Dative experiencers and (null) subjects in Peninsular Spanish infinitives

Dative experiencers have been argued to have certain subject properties in finite domains. The question thus arises whether they can ever be controlled like structural (null) subjects. In the literature, it has been argued that one feature distinguishing dative experiencers from (nominative) subjects in Spanish is that the former cannot be controlled, differently from true quirky subjects. By examining corpus data, I argue that Dative experiencers have been argued to have certain subject properties in finite domains. The question thus arises whether they can ever be controlled like structural (null) subjects. In the literature, it has been argued that one feature distinguishing dative experiencers from (nominative) subjects in Spanish is that the former cannot be controlled, differently from true quirky subjects. By examining corpus data, I argue that Spanish dative experiencers, even though they cannot be obligatorily controlled in complement infinitives, can appear in adjunct infinitives in non-obligatory control contexts. One property that is crucial for sanctioning this option is the possibility of licensing full DP subjects in nonfinite domains. If the subject position is occupied by a non-controlled nominative DP, dative experiencers are bound by logophoric or topic coordinates in C. The data give further support to an Agree-based theory of control, according to which the referential relation between the subject of infinitives and its controller is mediated by functional heads of the extended verbal projection

Variable First Person Singular Subject Expression in Spoken Valencian Catalan

Altres ajuts: This research has been supported by a postdoc grant from the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) which has made my stay at the Universitat de València possible. Parts of this research have been conducted in the research group "Linguistic variation in Catalan (VaLingCat)", University of València (Ref: GIUV2017-397)In this paper, I analyze first person singular subject pronoun expression in spoken Valencian Catalan varieties. I present a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 7 interviews from the corpus Parlars, examining 1sg subject rates regarding tense markings (syncretic vs. non-syncretic forms), verb type, and discourse type (monologues vs. conversations). It will be shown that the factor of morphological syncretism as well as verb type influence 1sg subject expression rates. Differently from what has been observed in some previous studies on Spanish, cognitive verbs are not associated with particularly high 1sg subject expression rates, but verbs of saying are. Looking at frequent verb forms in the spoken interviews, it will be shown that (jo) dic '(I) say' plays an important role, direct speech being a commonly used mechanism in the data examined here. Furthermore, discourse type (monologue vs. conversation) affects subject expression rates. These results suggest that 1sg subject expression is influenced by an interaction of verb morphology, verb type and specific verb forms, but that subject expression rates and the factors influencing them vary depending on particular pro-drop varieties, discourse types and the type of data. Looking at the contexts in which the strong pronoun jo 'I' is used with verbs of saying in spoken Valencian Catalan, I argue that subject expression triggers a perspectival, rather than referential shift in several cases.Aquest article estudia la realització del pronom de subjecte de primera persona singular en varietats orals del valencià. Es presenta una anàlisi quantitativa i qualitativa de 7 entrevistes del corpus oral Parlars i s'examinen les freqüències dels pronoms explícits i implícits tenint en compte les variables de temps verbal (formes amb sincretisme i sense), tipus de verb i tipus de discurs (monòleg o conversa). Es demostrarà que tant el factor del sincretisme morfològic com el factor del tipus de verb influeixen en la realització del pronom de primera persona singular. A diferència dels resultats d'alguns estudis previs de l'espanyol peninsular, els verbs cognitius en les dades del valencià oral no es correlacionen amb freqüències altes de subjectes explícits de primera persona singular, però sí que s'hi associen els verbs de comunicació. En l'anàlisi de les formes verbals concretes, es mostrarà que (jo) dic, un mecanisme de narració en estil directe, és freqüent i té un paper important en aquest tema. A més, el tipus de discurs (monòleg o conversa) també afecta la realització del subjecte. Aquests resultats suggereixen que tant la morfologia verbal, com el tipus de verb i les formes verbals concretes influeixen en la realització del subjecte de primera persona singular, però que els factors poden variar segons el tipus de pro-drop, de discurs i de dades. L'anàlisi amb detall dels contextos en què el pronom fort jo es combina amb verbs de comunicació ens fa pensar que l'expressió del subjecte de primera persona singular provoca un canvi de perspectiva (i no pas un canvi referencial) en molts casos

Reflexive SE with first and second person plural verb forms: A corpus study of spoken Valencian Catalan varieties

This paper presents a corpus study of 1st and 2nd person plural verbs and their reflexive clitics in a sample of spoken Valencian Catalan varieties. Previous studies have observed that the reflexive clitic SE, which standardly appears with 3rd person verb inflection, can co-occur with verbs marked for 1st and 2nd person plural in some varieties of Spanish and Catalan. With respect to the latter language, it has been mentioned that the phenomenon is especially extensive in the Valencian Catalan varieties. By means of an examination of data from the corpus Parlars it will be shown that even within Valencian Catalan, there is considerable variation with respect to the following factors: (i) whether SE is used with 2nd person only, 1st and 2nd person, or none of the two specifications; (ii) whether SE is the only form or whether it alternates with proto-typical 1st and 2nd person plural reflexives (1PL mos and 2PL vos), and (iii) whether the first person plural reflexive mos can be ‘doubled’ by SE (mo(s) se). The data indicate that SE can be the result of processes in different components of grammar: in phonology, as the result of a reduction operation, in morphology as the result of the elimination of a person feature, or in the lexicon as a feature bundle that fully lacks person

Word order variation with decir ‘say’ in spoken Peninsular Spanish : A case of residual V2?

Peer reviewe

Stresstest Fußverkehr: Eine experimentelle Studie zur Messung des Stressempfindens Zufußgehender am Marienplatz in Stuttgart

Gehen als Teil der alltäglichen Mobilität ist gesund, kostengünstig und für breite Teile der Bevölkerung nutzbar (Ausserer et al. 2013: 34f.). Zugleich tragen verschiedene Faktoren dazu bei, dass der Fußverkehr an Attraktivität einbüßt – darunter ganz zentral das Empfinden von Stress im Straßenraum. Ziel des NRVPProjektes „Cape Reviso“ ist es, Wissen über das Zusammenspiel von Stress und Zufußgehen zu generieren. Dabei wurde speziell untersucht, welche baulichen und sozialen Faktoren zum Empfinden von Stress bei Zufußgehenden im urbanen Raum führen können und welche Rolle soziale bzw. psychologische Charakteristika dabei spielen. Grundlage für den Stresstest war einer Studie mit 15 Teilnehmenden am Marienplatz in Stuttgart, der eine Vielzahl an Flächen- und Nutzungskonkurrenzen aufweist und durch eine große Nutzungsmischung sowie dem Status als Verkehrsknotenpunkt gekennzeichnet ist. Bei der Erhebungs- und Auswertungsmethodik) wurde ein triangulierendes Verfahren (Flick 2008: 12ff.) angewandt und durch einen Testlauf, während dem die Teilnehmenden mit einer Kamera und einem Abstandsmesser ausgestattet waren, die baulichverkehrlichen Einflussfaktoren einbezogen. Es wurden vier exogene (Raummangel, Unterbrechung der Wunschlinie, Lärm und die Qualität der Infrastruktur) und einige endogenen Einflussfaktoren, wie Geschlecht, Ortskenntnis und psychologische Merkmale, untersucht. Die exogene Einflussfaktoren wurden anhand der gemessenen Biomarker Hautleitfähigkeit und -temperatur in einen Algorithmus zur Detektion von „Moments of Stress“ überführt (nach Kyriakou et al. 2019). Die georeferenzierten Aufzeichnungen gaben Aufschluss über die räumliche Häufung von MOS und damit Hinweise auf (stress-)relevante Stellen am Untersuchungsort. Die meisten Häufungen an MOS befinden sich an großen, viel befahrenen Kreuzungen, wo mehrere Stressoren auf einmal wirken. Zudem gab es einen hohen Anteil an MOS dort, wo Gehsteige beispielsweise durch Stadtmobiliar verschmälert wurden. Die Analyse der endogenen Einflussfaktoren lieferte Ergebnisse dahingehend, dass die Frauen im Sample eher dazu neigten, Stress zu empfinden als die Männer. Ortskundige Menschen tendierten zu weniger MOS. Bei den psychologischen Charakteristika zeigte sich, dass die Faktoren Neurotizismus, Verträglichkeit und internale Kontrollüberzeugung die Entstehung von Stress eher beförderten. Sind Menschen eher extravertiert, offen, gewissenhaft, risikobereit und haben ein höheres Maß an externaler Kontrollüberzeugung, wiesen sie eine Tendenz zu weniger MOS auf. Identifiziert wurden zudem drei Clustergruppen (Zögerliche Einzelgängerinnen mit Pioniergeist, Sicherheitsabenteurerinnen, Sicherheitsabenteurer und sicherheitsaffine Einzelgänger), die in ihrem Stressempfinden ähnliche Muster aufweisen. Diese Cluster können als Vorlage dienen für weitere Untersuchungen der Wirkung von Planvorhaben der gebauten Umwelt auf bestimmte Gruppen von Zufußgehenden

Is the general time-reversible model bad for molecular phylogenetics?

The general time reversible model (GTR) is presently the most popular model used in phylogentic studies. However, GTR has an undesirable mathematical property that is potentially of significant concern. It is the purpose of this article to give examples that demonstrate why this deficit may pose a problem for phylogenetic analysis and interpretation.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Integrated care for older multimorbid heart failure patients:protocol for the ESCAPE randomized trial and cohort study

ESCAPE Evaluation of a patient-centred biopsychosocial blended collaborative care pathway for the treatment of multimorbid elderly patients. Therapeutic Area Healthcare interventions for the management of older patients with multiple morbidities. Aims Multi-morbidity treatment is an increasing challenge for healthcare systems in ageing societies. This comprehensive cohort study with embedded randomized controlled trial tests an integrated biopsychosocial care model for multimorbid elderly patients. Hypothesis A holistic, patient-centred pro-active 9-month intervention based on the blended collaborative care (BCC) approach and enhanced by information and communication technologies can improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and disease outcomes as compared with usual care at 9 months. Methods Across six European countries, ESCAPE is recruiting patients with heart failure, mental distress/disorder plus ≥2 medical co-morbidities into an observational cohort study. Within the cohort study, 300 patients will be included in a randomized controlled assessor-blinded two-arm parallel group interventional clinical trial (RCT). In the intervention, trained care managers (CMs) regularly support patients and informal carers in managing their multiple health problems. Supervised by a clinical specialist team, CMs remotely support patients in implementing the treatment plan—customized to the patients' individual needs and preferences—into their daily lives and liaise with patients' healthcare providers. An eHealth platform with an integrated patient registry guides the intervention and helps to empower patients and informal carers. HRQoL measured with the EQ-5D-5L as primary endpoint, and secondary outcomes, that is, medical and patient-reported outcomes, healthcare costs, cost-effectiveness, and informal carer burden, will be assessed at 9 and ≥18 months. Conclusions If proven effective, the ESCAPE BCC intervention can be implemented in routine care for older patients with multiple morbidities across the participating countries and beyond

HIV-Specific Probabilistic Models of Protein Evolution

Comparative sequence analyses, including such fundamental bioinformatics techniques as similarity searching, sequence alignment and phylogenetic inference, have become a mainstay for researchers studying type 1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) genome structure and evolution. Implicit in comparative analyses is an underlying model of evolution, and the chosen model can significantly affect the results. In general, evolutionary models describe the probabilities of replacing one amino acid character with another over a period of time. Most widely used evolutionary models for protein sequences have been derived from curated alignments of hundreds of proteins, usually based on mammalian genomes. It is unclear to what extent these empirical models are generalizable to a very different organism, such as HIV-1–the most extensively sequenced organism in existence. We developed a maximum likelihood model fitting procedure to a collection of HIV-1 alignments sampled from different viral genes, and inferred two empirical substitution models, suitable for describing between-and within-host evolution. Our procedure pools the information from multiple sequence alignments, and provided software implementation can be run efficiently in parallel on a computer cluster. We describe how the inferred substitution models can be used to generate scoring matrices suitable for alignment and similarity searches. Our models had a consistently superior fit relative to the best existing models and to parameter-rich data-driven models when benchmarked on independent HIV-1 alignments, demonstrating evolutionary biases in amino-acid substitution that are unique to HIV, and that are not captured by the existing models. The scoring matrices derived from the models showed a marked difference from common amino-acid scoring matrices. The use of an appropriate evolutionary model recovered a known viral transmission history, whereas a poorly chosen model introduced phylogenetic error. We argue that our model derivation procedure is immediately applicable to other organisms with extensive sequence data available, such as Hepatitis C and Influenza A viruses

Molecular Evolution of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 upon Transmission between Human Leukocyte Antigen Disparate Donor-Recipient Pairs

BACKGROUND: To address evolution of HIV-1 after transmission, we studied sequence dynamics in and outside predicted epitopes of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in subtype B HIV-1 variants that were isolated from 5 therapy-naive horizontal HLA-disparate donor-recipient pairs from the Amsterdam Cohort Studies on HIV-1 infection and AIDS. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the first weeks after transmission, the majority of donor-derived mutations in and outside donor-HLA-restricted epitopes in Gag, Env, and Nef, were preserved in the recipient. Reversion to the HIV-1 subtype B consensus sequence of mutations in- and outside donor-HLA-restricted CTL epitopes, and new mutations away from the consensus B sequence mostly within recipient-HLA-restricted epitopes, contributed equally to the early sequence changes. In the subsequent period (1-2 years) after transmission, still only a low number of both reverting and forward mutations had occurred. During subsequent long-term follow-up, sequence dynamics were dominated by forward mutations, mostly (50-85%) in recipient-HLA-restricted CTL epitopes. At the end of long-term follow-up, on average 43% of the transmitted CTL escape mutations in donor-HLA-restricted epitopes had reverted to the subtype B consensus sequence. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The relatively high proportion of long-term preserved mutations after transmission points to a lack of back selection even in the absence of CTL pressure, which may lead to an accumulating loss of critical CTL epitopes. Our data are supportive for a continuous adaptation of HIV-1 to host immune pressures which may have implications for vaccine design