Image Clusters: A Hermeneutical Perspective on Changes to a Social Function of Photography

Photography can be used for a wide variety of social functions. The hermeneutic method of image cluster analysis presented deals with a comparatively new social use and understanding of photography: as digital montage forming intricate compilations. At the methodological heart of this approach is the 1. figurative analysis of the compositional principles of particular image compilations, i.e., their expressive meaning. This ideographic perspective is expanded and supplemented by 2. investigating the structure of the mediated field of perception and action of each image cluster, as well as the styles of observing and knowing that they predicate. Methodologically speaking, the approach relies on an assumption that far from being an invention of technological media, the "game" (WITTGENSTEIN) which is constitutive of iconic image clusters, complete with relationships of similarity and difference, has its anthropological basis and primary social expression in people's body language and in minor social distinctions. According to this hypothesis, in recent image clusters photography is no longer necessarily understood as depicting or documenting occurrences in the lifeworld, but is instead consolidated as a collectively shared means of expression which can be repeatedly recombined to form new figures of expression—in other words, it achieves a decidedly idiomatic quality.Die Vielzahl möglicher sozialer Gebrauchsweisen der Fotografie ist beträchtlich. Das vorliegend dargestellte hermeneutische Verfahren der Bildclusteranalyse bezieht sich auf eine vergleichsweise neuartige Form der Verwendung und des Verständnisses der Fotografie: auf ihre digitale Montage zu komplexen Bildzusammenstellungen und auf die Präsentation solcher Bildzusammenstellungen in technisierten Umgebungen des sozialen Austauschs. Im methodischen Zentrum des Verfahrens steht 1. die figurative Analyse der Kompositionsprinzipien jeweiliger Bildzusammenstellungen, d.h. ihres Ausdruckssinns. Erweitert und ergänzt wird diese ideografische Perspektive 2. durch die Untersuchung der Struktur des medialen Wahrnehmungs- und Handlungsraumes jeweiliger Bildcluster sowie der Beobachtungs- und Erkenntnisstile, die sie prädizieren. Methodologisch gesehen stützt sich das Verfahren auf die Annahme, dass das für ikonische Bildcluster konstitutive "Spiel" (WITTGENSTEIN) mit Ähnlichkeitsbeziehungen und Differenzverhältnissen keine medientechnische Erfindung ist, sondern seine anthropologische Grundlage und primäre soziale Ausprägung in der Körpersprache des Menschen und den feinen Unterschieden der sozialen Distinktion findet. Dementsprechend wird die Fotografie in rezenten Bildclustern nicht mehr notwendig als Abbildung oder Dokument lebensweltlicher Begebenheiten verstanden, sondern, so die These, verstärkt als kollektiv geteiltes Ausdrucksmittel, das immer wieder zu neuen Ausdrucksfiguren zusammengestellt werden kann – das also eine dezidiert idiomatische Qualität erlangt

English in Brazil: A Sociolinguistic Profile

This paper is a sociolinguistic profile of English in Brazil. It explains how English operates in Brazil through a brief discussion of the history of English in Brazil, the Brazilian variety of English, users and uses of English, and attitudes towards English. The history of English is traced from the 16th century to today, highlighting the development of English language teaching throughout the years. The Brazilian variety of English is delineated through a focus on several features of loanwords that are present in the Portuguese language. In addition, a discussion of Brazilian-Portuguese- accented English outlines the phonological, syntactic, morphological, semantic and lexical differences, and pragmatic levels that exist within this language variety. In examining the users and uses of English, emphasis is placed on the symbolic and innovative functions played by English in Brazil as well as how it is presently used in schools. Furthermore, in imparting the attitudes that Brazilians have towards English, two sides are presented; English is rampant and knowing English is critical. Ultimately, this paper seeks to offer categorizations for the roles played by English in Brazil to bring clarity to this reality and to offer a point of comparison for the roles played by English in other countries. It also presents an account of the power roles played by the global status of English and the implications of this presence in Brazil

Figurative Language in Commencement Speeches: Speakers in the Entertainment and Business Industries

Figurative language is a commonly used strategy in interpersonal interaction. Although previous studies have explored the use of figurative language in various materials, its use in commencement speeches based on the speaker’s professional background has not been investigated. This study used 20 commencement speeches as material to examine the differences in the use of the figurative language of entertainers and business people invited to speak at commencement ceremonies. The results revealed that figurative language is pervasive in commencement speeches; the more frequently used figure of speech types were metaphor, repetition, personification, and parallelism. Moreover, speakers from the entertainment industry significantly used more rhetorical questions, exclamations, and similes than those from the business industry. Entertainers tended to ask questions to get their audiences involved, express emotions to reveal their inner feelings, and adopt similes to produce vivid narrations. On the other hand, business people employed significantly fewer strategies to emphasize their authority and highlight their objectivity. The findings imply that there exist certain variations in how people from different professional backgrounds use language, and further studies are necessary to reveal more of these differences. In sum, the data show that figurative language may be used to achieve several goals; relevant findings might prove useful to English for Special Purposes practitioners and to language learners as well

Different loan sources as a reason for variability of some Estonian dialect words

Among other reasons, the phonetic variability of loanwords in Estonian dialects may reflect their origination from different but etymologically connected sources of borrowing. In an etymological dictionary, it is essential to find the words originating from different loan sources. In the present article, some dialect words and their variants are analysed from this aspect. Sometimes the different loan sources have concrete criteria, e.g. variants with different stem vowels in the words kann ‘jug’, nunn ‘nun’, and kirn ‘churn’, while some cases are not as clear, e.g. kartul and tuhl(is) ‘potato’, kapsas and kaapsas ‘cabbage’, and reetkamm and reigam(m) ‘reed’. If certain phonetic criteria are lacking, the areal distribution of variants may give valuable information about the possible loan sources. The analysis of a group of etymologically connected loanwords for ‘shuttle’, together with their further developments in Estonian dialects, illustrates the complexity of lexical relations in Estonian dialects.Kokkuvõte. Iris Metsmägi, Meeli Sedrik, Vilja Oja: Erinevad laenuallikad eesti murdesõnade variatiivsuse põhjusena. Üks laensõnade häälikulise varieeruvuse põhjusi eesti murretes on pärinemine erinevatest, kuid omavahel etümoloogiliselt seotud laenuallikatest. Etümoloogilistes sõnaraamatutes on eri laenuallikaist pärit sõnade eristamine põhimõttelise tähtsusega. Artiklis analüüsitakse niisugusest aspektist mõningaid (murde)sõnu ja nende variante. Eri laenuallikate tuvastamiseks on sageli kasutatud konkreetseid kriteeriume, nt sõnade kann, nunn ja kirn murdevariantide etümologiseerimisel on lähtutud tüvevokaalist. Paljudel juhtudel pole selgeid eristustunnuseid, nt sõnavariandid kartul ja tuhl(is), kapsas ja kaapsas, reetkamm ja reigam(m). Kindlate häälikuliste kriteeriumide puudumisel võib variantide murdelevik anda väärtuslikku teavet võimalike laenuallikate kohta. Rühma murretes esinevate süstikut märkivate etümoloogiliselt seotud laensõnade ja nende kohalike edasiarenduste analüüs illustreerib sõnavarasuhete komplitseeritust eesti murretes.Märksõnad: eesti murded, tüve varieerumine, alamsaksa lae

The Fijian Language

Humanities Open Book Program, a joint initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon FoundationThis work is directed to those who want to learn more about the Fijian language. It is intended as a reference work, treating in detail such tropics as verb and noun classification, transitivity, the phonological hierarchy, orthography, specification, possession, subordination, and the definite article (among others). In addition, it is an attempt to fit these pieces together into a unified picture of the structure of the language

String processing model for knowledge-driven systems

The purpose of the work is to confirm experimentally theoretical estimates for time complexity of operations of the string processing model linked with the metric space for solving data processing problems in knowledge-driven systems including the research and comparison of the operation characteristics of these operations with the characteristics of similar operations for the most relevant data structures. Integral and unit testing were used to obtain the results of the performed computational experiments and verify their correctness. The C \ C++ implementation of operations of the string processing model was tested. The paper gives definitions of concepts necessary for the calculation of metric features calculated over strings. As a result of the experiments, theoretical estimates of the computational complexity of the implemented operations and the validity of the choice of parameters of the used data structures were confirmed, which ensures near-optimal throughput and operation time indicators of operations. According to the obtained results, the advantage is the ability to guarantee the time complexity of the string processing operations no higher than O  at all stages of a life cycle of data structures used to represent strings, from their creation to destruction, which allows for high throughput in data processing and responsiveness of systems built on the basis of the implemented operations. In case of solving particular string processing problems and using more suitable for these cases data structures such as vector or map the implemented operations have disadvantages meaning they are inferior in terms of the amount of data processed per time unit. The string processing model is focused on the application in knowledge-driven systems at the data management level.The purpose of the work is to confirm experimentally theoretical estimates for time complexity of operations of the string processing model linked with the metric space for solving data processing problems in knowledge-driven systems including the research and comparison of the operation characteristics of these operations with the characteristics of similar operations for the most relevant data structures. Integral and unit testing were used to obtain the results of the performed computational experiments and verify their correctness. The C \ C++ implementation of operations of the string processing model was tested. The paper gives definitions of concepts necessary for the calculation of metric features calculated over strings. As a result of the experiments, theoretical estimates of the computational complexity of the implemented operations and the validity of the choice of parameters of the used data structures were confirmed, which ensures near-optimal throughput and operation time indicators of operations. According to the obtained results, the advantage is the ability to guarantee the time complexity of the string processing operations no higher than O  at all stages of a life cycle of data structures used to represent strings, from their creation to destruction, which allows for high throughput in data processing and responsiveness of systems built on the basis of the implemented operations. In case of solving particular string processing problems and using more suitable for these cases data structures such as vector or map the implemented operations have disadvantages meaning they are inferior in terms of the amount of data processed per time unit. The string processing model is focused on the application in knowledge-driven systems at the data management level

Big Data in Laboratory Medicine—FAIR Quality for AI?

Laboratory medicine is a digital science. Every large hospital produces a wealth of data each day—from simple numerical results from, e.g., sodium measurements to highly complex output of “-omics” analyses, as well as quality control results and metadata. Processing, connecting, storing, and ordering extensive parts of these individual data requires Big Data techniques. Whereas novel technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning have exciting application for the augmentation of laboratory medicine, the Big Data concept remains fundamental for any sophisticated data analysis in large databases. To make laboratory medicine data optimally usable for clinical and research purposes, they need to be FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. This can be achieved, for example, by automated recording, connection of devices, efficient ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, careful data governance, and modern data security solutions. Enriched with clinical data, laboratory medicine data allow a gain in pathophysiological insights, can improve patient care, or can be used to develop reference intervals for diagnostic purposes. Nevertheless, Big Data in laboratory medicine do not come without challenges: the growing number of analyses and data derived from them is a demanding task to be taken care of. Laboratory medicine experts are and will be needed to drive this development, take an active role in the ongoing digitalization, and provide guidance for their clinical colleagues engaging with the laboratory data in research

Time, intersubjectivity, and musical relationship in Alfred Schutz

In questo lavoro, affronto alcuni aspetti della relazione tra tempo e intersoggettività in Alfred Schutz . Presento una sintesi dell’architettura metodologica del sociologo austriaco, delineando la specificità della relazione tra tempo e coscienza. Prendo in esame la trattazione dell’esperienza musicale come esempio di declinazione peculiare di una serie di dinamiche temporali connesse alla costituzione intersoggettiva dei significati. Infine, espongo alcune tesi di autori che si sono occupati della relazione tra tempo, intersoggettività e musica in Schutz. La relazione musicale è un esempio di contesto dotato di senso, non oggetto di concettualizzazione, che esemplifica la relazione tra senso soggettivo ed esperienza dell’altro. La teoria dell’appresentazione di Schutz è il centro del processo di costituzione dei significati della prensione dell’altro. L’emersione dei significati è legata alle dinamiche dei poli passivi e attivi della coscienza e alla costituzione, nella we-relation, di una dimensione radicalmente intersoggettiva nella quale si supera la distinzione cartesiana tra interno ed esterno.Time, intersubjectivity, and musical relationship in Alfred Schutz Riccardo Venturini In this work I tackle certain aspects of the relationship between time and intersubjectivity in Alfred Schutz. I present a summary of the methodological architecture of the Austrian sociologist, outlining the specificity of the relationship between time and consciousness. I discuss the treatment of the musical experience as an example of the peculiar declination of a series of temporal dynamics connected to the intersubjective creation of meanings. Finally, I set out some thoughts related to the debate on the relationship between time, intersubjectivity and music in Schutz. The musical relationship is a context endowed with meaning, not the object of conceptualization, that allows us to identify in a paradigmatic way the relationship between the subjective sense and experience of the other. The theory of appresentation of Schutz is the center of the process of constitution of meaning of the understanding of the other. The emergence of meaning is related to the dynamics of the passive and active poles of the consciousness and the constitution, in the we-relation, of a radically intersubjective dimension that exceeds the Cartesian distinction between inside and outside

A Short Survey on Deep Learning for Multimodal Integration: Applications, Future Perspectives and Challenges

Deep learning has achieved state-of-the-art performances in several research applications nowadays: from computer vision to bioinformatics, from object detection to image generation. In the context of such newly developed deep-learning approaches, we can define the concept of multimodality. The objective of this research field is to implement methodologies which can use several modalities as input features to perform predictions. In this, there is a strong analogy with respect to what happens with human cognition, since we rely on several different senses to make decisions. In this article, we present a short survey on multimodal integration using deep-learning methods. In a first instance, we comprehensively review the concept of multimodality, describing it from a two-dimensional perspective. First, we provide, in fact, a taxonomical description of the multimodality concept. Secondly, we define the second multimodality dimension as the one describing the fusion approaches in multimodal deep learning. Eventually, we describe four applications of multimodal deep learning to the following fields of research: speech recognition, sentiment analysis, forensic applications and image processing