Preaspirated /pp tt kk/ in standard Italian

This paper investigates preaspiration of geminate stops in Standard Italian /pp tt kk/. We first compare voiceless stops produced in isolated words according to speaker sex and then region (Northern, Central and Southern Italy). We find that the frequency and duration of preaspiration remain relatively stable across these sociophonetic categories. Given these patterns we suggest that the appearance of preaspirated stops is conditioned primarily by phonetic (consonant place, vowel type, lexical stress) rather than the sociophonetic factors under consideration

Panel 4 : Report of the Microbiology Panel

Objective. To perform a comprehensive review of the literature from July 2011 until June 2015 on the virology and bacteriology of otitis media in children. Data Sources. PubMed database of the National Library of Medicine. Review Methods. Two subpanels comprising experts in the virology and bacteriology of otitis media were created. Each panel reviewed the relevant literature in the fields of virology and bacteriology and generated draft reviews. These initial reviews were distributed to all panel members prior to meeting together at the Post-symposium Research Conference of the 18th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Otitis Media, National Harbor, Maryland, in June 2015. A final draft was created, circulated, and approved by all panel members. Conclusions. Excellent progress has been made in the past 4 years in advancing our understanding of the microbiology of otitis media. Numerous advances were made in basic laboratory studies, in animal models of otitis media, in better understanding the epidemiology of disease, and in clinical practice. Implications for Practice. (1) Many viruses cause acute otitis media without bacterial coinfection, and such cases do not require antibiotic treatment. (2) When respiratory syncytial virus, metapneumovirus, and influenza virus peak in the community, practitioners can expect to see an increase in clinical otitis media cases. (3) Biomarkers that predict which children with upper respiratory tract infections will develop otitis media may be available in the future. (4) Compounds that target newly identified bacterial virulence determinants may be available as future treatment options for children with otitis media.Peer reviewe

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Influenza Circulation During the 2020/21 and 2021/22 Seasons, in Europe

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Very little influenza in the WHO European Region during the 2020/21 season, weeks 40 2020 to 8 2021

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Sustained circulation of enterovirus D68 in Europe in 2023 and the continued evolution of enterovirus D68 B3-lineages associated with distinct amino acid substitutions in VP1 protein

Background: Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) causes respiratory disease ranging from mild to severe and in rare cases a paralytic syndrome, called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Since the global EV-D68 outbreak in 2014, the virus has mainly circulated in biennial epidemic cycles with peaks detected during even years. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the seasonal pattern of EV-D68 has been characterized by large yearly upsurges. Here, we describe the circulation of EV-D68 in Europe in 2023 and track its genetic evolution. Study design: Data was compiled from members of the European Non-Polio Network (ENPEN). This included monthly data on the total number of EV samples tested, EV positive samples, EV-D68 positive samples and cases, and other EV positive samples detected in 2023. Information on sample types and surveillance system was recorded. Sequence data from the VP1 gene was used for phylogenetic and amino acid sequence analysis. Results: EV was detected in 13,585 out of 203,622 diagnostic samples tested (6.7 %), of which 402 (3.0 %) were determined as EV-D68, representing 386 cases. EV-D68 infections peaked in October 2023 (136/386; 35.2 %). 267/386 (69.2 %) of EV-D68 cases were captured through clinical EV surveillance, almost all of which (202/204 of positive samples with sample type information) were detected in respiratory specimens. Phylogenetic analysis performed on 99 VP1 sequences revealed a distinct B3-derived lineage with a previously undescribed residue change, D554E, in Europe. Conclusions: The study documents sustained circulation of EV-D68 in Europe in 2023, the evolution of B3-derived lineages, and appearance of previously undescribed amino acid substitutions in Europe. This stresses the need for continuous EV-D68 surveillance and harmonization of EV-D68 detection practices towards better data comparability across countries

On the perception of “segmental intonation”: F0 context effects on sibilant identification in German

Abstract In normal modally voiced utterances, voiceless fricatives like [s], [ʃ], [f], and [x] vary such that their aperiodic pitch impressions mirror the pitch level of the adjacent F0 contour. For instance, if the F0 contour creates a high or low pitch context, then the aperiodic pitch impression of the fricative in this context will also be high or low. This context-matching effect has been termed “segmental intonation”. While there is accumulating evidence for segmental intonation in speech production, less is known about if and how segmental intonation is actually integrated in the perception of utterance tunes. This question is addressed here in a perception experiment in which listeners identified target words ending in either [ʃ] or [s]. The two sibilants inherently create low or high aperiodic pitch impressions in listeners due to their characteristically different spectral energy distributions. The sibilants were preceded by high or low F0 contexts in the target words. Results show a clear F0-context effect. The context effect triggered more [ʃ] identifications in high-F0 and/or more [s] identifications in low-F0 contexts. The effect was larger for sibilants that were less clearly identifiable as either /ʃ/ or /s/. The effect represents strong supporting evidence that listeners in fact perceive the segmental intonation of fricatives and integrate its aperiodic pitch with the F0-based pitch when perceiving utterance intonation. Thus, the term “segmental intonation” is perceptually appropriate. Furthermore, the results are discussed with respect to reaction-time measurements and an additional effect of the quality of the adjacent vowel phoneme on sibilant identification

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Duration of Early Vocalisations

The duration of three infants’ vocalisations were examined during a six-month longitudinal study. In contrast to most other infant research, this study included in its analysis all vocalisations including those deemed vegetative or those having nonmodal voice quality. All three infants produced vocalisations which decreased in duration in the initial months. However between the 3rd and 5th month a significant increase (p<0.001) in the duration of vocalisations was found (from mean 207ms to 431ms). When vocalisations were analysed using perceptual voice quality categories, all were found to have significant differences (p<0.05) in duration relative to modal voice. Nonmodal voice qualities showed initial decreases in duration before increasing in duration in later months. In contrast those vocalisations produced using modal voice showed a positive linear trend and had the greatest linear rate of change across the study. These findings highlight the importance of including a wide variety of infant vocalisations including those with nonmodal voice quality in infant linguistic developmental studies

Seroprevalence of Taenia solium infections in Croatian patients presenting with epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, while neurocysticercosis caused by Taenia solium infection of the central nervous system currently represents the leading cause of secondary epilepsy in Central and South America, East and South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of increased migration from these endemic regions, neurocysticercosis and subsequent epilepsy are becoming a growing public health problem in developed countries as well. In order to determine the prevalence of T. solium infection in patients with epilepsy in Croatia, a retrospective serological study was conducted. A total of 770 serum samples were tested for the presence of T. solium IgG antibodies using a commercial qualitative enzyme immunoassay. The Western blot technique was used as a confirmatory test for the diagnosis. The overall seroprevalence rate of T. solium infection in patients with clinically proven epilepsy was 1.5%. Although the results have shown that infection with this tapeworm is rare in Croatia, this study hopes to increase awareness about the importance of preventive measures and benefits of accurate and timely diagnosis. Intervention measures for infection control are crucial, namely sanitation improvement, control of domestic pig-breeding, detailed meat inspection, detection and treatment of tapeworm carriers, hand washing and health education

On the back of the tongue: dorsal sounds in Australian languages

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