39 research outputs found
Grassroots prescriptivism
No full text
Until the beginning of this century, with few notable
exceptions, prescriptivism has received little serious attention among the
academic linguistic community as a factor in language variation and change.
The five studies included in this book are embedded in the growing research
initiative that is attempting to paint a fine-grained picture of linguistic
prescriptivism in the English language. In contrast to institutional
prescriptivism, or the so-called prescriptivism from above, which is enforced
by bodies such as language planning boards, governmental committees, and
agencies, this book focuses on grassroots prescriptivism – the attempts of
lay people to promote the standard language ideology.
Grassroots prescriptivism investigates the metalinguistic comments of
language users expressed on traditional (letters to newspaper editors and
radio phone-ins) and new media platforms (forum and blog discussions). This
book demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, language users are not
passive recipients of language rules, but active participants in matters of
linguistic prescriptivism. The diachronic exploration of grassroots
prescriptivism reveals a complex picture. While in many respects, twenty-first-century
prescriptivism represents a continuation of the 250-year-old prescriptive
tradition, the author argues that prescriptivism, like language itself,
undergoes change over time.
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)Language Use in Past and Presen
The effect of brown seaweed and polyphenol supplementation in male rabbits on the blood profile and antioxidant markers
No full textCurrently, in animal nutrition, the replacement of synthetic substances with natural ones was expected
to improve animal health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a dietary brown seaweed and
plant polyphenol mixture in adult male rabbits on the haematological profile and antioxidant markers. Twentyfour
adult male rabbits were divided into three experimental groups receiving a control diet (C) or diets supplemented
with 0.3% (T1) and 0.6% (T2) of a feed additive containing brown seaweed (Laminaria spp.) and plant
extracts of seaweed origin. The trial lasted for 90 days. A lower potassium concentration was observed at 30 days
in the T2 group, compared with the T1 and C groups. An increase in the antioxidant status was observed (P < 0.05)
from day 60 of the trial in the rabbits fed diets with an algae-polyphenolic supplement (T1 and T2 groups). Concluding,
the diet supplementation of brown seaweed and polyphenol stimulates the antioxidant status of the blood,
however, it does not affect the haematological profile
Identification of Concentration Dependent in vitro effect of Bisphenol F on H295R Cell Viability, Membrane Integrity and Lysosomal Function
No full textIn recent years, the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) has been regulated in many countries because of its potential adverse effects on human health. As a result of the restriction, structural analogues such as bisphenol F (BPF) have already been used for industrial applications as alternatives to BPA. Although much information on the endocrine activity of BPA is available, a proper human hazard assessment of analogues that are believed to have a less harmful toxicity profile is lacking. The aim of our in vitro study was to assess the potential effect of BPF on H295R cell viability, membrane integrity and lysosomal function. Adrenocortical carcinoma cells were cultivated during 24 h in the presence of BPF (0.1, 0.5, 1, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, 300, 500 μM). Metabolic activity decreased with increasing dose of BPF - from 10 μM (84.33 ± 4.31%). A significant increase in metabolic activity after 24 hours of exposure was observed after cultivation with 0.1 μM BPF (111.50 ± 3.89%) and a slight was observed after cultivation with 1 μM BPF (101,70 ± 1.61%). Exposure doses of BPF caused a slight increase in esterase activity at the lowest concentrations and a significant decrease at higher concentrations. We observed a slight increase in lysosomal function after cultivation with 0.1 and 1 μM, higher exposure doses (25 - 500 μM) caused decrease in lysosomal function. The obtained results confirmed that BPF at higher concentrations caused cytotoxicity. A substitution of BPA by BPF should be thus considered with caution
Image Interpolation Based on Multi Scale Gradients
No full textAbstractMost low-cost consumer grade digital camera systems are currently designed to sense only one color component per image pixel and interpolate the other missing color components (at each pixel)duringreconstruction. The sensing process, which employs aColor Filter Array (CFA), maps each pixel to a single color based on a color pattern. The CFA color pattern and the interpolation process (widely known as demosaicing) have a significant impact on the quality of the reconstructed image. In this paper, A directional CFA interpolation method that is based on multiscale color gradients. The method is easy to implement since it does not make any hard decision, noniterative and threshold free. This method, the horizontal and vertical color difference estimates are blended based on the ratio of the total absolute values of vertical and horizontal color difference gradients over a local window. Method is applied to Bayer and Lukac pattern with great results which shows that the relationship between gradients at different scales can be a very effective feature to optimally combine directional estimates. Result can be used to compare efficiency of both pattern in this method
Radical scavenging activity of Chlorophytum borivilianum L. root extract and its protective role in cauda epididymal sperm integrity in Mus musculus after gamma irradiation
No full textBackground:Chlorophytumborivilianum L. is a recognized herbal medicine for the management of impotency in South Asian countries. In Ayurveda, it is used for the management of multiple health conditions, including diabetes, infection, and cardiovascular diseases. Parts of the plant have been used as excellent antioxidants and scavengers of free radicals. Since oxidative stress plays an important role in spermatogenesis and fertility in male populations, this study evaluated the role of ethanolic extract of C. borivilianum roots in epididymal sperm maturation against adversities posed by ionizing gamma irradiation.Materials and methods: Antioxidant potential of C. borivilianum root extract (CRE) was evaluated through DPPH (2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl) and NO (nitric oxide) scavenging assays. Four groups of healthy Swiss albino mice were constituted, which were labeled as follows: Group I: sham control, Group II: 7-day pre-treatment with 50 mg/kg CRE, Group III: 6 Gy irradiation without pre-treatment, and Group IV: 7-day pre-treatment with 50 mg/kg CRE and 6 Gy irradiation on day 7. Swiss albino mice were observed for 30 days and later sacrificed to evaluate sperm quality parameters.Results: CRE showed a remarkable antioxidant potential with IC50 values of 46.37 μg/ml and 98.39 μg/ml for DPPH and NO, respectively. A significant decline (p < 0.001) in cauda epididymal sperm count, motility, and viability was observed in Group III animals. Group IV also showed a substantial decline (p < 0.01) in all three parameters compared to Group I; nonetheless, these were significantly higher than Group III. Morphological alterations indicated a coiled and bent tail, with the presence of cytoplasmic droplets in Group III, which declined substantially in Group IV. The ultrastructure of sperm indicated higher curvature of hook in Group III than Group IV, indicating specific interferences in the sperm maturation process.Conclusion: It was concluded that pre-treatment with 50 mg/kg body weight of CRE could protect sperm during epididymal maturation against oxidative stress
