Assessing the role of social bots during the early COVID-19 pandemic: infodemic, disagreement and criticism (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Social media has changed the way we live and communicate. These tools are an unprecedented instrument that may lead to great opportunities for improving many aspects of our lives, including health promotion and disease prevention. However, social media also presents a dark side that is not always so evident as its possible benefits. In fact, social media has also opened the door to new social and health risks that are linked to health misinformation. OBJECTIVE This work aims to study the role of social media bots during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS We use Twitter Stream API to collect tweets about Covid-19 during the early outbreak. Then, we use Botometer to obtain the probability that each account is a bot or not. We use bot classification along with topic modeling techniques to understand the Twitter conversation. Finally, we compare the sentiment associated with the tweets regarding the source of the tweet. RESULTS With respect to the topics of conversation, we found notable differences between the different accounts. The content associated with no-bots accounts is associated with the evolution of the pandemic, support, and advice. On the other hand, in the case of self-declared bots, the content is mostly news. That is the existence of diagnostic tests, the evolution of the pandemic, scientific findings. Finally, in the case of bots, the content is mostly political. Above all, a general tone of criticism and disagreement predominates. In relation to sentiment analysis, the biggest differences are associated with the tone of the conversation. Conversation in the case of self-declared bots tends to be neutral. While the conversation of normal users scores positively. In contrast, bots tend to score negatively. CONCLUSIONS By classifying the accounts according to the probability of being bots together with topic modeling we were able to segment the Twitter conversation about Covid. The tone of messages written by non-bots accounts tends to be more positive than the former. On the contrary, the tone of non-declared bots is always more negative than the tone of self-declared ones.

De advocaat in de vroegmoderne stedelijke justitie

Hermanus Noordkerk was a famous barrister in eighteenth-century Amsterdam. After his death multiple necrologies were written in which the general tone was laudatory. This article investigates the reliability of the necrologies by answering the question why Noordkerk became such a famous barrister. What qualities did he have that made him so memorable? It becomes clear that together with his virtuous character Noordkerk was considered to be an inventive lawyer as well as an outstanding pleader and that, by combining these three characteristics, he embodied for contemporaries the ideal barrister. But besides, Noordkerk had another quality: he had the ability to exploit the public interest of a court case for the benefit of his client. Due to the political dynamics within an early modern city this might have been important for Noordkerk’s fame. The case study of Noordkerk thus sheds light on the qualities that a barrister should have in an early modern city.

The Preliminary Analysis of Cave Lion Cubs Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810) from the Permafrost of Siberia

A preliminary description is presented of the well-preserved frozen mummies of two cubs of the extinct cave lion Panthera spelaea (finds of 2017–2018, Semyuelyakh River, Yakutia, eastern Siberia, Russia). The fossil lion cubs were found in close proximity, but they do not belong to the same litter, since their radiocarbon ages differ: the female (named ‘Sparta’) was dated to 27,962 ± 109 uncal years BP, and the male (named ‘Boris’) was dated to 43,448 ± 389 uncal years BP. The lion cubs have similar individual ages, 1–2 months. The general tone of the colour of the fur coat of Sparta is greyish to light brown, whereas, in Boris, the fur is generally lighter, greyish yellowish. It is, therefore, possible that light colouration prevailed with age in cave lions and was adaptive for northern snow-covered landscapes. The article discusses the results of computed tomography of cubs of the cave lion, the possible reasons for their death, and the peculiarities of their existence in the Siberian Arctic.

Tropical Purgatory: Brazil Through the Lenses of Stefan Zweig and Elizabeth Bishop

Writers Stefan Zweig and Elizabeth Bishop both lived in Brazil, although in very different circumstances. Their stories served as basis for two films: Maria Schrader’s Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (Vor der Morgenröte, 2016), and Bruno Barreto’s Reaching for the Moon (Flores raras, 2013). This article aims to describe the differences between these two films, and how they can be connected to Brazilian authors such as Gilberto Freyre and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, whose works attempt to understand Brazil’s social dynamics from the perspective of its violent colonial past. Furthermore, this article aims to question the connections between historical accuracy and political engagement, arguing that the general tone of a film narrative may sometimes be much more politically-oriented than the actual facts it portrays.

GEMINATION AS ONE OF THE PRINCIPLES TO VERBALIZE THE EXPRESSION OF CHARACTERS’ EMOTIONAL STATES (based on Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451”)

Purpose. The task of this article is to study the use of gemination that is the stylistic device of repetition. It is used to depict the emotional states of the characters in the novel “451 degrees Fahrenheit” by the American writer Ray Bradbury. Until now this topic has not been examined thoroughly in scientific studies. It seems interesting to mark gemination as positive and negative one by means of the context that helps to acquire a certain expressive and evaluative judgment.Methods. The research is carried out using a descriptive method for cataloguing, systematization, and classification of factual material, as well as methods of theoretical generalization and analysis. The method of contextual analysis is used to clarify the role of expressive means in the text of the novel. This method is aimed at revealing the context, taking into account the author’s intention, and commented on the means of expression used by the writer. The application of these methods allows analyzing the use of the stylistic figure gemination as an expression of the characters’ different emotional states.Results. The article considers the theoretical aspects of repetition and stylistic devices which are based on its principle. In the novel, repetition functions as one of the principles to verbalize the expression of the characters’ emotional states. The views of linguists on the peculiarities of gemination’s functioning in the language are analyzed. The attempt to give the definition to this stylistic device is made. In linguistics, gemination is characterized as a phenomenon of the expressive syntax that has a contact location. The achievement of the influential effect is due to redundancy. Conclusions. The analyzed examples which are based on gemination mostly describe negative emotions. The number of examples in the novel where gemination is used to denote positive emotions is rather small. It is emphasized that such a distribution is not usual as it depends on the genre, the text’s general tone, and the context of the analyzed stylistic device.Key words: repetition, stylistic devices, expressive syntax, fiction, function, emotion. Мета наукової розвідки полягає в дослідженні вживання стилістичної фігури повтору гемінації, яку використано для зображення емоційного стану персонажів у романі американського письменника РеяБредбері «451 градус за Фаренгейтом», що до сьогодні не ставало предметом ретельних наукових студіювань. Цікавим видається позитивне та негативне маркування стилістичної фігури, яка залежно від контексту набуває певного експресивно-оціночного судження.Методи. Дослідження здійснено за допомогою описового методу – для інвентаризації, систематизації і класифікації фактологічного матеріалу, а також методів теоретичного узагальнення та аналізу. Для з’ясування ролі експресивного засобу в тек-сті роману було використано метод контекстуального аналізу, який спрямовано на розкриття контексту з урахуванням задуму автора та було прокоментовано виражальні засоби, якими послуговувався письменник. Використання зазначених методів дозволило здійснити аналіз уживання стилістичної фігури гемінація як виразника різних емоційних станів персонажів твору.Результати. У статті розглянуто теоретичні аспекти фігури мови повтору та стилістичних фігур, які засновані на його принципі. У тексті роману повтор функціонує як один із принципів вербалізації вираження емоційних станів персонажів. Детально проаналізовано ті з них, які використано як інструмент досягнення експресивності. Розглянуто точки зору вчених-лінгвістів на особливості функціонування гемінації в мові та зроблено спробу надати дефініцію зазначеному явищу. У науко-вих лінгвістичних розвідках гемінація характеризується як фігура експресивного синтаксису. Зазначене явище має контактне розташування, а досягнення впливового ефекту відбувається за рахунок надлишковості. Вживання гемінації у тексті привер-тає увагу читачів, акцентує увагу на найголовнішому, допомагає відобразити настрій та емоції героїв твору.Висновки. У статті звернено увагу на вживання стилістичних фігур, які засновано на принципі повтору і є семантико-стилістичною домінантою у творі письменника. Досліджувані приклади, які засновані на вживанні фігури мови гемінації, в основному описують негативні емоції. Кількість прикладів у романі, де гемінація вживається на позначення позитивних емоцій, складає незначну кількість. Наголошено, що такий розподіл не є закономірним, а залежить від жанру, загального тону твору та контексту аналізованої фігури. Ключові слова: повтор, стилістичні засоби, експресивний синтаксис, художній текст, функція, емоція.

Russia and Georgia: Time to Interact

The development of Russian-Georgian relations is determined by both long-term factors and situational circumstances. The former include disagreements between the two countries over security in Transcaucasia: the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the attitude toward NATO activity in the region. Another persistent factor concerns the debate over interaction with Russia in Georgia’s domestic politics. These factors limit the possibilities for expanding bilateral ties. Situational constraints include such phenomena as the COVID-19 pandemic or the domestic political crisis in Georgia after the 2020 parliamentary elections. Taken together, the longterm and situational factors set the general tone for bilateral relations, which are characterized by predictability and low dynamics. Despite the existing limitations, Russian-Georgian cooperation holds promise in areas of trade and societal contacts.

Aging Effects on Categorical Perception of Mandarin Lexical Tones in Noise

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the aging effects on the categorical perception (CP) of Mandarin lexical Tones 1–4 and Tones 1–2 in noise. It also investigated whether listeners' categorical tone perception in noise correlated with their general tone identification of 20 natural vowel-plus-tone signals in noise. Method Twelve younger and 12 older listeners with normal hearing were recruited in both tone identification and discrimination tasks in a CP paradigm where fundamental frequency contours of target stimuli varied systematically from the flat tone (Tone 1) to the rising/falling tones (Tones 2/4). Both tasks were conducted in quiet and noise with signal-to-noise ratios set at −5 and −10 dB, respectively, and general tone identification of natural speech signals was also tested in noise conditions. Results Compared with younger listeners, older listeners had shallower identification slopes and smaller discrimination peakedness in Tones 1–2/4 perception in all listening conditions, except for Tones 1–4 perception in quiet where no group differences were found. Meanwhile, noise affected Tones 1–2/4 perception: The signal-to-noise ratio condition at −10 dB brought shallower slope in Tones 1–2/4 identification and less peakedness in Tones 1–4 discrimination for both listener groups. Older listeners' CP in noise, the identification slopes in particular, positively correlated with their general tone identification in noise, but such correlations were partially missing for younger listeners. Conclusions Both aging and the presence of speech-shaped noise significantly reduced the CP of Mandarin Tones 1–2/4. Listeners' Mandarin tone recognition may be related to their CP of Mandarin tones.

An Exploration of Adamu Kyuka Usman’s Style of Introduction in Hope in Anarchy

Every good piece of writing, fictional or otherwise is marked by a good introduction. This initial part is the primary provider of the reader’s first impression that sustains the reading. The introduction as well as the other parts of a written or spoken text is essentially realized through specially selected language. In prose fiction, special selections and patterns are the hallmarks. This paper explores the devices of style deployed by Usman in the creation of the introduction to Hope in Anarchy. It involves an intensive reading of the first chapter of the novel to unravel its artistic underpinnings for creating and sustaining the interest of the reader in the story. This thorough reading follows a general but careful reading of the entire text to establish the writer’s preoccupation and general tone. Excerpts from the introductory chapter form the data, and the analytical framework is linguistic stylistics. The analysis reveals that the novelist annexes contrastive lexical and syntactic devices, adjectives and adverbs of varied types and semantic nuances and morpho-phonological choices to introduce and delineate characters, develop events and create suspense. The paper concludes that both the novelty and typicality of the narrative derive from these stylistic constructs.

COVID-19 Pandemic on China’s Economy: Impacts and Suggestions

COVID-19 has caused an uproar in China and around the world since the end of 2019. It is coming violently, and it has serious impacts on the Chinese economy since the time of the Chinese New Year. With the passage of time, in the spring of 2020, the new virus ravaged the world’s major economies; the world would fall into recession in 2020, and the financial markets had fluctuated sharply. “Taking back time and making up for the loss” is China’s general tone for promoting economic and social development in the context of the current epidemic (Chen, Dou, & Long, 2020). How to get rid of the adverse effects of the epidemic on the society and to promote better social development are topics of practical significance. We study the background of the epidemic which impact on China’s domestic and foreign economic, as well as the fluctuations in the world economy. We analyze various economic issues arising in the current context, investigate relevant data, apply the Mundell effective market classification principle for relevant analysis, and put forward reasonable suggestions accordingly.

Category of tonality in the genre of essay (on the example of essays of V. M. Peskov)

The subject of this research is the category of tonality — one of the key text categories that reflects mentality of the author of the text. Essay, as a peculiar genre that functions at the intersection of publicistic and fiction styles, has its own typical range of tonality. Examination of the category of tonality in essays is a relevant  trend in the humanities. Well-known Soviet essays written by V. M. Peskov, which are considered exemplary, representative, and retain their relevance, served as the material for this work. The conducted analysis of V. M. Peskov’s essays reveals versatile means of explication of tonality and individual manner of the author. The novelty consists in observation that the texts of V. M. Peskov reflect the general tone of freedom and friendliness, the tone of conversation with the audience. His essays also reflect a clear authorial “Self”. Different essays mark different means of explication of tonality: in essays dedicated to nature, the author often applies metaphors, personifications, neutral words with positive connotations and words that express rational evaluation for imagery depiction of landscape with love for nature; in essays dedicated to people, the essayist often uses neutral lexicon with rational-evaluative or positive-evaluative connotations for creating image of the character; in essays dedicated to local culture, V. M. Peskov often applied emotionally expressive lexicon, words with suffixes of subjective evaluation, expressively syntactic constructs, special visual expressive means (personification, epithets, hyperbole, etc.) and colloquialism for admirable depiction of the local life and culture. Different techniques of explication of the category of tonality impose descriptiveness, attractiveness and influential power on the essay.