Shell nouns in English ? a personal roundup

Els encapsuladors en anglès ? una síntesi personal Aquest treball ofereix una retrospectiva personal sobre la noció i el fenomen discursiu de shell noun (o encapsulador, literalment nom closca). Després d?una breu introducció, discutirem alguns aspectes terminològics i metodològics i efectuarem algunes remarques sobre la classificació dels usos dels encapsuladors. Finalment, aportarem una revisió d?investigacions recents sobre l?origen i el desenvolupament diacrònic dels encapsuladors i de les construccions encapsuladores, i discutirem una sèrie de noves aportacions en l?estudi de l?encapsulació des de la introducció del concepte en els anys 90 del segle passat

That's Cool. Computational Sociolinguistic Methods for Investigating Individual Lexico-grammatical Variation

The present study deals with variation in the use of lexico-grammatical patterns and emphasizes the need to embrace individual variation. Targeting the pattern that’s adj (as in that’s right, that’s nice or that’s okay) as a case study, we use a tailor-made Python script to systematically retrieve grammatical and semantic information about all instances of this construction in BNC2014 as well as sociolinguistic information enabling us to study social and individual lexico-grammatical variation among speakers who have used this pattern. The dataset amounts to 4,394 tokens produced by 445 speakers using 159 adjective types in 931 conversations. Using detailed descriptive statistics and mixed-effects regression models, we show that while the choice of some adjectives is partly determined by social variables, situational and especially individual variation is rampant overall. Adopting a cognitive-linguistic perspective and relying on the notion of entrenchment, we interpret these findings as reflecting individual speakers' routines. We argue that computational sociolinguistics is in an ideal position to contribute to the data-driven investigation of individual lexico-grammatical variation and encourage computational sociolinguists to grab this opportunity. For the routines of individual speakers ultimately both underlie and compromise systematic social variation and trigger and steer well-known types of language change including grammaticalization, pragmaticalization and change by invited inference

Rote Liste und Artenverzeichnis der Schnecken und Muscheln Baden-Württembergs

Die vorliegende Veröffentlichung umfasst zwei Grundbausteine. Zum einen die offizielle Rote Liste mit Nennung der Gefährdungskategorien, zum anderen ein revidiertes systematisches Gesamtartenverzeichnis der Mollusken Baden-Württembergs. Die Rote Liste dient zum schnellen Feststellen der jeweiligen Gefährdungskategorien der einzelnen Arten in Baden-Württemberg und ist wie üblich alphabetisch nach Gattungen geordnet. Sehr großer Wert wurde auf die sorgfältige Analyse der Ergebnisse gelegt (Kapitel 7). Das Gesamtartenverzeichnis dient der aktuellen systematischen Einordnung aller Arten, weshalb hier die Taxa im Kontext des wissenschaftlichen Systems der Mollusken aufgeführt werden. Im systematischen Artenverzeichnis soll der momentane Kenntnisstand über die Mollusken Baden-Württembergs in knapper Darstellung zum Ausdruck kommen. Hier sind auch die bekannten Unterarten aufgeführt und es werden zusätzliche Informationen zum Verbreitungstyp, zur Verbreitung (Vorkommen in den Naturräumen 3. Ordnung) sowie zur Ökologie (Zuordnung einzelner Arten zu bestimmten Biotoptypen) gegeben. Mit diesen Zusatzinformationen werden Rote Listen und Artenverzeichnisse zu Gradmessern der Biodiversitätsforschung. In über 130 ‚Anmerkungen‘ werden die entsprechenden Angaben zur Systematik, Verbreitung und Ökologie präzisiert und es wird auf die hierfür zu Grunde liegende Literatur verwiesen. Alle Angaben der Roten Liste sind auch im ausführlichen systematischen Artenverzeichnis enthalten. In beiden Listen sind die Arten mit ihrer laufenden Nummer aufgeführt. Damit ist ein problemloser Wechsel von der Roten Liste zu den Angaben im systematischen Artenverzeichnis gewährleistet. Der Forschungsstand findet sich vielfach in der historischen Literatur, die deshalb eine sorgfältige und kritische Berücksichtigung erfuhr (siehe Anmerkungen und Literaturverzeichnis). Einen unschätzbaren Wert haben in diesem Zusammenhang die zahlreichen Veröffentlichungen David Geyer‘s, die den Beginn der modernen Regionalfaunisik in Baden-Württemberg kennzeichnen. Ein eigenes Kapitel zur Forschungsgeschichte hätte jedoch den vorgegebenen Rahmen dieser Arbeit gesprengt

Association Between Changes in Post-hospital Cardiac Symptoms and Changes in Acute Coronary Syndrome-Induced Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress.

Background After acute coronary syndrome (ACS), one in eight patients develops clinically significant symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hypothesized that changes in cardiac symptoms from 3 to 12 months after ACS are associated with changes in ACS-induced PTSD symptoms. Methods At 3 (n = 154) and/or 12 months (n = 106) post-ACS, patients (n = 156, mean age 59 years, 85% men) completed a clinical interview assessing chest tightness/pain (at rest and/or during exertion), heartbeat symptoms (heart palpitations, racing of heart, heart stumbling or skipping a beat) and PTSD symptoms during the prior 4 weeks. Random mixed regression models examined the association between the onset (or remission) from 3 to 12 months in cardiac symptoms with changes in PTSD symptoms, adjusting for a range of potential predictors of ACS-induced PTSD symptoms. Results The onset of chest tightness/pain [estimate = 0.588, 95% confidence interval: 0.275, 0.090; p < 0.001] and of heartbeat symptoms [0.548 (0.165, 0.931); p = 0.005] from 3 to 12 months was independently associated with an increase in total PTSD symptoms. There were also independent associations between the onset of chest tightness/pain and heartbeat symptoms with an increase in PTSD symptom clusters. Specifically, the onset of chest tightness/pain showed associations with an increase in re-experiencing [0.450 (0.167, 0.733); p = 0.027] and avoidance/numbing [0.287 (0.001, 0.574); p = 0.049]. The onset of heartbeat symptoms showed associations with an increase in re-experiencing [0.392 (0.045, 0.739); p = 0.002], avoidance/numbing [0.513 (0.161, 0.864); p = 0.004] and hyperarousal [0.355 (0.051, 0.659); p = 0.022]. An increase in the total number of cardiac symptoms (score range 0-6) was also associated with an increase in total PTSD symptoms [0.343 (0.202, 0.484); p < 0.001]. Psychotherapy in the post-hospital period moderated the association between the change in heartbeat symptoms and the change in total PTSD symptoms [-0.813 (-1.553, -0.074); p = 0.031 for interaction]; the association between the onset of heart beat symptoms and an increase in total PTSD symptoms was weaker in patients who attended psychotherapy [0.437 (-0.178, 1.052); p = 0.16] than in those who did not [0.825 (0.341, 1.309); p < 0.001]. Conclusion Changes in cardiac symptoms between 3 and 12 months after hospitalization are associated with changes in ACS-induced PTSD symptoms. ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01781247

Validation of the Brief Confusion Assessment Method for screening delirium in elderly medical patients in a German emergency department

Background Delirium is frequent in elderly patients presenting in the emergency department (ED). Despite the severe prognosis, the majority of delirium cases remain undetected by emergency physicians (EPs). At the time of our study there was no valid delirium screening tool available for EDs in German‐speaking regions. We aimed to evaluate the brief Confusion Assessment Method (bCAM) for a German ED during the daily work routine. Methods We implemented the bCAM into practice in a German interdisciplinary high‐volume ED and evaluated the bCAM's validity in a convenience sample of medical patients aged ≥ 70 years. The bCAM, which assesses four core features of delirium, was performed by EPs during their daily work routine and compared to a criterion standard based on the criteria for delirium as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Results Compared to the criterion standard, delirium was found to be present in 46 (16.0%) of the 288 nonsurgical patients enrolled. The bCAM showed 93.8% specificity (95% confidence interval [CI] = 90.0%–96.5%) and 65.2% sensitivity (95% CI = 49.8%–78.7%). Positive and negative likelihood ratios were 10.5 and 0.37, respectively, while the odds ratio was 28.4. Delirium was missed in 10 of 16 cases, since the bCAM did not indicate altered levels of consciousness and disorganized thinking. The level of agreement with the criterion standard increased for patients with low cognitive performance. Conclusion This was the first study evaluating the bCAM for a German ED and when performed by EPs during routine work. The bCAM showed good specificity, but only moderate sensitivity. Nevertheless, application of the bCAM most likely improves the delirium detection rate in German EDs. However, it should only be applied by trained physicians to maximize diagnostic accuracy and hence improve the bCAM's sensitivity. Future studies should refine the bCA