Origins of Bosnian humor and its role during the siege of Sarajevo

This article presents an ethnographic study of Bosnian humour during the siege of Sarajevo. The siege of Sarajevo, which followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, lasted four years. Despite the atrocities and war crimes committed against the residents of Sarajevo during this period, they are known for the spirit they demonstrated, and humour was a crucial element of this spirit. On the basis of two-month fieldwork in Sarajevo, I demonstrate how Bosnians employed humour to comment on this traumatic event, made sense of it, and coped with the experience. Although humour under extreme conditions is mainly viewed as a coping mechanism, by exploring the origins of Bosnian humour and stereotypes about Bosnians, I demonstrate that a notable humorous response to the traumatic events of the 1990s was more than a coping mechanism or just a response to this particular war. As I argue, a humorous attitude toward life in Bosnia belongs to people’s identity; it has developed historically as a response to the sufferings of a peripheral group in the region and, as a result, has become a cultural artifact belonging to Bosnians’ ethnic consciousness. In their attempt to preserve a sense of normalcy and restore dignity during the siege, Sarajevans continued to engage in their traditional humour, as doing otherwise would mean they had lost control over who they were.

Europejski Zielony Ład jako narzędzie modernizacji i legitymizacji projektu europejskiego

Covid-19 pandemic created a new environment to New Green Deal - flagship initiative of European Commission and crucial element of Ursula von der Leyen political manifesto. Author argues, that faced with the possibility of weakening or postponing ambitious environmental programme because of new challenges the commission, backed by important group pf member states decided to build a direct link between reconstruction after pandemics and greening of the economy. The result was a push forward with decarbonisation commitments - the stimuli for change should be bound together to strengthen their interdependence and build a momentum for modernization of EU in both economic and political dimensions. Conditionality of Next Generation Europe financial instrument is one of the links between these two dimensions.

Europejski Zielony Ład jako narzędzie modernizacji i legitymizacji projektu europejskiego

Covid-19 pandemic created a new environment to New Green Deal - flagship initiative of European Commission and crucial element of Ursula von der Leyen political manifesto. Author argues, that faced with the possibility of weakening or postponing ambitious environmental programme because of new challenges the commission, backed by important group pf member states decided to build a direct link between reconstruction after pandemics and greening of the economy. The result was a push forward with decarbonisation commitments - the stimuli for change should be bound together to strengthen their interdependence and build a momentum for modernization of EU in both economic and political dimensions. Conditionality of Next Generation Europe financial instrument is one of the links between these two dimensions.

The Role of Neutrophils in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Tumor-associated neutrophils appear to be a crucial element of the tumor microenvironment that actively participates in the development and progression of cancerous diseases. The increased lifespan, plasticity in changing of phenotype, and functions of neutrophils influence the course of the disease and may significantly affect survival. In patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), disturbances in neutrophils functions impede the effective immune defense against pathogens. Therefore, understanding the mechanism underlying such a phenomenon in CLL seems to be of great importance. Here we discuss the recent reports analyzing the phenotype and functions of neutrophils in CLL, the most common leukemia in adults. We summarize the data concerning both the phenotype and the mechanisms by which neutrophils directly support the proliferation and survival of malignant B cells.

Made in Italy in the Japanese F&B Market and the Marketing of Freedom

Italy in Japan resounds with fashion, lifestyle and most of all food. From HoReCa to home cooking to gifts, Italian F&B products have taken Japanese consumers by storm in the past few decades, imposing Made in Italy as the most loved national brand. But the Japanese market is extremely mature, fast and notoriously one of the most sophisticated globally. Competition is fierce and relying on the quality of the product itself is not enough to secure commercial success in a country where form often prevails over content. That is when (good) food marketing becomes the crucial element in dictating the lifespan of a brand. To what degree are Italian producers aware of this? And what is the best approach to minimize failure?

The Use of Video Project Assignment (VPA) To Enhance Students’ Achievement in Communicative English Subject

Speaking skills is a crucial element which all students in Malaysian polytechnic should master. The new English syllabus introduced in Polytechnic is aimed at building confidence and fluency in English for students as well as enabling them to function effectively at the workplace. Majority of the Communicative English assessment requires students to communicate in English either as individuals or in groups, but many students are still reluctant to speak in front of the classroom and have a very low level of confidence. Thus, Video Project Assignment (VPA) is implemented to boost the achievement of students in the field of Communicative English. The aims of this study are 1) to analyse the student’s perception on the use of Video Project Assignment (VPA) in Communicative English subject, 2) to examine students’ engagement level towards the use of Video Project Assignment (VPA) based on emotional engagement and cognitive engagement and 3) to identify students’ achievement in DUE3012 Communicative English 2 subject. A set of questionnaire was used to gather data from thirty-three respondents from one of the polytechnics in Johor. Descriptive analysis technique was used to analyzed the data gathered from questionnaire. Result of the study indicates that by generating Video Project Assignment (VPA), students demonstrate positive perception, engagement, and achievement. This study also provides the students, lecturers, and potential researcher with a good inference.

POLITICS AND PLAY IN THE LAVS PISONIS

This article examines the first-century c.e.Laus Pisonis, an anonymous panegyric for a certain Piso that lays particular emphasis on his skill at lyre-playing, ball games and the board game, the ludus latrunculorum (155–210). Whereas this focus has often been a cause of consternation among critics, this article argues that play is a crucial element of the poem's poetic and political operations. The first section shows that the poem employs images of poetic maturity and of temporality in order to justify a light or ludic topic for an allegedly young poet. The second section identifies a hitherto unobserved telestich (M-O-R-A) in the passage describing the ludus latrunculorum and argues that this letter game defines a positive period of play within the poem. The third section further demonstrates that this letter game is aimed specifically at the patron Piso as he is represented within the poem. That is, the poet parallels Piso's potential to uncover the telestich in the text and his ability to uncover the poet's hidden talent. The concluding fourth section explores the wider impact of this reinterpretation of the Laus Pisonis for the literary history of the Early Principate. It proposes that the poem's playfulness should not be seen as reflecting the progressive disempowerment of the political elite. Rather, the poem is an early case of Roman political discourse encroaching on the value of the trivial and the boundaries of otium. The Laus Pisonis makes play political.

Street character and current practices influence

Rapid development has affected the elements of urban spaces adversely, particularly streets. These changes produce faceless cities with high dependency on vehicles for transportation to key ‘consumers’ aside from buildings that are not designed for the local environment and local needs. In urban design, concerns on character affect the sense of place. Thus, this paper assesses the crucial element of streets with respect to design and character in the urban setting, the subsequent issues, and the recommended solution. This study focuses on the scenarios that threaten today's street design. This work will discuss the advantages of traditional streets, which could be a potential solution to the issues mentioned earlier. Finally, a street design based on the traditional street model is proposed to fulfill the criteria necessitated by the local community.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Pandemic Times

In general, teaching, as a multidimensional process, has always been considered as a crucial element for the society to progress. Recently, it has become the talk of the town as it is facing a challenging reality, that of virtual teaching introduced due to the pandemic precautions taken by the education bodies worldwide. It is quite obvious that extreme situations bring flashes that may blind or inspire us and this is the case in present days. We teachers, professors, and educators have spent many hours within the classroom or teaching environments and outside ruminating, pondering, discussing the best teaching methodology that inspires, draws students’ attention and enhances their involvement during teaching/learning activities; we have invested our knowledge and experience on quite a considerable number of elaborated articles, but all these years it has never crossed our mind that we as teachers will be ever faced with such crashing reality. We have always considered the introduction of technology (computers, interactive boards, etc) as an assisting tool and not as the only and most important mean of disseminating and acquiring knowledge. So, the aim of this article is to reconsider the methodology of teaching English as a foreign language and the moribund and distressed situation it has fallen into lately. How we ought to motivate students if we have to overcome the mask and computer screen obstacle?