The Impact of Rhythmic Distortions in Speech on Personality Assessment

The perennial question as to how perceived otherness in speech projects into listener assessment of one’s personality has been systematically investigated within the field of foreign accentedness, vocal communication of affective states and vocal stereotyping. In the present study, we aimed at exploring non-native listeners’ capacity to respond to differences in natural and modified native speech, particularly whether the manipulation of temporal structure in both stressed and unstressed syllables gives rise to any changes in the perception of the speaker’s personality. The respondents’ intuitive judgements were captured in the domain of the ‘nervousness category’ taken from the five-factor model of personality. Our results indicate an effect of temporal modifications on the listeners’ judgements. Analysis of variance for repeated measures confirmed a highly significant shift of personality evaluations towards the undesired traits (e.g., nervousness, anxiety, querulousness). Several interesting interactions with the semantic contents of the utterances and with the intrinsic qualities of the speakers’ voices were also found. We argue that the effects of accented speech go beyond conscious willingness to accept “otherness” and suggest a method for studying them

The Security and Prosperity Partnership and the Pitfalls of North American Regionalism

AbstractThe article aims to describe in detail the essence of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), interpreting it as an initiative to overcome disfunctionalities and shortcomings of previous international arrangements among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The spp failed to deliver the results that its initiators had in mind; its outputs were limited in scope measured in terms of the issues tackled, joint policies, and regional regimes. It brought some policy integration into North America beyond economic issues, but did not transform itself into a regional governance mechanism that would bring about self-regulation norms and structures

Assimilation of Voicing in Czech Speakers of English: The Effect of the Degree of Accentedness

Czech and English are languages which differ with respect to the implementation of voicing. Unlike in English, there is a considerable agreement between phonological (systemic) and phonetic (actual) voicing in Czech, and, more importantly, the two languages have different strategies for the assimilation of voicing across the word boundary. The present study investigates the voicing in word-final obstruents in Czech speakers of English with the specific aim of ascertaining whether the degree of the speakers’ foreign accent correlates with the way they treat English obstruents in assimilatory contexts. L2 speakers, divided into three groups of varying accentedness, were examined employing categorization and a voicing profile method for establishing the presence/absence of voicing. The results suggest that speakers with a different degree of Czech accent do differ in their realization of voicing in the way predicted by a negative transfer of assimilatory habits from Czech

Przewlekły stan zapalny — wspólny element patogenetyczny nadciśnienia tętniczego i obturacyjnego bezdechu śródsennego

Hypertension is low grade inflammation diseases. Inthe serum of patients with hypertension often foundleukocytosis, elevated level of acute phase proteins,interleukin 6, fibrinogen, tumor necrosis factor alpha.It was shown that shear stress in hypertension leadsto increased levels of inflammatory markers. It wasalso observed that the increase in concentration ofacute phase proteins in serum may accelerate the developmentof hypertension. In obstructive sleep apneafrequently occurring obesity, sympathetic activationand hypoxia also cause the development of inflammation.More than half of patients with obstructive sleepapnea suffer from hypertension, and among patientswith treatment-resistant hypertension are very significantproportion of patients with sleep apnea. Chronicinflammation in obstructive sleep apnea may worsenhypertension. In patients with obstructive sleep apneaand severe hypertension seems to be so justified thechoice of antihypertensive drugs, which also exhibitanti-inflammatory activity.Nadciśnienie tętnicze jest przewlekłą chorobą zapalną.W surowicy krwi chorych z nadciśnieniem częściejstwierdza się leukocytozę, podwyższone stężenia białkaostrej fazy, interleukiny 6, fibrynogenu, czynnikamartwicy nowotworów alfa. Wykazano, że naprężeniestyczne w przebiegu nadciśnienia prowadzi do wzrostustężenia markerów stanu zapalnego. Zaobserwowanotakże, że wzrost stężenia białka ostrej fazy w surowicykrwi może przyspieszyć rozwój nadciśnienia. W obturacyjnymbezdechu śródsennym liczne mechanizmy,takie jak często występująca otyłość, aktywacja układusympatycznego i hipoksja, także powodują rozwój stanuzapalnego. U ponad połowy chorych z obturacyjnymbezdechem śródsennym stwierdza się nadciśnienietętnicze, a wśród chorych z opornym na terapię nadciśnieniembardzo znaczny odsetek stanowią chorzyz bezdechem śródsennym. Przewlekły stan zapalnyw obturacyjnym bezdechu śródsennym może pogarszaćprzebieg nadciśnienia tętniczego. U chorychz obturacyjnym bezdechem śródsennym i znacznymnadciśnieniem wydaje się zatem usprawiedliwiony wybórtakich leków hipotensyjnych, które jednocześniewykazują działanie przeciwzapalne

Compact CH4 sensor system based on a continuous-wave, low power consumption, room temperature interband cascade laser

A tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy-based methane sensor, employing a dense-pattern multi-pass gas cell and a 3.3 μm, CW, DFB, room temperature interband cascade laser (ICL), is reported. The optical integration based on an advanced folded optical path design and an efficient ICL control system with appropriate electrical power management resulted in a CH4 sensor with a small footprint (32 × 20 × 17 cm3) and low-power consumption (6 W). Polynomial and least-squares fit algorithms are employed to remove the baseline of the spectral scan and retrieve CH4 concentrations, respectively. An Allan-Werle deviation analysis shows that the measurement precision can reach 1.4 ppb for a 60 s averaging time. Continuous measurements covering a seven-day period were performed to demonstrate the stability and robustness of the reported CH4 sensor system

Cerebral palsy and obstetric-neonatological interventions

Cerebral palsy is a disease that puts a great mental burden on caregivers and generates very high social costs. Children withCP require many years of rehabilitation and medical care. The etiology of the disease is undoubtedly multifactorial, and thepathogenesis is associated with focal damage to the central nervous system. One can find descriptions of well-documentedinterventions in the literature that reduce the risk of CP in certain groups of pregnant and neonatal patients, and interventionsthat have a potentially protective effect. In this review, we have analyzed the available literature in terms of prenataland postnatal interventions that may have an impact on reducing the incidence of this condition in children

Misoprostol vaginal insert and Foley catheter in labour induction — single center retrospective observational study of obstetrical outcome

Objectives: Induction of labour is one of the most common procedures used in obstetrics and its prevalence tends toincrease. In patients with an unripe cervix (Bishop score < 7) pre-induction procedures are used before the start of oxytocininduction. Currently there is no consensus among scientific societies on the optimal way of pre-induction. We have conducteda single-centre retrospective observational study comparing obstetric induction results of patients after 37 weeksof gestation who were pre-induced with misoprostol vaginal insert (MVI) with 200 μg of misoprostol (Misodel — FerringPharmaceuticals Poland) or Foley catheter (20 F, 60 mL baloon).Material and methods: We have reviewed the medical records of 503 patients (group A pre-induced MVI — 135 patients,group B pre-induced Foley catheter — 368 patients) who were in a single, full-term pregnancy, pre-induced due to unripecervixes (Bishop score < 7) with a Foley catheter or Misodel (MVI 200 μg). We compared obstetric results between groups.Results: Group A patients had a lower chance of using oxytocin in labour induction/augmentation (OR = 0.21 95%CI = 0.13–0.32), and a greater chance of surgical delivery by caesarean section (OR = 2.14 95% CI = 1.42–3.23) and vacuumextraction (OR = 3.29 95% CI = 1.08–10.00). Group A patients also had a greater chance of abnormal CTG (OR = 2.66 95%CI = 1.5–4.7) compared to group B. The groups did not differ in terms of meconium stained amniotic fluid and postpartumhaemorrhage. The percentage of children born with a pH from umbilical cord blood < 7.2 and < 7.1 and newborns ofmedium general condition (Apgar 4–7) did not differ between the groups.Conclusions: Neonatological results of children from Foley catheters and MVI induced delivery do not differ. Patientspre-induced with MVI rarely require labour augmentation with oxytocin. MVI-preinduced patients have a better chance ofhaving a delivery by CS or VE compared to the Foley catheter

Credibility of native and non-native speakers of English revisited: Do non-native listeners feel the same?

This study reports on research stimulated by Lev-Ari and Keysar (2010) who showed that native listeners find statements delivered by foreign-accented speakers to be less true than those read by native speakers. Our objective was to replicate the study with non-native listeners to see whether this effect is also relevant in international communication contexts. The same set of statements from the original study was recorded by 6 native and 6 nonnative speakers of English. 121 non-native listeners rated the truthfulness of the statements on a 7-point scale. The results of our study tentatively do confirm a negative bias against non-native speakers as perceived by non-native listeners, showing that subconscious attitudes to language varieties are also relevant in communication among non-native speakers

Could pelvic floor sonography be a standalone method for excluding genuine stress urinary incontinence in women?

Objectives: Determine whether introital pelvic floor sonography with transvaginal probe (PFS-TV) can be an independent method in the diagnosis of genuine stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and to create a ultrasonographic diagnostic model to objectify diagnostic process. Material and methods: The study involved 315 patients with a history of urinary incontinence problems. Based on the clinical examination and urodynamic examination, the final diagnosis was made. Patients were divided into two groups. Group I included women with SUI and Group II included patients without SUI (OAB and no-UI). Each patient underwent PFS-TV at rest and during straining. The groups were compared in terms of ultrasound parameters. Results: Patients from both groups differed statistically in a significant way (p < 0.05) in terms of mean distance between the lower edge of the pubic symphysis at rest 19 mm vs 22 mm (Group I vs Group II) and during straining (D1 and D2) 22 mm vs 26 mm, the average value of the γ angle (at rest (γ1) 37.5° vs 40° and during straining (γ2) and 66° vs 58.5°, average difference value of angle γ during straining and at rest (γ2−γ1) 29° vs 14°, and frequency of urethral funneling 89% vs 17%. Two parameters studied during PFS-TV were included in the logistic regression model used to exclude the stress component of urinary incontinence. Diagnostic test parameters of model were sensitivity 86.6%, specificity 90.4%, accuracy 93.1%. Conclusions: PFS-TV makes it possible to exclude the stress component of urinary incontinence. The developed logistic regression model allows for the objectification of the results of ultrasound examination in patients with urinary incontinence