Verbaalsest irooniast Heiti Talviku ja Betti Alveri luule näitel. Verbal irony in the poetry of Heiti Talvik and Betti Alver

The article treats verbal irony in the poetry of two emblematic Estonian poets, Heiti Talvik and Betti Alver. The texts analysed are from the 1930s. Following the example of many scholars of irony, I have distinguished between two basic types of irony: verbal irony and situational irony. The first departs from the traditional definition of irony (saying one thing and meaning the contrary) and centres on the use of language, on certain verbal and stylistic devices that make the receiver of the text perceive it as ironic. Situational irony refers to the recognition of the coexistence of incompatible opposites, to the feeling of the most absurd unexpectedness. The aim of the article is to locate and explain the functioning mechanisms of this verbal device in the poetry of Heiti Talvik and Betti Alver. First, there are ironies based on antonyms and/or on the negation of predication, which can be categorized as instances of classic rhetorical irony. We find in Talvik’s and Alver’s poetry few metaphors that can be explained as simple ironic metaphors (L is said but metaphorically N is meant, which in turn must be changed to its opposite value to reach the final referent N ->M=~N). Metonymy has a great inherent potential for irony: if the whole is represented by one of its parts, this often produces a mocking effect, which is the basic characteristic of irony. One can identify a particular kind of ironic metonymy in Talvik’s and Alver’s poetry when proper names (such as Casanova or Jeanne d’Arc) are used to indicate certain traits (the art of living and courage), while actually meaning the opposite (triviality and cowardice). Similar to the first group of classic irony are those instances where ironic oppositions between what is said and what is meant are not based on antonyms but rather on the difference between the highest, the most valuable level, of the imaginable scale and the zero point; for example, what is said is noble, but what is meant is ridiculous. In Alver’s poetry, there are texts that imply antonymic ironic oppositions (pastpresent, local-foreign, sensibility-reflection) but it is not possible to decide for either pole, since ambivalence remains. Well known among scholars of irony, Dan Sperber’s and Deirdre Wilson’s theory of irony as a type of mention is superbly applicable to instances interpreted as ironic in Talvik’s and Alver’s poetry. As Sperber and Wilson have explained, “use of an expression involves reference to what the expression refers, mention of an expression involves reference to the expression itself” (Sperber, Wilson 1981: 303); in the case of irony, the speaker produces a phrase, hinting at the same time that it is improper, ridiculous or in some other way unsuitable to the situation. The theory of irony as a type of mention fits well with Oswald Ducrot’s theory of the polyphony of language, which distinguishes between the speaker (locuteur) and the enunciator (énonciateur). In ordinary discourse, these often coincide, but irony is one of the cases in which the speaker produces statements that he himself does not believe in. In Alver’s and Talvik’s poetry, there are many instances of irony which can best be explained as the mention of an opinion held by another which is unacceptable to the speaker himself. Quite similar to irony as a type of mention is ironic role play in which the speaker is clearly not identifiable with the implied author, since the role taken is opposed to the standpoint of the implied author. Talvik’s and Alver’s poetry does not contain pure role play but only elements of it

Prognostic and predictive value of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma:a translational study

Introduction: Effective (neo) adjuvant chemotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma is lacking due to chemoresistance and the absence of predictive biomarkers. Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) has been described as a potential prognostic and predictive biomarker. In this study, the potential of rabbit-derived (SP120) and murine-derived (10D7G2) antibodies to detect hENT1 expression was compared in tissue samples of patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC), and the predictive value of hENT1 was investigated in three ECC cell lines.Methods: Tissues of 71 chemonaïve patients with histological confirmation of ECC were selected and stained with SP120 or 10D7G2 to assess the inter-observer variability for both antibodies and the correlation with overall survival. Concomitantly, gemcitabine sensitivity after hENT1 knockdown was assessed in the ECC cell lines EGI-1, TFK-1, and SK-ChA-1 using sulforhodamine B assays.Results: Scoring immunohistochemistry for hENT1 expression with the use of SP120 antibody resulted in the highest interobserver agreement but did not show a prognostic role of hENT1. However, 10D7G2 showed a prognostic role for hENT1, and a potential predictive role for gemcitabine sensitivity in hENT1 in SK-ChA-1 and TFK-1 cells was found.Discussion: These findings prompt further studies for both preclinical validation of the role of hENT1 and histochemical standardization in cholangiocarcinoma patients treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy

№ 1. Прохання парафіяльної Ради Ново-Слов’янського кафедрального собору до отця О. Ярещенка про відправлення архієрейської служби на «Зелені Свята» від 18 травня 1923 р.

Публікація Д. Бойко, І. Бухарєвої, С. Кокіна, П. Кулаковського

Unlocking the diagnostic power of plasma extracellular vesicle miR-200 family in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Background: Distinguishing benign from malignant pancreaticobiliary disease is challenging because of the absence of reliable biomarkers. Circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as functional mediators between cells. Their cargos, including microRNAs (miRNAs), are increasingly acknowledged as an important source of potential biomarkers. This multicentric, prospective study aimed to establish a diagnostic plasma EV-derived miRNA signature to discriminate pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) from benign pancreaticobiliary disease. Methods: Plasma EVs were isolated using size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and characterised using nanoparticle tracking analysis, electron microscopy and Western blotting. EV-RNAs underwent small RNA sequencing to discover differentially expressed markers for PDAC (n = 10 benign vs. 10 PDAC). Candidate EV-miRNAs were then validated in a cohort of 61 patients (n = 31 benign vs. 30 PDAC) by RT-qPCR. Logistic regression and optimal thresholds (Youden Index) were used to develop an EV-miR-200 family model to detect cancer. This model was tested in an independent cohort of 95 patients (n = 30 benign, 33 PDAC, and 32 cholangiocarcinoma). Results: Small RNA sequencing and RT-qPCR showed that EV-miR-200 family members were significantly overexpressed in PDAC vs. benign disease. Combined expression of the EV-miR-200 family showed an AUC of 0.823. In an independent validation cohort, application of this model showed a sensitivity, specificity and AUC of 100%, 88%, and 0.97, respectively, for diagnosing PDAC. Conclusions: This is the first study to validate plasma EV-miR-200 members as a clinically-useful diagnostic biomarker for PDAC. Further validation in larger cohorts and clinical trials is essential. These findings also suggest the potential utility in monitoring response and/or recurrence. Graphical Abstract

Prognostic and predictive value of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) in extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a translational study

Introduction: Effective (neo) adjuvant chemotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma is lacking due to chemoresistance and the absence of predictive biomarkers. Human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) has been described as a potential prognostic and predictive biomarker. In this study, the potential of rabbit-derived (SP120) and murine-derived (10D7G2) antibodies to detect hENT1 expression was compared in tissue samples of patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ECC), and the predictive value of hENT1 was investigated in three ECC cell lines. Methods: Tissues of 71 chemonaïve patients with histological confirmation of ECC were selected and stained with SP120 or 10D7G2 to assess the inter-observer variability for both antibodies and the correlation with overall survival. Concomitantly, gemcitabine sensitivity after hENT1 knockdown was assessed in the ECC cell lines EGI-1, TFK-1, and SK-ChA-1 using sulforhodamine B assays. Results: Scoring immunohistochemistry for hENT1 expression with the use of SP120 antibody resulted in the highest interobserver agreement but did not show a prognostic role of hENT1. However, 10D7G2 showed a prognostic role for hENT1, and a potential predictive role for gemcitabine sensitivity in hENT1 in SK-ChA-1 and TFK-1 cells was found. Discussion: These findings prompt further studies for both preclinical validation of the role of hENT1 and histochemical standardization in cholangiocarcinoma patients treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy

Risk adjusted, concurrent development of microsystems and reconfigurable manufacturing systems

Controlling uncertainties is a challenging aspect in design and manufacturing of microsystems. As microsystems are characterised by features in the micro domain, product development and manufacturing processes are applied at the boundaries of their operational areas. In combination with many disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software, chemical etc.) and little standardisation, it causes microsystems development to be more time and cost intensive than products in the macro domain. Development of microsystems benefits from a concurrent approach of product and production design. Uncertainties may be addressed by application of methods for systems engineering (engineering design). Systems engineering applies models for the analysis of projects, usually a linear set of gates that need to be closed successively as the project evolves. Over the last ten years, models with an iterative approach of design and testing, gained in popularity due to their more agile characteristic that performs better in fast changing markets. Microsystems development benefits from the linear approach that performs well for their structured project control, but because of the high market dynamics, agile methods will speed up the process, which results in faster market introduction, advances the product life cycle, and increases return on investments. Currently, there are no known systems engineering models that combine linear and iterative monitoring of projects to gain the best of both methods, especially not in combination with the capability of concurrently monitoring the development of product and production design. This thesis investigates how existing ways of system engineering can be combined to: (RQ1) enable iterative and linear modelling of microsystems development, and (RQ2) merge these qualities into a combined model to monitor the development process concurrently. The first problem is addressed by (RQ1): i. Modelling development progression by execution of iterative cycles that alternately perform functional system decomposition and functional gating. ii. This iterative model is elevated with the method of Axiomatic Design to enable concurrent system decomposition. Implementation of elements from the V-Modell XT enable functional gating to index the concurrent development process iii. The ‘Theory of Complexity’ of Axiomatic Design is applied to realise an intelligent, knowledge based, gating function to be used as a continuous maturity measure; The results show that linear and iterative models can be merged successfully. With some extensions, the Theory of Complexity of Axiomatic Design can indeed be used for continuous monitoring of product and process development. The thus-obtained maturity measure can be applied for the analysis of project decisions. This was successfully done for retrospective analysis of two cases. To merge the qualities of analyses ‘i to iii’ into a combined model to monitor the development process concurrently, three tools for application have been developed (RQ2). iv. The first is a method for visualisation of the intelligent gating function, based on analysis ‘iii’. The method applies a newly developed ‘Maturity Diagram’ that plots the Design Axioms as continuous parameters v. The second is a method for assessment of reconfigurable manufacturing systems based on analysis ‘ii’. The method estimates the investigations needed to (re)configure a product specific manufacturing system vi. The third is a tool for roadmapping and monitoring that combines outcomes of analyses ‘i, ii, and iii’. This model is called ‘Constituent Roadmap’ and it is based on: (a) an iterative approach, (b) concurrent decomposition, (c) the advanced gating function, and (d) knowledge application to the product and process design. The Constituent Roadmap was applied for the development of a ‘smart dust’ sensor system. It was found to structure knowledge development and application. This increases the chances to satisfy the functional requirements of the design. In parallel, it functions as a communications tool between designers and managers. Together, a reasonably complete picture has emerged how the design of microsystems and their production means can be modelled, and how uncertainties may be categorised so they can be addressed in the best order

Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Flexible Automation & Intelligent Manufacturing; FAIM 2014

Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Flexible Automation & Intelligent Manufacturing, held May 20-23, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, and organized by the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Lean Systems, University of Texas at San Antonio; Includes bibliographical references; Manufacturing technology can improve the turnover of a company if it enables fast market introduction for volume production. Reconfigurable equipment is developed to meet the growing demand for more agile production. Modular reconfiguration, defined as changing the structure of the machine, enables larger variation of products on a single manufacturing system; these solutions are called Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS). The quality of RMS, and the required resources to bring it to reliable production, is largely determined by a swift execution of the reconfiguration process. This paper proposes a method to compare alternatives for the ways to implement reconfiguration. Three classes of reconfiguration are defined to distinguish the impact of the proposed alternatives. The procedure uses a recently introduced index method for development of RMS process modules. This index method is based on the Axiomatic Design theory. Weighing factors are used to calculate the resources and lead time needed to implement the reconfiguration process. Application of the method leads to quick comparison of alternatives in the early stage of development. Successful execution of the method was demonstrated for the manufacturing process of a 3D measuring prob