Instead of a full sentence like (uttered by the passenger to a taxi driver) speakers often use fragments like to get their message across. So far there is no comprehensive and empirically supported account of why and under which circumstances speakers sometimes prefer a fragment over the corresponding full sentence. We propose an information-theoretic account to model this choice: A speaker chooses the encoding that distributes information most uniformly across the utterance in order to make the most efficient use of the hearer's processing resources (Uniform Information Density, Levy and Jaeger, 2007).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigate the underexplored question of when speakers make use of the omission phenomenon verb phrase ellipsis (VPE) in English given that the full form is also available to them. We base the interpretation of our results on the well-established information-theoretic Uniform Information Density (UID) hypothesis: Speakers tend to distribute processing effort uniformly across utterances and avoid regions of low information by omitting redundant material through, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a novel approach to estimating the predictability of utterances given extralinguistic context in psycholinguistic research. Predictability effects on language production and comprehension are widely attested, but so far predictability has mostly been manipulated through local linguistic context, which is captured with n-gram language models. However, this method does not allow to investigate predictability effects driven by extralinguistic context.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Gingival clefts (GCs) develop frequently during orthodontic space closure and may compromise the treatment outcome. This study assessed whether the time-point of orthodontic space closure initiation, after permanent tooth extraction, affects the incidence of GC.
Methods: In 25 patients requiring bilateral premolar extraction because of orthodontic reasons, one premolar, chosen at random, was extracted 8 weeks before space closure initiation ("delayed movement," DM), whereas the contralateral premolar was extracted 1 week before ("early movement," EM) ("treatment group").
Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg
June 2017
An 80-year-old male presented with painless blurred vision from the right eye following endoscopic biopsy of a right maxillary sinus mass with the otolaryngology service. The patient admitted to progressive right-sided proptosis over the past few weeks. Past medical history was significant for acinic cell adenocarcinoma of buccal space origin with resection 3 years prior.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To determine whether sleeping at a 20-degree head-up position decreases nocturnal intraocular pressure (IOP) compared with lying supine (flat) in patients with and without glaucoma.
Design: Prospective, nonrandomized comparative case series.
Materials And Methods: Thirty patients were recruited based on self-reported disease status with 15 glaucoma and 15 nonglaucoma patients; a total of 60 eyes were tested.
A 31-year-old African-American woman with a medical history of well-controlled hypertension sought treatment for recurrent, monthly, unilateral orbital and subconjunctival hemorrhage for 1 year. The episodes were cyclical and coincided with the timing of her menstrual cycle. Examination findings included right periorbital fullness and subconjunctival hemorrhage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOphthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg
December 2013
Purpose: To report on low-dose minimal injection treatment using botulinum toxin A for pseudoptosis secondary to aberrant facial nerve regeneration.
Methods: A retrospective chart review was carried out on 16 consecutive patients with pseudoptosis secondary to aberrant facial nerve regeneration who received botulinum toxin A injections.
Results: Study patients include 6 men and 10 women with median age of 65 years (range 34-78).
Our previous finding that D-ring seco derivatives of dehydroepiandrosterone retained biologic activity (Reich et al., Steroids 1998;63:542-53) motivated us to synthesize and test a number of steroids in which the D-ring is retained but altered in various ways. Several new steroids were synthesized and characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe unusual activity of some D-ring-seco estrogens led us to prepare several seco steroids related to dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and to test for their ability to mimic thyroid hormone and 7-oxo-DHEA (1) as inducers of thermogenic enzymes in rats' livers. Only one, 3 beta-acetoxy-17a-oxa-androst-5-ene-7,17-dione (17), was capable of inducing both mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase and malic enzyme. The closely related 3 beta-hydroxy-17a-oxa-androsta-5,15-diene-7,17-diones (both 14 alpha and 14 beta, 14 and 15) induce the formation of malic enzyme but not of glycerophosphate dehydrogenase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile hemiendoprothesis has been established in the treatment of hip fractures of aged people because of less operative trauma, better effectiveness and satisfying functionality, surgical management of trochanteric fractures is still in discussion. In our study, we found no severe difference of living conditions or mortality after operating elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures comparing Hemiprotheses versus Endernails versus Dynamic Hip Screws.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn isolated fracture of the proximal fibular shaft without associated tibial or ankle injury and without resulting from direct violence is extremely rare. This report presents a case of an unusual isolated proximal fibular fracture (stress-fracture) in a female tennis-player with Marfan-syndrome. The literature is reviewed and diagnosis, treatment and etiology are discussed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZentralbl Chir
September 1992
Spontaneous pneumothoraces follow lesions of pleuropulmonary tissues. Improvements of diagnostical and therapeutical management seem to change the traditional way by using thoracic drainage-systems. What value does drainage-therapy still have?
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsulin-stimulated sodium transport in the toad urinary bladder consists of two components, a brief element of rapid onset that is independent of protein synthesis, and a sustained increase, slower in onset, that is dependent upon RNA and protein synthesis. The mucosal epithelium of the toad bladder was labeled by lactoperoxidase-catalyzed radioiodination (125I) following 15 min and 3 h exposure to insulin. The membrane of "mitochondria-rich" and "granular" mucosal cells from these tissues were analyzed by electrophoresis in SDS-urea.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInsulin increases active sodium transport by the toad urinary bladder within 15 min, an effect which persists for an least 20 h. In tissues pre-treated with inhibitors of transcription or translation, sodium transport briefly increases after insulin addition but returns to basal levels within 60-90 min. We have studied the effects of insulin on the incorporation of radioactive amino acids into mucosal cell proteins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA dual-label isotope technique was used to study the effects of aldosterone upon the incorporation of amino acids into proteins of the in vitro toad urinary bladder. Following labeling, the mucosal cells were disaggregated and the mitochondria-rich and granular cells were separated. Proteins with an elevated isotope ratio were found in a plasma membrane fraction (170 000, 110 000 and 85 000 daltons) and in the cytosol (36 000 and 6 000 daltons) of the preparations enriched in mitochondria-rich cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF