Ranked Set Sampling Using Auxiliary Variables of a Randomized Response Procedure for Estimating the Mean of a Sensitive Quantitative Character

The analysis of the behavior of estimators of the mean of a sensitive variable is considered when a randomized response procedure is used. The results deal with the inference based on simple random sampling with replacement study design. A study of the behavior of the procedures for a ranked set sampling design is developed. A gain in accuracy is generally associated with the proposed alternative model

Special issue on studies in Late Modern English historical phonology using the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP): introduction

Since Charles Jones referred to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the ‘Cinderellas of English historical linguistic study’ (1989: 279), there has been a great deal of progress in research on this period, but, as Beal (2012: 22) points out, much of this has been in the fields of syntax, morphology, lexis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and the normative tradition. Beal argues that the availability of corpora of Late Modern English texts has greatly facilitated research in these areas, but, since creating phonological corpora for periods antedating the invention of sound recording is a challenging proposition, the historical phonology of Late Modern English has benefited much less from the corpus revolution. To redress this imbalance, the editors of this issue, with technical support from the Humanities Research Institute, University of Sheffield, created the Eighteenth-Century English Phonology Database (ECEP), which is freely available at www.dhi.ac.uk/projects/ecep

Introduction : analysing English syntax past and present

This book is an exploration of categories, constructions, and change in English syntax. A great many books are published on the syntax of English, both monographs and edited volumes, and yet another may seem unnecessary. However, we felt more than justified in adding to the sizeable literature here for two reasons. The first, to borrow from Richard M. Hogg and David Denison’s justification for A History of the English Language, is that ‘one of the beauties of the language is its ability to show continuous change and flexibility while in some sense remaining the same

Covid-19 control measures and its impact on seafarers’ mental health

The appearance of COVID-19 in maritime transport has been an exceptional challenge for all stakeholders in this sector, mainly for seafarers who have been caught between the need to keep supply chains operational and the limitations imposed by administrations to prevent the spread of the virus. With these objectives in mind, international institutions and organizations have developed a long series of regulations that have emerged in parallel with the measures established to control the pandemic. This article compiles the recommendations and regulations on health management established for this sector, as well as the implications of this entire process on fatigue and stress in seafarers.  Issues such as difficulties experienced in crew changes and repatriation, extended working hours, social isolation caused by mobility limitations in ports, limited medical equipment and services available, health care restrictions in some ports, the need to quarantine, and the possibility of being infected have been reported, among others, as causes of increased fatigue and stress among seafarers, as well as an upturn in anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders in this group. Thus, despite the efforts of the international maritime community to regulate the problematic areas related to the outbreak of the pandemic with the aim of keeping seafarers free of coronavirus and facilitating the continuity of maritime transport, its levels of fatigue and stress have increased notably, demonstrating that these efforts have neither been sufficient nor effective regulations have been developed that specifically take into account how COVID-19 and actions aimed at the continuity of maritime transport have affected and may continue to affect seafarers’ mental health.Peer Reviewe

Differences in the robustness of clusters involving the Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains most frequently isolated from immigrant cases in Madrid

AbstractTuberculosis cases infected by the same Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strain are considered to be clustered and involved in a transmission chain. Large clusters are assumed to represent active transmission chains in a population. In the present study, we focused on the analysis of large clusters defined by IS6110-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing in the immigrant population in Madrid. We identified 12 large clusters (involving 43% of the isolates) comprising 4–23 representatives. We proposed a gradient of epidemiological certainty for these large clusters. For a cluster to be considered robust and a good indicator of recent transmission, the MTB strain involved should not have been identified in a geographically and epidemiologically unrelated population and the cluster had to be re-confirmed by another highly discriminative molecular marker (MIRU-VNTR). The clusters that we discovered were classified into three categories: high, intermediate and low expected epidemiological value. In the largest cluster in the study (cluster M6; 23 representatives), failures by both criteria were identified: the representative seven-band RFLP pattern was also the most prevalent in the unrelated population (25 cases) and the cluster was fully split by MIRU-15, suggesting a lack of epidemiological value. The RFLP pattern representative of this cluster was also identified in 64 isolates from five countries in the Latin American genotype database, and again proved to be heterogeneous according to the MIRU-15 analysis. Specific analysis of large clusters, combined with the application of criteria for evaluating their robustness, could help identify uninformative clusters and target epidemiological resources towards those clusters with higher expected epidemiological value

‘Proper’ pro-nun-ſha- ſhun in eighteenth-century English: ECEP as a new tool for the study of historical phonology and dialectology

English historical linguists have often complained about the scholarly neglect of the phonology of the Late Modern English period; yet, the value of pronouncing dictionaries as rich and reliable evidence has been demonstrated (Beal, J. C., 1999, English Pronunciation in the Eighteenth Century: Thomas Spence’s Grand Repository of the English Language (1775). Oxford: Clarendon Press; Jones, C., 2006, English Pronunciation in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan). This article presents a new electronic, searchable database of ‘Eighteenth-Century English Phonology’ (ECEP) which aims to facilitate research on the social, regional, and lexical distribution of phonological variants in 18th-century English, as documented in contemporary pronouncing dictionaries. Taking Wells’ (1982, Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) lexical sets for the vowel system of present-day varieties of English as its reference, the database provides unicode IPA transcriptions for the relevant segment of each word given as an example of lexical (sub)set in his account of standard lexical sets, to which we have added some complementary consonant sets. These will be of use for comparative studies with 19th-century and present-day English. First, we describe the methodology and contents of ECEP: primary source selection, data input and annotation, the web-based interface. Second, we report on two case studies that demonstrate the value of evidence that can be systematically extracted from ECEP for the analysis of segmental and suprasegmental phonology; these are variations in the pronunciation of ‘wh’ in the set whale (/hw/∼/w/∼/h/), and the palatalization of alveolar consonants before /uː/. Thus, this article will demonstrate the viability of ECEP for historical phonology, dialectology, and sociolinguistics, and will help to promote the use of databases as key resources in historical linguistics

Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing isolates from the Mediterranean area

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Beijing lineage of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>is causing concern due to its global distribution and its involvement in severe outbreaks. Studies focused on this lineage are mainly restricted to geographical settings where its prevalence is high, whereas those in other areas are scarce. In this study, we analyze Beijing isolates in the Mediterranean area, where this lineage is not prevalent and is mainly associated with immigrant cases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Only 1% (N = 26) of the isolates from two population-based studies in Spain corresponded to Beijing strains, most of which were pan-susceptible and from Peruvian and Ecuadorian patients. Restriction fragment length polymorphism typing with the insertion sequence IS<it>6110 </it>identified three small clusters (2-3 cases). Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat typing (MIRU-15) offered low discriminatory power, requiring the introduction of five additional loci. A selection of the Beijing isolates identified in the Spanish sample, together with a sample of Beijing strains from Italy, to broaden the analysis context in the Mediterranean area, were assayed in an infection model with THP-1 cells. A wide range of intracellular growth rates was observed with only two isolates showing an increased intracellular replication, in both cases associated with contained production of TNF-α. No correlation was observed between virulence and the Beijing phylogenetic group, clustered/orphan status, or resistance. The Beijing strain responsible for extensive spread on Gran Canaria Island was also identified in Madrid, but did not lead to secondary cases and did not show high infectivity in the infection model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Beijing lineage in our area is a non-homogeneous family, with only certain highly virulent representatives. The specific characterization of Beijing isolates in different settings could help us to accurately identify the virulent representatives before making general assumptions about this lineage.</p

Morphological variation in a secondary contact between divergent lineages of brown trout (Salmo trutta) from the Iberian Peninsula

The aim of this study was to analyze the morphological variation of brown trout (Salmo trutta) in the Duero basin, an Atlantic river basin in the Iberian Peninsula, where a spatial segregation of two divergent lineages was previously reported, based on isozyme, microsatellite and mtDNA data. In these studies, two divergent pure regions (Pisuerga and Lower-course) and several hybrid populations between them were identified. Morphological variation was evaluated in 11 populations representative of the genetic differentiation previously observed in the Duero basin, using multivariate analysis on 12 morphometric and 4 meristic traits. A large differentiation between populations was observed (interpopulation component of variance: 41.8%), similar to that previously detected with allozymes and microsatellites. Morphometric differentiation was also reflected by the high classification success of pure and hybrid individuals to their respective populations, using multivariate discriminant functions (94.1% and 79.0%, respectively). All multivariate and clustering analyses performed demonstrated a strong differentiation between the pure regions. The hybrid populations, though showing large differentiation among them, evidenced an intermediate position between the pure samples. Head and body shape traits were the most discriminant among the morphometric characters, while pectoral rays and gillrakers were the most discriminant among the meristic traits. These results confirmed the high divergence of the brown trout from the Duero basin and suggest some traits on which selection could be acting to explain the spatial segregation observed

Catheter Related Bloodstream Infection (CR-BSI) in ICU Patients: Making the Decision to Remove or Not to Remove the Central Venous Catheter

Background Approximately 150 million central venous catheters (CVC) are used each year in the United States. Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSI) are one of the most important complications of the central venous catheters (CVCs). Our objective was to compare the in-hospital mortality when the catheter is removed or not removed in patients with CR-BSI. Methods We reviewed all episodes of CR-BSI that occurred in our intensive care unit (ICU) from January 2000 to December 2008. The standard method was defined as a patient with a CVC and at least one positive blood culture obtained from a peripheral vein and a positive semi quantitative (\u3e15 CFU) culture of a catheter segment from where the same organism was isolated. The conservative method was defined as a patient with a CVC and at least one positive blood culture obtained from a peripheral vein and one of the following: (1) differential time period of CVC culture versus peripheral culture positivity of more than 2 hours, or (2) simultaneous quantitative blood culture with 5:1 ratio (CVC versus peripheral). Results 53 CR-BSI (37 diagnosed by the standard method and 16 by the conservative method) were diagnosed during the study period. There was a no statistically significant difference in the in-hospital mortality for the standard versus the conservative method (57% vs. 75%, p = 0.208) in ICU patients. Conclusion In our study there was a no statistically significant difference between the standard and conservative methods in-hospital mortality