Biosemiotics, politics and Th.A. Sebeok’s move from linguistics to semiotics

This paper will focus on the political implications for the language sciences of Sebeok’s move from linguistics to a global semiotic perspective, a move that ultimately resulted in biosemiotics. The paper will seek to make more explicit the political bearing of a biosemiotic perspective in the language sciences and the human sciences in general. In particular, it will discuss the definition of language inherent in Sebeok’s project and the fundamental re-drawing of the grounds of linguistic debate heralded by Sebeok’s embrace of the concept of modelling. Thus far, the political co-ordinates of the biosemiotic project have not really been made explicit. This paper will therefore seek to outline 1. how biosemiotics enables us to reconfigure our understanding of the role of language in culture; 2. how exaptation is central to the evolution of language and communication, rather than adaptation; 3. how communication is the key issue in biosphere, rather than language, not just because communication includes language but because the language sciences often refer to language as if it were mere “chatter”, “tropes” and “figures of speech”; 4. how biosemiotics, despite its seeming “neutrality” arising from its transdisciplinarity, is thoroughly political; 5. how the failure to see the implications of the move from linguistics to semiotics arises from the fact that biosemiotics is devoid of old style politics, which is based on representation (devoid of experience) and “construction of [everything] in discourse” (which is grounded in linguistics, not communication study). In contrast to the post-“linguistic turn” idea that the world is “constructed in discourse”, we will argue that biosemiotics entails a reconfiguration of the polis and, in particular, offers the chance to completely reconceptualise ideology

Happiness in higher education

This article reviews the higher education literature surrounding happiness and related notions: satisfaction, despair, flourishing and well-being. It finds that there is a real dearth of literature relating to profound happiness in higher education: much of the literature using the terms ‘happiness’ and ‘satisfaction’ interchangeably as if one were tantamount to the other, such conflation being due to the move towards consumerism within higher education and the marketization of the sector. What literature there exists that actually deals with the profound happiness of students in higher education generally argues that in the UK institutions do not currently do enough to promote happiness in higher education. The findings of this review imply that flourishing, contentment and well-being should be regarded as legitimate goals of higher education, alongside satisfaction and related economic outcomes that are currently promoted across academic and policy literature, university rankings, and the National Student Survey

The Devil is not in the Detail: Representational absence and Stereotyping in the Trojan Horse News Story

Using Content Analysis, this study investigated the coverage of the Trojan Horse news story aiming to ascertain whether its representation by the British press emphasised ‘Islamist extremism’ over ‘poor school governance’. The sample coverage was extracted from five national newspapers and ranged from 9 June (the date of release of the Ofsted Advice Note) to 26 June 2014. Our analysis shows that the coverage reported evidence of Islamist ideology much more frequently (61.5%) than evidence of poor governance (38.5%). This suggests that the Trojan Horse news story was predominantly represented as a case of Islamist extremism and therefore covered in an unbalanced manner. Such a partial coverage relied on ideological dualisms and negative stereotypes to represent Islam and Muslims, and on the textual strategy of selecting some features (extremism) whilst omitting others (governors’ professional misconduct). This bias has arguably diverted attention away from systemic problems within the national school system whilst reinforcing Islamophobic discourses

Changing clinical and therapeutic trends in tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas: a systematic review

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas are characterized by a high hemorrhagic risk. We evaluated trends in outcomes and management of tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas and performed a meta-analysis evaluating clinical and angiographic outcomes by treatment technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a comprehensive literature search for studies on surgical and endovascular treatment of tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas. We compared the proportion of patients undergoing endovascular, surgical, and combined endovascular/surgical management; the proportion of patients presenting with ruptured tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas; and proportion of patients with good neurologic outcome across 3 time periods: 1980-1995, 1996-2005, and 2006-2014. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis, evaluating the rates of occlusion, long-term good neurologic outcome, perioperative morbidity, and resolution of symptoms for the 3 treatment modalities. RESULTS: Twenty-nine studies with 274 patients were included. The proportion of patients treated with surgical treatment alone decreased from 38.7% to 20.4% between 1980-1995 and 2006-2014. The proportion of patients treated with endovascular therapy alone increased from 16.1% to 48.0%. The proportion of patients presenting with ruptured tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas decreased from 64.4% to 43.6%. The rate of good neurologic outcome increased from 80.7% to 92.9%. Complete occlusion rates were highest for patients receiving multimodality treatment (84.0%; 95% CI, 72.0%-91.0%) and lowest for endovascular treatment (71.0%; 95% CI, 56.0%-83.0%; P < .01). Long-term good neurologic outcome was highest in the endovascular group (89.0%; 95% CI, 80.0%-95.0%) and lowest for the surgical group (73.0%; 95% CI, 51.0%-87.0%; P < .03). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with tentorial dural arteriovenous fistulas are increasingly presenting with unruptured lesions, being treated endovascularly, and experiencing higher rates of good neurologic outcomes. Endovascular treatment was associated with superior neurologic outcomes but lower occlusion rate

EFFECTS OF SHIFT WORK ON CARDIOVASCULAR ACTIVITY, SERUM CORTISOL AND WHITE BLOOD CELLS COUNT IN A GROUP OF ITALIAN FISHERMEN

We analyzed the effects of working activity and working shifts on the circadian rhythmicity and circadian phase relations of serum cortisol level, white blood cells count, resting heart rate and systolic/diastolic blood pressure in a group of italian fishermen. We observed a shift-induced displacement of cortisol secretion and a modification in leukocyte count. Moreover, systolic/diastolic blood pressure and resting heart rate were markedly influenced by the night shift, whereas no appreciable changes were observed after the morning and afternoon shifts, compared to pre-working values. These data suggest that the human circadian system is greatly influenced by shift work, and serum cortisol level, leukocyte count, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate are sensitive indicators of the biological responses to a stress workload in shift workers, especially after a night shif

Identifying attack surfaces in the evolving space industry using reference architectures

The space environment is currently undergoing a substantial change and many new entrants to the market are deploying devices, satellites and systems in space; this evolution has been termed as NewSpace. The change is complicated by technological developments such as deploying machine learning based autonomous space systems and the Internet of Space Things (IoST). In the IoST, space systems will rely on satellite-to-x communication and interactions with wider aspects of the ground segment to a greater degree than existing systems. Such developments will inevitably lead to a change in the cyber security threat landscape of space systems. Inevitably, there will be a greater number of attack vectors for adversaries to exploit, and previously infeasible threats can be realised, and thus require mitigation. In this paper, we present a reference architecture (RA) that can be used to abstractly model in situ applications of this new space landscape. The RA specifies high-level system components and their interactions. By instantiating the RA for two scenarios we demonstrate how to analyse the attack surface using attack trees

Il ruolo degli immigrati nell\u2019integrazione d\u2019uso del territorio urbano e rurale. Il caso della Sicilia Sud-orientale.

Nella Sicilia Sud-orientale, dove la presenza di immigrati attivi nelle produzioni orticole in serra \ue8 rilevante e indispensabile, gli assetti produttivi e residenziali si sono modificati nel tempo per la necessit\ue0 di dare alloggio non fortuito ai lavoratori immigrati e alle loro famiglie. La presenza di immigrati attivi in agricoltura \ue8 significativa sia per il settore primario sia per la qualit\ue0 urbanistica dei centri urbani e delle campagne. La ricerca \ue8 stata svolta col metodo qualitativo, attraverso una dozzina di interviste Face-to-Face a interlocutori privilegiati, attivi nei settori produttivi, nelle professioni, nell\u2019amministrazione pubblica e nella comunit\ue0 di immigrati. L\u2019analisi dei dati rilevati permette di affermare che la presenza degli immigrati \ue8 sufficientemente tollerata dai residenti, che volentieri cedono in affitto abitazioni prevalentemente localizzate nei centri urbani ma in cattivo stato di manutenzione. Le parti abbandonate o degradate dei centri urbani sono rivitalizzate dalla presenza di immigrati che animano il mercato degli affitti anche per immobili \u201cfatiscenti\u201d, non usati dagli italiani. Gli imprenditori agricoli concedono in uso costruzioni rurali, a volte come integrazione salariale, e allo scopo di esercitare un controllo diretto sulla forza lavoro. Dopo il primo ambientamento, durante il quale sono disponibili anche ad abitare in residenze molto degradate, i lavoratori immigrati preferiscono le abitazioni urbane, intorno alle quali ricostruiscono la presenza di piccoli commerci specializzati rispetto alle loro preferenze (macellerie, drogherie). L\u2019azione degli enti locali \ue8 ritenuta insufficiente ed \ue8 supplita dall\u2019azione di associazioni di volontariato e di parrocchie, anche per mancanza di fondi pubblici da destinare sia all\u2019accoglienza sia alle politiche di edilizia popolare. Nonostante la disponibilit\ue0 ad accettare la presenza di comunit\ue0 estranee alla cultura locale, la maggior parte dei residenti intervistati ritiene che le amministrazioni di ogni livello dovrebbero sentire maggiormente il compito di formulare politiche abitative destinate ad alleviare il disagio abitativo e di convivenza tra comunit\ue0 diverse

The Role of Monumental Trees in Defining Local Identity and in Tourism. A case study in the Marches region

The paper presents an explorative research about the relict Monumental Trees in the Marches region, with the aim to describe and give some interpretations about the problematic relationship between economic activities and the landscape. After the definition of Monumental Tree, we describe its multiple meanings, in religion, mystics, education, environment, and even in tourism. The paper gives the inventory of the resource in the Marches, and reports results of Key Informants\u2019 perceptions about the necessity to conserve Monumental Trees in the framework of the Regional Landscape and Environment Plan and the role of Monumental Trees in defining the local \u2018territorial identity\u2019

La \u2018crescita verde\u2019 della citt\ue0 e il ruolo dei parchi urbani come elemento di attrazione turistica sostenibile

Da un punto di vista della pianificazione e della progettazione, una rete di spazi verdi di alta qualit\ue0, collegata agli spazi residenziali, produttivi, commerciali e per il tempo libero, permette l\u2019aumento dell\u2019accessibilit\ue0 ai servizi locali e ai luoghi di lavoro. Se ben progetta, tale rete incoraggia le persone a spostarsi a piedi o in bicicletta sia per ricreazione che per motivi di scambio sociale, fornisce inoltre una barriera al rumore e svolge la funzione di schermo visuale. Dal punto di vista economico, uno spazio verde \ue8 in grado di fornire prodotti come legno, frutti, compost e biomassa per la produzione di energia anche in citt\ue0, inoltre, la presenza di spazi verdi urbani pu\uf2 far crescere i valori immobiliari di un\u2019area e aumentare l\u2019offerta di posti di lavoro. Dal punto di vista ecologico, il verde urbano mitiga l\u2019impatto delle attivit\ue0 umane, assorbendo inquinanti e rilasciando ossigeno, contribuendo al mantenimento della salute, migliorando la qualit\ue0 di aria, acqua e suolo del clima e ospitando biodiversit\ue0 animale e vegetale. I due casi studi riportati, Milano Expo 2015 e Bundesgarthenschau, approfondiscono gli aspetti riguardanti la capacit\ue0 di attrazione turistica, di stimolo economico e sociale della progettazione di spazi agricoli e verdi urbani. Qui si sottolinea il dato turistico degli eventi, ricordando che gli organizzatori di Milano Expo 2015 stimano l\u2019arrivo di 160 mila visitatori al giorno per un totale di circa 29 milioni di turisti nei sei mesi di durata dell\u2019evento e che l\u2019evento biennale della Bundesgarthenschau \ue8 noto per l\u2019attrattiva turistica, con la punta di 11,5 milioni di visitatori per la IGA di Monaco del 1983

Discourse Communication in Individuals with and without Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a global health epidemic that has detrimental consequences for individuals who sustain the brain injury, their families, and society. As a result of TBI, many individuals experience significant cognitive-communicative impairments, including difficulties with structuring and eliciting discourse. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of these language difficulties and their possible clinical implications by comparing discourse communication samples from adults with TBI to those from adults without TBI. Audio recordings of 18 adults, consisting of narratives on different genres of discourse communication (e.g., conversational, procedural, personal narrative, and fictional narrative), were used for the purposes of this project. The discourse samples of 4 individuals with TBI were compared with the discourse samples of 14 individuals without TBI on the basis of several discourse communication measures including: (1) story length, (2) frequency of discourse errors, (3) elements, (4) story organization, (5) information content, and (6) information relevance. Overall, the differences observed between the TBI and non-TBI individuals on the discourse communication tasks reflect the typical communication impairments experienced by those living with TBI. Compared to the discourse samples of participants without TBI, the individuals with TBI produced more linguistic dysfluencies and discourse errors which indicated impairments related to pragmatic skill, information transfer and relevance, linking the events in a story, and effectively structuring discourse communication. The participants without TBI showed strengths in the quality and completeness of their spoken narratives. Ultimately, the differences observed among participants from each group provide important insight into what types of speech-language therapy might be appropriate and effective for these individuals