Language specific preferences in anaphor resolution: Exposure or gricean maxims?

International audienceIn this paper we will present evidence for language specific preferences in anaphor resolution from two series of experiments in English, German, and French. For within sentence anaphor resolution with "before" subclauses, we will show that English and German follow the generally assumed preference for the first mentioned NP or subject of the sentence, whereas French shows a clear preference for the object of the matrix clause. We will argue that our data can most easily be explained by a usage-based account, linking comprehension preferences to production preferences

Content of quality-of-life instruments is affected by item-generation methods

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Development and testing of a specific quality-of-life questionnaire for knee and hip osteoarthritis: OAKHQOL (OsteoArthritis of Knee Hip Quality Of Life)

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Vegetation and disturbance history of the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany

National parks are supposed to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with species and ecosystems. Detailed knowledge about past vegetation and disturbance regimes therefore forms an important basis for appropriate management. In the Bavarian Forest National Park in SE Germany, we therefore studied fossil pollen, spores and macrofossils from lake Rachelsee, a nearby mire, and Stangenfilz mire, all lying at higher elevations. Results indicate that deciduous forest on lower slopes (ca. 500–1,000 m a.s.l.) were first affected by humans in Neolithic times ca. 4500 bc with marked declines of Tilia, Ulmus and Fraxinus. High-montane mixed forests (1,000–1,450 m a.s.l.) were in a near-natural state consisting of Picea, Abies and Fagus in comparable proportions up to ca. 500 bc (a natural baseline condition), after which they were impacted by forest grazing and/or logging, starting between early-Roman times to early-Medieval times depending on location. Abies especially declined markedly. Forest partially recovered during the migration period fifth-eighth century ad, especially Carpinus, but not Abies. Subsequently, deforestation increased at lower elevation for food production, and forest grazing and wood extraction at higher elevation led to a further strong decline of Abies around ad 1000 near Rachelsee. After that, nutrient levels increased continually at all elevations, and a forest fire occurred in the 13th century near Stangenfilz. During the 19th century, forests around Rachelsee recovered partially whereas overgrazing of Stangenfilz resulted in a hiatus. Forests declined further in the 20th century around the study sites, but after ca. ad 1960 less so around Rachelsee thanks to local conservation measures. Historically recorded large-scale bark-beetle infestations following heavy storms, such as in the ad 1870s and 1980s, hardly left traces in the pollen data. From a palaeoecological perspective the Park’s no-intervention management strategy is well-suited to facilitate recovery of original forest functioning and diversity, as it is slowly leading to renewal of natural mixed forest of Abies, Picea and Fagus. This development may have considerable influence on the future disturbance regime, and the insights obtained will be important for the park management

Multivariate analysis of cognitive profiles in Alzheimer's disease

peer reviewedThe neuropsychological profiles of patients with early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) appear to be heterogeneous. In this study, we examined whether this heterogeneity corresponds to the existence of cognitively distinct subtypes of AD or rather to impairments along a continuum of performances in different cognitive domains. A large group of 187 AD patients recruited in the European project NEST-DD performed a neuropsychological battery. A factor analysis of cognitive performance identified three factors, which respectively reflected attentional/instrumental function, declarative memory and executive function. Three clustering methods were applied on the factor scores in order to explore the existence of separate groups. The clustering methods indicated that cognitive profiles among the patients were sufficiently variable to identify clusters, but there was continuity between clusters rather than clear-cut subtypes. Moreover, clusters corresponded to various combinations of relatively impaired and preserved functions, suggesting multidimensional distribution within a large population of patients. Finally, clusters of cognitive profiles were characterized by different levels of metabolism in brain regions commonly (but variably) involved or relatively preserved in AD

OAKHQOL: A new instrument to measure quality of life in knee and hip osteoarthritis

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Les implications chronoclimatiques, paléoenvironnementales et culturelles du Solutréen de la grotte Rochefort

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