Less is more: possibility and necessity as centres of gravity in a usage-based classification of core modals in Polish

In this paper we present the results of an empirical study into the cognitive reality of existing classifications of modality using Polish data. We analyzed random samples of 250 independent observations for the 7 most frequent modal words (móc, można, musieć, należy, powinien, trzeba, wolno), extracted from the Polish national corpus. Observations were annotated for modal type according to a number of classifications, including van der Auwera and Plungian (1998), as well as for morphological, syntactic and semantic properties using the Behavioral Profiling approach (Divjak and Gries 2006). Multiple correspondence analysis and (polytomous) regression models were used to determine how well modal type and usage align. These corpus-based findings were validated experimentally. In a forced choice task, naive native speakers were exposed to definitions and prototypical examples of modal types or functions, then labeled a number of authentic corpus sentences accordingly. In the sorting task, naive native speakers sorted authentic corpus sentences into semantically coherent groups. We discuss the results of our empirical study as well as the issues involved in building usage-based accounts on traditional linguistic classifications

Wpływ zróżnicowanego żywienia stada reprodukcyjnego bażantów łownych na cechy mięsna ich potomstwa

The study was carried out with 51 game pheasants derived from parents that were fed during the reproductive period with a commercial feed mixture (25 birds) or feed mixture and whole maize grain (26 birds). Pheasants were kept in a confined facility, without regard to sex, in cages on plastic mesh floor for the first three weeks and in pens on straw later on. During the study, offspring received commercial feed mixtures for pheasants or turkeys. The introduction of whole maize grain in the ration of parent pheasants reduced the body weight of their offspring except at 12 weeks of age. In addition, it caused significant decreases in the length of trunk with neck, lower thigh and shank, and chest circumference in 4-week-old pheasants, and in the length of trunk with neck, trunk and lower thigh in 18-week-old birds. Dressing percentage was high in both groups and exceeded 72%. The proportion of breast muscles was higher in the carcasses of pheasants derived from parents fed a low-protein diet with whole maize grain (31.0 vs. 29.0%). Areverse relationship was found for the proportion of leg muscles in the carcass with neck (23.5 vs. 24.0%). The proportion of skin with subcutaneous fat was similar in both experimental groups (6.4 vs. 6.3%).Badania przeprowadzono na 51 bażantach łownych pochodzących po rodzicach żywionych w okresie reprodukcji przemysłową mieszanką paszową (25 osobników) lub mieszanką paszową i całym ziarnem kukurydzy (26 osobników). Ptaki utrzymywano w pomieszczeniu zamkniętym, bez podziału na płeć, przez pierwsze trzy tygodnie w skrzyniach na podłodze z plastikowej siatki, a następnie w kojcach na słomie. W okresie oceny bażanty potomne żywiono przemysłowymi mieszankami paszowymi dla bażantów lub indyków. Wprowadzenie całego ziarna kukurydzy w dawce pokarmowej bażantów rodzicielskich wpłynęło na zmniejszenie masy ciała ich potomstwa, z wyjątkiem 12. tygodnia życia. Ponadto spowodowało istotne zmniejszenie długości: tułowia z szyją, podudzi i skoków oraz obwodu klatki piersiowej u bażantów w wieku 4 tygodni, a u ptaków 18-tygodniowych długości: tułowia z szyją, tułowia i podudzi. Wydajność rzeźna u ptaków obu grup była duża i przekraczała 72%. Procentowy udział mięśni piersiowych był większy w tuszkach bażantów pochodzących po rodzicach karmionych dawką z obniżonym poziomem białka zawierającą całe ziarno kukurydzy (31,0 vs 29,0%). Odwrotną prawidłowość stwierdzono dla udziału mięśni nóg w tuszce z szyją (23,5 vs 24,0%). Udział skóry z tłuszczem podskórnym w obu grupach doświadczalnych był podobny (6,4 vs 6,3%)

Ageing as a Confound in Language Attrition Research: Lexical Retrieval, Language Use, and Cognitive and Neural Changes

Adult-onset native-language attrition most often occurs following a move to an environment where a non-native language is spoken. To date, the focus of attrition research has been in identifying what aspects of language are lost and which factors are crucial for the retention or attrition of the native language. Attrition is a gradual and fairly subtle process with no clear beginning or end. To best assess the effects of attrition, researchers tend to choose study participants who have lived in a non-native environment for a decade or longer (e.g., de Bot & Clyne, 1994; Schmid, 2002). The assumption is that the longer they have been removed from the native-language environment, the greater the degree of language attrition that should be observable. However, this principle regarding length of time and its relationship to language use overlaps with another, largely ignored, phenomenon: language changes associated with ageing. Are language changes due to long-term disuse conflated with age-related language changes in older adults who experience language attrition? This chapter explores changes to the adult lexicon as a result of attrition and ageing since the lexicon is considered a vulnerable part of the language system in both attrition and ageing. We consider neurophysiological changes that may play a role in language attrition and in non-pathological ageing to speculate whether the neurobiological sources of these two processes are similar or different. If attrition and ageing exert independent effects on lexical retrieval decline, we must consider the effects of each of these factors for word retrieval for older adult bilinguals immersed in a non-native-language environment

Primary Progressive Aphasias in Bilinguals and Multilinguals

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is the result of neurodegeneration affecting language abilities that continue to decline as the disease progresses. There are three main variants of PPA: non‐fluent, semantic, and logopenic. Deficits may occur in different areas of language, such as lexical retrieval, auditory comprehension, syntactic structure, processing morphological components, and repetition abilities. However, the impact on language is not comparable across all individuals with PPA; rather it differs for each of the different variants based on the underlying pattern of neural change. In bilinguals or multilinguals with PPA, the language decline has an added layer of complexity. Decline may occur across the different languages in parallel, or differentially, and a number of factors may affect the pattern of decline. Recognizing the factors that most affect language decline in bilinguals and multilinguals with PPA, along with identifying the neural changes occurring in the brain, can increase our understanding of language organization in the bilingual or multilingual brain. It should be noted that language decline is not the only decline associated with PPA, as changes in cognition and behaviour have also been observed, particularly in the later stages (e.g. Rosen et al. 2006). However, language is the most salient decline in PPA so we focus on language in this chapter

Metabolic syndrome is associated with similar long-term prognosis in non-obese and obese patients. An analysis of 45 615 patients from the nationwide LIPIDOGRAM 2004-2015 cohort studies

Aims We aimed to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and long-term all-cause mortality. Methods The LIPIDOGRAM studies were carried out in the primary care in Poland in 2004, 2006 and 2015. MetS was diagnosed based on the National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III) and Joint Interim Statement (JIS) criteria. The cohort was divided into four groups: non-obese patients without MetS, obese patients without MetS, non-obese patients with MetS and obese patients with MetS. Differences in all-cause mortality was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. Results 45,615 participants were enrolled (mean age 56.3, standard deviation: 11.8 years; 61.7% female). MetS was diagnosed in 14,202 (31%) by NCEP/ATP III criteria, and 17,216 (37.7%) by JIS criteria. Follow-up was available for 44,620 (97.8%, median duration 15.3 years) patients. MetS was associated with increased mortality risk among the obese (hazard ratio, HR: 1.88 [95% CI, 1.79-1.99] and HR: 1.93 [95% CI 1.82-2.04], according to NCEP/ATP III and JIS criteria, respectively) and non-obese individuals (HR: 2.11 [95% CI 1.85-2.40] and 1.7 [95% CI, 1.56-1.85] according to NCEP/ATP III and JIS criteria respectively). Obese patients without MetS had a higher mortality risk than non-obese patients without MetS (HR: 1.16 [95% CI 1.10-1.23] and HR: 1.22 [95%CI 1.15-1.30], respectively in subgroups with NCEP/ATP III and JIS criteria applied). Conclusions MetS is associated with increased all-cause mortality risk in non-obese and obese patients. In patients without MetS obesity remains significantly associated with mortality. The concept of metabolically healthy obesity should be revised