The Formal Dynamism of Categories: Stops vs. Fricatives, Primitivity vs. Simplicity

Minimalist Phonology (MP; Pöchtrager 2006) constructs its theory based on the phonological epistemological principle (Kaye 2001) and exposes the arbitrary nature of standard Government Phonology (sGP) and strict-CV (sCV), particularly with reference to their confusion of melody and structure. For Pöchtrager, these are crucially different, concluding that place of articulation is melodic (expressed with elements), while manner of articulation is structural. In this model, the heads (xN and xO) can license and incorporate the length of the other into their own interpretation, that is xN influences xO projections as well as its own and vice versa. This dynamism is an aspect of the whole framework and this paper in particular will show that stops and fricatives evidence a plasticity of category and that, although fricatives are simpler in structure, stops are the more primitive of the two. This will be achieved phonologically through simply unifying the environment of application of the licensing forces within Pöchtrager's otherwise sound onset structure. In doing so, we automatically make several predictions about language acquisition and typology and show how lenition in Qiang (Sino-Tibetan) can be more elegantly explained

Are metabolic syndrome and its components associated with 5-year mortality in chronic obstructive pupmonary disease patients?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of mortality according to the presence of metabolic syndrome in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients who were followed for 5 years. We did not establish the influence of metabolic syndrome on mortality rate. However, an increase of 100 mg of triglycerides was associated with a 39% increase in the probability of death in the period of the study (hazard ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.06-1.83)

Changes in the linear relationship between cardiovascular parameters and neural sympathetic discharge variability before orthostatic syncope

To evaluate the cardiovascular parameters spontaneous fluctuations and neural sympathetic discharge variability relationship during the gravitational stimulus, seven healthy males underwent ECG, blood pressure, respiratory and post-ganglionic sympathetic discharge activity (MSNA) recordings. Data were recorded at rest and during a 15-minute 80\ub0head-up tilt followed by a step wise lower body negative pressure increase up to the onset of presyncope. Spectral and coherence analyses of systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and MSNA variability provided the indexes of vessels sympathetic modulation in the low frequency (LF) band, LFSAP, and of the coupling between MSNA and SAP at LF, K2MSNA-SAP(LF), during asymptomatic (T1) and presyncope (T2) periods of tilt. During T2, RR interval, SAP, LFmsna, LF SAP and K2MSNA-SAP(LF) values decreased compared to T1. in the presence of unchanged MSNA values. This result suggests that a significant coupling between SAP and MSNA variability in the 0.1 Hz band is mandatory for a proper orthostatic tolerance