Topónimos documentados en el Libro de Apeos de Mansilla Mayor (León, 1746) / Place names documented in the Libro de Apeos of Mansilla Mayor (León, 1746)

El Llibru d’Apeos de Mansilla Mayor ye un documentu del sieglu XVIII, manuscritu nun tomu y curiáu na ilesia de la mesma localidá, onde se rexistren les llendes de toles posesiones de los habitantes d’aquel entós, incluyíes les de la mesma ilesia. Mansilla Mayor ye un conceyu de la provincia de Lleón, asitiáu na fastera o comarca conocida anguaño como Esla-Campos. Ente’l so patrimoniu arqueolóxico y monumental atópase l’asentamientu de la ciudá ástur y romana de Lancia y el monesteriu cisterciense de Santa María de Sandoval (sieglu XII). Llingüísticamente falando, la zona asítiase nel asturianolleonés central. Esti trabayu arrexunta tolos topónimos citaos nesi documentu y constata aquellos qu’inda güei son conocíos polos sos vecinos y que suponen un 35 o 40% de los documentados nesi manuscritu. Del analís del documentu constátase la presencia de formes toponímiques tradicionales (como Llama, Castro, prefixu so- y sobre-, abondancial en -al, caltenimientu del grupu -mb-, ente otres) lo que dexa algamar conclusiones rellacionaes con usos llingüísticos del antiguu dominiu ástur. Nesti sentíu, y en rellación al vocabulariu, ye interesante atopar documentaes voces con un usu anguaño desapaecíu dafechu o que ta en francu retrocesu, como les palabres ejido, ferreñal o ferrenal o dos abondanciales fitotoponímicos como olmar y ponjal. La concentración parcelaria de la zona y l’amenorgamientu esmolecedor de la población del conceyu faen urxente la coyida y documentación d’esi patrimoniu toponímicu en peligru de desapaición.Pallabres clave: llibros d’apeos; toponimia; sieglu XVIII, asturianolleonés central.The «Libro de Apeos» (i.e., Land Registry file) of Mansilla Mayor is an 18th century document, handwritten in one volume and kept in the town’s church, in which the boundary lines of all the land of the inhabitants of that time, including those of the church itself, are recorded. Mansilla Mayor is a town in the province of León, located in the Esla-Campos Leonese region. Among its archaeological and monumental heritage is the settlement of the Asturian and Roman city of Lancia and the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Sandoval (12th century). Linguistically speaking, the area is located within the central Asturian-Leonese dialect. This paper compiles all the place-names cited in that document and verifies those that are still known by the town's residents, which are reduced to 35 or 40% of all the place-names documented in that manuscript. The analysis of the document demonstrates the existence of traditional toponymic forms (such as Llama, Castro, prefix so- and sobre-, abundant in -al, keeping the group -mb-, among others), which allows us to draw conclusions related to linguistic uses in the Old Leonese territory. In this sense, and in relation to vocabulary, it is interesting to find documented voices whose use has currently disappeared completely or is in frank retreat, such as the words ejido, ferreñal or ferrenal or two abundant phytoponimics such as olmar and ponjal. The combination of properties undergone in the area as well as the alarming decrease in the population of the municipality make the collection and documentation of this toponymic heritage that is in danger of disappearing urgent.Keywords: Land Registry Document; toponymy; 18th century, central Asturian-Leonese.

An Efficient Validation Method of Probabilistic Record Linkage Including Readmissions and Twins

Summary Objective: To describe an efficient, generalizable approach to validate probabilistic record linkage results, in particular by a model-guided detection of linking errors, and to apply this approach to validate linkage of admissions of newborns. Methods: Our double-blind validation procedure consisted of three steps: sample selection, data collection and data analysis. The linked Dutch national newborn admission registry contained 30,082 records for 2001 including readmissions (7.4%) and twins (9.7%). A highly informative sample was selected from the linked file by oversampling uncertain links based on modelderived linking weight. Four hundred and eight fax forms with minimal registry information (admissions of 191 children) were sent out to different pediatric units. The pediatricians were asked to create a short detailed patient history from independent sources. The linkage status and additional record data was validated against this external information. Results: Response rate was 97% (395/408 faxes). Accuracy of the linkage of singleton admissions was high: except for some expected errors in the uncertain area (0.02% of record pairs), linkage was error-free. Validation of multiple birth readmissions showed 37% linkage errors due to low data quality of the multiple birth variables. The quality of the linked registry file was still high; only 1.7% of the children were from a multiple birth with multiple admissions, resulting in less than 1% linking error. Conclusions: Our external validation procedure of record linkage was feasible, efficient, and informative about identifying the source of the errors.

Meta Information System for Environmental Chemicals

Chemistry and the environmental sciences are scientific disciplines with an enormous output of and demand for data. As of June 8th, 2000, 16,813,792 organic and inorganic substances have been registered in the Registry File of Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS, 2000). Since there is no indication that the increase in information in these fields will slow down within the foreseeable future, we shall have to cope with a growing flood of chemical and environmental information. A scientific approach is urgently needed to deal with this information abundance (Luckenbach, 1996). The enormous increase in chemical and environmental information implies a rise in on-line databases, CD-ROMs and Internet resources in these fields. With the estimated number of 304 million Internet users worldwide in March 2000 (NUA, 2000), many people have the tools to use these datasources. In contrast to that citizens of the European Union do not feel well informed about environmental affairs – despite the fact that environmental problems are an issue they are concerned about (Europäische Umweltagentur, 1999). This is a problem of availability and accessibility. The Internet and the World Wide Web offer a suitable platform for the dissemination of information, but in contrast to other information sources the Internet is still too unstructured, and searches lead to unpredictable, sometimes unusable results (Streuff, 2000).