Laughter Research Articles

“Where Does the Laughter of the Noli Come From?”

“Where Does the Laughter of the Noli Come From?”

Ontological Laughter: Comedy as Experimental Possibility Space

Ontological Laughter: Comedy as Experimental Possibility Space

Are you strong enough to laugh at this joke?

Are you strong enough to laugh at this joke?

Laughter and Humanism: Unity and Diversity in Thomas More’s Epigrammata

Laughter and Humanism: Unity and Diversity in Thomas More’s <i>Epigrammata</i>

Laughing at Unbearable Urges: Reshaping the Male-Authored Script of Desire

As Pierre Champion noted a half a century ago, “ The Cent Nouvelles nouvelles open a secret door into the house of men of that time.” The misogynous aspect of these novellas, designed to inspire laughter, is evident in most of the stories dealing with masculine drives and uncontrollable desires of husbands to seduce other women without being discovered. Novella 9 is a prime example of such a scenario, a novella that serves as Marguerite de Navarre’s intertext in the Heptaméron’s novella 8. In this article I will analyze how Marguerite reshapes her fifteenth-century intertext in order to promote a highly protofeminist agenda. All the while maintaining the same structure and characters, she introduces changes that are both subtle and radical. The focus of my analysis will show how these changes put into question the masculinist vision offered by CNN 9 and open instead a space for a commentary on women’s agency and their quest for their own pleasure.&#x0D; Comme Pierre Champion l’a remarqué il y a 50 ans, « Les Cent nouvelles nouvelles ouvrent ... une porte secrète de la maison des hommes de ce temps ». L’aspect misogyne de ces nouvelles destinées à faire rire est évident dans la plupart des nouvelles, où il s’agit des pulsions masculines et du désir incontrôlable de la part d’un mari volage de séduire une autre femme sans en être découvert. Telle est la situation dans la nouvelle 9 de cette collection, nouvelle qui sert comme intertexte de la nouvelle 8 de L’Heptaméron. Dans cet article je vais analyser comment Marguerite remanie cette nouvelle du XVe siècle afin de promouvoir ses idées protoféministes. Tout en gardant la même structure et les mêmes personnages, Marguerite introduit des changements à la fois subtils et radicaux, changements qui remettent en question la vision masculiniste offerte dans CNN 9 et ouvre un espace pour un commentaire sur la prise de parole de la femme à la recherche de son propre plaisir.

Study progress of pathogenesis and clinical treatment of gelastic epilepsy

Gelastic epilepsy is a special refractory epilepsy accompany with ictal laughing and/or crying which can be divided into cortical induced gelastic epilepsy and hypothalamic hamartomas induced gelastic epilepsy according to their epileptogenic focus.Currently, domestic scholars had lack of systematic understanding of the mechanism and clinical treatment involved in gelastic epilepsy.Recently, foreign scholars had achieved great progress in the research of gelastic epilepsy which included the ictal laughing mechanism in gelastic epilepsy, the primary molecular mechanism in hypothalamic hamartomas induced gelastic epilepsy, the secondary epileptogenesis mechanism in hypothalamic hamartomas induced gelastic epilepsy and the clinical treatment of gelastic epilepsy.Now, the study progress of pathogenesis and clinical treatment of gelastic epilepsy were reviewed. Key words: Gelastic epilepsy; Clinical treatment; Child

The Origins, Development and Practice of Economic and Social Strategies in the Middle East from Earliest Times to the Modern Day

Noam Leshem (Durham University) and Alasdair Pinkerton (Royal Holloway, University of London); email: noam.leshem@durham.ac.ukNearing the centenary of the First World War, this project explores the...

Protective effects of Purα on rat hippocampus DNA damage induced by epilepsy

To investigate the protective effects of Purα protein on rat hippocampus DNA damage induced by epilepsy and the effects of Purα protein on the repair of DNA damage. The Purα overexpressing and siRNA lentiviruses were packaged in vitro and the high tittered virion was injected into rat hippocampus guided by stereotaxic apparatus. 14 days later after the lentivirus injection, epileptic onset is induced by intraperitoneal injection of pilocarpine. The experimental animals were executed 1 hour after the epileptic onset and the hippocampus samples were collected for immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting assay was used to examine the pertinent protein expression to investigate the protective effects of Purα on DNA damage and repair. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that γH2AX, a signal protein of DNA damage, expressed in rat hippocampal CA1 region. 20 slides of rat hippocampal CA1 region with the same background and position were chosen for γH2AX positive staining cell analysis with image analysis software iPP6.0 and the cells with positive staining were selected to evaluate the average optical density. Compared with empty vector group (0.40 ± 0.11) and control group (0.42 ± 0.05), the number of positive staining cells in Purα overexpression group (0.15 ± 0.05) was significantly decreased (P < 0.01), while the number increased in Purα silence group (0.68 ± 0.06) (P < 0.01). Western blotting analysis showed, compared with empty vector group (0.93 ± 0.11) and control group (1.00 ± 0.00), that the expression levels of proteins related to the DNA repair such as parp-1, was much lower in Purα overexpression group (0.17 ± 0.09), while it increased in Purα silence group (P < 0.01). The DNA damage can occur in the early stage of epilepsy onset, and Purα protein can protect the DNA damage caused by epilepsy and also participate in the repair process of DNA damage.

Traumatic Brain Injury: Something to Easily Cry About?

Abnormal control of emotions (including episodes of laughing or crying with minimal or no provocation) can occur in multiple neurologic diseases. The

Laughing Gas for the "Pulpit Clown"?

Laughing Gas for the "Pulpit Clown"?

Molecular phylogeny of some avian species using Cytochrome b gene sequence analysis.

Veritable identification and differentiation of avian species is a vital step in conservative, taxonomic, forensic, legal and other ornithological interventions. Therefore, this study involved the application of molecular approach to identify some avian species i.e. Chicken (Gallus gallus), Muskovy duck (Cairina moschata), Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica), Laughing dove (Streptopelia senegalensis), and Rock pigeon (Columba livia). Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples and partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (358 bp) was amplified and sequenced using universal primers. Sequences alignment and phylogenetic analyses were performed by CLC main workbench program. The obtained five sequences were deposited in GenBank and compared with those previously registered in GenBank. The similarity percentage was 88.60% between Gallus gallus and Coturnix japonica and 80.46% between Gallus gallus and Columba livia. The percentage of identity between the studied species and GenBank species ranged from 77.20% (Columba oenas and Anas platyrhynchos) to 100% (Gallus gallus and Gallus sonneratii, Coturnix coturnix and Coturnix japonica, Meleagris gallopavo and Columba livia). Amplification of the partial sequence of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene proved to be practical for identification of an avian species unambiguously.

Criticizing the Society by Laughter: The Importance of Being Earnest

Criticizing the Society by Laughter: The Importance of Being Earnest

Pushing laughter to its very limits

Pushing laughter to its very limits

Effects of acupuncture combined with conventional treatment on swallowing function and hemorheology in patients with pseudobulbar palsy following stroke

Objective To investigate the effects of acupuncture combined with conventional treatment on swallowing function and hemorheology in patients with pseudobulbar palsy following stroke. Methods One hundred thirty-one patients with laughing sickness after cerebral stroke from March 2010 to November 2013 were selected and divided into two group by random number table method: a treatment group (66 patients) and a control group (65 patients). The control group was treated with aspirin and rosuvastatin, while the treatment group was additional treated with acupuncture for benefiting vital energy and eliminating phlegm for 4 weeks. The swallowing function was evaluated by Kubota Water Swallow Test and the hemorheological measurements were performed. Results The total improvement rate of swallowing function in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group (86.36% vs. 64.61%; χ2=8.391, P=0.004). After the treatment, the whole blood viscosities at high shear rate (4.96 ± 0.53 mPa•s vs. 5.32±0.63 mPa•s; t＝3.541, P＝0.001) and low shear rate (23.23±0.94 mPa•s vs. 23.81±1.01 mPa•s; t＝3.403, P＝0.001), and the plasma viscosity (1.52±0.24 mPa•s vs. 1.61±0.28 mPa•s; t＝1.976, P＝0.050) in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group. Conclusion Acupuncture combined with conventional treatment can improve the swallowing function and the hemorheological parameters in patients with pseudobulbar palsy following stroke. Key words: Pseudobulbar Palsy; Stroke; Deglutition Disorders; Acupuncture; Hemorheology

A study on ‘laughter’ of Makuranososhi

A study on ‘laughter’ of Makuranososhi

The laughter within the Dialogues of the dead

The Dialogues of the Dead are among the most popular and controversial works of the corpus lucianeum. This article’s aim is to explicit and analyze the different aspects of laughter in these dialogues (besides their philosophical implications), in order to provide a new comprehension of problems and difficulties often associated with this work. We may also mention and deal with some of the main themes displayed throughout the dialogues: self-knowledge, mortality, greed and vanity, for example. Besides, we try to delineate a different way of understanding Lucian’s attitude towards philosophical laughter –mainly as Plato and the Cynics define it. Abstract Os Diálogos dos Mortos estão entre os mais populares e controversos trabalhos do corpus lucianeum. O objetivo deste artigo é explicitar e analisar os diferentes aspectos do riso nesses diálogos (além de suas implicações filosóficas), a fim de oferecer uma nova compreensão de problemas e dificuldades frequentemente associados à obra. Nós mencionaremos e trabalharemos também com alguns dos principais temas trazidos pelos diálogos: autoconhecimento, mortalidade, ganância e vaidade, por exemplo. Além disso, tentaremos delinear uma maneira diversa de entender a atitude de Luciano no que diz respeito ao riso filosófico –sobretudo a partir da maneira como o definem Platão e os cínicos.

Does Laughing Gas Improve Depression

Because the anesthetic ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, has acute antidepressant effects in major depression (NEJM JW Psychiatry Sep 26 2013),

The Beautiful Madness called Laughter

The Beautiful Madness called Laughter

Toni Morrison's Love through the Code of Laughter

Toni Morrison's Love through the Code of Laughter

Ladies’ Water Aerobics Swim Group

Over the course of the past year (2012-2013), the author has been swimming at his local YMCA (Y). Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he observed a group of between 10-12 women participating in an aerobics swim group. It gradually dawned on him that this was a recreational, activity support group. What impressed him was the way the women interacted with one another; they were always talking, laughing and clearly enjoying one another’s company. In June of this year, the author decided to approach one of the members of the group and see if she would be willing to share some of her experiences of attending the group. This resulted in her speaking and e-mailing all of the women, who in turn e-mailed and spoke to the author about their reasons for participating in and the benefits they derived from the group. The paper incorporates the narratives of the women regarding the reasons for joining and also the numerous, physical, psychological, emotional, mental health, and social benefits of the group. The author also provides the reader with a number of theoretical concepts from groupwork literature, which further reinforce the numerous benefits of the Ladies’ Aerobic Swim Group.