La funció d’una llengua auxiliar internacional

Tot i que la necessitat pràctica d’una llengua internacional auxiliar és patent, hi ha desacord entre els partidaris d’adoptar una llengua construïda o una llengua nacional en la seva forma tradicional o simplificada. Per bé que la segona opció sembla més pràctica i realista, de fet topa amb dos obstacles: la resistència psicològica a un idioma estranger imposat, i un malentès respecte a les necessitats profundes que una tal llengua hauria de satisfer. En comptes de difondre les irracionalitats idiosincràtiques d’un idioma particular, la llengua internacional hauria de ser simple, regular, lògica, rica i creativa, per tal que faci el màxim de feina amb una mínima inversió d’esforç, a més de ser un ajut al pensament clar i una pedra de toc de traduccions. El seu avantatge psicològic seria també alliberar el pensament de restriccions tan formals com socials. Finalment, tindria el valor educatiu propedèutic d’ensinistrar la ment per a l’adquisició posterior de qualsevol altra llengua.Kvankam la praktika bezono de internacia helplingvo estas evidenta, ekzistas malkonsento inter la partianoj adopti planlingvon aŭ nacian lingvon en ties ĉi tradicia formo aŭ simpligita. Kvankam la dua eblo ŝajnas pli praktika kaj realisma, ĝi fakte trafas du obstaklojn: la psikologian kontraŭstaron kontraŭ trudata fremda lingvo kaj miskomprenon pri la profundaj bezonoj, kiujn tia lingvo devus kontentigi. Anstataŭ ol disvastigi la idiosinkraziajn neraciaĵojn de difinita lingvo, la internacia lingvo devus esti simpla, regula, logika, riĉa kaj kreiva, tiel ke ĝi permesu kiel eble plej multajn eblojn kontraŭ eta laborinvesto. Krome ĝi devus helpi al klara pensado kaj agi kiel tuŝoŝtono de tradukado. Ĝia psikologia avantaĝo estus ankaŭ liberigi la penson tiel de formalaj kiel de sociaj limigoj. Fine ĝi havus la propedeŭtikan valoron trejni la menson por posta lernado de iu ajn alia lingvo

Cultura: Autêntica e espúria

O artigo discute a noção de cultura e seus diversos usos, elaborando a partir deles uma concepção estruturalmente tensionada pelas categorias autenticidade e inautenticidade. Estas últimas oferecem meios comparativos para o reconhecimento de experiências socioculturais diversas. Numa perspectiva de crítica da cultura, o autor discute o modo pelo qual a inautenticidade distinguiria as modernas sociedades ocidentais, repercutindo a critica modernista da modernidade. O artigo tem como foco de sua crítica a sociedade norte-americana das primeiras décadas do século XX. Ele assinala, no entanto, que autenticidade e inautenticidade não se confundem com determinadas formas mais ou menos evoluídas de vida sociocultural; nem com níveis de desenvolvimento econômico e tecnológico. A inautenticidade não estaria exclusivamente associada à modernidade. As formas de cultura autêntica são pensadas como formas de vida coletiva que passam necessariamente pela experiência individual e passíveis de serem encontradas seja nas chamadas “sociedades primitivas” seja ao longo da história das sociedades ocidentais

What's in a copy?

ABSTRACTI will answer the question “What’s in a copy?” by considering three sets of related issues: the importance of copies in academia; in cultural life; and in the economic world. In academia the current capability of making copies is challenging pedagogical practices and the trust of its members, plagiarism being the most immediate problem. The notion of authorship is also undergoing changes provoked by a proliferation of authors and new possibilities opened up by cyberspace. In cultural life, imitation and mimesis have long been fundamental engines of socialization. Our enhanced capacity of copying problematizes, with new intensity, the relationships between homogeneity and heterogeneity, between the genuine and the spurious. In the economic world, the digital era is threatening some of the fundamental tenets of capitalism, especially of its variant called the “knowledge society”, regarding the control of intellectual property rights. The gap between normativity and social practices is widening. The many dilemmas and tensions identified in the text are understood as symptoms of two major characteristics of the current times: hyperfetishism and hyperanimism. ________________________________________________________________________________ RESUMOResponderei à pergunta “O que existe em uma cópia?” considerando três conjuntos de questões relacionadas: a importância das cópias na academia, na vida cultural, no mundo econômico. Na academia a presente capacidade de fazer cópias está desafiando práticas pedagógicas e a confiança dos seus membros, o plágio sendo o problema mais imediato. A noção de autoria também está sofrendo mudanças provocadas por uma proliferação de autores e novas possibilidades abertas pelo ciberespaço. Na vida cultural, a imitação e a mimese de há muito são importantes motores de socialização. A nossa capacidade ampliada de fazer cópias problematiza, com nova intensidade, as relações entre homogeneidade e heterogeneidade, entre o genuíno e o espúrio. No mundo econômico, a era digital ameaça algumas das premissas fundamentais do capitalismo, especialmente da sua variante “sociedade do conhecimento”, no tocante aos direitos de propriedade intelectual. Cresce a distância entre normatividade e práticas sociais. Os muitos dilemas e tensões identificados no texto são compreendidos como sintomas de duas grandes características do presente: o hiperfetichismo e o hiperanimismo

Words cluster phonetically beyond phonotactic regularities

Recent evidence suggests that cognitive pressures associated with language acquisition and use could affect the organization of the lexicon. On one hand, consistent with noisy channel models of language (e.g., Levy, 2008), the phonological distance between wordforms should be maximized to avoid perceptual confusability (a pressure for dispersion). On the other hand, a lexicon with high phonological regularity would be simpler to learn, remember and produce (e.g., Monaghan et al., 2011) (a pressure for clumpiness). Here we investigate wordform similarity in the lexicon, using measures of word distance (e.g., phonological neighborhood density) to ask whether there is evidence for dispersion or clumpiness of wordforms in the lexicon. We develop a novel method to compare lexicons to phonotactically-controlled baselines that provide a null hypothesis for how clumpy or sparse wordforms would be as the result of only phonotactics. Results for four languages, Dutch, English, German and French, show that the space of monomorphemic wordforms is clumpier than what would be expected by the best chance model according to a wide variety of measures: minimal pairs, average Levenshtein distance and several network properties. This suggests a fundamental drive for regularity in the lexicon that conflicts with the pressure for words to be as phonologically distinct as possible. Keywords: Linguistics; Lexical design; Communication; Phonotactic

Rethinking the Diagnosis and Management of Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Multidisciplinary Transplant Meetings:A Global Survey and Banff Working Group Recommendations

Introduction: The diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) requires input from several transplant professionals. Bringing clinical and laboratory experts together may help standardize care. Yet, little is known about current global practices of multidisciplinary meetings for AMR management. Methods: The Banff Antibody-Mediated Injury Working Group approached professional societies worldwide to distribute a survey on the availability, content, participants, perceived value, and barriers to the implementation of multidisciplinary meetings. Results: Four hundred two transplant professionals from six continents caring for kidney (90.55%), liver (21.14%), pancreas (20.65%), heart (15.17%), and lung (14.18%) transplant recipients participated in the survey, and 302 (75.12%) reported attending multidisciplinary meetings. Multidisciplinary meetings were more prevalent in academic centers, in high- versus low-to-middle-income regions (81.03% and 65.99%, respectively; p < 0.001), and in mid-to-large size transplant programs compared to smaller programs. Perceived value included continued professional development (97.68%) and trainee education (95.70%). AMR was reported to be discussed at these meetings by 217 respondents with case presentations reviewing patient characteristics, histology, and HLA antibody data. A third of the respondents reviewed non-HLA/pathogenic autoantibodies and/or molecular diagnostics, with the latter being more frequently applied in high- versus low-to-middle-income regions (46.71% and 12.31%, respectively; p < 0.001). AMR case presentations allowed diagnosis revision, actionable management plans and were perceived as improving care. The primary barrier to the implementation of multidisciplinary meetings (63.27%) was the unavailability of transplant professionals (e.g., transplant immunologists). Conclusion: Facilitating multidisciplinary meetings through the remote participation of pertinent experts and incentivizing participation through remuneration, protected time, or continued medical education may help standardize AMR diagnosis and harmonize its management

Lkb1 Deficiency Alters Goblet and Paneth Cell Differentiation in the Small Intestine

The Lkb1 tumour suppressor is a multitasking kinase participating in a range of physiological processes. We have determined the impact of Lkb1 deficiency on intestinal homeostasis, particularly focussing on secretory cell differentiation and development since we observe strong expression of Lkb1 in normal small intestine Paneth and goblet cells. We crossed mice bearing an Lkb1 allele flanked with LoxP sites with those carrying a Cyp1a1-specific inducible Cre recombinase. Lkb1 was efficiently deleted from the epithelial cells of the mouse intestine after intraperitoneal injection of the inducing agent β-naphthoflavone. Bi-allelic loss of Lkb1 led to the perturbed development of Paneth and goblet cell lineages. These changes were characterised by the lack of Delta ligand expression in Lkb1-deficient secretory cells and a significant increase in the levels of the downstream Notch signalling effector Hes5 but not Hes1. Our data show that Lkb1 is required for the normal differentiation of secretory cell lineages within the intestine, and that Lkb1 deficiency modulates Notch signalling modulation in post-mitotic cells

The Banff 2019 Kidney Meeting Report (I): Updates on and clarification of criteria for T cell– and antibody-mediated rejection

The XV. Banff conference for allograft pathology was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics in Pittsburgh, PA (USA) and focused on refining recent updates to the classification, advances from the Banff working groups, and standardization of molecular diagnostics. This report on kidney transplant pathology details clarifications and refinements to the criteria for chronic active (CA) T cell–mediated rejection (TCMR), borderline, and antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). The main focus of kidney sessions was on how to address biopsies meeting criteria for CA TCMR plus borderline or acute TCMR. Recent studies on the clinical impact of borderline infiltrates were also presented to clarify whether the threshold for interstitial inflammation in diagnosis of borderline should be i0 or i1. Sessions on ABMR focused on biopsies showing microvascular inflammation in the absence of C4d staining or detectable donor-specific antibodies; the potential value of molecular diagnostics in such cases and recommendations for use of the latter in the setting of solid organ transplantation are presented in the accompanying meeting report. Finally, several speakers discussed the capabilities of artificial intelligence and the potential for use of machine learning algorithms in diagnosis and personalized therapeutics in solid organ transplantation