Undercompression errors as evidence for conceptual primitives

The Meaning First Approach offers a model of the relation between thought and language that includes a Generator and a Compressor. The Generator build non-linguistic thought structures and the Compressor is responsible for its articulation through three processes: structure-preserving linearization, lexification, and compression via non-articulation of concepts when licensed. One goal of this paper is to show that a range of phenomena in child language can be explained in a unified way within the Meaning First Approach by the assumption that children differ from adults with respect to compression and, specifically, that they may undercompress in production, an idea that sets a research agenda for the study of language acquisition. We focus on dependencies involving pronouns or gaps in relative clauses and wh-questions, multi-argument verbal concepts, and antonymic concepts involving negation or other opposites. We present extant evidence from the literature that children produce undercompression errors (a type of commission errors) that are predicted by the Meaning First Approach. We also summarize data that children's comprehension ability provides evidence for the Meaning First Approach prediction that decompression should be challenging, when there is no 1-to-1 correspondence.

Heritage Speakers as Part of the Native Language Continuum

We argue for a perspective on bilingual heritage speakers as native speakers of both their languages and present results from a large-scale, cross-linguistic study that took such a perspective and approached bilinguals and monolinguals on equal grounds. We targeted comparable language use in bilingual and monolingual speakers, crucially covering broader repertoires than just formal language. A main database was the open-access RUEG corpus, which covers comparable informal vs. formal and spoken vs. written productions by adolescent and adult bilinguals with heritage-Greek, -Russian, and -Turkish in Germany and the United States and with heritage-German in the United States, and matching data from monolinguals in Germany, the United States, Greece, Russia, and Turkey. Our main results lie in three areas. (1) We found non-canonical patterns not only in bilingual, but also in monolingual speakers, including patterns that have so far been considered absent from native grammars, in domains of morphology, syntax, intonation, and pragmatics. (2) We found a degree of lexical and morphosyntactic inter-speaker variability in monolinguals that was sometimes higher than that of bilinguals, further challenging the model of the streamlined native speaker. (3) In majority language use, non-canonical patterns were dominant in spoken and/or informal registers, and this was true for monolinguals and bilinguals. In some cases, bilingual speakers were leading quantitatively. In heritage settings where the language was not part of formal schooling, we found tendencies of register leveling, presumably due to the fact that speakers had limited access to formal registers of the heritage language. Our findings thus indicate possible quantitative differences and different register distributions rather than distinct grammatical patterns in bilingual and monolingual speakers. This supports the integration of heritage speakers into the native-speaker continuum. Approaching heritage speakers from this perspective helps us to better understand the empirical data and can shed light on language variation and change in native grammars. Furthermore, our findings for monolinguals lead us to reconsider the state-of-the art on majority languages, given recurring evidence for non-canonical patterns that deviate from what has been assumed in the literature so far, and might have been attributed to bilingualism had we not included informal and spoken registers in monolinguals and bilinguals alike.

Assignment of Grammatical Gender in Heritage Greek

This study investigates the acquisition of grammatical gender in Heritage Greek as acquired by children (6-8 years of age) and adolescents (15-18 years) growing up in Adelaide, South Australia. The determiner elicitation task from Varlokosta (2005) was employed to assess the role of morphological and semantic cues when it comes to gender assignment for real and novel nouns. Ralli's (1994) inflectional classes for Greek nouns and Anastasiadi-Symeonidi and Cheila-Markopoulou's (2003) categories of prototypicality were employed in the analysis of the collected data. The performance of heritage speakers was compared to that of monolingual speakers from Greece (Varlokosta, 2011). The results indicate that-beyond age differences in the two groups-a formal phonological rule guides gender assignment in the production of heritage speakers which departs from initial expectations.

Generative Grammar: A Meaning First Approach

The theory of language must predict the possible thought—signal (or meaning—sound or sign) pairings of a language. We argue for a Meaning First architecture of language where a thought structure is generated first. The thought structure is then realized using language to communicate the thought, to memorize it, or perhaps with another purpose. Our view contrasts with the T-model architecture of mainstream generative grammar, according to which distinct phrase-structural representations—Phonetic Form (PF) for articulation, Logical Form (LF) for interpretation—are generated within the grammar. At the same time, our view differs from early transformational grammar and generative semantics: We view the relationship between the thought structure and the corresponding signal as one of compression. We specify a formal sketch of compression as a choice between multiple possible pronounciations balancing the desire to transmit information against the effort of pronounciation. The Meaning First architecture allows a greater degree of independence between thought structures and the linguistic signal. We present three arguments favoring this type of independence. First we argue that scopal properties can be better explained if we only compare thought structures independent of the their realization as a sentence. Secondly, we argue that Meaning First architecture allows contentful late insertion, an idea that has been argued for in Distributed Morphology already, but as we argue is also motivated by the division of the logical and socio-emotive meaning content of language. Finally, we show that only the Meaning First architecture provides a satisfying account of the mixing of multiple languages by multilingual speakers, especially for cases of simultaneous articulation across two modalities in bimodal speakers. Our view of the structure of grammar leads to a reassessment of priorities in linguistic analyses: while current mainstream work is often focused on establishing one-to-one relationships between concepts and morphemes, our view makes it plausible that primitive concepts are frequently marked indirectly or unpronounced entirely. Our view therefore assigns great value to the understanding of logical primitives and of compression.

Compound Formation in Language Mixing

In this paper, I discuss nominal compound formation in language contact situations, the question being of how compounding in language mixing can inform both theories of mixing and theories of word-hood. This contributes to our further understanding of how word formation operates in cases of language mixing and what exactly is being mixed in mixing, i.e., words vs. units smaller than words, e.g., stems or roots. Compounding is important to answer this question, as languages differ with respect to the units they employ for compound formation, i.e., phrases vs. stems. The data to be discussed will be a mixture of materials that have already been published in the literature and newly collected data and involve several mixing varieties, namely, Greek–English, Greek–Italian, Greek–Turkish, Turkish–Norwegian, Turkish–Dutch, and French–Dutch. I then offer an analysis using the tools of syntactic models of word formation (e.g., distributed morphology), assuming a decompositional approach.

Units of Language Mixing: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective

Language mixing is a ubiquitous phenomenon characterizing bilingual speakers. A frequent context where two languages are mixed is the word-internal level, demonstrating how tightly integrated the two grammars are in the mind of a speaker and how they adapt to each other. This raises the question of what the minimal unit of language mixing is, and whether or not this unit differs depending on what the languages are. Some scholars have argued that an uncategorized root serves as a unit, others argue that the unit needs to have been categorized prior to mixing. We will discuss the question of what the relevant unit for language mixing is by studying word-internal mixing in Cypriot Greek-English, English-Norwegian, Greek-English, Greek-German, and Spanish-German varieties that have been reported in the literature based on data from judgment experiments and spoken corpora. By understanding and modeling the units of language mixing across languages, we will gain insight into how languages adapt to each other word-internally, and what some possible outcomes of language contact are in the minds of speakers.

Uterobrush method in the detection of endometrial pathology

BACKGROUND

Endometrial brush cytology is a widely accepted method for the detection of endometrial lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of cytological sampling using Uterobrush in the screening of endometrial pathology.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a prospective double-blind study evaluating the efficacy of the Uterobrush method (Cooper Surgical, Trumbull, USA) in the detection of endometrial abnormalities. Endometrial cytology was performed during the period January 2009 to April 2010 in all symptomatic patients that underwent dilatation and curettage. The collected samples were firstly smeared directly onto a glassslide and consequently into Thin-Prep buffer. Cytologic features were evaluated according to the criteria of Tao. The main objective was to evaluate the efficacy of Uterobrush method comparing the results of cytologic and histopathologic examination.

RESULTS

The sample of the study consisted of 100 women aged 55.8 years (range 38-78 years) with recorded data regarding Uterobrush test and classic histologic examination. Fifty-five patients were postmenopausal. A total of 92% of the samplings were performed by trainees. Endometrial carcinoma was cytologically diagnosed in 8/9 patients, whereas endometrial polyps were diagnosed in 5/34 patients (14.7%). All the patients with simple hyperplasia were correctly diagnosed with the Uterobrush method, whereas the diagnosis of complex hyperplasia with or without atypia was correct in 85.7% and 100% of patients, respectively. Regarding endometrial carcinoma, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 88.9%, 100%, 100% and 98.9%, respectively. On the other hand, regarding endometrial polyps, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 14.7%, 100%, 100% and 69.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Uterobrush is a reliable direct intrauterine sampling for detecting endometrial abnormalities especially endometrial carcinoma and hyperplasia, but not endometrial polyps. It is a well-tolerated, easy to use method, which provides generous endometrial sampling without contamination from the endocervix or the vagina.

The histological outcome of glandular dyskaryosis--AGUS--reported in Papanicolaou smears

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to investigate the prognostic significance of glandular dyskaryosis/AGUS, reported in Papanicolaou (Pap) smears.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

During a 4-year period 26,408 smears were assessed at the Department of Cytology of our hospital. Thirty (0.11%) smears were reported as having glandular dyskaryosis. The studied material was taken by colposcopy, fractional curettage and/or cone biopsy.

RESULTS

The final diagnosis included 2 cases of invasive cervical carcinoma (1 squamous cell and 1 adenocarcinoma), 1 case with ovarian cancer, 8 cases with high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL) and 10 cases with other nonmalignant pathology (polyps, hyperplasia) of endometrial origin. These findings reflect a 36.7% positive predictive value for significant squamous and glandular pathology.

CONCLUSION

Patients with glandular dyskaryosis require further evaluation because it may hide serious pathology from all internal genital organs. Colposcopy in combination with fractional curettage and/or cone biopsy are proposed as the appropriate diagnostic tools in women with such cytological abnormality.

Correlations between the Functional-Cognitive Assessment Scale and the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale when administered to patients with dementia residing in long-term care

The Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) and the Functional Cognitive Assessment Scale (FUCAS) examine the cognitive performance of patients with dementia. ADAS has been widely used as a clinical instrument, mainly in clinical trials. FUCAS is a useful tool in diagnosing early dementia since it examines executive skills. Moreover, it is sensitive to the subtle changes that occur during the progress of the disease. The aim of this study was to examine the possible correlations between FUCAS and ADAS. The 2 neuropsychological scales were administered to 32 patients with dementia residing in long-term care. They were 12 men and 20 women, 65 to 90 years old, with 4 to 12 years of education. Twenty-four patients were reassessed 3 months after the first assessment, with the same scales. Pearson's correlation showed that the total score of FUCAS correlated significantly with the total score of ADAS: r = 0.80 (P < .01). The t test showed that changes over the 3 months for FUCAS were more significant than ADAS, suggesting that FUCAS is a more sensitive tool.

Clause structure and verb movement in a Greek-English speaking bilingual patient with Broca's aphasia: evidence from adverb placement

In this paper, we investigate the performance of a Greek-English bilingual patient with Broca's aphasia and mild agrammatism on the placement of CP, MoodP, AspectP, and NegP-related adverbs, labeled specifier-type adverbs, and VP-related adverbs, labeled complement-type adverbs, by means of a constituent ordering task and a grammaticality judgment task. Based on the results derived by means of these two different tasks in both Greek and English, we argue that (i) the CP layer causes great difficulties to aphasic performance in both languages but it is not missing from aphasic grammar, whereas the VP layer remains intact in both languages; (ii) the MoodP, AspectP, and NegP-related adverbs cause more difficulties in English that in Greek. We attribute this to the independent differences between English and Greek that relate to properties of verbal morphology and syntactic head movement.

Prognostic significance of the co-expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 proteins in breast cancer

The immunohistochemical expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 gene proteins was examined in a series of 130 breast adenocarcinomas. This study intended to investigate whether the frequency of the altered expression of the tumour suppressor gene p53 and the overexpression of the oncogene c-erbB-2 in breast cancer tissue cells correlated with other variables known to affect the biological behaviour of these tumours and the overall survival of the patients (median follow-up time: 6 years). The expression of p53 protein and c-erbB-2 gene product was evaluated immunohistochemically. Expression of p53 protein was detected in 30 (23 per cent) of the neoplasms examined, while 26 (20 per cent) out of the 130 cases demonstrated positive c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity. There was a statistically significant association between p53 protein expression and primary tumour size, lymph node involvement, and oestrogen receptor positivity. The incidence of c-erbB-2 positivity was significantly correlated with high tumour grade, axillary node invasion, large tumour size, and the absence of steroid receptors. p53 immuno-expression was clearly associated with c-erbB-2 protein overexpression. Concomitant p53 and c-erbB-2 positive immunolabelling, which emerged in 14 out of the 130 cases (10.7 per cent), was clearly associated with high grade, large size, positive nodal status, ductal infiltrating (NOS) histological type, and low values of progesterone receptors. Overall survival of patients was not significantly related to the immunoreactivity of either p53 or c-erbB-2 considered separately, whereas there was a clearly significant trend to worse overall prognosis in cancers with double p53/c-erbB-2 positive phenotype. The simultaneous immunodetection of p53/c-erbB-2 appears to have greater negative prognostic relevance than their separate expression.

Prognostic significance of the co-expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 proteins in breast cancer

The immunohistochemical expression of p53 and c-erbB-2 gene proteins was examined in a series of 130 breast adenocarcinomas. This study intended to investigate whether the frequency of the altered expression of the tumour suppressor gene p53 and the overexpression of the oncogene c-erbB-2 in breast cancer tissue cells correlated with other variables known to affect the biological behaviour of these tumours and the overall survival of the patients (median follow-up time: 6 years). The expression of p53 protein and c-erbB-2 gene product was evaluated immunohistochemically. Expression of p53 protein was detected in 30 (23 per cent) of the neoplasms examined, while 26 (20 per cent) out of the 130 cases demonstrated positive c-erbB-2 immunoreactivity. There was a statistically significant association between p53 protein expression and primary tumour size, lymph node involvement, and oestrogen receptor positivity. The incidence of c-erbB-2 positivity was significantly correlated with high tumour grade, axillary node invasion, large tumour size, and the absence of steroid receptors. p53 immuno-expression was clearly associated with c-erbB-2 protein overexpression. Concomitant p53 and c-erbB-2 positive immunolabelling, which emerged in 14 out of the 130 cases (10.7 per cent), was clearly associated with high grade, large size, positive nodal status, ductal infiltrating (NOS) histological type, and low values of progesterone receptors. Overall survival of patients was not significantly related to the immunoreactivity of either p53 or c-erbB-2 considered separately, whereas there was a clearly significant trend to worse overall prognosis in cancers with double p53/c-erbB-2 positive phenotype. The simultaneous immunodetection of p53/c-erbB-2 appears to have greater negative prognostic relevance than their separate expression.