Spatial communication systems across languages reflect universal action constraints.

The extent to which languages share properties reflecting the non-linguistic constraints of the speakers who speak them is key to the debate regarding the relationship between language and cognition. A critical case is spatial communication, where it has been argued that semantic universals should exist, if anywhere. Here, using an experimental paradigm able to separate variation within a language from variation between languages, we tested the use of spatial demonstratives-the most fundamental and frequent spatial terms across languages.

Interpreting Estonian Demonstratives: The Effects of Referent's Distance and Visual Salience.

Most of the research done with spatial demonstratives (words such as , and , ) have focused on the production, not the interpretation, of these words. In addition, emphasis has been largely on demonstrative pronouns, leaving demonstrative adverbs with relatively little research attention. The present study explores the interpretation of both demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adverbs in Estonian-a Finno-Ugric language with two dialectal-specific demonstrative pronoun systems.

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme-gene-polymorphism: relationship to albumin excretion and blood pressure in pediatric patients with type-I-diabetes mellitus.

The purpose of this study was the evaluation of a predictive genetic marker for nephropathy and hypertension in patients with type-I-diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The study was performed on 247 pediatric patients with IDDM. The mean age was 15.