The Savage Style of Jaroslav Hašek. “The Good Soldier Švejk” as a Politically Incorrect Comic Masterpiece

Powieść Przygody dobrego wojaka Szwejka Jarosława Haszka nie jest zwyczajną opowieścią o sympatycznym, dobrodusznym człowieku osaczonym przez wojnę, nie może też być na serio traktowana jako antywojenna propaganda. Jest to znacznie bardziej podstępna, dużo bardziej śmieszna i o wiele wspanialsza książka. Napisana jest ostro, a jej autor zręcznie wyśmiewa się i kpi zarówno ze wszystkich haseł politycznej poprawności, jak i z instytucji będących ostoją tradycjonalizmu. Haszek dostarcza humoru „rasistowskiego” i „seksistowskiego”, obscenicznego i świętokradczego, podważającego wszelkie zasady oraz różnego typu autorytety. Dobry wojak Szwejk jest anarchiczną! planowo obraźliwą książką, a w konsekwencji jednym z największych humorystycznych dzieł dwudziestego wieku

The Humorous use of the Contrast Between Standard Educated English and Local Dialect in Scottish Jokes

Wiele dowcipów wykorzystuje jako dodatkowy element humorystyczny stylizację na rozmowę osób o różnym statusie społecznym, mówiących różnymi odmianami tego samego języka. Osoba o wyższej pozycji używa standardowej odmiany języka (w tym przypadku angielskiego), natomiast osoba o niższym statusie społecznym posługuje się w większym lub mniejszym zakresie formą lokalnego dialektu (w tym przypadku szkockiego-angielskiego). Efektywność tego rodzaju stylizacji zależy od tego, na ile lokalna odmiana języka znana jest odbiorcy

Nation, Social Class and Style: a Comparison of the Humour of Britain and America

Historically a much greater range of styles of literary humour were to be found in Bri[1]t sun than in the United States because Bi „.n was a much more hierarchical society with a divined elite and an aristocratic as well as a bourgeois aesthetic. In America there was a single dominant class, that of independent farmers and the businessmen and professional people of medium sized cities whose optimistic, egalitarian, moralistic, culture restricted the range of styles an aspiring American humorous writer could use. This restnctiveness remained long after American had become the world’s leading, richest and most techno[1]logically advanced economy. British humour alone was able to use styles that valued de[1]tachment from conventional morality and also took inequality for granted and hence devi[1]sed torms of aggressive mockery that could be directed downwards. British humour was also able to emplo> a greater reach of allusw eness, vocabulary and sophistication than was possible in America. It was the rise of Jev sh humour in America from a new initially immigrant population that valued things of the intellect for their own sake and which had also mastered the arts of detachment that enabled American literary humour to achieve a comparable degree of vanety and sophistication to that of Britain in the course of the twentith century

An exploratory study of the experiences of wheelchair users as aircraft passengers – implications for policy and practice

Air travel has grown steadily in the region of 5–6% every year since 1970 meaning that in the UK alone, around 750,000 people use flying as a means of transport every day. Disability rates are also increasing in the UK, with over 13 million people having at least one. Air travel for the mobility impaired has been relatively unexplored, but with increasing rates of disability and passenger numbers, it is crucial to know what the most severely disabled people think of the current process. This study used qualitative interviews of a semi-structured nature with eight wheelchair-using participants who were invited to discuss their experiences of air travel as well as offering opinions. Key findings showed notable issues when wheelchair users interact with the aircraft. The manual handling, the equipment used, seating, communication and accessing the toilet on the aircraft led to physical pain and discomfort and in turn emotional distress. Recommendations include developing consistency, further disability training and a review of the equipment involved

Comic and Serious Patterns of Speech in Kipling s Verse

Przedstawiona w artykule analiza wierszy Rudyarda Kiplinga pokazuje zalety użycia dialektyzmów i argotyzmów w poezji. Autorzy polemizują z opiniami krytyków, uznających, że stylizowanie utworów tymi środkami językowymi jest niestosowne i psuje estetyczny wydźwięk poezji Kiplinga. Zadaniem artykułu jest pokazanie, że używając cockneya do wyrażenia najgłębszych uczuć, Kipling nie naśmiewa się z dialektu o niskim statusie społecznym, ale traktuje go z niespotykanym u innych twórców szacunkiem. To, że Kipling był w stanie korzystać z elementów stylizacji zarówno w ten nowy, jak i w tradycyjny — komiczny sposób, świadczy o dużej skali artystycznych możliwości i wielkiej wrażliwości pisarza

Investigating the Impact of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Upon the Ecologically Significant Marine Cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (nCeO_{2}) are used at an ever-increasing rate, however, their impact within the aquatic environment remains uncertain. Here, we expose the ecologically significant marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus sp. MED4 to nCeO_{2} at a wide range of concentrations (1 μg L^{–1} to 100 mg L^{–1}) under simulated natural and nutrient rich growth conditions. Flow cytometric analysis of cyanobacterial populations displays the potential of nCeO_{2} (100 μg L^{–1}) to significantly reduce Prochlorococcus cell density in the short-term (72 h) by up to 68.8% under environmentally relevant conditions. However, following longer exposure (240 h) cyanobacterial populations are observed to recover under simulated natural conditions. In contrast, cell-dense cultures grown under optimal conditions appear more sensitive to exposure during extended incubation, likely as a result of increased rate of encounter between cyanobacteria and nanoparticles at high cell densities. Exposure to supra-environmental nCeO_{2} concentrations (i.e., 100 mg L^{–1}) resulted in significant declines in cell density up to 95.7 and 82.7% in natural oligotrophic seawater and nutrient enriched media, respectively. Observed cell decline is associated with extensive aggregation behaviour of nCeO_{2} upon entry into natural seawater, as observed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), and hetero-aggregation with cyanobacteria, confirmed by fluorescent microscopy. Hence, the reduction of planktonic cells is believed to result from physical removal due to co-aggregation and co-sedimentation with nCeO_{2} rather than by a toxicological and cell death effect. The observed recovery of the cyanobacterial population under simulated natural conditions, and likely reduction in nCeO_{2} bioavailability as nanoparticles aggregate and undergo sedimentation in saline media, means that the likely environmental risk of nCeO_{2} in the marine environment appears low

Environmentally relevant concentrations of titanium dioxide nanoparticles pose negligible risk to marine microbes

Nano-sized titanium dioxide (nTiO2) represents the highest produced nanomaterial by mass worldwide and, due to its prevalent industrial and commercial use, it inevitably reaches the natural environment. Previous work has revealed a negative impact of nTiO2 upon marine phytoplankton growth, however, studies are typically carried out at concentrations far exceeding those measured and predicted to occur in the environment currently. Here, a series of experiments were carried out to assess the effects of both research-grade nTiO2 and nTiO2 extracted from consumer products upon the marine dominant cyanobacterium, Prochlorococcus, and natural marine communities at environmentally relevant and supra-environmental concentrations (i.e., 1 μg L−1 to 100 mg L−1). Cell declines observed in Prochlorococcus cultures were associated with the extensive aggregation behaviour of nTiO2 in saline media and the subsequent entrapment of microbial cells. Hence, higher concentrations of nTiO2 particles exerted a stronger decline of cyanobacterial populations. However, within natural oligotrophic seawater, cultures were able to recover over time as the nanoparticles aggregated out of solution after 72 h. Subsequent shotgun proteomic analysis of Prochlorococcus cultures exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations confirmed minimal molecular features of toxicity, suggesting that direct physical effects are responsible for short-term microbial population decline. In an additional experiment, the diversity and structure of natural marine microbial communities showed negligible variations when exposed to environmentally relevant nTiO2 concentrations (i.e., 25 μg L−1). As such, the environmental risk of nTiO2 towards marine microbial species appears low, however the potential for adverse effects in hotspots of contamination exists. In future, research must be extended to consider any effect of other components of nano-enabled product formulations upon nanomaterial fate and impact within the natural environment

Repeated misclassifications of tachycardia by an implantable cardiac defibrillator

This case describes repeated misclassifications of SVT due to AV node reentry as VT by an ICD. This case illustrates the limitations of SVT-VT discrimination algorithm. Careful analysis of the stored tracings is of critical importance to reach the correct diagnosis