Human Function Research Articles

Assessing humoral immunity in daily practice: A retrospective study in a pediatric tertiary center

The evaluation of humoral immunity is usually performed through the assessment of serum immunoglobulin levels, vaccine titer responses, and B-cell enumeration and phenotyping. We performed a retrospective study assessing humoral immunity in 469 pediatric patients referred at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center. Almost half of the patients had at least one abnormal humoral immunological parameter at their evaluation, with low vaccine response titer to protein antigen being the most frequent. Fifteen patients (3.2 %) had a proven monogenic IEI, and 21 patients (4.5 %) required Ig replacement. Besides the infectious burden, hypoIgG remains the only parameter associated with Ig replacement therapy after the age of 6 years. Low antibody titers against conjugate vaccines had low sensitivity and positive predictive values for starting Ig replacement. Our study highlights the challenge of evaluating the humoral function in the pediatric population with suspected IEI with significant age and sex-dependent variability between parameters.

The function of humor and ideological discourse in Turkish Islamist humor magazines: the case of Misvak

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the ideological discourse of Misvak, one of Turkey's most popular Islamist humor magazines in the 2000s. By analyzing the magazine’s cartoons, it first attempts to reveal the general characteristics and function of humor in Misvak. It then discusses how Islamism is presented as the primary ideological position in the magazine. In order to uncover absences and silences in the discourse, the purpose of the study is also to investigate whether there is discursive parallelism between the magazine and the AKP government by analyzing visual texts while positioning the magazine within debates over hegemony.

Host heterogeneity in humoral bactericidal activity can be complement independent.

Humoral bactericidal activity was first recognized nearly a century ago. However, the extent of inter-individual heterogeneity and the mechanisms underlying such heterogeneity beyond antibody or complement systems have not been well studied. The plasma bactericidal activity of five healthy volunteers were tested against 30 strains of Gram-negative uropathogens, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, associated with bloodstream infections. IgG and IgM titers specific to K. pneumoniae strains KP13883 and KPB1 were measured by ELISA, and complement inhibitor was used to measure the contribution of complement-induced killing. Furthermore, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was conducted to determine the metabolomic components of plasma with bactericidal properties in 25 healthy individuals using Bayesian inference of Pearson correlation between peak intensity and colony counts of surviving bacteria. Plasma bactericidal activity varied widely between individuals against various bacterial strains. While individual plasma with higher IgM titers specific to K. pneumoniae strain KP13883 showed more efficient killing of the strain, both IgM and IgG titers for K. pneumoniae strain KPB1 did not correlate well with the killing activity. Complement inhibition assays elucidated that the complement-mediated killing was not responsible for the inter-individual heterogeneity in either isolate. Subsequently, using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry on plasmas of 25 healthy individuals, we identified several small molecules including gangliosides, pediocins, or saponins as candidates that showed negative correlation between peak intensities and colony forming units of the test bacteria. This is the first study to demonstrate the inter-individual heterogeneity of constitutive innate humoral bactericidal function quantitatively and that the heterogeneity can be independent of antibody or the complement system.

Sanity through Insanity: The Use of Dark Humor among United States Veterans.

Humor is generally known to effectively help individuals manage distress. Yet a variety of ways exist to engage in humor, and not all of them may be equally associated with desirable outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which dark humor is associated with the subjective well-being of United States military veterans. An online survey was announced on several social media pages populated by US veterans, to which 93 fully responded. Our findings indicate that the use of dark humor does not appear to be associated with a sense of connectedness, but the reported use of self-defeating types of dark humor was associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. Our hypothesis that increased feelings of connectedness to civilian and veteran/active-duty friends would predict increased reports of overall subjective well-being was supported. The implications of these findings for understanding the functions of dark humor are discussed.

Humor in Dakwah: A Socio-Pragmatic Study

This study aims at analyzing the forms, functions, and meanings of humor used by preachers in delivering religious sermons. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method that focuses on the act of identifying, classifying, analyzing data that has been obtained, and describing it in the form of language as it is. Qualitative research emphasizes the depth of data with the researcher as a key instrument in the research. The research data consists of humorous utterances delivered by preachers in Islamic religious sermons, namely Ustadz Anwar Zahid, Ustadz Wijayanto, and Ustadz Da'as Latif. The form of humor is analyzed using morphosyntax theory, the function of humor is linked to sociolinguistic theory, while the meaning of humor is dissected using semantic and pragmatic theory. The results of the study show that there are five dominant forms of humor that appear in dakwah humor, namely line humor, dialogue, stories, poems, and wordplay. The use of humor as a strategy in dakwah is proven to be effective in achieving its communicative goals. Humor helps make religious messages easier to understand and remember by the audience. This is because humor can simplify complex concepts and make them more interesting for listeners. This study also found that humor is not only a form of entertainment, but also an effective communication tool in spreading religious teachings.

Injectable cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogels with epigallocatechin gallate loading as vitreous substitutes

Hyaluronic acid (HA) serves as a vitreous substitute owing to its ability to mimic the physical functions of native vitreous humor. However, pure HA hydrogels alone do not provide sufficient protection against potential inflammatory risks following vitrectomy. In this study, HA was crosslinked with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDE) to form HA hydrogels (HB). Subsequently, the anti-inflammatory agent epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was added to the hydrogel (HBE) for ophthalmic applications as a vitreous substitute. The characterization results indicated the successful preparation of HB with transparency, refractive index, and osmolality similar to those of native vitreous humor, and with good injectability. The anti-inflammatory ability of HBE was also confirmed by the reduced expression of inflammatory genes in retinal pigment epithelial cells treated with HBE compared with those treated with HB. In a New Zealand white rabbit model undergoing vitreous substitution treatment, HBE 50 (EGCG 50 μM addition) exhibited positive results at 28 days post-surgery. These outcomes included restored intraocular pressure, improved electroretinogram responses, minimal increase in corneal thickness, and no inflammation during histological examination. This study demonstrated the potential of an injectable HA-BDDE cross-linked hydrogel containing EGCG as a vitreous substitute for vitrectomy applications, offering prolonged degradation time and anti-inflammatory effects postoperatively.

Pragmatic acts of humour in family discourse in selected Maryam Apaokagi's comedy skits

Humour plays a crucial role in family discourse as it fosters emotional connection, diffuses tension, and promotes open communication by providing a light-hearted and relatable atmosphere. Extant studies on family discourse have focused on (im)politeness strategies and pragmatic markers. However, scant attention has been paid to the communicative functions of humour in family discourse. This study was, therefore, designed to investigate humour in Maryam Apaokagi’s comedy skits, to identify the types, their pragmatic functions, and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the discourse. Jacob Mey’s Pragmatic Acts Theory served as the theoretical framework. Data for the study comprised eight selected Maryam Apaokagi’s comedy skits, produced in Nigeria. The selection is based on their humorous reflections of family issues and subjected to pragmatic analysis. Findings reveal that pragmatic acts exist in four interlocutory contexts among family members: couple (husband-wife) relationship; sibling(s)-relationship; mother-child relationship; and distant-family relationship. The contexts are indexed by eight pragmatic acts and functions which underpin expressions of humour: warning to threaten the husband, promising to raise hopes, requesting to make a mockery of the elder brother, ordering to deliberately disrespect the elder sister, questioning to persuade and apologise indirectly, scolding to condemn a child’s inappropriate actions, exaggerating to boast and show off, speculating to impress the mother and indict the child. Employed with wit to avoid serious conflicts, these humorous acts were largely foregrounded by conversational, psychological and physical acts, and underscored by such contextual factors as inference, reference, relevance, and shared situation knowledge to humorously depict how family issues are variously handled.

On the Creation of New Network Language in Recent Years

Information age network language has become the people show communication outside a very important language output, and the language of network language innovation is growing, through the 17 network new word technique of analysis, they according to the different words of classification, and further explore the function of different words. “Method of metaphor”, “homophonic word method”, “dialect borrowing” and “analogy of word method” are often used, with the function of humor, hint and irony. The reasons for making these words include their role in the emotional extension of words, their social environmental influences, and their connection with the environment and function of the network context.

Party games and prejudice: are these Cards Against Humanity?

Abstract Two experiments assess the validity of common criticisms against the popular party game Cards Against Humanity (CAH), namely that it promotes prejudice while absolving players of any moral responsibility. Study 1a (based on Prejudiced Norm Theory) finds no evidence that sexist humor in CAH encourages men to express prejudice against women. However, Study 1b (based on Social Identity Theory) provides evidence that sexist humor in CAH cues women to anticipate such discrimination. CAH’s reputation does not appear to contribute to these results. Exploratory analyses further reveal that, consistent with criticisms, people do allocate moral responsibility for offense differently in CAH than in traditional verbal exchanges of humor; however, this moral allocation is generally unrelated to prejudiced outcomes. Implications and future directions for refining these theories and understanding the intergroup functions of humor in party games are discussed in light of the studies’ mixed support of CAH’s criticisms.

The virtue and shades of aggressive humour in press advertising

Abstract Disparaging humour may take numerous forms and despite the emotional ambivalence it may occasionally cause, it may prove a valuable quality of an ad. While investigating one hundred multimodal press ads in English that simultaneously make use of metaphor and humour based on an incongruity-resolution mechanism, it was discovered that one-third thereof employed aggressive humour as well (Stwora 2023). Given the high incidence of the aggressive function in these ads, this paper explores this disparaging dimension in more detail to show that various shades of aggressiveness may be perceived as a virtue when used in advertising discourse. The paper advocates a need to consider further sub-categorisations of the aggressive function of humour when applied in advertising to reflect different hostility levels.

“Kuna Corona fake na Og”: The Role of Postcolonial Laughter during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Tanzania

Abstract Scholars are basically divided in their perception of the functions of postcolonial humour. One block ascribes it to the role of criticising postcolonial governments for maladministration. Another group ascribes it to ridiculing the masses for their passivity to unjust rulers. In addition, there is also a middle group that does not specifically assign the art to either side. Taking these varying opinions as a point of departure and the novelty of COVID-19 humour, the researcher adapted multimodality and social semiotics to analyse and ascertain the role of postcolonial humour used in debates about COVID-19 in Tanzania during the peak of the malady. In this regard, the study reports that besides entertainment function, COVID-19 postcolonial humour reminded people from all walks of life to take responsibility in the fight against the disease. Thus, the findings confirm that postcolonial humour in social media, like other traditional African verbal arts, criticises undesirable societal practices regardless of a person’s social and political status.

Style and Function of Humor in the Animation Series 'Tekotok' as a Form of Social Criticism

Our lives cannot be separated from the existence of humor. Humor developed into several theories. This research aims to describe and classify Tekotok animated humor based on Aaker and Bagdonas' theory. There are 4 styles of humor in Tekotok animation, namely the standup, sweetheart, the magnet, and the sniper humor styles. The dominant humor style still uses the Stand-Up humor style. The function of humor is to relieve tension, as a ritual, as social control, and as a social bond. This research used descriptive-qualitative methods. The rest is additional data such as documents and others. The theory used is content analysis theory. Data collection was carried out using random purposive sampling. Sampling was carried out in accordance with the requirements, that the research object must contain the phenomenon of social issues.

Exploring the Multifaceted Humor Function of Dark Humor in Trevor Noah’s Show “Son of Patricia”

The objective of this study was to gain insight into Trevor Noah's intention for employing dark humor through applying Attardo's humor function framework to his stand-up comedy performance "Son of Patricia. This qualitative research utilized a phenomenological methodology. The investigation aimed to explore the phenomenon of dark humor based on Trevor Noah's personal experiences as conveyed in his act. The study analyzed dark humor found in Trevor Noah's stand-up show "Son of Patricia" through the lens of Attardo's (1994) humor functions. The result showed that the frequent humor function found was defunctionalisation for amusement and the jokes often involve playing with the language followed with social management, decommitment and mediation. Exploring the multifaceted humor function of dark humor in Trevor Noah's show "Son of Patricia" revealed a nuanced and thought-provoking approach to comedy. Noah skillfully employed dark humor as a tool for social management, shedding light on sensitive issues such as race, politics, and societal norms. While dark humor can be polarizing, Trevor Noah demonstrates its potential to be a powerful vehicle for social commentary and awareness.

Conventional metaphorical scenarios of humor in Romanian

Abstract The way humorous verbal communication is construed in a linguaculture can be analyzed within the framework of cognitive metaphor theory and its more discursive and cultural developments. Cognitive/conceptual metaphors are instrumental for framing humor as a communicative form which goes beyond mere aesthetic experience. This article focuses on the conceptualization of verbal forms of humor in Romanian. The examples are retrieved mainly from internet mediated communication, backed by corpus analysis, and compared to older literary examples (19th–early 20th century). The examples illustrate the stability of various metaphorical scenarios in the Romanian linguaculture. The analysis reveals that several conventional metaphorical scenarios exist in parallel, displaying what are the functions of humor in an emic perspective. In the case of the Romanian examples, the list comprises the disciplinary, aesthetic, and therapeutic functions. The main metaphorical scenarios are subsumed to (physical) aggression, food, and health domains. The scenarios associated with each domain emphasize a certain function: for example, the disciplinary function of humor relates to physical aggression, while the aesthetic function relates to food. However, the conventional scenarios also show combinations between these functions.

Pathological Mechanism and Clinical Therapy Progress of Schlemm’s Canal

Schlemm’s canal (SC) is a small circular canal in the deep part of the sclera at the junction of the sclera and cornea. As an integral component of the aqueous humor outflow, its structure and function are essential in regulating intraocular pressure (IOP). If SC develops lesions, the drainage of aqueous humor would be obstructed, leading to increased intraocular pressure and injury to the optic nerve. With the rapid development of minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, an increasing number of surgeons became familiar with SC, and the area generated substantial academic attention. The pathological mechanism and the therapy for SC that had been studied in recent years are summarized in this article, hoping to provide ideas for the treatment of glaucoma in the future.

Художественный мир философской сказки: реалии в творчестве Г. М. Цыферова и С. Г. Козлова

The article is devoted to the study of the types and functions of realia presented in the philosophical fairy tales written by G. M. Tsyferov and S. G. Kozlov. Their works, focusing on moral issues, depict the world through contrasting the existential and the everyday, which necessitates the study of the authors’ ways of representing the signs of their epoch. A motive analysis carried out in the paper takes into account the cultural and historical situation and shows that S. Kozlov’s cycle of fairy tales represents the home space and the corresponding household realia, gaining a cosmic scale and thereby affirming the idea of the universe as a common home, while G. Tsyferov’s works depict similar objects in connection with the problem of growing up and becoming a socially active person, prioritizing the study of modern city realia which convey the idea of striving for goodness and beauty as the basis of historical transformations. Both writers turn to the sphere of culture, but there is a distinction: G. Tsyferov appeals to the life experience of the addressee, encourages them to rethink familiar objects, building associative chains and actualizing the didactic function of humor, while S. Kozlov attracts the reader’s attention to absolutely new information, noting the specifics of the realia of different cultures, thereby stimulating interest in a different type of worldview and explaining the possibility of contacting this worldview on the basis of common values. The paper concludes that the characteristics of realia introduced into the artistic world of a philosophical fairy tale change depending on the psychological and age characteristics of the addressee and the ideological and aesthetic views of the author, but in any case, the establishment of such a connection with reality makes it possible to reveal the ideological component of works devoted to existential problems.

Cultural and Artistic Transformations of the Culture of Laughter under Conditions of Current Challenges

The relevance of the issue is that humour plays an important role in many areas of modern cultural life. Considering this, it is necessary to study how exactly the impact of jokes is carried out and what their meaning is in order to improve social relations. The purpose is to determine the key features and differences of modern humour in terms of the leading trends of the 21st century. This study has delineated the primary components of humor, encompassing the subjects and social themes around which jokes revolve, as well as the forms in which they manifest. It has been established that the predominant function of humor in modern culture is entertainment. Of particular note is the role of humor within the realm of politics, where it assumes diverse objectives in countries with varying forms of political governance, be it authoritarian or democratic. The study also recognizes the pivotal role humor plays in the domain of art, particularly in the context of post-modernism's evolution. Research offers fresh insights into the transformations occurring in contemporary humor culture and the current impact of jokes on social relations.

A Pragmatic Analysis of Humour in American TV Talk Shows

This research is conducted to study the phenomenon of humour pragmatically in TV talk shows. Though humour is found in daily conversation, most people ignore how it is working in the production. The concept of humour indicates both positive (non- aggressive) and negative (aggressive) affects which may unify or divide people, but it is more preferable to take positive humour into the consideration of this research to narrow down the topic. The objectives of this research are to analyze the maxims that are violated to create humor, to describe and explain the production of humour by examining the pragmatic structure of humorous transcripts, and to explain the functions of humor created through maxims violation expressed by speakers in TV talk shows. This research is conducted by using qualitative method. The data are in the form of utterances done by speakers. The data sources of this research are selected from the videos on You Tube Channel. After being collected, the data are analyzed based on three levels: the initiation of humour and its purpose, the pragmatic strategies of humour, and

Analisis Penggunaan Humor dalam Filem Werewolf

The paper entitled Analysis of Humour used in Werewolf. This research aimed to find out types, functions, and meaning of humour usage in the film. The method used was deductive method and technique of collecting data consisted of browsing internet, literary study and film. The result shows that both of the film used the types, function and meaning of humour. The difference lies on the number of each category. For the types of humor in the film Werewolf, there are 60% satire and 40% self-deprecation. In terms of the functions of humor used in film, namely to entertain listeners so they have positive energy, joke to help people who are experiencing mental health problems, and make people around them feel comfortable because people who like humor are friendly and welcoming. For the humorous meaning of every utterance and action carried out, namely using connotative and denotative meaning, in the Werewolf film it was found that 69% contained connotative meaning and 31% denotative.

CYBERPRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF DIGITAL HUMOR IN WHATSAPP STICKERS

With the growth of digital environment, social interaction between people, particularly university students, is also affected. Communication has become multimodal, meaning people not only send textual messages but also visuals such as videos, memes, stickers, or emojis. These multimodal communication forms are facilitated by digital communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Line. The use of stickers, specifically in WhatsApp, could suggest certain implicatures which are covered in humorous way. The present research aims to describe how the text and the image of WhatsApp stickers create humorous intention and to find out the implicit functions of digital humour of WhatsApp stickers in daily interaction. The data for this study were collected from university students’ communications in their WA, in which 20 students were requested to submit 5 samples of stickers used in actual interactions. As a result, 100 stickers were gathered as the data. The collected data were analysed qualitatively using the theories of digital humour and cyberpragmatic approach. Cyberpragmatic is basically the use of pragmatic concepts in analysing digital data. The results show that WhatsApp stickers were used by the students to convey the feeling of sadness, anger, tiredness, concern, and eagerness, which were represented by the text and image of the stickers. For example, when a student complains about the number of assignments, he sent a sticker showing an ads for headache, where the brand name was changed into “Oh tugas” (oh assignment). The interrelatedness between the text and the image in this sticker can convey the pragmatic implicature in humorous way. Thus, the findings of this study implied that stickers could become an effective way to communicate the intended message of the speakers. Stickers can also be an alternative way of communicating in digital environments beside using other forms of multimodal communication forms such as texts, GIF, meme, and emoji.