Estudio semántico-pragmático de las relaciones de contraste y sus marcas en lengua inglesa.

RESUMEN El presente trabajo estudia las relaciones de contraste (RC) y su expresión en el discurso escrito en lengua inglesa. El contraste es una noción muy empleada en lingüística, aunque su definición teórica resulta controvertida, y hay pocos estudios prácticos sobre sus formas de expresión. En una primera parte, revisamos los estudios sobre dicha noción desde distintas perspectivas lingüísticas, principalmente la semántica y la lingüística textual. Abordamos la problemática de la definición de esta noción, a partir de su definición como relación conceptual, de su relación con otras nociones (adversación, concesión) y categorías cognitivas (temporalidad, condición), incidiendo en la polisemia de los marcadores (estudios diacrónicos), y recapitulando sus modos de expresión. Llegamos así a una definición del contraste como macro noción que engloba diversos tipos de oposición y contraposición. Seguidamente, hacemos balance de las principales marcas de las RC: los conectores. Revisamos las aportaciones desde las teorías de la coherencia y las teorías ostensivo-inferenciales y argumentativas. Ambas coinciden en caracterizar la función de los marcadores/conectores como guías para la interpretación de los enunciados. A pesar de ello, los paradigmas de conectores contrastivos no coinciden en los subtipos, en las unidades, ni se precisa la relación entre unidades. La segunda parte de nuestro trabajo consiste en un doble estudio de las RC. Un primer análisis describe los diversos mecanismos que expresan la noción de contraste (incluidas las RC marcadas por medios distintos al conector); un segundo análisis estudia las RC expresadas por cuatro unidades, although, while, still y yet, las tres últimas polisémicas, para llegar a una descripción del uso de dichas unidades. Utilizamos para ello un corpus de artículos de investigación de lingüística (Journal of Pragmatics). Así pues, nuestro trabajo es de tipo semántico (analizamos la noción de contraste y los significados que la expresan), y pragmático, porque estudiamos los usos de estas formas en el discurso de un género concreto. Pretendemos, basándonos en un género concreto, contribuir a ampliar el espectro de los estudios textuales y retóricos sobre esta noción. El primer estudio muestra que el contraste se da entre elementos de diverso tipo (entre enunciados, partes de estos o entre series de enunciados; niveles sintagmático, oracional y textual) en proporciones muy diferentes; que involucra con mucha frecuencia a elementos implícitos (relaciones en el dominio epistémico); que se utiliza una gran variedad de mecanismos para expresarlo; y que el conector es el tipo de marca más empleada en las relaciones entre enunciados. El segundo estudio aporta principalmente: (1) una adaptación de un marco teórico excesivamente formal para el estudio de nuestros marcadores (proponiendo tipos de contraste y esquemas de descripción de los elementos involucrados en la RC); y (2) la descripción semántico-pragmática de cada uno de los cuatro marcadores en su uso dentro de un género concreto, la cual revela cómo se conceptualiza y codifica la relación con cada marcador. Analizamos las ocurrencias de cada marcador en el corpus a través de diversos aspectos: tipo de contraste que expresa, significado y solapamiento con otros valores, contribución al procesamiento de la RC, estructura de la información (nueva vs. conocida, presencia explícita o no de cada uno de los elementos de la RC y su orden), coocurrencia y correlación con otros marcadores, funciones retórico-discursivas de los enunciados que contienen el marcador. Estos datos se recogen en una base de datos, lo que permite analizarlos de manera individual y cruzando los datos de otros aspectos, llegando así a una descripción del uso de cada marcador. Se contrastan también globalmente los resultados obtenidos para los diferentes marcadores. __________________________________________________________________________________________________Contrast is a widely used notion in linguistics. However, its definition remains controversial and few studies have been conducted on the different procedures used to codify it linguistically. This thesis studies how contrast relations are expressed in English written academic texts. The first section reviews studies on contrast and contrast relations (CR) from different linguistic approaches. The difficulty of defining contrast, concession and adversative meaning is acknowledged, as well as that of distinguishing different types of contrast, and the relationship between contrast and other notions (time, condition), both diachronically and synchronically. Previous work on contrastive connectives is then reviewed. It is suggested that more detailed synchronic descriptions of contrastive connectives in real texts may contribute both to a better understanding of the paradigm of contrastive connectives, by explaining the ways in which certain units differ from each other, and to explain the role of such connectives in the process of creating textual meaning and argumentation. Our analysis of the expression of CRs is based on a corpus of linguistics journal articles. It is by studying occurrences of CR and contrast connectives in a specific genre that we shall contribute to broaden the range of textual and rhetorical studies on this notion. A first study explores the ways contrast is expressed in a reduced corpus, showing that contrast involves elements of a different nature (phrases, sentences/propositions, text level) in very different proportions, that the contrasted elements are often implicit (epistemic domain), that a variety of mechanisms are used to express it, and that connectives are the most common devices used to signal it. The second study analyzes how a CR is conceptualized and expressed linguistically by four units, although, while, still and yet. The theoretical framework is adapted to describe the particular uses in our corpus. A semantic-pragmatic analysis of each of them is carried out considering aspects such as the type of contrast, its meaning, the information structure, cooccurrence, correlation, and the rhetorical or discourse function performed. A database allows the analysis of these data separately and in combination with other aspects. Results for each marker are also contrasted globally

Combinaciones Léxicas en el Inglés de la Tecnología.

A part of corpus-based research has centered on the exploration of lexical phrases (Sinclair 1991; Gledhill 2000a, 2000b; Stubbs 2002) and has presented language as a series of choices determined by the context in which it is employed. Native speakers use recurrent lexico-grammatical patterns when communicating in particular registers. This is especially relevant in scientific academic discourse, where the conventions of genres are interwoven with their linguistic realisations. Following Sinclair (1991: 170), a collocation is defined as “the occurrence of two or more words within a spot of space of each other in a text”. The restrictive character of collocations is basically determined by their repetitive use, which makes word combinations more arbitrary than predictable. This is particularly evident when we try to translate these combinations into other languages. Benson et al. (1986) suggest that collocations are halfway between fixed expressions and free combinations of words. They are co-occurrent groups of words that present a certain degree of stability, although they are not completely lexicalised. Collocations can be situated along a scale or continuum limited by free combinations of words at one end and fixed expressions at the other. The study of collocational patterns has direct pedagogical applications. Learners are not usually taught collocations explicitly. However, we believe that the acquisition of phraseological competence is necessary for effective and precise communication. In the area of English language teaching, the works of Howarth (1993, 1996), Oakey (2002) and Tribble (1990, 2002) point out the importance of collocations in academic writing. Other studies propose the teaching of grammar prioritising the behaviour of individual lexical units (or pattern grammar), i.e. taking account of the lexical patterns of a given register (cf. Hunston 1995, 2002). The aim of this paper is to explore the collocational patterns of three semitechnical and specialised words used in a corpus of 54 engineering research articles in the fields of computing, robotics and nanotechnology: robot, performance and lattice. The analysis shows that, although these words can be found in general English, their collocates contribute to restrict and precise their meaning in a specialised corpus. Making learners aware of these patterns should arouse their consciousness of the use of language in specialized contexts and help them to improve their academic writing as regards accuracy and fluency

Dicer-like 4 is involved in restricting the systemic movement of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus in Nicotiana benthamiana

[EN] Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) induces serious diseases in cucurbits. To create a tool to screen for resistance genes, we cloned a wild ZYMV isolate and inserted the visual marker Roseal to obtain recombinant clone ZYMV-Rosl. While in some plant-virus combinations Roseal induces accumulation of anthocyanins in infected tissues, ZYMV-Rosl infection of cucurbits did not lead to detectable anthocyanin accumulation. However, the recombinant virus did induce dark red pigmen-tation in infected tissues of the model plant Nicotiana ben-thamiana. In this species, ZYMV-Rosl multiplied efficiently in local inoculated tissue but only a few progeny particles estab-lished infection foci in upper leaves. We used this system to analyze the roles of Dicer-like (DCL) genes, core components of plant antiviral RNA silencing pathways, in ZYMV infection. ZYMV-Rosl local replication was not significantly affected in single DCL knockdown lines nor in double DCL2/4 and triple DCL2/3/4 knockdown lines. ZYMV-Rosl systemic accumula-tion was not affected in knockdown lines DCL1, DCL2, and DCL3. However in DCL4 and also in DCL2/4 and DCL2/3/4 knockdown lines, ZYMV-Rosl systemic accumulation dra-matically increased, which highlights the key role of DCL4 in restricting virus systemic movement. The effect of DCL4 on ZYMV systemic movement was confirmed with a wild-type version of the virus.We thank V. Aragones for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) through grants BI02014-54269-R and AGL2013-49919-EXP and by the Greek Ministry for Education and Religious Affairs (Program Aristeia II, 4499, ViroidmiR; ESPA 2007-2013). A. Carbonell was supported by an Individual Fellowship from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 655841.Cordero-Cucart, MT.; Cerdán García, L.; Carbonell Olivares, A.; Katsarou, K.; Kalantidis, K.; Daros Arnau, JA. (2016). Dicer-like 4 is involved in restricting the systemic movement of Zucchini yellow mosaic virus in Nicotiana benthamiana. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. 30(1):63-71. https://doi.org/10.1094/MPMI-11-16-0239-RS637130

A contrastive study of the rhetorical organisation of English and Spanish PhD thesis introductions

This paper presents an analysis of the introductory sections of a corpus of 20 doctoral theses on computing written in Spanish and in English. Our aim was to ascertain whether the theses, produced within the same scientific-technological area but by authors from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, employed the same rhetorical strategies to introduce the work presented. The analysis follows the Swalesian approach and is based on a move/step/sub-step model proposed for PhD introductions in Spanish (Carbonell-Olivares, Gil-Salom, & Soler-Monreal, 2009). The Spanish academic conventions appear to be that move 1 (M1- Establishing the Territory) and move 3 (M3- Occupying the Niche) are obligatory moves in PhD thesis introductions in Spanish, while move 2 (M2- Establishing the Niche) is optional. The structure of English thesis introductions reveals that they conform more closely to the M1-M2-M3 arrangement. Moreover, combinations of moves and patterns, cyclicity and embedding make their organisation more complex. The step analysis suggests that introductions in both languages rely mainly on the presentation of background information and the work carried out. However, the English introductions tend to stress the writer's own work, its originality and its contribution to the field of study. They also present more embedding and overlapping of steps and sub-steps than the Spanish texts. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.Soler Monreal, C.; Carbonell Olivares, MS.; Gil Salom, ML. (2011). A contrastive study of the rhetorical organisation of English and Spanish PhD thesis introductions. English for Specific Purposes. 30(1):4-17. doi:10.1016/j.esp.2010.04.005S41730

Clinical Heterogeneity of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated With Variants in TBX4

Background: The knowledge of hereditary predisposition has changed our understanding of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Genetic testing has been widely extended and the application of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension specific gene panels has allowed its inclusion in the diagnostic workup and increase the diagnostic ratio compared to the traditional sequencing techniques. This is particularly important in the differential diagnosis between Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease. Methods: Since November 2011, genetic testing is offered to all patients with idiopathic, hereditable and associated forms of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension or Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease included in the Spanish Registry of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Herein, we present the clinical phenotype and prognosis of all Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension patients with disease-associated variants in TBX4. Results: Out of 579 adults and 45 children, we found in eight patients from seven families, disease-causing associated variants in TBX4. All adult patients had a moderate-severe reduction in diffusion capacity. However, we observed a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, including Pulmonary Venoocclusive Disease suspicion, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary vascular abnormalities and congenital heart disease. Conclusions: Genetic testing is now essential for a correct diagnosis work-up in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. TBX4-associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension has marked clinical heterogeneity. In this regard, a genetic study is extremely useful to obtain an accurate diagnosis and provide appropriate management.This project was founded by Project "Bases Gene´tico Moleculares de la Medicina de Precisio´n en la Hipertensio´n Arterial Pulmonar". Funder: Instituto Carlos III. Ministerio de Economı´a y Competitividad. https://www.isciii.es/Paginas/Inicio.aspx Award number: PI 18/01233 Grant Recipient: P E-

The problematic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in adolescents by the cross sectional JOITIC study

Background: The emerging field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has brought about new interaction styles. Its excessive use may lead to addictive behaviours. The objective is to determine the prevalence of the problematic use of ICT such as Internet, mobile phones and video games, among adolescents enrolled in mandatory Secondary Education (ESO in Spanish) and to examine associated factors. Methods: Cross sectional, multi-centric descriptive study. Population: 5538 students enrolled in years one to four of ESO at 28 schools in the Vallès Occidental region (Barcelona, Spain). Data collection: self-administered socio-demographic and ICT access questionnaire, and validated questionnaires on experiences related to the use of the Internet, mobile phones and video games (CERI, CERM, CERV). Results: Questionnaires were collected from 5,538 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20 (77.3 % of the total response), 48.6 % were females. Problematic use of the Internet was observed in 13.6 % of the surveyed individuals; problematic use of mobile phones in 2.4 % and problematic use in video games in 6.2 %. Problematic Internet use was associated with female students, tobacco consumption, a background of binge drinking, the use of cannabis or other drugs, poor academic performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of the computer. Factors associated with the problematic use of mobile phones were the consumption of other drugs and an intensive use of these devices. Frequent problems with video game use have been associated with male students, the consumption of other drugs, poor academic performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of these games. Conclusions: This study offers information on the prevalence of addictive behaviours of the Internet, mobile phones and video game use. The problematic use of these ICT devices has been related to the consumption of drugs, poor academic performance and poor family relationships. This intensive use may constitute a risk marker for ICT addictio

A corpus-based analysis of the meaning and function of although

The extent to which semantic and pragmatic descriptions of linguistic phenomena should be based on naturally occurring language is subject to debate. In the case of discourse markers and connective expressions, most research remains at a theoretical level, despite the increasing interest in the use of corpora for linguistic analysis in the last decades. We undertake a corpus-based analysis of the meaning and function of although, drawing on previous descriptions of this unit formulated from different theoretical perspectives (discourse analysis, pragmatics, semantics). We aim to contribute empirical evidence for certain claims made in the literature, and to complement such descriptions with our findings. The study focuses on the type of contrast expressed by although, the elements of the contrast relation and the structure of the information. First, the theoretical background for the particular issues we study is presented. Then, the objectives and methodology are explained, and results discussed.La medida en que las descripciones semánticas y pragmáticas de fenómenos lingüísticos deberían basarse en el lenguaje natural está abierta a debate. En el caso de los marcadores discursivos y expresiones conectivas, la mayor parte de la investigación se realiza en el plano teórico, a pesar del creciente interés por la utilización de córpora para el análisis lingüístico. Presentamos un análisis del significado y la función de although basado en un corpus, partiendo de las descripciones de esta unidad formuladas desde distintas perspectivas teóricas (análisis del discurso, pragmática, semántica). Pretendemos contrastar empíricamente algunas afirmaciones realizadas en la bibliografía, y complementar tales descripciones con nuestros resultados. Analizamos el tipo de contraste expresado por although, los elementos de la relación de contraste y la estructura de la información. En primer lugar, se presenta el marco teórico de las cuestiones estudiadas. Seguidamente, se explican los objetivos y metodología del trabajo y se discuten los resultados

The move-step structure of the introductory sections of Spanish PHD theses

This paper presents an analysis of the introductory sections of 21 PhD theses in computing written in Spanish. The study is based on a modified version of Bunton's revised CARS model for English PhD thesis introductions (2002). Spanish PhD thesis introductions take special care in contextualising the research and explaining the organisation of the theses, which accounts for the high number of steps and sub-steps distinguished. Besides, most introductions present either alternating moves or recurrent sequences of moves which form different cyclical patterns. Our findings suggest that the construction of the Spanish thesis introductions is complex due to the nature of the research topic, the various objects under study and the need the graduate student feels to display an extensive knowledge of the field and to clearly announce his/her research.El presente artículo analiza las secciones introductorias de 21 tesis doctorales escritas en español en el ámbito de la informática. El estudio se basa en la propuesta de Bunton (2002) a partir del modelo estructural CARS, sobre introducciones de tesis escritas en inglés. Las tesis en español dedican especial atención a contextualizar la investigación y especificar el esquema organizativo del estudio, lo que explica la aparición de nuevos submovimientos. Además, la mayoría de las introducciones presentan alternancias de movimientos o secuencias recurrentes de movimientos que conforman diferentes patrones de ciclicidad. Los resultados muestran la complejidad de las introducciones de las tesis en español debido a la naturaleza de la investigación, a los diferentes elementos de estudio y a la necesidad del doctorando de exhibir su conocimiento de la disciplina y presentar con claridad el objeto del trabajo

A study of section headings in computing, robotics and telecommunications research articles

In this study we analyse section headings and subheadings of 40 research articles (RAs) in the fields of computing, robotics and telecommunications to identify their macro-structure. Our findings reveal that the standard Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion (IMRD) model described by Swales (1990) as the prototypical structure of the RA cannot account for all the specific choices regarding organization and headings of individual RAs. Scientific writers split the information into a variable number of sections and subsections and combine generic headings with unconventional ones. Generic and partially generic section headings and subheadings help the reader understand the way the writer presents and organizes contents. But when the terminology is topic-specific and does not indicate the rhetorical function of the sections, it is necessary to consult the abstract or the introduction and study the overall purpose of the RA to recognize its organizational pattern. However, a certain cyclical or symmetrical structure at the lexical and syntactic levels is usually kept in different sections.Este trabajo analiza el desarrollo de la macroestructura a partir de los títulos y subtítulos de las secciones de un corpus de 40 artículos de investigación de revistas científicas de informática, robótica y telecomunicaciones. Aunque algunos artículos reproducen el esquema Introducción-Método-Resultados-Discusión (IMRD) descrito por Swales (1990) como la estructura prototípica del artículo de investigación, destaca el número de artículos que presentan variantes. La información aparece segmentada en secciones y subsecciones combinando títulos genéricos y títulos no-convencionales. Los genéricos (y parcialmente genéricos) orientan al lector sobre la manera en que se presenta el esquema organizativo escogido por el autor. Pero cuando la terminología refleja el contenido específico de la sección o subsección y no su función retórica, resulta necesario recurrir al resumen o a la introducción y buscar el propósito general del artículo para averiguar cómo está estructurada la información. Con todo, se suele mantener una cierta coherencia mediante la simetría o ciclicidad léxica y sintáctica de los títulos y subtítulos de las secciones

A study of section headings in computing, robotics and telecommunications research articles

In this study we analyse section headings and subheadings of 40 research articles (RAs) in the fields of computing, robotics and telecommunications to identify their macro-structure. Our findings reveal that the standard Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion (IMRD) model described by Swales (1990) as the prototypical structure of the RA cannot account for all the specific choices regarding organization and headings of individual RAs. Scientific writers split the information into a variable number of sections and subsections and combine generic headings with unconventional ones. Generic and partially generic section headings and subheadings help the reader understand the way the writer presents and organizes contents. But when the terminology is topic-specific and does not indicate the rhetorical function of the sections, it is necessary to consult the abstract or the introduction and study the overall purpose of the RA to recognize its organizational pattern. However, a certain cyclical or symmetrical structure at the lexical and syntactic levels is usually kept in different sections.Este trabajo analiza el desarrollo de la macroestructura a partir de los títulos y subtítulos de las secciones de un corpus de 40 artículos de investigación de revistas científicas de informática, robótica y telecomunicaciones. Aunque algunos artículos reproducen el esquema Introducción-Método-Resultados-Discusión (IMRD) descrito por Swales (1990) como la estructura prototípica del artículo de investigación, destaca el número de artículos que presentan variantes. La información aparece segmentada en secciones y subsecciones combinando títulos genéricos y títulos no-convencionales. Los genéricos (y parcialmente genéricos) orientan al lector sobre la manera en que se presenta el esquema organizativo escogido por el autor. Pero cuando la terminología refleja el contenido específico de la sección o subsección y no su función retórica, resulta necesario recurrir al resumen o a la introducción y buscar el propósito general del artículo para averiguar cómo está estructurada la información. Con todo, se suele mantener una cierta coherencia mediante la simetría o ciclicidad léxica y sintáctica de los títulos y subtítulos de las secciones