Stylistic Variation and Stancetaking in the U.S. House of Representatives

This paper contributes to previous research on how politicians use sociolinguistic variables to index their party affiliation, enact stances, and construct political identities. It does so by investigating the 2015 U.S. House of Representatives’ debate on repealing the estate tax, with a focus on the indexical meanings of the “American tax variable”, which consists of the lexical variants estate tax and death tax. In the televised debate, 23 speakers use 31 estate tax tokens and 46 death tax tokens. As the results indicate, the estate tax variant indexes an affiliation with the Democrats and a pro-tax stance, whereas the death tax variant is linked with the Republicans and an anti-tax stance. Apart from expressing these conventionalised indexical meanings, House members also style-shift between the variants and employ them to convey interactional stances of (dis)alignment and empathy, construct a political identity of in-betweenness, and promote a conservative version of Americanism

A Minimum Problem Connected with Complete Residue Systems in the Eisenstein Integers

History tells us that one of the most interesting topics of mathematics is elementary number theory, the arithmetic Gauss spoke of when he said, “Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and arithmetic the queen of mathematics. We will investigate one conjecture concerning the theory of numbers. Throughout this paper small case Latin letters with the exception of e and i will represent integers where the set of rational integers is denoted by Z. 1he Latin letters e and i respectively represent the base for the natural logarithms and the so-called imaginary unit for the set of complex numbers. An Eisenstein integer, a, is a complex number that can be written as a = a + bw where a and b are rational integers and w is the cube root of unity, e2wi/3, so that w = (-1 +i/3)/2. We denote the set of Eisenstein integers by Z(w) = {a + bw ׀ a,b ε Z} and let the Greek letters a, ꞵ, ү, p, and δ represent integers in Z(w). Since w is a cube root of unity, w2 + w + 1 = O. The set of integers in Z(w) will be represented geometrically by the lattice points in a Cartesian coordinate system formed by the intersections of the lines through the points (m,0) and making angles of 60° or 120° with the x-axis. The system is a honeycomb of equilateral triangles

Stylistic Variation and Stancetaking in the U.S. House of Representatives

This paper contributes to previous research on how politicians use sociolinguistic variables to index their party affiliation, enact stances, and construct political identities. It does so by investigating the 2015 U.S. House of Representatives’ debate on repealing the estate tax, with a focus on the indexical meanings of the “American tax variable”, which consists of the lexical variants estate tax and death tax. In the televised debate, 23 speakers use 31 estate tax tokens and 46 death tax tokens. As the results indicate, the estate tax variant indexes an affiliation with the Democrats and a pro-tax stance, whereas the death tax variant is linked with the Republicans and an anti-tax stance. Apart from expressing these conventionalised indexical meanings, House members also style-shift between the variants and employ them to convey interactional stances of (dis)alignment and empathy, construct a political identity of in-betweenness, and promote a conservative version of Americanism

Staphylococcus aureus Small Colony Variants in Prosthetic Joint Infection

Background. Small colony variants of Staphylococcus aureus tend to persist despite antimicrobial therapy, especially when involved in implant-associated infections. Methods. We analyzed 5 cases of hip prosthesis-associated infections due to small colony variants, including their course prior to identification of the pathogen. Biopsy investigations included microbiological examination and, in 1 case, transmission electron microscopy to detect intracellular bacteria in nonprofessional phagocytes. A treatment concept was elaborated on the basis of a published algorithm and patients were managed accordingly. Results. The patients' mean age was 62.2 years. All patients experienced treatment failures prior to isolation of small colony variants, despite as many as 3 surgical revisions and up to 22 months of antibiotics. Transmission electron microscopy performed on biopsy specimens from periprosthetic tissue revealed intracellular cocci in fibroblasts. All prostheses were removed without implanting a spacer, and antimicrobial agents were administered for 5.5-7 weeks. Reimplantation of the prosthesis was performed for 4 patients. Follow-ups were uneventful in all 5 cases. Conclusions. In the case of a poor response to adequate antimicrobial and surgical treatment in implant-associated staphylococcal infections, small colony variants should be considered and actively sought. In our case series, a 2-stage exchange without implantation of a spacer combined with antimicrobial therapy for an implant-free interval of 6-8 weeks was associated with successful outcome, with a mean follow-up of 24 month

Antimicrobial Treatment of Orthopedic Implant-related Infections with Rifampin Combinations

The purpose of this prospective clinical study is to evaluate the role of combination chemotherapy with rifampin in the treatment of orthopedic device—related infections in which the implant could not be removed. Eleven patients with orthopedic implant-related infections due to staphylococci or streptococci were treated with the implant in situ. Each antimicrobial regimen included rifampin in combination with a β-lactam antibiotic or ciprofloxacin. The median duration of treatment with rifampin was 86 days (range, 15-336 days) with a median follow-up of >;24 months after cessation of therapy. Treatment was successful for 82% of patients. Failures were associated with documented inappropriate treatment. These preliminary clinical data are supported by data from in vitro studies and animal experiments. Combination therapy with rifampin, in particular rifampin and a quinolone, should be considered for patients with orthopedic implant-related infections if the implant cannot be remove

Propionibacterium spp. in prosthetic joint infections: a diagnostic challenge

Introduction: Propionibacterium species are common inhabitants of the skin and usually non-pathogenic for humans. However, Propionibacterium spp. can occasionally cause infections, but are estimated to play a minor role in prosthetic joint infections (PJI). The relative frequency of these anaerobes and their potential to cause surgical site infection may be clinically underestimated. An unknown proportion of these infections might be missed, since little is known about their clinical presentation, and since growth of Propionibacterium spp. in diagnostic samples is often interpreted as contamination. Thus, a hypothesis is being tested, stating that Propionibacterium spp. is not as rare as often reported, and it can cause severe soft-tissue damages in PJI. Materials and methods: In this retrospective analysis, we reviewed all PJI that had been treated in our institution from 2000 to 2005, and assessed the relative frequency of those caused by Propionibacterium spp. In the identified cases, features that led to the diagnosis (clinical, laboratory, radiological, microbiological and histopathological characteristics) were analysed. Results: Of 139 cases of prosthetic joint infections, 8(6%) were caused by Propionibacterium spp. Seven patients complained of pain as the main symptom, and four had damaged soft-tissue. Analysis of the diagnostic procedures showed a median of 39% positive samples out of all cultured biopsies (median 9.5 biopsies per case), with a median time-to-positivity of 8days. Results of histopathological examinations of the periprosthetic tissue correlated well with the clinical courses. Conclusions: Our data suggest that Propionibacterium associated prosthetic joint infections occur at a relative frequency that is comparable to many other pathogens. Clinical signs are generally subtle, but the spectrum includes also significant soft-tissue damages. In this study, a median of 9.5 biopsies per case, an incubation time of 14days, and the aid of histopathological examinations proved to be helpful in establishing the diagnosi

Neural Mechanisms Tracking Popularity in Real-World Social Networks

Differences in popularity are a key aspect of status in virtually all human groups and shape social interactions within them. Little is known, however, about how we track and neurally represent others’ popularity. We addressed this question in two real-world social networks using sociometric methods to quantify popularity. Each group member (perceiver) viewed faces of every other group member (target) while whole-brain functional MRI data were collected. Independent functional localizer tasks were used to identify brain systems supporting affective valuation (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, amygdala) and social cognition (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, temporoparietal junction), respectively. During the face-viewing task, activity in both types of neural systems tracked targets’ sociometric popularity, even when controlling for potential confounds. The target popularity–social cognition system relationship was mediated by valuation system activity, suggesting that observing popular individuals elicits value signals that facilitate understanding their mental states. The target popularity–valuation system relationship was strongest for popular perceivers, suggesting enhanced sensitivity to differences among other group members’ popularity. Popular group members also demonstrated greater interpersonal sensitivity by more accurately predicting how their own personalities were perceived by other individuals in the social network. These data offer insights into the mechanisms by which status guides social behavior