Participants, who were 12 years old on the average at the first test, were retested after a mean period of 6½ years. There was a significant relative decrease in Verbal IQ, interpreted as an effect of the dyslexic individuals having less experience with reading and writing, and as a consequence, a lag in verbal ability. Performance IQ improved significantly and the tentative interpretation was that of a compensatory process. Dyslexic children might develop a more visual, intuitive and creative way to process information and solve problems, leading to an improvement in non verbal intelligence. Study II involved interviews about school experiences in terms of well being, educational achievement, self esteem, peer relations, and future beliefs. Earlier studies suggest that secondary emotional problems are common. Early on, school was experienced as full of distress and failure for a majority. Peer relations were good for the majority though. With time, problems became more limited to reading and writing activities, interpreted as an effect of compartmentalization of the disability along with suitable choices of school curricula and occupations. Academic self-esteem seemed low and the most optimistic subjects were those who had finished school and were permanently employed. In Study III, the first of its kind in Scandinavia, the purpose was to uncover factors important for a favourable socio-emotional outcome, so called salutogenic factors. The subjects and parents were interviewed. Subjects' global self-worth and sense of coherence were measured. Dyslexia was found to be a risk factor for low global self-worth when associated with poor peer relations and low parental support, typical for a group of "resigned" subjects. External salutogenic factors were; having significant others who believe in the subjects' capacity to cope with the situation, together with good peer and family relations, and having a hobby or being good at sports. Important internal factors were a special talent, the ability to compartmentalize the disability and a personal trait of persistence. The emergence of the latter was discussed

Etiologic, diagnostic and prognostic factors in vulvar cancer

Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma (VSCC) can be divided into two subgroups basaloid and/or warty (HPV-associated) and keratinizing/non-keratinizing carcinomas (not HPV-associated). The inguinal lymph node status represents the most powerful prognostic factor. The Sentinel Node (SN) procedure is an alternative to complete inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy, which diminishes the complications. In this thesis the value of preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and the SN procedure was assessed. It was discovered that the relation between SNs detected on the scintigram and those found during surgery showed good agreement using Weighted Kappa. The detection rate of SN was 98% for radioisotope plus blue dye, and 94% for blue dye alone. The false negative rate was 2.7%. Hr-HPV (16, 18, 33, or 52) was detected in 31% of the tumours and in 43% of the SNs in patients with HPV-positive tumours. Patients with HPV-positive VSCC were significantly younger at diagnosis and had better survival. SNs with metastases were more frequently HPV-positive than those without metastases. As in many other cancer forms, there is a need for new and better prognostic markers in vulvar cancers. High expression of ln-5γ2 chain and HPV negativity were associated with poor outcome. In a multivariate analysis only HPV status and tumour stage were significant factors for survival. Ln-5γ2 expression showed positively significant correlation with stage, tumour-size, grade and metastases, but was negatively associated with HPV status. Expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67 was significantly correlated with HPV status. Studies of the proteome characteristics of HPV- positive versus HPV-negative VSCC by protein and pathway profiling on a global and individual tumour level detected four proteins as playing a major role in discriminating relapse from non-relapse tumours: STAT1, MX1, LGMN and PSMA5. Validation by immunohistochemistry showed significant down-regulation in HPV-positive compared to HPV-negative tumours. In the individual tumour pathway analysis, the pathways “RIG-1 like receptors in antiviral innate immunity” and “Rac signalling” emerge discriminate for separating relapse from non-relapse. In conclusion; preoperative scintigram gives the best estimate of the accurate number of lymph nodes but cannot determine if unilateral or bilateral groins should be explored in cases of midline tumours. Presence of HPV DNA in SN was related to metastatic disease but did not affect survival. High expression of ln-5y2 chain and HPV negativity were associated with poor outcome. However in multivariate analysis only HPV status and FIGO-stage showed significant relation to survival. Alterations of the “RIG-1 like receptors in antiviral innate immunity” pathway may be linked to an unfavourable prognosis, while alterations of the “IFN/EGFR/Glucocorticoid” signalling pathway is associated with HPV-positive tumours and thus of favourable prognosis

Indoor environment and recurrent wheezing in young children

Recurrent wheezing is one of the most common causes of morbidity and hospitalisation among infants and young children in many westernised countries. Respiratory infections and exposure to tobacco smoke have been identified as important risk factors. The indoor environment is also clearly of importance since we spend most of our time indoors. The aim of this thesis was to study the influence of various ventilation systems on indoor air quality, and to elucidate the impact of outdoor and indoor environment, primarily with focus on indoor air, on the development of recurrent wheezing in children up to the age of two years. The thesis is based on two main studies: The first study assesses the impact of various ventilation systems on the indoor quality of singlefamily homes, located within a small residential area outside Stockholm. All houses were originally designed for natural ventilation. Twenty-two of the 59 investigated houses had been refitted with mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation systems. In another eight houses the original natural ventilation had been adjusted in order to improve the air change rate. In the second study, we followed a birth cohort (BAMSE), comprising 4,089 children, born in predefined areas of Stockholm, during the two first years of the children’s lives. Both urban and suburban districts were represented, including different types of buildings, dwellings with and without gas stoves for cooking, different socio-economic groups, and areas with various types of traffic exposure. Information on exposures was obtained from parental questionnaires. In addition, children with recurrent wheezing, and two age-matched controls per case, were identified and enrolled in a nested case-control study. Their homes were investigated and ventilation rate, humidity, temperature and NO2 measured. In BAMSE, an increased risk of recurrent wheezing was shown for children living in apartment buildings constructed after 1940 and single-family homes with crawl space/concrete slab foundation, compared with those living in buildings erected before 1940, OR 2.5 (1.3-4.8) and OR 2.5 (1.1-5.4). This was not primarily explained by differences in type of ventilation system, measured ventilation rate, occurrence of house dust mite allergen in the home, or other known risk factors for childhood wheezing. Air change rate (ACH) was inversely related to indoor humidity, and increased humidity above median level 5.8 g/kg was associated with infant recurrent wheezing, OR 1.7 (1.0-2.9). In single-family homes, both studies show that mechanical ventilation increases the possibility of reaching an ACH of ≥0.5, which in cold temperate regions protects buildings from increased indoor humidity, including levels that promote mite survival. Furthermore, occurrence of windowpane condensation on the interior side of double-glazed windows in wintertime indicated indoor humidity above 5.8 g/kg. Windowpane condensation, reported consistently over several years in the same home, was also associated with an increased risk of infant recurrent wheezing, OR 2.2 (1.1-4.5). There was also a higher proportion of recurrent wheezing in children exposed to signs of dampness, prospectively reported by parents, OR 1.4 (0.9-2.2) or observed at home inspections 1.6 (1.0-2.5). Moreover, recently painted surfaces in the child’s bedroom were associated with an increased OR for recurrent wheezing, 1.7 (1.3-2.6). It was further suggested that exposure to air pollution including NO2, particularly in combination with exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), increases the risk of recurrent wheezing in children: the OR was 3.1 (1.3-7.3) among children exposed to the highest quartile of indoor (NO2) and ETS. It may be concluded that various building-related exposures such as certain types of building constructions, signs of dampness and newly painted interior surfaces, were associated with recurrent wheezing in children up to the age of two. In addition NO2, especially in combination with ETS seems to increase the risk of infant recurrent wheezin

Not-negation revisited: variation between a and any in verb complements in contemporary spoken American English

In not-negated English sentences with indefinite expressions following the verb, there is variation between the indefinite article and any as determiners of nouns. The standard view is that singular count nouns take the indefinite article and singular non-count and plural nouns take any. However, it is possible to encounter examples like it isn't any threat, there isn't any lock or I don't have any problem.The article studies variation between the indefinite article and any as post-verbal determiners of singular nouns in 21,084 not-negated sentences in the spoken component of The Corpus of Contemporary American English, COCA SPOK. The indefinite article is dominant with 90 per cent of the tokens. Variation is extremely rare in sentences with copular be and much more frequent in sentences with existential be and have. Among the reasons for variation between verb types is the use of do-support with have (but not with be). Expressions such as have a job/car/home or there's not a/an with uncontracted not may also prevent the use of any. Variation occurs mostly with abstract nouns such as problem, choice, way, place, reason. This finding is surprising as abstract nouns have rarely been discussed in the literature on varying countability of nouns

Relativization strategies in Earlier African American Vernacular English

This article, which examines the system of relative markers in Early African American English as documented in the Ex-Slave Recordings (Bailey et al., 1991), is intended as a contribution to two areas of research: African American Vernacular English and the system of relativization in English. We found a significantly higher incidence of zero marking in adverbial relatives than in non-adverbial relatives. Among non-adverbial relatives, a variable rule analysis showed that non-humanness of the head as well as the function of the head as subject complement or subject in an existential sentence strongly favored zero relatives, and that prepositional complement heads disfavored zeroes. The lack of wh-relatives aswell as the frequency of zero subject relatives is interpreted as evidence that African American Vernacular English is a dialect of Englis

School nurses’ engagement and care ethics in promoting adolescent health

Background: The school is a key environment for establishing good health habits among pupils. School nurses play a prominent role in health promotion, since they meet with every single adolescent. Research aim: To describe care ethics in the context of school nurses’ health-promoting activities among adolescents in secondary schools. Research design: An explorative descriptive methodology in which semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and content analysis was performed Participants and research context: Data were collected from eight school nurses in a municipality in Western Sweden. Ethical considerations: This study was conducted according to the ethical principles of the Swedish Research Council (2011), and the written informed consent of the participants was obtained. Findings/Discussion: A caring relation, based on care ethics, is the basis for successful health-promoting activities among adolescents. The school nurses show strong engagement in and commitment to caring for and caring about adolescents by being attentive and listening to their expressed feelings and needs, both spoken and unspoken. Furthermore, the school nurses have a deep sense of responsibility in supporting and empowering adolescents to trust their own capabilities. To enhance health and well-being, school nurses emphasize low-threshold counselling, flexibility, openness, early intervention and continuity, as well as good collaboration with the health team at school and with parents. Conclusion: Creating a trustful and supportive caring relation is the foundation for successful health promotion among adolescents. Additionally, the meaning and significance of care ethics should be recognized in strengthening person-centred health care and a resilient environment in schools. Key words School-nurse, care ethics, caring relation, health promotion, adolescentspublishedVersio

Development of Oncolytic Adenoviruses for the Management of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the fifth most common cause of cancer-related deaths in men globally. Androgen receptor (AR) signalling plays a vital role in initiation and progression and antiandrogens are standard of care first-line therapeutics. However, resistance frequently develops resulting in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Management of CRPC is currently chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy but is mostly palliative due to rapid development of resistance. The need for novel approaches to eliminate mCRPC is compelling; a promising option is replication-selective (oncolytic) adenoviruses with demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models of multidrug-resistant PCa. The safety of various viral mutants has been confirmed in numerous clinical trials with minimal toxicity in patients. Importantly, oncolytic adenoviruses synergise with the current standard of care for mCRPC even in treatment-resistant cells. In early phase I–II clinical trials, promising efficacy in patients with localised PCa was reported after intratumoural administration, and phase III trials are underway. To enable systemic delivery, for targeting of mCRPC, further developments are necessary because of the short half-life of the adenoviral mutants in human blood. Current progress in preventing the high-affinity binding of adenovirus to erythrocytes, hepatocyte uptake, and elimination by hepatic Kupffer cells will be described