Implicit causality (IC) verbs influence the pronoun ambiguity resolution by directing the speakers’ (readers’ or listeners’) attention to the referent that is likely to be the cause of the event or state. Although IC bias is considered universal, there are cross-linguistic differences in its direction and strength. Previous studies have attempted to build large datasets of IC verbs, but very few Slavic languages have been investigated. In this experimental study, we examined the direction and strength of IC bias in Croatian, an understudied Slavic language in this regard, and compared it with IC bias observed in English. After selecting 137 verbs and classifying them according to thematic roles (agent-patient, agent-evocator, stimulus-experiencer, experiencer-stimulus), 86 participants were asked to complete sentence fragments containing these verbs. The study was conducted under the semantic structure account. Our results show that most Croatian verbs followed the predicted direction, which is consistent with findings suggesting that the direction of IC bias is relatively generalizable across languages. We also detected cross-linguistic variability in the strength of IC bias, especially in stimulus-experiencer verbs. This is consistent with studies showing that the strength of IC bias can vary across languages. Implications for theoretical and methodological approaches are discussed. and Implicitnouzročni glagoli utječu na razdvosmislenje upućivanja zamjenicom usmjeravajući govornikovu (čitateljevu ili slušateljevu) pozornost na referent koji je vjerojatniji uzrok događaja ili stanja. Iako se implicitnouzročna pristranost smatra univerzalnom, pronađene su međujezične razlike u smjeru i jačini glagolske pristranosti. U prijašnjim se istraživanjima težilo stvaranju velikih baza implicitnouzročnih glagola, no ta je jezična pojava nedovoljno istražena u slavenskim jezicima. Cilj ovoga eksperimentalnoga istraživanja bio je ispitati smjer i jačinu pristranosti implicitnouzročnih glagola u hrvatskome, koji je slavenski jezik i u kojem je ta pojava slabo istražena, te dobivene podatke usporediti s podatcima u engleskom jeziku. Izabrano je 137 glagola koji su razvrstani prema semantičkim ulogama (agens – pacijens, agens – pobuđivač, poticajnik – doživljavač, doživljavač – poticajnik). Ukupno je 86 sudionika dovršavalo rečenice s tim glagolima. Istraživanje je provedeno u okviru pristupa značenjske strukture. Rezultati pokazuju da većina hrvatskih glagola pokazuje predviđeni smjer pristranosti, što je u skladu s istraživanjima koja upućuju na to da je smjer implicitnouzročne pristranosti sličan u različitim jezicima. S druge strane, pronađene su međujezične razlike u snazi glagolske pristranosti, ponajprije u kategoriji poticajnik – doživljavač. Taj je rezultat u skladu s istraživanjima koja pokazuju da se jačina implicitnouzročne pristranosti može razlikovati među jezicima. U radu se raspravlja o teorijskim i metodološkim implikacijama.
High incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism was reported in patients with COVID-19. In this study, we focused on analysis of thrombophilic mutations performed without a standard DNA extraction step. In one hundred of COVID-19 positive outpatients, real-time PCR for Leiden mutation in the FV gene and G20210A mutation in the FII gene was carried out from DNA extracts and modified whole blood samples, and their cycle threshold (Ct) values were evaluated. In the extracts, healthy homozygotes (wt/wt), heterozygotes (M/wt), and homozygous carriers of Leiden mutation (M/M) provided median Ct values of 18.5, 19.4/22.0, and 20.9. In the whole blood, Ct values were 25.3 (wt/wt), 24.8/27.2 (M/wt), and 26.9 (M/M). Median Ct values for G20210A in the extracts were 19.6 for homozygotes (wt/wt), and 19.7/20.4 for heterozygous carriers. The whole blood samples provided Ct values of 23.9 in healthy homozygotes and 26.3/27.2 in heterozygotes for G20210A mutation. No homozygous subjects for G20210A and no double heterozygotes (for Leiden and G20210A mutations) were found. Despite significant differences in the Ct values, genotyping showed complete result concordance of the DNA extracts and the whole blood samples. The integrity and amplificability of DNA molecules in the whole blood samples during 28 days of deep freezing, interrupted by four cycles of thawing, did not significantly change. In conclusion, we demonstrated a new protocol for the detection of the thrombophilic mutations via real-time PCR on the modified whole blood of COVID-19 positive patients. The blood modification was reliable, easy, cheap, and saving costs and turnaround time of the whole laboratory process.
The aim of the present study was to introduce methods for exome sequencing of two ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters ABCC8 and ABCD2 recently suggested to play a putative role in breast cancer progression and prognosis of patients. We performed next generation sequencing targeted at analysis of all exons in ABCC8 and ABCD2 genes and surrounding noncoding sequences in blood DNA samples from 24 patients with breast cancer. The revealed alterations were characterized by in silico tools. We then compared the most frequent functionally relevant polymorphism rs757110 in ABCC8 with clinical data of patients. In total, the study identified 113 genetic alterations (>70 % novel ones) in both genes. Of these alterations, 83 were noncoding, 13 synonymous, 10 frameshifts and 7 were missense alterations. Four in silico programs predicted pathogenicity of two polymorphisms and four newly identified alterations. Rs757110 polymorphism in ABCC8 did not significantly associate with clinical data of the patients. In conclusion, exome sequencing identified several functionally relevant alterations in ABCC8 and ABCD2 genes that may further be used for a larger follow-up study aiming to assess their clinical significance., P. Soucek, V. Hlavac, K. Elsnerova, R. Vaclavikova, R. Kozevnikovova, K. Raus., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The thermoluminescence signals from leaflets of the same pea plant varied gradually according to their developmental stage. The AG emission, due to a back flow of electrons towards photosystem 2 (PS2) along a cyclic/chlororespiratory pathway, was stronger in mature leaves than in the growing ones. These age-related variations could be explained by a higher capacity of cyclic electron flow in mature leaves.
The commonly encountered account ot the postmodern (including postmodernist cultural practices) is the one based on (or very similar to) Fredric Jameson´s view of postmodernism as representing the logic of late capitalism and being defined by the issues of surface, pastiche and paranoia. This also includes Jameson´s criticism of postmodernism´s supposed ahistoricity (or belief that when it uses history, it does so in a naive and sentimentally nostalgic way). Such is also the prevalent definition of the postmodern in Taiwan, most recently adopted, for example, in Liu Liangya´s new publication, Postmodernism and Postcolonisalism: Taiwanese Fiction since 1987. Offering an alternative view, this article deploys Linda Hutcheon´s project of "problematics" of postmodernism to argue that as opposed to the more or less dualistic view of postnodern vs. postcolonial tencencies in contemporary Taiwanese fiction (especially as regards postmodernism´s relation to history) it is also possible to describe the constant revisiting of the past in numerous novels by different authors in post-martial-law Taiwan in terms of Hutcheon´s "postmodern historiographic metafiction". This thesis is further demonstrated by means of an analysis of a short story by Lai Xiangyin.
In the following essay-manifesto, Contradictions editor Joseph Grim Feinberg lays out his view of the journal as a platform for confronting the central contradictions of post-communism, working through the problems of Central and Eastern Europe in global context, and seeking the continued contemporary relevance of the history of emancipatory and critical thought. Contradictions, he writes, should enable philosophy and its neighboring fields to engage with this region, at this moment, while telling world history something that no other time or place has told it before.