The PLUS-MINUS axiological parameter in selected sex-related orientational metaphors in Spanish and its role in interlingual contrastive studies

The PLUS-MINUS axiological parameter in selected sex-related orientational metaphors in Spanish and its role in interlingual contrastive studiesThe purpose of this article is to verify the functioning of the PLUS-MINUS axiological parameter in the orientational sexual metaphors which exist in Peninsular Spanish. The initial premise of the investigation is based on the concept proposed by Tomasz P. Krzeszowski (1993), according to which, upon studying image schemas, an additional parameter called PLUS-MINUS should be taken into account. This parameter is considered by Krzeszowski as “directly responsible for the dynamism of the metaphorization processes inherent in the formation of concepts based on the relevant schemata. Among [them are] the concepts of varying degrees of abstraction and of varying degrees of axiological load”. The present paper aims to demonstrate that the inclusion of the PLUS-MINUS parameter is necessary for the correct reconstruction of the picture of particular elements of reality grounded in language. An attempt will be made to try to answer the question of whether the type of orientation is in fact associated with a particular axiological load universally, or whether the axiology connected with the spatial orientation may vary within a single system or two different language systems. In this respect, the final part of the paper will encompass some examples of linguistic manifestations of sex-related orientational metaphors in Spanish with their Polish counterparts. Parametr aksjologiczny PLUS-MINUS w wybranych hiszpańskich metaforach orientacyjnych związanych ze sferą seksualną oraz jego rola w interlingwalnych badaniach kontrastywnychCelem artykułu jest weryfikacja sposobu funkcjonowania parametru aksjologicznego PLUS-MINUS w metaforach orientacyjnych odnoszących się do aktu seksualnego, funkcjonujących w półwyspowej odmianie języka hiszpańskiego. Punktem wyjścia do rozważań jest koncepcja Tomasza P. Krzeszowskiego (1993 [1994 wersja polska artykułu]), zgodnie z którą w badaniu przedpojęciowych schematów wyobrażeniowych powinien zostać uwzględniony dodatkowy parametr,  tzw. PLUS-MINUS. Parametr ten Krzeszowski uznaje za „bezpośrednio odpowiadający za dynamikę procesów metaforyzacyjnych kształtujących odpowiednie pojęcia wyrastające z tych schematów o różnym ładunku aksjologicznym” (1994: 32 [1993: 310 wersja angielska artykułu]). W ramach niniejszej pracy autorka stara się dowieść, że uwzględnienie parametru PLUS-MINUS jest niezbędne do poprawnej rekonstrukcji obrazu poszczególnych elementów rzeczywistości utrwalonego w języku. Usiłuje ona również odpowiedzieć na pytanie, czy rodzaj orientacji wiąże się z konkretnym ładunkiem aksjologicznym w sposób uniwersalny i na ile sposób wartościowania związany z ukierunkowaniem przestrzennym danych doświadczeń może być zmienny w ramach jednego systemu lub dwóch różnych systemów językowych. W tym celu, w końcowej części pracy zestawiono wybrane przykłady realizacji językowych hiszpańskich metafor orientacyjnych odnoszących się do sfery seksualnej z ich polskimi odpowiednikami

The conceptual images of erotic relations in Spanish. Analysis of some linguistic aspects of The Turkish passion by Antonio Gala

The conceptual images of erotic relations in Spanish. Analysis of some linguistic aspects of The Turkish passion by Antonio GalaIn this paper we try to systematize the contemporary Spanish expressions related to the erotic relations. The corpus is based on the novel by Antonio Gala The Turkish Passion (orig. La pasión turca) which, thanks to its plot with higly erotic content, constitutes an important source of linguistic material for our investigation. The analysis we propose reflects the methodology developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their studies concerning the cognitive theory of metaphor. According to them, every concept consists of a source and a target domain and while expressing one idea we refer to another. Our analysis focuses on the reconstruction of the conceptual domains by means of which the Spanish writer describes the erotic relations. Although the book does not include all the erotic vocabulary and expressions which exist in contemporary Spanish, it enables us to observe some regularities in the use of metaphors in Spanish and reveal some sociocultural phenomena encoded in the linguistic material

Ways of Conceptualising Male and Female Genitalia in Spanish and Polish: a Contrastive Study

Ways of Conceptualising Male and Female Genitalia in Spanish and Polish: a Contrastive StudyThe article deals with the reconstruction of the ways of conceptualising male and female genitalia encoded in Spanish and Polish lexicon. In order to carry out our investigation we propose a 5-stage analytical procedure based on the ideas developed previously by Pragglejaz Group in 2007 and by the investigators from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in 2009. We pretend to demonstrate that the metalexicographic analysis applied to cognitive studies enables us to observe some interesting linguistic trends which reflect sociocultural attitudes towards, among others, erotic issues

Poly-saturated dolichols from filamentous fungi modulate activity of dolichol-dependent glycosyltransferase and physical properties of membranes

Mono-saturated polyprenols (dolichols) have been found in almost all Eukaryotic cells, however, dolichols containing additional saturated bonds at the ω-end, have been identified in A. fumigatus and A. niger. Here, we confirm, using an LC-ESI-QTOF-MS analysis that poly-saturated dolichols are abundant in other filamentous fungi, Trichoderma reesei, A. nidulans and Neurospora crassa, while the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae only contains the typical mono-saturated dolichols. We also show, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and fluorescence anisotropy of 1,6-diphenyl-l,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) that the structure of dolichols modulates the properties of membranes and affects the functioning of dolichyl diphosphate mannose synthase (DPMS). The activity of this enzyme from T. reesei and S. cerevisiae was strongly affected by the structure of dolichols. Also the structure of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) model membranes was more strongly disturbed by the poly-saturated dolichols from Trichoderma than by the mono-saturated dolichols from yeast. By comparing the lipidome of filamentous fungi with that from S. cerevisiae we revealed significant differences in the PC/PE ratio and fatty acids composition. Filamentous fungi differ from S. cerevisiae in the lipid composition of their membranes and the structure of dolichols. The structure of dolichols profoundly affects the functioning of dolichol-dependent enzyme, DPMS

High pressure as a novel tool for the cationic ROP of γ-butyrolactone

In this study, we report the acid-catalyzed and high pressure assisted ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of g-butyrolactone (GBL). The use of a dually-catalyzed approach combining an external physical factor and internal catalyst (trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TfOH) or p-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA)) enforced ROP of GBL, which is considered as hardly polymerizable monomer still remaining a challenge for the modern polymer chemistry. The experiments performed at various thermodynamic conditions (T ¼ 278–323 K and p ¼ 700–1500 MPa) clearly showed that the high pressure supported polymerization process led to obtaining well-defined macromolecules of better parameters (Mn ¼ 2200–9700 g mol 1; Đ ¼ 1.05–1.46) than those previously reported. Furthermore, the parabolic-like dependence of both the molecular weight (MW) and the yield of obtained polymers on variation in temperature and pressure at either isobaric or isothermal conditions was also noticed, allowing the determination of optimal conditions for the polymerization process. However, most importantly, this strategy allowed to significantly reduce the reaction time (just 3 h at room temperature) and increase the yield of obtained polymers (up to 0.62 gPGBL/gGBL). Moreover, despite using a strongly acidic catalyst, synthesized polymers remained non-toxic and biocompatible, as proven by the cytotoxicity test we performed in further analysis. Additional investigation (including MALDI-TOF measurements) showed that the catalyst selection affected not only MW and yield but also the linear/cyclic form content in obtained macromolecules. These findings show the way to tune the properties of PGBL and obtain polymer suitable for application in the biomedical industry

Synthesis of Dolichols in Candida albicans is Co-Regulated With Elongation of Fatty Acids

Abstract: Protein glycosylation requires dolichyl phosphate as a carbohydrate carrier. Dolichols are α-saturated polyprenols, and their saturation in S. cerevisiae is catalyzed by polyprenyl re-ductase Dfg10 together with some other unknown enzymes. The aim of this study was to identi-fy such enzymes in Candida. The Dfg10 polyprenyl reductase from S. cerevisiae comprises a C-terminal 3-oxo-5-alpha-steroid 4-dehydrogenase domain. Alignment analysis revealed such a domain in two ORFs (orf19.209 and orf19.3293) from C. albicans, which were similar, respective-ly, to Dfg10 polyprenyl reductase and Tsc13 enoyl-transferase from S. cerevisiae. Deletion of orf19.209 in Candida impaired saturation of polyprenols. The Tsc13 homologue turned out not to be capable of saturating polyprenols, but limiting its expression reduce the cellular level of dol-ichols and polyprenols. This reduction was not due to a decreased expression of genes encoding cis-prenyltransferases from the dolichol branch but to a lower expression of genes encoding en-zymes of the early stages of the mevalonate pathway. Despite the resulting lower consumption of acetyl-CoA, the sole precursor of the mevalonate pathway, it was not redirected towards fatty acid synthesis or elongation. Lowering the expression of TSC13 decreased the expression of the ACC1 gene encoding acetyl-CoA carboxylase, the key regulatory enzyme of fatty acid synthesis and elongation

National experience with adenosine deaminase deficiency related SCID in Polish children

IntroductionDeficiency of adenosine deaminase (ADA) manifests as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), caused by accumulation of toxic purine degradation by-products. Untreated patients develop immune and non-immune symptoms with fatal clinical course. According to ESID and EBMT recommendations enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) should be implemented as soon as possible to stabilize the patient’s general condition, normalize transaminases, treat pulmonary proteinosis, bone dysplasia, and protect from neurological damage. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from a matched related donor (MRD) is a treatment of choice. In absence of such donor, gene therapy (GT) should be considered. HSCT from a matched unrelated donor (MUD) and haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (hHSCT) are associated with worse prognosis.Material and methodsWe retrospectively evaluated the clinical course and results of biochemical, immunological and genetic tests of 7 patients diagnosed in Poland with ADA deficiency since 2010 to 2022.ResultsAll patients demonstrated lymphopenia affecting of T, B and NK cells. Diagnosis was made on the basis of ADA activity in red blood cells and/or genetic testing. Patients manifested with various non-immunological symptoms including: lung proteinosis, skeletal dysplasia, liver dysfunction, atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome, and psychomotor development disorders. Five patients underwent successful HSCT: 3 patients from matched unrelated donor, 2 from matched sibling donor, and 1 haploidentical from a parental donor. In 4 patients HSCT was preceded by enzyme therapy (lasting from 2 to 5 months). One patient with multiple organ failure died shortly after admission, before the diagnosis was confirmed. None of the patients had undergone gene therapy.ConclusionsIt is important to diagnose ADA SCID as early as possible, before irreversible multi-organ failure occurs. In Poland HSCT are performed according to international immunological societies recommendations, while ERT and GT are less accessible. Implementation of Newborn Screening (NBS) for SCID in Poland could enable recognition of SCID, including ADA-SCID

The effect of high-pressure on organocatalyzed ROP of γ-butyrolactone

In this paper, we report 1,5,7-Triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD) supported high-pressure approach enforcing Ring-Opening Polymerization (ROP) of γ-butyrolactone (GBL), that due to unfavorable thermodynamics and low ring strain, is considered as a hardly polymerizable monomer. Application of Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) allowed us to find optimal thermodynamic conditions to perform well-controlled and notably fast polymerization (even within 1 h!), avoiding undesired crystallization process. It was shown that by varying pressure and temperature conditions, we could control molecular weight, dispersity of recovered macromolecules, as well as rate and efficiency of the reaction that are significantly altered with respect to the reference process carried out at ambient conditions. Experiments performed at respectively very low temperature T = 233 K and low/ moderate pressure (p = 75–250 MPa) and much higher temperatures (T = 248–268 K) and compressions (p = 1000 MPa) yielded poly(γ-butyrolactone) (PGBL) of tailored absolute molecular weight in moderate range Mn = 2.8–15.0 (up to 30.3) kg/mol and narrow/moderate dispersity ranging from Đ = 1.12–1.89. What is more, the implementation of MALDI-TOF, GPC and DSC analyses, clearly indicated that as i) the time of reaction gets longer, ii) the amount of catalyst increases, iii) the temperature lowers, the content of cyclic products in produced polymers grows. This phenomenon influences the rheological properties (viscosity), foil formation ability (films) and cell culture proliferation features of the recovered macromolecules. Presented results open a highly effective and repeatable route to produce PGBL via pressure-assisted ROP and indicate the possibility of tuning properties of this polymer by varying concentration of cycles or eventual block copolymerization with other biorelevant monomers to meet the expectations of the biotechnological industry