Metaphor and Hyperbole: Testing the Continuity Hypothesis

In standard Relevance Theory, hyperbole and metaphor are categorized together as loose uses of language, on a continuum with approximations, category extensions and other cases of loosening/broadening of meaning. Specifically, it is claimed that there are no interesting differences (in either interpretation or processing) between hyperbolic and metaphorical uses (Sperber & Wilson, 2008). In recent work, we have set out to provide a more fine-grained articulation of the similarities and differences between hyperbolic and metaphorical uses and their relation to literal uses (Carston & Wearing, 2011, 2014). We have defended the view that hyperbolic use involves a shift of magnitude along a dimension which is intrinsic to the encoded meaning of the hyperbole vehicle, while metaphor involves a multi-dimensional qualitative shift away from the encoded meaning of the metaphor vehicle. In this article, we present three experiments designed to test the predictions of this analysis, using a variety of tasks (paraphrase elicitation, self-paced reading and sentence verification). The results of the study support the view that hyperbolic and metaphorical interpretations, despite their commonalities as loose uses of language, are significantly different

Perceptual, semantic, and pragmatic factors affect the derivation of contrastive inferences

People derive contrastive inferences when interpreting adjectives (e.g., inferring that ‘the short pencil’ is being contrasted with a longer one). However, classic eye-tracking studies revealed contrastive inferences with scalar and material adjectives, but not with color adjectives. This was explained as a difference in listeners’ informativity expectations, since color adjectives are often used descriptively (hence not warranting a contrastive interpretation). Here we hypothesized that, beyond these pragmatic factors, perceptual factors (i.e., the relative perceptibility of color, material and scalar contrast) and semantic factors (i.e., the difference between gradable and non-gradable properties) also affect the real-time derivation of contrastive inferences. We tested these predictions in three languages with prenominal modification (English, Hindi, and Hungarian) and found that people derive contrastive inferences for color and scalar adjectives, but not for material adjectives. In addition, the processing of scalar adjectives was more context dependent than that of color and material adjectives, confirming that pragmatic, perceptual and semantic factors affect the derivation of contrastive inferences

Bayesian variable selection and survival modeling: assessing the Most important comorbidities that impact lung and colorectal cancer survival in Spain

ancer survival represents one of the main indicators of interest in cancer epidemiology. However, the survival of cancer patients can be affected by several factors, such as comorbidities, that may interact with the cancer biology. Moreover, it is interesting to understand how different cancer sites and tumour stages are affected by different comorbidities. Identifying the comorbidities that affect cancer survival is thus of interest as it can be used to identify factors driving the survival of cancer patients. This information can also be used to identify vulnerable groups of patients with comorbidities that may lead to worst prognosis of cancer. We address these questions and propose a principled selection and evaluation of the effect of comorbidities on the overall survival of cancer patients. In the first step, we apply a Bayesian variable selection method that can be used to identify the comorbidities that predict overall survival. In the second step, we build a general Bayesian survival model that accounts for time-varying effects. In the third step, we derive several posterior predictive measures to quantify the effect of individual comorbidities on the population overall survival. We present applications to data on lung and colorectal cancers from two Spanish population-based cancer registries. The proposed methodology is implemented with a combination of the R-packages mombf and rstan. We provide the code for reproducibility at https://github.com/migariane/BayesVarImpComorbiCancer

Aflatoxin M1 in the intermediate dairy products from Manchego cheese production: distribution and stability

[EN] Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1 ) distribution in curd, whey, Manchego cheese, the traditional Spanish whey cheese Requesón and Requesón whey, and its stability during two different cold treatments, have been studied. Raw ewe¿s milk was artificially contaminated with AFM1 in a final concentration of 50 and 100 ng kg-1, and was used to produce Manchego cheese. AFM1 determinations were carried out by HPLC with fluorimetric detection after immunoaffinity clean-up. The mean AFM1 concentrations in the produced curd and Manchego cheese were approximately 2- and 3-fold higher than the initial milk they were made from, and the levels of this toxin remaining in whey were 42.3 % and 51.3 % of the initial concentrations. In the Requesón samples, the mean AFM1 values were 1.7 times higher than those in the corresponding whey, while 33.7 % and 44.4 % of the AFM1 concentration detected in milk also appeared in the Requesón whey. Short refrigeration and freezing periods did not affect the toxin levels in either curd or Requesón samples. When ewe¿s milk destined for Manchego cheese-making is AFM1 -contaminated at the EU limit level (50 ng kg-1) or double, a concentration of this toxin will appear in the manufactured products, but values will be considerably below the toxic doses (Tolerable Daily Intake = 2 ng kg-1 body weight per day), which poses a human health problem.Rubio, R.; Moya Salvador, VJ.; Berruga Fernandez, MI.; Molina Pons, MP.; Molina Casanova, A. (2011). Aflatoxin M1 in the intermediate dairy products from Manchego cheese production: distribution and stability. Mljekarstvo. 61(4):283-290. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/90949S28329061

Room-temperature Operation of Low-voltage, Non-volatile, Compound-semiconductor Memory Cells

Whilst the different forms of conventional (charge-based) memories are well suited to their individual roles in computers and other electronic devices, flaws in their properties mean that intensive research into alternative, or emerging, memories continues. In particular, the goal of simultaneously achieving the contradictory requirements of non-volatility and fast, low-voltage (low-energy) switching has proved challenging. Here, we report an oxide-free, floating-gate memory cell based on III-V semiconductor heterostructures with a junctionless channel and non-destructive read of the stored data. Non-volatile data retention of at least 104 s in combination with switching at ≤2.6 V is achieved by use of the extraordinary 2.1 eV conduction band offsets of InAs/AlSb and a triple-barrier resonant tunnelling structure. The combination of low-voltage operation and small capacitance implies intrinsic switching energy per unit area that is 100 and 1000 times smaller than dynamic random access memory and Flash respectively. The device may thus be considered as a new emerging memory with considerable potential

CHK1 expression in gastric cancer is modulated by p53 and RB1/E2F1: Implications in chemo/radiotherapy response

Radiation has a limited but relevant role in the adjuvant therapy of gastric cancer (GC) patients. Since Chk1 plays a critical function in cellular response to genotoxic agents, we aimed to analyze the role of Chk1 in GC as a biomarker for radiotherapy resistance. We analyzed Chk1 expression in AGS and MKN45 human GC cell lines by RT-QPCR and WB and in a small cohort of human patient’s samples. We demonstrated that Chk1 overexpression specifically increases resistance to radiation in GC cells. Accordingly, abrogation of Chk1 activity with UCN-01 and its expression with shChk1 increased sensitivity to bleomycin and radiation. Furthermore, when we assessed Chk1 expression in human samples, we found a correlation between nuclear Chk1 accumulation and a decrease in progression free survival. Moreover, using a luciferase assay we found that Chk1’s expression is controlled by p53 and RB/E2F1 at the transcriptional level. Additionally, we present preliminary data suggesting a posttranscriptional regulation mechanism, involving miR-195 and miR-503, which are inversely correlated with expression of Chk1 in radioresistant cells. In conclusion, Chk1/microRNA axis is involved in resistance to radiation in GC, and suggests Chk1 as a potential tool for optimal stratification of patients susceptible to receive adjuvant radiotherapy after surgeryThis work was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III–Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (PS09/1988 to ISP; PI11-00949, pI014-1495 and Feder Funds to RP); Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (CCG10-UAM/BIO-5871 to ISP); Fundación Leticia Castillejo Castillo and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2012-30862 to RSP), Spain

Autonomous CPSoS for cognitive large manufacturing industries.

The general aim of a cognitive Cyber Physical System of Systems (CPSoS) is to provide managed access to data in a smart fashion such that sensing and actuation capabilities are connected. Whilst there is significant funding and research devoted to this area, focus remains purely on creating bespoke systems. This paper presents a novel approach, based on a set of components to leverage Situational Awareness and Smart Actuation in large manufacturing industries with the focus on enabling predictive maintenance for asset and abnormal situation management. This paper presents a novel generic platform, named AtiCoS, that combines case-based and common-sense reasoning, as the enabling methodologies for enhancing CPSoS with cognitive capabilities

Monitoring the influence of marine aquaculture on wild fish communities: benefits and limitations of fatty acid profiles

Fatty acids (FA) have been applied as indicators of the influence of coastal sea-cage fish farming on wild fish communities in several recent scientific publications. Due to the relatively high conservation of FA composition throughout the food web, they are useful for characterizing trophic relationships. The increasing utilization of vegetable or alternative animal oils in the production of aquafeeds results in cultivated fish exhibiting higher levels of terrestrial FAs in their tissues. As previously reported, wild fish ubiquitously aggregate around fish farms as a consequence of the introduction of new habitat and the easy availability of food—fish farms act as enhanced fish aggregation devices (FADs). The influence of food pellets on the composition of wild fish has been detected in recent studies on salmon, sea bass and sea bream aquaculture, with increased levels of linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and a low n-3/n-6 ratio as clear indicators of the consumption of food pellets from the farms. The potential ecological and physiological effects on wild fish are presently unknown. In the present article, guidelines are proposed for the investigation and use of terrestrial FAs to track the effects of coastal aquaculture on wild fish communities and local fisheries, as well as the benefits or limitations of this technique

The Tribology of Sliding Elastic Media

The tribology of a sliding elastic continuum in contact with a disordered substrate is investigated analytically and numerically via a bead-spring model. The deterministic dynamics of this system exhibits a depinning transition at a finite driving force, with complex spatial-temporal dynamics including stick-slip events of all sizes. These behaviors can be understood completely by mapping the system to the well-known problem of a directed-path in {\em higher-dimensional } random media.Comment: Uuencode file: 4 pages, small changes in the previous versio

Accuracy in Copy Number Calling by qPCR and PRT: A Matter of DNA

The possible implication of copy number variation (CNV) in the genetic susceptibility to human disease needs to be assessed using robust methods that can be applied at a population scale. In this report, we analyze the performance of the two major techniques, quantitative PCR (qPCR) and paralog ratio test (PRT), and investigate the influence of input DNA amount and template integrity on the reliability of both methods. Analysis of three genes (PRELID1, SYNPO and DEFB4) in a large sample set showed that both methods are prone to false copy number assignments if sufficient attention is not paid to DNA concentration and quality. Accurate normalization of samples is essential for reproducible qPCR because it avoids the effect of differential amplification efficiencies between target and control assays, whereas PRT is generally more sensitive to template degradation due to the fact that longer amplicons are usually needed to optimize sensitivity and specificity of paralog sequence PCR. The use of normalized, high quality genomic DNA yields comparable results with both methods