bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Age at Menarche, Menstrual Characteristics, and Risk of Preeclampsia
Authors: Abetew Dejene F. , Enquobahrie Daniel A. , Dishi Michal , Rudra Carole B. , Miller Raymond S. , Williams Michelle A.
Published: December 2011

We examined associations of age at menarche and menstrual characteristics with the risk of preeclampsia among participants (n=3,365) of a pregnancy cohort study. Data were collected using in-person interviews and medical record abstraction. Logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). There was a significant inverse association between age at menarche and risk of preeclampsia (P value for trend < 0.05). Association of long cycle length (>36 days) with higher risk of preeclampsia was present only among women who had prepregnancy body mass index <25 kg/m2 (interaction P value = 0.04). Early menarche is associated with higher risk of preeclampsia. Prepregnancy weight may modify associations of long menstrual cycles with risk of preeclampsia.
Histone Deacetylase Inhibition and Dietary Short-Chain Fatty Acids
Authors: Licciardi Paul V. , Ververis Katherine , Karagiannis Tom C.
Published: December 2011

Changes in diet can also have dramatic effects on the composition of gut microbiota. Commensal bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract are critical regulators of health and disease by protecting against pathogen encounter whilst also maintaining immune tolerance to certain allergens. Moreover, consumption of fibre and vegetables typical of a non-Western diet generates substantial quantities of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which have potent anti-inflammatory properties. Dietary interventions such as probiotic supplementation have been investigated for their pleiotropic effects on microbiota composition and immune function. Probiotics may restore intestinal dysbiosis and improve clinical disease through elevated SCFA levels in the intestine. Although the precise mechanisms by which such dietary factors mediate these effects, SCFA metabolites such as butyrate also function as histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), that can act on the epigenome through chromatin remodeling changes. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of HDAC enzymes and to discuss the biological effects of HDACi. Further, we discuss the important relationship between diet and the balance between health and disease and how novel dietary interventions such as probiotics could be alternative approach for the prevention and/or treatment of chronic inflammatory disease through modulation of the intestinal microbiome.
Prevalence of Malaria and Treatment Seeking Behaviours among Pregnant Women in Postconflict Internally Displaced Persons' Camps in Gulu District
Authors: James Henry Obol , David Lagoro Kitara , Orach Christopher Garimoi
Published: December 2011

Background. Malaria is a serious health problem that contributes greatly to morbidity and mortality in Uganda. It mainly affects pregnant women and children under 5 years of age. Malaria accounts for 9–14% of inpatient deaths in public and private not-for-profit health facilities in Uganda. Methods. A cross-sectional study using quantitative data collection technique was carried out in Gulu district IDP camps. Proportion to size cluster sampling method was used to determine the numbers of pregnant women to be interviewed per IDP camp. We interviewed 769 pregnant women from 20 IDP camps using consecutive sampling methods by moving to the next nearest household. Results. 372(49%) of respondents indicated that they had suffered from malaria in the past two months. 348(94%) respondents got treatment for malaria. 299(86%) sought treatment from a health facility, 35 (10%) sought treatment from clinic, and 14(4%) sought treatment from drug shops. Factors associated with treatment seeking were experience of miscarriage (, value ) and antenatal visit (, value ). Conclusion. The prevalence of malaria was high among the respondents at about half. Majority of the respondents sought treatment from health facilities while a few of them sought treatment for malaria from clinic and drug shop. Pregnant women should be advised to seek treatment whenever they have malaria from health facility to ensure that the treatment given is appropriate.
Design, implementation, and evaluation of a postgraduate diploma in Surgical Anatomy
Authors: Stringer Mark D. , Lyall Patrick
Published: December 2011

After careful planning, a postgraduate Diploma in Surgical Anatomy was launched in 2009. This report describes the structure of the program, the challenges encountered in implementing and running the course, and results of evaluations. The qualification is targeted at junior doctors intending to become surgeons or radiologists and aims to equip them with a sound understanding of regional anatomy relevant to common diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, together with an understanding of common/important anatomical variations. The course is delivered by: (1) 24 weeks' distance learning, comprising selected readings, podcasts, multiple choice questions (MCQs), and research informed essays; and (2) two separate two‐week periods of intensive campus‐based learning and whole body dissection (four students per cadaver) assessed by oral examination, a class presentation of an anatomical variation, and formal MCQ examination. Campus‐based instruction is delivered by two surgical anatomists with additional input from a broad range of specialist surgeons and radiologists. Anonymous student evaluations over three successive courses show that all components of the course were highly rated. The success of the program may relate to several factors: an emphasis on clinically relevant anatomy, clear learning objectives, personalized student feedback, a low student to cadaver ratio, restricted class size, a wide range of supportive material, a dedicated team of surgical/radiological instructors, efficient course administration, and endorsement by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Establishing a Diploma in Surgical Anatomy program requires a dedicated team of individuals, the setting and maintenance of appropriate educational standards, and collaboration with the professional body regulating the training of surgeons. Anat Sci Educ. © 2011 American Association of Anatomists.
Vibration characteristics of a suspension bridge under traffic and no traffic conditions
Authors: Apaydın Nurdan Memişoglu , Kaya Yavuz , Şafak Erdal , Alçık Hakan
Published: December 2011

This paper presents the variations of vibration under different traffic conditions on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet suspension bridge in Istanbul, Turkey.The main intention is to determine the vibration amplifications under heavy‐traffic as opposed to no‐traffic conditions. This is the first study in this particular area that has been performed on this bridge, over which an average of 200,000 cars pass daily. Two full‐scale ambient vibration surveys were carried out on two different days to determine the response of the bridge to diverse traffic conditions. Initial measurements were taken as the bridge experienced heavy stress conditions caused by rush‐hour traffic. Secondary measurements were recorded after closing the bridge to traffic. The data were analyzed to gauge the vibration effects of heavy‐traffic conditions on the bridge and to determine the effects of different traffic conditions on the free vibration characteristics of the bridge. The analyses were performed utilizing different amplification methods. Results show that there are important differences in the amplifications of the vibration amplitudes. Especially heavy‐traffic on the bridge causes the vibration response of the bridge to be intensified in comparison to no‐traffic conditions. Additionally, predominant frequencies are shifted as a direct result of traffic load acting on the bridge. Even more importantly and is probably analogous for all long‐span bridges, is the fact that any movement causing vibration on the bridge is carried and amplified along its length. These significant amplifications indicate the important effect of varying traffic loads and how the bridge responds to the diverse movements it experiences. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A neuroimmunological perspective on anxiety disorders
Authors: Hou Ruihua , Baldwin David S.
Published: December 2011

Objective

Research into psychoneuroimmunology has led to substantial advances in our understanding of the reciprocal interactions between the central nervous system and the immune system in neuropsychiatric disorders. To date, the presence of inflammatory responses and the crucial role of cytokines in major depression have been addressed in numerous studies. However, neuroinflammatory hypotheses in anxiety disorders have been studied less extensively than in major depression. There is a high research need for better understanding of both the heterogeneous role of specific cytokines in the control of anxious states and in different anxiety disorders and of the immunomodulating effects of antidepressants on anxiety.

Methods

Relevant literature was identified through a search of MEDLINE via PubMed. We discuss recent research on neuroimmunology in anxiety and make methodological recommendations for future investigation of neuroinflammatory hypotheses in anxiety disorders.

Results

Some accumulating evidence has indicated modulatory effects of cytokines on neuronal communication and anxiety; however, research has not revealed consistent reproducible findings.

Conclusions

The availability of inflammatory biomarkers may provide an opportunity to identify patients via specific pathophysiological processes and to monitor therapeutic responses within relevant pathways. Further understanding of the neuroimmunological mechanisms to untangle the reciprocal associations between inflammation and anxiety is warranted. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Kinetics of the gas‐phase reactions of OH radicals with a series of trimethylphenols
Authors: Bejan Iustinian , Schürmann Anna , Barnes Ian , Benter Thorsten
Published: December 2011

The kinetics of the reactions of hydroxyl (OH) radicals with 2,3,5‐trimethylphenol (235TMP), 2,3,6‐trimethylphenol (236TMP), 2,4,5‐trimethylphenol (245TMP), 2,4,6‐trimethylphenol (246TMP), and 3,4,5‐trimethylphenol (345TMP) have been investigated at 298 ± 2 K and atmospheric pressure of air using a relative rate method. The experiments were performed in a 1080 L volume photoreactor using in situ FTIR analysis to monitor the decay of the trimethylphenols and the reference compounds. The following rate coefficients (in cm3molecule−1s−1) were obtained at 298 ± 2 K and 1 atm of air:k(235TMP) = (1.48 ± 0.42) × 10−10;k(236TMP) = (1.35 ± 0.39) × 10−10;k(245TMP) = (1.23 ± 0.48) × 10−10;k(246TMP) = (1.67 ± 0.48) × 10−10;k(345TMP) = (1.55 ± 0.43) × 10−10. The present kinetic data are discussed in terms of OH addition reactivity trends, and comparisons are made with the reactivity trends observed for successive methylation of benzene and phenol and successive hydroxylation of benzene. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 44: 117–124, 2012
High iNOS mRNA and protein localization during late pregnancy suggest a role for nitric oxide in mouse pubic symphysis relaxation
Authors: Moro Camila Fernandes , Consonni Sílvio Roberto , Rosa Renata Giardini , Nascimento Maria Amália Cavinato , Joazeiro Paulo Pinto
Published: December 2011

Remodeling and relaxation of the mouse pubic symphysis (PS) are central events in parturition. The mouse PS remodels in a hormone‐controlled process that involves the modification of the fibrocartilage into an interpubic ligament (IpL), followed by its relaxation prior to parturition. It is recognized that nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and consequently nitric oxide (NO) generation play important roles in extracellular matrix modification, and may promote cytoskeleton changes that contribute to the remodeling of connective tissue, which precedes the onset of labor. To our knowledge, no studies thus far have investigated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, protein localization, and NO generation in the mouse PS during pregnancy. In this work, we used a combination of the immunolocalization of iNOS, its relative mRNA expression, and NO production to examine the possible involvement of iNOS in remodeling and relaxation of the mouse IpL during late pregnancy. The presence of iNOS was observed in chondrocytes and fibroblast‐like cells in the interpubic tissues. In addition, iNOS mRNA and NO production were higher during preterm labor on Day 19 of pregnancy (D19) than NO production on D18 or in virgin groups. The significant increase in iNOS mRNA expression and NO generation from the partially relaxed IpL at D18 to the completely relaxed IpL at D19 may indicate that NO plays an important role in late pregnancy during relaxation of the mouse IpL. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 79: 272–282, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multilevel regulation of steroid synthesis and metabolism in the bovine placenta
Authors: Nguyen Phuong T.T. , Conley Alan J. , Soboleva Tanya K. , Lee Rita S.F.
Published: December 2011

Steroid hormones play critical roles in almost all physiological processes in male and female reproduction. In a normal pregnancy, the concentrations of steroid hormones in maternal and foetal blood vary with gestation in response to changing needs. The placenta plays a central role in producing the appropriate steroids to support the pregnancy by coordinating its own steroidogenic activity with that of the corpus luteum and responding to foetal signals. Although much is known about the steroidogenic potential of the bovine placenta, far less is known about how the placenta integrates the synthesis of steroids with their subsequent metabolism and clearance to achieve appropriate local and peripheral concentrations of steroids in maternal and foetal blood at each stage of gestation. This review focuses on the current knowledge of the temporal and spatial regulation and compartmentalization of the biochemical pathways by which potent steroid hormones are synthesized and metabolized in the bovine placenta. The aim is to increase our understanding of how the balance of synthesis and metabolism determines placental steroid output as it changes with development and differentiation, and how this is regulated in response to the variations in the foetal signals and luteal secretory activity. The review highlights knowledge gaps and suggests that mathematical modelling can help understand the effect of different levels of regulation on the steroidogenic output of an organ, such as the bovine placenta. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 79: 239–254, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Everyday Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Implications for Patient Education and Clinical Practice: A Focus Group Study
Authors: Kristiansen Tine Mechlenborg , Primdahl Jette , Antoft Rasmus , Hørslev‐Petersen Kim
Published: December 2011

Objectives

This study aimed to explore how everyday life is affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in order to inform patient education and clinical practice and generate further research.

Methods

Six focus group interviews were conducted with, in total, 32 participants. Interview data were analysed using content analysis methods.

Results

The study showed that RA affected almost every aspect of participants’ everyday lives, particularly self‐identity, social relationships, work and relationships with health and social care professionals. A small number of the participants did not have these experiences, due to receiving fast diagnosis and effective medical treatment.

Conclusion

The findings point to a need to increase knowledge about RA, support symptom management and reduce the physical, social and psychological challenges posed by RA in everyday life. An individualized and engaged approach to patient education, taking the individual experiences as the point of departure, is suggested. The results indicate directions for further research. The general implications for patient education that emerge from this study might not address the support needs of those who did not experience significant changes in everyday life. A more detailed and in‐depth understanding about living with RA in the first years after diagnosis would provide a valuable supplement to the many retrospective studies, and useful knowledge in the design of patient education tailored to those who are newly diagnosed with RA. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Are survivors of childhood cancer with an unfavourable psychosocial developmental trajectory more likely to apply for disability benefits?
Authors: Maurice‐Stam H. , Verhoof E.J. , Caron H.N. , Grootenhuis M.A.
Published: December 2011

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate whether an unfavourable psychosocial developmental trajectory while growing up with childhood cancer is related to a smaller likelihood of labour participation in adult life.

Methods

A total of 53 childhood cancer survivors (CCS) with and 313 CCS without disability benefits, and 508 peers from the general Dutch population (reference group) completed the Course of Life Questionnaire (CoLQ) about the achievement of psychosocial developmental milestones. Differences between the three groups were tested by conducting analysis of variance with contrasts (scale scores CoLQ) and logistic regression analysis (individual milestones). Effect sizes and odds ratios were calculated.

Results

Compared with the reference group, both CCS with and CCS without benefits reported lower scale scores with respect to social and psychosexual development. CCS with disability benefits had lower social (d = − 0.6; p < 0.001) and psychosexual (d = −0.4; p < 0.01) scale scores than the CCS without disability benefits.

CCS with disability benefits scored less favourably (p < 0.01) than peers from the general population on 14 out of 22 psychosocial milestones whereas the number was only six for those without disability benefits.

Conclusions

CCS with an unfavourable developmental trajectory while growing up were more likely to apply for disability benefits in adulthood than CCS with a more favourable development. Early recognition and support are warranted. Further research is needed on risk factors of application for disability benefits. In addition, research should show whether stimulating the achievement of developmental milestones while growing up will create conditions for a better labour market position. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychometric analysis of the Chinese version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory with cancer patients in Hong Kong and Taiwan
Authors: Ho Samuel M. Y. , Law Lawrence S. C. , Wang Ging‐Long , Shih Shih‐Ming , Hsu Sheng‐Hui , Hou Yi‐Chen
Published: December 2011

Objective

Cancer patients in Hong Kong and Taiwan share traditional Chinese as a written form of language, but each region has its own sociocultural background. This study examined if the four‐factor model (self, spiritual, life orientation, and interpersonal) of the Chinese version of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI‐C), developed for Hong Kong cancer survivors, could be applied to cancer survivors in Taiwan.

Methods

Multisample confirmatory factor analyses (MS‐CFA) were used to examine the factorial invariance of the PTGI‐C among cancer survivors in Taiwan (n = 217) and Hong Kong (n = 223).

Results

The goodness‐of‐fit of the four‐factor model was satisfactory, χ²(180) = 372.36 (χ²/df = 2.07), goodness‐of‐fit index (GFI) = 0.90, adjusted GFI (AGFI) = 0.87, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.92, Tucker‐Lewis index (TLI) = 0.91, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.05, Akaike information criterion (AIC) = 492.36. This result suggests that the factor structure of the PTGI‐C developed in Hong Kong could be applied to cancer survivors in Taiwan. The internal reliabilities of the 15‐item whole scale, as well as all the subscales, were good and similar to those reported previously. Interregion comparison revealed that the Taiwan sample had higher mean ‘spiritual’ and ‘interpersonal’ posttraumatic growth subscale scores than the Hong Kong sample.

Conclusions

The four‐factor model of the PTGI‐C is invariant among cancer survivors using traditional Chinese as a written form of the language. The differences in the degree of some posttraumatic growth dimensions may be because of differences in cultural factors and in psychosocial support for cancer patients between the two regions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Interaction of protein inhibitor of activated STAT 2 (PIAS2) with receptor of activated C kinase 1, RACK1
Authors: Zheng Ying , Zhang Luping , Jia Xiaoqing , Wang Haiyan , Hu Yanqiu
Published: December 2011

PIAS2
physically interacts with
RACK1
by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (View Interaction: 1, 2)
Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage
Authors: François Alexandre
Published: December 2011

This study describes and explains the paradox of related languages in contact that show signs of both linguistic divergence and convergence. Seventeen distinct languages are spoken in the northernmost islands of Vanuatu. These closely related Oceanic languages have evolved from an earlier dialect network, by progressive diversification. Innovations affecting word forms — mostly sound change and lexical replacement — have usually spread only short distances across the network; their accumulation over time has resulted in linguistic fragmentation, as each spatially-anchored community developed its own distinctive vocabulary. However, while languages follow a strong tendency to diverge in the form of their words, they also exhibit a high degree of isomorphism in their linguistic structures, and in the organization of their grammars and lexicons. This structural homogeneity, typically manifested by the perfect translatability of constructions across languages, reflects the traditions of mutual contact and multilingualism which these small communities have followed throughout their history. While word forms are perceived as emblematic of place and diffuse to smaller social circles, linguistic structures are left free to diffuse across much broader networks. Ultimately, the effects of divergence and convergence are the end result, over time, of these two distinct forms of horizontal diffusion.
Vowel split in Hungan (Bantu H42, Kwilu, DRC)
Authors: Bostoen Koen , Muluwa Joseph Koni
Published: December 2011

This paper examines the diachronic origin of a vowel split in the Bantu language Hungan. It is shown that the inherited Proto-Bantu seven-vowel (7V) system was first reduced to a classical five-vowel (5V) system before the Kipuka variety of Hungan developed a new kind of 7V system. Such a 7V>5V>7V cycle has never before been described in Bantu. The new 7V system is thus the end product of a vowel merger and a vowel split which succeeded each other, but it could be mistaken for the outcome of a chain shift. The vowel split itself started out as an internally-motivated allophonic variation between tense and lax mid vowels that subsequently became phonologized through an externally-motivated loss of the conditioning environment. It can therefore be considered as a contact-induced language-internal change.
Differential time stability in categorial change
Authors: Plank Frans
Published: December 2011

Change affects different parts of the lexicon and grammar differently, and in particular some parts are more time-stable than others. The creation of family names from words of other classes is an example, and many such examples need to be examined before credible generalizations can be made about differential time stability in historical linguistics. In German, the language used here for illustration, family names typically derive from common nouns or adjectives designating the origin, place of residence, occupation, or salient personal characteristics of the families or their heads originally given those names. Despite such origins in nouns or adjectives, and despite retaining the phonology and partly also the syntax of their origins, family names in contemporary German have subtly, but comprehensively, severed ties with their ancestral word classes in their morphology upon attaining name status. This is shown for inflection as well as derivation, and this result renders the traditional word class categorization of family names as a type of noun in languages such as German untenable. Diachronic conclusions are drawn on this basis as to the transience of semantics-pragmatics and morphology on the one hand and the pertinacity of syntax and phonology on the other in category-changing developments of this kind, with other kinds of developments apparently showing different kinds of developmental dynamics.
Dialogic mediation in international groups of adolescents
Authors: Baraldi Claudio , Farini Federico
Published: December 2011

Mediation is the action of a third party that helps two conflicting parties to reach a mutually acceptable settlement. This action implies promoting the parties’ empowerment and new narratives by facilitating their communication. The analysis of dialogue, and in particular of mediators’ dialogic actions in the interaction, is a way to gain an empirical knowledge of mediation. It shows the ways in which dialogue may promote empowerment and new narratives, enhancing active participation and sensitivity of the participants in interaction. This kind of analysis is applied to international camps for peace promotion involving small groups of adolescents from different countries. In particular, videorecordings and transcriptions of group meetings make it possible to highlight the kinds of dialogic actions used to help adolescents to keep their turns, as well as to support their initiatives and coordinate their reflections, thus managing their conflicts. By looking at how meditators use language in the interaction, research can help improving the theory and practice of mediation.
The ethno-pragmatics of “amannebɔ” in Akan
Authors: Agyekum Kofi
Published: December 2011

Among the Akan, one of the parameters for assessing a person’s communicative competence is to see how much s/he is conversant with giving an account of his/her mission anytime he/she plays the role as a guest, a host, or a spokesperson. The aim of this paper is to discuss the Akan narrative concept called amannebɔ. The paper defines the concept called amannebɔ and what it entails in Akan sociocultural norms and values and goes on to discuss amannebɔ under the frameworks of narratives and politeness. The paper further analyses the language and pragmatics of amannebɔ and highlights the major literary devices used including euphemisms, proverbs, idioms personification and the use of titles and address forms. It also considers the structure of amannebɔ and the major sociocultural contexts in which it is used. We will consider data from (1) durbar of chiefs, (2) naming and marriage encounters (3) funerals and (4) funeral donations. The paper finally discusses the sociocultural functions of amannebɔ and provides findings and recommendations for its sustenance in contemporary Akan.
Representing dialogues-in-the-field
Authors: Caronia Letizia
Published: December 2011

Contemporary researchers can rely upon a wide repertoire of different and legitimized ways of representing field dialogues in scientific texts. This article addresses the issue of the crucial role these ways of reporting dialogues play in creating different data from the ‘same’ raw material and in the construction of very different kinds of scientific understanding of the phenomenon the original dialogues supposedly enlighten. By empirically illustrating this point, the author concludes by arguing in favor of the unavoidable rhetorical roots of scientific understanding. This typical relativistic claim does not lead to some kind of nihilistic stance. Rather, it delineates a clear zone of distributed responsibility. By defining what kind of knowledge they expect from a scientific account, the scientific community and, in a less visible way, the readers are crucial agents in orienting the researcher’s rhetorical choice as to represent dialogues-in-the-field. The researcher’s choice is, therefore, a profoundly dialogical decision.
La glottopolitique du contact linguistique hébreu-arabe en Palestine
Authors: Alhamid Sofyan
Published: December 2011

La question principale se pose ainsi : vis-à-vis de la coexistence linguistique hébro-arabe en Palestine, comment l’Etat israélien et l’Autorité palestinienne se comportent-ils du point de vue glottopolitique ? Et quels sont les enjeux de leurs politiques linguistiques ? Ainsi, chacun pour sa part, Palestiniens et Israéliens ne reconnaissent que leur propre langue, affichant partant leur volonté d’ignorer et marginaliser la langue de l’autre. Dans cette compétition linguistique, la glottopolitique de chaque partie croyant avoir des titres à revendiquer fonctionne dans une dimension différente de l’autre, regardant chacune en direction d’une autre période du passé et vivant dans un autre présent, bien qu’exactement au même endroit.
On the repetition of words with the potential for metaphoric extension in conversations between native and non-native speakers of English
Authors: MacArthur Fiona , Littlemore Jeannette
Published: December 2011

Although quite a lot is known about the way that non-native speakers of English may interpret and produce metaphors in their second language, we know little about metaphor use in face-to-face conversation between primary and secondary speakers of English. In this article we explore the use of metaphors in two types of conversational data: one elicited in a semi-structured interview format, the other consisting of naturally occurring conversations involving one non-native speaker in dialogue with various native speakers. We found that although native speakers’ use of metaphor was occasionally problematic for the interaction, metaphor also afforded opportunities for topic development in these conversations. The repetition of a word with the potential for metaphoric extension was a particularly valuable strategy used by non-native speakers in these conversations in constructing their coherent contributions to the discourse. In contrast, the use of phraseological metaphors (often the focus of activities aimed at fostering second language learners’ mastery of conventional English metaphors) did not contribute to the joint construction of meanings in these circumstances. We discuss the role of high frequency vocabulary in these conversations and some implications for further research.
Why the block is the block
Authors: Ritchie L. David
Published: December 2011

This study combines Discourse Dynamics (Cameron, 2007) with Perceptual Simulation Theory (Barsalou, 2007; Gibbs, 2006), to analyze a sample of talk among residents of an urban neighborhood about topics related to community safety and the quality of life in their community. The results demonstrate the role of casual conversation in structuring complex social relationships, and the usefulness of close attention to metaphors, story-telling, and humor. By their use, re-use, and development of metaphors and stories the participants in this conversation express and reinforce the patterns of sociability and mutual watchfulness that contribute to a feeling of safety and comfort in their neighborhood, resolve contradictions inherent in life in a diverse community, and cultivate mutual commitment to maintaining the neighborhood as a pleasant community in which to live and raise children.
An examination of the validity of metaphor analysis studies
Authors: Wan Wan
Published: December 2011

The last decade has seen a large number of studies employing metaphor elicitation techniques, especially using ‘X is (like) Y’ format to investigate language teachers’ and learners’ understandings of teaching and/or learning. Although a few recent studies have reported the proportion of unsuccessful answers to this type of task, and identified a number of issues connected with task difficulty, there appears to be little published work that has seriously addressed the validity of the method used. The aims of this paper are therefore to explore the discourse and contexts where failure/difficulty with the metaphor elicitation task occurs, to try and understand what causes the problems and to suggest approaches to resolving them. In so doing, this paper reports on two small-scale metaphor analysis studies that were primarily designed to reduce the incidence of difficulty with ‘X is (like) Y’ metaphor prompts, presenting the perceived reasons for the difficulties and discussing possible solutions by introducing training in the form of four ready-made metaphor related teaching sessions. Essentially, I argue that training both about metaphor and in using it are important, and that thought needs to be given to both the nature and the length of training. The hope is that the present paper can be a first step and will serve to shed light on the ways that can be employed by metaphor researchers to identify and then resolve their methodological problems.
Neighbourhood squabbles or claims of right?
Authors: O'Donnell Hugh , Castelló Enric
Published: December 2011

It is in the explanation of conflicts that narratives of confrontation are most clearly deployed. In the definition of the problems, in the roles embodied by the different subjects, in the lexical choices made when referring to territories or symbolic objects, we establish differences in terms of how such confrontations are (to be) understood. These narratives are articulated through structures which work to construct the origin of the problem, the solution, the victim or aggressor and so on. Applying a narratological analysis, the aim of this article is to offer a set of key elements for understanding news constructions of the — essentially political — conflict among nations and regions within Spain. Starting from a study of five cases and a comparison of ten TV news items from both the Spanish (TVE) and the Catalan (TVC) public-service channels concerning recent conflicts, the authors attempt to throw light on the ways in which different and divergent conceptions of the same set of problems are presented from a “national” point of view.
Intertextuality as an interpretative method in qualitative research
Authors: Elkad-Lehman Ilana , Greensfeld Hava
Published: December 2011

This article seeks to present and exemplify to the qualitative researcher the term intertextuality as a concept and as a method that may offer a framework for the analysis and interpretation of short narratives or life stories. Intertextuality as a central concept in the study of culture is particularly suitable for qualitative research, central to which is the subjectivity of the narrator, the story, and the listener/researcher, as well as the relative and indeterminate dimension of knowledge. However, using intertextuality as an interpretative method in various types of texts mandates the researcher’s awareness and abilities in areas that this article discusses. In light of the methodological objective of the article, we selected narratives that represent different types of intertextual linkage on different interpretative levels, on different levels of complexity, and on different levels of ideas. The intertextual reading to be demonstrated detects the combination of various types of cultural components in the narrative as a means of representing the world of the narrator; it takes into account a possible macro context in the narrator’s story, its style and structure, the narrator’s implicit personal interpretation, and the researcher-interpreter’s option to reread the narrative.
Jerome Bruner and the challenges of the narrative turn
Authors: Monteagudo José González
Published: December 2011

This paper discusses Bruner’s contributions in the field of narrative. I offer a review of the main ideas developed by Bruner in the second half of the 1980, stressing the innovation of narrative approach in order to reconsider the epistemological and methodological foundations of psychology and other social sciences. Finally I conclude with some reflections on autobiographical narratives in relation to agency and the role of narratives regarding social and academic spaces.
Narrative and the politics of meaning
Authors: Hammack Phillip L.
Published: December 2011

In a renewed call for interpretive psychological science, this paper argues for narrative as an integrative concept to interrogate mental experience and human development in social and political context. Master narrative engagement is defined as the process by which individuals engage with and internalize competing storylines of history and identity perceived as socially compulsory. Narrative science is concerned with individual responses to these master narratives and the extent to which elements of them become integrated into autobiographies. A narrative approach is posited as better able to capture the reality of lives in context and to enable possibilities for social and political transformation than variable-centered experimental science, which continues to dominate psychology.
Stories, probes, and games
Authors: Gee James Paul
Published: December 2011

This paper is a reflection on the potential of narrative video games for human sense making and perspective taking. Such games are considered in the context of storytelling and reflective action as the two core foundations of human sense making. I propose that narrative video games allow a form of player storytelling at the intersection of the game’s grand narrative and reflective action in a virtual world. I further propose that such games have the potential to create empathy for other people’s situations and perspectives in life.
Narrative reflections — After After Virtue
Authors: Holquist Michael
Published: December 2011

Alasdair MacIntyre played a large role in alerting those outside literature departments to the central role of narrative in very aspect of experience. In this he shares certain assumptions with Bakhtin. Both argue that we cannot think without putting events — especially the ongoing event of our lives — into a sequence of some kind. Bakhtin differs from MacIntyre in recognizing that there is a problem in thus universalizing narrative: If everything is narrativized, how can we discriminate between good and bad stories? Bakhtin’s concept of ‘novelness’ is a general theory of narrative, not just a theory of the genre of the novel. Novelness stresses the importance of openness, shared authorship, and other features that provide a set of categories for distinguishing between stories that are faithful to the dialogic nature of human existence and those that seek to deny that nature through various strategies that insure premature closure in a false unity. In an age when the Humanities are little valued by society at large, the in depth knowledge of narrative that defines the textual humanities can provide help to other disciplines that are only now beginning to sense the importance of story.
Narrative tensions
Authors: Gergen Kenneth J. , Gergen Mary M.
Published: December 2011

We focus on four major tensions pervading much narrative inquiry to date, tensions that threaten to divide the field into alienated enclaves. Of specific concern are psychological vs. social explanations of narrative, structural vs. process orientations to research, approaches that celebrate experience vs. those that textually deconstruct experience, and accounts that center on singularity of self-narratives vs. incoherent multiplicity. Finally, we open discussion on a relational constructionist account of narrative, with an eye toward reconciling these disparate orientations.
Narrative necessity and the fixity of meaning in a life
Authors: Westlund Andrea C.
Published: December 2011

This paper raises doubts about the necessity of narrative to selfhood or unified agency, but suggests that there may nonetheless be an important role for autobiographical narrative in (provisionally) fixing the meaning of events, actions, and experiences within a life.
Il catalogo dei pesci in Isidoro
Authors: Bertini Ferruccio
Published: December 2011

L’article concerne l’évocation des poissons dans le chapitre 6 du livre XII des Etymologies d’Isidore de Séville. Il évoque de façon générale la question des sources de l’auteur, la structuration de son propos et les caractères de son discours, dont le niveau scientifique est discuté. La suite se concentre sur quelques cas de lemmes intéressants, soit par les incertitudes qu’ils recèlent, soit par les perspectives qu’ils ouvrent sur la méthode de l’encyclopédiste: il est successivement question de la moule ou musculus, des huîtres perlères ou oceloe, du crapaud ou rana rubeta, de la murena, de l’éponge de mer ou spugna. On conclut au caractère compilatoire de cette encyclopédie, qui intéresse surtout comme répertoire terminologique et comme fenêtre sur les rapports médiévaux entre réel, imaginaire et fantastique.
Le guépard médiéval, ou comment reconnaître un animal sans nom
Authors: Buquet Thierry
Published: December 2011

Le guépard, utilisé comme auxiliaire de chasse dans les mondes irano-persans et arabes depuis des millénaires, et à ce titre bien connu et identifié dans ces aires culturelles, est longtemps resté en Occident un animal plus incertain, demeurant encore aujourd’hui difficile à repérer dans les sources médiévales. Son nom de “guépard” apparaissant en français seulement au xviie siècle, il ne semble pas posséder auparavant de nom en propre et porte le même zoonyme que la panthère: celui de “léopard”. De même, dans les images, il est parfois difficile de différencier les deux animaux. La présente contribution tente donc de faire le point sur ces confusions en donnant quelques éléments aidant à l’identification de cet animal sans nom dans les textes et les images. L’article apporte des indications relatives au contexte littéraire ou documentaire, principalement à la fin du Moyen Âge, où le guépard faisait partie des équipages de chasse princiers, notamment en Italie, aussi noble que le faucon, mais recherché comme un objet de luxe et de prestige exotique.
Un palmier, sept fleurs et sept oiseaux
Authors: Cordonnier Rémy , Van den Abeele Baudouin
Published: December 2011

La Palma contemplationis, petit texte édifiant du XIIIe siècle diffusé en latin, en français et dans les langues germaniques, développe une allégorie de l’ascension mystique de l’âme au moyen de l’image d’un palmier à sept branches, chacune étant sommée d’une fleur différente, à son tour support pour un oiseau. Sorte de petit aviaire et herbier allégorique, le texte offre une image très construite qui n’est pas sans rapport avec la tradition homilétique. Deux témoins illustrés ont été repérés, l’un au sein d’un exemplaire de l’Aviarium d’Hugues de Fouilloy conservé à Stuttgart, l’autre dans une sorte d’encyclopédie spirituelle à la Biblioteca Casanatense de Rome. Ils font ici l’objet d’une présentation détaillée, avec édition en annexe. Un essai d’inventaire de la tradition manuscrite de la Palma contemplationis latine et française est également joint.
Sombre Guillaume et rutilant Renart
Authors: Merceron Jacques E.
Published: December 2011

La critique renardienne s’est depuis longtemps avisée des rapports intertextuels à caractère ludique, ironique, voire parodique unissant le Roman et de Renart et la chanson de geste. Mais tout n’a pas été dit sur le sujet, car au-delà de points de rencontre précis, volontairement ostentatoires, donc facilement repérables (formules, motifs ponctuels, etc.), il en est d’autres qui sont davantage camouflés en raison de leur caractère plus diffus dans la ligne narrative. La présente étude se propose de faire ressortir le jeu d’échos, d’inversions et de contre-pieds entre La Prise d’Orange et la branche Ib du Roman de Renart, jeu initié à partir d’une commune situation de manque débouchant sur le face à face du héros déguisé (Guillaume et Renart) et de son ennemi juré (Arragon et Isengrin). Après avoir discuté de l’antériorité très probable de la geste sur la branche renardienne, nous nous efforcerons de montrer que le conteur renardien de la branche Ib s’est amusé à en démarquer de façon ironique un certain nombre de séquences narratives. Il ne s’agit toutefois pas d’une “simple” parodie, d’un “chant à côté” (para odos), démarquage formel, point par point, à tonalité comique et dégradante, mais plutôt d’une série ludique d’adhésions et de contre-pieds à l’égard d’un hypotexte que l’auteur connaissait manifestement fort bien. En somme, le conteur s’est livré à une récriture ludique et “contrapuntique” de certaines séquences de la chanson de geste.
The rhetorical fable collection of Aphthonius and the relation between theory and practice
Authors: van Dijk Gert-Jan
Published: December 2011

This paper focuses on a Greek prose fable collection by the rhetorician Apthonius, comprising 40 fables. There are some entirely new fables, whereas others present variations of older fables. We might distinguish simplifications, contaminations, fabulizations (creating fables out of heterogeneous stories). The collection was destined for school practice. Hence the ubiquitous use of promythiums and epimythiums, as well as the very brevity of the fables. The fable collection is preceded by a short theoretical introduction, which is especially important because of its subdivision of fables in terms of their characters (1. human protagonists, 2. animal protagonists, 3. a combination of both). The collection perfectly corresponds with the preceding theoretical passage. In the end we give a synopsis, comparing Aphthonius with all other extant ancient fable collections.
A cross-linguistic study of grammatically-dependent question tags
Authors: Axelsson Karin
Published: December 2011

This article proposes a new categorization of confirmation-seeking question tags, based on how the use of such tags is restricted in relation to the preceding clause, the anchor. The focus is on a category labelled grammatically-dependent question tags (GDQTs). Earlier research has claimed that almost only English has such question tags, but this article presents and compares data on GDQTs from more than ten languages, and suggests a hierarchy for features of grammatical dependence in question tags: polarity < tense < number/person < (semantic) gender (possibly also < verb substitution). The GDQT structures vary in different ways: all GDQT languages have negative GDQTs, but not all have positive GDQTs; verb substitution is not always applied and constant polarity instead of reversed polarity is also found.
On thetical grammar
Authors: Kaltenböck Gunther , Heine Bernd , Kuteva Tania
Published: December 2011

Most frameworks of linguistic analysis tend to highlight phenomena of language use and/or language knowledge such as sentence and word structure, while backgrounding or ignoring other phenomena that are interpreted as being of more marginal interest for the linguist. The main goal of this paper is to argue that some phenomena that have previously been treated as being more peripheral play an important role in the organization of linguistic discourse, and that the latter operates in at least two different domains, namely that of sentence grammar and of thetical grammar. Each of the two domains has its own internal structure, and the two tend to be separated from one another syntactically, prosodically, and semantically. Building on recent research, the paper aims at defining the main characteristics of thetical grammar.