Perceptual mapping of linguistic variation in Saudi Arabic dialects

This article provides a perceptual dialectology account of linguistic diversity in Saudi Arabia. Using the map-drawing and labeling task, the study examined the perceptions and ideologies of 674 speakers of Saudi Arabic dialects about the perceived boundaries of regional dialect varieties, as well as their social evaluation of and beliefs about the dialects. The analysis of the results as displayed in composite maps using a Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping program revealed that respondents identified five major dialect areas as having the most distinct features: the Najdi, Hijazi, southern, eastern, and northern regions. Ten categories of respondents’ labels emerged out of the qualitative analysis: style, influence, Bedouin/urban, fast, open/closed, vowel lengthening, unique vocabulary, alternation of /k/ and /g/, attraction, and social media. The present findings show the salience of certain linguistic and social features that respondents associate with certain dialect areas. Such perceptions can ultimately guide and enhance future descriptions and analyses of actual linguistic variation in Saudi Arabia.

Influence of Atmospheric Circulation on Cloudiness and Cloud Types in Petuniabukta and Svalbard-Lufthavn in Summer 2016

The paper analyzes the influence of atmospheric circulation on cloudiness and cloud types during July and August of 2016 in Petuniabukta and Svalbard-Lufthavn. For the meteorological parameters, basic statistical measures were calculated and the average diurnal cloud patterns were analyzed. Taking the data from meteorological reanalysis (NCEP/NCAR-The National Centers for Atmospheric Prediction/The National Center for Atmospheric Research) regarding the mean sea-level pressure (SLP), 500 hPa geopotential height, and air temperature at 850 hPa (T850), composite maps of the synoptic situation for the studied area were constructed. For the observed types of clouds, the frequency of their occurrence in particular types of atmospheric circulation was then determined according to the Niedźwiedź classification. Differences in the amount of cloudiness in the examined measuring points were ascertained. The occurrence of cloud types is associated with both the direction of air mass advection and type of circulation. The results may also indicate the possibility of influence from specific, local environmental features on cloudiness.

Drivers of midlatitude extreme heat waves revealed by analogues and machine learning

<p>One of the big challenges today is to appropriately describe heat waves, which are relevant due to their impact on human society. Common characteristics in mid-latitudes involve meanders of the westerly flow and concomitant large anticyclonic anomalies of the geopotential field. These anomalies form the so-called teleconnection patterns, and thus it is natural to ask how robust such structures are in various models and how much data we require to make statistically significant inferences. In addition, it is natural to ask what are the precursor phenomena that would improve forecasting capabilities of the heat waves. In particular, what kind of long term effect does the soil moisture have and how it compares to the respective quantitative contribution to the predictability of the teleconnection patterns.</p><p> </p><p>In order to answer these questions we perform various types of regression on a climate model. We construct the composite maps of the geopotential height at 500 hPa and estimate return times of heatwaves of different severity. Of particular interest to us is a committor function, which is essentially a probability a heat wave occurs<span> given the current state of the system. Committor functions can be efficiently computed using the analogue method, which involves learning a Markov chain that produces synthetic trajectories from the real trajectories. Alternatively they can be estimated using machine learning approach. Finally we compare the composite maps in real dynamics to the ones generated by the Markov chain and observe how well the rare events are sampled, for instance to allow extending the return time plots. </span></p>

Applicability of the North Sea Caspian Pattern as an indicator of the Euro-Mediterranean Climate Variability

<p>Climate variability related to trough locations in the Euro-Mediterranean region is determined by various semi-permanent pressure centers of teleconnections and synoptic features. These features are resulted from the interactions between mesoscale and global-scale patterns from sub-seasonal to decadal scales. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Arctic Oscillation (AO) are the most common teleconnection patterns for depicting climate anomalies in this region. However, their skills for predicting climate anomalies gradually decays towards Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.</p><p>The North Sea Caspian Pattern (NCP) is a middle troposphere teleconnection between the North Sea and the Caspian Sea. The skill of the suggested NCP index was tested for temperature and precipitation fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, and significant correlations were found particularly with temperature fields. The index had limited utilization because it was believed that the index could not represent precipitation anomalies well in the region.</p><p>We aimed to assess the competence of the NCP on indicating climate variability in a broader region. For this purpose, a high resolution, spatially continuous, and homogeneous data was needed. The European Center for Middle-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5 reanalysis data was chosen for investigating monthly total precipitation, mean air temperature at 2-m height and 500 hPa mean geopotential fields for the period of 1950-2019. We produced correlation and composite maps of temperature, precipitation, and geopotential for the NCP and other common indices in the region. There were significant differences between the negative and positive phases of the NCP in Western Europe and the Caucasus regions. These areas coincided with the edges of the Mediterranean Trough. To understand the working mechanism of the index, cross-correlations between other indices were calculated. The Mediterranean Trough Displacement index showed significant positive correlations with the NCP, which indicates that the east-west migration of the through might have a significant effect on the strength of the NCP. Composite maps of mean geopotential height differences also provided support for this finding. Since the identified poles of the NCP are along both latitudinal and longitudinal directions, the NCP is sensitive to zonal and meridional circulation features.  For the areas with significant composite differences of temperature and precipitation, the skill of the NCP for predicting climate anomalies is comparable to the skills of the AO and the NAO.</p><p>We found strong evidence that the NCP is adequate for indicating not only monthly temperature but also precipitation anomalies particularly in Northwestern Europe and the Caucasus regions. </p><p>This study is supported by the 2232 International Fellowship for Outstanding Researchers Program of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under grant 118C329. The financial support from TUBITAK does not mean that the content of the publication reflects the approved scientific view of TUBITAK.</p>

Extreme convection in the Lofoten Basin of the Norwegian Sea

<p>One of the factors affecting the variability of the global climate is strong oceanic convection. Current research declares the results of the investigation on the extreme convection in the Lofoten Basin (LB) using the Argo profilers data. The most common parameter reflecting the convection intensity is Mixed Layer Depth (MLD). In the frames of the understudied period, MLD exceeds 1000 m in March-April and December 2010 in the Lofoten Basin Eddy (LBE), whereas the average MLD is about 200 m and rarely exceeds 400 m in the basin. Water volume formed at mid-depth of the central LB, between 1000 m depth and the isosteric surface s07 is connected with the extreme convection events. We analytically assess the final mixing depth that corresponds well to measured values of the MLD. Such a correspondence indicates the variations in the buoyancy flux and stratification as the main reasons for MLD variability in the LB. We easily explain this variability due to heat release in the basin. Atmospheric patterns during the extreme convection are described. It occurs that northerly winds are as common as dominating south-westerly winds during the months with extreme convection. 32 cases of extreme convective events with MLD exceeding 350 m were analyzed and we reveal that correspondent composite maps of Sea Level Pressure (SLP) and surface heat flux match well NAO-/EAP- atmospheric pattern in the Northern Atlantic, while negative NAO pattern prevails in climate during winter-spring. We define the heat release as the major trigger of strong convection. Heat release associated with extreme convection events in the LB is twice stronger than usual.</p>

Substrate mapping of the left atrium in persistent atrial fibrillation: spatial correlation of localized complex conduction patterns in global charge-density maps to low-voltage areas in 3D contact bipolar voltage maps

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the spatial relationship between low-voltage areas (LVAs) in bipolar voltage mapping (BVM) and localized complex conduction (LCC)-cores in a global, non-contact, charge-density-based imaging, and mapping system (AcM). Methods Patients with history of index PVI for PsAF and scheduled for a repeat ablation procedure for recurrence of the same arrhythmia were enrolled between August 2018 and February 2020. All patients underwent both substrate mappings of the left atrium (LA) with the CARTO 3D map-ping system and with AcM. Results Ten patients where included in our analysis. All presented with persistency of PVI in all veins at the moment of repeat procedure. There was no linear relationship in BVM maps between SR and CSd (correlation coefficient 0.31 ± 0.15), SR and CSp (0.36 ± 0.12) and CSd and CSp (0.43 ± 0.10). The % overlap of localized irregular activation (LIA), localized rotational activation (LRA) and Focal (F) regions with LVA was lower at 0.2 mV compared to 0.5 mV (4.97 ± 7.39%, 3.27 ± 5.25%, 1.09 ± 1.92% and 12.59 ± 11.81%, 7.8 ± 9.20%, 4.62 ± 5.27%). Sensitivity and specificity are not significantly different when comparing composite maps with different LVA cut-offs. AURC was 0.46, 0.48, and 0.39 for LIA, LRA, and Focal, respectively. Conclusion Due to wave front direction dependency, LVAs mapped with BVM in sinus rhythm and during coronary sinus pacing only partially overlap in patients with PsAF. LCC-cores mapped during PsAF partially co-localize with LVAs.

How Unusual Were June 2019 Temperatures in the Context of European Climatology?

The aims of the study were to assess the severity of temperature conditions in Europe, in June 2019, using a newly developed extremes index, as well as to evaluate circulation conditions that favored the occurrence of extremely hot days in June 2019, as seen over the long term. The main focus of this work was on two European regions particularly affected by high temperatures in June 2019, namely Central Europe and Iberia. To comprehensively characterize heat events in terms of their spatial extent and intensity, we proposed the extremity index (EI) and used it to compare hot days occurring in areas of different sizes and with different climatic conditions. The role of atmospheric circulation in the occurrence of hot days was evaluated using the Grosswetterlagen (GWL) circulation types catalog, as well as composite maps created with the bootstrap resampling technique. Our results reveal that June 2019 was unusually hot, and in terms of the magnitude of the anomaly, it has no analogue in the 70-year-long temperature record for Europe. However, the properties of heat events in the two considered regions were substantially different. The occurrence of hot days in June 2019, in Europe, was mainly associated with the GWL types forcing advection from the southern sector and co-occurrence of high-pressure systems which was significantly proven by the results of bootstrap resampling. In terms of the applicability of the new approach, the EI proved to be a useful tool for the analysis and evaluation of the severity of hot days based on their intensity and spatial range.

Cardiffians’ perceptions of English in the UK

This Perceptual Dialectology (PD) study asked residents of Cardiff, Wales, about their perceptions of English in the United Kingdom (UK). In addition, because face to face exposure to dialect variation has rarely been included as a variable in PD studies, participants were asked about their travel experience to ascertain whether this might influence their responses to a PD map task. Participants’ responses to the map task were analyzed using ArcGIS to create composite maps. Results show that these Cardiffians perceive “dialect or regional” speech boundaries to be located around major cities in England and Wales but also southwest Wales. Composite maps and polygon counts suggest that the more traveled respondents have a more nuanced perception of dialect regions than those who claim to travel less, suggesting that travel experience may influence PD participants’ responses to map tasks.

Mapping Perceptions of Language Variation in Wisconsin

This article investigates whether residents of central Wisconsin perceive language variation within their state and, if they do, what it looks like according to them. To achieve these aims, this study examines the perspectives of one central Wisconsin community regarding internal language differentiation within the state. It follows the perceptual dialectology paradigm, based on work by Dennis Preston, in that it studies how nonlinguists view language variation within Wisconsin. Respondents completed Preston’s draw-a-map task, which additionally asked them to label each indicated area. The drawn boundaries were digitalized using ArcGIS to create composite maps to allow for systematic comparison. The labels provided by the respondents were analyzed to see how this group of Wisconsin residents views the speech of each identified region and thus to see whether there are distinctly enregistered dialects within Wisconsin for these respondents. Findings show three distinctly perceived areas within the state: the Milwaukee area, the north of the state, and the participants’ own area, central Wisconsin. The analysis of the labels indicates that an urban-rural divide is at play for perception of the first two mentioned areas, whereas perceptioin of the latter identified area reflects the belief in a regionally located standard variety.