Modalități de contextualizare în comunicarea mediată de calculator

Particularitățile cyberspațiului și restricțiile temporale și spațiale pe care le presupune au dus la dezvoltarea unor modalități de contextualizare a comunicării care sunt specifice lumii virtuale. Caracterul lacunar al comunicării mediate de calculator este completat de convenții menite să redea contextul sociologic, psihologic şi lingvistic, compensând astfel lipsa limbajului nonverbal şi paraverbal și ambiguitatea situațiilor de comunicare. Aceste convenții combină mijloace de expresivitate lingvistică și imagistică și provoacă internauții să-și manifeste creativitatea, pentru a-și clarifica intențiile conversaționale. Această lucrare prezintă o perspectivă pragmatică și se concentrează pe elementele care compun contextul comunicării mediate de calculator (așa cum se manifestă aceasta în mesageria instantanee), referindu-se la modul cum sunt redefinite convențiile lingvistice, cât şi la rolul emoji-urilor, gif-urilor şi memelor în acest sens. Analiza abordează metodele de marcare a afectivităţii și mărcile pragmatice specifice comunicării mediate de calculator. În aceea ce priveşte emoji-urile, gif-urile şi memele, lucrarea evidenţiază atât forţa lor ilocuţionară, calitatea de acte de vorbire, cât şi modul cum interpretarea imaginii poate duce la renegocierea sensurilor

The Semantics and Pragmatics of an Old Romanian Expression: “a se duce la Cucuiata”

This paper analyses, from a semantic and pragmatic perspective, the meaning of an old Romanian phraseological unit a se duce la Cucuiata, thus providing insights into the archaic Romanian mentality and cultural patterns. Originating from the word cucui (bump), cucuiata was used to designate an elevated plot of land. The expression included, initially, a euphemistic reference to death, as archaic burial places were usually located on hills, and constituted a linguistic device mirroring the reluctance to deal with human mortality in an undeviating way. However, the connotations of the expression have changed in contemporary Romanian language, to refer to a secluded, distant place, far from civilization, often a symbol of lack of education and limited understanding of the world (pejorative meaning). To reveal the present-day uses of this word, the paper examines and interprets contexts taken from the virtual environment

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Age and frailty are independently associated with increased COVID-19 mortality and increased care needs in survivors: results of an international multi-centre study

Introduction: Increased mortality has been demonstrated in older adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the effect of frailty has been unclear. Methods: This multi-centre cohort study involved patients aged 18 years and older hospitalised with COVID-19, using routinely collected data. We used Cox regression analysis to assess the impact of age, frailty and delirium on the risk of inpatient mortality, adjusting for sex, illness severity, inflammation and co-morbidities. We used ordinal logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of age, Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and delirium on risk of increased care requirements on discharge, adjusting for the same variables. Results: Data from 5,711 patients from 55 hospitals in 12 countries were included (median age 74, interquartile range [IQR] 54–83; 55.2% male). The risk of death increased independently with increasing age (>80 versus 18–49: hazard ratio [HR] 3.57, confidence interval [CI] 2.54–5.02), frailty (CFS 8 versus 1–3: HR 3.03, CI 2.29–4.00) inflammation, renal disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer, but not delirium. Age, frailty (CFS 7 versus 1–3: odds ratio 7.00, CI 5.27–9.32), delirium, dementia and mental health diagnoses were all associated with increased risk of higher care needs on discharge. The likelihood of adverse outcomes increased across all grades of CFS from 4 to 9. Conclusion: Age and frailty are independently associated with adverse outcomes in COVID-19. Risk of increased care needs was also increased in survivors of COVID-19 with frailty or older age.</p