Subtext as humour: Grammatical ‘hidden meaning’ as part of pun and metaphor in English

Corpus-derived subtext is a new development in Contextual Prosodic Theory (Louw 2010a), which this paper employs, among other tools provided by CPT, in the attempt to give corpus-attested definitions of pun and metaphor. Subtext is defined as the most frequent lexical variables contained in a given grammatical string. Corpus stylistic research (Louw and Milojkovic, 2014) has shown that subtext participates in conveying meaning, albeit at a subconscious level, because lexical variables within grammar strings are opaque to intuition. In the process of providing the definitions of these two vastly different literary devices it becomes apparent that, although there is no grammar without its most frequent lexical variables, these do not participate in meaning creation when it comes to pun if the purpose of this device is solely to amuse, as in comic one-liners.  When pun is part of a grander design, however, within a broader context of situation, and where both its meanings create their own states of affairs participating in the transition in a text, corpus-derived subtext does play a meaningful role. Metaphor, unlike simple wordplay, always involves subtext, which can be objectively revealed by studying its interaction with the text’s context clues.Corpus-derived subtext is a new development in Contextual Prosodic Theory (Louw 2010a), which this paper employs, among other tools provided by CPT, in the attempt to give corpus-attested definitions of pun and metaphor. Subtext is defined as the most frequent lexical variables contained in a given grammatical string. Corpus stylistic research (Louw and Milojkovic, 2014) has shown that subtext participates in conveying meaning, albeit at a subconscious level, because lexical variables within grammar strings are opaque to intuition. In the process of providing the definitions of these two vastly different literary devices it becomes apparent that, although there is no grammar without its most frequent lexical variables, these do not participate in meaning creation when it comes to pun if the purpose of this device is solely to amuse, as in comic one-liners.  When pun is part of a grander design, however, within a broader context of situation, and where both its meanings create their own states of affairs participating in the transition in a text, corpus-derived subtext does play a meaningful role. Metaphor, unlike simple wordplay, always involves subtext, which can be objectively revealed by studying its interaction with the text’s context clues

Observational narratives and feminist practice : an analysis of Kim Longinotto's documentary filmmaking using Rough Aunties (2008) as a case study.

M.A. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2014.This research is primarily focused on the feminist filmmaker Kim Longinotto’s South African-based documentary Rough Aunties (2008). Through a process of close analysis it aims to describe how Longinotto structures the observational material that she gathered for this film; to place this analysis in the context of her other films that share thematic and stylistic similarities; and to explore the link between these filmmaking techniques and Longinotto’s feminist agenda. Despite her films falling into what Nichols (2001) describes as the observational mode, this research argues that Bruzzi’s (2000, 2006) concept of the mixed-mode documentary provides a more appropriate framework for understanding Longinotto’s films. In order to substantiate this view, this research draws on and adapts the analytical framework that Bordwell and Thompson (2001, 2008) use for the analysis of feature films and shows how Longinotto’s film narrative is built out of a series of loosely interconnected petits récits (Lyotard, 1984, 1992), a technique which allows her to respect the unpredictable voices of her subjects and also to acknowledge the presence and significance of the camera. Examination of both these elements of Longinotto’s film-making practice leads to the conclusion that Smaill (2009) is correct when she argues that Longinotto is an underrated feminist filmmaker whose work provides an opportunity for the voices of women on the margins to be heard. The text-based analysis is supported by material drawn from two extended interviews: one with the filmmaker herself, the other with Mildred Ngcobo, one of the leading characters in Rough Aunties. Keywords: Kim Longinotto, observational documentary, mixed-mode documentary, petits récits, narrative structure, third wave feminism, feminist filmmaking

BroncoVote: Secure Voting System Using Ethereum’s Blockchain

Voting is a fundamental part of democratic systems; it gives individuals in a community the faculty to voice their opinion. In recent years, voter turnout has diminished while concerns regarding integrity, security, and accessibility of current voting systems have escalated. E-voting was introduced to address those concerns; however, it is not cost-effective and still requires full supervision by a central authority. The blockchain is an emerging, decentralized, and distributed technology that promises to enhance different aspects of many industries. Expanding e-voting into blockchain technology could be the solution to alleviate the present concerns in e-voting. In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based voting system, named BroncoVote, that preserves voter privacy and increases accessibility, while keeping the voting system transparent, secure, and cost-effective. BroncoVote implements a university-scaled voting framework that utilizes Ethereum’s blockchain and smart contracts to achieve voter administration and auditable voting records. In addition, BroncoVote utilizes a few cryptographic techniques, including homomorphic encryption, to promote voter privacy. Our implementation was deployed on Ethereum’s Testnet to demonstrate usability, scalability, and efficiency

Short-term dexamethasone plus acetylsalicylic acid treatment during in vitro fertilization procedure

Objectives: Embryo implantation represents the major limiting step during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure. Immu- nological and coagulation abnormalities were shown to have a substantial part in multifactorial etiology of IVF failure. We aimed to investigate the effect of short-term low-dose dexamethasone plus acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) treatment, starting at the time of embryo transfer, on the implantation and clinical pregnancy rates in general IVF population.  Material and methods: Out of 233 consecutive patients undergoing fresh IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles 64 received an adjuvant treatment consisting of dexamethasone (0.5 mg/day) plus ASA (100 mg/day) (DA group), starting on the day of embryo transfer. Patients not receiving these medications comprised a control group.  Results: Significantly more patients in DA group had positive ß-hCG values than controls (59.38% vs. 37.67%, p = 0.004) (OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.33–4.41). Implantation rate was 26.53% in DA group and 15.92% in controls (p = 0.0294). Clinical preg- nancy rate per started cycle was higher in DA group (43.59%) than controls (28.92%), but the difference was not significant (p = 0.0879; OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 0.89–4.41).  Conclusions: Our study shows a potential benefit of dexamethasone plus ASA adjuvant treatment in females undergoing IVF/ICSI procedure. As these results show improvement of IVF outcome, a greater number of patients undergoing this type and regime of adjuvant treatment should be investigated.

Visual search in ecological and non-ecological displays: Evidence for a non-monotonic effect of complexity on performance

Copyright @ 2013 PLoSThis article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Considerable research has been carried out on visual search, with single or multiple targets. However, most studies have used artificial stimuli with low ecological validity. In addition, little is known about the effects of target complexity and expertise in visual search. Here, we investigate visual search in three conditions of complexity (detecting a king, detecting a check, and detecting a checkmate) with chess players of two levels of expertise (novices and club players). Results show that the influence of target complexity depends on level of structure of the visual display. Different functional relationships were found between artificial (random chess positions) and ecologically valid (game positions) stimuli: With artificial, but not with ecologically valid stimuli, a “pop out” effect was present when a target was visually more complex than distractors but could be captured by a memory chunk. This suggests that caution should be exercised when generalising from experiments using artificial stimuli with low ecological validity to real-life stimuli.This study is funded by Brunel University and the article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Ponatinib in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML): Consensus on patient treatment and management from a European expert panel

Five tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are currently approved in the European Union for treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and all have considerable overlap in their indications. While disease-specific factors such as CML phase, mutational status, and line of treatment are key to TKI selection, other important features must be considered, such as patient-specific comorbidities and TKI safety profiles. Ponatinib, the TKI most recently approved, has demonstrated efficacy in patients with refractory CML, but is associated with an increased risk of arterial hypertension, sometimes severe, and serious arterial occlusive and venous thromboembolic events. A panel of European experts convened to discuss their clinical experience in managing patients with CML. Based on the panel discussions, scenarios in which a CML patient may be an appropriate candidate for ponatinib therapy are described, including presence of the T315I mutation, resistance to other TKIs without the T315I mutation, and intolerance to other TKIs

Anti-quorum sensing activity, toxicity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and phytochemical characterization of Trapa natans leaf extracts

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Trapa natans L. (water chestnut or water caltrop) is a widespread aquatic plant, which has been cultivated for food and traditional medicine since ancient times. Pharmacological studies showed that water chestnut exhibits the wide range of biological activities, such as antimicrobial, antioxidative, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, as well as antiulcer. Aim of the study: Evaluation of anti-virulence potential and toxicity of T. natans methanol (TnM), acetone (TnA) and ethyl acetate (TnEA) leaf extracts. Materials and methods: The anti-quorum sensing activity of Tn extracts was addressed by measuring their effects on biofilm formation, swarming motility and pyocyanin and elastase production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Specific P. aeruginosa biosensors were used to identify which of the signaling pathways were affected. The lethal and developmental toxicity of extracts were addressed in vivo using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model system. The phenolic composition of T. natans leafs extracts was analyzed by a linear ion trap-OrbiTrap hybrid mass spectrometer (LTQ OrbiTrapMS) and UHPLC system configured with a diode array detector (DAD) hyphenated with the triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Results: Subinhibitory concentrations of Tn leaf extracts (0.2 MIC) inhibited pyocyanin and elastase production up to 50% and 60%, respectively, and reduced swarming zones, comparing to non-treated P. aeruginosa. TnA inhibited biofilm formation by 15%, TnM showed a stimulatory effect on biofilm formation up to 20%, while TnEA showed no effect. The bioactive concentrations of TnM and TnA were not toxic in the zebrafish model system. Twenty-two phenolic compounds were tentatively identified in TnM, where thirteen of them were identified in T. natans for the first time. Tn extracts, as well as their major components, ellagic and ferulic acids, demonstrated the ability to interfere with P. aeruginosa Las and PQS signaling pathways. Conclusions: This study demonstrates anti-virulence potential of Tn leaf extracts against medically important pathogen P. aeruginosa and confirms the ethnopharmacological application of this plant against microbial infections.Related to published version: [https://imagine.imgge.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1111]This is the peer reviewed version of the paper: Aleksić, I., Ristivojević, P., Pavić, A., Radojević, I., Comić, L. R., Vasiljević, B., Opsenica, D., Milojkovic-Opsenica, D., & Šenerović, L. (2018). Anti-quorum sensing activity, toxicity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos and phytochemical characterization of Trapa natans leaf extracts. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 222, 148–158. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2018.05.005]Supplementary data: [https://imagine.imgge.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/1768