Discovering Language through Corpora: the Skills Learners Need and the Difficulties they Encounter

Most scholars agree on considering corpora as a valuable source of linguistic information for native and non-native speakers alike. Few researchers, however, have dealt with and systematically analysed the objective difficulties encountered by students while trying to exploit corpus data. The current paper describes a quantitative study of corpus consultation by learners and aims to establish whether different corpus analysis tasks can be considered to have different degrees of intrinsic difficulty. To this end, 26 corpus project work assignments produced by two different groups of students were assessed and tagged according to specific parameters that reflect the skills needed in corpus analysis. The data were analysed applying both parametric (ANOVA) and non parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U-test), which showed that, despite clear individual and teaching/learning environment differences between the two groups of students, the students’ results in most of the tasks were due to different levels of intrinsic difficulty. This led to the creation of a General Difficulty List of Corpus Analysis Tasks

Wine promotion on Facebook: a linguistic comparison of posts by producers from English-speaking countries

Facebook can be considered one of the main social marketing tools used by companies who decide to advertise their products online and who aim to keep in touch with customers quickly and effectively. Social media in general and Facebook in particular are characterised by a high level of interactivity, and visual, textual and linguistic features are strategically used to attract and involve potential customers and to get their feedback, thus enhancing the company’s visibility on the market as well as the company’s knowledge of the market. This paper analyses the language used to advertise wine and wine events through Facebook posts by producers from New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. Method-wise, this study applies the same analytical methods used by Manca (2021) in her analysis of the interactive and interactional strategies employed by Australian and US wine companies to advertise their products and activities on Facebook, and also some of the analytical methods used by Bianchi (2017a, 2017b) in her studies on Facebook posts written by travel agencies to advertise their destinations. Besides describing the metadiscursive features which are mostly used on Facebook by wineries (Hyland 2005), this paper aims to establish whether the forms of interaction and the positioning of the writers depend on cultural factors, on the medium used or on other variables

Visitors’ satisfaction and perceived affective qualities towards museums: the impact of recreational areas

Questo studio indaga il ruolo svolto dai fattori ambientali sulla valutazione di una visita al museo da parte degli utenti. È stata condotta un’indagine empirica per rilevare la soddisfazione dei visitatori e la valutazione dell'esperienza museale, con un'attenzione particolare alle aree ricreative (negozio di souvenir e ristorante/bar). Un campione di 160 visitatori di due musei di Roma (50% italiani e 50% madrelingua inglese) ha completato un questionario comprendente scale sulle qualità affettive dei luoghi (Russell & Pratt, 1980), sulla soddisfazione e sulle motivazioni della visita. I risultati hanno mostrato che le aree ricreative, in particolare il negozio di souvenir, facilitano la creazione di una relazione positiva tra il visitatore e l'ambiente museale. La valutazione degli utenti è stata anche associata a differenze linguistiche e relative alle motivazioni alla base della visita.This study investigates the role played by environmental factors on users’ evaluation of a museum visit. An empirical research was carried out to detect visitors’ satisfaction and assessment of museum experience, with a special focus onto its recreational areas (i.e., gift shop and restaurant/cafeteria). A sample of 160 visitors of two museums of Rome (50% Italians and 50% English mother tongue) completed a questionnaire including scales on affective qualities of places (Russell & Pratt, 1980), satisfaction towards the visit, and motives for the visit. Results showed the relevance of recreational areas, especially the gift shop, in facilitating the creation of a positive relationship between the visitor and the museum environment. Users’ assessment was also associated to differences in visitors’ mother tongue, age, educational level and motives underlying the visit

Comparison of commercial and in-house Real-time PCR assays for quantification of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in plasma

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA load monitoring is known to be useful for the diagnosis and monitoring of EBV-associated diseases. The aim of this study is to compare the performance of two real-time PCR assays for EBV DNA: a commercial kit as the Q-EBV Real-Time System (Q-EBV PCR, Amplimedical, Turin, Italy) and an in-house assay (EBV RQ-PCR). RESULTS: The range of linearity and the degree of precision of the two assays were similar. The clinical sensitivity of Q-EBV PCR was higher for reference samples containing less than 1,000 EBV DNA copies/ml. The absolute quantitative results of the two methods were statistically correlated (R(2 )= 0.7789; p < 0.0001), with the systematic overestimation by EBV RQ-PCR possibly linked to different amplification efficiency in calibration standards. CONCLUSION: Both the commercial and the in-house assay may be appropriate for clinical use, but common standards are advisable for comparable absolute values, as these would improve the clinical utility of EBV DNA load measurement

Effets taphonomiques dans les contextes archéologiques: un protocole expérimental analytique pour améliorer la recherche en archéomalacologie

Today, it is clear that the study of malacological remains in archaeology has a great potential to reconstruct techno-economic, social, and territorial patterns in the past. In recent years, pioneering research has set a methodological basis for the study of shells from a behavioural perspective. However, taphonomic bias is still poorly understood. In this paper, we present the results of the first phase of the ArchaeoENHANCE project developed within the International Research Network of Taphen (CNRS). A long-term experimental protocol was designed and implemented to improve the systemic comprehension of the malacological collections in archaeological contexts, especially focusing on taphonomic causes and effects in macro and microscopic analyses. The results of the analysis after eighteen months of Shell burial show an unequal development of alterations among the different taxa selected for the project (Patella, Mytilus, Glycymeris and Callista chione). Among taphonomic alterations, mechanical processes are significant, as is dissolution. Although the experimental protocol is still in its first phase, the results show the need for similar long-term projects. We expect that the extension of the experimental protocol will improve the understanding of the effects of taphonomic modifications on archaeomalacological assemblages, which is of interest for elucidating assemblage formation processes and their interpretation.Il est désormais démontré que l?étude des vestiges malacologiques présente un grand potentiel pour la reconstitution des aspects techno-économiques, sociaux et territoriaux des communautés préhistoriques. Ces dernières années, des recherches pionnières ont posé les bases méthodologiques de l?étude des coquillages pour la compréhension des aspects comportementaux des communautés anciennes. Cependant, les aspects taphonomiques sont encore peu compris. Dans cet article, nous présentons les résultats de la première phase de réalisation du projet ArchaeoENHANCE, développé dans le cadre du Réseau International de Recherche de Taphen (CNRS). Un protocole expérimental a été créé et réalisé dans l?objectif d?améliorer la compréhension systémique des collections malacologiques dans les contextes archéologiques, en se concentrant notamment sur les causes et les effets taphonomiques dans l?analyse macro et microscopique. Les résultats de l?analyse après dixhuit mois d?enfouissement ont montré un développement inégal des altérations parmi les différents taxons sélectionnés pour le projet (Patella, Mytilus, Glycymeris et Callista chione). Parmi les altérations taphonomiques, les processus mécaniques et la dissolution sont les plus fréquemment attestés. Bien que le protocole expérimental soit encore dans sa première phase, les résultats ont montré la nécessité de projets similaires sur le long terme. Nous espérons que le développement du protocole expérimental améliorera la compréhension des effets des modifications taphonomiques sur les assemblages archéomalacologiques, qui est de première importance pour la compréhension des processus de formation des séries et leur interprétation.The publication of this paper is supported by the projects SI1/PJI/2019-00488 funded by Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid & UAM, 54.VP51.64662 (Proyecto Puente-UC 2021) financed by Consejeria de Universidades, Igualdad, Cultura y Delporte del Gobierno de Cantabria, and PID2021-124589NA-I00 financed by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ FEDER, UE

Design of hybrid gels based on gellan-cholesterol derivative and P90G liposomes for drug depot applications

Gels are extensively studied in the drug delivery field because of their potential benefits in therapeutics. Depot gel systems fall in this area, and the interest in their development has been focused on long-lasting, biocompatible, and resorbable delivery devices. The present work describes a new class of hybrid gels that stem from the interaction between liposomes based on P90G phospholipid and the cholesterol derivative of the polysaccharide gellan. The mechanical properties of these gels and the delivery profiles of the anti-inflammatory model drug diclofenac embedded in such systems confirmed the suitability of these hybrid gels as a good candidate for drug depot applications

Wine promotion on Facebook. A linguistic comparison of posts by producers from English-speaking countries

Facebook can be considered one of the main social marketing tools used by companies who decide to advertise their products online and who aim to keep in touch with customers quickly and effectively. Social media in general and Facebook in particular are characterised by a high level of interactivity, and visual, textual and linguistic features are strategically used to attract and involve potential customers and to get their feedback, thus enhancing the company’s visibility on the market as well as the company’s knowledge of the market. This paper analyses the language used to advertise wine and wine events through Facebook posts by producers from New Zealand, South Africa and the UK. Method-wise, this study applies the same analytical methods used by Manca (2021) in her analysis of the interactive and interactional strategies employed by Australian and US wine companies to advertise their products and activities on Facebook, and also some of the analytical methods used by Bianchi (2017a, 2017b) in her studies on Facebook posts written by travel agencies to advertise their destinations. Besides describing the metadiscursive features which are mostly used on Facebook by wineries (Hyland 2005), this paper aims to establish whether the forms of interaction and the positioning of the writers depend on cultural factors, the medium used or other variable

Is it possible to compare inhibitory and excitatory intracortical circuits in face and hand primary motor cortex?

Face muscles are important in a variety of different functions, such as feeding, speech and communication of non-verbal affective states, which require quite different patterns of activity from those of a typical hand muscle. We ask whether there are differences in their neurophysiological control that might reflect this. Fifteen healthy individuals were studied. Standard single- and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) methods were used to compare intracortical inhibitory (short interval intracortical inhibition (SICI); cortical silent period (CSP)) and excitatory circuitries (short interval intracortical facilitation (SICF)) in two typical muscles, the depressor anguli oris (DAO), a face muscle, and the first dorsal interosseous (FDI), a hand muscle. TMS threshold was higher in DAO than in FDI. Over a range of intensities, resting SICF was not different between DAO and FDI, while during muscle activation SICF was stronger in FDI than in DAO (P = 0.012). At rest, SICI was stronger in FDI than in DAO (P = 0.038) but during muscle contraction, SICI was weaker in FDI than in DAO (P = 0.034). We argue that although many of the difference in response to the TMS protocols could result from the difference in thresholds, some, such as the reduction of resting SICI in DAO, may reflect fundamental differences in the physiology of the two muscle groups

Balanced electron-hole transport in spin-orbit semimetal SrIrO3 heterostructures

Relating the band structure of correlated semimetals to their transport properties is a complex and often open issue. The partial occupation of numerous electron and hole bands can result in properties that are seemingly in contrast with one another, complicating the extraction of the transport coefficients of different bands. The 5d oxide SrIrO3 hosts parabolic bands of heavy holes and light electrons in gapped Dirac cones due to the interplay between electron-electron interactions and spin-orbit coupling. We present a multifold approach relying on different experimental techniques and theoretical calculations to disentangle its complex electronic properties. By combining magnetotransport and thermoelectric measurements in a field-effect geometry with first-principles calculations, we quantitatively determine the transport coefficients of different conduction channels. Despite their different dispersion relationships, electrons and holes are found to have strikingly similar transport coefficients, yielding a holelike response under field-effect and thermoelectric measurements and a linear, electronlike Hall effect up to 33 T.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure