Obsceniczne, obraźliwe czy „śmieszne”? O odbiorze społecznym kilku typów nazw miejscowych pogranicza polsko-wschodniosłowiańskiego

This article examines local place names which may, due to their form or their use in a wider context of a speech act, be considered to be obscene, offensive or funny. The first group includes names that evoke troublesome associations, even though they are not, etymologically speaking, connected with the taboo sphere (e.g. Gacie, Hujsko, Podupce). The second group consists of place names whose obscene or humorous character is recognisable only by those with relevant linguistic knowledge and awareness (e.g. Przedrzymiechy, Pukarzów, Tarzymiechy). The third and final group contains names whose potentially ridiculous and humorous character is present only when accompanied by a broader text and context of an utterance (e.g. Nielisz, Niemce, Cyców).

Influence of Food Matrices and the Population of Interfering Microorganisms on the Determination of Listeria monocytogenes by Conventional Methods and VIDAS

In this study, the possible influence of the food matrix and the interfering population of microorganisms on the detection and count of Listeria monocytogenes in three common foods of the Spanish diet (Spanish omelette, fresh cheese and vegetable salad) was determined. Four groups were assayed: one control, two groups with interfering microorganisms (Salmonella Enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis) with different levels of L. monocytogenes and a final group only contaminated with L. monocytogenes. The samples were analyzed with the normalized method (UNE-EN ISO 11290:2018) and with an alternative technique (VIDAS). The results show that the presence of interfering microorganisms did not seem to interfere with the determination of L. monocytogenes. Furthermore, the type of food did not seem to influence the determination of L. monocytogenes, but the culture media used showed differences. In fact, regardless of the type of food, the ALOA medium showed higher sensitivity than the other media, with higher recovery in 100% of samples (only for the Spanish omelette in Group B was the result the same as that for PALCAM, −8.11 log cfu/g). The results obtained using the VIDAS were not influenced by any of the factors or conditions used and show 100% efficiency.

Study of the Prevalence of Burnout in University Professors in the Period 2005–2020

The purpose of this research is to carry out a systematic review of the existing scientific literature on the prevalence of Burnout in university professors in the time period 2005–2020. For that purpose, an exploratory review through the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus related to this psychosocial syndrome under the PRISMA methodology has been made. After the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a final group of 12 studies were obtained. The results show the presence of high levels of Burnout in a sample of 2,841 university professors in the period studied, which makes it necessary to implement psychosocial intervention programs to prevent this syndrome and promote the personal and professional accomplishment of teachers.

Mathematically aggregating experts’ predictions of possible futures

Structured protocols offer a transparent and systematic way to elicit and combine/aggregate, probabilistic predictions from multiple experts. These judgements can be aggregated behaviourally or mathematically to derive a final group prediction. Mathematical rules (e.g., weighted linear combinations of judgments) provide an objective approach to aggregation. The quality of this aggregation can be defined in terms of accuracy, calibration and informativeness. These measures can be used to compare different aggregation approaches and help decide on which aggregation produces the “best” final prediction. When experts’ performance can be scored on similar questions ahead of time, these scores can be translated into performance-based weights, and a performance-based weighted aggregation can then be used. When this is not possible though, several other aggregation methods, informed by measurable proxies for good performance, can be formulated and compared. Here, we develop a suite of aggregation methods, informed by previous experience and the available literature. We differentially weight our experts’ estimates by measures of reasoning, engagement, openness to changing their mind, informativeness, prior knowledge, and extremity, asymmetry or granularity of estimates. Next, we investigate the relative performance of these aggregation methods using three datasets. The main goal of this research is to explore how measures of knowledge and behaviour of individuals can be leveraged to produce a better performing combined group judgment. Although the accuracy, calibration, and informativeness of the majority of methods are very similar, a couple of the aggregation methods consistently distinguish themselves as among the best or worst. Moreover, the majority of methods outperform the usual benchmarks provided by the simple average or the median of estimates.

Longing for the Truth as One of the Semantic Sides of the TRUTH Concept Verbalized in the Lexemes pravda, truth and verdad (Based on Russian, English and Spanish Proverbs and Sayings)

This paper is written within the framework of cognitive linguistics and is part of a series of articles devoted to the cognitive attribute of justice in the context of studying the concepts PRAVDA, TRUTH and VERDAD in Russian, English and Spanish linguistic cultures. Based on proverbs and sayings containing the lexemes pravda in Russian, truth in English and verdad in Spanish, the authors had in earlier works considered the cognitive features of the idea of truth as justice and singled out the following groups of logemes (term by P.V. Chesnokov): 1) the need for truth/justice in the life of society; 2) the power of truth/justice; 3) disbelief in truth/justice. The purpose of this paper was to further reveal and describe new semantic aspects of the aforementioned concepts reflecting the idea of justice. As a result, the authors distinguished another common semantic group of logemes, defined as longing for the truth/justice. The authors note that paroemias containing the idea of longing for the truth form the final group of logemes of the cognitive attribute of justice. The semantic-cognitive analysis of paroemias revealed that only in Russian proverbs life without the truth is presented as unbearable, forcing a person to fight for the truth, sacrificing his/her life. English proverbs recognize the inaccessibility of the truth, pitiful and helpless truth, doomed to suffer from the human evil. In Spanish paroemias, one can trace the suffering of both the person and the truth itself from mutual misunderstanding. In all the linguistic cultures under consideration, the hope for justice does not die but, currently, its expectation is less painful for English-speaking nations than for the Russians and Spaniards. The results of this study can be useful for linguists and translators dealing with theoretical and practical issues of cognitive linguistics and, in particular, issues of intercultural communication in Russian, English and Spanish.

An Integrated Group Decision-Making Approach Considering Uncertainty Conditions

The management of business information processes needs effective decision-making models. That means to involve different methods, techniques, and principles to improve competitiveness and to achieve the planned business results. In this context, the article deals with the problem of group decision-making under uncertain conditions. To cope with such problems some well-known optimization strategies of Wald, Laplace, Hurwitz, and Savage are modified to take into account the experts’ opinions with different importance when forming the final group decision. Numerical testing is based on a case study for CRM software selection. The results are discussed based on the proposed models under two different cases derived from the case study. The conducted numerical testing of the proposed models demonstrates their applicability to cope simultaneously with multiple experts’ evaluations and uncertainty conditions.

ASSESSMENT OF PERIODONTAL STATUS IN A GROUP OF PATIENTS AND CORRELATIONS WITH FACTORS WHICH FAVORING PERIODONTAL DISEASE

Objectives. The study aimed to assess the periodontal status of a group of patients and to highlight the correlations with factors favoring the occurrence and worsening of periodontal disease. Material and method. The study was carried out within the „Dr. Vodiță“ Dental Clinic for a period of 2 years. The study group initially consisted of 266 patients who approached the Clinic for various dental reasons. We applied inclusion and exclusion criteria from the study to the initial group of patients. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria from the study, the final group of patients consisted of 205 patients of both sexes, aged between 18 and 76 years. The data were analyzed and statistically processed with the Microsoft Excel 2016 program. Results. The study group consisted of 138 male patients and 67 female patients, including 5 bruxomaniacs, 12 oral respirators, 36 patients with malocclusions and 54 patients with reduced or extended edentulous partially prosthetic. The Loe and Silness gingival index and the papillary bleeding index had the majority value 1. Discussions. In the present study, young patients were best represented. Cardiovascular diseases have an increased incidence among the group analyzed, 17.07% of patients said they live in stressful conditions and 47.32% of patients said they smoke. Conclusions. Most patients in the present study were young adults with generalized forms of periodontal disease. The main reasons for presenting to the doctor were gingival bleeding and halitosis, which are signs of periodontal disease. Smoking, daily stress and cardiovascular diseases are factors involved in the appearance and evolution of periodontal disease.

“If you have a pain, get on a plane”: qualitatively exploring how short-term Canadian international retirement migrants prepare to manage their health while abroad

Background Every year, tens of thousands of older Canadians travel abroad during the winter months to enjoy warmer destinations that offer social and recreational opportunities. How do these Canadians prepare to manage their health while abroad? In this analysis we explore this question by developing a typology of preparatory strategies. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 older Canadians living seasonally in Yuma, Arizona (United States). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed to form the basis of a typology of preparatory strategies. Results Four distinct preparatory strategies form the typology that summarizes how Canadian international retirement migrants prepare to manage their health while abroad. First, some participants became thoroughly prepared by gathering information from multiple sources and undertaking specific preparatory activities (e.g., visiting a travel medicine clinic, purchasing travel health insurance, bringing prescription refills). Second, some participants were preparation-adverse and relied on their abilities to address health needs and crises in-the-moment. Third, some participants became well informed about things they could do in advance to protect their health while abroad (e.g., purchasing travel health insurance) but opted not to undertake preparatory actions. A final group of participants prepared haphazardly. Conclusions This typology can assist health care providers in international retirement migrant destinations to appreciate differences among this patient population that is often characterized as being relatively homogenous. More research is needed to determine if these preparatory strategies are common in other mobile populations and if they are found in other destinations popular with international retirement migrants.

Mathematically aggregating experts' predictions of possible futures

Experts are often asked to represent their uncertainty as a subjective probability. Structured protocols offer a transparent and systematic way to elicit and combine probability judgements from multiple experts. As part of this process, experts are asked to individually estimate a probability (e.g., of a future event) which needs to be combined/aggregated into a final group prediction. The experts' judgements can be aggregated behaviourally (by striving for consensus), or mathematically (by using a mathematical rule to combine individual estimates). Mathematical rules (e.g., weighted linear combinations of judgments) provide an objective approach to aggregation. However, the choice of a rule is not straightforward, and the aggregated group probability judgement's quality depends on it. The quality of an aggregation can be defined in terms of accuracy, calibration and informativeness. These measures can be used to compare different aggregation approaches and help decide on which aggregation produces the "best" final prediction.In the ideal case, individual experts' performance (as probability assessors) is scored, these scores are translated into performance-based weights, and a performance-based weighted aggregation is used. When this is not possible though, several other aggregation methods, informed by measurable proxies for good performance, can be formulated and compared. We use several data sets to investigate the relative performance of multiple aggregation methods informed by previous experience and the available literature. Even though the accuracy, calibration, and informativeness of the majority of methods are very similar, two of the aggregation methods distinguish themselves as the best and worst.

Verbal and verbless copular clauses in Moro

Moro has a rich array of copular clause constructions which show clear contrasts in their syntactic makeup. One class of copular clauses contain verbal heads, others are headed by non-verbal predicates that bear some inflectional morphology which is shared with verbs, while a final group of copular clauses lack any words which could be identified as verbs. I show that verbal and verb-like copular clauses always contain a predicative core. On the other hand, verbless copular clauses lack predicative semantics, serving the functions of identification or equation. I provide a simple syntactic analysis which accounts for the morphosyntactic distribution of the different types of clauses.