Linkage in narratives: A comparison between monolingual speakers of French and Italian, and early and late French-Italian bilinguals

In the course of language acquisition learners have to deal with the task of producing narrative texts that are coherent across a range of conceptual domains (space, time, entities) -- both within as well as across utterances. The organization of information is analyzed in this study, on the basis of retellings of a silent film, in terms of devices used in the coordination and subordination of events within the narrative sequence. The focus on subordination reflects a core grammatical difference between Italian and French, as Italian is a null-subject language while French is not. The implications of this contrast for information structure include differences in topic management within the sequence of events. The present study investigates in how far Italian-French bilingual speakers acquire the patterns of monolingual speakers of Italian. It compares how early and late bilinguals of these two languages proceed when linking information in narratives in Italian.

Norms on the gender perception of role nouns in Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Slovak

We collected norms on the gender stereotypicality of an extensive list of role nouns in Czech, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Slovak, to be used as a basis for the selection of stimulus materials in future studies. We present a Web-based tool (available at https://www.unifr.ch/lcg/) that we developed to collect these norms and that we expect to be useful for other researchers, as well. In essence, we provide (a) gender stereotypicality norms across a number of languages and (b) a tool to facilitate cross-language as well as cross-cultural comparisons when researchers are interested in the investigation of the impact of stereotypicality on the processing of role nouns.

Individual socialization or politocultural context? The cultural roots of volunteering in Switzerland

Volunteering rates in Switzerland vary substantially across language regions. In this article, we investigate the cultural roots of this variation by presenting and empirically testing two different conceptualizations of how linguistic culture is related to individual volunteering. Whereas the first perspective perceives the individual as belonging to a particular language community and its norms and values as crucial for individual volunteering, the other sees the linguistic culture mainly as an important context in which an individual lives and which therefore influences individual volunteering. Empirically, we base our analysis on new survey data from 60 Swiss communes and apply a Bayesian multi-level analysis in order to disentangle the linguistic group from contextual effects. Our analysis supports the view that cultural patterns of civic self-organization can indeed explain regional volunteering behaviour in Switzerland. Whereas the propensity to volunteer is generally highest in German-speaking Switzerland, our findings reveal that it is the group of French speakers that exhibits the highest propensity to volunteer when controlling for language region.

Index-Oriented Methodologies for Landslide Consequence Analysis: An Application to a Mountain Community in the French Alps

Consequence analysis is a key aspect of anchoring assessment of landslide impacts to present and long-term development planning. Although several approaches have been developed over the last decade, some of them are difficult to apply in practice, mainly because of the lack of valuable data on historical damages or on damage functions. In this paper, two possible consequence indicators based on a combination of descriptors of the exposure of the elements at risk are proposed in order to map the potential impacts of landslides and highlight the most vulnerable areas. The first index maps the physical vulnerability due to landslide; the second index maps both direct damage (physical, structural, functional) and indirect damage (socio-economic impacts) of landslide hazards. The indexes have been computed for the 200 km2 area of the Barcelonnette Basin (South French Alps), and their potential applications are discussed.

'Saying it without words': a qualitative study of oncology staff's experiences with speaking up about safety concerns.

OBJECTIVES To explore the experiences of oncology staff with communicating safety concerns and to examine situational factors and motivations surrounding the decision whether and how to speak up using semistructured interviews. SETTING 7 oncology departments of six hospitals in Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS Diverse sample of 32 experienced oncology healthcare professionals. RESULTS Nurses and doctors commonly experience situations which raise their concerns and require questioning, clarifying and correcting. Participants often used non-verbal communication to signal safety concerns. Speaking-up behaviour was strongly related to a clinical safety issue. Most episodes of 'silence' were connected to hygiene, isolation and invasive procedures. In contrast, there seemed to exist a strong culture to communicate questions, doubts and concerns relating to medication. Nearly all interviewees were concerned with 'how' to say it and in particular those of lower hierarchical status reflected on deliberate 'voicing tactics'. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate a widely accepted culture to discuss any concerns relating to medication safety while other issues are more difficult to voice. Clinicians devote considerable efforts to evaluate the situation and sensitively decide whether and how to speak up. Our results can serve as a starting point to develop a shared understanding of risks and appropriate communication of safety concerns among staff in oncology.

Silence That Can Be Dangerous: A Vignette Study to Assess Healthcare Professionals' Likelihood of Speaking up about Safety Concerns

PURPOSE To investigate the likelihood of speaking up about patient safety in oncology and to clarify the effect of clinical and situational context factors on the likelihood of voicing concerns. PATIENTS AND METHODS 1013 nurses and doctors in oncology rated four clinical vignettes describing coworkers' errors and rule violations in a self-administered factorial survey (65% response rate). Multiple regression analysis was used to model the likelihood of speaking up as outcome of vignette attributes, responder's evaluations of the situation and personal characteristics. RESULTS Respondents reported a high likelihood of speaking up about patient safety but the variation between and within types of errors and rule violations was substantial. Staff without managerial function provided significantly higher levels of decision difficulty and discomfort to speak up. Based on the information presented in the vignettes, 74%-96% would speak up towards a supervisor failing to check a prescription, 45%-81% would point a coworker to a missed hand disinfection, 82%-94% would speak up towards nurses who violate a safety rule in medication preparation, and 59%-92% would question a doctor violating a safety rule in lumbar puncture. Several vignette attributes predicted the likelihood of speaking up. Perceived potential harm, anticipated discomfort, and decision difficulty were significant predictors of the likelihood of speaking up. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians' willingness to speak up about patient safety is considerably affected by contextual factors. Physicians and nurses without managerial function report substantial discomfort with speaking up. Oncology departments should provide staff with clear guidance and trainings on when and how to voice safety concerns.

Factors influencing fixed retention practices in German-speaking Switzerland : A survey.

AIM Several surveys evaluate different retention approaches among orthodontists, but none exist for general dentists. The primary aim of this survey was to record the preferred fixed retainer designs and retention protocols amongst general dentists and orthodontists in Switzerland. A secondary aim was to investigate whether retention patterns were associated with parameters such as gender, university of graduation, time in practice, and specialist status. METHODS An anonymized questionnaire was distributed to general dentists (n = 401) and orthodontists (n = 398) practicing in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. A total of 768 questionnaires could be delivered, 562 (73.2 %) were returned and evaluated. Descriptive statistics were performed and responses to questions of interest were converted to binary outcomes and analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Any associations between the answers and gender, university of graduation (Swiss or foreign), years in practice, and specialist status (orthodontist/general dentist) were assessed. RESULTS Almost all responding orthodontists (98.0 %) and nearly a third of general dentists (29.6 %) reported bonding fixed retainers regularly. The answers were not associated with the practitioner's gender. The university of graduation and number of years in practice had a moderate impact on the responses. The answers were mostly influenced by specialist status. CONCLUSION Graduation school, years in practice, and specialist status influence retention protocol, and evidence-based guidelines for fixed retention should be issued to minimize these effects. Based on the observation that bonding and maintenance of retainers are also performed by general dentists, these guidelines should be taught in dental school and not during post-graduate training.

The use of homeopathy in obstetrics in Switzerland

Objective In 1999, a first study conducted in the German speaking part of Switzerland revealed that homeopathy was used in 73% of the obstetrics. The aim of this follow-up study was to detect possible changes in the use of homeopathy since the first investigation, as well as to expand the survey to all regions of Switzerland in order to explore possible regional differences. Furthermore, the perceived positive and negative effects of homeopathy were of interest. Methods All maternity clinics (n = 119) and birthing centers (n = 25) in Switzerland were invited to participate in this online-survey (total N = 144). Results The data collection is still ongoing. Preliminary analyses show that of the 144 obstetrics contacted, 16 had shut down. 106 (82%) had returned the complete or partial questionnaire, whereof 86 (81%) were completed by maternity clinics and 20 (19%) by birthing centers. 70 (66%) questionnaires were returned from the German, 31 (29%) from the French and 5 (5%) from the Italian part of Switzerland. A total of 77 (73%) obstetrics indicated to apply homeopathy: 61 maternity clinics (71% of the responding ones) and 16 birth centers (80% of the responding ones). Clear regional differences in the use of homeopathy emerged: While 65 of the homeopathy-applying obstetrics were located in the German part of Switzerland (84% of the responding ones), only 11 (35% of the responding ones) and 1 (20% of the responding ones) were situated in the French and Italian regions respectively. More detailed results will be presented at the conference. Conclusion Preliminary results show that homeopathy is widely used in the obstetrics of Switzerland. Cultural differences appeared: Homeopathy is widely used in the German speaking part of Switzerland, while it is modestly employed in the French and Italian regions.

The VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire is a reliable and valid disease-specific quality of life measure for deep vein thrombosis in elderly patients.

PURPOSE To prospectively evaluate the psychometric properties of the Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study (VEINES-QOL/Sym) questionnaire, an instrument to measure disease-specific quality of life and symptoms in elderly patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and to validate a German version of the questionnaire. METHODS In a prospective multicenter cohort study of patients aged ≥ 65 years with acute venous thromboembolism, we used standard psychometric tests and criteria to evaluate the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the VEINES-QOL/Sym in patients with acute symptomatic DVT. We also performed an exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS Overall, 352 French- and German-speaking patients were enrolled (response rate of 87 %). Both language versions of the VEINES-QOL/Sym showed good acceptability (missing data, floor and ceiling effects), reliability (internal consistency, item-total and inter-item correlations), validity (convergent, discriminant, known-groups differences), and responsiveness to clinical change over time in elderly patients with DVT. The exploratory factor analysis of the VEINES-QOL/Sym suggested three underlying dimensions: limitations in daily activities, DVT-related symptoms, and psychological impact. CONCLUSIONS The VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaire is a practical, reliable, valid, and responsive instrument to measure quality of life and symptoms in elderly patients with DVT and can be used with confidence in prospective studies to measure outcomes in such patients.