Sociolinguistic Correlates of Negative Evaluation: Variable Concord in Rio de Janeiro

Variable agreement in Brazilian Portuguese is subject to social stigma, under strongly negative evaluation, brought to the public’s attention in 2011 in a heated nation-wide sociolinguistic debate triggered by TV Globo, the principal national television network. In order to isolate objective factors underlying this debate, we examine the variable ‘years of schooling’ in a trend study of Rio de Janeiro speech from 1980 and 2000. Analysis of relative weights and their corresponding ranges reveals that distance between effects of each level of education has increased over time. Polarization of the education variable in 1980 was moderate, while in 2000 polarization becomes extreme in an increasingly uneven social distribution of marked forms. The results reveal massive exacerbation of sociolinguistic apartheid, showing that nothing has changed in human interaction with respect to language despite many years of language studies. For this reason, we suggest that our sociolinguistic studies ought to trigger legal action, with creation of laws against linguistic prejudice, modeled on laws against other forms of prejudice, so that society can profit from results of sociolinguistic research in a humanistic and emancipatory way

Physiological determinants of mechanical efficiency during advanced ageing and disuse

This study aimed to determine which physiological factors impact net efficiency (ηnet) in oldest-old individuals at different stages of skeletal muscle disuse. To this aim, we examined ηnet, central haemodynamics, peripheral circulation, and peripheral factors (skeletal muscle fibre type, capillarization and concentration of mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA]). Twelve young (YG; 25 ± 2 years), 12 oldest-old mobile (OM; 87 ± 3 years), and 12 oldest-old immobile (OI; 88 ± 4 years) subjects performed dynamic knee extensor (KE) and elbow flexors (EF) exercise. Pulmonary oxygen uptake, photoplethysmography, Doppler ultrasound and muscle biopsies of the vastus lateralis and biceps brachii were used to assess central and peripheral adaptations to advanced ageing and disuse. Compared to the YG (12.1 ± 2.4%), the ηnet of lower-limb muscle was higher in the OM (17.6 ± 3.5%, P < 0.001), and lower in the OI (8.9 ± 1.9%, P < 0.001). These changes in ηnet during KE were coupled with significant peripheral adaptations, revealing strong correlations between ηnet and the proportion of type I muscle fibres (r = 0.82), as well as [mtDNA] (r = 0.77). No differences in ηnet were evident in the upper-limb muscles between YG, OM and OI. In view of the differences in limb-specific activity across the lifespan, these findings suggest that ηnet is reduced by skeletal muscle inactivity and not by chronological age, per se. Likewise, this study revealed that the age-related changes in ηnet are not a consequence of central or peripheral haemodynamic adaptations, but are likely a product of peripheral changes related to skeletal muscle fibre type and mitochondrial density. KEY POINTS: Although the effects of ageing and muscle disuse deeply impact the cardiovascular and skeletal muscle function, the combination of these factors on the mechanical efficiency are still a matter of debate. By measuring both upper- and lower-limb muscle function, which experience differing levels of disuse, we examined the influence of central and peripheral haemodynamics, and skeletal muscle factors linked to mechanical efficiency. Across the ages and degree of disuse, upper-limb muscles exhibited a preserved work economy. In the legs the oldest-old without mobility limitations exhibited an augmented mechanical efficiency, which was reduced in those with an impairment in ambulation. These changes in mechanical efficiency were associated with the proportion of type I muscle fibres. Recognition that the mechanical efficiency is not simply age-dependent, but the consequence of inactivity and subsequent skeletal muscle changes, highlights the importance of maintaining physical activity across the lifespan

Age-associated ALU element instability in white blood cells is linked to lower survival in elderly adults: a preliminary cohort study

BACKGROUND: ALU element instability could contribute to gene function variance in aging, and may partly explain variation in human lifespan. OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of ALU element instability in human aging and the potential efficacy of ALU element content as a marker of biological aging and survival. DESIGN: Preliminary cohort study. METHODS: We measured two high frequency ALU element subfamilies, ALU-J and ALU-Sx, by a single qPCR assay and compared ALU-J/Sx content in white blood cell (WBCs) and skeletal muscle cell (SMCs) biopsies from twenty-three elderly adults with sixteen healthy sex-balanced young adults; all-cause survival rates of elderly adults predicted by ALU-J/Sx content in both tissues; and cardiovascular disease (CVD)- and cancer-specific survival rates of elderly adults predicted by ALU-J/Sx content in both tissues, as planned subgroup analyses. RESULTS: We found greater ALU-J/Sx content variance in WBCs from elderly adults than young adults (P < 0.001) with no difference in SMCs (P = 0.94). Elderly adults with low WBC ALU-J/Sx content had worse four-year all-cause and CVD-associated survival than those with high ALU-J/Sx content (both P = 0.03 and hazard ratios (HR) 65 3.40), while WBC ALU-J/Sx content had no influence on cancer-associated survival (P = 0.42 and HR = 0.74). SMC ALU-J/Sx content had no influence on all-cause, CVD- or cancer -associated survival (all P 65 0.26; HR 64 2.07). CONCLUSIONS: These initial findings demonstrate that ALU element instability occurs with advanced age in WBCs, but not SMCs, and imparts greater risk of all-cause mortality that is likely driven by an increased risk for CVD and not cancer

Mudança sem mudança: a concordância de número no português brasileiro

Neste artigo, refletimos sobre o que as variáveis anos de escolarização e saliência fônica nos revelam a respeito de processos de mudança lingüística no português brasileiro falado no Rio de Janeiro com relação a fenômenos estigmatizados fortemente estruturados, como a concordância de número. Para tanto, apresentamos análises comparativas com base em três amostras: (1) uma amostra aleatória de 64 falantes gravados no início da década de 1980; (2) uma amostra aleatória de 32 falantes gravados no final da década de 1990; (3) um grupo não aleatório de 16 falantes da amostra de 1980, recontactados em 1999-2000, após um intervalo médio de 18 anos. Reafirmamos que o melhor modelo para dar conta de mudança em um fenômeno estigmatizado é de fluxos e contrafluxos, que apresenta a configuração de grupos e de indivíduos transitando por diversas vias sociais lingüisticamente estruturadas.

Sobre o deslocamento do controle da concordância verbal

Na escrita monitorada, o núcleo do sujeito normalmente controla a concordância verbal no português brasileiro. Entretanto, em estruturas complexas, o controle da concordância pode ser assumido pelo núcleo do sujeito (hierarquicamente mais alto) ou pelo núcleo do sintagma nominal encaixado no sintagma preposicional (hierarquicamente mais baixo), mesmo em construções que não envolvem núcleos da natureza quantitativa (a sobrecarga nos pés danificam outras estruturas, inclusive). Nossa análise revela que, na retenção do controle da concordância pelo núcleodo sujeito e no deslocamento deste controle para o núcleo do sintagma nomial encaixado no sintagma preposicional em dados da escrita monitorada do português brasileiro, entram em jogo diversos fatores, tais como: tipo de sujeito, traço morfológico de número, traço semântico-discursivo de animacidade e saliência da oposição singular/plural. Guardadas as devidas diferenças entre fala e escrita, nossa análise evidencia a generalidade dos efeitos em dados das duas modalidades no português brasileiro e aponta para a generalidade do fenômeno na escrita de outras línguas, a saber, espanhol, francês e português europeu