On the Imperative of Language for Understanding African Art

I was deeply touched and honored by the roundtable organized at the 2016 African Studies Association Conference to focus on my book, Yoruba Art and Language: Seeking the African in African Art (2014). I want to thank Professor Funṣọ Afọlayan for contacting and bringing together a formidable group of scholars of Yorùbá art and culture to that end. I was gratified that, by and large, all the panelists endorsed my premise on the fundamental importance of language in Yorùbá art studies. The first paper by Moyọ Okediji was a pleasant surprise. Even though this possibility has always existed, as I had taught a course in Yorùbá art entirely in Yorùbá language at the University of Ifẹ (renamed Ọba ̀ ́fẹmi Awo ́ ́lọẃ ọ University) in ̀ the 1980s1 , no one was expecting that his entire contribution to the roundtable discussion would be presented in Yorùbá language. Why not? I realized. The language is as fully developed as any other language in the world and it can, and should be spoken as well as written -- especially when we discuss Yorùbá art. For the benefit of those not literate in Yorùba language, Michael Af ́ ọlayan gave an elegant translation of Okediji’s paper in English. The excellent contents and presentation by Okediji touched on issues that lay at the heart of my book, namely its methodology and its insistence on the need for a Yorùbá voice to be heard literally and metaphorically in art historical discourse.

Endodermal cyst: rare intraaxial brainstem location. Illustrative cases

BACKGROUND This report detailed an extremely rare location of an endodermal cyst. Such location of the tumor can pose radiological confusion and a therapeutic dilemma. However, when identified, it can be a pleasant surprise for the surgeon and provide the possibility of a symptom-free long life for the patient. OBSERVATIONS This report discussed two young patients who presented with relatively short-duration reports of ataxia and diplopia. Investigations revealed intraaxial brainstem lesion. During surgery, thick, pus-like fluid was evacuated and part of a wall was resected. Histology revealed that the lesion was an endodermal cyst. Both patients are well and are lesion- and symptom-free for 24 and 72 months. LESSONS Endodermal cysts are some of the few long-standing and benign intraaxial brainstem lesions.

USE OF LANGUAGE CORPORA FOR VERIFICATION OF SEMANTICS OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

The article considers the potential of corpus linguistics as an empirical method of modern linguistic research, highlights its advantages for phraseological studies and outlines the possibilities of using the Internet as a linguistic corpus Computer-mediated communication demonstrates a peculiar combination of features of oral and written speech, which is explained by specific parameters of the channel and means of communication (electronic text, hypertext, multimedia, interactivity, simultaneousness, variability in the number and explicitness of communicators). The functioning of communicative and expressive phraseology in asynchronous Internet communication is defined as one of the constituents of this mediolect. Phraseological units of this type are considered as a functional field of phraseological expressives and communicatives.The rich illustrative material revealed the wide and often linguistically creative use of the studied phraseological units, including units with pronounced national and cultural specifics, in the modern German-language media space. These units not only embody the background knowledge common to this linguistic community, but also, given the specifics of their meaning and emotional and expressive color, convey a common “background” humor, express the commonality of emotional and evaluative worldview.The phraseological unit Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! was chosen for the empirical corpus check. In lexicographic sources, semantic and translational equivalents are based on associations with both “extremity” and danger (symbolic component) with an obvious negative emotional and evaluative semantic component (indignation).The study analyzed 40 contexts of using this unit in online media articles. The lexicographically codified meaning of something transcends all boundaries, causing outrage was found only in 13 cases, in 10 of which there is a double actualization of the idiom meaning (explication of the number thirteen). The number thirteen was associated with a “superstitious” interpretation of it as dangerous in 5 other contexts, but in spite of this, good news was announced. In most of the analyzed case examples (22) the use of Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! turned out to be unexpected: the number thirteen is combined with the announcement of a positive event without explication of its symbolic interpretation. The phraseological unit acquires the meaning something incredible becomes possible; the decisive moment has come.Analysis of 40 usage contexts of Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! in the messages on the forums confirmed the uncharacteristic creative language use of phraseological expressives and communicatives in asynchronous communication in comparison with the texts of professional journalists. In 35 messages, this unit is used in its lexicographically codified meaning. In 5 cases Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! conveys joy, a pleasant surprise and acquires the meaning something incredible becomes possible; the decisive moment has come.The possibility of applying this method in phraseographic projects is argued.Key words: corpus linguistics, Internet-communication, forum, online media, communicative and expressive formulas, ambiguity of idioms. У статті розглядається потенціал корпусної лінгвістики як емпіричного методу сучасних лінгвістичних досліджень, викладаються його переваги для фразеологічних студій і окреслюються можливості використання Інтернету як лінгвістичного корпусу.У комп’ютерно опосередкованій комунікації спостерігається своєрідне поєднання ознак усного й писем-ного мовлення, яке пояснюється специфічними параметрами каналу й засобу комунікації (електронна форма існування тексту, гіпертекст, мультимедійність, інтерактивність, синхронність, варіативність кількості й експліцитності комунікантів). Функціонування в асинхронній Інтернет-комунікації комунікативно-експресивної фразеології визначається як один із конституентів цього медіолекту. Фразеологічні одиниці такого типу розглядаються як функціональне поле фразеологічних експресивів і комунікативів.Багатий ілюстративний матеріал дозволив виявити широке й часто мовнокреативне вживання досліджуваних фразеологічних одиниць, у тому числі одиниць із вираженою національно-культурною специфікою, в сучасному німецькомовному медіапросторі. Ці одиниці не лише втілюють спільні для такої лінгвоспільноти фонові знання, але й з огляду на специфіку їхнього значення та емоційно-експресивне забарвлення передають спільний «фоновий» гумор, виражають спільність емоційно-оцінного світосприйняття.Для емпіричної корпусної перевірки було обрано фразеологічну одиницю Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! У лексикографічних джерелах в основі семантичних і перекладних еквівалентів лежать асоціації як із «надмірністю», так і з небезпекою (символьна складова частина) з очевидним негативним емоційно-оцінним семантичним компонентом (обурення).У ході дослідження проаналізовано 40 контекстів вживання одиниці в статтях онлайн-засобів масової інформації. Лексикографічно кодифіковане значення «щось переходить усі межі, викликає обурення» було виявлено лише в 13 випадках, у 10 з яких прослідковується подвійна актуалізація значення фразеологізму (експлікація числа тринадцять). Число тринадцять асоціювалося із «забобонним» тлумаченням його як небезпечного ще в 5 інших контекстах, проте всупереч цьому анонсувалась приємна новина. У більшості проаналізованих корпусних прикладів (22) вживання Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! виявилось неочікуваним: число тринадцять поєднується з розповіддю чи анонсуванням позитивної події без експлікації його символьного тлумачення, фразеологічна одиниця набуває значення «неймовірне стає можливим; настав вирішальний момент».Аналіз 40 контекстів вживання Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! у повідомленнях на форумах підтвердили нехарактерність мовнокреативного вжитку фразеологічних експресивів і комунікативів в асинхронній комунікації в порів-нянні з текстами професійних журналістів. У 35 повідомленнях ця одиниця вжита у своєму лексикографічно кодифікованому значенні. У 5 випадках Jetzt schlägt’s dreizehn! передає радість, приємну несподіванку й набуває значення «неймовірне стає можливим; настав вирішальний момент».Аргументується можливість застосування такого методу у фразеографічних проєктах.Ключові слова: корпусна лінгвістика, Інтернет-комунікація, форум, онлайн-ЗМІ, фразеологічні експресиви й комунікативи, подвійна актуалізація значення.

The Sleep Modeling in the Human Organism

There are three alternating states of vigilance throughout our lives: wakefulness, NREM, and REM sleep. We usually yawn before falling asleep. Yawning is an ancient reaction, an instinctive action, manifested in a person by drowsiness or boredom. Yawning is often associated with the need for stretching. Yawning is a less strong territorial reflex. During deep sleep muscular tone is sharply reduced. Relaxation of the muscles and the lowering of their tone, howeever, are not constant and necessary components of sleep. Analysis of EEG recordings soon revealed that sleep is by no means a uniform process, but can be divided into at least two sharply separated states: one is characterized by slow waves in the EEG that are completely separate from the activity of wakefulness: this so-called slow wave sleep; the other is the so-called paradoxical sleep. Hypnopedia, as a discipline, deals with the input of fixed information introduced during the period of natural sleep, also known as sleep learning. Our hypnopedia researches was a pleasant surprise, because they were able to reproduce texts they did not know with an efficiency of approx. 25%.

To kill two birds with a stone

Novel Corona virus 2019, its infectivity and pandemic around the world has earnestly garnered much panic, especially, with its new strain spreading across the UK and possibly its spread across borders. This has increased anxiety and stress levels to many folds mainly due to its robustness and resistance to treatment (1). The panic and paranoia of testing COVID-19 positive, restraining into isolation and being shunned by the society often lead to a vicious cycle of heightened stress, anxiety and depression levels in individuals that at times lead to the ugly consequences of COVID-19 rendering end stage in affected with admissions in the intensive care or even death upon arriving hospitals. China, the first ever country in world to announce COVID-19 infection, has successfully controlled and contained the infection (2). There the new cases are negligible and has shown its capacity of treatment of COVID-19 through utility of medicinal herbs and old traditional remedies that are long ago forgotten by the other nations. The commonest treatment modality against COVID-19 in China, Thailand and other Buddhist countries are through mere inhaling of steam and intake of herbal teas (3). Many studies have shown that any form of tea especially chamomile tea is beneficial in the treatment of COVID 19. We have also currently run a clinical trial at the Aga Khan University where chamomile and saffron tea was given in twice a day dose for a month to the depressed patients to treat their depression. To our pleasant surprise many participants of the trial knew that chamomile is also effective against viral infections. Our research has shown that saffron and chamomile in combination at reduced doses has synergistic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects through modulation of neurotransmitters in brain (4,5). It is suggested that this synergism may benefit individuals against cytokine cascade, oxidant activity and inflammatory effects of the COVID 19 as well as alleviate neuropsychological deficits like anxiety, stress and depression that are associated with the fear of catching this communicable infection. This herbal tea may indeed help to kill two birds COVID-19 and neuropsychological illness with a stone. Continuous...

Of Mothers and Motherlands

Into a landscape with many prominent instances of “Russians on screen,” it comes as something of a (pleasant) surprise to discover The Americans, an FX series (2013-18) that depicts “the enemy” as a married couple with children who run a small business and live in the suburbs of 1980s Washington, D.C. These people may be foreigners or enemies, but they are also spouses, friends, neighbors, bosses, and parents. The question for us, then, is how a show that is squarely focused on the “first” Cold War might have something to say to our current reckoning with the “second” Cold War. The chapter suggests that The Americans provides a deeply human and humane portrait of parents and patriots, who happen to be loyal citizens of the Soviet Union, and in this way orients us to the not-always-clear distinctions between the personal and the political.

When Less Is More: There Must Be a Comprehensible Reason for Using Incompleteness in Advertisements to Improve Brand Attitude

In print advertisements, product images and words are usually complete. However, some marketers rely on the effectiveness of incompleteness. In such advertisements, a part of the product image and/or some letters of words are missing. We investigated numerous advertisements with incomplete product images or words and found three mental processes through which consumers respond to incompleteness. First, when consumers are exposed to incompleteness, they are normally able to mentally envision the entire product image or read the text correctly. This process is accompanied by feelings of pleasant surprise. Second, incompleteness induces perceptions of ad originality. Third, consumers scrutinise the reason why the marketer used incompleteness; incomplete ads differ in whether consumers understand the reason why the marketer used incompleteness. If people have difficulties understanding this reason, a negative effect on brand attitude is the consequence. In our studies, we tested two types of incompleteness for which consumers comprehended the reason why incompleteness was used (1. incompleteness that emphasises the ad message to increase consumer agreement to this message and 2. incompleteness that induces feelings of humour). For these types, we found that incompleteness improved attitudes towards familiar brands.

Effectiveness of Animal Images in Advertising

The effectiveness of showing animal images compared to displaying human models in advertisements and the effectiveness of using animals for further marketing instruments such as brand names, mascots, logos, product packaging designs, slogans, and product shapes has rarely been investigated in the academic research. Moreover, the characteristics of the animals used (e.g., species, pose, age, and beauty) for creating effective advertising have been ignored to date. This lack of research is surprising because many companies use animal images for promoting their brands and products. Our findings indicate that advertising practice can benefit from showing animals instead of human models. In particular, we recommend using animals in advertising as follows. Both pets and undomesticated animals are found to be superior to human models in eliciting positive emotions such as pleasant surprise and happiness/joy. Furthermore, they are advantageous in evoking pleasant feelings of entertainment. If advertisers aim to induce such positive affective states in consumers, they should consider using animal images. Famous examples of this strategy are the commercials entitled “Buster, the Boxer” promoting John Lewis and “Lost Puppy” promoting Budweiser beer. The animals’ cuteness additionally positively influences feelings of entertainment. If the advertiser aims to enhance message credibility, we recommend using images of pets instead of depictions of undomesticated animals. Although we recommend using animals in advertising and in particular cute animals (infantile animals or cute species) and pets, we advise practitioners to be careful when showing animals as role models. People easily link and compare themselves to images of role models and might feel insulted. Therefore, we recommend against using animals such as the retailer Netto did in its “Netto Cats” commercial.