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Southeast Europe's Balkan peninsula is home to numerous languages that have come to converge structurally and lexically, due to complex social factors involving contact among speakers of these languages, constituting a 'sprachbund'. This volume provides the first comprehensive, book-length survey of the Balkan languages in English. It covers the full range of languages involved in the Balkan convergence zone, including Albanian, Aromanian, Bulgarian, Gagauz, Greek, Judezmo, Macedonian, Meglenoromanian, Romani, Romanian, Torlak, and West Rumelian Turkish. Balkan convergences - 'Balkanisms' - are presented, considering the grammatical domains of phonetics, phonology, morphology, morphosyntax, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and lexicon. It gives attention to relevant notions of contact linguistics and to the history of the field, while also introducing key conceptual innovations. Providing fresh data and perspectives on the most studied intense contact situation, this work is essential reading for anyone interested in Balkan languages. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
Accurate clay mineral identification is key to understanding past aqueous activity on Mars, but martian phyllosilicates are old (>3.5 Ga) and have been heavily bombarded by meteoroid impacts. Meteoroid impacts can alter clay mineral structures and spectral signatures, making accurate remote sensing identifications challenging. This paper uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to examine the short-range structural deformation induced in clay mineral samples of known composition by artificial impacts and calcination. Structural changes are then related to changes in the visible-near infrared (VNIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of these clay mineral samples. The susceptibility of phyllosilicates to structural deformation after experimental impacts varies by structure. Experimental results showed that trioctahedral, Mg(II)-rich saponite was structurally resilient up to peak pressures of 39.8 GPa and its unchanged post-impact spectra reflected this. Experimental data on kaolinite showed that this Al(III)-rich, dioctahedral phyllosilicate was susceptible to structural alteration at peak pressures ⩾ 25.1 GPa. This result is similar to previously reported experimental results on the Fe(III)-rich dioctahedral smectite nontronite, suggesting that dioctahedral phyllosilicates may be more susceptible to shock-induced structural deformation than trioctahedral phyllosilicates. The octahedral vacancies present in dioctahedral phyllosilicates may drive this increased susceptibility to deformation relative to trioctahedral phyllosilicates with fully occupied octahedral sheets. Thermal alteration accompanies shock in meteoroid impacts, but shock differs from thermal alteration. NMR spectroscopy showed that structural deformation in thermally altered phyllosilicates differs from that found in shocked phyllosilicates. Similar to shock, dioctahedral phyllosilicates are also more susceptible to thermal alteration. This differential susceptibility to impact-alteration may help explain generic smectite identifications from heavily bombarded terrains on Mars.
We recently reported on the radio-frequency attenuation length of cold polar ice at Summit Station, Greenland, based on bi-static radar measurements of radio-frequency bedrock echo strengths taken during the summer of 2021. Those data also allow studies of (a) the relative contributions of coherent (such as discrete internal conducting layers with sub-centimeter transverse scale) vs incoherent (e.g. bulk volumetric) scattering, (b) the magnitude of internal layer reflection coefficients, (c) limits on signal propagation velocity asymmetries (‘birefringence’) and (d) limits on signal dispersion in-ice over a bandwidth of ~100 MHz. We find that (1) attenuation lengths approach 1 km in our band, (2) after averaging 10 000 echo triggers, reflected signals observable over the thermal floor (to depths of ~1500 m) are consistent with being entirely coherent, (3) internal layer reflectivities are ≈–60$\to$–70 dB, (4) birefringent effects for vertically propagating signals are smaller by an order of magnitude relative to South Pole and (5) within our experimental limits, glacial ice is non-dispersive over the frequency band relevant for neutrino detection experiments.
The full range of internal dialect divisions within Indo-European that Albanian potentially enters into are surveyed here and shown to be complex and multifaceted. Nonetheless, it is argued that the overall evidence, based on the criterion of significant shared innovations, points to a particularly close connection between Albanian and Greek. It is further argued that this connection constitutes a subdivision within a discernible Palaeo-Balkanic subgroup that includes Messapic, Phrygian, and Armenian and possibly other fragmentarily known languages. This qualitative assessment of how Albanian fits in dialectally within the larger family matches results reported from computational phylogenetic investigation.
Language contact studies and historical linguistics, i.e. the study of language change, are subfields of linguistics that have long been recognized as being mutually relevant. This chapter explores this relationship along two dimensions: first, with regard to the fields of study themselves, and second, and perhaps more importantly, with regard to those aspects of language contact and of influence external to a given linguistic system that are particularly relevant to understanding the basic subject matter of historical linguistics, i.e. what happens to languages as they pass through time. In terms of the fields of study, an overview of the historiography of the distinction between internally motivated and externally motivated change is offered. This survey is followed by a discussion of several case studies, in which language contact serves as an actuator of change as well as some in which it is an inhibitor of change. Finally, the interaction of language contact with another key issue in historical linguistics, namely language genealogy, is discussed, along with a consideration of the naturalness and pervasiveness of language contact.
Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are a frequent cause of morbidity in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), due in part to the presence of central venous access devices (CVADs) required to deliver therapy.
Objective:
To determine the differential risk of bacterial BSI during neutropenia by CVAD type in pediatric patients with AML.
Methods:
We performed a secondary analysis in a cohort of 560 pediatric patients (1,828 chemotherapy courses) receiving frontline AML chemotherapy at 17 US centers. The exposure was CVAD type at course start: tunneled externalized catheter (TEC), peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), or totally implanted catheter (TIC). The primary outcome was course-specific incident bacterial BSI; secondary outcomes included mucosal barrier injury (MBI)-BSI and non-MBI BSI. Poisson regression was used to compute adjusted rate ratios comparing BSI occurrence during neutropenia by line type, controlling for demographic, clinical, and hospital-level characteristics.
Results:
The rate of BSI did not differ by CVAD type: 11 BSIs per 1,000 neutropenic days for TECs, 13.7 for PICCs, and 10.7 for TICs. After adjustment, there was no statistically significant association between CVAD type and BSI: PICC incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.00 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75–1.32) and TIC IRR = 0.83 (95% CI, 0.49–1.41) compared to TEC. When MBI and non-MBI were examined separately, results were similar.
Conclusions:
In this large, multicenter cohort of pediatric AML patients, we found no difference in the rate of BSI during neutropenia by CVAD type. This may be due to a risk-profile for BSI that is unique to AML patients.
Recent well-powered genome-wide association studies have enhanced prediction of substance use outcomes via polygenic scores (PGSs). Here, we test (1) whether these scores contribute to prediction over-and-above family history, (2) the extent to which PGS prediction reflects inherited genetic variation v. demography (population stratification and assortative mating) and indirect genetic effects of parents (genetic nurture), and (3) whether PGS prediction is mediated by behavioral disinhibition prior to substance use onset.
Methods
PGSs for alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine use/use disorder were calculated for Minnesota Twin Family Study participants (N = 2483, 1565 monozygotic/918 dizygotic). Twins' parents were assessed for histories of substance use disorder. Twins were assessed for behavioral disinhibition at age 11 and substance use from ages 14 to 24. PGS prediction of substance use was examined using linear mixed-effects, within-twin pair, and structural equation models.
Results
Nearly all PGS measures were associated with multiple types of substance use independently of family history. However, most within-pair PGS prediction estimates were substantially smaller than the corresponding between-pair estimates, suggesting that prediction is driven in part by demography and indirect genetic effects of parents. Path analyses indicated the effects of both PGSs and family history on substance use were mediated via disinhibition in preadolescence.
Conclusions
PGSs capturing risk of substance use and use disorder can be combined with family history measures to augment prediction of substance use outcomes. Results highlight indirect sources of genetic associations and preadolescent elevations in behavioral disinhibition as two routes through which these scores may relate to substance use.
This chapter examines the behaviour of compounds in language contact situations. Preliminaries about compounds and language contact are presented in section 1, focusing largely on questions of simplification versus complexification in language contact and of nativisation of borrowed elements as opposed to adoption without adaptation. This is followed by case studies involving Greek influence on English (section 2), Western European languages, especially English, on Russian (section 3), Western European languages, especially French, on Greek (section 4) and French influence on English (section 5). Key lessons to take away from these case studies are first that in the borrowing of compounds and compounding structures, languages seem not to engage in adaptation to native language patterns, and second that once a new structure enters a language via borrowing it takes on a life of its own, so to speak, and can take on forms that are quite different from their form in the source language.
Preliminaries on compounds and on contact
Vital to any serious discussion of word formation is a consideration of compounding, the process (or processes) by which complex words are created out of elements that are already words or word-like along various parameters. Compounding presents an interesting analytic conundrum for linguistic theory in general, in that it is a conceptually simple operation that is nonetheless quite complex at various levels of analysis. That is, while compounding often seems to involve nothing more than simply the juxtaposition of two (or more) elements, together with the possibility of some concomitant phonological or morphophonological adjustments, it also interacts with aspects of both argument structure and lexical semantics. Moreover, given the fact that it essentially stands at the nexus of syntax, in that it involves phrasal representations, and morphology, in that it involves word-level representations, compounding raises questions as to the analytic status of the composite form as a whole as well as the status of the parts that make up the composite.
These various issues fall within the realm of theoretical problems raised by language-internal considerations. But there are important questions as well that can be asked about compounding within any framework of language contact and contactinduced change.
We focus here on the resilience and sustainability of the Greek language in southern Albania, looking at it from the perspective of both economics and the ecology of language. Greek is a minority language in the region, spoken by as many as 100,000 speakers in a number of small villages and small urban centers. We chronicle here the ways in which the language has survived despite a near-perfect storm of factors working against it, and we provide an economic-theory rationale. A parallel is drawn to the fate of Turkish in Bulgaria.
The Pediatric Heart Network Normal Echocardiogram Database Study had unanticipated challenges. We sought to describe these challenges and lessons learned to improve the design of future studies.
Methods:
Challenges were divided into three categories: enrolment, echocardiographic imaging, and protocol violations. Memoranda, Core Lab reports, and adjudication logs were reviewed. A centre-level questionnaire provided information regarding local processes for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used, and chi-square tests determined differences in imaging quality.
Results:
For the 19 participating centres, challenges with enrolment included variations in Institutional Review Board definitions of “retrospective” eligibility, overestimation of non-White participants, centre categorisation of Hispanic participants that differed from National Institutes of Health definitions, and exclusion of potential participants due to missing demographic data. Institutional Review Board amendments resolved many of these challenges. There was an unanticipated burden imposed on centres due to high numbers of echocardiograms that were reviewed but failed to meet submission criteria. Additionally, image transfer software malfunctions delayed Core Lab image review and feedback. Between the early and late study periods, the proportion of unacceptable echocardiograms submitted to the Core Lab decreased (14 versus 7%, p < 0.01). Most protocol violations were from eligibility violations and inadvertent protected health information disclosure (overall 2.5%). Adjudication committee reviews led to protocol changes.
Conclusions:
Numerous challenges encountered during the Normal Echocardiogram Database Study prolonged study enrolment. The retrospective design and flaws in image transfer software were key impediments to study completion and should be considered when designing future studies collecting echocardiographic images as a primary outcome.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has a range of clinical severity in children. Treatment options are limited, mainly on account of small patient size. Disopyramide is a sodium channel blocker with negative inotropic properties that effectively reduces left ventricular outflow tract gradients in adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but its efficacy in children is uncertain. A retrospective chart review of patients ⩽21 years of age with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at our institution and treated with disopyramide was performed. Left ventricular outflow tract Doppler gradients before and after disopyramide initiation were compared as the primary outcome measure. Nine patients received disopyramide, with a median age of 5.6 years (range 6 days–12.9 years). The median left ventricular outflow tract Doppler gradient before initiation of disopyramide was 81 mmHg (range 30–132 mmHg); eight patients had post-initiation echocardiograms, in which the median lowest recorded Doppler gradient was 43 mmHg (range 15–100 mmHg), for a median % reduction of 58.2% (p=0.002). With median follow-up of 2.5 years, eight of nine patients were still alive, although disopyramide had been discontinued in six of the nine patients. Reasons for discontinuation included septal myomectomy (four patients), heart transplantation (one patient), and side effects (one patient). Disopyramide was effective for the relief of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, although longer-term data suggest that its efficacy is not sustained. In general, it was well tolerated. Further study in larger patient populations is warranted.
A 141m ice core was recovered from Combatant Col (51.385° N, 125.258° W; 3000ma.s.l.), Mount Waddington, Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. Records of black carbon, dust, lead and water stable isotopes demonstrate that unambiguous seasonality is preserved throughout the core, despite summer surface snowmelt and temperate ice. High accumulation rates at the site (>4 m ice eq. a-1) limit modification of annual stratigraphy by percolation of surface meltwater. The ice-core record spans the period 1973–2010. An annually averaged time series of lead concentrations from the core correlates well with historical records of lead emission from North America, and with ice-core records of lead from the Greenland ice sheet. The depth-age scale for the ice core provides sufficient constraint on the vertical strain to allow estimation of the age of the ice at bedrock. Total ice thickness at Combatant Col is ~250 m; an ice core to bedrock would likely contain ice in excess of 200 years in age. Accumulation at Combatant Col is significantly correlated with both regional precipitation and large-scale geopotential height anomalies.
On 1 December 2011 the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice-core project reached its final depth of 3405 m. The WAIS Divide ice core is not only the longest US ice core to date, but is also the highest-quality deep ice core, including ice from the brittle ice zone, that the US has ever recovered. The methods used at WAIS Divide to handle and log the drilled ice, the procedures used to safely retrograde the ice back to the US National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) and the methods used to process and sample the ice at the NICL are described and discussed.
Abuse or unintended overdose (OD) of opiates and heroin may result in prehospital and emergency department (ED) care. Prehospital naloxone use has been suggested as a surrogate marker of community opiate ODs. The study objective was to verify externally whether prehospital naloxone use is a surrogate marker of community opiate ODs by comparing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) naloxone administration records to an independent database of ED visits for opiate and heroin ODs in the same community.
Methods
A retrospective chart review of prehospital and ED data from July 2009 through June 2013 was conducted. Prehospital naloxone administration data obtained from the electronic medical records (EMRs) of a large private EMS provider serving a metropolitan area were considered a surrogate marker for suspected opiate OD. Comparison data were obtained from the regional trauma/psychiatric ED that receives the majority of the OD patients. The ED maintains a de-identified database of narcotic-related visits for surveillance of narcotic use in the metropolitan area. The ED database was queried for ODs associated with opiates or heroin. Cross-correlation analysis was used to test if prehospital naloxone administration was independent of ED visits for opiate/heroin ODs.
Results
Naloxone was administered during 1,812 prehospital patient encounters, and 1,294 ED visits for opiate/heroin ODs were identified. The distribution of patients in the prehospital and ED datasets did not differ by gender, but it did differ by race and age. The frequency of naloxone administration by prehospital providers varied directly with the frequency of ED visits for opiate/heroin ODs. A monthly increase of two ED visits for opiate-related ODs was associated with an increase in one prehospital naloxone administration (cross-correlation coefficient [CCF]=0.44; P=.0021). A monthly increase of 100 ED visits for heroin-related ODs was associated with an increase in 94 prehospital naloxone administrations (CCF=0.46; P=.0012).
Conclusions
Frequency of naloxone administration by EMS providers in the prehospital setting varied directly with frequency of opiate/heroin OD-related ED visits. The data correlated both for short-term frequency and longer term trends of use. However, there was a marked difference in demographic data suggesting neither data source alone should be relied upon to determine which populations are at risk within the community.
LindstromHA, ClemencyBM, SnyderR, ConsiglioJD, MayPR, MoscatiRM. Prehospital Naloxone Administration as a Public Health Surveillance Tool: A Retrospective Validation Study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(4):1–5.