Morphosyntactic development of Bangla-speaking preschool children

This study examines the morphosyntactic development, specifically verb morphology, of typically-developing Bangla-speaking children between the ages of two and four. Three verb forms were studied: the Present Simple, the Present Progressive and the Past Progressive. The study was motivated by the observations that reliable language-specific developmental information is not available in Bangla and that properties of these verb forms render them suitable for exploring how language typology contributes to the learnability of verb morphology in emerging child language. Children's performance on these forms was assessed through form-specific language elicitation tasks and spontaneous language samples. Three stages of development of verb morphology were identified by consideration of accuracy of production and error types

Fragmentos de mundo.

Traducción y compilación: María del Rosario Acosta y Laura Quintana. Bogotá: Uniandes-Ceso, Departamento de Filosofía, 2009. 262 p

Специфика русской свадебной приметы на фоне вьетнамской лингвокультуры

Статья посвящена выявлению лингвокультурной специфики русской и вьетнамской свадебной приметы. Данная проблема проецируется в область лексической семантики, лингвокультурологии, без которых она не может быть решена; поэтому в работе обоснованно ставятся такие важные вопросы, как вопрос о своеобразии традиционной культуры, ее символическом метаязыке и средствах языковой материализации, о содержательном наполнении и способах объективации традиционной приметы. Общая цель работы - изучение способов, которыми язык символически объективирует традиционную культуру и в конечном итоге моделирует национальный образ мира. Результатом исследования стало выявление основных формально-семантических характеристик русской и вьетнамской свадебной приметы, описание различий в языковом картировании мира

A social archaeology of colonial war in Ethiopia

[EN] The archaeology of twentieth-century warfare, with its focus on Western armies and military issues, has often neglected indigenous experiences of war and social aspects, particularly the role of women in reproducing culture through material practices in situations of great distress. In this article, we propose a postcolonial examination of imperialistic war in Ethiopia. We study the cave of Zeret, the refuge of a large guerrilla group that was massacred by the Italian colonial army in 1939. Using the material evidence available, life underground is described, as well as the military events that led to the destruction of the place and the killing of most of its inhabitants. We argue that archaeology can be a way of revealing, with material facts, the brutality of fascism and colonialism. Finally, drawing upon Spivak and Derrida, we ask: What are the ethical problems of representing the voice of the subaltern? What is the role of materiality in evoking her presence?[ES] La arqueología de la guerra en el siglo XX, al centrarse en ejércitos occidentales y cuestiones militares, ha dejado de lado experiencias indígenas de la guerra y las cuestiones sociales, particularmente el papel de las mujeres en reproducir la cultura a través de prácticas materiales en situaciones de gran estrés. En este artículo, proponemos un estudio poscolonial de la guerra imperialista en Etiopía. Estudiamos la cueva de Zeret, el refugio de un gran grupo guerrillero que fue masacrado por el ejército colonial italiano en 1939. Usando las pruebas materiales, describimos la vida bajo tierra, así como los hechos militares que llevaron a la destrucción del lugar y al asesinato de la mayor parte de sus habitantes. Defendemos que la arqueología puede ser una forma de revelar, con hechos materiales, la brutalidad del fascismo y el colonialismo. Finalmente, basándonos en Spivak y Derrida, nos preguntamos: ¿Cuáles son los problemas éticas de representar la voz del subalterno? ¿Cuál es el papel de la materialidad en evocar su presencia?Peer reviewe

Reduction of FENO by tap water and carbonated water mouthwashes : magnitude and time course

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F-ENO) assesses eosinophilic inflammation of the airways, but F-ENO values are also influenced by oral nitric oxide (NO). The aim of this pilot study was to measure F-ENO and compare the effect of two different mouthwashes on F-ENO and analyse the duration of the effect. F-ENO was measured in 12 randomized volunteers (healthy or asthmatic subjects) with a NIOX VERO (R) analyser at an expiratory flow rate of 50mL/s. After a baseline measurement, a mouthwash was performed either with tap water or carbonated water and was measured during 20min in 2min intervals. The procedure was repeated with the other mouthwash. We found that both mouthwashes reduced F-ENO immediately at the beginning compared to the baseline (pPeer reviewe

Measurement of bronchial hyperreactivity : comparison of three Nordic dosimetric methods

Clinical testing of bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) provides valuable information in asthma diagnostics. Nevertheless, the test results depend to a great extent on the testing procedure: test substance, apparatus and protocol. In Nordic countries, three protocols predominate in the testing field: Per Malmberg, Nieminen and Sovijarvi methods. However, knowledge of their equivalence is limited. We aimed to find equivalent provocative doses (PD) to obtain similar bronchoconstrictive responses for the three protocols. We recruited 31 patients with suspected asthma and health care workers and performed BHR testing with methacholine according to Malmberg and Nieminen methods, and with histamine according to Sovijarvi. We obtained the individual response-dose slopes for each method and predicted equivalent PD values. Applying a mixed-model, we found significant differences in the mean (standard error of mean) response-dose (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)%/mg): Sovijarvi 7.2 (1.5), Nieminen 13.8 (4.2) and Malmberg 26 (7.3). We found that the earlier reported cut-point values for moderate BHR and marked BHR between the Sovijarvi (PD15) and Nieminen (PD20) methods were similar, but with the Malmberg method a significant bronchoconstrictive reaction was measured with lower PD20 values. We obtained a relationship between slope values and PD (mg) between different methods, useful in epidemiological research and clinical practice.Peer reviewe

Development of verb inflections among Bangla-speaking children with language disorder

Background: Children with language disorder across languages have problems with verb morphology. The nature of these problems varies according to the typology of the language. The language analyzed in this paper is the Standard Bangla spoken in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by more than 200 million people. It is an underexplored language with agglutinative features in its verb inflections. Some information on the acquisition of the language by typically developing children is available, but to date we have no information on the nature of ALD. As in many places in the developing world, the circumstances for research into language disorder are challenging, as there is no well‐ordered infrastructure for the identification of these children and approaches to intervention are not evidence based. This study represents the first attempt to characterize the nature of morphosyntactic limitations in standard Bangla‐speaking children with language disorder. Aims: To describe the performance of a group of children with language disorder on elicitation procedures for three Bangla verb inflections of increasing structural complexity—present simple, present progressive and past progressive—and to compare their abilities on these forms with those of a group of typically developing Bangla‐speaking children. Methods & Procedures: Nine children with language disorder (mean age = 88.11 months) were recruited from a special school in Dhaka. Eight of the children also had a differentiating or co‐occurring condition. They responded to three tasks: a semi‐structured conversation to elicit present simple, and two picture‐based tasks to elicit present progressive and past progressive. Their performance was compared with data available from a large group of younger typically developing children. Outcomes and Results: Group data indicated a comparable trajectory of performance by the children with language disorder with the typically developing children (present simple > present progressive > past progressive), but with significantly lower mean scores. Standard deviations suggested considerable individual variation and individual profiles were constructed for each child, revealing varying patterns of ability, some of which did not accord with the typical developmental trajectory and/or substitution patterns. Conclusions & Implications: This study identified verb morphology deficits in Bangla‐speaking children with language disorder who had asociated conditions. Variation in performance among the children suggests that individual profiles will be most effective in guiding intervention

Gut microbiome is not associated with mild cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease

Gut microbiome differences between people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and control subjects without Parkinsonism are widely reported, but potential alterations related to PD with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have yet to be comprehensively explored. We compared gut microbial features of PD with MCI (n = 58) to cognitively unimpaired PD (n = 60) and control subjects (n = 90) with normal cognition. Our results did not support a specific microbiome signature related to MCI in PD

A Tale of Old and Young Volcanoes in Monts d'Ardèche UNESCO Global Geopark (South-Eastern France)

The Regional Natural Park of the Monts d'Ardèche, located in south-eastern France, became the Monts d’Ardèche UNESCO Global Geopark in September 2014. This territory possesses significant volcanic features dating from the Miocene to the late Pleistocene. The UNESCO Global Geopark label helped to formalize a long-standing partnership with the University of Clermont Auvergne which includes support for scientific research, establishing conservation and protection priorities, establishing geosites for the public and involvement of local people and communities in geotouristic initiatives. Here we focus on some peculiar geosites that allow us to question magmatic processes, eruptive dynamics, morphological evolution of landscapes, the chronology of eruptions, relationships between humans and volcanoes during the Pleistocene, and highlight the delicate alliance between economic pressures, heritage conservation, and scientific tourism