Complexity trade-offs and equi-complexity in natural languages: a meta-analysis.

In linguistics, there is little consensus on how to define, measure, and compare complexity across languages. We propose to take the diversity of viewpoints as a given, and to capture the complexity of a language by a vector of measurements, rather than a single value. We then assess the statistical support for two controversial hypotheses: the trade-off hypothesis and the equi-complexity hypothesis.

Information Theory and Language.

Human language is a system of communication [...

SignBase, a collection of geometric signs on mobile objects in the Paleolithic.

In the Paleolithic, geometric signs are abundant. They appear in rock art as well as on mobile objects like artworks, tools, or personal ornaments. These signs are often interpreted as a reflection of symbolic thought and associated with the origin of cognitively modern behavior.

Can a simple 'cost-awareness' campaign for laparoscopic hysterectomy change the use and costs of disposable surgical supplies? Pre-post non-controlled study.

Objectives: Does a cost-awareness campaign for gynaecologists lead to a change in use and costs of disposable surgical supplies for laparoscopic hysterectomy (LH) without increasing hospital utilisation measures (operating room (OR) time or hospital length of stay (LOS))?

Design: Pre-post non-controlled study. The OR database was used to identify relevant cases before and after the cost-awareness intervention, and provided information on quantity of each supply item, operative details and LOS.

Setting: Lois Hole Hospital for Women, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

The evolution of language families is shaped by the environment beyond neutral drift.

There are more than 7,000 languages spoken in the world today. It has been argued that the natural and social environment of languages drives this diversity. However, a fundamental question is how strong are environmental pressures, and does neutral drift suffice as a mechanism to explain diversification? We estimate the phylogenetic signals of geographic dimensions, distance to water, climate and population size on more than 6,000 phylogenetic trees of 46 language families.