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The years since German reunification have seen changes in ideologies and policies toward societal multilingualism, linguistic pluralism of linguistic minorities. These changes have responded to the increasing diversity of minority languages as a result of immigration from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and the subsequent expansion of the European Union. At the same time, the use of polylingualism or hybrid linguistic practices in everyday, informal contexts by both migrants and Germans has risen to public prominence. In contrast to the official policies that stress German-only education as the key to academic success and social integration, the (covert) prestige and use of languages other than German, especially Turkish, by members of other ethnic groups has been rising, and hybrid linguistic practices are gaining ground, particularly among youth. This paper examines the underlying ideologies, policies, and debates, especially with respect to the role of proficiency in German for adult immigration, naturalization and integration, as well as educational polices and practices for German and other languages.

Background: Environmental exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), a carcinogenic dry‐cleaning chemical, may be linked to Parkinson's disease (PD). Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether PD and cancer were elevated among attorneys who worked near a contaminated site. Methods: We surveyed and evaluated attorneys with possible exposure and assessed a comparison group. Results: Seventy‐nine of 82 attorneys (96.3%; mean [SD] age: 69.5 [11.4] years; 89.9% men) completed at least one phase of the study. For comparison, 75 lawyers (64.9 [10.2] years; 65.3% men) underwent clinical evaluations. Four (5.1%) of them who worked near the polluted site reported PD, more than expected based on age and sex (1.7%; P = 0.01) but not significantly higher than the comparison group (n = 1 [1.3%]; P = 0.37). Fifteen (19.0%), compared to four in the comparison group (5.3%; P = 0.049), had a TCE‐related cancer. Conclusions: In a retrospective study, diagnoses of PD and TCE‐related cancers appeared to be elevated among attorneys who worked next to a contaminated dry‐cleaning site. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Aims The efficacy of beta‐blockers in cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is unclear, and concerns persist that neurohormonal blockade could worsen symptoms of heart failure. We aimed to assess whether beta‐blocker therapy is associated with improved survival in patients with CA. Methods and results We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis to examine the impact of beta‐blocker therapy on mortality in patients with CA. A search of MEDLINE and EMBASE was performed in August 2023. Data were extracted from observational studies and synthesized with pooling and random effects meta‐analysis. Thirteen studies including 4215 patients with CA were incorporated in this review (3688 transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR‐CM), 502 light chain amyloid cardiomyopathy (AL‐CM), 25 not specified; age 74.8 ± 5.5 years, 76% male). Over half of the cohort (52%) received beta‐blockers and the rate of beta‐blocker withdrawal was 28%. All‐cause mortality was 33% (range: 13–51%) after a median follow‐up ranging from 13 to 36 months. There was an inverse association between the pooled risk of mortality and the use of beta‐blocker therapy at any time point (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.29–0.80, I2 = 83%, P = 0.005, seven studies). There was no association between mortality and beta‐blocker use (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.29–1.47, I2 = 88%, P = 0.30) in the three studies that only included patients with ATTR‐CM. The three studies that included patients with both ATTR‐CM and AL demonstrated an association of beta‐blocker use with reduced mortality (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.29–0.63, I2 = 4%, P