Lexical encapsulation and evaluation in parliamentary debate.

Lexical encapsulation consists of a series of abstract unspecific nouns (fact, plan...) referring to predicative antecedents. This study is based on a corpus of parliamentary debate in English, Catalan and Spanish (PD) and deals with encapsulation as a complex lexical cohesion device which allows the addressor to evaluate the information of the debates in various ways. Our work tries to highlight the role of lexical encapsulation to reflect the addressor's positioning with respect to the topic discussed, and to establish whether there are outstanding cross-linguistic differences. In order to delimit the diverse evaluative strategies, an approach from the perspective of prototype theory is adopted, since there are fuzzy boundaries among the different evaluative operations observed. Firstly, the distinction between implicit and explicit evaluation is established. As for explicit evaluation, two different operations are described: objectivizing and subjectivizing encapsulation. The objectivizing one works as a subtle strategy of persuasion addressed mostly to the opponents, whereas the subjectivizing encapsulating structures point to rally the unconditional allies. The results show similar trends in the three languages due to the homogenizing potential of PD as a distinct genre of political discourse

Estructures encapsuladores amb valor metadiscursiu en el debat parlamentari

L?encapsulació per mitjà de noms abstractes i inespecífics (com ara conclusió, tema, realitat o problema) permet reïficar fragments discursius complexos de naturalesa predicativa i conceptualitzar-los semànticament. Així, els encapsuladors o shell nouns (Schmid 2000) constitueixen una classe funcional privilegiada per a delimitar l?estructura organitzativa de gèneres formals i mostren la vinculació entre encapsulació i metadiscurs. A partir d?un corpus de debat parlamentari en català, espanyol i anglès, i del marc teòric sobre el metadiscurs proporcionat per Hyland (2004) i Hyland & Tse (2005), aquest treball analitza la funció metadiscursiva de certes estructures amb encapsulador que reflecteixen com l?emissor organitza el discurs i interactua amb el potencial receptor. L?anàlisi d?aquestes estructures, amb graus de fixació diversos, permet establir cinc classes més o menys homogènies en les tres llengües: organitzadors textuals, adjunts oracionals, connectors lèxics (Cuenca 1998), locucions modals i dos patrons copulatius. Les classes es descriuen funcionalment, formalment i discursivament, mostrant com es vinculen al vessant textual o interpersonal del metadiscurs i sense obviar els límits difusos entre ambdues funcions

Els mecanismes de referència en la interfície gramàtica-discurs. Cohesió, coherència i cognició

La cohesió referencial integra una sèrie de mecanismes gramaticals lèxics de tipus fòric que estableixen lligams de caràcter sintàctic i semàntic entre les entitats discursives. Mitjançant la referència, els significats textuals s?entreteixeixen, de manera que es creen una sèrie de xarxes correferencials i de sentit a través de les quals s?encadenen els mots per contribuir a la cohesió textual.  Com a fenomen que inclou la pronominalització, l?el·lipsi o anàfora zero, la dixi textual (que es concreta bàsicament en l?ús no exofòric de demostratius) i una varietat de mecanismes de cohesió lèxica (relacions de repetició, reiteració i associació), la cohesió referencial se situa en la interfície entre el nivell gramatical i el pragmaticodiscursiu. D?una banda, explicita relacions sintacticosemàntiques de tipus estructural i jeràrquic entre els constituents oracionals; d?altra banda, palesa el grau d?activació de les entitats discursives en la memòria dels interlocutors i constitueix una evidència de l?organització discursiva, que permet interpretar la progressió temàtica i la coherència. Així doncs, la diversitat de mecanismes de referència es vincula amb la cohesió textual, en el nivell microestructural; esdevé una empremta, palesa i palpable, de les relacions de coherència, en el nivell de la macroestructura, i permet resseguir els processos cognitius en què interactuen els interlocutors per tal de fer efectiva la comunicació ?l?objectiu definitori del discurs? en el nivell contextual i pragmàtic

Premsa i divulgació científica. Entrevista a J.J. Pérez Benlloch

Aquesta entrevista amb J.J. Pérez Benlloch se centra en la importància que la divulgació científica ha assolit en la premsa en els darrers anys. Aquest expert periodista dóna la seua opinió sobre la funció dels professionals que realitzen aquest treball en una societat on els interessos econòmics condicionen la transmissió del saber. Així mateix, comenta els grans canvis que els avenços científics i tecnològics han produït en el món de la informació i en concret en la premsa.This with J.J. Pérez Benlloch focuses on the importance the dissemination of scientific knowledge has had in recent years in the press. This journalist gives his opinion about the role that the work of the specialized reporters plays in a society where economic interests determine the dissemination of knowledge. Also, he talks about the impact that scientific and technological progress has had in the world of information, mainly in the press

Introducció al monogràfic «L?encapsulació lèxica : cohesió, coherència i metadiscurs»

Introducció al monogràfic «L?encapsulació lèxica: cohesió, coherència i metadiscurs», del número 64 (primavera 2018) de Caplletra. Revista Internacional de Filologia

Effects of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery: an international prospective cohort study an international prospective cohort study

We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care. We aimed to determine the impact of pre-operative isolation on postoperative pulmonary complications after elective surgery during the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. We performed an international prospective cohort study including patients undergoing elective surgery in October 2020. Isolation was defined as the period before surgery during which patients did not leave their house or receive visitors from outside their household. The primary outcome was postoperative pulmonary complications, adjusted in multivariable models for measured confounders. Pre-defined sub-group analyses were performed for the primary outcome. A total of 96,454 patients from 114 countries were included and overall, 26,948 (27.9%) patients isolated before surgery. Postoperative pulmonary complications were recorded in 1947 (2.0%) patients of which 227 (11.7%) were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients who isolated pre-operatively were older, had more respiratory comorbidities and were more commonly from areas of high SARS-CoV-2 incidence and high-income countries. Although the overall rates of postoperative pulmonary complications were similar in those that isolated and those that did not (2.1% vs 2.0%, respectively), isolation was associated with higher rates of postoperative pulmonary complications after adjustment (adjusted OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36, p = 0.005). Sensitivity analyses revealed no further differences when patients were categorised by: pre-operative testing; use of COVID-19-free pathways; or community SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The rate of postoperative pulmonary complications increased with periods of isolation longer than 3 days, with an OR (95%CI) at 4–7 days or ≥ 8 days of 1.25 (1.04–1.48), p = 0.015 and 1.31 (1.11–1.55), p = 0.001, respectively. Isolation before elective surgery might be associated with a small but clinically important increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Longer periods of isolation showed no reduction in the risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. These findings have significant implications for global provision of elective surgical care