The concept of 'joy' in Old and Middle English. A semantic analysis

The aim of this work is to arrive at a description of the semantic structure of the concept of 'joy' in OE and ME periods as well as to pinpoint changes that the concept underwent over this time. The concept of 'joy' is here understood as a mental representation of the meaning of a lexical field. In the present study only the core members of the field will be analysed for OE. These have been identified as bliss, blithe, dream, glaednes, liss, mirhth and wynsumnesse. The development of these words will be traced on into ME, even if the words show signs of falling out of the field of 'joy', i.e. I will in this respect be adopting a semasiological approach to the change of meaning. New words borrowed into ME to designate the conceptof'joy', such as cheer, delight, gay (gainess) and joy, will also be investigated, I will thus also be incorporating an onomasiological perspective. The choice of this particular field is based on the suggestion that it is relatively poorly described in the history of the English language (cf Strite 1989 on OE, Diller 1992). A number of works have been devoted to other emotion words, 'gloom' in particular (for example: Lochrie 1986, Magennis 1986). Those studies which have dealt with 'joy', however, have either investigated it with a different aim in mind (Ostheeren 1964) or focused on other lexical items (Fell 1982-83)

Shifting Borders – Shifting Languages: Investigating Commemorative Cityscape in Poznań and Słubice

This article explores patterns of street renaming in two locations which over the last century were interchangeably controlled by Germany and Poland: Posen/Poznań and Dammvorstadt/Słubice. It examines how changes in the language of administration influenced their urban streetscape. The results demonstrate that there are several different semantic categories of street names which show varied affinity to change. Commemorative street names inscribing personal names are most prone to alteration, while those based on topology and landmarks are often translated from one language to another and retain their meaning. Street names based on place names are a heterogeneous category with directional names showing more stability than those which represent the national geographical imagery

A corpus-based, cross-linguistic approach to mental predicates and their complementation: Performativity and descriptivity vis-à-vis boundedness and picturability

This corpus-based study investigates the complementation patterns of mental predicates in a cross-linguistic context. More precisely, it examines five equivalent mental verbs from English, German, and Polish and analyzes whether their complements are cognitively construed in different ways in first-person uses of those verbs as opposed to third-person uses. Two types of complementation are considered: we contrast nominal complements with clausal complements. Based on the results of prior studies into Polish myśleć ‘think' and wierzyć ‘believe', we hypothesize that first-person singular occurrences of mental predicates will be more readily associated with clausal complements designating non-bounded and non-picturable objects. Conversely, third-person uses of the verbs are expected to be linked to nominal complements that denote bounded and picturable objects. The hypotheses are tested with bivariate and multivariate quantitative techniques. Our results have both descriptive and theoretical implications. Descriptively, we aim to identify the differences in construing the complement of mental predicates, depending on the grammatical person of the syntactic subject. Theoretically, we provide empirical evidence that is relevant for the long-recognized distinction between performativity and descriptivity of mental verbs

75-year-old man with lung cancer obscured by an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator — case report

We present a case of a 75-year-old man, who underwent a scheduled implantable cardioverter-defibrillatorreoperation and has had a lung cancer found in a chest X-ray taken after the procedure, that wascompletely obscured by the previous device

Off-target effects of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors

Soon after identification of the platelet membrane glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa, it has become a target of antiplatelet therapy. There are 3 intravenous GP IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors, namely— eptifibatide, tirofiban and abciximab, used in the contemporary clinical practice, particularly in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The aim of the current review is to summarize available knowledge concerning off-target effects of GP IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors. All 3 drugs have similar antithrombotic properties, but differ with respect to pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and off-target effects. Eptifibatide and tirofiban are highly specific GP IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors, while abciximab is unselectiveand cross-reacts with integrin avb3 — a vitronectin receptor and leukocyte-associatedi ntegrin Mac-1. As a result of these interactions, abciximab seems to reduce the development of clinical restenosis, decrease infarct size, inhibit adhesion of monocytes to medical steel and modulate the inflammatory response. Intracoronary administration of abciximab provides higher drug concentration in the target area, increasing dose-dependent interactions with other integrins. Off-target effects of small molecule GP IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors (i.e. eptifibatide and tirofiban) are predominantly connected with their suppressive influence on the inflammatory response. All in all, although GP IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors are not recommended as a routine therapy during PCI, their antiplatelet properties and potential off-target effects may bebeneficial in certain subsets of patients

Influence of cardiac resynchronization therapy on oxidative stress markers in patients with chronic heart failure

Background: The aim of the study was to assess changes of substances of oxidative stress in patients treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).Methods: The study comprised 51 patients with median age of 66 years. The presence, severity, and changes of oxidative stress during CRT were assessed and expressed as malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in plasma or in red blood cells. Antioxidant activity was assessed by the activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in red blood cells. The concentration and activities were analyzed directly prior to implantation, 2–5 days after the procedure and after 6 months. Follow-up (6 months) included clinical, echocardiographic and implanted device assessments.Results: During the follow-up, 14% patients died. The median percentage of biventricular pacing was 99.29%. After 6 months 88% of patients improved NYHA, 12% remained as non-responders. Left ventricular ejection fraction increased from median 21.5% to 29% (p < 0.05). Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased significantly from a median of 69.5 mm to 63 mm (p < 0.05). After a 6-month study, MDA plasma concentration and the activity levels of each antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, GPx) showed a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05). Changes concerning MDA concentrations in red blood cells remained statistically insignificant.Conclusions: Resynchronization effect oxidative stress by reducing plasma concentration of MDA, CAT, SOD and GPX

Ideology in the linguistic landscape: Towards a quantitative approach

Past approaches to ideological commemorative street naming have taken for granted the concept of ideology, focusing on the policy decisions and the debates surrounding individual and more concerted resemioticisations. In this paper, we demonstrate that the concept of ideology in the context of commemorative street renaming is by no means unequivocal by illustrating how different decisions on what is or is not an ideological street name change influences the shape and the scope of ‘the ideological robe of the city’ (Zieliński, 1994). More specifically, we report on methodological decisions and their implications for representational politics in two towns, Zbąszyń in Poland and Annaberg-Buchholz in Germany, during consecutive waves of regime changes since the First World War. We rely on a complex data-set consisting of maps, town hall documents, street directories, newspapers and interviews with administrative officials. Visualisation of geographical patterns allows us to illustrate the outcomes of different definitions of ideology and explore how these definitions affect our analysis. Our primary aim is to arrive at systematic, and thus supra-locally operationalizable, analytical procedure for distinguishing ideological from non-ideological street naming practices

Variability of prasugrel antiplatelet effect in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Background. Many reports have demonstrated excessive variability in response to clopidogrel, the most commonly used P2Y12 receptor antagonist. Clopidogrel resistant patients are at increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) events. Prasugrel is a new P2Y12 inhibitor that provides greater and faster platelet inhibition and reduces CV events more effectively than clopidogrel. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variability and efficacy of prasugrel antiplatelet activity in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Materials and methods. The study was designed as a prospective, single-center, non-randomized, observational trial. Platelet reactivity (PR) was assessed with the VeryfyNow assay three times during hospitalization in forty-two patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ACS and treated with standard doses of prasugrel. Results. Platelet aggregation with prasugrel displayed relatively high variability. The platelet aggregation was lowest on the 3rd day of the treatment at 4 p.m. and was significantly different from the measurements obtained on the 3rd and 4th day in the morning (6.0 v. 8.5 U; p = 0.0005 and 6.0 v. 36.5 U; p < 0.00001, respectively), with the latter two differing significantly from each other (p = 0.002). All participants were successfully treated with prasugrel achieving PR < 208 PRU in each measurement, whereas 42.9–80.9% (depending on sampling point) of patients presented very low platelet activity. The subgroups of stable and persistent low PR included a higher percentage of active smokers (73.3 v. 40.7%; p = 0.04 and 80.0 v. 43.8%; p = 0.04, respectively). Conclusions. Prasugrel treatment is associated with high variability of PR. Nonetheless, prasugrel is a highly effective antiplatelet drug. Active smoking may predispose to strong and stable on-prasugrel platelet inhibition.

Efficacy of double vs. standard empagliflozin dose for METabolic syndromE tReatment (DEMETER — SIRIO 11) study. Rationale and protocol of the study

Complex metabolic disorders associated with obesity and diabetes pose a serious therapeutic challenge. The DEMETER-SIRIO 11 study is a phase III, multicenter, randomized, open-label, investigator-initiated clinical trial with a 6-month follow-up aimed at performing a comparative evaluation of the effect of two empagliflozin doses (10 mg vs. 20 mg) on selected metabolic parameters in patients with metabolic syndrome. The primary hypothesis of the study is that a higher dose of empagliflozin will result in a significant reduction of BMI and HbA1c in patients with obesity and MS receiving empagliflozin 20 mg as compared to 10 mg. Sample size and power calculation were based on a superiority assumption for the primary efficacy endpoint (the difference in decrease of body weight by > 1.5 kg and HbA1c by > 0.4%) for the higher vs. standard dose arm at 6-months of follow-up. Therefore, a sample size of 79 patients per arm is required to provide 80% power to detect a higher decrease in BMI, and 85 patients per arm is required to provide 80% power to detect a higher decrease in HbA1c in the 20 mg versus 10 mg arm with a type I error rate of 0.05. Summing up, enrollment of a total of 200 patients (100 in each arm) is planned to compensate for the potential drop-out rate from the study of up to 15%. Prespecified subanalyses will be performed according to: 1) diabetes mellitus; 2) chronic kidney disease (GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2); 3) gender; and 4) age. A greater comprehensive improvement in biochemical, functional, and anthropometric parameters reflecting favorable metabolic changes is expected at the higher dose of empagliflozin compared to the standard dose