Alternating Italian thetic and sentence-focus constructions

In this article we study the alternation between the two most prominent Italian thetic and sentence-focus constructions, viz. the Syntactic Inversion Construction (henceforth: SIC), e.g. Arriva il treno (‘The train is arriving’), and the Presentational Cleft (henceforth: PC), e.g. C’è il treno che arriva (‘The train is arriving’). Based on the existing literature on the two constructions and drawing inspiration from a number of cognitive-functional hypotheses pertaining to constraints on the amount of referentially new constituents that can be conveyed in a single clause, we put forward the hypothesis that Italian language users are more likely to prefer the PC over the SIC if the utterance involves a high number of referentially new constituents. To assess this hypothesis, we constructed a pilot experiment consisting of a 100-split forced choice task that was administered by means of an online questionnaire to 66 native speaker participants. The results of the experiment indicate that the preference for the PC indeed increases if the number of referentially new constituents is higher. This is however not the only factor involved in the alternation and the preference of the language users seems not only to be determined by the number of referentially new constituents, but also by their syntactic status.

Research and Development of a COVID-19 Tracking System in Order to Implement Analytical Tools to Reduce the Infection Risk

The whole world is currently focused on COVID-19, which causes considerable economic and social damage. The disease is spreading rapidly through the population, and the effort to stop the spread is entirely still failing. In our article, we want to contribute to the improvement of the situation. We propose a tracking system that would identify affected people with greater accuracy than medical staff can. The main goal was to design hardware and construct a device that would track anonymous risky contacts in areas with a highly concentrated population, such as schools, hospitals, large social events, and companies. We have chosen a 2.4 GHz proprietary protocol for contact monitoring and mutual communication of individual devices. The 2.4 GHz proprietary protocol has many advantages such as a low price and higher resistance to interference and thus offers benefits. We conducted a pilot experiment to catch bugs in the system. The device is in the form of a bracelet and captures signals from other bracelets worn at a particular location. In case of contact with an infected person, the alarm is activated. This article describes the concept of the tracking system, the design of the devices, initial tests, and plans for future use.

Urban Soundscapes in the Imaginaries of Native Digital Users: Guidelines for Soundscape Design

We present an experiment run along the lines of a pilot experiment in China based on collages and narratives to illustrate the participants’ experience with urban sceneries. Its aim was to develop a conceptual model based on narrative analysis that linked objects of the environment to the perceived properties of the soundscape. Participants in groups of two were free to clip any image they wanted from a selection of magazines—the same for all groups within each country—and free to add comments or drawings on their collages. Then, they had to present their collages to the other participants, and the presentations were recorded and transcribed. The structural semantic model that underlies the descriptions of the collages and narratives is presented. The results of the analysis were comparable with previous studies, since ideal urban environments should be calm, quiet and green, but urban environments should also promote cultural activities and the possibility to escape outside the city. The analysis also allowed for attaining the emotions created by soundscapes. Thus, the semantic model can be used as a conceptual model for a soundscape, from which guidelines for soundscape planning and design can be derived, as well as suggestions for innovative soundscapes.

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Values and Image of the Future of Generation Z: Systemic Particularity

The article presents the results of a pilot experiment carried out within the framework of psycholinguistics and aimed identify the structure and content of the value system and the image of the future of generation Z. The relevance of such studies is substantiated; a complex of methods is described that allows: 1) reveal the specifics of the value system and the image of the future as its subsystem; 2) highlight the most significant signs of the studied phenomena in the group consciousness; 3) draw conclusions on the motives determining the hierarchy of values. The results of the analysis allow us conclude that at present there is a change in the connections between the elements of the structure of values, the core of which is the desire for life only by the interests of the inner circle of people and material prosperity. It is assumed that the experimentally recorded trend could be explained either by the ongoing gradual replacement of the values of traditional culture with the values of an individualistic society, or by the contradiction between social archetypes (according to K. Kasyanova), which determine the national type of linguistic personality (according to Yu.N. Karaulov) and the external form of the state as that society section, which quite rigidly tries to fix the main parameters of society of a certain state. It is argued that the lack of a clear understanding of the causes of what is going on, as well as the importance of the problem for society, determines the need for further research in this direction.

Results of a pilot experiment on monitoring the condition of buildings and structures using unmanned aerial vehicles

The purpose of the experimental study presented in the paper is to generate new knowledge about the possibility of using unmanned aerial vehicles to survey buildings and structures for subsequent extraction of information about their condition in hard-to-reach or remote places. As objects for the pilot experiment, the following were selected: a residential building in an urban environment that has been destroyed during operation; an object of unfinished construction; a roadway on the carriageway. An unmanned aerial vehicle of the model: DJI Mavic Air was used to survey the objects. The results of the study of objects are recorded in the form of photo and video streams for each object. Comparison of the results of the inspection of objects by experts and unmanned aerial vehicles showed the possibility and necessity of using new means to collect information about the condition of buildings and structures. The primary processing of the obtained images revealed their features: the effect of illumination on the color characteristics of the object of study; the presence of a textural component that complicates the process of separating the defect from the background; the presence of objects in the image that are not related to the elements of surface destruction; the change in the initial size of the object over time. The detected features of the images allow the use of standard algorithms and processing and require the synthesis of unique trajectories of their application.

Reducing political polarization in Hong Kong: a pilot experiment of deliberation

Contemporary Hong Kong is riven by serious political and social polarization. Hong Kong's problem does not lie in ideological differences among citizens; rather, the major issue is that people of different political stripes view each other as enemies. In this study, we conducted two experiments to compare the impacts of deliberation and discussion on political depolarization. In study 1, we invited participants of opposing views toward the Article 23 legislation and conducted a 90-min discussion session. The participants were divided into two groups: deliberation and causal discussion. The deliberation group received an information booklet on the issue and had to strictly follow rules of deliberation whereas the causal discussion group had no such stimuli. In study 2, we used video recordings from study 1 and presented the videos to two groups of participants. One group of participants watched the deliberation video and the other group watched the causal discussion video. The main finding of the study is both deliberation and causal discussion had mixed effects on reducing political polarization. After discussion, issue attitude and issue polarization remained largely the same, but people's attitude toward others with opposing views became more favorable and affective polarization was reduced. No systematic differences were found between deliberation and discussion. And watching discussion and deliberation will deliver similar effects but to a lesser extent.