1,721,308 research outputs found
Stance in TED talks: Strategic use of subjective adjectives in online popularisation,La voz de autor en las charlas TED: Uso estratégico de adjetivos subjetivos en la popularización online
No full textThis paper analyses “stance” in TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks,
which are popularising speeches aiming at knowledge dissemination. Based on a
corpus of the TED talks presented between 2006 and 2012, this study focuses on
how the speakers express judgments and take up positions through subjective
adjectives. Drawing upon Kerbat-Orecchioni (1980) and Felices Lago’s (1997)
adjective classifications, the quantitative and qualitative study attempts to analyse
the use of axiological evaluative adjectives, which are fully subjective, as they imply
a qualitative evaluation adding a judgement to the modified noun. It has been
noticed that TEDsters use vivid, descriptive subjective adjectives to establish a
connection with the audience, which perceives a sense of similarity with the
speaker. Like traditional scientific presentations, TED talks use adjectives
conveying the relevance of their findings, while they distinguish themselves for the
role given to aesthetic and emotional adjectives, practicality and veracity, also
including the moral, political, and economic aspects involved in science. The work
suggests that maybe TEDsters’ approach to science might possibly contribute to
breach the expert/non expert barrier, considering science not as something
distant, but as a human experience for both laypersons and professionals
An Analysis of Self-Other Representations in the Incelosphere: between online misogyny and self-contempt
No full textA Discourse Analysis of the 'Trumpusconi' Phenomenon: Is Trump the contemporary Berlusconi?
No full textHumour in Popularization: Analysis of humour-related laughter in TED talks
No full textThis paper investigates the role of humour in TED talks, which are popularising speeches aiming at knowledge dissemination. Through the analysis of humour used in Eugene Cordero’s 2012 talk ‘Improv Everywhere: A TED speaker’s worst nightmare’, Sebastian Wernicke’s ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics (about TED talks)’, and Julia Sweeney’s ‘It’s time for ‘The Talk’’, the paper analyses TED talks as an innovative tool of popularisation, which breaches the typical triangularisation ‘scientist-mediator-audience’, bringing scientists directly into contact with their audiences. Using classifications of humour theories described by Raskin (1985) and Attardo (1994), the paper analyses how humour in TED talks arises from a pleasant psychological shift of incongruity, when it is the “consequence of the discrepancy between two mental representations”; from a sense of superiority, when a person laughs about his/her own misfortunes or of others; or from a release reaction, when laughter is used to release tensions deriving from taboo topics, such as sexuality, politics, and religion. The talks show how humour is an endemic feature of this genre of popularising texts. In contrast with other forms of ‘canonical’ popularisation, these talks are not only delivered in a simple, clear, original, and relevant way, but also in a way that is enjoyable for the audience, which actively interacts with the speaker through humour
<b>New trends in knowledge dissemination: TED Talks
No full textThis paper investigates the key elements of ethos, pathos and logos linguistic strategies as some main features of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks, popularizing speeches aiming at Knowledge Dissemination. Through a comparison between the TED Talk ‘HIV - How to fight an epidemic of bad laws’, by Shereen El-Feki (2012a), and another speech held by the same author at the 2012 Symposia The Global Commission on HIV and the Law, addressed to specialists, the paper analyses TED Talks as an innovative tool of popularization, which breaches the typical triangularisation ‘scientist-mediator-audience’, bringing scientists directly into contact with their audiences. Drawing upon Aristotle’s three pillars of rhetoric, the paper analyses the strategies used to establish the ethos of the speech, by proposing a topic as morally worth of spreading; pathos, by creating a direct contact with the public; and logos, investigated through an analysis of the elements used to recontextualise scientific discourses into popularized speeches. The analysis suggests that TED Talks are a recodification, not a mere translation of texts; they are a means to disseminate knowledge reducing the asymmetry between audiences and scientists
Cannabinoids for gastrointestinal diseases: Potential therapeutic applications
No full textΔ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (the active ingredient of marijuana), as well as endogenous and synthetic cannabinoids, exert many biological functions by activating two types of cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 receptors have been detected on enteric nerves, and pharmacological effects of their activation include gastroprotection, reduction of gastric and intestinal motility and reduction of intestinal secretion. The digestive tract also contains endogenous cannabinoids (i.e., the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-aracidonylglycerol) and mechanisms for endocannabinoid inactivation (i.e., endocannabinoids uptake and enzymatic degradation). Cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids and the proteins involved in endocannabinoids inactivation are collectively referred as the 'endogenous cannabinoid system'. A pharmacological modulation of the endogenous cannabinoid system could provide new therapeutics for the treatment of a number of gastrointestinal diseases, including nausea and vomiting, gastric ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, secretory diarrhoea, paralytic ileus and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Some cannabinoids are already in use clinically, for example, nabilone and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol are used as antiemetics
The natural recolonisation process of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile after the introduction of the Italo-algerian methane pipeline in the SW Mediterranean Sea.
Full text linkThis work investigates the recolonisation process and patterns of the seagrass
Posidonia oceanica after a man-induced impact. The installation of a methane pipeline connecting Italy and Tunisia destroyed a large seagrass bed in the South
Mediterranean Sea (SW Sicily, Italy). Pipes were buried and backfilled using terrestrial calcareous rubble. As a results of dumping activities, the rubble formed a mound-like seascape changing dramatically the sea bed features of the area. This research was articulated in two parts, the former involving an ecological approach to the problem where attention was focused on whether rubble mounds represent a suitable substrata for P. oceanica recruitment. Attention has been drawn on the role of environmental factors on such a process, and in particular how the feedback between plant recruitment, sediment dynamics and water flow is created in this new artificial environment. The results indicated how P. oceanica recruits via vegetative fragments which break from the meadow during storms. However, vegetative recruitment only occurs in sheltered (valley) areas. Once recruited, fragments are able to become rooted and draw on sediment nutrients providing the resources needed to grow. In valleys, once patches are well established, they create a positive feedback between plant canopy, water flow attenuation and sediment deposition. Sheltered (valley) and exposed (crests) locations on the mounds show different physical and geological characteristics. Differences in the sediment dynamics between exposed (crests) and sheltered (valleys) locations on the mound field entail differences in the amount of nutrient available to the plants for growth and photosynthesis and hence plant morphology. The latter part of this thesis was focalised on the physiological response of the plant to this new environment. Nutrient limitation and plant phenology have been considered to draw a complete picture not only on how a hard substratum might affect the recruitment of P. oceanica but also to assess how this species might have adapted to this new, artificial environment. Indeed, in the presence of the canopy in valleys favours particle settlement, so contributing to the formation of a sediment layer which provides the necessary nutrients for plant growth. However, the rubble topography might play an important role in seagrass resource allocation to the different biomass compartments. Although N and P content found in the valleys cannot be considered as limiting for seagrass growth plants might still experience some nutrient limitation. Thus, seagrass morphological features, biomass and production are dependent on local factors, such as substratum type and resource availability. The plasticity of P. oceanica modules allow the plant to adapt to a new environment. Plants living in valleys increase resource allocation to the roots to best exploit porewater nutrients. As plant on valleys need a better anchorage on the rubble they tend to allocate more resources to the below-ground organs, while above ground biomass is reduced.This study is the first to report on the recovery of P. oceanica on an artificial substratum following a human impact. After a series of unsuccessful project on
Posidonia oceanica restoration, this work indicates that P. oceanica is able to recover by means of vegetative growth after a large human-induced disturbance. Moreover, this thesis intends to evaluate the possibility of employ artificial substrata to favour the recovery of lost seagrass beds in the Mediterranean Sea. This would allow the restoration of damaged areas as well as minimise the effect of future marine operations that involves impacts to natural seagrass communities
Critical behavior of CP1 at theta=pi, Haldane's conjecture, and the relevant universality class
No full textUsing an approach to analyze the dependence of systems with a term we recently proposed, the
critical behavior of CP^1 at is studied. We find a region outside the strong coupling regime where
Haldane’s conjecture is verified. The critical line, however, does not belong to the universality class of the
Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten model at topological coupling k = 1 since it shows continuously varying
critical exponents
Indeterminacy and Vagueness in UN Resolutions Relating to the Second Gulf War
No full textThis study, which is part of a doctoral project, aims at investigating intentional vagueness in Security Council resolutions, by focussing on the analysis of the resolutions relating to the second Gulf war. Using the qualitative Discourse-Historical approach (Wodak 2000) and quantitative analysis tools (Antconc and Sketch Engine), special attention is given to the historical/political consequences of the vagueness used in that framework and to the study of vague ‘weasel words’ (Mellinkoff 1963), modals, and adjectives contained in the corpus. The hypothesis of intentional vagueness is reinforced through an analysis of the U.S. legislation related to the outbreak of the war, to reveal how the U.S. has interpreted UN legislation and to understand the purposes/ consequences of vague language contained in it. The findings indicate that vagueness in resolutions has triggered the Iraqi conflict instead of diplomatic solutions through an intentional use of some vague linguistic patterns as a political strategy
Vagueness as a Political Strategy: Weasel Words in Security Council Resolutions Relating to the Second Gulf War
No full text- …
