Humor and laughter in patients with cerebellar degeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Frank, B; Propson, B; Göricke, S; Jacobi, H; Wild, B; Timmann, D

2012-06-01

Humor is a complex behavior which includes cognitive, affective and motor responses. Based on observations of affective changes in patients with cerebellar lesions, the cerebellum may support cerebral and brainstem areas involved in understanding and appreciation of humorous stimuli and expression of laughter. The aim of the present study was to examine if humor appreciation, perception of humorous stimuli, and the succeeding facial reaction differ between patients with cerebellar degeneration and healthy controls. Twenty-three adults with pure cerebellar degeneration were compared with 23 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy control subjects. No significant difference in humor appreciation and perception of humorous stimuli could be found between groups using the 3 Witz-Dimensionen Test, a validated test asking for funniness and aversiveness of jokes and cartoons. Furthermore, while observing jokes, humorous cartoons, and video sketches, facial expressions of subjects were videotaped and afterwards analysed using the Facial Action Coding System. Using depression as a covariate, the number, and to a lesser degree, the duration of facial expressions during laughter were reduced in cerebellar patients compared to healthy controls. In sum, appreciation of humor appears to be largely preserved in patients with chronic cerebellar degeneration. Cerebellar circuits may contribute to the expression of laughter. Findings add to the literature that non-motor disorders in patients with chronic cerebellar disease are generally mild, but do not exclude that more marked disorders may show up in acute cerebellar disease and/or in more specific tests of humor appreciation.

LATE RENAL GRAFT REJECTION: PATHOLOGY AND PROGNOSIS

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E.S. Stolyarevich

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Rejection has always been one of the most important cause of late renal graft dysfunction. Aim of the study was to analyze the prevalence of different clinico-pathological variants of rejection that cause late graft dysfunction, and evaluate their impact on long-term outcome. Materials and methods. This is a retrospective study that analyzed 294 needle core biopsy specimens from 265 renal transplant recipients with late (48,8 ± 46,1 months after transplantation allograft dysfunction caused by late acute rejection (LAR, n = 193 or chronic rejection (CR, n = 78 or both (n = 23. C4d staining was performed by immunofl uorescence (IF on frozen sections using a standard protocol. Results. Peritubular capillary C4d deposition was identifi ed in 36% samples with acute rejection and in 62% cases of chronic rejection (including 67% cases of transplant glomerulopathy, and 50% – of isolated chronic vasculopathy. 5-year graft survival for LAR vs CR vs their combination was 47, 13 and 25%, respectively. The outcome of C4d– LAR was (p < 0,01 better than of C4d+ acute rejection: at 60 months graft survival for diffuse C4d+ vs C4d− was 33% vs 53%, respectively. In cases of chronic rejection C4d+ vs C4d– it was not statistically signifi cant (34% vs 36%. Conclusion. In long-term allograft biopsy C4d positivity is more haracteristic for chronic rejection than for acute rejection. Only diffuse C4d staining affects the outcome. C4d– positivity is associated with worse allograft survival in cases of late acute rejection, but not in cases of chronic rejection. 

Endothelial chimerism and vascular sequestration protect pancreatic islet grafts from antibody-mediated rejection

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Chen, Chien-Chia; Pouliquen, Eric; Broisat, Alexis; Andreata, Francesco; Racapé, Maud; Bruneval, Patrick; Kessler, Laurence; Ahmadi, Mitra; Bacot, Sandrine; Saison-Delaplace, Carole; Marcaud, Marina; Van Huyen, Jean-Paul Duong; Loupy, Alexandre; Villard, Jean; Demuylder-Mischler, Sandrine; Morelon, Emmanuel; Tsai, Meng-Kun; Kolopp-Sarda, Marie-Nathalie; Koenig, Alice; Mathias, Virginie; Ghezzi, Catherine; Dubois, Valerie; Defrance, Thierry

2017-01-01

Humoral rejection is the most common cause of solid organ transplant failure. Here, we evaluated a cohort of 49 patients who were successfully grafted with allogenic islets and determined that the appearance of donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (DSAs) did not accelerate the rate of islet graft attrition, suggesting resistance to humoral rejection. Murine DSAs bound to allogeneic targets expressed by islet cells and induced their destruction in vitro; however, passive transfer of the same DSAs did not affect islet graft survival in murine models. Live imaging revealed that DSAs were sequestrated in the circulation of the recipients and failed to reach the endocrine cells of grafted islets. We used murine heart transplantation models to confirm that endothelial cells were the only accessible targets for DSAs, which induced the development of typical microvascular lesions in allogeneic transplants. In contrast, the vasculature of DSA-exposed allogeneic islet grafts was devoid of lesions because sprouting of recipient capillaries reestablished blood flow in grafted islets. Thus, we conclude that endothelial chimerism combined with vascular sequestration of DSAs protects islet grafts from humoral rejection. The reduced immunoglobulin concentrations in the interstitial tissue, confirmed in patients, may have important implications for biotherapies such as vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. PMID:29202467

CONSISTENT HUMORAL IMMUNITY CONDITION IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC GENERALIZED PERIODONTITIS ON THE BACKGROUND OF PARASITIC INVASION

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Natal'ya Saval'eva

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The article reveals the results of the immunity humoral chain investigation in patients with the chronic generalized periodontitis (CGP, severity level I-II, in combination with parasitosis. The purpose of the investigation is to verify the role and place of humoral immunity in CGP pathology in patients with parasitosis. Materials and methods. Immunologic investigations were conducted among 540 patients with the chronic generalized periodontitis, severity level I-II, on the background of parasitic invasions (gisrdiasis, enterobiasis, toxocarosis – (principle groups. The experimental group consisted of 90 CGP patients, severity level I-II, without parasitic invasions. The control group consisted of 30 people without the parodontium pathology and the chronic pathology of other organs and systems, who were considered practically healthy during the investigation. Humoral immunity condition in CGP patients was estimated by the content level of antibodies against etiological inflectional agents in the blood serum and the common antigenic determinant (CAD of microbes, antimicrobial IgG- antibodies affinity, by the content of IgА. IgМ, IgЕ, CIC, complement activity. Results and conclusions. It is noted that increasing of IgE, CIC and complement levels in blood are the peculiarity of immune structures in the organism of CGP patients with parasitosis, compared with CGP patients without parasitosis. While investigating the qualitative characteristics of the produced antimicrobial antibodies, it was found that in CGP patients, I-II severity level, with parasitosis the antibodies affinity was significantly lower than in CGP patients without parasitosis. Weak antibody immune response to the microbial factor and low produced antimicrobial antibodies affinity, apparently, explain the impossibility for the patient to neutralize and eliminate the bacteria, populating the periodontal pockets, as well as to maintain normal mouth cavity biocenosis. The obtained

Efficacy of total lymphoid irradiation for chronic allograft rejection following double lung transplantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamond, David A.; Michalski, Jeff M.; Trulock, Elbert M.; Lynch, John P.

1997-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of total lymphoid irradiation in a series of patients experiencing chronic rejection following bilateral lung transplantation. Patients and Materials: Eleven patients (10 males, 1 female) received total lymphoid irradiation for chronic allograft rejection (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome) refractory to conventional treatment modalities. Treatment was delivered between March, 1995, and September, 1996. Mean patient age was 33 years (range 15-51). Indications for transplantation included cystic fibrosis (7 patients), alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency (2 patients), primary pulmonary hypertension (1 patient), and emphysema (1 patient). Radiation therapy was prescribed as 800 cGy delivered in ten 80 cGy fractions, 2 fractions per week, via AP/PA mantle and inverted-Y fields. Radiation was withheld for total wbc count 3 , absolute neutrophil count 3 , or platelets 3 . Serial pre- and post-radiation therapy pulmonary function values, complete blood counts, and immunosuppressive augmentation requirements (use of methylprednisolone, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, OKT3, and FK506) were monitored. Results: In the 3 months preceding total lymphoid irradiation, the average decrease in FEV 1 was 34% (range 0-75%) and the median number of immunosuppression augmentations was 3 (range 0-5). At initiation of radiation therapy, the average FEV 1 was 1.4 liters (range 0.77-2.28). Only (4(11)) patients completed all 10 treatment fractions. Reasons for discontinuation included unabated rejection (4 patients), worsening pulmonary infection (2 patients), and persistent thrombocytopenia (1 patient). No treatment course was discontinued because of persistent neutropenia or leukopenia. Seven of the 11 patients failed within 8 weeks of treatment cessation. One patient had unabated rejection and received bilateral living related donor transplants. He is alive and well. Six patients died. Two of these deaths were due

The Interplay between Inflammation and Fibrosis in Kidney Transplantation

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Irina B. Torres

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Serial surveillance renal allograft biopsies have shown that early subclinical inflammation constitutes a risk factor for the development of interstitial fibrosis. More recently, it has been observed that persistent inflammation is also associated with fibrosis progression and chronic humoral rejection, two histological conditions associated with poor allograft survival. Treatment of subclinical inflammation with steroid boluses prevents progression of fibrosis and preserves renal function in patients treated with a cyclosporine-based regimen. Subclinical inflammation has been reduced after the introduction of tacrolimus based regimens, and it has been shown that immunosuppressive schedules that are effective in preventing acute rejection and subclinical inflammation may prevent the progression of fibrosis and chronic humoral rejection. On the other hand, minimization protocols are associated with progression of fibrosis, and noncompliance with the immunosuppressive regime constitutes a major risk factor for chronic humoral rejection. Thus, adequate immunosuppressive treatment, avoiding minimization strategies and reinforcing educational actions to prevent noncompliance, is at present an effective approach to combat the progression of fibrosis.

Humor as a Communication Strategy in Provider-Patient Communication in a Chronic Care Setting.

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Schöpf, Andrea C; Martin, Gillian S; Keating, Mary A

2017-02-01

Humor is a potential communication strategy to accomplish various and potentially conflicting consultation goals. We investigated humor use and its reception in diabetes consultations by analyzing how and why humor emerges and its impact on the interaction. We did this by using an interactional sociolinguistics approach. We recorded 50 consultations in an Irish diabetes setting. Analysis of the humor events drew on framework analysis and on concepts from Conversation Analysis and pragmatics. The study also comprised interviews using tape-assisted recall. We identified 10 humor functions and two umbrella functions. A key finding is that most humor is relationship-protecting humor initiated by patients, that is, they voice serious messages and deal with emotional issues through humor. Our findings imply that patients' and providers' awareness of indirect communication strategies needs to be increased. We also recommend that researchers employ varied methods to adequately capture the interactive nature of humor.

A quantitative study of Indium-111-oxine platelet kinetics in acute and chronic renal transplant rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heyns, A. du P.; Pieters, H.; Badenhorst, P.N.; Wessels, P.; Loetter, M.G.; Minnaar, P.C.; Pauw, F.H.

1982-01-01

Thirteen patients were investigated on 22 occasions at times varying from 1 day to 10 years after living family donor or cadaver renal transplantation. Platelet survival in the circulation, and in vivo platelet distribution and sites of deposition and sequestration was quantitatively determined with Indium-111-oxine (In-111-oxine) labelled platelets and a scintillation camera interfaced with a computer assisted imaging system. In all patients platelet survival was shortened and the platelet survival curve exponential. In patients with no evidence of transplant rejection and those with chronic rejection, there was no measurable or visible accumulation of labelled platelets in the kidney. The sequestration pattern of In-111 labelled platelets at the end of platelet life span was within normal limits and located in the reticuloendothelial system. In those patients with acute transplant rejection, platelet survival was shortened. Labelled platelets accumulated in the kidney: this was clearly visualized on scintigraphy and reflected by a significant increase in the radioactivity count density of the kidney. Platelets not deposited in the transplant were sequestrated in the reticuloendothelial system. This study demonstrates the diagnostic value of In-111 labelled platelet kinetics in the investigation of acute renal failure after renal transplantation. This investigation appears of limited clinical value in chronic rejection. (orig.)

Making humor together: phenomenology and interracial humor

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Michael D. Barber

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper explains humor through phenomenological concepts and methods. The three major theories of humor: Superiority, Relief, and Incongruity depend on the thwarting of intentional expectations. Since one experiences an incongruity between what is intended and what is actually experienced, the incongruity theory affords the best explanation, but intentionality remains fundamental for all theories. Theorists of humor rightly insist that the enjoyment of humorous incongruity completes the definition of humor, but such enjoyment also depends on a special epoché, usually elicited by the cues of an interlocutor who invites the listener to leap together into the humorous finite province of meaning. In this province, actions and statements, hurtful in everyday life, such as a pie thrown at someone who ducks as the pie hits another, produce laughter. This comic epoché resembles the phenomenological epoché in its distancing from everyday life, and, like the phenomenological epoché, it opens everyday experience to reflection. Although one often experiences and enjoys humor alone, humor is thoroughly intersubjective and more frequently occurs when two persons participate in the humorous epoché together. The opportunities for making humor together are enhanced to the extent the partners differ in their expectations and responses to situations. Those differences, including bodily differences, often result from the complex intersubjective networks, including culture. As in the case of a seemingly solitary activity like reflection, which one learns from others and exercises on one’s own autonomously, one internalizes others’ styles of humor and discovers such internalization through reflection on one’s «because motives». On the basis of these features – intentionality, epoché, and intersubjectivity, the paper concludes by briefly examining an example of interracial humor. Despite the racist character of much interracial humor, the example

Investigating the Effect of Humor Therapy on Chronic Pain in the Elderly Living in Nursing Homes in Mashhad, Iran

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Shohre behrouz

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background: The prevalence of chronic pains in the elderly residing in nursing homes is high, which can bring about social isolation, depression, incidence of disabilities, as well as increased costs. Given the risks, medication therapy is not used for the elderly, and non-pharmaceutical methods, such as humor therapy as one of the complementary medicine techniques using thought distraction, have been advocated. Aim: This study aimed to determine the effect of humor therapy on pain intensity in the elderly living in nursing homes in Mashhad, Iran. Method: This two-group, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted on two groups of intervention (28 individuals and control (27 individuals at two similar nursing homes in Mashhad, Iran, 2016. Humor therapy was performed during six 60-minute sessions (once per week using humorous methods such as video clip displays, games, music plays, as well as telling funny jokes. Then, pain intensity was measured via the Modified German Version of the Brief Pain Inventory before the study and after the 3rd and 6th sessions of humor therapy. Finally, the data was analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test in SPSS, version 22. Results: The mean ages of the participants in the control and intervention groups were 73.9±4.3 and 73.9±5.8 years, respectively. The results of the Mann-Whitney U test also showed that pain intensity before the study in both groups was homogenous (P=0.15. Moreover, the mean scores of the highest, lowest, and moderate pain intensity after the 3rd (P

Chronic childhood peer rejection is associated with heightened neural responses to social exclusion during adolescence.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Will, G.J.; Van, Lier P.A.; Crone, E.A.; Guroglu, B.

2016-01-01

This functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study examined subjective and neural responses to social exclusion in adolescents (age 12-15) who either had a stable accepted (n = 27; 14 males) or a chronic rejected (n = 19; 12 males) status among peers from age 6 to 12. Both groups of adolescents

The Role of Humoral Alloreactivity in Liver Transplantation: Lessons Learned and New Perspectives

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Elaine Y. Cheng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available More than ten years after the initial description of the humoral theory of transplantation by Dr. Paul I. Terasaki, the significance of humoral alloimmunity in liver transplantation has yet to be clearly defined. The liver allograft has an inherent tolerogenic capacity which confers its resistance to cell-mediated as well as antibody-mediated rejection. Nevertheless, the protection against alloimmunity is not complete, and antibody-mediated tissue injury can occur in the liver graft under specific circumstances. In this article the evidence on the clinicopathologic effects of donor-specific alloantibodies in liver transplantation will be examined and interpreted in parallel with lessons learned from renal transplantation. The unique anatomic and immunologic features of the liver will be reviewed to gain new insights into the complex interactions between humoral immune system and the liver allograft.

Chronic low-level tritium contamination effects on humoral immune response in rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petcu, I.; Bejan, A.; Stinga, A.

1993-01-01

Using an adaptation of the radioimmunoassay technique, the present study reports on immunochemical parameters of the antibodies synthesized in vivo against bovine serum albumin by rats previously exposed to long-term internal contamination with tritiated water. The corresponding dose range of the irradiation was between 0.6 and 6.2 mGy. A slight increase of a affinity constant of the antibodies produced by the irradiated organisms was found. This experimental fact might sustain the hypothesis of a humoral immune response associated to adaptation increase in cell renewal mechanisms, rather than to selective cell deletion. We also observed a total dissimilarity between the modifications induced by chronic low-dose irradiation and those induced by physiological aging. For old rats the concentration of antibodies is higher by almost an order of magnitude, but they are much less efficient as the decreased value of the affinity constant indicates. (Author)

Allorecognition pathways in transplant rejection and tolerance.

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Ali, Jason M; Bolton, Eleanor M; Bradley, J Andrew; Pettigrew, Gavin J

2013-10-27

With the advent of cellular therapies, it has become clear that the success of future therapies in prolonging allograft survival will require an intimate understanding of the allorecognition pathways and effector mechanisms that are responsible for chronic rejection and late graft loss.Here, we consider current understanding of T-cell allorecognition pathways and discuss the most likely mechanisms by which these pathways collaborate with other effector mechanisms to cause allograft rejection. We also consider how this knowledge may inform development of future strategies to prevent allograft rejection.Although both direct and indirect pathway CD4 T cells appear active immediately after transplantation, it has emerged that indirect pathway CD4 T cells are likely to be the dominant alloreactive T-cell population late after transplantation. Their ability to provide help for generating long-lived alloantibody is likely one of the main mechanisms responsible for the progression of allograft vasculopathy and chronic rejection.Recent work has suggested that regulatory T cells may be an effective cellular therapy in transplantation. Given the above, adoptive therapy with CD4 regulatory T cells with indirect allospecificity is a rational first choice in attempting to attenuate the development and progression of chronic rejection; those with additional properties that enable inhibition of germinal center alloantibody responses hold particular appeal.

In situ expression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-beta) during chronic rejection is abolished by retransplantation.

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Yang, H C; McElroy, R J; Kreider, J W; Marshall, R L; Martinie, J B; Diamond, J

1995-07-01

We have shown that Fischer 344-->Lewis renal allografts (ALLO) develop chronic rejection which is not detected in Lewis-->Lewis isografts (ISO). The progression of chronic rejection in ALLO can be reversed by retransplantation (RE-TX) of kidneys from ALLO back into syngeneic Fischer 344 recipients. The purpose of this study was to assess the in situ expression of PDGF-beta, a cytokine associated with wound injury, in ISO, ALLO, and RE-TX. In situ PDGF-beta mRNA expression in kidney sections was assessed early (8 weeks) and late (16 weeks) during the development of chronic rejection. Kidneys from ALLO were transplanted back into syngeneic Fischer recipients at 12 weeks and evaluated for PDGF-beta expression 12 weeks later. Differences in glomerular staining were graded quantitatively on a minimum of 25 glomeruli per section with grade 0, no positive cells in the glomerulus; grade 1, 1 or 2 positive cells; grade 2, 3 or more positive cells in a segmental distribution; and grade 3, > 4 positive cells of moderate intensity in a diffuse distribution. According to this grading system, glomerular PDGF-beta mRNA expression in isografts (N = 6) at 8 and 16 weeks after transplantation was 0.09 +/- 0.03 and 0.2 +/- 0.04, respectively. In allografts (N = 6), PDGF-beta mRNA was significantly higher (P < .001) for the same time periods, 1.28 +/- 0.6 and 1.89 +/- 0.08, respectively. In situ expression of PDGF in retransplants (N = 6) at 24 weeks, 0.07 +/- 0.02, was significantly diminished (P < .001) at 24 weeks compared to allografts at 8 or 16 weeks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Humor.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodbury-Fariña, Michel A; Antongiorgi, Joalex L

2014-12-01

Humor has not been taken as seriously as it should be. Humor has many positive effects in the daily lives of patients and clinicians need to take advantage of these. Many indices of stress are attenuated and this serves to improve the therapeutic alliance. Freudian, rational emotive therapy, and kleinian views are presented, as well as examples of how to use playful therapy. In addition, advice on how to develop humor is given. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Assessment of pathological changes associated with chronic allograft rejection and tolerance in two experimental models of rat lung transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsumura, Y; Marchevsky, A; Zuo, X J; Kass, R M; Matloff, J M; Jordan, S C

1995-06-15

Lung transplantation is now routinely performed for a wide range of end-stage cardiopulmonary disorders. Despite overcoming the problems associated with early acute rejection, chronic rejection (CR) in the form of obliterative bronchiolitis has emerged as the primary cause of late graft loss. The mechanisms involved in the development of CR of lung allografts are poorly understood, and no effective therapy is currently available. To better understand the pathological events associated with CR and tolerance, we examined two models of lung allograft rejection established in our laboratory. First, we exchanged left lung allografts between moderately histoincompatible inbred rat strains (WKY-->F344: n = 42 and F344-->WKY: n = 40). The WKY-->F344 model was previously shown to develop spontaneous tolerance, while the converse model (F344-->WKY) showed persistent acute rejection. The purpose of this investigation was to assess histopathological changes associated with long-term grafts left in place up to 140 days after transplant. To confirm that tolerance had developed, skin-grafting experiments were performed. Five skin grafts from each strain were placed on lung allograft recipients on day 35 after transplant and skin allograft survival was assessed and compared with controls. Acute rejection (AR) was graded histologically (stage O-IV) and the pathologic intensity of inflammation and CR were graded (0-4: 0 = 0%, 1 = 1-25%, 2 = 26-50%, 3 = 51-75%, and 4 = 76-100%) on percentage of involvement with the following categories being examined: (a) lymphocytic infiltration (perivascular, peribronchial, and peribronchiolar) and (b) vasculitis, edema, hemorrhage, and necrosis. Finally, chronic rejection was diagnosed by the presence of intimal hyperplasia, interstitial fibrosis, peribronchiolar fibrosis, bronchiolitis obliterans, and bronchiectasis. The WKY-->F344 animals showed progressive AR (stage III, day 21). Thereafter, the AR subsided spontaneously and was stage 0 on day

To Be or Not To Be Humorous? Cross Cultural Perspectives on Humor.

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Xiaodong; Jiang, Feng; Lu, Su; Hiranandani, Neelam

2016-01-01

Humor seems to manifest differently in Western and Eastern cultures, although little is known about how culture shapes humor perceptions. The authors suggest that Westerners regard humor as a common and positive disposition; the Chinese regard humor as a special disposition particular to humorists, with controversial aspects. In Study 1, Hong Kong participants primed with Western culture evaluate humor more positively than they do when primed with Chinese culture. In Study 2a, Canadians evaluate humor as being more important in comparison with Chinese participants. In Study 2b, Canadians expect ordinary people to possess humor, while Chinese expect specialized comedians to be humorous. The implications and limitations are discussed.

Personality, Humor Styles and Happiness: Happy People Have Positive Humor Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Thomas E.; Lappi, Shaun K.; Holden, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

The present study examined the relationships between four personality traits, humor styles, and happiness. Replicating previous research, happiness was positively correlated with four personality traits: extraversion, locus of control, self-esteem, and optimism. Further, happiness positively related to self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles; it related negatively to self-defeating and aggressive humor styles. Thus, happy people habitually engage in positive uses of humor and avoid engaging in negative uses of humor in daily life. We also found support for our hypothesis. People high in extraversion, locus of control, self-esteem, and optimism are happier because they engage in positive humor in daily life. PMID:27547251

Personality, Humor Styles and Happiness: Happy People Have Positive Humor Styles

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Thomas E. Ford

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the relationships between four personality traits, humor styles, and happiness. Replicating previous research, happiness was positively correlated with four personality traits: extraversion, locus of control, self-esteem, and optimism. Further, happiness positively related to self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles; it related negatively to self-defeating and aggressive humor styles. Thus, happy people habitually engage in positive uses of humor and avoid engaging in negative uses of humor in daily life. We also found support for our hypothesis. People high in extraversion, locus of control, self-esteem, and optimism are happier because they engage in positive humor in daily life.

Personality, Humor Styles and Happiness: Happy People Have Positive Humor Styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Thomas E; Lappi, Shaun K; Holden, Christopher J

2016-08-01

The present study examined the relationships between four personality traits, humor styles, and happiness. Replicating previous research, happiness was positively correlated with four personality traits: extraversion, locus of control, self-esteem, and optimism. Further, happiness positively related to self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles; it related negatively to self-defeating and aggressive humor styles. Thus, happy people habitually engage in positive uses of humor and avoid engaging in negative uses of humor in daily life. We also found support for our hypothesis. People high in extraversion, locus of control, self-esteem, and optimism are happier because they engage in positive humor in daily life.

Laughter, Humor, and Cancer: Delicate Moments and Poignant Interactional Circumstances.

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Beach, Wayne A; Prickett, Erin

2017-07-01

Conversation analysis is employed to examine transcribed excerpts drawn from a subsample of 75 naturally occurring and video recorded interviews between cancer patients and 30 doctors. Close examination is provided of how cancer patients initiate, and doctors respond, to laughter and humor during oncology interviews. Interactions demonstrate that communication about the disease "cancer" shares qualities similar to other medical areas (e.g., primary care): the tendency for patients to initiate laughter or humor to address troubling and challenging circumstances; and that during moments when patients address personal matters, doctors are not invited and do not reciprocate with shared laughter and humor. Prominent in talk about cancer are various precarious circumstances, awkward and delicate moments mirroring the lived experiences of cancer patients (e.g., when patients attempt to minimize fears, justify that they are well when threatened with sickness, claim normality in the midst of chronic conditions, and take stances that weight loss and gain are not problematic). These examples provide a compelling case that routine cancer care involves many poignant situations managed through laughter and humor. Implications are raised for how quality care might be improved through grounded understandings of laughter, humor, and cancer.

Neuropsychology of humor: an introduction. Part II. Humor and the brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Derouesné, Christian

2016-09-01

Impairment of the perception or comprehension of humor is observed in patients with focal brain lesions in both hemispheres, but mainly in the right frontal lobe. Studies by functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy subjects show that humor is associated with activation of two main neural systems in both hemispheres. The detection and resolution of incongruity, cognitive groundings of humor, are associated with activation of the medial prefrontal and temporoparietal cortex, and the humor appreciation with activation of the orbito-frontal and insular cortex, amygdala and the brain reward system. However, activation of these areas is not humor-specific and can be observed in various cognitive or emotional processes. Event-related potential studies confirm the involvement of both hemispheres in humor processing, and suggest that left prefrontal area is associated with joke comprehension and right prefrontal area with the resolution stage. Humor thus appears to be a complex and dynamic functional process involving, on one hand, two specialized but not specific neural systems linked to humor apprehension and appreciation, and, on the other hand, multiple interconnected functional brain networks including neural patterns underlying the moral framework and belief system, acquired by conditioning or imitation during the cognitive development and social interactions of the individual, and more distributed systems associated with the analysis of the current context of humor occurrence. Disturbances of the sense of humor could then result from focal brain alterations localized in one or two of the specialized areas underlying the comprehension or appreciation of humor, or from perturbations of the network interconnectivity in non-focal brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia.

The Dark Side of Humor: DSM-5 Pathological Personality Traits and Humor Styles.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; McCabe, Gillian A; Vrabel, Jennifer K

2016-08-01

Basic personality traits (e.g., extraversion) have been found to be associated with the humor styles that individuals employ. In the present study, we were interested in determining whether pathological personality traits were also associated with humor styles. We examined the associations between the pathological personality traits captured by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID-5) and humor styles in a sample of college students (N = 594). Negative affectivity and detachment were negatively associated with the affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles. Antagonism was positively associated with the aggressive humor style but negatively associated with the affiliative humor style. Disinhibition was positively associated with the aggressive humor style, whereas disinhibition and psychoticism were both positively associated with the self-defeating humor style. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings and how they can expand our understanding of the connections between the darker aspects of personality and humor.

Interstitial mononuclear cell infiltrates in chronic rejection of the kidney and correlation with peripheral blood.

OpenAIRE

Jeong, H. J.; Hong, S. W.; Kim, Y. S.; Kim, M. S.; Choi, I. H.; Park, K.; Choi, I. J.

1996-01-01

To investigate the characteristics of interstitial inflammatory cells and possible involvement of nudelta T cells, 16 renal allograft biopsies showing chronic rejection were stained by immunohistochemical method and correlated with the data of peripheral blood evaluated by flow cytometry. For immunophenotyping, fresh frozen sections were stained with monoclonal antibodies against CD3, CD4, CD8, CD68, CD56, TCRdelta1 and HLA DR. Paraffin embedded tissue was stained with CD45RO, CD20-Cy and CD6...

The Dark Side of Humor: DSM-5 Pathological Personality Traits and Humor Styles

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Virgil Zeigler-Hill

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Basic personality traits (e.g., extraversion have been found to be associated with the humor styles that individuals employ. In the present study, we were interested in determining whether pathological personality traits were also associated with humor styles. We examined the associations between the pathological personality traits captured by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 (PID-5 and humor styles in a sample of college students (N = 594. Negative affectivity and detachment were negatively associated with the affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles. Antagonism was positively associated with the aggressive humor style but negatively associated with the affiliative humor style. Disinhibition was positively associated with the aggressive humor style, whereas disinhibition and psychoticism were both positively associated with the self-defeating humor style. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings and how they can expand our understanding of the connections between the darker aspects of personality and humor.

The Relational Humor Inventory: Functions of Humor in Close Relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

DeKoning, E.; Weiss, R. L.

2002-01-01

This study describes the development of a self-report measure of functional humor in relationships. People were asked to report on their own and their partner's use of humor in the marriage. The Relational Humor Inventory proved to be a useful instrument for tapping important positive and negative relationship behaviors. (Contains 30 references, 4…

Chronic Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Nonhuman Primate Renal Allografts: Validation of Human Histological and Molecular Phenotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Adam, B A; Smith, R N; Rosales, I A; Matsunami, M; Afzali, B; Oura, T; Cosimi, A B; Kawai, T; Colvin, R B; Mengel, M

2017-11-01

Molecular testing represents a promising adjunct for the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Here, we apply a novel gene expression platform in sequential formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from nonhuman primate (NHP) renal transplants. We analyzed 34 previously described gene transcripts related to AMR in humans in 197 archival NHP samples, including 102 from recipients that developed chronic AMR, 80 from recipients without AMR, and 15 normal native nephrectomies. Three endothelial genes (VWF, DARC, and CAV1), derived from 10-fold cross-validation receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, demonstrated excellent discrimination between AMR and non-AMR samples (area under the curve = 0.92). This three-gene set correlated with classic features of AMR, including glomerulitis, capillaritis, glomerulopathy, C4d deposition, and DSAs (r = 0.39-0.63, p < 0.001). Principal component analysis confirmed the association between three-gene set expression and AMR and highlighted the ambiguity of v lesions and ptc lesions between AMR and T cell-mediated rejection (TCMR). Elevated three-gene set expression corresponded with the development of immunopathological evidence of rejection and often preceded it. Many recipients demonstrated mixed AMR and TCMR, suggesting that this represents the natural pattern of rejection. These data provide NHP animal model validation of recent updates to the Banff classification including the assessment of molecular markers for diagnosing AMR. © 2017 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Clinical factors associated with the humoral immune response to influenza vaccination in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Nath KD

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Karthik D Nath,1,2 Julie G Burel,1 Viswanathan Shankar,3 Antonia L Pritchard,1 Michelle Towers,2 David Looke,1,2 Janet M Davies,1 John W Upham1,2 1The University of Queensland (School of Medicine, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; 2Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; 3Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, USA Background and objective: Individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD are at a high risk of developing significant complications from infection with the influenza virus. It is therefore vital to ensure that prophylaxis with the influenza vaccine is effective in COPD. The aim of this study was to assess the immunogenicity of the 2010 trivalent influenza vaccine in persons with COPD compared to healthy subjects without lung disease, and to examine clinical factors associated with the serological response to the vaccine. Methods: In this observational study, 34 subjects (20 COPD, 14 healthy received the 2010 influenza vaccine. Antibody titers at baseline and 28 days post-vaccination were measured using the hemagglutination inhibition assay (HAI assay. Primary endpoints included seroconversion (≥4-fold increase in antibody titers from baseline and the fold increase in antibody titer after vaccination. Results: Persons with COPD mounted a significantly lower humoral immune response to the influenza vaccine compared to healthy participants. Seroconversion occurred in 90% of healthy participants, but only in 43% of COPD patients (P=0.036. Increasing age and previous influenza vaccination were associated with lower antibody responses. Antibody titers did not vary significantly with cigarette smoking, presence of other comorbid diseases, or COPD severity. Conclusion: The humoral immune response to the 2010 influenza vaccine was lower in persons with COPD compared to non-COPD controls. The antibody response also declined with increasing age and in those with

Uma tipologia do discurso de humor (o politico do humor e o humor politico)

OpenAIRE

Perotti, Ivane Laurete

1995-01-01

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão Propõe-se uma leitura de textos humorísticos sob a ótica da Análise do Discurso, recortando-se "tipos" de humor e propondo uma leitura das características do humor político. Tematizam-se questões basilares da Análise do Discurso que estruturam teoricamente o trabalho, expondo reflexões sobre o riso e o risível, e os diferentes processos possivelmente causadores do riso. Discute-se a possibili...

Effects of Humor Production, Humor Receptivity, and Physical Attractiveness on Partner Desirability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Tornquist

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study examined women’s and men’s preferences for humor production and humor receptivity in long-term and short-term relationships, and how these factors interact with physical attractiveness to influence desirability. Undergraduates viewed photographs of the opposite sex individuals who were high or low in physical attractiveness, along with vignettes varying in humor production and receptivity. Participants rated physical attractiveness and desirability for long-term and short-term relationships. The main findings were that individuals desired partners who were high in humor production and receptivity, though the effects were particularly pronounced for women judging long-term relationships. Moreover, humor production was more important than receptivity for women’s ratings of male desirability. Notably, we also found that ratings of physical attractiveness were influenced by the humor conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the fitness indicator, interest indicator, and encryption hypotheses of the evolutionary functions of humor.

Humor in leader-follower relationships : Humor styles, similarity and relationship quality.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wisse, Barbara; Rietzschel, Eric

2014-01-01

The present study focuses on how humor may affect the quality of the relationship between leader and follower (LMX). More specifically, we examined the impact of follower self-reported humor style and leader self-reported humor style on the extent to which followers perceived their relationship with

HUMORAL AND CELLULAR IMMUNITY PARAMETERS IN CHILDREN BEFORE AND AFTER ADENOTONSILLECTOMY

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M. H. Baradaranfar

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Adenoids and tonsils are active lymphoid organs and play an important role ‎against invading antigens of upper aerodigestive tract in children. ‎The present study analyzes the changes in cellular and humoral immunity of children six ‎months after adenotonsillectomy. The study population consisted of 30 children whit chronic adenotonsillar hypertrophy and 30 age-matched healthy children. ‎In all children serum level of IgM and IgG, percentage of T lymphocytes (CD3, T ‎helper cells (CD4, T cytotoxic ‎cells (CD8 and B lymphocytes (CD20 were measured before surgery. These parameters were ‎remeasured in patients 6 months after adenotonsillectomy. ‎Before the operation, a reduction in percentage of T lymphocytes (CD3,TCD4,TC8 ‎and B CD20 was seen compared to control group. This reduction was only significant in T ‎lymphocytes (CD3.The serum IgM and IgG levels were not different in two groups. Six months after ‎operation, the percentage of lymphocytes T CD3, T CD8 and BCD20 was increased and ‎reached the control group. The IgM level was also significantly decreased in patients after ‎operation. ‎Our results indicate that cellular and humoral immunity decreases in children ‎with chronic adenotonsiller hypertrophy preoperatively and increases to healthy children ‎level, six months postoperatively. It means that chronic adenotosillar hypertrophy affect ‎some parameters of cellular and humoral immunity and adenotonsillectomy by removing ‎chronic stimulations and reverses these changes without any negative effect on immune ‎function of patients.

Early humoral-mediated graft injuries in ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation in human beings.

Science.gov (United States)

Sekijima, M; Shimizu, A; Ishii, Y; Kudo, S; Horita, S; Nakajima, I; Fuchinoue, S; Teraoka, S

2010-04-01

Acute humoral rejection is the most important risk factor for early graft loss in ABO-incompatible (ABO-i) renal transplantation (RTx) and is present from the early period after RTx. However, the characteristics of early humoral-mediated graft injury are pathologically uncertain. To analyze tissue from 10 protocol graft biopsies performed in 10 patients within 30 days post-RTx to clarify the pathologic features of early humoral-mediated graft injuries in ABO-i RTx. Pathologic findings were examined using light and electron microscopy and immunofluorescence studies for C4d. Protocol biopsies were performed within 30 days after RTx in the absence of an episode of dysfunction (creatinine concentration 1.21-1.81 mg/dL). The immunofluorescence study demonstrated C4d deposition in peritubular and glomerular capillaries. Acute glomerulitis with infiltration of mononuclear cells and neutrophils was observed in 3 patients. Furthermore, glomerulitis was accompanied by endothelial cell injuries, widening of subendothelial spaces with a double-contoured glomerular basement membrane, and mesangiolysis. In ABO-i RTx, early humoral-mediated graft injuries were observed in approximately 30% of patients despite normal graft function. They were characterized by C4d deposition and glomerular capillary injury. These findings suggest that renal glomeruli are the first site of graft injury by anti-A or anti-B blood type antibody with complement activation in ABO-i RTx.

Humor, helt seriøst

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundquist, Lita Sander

2012-01-01

Adfærd. Har humor grænser? Dansk humor har i hvert fald. Hvor humor typisk bruges til at glatte ud med, har det ofte den stik modsatte virkning, viser studie.......Adfærd. Har humor grænser? Dansk humor har i hvert fald. Hvor humor typisk bruges til at glatte ud med, har det ofte den stik modsatte virkning, viser studie....

Self-Deprecating Humor Versus Other-Deprecating Humor in Health Messages

Science.gov (United States)

LEE, JI YOUNG; SLATER, MICHAEL D.; TCHERNEV, JOHN

2016-01-01

Humor is sometimes employed in health messages. However, little is known about contingencies under which different types of humor may or may not be effective. This experiment crossed humorous vs. non-humorous and self- vs. other-deprecating messages about binge drinking, and tested how differences in personal investment in alcohol use moderates the effects of such messages on college binge drinkers. Results showed significant three-way interaction effects on subjective norms and behavioral intentions largely consistent with hypotheses. Assessment of significant differences in the interactions indicated that for binge drinkers who weren’t high in personal investment in alcohol use, other-deprecating humor tended to reduce their perceived subjective norms about the acceptability of binge drinking behavior and their behavioral intentions. The effect of the experimental manipulation on subjective norms among these binge drinkers was shown to mediate the effect on intentions to binge drink in the future. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:26020507

Role of Soluble ST2 as a Marker for Rejection after Heart Transplant.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ga Yeon; Choi, Jin-Oh; Ju, Eun-Seon; Lee, Yoo-Jung; Jeon, Eun-Seok

2016-11-01

Endomyocardial biopsy is obligatory during the first year after heart transplant (HTx) for the surveillance of acute rejection. Previous attempts using cardiac biomarkers for the detection of rejection failed to show enough evidence to substitute endomyocardial biopsy. Therefore, this study sought the possibility of using soluble ST2 (sST2), a novel cardiovascular marker, as a surrogate marker for acute allograft rejection after HTx. A total of 494 blood samples acquired at the time of endomyocardial biopsy were analyzed in 67 HTx cases from September 2006 to August 2014. Significant rejection was defined as International Society of Heart and Lung Transplant (ISHLT) score ≥2R and humoral rejection accompanied by hemodynamic instability. Twenty cases of HTx with 22 blood samples showed significant rejection in endomyocardial biopsy at 4.0 (2.0-9.0) months after HTx. The level of sST2 showed positive correlation with cardiac troponin I, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (all prejection) (p=0.003). However, when we studied within-subject effects of sST2 using a mixed model, the sST2 level according to the predefined time point was not different according to the presence of significant rejection (p for interaction=0.94). Although sST2 is known as a promising predictor for cardiovascular events, its role in HTx patients to predict acute allograft rejection seems to be limited.

[B-type natriuretic peptide assessment in the diagnosis of rejection after pediatric heart transplant].

Science.gov (United States)

Sylos, Cristina de; Azeka, Estela; Kajita, Luis; Benvenutti, Luis; Strunz, Célia Cassaro; Branco, Klébia Castello; Riso, Arlindo Almeida; Tanamati, Carla; Jatene, Marcelo; Barbero-Marcial, Miguel

2009-03-01

Rejection is one of the major causes of mortality following pediatric heart transplant. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been studied as a method for the diagnosis of acute rejection, especially in adult patients undergoing heart transplant. To correlate serum BNP levels with acute rejection as diagnosed by endomyocardial biopsy in patients of the pediatric heart transplant group. A total of 50 BNP samples were collected from 33 children in the postoperative period of heart transplant, and data on age, gender, skin color, blood group, immune panel, follow-up time after transplant, functional class, immunosuppressive regimen used and number of rejections were analyzed. Thirty three children with median age of 10.13 years were analyzed; of these, 54% were females and 78% were Caucasians. BNP levels were determined at a mean time from transplant of 4.25 years. Nine episodes of rejection were diagnosed in eight patients (27%) by means of endomyocardial biopsy; of these, three were grade 3A, five were grade 2, and one had humoral rejection. At the moment of biopsy, most patients were asymptomatic. The mean serum BNP level was 77.18 pg/ml, with 144.22 pg/ml in the group with rejection and 62.46 pg/ml in the group without rejection, with p = 0.02. Asymptomatic children can present acute rejection in the postoperative period of heart transplant. Serum BNP levels show a statistically significant difference in the group with rejection and thus can be an additional method in the diagnosis of cardiac rejection.

Flow of Aqueous Humor

Science.gov (United States)

... Home Flow of Aqueous Humor Flow of Aqueous Humor Most, but not all, forms of glaucoma are ... remains normal when some of the fluid (aqueous humor) produced by the eye's ciliary body flows out ...

Effects of Classroom Humor Climate and Acceptance of Humor Messages on Adolescents' Expressions of Humor

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Yi-Chen; Lee, Chun-Yang; Wang, Hong-Huei

2016-01-01

Background: To adapt to dramatic changes from physical growth, physical development and the increasing demand of significant others, humor has been found to be an effective coping strategy. However, previous studies have found that adolescents start to express their humor styles with aggressive components which causes negative consequences, such…

Humor modeling in the interface

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Cockton, G.; Stock, O.; Korhonen, P.; Dix, A.; Bergman, E.; Bjork, S.; Morkes, J.; Collings, P.; Dey, A.; Draper, S.; Guliksen, J.; Keinonen, T.; Lazar, J.; Lund, A.; Malich, R.; Nakakoji, K.; Nigay, L.; Prates Oliveira, R.; Rieman, J.; Snyder, C.

2003-01-01

Humor is a multi-disciplinary field of research. People have been working on humor in many fields of research, such as psychology, philosophy and linguistics, sociology and literature. Especially in the context of computer science (or Artificial Intelligence) humor research aims at modeling humor in

Intravenous immunoglobulins and rituximab therapy for severe transplant glomerulopathy in chronic antibody-mediated rejection: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bachelet, Thomas; Nodimar, Celine; Taupin, Jean-Luc; Lepreux, Sebastien; Moreau, Karine; Morel, Delphine; Guidicelli, Gwendaline; Couzi, Lionel; Merville, Pierre

2015-05-01

Outcome of patients with transplant glomerulopathy (TG) is poor. Using B-cell targeting molecules represent a rational strategy to treat TG during chronic antibody-mediated rejection. In this pilot study, 21 patients with this diagnosis received four doses of intravenous immunoglobulins and two doses of rituximab (IVIG/RTX group). They were retrospectively compared with a untreated control group of 10 patients. At 24 months post-biopsy, graft survival was similar and poor between the treated and the untreated group, 47% vs. 40%, respectively, p = 0.69. This absence of response of IVIG/RTX treatment was observed, regardless the phenotype of TG. Baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and decline in eGFR during the first six months after the treatment were risk factors associated with 24-month graft survival. The IVIG/RTX therapy had a modest effect on the kinetics of donor-specific alloantibodies at M24, compared to the untreated group, not associated with an improvement in graft survival. The mean number of adverse events per patient was higher in the IVIG/RTX group than in the control group (p = 0.03). Taken together, IVIG/RTX treatment for severe TG during chronic antibody-mediated rejection does not seem to change the natural history of TG and is associated with a high incidence of adverse events. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Building Resilience through Humor.

Science.gov (United States)

Berg, Debra Vande; Van Brockern, Steve

1995-01-01

Research on resilience suggests that a sense of humor helps to stress-proof children in conflict. Reports on a workshop for educators and youth workers convened to explore ways humor is being used to foster positive development and resilience with troubled youth. Describes applications of humor front-line professionals report as useful in their…

Humor en línea. Línea del humor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dra. Mirta Clara Echevarría

2000-01-01

Full Text Available La autora indaga el humor propuesto por el diario ‘InterVoz’ (Córdoba, Argentina. El medio publica el "típico humor cordobés". Historietas, chistes y relatos representan la vida urbana cotidiana, confluencia de lo popular y lo masivo, a través de la inclusión de usos lingüísticos, costumbres, personajes típicos y personajes públicos, sobre todo políticos. Estos textos, en algunos casos, reproducen lo publicado en papel; sin embargo, son manifestaciones diferentes. En este discurso emergente, estudia las condiciones de producción, circulación y consumo desde varias vertientes. Subraya la autora la relación del humor con el resto del diario por: la fuerte relación intertextual con la información y el diseño hipertextual. Destaca tópicas y retórica del humor como parte de una política discursiva centrada en lo regional, con el objeto de construir un discurso identitario de clara apelación a "los cordobeses en el mundo". El humor de ‘InterVoz’ (el diario en su totalidad, en el marco de la globalización, se manifiesta como una otra voz, sin llegar a establecerse como contradiscurso. Este periódico –como tantos en la red– subraya las marcas de lo local para permanecer en lo global.

Effects of Humor Production, Humor Receptivity, and Physical Attractiveness on Partner Desirability

OpenAIRE

Michelle Tornquist; Dan Chiappe

2015-01-01

This study examined women’s and men’s preferences for humor production and humor receptivity in long-term and short-term relationships, and how these factors interact with physical attractiveness to influence desirability. Undergraduates viewed photographs of the opposite sex individuals who were high or low in physical attractiveness, along with vignettes varying in humor production and receptivity. Participants rated physical attractiveness and desirability for long-term and short-term rela...

Fish oil enhances recovery of intestinal microbiota and epithelial integrity in chronic rejection of intestinal transplant.

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Qiurong Li

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The intestinal chronic rejection (CR is the major limitation to long-term survival of transplanted organs. This study aimed to investigate the interaction between intestinal microbiota and epithelial integrity in chronic rejection of intestinal transplantation, and to find out whether fish oil enhances recovery of intestinal microbiota and epithelial integrity. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The luminal and mucosal microbiota composition of CR rats were characterized by DGGE analysis at 190 days after intestinal transplant. The specific bacterial species were determined by sequence analysis. Furthermore, changes in the localization of intestinal TJ proteins were examined by immunofluorescent staining. PCR-DGGE analysis revealed that gut microbiota in CR rats had a shift towards Escherichia coli, Bacteroides spp and Clostridium spp and a decrease in the abundance of Lactobacillales bacteria in the intestines. Fish oil supplementation could enhance the recovery of gut microbiota, showing a significant decrease of gut bacterial proportions of E. coli and Bacteroides spp and an increase of Lactobacillales spp. In addition, CR rats showed pronounced alteration of tight junction, depicted by marked changes in epithelial cell ultrastructure and redistribution of occuldin and claudins as well as disruption in TJ barrier function. Fish oil administration ameliorated disruption of epithelial integrity in CR, which was associated with an improvement of the mucosal structure leading to improved tight junctions. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study have presented novel evidence that fish oil is involved in the maintenance of epithelial TJ integrity and recovery of gut microbiota, which may have therapeutic potential against CR in intestinal transplantation.

Contrasting roles of donor and recipient TGFB1 and IFNG gene polymorphic variants in chronic kidney transplant rejection.

Science.gov (United States)

Coelho, Verônica Porto Carreiro de Vasconcellos; Ioschpe, Rafael; Caldas, Cristina; Spadafora-Ferreira, Monica; Fonseca, João Americo; Cardoso, Maria Regina Alves; Palacios, Selma Aliotti; Kalil, Jorge; Goldberg, Anna Carla

2011-03-01

To assess the long-term impact (minimum of 3 years follow-up) of polymorphisms in cytokine genes in donor:recipient pairs on the results of the transplant. We compared genetic cytokine polymorphisms and the primary factors of risk for the development of chronic rejection in paired groups of renal transplant patients with and without chronic allograft nephropathy [CAN]. Multivariate analysis indicated that the presence of the high-production TT genotype (codon 10) of the transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGFB1) was protective in receptors (p=0.017), contrasting with the increased risk when present in donor samples (p=0.049). On the other hand, in the case of the gamma interferon studied, the greater frequency of the high production allele was protective in the analysis of the donor group (p=0.013), increasing the risk of chronic nephropathy of the allograft when present in the recipients (p=0.036). Our results highlight the importance of TGFB1 genotyping in donors, and indicate that polymorphisms in the gene of this cytokine in donor cells might contribute to the development of chronic allograft nephropathy.

The Serious Business of Humor : A qualitative study of humor as a management tool

OpenAIRE

N Schönfeldt, Sara; Miznikova, Jelena

2010-01-01

This research was initiated due to the novelty of the topic. Humor is a common phenomenon in the daily interaction of many people; however this study is particularly interested in humor as used by managers. As a preconception to the study it was assumed that appropriately used humor results in benefits for a leader, thus we wish to explore how managers in Swedish organizations reason about if and how humor can be used as a management tool. For this purpose we employed qualitative research wit...

Humor as a Mental Fitness Indicator

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Daniel P. Howrigan

2008-10-01

Full Text Available To explain the pervasive role of humor in human social interaction and among mating partner preferences, Miller (2000a proposed that intentional humor evolved as an indicator of intelligence. To test this, we looked at the relationships among rater-judged humor, general intelligence, and the Big Five personality traits in a sample of 185 college-age students (115 women, 70 men. General intelligence positively predicted rater-judged humor, independent of the Big Five personality traits. Extraversion also predicted rater-judged humor, although to a lesser extent than general intelligence. General intelligence did not interact with the sex of the participant in predicting rating scores on the humor production tasks. The current study lends support to the prediction that effective humor production acts as an honest indicator of intelligence in humans. In addition, extraversion, and to a lesser extent, openness, may reflect motivational traits that encourage humor production.

Respons imun humoral pada pulpitis (Humoral immune response on pulpitis

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Trijoedani Widodo

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Pulpitis is an inflammation process on dental pulp tissue, and usually as the continuous of caries. The microorganism in the caries is a potential immunogenic triggering the immune respons, both humoral and celluler immune responses. The aim of this research is to explain the humoral immune response changes in the dental pulp tissues of pulpitis. This research was done on three group samples: Irreversible pulpitis, Reversible pulpitis and sound teeth as the control group. The result showed that there were three pulpitis immunopathologic patterns: the sound teeth immunopathologic pattern showing a low humoral immune response, in a low level of IgG, IgA and IgM, the reversible pulpitis pattern showing that in a higher humoral immune response, IgG and IgA decreased but IgM increased, the irreversible pulpitis pattern showing that IgG and IgM increased, but it couldn't be repaired although it has highly immunity, and it showed an unusually low level of IgA. This low level of IgA meant that irreversible pulpitis had a low mucosal immunity.

Who Benefits From Humor-Based Positive Psychology Interventions? The Moderating Effects of Personality Traits and Sense of Humor.

Science.gov (United States)

Wellenzohn, Sara; Proyer, René T; Ruch, Willibald

2018-01-01

The evidence for the effectiveness of humor-based positive psychology interventions (PPIs; i.e., interventions aimed at enhancing happiness and lowering depressive symptoms) is steadily increasing. However, little is known about who benefits most from them. We aim at narrowing this gap by examining whether personality traits and sense of humor moderate the long-term effects of humor-based interventions on happiness and depressive symptoms. We conducted two placebo-controlled online-intervention studies testing for moderation effects. In Study 1 ( N = 104) we tested for moderation effects of basic personality traits (i.e., psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism) in the three funny things intervention, a humor-based PPI. In Study 2 ( N = 632) we tested for moderation effects of the sense of humor in five different humor-based interventions. Happiness and depressive symptoms were assessed before and after the intervention, as well as after 1, 3, and 6 months. In Study 2, we assessed sense of humor before and 1 month after the intervention to investigate if changes in sense of humor go along with changes in happiness and depressive symptoms. We found moderating effects only for extraversion. Extraverts benefitted more from the three funny things intervention than introverts. For neuroticism and psychoticism no moderation effects were found. For sense of humor, no moderating effects were found for the effectiveness of the five humor-based interventions tested in Study 2. However, changes in sense of humor from pretest to the 1-month follow-up predicted changes in happiness and depressive symptoms. Taking a closer look, the playful attitude- and sense of humor-subscales predicted changes in happiness and depression for up to 6 months. Overall, moderating effects for personality (i.e., extraversion) were found, but none for sense of humor at baseline. However, increases in sense of humor during and after the intervention were associated with the interventions

Proteomic profiling of renal allograft rejection in serum using magnetic bead-based sample fractionation and MALDI-TOF MS.

Science.gov (United States)

Sui, Weiguo; Huang, Liling; Dai, Yong; Chen, Jiejing; Yan, Qiang; Huang, He

2010-12-01

Proteomics is one of the emerging techniques for biomarker discovery. Biomarkers can be used for early noninvasive diagnosis and prognosis of diseases and treatment efficacy evaluation. In the present study, the well-established research systems of ClinProt Micro solution incorporated unique magnetic bead sample preparation technology, which, based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), have become very successful in bioinformatics due to its outstanding performance and reproducibility for discovery disease-related biomarker. We collected fasting blood samples from patients with biopsy-confirmed acute renal allograft rejection (n = 12), chronic rejection (n = 12), stable graft function (n = 12) and also from healthy volunteers (n = 13) to study serum peptidome patterns. Specimens were purified with magnetic bead-based weak cation exchange chromatography and analyzed with a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer. The results indicated that 18 differential peptide peaks were selected as potential biomarkers of acute renal allograft rejection, and 6 differential peptide peaks were selected as potential biomarkers of chronic rejection. A Quick Classifier Algorithm was used to set up the classification models for acute and chronic renal allograft rejection. The algorithm models recognize 82.64% of acute rejection and 98.96% of chronic rejection episodes, respectively. We were able to identify serum protein fingerprints in small sample sizes of recipients with renal allograft rejection and establish the models for diagnosis of renal allograft rejection. This preliminary study demonstrated that proteomics is an emerging tool for early diagnosis of renal allograft rejection and helps us to better understand the pathogenesis of disease process.

111-Indium-labelled platelets for diagnosis of acute kidney transplant rejection and monitoring of prostacyclin anti-rejection treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leithner, C.; Pohanka, E.; Schwarz, M.; Sinzinger, H.; Syre, G.

1984-01-01

33 patients were examined daily under a gamma camera after weekly injections of 111-In-labelled autologous platelets over a period of at least 4 weeks after transplantation. A group of 33 patients with long-term stable and well-functioning grafts served as controls. By means of a computerized recording technique, platelet trapping in the graft was measured and expressed as platelet-uptake index (PUI). The method worked well for the early diagnosis of acute rejection signified by an increase in PUI, accompanied by a shortening of platelet half life (t/2). 6 patients suffering from acute rejection received infusions of prostacyclin in addition to conventional high-dose methylprednisolone therapy. In 4 cases the PUI decreased again and an improvement in graft function was observed. Prostacyclin infusion treatment was applied also in 12 patients with histologically-proven chronic transplant rejection. Decreased platelet consumption by the graft and a temporary improvement in transplant function were achieved. We suggest that prostacyclin could enrich the possibilities of anti-rejection treatment by providing a tool for the suppression of platelet trapping in the graft. The platelet scan served as a useful method for the early detection of acute rejection, as well as the monitoring of prostacyclin anti-rejection treatment. (Autor)

Affective Style, Humor Styles and Happiness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas E. Ford

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The present study examined the relationships between dispositional approach and avoidance motives, humor styles, and happiness. In keeping with previous research, approach motives and the two positive humor styles (self-enhancing and affiliative positively correlated with happiness, whereas avoidance motives and the two negative humor styles (self-defeating and aggressive negatively correlated with happiness. Also, we found support for three new hypotheses. First, approach motives correlated positively with self-enhancing and affiliative humor styles. Second, avoidance motives correlated positively with self-defeating humor style, and third, the positive relationship between approach motives and happiness was mediated by self-enhancing humor style.

Humor and Healing in College Counseling

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Barbara J.; Roehrig, James P.; Yang, Peggy H.

2015-01-01

Humor is an often neglected but potentially powerful tool in college counseling center interventions. In this article we review potential benefits and hazards of using humor in a college mental health setting along with perspectives on humor's mechanism of action and distinctions between types of humor. Therapist and client-specific…

Humor and Embodied Conversational Agents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus

This report surveys the role of humor in human-to-human interaction and the possible role of humor in human-computer interaction. The aim is to see whether it is useful for embodied conversational agents to integrate humor capabilities in their internal model of intelligence, emotions and

Reviewing the pathogenesis of antibody-mediated rejection and renal graft pathology after kidney transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Morozumi, Kunio; Takeda, Asami; Otsuka, Yasuhiro; Horike, Keiji; Gotoh, Norihiko; Narumi, Shunji; Watarai, Yoshihiko; Kobayashi, Takaaki

2016-07-01

The clinicopathological context of rejection after kidney transplantation was well recognized. Banff conferences greatly contributed to elucidate the pathogenesis and to establish the pathologic criteria of rejection after kidney transplantation. The most important current problem of renal transplantation is de novo donor-specific antibody (DSA) production leading chronic rejection and graft loss. Microvascular inflammation is considered as a reliable pathological marker for antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in the presence of DSA. Electron microscopic study allowed us to evaluate early changes in peritubular capillaries in T-lymphocyte mediated rejection and transition to antibody-mediated rejection. Severe endothelial injuries with edema and activated lymphocyte invaded into subendothelial space with early multi-layering of peritubular capillary basement membrane suggest T-lymphocyte mediated rejection induce an unbounded chain of antibody-mediated rejection. The risk factors of AMR after ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation are important issues. Anti-ABO blood type antibody titre of IgG excess 32-fold before transplant operation is the only predictable factor for acute AMR. Characteristics of chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (CAAMR) are one of the most important problems. Light microscopic findings and C4d stain of peritubular capillary and glomerular capillary are useful diagnostic criteria of CAAMR. Microvascular inflammation, double contour of glomerular capillary and thickening of peritubular capillary basement are good predictive factors of the presence of de novo DSA. C4d stain of linear glomerular capillary is a more sensitive marker for CAAMR than positive C4d of peritubular capillary. Early and sensitive diagnostic attempts of diagnosing CAAMR are pivotal to prevent chronic graft failure. © 2016 Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology.

Investigating the Effect of Humor Communication Skills Training on Pro-Social and Anti-Social Humor Styles, Cognitive Learning, Self-Efficacy, Motivation, and Humor Use

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Vela, Lori E.

2013-01-01

Humor is an important aspect of interpersonal interactions as it is linked to the development and maintenance of relationships (Merolla, 2006). The purpose of this dissertation was to test the effect of a humor communication skills training program on the ability to minimize anti-social humor (i.e., aggressive, self-defeating) and enhance…

Linguistic Features of Humor in Academic Writing

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Stephen Skalicky

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A corpus of 313 freshman college essays was analyzed in order to better understand the forms and functions of humor in academic writing. Human ratings of humor and wordplay were statistically aggregated using Factor Analysis to provide an overall Humor component score for each essay in the corpus. In addition, the essays were also scored for overall writing quality by human raters, which correlated (r = .195 with the humor component score. Correlations between the humor component scores and linguistic features were examined. To investigate the potential for linguistic features to predict the Humor component scores, regression analysis identified four linguistic indices that accounted for approximately 17.5% of the variance in humor scores. These indices were related to text descriptiveness (i.e., more adjective and adverb use, lower cohesion (i.e., less paragraph-to-paragraph similarity, and lexical sophistication (lower word frequency. The findings suggest that humor can be partially predicted by linguistic features in the text. Furthermore, there was a small but significant correlation between the humor and essay quality scores, suggesting a positive relation between humor and writing quality. Keywords: humor, academic writing, text analysis, essay score, human rating

Humor in Children's Picture Books

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Serafini, Frank; Coles, Richard

2015-01-01

Humorous literature for children has been around since Randolph Caldecott first started writing and illustrating picturebooks. In the article, the authors try to understand what makes picturebooks funny and discuss ways to use humor in the classroom. Many examples of humorous picturebooks are cited to provide teachers with resources for their…

FEATURES OF PLASMAPHERESIS IN THE TREATMENT OF GRAFT REJECTION AFTER KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION

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A. V. Vatazin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The development of immunological confl ict in the form of host-versus-graft reaction has always been main problem in transplantation. The worst case is the development of humoral rejection with the presence of circulating immune complexes and antibodies. There are several methods for quick removal of antibodies; among those are traditional plasmapheresis (PA and double fi ltration plasmapheresis (DFPF. In this paper we present our experience with these two methods and give a comparative evaluation of the effectiveness in the treatment of acute humoral rejection in renal allograft. Aim: to compare the effectiveness of traditional and double fi ltration plasmapheresis while processing different volumes of plasma in the treatment of host-versus-graft disease after kidney transplantation.Methods. The study included 58 patients after kidney transplantation. All patients had increased activity of humoral immunity, which was confi rmed by immunofl uorescence with luminescence C4d complement component. In 26 patients we performed DFPF, in 32 patients – traditional PA. We divided the DFPF patients into 4 subgroups depending on the amount of processed plasma: > 50% (5 patients, 50–100% (8 patients, 100–150% (7 patients, 150–200% (6 patients of circulating plasma volume. We also divided PA patients into four subgroups depending on the volume of plasma removed: >50% (8 patients, 50–70% (12 patients, 70–90% (7 patients, 90–110% (5 patients of the volume of circulating plasma. We monitored the immune status with markers of humoral immunity activation IgM, IgG before and after each of the procedures.Results. Each procedure of traditional PA and DFPF was accompanied by a marked decrease in blood concentrations of IgM and IgG antibodies. Their level decreased by an average of 30–55% of the original. However, some patients in both groups showed an increase in the concentration of these immunoglobulins in 1–2 days

The Effect of Context (Humorous vs. Non-humorous on Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention of Iranian EFL Learners

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Mohsen Ghaffari

2012-11-01

Full Text Available For almost four decades, ESL/EFL scholars have been trying to find which learning type, contextualized vs. decontextualized, leads to better vocabulary acquisition and retention. In an attempt to solve this problem, this study tried to examine the possible effectiveness of using humorous context on vocabulary acquisition and retention. Another issue that was undertaken in the present study was comparing the efficiency of contextualized and decontextualized vocabulary learning and retention. For this purpose, 58 Iranian EFL learners were categorized into 3 groups: a humorous, b non-humorous, and c decontextualized. The findings were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. As the results revealed, the participants in decontextualized group outperformed the participants in both humorous and non-humorous groups. However, it should be noted that the performance of humorous group was significantly better than the performance of non-humorous group.

The Relationship Between Humor Styles and Forgiveness.

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Hampes, William

2016-08-01

Research has shown that a factor in a victim's forgiveness of an offender is the victim's ability to make more positive, or at least less negative, attributions of the offender's behavior and that perspective-taking can be a factor in facilitating that process. Self-enhancing humor has been found to be positively correlated with perspective-taking empathy and aggressive humor found to be negatively correlated with perspective-taking empathy. Therefore it was predicted that self-enhancing humor would be positively correlated with forgiveness and aggressive humor negatively correlated with forgiveness. The Humor Styles Questionnaire, the Absence of Negative and Presence of Positive subscales of the Forgiveness Scale, and the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale were administered to 112 college undergraduates. Self-enhancing humor was significantly and positively correlated with all of the forgiveness measures, aggressive humor and self-defeating humor were significantly and negatively correlated with some of the forgiveness measures and affiliative humor was not significantly correlated with any of the forgiveness measures. The results were interpreted in terms of previous findings for humor styles, perspective-taking empathy, depression, self-esteem and anxiety. Future research involving the extent to which other personality variables, such as perspective-taking empathy, mediate the relationship between self-enhancing humor and forgiveness was suggested.

The Relationship Between Humor Styles and Forgiveness

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William Hampes

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Research has shown that a factor in a victim’s forgiveness of an offender is the victim’s ability to make more positive, or at least less negative, attributions of the offender’s behavior and that perspective-taking can be a factor in facilitating that process. Self-enhancing humor has been found to be positively correlated with perspective-taking empathy and aggressive humor found to be negatively correlated with perspective-taking empathy. Therefore it was predicted that self-enhancing humor would be positively correlated with forgiveness and aggressive humor negatively correlated with forgiveness. The Humor Styles Questionnaire, the Absence of Negative and Presence of Positive subscales of the Forgiveness Scale, and the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale were administered to 112 college undergraduates. Self-enhancing humor was significantly and positively correlated with all of the forgiveness measures, aggressive humor and self-defeating humor were significantly and negatively correlated with some of the forgiveness measures and affiliative humor was not significantly correlated with any of the forgiveness measures. The results were interpreted in terms of previous findings for humor styles, perspective-taking empathy, depression, self-esteem and anxiety. Future research involving the extent to which other personality variables, such as perspective-taking empathy, mediate the relationship between self-enhancing humor and forgiveness was suggested.

Comparative evaluation of aqueous humor viscosity.

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Davis, Kyshia; Carter, Renee; Tully, Thomas; Negulescu, Ioan; Storey, Eric

2015-01-01

To evaluate aqueous humor viscosity in the raptor, dog, cat, and horse, with a primary focus on the barred owl (Strix varia). Twenty-six raptors, ten dogs, three cats, and one horse. Animals were euthanized for reasons unrelated to this study. Immediately, after horizontal and vertical corneal dimensions were measured, and anterior chamber paracentesis was performed to quantify anterior chamber volume and obtain aqueous humor samples for viscosity analysis. Dynamic aqueous humor viscosity was measured using a dynamic shear rheometer (AR 1000 TA Instruments, New Castle, DE, USA) at 20 °C. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, unpaired t-tests, and Tukey's test to evaluate the mean ± standard deviation for corneal diameter, anterior chamber volume, and aqueous humor viscosity amongst groups and calculation of Spearman's coefficient for correlation analyses. The mean aqueous humor viscosity in the barred owl was 14.1 centipoise (cP) ± 9, cat 4.4 cP ± 0.2, and dog 2.9 cP ± 1.3. The aqueous humor viscosity for the horse was 1 cP. Of the animals evaluated in this study, the raptor aqueous humor was the most viscous. The aqueous humor of the barred owl is significantly more viscous than the dog (P humor viscosity of the raptor, dog, cat, and horse can be successfully determined using a dynamic shear rheometer. © 2014 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

Cognitive Distortions, Humor Styles, and Depression.

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Rnic, Katerina; Dozois, David J A; Martin, Rod A

2016-08-01

Cognitive distortions are negative biases in thinking that are theorized to represent vulnerability factors for depression and dysphoria. Despite the emphasis placed on cognitive distortions in the context of cognitive behavioural theory and practice, a paucity of research has examined the mechanisms through which they impact depressive symptomatology. Both adaptive and maladaptive styles of humor represent coping strategies that may mediate the relation between cognitive distortions and depressive symptoms. The current study examined the correlations between the frequency and impact of cognitive distortions across both social and achievement-related contexts and types of humor. Cognitive distortions were associated with reduced use of adaptive Affiliative and Self-Enhancing humor styles and increased use of maladaptive Aggressive and Self-Defeating humor. Reduced use of Self-Enhancing humor mediated the relationship between most types of cognitive distortions and depressed mood, indicating that distorted negative thinking may interfere with an individual's ability to adopt a humorous and cheerful outlook on life (i.e., use Self-Enhancing humor) as a way of regulating emotions and coping with stress, thereby resulting in elevated depressive symptoms. Similarly, Self-Defeating humor mediated the association of the social impact of cognitive distortions with depression, such that this humor style may be used as a coping strategy for dealing with distorted thinking that ultimately backfires and results in increased dysphoria.

Using Humor in Physical Education

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Barney, David; Christenson, Robert

2013-01-01

Humor can be extremely beneficial in everyday life, whether giving or receiving it. It can be used to lighten the mood, give encouragement, or make corrections. Humor in physical education is no exception. Physical educators can use humor as a teaching tool and to create an environment for students to acquire the knowledge to practice a lifetime…

Psychometric Comparisons of Benevolent and Corrective Humor across 22 Countries: The Virtue Gap in Humor Goes International.

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Heintz, Sonja; Ruch, Willibald; Platt, Tracey; Pang, Dandan; Carretero-Dios, Hugo; Dionigi, Alberto; Argüello Gutiérrez, Catalina; Brdar, Ingrid; Brzozowska, Dorota; Chen, Hsueh-Chih; Chłopicki, Władysław; Collins, Matthew; Ďurka, Róbert; Yahfoufi, Najwa Y El; Quiroga-Garza, Angélica; Isler, Robert B; Mendiburo-Seguel, Andrés; Ramis, TamilSelvan; Saglam, Betül; Shcherbakova, Olga V; Singh, Kamlesh; Stokenberga, Ieva; Wong, Peter S O; Torres-Marín, Jorge

2018-01-01

Recently, two forms of virtue-related humor, benevolent and corrective, have been introduced. Benevolent humor treats human weaknesses and wrongdoings benevolently, while corrective humor aims at correcting and bettering them. Twelve marker items for benevolent and corrective humor (the BenCor) were developed, and it was demonstrated that they fill the gap between humor as temperament and virtue. The present study investigates responses to the BenCor from 25 samples in 22 countries (overall N = 7,226). The psychometric properties of the BenCor were found to be sufficient in most of the samples, including internal consistency, unidimensionality, and factorial validity. Importantly, benevolent and corrective humor were clearly established as two positively related, yet distinct dimensions of virtue-related humor. Metric measurement invariance was supported across the 25 samples, and scalar invariance was supported across six age groups (from 18 to 50+ years) and across gender. Comparisons of samples within and between four countries (Malaysia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK) showed that the item profiles were more similar within than between countries, though some evidence for regional differences was also found. This study thus supported, for the first time, the suitability of the 12 marker items of benevolent and corrective humor in different countries, enabling a cumulative cross-cultural research and eventually applications of humor aiming at the good.

Psychometric Comparisons of Benevolent and Corrective Humor across 22 Countries: The Virtue Gap in Humor Goes International

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Sonja Heintz

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Recently, two forms of virtue-related humor, benevolent and corrective, have been introduced. Benevolent humor treats human weaknesses and wrongdoings benevolently, while corrective humor aims at correcting and bettering them. Twelve marker items for benevolent and corrective humor (the BenCor were developed, and it was demonstrated that they fill the gap between humor as temperament and virtue. The present study investigates responses to the BenCor from 25 samples in 22 countries (overall N = 7,226. The psychometric properties of the BenCor were found to be sufficient in most of the samples, including internal consistency, unidimensionality, and factorial validity. Importantly, benevolent and corrective humor were clearly established as two positively related, yet distinct dimensions of virtue-related humor. Metric measurement invariance was supported across the 25 samples, and scalar invariance was supported across six age groups (from 18 to 50+ years and across gender. Comparisons of samples within and between four countries (Malaysia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK showed that the item profiles were more similar within than between countries, though some evidence for regional differences was also found. This study thus supported, for the first time, the suitability of the 12 marker items of benevolent and corrective humor in different countries, enabling a cumulative cross-cultural research and eventually applications of humor aiming at the good.

Por un humor ético

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Victor Paramo Valero

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Ética del humor es una obra original, abundantemente documentada, de contenido científico y filosófico, que aborda un problema de gran importancia en los actuales estudios de éticas aplicadas. La ética del humor es una nueva ética aplicada que pretende comprender el fenómeno del humor a la luz de sus implicaciones éticas. Como señala el autor, Juan Carlos Siurana, reputado experto en el ámbito de la filosofía práctica, el interés por el humor es un interés por la ética. En la obra no presenta una nueva teoría filosófica del humor –las cuales se han venido sucediendo, al menos, desde los Diálogos de Platón–, sino una nueva teoría ética, que toma al humor como objeto principal de análisis. Por tanto, la finalidad es realizar una aportación dentro del ámbito de la ética. Para ello se nutre de distintos estudios psicológicos, biológicos, fisiológicos y neurológicos sobre el humor, así como de clásicas obras de filosofía que han abordado esta cuestión.

Significance of {sup 99m}Tc-tin Colloid Scan in Rejection of Transplanted Kidney

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Oh, Ha Young; Kim, Seung Taik; Park, Seon Yang; Kim, Sung Yang; Lee, Myung Chul; Cho, Bo Youn; Lee, Jung Sang; Koh, Chang Soon [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1982-09-15

Renal transplant uptake of {sup 99m}Tc-tin colloid was evaluated in 26 patients. Seventy-seven examinations were performed comparing transplant with bone marrow activity, clinical and/or pathological diagnosis. There were 13 instances of acute rejection; 7 of these exhibited slight uptake of radiocolloid in the renal transplant, 1 had marked uptake, and 5 had no evidence of uptake. There were 7 instances of chronic rejection; 5 of which demonstrated marked transplant uptake of radiocolloid, 1 had slight uptake, and 1 had no evidence of uptake. There were 2 instances of acute tubular necrosis and 55 instances of normal transplant function, but none of these exhibited transplant uptake of radiocolloid. From the result, the uptake of {sup 99m}Tc-tin colloid by renal transplant appears to signal rejection as long as the vascular supply is not severely compromised. Acute rejection may be represented by slight radiocolloid uptake, and chronic rejection by marked uptake when compared to bone marrow activity.

Instructional scientific humor in the secondary classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Wizner, Francine

This study is an examination of the manner in which educators employ scientific content humor and how that humor is perceived by their students. Content humor is a useful strategy in drawing the attention of students and improving their receptivity toward scientific information. It is also a useful tool in combating the growing distractions of the electronic classroom. Previous studies have found that humor has a positive effect on knowledge, memory, and understanding. However, few studies have been conducted below the undergraduate level and mainly quantitative measures of student recall have been used to measure learning. This study employed multiple data sources to determine how two secondary biology teachers used humor in order to explain scientific concepts and how their students perceived their teachers' use of scientific instructional humor. Evidence of student humor reception was collected from four students in each of the two classes. All of the scientific instructional humor used in the studied classrooms was cognitive in nature, varying among factual, procedural, conceptual, and metacognitive knowledge. Teachers tended to use dialogic forms of humor. Their scientific humor reflected everyday experiences, presented queries, poked fun at authority, and asked students to search out new perspectives and perform thought experiments. Teachers were the primary actors in performing the humorous events. The events were sometimes physical exaggerations of words or drawings, and they occurred for the purpose of establishing rapport or having students make connections between scientific concepts and prior knowledge. Student perceptions were that teachers did employ humor toward instructional objectives that helped their learning. Helping students become critical thinkers is a trademark of science teachers. Science teachers who take the risk of adopting some attributes of comedians may earn the reward of imparting behaviors on their students like critical thinking

LAUGHTER AFTER TEARS: SITTING FOR AMERICAN HUMORS IN INDONESIAN SOFAS (Subtitling Humors of a Tv Serial Friends

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Gusti Nyoman Ayu Sukerti

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The study reported in this paper aims to analyze the possible strategies used in the subtitling of the first five episodes (season 1 of Friends to render the episodes’ humorous dialogues. It examines the subtitler’s strategies in preserving both the semantic and humorous genes of laughter intended by the original humor. The analysis takes into account the internal and external structures of humors both in the target and source language. Choosing a subtitling strategy involves a decisionmaking process where the internal and external factors come into play and, therefore, rendering humors in a contextually bound medium, such as subtitling, does not necessarily work in the TL environment in a consistent manner. The inconsistency highlights the fact that humors, even those considered universal, are not digested in the same manner across cultures.

Computational Humor 2012 : extended abstacts of the (3rd international) Workshop on computational Humor

OpenAIRE

Nijholt, Antinus; Unknown, [Unknown

2012-01-01

Like its predecessors in 1996 (University of Twente, the Netherlands) and 2002 (ITC-irst, Trento, Italy), this Third International Workshop on Computational Humor (IWCH 2012) focusses on the possibility to find algorithms that allow understanding and generation of humor. There is the general aim of modeling humor, and if we can do that, it will provide us with lots of information about our cognitive abilities in general, such as reasoning, remembering, understanding situations, and understand...

Humor style similarity and difference in friendship dyads.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, Simon C; Fox, Claire L; Jones, Siân E

2016-01-01

This study assessed the concurrent and prospective (fall to spring) associations between four different humor styles to assess the degree to which stable friendships are characterized by similarity, and to assess whether best friends' humor styles influence each other's later use of humor. Participants were aged 11-13 years, with 87 stable, reciprocal best friend dyads. Self-report assessments of humor styles were completed on both occasions. Results indicated that there was no initial similarity in dyads' levels of humor. However, dyads' use of humor that enhances interpersonal relationships (Affiliative humor) became positively correlated by spring. Additionally, young people's use of this humor style was positively associated with their best friend's later use of the same. No such effects were present for humor which was aggressive, denigrating toward the self, or used to enhance the self. These results have clear implications for theories of humor style development, highlighting an important role for Affiliative humor within stable friendship dyads. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Local graft irradiation in renal transplant rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, Masashi; Kataoka, Masaaki; Itoh, Hisao

1990-01-01

From 1977 to 1988, of 142 renal transplantations, seven recipients (4.9%) received local graft irradiation following rejective reaction refractory to antirejection medical managements. Concurrent with the administration of pulsed high dose methylprednisolone and other antirejection medical managements, the graft was irradiated with a total dose of 6.0 Gy-150 cGy per fraction every other day at the midplane of the graft using two opposing portals of 4MX Linac. The fields were defined by palpation and echography. All patients had improvements in serum creatinine on the 10th day after beginning the irradiation. Four patients with peripheral lymphocytosis during the irradiation combined with pulsed high dose methylprednisolone improved in renal functions. On the other hand, out of 3 patients with lymphcytopenic changes, in two the transplanted graft was removed due to deteriorations, and the other patient is currently suffering from chronic rejection. Local graft irradiation can be useful in maintaining a rejective graft and reversing its functions in some patients whose rejective reaction failed to respond to the antirejection medical managements. (author)

Humor in systemic lupus erythematosus.

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Moura, Cristiano S; Li, Rui; Lawrie, Sarah; Bar-Or, Amit; Clarke, Ann E; Da Costa, Deborah; Banerjee, Devi; Bernatsky, Sasha; Lee, Jennifer L; Pineau, Christian A

2015-03-01

Humor has neurophysiological effects influencing the release of cortisol, which may have a direct impact on the immune system. Laughter is associated with a decreased production of inflammatory cytokines both in the general population and in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our objective was to explore the effects of humor on serum cytokines [particularly interleukin-6 (IL-6)] and cortisol levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), after a standard intervention (120 min of visual comedy). We enrolled 58 females with SLE from consecutive patients assessed in the Montreal General Hospital lupus clinic. The subjects who consented to participate were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to the intervention (watching 120 min of comedy) or control group (watching a 120 min documentary). Measurements of cytokine and serum cortisol levels as well as 24-h urine cortisol were taken before, during, and after the interventions. We compared serum cytokine levels and serum and 24-h urine cortisol levels in the humor and control groups and performed regression analyses of these outcomes, adjusting for demographics and the current use of prednisone. There were no significant differences between the control and humor groups in demographics or clinical variables. Baseline serum levels of IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and B-cell activating factor were also similar in both groups. There was no evidence of a humor effect in terms of decreasing cytokine levels, although there was some suggestion of lowered cortisol secretion in the humor group based the 24-h urinary cortisol levels in a subgroup. In contrast to what has been published for RA, we saw no clear effects of humor in altering cytokine levels in SLE, although interesting trends were seen for lower cortisol levels after humor intervention compared with the control group.

Humor in the Classroom: The Effects of Integrated Humor on Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Bolkan, San; Griffin, Darrin J.; Goodboy, Alan K.

2018-01-01

This study was conducted to examine the impact of integrated humor on direct measures of students' ability to retain and transfer information from educational lessons. In two experiments, participants were randomly exposed to either a lesson with humorous examples or standard examples and were subsequently asked to take tests on the material. Data…

Respons imun humoral pada pulpitis (Humoral immune response on pulpitis)

OpenAIRE

Widodo, Trijoedani

2005-01-01

Pulpitis is an inflammation process on dental pulp tissue, and usually as the continuous of caries. The microorganism in the caries is a potential immunogenic triggering the immune respons, both humoral and celluler immune responses. The aim of this research is to explain the humoral immune response changes in the dental pulp tissues of pulpitis. This research was done on three group samples: Irreversible pulpitis, Reversible pulpitis and sound teeth as the control group. The result showed th...

The First Joke: Exploring the Evolutionary Origins of Humor

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Joseph Polimeni

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Humor is a complex cognitive function which often leads to laughter. Contemporary humor theorists have begun to formulate hypotheses outlining the possible innate cognitive structures underlying humor. Humor's conspicuous presence in the behavioral repertoire of humankind invites adaptive explanations. This article explores the possible adaptive features of humor and ponders its evolutionary path through hominid history. Current humor theories and previous evolutionary ideas on humor are reviewed. In addition, scientific fields germane to the evolutionary study of humor are examined: animal models, genetics, children's humor, humor in pathological conditions, neurobiology, humor in traditional societies and cognitive archeology. Candidate selection pressures and associated evolutionary mechanisms are considered. The authors conclude that several evolutionary-related topics such as the origins of language, cognition underlying spiritual feelings, hominid group size, and primate teasing could have special relevance to the origins of humor.

[The Use of Humor in Psychotherapy: a View].

Science.gov (United States)

Chaloult, Guillaume; Blondeau, Claude

The goal of this article is to expose different aspects of the use of humor in therapy. We hope that it will stimulate reflection and guide the clinician toward appropriate use of humorous interventions. Historical highlights of the topic will be presented. Then a practical definition of therapeutic humor and the main theories about humor will be reviewed. We will also discuss the probable mechanisms of action explaining the efficacy of humor in psychotherapy, as well as potential risks and benefits of its use. We will try to determine different factors influencing the patient's receptivity to humor. Subsequently, a classification of humor will be proposed, followed by a description of selected types of humor often used in therapy, with clinical cases as examples.

Preface to Computational Humor 2012

OpenAIRE

Unknown, [Unknown; Nijholt, Antinus; Nijholt, A.

2012-01-01

Like its predecessors in 1996 (University of Twente, the Netherlands) and 2002 (ITC-irst, Trento, Italy), this Third International Workshop on Computational Humor (IWCH 2012) focusses on the possibility to find algorithms that allow understanding and generation of humor. There is the general aim of modeling humor, and if we can do that, it will provide us with lots of information about our cognitive abilities in general, such as reasoning, remembering, understanding situations, and understand...

Biochar-based constructed wetlands to treat reverse osmosis rejected concentrates in chronic kidney disease endemic areas in Sri Lanka.

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Athapattu, B C L; Thalgaspitiya, T W L R; Yasaratne, U L S; Vithanage, Meththika

2017-12-01

The objectives were to investigate the potential remedial measures for reverse osmosis (RO) rejected water through constructed wetlands (CWs) with low-cost materials in the media established in chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) prevalent area in Sri Lanka. A pilot-scale surface and subsurface water CWs were established at the Medawachchiya community-based RO water supply unit. Locally available soil, calicut tile and biochar were used in proportions of 81, 16.5 and 2.5% (w/w), respectively, as filter materials in the subsurface. Vetiver grass and Scirpus grossus were selected for subsurface wetland while water lettuce and water hyacinth were chosen for free water surface CWs. Results showed that the CKDu sensitive parameters; total dissolved solids, hardness, total alkalinity and fluoride were reduced considerably (20-85%) and most met desirable levels of stipulated ambient standards. Biochar seemed to play a major role in removing fluoride from the system which may be due to the existing and adsorbed K + , Ca +2 , Mg +2 , etc. on the biochar surface via chemisorption. The least reduction was observed for alkalinity. This study indicated potential purification of aforesaid ions in water which are considerably present in RO rejection. Therefore, the invented bio-geo constructed wetland can be considered as a sustainable, economical and effective option for reducing high concentrations of CKDu sensitive parameters in RO rejected water before discharging into the inland waters.

Humor in Autism and Asperger Syndrome

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Lyons, Viktoria; Fitzgerald, Michael

2004-01-01

Research has shown that individuals with autism and Asperger syndrome are impaired in humor appreciation, although anecdotal and parental reports provide some evidence to the contrary. This paper reviews the cognitive and affective processes involved in humor and recent neurological findings. It examines humor expression and understanding in…

Antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplantation: a review of pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment options.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Miae; Martin, Spencer T; Townsend, Keri R; Gabardi, Steven

2014-07-01

Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR), also known as B-cell-mediated or humoral rejection, is a significant complication after kidney transplantation that carries a poor prognosis. Although fewer than 10% of kidney transplant patients experience AMR, as many as 30% of these patients experience graft loss as a consequence. Although AMR is mediated by antibodies against an allograft and results in histologic changes in allograft vasculature that differ from cellular rejection, it has not been recognized as a separate disease process until recently. With an improved understanding about the importance of the development of antibodies against allografts as well as complement activation, significant advances have occurred in the treatment of AMR. The standard of care for AMR includes plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin that remove and neutralize antibodies, respectively. Agents targeting B cells (rituximab and alemtuzumab), plasma cells (bortezomib), and the complement system (eculizumab) have also been used successfully to treat AMR in kidney transplant recipients. However, the high cost of these medications, their use for unlabeled indications, and a lack of prospective studies evaluating their efficacy and safety limit the routine use of these agents in the treatment of AMR in kidney transplant recipients. © 2014 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

[Positive aspects of old ages - humor of seniors].

Science.gov (United States)

Mareš, Jiří

2015-01-01

This survey study has five parts. In the first part two conceptual approaches to humor are characterized. One considers "the comic" to be an umbrella concept, and humor is only one of its rather positive forms. The other comes out from the umbrella concept "humor", and distinguishes between various forms of humor including the negative ones. Three main theories of humor are presented: theory of superiority, theory of incongruity, and a relief theory. The second part introduces humor in the elderly and draws the attention to the fact that we know relatively little about humor in old age because most research has been carried out in children, adolescents or adults in productive age. The third part of the study describes the process of diagnostics of humor in the elderly. For example, within the qualitative methods, in-depth interviews with seniors or analyses of their diary entries are used. Within quantitative methods, questionnaires are used, and this study presents the survey of seven most frequent ones applied in the studies of humor in the elderly. In the context of mixed methods, understanding of humor in young and seniors, or understanding of humor in relatively healthy seniors and seniors after stroke are compared. The fourth part of the study presents the Gelkopfs model on relationship between humor, treatment and cure of patients. The fifth part of the study demonstrates the options how to use humor to improve the mental state of the elderly (by means of individual or group interventions).

Humorous Relations: Attentiveness, Pleasure and Risk

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Mayo, Cris

2014-01-01

This article focuses on the structures of humor and joke telling that require particular kinds of attentiveness and particular relationships between speaker and audience, or more specifically, between classmates. First, I will analyze the pedagogical and relational preconditions that are necessary for humor to work. If humor is to work well, the…

Children's Understanding of Self-Focused Humor Styles.

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James, Lucy Amelia; Fox, Claire Louise

2016-08-01

It has been proposed that four main styles of humor exist, two which are thought to be adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing) and two which are thought to be maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating). Whilst the existence of these four humor styles has been supported in older children, it is suggested that for younger children, self-enhancing and self-defeating humor may develop at a later point. To investigate this further, the current research involved five semi-structured paired interviews with children aged eight to eleven years to explore the use and understanding of self-enhancing and self-defeating humor in this age group. Findings indicated that use of both self-enhancing and self-defeating humor were apparent in some children, but not all. It therefore seems appropriate that attempts to investigate humor in this age group should aim to include all four styles of humor. The current research also demonstrated the value of paired interviews when carrying out this sort of research with children.

Humor styles moderate borderline personality traits and suicide ideation.

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Meyer, Neil A; Helle, Ashley C; Tucker, Raymond P; Lengel, Gregory J; DeShong, Hilary L; Wingate, LaRicka R; Mullins-Sweatt, Stephanie N

2017-03-01

The way individuals use humor to interact interpersonally has been associated with general personality, depression, and suicidality. Certain humor styles may moderate the risk for suicide ideation (SI) in individuals who are high in specific risk factors (e.g., thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness). Previous research suggests a relationship between humor styles and borderline personality disorder (BPD) and an increased risk of suicidality and suicide completion in individuals with BPD. Participants (n =176) completed measures of BPD traits, SI, and humor styles. It was hypothesized that BPD traits would be positively correlated with negative humor styles and negatively correlated with positive humor styles, and that humor styles would significantly moderate BPD traits and SI. Results showed that BPD traits were negatively correlated with self-enhancing humor styles and positively correlated with self-defeating humor styles, but that they were not significantly correlated with affiliative or aggressive humor styles. Bootstrapping analyses demonstrated that the affiliative, self-enhancing, and self-defeating humor styles significantly moderated BPD traits and SI, while the aggressive humor style did not. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Humors Effect on Short-term Memory in Healthy and Diabetic Older Adults.

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Bains, Gurinder Singh; Berk, Lee S; Lohman, Everett; Daher, Noha; Petrofsky, Jerrold; Schwab, Ernie; Deshpande, Pooja

2015-01-01

With aging, the detrimental effects of stress can impair a person's ability to learn and sustain memory. Humor and its associated mirthful laughter can reduce stress by decreasing the hormone cortisol. Chronic release of cortisol can damage hippocampal neurons, leading to impairment of learning and memory. Objectives • The study intended to examine the effect of watching a humor video on short-term memory in older adults. Design • The research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. The study took place at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, CA, USA. The study included 30 participants: 20 normal, healthy, older adults-11 males and 9 females-and 10 older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-6 males and 4 females. The study included 2 intervention groups of older adults who viewed humorous videos, a healthy group (humor group), aged 69.9 ± 3.7 y, and the diabetic group, aged 67.1 ± 3.8 y. Each participant selected 1 of 2 humorous videos that were 20 min in length, either a Red Skeleton comedy or a montage of America's Funniest Home Videos. The control group, aged 68.7 ± 5.5 y, did not watch a humor video and sat in quiescence. A standardized, neuropsychological, memory-assessment tool, the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), was used to assess the following abilities: (1) learning, (2) recall, and (3) visual recognition. The testing occurred twice, once before (RAVLT1) and once after (RAVLT2) the humorous video for the humor and diabetic groups, and once before (RAVLT1) and once after (RAVLT2) the period of quiescence for the control group. At 5 time points, measurements of salivary cortisol were also obtained. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to measure significance of the data based on the 3 groups. In the humor, diabetic, and control groups, (1) learning ability improved by 38.5%, 33.4%, and 24.0%, respectively (P = .025); (2) delayed recall improved by 43.6%, 48.1%, and 20.3%, respectively (P = .064); and (3) visual recognition

Partial reconstitution of humoral immunity and fewer infections in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia treated with ibrutinib.

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Sun, Clare; Tian, Xin; Lee, Yuh Shan; Gunti, Sreenivasulu; Lipsky, Andrew; Herman, Sarah E M; Salem, Dalia; Stetler-Stevenson, Maryalice; Yuan, Constance; Kardava, Lela; Moir, Susan; Maric, Irina; Valdez, Janet; Soto, Susan; Marti, Gerald E; Farooqui, Mohammed Z; Notkins, Abner L; Wiestner, Adrian; Aue, Georg

2015-11-05

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by immune dysregulation, often including hypogammaglobulinemia, which contributes to a high rate of infections and morbidity. Ibrutinib, a covalent inhibitor of Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK), inhibits B-cell receptor signaling and is an effective, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment of CLL. Inactivating germline mutations in BTK cause a severe B-cell defect and agammaglobulinemia. Therefore, we assessed the impact of ibrutinib on immunoglobulin levels, normal B cells, and infection rate in patients with CLL treated with single-agent ibrutinib on a phase 2 investigator-initiated trial. Consistent with previous reports, immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels remained stable during the first 6 months on treatment, but decreased thereafter. In contrast, there were a transient increase in IgM and a sustained increase in IgA (median increase 45% at 12 months, P infections (P = .03). These data indicate that ibrutinib allows for a clinically meaningful recovery of humoral immune function in patients with CLL. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT015007330.

Humor, Philosophy and Education

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Morreall, John

2014-01-01

This article begins by examining the bad reputation humor traditionally had in philosophy and education. Two of the main charges against humor--that it is hostile and irresponsible--are linked to the Superiority Theory. That theory is critiqued and two other theories of laughter are presented--the Relief Theory and the Incongruity Theory. In the…

Effectiveness of humor training among adolescents with autism.

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Wu, Ching-Lin; Liu, Ya-Ru; Kuo, Ching-Chih; Chen, Hsueh-Chih; Chang, Yu-Lin

2016-12-30

Humor training has been applied to educational and clinical cases and has been found to be effective, but humor training for individuals with autism is relatively rare. The present study proposed a humor-knowledge and humor-skill training workshop to enhance the humor comprehension and appreciation of individuals with autism and examined the effects of the training. Participants were 20 adolescents with autism and average intelligence (above 70 in WAIS-III). They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both questionnaire of joke comprehension and appreciation and a humor style questionnaire were used as instruments. The results supported the effectiveness of the 15-h training. The comprehension and appreciation of nonsense humor were significantly increased in the experimental group in comparison with the control group, although the incongruity-resolution jokes remained difficult to comprehend. The tendency to use affiliative humor was greater among individuals with autism in the experimental group, suggesting that the appreciation of humor can be learned. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards Humor Modelling and Facilitation in Smart Environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Gu Ji, Y.; Choi, S.

We know about word play, verbal jokes, and about humor that appears spontaneously in conversations. This humor is studied in computational linguistics, together with issues such as verbal incongruities, ambiguities, irony and sarcasm. These appearances of humor are also part of computational humor

The German Version of the Humor Styles Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties and Overlap With Other Styles of Humor.

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Ruch, Willibald; Heintz, Sonja

2016-08-01

The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al., 2003) is one of the most frequently used questionnaires in humor research and has been adapted to several languages. The HSQ measures four humor styles (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating), which should be adaptive or potentially maladaptive to psychosocial well-being. The present study analyzes the internal consistency, factorial validity, and factorial invariance of the HSQ on the basis of several German-speaking samples combined (total N = 1,101). Separate analyses were conducted for gender (male/female), age groups (16-24, 25-35, >36 years old), and countries (Germany/Switzerland). Internal consistencies were good for the overall sample and the demographic subgroups (.80-.89), with lower values obtained for the aggressive scale (.66-.73). Principal components and confirmatory factor analyses mostly supported the four-factor structure of the HSQ. Weak factorial invariance was found across gender and age groups, while strong factorial invariance was supported across countries. Two subsamples also provided self-ratings on ten styles of humorous conduct (n = 344) and of eight comic styles (n = 285). The four HSQ scales showed small to large correlations to the styles of humorous conduct (-.54 to .65) and small to medium correlations to the comic styles (-.27 to .42). The HSQ shared on average 27.5-35.0% of the variance with the styles of humorous conduct and 13.0-15.0% of the variance with the comic styles. Thus-despite similar labels-these styles of humorous conduct and comic styles differed from the HSQ humor styles.

Med humor som våben – sproglig humor som bindeled mellem kognition og emotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Raab

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The attempt to establish a coherence between the cognitive description of language and thought and the neurobiological description of the human brain is often limited by lacking knowledge concerning the interplay between cognition and emotion – both necessary elements in understanding the way the brain works. Verbal humor is a convenient research object in this regard, as it consists (primarily in cognitive mechanisms, eliciting an emotional response – laughter. In this article, a review of the history of humor research is compared to a selection of studies (lesion-studies, ERP and fMRI on the relationship between humor, language and the brain, as an attempt to show how a broadly based theory of humor can help us to understand the relationship between cognition and emotion.

Med humor som våben – sproglig humor som bindeled mellem kognition og emotion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Raab

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The attempt to establish a coherence between the cognitive description of language and thought and the neurobiological description of the human brain is often limited by lacking knowledge concerning the interplay between cognition and emotion – both necessary elements in understanding the way the brain works. Verbal humor is a convenient research object in this regard, as it consists (primarily in cognitive mechanisms, eliciting an emotional response – laughter. In this article, a review of the history of humor research is compared to a selection of studies (lesion-studies, ERP and fMRI on the relationship between humor, language and the brain, as an attempt to show how a broadly based theory of humor can help us to understand the relationship between cognition and emotion.

Computational Humor 2012 : extended abstacts of the (3rd international) Workshop on computational Humor

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus; Unknown, [Unknown

2012-01-01

Like its predecessors in 1996 (University of Twente, the Netherlands) and 2002 (ITC-irst, Trento, Italy), this Third International Workshop on Computational Humor (IWCH 2012) focusses on the possibility to find algorithms that allow understanding and generation of humor. There is the general aim of

Humor in psychiatric healing.

Science.gov (United States)

Saper, B

1988-01-01

The oft-quoted aphorism that "laughter is the best medicine" is examined. Specifically, three big drops in the shower of claims regarding the benefits of humor in treating physical and mental disorders are evaluated. First, studies of the effects of mirth and laughter on the physiology of the body reveal both good and bad news. The meager evidence of the salutary effects of positive emotions on the cardiovascular, respiratory, immune and neuroendocrine systems, though apparently supportable on more or less scientific, rational and subjective grounds, needs much better verification from more extensive, replicable, and empirical research. Second, despite numerous claims, in the context of behavioral or psychosomatic medicine, that a joyful, optimistic, or humorous attitude can render a salubrious effect, almost to the extent of preventing illness and curing physical disease, the jury is still out and issuing dire warnings regarding too ready acceptance of this largely anecdotal evidence. Much careful "clinical trial" research needs to be mounted to determine the conditions under which humor works best, if at all. The type of patient, the kind of humor, the type and severity of illness, the psychosocial contexts-all of these factors should be considered. Third, the infusion of humor into psychotherapy is great news for some therapists and awful news for others. A number of more balanced approaches point up the probability that when mirth is incorporated into therapy judiciously, appropriately, and meaningfully it can be of value.

Risky business: When humor increases and decreases status.

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Bitterly, T Bradford; Brooks, Alison Wood; Schweitzer, Maurice E

2017-03-01

Across 8 experiments, we demonstrate that humor can influence status, but attempting to use humor is risky. The successful use of humor can increase status in both new and existing relationships, but unsuccessful humor attempts (e.g., inappropriate jokes) can harm status. The relationship between the successful use of humor and status is mediated by perceptions of confidence and competence. The successful use of humor signals confidence and competence, which in turn increases the joke teller's status. Interestingly, telling both appropriate and inappropriate jokes, regardless of the outcome, signals confidence. Although signaling confidence typically increases status and power, telling inappropriate jokes signals low competence and the combined effect of high confidence and low competence harms status. Rather than conceptualizing humor as a frivolous or ancillary behavior, we argue that humor plays a fundamental role in shaping interpersonal perceptions and hierarchies within groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Sense of Humor, Stable Affect, and Psychological Well-Being

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Arnie Cann

2014-08-01

Full Text Available A good sense of humor has been implicated as a quality that could contribute to psychological well-being. The mechanisms through which sense of humor might operate include helping to reappraise threats, serving as a character strength, or facilitating happiness. The current research attempts to integrate these possibilities by examining whether a good sense of humor might operate globally by helping to maintain a more stable positive affect. Stable positive affect has been shown to facilitate more effective problem solving and to build resilience. However, not all humor is adaptive humor, so we also examine the roles that different styles of humor use might play. Individual differences in humor styles were used to predict stable levels of affect. Then, in a longitudinal design, humor styles and stable affect were used to predict subsequent resilience and psychological health. The results indicated that stable affect was related to resilience and psychological well-being, and that a sense of humor that involves self-enhancing humor, humor based on maintaining a humorous perspective about one’s experiences, was positively related to stable positive affect, negatively related to stable negative affect, and was mediated through stable affect in influencing resilience, well-being and distress. Thus, while a good sense of humor can lead to greater resilience and better psychological health, the current results, focusing on stable affect, find only self-enhancing humor provides reliable benefits.

Humor and creativity in psychotherapy

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Javier Martín Camacho

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the current article principal theories on humor are analyzed, relating them to different conceptions of creativity. Finally, some indications for the use of humor in psychotherapy are introduced, highlighting their positive and negative aspects. 

Exploring the Relationship between Humor and Aesthetic Experience

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Gordon, Mordechai

2012-01-01

The connection between humor and aesthetic experience has already been recognized by several thinkers and aesthetic educators. For instance, humor theorist John Morreall writes that "humor is best understood as itself a kind of aesthetic experience, equal in value at least to any other kind of aesthetic experience." For Morreall, both humor and…

Benefits of humor in reduction of threat-induced anxiety.

Science.gov (United States)

Yovetich, N A; Dale, J A; Hudak, M A

1990-02-01

The benefits of humor in reducing anxiety were investigated in a laboratory study, in which subjects were falsely led to believe that they would receive a shock in 12 min. Participants were 53 undergraduate students with either high or low sense of humor as measured by the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire of Martin and Lefcourt (1984). During the anticipatory period, subjects listened to either a humorous tape, a nonhumorous tape, or no tape. Dependent variables were repeated measures of self-reported anxiety, heart rate, and zygomatic facial activity. Anxiety increased over the anticipatory period, as predicted. A significant interaction between condition and time indicated that subjects from the humor condition consistently rated themselves as less anxious and reported less increase in stress as the shock approached. A three-way interaction concentrating on the final 3 min. indicated a tendency for subjects with low sense of humor to have higher heart rates in the no-tape condition than in the humorous or nonhumorous tape conditions. Analysis for zygomatic activity indicated more smiling by subjects with high sense of humor and by subjects in the humor condition. Also, the humorous tape elicited more smiling by subjects with high sense of humor.

Effectiveness of humor advertising on advertising success

OpenAIRE

S, venkatesh; N, senthilkumar

2015-01-01

In global advertising ‘humor’ is the most effective emotion used in advertising compared to other emotional appeals. Advertisers and researchers more interested in Humor in advertising for more than 100 years. But there is no review paper for Impact of humor in advertising till twenty two years of time, in between period there was lot of research outcomes published about humor in advertising. The purpose of this paper to get detailed review about Impact of humor in advertising for 40 years an...

LOL Teacher! Using Humor to Enhance Student Learning

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Terrell, Shelly

2015-01-01

Laughing with students can help them connect on a deeper level with the teacher and the learning. This article offers the following four strategies to incorporate humor into teaching: (1) Integrate humorous bits to boost engagement; (2) Choose humorous materials; (3) Create interest with humorous web tools and apps; and (4) Teach with silly…

Humor as Wisdom for Reframing Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Uk

2018-04-01

Human beings inevitably experience anxiety but attempt to avoid facing it through various forms of self-deception. This avoidance can lead to pathological symptoms. Young and middle-aged adults may be especially susceptible to suffering from anxiety because they are often single-mindedly pursuing means of achieving security. For these and others who fail to embrace life with warm enthusiasm, humor can serve to alleviate stress. This article views humor as a characteristic disposition of older adults-their humor signifying a sense of integrity and wisdom that often accompanies the aging process. Humor binds together feelings of despair and joy and contributes to a faithful reframing of faith and life. This article proposes that individuals acquire humor by perceiving the world as if on a journey to an exotic new place, seeing with new eyes even the most mundane of everyday objects and events. This capacity to perceive beauty in the ordinary world reflects a wisdom of older adults potentially available even to the young.

Drugs in development for prophylaxis of rejection in kidney-transplant recipients

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Sanders ML

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Marion Lee Sanders,1 Anthony James Langone2 1Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 2Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA Abstract: Transplantation is the preferred treatment option for individuals with end-stage renal disease. Individuals who undergo transplantation must chronically be maintained on an immunosuppression regimen for rejection prophylaxis to help ensure graft survival. Current rejection prophylaxis consists of using a combination of calcineurin inhibitors, mTOR inhibitors, antimetabolite agents, and/or corticosteroids. These agents have collectively improved the short-term outcomes of renal transplantation, but improvements in late/chronic graft loss and recipient survival have lagged significantly behind challenging the field of transplantation to develop novel prophylactic agents. There have been several clinical trials conducted within the last 5 years in an attempt to bring such novel agents to the commercial market. These trials have resulted in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA approval of extended-release tacrolimus, as well as belatacept, which has the potential to replace calcineurin inhibitors for rejection prophylaxis. Other trials have focused on the development of novel calcineurin inhibitors (voclosporin, costimulation blockade (ASKP1240 and alefacept, kinase inhibitors (tofacitinib and sotrastaurin, and inhibitors of leukocyte migration (efalizumab. While these later agents have not been FDA-approved for use in transplantation, they remain noteworthy, as these agents explore pathways not previously targeted for allograft-rejection prophylaxis. The purpose of this review was to consolidate available clinical trial data with regard to the recent developments in rejection prophylaxis in kidney transplantation. Keywords: rejection, prophylaxis, immunosuppression

Preface to Computational Humor 2012

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Unknown, [Unknown; Nijholt, Antinus; Nijholt, A.

2012-01-01

Like its predecessors in 1996 (University of Twente, the Netherlands) and 2002 (ITC-irst, Trento, Italy), this Third International Workshop on Computational Humor (IWCH 2012) focusses on the possibility to find algorithms that allow understanding and generation of humor. There is the general aim of

Neural circuit of verbal humor comprehension in schizophrenia - an fMRI study

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Przemysław Adamczyk

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit problems with understanding the figurative meaning of language. This study evaluates neural correlates of diminished humor comprehension observed in schizophrenia. The study included chronic schizophrenia (SCH outpatients (n = 20, and sex, age and education level matched healthy controls (n = 20. The fMRI punchline based humor comprehension task consisted of 60 stories of which 20 had funny, 20 nonsensical and 20 neutral (not funny punchlines. After the punchlines were presented, the participants were asked to indicate whether the story was comprehensible and how funny it was. Three contrasts were analyzed in both groups reflecting stages of humor processing: abstract vs neutral stories - incongruity detection; funny vs abstract - incongruity resolution and elaboration; and funny vs neutral – complete humor processing. Additionally, parametric modulation analysis was performed using both subjective ratings separately. Between-group comparisons revealed that the SCH subjects had attenuated activation in the right posterior superior temporal gyrus (BA 41 in case of irresolvable incongruity processing of nonsensical puns; in the left dorsomedial middle and superior frontal gyri (BA 8/9 in case of incongruity resolution and elaboration processing of funny puns; and in the interhemispheric dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24 in case of complete processing of funny puns. Additionally, during comprehensibility ratings the SCH group showed a suppressed activity in the left dorsomedial middle and superior frontal gyri (BA 8/9 and revealed weaker activation during funniness ratings in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24. Interestingly, these differences in the SCH group were accompanied behaviorally by a protraction of time in both types of rating responses and by indicating funny punchlines less comprehensible. Summarizing, our results indicate neural substrates of humor comprehension

Neural circuit of verbal humor comprehension in schizophrenia - an fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Adamczyk, Przemysław; Wyczesany, Miroslaw; Domagalik, Aleksandra; Daren, Artur; Cepuch, Kamil; Błądziński, Piotr; Cechnicki, Andrzej; Marek, Tadeusz

2017-01-01

Individuals with schizophrenia exhibit problems with understanding the figurative meaning of language. This study evaluates neural correlates of diminished humor comprehension observed in schizophrenia. The study included chronic schizophrenia (SCH) outpatients (n = 20), and sex, age and education level matched healthy controls (n = 20). The fMRI punchline based humor comprehension task consisted of 60 stories of which 20 had funny, 20 nonsensical and 20 neutral (not funny) punchlines. After the punchlines were presented, the participants were asked to indicate whether the story was comprehensible and how funny it was. Three contrasts were analyzed in both groups reflecting stages of humor processing: abstract vs neutral stories - incongruity detection; funny vs abstract - incongruity resolution and elaboration; and funny vs neutral - complete humor processing. Additionally, parametric modulation analysis was performed using both subjective ratings separately. Between-group comparisons revealed that the SCH subjects had attenuated activation in the right posterior superior temporal gyrus (BA 41) in case of irresolvable incongruity processing of nonsensical puns; in the left dorsomedial middle and superior frontal gyri (BA 8/9) in case of incongruity resolution and elaboration processing of funny puns; and in the interhemispheric dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24) in case of complete processing of funny puns. Additionally, during comprehensibility ratings the SCH group showed a suppressed activity in the left dorsomedial middle and superior frontal gyri (BA 8/9) and revealed weaker activation during funniness ratings in the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24). Interestingly, these differences in the SCH group were accompanied behaviorally by a protraction of time in both types of rating responses and by indicating funny punchlines less comprehensible. Summarizing, our results indicate neural substrates of humor comprehension processing

The Hepatitis C Virus Glycan Shield and Evasion of the Humoral Immune Response

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Jean Dubuisson

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Despite the induction of effective immune responses, 80% of hepatitis C virus (HCV-infected individuals progress from acute to chronic hepatitis. In contrast to the cellular immune response, the role of the humoral immune response in HCV clearance is still subject to debate. Indeed, HCV escapes neutralizing antibodies in chronically infected patients and reinfection has been described in human and chimpanzee. Studies of antibody-mediated HCV neutralization have long been hampered by the lack of cell-culture-derived virus and the absence of a small animal model. However, the development of surrogate models and recent progress in HCV propagation in vitro now enable robust neutralization assays to be performed. These advances are beginning to shed some light on the mechanisms of HCV neutralization. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of the viral targets of anti-HCV-neutralizing antibodies and the mechanisms that enable HCV to evade the humoral immune response. The recent description of the HCV glycan shield that reduces the immunogenicity of envelope proteins and masks conserved neutralizing epitopes at their surface constitutes the major focus of this review.

Mechanisms of humoral immune response against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm infection in cystic fibrosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mauch, Renan Marrichi; Jensen, Peter Østrup; Moser, Claus

2018-01-01

P. aeruginosa chronic lung infection is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), and is characterized by a biofilm mode of growth, increased levels of specific IgG antibodies and immune complex formation. However, despite being designed to combat...... this infection, such elevated humoral response is not associated with clinical improvement, pointing to a lack of anti-pseudomonas effectiveness. The mode of action of specific antibodies, as well as their structural features, and even the background involving B-cell production, stimulation and differentiation...... into antibody-producing cells in the CF airways are poorly understood. Thus, the aim of this review is to discuss studies that have addressed the intrinsic features of the humoral immune response and provide new insights regarding its insufficiency in the CF context....

Late-onset acute rejection after living donor liver transplantation

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Nobuhisa Akamatsu; Yasuhiko Sugawara; Sumihito Tamura; Junichi Keneko; Yuichi Matsui; Kiyoshi Hasegawa; Masatoshi Makuuchi

2006-01-01

AIM: To investigate the incidence and risk factors of late-onset acute rejection (LAR) and to clarify the effectiveness of our immunosuppressive regime consisting of life-long administration of tacrolimus and steroids.METHODS: Adult living donor liver transplantation recipients (n = 204) who survived more than 6 mo after living donor liver transplantation were enrolled.Immunosuppression was achieved using tacrolimus and methylprednisolone. When adverse effects of tacrolimus were detected, the patient was switched to cyclosporine. Six months after transplantation,tacrolimus or cyclosporine was carefully maintained at a therapeutic level. The methylprednisolone dosage was maintained at 0.05 mg/kg per day by oral administration.Acute rejections that occurred more than 6 mo after the operation were defined as late-onset. The median followup period was 34 mo.RESULTS: LAR was observed in 15 cases (7%) and no chronic rejection was observed. The incidence of hyperlipidemia, chronic renal failure, new-onset posttransplantation diabetes, and deep fungal infection were 13%, 2%, 24%, and 17%, respectively. Conversion from tacrolimus to cyclosporine was required in 38 patients (19%). Multivariate analysis revealed that a cyclosporinebased regimen was significantly associated with LAR.CONCLUSION: Both LAR and drug-induced adverse events happen at a low incidence, supporting the safety and efficacy of the present immunosuppression regimen for living donor liver transplantation.

The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity

OpenAIRE

Amir, Ori; Biederman, Irving

2016-01-01

Unlike passive humor appreciation, the neural correlates of real-time humor creation have been unexplored. As a case study for creativity, humor generation uniquely affords a reliable assessment of a creative product’s quality with a clear and relatively rapid beginning and end, rendering it amenable to neuroimaging that has the potential for reflecting individual differences in expertise. Professional and amateur “improv” comedians and controls viewed New Yorker cartoon drawings while being ...

Humor styles and symbolic boundaries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuipers, G.

2009-01-01

Humor is strongly related to group boundaries. Jokes and other humorous utterances often draw on implicit references and inside knowledge; they tend to refer to sensitive topics which may offend people; and they ideally incite laughter, one of the strongest markers of social solidarity and emotional

The role of CD8+ T cells during allograft rejection

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V. Bueno

2002-11-01

Full Text Available Organ transplantation can be considered as replacement therapy for patients with end-stage organ failure. The percent of one-year allograft survival has increased due, among other factors, to a better understanding of the rejection process and new immunosuppressive drugs. Immunosuppressive therapy used in transplantation prevents activation and proliferation of alloreactive T lymphocytes, although not fully preventing chronic rejection. Recognition by recipient T cells of alloantigens expressed by donor tissues initiates immune destruction of allogeneic transplants. However, there is controversy concerning the relative contribution of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to allograft rejection. Some animal models indicate that there is an absolute requirement for CD4+ T cells in allogeneic rejection, whereas in others CD4-depleted mice reject certain types of allografts. Moreover, there is evidence that CD8+ T cells are more resistant to immunotherapy and tolerance induction protocols. An intense focal infiltration of mainly CD8+CTLA4+ T lymphocytes during kidney rejection has been described in patients. This suggests that CD8+ T cells could escape from immunosuppression and participate in the rejection process. Our group is primarily interested in the immune mechanisms involved in allograft rejection. Thus, we believe that a better understanding of the role of CD8+ T cells in allograft rejection could indicate new targets for immunotherapy in transplantation. Therefore, the objective of the present review was to focus on the role of the CD8+ T cell population in the rejection of allogeneic tissue.

Strategically Funny: Romantic Motives Affect Humor Style in Relationship Initiation.

Science.gov (United States)

DiDonato, Theresa E; Jakubiak, Brittany K

2016-08-01

Not all humor is the same, yet little is known about the appeal of specific humor styles in romantic initiation. The current experimental study addresses this gap by investigating how romantic motives (short-term or long-term) affect individuals' anticipated use of, and response to, positive humor and negative humor. Heterosexual participants (n = 224) imagined the pursuit of either a desired short-term or long-term relationship, indicated the extent to which they would produce positive and negative humor, and reported how their own interest would change in response to the imaginary target's use of positive or negative humor. Results revealed that individuals are strategic in their humor production as a function of relational motives. Individuals produced positive humor in both contexts but limited their use of negative humor when pursuing a long-term relationship. The target's positive humor increased individuals' attraction, especially women's, and although negative humor boosted attraction, it did not boost attraction more for short-term than long-term relationships. Findings extend a trait-indicator model of humor and their implications are discussed in light of other theoretical perspectives.

Can the use of humor in psychotherapy be taught?

Science.gov (United States)

Valentine, Lisa; Gabbard, Glen O

2014-02-01

Despite an abundance of literature detailing the potential benefits of the use of humor in therapy, humor is rarely taught to psychiatric residents as a method of therapeutic intervention. This communication attempts to explain how current understanding of attachment theory and neuroscience may assist psychiatric faculty and supervisors in their teaching of humorous therapeutic interventions. This article reviews and synthesizes the extant literature on the use of humor, as well as recent work in neuroscience, attachment theory, and mentalization. Humor can be conceptualized as an instance of implicit relational knowing and may thus contribute significantly to the therapeutic action of psychotherapy as a subcategory of "moments of meeting" between therapist and patient. However, training residents to use humor in psychotherapy requires more individualized attention in supervision and classroom seminars. Factors such as individual proclivities for humorous repartee, mentalizing capacity, and an authentic interest in adding humor to the session may be necessary to incorporate spontaneous humor into one's technique. New findings from the areas of attachment theory, neuroscience, and right-hemisphere learning are providing potential opportunities for sophisticated teaching of the use of humor in psychotherapy.

Humor During Clinical Practice: Analysis of Recorded Clinical Encounters.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Kari A; Singh Ospina, Naykky; Rodriguez-Gutierrez, Rene; Castaneda-Guarderas, Ana; Gionfriddo, Michael R; Branda, Megan; Montori, Victor

2018-01-01

Little is known about humor's use in clinical encounters, despite its many potential benefits. We aimed to describe humor during clinical encounters. We analyzed 112 recorded clinical encounters. Two reviewers working independently identified instances of humor, as well as information surrounding the logistics of its use. Of the 112 encounters, 66 (59%) contained 131 instances of humor. Humor was similarly frequent in primary care (36/61, 59%) and in specialty care (30/51, 59%), was more common in gender-concordant interactions (43/63, 68%), and was most common during counseling (81/112, 62%). Patients and clinicians introduced humor similarly (63 vs 66 instances). Typically, humor was about the patient's medical condition (40/131, 31%). Humor is used commonly during counseling to discuss the patient's medical condition and to relate to general life events bringing warmth to the medical encounter. The timing and topic of humor and its use by all parties suggests humor plays a role in the social connection between patients and physicians and allows easier discussion of difficult topics. Further research is necessary to establish its impact on clinicians, patients, and outcomes. © Copyright 2018 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Children’s Understanding of Self-Focused Humor Styles

Science.gov (United States)

James, Lucy Amelia; Fox, Claire Louise

2016-01-01

It has been proposed that four main styles of humor exist, two which are thought to be adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing) and two which are thought to be maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating). Whilst the existence of these four humor styles has been supported in older children, it is suggested that for younger children, self-enhancing and self-defeating humor may develop at a later point. To investigate this further, the current research involved five semi-structured paired interviews with children aged eight to eleven years to explore the use and understanding of self-enhancing and self-defeating humor in this age group. Findings indicated that use of both self-enhancing and self-defeating humor were apparent in some children, but not all. It therefore seems appropriate that attempts to investigate humor in this age group should aim to include all four styles of humor. The current research also demonstrated the value of paired interviews when carrying out this sort of research with children. PMID:27547258

Linguistic Features of Humor in Academic Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Skalicky, Stephen; Berger, Cynthia M.; Crossley, Scott A.; McNamara, Danielle S.

2016-01-01

A corpus of 313 freshman college essays was analyzed in order to better understand the forms and functions of humor in academic writing. Human ratings of humor and wordplay were statistically aggregated using Factor Analysis to provide an overall "Humor" component score for each essay in the corpus. In addition, the essays were also…

Strategically Funny: Romantic Motives Affect Humor Style in Relationship Initiation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theresa E. DiDonato

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Not all humor is the same, yet little is known about the appeal of specific humor styles in romantic initiation. The current experimental study addresses this gap by investigating how romantic motives (short-term or long-term affect individuals’ anticipated use of, and response to, positive humor and negative humor. Heterosexual participants (n = 224 imagined the pursuit of either a desired short-term or long-term relationship, indicated the extent to which they would produce positive and negative humor, and reported how their own interest would change in response to the imaginary target’s use of positive or negative humor. Results revealed that individuals are strategic in their humor production as a function of relational motives. Individuals produced positive humor in both contexts but limited their use of negative humor when pursuing a long-term relationship. The target’s positive humor increased individuals’ attraction, especially women’s, and although negative humor boosted attraction, it did not boost attraction more for short-term than long-term relationships. Findings extend a trait-indicator model of humor and their implications are discussed in light of other theoretical perspectives.

An Explanation of the Relationship between Instructor Humor and Student Learning: Instructional Humor Processing Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Wanzer, Melissa B.; Frymier, Ann B.; Irwin, Jeffrey

2010-01-01

This paper proposes the Instructional Humor Processing Theory (IHPT), a theory that incorporates elements of incongruity-resolution theory, disposition theory, and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion. IHPT is proposed and offered as an explanation for why some types of instructor-generated humor result in increased student…

Humoral immunity to memory antigens and pathogens is maintained in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Wall, Nadezhda A; Dominguez-Medina, C Coral; Faustini, Sian E; Cook, Charlotte N; McClean, Andrew; Jesky, Mark D; Perez-Toledo, Marisol; Morgan, Matthew D; Richter, Alexandra G; Ferro, Charles J; Cockwell, Paul; Moss, Paul A; Henderson, Ian R; Harper, Lorraine; Cunningham, Adam F

2018-01-01

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an increased risk of infection and poorer responses to vaccination. This suggests that CKD patients have an impaired responsiveness to all antigens, even those first encountered before CKD onset. To examine this we evaluated antibody responses against two childhood vaccine antigens, tetanus (TT) and diphtheria toxoids (DT) and two common pathogens, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SEn) in two independent cohorts consisting of age-matched individuals with and without CKD. Sera were evaluated for antigen-specific IgG titres and the functionality of antibody to SEn was assessed in a serum bactericidal assay. Surprisingly, patients with CKD and control subjects had comparable levels of IgG against TT and DT, suggesting preserved humoral memory responses to antigens encountered early in life. Lipopolysaccharide-specific IgG titres and serum bactericidal activity in patients with CKD were also not inferior to controls. CMV-specific IgG titres in seropositive CKD patients were similar or even increased compared to controls. Therefore, whilst responses to new vaccines in CKD are typically lower than expected, antibody responses to antigens commonly encountered prior to CKD onset are not. The immunodeficiency of CKD is likely characterised by failure to respond to new antigenic challenges and efforts to improve patient outcomes should be focussed here.

[Humor in Medicine - The Art of Leaping Over the Shadows].

Science.gov (United States)

Wild, Barbara

2017-12-01

Humor and laughter are integral parts of human life and communication - and so of course they occur in medical contacts.Humor is defined as a personality based cognitive emotional style of processing situations, characterized by the ability to find positive aspects even in negative situations, and the ability to communicate this point of view to others and to cheer them up. Humor can support healing processes and coping with illness. Humor and jokes reduce anxiety and stress (for patients and doctors). Humorous people have a more realistic, flexible and less fearful behaviour. Humor helps to overcome negative experience. Humor can help the patient to gain new views towards the disease and a healthy distance towards occurring symptoms. Humor improves the relationship between patient and doctor. But beware: jokes can also be used to express fears, aggression or shame. Therefore it is worthwhile to listen carefully to what patients want to express. Humor reduces the risk of burnout. In contact with patients, it is important to give their humor room, to use it and respond to it, more than making jokes. Humor can be trained. Humor training and creation of a humorous atmosphere in health care facilities should also be supported by health insurance funds, institutions' sponsors and public authorities. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Changes to the Aqueous Humor Proteome during Glaucoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaeslin, Martha Andrea; Killer, Hanspeter Ezriel; Fuhrer, Cyril Adrian; Zeleny, Nauke; Huber, Andreas Robert; Neutzner, Albert

2016-01-01

To investigate the aqueous humor proteome in patients with glaucoma and a control group. Aqueous humor was obtained from five human donors diagnosed with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and five age- and sex-matched controls undergoing cataract surgery. Quantitative proteome analysis of the aqueous humor by hyper reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (HRM-MS) based on SWATH technology was performed. Expression levels of 87 proteins were found to be different between glaucomatous and control aqueous humor. Of the 87 proteins, 34 were significantly upregulated, whereas 53 proteins were downregulated in the aqueous humor from glaucoma patients compared to controls. Differentially expressed proteins were found to be involved in cholesterol-related, inflammatory, metabolic, antioxidant as well as proteolysis-related processes. Glaucoma leads to profound changes to the aqueous humor proteome consistent with an altered metabolic state, an inflammatory response and impaired antioxidant defense.

Designed and Accidental Humor in the Smart Digital Wild

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Anton; Ruiz Miyares, L.

Humor can be designed and canned, for example as it appears in videogames, sitcoms or amusement parks. We often have humor professionals that have responsibility for this inclusion of humor. Humor can be designed for a particular occasion, for example in an April prank. However, in real life we

A Pragmatic Study of Humor

Science.gov (United States)

Ibraheem, Sura Dhiaa; Abbas, Nawal Fadhil

2016-01-01

Linguistically speaking, the concept of humor, which seems to be vast for people, has specific dimensions by which it is generated including: puns, irony, sarcasm, wittiness, and contrastive utterances in relation to the speakers of those utterances. It is about how the extra linguistics elements dominate the situation and the delivery of humor.…

Differential effects of self-esteem and interpersonal competence on humor styles

Science.gov (United States)

McCosker, Bernadette; Moran, Carmen C

2012-01-01

Background In contrast with an early implicit “facilitative hypothesis” of humor, a revised specificity hypothesis predicts that the benefits of humor depend on the specific style of humor used. Information on predictors of these humor styles in turn enhances the ability to predict the effect on well-being. Methods We examined the relationships between interpersonal competence, self-esteem, and different styles of humor, while also examining the contributions of age and gender. Participants (n = 201) aged 18–63 years completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory, the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire, and the Humor Styles Questionnaire, and gave demographic information. Results High self-esteem was associated with higher use of affiliative, aggressive, and self-enhancing humor styles, but lower use of self-defeating humor. High interpersonal competence predicted greater use of affiliative humor, whereas low interpersonal competence predicted greater use of aggressive humor. Further analyses showed that initiation competence predicted affiliative humor (positively) but both initiation competence (positively) and conflict management competence (negatively) predicted aggressive humor. Conclusion The findings that both self-esteem and initiation competence contribute to use of aggressive humor add to knowledge of who is likely to use this potentially harmful humor style. We conclude that a readiness to initiate humorous interactions is not on its own a general and positive attribute contributing to “good” humor. PMID:23180973

Spass Verstehen, Zur Pragmatik von konversationellem Humor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ekmann, Bjørn

2000-01-01

Spøg, Humor, Komik, Ironi, Kommunikationsteori, Hermeneutik, Gruppedynamik, Logik, Tekstlingvistik......Spøg, Humor, Komik, Ironi, Kommunikationsteori, Hermeneutik, Gruppedynamik, Logik, Tekstlingvistik...

Angustia y humor en Papelucho de Marcela Paz

OpenAIRE

Edgardo

2015-01-01

Los estudios clásicos sobre el humor identifican una interrelación estrecha entre humor y angustia. En la serie narrativa Papelucho, esta interacción es constante en la trama de las distintas novelas. Este trabajo describe la interacción entre humor y angustia que se da en la obra y reflexiona sobre su sentido. Se concluye que la serie propone el humor como estrategia para enfrentar los hechos angustiantes ineludibles en la vida.

Changes to the Aqueous Humor Proteome during Glaucoma.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martha Andrea Kaeslin

Full Text Available To investigate the aqueous humor proteome in patients with glaucoma and a control group.Aqueous humor was obtained from five human donors diagnosed with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG and five age- and sex-matched controls undergoing cataract surgery. Quantitative proteome analysis of the aqueous humor by hyper reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (HRM-MS based on SWATH technology was performed.Expression levels of 87 proteins were found to be different between glaucomatous and control aqueous humor. Of the 87 proteins, 34 were significantly upregulated, whereas 53 proteins were downregulated in the aqueous humor from glaucoma patients compared to controls. Differentially expressed proteins were found to be involved in cholesterol-related, inflammatory, metabolic, antioxidant as well as proteolysis-related processes.Glaucoma leads to profound changes to the aqueous humor proteome consistent with an altered metabolic state, an inflammatory response and impaired antioxidant defense.

Humor er en alvorlig sag

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søltoft, Pia

2016-01-01

I modsætning til ironi er humor for Kierkegaard fællesskabsgivende – ironikeren hævder sig selv, men humoristen har sympati med den, man ler med. Humor er hos Kierkegaard udtryk for, at humoristen forliger sig med tilværelsen og dens luner, og dermed grænser humoren hos Kierkegaard op til det...

El humor en los servicios hospitalarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aguinaga Benítez Óscar William

1998-12-01

Full Text Available

El humor es un fenómeno demasiado complejo para ser explicado fácilmente, sin embargo la risa, es una de las formas más admirables del comportamiento humano. El humor forma parte de nuestra vida cotidiana y todos tenemos de él, ya desde nuestra más tierna infancia un conocimiento intuitivo. Muchos saben que el humor mejora las relaciones humanas, puede favorecer una cierta distensión y facilita el bienestar de todos los miembros de una empresa, dirigentes, empleados y obreros. Muchos esperan encontrar en él la forma de resolver los conflictos y de reducir la agresividad. Allí donde se encuentren hombres, existe el humor, comprenderlo mejor y utilizarlo más libremente y en el momento oportuno, puede ayudarnos a hacer nuestra vida más agradable.

Differential effects of self-esteem and interpersonal competence on humor styles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McCosker B

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Bernadette McCosker, Carmen C MoranSchool of Psychology, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, AustraliaBackground: In contrast with an early implicit “facilitative hypothesis” of humor, a revised specificity hypothesis predicts that the benefits of humor depend on the specific style of humor used. Information on predictors of these humor styles in turn enhances the ability to predict the effect on well-being.Methods: We examined the relationships between interpersonal competence, self-esteem, and different styles of humor, while also examining the contributions of age and gender. Participants (n = 201 aged 18–63 years completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Inventory, the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire, and the Humor Styles Questionnaire, and gave demographic information.Results: High self-esteem was associated with higher use of affiliative, aggressive, and self-enhancing humor styles, but lower use of self-defeating humor. High interpersonal competence predicted greater use of affiliative humor, whereas low interpersonal competence predicted greater use of aggressive humor. Further analyses showed that initiation competence predicted affiliative humor (positively but both initiation competence (positively and conflict management competence (negatively predicted aggressive humor.Conclusion: The findings that both self-esteem and initiation competence contribute to use of aggressive humor add to knowledge of who is likely to use this potentially harmful humor style. We conclude that a readiness to initiate humorous interactions is not on its own a general and positive attribute contributing to “good” humor.Keywords: self-esteem, interpersonal competence, humor styles, differential effects

Appreciation of humor is decreased among patients with Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Thaler, Avner; Posen, Jennie; Giladi, Nir; Manor, Yael; Mayanz, Connie; Mirelman, Anat; Gurevich, Tanya

2012-02-01

To test whether appreciation of humor might be a non-motor function affected by Parkinson's disease (PD). Thirty-nine PD patients and 38 healthy controls participated in this study. Appreciation of humor and effect of the presentation method utilized were assessed. Sense of humor was evaluated by the sense of humor questionnaire (SHQ-6). Humor appreciation was tested using three methods of presentation: videos, audio sketches and pictorial cartoons, each portraying both obvious and non-obvious humor content. Depression, anxiety, cognition, disease severity and quality of life were measured by standardized questionnaires and correlated with humor outcomes. Patients with PD rated humor content lower than controls on every method of presentation as well as on the SHQ-6 (p = 0.004). The greatest between-group difference was noted when the material was presented visually via pictorial cartoons (p < 0.0001). In addition, obvious humor content was rated higher than non-obvious content by the PD group in all three presentation methods (p < 0.05). The degree of depression and anxiety did not influence these results. Patients with PD have a decreased sense of humor compared to healthy controls. Utilizing audio methods of presentation and humor in an obvious mode appears to be the preferred approach for eliciting responses to humor in a PD population. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Angustia y humor en Papelucho de Marcela Paz

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edgardo

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Los estudios clásicos sobre el humor identifican una interrelación estrecha entre humor y angustia. En la serie narrativa Papelucho, esta interacción es constante en la trama de las distintas novelas. Este trabajo describe la interacción entre humor y angustia que se da en la obra y reflexiona sobre su sentido. Se concluye que la serie propone el humor como estrategia para enfrentar los hechos angustiantes ineludibles en la vida.

Humor in Human-Computer Interaction : A Short Survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Anton; Niculescu, Andreea; Valitutti, Alessandro; Banchs, Rafael E.; Joshi, Anirudha; Balkrishan, Devanuj K.; Dalvi, Girish; Winckler, Marco

2017-01-01

This paper is a short survey on humor in human-computer interaction. It describes how humor is designed and interacted with in social media, virtual agents, social robots and smart environments. Benefits and future use of humor in interactions with artificial entities are discussed based on

Humor Styles and Leadership Styles: Community College Presidents

Science.gov (United States)

Carrica, Jennifer L.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between leadership styles (transformational, transactional, laissez-faire) and humor styles (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, self-defeating) of community college presidents. Research has shown that humor and leadership styles are related and that humor may enhance interpersonal…

Adult Playfulness, Humor Styles, and Subjective Happiness.

Science.gov (United States)

Yue, Xiao D; Leung, Chun-Lok; Hiranandani, Neelam A

2016-12-01

Playfulness has been referred to as a disposition that involves reframing a situation to amuse others and to make the situation more stimulating and enjoyable. It may serve to shift one's perspective when dealing with environmental threats. Despite all the benefits of playfulness towards psychological well-being, it remains a largely understudied subject in psychology, particularly in Chinese societies. Hence, this study examined the association between adult playfulness, humor styles, and subjective happiness among a sample of 166 university students in Hong Kong and 159 students in Guangzhou, who completed a self-administered questionnaire, including the Short Measure for Adult Playfulness, the Chinese Humor Styles Questionnaire, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. Results showed that adult playfulness was positively correlated with affiliative humor, self-enhancing humor, and subjective happiness in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou samples. By its implication, highly playful Chinese students preferred using affiliative and self-enhancing humor to amuse themselves and others. © The Author(s) 2016.

Humor in intimate relationships Ties among sense of humor, similarity in humor and relationship quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barelds, D.P.H.; Barelds-Dijkstra, P.

2010-01-01

The present study examined relations between different aspects of humor and relationship quality Participants 114 married or cohabiting heterosexual couples from the general community with a mean relationship length of 22 years completed a number of measures assessing these two themes We expected

Mathematics and Humor: John Allen Paulos and the Numeracy Crusade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul H. Grawe

2015-07-01

Full Text Available John Allen Paulos at minimum gave the Numeracy movement a name through his book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. What may not be so obvious was Paulos’ strong interest in the relationship between mathematics and mathematicians on the one hand and humor and stand-up-comedian joke structures on the other. Innumeracy itself could be seen as a typically mathematical Gotcha joke on American culture generally. In this perspective, a Minnesotan acculturated to Minnesota-Nice Humor of Self-Immolation Proclivities (SImP looks at the more raw-boned, take-no-prisoners humor style Paulos outlined in Mathematics and Humor and implemented in Innumeracy. Despite the difference in humor styles, there is much to applaud in Paulos’ analysis of the relationship between certain types of humor and professional interests of mathematicians in Mathematics and Humor. Much humor relies on the sense of incongruity which Paulos’ claims to be central to all humor and key to mathematical reductio ad absurdum. Mathematics is rightfully famous for a sense of combinatorial playfulness in its most elegant proofs, as humor often relies on clashing combinations of word play. And a great range of mathematical lore is best understood within a concept of a sudden drop from one sense of certainty to another (essentially a Gotcha on the audience. Innumeracy repeatedly exemplifies Gotchas on the great unwashed and unmathematical majority. Extensive empirical evidence over the last quarter century allows us to synthesize these Paulos observations into the idea that inculcated mathematical humor has strong propensities to complex Intellectual, Advocate, and Crusader humor forms. However, the Paulos humors do not include the Sympathetic Pain humor form, the inclusion of which may increase teaching effectiveness.

Humor Assessment and Interventions in Palliative Care: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa M. Linge-Dahl

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Background: The central goal of palliative care is to optimize the quality of life of patients suffering from life-limiting illnesses, which includes psychosocial and spiritual wellbeing. Research has demonstrated positive correlations between humor and laughter with life satisfaction and other aspects of wellbeing, and physiological symptoms can be improved by humorous stimuli.Objectives: The aim of this review is to evaluate humor interventions and assessments that have been applied in palliative care and to derive implications for future research.Methods: A systematic review of four databases identified 13 included studies. Criteria for inclusion were peer-reviewed English-language studies on humor interventions or assessments in a palliative care context.Results: Two studies on humor interventions and 11 studies on humor assessment were included in the systematic review. Most of these studies were about the patients' perspective on humor in palliative care. Findings showed that humor had a positive effect on patients, their relatives, and professional caregivers. Humor was widely perceived as appropriate and seen as beneficial to care in all studies.Conclusions: Even though humor interventions seem to be potentially useful in palliative care, descriptions evaluating their use are scarce. Overall, research on humor assessment and interventions in palliative care has remained limited in terms of quantity and quality. More research activities are needed to build a solid empirical foundation for implementing humor and laughter as part of regular palliative care activities.

The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Amir, Ori; Biederman, Irving

2016-01-01

Unlike passive humor appreciation, the neural correlates of real-time humor creation have been unexplored. As a case study for creativity, humor generation uniquely affords a reliable assessment of a creative product's quality with a clear and relatively rapid beginning and end, rendering it amenable to neuroimaging that has the potential for reflecting individual differences in expertise. Professional and amateur "improv" comedians and controls viewed New Yorker cartoon drawings while being scanned. For each drawing, they were instructed to generate either a humorous or a mundane caption. Greater comedic experience was associated with decreased activation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but increased activation in temporal association regions (TMP). Less experienced comedians manifested greater activation of mPFC, reflecting their deliberate search through TMP association space. Professionals, by contrast, tend to reap the fruits of their spontaneous associations with reduced reliance on top-down guided search.

Utility of indium-111 labelled autologous platelets in the diagnosis of renal graft rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin-Comin, J.; Roca, M.; Grino, J.M.; Paradell, C.; Caralps, A.

1982-01-01

The usefulness of In-111 labelled autologous platelets in the diagnosis of renal graft rejection was studied. The method is based on imaging of the graft area at 4, 24, 48 and 72 hours after the injection of the labelled cells. The study was done in 21 renal cadaveric transplant recipients: control group: four patients without evidence of rejection. No platelet uptake was observed in any of them. Study group: in 13 patients with acute rejection and 1 with chronic rejection graft tracer uptake was seen. In the 3 others with a non-immunological sudden impairment of renal function, no activity was detected in graft area. Changes in renal platelet trapping correlated with response to antirejection therapy

Humor and Anxiety: Effects on Class Test Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Townsend, Michael A. R.; Mahoney, Peggy

1981-01-01

Measures of anxiety and achievement were obtained on a sample of undergraduate students. Highly anxious students had lower achievement on humorous tests. Students with low anxiety had higher achievement on humorous tests. Results indicate that humor is not a positive factor in reducing high anxiety associated with academic evaluations. (Author)

Humor in Context: Fire Service and Joking Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Larry; Roth, Gene

2013-01-01

Although theorizing about humor has occurred for several decades, scant research exists that examines humor in the broad context of human resource development. Humor exists in workplaces and it is historicized in the professional and organizational contexts of workers. This paper explores aspects of a joking culture within the specific work…

Humoral immune response to hypervariable region 1 of the putative envelope glycoprotein (gp70) of hepatitis C virus.

OpenAIRE

Kato, N; Sekiya, H; Ootsuyama, Y; Nakazawa, T; Hijikata, M; Ohkoshi, S; Shimotohno, K

1993-01-01

We recently found that alterations of amino acids in hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of the putative envelope glycoprotein (gp70) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) occurred sequentially in the chronic phase of hepatitis at intervals of several months. This finding suggests that mutations in HVR1 are involved in the mechanism of persistent chronic HCV infection involving escape from the immunosurveillance system. To explore this possibility, we examined the humoral immune response to HVR1 with our assa...

The effect of humor on short-term memory in older adults: a new component for whole-person wellness.

Science.gov (United States)

Bains, Gurinder Singh; Berk, Lee S; Daher, Noha; Lohman, Everett; Schwab, Ernie; Petrofsky, Jerrold; Deshpande, Pooja

2014-01-01

For older adults, the damaging effects of aging and stress can impair the ability to learn and sustain memory. Humor, with its associated mirthful laughter, can reduce stress and cortisol, a stress hormone. Chronic release of cortisol can damage hippocampus neurons, leading to impairment of learning and memory. The primary goal of this study was to determine whether watching a humorous video had an effect on short-term memory in an older population. The research team designed a randomized, controlled trial. The study took place at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. The research team recruited 20 normal, healthy, older adults, 11 males and 9 females. The humor group (n = 10, mean = 69.3 ± 3.7 y) self-selected 1 of 2 humorous videos--a Red Skelton comedy or a montage of America's Funniest Home Videos--and watched it for 20 min. A control group (n = 10, mean = 68.7 ± 5.5 y) sat calmly for 20 min and were not allowed to read, sleep, or talk on a cell phone. The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test was used to assess short-term memory--learning ability, delayed recall, and visual recognition. Salivary cortisol levels were measured at predetermined times. Learning ability improved by 38.5% and 24.0% in the humor and control groups, respectively (P = .014). Delayed recall improved by 43.6% and 20.3% in the humor and control groups, respectively (P =.029). Within the humor group, delayed recall (43.6%) was significant compared with learning ability (38.5%) (P = .002). At 3 predetermined time points, significant decreases in salivary cortisol were observed in the humor group (P = .047, P = .046, and P = .062, respectively). The study's findings suggest that humor can have clinical benefits and rehabilitative implications and can be implemented in programs that support whole-person wellness for older adults. Learning ability and delayed recall are important to these individuals for a better quality of life--considering mind, body, spirit, social, and economic

"A Nigger Joke":Black Humor in Toni Morrison's Sula

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

徐宗诗

2016-01-01

#%With irony at its core, black humor is a weapon for the powerless to fight against those in power. In Sula, Morrison ex-ploits irony to reveal the oppression that racism and sexism impose upon the black people. This paper mainly intends to explore the black humor in Sula from verbal humor, ridiculous events and distorted characters, and analyze the function of black humor.

Humor Style and Motor Skills: Understanding Vulnerability to Bullying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephanie Plenty

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to examine the role of humor style and motor skills in vulnerability to bullying. 729 adults responded to the Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ and items retrospectively addressing their motor skills and bullying experiences during childhood. Consistent with recent research, poorer motor skills were associated with a greater extent of having been bullied. An association between stronger motor skills and affiliative humor was found, lending support to a shared biological basis theory underlying social and motor competency processes. Most importantly, being bullied was associated with higher self-defeating humor and lower affiliative humor. This supports earlier theoretical work by Klein and Kuiper (2006 and highlights the role that humor styles play in social interactions that can promote positive peer acceptance and wellbeing.

The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ori Amir

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Unlike passive humor appreciation, the neural correlates of real-time humor creation have been unexplored. As a case study for creativity, humor generation uniquely affords a reliable assessment of a creative product’s quality with a clear and relatively rapid beginning and end, rendering it amenable to neuroimaging that has the potential for reflecting individual differences in expertise. Professional and amateur improv comedians and controls viewed New Yorker cartoon drawings while being scanned. For each drawing, they were instructed to generate either a humorous or a mundane caption. Greater comedic experience was associated with decreased activation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC, but increased activation in temporal association regions (TMP. Less experienced comedians manifested greater activation of mPFC, reflecting their deliberate search through TMP association space. Professionals, by contrast, tend to reap the fruits of their spontaneous associations with reduced reliance on top-down guided search.

The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Amir, Ori; Biederman, Irving

2016-01-01

Unlike passive humor appreciation, the neural correlates of real-time humor creation have been unexplored. As a case study for creativity, humor generation uniquely affords a reliable assessment of a creative product’s quality with a clear and relatively rapid beginning and end, rendering it amenable to neuroimaging that has the potential for reflecting individual differences in expertise. Professional and amateur “improv” comedians and controls viewed New Yorker cartoon drawings while being scanned. For each drawing, they were instructed to generate either a humorous or a mundane caption. Greater comedic experience was associated with decreased activation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but increased activation in temporal association regions (TMP). Less experienced comedians manifested greater activation of mPFC, reflecting their deliberate search through TMP association space. Professionals, by contrast, tend to reap the fruits of their spontaneous associations with reduced reliance on top-down guided search. PMID:27932965

Sense of humor at work: assessment and associations with health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Doosje, S.

2010-01-01

This dissertation is about health-related sense of humor measurement and associations between a sense of humor and health. Two sense of humor measures were developed, the QOHC and the HCL. The QOHC measures four humorous coping styles, aimed at acquiring positive affective states: antecedent-focused

Response efficacy: the key to minimizing rejection and maximizing acceptance of emotion-based anti-speeding messages.

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Lewis, I M; Watson, B; White, K M

2010-03-01

This study sought to improve understanding of the persuasive process of emotion-based appeals not only in relation to negative, fear-based appeals but also for appeals based upon positive emotions. In particular, the study investigated whether response efficacy, as a cognitive construct, mediated outcome measures of message effectiveness in terms of both acceptance and rejection of negative and positive emotion-based messages. Licensed drivers (N=406) participated via the completion of an on-line survey. Within the survey, participants received either a negative (fear-based) appeal or one of the two possible positive appeals (pride or humor-based). Overall, the study's findings confirmed the importance of emotional and cognitive components of persuasive health messages and identified response efficacy as a key cognitive construct influencing the effectiveness of not only fear-based messages but also positive emotion-based messages. Interestingly, however, the results suggested that response efficacy's influence on message effectiveness may differ for positive and negative emotion-based appeals such that significant indirect (and mediational) effects were found with both acceptance and rejection of the positive appeals yet only with rejection of the fear-based appeal. As such, the study's findings provide an important extension to extant literature and may inform future advertising message design. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Immunomodulatory effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cells on B cells

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Marcella eFranquesa

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The research on T cell immunosuppression therapies has attracted most of the attention in clinical transplantation. However, B cells and humoral immune responses are increasingly acknowledged as crucial mediators of chronic allograft rejection. Indeed, humoral immune responses can lead to renal allograft rejection even in patients whose cell-mediated immune responses are well controlled. On the other hand, newly studied B cell subsets with regulatory effects have been linked to tolerance achievement in transplantation. Better understanding of the regulatory and effector B cell responses may therefore lead to new therapeutic approaches.Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC are arising as a potent therapeutic tool in transplantation due to their regenerative and immunomodulatory properties. The research on MSCs has mainly focused on their effects on T cells and although data regarding the modulatory effects of MSCs on alloantigen-specific humoral response in humans is scarce, it has been demonstrated that MSCs significantly affect B cell functioning. In the present review we will analyze and discuss the results in this field.

Epstein-Barr Virus-Specific Humoral Immune Responses in Health and Disease.

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Middeldorp, Jaap M

2015-01-01

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is widely distributed in the world and associated with a still increasing number of acute, chronic, malignant and autoimmune disease syndromes. Humoral immune responses to EBV have been studied for diagnostic, pathogenic and protective (vaccine) purposes. These studies use a range of methodologies, from cell-based immunofluorescence testing to antibody-diversity analysis using immunoblot and epitope analysis using recombinant or synthetic peptide-scanning. First, the individual EBV antigen complexes (VCA , MA, EA(D), EA(R) and EBNA) are defined at cellular and molecular levels, providing a historic overview. The characteristic antibody responses to these complexes in health and disease are described, and differences are highlighted by clinical examples. Options for EBV vaccination are briefly addressed. For a selected number of immunodominant proteins, in particular EBNA1, the interaction with human antibodies is further detailed at the epitope level, revealing interesting insights for structure, function and immunological aspects, not considered previously. Humoral immune responses against EBV-encoded tumour antigens LMP1, LMP2 and BARF1 are addressed, which provide novel options for targeted immunotherapy. Finally, some considerations on EBV-linked autoimmune diseases are given, and mechanisms of antigen mimicry are briefly discussed. Further analysis of humoral immune responses against EBV in health and disease in carefully selected patient cohorts will open new options for understanding pathogenesis of individual EBV-linked diseases and developing targeted diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Research on the Role of Humor in Well-Being and Health

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Arnie Cann

2014-08-01

Full Text Available In this interview, Dr. Arnie Cann discusses his research and views on the ubiquitous role of humor in psychological health and well-being. The interview begins with Professor Cann recounting how he originally became interested in studying humor. He then reflects on the main findings associated with the wide variety of humor-related studies he has conducted over the years. In doing so, Dr. Cann provides suggestions and ideas for further research investigating the role of humor in health and well-being. Specific topic areas discussed include the use of humor in the workplace and other social domains, personality approaches to humor, humor and interpersonal processes, humor and psychopathology, and humor’s role in dealing with stress and well-being. One of the prominent themes in this interview is the clear recognition of sense of humor as a multi-dimensional construct that includes various components that may either be beneficial or detrimental to well-being. A further important theme is the major distinction between humor as an inherent personality construct versus humor that results from exposure to stimuli (e.g., a comedy film. Comments are also provided by Dr. Cann on how the positive affect stemming from humor may be of particular benefit to the individual. Also discussed is the recent move to more fully integrate contemporary humor research with positive psychology approaches. The interview concludes with Dr. Cann providing several recommendations regarding future theorizing and research on the role of humor in psychological well-being.

Humor and Competence in School-aged Children.

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Masten, Ann S.

1986-01-01

Measures humor appreciation (including mirth, subjective ratings, and response sets), comprehension, and production in children between the ages of 10 and 14. Relates humor to several areas of competence manifested at school. (HOD)

Cultures of (Un)happiness: Teaching, Schooling, and Light and Dark Humor

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Bullough, Robert V., Jr.

2012-01-01

The author explores humor during a time of increasingly hostile accountability measures directed toward educators. Drawing on incongruity and other theories of humor, he explores both "light" and "dark" humor and some aspects of the educational potential and power of humor. Noting how humor is related to creativity and problem management, the…

[Humor at Work Questionnaire - Polish adaptation of Humor Climate Questionnaire (HCQ)].

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Stańczak, Aleksander; Drabek, Marcin

2018-03-09

The aim of the paper is to present the Polish adaptation of the Humor Climate Questionnaire (HCQ), designed to measure humor as organizational climate feature. The authors employed back-translation and independent judges method to choose the best version of the translated items. The psychometric properties of HCQ were estimated on the basis of 2 samples: the basic group of employees (N = 217) and the group of employees who had completed the survey twice (N = 55). The results of statistical analyses proved that HCQ is a reliable tool. Explorative Factor Analysis supported the 4-factor structure of the original method's theoretical model. The validity of the subscales is high, Cronbach's α varied from 0.8 to 0.9. The directions and values of intercorrelations between subscales were similar to those of the English version. The Humor Climate Questionnaire is a relatively time-stable tool (r = 0.44-0.74). Polish adaptation is reliable and applicable for cross-sectional studies. The obtained results are comparable to the characteristics of the original version. However, the results of factor analysis show that the data do not fully fit the theoretical model. Med Pr 2018;69(2):143-152. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Humor drawings evoked temporal and spectral EEG processes

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Kuo, Hsien-Chu; Chuang, Shang-Wen

2017-01-01

Abstract The study aimed to explore the humor processing elicited through the manipulation of artistic drawings. Using the Comprehension–Elaboration Theory of humor as the main research background, the experiment manipulated the head portraits of celebrities based on the independent variables of facial deformation (large/small) and addition of affective features (positive/negative). A 64-channel electroencephalography was recorded in 30 participants while viewing the incongruous drawings of celebrities. The electroencephalography temporal and spectral responses were measured during the three stages of humor which included incongruity detection, incongruity comprehension and elaboration of humor. Analysis of event-related potentials indicated that for humorous vs non-humorous drawings, facial deformation and the addition of affective features significantly affected the degree of humor elicited, specifically: large > small deformation; negative > positive affective features. The N170, N270, N400, N600-800 and N900-1200 components showed significant differences, particularly in the right prefrontal and frontal regions. Analysis of event-related spectral perturbation showed significant differences in the theta band evoked in the anterior cingulate cortex, parietal region and posterior cingulate cortex; and in the alpha and beta bands in the motor areas. These regions are involved in emotional processing, memory retrieval, and laughter and feelings of amusement induced by elaboration of the situation. PMID:28402573

Humor drawings evoked temporal and spectral EEG processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Regina W Y; Kuo, Hsien-Chu; Chuang, Shang-Wen

2017-08-01

The study aimed to explore the humor processing elicited through the manipulation of artistic drawings. Using the Comprehension-Elaboration Theory of humor as the main research background, the experiment manipulated the head portraits of celebrities based on the independent variables of facial deformation (large/small) and addition of affective features (positive/negative). A 64-channel electroencephalography was recorded in 30 participants while viewing the incongruous drawings of celebrities. The electroencephalography temporal and spectral responses were measured during the three stages of humor which included incongruity detection, incongruity comprehension and elaboration of humor. Analysis of event-related potentials indicated that for humorous vs non-humorous drawings, facial deformation and the addition of affective features significantly affected the degree of humor elicited, specifically: large > small deformation; negative > positive affective features. The N170, N270, N400, N600-800 and N900-1200 components showed significant differences, particularly in the right prefrontal and frontal regions. Analysis of event-related spectral perturbation showed significant differences in the theta band evoked in the anterior cingulate cortex, parietal region and posterior cingulate cortex; and in the alpha and beta bands in the motor areas. These regions are involved in emotional processing, memory retrieval, and laughter and feelings of amusement induced by elaboration of the situation. © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press.

Regional distribution of phospholipids in porcine vitreous humor.

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Schnepf, Abigail; Yappert, Marta Cecilia; Borchman, Douglas

2017-07-01

This project explores the regional phospholipid distribution in porcine vitreous humor, retina, and lens. Matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry has been used previously to image lipids, proteins, and other metabolites in retinas and lenses. However, the regional composition of phospholipids in vitreous humors is not known. To address this issue, we have applied this mass spectral method to explore the regional phospholipid distribution in porcine vitreous humor both ex-situ and in-vitro. To establish the possible source(s) of phospholipids in the vitreous humor, compositional studies of the lens and retina were also pursued. Due to the overall low levels of phospholipids in vitreous humor, it was necessary to optimize the experimental approaches for ex-situ and in-vitro studies. The sensitivity observed in the spectra of methanol extracts from the lens and retina was higher than that for methanol:chloroform extracts, but the compositional trends were the same. A fourfold improvement in sensitivity was observed in the analysis of vitreous humor extracts obtained with the Bligh and Dyer protocol relative to the other two extraction methods. For ex-situ studies, the 'stamp method' with para-nitroaniline as the matrix was chosen. Throughout the vitreous humor, phosphatidylcholines were the most abundant phospholipids. In-vitro results showed higher relative levels of phospholipids compared to the 'stamp' method. However, more details in the regional phospholipid distribution were provided by the ex-situ approach. Both in-vitro and ex-situ results indicated higher levels of phospholipids in the posterior vitreous region, followed by the anterior and central regions. The posterior region contained more unsaturated species whereas more saturated phospholipids were detected in the anterior region. The observed trends suggest that the phospholipids detected in the posterior vitreous humor migrate from the retina and associated vasculature while those present in

Burnout and Humor Usage among Community College Nursing Faculty Members.

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Talbot, Laura A.

2000-01-01

Assesses the correlation of burnout among community college nursing faculty members and their use of humor to mediate academic stress related to burnout. Differences in burnout between high versus low humor usage respondents showed a higher sense of personal accomplishment with high humor usage. Of those with low humor usage, workload was related…

Exploratory Theoretical Tests of the Instructor Humor-Student Learning Link

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Bolkan, San; Goodboy, Alan K.

2015-01-01

Instructors' use of humor is generally a positive influence on student outcomes. However, examinations of humor have found that specific types of messages may not impact, or may even reverse, its positive effect. Instructional humor processing theory (IHPT) has been used to explain how humor impacts student learning. The current study sought to…

Urinary granzyme A mRNA is a biomarker to diagnose subclinical and acute cellular rejection in kidney transplant recipients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ham, S. Marieke; Heutinck, Kirstin M.; Jorritsma, Tineke; Bemelman, Fréderike J.; Strik, Merel C. M.; Vos, Wim; Muris, Jettie J. F.; Florquin, Sandrine; ten Berge, Ineke J. M.; Rowshani, Ajda T.

2010-01-01

The distinction between T-cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) and other causes of kidney transplant dysfunction such as tubular necrosis requires biopsy. Subclinical rejection (SCR), an established risk factor for chronic allograft dysfunction, can only be diagnosed by protocol biopsy. A specific

Decoding Humor Experiences from Brain Activity of People Viewing Comedy Movies

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Sawahata, Yasuhito; Komine, Kazuteru; Morita, Toshiya; Hiruma, Nobuyuki

2013-01-01

Humans naturally have a sense of humor. Experiencing humor not only encourages social interactions, but also produces positive physiological effects on the human body, such as lowering blood pressure. Recent neuro-imaging studies have shown evidence for distinct mental state changes at work in people experiencing humor. However, the temporal characteristics of these changes remain elusive. In this paper, we objectively measured humor-related mental states from single-trial functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data obtained while subjects viewed comedy TV programs. Measured fMRI data were labeled on the basis of the lag before or after the viewer’s perception of humor (humor onset) determined by the viewer-reported humor experiences during the fMRI scans. We trained multiple binary classifiers, or decoders, to distinguish between fMRI data obtained at each lag from ones obtained during a neutral state in which subjects were not experiencing humor. As a result, in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the right temporal area, the decoders showed significant classification accuracies even at two seconds ahead of the humor onsets. Furthermore, given a time series of fMRI data obtained during movie viewing, we found that the decoders with significant performance were also able to predict the upcoming humor events on a volume-by-volume basis. Taking into account the hemodynamic delay, our results suggest that the upcoming humor events are encoded in specific brain areas up to about five seconds before the awareness of experiencing humor. Our results provide evidence that there exists a mental state lasting for a few seconds before actual humor perception, as if a viewer is expecting the future humorous events. PMID:24324656

Humor styles and personality: A meta-analysis of the relation between humor styles and the Big Five personality traits.

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Mendiburo-Seguel, Andrés; Páez, Darío; Martínez-Sánchez, Francisco

2015-06-01

This research summarizes the knowledge generated in social psychology and positive psychology about the relationship between humor styles, personality and wellbeing. Specifically, a meta-analysis was performed with the results of 15 studies on humor styles measured by the Humor Styles Questionnaire (Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray & Weir, 2003) in correlation with the personality traits measured by the Big Five Personality model (measured with different scales). Following the steps presented by Rosenthal (1991) for meta-analysis in the case of correlational research, we calculated the total mean r as an indicator of effect size. Results show that affiliative humor has a strong and homogeneous relation to neuroticism and extraversion. The homogeneity and heterogeneity found between variables and possible explanations are discussed in the conclusion. © 2015 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OF THREE KINDS OF HUMOR IN PUBLICITY

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CAROLINA M. CIFUENTES

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Effects of humor in advertisement published in Colombia were investigated in regards to brands,advertisement, purchase intention, recall and recognition.A simultaneous Classical Conditioning procedure was carried out, using Incongruous, Hostile and Allusivehumor associated to three brands. The procedure was applied to 30 university students. Results revealedthat the three kinds of humor work as unconditioning stimulus, generating positive attitudes towardsadvertisement and brand. Humor influences the purchase intention and recognition, but not the remembranceof brand when compared to neutral advertisement. Incongrous and Hostile Humor generate recognitionand positive attitude towards advertisement and brand. Allusions have a greater effect on purchaseintention than the other ones. Results corroborate the effectiveness of humor as an advertisement tool.

Late acute humoral rejection in low-risk renal transplant recipients induced with an interleukin-2 receptor antagonist and maintained with standard therapy: preliminary communication.

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Morales, J; Contreras, L; Zehnder, C; Pinto, V; Elberg, M; Araneda, S; Herzog, C; Calabran, L; Aguiló, J; Ferrario, M; Buckel, E; Fierro, J A

2011-01-01

Low-risk renal transplant recipients treated with standard immunosuppressive therapy including interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) antagonist show a low incidence of early rejection episodes but few reports have examined the incidence and severity of late rejection processes. This study evaluated retrospectively cellular and antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) among 42 recipients selected because they showed low panel-reactive-antibodies, short cold ischemia time, no delayed graft function, and therapy including basiliximab (Simulect) induction. The mean observation time was 6.6 years. Sixty-seven percent of donors were deceased. Ten-year patient and death-censored graft survivals were 81% and 78%, respectively. Seven patients lost their kidneys due to nonimmunologic events. The seven recipients who experienced cellular rejection episodes during the first posttransplant year had them reversed with steroids. Five patients displayed late acute AMR causing functional deterioration in four cases including 1 graft loss. De novo sensitization occurred in 48% of recipients including patients without clinical rejection. In conclusion, long-term follow-up of kidney transplant recipients selected by a low immunologic risk showed a persistent risk of de novo sensitization evolving to acute AMR in 11% of cases. Although immunologic events were related to late immunosuppressive reduction, most graft losses were due to nonimmunologic factors. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rhoh deficiency reduces peripheral T-cell function and attenuates allogenic transplant rejection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Porubsky, Stefan; Wang, Shijun; Kiss, Eva

2011-01-01

better graft function. This effect was independent of the lower T-cell numbers in Rhoh-deficient recipients, because injection of equal numbers of Rhoh-deficient or control T cells into kidney transplanted mice with SCID led again to a significant 60% reduction of rejection. Mixed lymphocyte reaction...... deficiency in a clinically relevant situation, in which T-cell inhibition is desirable. In murine allogenic kidney transplantation, Rhoh deficiency caused a significant 75% reduction of acute and chronic transplant rejection accompanied by 75% lower alloantigen-specific antibody levels and significantly...

Humor: Power Conveying Social Structures Inside Forensic Mental Health Nursing.

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Gildberg, Frederik A; Paaske, Kristian J; Rasmussen, Vivian L; Nissen, Ricko D; Bradley, Stephen K; Hounsgaard, Lise

2016-01-01

According to research literature, humor inside the staff-patient interaction seems to be significant in the area of forensic mental healthcare. However, existing literature on the subject is limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the characteristics of the use humor by forensic mental health staff members in interactions with forensic mental health inpatients. The study included 32 forensic mental health staff members, used 307 hours of participant observations, 48 informal interviews, and seven formal semistructured interviews. Outcomes identify four themes concerning the conveyance of power to, from, and between forensic mental health staff and patients as they interact: (a) "the informal use: the human-to-human approach," characterized by an informal use of humor and without any reference to mental health issues; (b) the "formal use of humor: the staff-patient approach," characterized as formal with a view on the patient as mentally ill, unable to understand humor, and with the aim of using humor to prevent conflicts or negative behavior; (c) "protest against requested care: the human-patient approach," characterized by the use of humor as a protest against requested care; and the use of (d) "inadequacy humor: the staff-human approach," characterized by the use of inadequacy-humor referring to, for example, patients' physical features. Recommendations and clinical implications are discussed.

Ageing and the humoral immune response in mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blankwater, M.J.

1978-01-01

The study presented in this thesis is concerned with changes in the humoral immune system as a function of age in different inbred mouse strains. Their capacity to develop humoral immune responses to experimentally given thymus-dependent and thymus-independent antigens under various conditions is compared. Furthermore, experiments employing thymus transplantation and thymic humoral factors which are directed at the restoration of the diminished T cell functions in old age are reported. (Auth.)

Pragmatics Analysis In Humorous Text In Reader’s Digest Magazine

OpenAIRE

Agustina, Sri

2011-01-01

Skripsi yang berjudul Pragmatic Analysis in Humorous Text in Reader’s Digest Magazine, menganalisis konteks dari humor yang berbentuk dialog dan bagaimana humor tersebut diinterpretasikan; yang terdapat di dalam teks humor di dalam majalah Reader’s Digest edisi Agustus, September, Oktober, November dan Desember 2010. Analisis ini menggunakan teori Yule tahun 1996 yang mengatakan bahwa beberapa fokus kajian pragmatik adalah mengkaji makna penutur di dalam konteks tertentu dan bagaimana konteks...

Higher Education Lecturing and Humor: From Perspectives to Strategies

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Nasiri, Fuzhan; Mafakheri, Fereshteh

2015-01-01

This article will review the issues surrounding the use of humor as an informal teaching method in higher education lecturing. The impact and usefulness of humor, from both a teacher's and a student's perspective, will be investigated. The aim is to classify the challenges and limitations of using humor in classrooms and to investigate and…

Sex differences in preferences for humor: a replication, modification, and extension.

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Hone, Liana S E; Hurwitz, William; Lieberman, Debra

2015-02-10

Evolutionary-minded scientists have proposed that humor is a sexually selected trait in men that signals mate quality. Indeed, women tend to prefer men who make them laugh and men tend to prefer women who laugh at their jokes. However, it is unclear how robust this pattern is. Here we report a replication of one of the first studies (Bressler, Martin, and Balshine, 2006) to examine the sex differences in preferences for humor receptivity versus humor production. We replicate Bressler et al.'s (2006) findings that men prefer women who are receptive to their humor whereas women prefer men who produce humor. These findings held even after we modified Bressler et al.'s questionnaire for better conceptual validity. Furthermore, using a separate measure designed to assess trade-offs, we found that men viewed humor receptivity as a necessity and humor production as a luxury when they were asked to create an ideal long-term partner. For women, it was just the opposite. These results bolster the claim that sexual selection has shaped sex differences regarding preferences for a prospective mate's sense of humor and that what one means by "sense of humor" can vary.

A 15-Year Follow-Up Study of Sense of Humor and Causes of Mortality: The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.

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Romundstad, Solfrid; Svebak, Sven; Holen, Are; Holmen, Jostein

2016-04-01

Associations between the sense of humor and survival in relation to specific diseases has so far never been studied. We conducted a 15-year follow-up study of 53,556 participants in the population-based Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, Norway. Cognitive, social, and affective components of the sense of humor were obtained, and associations with all-cause mortality, mortality due to cardiovascular diseases (CVD), infections, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases were estimated by hazard ratios (HRs). After multivariate adjustments, high scores on the cognitive component of the sense of humor were significantly associated with lower all-cause mortality in women (HR = 0.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.33-0.81), but not in men (HR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.59-1.32). Mortality due to CVD was significantly lower in women with high scores on the cognitive component (HR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.15-0.47), and so was mortality due to infections both in men (HR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.09-0.74) and women (HR = 0.17, 95% CI = 0.04-0.76). The social and affective components of the sense of humor were not associated with mortality. In the total population, the positive association between the cognitive component of sense of humor and survival was present until the age of 85 years. The cognitive component of the sense of humor is positively associated with survival from mortality related to CVD and infections in women and with infection-related mortality in men. The findings indicate that sense of humor is a health-protecting cognitive coping resource.

Expression of cytokines in aqueous humor from fungal keratitis patients.

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Zhang, Yingnan; Liang, Qingfeng; Liu, Yang; Pan, Zhiqiang; Baudouin, Christophe; Labbé, Antoine; Lu, Qingxian

2018-04-19

Although a series of reports on corneal fungal infection have been published, studies on pathogenic mechanisms and inflammation-associated cytokines remain limited. In this study, aqueous humor samples from fungal keratitis patients were collected to examine cytokine patterns and cellular profile for the pathogenesis of fungal keratitis. The aqueous humor samples were collected from ten patients with advanced stage fungal keratitis. Eight aqueous humor samples from patients with keratoconus or corneal dystrophy were taken as control. Approximately 100 μl to 300 μl of aqueous humor in each case were obtained for examination. The aqueous humor samples were centrifuged and the cells were stained and examined under optical microscope. Bacterial and fungal cultures were performed on the aqueous humor and corneal buttons of all patients. Cytokines related to inflammation including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ were examined using multiplex bead-based Luminex liquid protein array systems. Fungus infection was confirmed in these ten patients by smear stains and/or fungal cultures. Bacterial and fungal cultures revealed negative results in all aqueous humor specimens. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes were the predominant infiltrating cells in the aqueous humor of fungal keratitis. At the advanced stages of fungal keratitis, the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and IFN-γ in the aqueous humor were significantly increased when compared with control (phumor was associated with fungal keratitis.

Those Who Laugh Are Defenseless: How Humor Breaks Resistance to Influence

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Strick, Madelijn; Holland, Rob W.; van Baaren, Rick B.; van Knippenberg, Ad

2012-01-01

Three experiments illustrate that humor in advertisements prevents the development of negative brand associations due to resistance. Previous research on humor in advertising suggested that humor can counter negative responses during ad processing, but less is known about the effect of humor on the development of negative brand associations in…

Truly Funny: Humor, Irony, and Satire as Moral Criticism

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Dadlez, E. M.

2011-01-01

The occasional role of humor as a vehicle for moral criticism is investigated. I begin by distinguishing between this particular role and the other kinds of ways in which humor and amusement might be regarded through a moral lens, consider historical approaches to humor that corroborate the kind of role for it on which my investigation focuses,…

Humor and Laughter may Influence Health. I. History and Background

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary Payne Bennett

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Articles in both the lay and professional literature have extolled the virtues of humor, many giving the impression that the health benefits of humor are well documented by the scientific and medical community. The concept that humor or laughter can be therapeutic goes back to biblical times and this belief has received varying levels of support from the scientific community at different points in its history. Current research indicates that using humor is well accepted by the public and is frequently used as a coping mechanism. However, the scientific evidence of the benefits of using humor on various health related outcomes still leaves many questions unanswered.

Humor Styles and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Model of Generalized Anxiety

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Nicholas A. Kuiper

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Past research suggests that sense of humor may play a role in anxiety. The present study builds upon this work by exploring how individual differences in various humor styles, such as affiliative, self-enhancing, and self-defeating humor, may fit within a contemporary research model of anxiety. In this model, intolerance of uncertainty is a fundamental personality characteristic that heightens excessive worry, thus increasing anxiety. We further propose that greater intolerance of uncertainty may also suppress the use of adaptive humor (affiliate and self-enhancing, and foster the increased use of maladaptive self-defeating humor. Initial correlational analyses provide empirical support for these proposals. In addition, we found that excessive worry and affiliative humor both served as significant mediators. In particular, heightened intolerance of uncertainty lead to both excessive worry and a reduction in affiliative humor use, which, in turn, increased anxiety. We also explored potential humor mediating effects for each of the individual worry content domains in this model. These analyses confirmed the importance of affiliative humor as a mediator for worry pertaining to a wide range of content domains (e.g., relationships, lack of confidence, the future and work. These findings were then discussed in terms of a combined model that considers how humor styles may impact the social sharing of positive and negative emotions.

Rumination, Suicidal Ideation, and the Mediating Effect of Self-Defeating Humor

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Raymond P. Tucker

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Research has demonstrated that a self-defeating humor style is related to indicators of psychopathology and interpersonal dysfunction, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness. The current study continued this investigation by examining how self-defeating humor is related to suicidal ideation and a ruminative response style. Analyses indicated that a self-defeating humor style was positively associated to rumination, brooding, reflection, and suicidal ideation. Results of bootstrapping analyses indicated that self-defeating humor mediated the relationship between rumination and suicidal ideation. This same effect was seen for both brooding and reflection individually. Results indicate that self-defeating humor may serve as an interpersonal means of ruminating as this humor style involves consistent focus on perceived flaws and weaknesses. The assessment of this humor style may provide additional information about the maintenance of suicidal thinking.

Humor, laughter, learning, and health! A brief review.

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Brandon M; Lujan, Heidi L; Thipparthi, Raghavendar R; DiCarlo, Stephen E

2017-09-01

Human emotions, such as anxiety, depression, fear, joy, and laughter, profoundly affect psychological and physiological processes. These emotions form a set of basic, evolved functions that are shared by all humans. Laughter is part of a universal language of basic emotions that all humans recognize. Health care providers and educators may utilize the power of laughter to improve health and enhance teaching and learning. This is an important consideration because teaching is not just about content: it is also about forming relationships and strengthening human connections. In this context, when used effectively, humor is documented to build relationships and enhance performance. Specifically, humor improves student performance by attracting and sustaining attention, reducing anxiety, enhancing participation, and increasing motivation. Moreover, humor stimulates multiple physiological systems that decrease levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine, and increase the activation of the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward system. To achieve these benefits, it is important to use humor that is relevant to the course content and not disparaging toward others. Self-effacing humor illustrates to students that the teacher is comfortable making mistakes and sharing these experiences with the classroom. In this brief review, we discuss the history and relationship between humor, laughing, learning, and health with an emphasis on the powerful, universal language of laughter. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Sociolinguistics features of humor in american linguoculture ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this article we study the characteristics of the language of representation and perception of American humour, its linguistic and cultural features in humorous texts of American comics from the American linguistic culture. The material for research is the humorous texts and fragments of the performances of American ...

Laughing at the Looking Glass: Does Humor Style Serve as an Interpersonal Signal?

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Virgil Zeigler-Hill

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: The provision of information appears to be an important feature of humor. The present studies examined whether humor serves as an interpersonal signal such that an individual's style of humor is associated with how the individual is perceived by others. Method: We examined this issue across two studies. In Study 1, undergraduate participants (257 targets were rated more positively by their friends and family members (1194 perceivers when they possessed more benign humor styles. In Study 2, 1190 community participants rated the romantic desirability of targets ostensibly possessing different humor styles. Results: Across both studies, our results were consistent with the possibility that humor serves as a signal. More specifically, individuals with benign humor styles (affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles were evaluated more positively than those targets with injurious humor styles (aggressive and self-defeating humor styles. Conclusion: These findings are discussed in terms of the role that humor may play in interpersonal perception and relationships.

Mecanismos de humor verbal en Twitter

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María Simarro Vázquez

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The present article aims to characterize samples of verbal humor published on the social network Twitter. To do so, an analysis of 81 humorous texts published under the hashtag #otegi during 1 March 2016, on which date Arnaldo Otegi was released from prison after six years, was carried out. A pragmatic study of the tweets was performed, opting for the General Theory of Verbal Humor as a basis. The examination conducted reveals that the manner of presentation of opposing scripts, the logical mechanisms availed of to resolve this kind of incongruity, the special narrative strategies selected and the linguistic choices made are determined at all times by the circumstances in which the texts are presented and the upper limit constraint of 140 characters per Twitter publication.

Humor: A Therapeutic Intervention for Child Counseling

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Berg, Rachelle G.; Parr, Gerald; Bradley, Loretta J.; Berry, Jeremy J.

2009-01-01

Counselors utilize many strategies, techniques, and tools when building a therapeutic alliance or addressing children's issues. Due to the serious nature of discussing problems or perhaps because of the fear of seeming insensitive, counselors often overlook humor as a means to enhance therapy. Whether deliberate or spontaneous, humor can add…

Rejection Sensitivity Moderates the Impact of Rejection on Self-Concept Clarity

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Ayduk, Özlem; Gyurak, Anett; Luerssen, Anna

2014-01-01

Self-concept clarity (SCC) refers to the extent to which self-knowledge is clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable. Research shows that SCC can be undermined by failures in valued goal domains. Because preventing rejection is an important self-relevant goal for people high in rejection sensitivity (RS), it is hypothesized here that failures to attain this goal would cause them to experience diminished SCC. Study 1, an experimental study, showed that high-RS people’s SCC was undermined following rejection but not following an aversive experience unrelated to rejection. Study 2, a daily diary study of couples in relationships, used occurrence of partner conflicts to operationalize rejection. Replicating the findings in Study 1, having a conflict on any given diary day predicted a greater reduction in the SCC of high- compared to low-RS people on the following day. The implications for understanding the conditions under which rejection negatively affects the self-concept are discussed. PMID:19713567

Humor: a pedagogical tool to promote learning.

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Chabeli, M

2008-09-01

It has become critical that learners are exposed to varied methods of teaching and assessment that will promote critical thinking of learners. Humor creates a relaxed atmosphere where learning can be enhanced and appreciated. When learners are relaxed, thinking becomes eminent. Authoritative and tense environment hinders thinking. This paper seeks to explore the perceptions of nurse teacher learners regarding the use of humor as a pedagogical tool to promote learning. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was employed (Burns & Grove, 2001:61; Mouton, 1996:103). 130 naive sketches were collected from nurse teacher learners who volunteered to take part in the study (Giorgi in_Omery, 1983:52) Follow up interviews were conducted to verify the findings. A qualitative, open-coding method of content analysis was done Tesch (in Creswell, 1994:155). Measures to ensure trustworthiness of the study were taken in accordance with the protocol of (Lincoln & Guba, 1985:290-326). The findings of the study will assist the nurse educators to create a positive, affective, psychological and social learning environment through the use of humor in a positive manner. Nurse educators will appreciate the fact that integration of humor to the learning content will promote the learners' critical thinking and emotional intelligence. Negative humor has a negative impact on learning. Learner nurses who become critical thinkers will be able to be analytical and solve problems amicably in practice.

Playing with Expectations: A Contextual View of Humor Development

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Airenti, Gabriella

2016-01-01

In the developmental literature, the idea has been proposed that young children do not understand the specificity of non-literal communicative acts. In this article, I focus on young children’s ability to produce and understand different forms of humor. I explore the acquisition of the communicative contexts that enable children to engage in humorous interactions before they possess the capacity to analyze them in the terms afforded by a full-fledged theory of mind. I suggest that different forms of humor share several basic features and that we can construct a continuum from simple to sophisticated forms. In particular, I focus on teasing, a form of humor already present in preverbal infants that is also considered a typical feature of irony. I argue that all forms of humor can be regarded as a type of interaction that I propose to call “playing with expectations.” PMID:27703438

Laughter, Humor and Pain Perception in Children: A Pilot Study

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Margaret Stuber

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Although there are many clinical programs designed to bring humor into pediatric hospitals, there has been very little research with children or adolescents concerning the specific utility of humor for children undergoing stressful or painful procedures. Rx Laughter™, a non-profit organization interested in the use of humor for healing, collaborated with UCLA to collect preliminary data on a sample of 18 children aged 7–16 years. Participants watched humorous video-tapes before, during and after a standardized pain task that involved placing a hand in cold water. Pain appraisal (ratings of pain severity and pain tolerance (submersion time were recorded and examined in relation to humor indicators (number of laughs/smiles during each video and child ratings of how funny the video was. Whereas humor indicators were not significantly associated with pain appraisal or tolerance, the group demonstrated significantly greater pain tolerance while viewing funny videos than when viewing the videos immediately before or after the cold-water task. The results suggest that humorous distraction is useful to help children and adolescents tolerate painful procedures. Further study is indicated to explore the specific mechanism of this benefit.

Antibody-Mediated Rejection of the Heart in the Setting of Autoimmune Demyelinating Polyneuropathy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

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Kathryn J. Lindley

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR is caused by the production of donor-specific antibodies (DSA which lead to allograft injury in part via complement activation. The inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathies (IDP are inflammatory disorders of the nervous system, involving both cellular and humoral immune mechanisms directed against myelin. Case Report. A 58-year-old man five years after heart transplant presented with progressive dyspnea, imbalance, dysphagia, and weakness. Nerve conduction studies and electromyogram were consistent with IDP. Plasmapheresis and high-dose steroids resulted in improvement in neurologic symptoms. Within two weeks, he was readmitted with anasarca and acute renal failure, requiring intravenous furosemide and inotropic support. Echocardiogram and right heart catheterization revealed reduced cardiac function and elevated filling pressures. DSA was positive against HLA DR53, and endomyocardial biopsy revealed grade 1R chronic inflammation, with strong capillary endothelial immunostaining for C4d. Plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG were initiated. His anasarca and renal failure subsequently resolved, echocardiogram showed improved function off inotropes, and anti-DR53 MFI was reduced by 57%. Conclusions. This is an example of a single immune-mediated process causing concurrent IDP and AMR. The improvement in cardiac function and neurologic symptoms with plasmapheresis, IVIG, and high-dose steroids argues for a unifying antibody-mediated mechanism.

Lésbicas sem humor

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Don Kullick

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Este artigo examina a construção social e cultural de um estereótipo sobre lésbicas, baseado na percepção de que elas não possuem senso de humor. Analisa-se como lésbicas são retratadas por comediantes, programas de TV,  quadrinhos e na literatura, e compara essas representações a outros  estereótipos, como aqueles relacionados a alemães e gays extravagantes. Ao investigar as relações entre masculinidade, feminilidade e falta de humor, demonstra-se que considerar lésbicas como incompatíveis com o riso e a graça significa caracterizá-las como destituídas de humanidade. The article Humorless lesbians examines the social and cultural construction of a lesbian stereotype, based on the perception that they lack sense of humor. It is analyzed how lesbians are portrayed by comedians, TV shows, comic strips, and in literature. These representations are compared to other stereotypes such as those related to Germans and campy gays. By investigating the relations between masculinity, femininity and humorlessness, it is demonstrated that considering lesbians as incompatible with laughter and fun means to depicting them as deprived of humanity.

Longitudinal Associations Between Humor Styles and Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescence.

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Fox, Claire Louise; Hunter, Simon Christopher; Jones, Siân Emily

2016-08-01

This study assessed the concurrent and prospective associations between psychosocial adjustment and four humor styles, two of which are adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing) and two maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating). Participants were 1,234 adolescents (52% female) aged 11-13 years, drawn from six secondary schools in England. Self-reports of psychosocial adjustment (loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and self-esteem) and humor styles were collected at two time points (fall and summer). In cross-lagged panel analyses, self-defeating humor was associated with an increase in both depressive symptoms and loneliness, and with a decrease in self-esteem. In addition, depressive symptoms predicted an increase in the use of self-defeating humor over time, indicating that these may represent a problematic spiral of thoughts and behaviors. Self-esteem was associated with an increase in the use of affiliative humor over the school year but not vice-versa. These results inform our understanding of the ways in which humor is associated with psychosocial adjustment in adolescence.

Longitudinal Associations Between Humor Styles and Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescence

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Claire Louise Fox

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study assessed the concurrent and prospective associations between psychosocial adjustment and four humor styles, two of which are adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing and two maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating. Participants were 1,234 adolescents (52% female aged 11-13 years, drawn from six secondary schools in England. Self-reports of psychosocial adjustment (loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and self-esteem and humor styles were collected at two time points (fall and summer. In cross-lagged panel analyses, self-defeating humor was associated with an increase in both depressive symptoms and loneliness, and with a decrease in self-esteem. In addition, depressive symptoms predicted an increase in the use of self-defeating humor over time, indicating that these may represent a problematic spiral of thoughts and behaviors. Self-esteem was associated with an increase in the use of affiliative humor over the school year but not vice-versa. These results inform our understanding of the ways in which humor is associated with psychosocial adjustment in adolescence.

Forms, functions, and foibles of humor used in AIDS service organizations.

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Kosenko, Kami A; Rintamaki, Lance S

2010-01-01

Research has indicated that HIV service providers commonly use humor to cope with work-related stress; however, little is known about the forms and functions of humor used by these professionals. In this study, 25 HIV service providers from five AIDS service organizations were interviewed about their use of humor. Participants described five primary types of humor as prevalent within AIDS service organizations and noted that humor served a variety of functions, which were either adaptive or maladaptive. Adaptive functions included boosting morale and reducing tension, whereas maladaptive functions ranged from masking emotions to alienating certain groups. Results emphasized the importance of context in the study of humor use and the need for continued investigations of the stress and coping of HIV service providers.

In-111 oxine autologous labeled platelets in the diagnosis of kidney graft rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin-Comin, J.; Roca, M.; Grino, J.M.; Paradell, C.; Caralps, C.

1983-01-01

The usefulness of In-111 oxine labeled autologous platelets in the diagnosis of renal graft rejection was studied. The method is based on imaging of the graft area at 4, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the injection of the labeled cells. The study was done in 31 renal transplant recipients. The control group included four patients with normal renal function without evidence of rejection. No platelet uptake was observed in any of them. The study group included 22 patients with acute rejection which was confirmed histologically in 13. One case of chronic vascular type rejection of the graft tracer uptake was seen. There was a false-positive result due to a perirenal hematoma. In three patients with a non-immunological sudden impairment of renal function, no activity was detected in the graft area. We also evaluated the changes in platelet trapping throughout the study and they seemed to correlate with the response to the antirejection therapy

The outcast-lash-out effect in youth: alienation increases aggression following peer rejection.

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Reijntjes, Albert; Thomaes, Sander; Bushman, Brad J; Boelen, Paul A; de Castro, Bram Orobio; Telch, Michael J

2010-10-01

Although there are good theoretical reasons to believe that youth who are high in alienation (i.e., estranged from society, significant others, and themselves) are prone to behave aggressively, empirical evidence is lacking. The present experiment tested whether alienation moderates the effects of acute peer rejection on aggression in youth. Participants (N = 121; mean age = 11.5 years) completed a personal profile (e.g., "How do you describe yourself?") that was allegedly evaluated online by a panel of peer judges. After randomly receiving negative or positive feedback from peer judges, participants were given the opportunity to aggress against them (i.e., by reducing their monetary reward and by posting negative comments about them online). As predicted, alienation increased participants' aggression against peers who had rejected them, but not against peers who had praised them, even after controlling for peer-nominated chronic rejection and peer-nominated aggression. Thus, alienated youth are more aggressive than others when they experience acute peer rejection.

THE USES OF HUMOR IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL WORKERS’ EXPERIENCE

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Gabrielė Vaitulionytė

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses how humor could enrich social work practice and guideline social workers. Social work field is not that traditionally relates with humor. While social work scholars argue that social work field is full of contradictions and humor is relevant tool to express those contradictions and paradoxes. In micro level practice Gitterman (2003 suggests humor could be a creative tool that “must be used differently based on client background, level of functioning, and specific situation”. Article presents results of qualitative study. The analysis of social workers’ professional experiences is based on social constructionism perspective with the aim to explain how humor is used in everyday practice and how use of purposive humor could be helpful in social work intervention. Episodic interviews with six social workers working in intercultural social work field were conducted. Transcripts of interviews were analyzed through conceptualization, developing story and maximizing aims of the study. Anonymity and confidentiality was considered. The results of analysis demonstrate that humor is unique experience in the sociocultural context. Discursive categories explain the purpose of humor for practice, circumstances and conditions for using that determine how the use of humor could contribute to the success of a social worker-client interaction. Using humor is considered as professional competence, which suggests that “having a good sense of humor” and appropriate use of humor with ability to demonstrate empathy and honesty in social worker-client interaction is an important part of social worker competence. Humor as a professional competence contained understanding of the humorous taboo. During analysis were explored how using humor and cultural stories of clients create mezzo level strategies for professional social work practice. Keywords: humor in social work practice, social work process, humor taboo.

Humor and laughter in persons with cognitive impairment and their caregivers.

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Liptak, Amy; Tate, Judith; Flatt, Jason; Oakley, Mary Ann; Lingler, Jennifer

2014-03-01

The purpose of this study was to describe humor and laughter in persons with cognitive impairment (PWCI) and caregivers who were recalling a shared experience in a focus group. Twenty participants attended an Art Engagement Activity at the Andy Warhol Art Museum, which included a guided tour and an art project. All PWCI had medically diagnosed cognitive disorders and all caregiver participants did not. Four focus groups were conducted and transcripts of audio-recorded sessions were transferred to a qualitative software program. Words, phrases, and episodes of humor and laughter were used to construct codes, which were refined during group analysis using constant comparison. Humor and laughter were present in all four focus groups. Emerging themes of humor included silliness, sarcasm, and commenting about hardships of dementia. Laughter was identified in segments with and without humor. Some PWCI were unable to follow social cues. Humor and laughter played a role in creating a safe social environment. PWCI were able to engage in humor during social interactions, yet some had difficulty recognizing social cues. Further study may reveal roles of humor and laughter in adaptation to cognitive decline and holistic interventions for improved quality of life.

Sex Differences in Preferences for Humor: A Replication, Modification, and Extension

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Liana S. E. Hone

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary-minded scientists have proposed that humor is a sexually selected trait in men that signals mate quality. Indeed, women tend to prefer men who make them laugh and men tend to prefer women who laugh at their jokes. However, it is unclear how robust this pattern is. Here we report a replication of one of the first studies (Bressler, Martin, and Balshine, 2006 to examine the sex differences in preferences for humor receptivity versus humor production. We replicate Bressler et al.'s (2006 findings that men prefer women who are receptive to their humor whereas women prefer men who produce humor. These findings held even after we modified Bressler et al.'s questionnaire for better conceptual validity. Furthermore, using a separate measure designed to assess trade-offs, we found that men viewed humor receptivity as a necessity and humor production as a luxury when they were asked to create an ideal long-term partner. For women, it was just the opposite. These results bolster the claim that sexual selection has shaped sex differences regarding preferences for a prospective mate's sense of humor and that what one means by “sense of humor” can vary.

[Preoperatively administered flomoxef sodium concentration in aqueous humor].

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Miyamoto, Mariko; Watanabe, Yoichiro; Mizuki, Nobuhisa

2007-04-01

We intravenously administered flomoxef sodium (FMOX) 0.5-3.5 hours before cataract surgery and measured the concentration of the agent in the aqueous humor to investigate its penetration into the aqueous humor and its efficacy in the prevention of postoperative endophthalmitis. 56 patients who underwent cataract surgery were enrolled in this study. They received 1 g FMOX via a 20-minute intravenous drip beginning 0.5-3.5 hours before the operation. Aqueous humor was aspirated from the anterior chamber and assayed for FMOX concentration using high-performance liquid chromatography. The mean intraoperative FMOX concentrations in the patients' aqueous humor were 0.79 +/- 0.24 microg/ml (administered 3.5 hours before surgery)--1.47 0.79 microg/ml (administered 1.5 hours before surgery). These concentrations administered 0.5-3.0 hours before surgery sufficiently exceeded the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 90 values against Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus and Propionibacterium acnes, but did not achieve the MIC90 values against Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The FMOX concentrations in the aqueous humor sampling were adequate to kill bacteria in vitro. This drug may be efficacious in the prevention of postoperative endophthalmitis in patients undergoing cataract surgery.

Humor comprehension and appreciation: an FMRI study.

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Bartolo, Angela; Benuzzi, Francesca; Nocetti, Luca; Baraldi, Patrizia; Nichelli, Paolo

2006-11-01

Humor is a unique ability in human beings. Suls [A two-stage model for the appreciation of jokes and cartoons. In P. E. Goldstein & J. H. McGhee (Eds.), The psychology of humour. Theoretical perspectives and empirical issues. New York: Academic Press, 1972, pp. 81-100] proposed a two-stage model of humor: detection and resolution of incongruity. Incongruity is generated when a prediction is not confirmed in the final part of a story. To comprehend humor, it is necessary to revisit the story, transforming an incongruous situation into a funny, congruous one. Patient and neuroimaging studies carried out until now lead to different outcomes. In particular, patient studies found that right brain-lesion patients have difficulties in humor comprehension, whereas neuroimaging studies suggested a major involvement of the left hemisphere in both humor detection and comprehension. To prevent activation of the left hemisphere due to language processing, we devised a nonverbal task comprising cartoon pairs. Our findings demonstrate activation of both the left and the right hemispheres when comparing funny versus nonfunny cartoons. In particular, we found activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47), the left superior temporal gyrus (BA 38), the left middle temporal gyrus (BA 21), and the left cerebellum. These areas were also activated in a nonverbal task exploring attribution of intention [Brunet, E., Sarfati, Y., Hardy-Bayle, M. C., & Decety, J. A PET investigation of the attribution of intentions with a nonverbal task. Neuroimage, 11, 157-166, 2000]. We hypothesize that the resolution of incongruity might occur through a process of intention attribution. We also asked subjects to rate the funniness of each cartoon pair. A parametric analysis showed that the left amygdala was activated in relation to subjective amusement. We hypothesize that the amygdala plays a key role in giving humor an emotional dimension.

The Use of Humor in Palliative Care: A Systematic Literature Review.

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Pinna, Miguel Ángel Cuervo; Mahtani-Chugani, Vinita; Sánchez Correas, Miguel Ángel; Sanz Rubiales, Alvaro

2018-01-01

Humor has its own place in the context of medicine. Nevertheless, its acceptance by terminal stage patients and health-care professionals has not been studied in depth and is not free from controversy. To understand the significance, appropriateness, and pertinence of the use of humor in palliative care and to analyze its applicability. A narrative systematic review was undertaken and included in PROSPERO. Online searches were carried out on PUBMED, PSYCINFO, EBSCO (CINHAL), EMBASE, SCIELO, SCOPUS, TESEO, WEB of SCIENCE, and COCHRANE between their launch date and December 31, 2015, complemented with manual searches with queries to experts. A total of 156 studies were identified, which were then filtered in pairs by means of an established hierarchy, selecting studies that discussed the use of humor specifically in palliative care from all perspectives and designs, and finally published in Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese. Critical reading of all the selected studies took place, with no exclusions due to quality evaluation. Thirty-four studies were included. Five main topics were identified: (1) definition of humor, (2) use and functions of humor in palliative care, (3) how to use humor, (4) when not to use humor, and (5) humor before and after the diagnosis of terminal illness. Humor plays an unquestionable role in palliative care, but its use needs training and appropriate use.

The Lived Experience of Psoriasis Patients from Social Stigma and Rejection: A Qualitative Study.

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Ghorbanibirgani, Alireza; Fallahi-Khoshknab, Masoud; Zarea, Kourosh; Abedi, Heidarali

2016-07-01

Psoriasis is a common, chronic skin disease that causes challenges such as stigma and labeling from both the community and individuals due to its effects on appearance. The objective of this study was to describe and explain the social stigma and rejection experienced by patients with psoriasis. The present research is a qualitative study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach conducted among psoriasis patients referring to the dermatology clinic and ward of Imam Khomeini hospital in Ahvaz, Iran between June and December 2014. In this study, 15 patients with psoriasis were selected by purposeful sampling, and they were asked to express their experience of stigma and rejection. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, and Diekelmann and colleagues' method was used for data analysis. After analysis of interviews, four themes were extracted: lack of social support, unrealistic and inappropriate labeling, rejection and isolation, and feeling of absurdity and futility. These can be indicative of the patients' experience from social stigma and rejection phenomena. Patients' experiences of stigma and rejection phenomena indicated that all aspects of their lives are affected. Moreover, these findings highlight the significance of stigma and rejection concepts in providing better care to these patients.

Playing with expectations: a contextual view of humor development

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Gabriella Airenti

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In the developmental literature it has been advanced that young children would not understand the specificity of nonliteral communicative acts. In this article I shall focus on young children’s ability to produce and understand different forms of humor. I shall explore children’s acquisition of the communicative contexts that constitute the background enabling them to perform humorous interactions before being able to analyze them in the terms allowed by a full fledged ToM. I consider that different forms of humor share a number of basic features and that we can draw a continuum from simple forms to sophisticated ones. In particular I shall focus on teasing, a form of humor already present in preverbal infants but also considered as a typical feature of irony. I shall argue that all forms of humor can be described in the terms of a kind of interaction that I propose to call playing with expectations.

Three Decades Investigating Humor and Laughter: An Interview With Professor Rod Martin.

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Martin, Rod; Kuiper, Nicholas A

2016-08-01

Since the start of the 21st century, the investigation of various psychological aspects of humor and laughter has become an increasingly prominent topic of research. This growth can be attributed, in no small part, to the pioneering and creative work on humor and laughter conducted by Professor Rod Martin. Dr. Martin's research interests in humor and laughter began in the early 1980s and continued throughout his 32 year long career as a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Western Ontario. During this time, Dr. Martin published numerous scholarly articles, chapters, and books on psychological aspects of humor and laughter. Professor Martin has just retired in July 2016, and in the present interview he recounts a number of research highlights of his illustrious career. Dr. Martin's earliest influential work, conducted while he was still in graduate school, stemmed from an individual difference perspective that focused on the beneficial effects of sense of humor on psychological well-being. This research focus remained evident in many of Professor Martin's subsequent investigations, but became increasingly refined as he developed several measures of different components of sense of humor, including both adaptive and maladaptive humor styles. In this interview, Dr. Martin describes the conceptualization, development and use of the Humor Styles Questionnaire, along with suggestions for future research and development. In doing so, he also discusses the three main components of humor (i.e., cognitive, emotional and interpersonal), as well as the distinctions and similarities between humor and laughter. Further highlights of this interview include Professor Martin's comments on such diverse issues as the genetic versus environmental loadings for sense of humor, the multifaceted nature of the construct of humor, and the possible limitations of teaching individuals to use humor in a beneficial manner to cope with stress and enhance their social and

Measurement of amino acid levels in the vitreous humor of rats after chronic intraocular pressure elevation or optic nerve transection.

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Levkovitch-Verbin, Hana; Martin, Keith R G; Quigley, Harry A; Baumrind, Lisa A; Pease, Mary Ellen; Valenta, Danielle

2002-10-01

To investigate whether the levels of free amino acids and protein in the vitreous of rat eyes are altered with chronic intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation or after optic nerve transection. The concentrations of 20 amino acids in the vitreous humor were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography in both eyes of 41 rats with unilateral IOP elevation induced by translimbal photocoagulation. Eyes were studied 1 day and 1, 2, 4, and 9 weeks after initial IOP elevation. The same amino acids were measured in 41 rats 1 day and 2, 4, and 9 weeks after unilateral transection of the orbital optic nerve. The intravitreal protein level was assayed in additional 22 rats with IOP elevation and 12 rats after nerve transection. Two masked observers evaluated the amount of optic nerve damage with a semiquantitative, light-microscopic technique. In rats with experimental glaucoma, amino acid concentrations were unchanged 1 day after treatment. At 1 week, 4 of 20 amino acids (aspartate, proline, alanine, and lysine) were higher than in control eyes ( 0.05). Vitreous protein level was significantly higher in glaucomatous eyes than their paired controls at 1 day ( 0.01).

Using Humor in Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: Worthy of Further Investigation.

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Canha, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Throughout the literature, humor has demonstrated positive effects on memory and learning, as well as physiological and psychological well being. Research has described improvements in communication and trust through the use of humor in the nurse-patient relationship. The utilization of humor with certain populations, including those with anxiety disorders, cancer patients and mood disorders has also been widely described in the literature but little research has been conducted with humor use in patients' recovery from substance use disorders. This population might benefit from the thoughtful applications of humor to promote laughter and mirth as well as learning recovery principles. A review of the humor theories, theoretical processes and humor styles are discussed for their use in individuals with substance use disorders, in particularly for early recovery engagement in 12 step programs and other recover support social networks. The application of humor in efforts to support recovery with substance use disorder patients is worth investigating further.

Humor Use Moderates the Relation of Stressful Life Events With Psychological Distress.

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Fritz, Heidi L; Russek, Leslie N; Dillon, Melissa M

2017-06-01

Three studies examined humor and adjustment to stressful events. In Study 1, patients with fibromyalgia syndrome ( N = 22) reported on mental and physical adjustment, social interaction, and reappraisal of their illness. Dispositional humor was associated with reduced distress and fewer physical symptoms. Study 2 ( N = 109) examined undergraduates' reports of stressful events. Dispositional, self-enhancing, affiliative, and self-defeating humor showed direct effects on distress, which were mediated by social interaction and reappraisal. Moreover, dispositional and aggressive humor showed stress-buffering effects. Study 3 ( N = 105) examined undergraduates' adjustment to the September 11, 2001, attacks at 1 and 3 months postattack. At T1, affiliative humor showed a stress-buffering effect on distress. Social interaction mediated the relation of self-enhancing humor with reduced T1 distress, and mediated relations of aggressive and self-defeating humor with greater distress. Relations of T1 dispositional and self-defeating humor to changes in T2 distress were mediated by reappraisal.

American Learners' Comprehension of Russian Textual Humor

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Shardakova, Maria

2016-01-01

Over the past decade, second language (L2) humor has attracted scholarly attention as both a means and a goal of L2 development. Much of this research, however, has focused on oral communication, whereas virtually no studies address humor as an aspect of reading comprehension. This exploratory study combines these two areas of inquiry, examining…

Use and Non-Use of Humor in Academic ESL Classrooms

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Ziyaeemehr, Ali; Kumar, Vijay; Abdullah, Mohd S. Faiz

2011-01-01

A substantial body of research emphasizes the importance of humor in teaching/learning processes; however, research on the reasons for non-use of humor in academic contexts has enjoyed scant attention. Addressing this gap, this study examines the reasons for instructors' humor avoidance taking into account student perceived benefits of using humor…

When rejection stings: how self-esteem constrains relationship-enhancement processes.

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Murray, Sandra L; Rose, Paul; Bellavia, Gina M; Holmes, John G; Kusche, Anna Garrett

2002-09-01

Three experiments examined how needs for acceptance might constrain low versus high self-esteem people's capacity to protect their relationships in the face of difficulties. The authors led participants to believe that their partner perceived a problem in their relationship. They then measured perceptions of the partner's acceptance, partner enhancement, and closeness. Low but not high self-esteem participants read too much into problems, seeing them as a sign that their partner's affections and commitment might be waning. They then derogated their partner and reduced closeness. Being less sensitive to rejection, however, high self-esteem participants affirmed their partner in the face of threat. Ironically, chronic needs for acceptance may result in low self-esteem people seeing signs of rejection where none exist, needlessly weakening attachments.

Humor appreciation of captionless cartoons in obsessive-compulsive disorder

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2011-01-01

Background It seems that the core neural regions and cognitive processes implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) pathophysiology may overlap with those involved in humor appreciation. However, to date, there have been no studies that have explored humor appreciation in OCD. The purpose of the present work was to investigate humor appreciation in a group of patients with OCD. Methods We examined 25 patients with OCD and 25 healthy controls, matched by age, education, and gender. We administered Penn's Humor Appreciation Test (PHAT), a computerized test comprising captionless cartoons by Mordillo. Each set of stimuli consisted of two almost identical drawings, one of which was funny due to the alteration of a detail in the cartoon, whereas the other was not funny. Severity of psychopathology was evaluated with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Results No significant effect for group, gender or group × gender interaction was found on the PHAT scores. In OCD patients, humor appreciation was not significantly associated with age of onset, duration of illness, and obsessions, but correlated significantly with compulsions. Conclusions Humor appreciation, based on captionless cartoons in OCD, does not seem to be deficient compared to healthy subjects but may be related to illness characteristics. PMID:22103926

Anomalous hypothalamic responses to humor in cataplexy.

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Allan L Reiss

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Cataplexy is observed in a subset of patients with narcolepsy and affects approximately 1 in 2,000 persons. Cataplexy is most often triggered by strong emotions such as laughter, which can result in transient, yet debilitating, muscle atonia. The objective of this study was to examine the neural systems underlying humor processing in individuals with cataplexy.While undergoing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, we showed ten narcolepsy-cataplexy patients and ten healthy controls humorous cartoons. In addition, we examined the brain activity of one subject while in a full-blown cataplectic attack. Behavioral results showed that participants with cataplexy rated significantly fewer humorous cartoons as funny compared to controls. Concurrent fMRI showed that patients, when compared to controls and in the absence of overt cataplexy symptoms, showed pronounced activity in the emotional network including the ventral striatum and hypothalamus while viewing humorous versus non-humorous cartoons. Increased activity was also observed in the right inferior frontal gyri--a core component of the inhibitory circuitry. In comparison, the one subject who experienced a cataplectic attack showed dramatic reductions in hypothalamic activity.These findings suggest an overdrive of the emotional circuitry and possible compensatory suppression by cortical inhibitory regions in cataplexy. Moreover, during cataplectic attacks, the hypothalamus is characterized by a marked decrease in activity similar to that observed during sleep. One possible explanation for these findings is an initial overdrive and compensatory shutdown of the hypothalamus resulting in full cataplectic symptoms.

HUMOR STYLES, CREATIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS, AND CREATIVE THINKING IN A HONG KONG SAMPLE.

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Yue, Xiao Dong; Hui, Anna Na

2015-12-01

Humor is found to be an essential element of creative thinking in Western culture. In Eastern culture, however, the relationship between creativity and humor is ambivalent. This study examined the relationship among humor styles, creative personality traits, and creative thinking abilities. A sample of 118 Chinese undergraduates in Hong Kong was recruited to complete the Humor Styles Questionnaire, the three Creative Personality subscales of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory-2 (CPAI-2), and the Verbal Test of the Wallach-Kogan Creativity Tests. Results show that humor styles are uncorrelated with creative thinking abilities of flexibility, fluency, and originality, but affiliative humor and aggressive humor are correlated with creative personality traits of novelty and diversity. A hierarchical multiple regression shows that both humor styles and creative personality traits of novelty and diversity account for non-significant variance on creative thinking abilities. These findings largely support a hypothesized non-association between humor styles and creative measures. They also pose a sharp contrast to findings obtained in the West, in which humor styles are typically correlated with both creative thinking abilities and creative personality traits.

Are Humor Styles of People With Dementia Linked to Greater Purpose in Life?

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Mak, Wingyun; Sörensen, Silvia

2018-01-27

Little is known about humor and purpose in life in people with dementia. Although having a sense of humor is typically associated with positive psychological outcomes, recent evidence suggests that outcomes may vary depending on whether the humor being used is adaptive versus maladaptive. The goal of this study was to determine whether humor styles are predictive of purpose in life in people with dementia. Questionnaires were verbally administered to people with mild-to-moderate dementia to measure humor styles and purpose in life. Adaptive humor styles were associated with purpose in life whereas maladaptive humor styles were not. Having a sense of humor in dementia may be associated with a stronger sense of purpose in life, but it depends on the type of humor used. Results are discussed in the context of understanding the role of humor in the daily lives of people with dementia and implications for care. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Humorous Function of English Euphemism

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黎清亚

2017-01-01

As a universal linguistic phenomenon in human society, euphemism is widely used in all social classes and fields. It is an important means to coordinate interpersonal relationship. This research discusses some fundamental knowledge of euphemism. It aims to analyze the humorous function of English euphemism in social interaction, advertisement and expressing professions. Through the analysis of the humorous function of English euphemism, it helps people to reduce mistake, improve the effect of communication and enhance mutual understanding.

Long term results of total lymphoid irradiation in the treatment of cardiac allograft rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolden, Suzanne L.; Tate, David J.; Hunt, Sharon A.; Strober, Samuel; Hoppe, Richard T.

1996-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the short and long term effects of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) in the treatment of allograft rejection in cardiac transplant patients. Materials and Methods: From 1986 to 1995, 48 courses of TLI were delivered to 47 patients who had received cardiac transplants at Stanford University. In 38 cases, TLI was administered for chronic, intractable allograft rejection despite conventional anti-rejection therapy, including corticosteroids, azathioprine, cyclosporine, OKT3, DHPG, RATG, and methotrexate. Ten patients received TLI prophylactically, beginning radiation between 5 and 16 days after heart transplantation. The prescribed radiation dose was 800 cGy given in 80 cGy fractions twice weekly to all major lymph node regions using mantle and inverted Y fields. Patients continued to receive all medications except azathioprine which was held during TLI to prevent severe marrow suppression. All patients were closely monitored for episodes of rejection, infection, prednisone requirements, blood counts, and complications of treatment. Post-irradiation follow up ranged from 6 months to 9.1 years with a mean of 3.1 years. Results: The actual mean dose of radiation was 730 cGy delivered over a mean of 39 calendar days. Fifty six percent of patients required treatment delay or abbreviation because of thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, infection, or unrelated problems. In patients treated for intractable rejection, the frequency of rejection dropped from 0.46 episodes/patient/month before radiation to 0.14 episodes/patient/month during TLI (p 3 during TLI (p = 0.01) and remained low at 167.6 cells/mm 3 2-4 months after treatment (p = 0.05). CD8+ lymphocytes also decreased during treatment from 233.2 to 65.8 cells/mm 3 (p = 0.003) but rose significantly above normal to 381.3 cells/mm 3 2-4 months after TLI (p 0.05). Thus, the ratio of helper/suppresser T-cells was chronically decreased. Infection rates were not significantly different before, during or after

Humor and laughter in persons with cognitive impairment and their caregivers

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Liptak, Amy; Tate, Judith; Flatt, Jason; Oakley, Mary Ann; Lingler, Jennifer

2014-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe humor and laughter in persons with cognitive impairment (PWCI) and caregivers who were recalling a shared experience in a focus group. Design Twenty participants attended an Art Engagement Activity at the Andy Warhol Art Museum, which included a guided tour and an art project. All PWCI had medically diagnosed cognitive disorders and all caregiver participants did not. Four focus groups were conducted and transcripts of audio-recorded sessions were transferred to a qualitative software program. Methods Words, phrases and episodes of humor and laughter were used to construct codes, which were refined during group analysis using constant comparison. Findings Humor and laughter were present in all four focus groups. Emerging themes of humor included silliness, sarcasm and commenting about hardships of dementia. Laughter was identified in segments with and without humor. Some PWCI were unable to follow social cues. Conclusions Humor and laughter played a role in creating a safe social environment. PWCI were able to engage in humor during social interactions, yet some had difficulty recognizing social cues. Further study may reveal roles of humor and laughter in adaptation to cognitive decline and holistic interventions for improved quality of life. PMID:23926217

Flomoxef sodium and levofloxacin concentrations in aqueous humor.

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Mizuki, Nobuhisa; Watanabe, Yoichiro; Miyamoto, Mariko; Iijima, Yasuhito; Takiyama, Naoaki; Ito, Yoshiki; Ito, Norihiko; Nishida, Tomomi; Iwata, Shinko; Endo, Yoko; Ito, Daizo

2005-01-01

We intravenously administered flomoxef sodium (FMOX) 120 minutes before cataract surgery, topically administered levofloxacin (LVFX) into the eyes four times at 30-minute intervals before surgery, and measured the aqueous humor concentrations of these agents to investigate their penetration into the aqueous humor and their efficacy in the prevention of postoperative endophthalmitis. Sixty-eight patients who underwent cataract surgery at the Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University School of Medicine, or its affiliate, Kanazawa Hospital, Yokohama, were enrolled in this study. They received one or both of the following: 1.0 g FMOX via a 20-minute intravenous drip and LVFX ophthalmic solution applied four times at 30-minute intervals, both beginning two hours before the operation. Aqueous humor was aspirated from the anterior chamber and assayed for FMOX and LVFX concentrations using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The mean intraoperative FMOX and LVFX concentrations in the patients' aqueous humor were 1.21 +/- 0.63 microg/ml and 0.69 +/- 0.47 microg/ml, respectively. These concentrations sufficiently exceeded the MIC90 values against Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, and Propionibacterium acnes. The FMOX and LVFX concentrations in the aqueous humor sampling were adequate to kill bacteria in vitro. These drugs may have efficacy in the prevention of postoperative endophthalmitis in patients undergoing cataract surgery.

Lung allograft rejection in the rat. I. Accelerated rejection caused by graft lymphocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prop, J.; Nieuwenhuis, P.; Wildevuur, C.R.

1985-01-01

To find out to what extent rejection of lungs differs from that of other organs, functional rejection of lung allografts was studied in five combinations of inbred rat strains. Rejection could be monitored accurately by perfusion scintigraphy, and equally well by chest roentgenography. The rejection of lung grafts was found to proceed remarkably fast, when compared with heart grafts, in combinations with strong RT1-incompatibilities. This accelerated rejection pattern could be converted into rejection at a normal pace by pretreatment of the donor with 10 Gy roentgen irradiation one day before transplantation. Donor pretreatment depleted the lung graft's bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (BALT) of lymphocytes. When grafts were depleted of all other passenger cells as well--by retransplantation from a cyclosporine-treated intermediate host--they showed an even more reduced immunogenicity, probably because of the loss of donor-type dendritic cells. These results indicate that lymphocytes from the BALT of lung grafts are capable of accelerating the rejection response

Feasibility of a Humor Training to Promote Humor and Decrease Stress in a Subclinical Sample: A Single-Arm Pilot Study

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Nektaria Tagalidou

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The present study investigates the feasibility of a humor training for a subclinical sample suffering from increased stress, depressiveness, or anxiety. Based on diagnostic interviews, 35 people were invited to participate in a 7-week humor training. Evaluation measures were filled in prior training, after training, and at a 1-month follow-up including humor related outcomes (coping humor and cheerfulness and mental health-related outcomes (perceived stress, depressiveness, anxiety, and well-being. Outcomes were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVAs. Within-group comparisons of intention-to-treat analysis showed main effects of time with large effect sizes on all outcomes. Post hoc tests showed medium to large effect sizes on all outcomes from pre to post and results remained stable until follow-up. Satisfaction with the training was high, attrition rate low (17.1%, and participants would highly recommend the training. Summarizing the results, the pilot study showed promising effects for people suffering from subclinical symptoms. All outcomes were positively influenced and showed stability over time. Humor trainings could be integrated more into mental health care as an innovative program to reduce stress whilst promoting also positive emotions. However, as this study was a single-arm pilot study, further research (including also randomized controlled trials is still needed to evaluate the effects more profoundly.

Aqueous humor ferritin in hereditary hyperferritinemia cataract syndrome.

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Lenzhofer, Markus; Schroedl, Falk; Trost, Andrea; Kaser-Eichberger, Alexandra; Wiedemann, Helmut; Strohmaier, Clemens; Hohensinn, Melchior; Strasser, Michael; Muckenthaler, Martina U; Grabner, Guenther; Aigner, Elmar; Reitsamer, Herbert A

2015-04-01

Hereditary hyperferritinemia cataract syndrome (HHCS) is a rare autosomal dominant hereditary disease, characterized by hyperferritinemia but with absence of body iron excess and early onset of bilateral cataracts. Although 5- to 20-fold increased serum ferritin concentrations have been reported in HHCS patients, data of ferritin levels in aqueous humor have not been obtained. We therefore aimed to investigate the ferritin levels in aqueous humor and serum and further present histological and ultrastructural data of the lens. During cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation, aqueous humor and lens aspirate of a 37-year-old HHCS patient were obtained from both eyes. Ferritin levels in serum and aqueous humor were quantitatively analyzed via immunoassays in the HHCS patient and healthy control subjects (n = 6). Lens aspirate in HHCS was analyzed histologically and at the ultrastructural level. Further, genetic mutation screening by polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing in blood was performed. Serum ferritin levels in the control group were 142.2 ± 38.7 μg/L, whereas in the HHCS patient, this parameter was excessively increased (1086 μg/L). Analysis of ferritin in aqueous humor revealed 6.4 ± 3.8 μg/L in normal control subjects and 146.3 μg/L (OD) and 160.4 μg/L (OS) in the HHCS patient. DNA analysis detected a C>A mutation on position +18, a T>G mutation on position +22, a T>C mutation on position +24, and a T>G polymorphism on position +26 in the iron-responsive element of the light-chain ferritin (L-ferritin) gene. In the HHCS patient, a 23-fold (OD) to 25-fold (OS) increased aqueous humor ferritin level was detected. Therefore, the formation of bilateral cataract in HHCS is most likely a result of elevated aqueous humor ferritin. In addition, a novel mutation in this rare disease in the iron-responsive element of L-ferritin gene is reported.

Virtuous laughter: we should teach medical learners the art of humor.

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Oczkowski, Simon

2015-05-11

There is increasing recognition of the stress and burnout suffered by critical care workers. Physicians have a responsibility to teach learners the skills required not only to treat patients, but to cope with the demands of a stressful profession. Humor has been neglected as a strategy to help learners develop into virtuous and resilient physicians. Humor can be used to reduce stress, address fears, and to create effective health care teams. However, there are forms of humor which can be hurtful or discriminatory. In order to maximize the benefits of humor and to reduce its harms, we need to teach and model the effective and virtuous use of humor in the intensive care unit.

Stand Up Comics: Instructional Humor and Student Engagment

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Wortley, Amy; Dotson, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

This paper examines the use of instructional humor in higher education settings and makes connections between the levels of student achievement in academics and the influence of appropriate instructional humor. The work of prominent researchers such as Wanzer, Frymier, and Irwin (2010), and Segrist & Hupp (2015), who postulate that…

A Computational Model of Linguistic Humor in Puns

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Kao, Justine T.; Levy, Roger; Goodman, Noah D.

2016-01-01

Humor plays an essential role in human interactions. Precisely what makes something funny, however, remains elusive. While research on natural language understanding has made significant advancements in recent years, there has been little direct integration of humor research with computational models of language understanding. In this paper, we…

¿El sentido del humor, tiene sentido en el aula? / Does Sense of the Humor Make Sense in the Classroom?

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Freddy Antonio González Ynfante

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Recibido 09 de junio de 2011 • Aceptado 24 de octubre de 2011 • Corregido 27 de setiembre de 2011 Resumen. El presente ensayo tiene como finalidad reflexionar sobre la importancia del humor pedagógico como estrategia de enseñanza aprendizaje en el aula; esto, tomando en cuenta la problemática de desmotivación y aburrimiento que sucede normalmente en la clase. Para plantear si “el enseñar contento y el aprender con alegría” pueden aumentar la eficacia en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, se abordará cómo, a pesar de las múltiples ventajas que puede aportar el humor en las aulas, se omite su empleo por la existencia de ciertos prejuicios y temores. La idea no es que los docentes hagan el papel de comediantes o payasos, sino la de mediar y acercar la clase de manera pedagógica y didáctica a través del uso del humor, y sobre esto reflexionaba Platón (1992, cuando planteaba que muchas veces ayudaba una broma, en donde la seriedad oponía resistencia. Abstract. This paper studies the importance of humor as a teaching strategy in the classroom, considering the usual lack of motivation and boredom. To analyze whether the “happy teaching and happy learning” may increase effectiveness in the teaching-learning process, the author will discuss how, despite the many benefits it may bring, humor is not used in the classroom due to prejudices and fears. The idea is not for teachers to play the role of a comedian or a clown, but to intervene and get closer to the group with a teaching, didactic purpose through humor. Plato (1992 thought about this; he used to say that sometimes a joke may help, where seriousness put up resistance.

Impact of Humor Advertising in Radio and Print Advertising - A Review

OpenAIRE

S, venkatesh; N, senthilkumar

2015-01-01

The use of humour in advertising is the effective way of communication in any emotion to sell the products. Humor increase attention and attract more consumers so it became an effective advertising in any medium of advertising. Researchers and Advertisers more interested towards humor advertising more than century, but no review paper regarding impact of humor in radio and print advertising are published. Aim of this paper to get detailed review on impact of humor in radio and print advertisi...

Trait humor and longevity: do comics have the last laugh?

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Rotton, J

1992-01-01

Four sets of biographical data were analyzed in order to test the hypothesis that the ability to generate humor is associated with longevity. Although steps were taken to ensure that tests had high levels of statistical power, analyses provided very little support for the idea that individuals with a well-developed sense of humor live longer than serious writers and other entertainers. In addition, a subsidiary analysis revealed that those in the business of entertaining others died at an earlier age than those in other lines of endeavor. These findings suggest that researchers should turn their attention from trait humor to the effects of humorous material.

Direct current stimulation of the left temporoparietal junction modulates dynamic humor appreciation.

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Slaby, Isabella; Holmes, Amanda; Moran, Joseph M; Eddy, Marianna D; Mahoney, Caroline R; Taylor, Holly A; Brunyé, Tad T

2015-11-11

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of transcranial direct current stimulation targeting the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ) on humor appreciation during a dynamic video rating task. In a within-participants design, we targeted the left TPJ with anodal, cathodal, or no transcranial direct current stimulation, centered at electrode site C3 using a 4×1 targeted stimulation montage. During stimulation, participants dynamically rated a series of six stand-up comedy videos for perceived humor. We measured event-related (time-locked to crowd laughter) modulation of humor ratings as a function of stimulation condition. Results showed decreases in rated humor during anodal (vs. cathodal or none) stimulation; this pattern was evident for the majority of videos and was only partially predicted by individual differences in humor style. We discuss the possibility that upregulation of neural circuits involved in the theory of mind and empathizing with others may reduce appreciation of aggressive humor. In conclusion, the present data show that neuromodulation of the TPJ can alter the mental processes underlying humor appreciation, suggesting critical involvement of this cortical region in detecting, comprehending, and appreciating humor.

Pastoral Perspectives of Humor's Use in Ministry Contexts

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Young, Jonathan W.

2012-01-01

Results from a qualitative component of a mixed-methods research design are reported regarding the use of humor in pastoral ministry. Thirteen Southern Baptist (SB) pastors were interviewed, from a total of 37 exemplars identified in the quantitative component of the study, regarding their perspectives toward humor in ministry. Results overall…

[Detection of leptospira by culture of vitreous humor and detection of antibodies against leptospira in vitreous humor and serum of 225 horses with equine recurrent uveitis].

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Dorrego-Keiter, Elisa; Tóth, József; Dikker, Lieke; Sielhorst, Jutta; Schusser, Gerald Fritz

2016-01-01

In the ongoing discussion regarding the aetiopathogenesis of equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) it was the aim of the present study to elucidate the relationship of leptospira infection and ERU. In a population of 225 horses leptospira were examined in vitreous humor by culture and leptospira antibody were detected in vitreous humor and serum samples. Preoperative serum samples were collected from 221/225 ERU patients of different age, gender and breed. Undiluted vitreous humor was aseptically taken from 198/225 patients that underwent pars plana vitrectomy at the beginning of surgery and from 27/225 patients' eyeball after enucleation: Serum and vitreous humor were tested for specific leptospiral antibodies by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Furthermore, vitreous humor was examined by culture. 20 patients which were euthanized due to a live-threatening disease other than ERU served as a control group. A total of 127/221 (57.5%) horses had serum antibodies (≥ 1:100). Most frequently antibodies against L. interrogans serovar Grippotyphosa were detected (79/127), followed by L. interrogans serovar lcterohaemorrhagiae (34/127) and L. interrogans serovar Bratislava (29/127). Only 79/225 horses (35.1%) had leptospiral antibodies in vitreous humor, in which L. interrogans serovar Grippotyphosa (67/79) was identified most frequently followed by L. interrogans serovar Pomona (18/79) and L. interrogans serovar lcterohaemorrhagiae (8/79) which was identified as single or multiple reaction. Isolation of leptospira from vitreous humor was positive in 34/212 horses (16%). 10/20 control horses had a positive antibody titer against leptospira in serum and 2/20 horses in vitreous humor, whereas there was no leptospira detected in culture. The result of 84% negative cultures from vitreous humor of 212 ERU patients is decisive for the diagnosis and therapy of ERU.

Humoral Dysregulation Associated with Increased Systemic Inflammation among Injection Heroin Users.

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Michael S Piepenbrink

Full Text Available Injection drug use is a growing major public health concern. Injection drug users (IDUs have a higher incidence of co-morbidities including HIV, Hepatitis, and other infections. An effective humoral response is critical for optimal homeostasis and protection from infection; however, the impact of injection heroin use on humoral immunity is poorly understood. We hypothesized that IDUs have altered B cell and antibody profiles.A comprehensive systems biology-based cross-sectional assessment of 130 peripheral blood B cell flow cytometry- and plasma- based features was performed on HIV-/Hepatitis C-, active heroin IDUs who participated in a syringe exchange program (n = 19 and healthy control subjects (n = 19. The IDU group had substantial polydrug use, with 89% reporting cocaine injection within the preceding month. IDUs exhibited a significant, 2-fold increase in total B cells compared to healthy subjects, which was associated with increased activated B cell subsets. Although plasma total IgG titers were similar between groups, IDUs had significantly higher IgG3 and IgG4, suggestive of chronic B cell activation. Total IgM was also increased in IDUs, as well as HIV Envelope-specific IgM, suggestive of increased HIV exposure. IDUs exhibited numerous features suggestive of systemic inflammation, including significantly increased plasma sCD40L, TNF-α, TGF-α, IL-8, and ceramide metabolites. Machine learning multivariate analysis distilled a set of 10 features that classified samples based on group with absolute accuracy.These results demonstrate broad alterations in the steady-state humoral profile of IDUs that are associated with increased systemic inflammation. Such dysregulation may impact the ability of IDUs to generate optimal responses to vaccination and infection, or lead to increased risk for inflammation-related co-morbidities, and should be considered when developing immune-based interventions for this growing population.

Humor in the eye tracker: attention capture and distraction from context cues.

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Strick, Madelijn; Holland, Rob W; Van Baaren, Rick; Van Knippenberg, Ad

2010-01-01

The humor effect refers to a robust finding in memory research that humorous information is easily recalled, at the expense of recall of nonhumorous information that was encoded in close temporal proximity. Previous research suggests that memory retrieval processes underlie this effect. That is, free recall is biased toward humorous information, which interferes with the retrieval of nonhumorous information. The present research tested an additional explanation that has not been specifically addressed before: Humor receives enhanced attention during information encoding, which decreases attention for context information. Participants observed humorous, nonhumorous positive, and nonhumorous neutral texts paired with novel consumer brands, while their eye movements were recorded using eye-tracker technology. The results confirmed that humor receives prolonged attention relative to both positive and neutral nonhumorous information. This enhanced attention correlated with impaired brand recognition.

Acute rejection after kidney transplantation promotes graft fibrosis with elevated adenosine level in rat.

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Mingliang Li

Full Text Available Chronic allograft nephropathy is a worldwide issue with the major feature of progressive allograft fibrosis, eventually ending with graft loss. Adenosine has been demonstrated to play an important role in process of fibrosis. Our study aimed to investigate the relationship between adenosine and fibrosis in renal allograft acute rejection in rat.Wistar rats and SD rats were selected as experimental animals. Our study designed two groups. In the allograft transplantation group, kidneys of Wistar rats were orthotopically transplanted into SD rat recipients, the same species but not genetically identical, to induce acute rejection. Kidney transplantations of SD rats to SD rats which were genetically identical were served as the control. We established rat models and detected a series of indicators. All data were analyzed statistically. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Compared with the control group, levels of adenosine increased significantly in the allograft transplantation group, in which acute rejection was induced (P<0.05. Progressive allograft fibrosis as well as collagen deposition were observed.These findings suggested that level of adenosine was upregulated in acute rejection after kidney allograft transplantation in rat. Acute rejection may promote renal allograft fibrosis via the adenosine signaling pathways.

The Humor in Horror.

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Kies, Cosette

1995-01-01

Discussion of horror fiction for teenagers focuses on the element of humor. Topics include parodies, plots, the element of mystery, cover art, end-of-chapter cliffhangers, and formula books. An annotated list of 10 pertinent titles is included. (LRW)

The Views of Turkish Teachers on the Use of Humor in Secondary Schools

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Kilic, Yasin

2016-01-01

Humor is the type of expression and writing representing the humorous aspect of life by adorning with jokes and wit. The main objective of humor is to criticize, ironize, and correct the flaws and hideousness in life. Humor develops the sensitivity, the empathizing ability and social facts' multidimensional perception of individuals. Humor…

Early diagnosis of rejection reactions by means of 111In-oxine-labelled thrombocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolbe, H.; Sinzinger, H.; Angelberger, P.; Leithner, C.; Oesterreichische Studiengesellschaft fuer Atomenergie G.m.b.H., Seibersdorf. Inst. fuer Chemie)

1980-01-01

According to a modified labelling method thrombocytes were treated with 111 In-oxine. In 20 patients, aged 8 to 59 years, the labelled thrombocytes were used for scintiscanning of thrombus formation in the vascular system of transplanted kidneys. In patients with either acute or chronic rejection of the graft an enrichment of labelled thrombocytes was observed in the graft up to 12 hours before the increase of plasma creatinine, whereas patients with functioning grafts did not reveal any accumulation of labelled platelets. Thus scintigraphy with 111 In-oxine-labelled platelets proved to be a sensitive method, which first of all enables an early recognition of acute rejection reactions

The Use of Humor as a Teaching Strategy in Nursing Education

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Lukehart, Dennis E.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this research study was to determine the use of humor as a teaching strategy among a sample of nurse educators employed by community colleges and universities in Northern and Central California nursing programs. The study also identified the types of humor used, how humor is used in the classroom, and nurse educators' perceptions of…

Current and future challenges in therapy for antibody-mediated rejection.

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Nair, Nandini; Ball, Timothy; Uber, Patricia A; Mehra, Mandeep R

2011-06-01

Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) continues to present a challenge for the survival of the cardiac allograft. AMR appears to be on the rise, likely secondary to changing trends in clinical practice, including selection of patients for transplantation on mechanical circulatory support and development of more effective combinations of immunosuppressive drugs against acute cellular rejection. Most current strategies are aimed at treating acute AMR, but the treatment of chronic AMR is still not well defined. Clinically, AMR can often be more severe than cellular rejection and more difficult to treat, often not responding to typical protocols of increased immunosuppression. Complex steps involved in the antibody response allows for several potential targets for therapeutic intervention, including suppression of T and B cells, elimination of circulating antibodies, and inhibition of residual antibodies. Existing evidence suggests a multiregimen approach is the best option. Sustenance of accommodation and induction of tolerance could be viewed as viable options if adequate immune surveillance can be achieved in this setting. This review discusses the challenges in treating AMR and provides a critical analysis of current and possible future therapies. Copyright © 2011 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[The effect of humor in the workplace on mental/physical health and self-evaluation of job performance].

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Maruyama, Junichi; Fuji, Kei

2016-04-01

In this study we aimed to examine the contents of humor in the Japanese workplace and to understand the effects of humor on mental/physical health and self-evaluation of job performance. Japanese workers (N = 436) responded to questionnaires addressing workplace humor, feelings about workplace, workplace communication, mental/physical health, and perceived job performance. An exploratory factor analysis indicated that there are five types of workplace humor: norm-violating humor, experience-sharing humor workplace-enjoying humor, people-recalling humor, and outside-mocking humor. A covariance structural analysis showed that norm-violating humor and workplace-enjoying humor decreased mental and physical health by promoting both negative feelings in the workplace and self-disclosure about the negative side of work. Results also revealed that experience-sharing humor, people-recalling humor, and outside-mocking humor had a positive effect on the self-evaluation of job performance as well as mental and physical health, by promoting both positive feelings and mutual communication in the workplace. Results suggest that humor in the workplace has various influences on workers depending on the type of workplace humor.

Arma del contrapoder: Humor político y medios

OpenAIRE

César Ulloa Tapia

2008-01-01

El humor político en los medios de comunicación tiene enorme acogida en las audiencias ya que logra lo que pueden editoriales, análisis académicos y demás espacios de opinión. Es la mejor manera de denunciar, advertir, sancionar e incluso develar lo que hace o deja de hacer el poder político. El humor político está considerado como contrapoder. El periodismo que usa el humor es eficaz, tanto en el mensaje como en su efecto, pues describe las situaciones y recurre a comparaciones y símiles....

Does Humor Explain Why Relationally Aggressive Adolescents Are Popular?

Science.gov (United States)

Bowker, Julie C.; Etkin, Rebecca G.

2013-01-01

The association between relational aggression and popularity during early adolescence is well established. Yet, little is known about why, exactly, relationally aggressive young adolescents are able to achieve and maintain high popular status among peers. The present study investigated the mediating role of humor in the association between relational aggression and popularity during early adolescence. Also considered was whether the association between relational aggression and humor varies according to adolescents’ gender and their friends’ levels of relational aggression. Participants were 265 sixth-grade students (48% female; 41% racial/ethnic minority; Mage = 12.04 years) who completed peer nomination and friendship measures in their classrooms at two time points (Wave 1: February; Wave 2: May). The results indicated that Wave 1 relational aggression was related to Wave 1 and 2 popularity indirectly through Wave 1 humor, after accounting for the effects of Wave 1 physical aggression, ethnicity, and gender. Additional analyses showed that relational aggression and humor were related significantly only for boys and for young adolescents with highly relationally aggressive friends. The results support the need for further research on humor and aggression during early adolescence and other mechanisms by which relationally aggressive youth achieve high popular status. PMID:24136377

Humor in print health advertisements: enhanced attention, privileged recognition, and persuasiveness of preventive messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanc, Nathalie; Brigaud, Emmanuelle

2014-01-01

This study tested the effect of humor in one particular type of print advertisement: the preventive health ads for three topics (alcohol, tobacco, obesity). Previous research using commercial ads demonstrated that individuals' attention is spontaneously attracted by humor, leading to a memory advantage for humorous information over nonhumorous information. Two experiments investigated whether the positive effect of humor can occur with preventive health ads. In Experiment 1, participants observed humorous and nonhumorous health ads while their viewing times were recorded. In Experiment 2, to compare humorous and nonhumorous ads, the memory of health messages was assessed through a recognition task and a convincing score was collected. The results confirmed that, compared to nonhumorous health ads, those using humor received prolonged attention, were judged more convincing, and their messages were better recognized. Overall, these findings suggest that humor can be of use in preventive health communication.

Multilingual Manipulation and Humor in "I Love Lucy"

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschen, Bryan

2013-01-01

"I Love Lucy" is considered to have been one of the most humorous television programs in the United States as early as the 1950s. This paper explores the use of language by the protagonists, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, in order to understand the source of the program's humor. Linguistic analysis of the Ricardos' speech is applied,…

Humoral and cellular immune responses to modified hepatitis B ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

These findings indicate that the vaccine induced both a humoral and cellular ... Keywords: Hepatitis B virus, Plasmid DNA, Vaccine, Spleen cytokines, Humoral and cellular immune responses ... produced in mice. ... were performed and HBsAg specific IgM and IgG ..... and protection elicited against Plasmodium berghei.

CODING LOGICAL MECHANISM AND STEREOTYPING IN GENDER CYBER HUMORS

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Truly Almendo Pasaribu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Gender-related humors have their own way of being funny; and this research aims to find out how and why they are funny. For this purpose, both researchers have collected 50 gender cyber humors and analyzed them, first, to decode how their logical mechanism relates to specific linguistic features, and secondly, to uncover how gender stereotyping contributes to the comical effects. The twisting of logic and linguistic ambiguity is analyzed formally using Attardos (2001 General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH and supported by gender studies. The findings reveal that the logical mechanism consists of elements of incongruities, and gender stereotyping presents negative stereotypical images. The analysis further shows that some gender stereotypical images ridicule traditional roles of man and woman while others make fun of non-traditional representations. This shift from women only to both men and women as targets of gender humors has been an impact of effective feminist movements.

Universalidad y variabilidad cultural de la risa y el humor

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Eduardo Jáuregui

2008-01-01

Full Text Available La risa es un fenómeno aparentemente universal, pero el humor que la provoca muestra una variabilidad casi infinita. Este artículo trata de distinguir entre los aspectos universales de la risa y los que son culturalmente variables. Define la risa como una emoción básica del ser humano, provocada por un estímulo cognitivo que depende de definiciones sociales de la situación, lo cual explica al menos en parte su aparente heterogeneidad. Otros aspectos que también pueden variar son las normas y costumbres relativas a la expresión de la risa y del humor, los géneros humorísticos, las instituciones del humor y las definiciones culturales de la risa misma.

Non-MHC Antigenic Targets of the Humoral Immune Response in Transplantation

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Qiuheng; Reed, Elaine F.

2010-01-01

There is a growing body of data supporting a role for non-HLA antibodies in acute and chronic rejection of solid organ transplants. While many of these non-HLA antigens remain poorly defined, the principle antigenic targets are expressed on cells of the allograft including endothelium and epithelium. These non-HLA antigens are classified as either alloantigens, such as the major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA) or MICB, or tissue-specific autoantigens such as vim...

Using Psychophysiological Measures to Examine the Temporal Profile of Verbal Humor Elicitation.

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Chris M Fiacconi

Full Text Available Despite its pervasiveness in popular culture, there remains much to be learned about the psychological and physiological processes that underlie our experience of humor. In the present study, we examined the temporal profile of verbal humor elicitation using psychophysiological measures of heart rate (HR and facial electromyography (EMG. Consistent with recent prior research on cardiovascular changes to perceived humor, we found that HR acceleration was greater for jokes relative to non-jokes, and was positively related to the level of perceived humor elicited by these jokes. In addition, activity recorded from the zygomaticus major muscle that controls smiling was found to be greater for jokes relative to non-jokes. To link these physiological changes to the psychological processes that govern humor comprehension, we took the initial inflection point of the zygomatic EMG response as a marker for the onset of humor comprehension, and used this marker to probe the pattern of cardiovascular activity at this time-point. We estimated the onset of the humor response to occur during the initial HR deceleration phase, and found that jokes relative to non-jokes elicited a decreased HR response at this time-point. This result questions the previously forwarded notion that the psychological "moment of insight" that signals the start of the humor response is always associated with heightened cardiovascular activity. This discrepancy is discussed in relation to possible differences in the cognitive processes required to comprehend different forms of humor. At a broader level, our results also demonstrate the advantages of combining different psychophysiological measures to examine psychological phenomena, and illustrate how one such measure can constrain the interpretation of others.

Using Psychophysiological Measures to Examine the Temporal Profile of Verbal Humor Elicitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiacconi, Chris M; Owen, Adrian M

2015-01-01

Despite its pervasiveness in popular culture, there remains much to be learned about the psychological and physiological processes that underlie our experience of humor. In the present study, we examined the temporal profile of verbal humor elicitation using psychophysiological measures of heart rate (HR) and facial electromyography (EMG). Consistent with recent prior research on cardiovascular changes to perceived humor, we found that HR acceleration was greater for jokes relative to non-jokes, and was positively related to the level of perceived humor elicited by these jokes. In addition, activity recorded from the zygomaticus major muscle that controls smiling was found to be greater for jokes relative to non-jokes. To link these physiological changes to the psychological processes that govern humor comprehension, we took the initial inflection point of the zygomatic EMG response as a marker for the onset of humor comprehension, and used this marker to probe the pattern of cardiovascular activity at this time-point. We estimated the onset of the humor response to occur during the initial HR deceleration phase, and found that jokes relative to non-jokes elicited a decreased HR response at this time-point. This result questions the previously forwarded notion that the psychological "moment of insight" that signals the start of the humor response is always associated with heightened cardiovascular activity. This discrepancy is discussed in relation to possible differences in the cognitive processes required to comprehend different forms of humor. At a broader level, our results also demonstrate the advantages of combining different psychophysiological measures to examine psychological phenomena, and illustrate how one such measure can constrain the interpretation of others.

Humor in the teaching of writing: A microethnographic approach

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Christian F. Hempelmann

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the content of a critical thinking and writing course, along with similar courses derived from it, designed around the topic of humor and culminating in a microethnographic investigation of humor in students’ lives. The aims of the paper are threefold: to offer a general rationale for using humor in the writing classroom; to illustrate different types of potentials and dangers of such an approach; and to suggest extensions of the findings to the second-language writing classroom. The paper offers texts, writing prompts, and activities for instructors teaching classes that focus on the writing process in a first or second language.

Adaptação e validação da Escala de Senso de Humor Situacional Adaptación y validez de la Escala de Sentido del Humor Situacional Adaptation and validation of the Situational Humor Response Questionaire

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Adriana Benevides Soares

2012-08-01

Full Text Available O estudo visou desenvolver uma versão em português brasileiro do Situational Humor Response Questionaire (SHRQ, com adaptação transcultural e avaliação das medidas psicométricas em amostra brasileira. O instrumento em português de Portugal foi vertido para o português brasileiro passando pelas etapas de adaptação semântica, comparação das versões, validade de face e de conteúdo. O instrumento foi aplicado a 621 sujeitos. Foi feita extração de fatores com rotação oblíqua, análise das cargas fatoriais e consistência interna. Foram apontados três fatores: humor com amigos e colegas (α=0,70; influências sobre o humor (α=0,70; e humor em situações adversas (α =0,55. A consistência interna sugere que para o contexto brasileiro podem ser aperfeiçoados os itens de forma a aumentar o grau de precisão do fator. Contudo, o instrumento apresenta consistência interna aceitável.El estudio visó desarrollar una versión en portugués brasileño del Situational Humor Response Questionaire (SHRQ, con adaptación transcultural y evaluación de las medidas psicométricas en muestra brasileña. El instrumento en portugués de Portugal fue traducido para el portugués brasileño pasando por las etapas de adaptación semántica, comparación de las versiones, validez facial y de contenido. El instrumento fue aplicado en 621 sujetos. Fue hecha la extracción de factores con rotación oblicua, análisis de las cargas factoriales y consistencia interna. Fueron apuntados tres factores: humor con amigos y compañeros (α=0,70; influencias sobre el humor (α=0,70; y humor en situaciones adversas (α=0,55. La consistencia interna sugiere que para el contexto brasileño pueden ser perfeccionados los ítems para aumentar el grado de precisión del factor. Sin embargo, el instrumento presenta consistencia interna aceptable.This study aimed to develop a Brazilian Portuguese version of the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire (SHRQ, with

Humor, Loneliness and Interpersonal Communication: A Quantitative Study of Romanian Older Adults

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Ioana Schiau

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This quantitative study examines the correlations between humor, loneliness, gender and aging by presenting the results from a sample of eighty-three older Romanian adults, aged sixty and above. The first section of the paper is a comprehensive review of the social-psychological literature on aging, gender and humor. The second section assesses the findings generated from a study that uses the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (Thorson & Powell, 1993 and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults – short version, (diTomaso, Brannen & Best, 2004. Building on Robert Weiss’s (1973 reflections on the differences between feelings of loneliness because of social isolation or emotional isolation, the research findings nuance –and in some cases challenge several assumptions on gender, age, and emotional and social loneliness. The findings also point to the correlation between feelings of social loneliness and the use of humor in interpersonal communications. The data collected suggests that while Romanian men may value the use of humor more than women when self-reporting, that older Romanian women tend to use humor in interpersonal situations and that there is a significant correlation between the use of this type of humor and a reduced sense of social loneliness.

The value of humor in psycotherapy

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Liliana Chazenbalk

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The main point of this work is to show how humor—when is used properly- has a positive effect on the patient ant the therapist’s self improving their alliance, supervision and team meetings. It’s also good for profesionals to include humor, recreation and rest in their job routines, because these ingredients let them be more effective in psychoterapy. The vast majority of psychological theories agree on its importance. The Cognitive Psychology believes that humor helps the patient evaluate reality in a different way, stops disfunctional thoughts, lets the expression of negative emotions and finds more adaptative patterns. 

Infant humor perception from 3- to 6-months and attachment at one year.

Science.gov (United States)

Mireault, Gina; Sparrow, John; Poutre, Merlin; Perdue, Brittany; Macke, Laura

2012-12-01

Infancy is a critical time for the development of secure attachment, which is facilitated by emotionally synchronous interactions with parents. Humor development, which includes shared laughter and joint attention to an event, emerges concurrently with attachment, but little is known regarding the relationship, if any, between humor development and attachment in the first year. Thirty 3-month-old infants were videoed at home each month until they were 6-months old while their parents attempted to amuse them. Frequency of infants' smiles and laughs served as a measure of "state humor", and the smiling/laughing subscale of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised served as a measure of "trait humor". State and trait humor were not correlated. Lower trait humor as 6 months predicted higher attachment security on the Attachment Q-sort at 12-months (r=.46), suggesting that less good-humored infants elicit greater parental engagement, which works to the benefit of attachment, or vice versa. Future studies should examine the importance of smiling and laughter as they relate to other developmental phenomena in the first year. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Understanding Rejection between First-and-Second-Grade Elementary Students through Reasons Expressed by Rejecters.

Science.gov (United States)

García Bacete, Francisco J; Carrero Planes, Virginia E; Marande Perrin, Ghislaine; Musitu Ochoa, Gonzalo

2017-01-01

Objective: The aim of this research was to obtain the views of young children regarding their reasons for rejecting a peer. Method: To achieve this goal, we conducted a qualitative study in the context of theory building research using an analysis methodology based on Grounded Theory. The collected information was extracted through semi-structured individual interviews from a sample of 853 children aged 6 from 13 urban public schools in Spain. Results: The children provided 3,009 rejection nominations and 2,934 reasons for disliking the rejected peers. Seven reason categories emerged from the analysis. Four categories refer to behaviors of the rejected children that have a cost for individual peers or peer group such as: direct aggression, disturbance of wellbeing, problematic social and school behaviors and dominance behaviors. A further two categories refer to the identities arising from the preferences and choices of rejected and rejecter children and their peers: personal identity expressed through preferences and disliking, and social identity expressed through outgroup prejudices. The "no-behavior or no-choice" reasons were covered by one category, unfamiliarity. In addition, three context categories were found indicating the participants (interpersonal-group), the impact (low-high), and the subjectivity (subjective-objective) of the reason. Conclusion: This study provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive taxonomy of reasons for rejection that contributes to enrich the theoretical knowledge and improve interventions for preventing and reducing peer rejection.

Measurement approaches to the sense of humor: Introduction and overview

OpenAIRE

Ruch, Willibald

1996-01-01

There has been a renaissance of research interest in the "sense of humor" in recent years, partly äs an attempt to define the concept but more strenuously to provide Instruments for its measurement. A quick count of recent publications shows an average of two to three new sense of humor- instruments per year — or one every four to six months. This intensity of research is unparalleled in the history of humor research and contrasts sharply with 25 years ago when the renewal of interest in hum...

VIOLENCE DRESSED IN HUMOR: COMEDIC VIOLENCE IN ADVERTISING

OpenAIRE

Camelia Gradinaru

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the concepts of humor and violence and their complex relationships contextualised in the advertising domain. Thus, the main theories of humor and the most important elements from media violence paradigms are critically pointed out. The effects of comedic violence in advertising may be positive (great involvement with the ad message, retention of brand information, higher pass-along probability), and also negative (offending the audience, desensitization, damaging the r...

Is an Ideal Sense of Humor Gendered? A Cross-National Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tosun, Sümeyra; Faghihi, Nafiseh; Vaid, Jyotsna

2018-01-01

To explore lay conceptions of characteristics of an ideal sense of humor as embodied in a known individual, our study examined elicited written narratives by male and female participants from three different countries of origin: United States, Iran, and Turkey. As reported in an earlier previous study with United States-based participants (Crawford and Gressley, 1991), our study also found that the embodiment of an ideal sense of humor was predominantly a male figure. This effect was more pronounced for male than for female participants but did not differ by country. Relative mention of specific humor characteristics differed by participant gender and by country of origin. Whereas all groups mentioned creativity most often as a component of an ideal sense of humor, this attribute was mentioned significantly more often by Americans than by the other two groups; hostility/sarcasm was also mentioned significantly more often by Americans than Turkish participants who mentioned it more often than Iranian participants. Caring was mentioned significantly more often by Americans and Iranians than by Turkish participants. These findings show a shared pattern of humor characteristics by gender but group differences in the relative prominence given to specific humor characteristics. Further work is needed to corroborate the group differences observed and to pinpoint their source.

New approaches to the prevention of organ allograft rejection and tolerance induction.

Science.gov (United States)

Bagley, Jessamyn; Tian, Chaorui; Iacomini, John

2007-07-15

The therapeutic use of organ allograft transplantation is dependent on the discovery and clinical application of immunologic strategies to blunt the immune response and prevent graft rejection. It was the discovery of powerful immunotherapeutics such as cyclosporine A and rapamycin that has allowed for the widespread use of organ transplantation to treat organ failure. However, despite the attainment of impressive survival rates 1 year after organ transplantation, a significant number of organ allografts are lost to immune-mediated chronic rejection. Furthermore, significant morbidity and mortality can be associated with the use of currently available immunosuppressive regimens. Thus, the development of novel approaches to prevent of organ allograft rejection remains extremely important. Here we discuss two promising and novel avenues of research. First, the discovery and characterization of naturally occurring immune inhibitory signals have led to recent research aimed at exploiting these pathways to induce peripheral tolerance to alloantigen. Furthermore, we discuss new approaches to the induction of donor-specific tolerance by induction of molecular chimerism and the transfer of alloantigen-expressing mature T cells.

Is Laughing at the Expense of Victims and Offenders a Red Flag? Humor and Secondary Traumatic Stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Craun, Sarah W; Bourke, Michael L

2015-01-01

Those who work with human trauma often use humor to handle job stressors. Research has demonstrated that lighthearted humor is related to lower secondary traumatic stress scores, while gallows humor has the inverse relationship. This work explores how three types of humor relate to secondary traumatic stress: (a) humor at the expense of victims, (b) humor at the expense of offenders, and (c) humor containing sexual innuendo. Internet crimes against children taskforce personnel completed questionnaires about secondary traumatic stress and coping techniques. Humor at the expense of victims was rarely used, but when it was, it was indicative of higher secondary traumatic stress. There were no relationships between secondary traumatic stress and the use of humor at the expense of offenders or humor containing sexual innuendo.

Image rejects/retakes-radiographic challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waaler, D.; Hofmann, B.

2010-01-01

A general held position among radiological personnel prior to digitalisation was that the problem of image rejects/retakes should more or less vanish. However, rejects/retakes still impose several challenges within radiographic imaging; they occupy unnecessary resources, expose patients to unnecessary ionizing radiation and may also indicate suboptimal quality management. The latter is the main objective of this paper, which is based on a survey of international papers published both for screen/film and digital technology. The digital revolution in imaging seems to have reduced the percentage of image rejects/retakes from 10-15 to 3-5%. The major contribution to the decrease appears to be the dramatic reduction of incorrect exposures. At the same time, rejects/retakes due to lack of operator competence (positioning, etc.) are almost unchanged, or perhaps slightly increased (due to lack of proper technical competence, incorrect organ coding, etc.). However, the causes of rejects/retakes are in many cases defined and reported with reference to radiographers' subjective evaluations. Thus, unless radiographers share common views on image quality and acceptance criteria, objective measurements and assessments of reject/retake rates are challenging tasks. Interestingly, none of the investigated papers employs image quality parameters such as 'too much noise' as categories for rejects/retakes. Surprisingly, no reject/retake analysis seems yet to have been conducted for direct digital radiography departments. An increased percentage of rejects/retakes is related to 'digital skills' of radiographers and therefore points to areas for extended education and training. Furthermore, there is a need to investigate the inter subjectivity of radiographers' perception of, and attitude towards, both technical and clinical image quality criteria. Finally, there may be a need to validate whether reject/retake rate analysis is such an effective quality indicator as has been asserted

Image rejects/retakes--radiographic challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Waaler, D; Hofmann, B

2010-01-01

A general held position among radiological personnel prior to digitalisation was that the problem of image rejects/retakes should more or less vanish. However, rejects/retakes still impose several challenges within radiographic imaging; they occupy unnecessary resources, expose patients to unnecessary ionizing radiation and may also indicate suboptimal quality management. The latter is the main objective of this paper, which is based on a survey of international papers published both for screen/film and digital technology. The digital revolution in imaging seems to have reduced the percentage of image rejects/retakes from 10-15 to 3-5 %. The major contribution to the decrease appears to be the dramatic reduction of incorrect exposures. At the same time, rejects/retakes due to lack of operator competence (positioning, etc.) are almost unchanged, or perhaps slightly increased (due to lack of proper technical competence, incorrect organ coding, etc.). However, the causes of rejects/retakes are in many cases defined and reported with reference to radiographers' subjective evaluations. Thus, unless radiographers share common views on image quality and acceptance criteria, objective measurements and assessments of reject/retake rates are challenging tasks. Interestingly, none of the investigated papers employs image quality parameters such as 'too much noise' as categories for rejects/retakes. Surprisingly, no reject/retake analysis seems yet to have been conducted for direct digital radiography departments. An increased percentage of rejects/retakes is related to 'digital skills' of radiographers and therefore points to areas for extended education and training. Furthermore, there is a need to investigate the inter-subjectivity of radiographers' perception of, and attitude towards, both technical and clinical image quality criteria. Finally, there may be a need to validate whether reject/retake rate analysis is such an effective quality indicator as has been asserted.

Humorous Names in the Light of Incongruity Theory

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Mariusz Rutkowski

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The article addresses the humorous function of proper names in the light of incongruity theory. It aims at proving that, although names are often defined as pragmatically “transparent,” they may possess some humorous value due to semantic and pragmatic shifts resulting from the disturbance of ordinary patterns of proper names identification and interpretation. After a brief introduction, the author discusses different variants of incongruity theory as resented in the works by Victor Raskin and Thomas C. Veatch as well as their possible application to the study of humorous names. The second part of the paper provides an analysis of the humorous effects of proper names which includes anthroponyms, toponyms, trade names, football team names and names in literature. The first section of this part concentrates on names in which humour is unintentional and seems to be induced by the context, while the second section focuses on names which are intentionally humourous, i.e. supposed to amuse from the moment of their creation. The author argues that the incongruity theory can provide a useful framework for the study of the different mechanisms responsible of the semantic shifts which determine the variation of pragmatic values of proper names.

Using humor in systematic desensitization to reduce fear.

Science.gov (United States)

Ventis, W L; Higbee, G; Murdock, S A

2001-04-01

Effectiveness of systematic desensitization for fear reduction, using humorous hierarchy scenes without relaxation, was tested. Participants were 40 students highly fearful of spiders. Using a 24-item behavioral approach test with an American tarantula, participants were matched on fear level and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: (a) systematic desensitization, (b) humor desensitization, and (c) untreated controls. Each participant was seen for 6 sessions, including pretest and posttest. Analyses of covariance of posttest scores revealed that the 2 treatment groups showed greater reduction in fear than the controls on 3 measures but did not differ from each other. Therefore, humor in systematic desensitization reduced fear as effectively as more traditional desensitization. This finding may have therapeutic applications; however, it may also be applicable in advertising to desensitize fear of a dangerous product, such as cigarettes.

IS THE SENSE OF THE HUMOR INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT? / EL SENTIDO DEL HUMOR ¿ES INCOMPATIBLE CON LA DIRECCIÓN ESCOLAR?

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Freddy Antonio González Ynfante

2013-02-01

Full Text Available At present, the humor has become an indispensable tool in the practice of leadership or management processes, because it constitutes a factor and at the same time an element of the institutional climate; forming a dynamic of everyday life of the same and bringing great benefits if it is properly applied. The concern to carry out this research essay lies in knowing if the humor is part of the environment of the educational institution and is seen as the same within it.RESUMENEn la actualidad el humor se ha convertido en una herramienta imprescindible en las prácticas de dirección o procesos gerenciales, debido a que constituye un factor y a la vez un elemento del clima institucional; formando una dinámica cotidiana de la misma y trayendo grandes beneficios si es bien aplicado. La inquietud para llevar a cabo esta investigación tipo ensayo radica en conocer si el humor forma parte del ambiente de la institución educativa y como es visto el mismo dentro de ella.

The role of the amygdala in incongruity resolution: the case of humor comprehension.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Tagiru; Matsui, Tomoko; Utsumi, Akira; Yamazaki, Mika; Makita, Kai; Harada, Tokiko; Tanabe, Hiroki C; Sadato, Norihiro

2017-08-21

A dominant theory of humor comprehension suggests that people understand humor by first perceiving some incongruity in an expression and then resolving it. This is called "the incongruity-resolution theory." Experimental studies have investigated the neural basis of humor comprehension, and multiple neural substrates have been proposed; however, the specific substrate for incongruity resolution is still unknown. The reason may be that the resolution phase, despite its importance in humor comprehension, has not been successfully distinguished from the perception phase because both phases occur almost simultaneously. To reveal the substrate, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance study using 51 healthy participants. We used a humor-producing frame of "Given A, I'd say B, because C" so as to focus on the resolution phase independently by suspending humor processing just after the perception phase. This frame allowed us to separate the two phases. Based on our results, incongruity resolution evoked positive emotion and activated the left amygdala, which is known to be related to positive emotion. On the basis of these findings, we argue that the amygdala plays an important role in humor comprehension, considering its functional role in emotional evaluation, particularly the relevance detection for incoming stimuli.

‘Healthy’ identities? : Revisiting rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models among voluntary and forced immigrants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bobowik, Magdalena; Martinovic, Borja; Basabe, Nekane; Barsties, Lisa S.; Wachter, Gusta

2017-01-01

Rejection-identification and rejection-disidentification models propose that low-status groups identify with their in-group and disidentify with a high-status out-group in response to rejection by the latter. Our research tests these two models simultaneously among multiple groups of foreign-born

Sex differences in humor processing: An event-related potential study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yi-Tzu; Ku, Li-Chuan; Chen, Hsueh-Chih

2018-02-01

Numerous behavioral studies and a handful of functional neuroimaging studies have reported sex differences in humor. However, no study to date has examined differences in the time-course of brain activity during multistage humor processing between the sexes. The purpose of this study was to compare real-time dynamics related to humor processing between women and men, with reference to a proposed three-stage model (involving incongruity detection, incongruity resolution, and elaboration stages). Forty undergraduate students (20 women) underwent event-related potential recording while subjectively rating 30 question-answer-type jokes and 30 question-answer-type statements in a random order. Sex differences were revealed by analyses of the mean amplitudes of difference waves during a specific time window between 1000 and 1300 ms poststimulus onset (P1000-1300). This indicates that women recruited more mental resources to integrate cognitive and emotional components at this late stage. In contrast, men recruited more automated processes during the transition from the cognitive operations of the incongruity resolution stage to the emotional response of the humor elaboration stage. Our results suggest that sex differences in humor processing lie in differences in the integration of cognitive and emotional components, which are closely linked and interact reciprocally, particularly in women. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimentally Manipulating Items Informs on the (Limited Construct and Criterion Validity of the Humor Styles Questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willibald Ruch

2017-04-01

Full Text Available How strongly does humor (i.e., the construct-relevant content in the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al., 2003 determine the responses to this measure (i.e., construct validity? Also, how much does humor influence the relationships of the four HSQ scales, namely affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating, with personality traits and subjective well-being (i.e., criterion validity? The present paper answers these two questions by experimentally manipulating the 32 items of the HSQ to only (or mostly contain humor (i.e., construct-relevant content or to substitute the humor content with non-humorous alternatives (i.e., only assessing construct-irrelevant context. Study 1 (N = 187 showed that the HSQ affiliative scale was mainly determined by humor, self-enhancing and aggressive were determined by both humor and non-humorous context, and self-defeating was primarily determined by the context. This suggests that humor is not the primary source of the variance in three of the HQS scales, thereby limiting their construct validity. Study 2 (N = 261 showed that the relationships of the HSQ scales to the Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being (positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction were consistently reduced (personality or vanished (subjective well-being when the non-humorous contexts in the HSQ items were controlled for. For the HSQ self-defeating scale, the pattern of relationships to personality was also altered, supporting an positive rather than a negative view of the humor in this humor style. The present findings thus call for a reevaluation of the role that humor plays in the HSQ (construct validity and in the relationships to personality and well-being (criterion validity.

Experimentally Manipulating Items Informs on the (Limited) Construct and Criterion Validity of the Humor Styles Questionnaire.

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Ruch, Willibald; Heintz, Sonja

2017-01-01

How strongly does humor (i.e., the construct-relevant content) in the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin et al., 2003) determine the responses to this measure (i.e., construct validity)? Also, how much does humor influence the relationships of the four HSQ scales, namely affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating, with personality traits and subjective well-being (i.e., criterion validity)? The present paper answers these two questions by experimentally manipulating the 32 items of the HSQ to only (or mostly) contain humor (i.e., construct-relevant content) or to substitute the humor content with non-humorous alternatives (i.e., only assessing construct-irrelevant context). Study 1 ( N = 187) showed that the HSQ affiliative scale was mainly determined by humor, self-enhancing and aggressive were determined by both humor and non-humorous context, and self-defeating was primarily determined by the context. This suggests that humor is not the primary source of the variance in three of the HQS scales, thereby limiting their construct validity. Study 2 ( N = 261) showed that the relationships of the HSQ scales to the Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being (positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction) were consistently reduced (personality) or vanished (subjective well-being) when the non-humorous contexts in the HSQ items were controlled for. For the HSQ self-defeating scale, the pattern of relationships to personality was also altered, supporting an positive rather than a negative view of the humor in this humor style. The present findings thus call for a reevaluation of the role that humor plays in the HSQ (construct validity) and in the relationships to personality and well-being (criterion validity).

Increased Aqueous Humor CD4+/CD8+ Lymphocyte Ratio in Sarcoid Uveitis.

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Dave, Namita; Chevour, Priyanka; Mahendradas, Padmamalini; Venkatesh, Anitha; Kawali, Ankush; Shetty, Rohit; Ghosh, Arkasubhra; Sethu, Swaminathan

2018-02-08

To determine aqueous humor CD4+/CD8+ T-lymphocyte ratio changes in sarcoid and non-sarcoid uveitis with anterior chamber involvement. The case-control study includes 61 patients with either anterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis with anterior spill, or panuveitis. A total of 21 of them were categorized as sarcoid uveitis and 40 as non-sarcoid uveitis according to diagnostic criteria. CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the aqueous humor was determined using flow cytometry. Significantly higher CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the aqueous humor was observed in patients with sarcoid uveitis (6.3 ± 1.4; mean ± SEM) compared to non-sarcoid uveitis (1.6 ± 0.1; mean ± SEM). Whole blood CD4+/CD8+ ratio was not elevated in subjects with sarcoid and non-sarcoid uveitis. Aqueous humor CD4+/CD8+ ratio >3.5 was observed to be associated with sarcoid uveitis (OR 38, 95% CI 7.0-205.2). Increased aqueous humor CD4+/CD8+ ratio in sarcoid uveitis. Immunophenotyping of localized lymphocytosis in aqueous humor could be utilized as an additional confirmatory marker for ocular sarcoidosis.

If I don't laugh, I'll cry: Exploring humor coping in breast cancer.

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Melton, Laura M

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship among humor coping, optimism, neuroticism, and depression in a sample of breast cancer survivors and matched control participants. Breast cancer survivors reported marginally lower levels of depression than the controls. In both groups, humor coping was not related to depression, optimism, or neuroticism, but depression was correlated negatively with optimism and positively with neuroticism. In the breast cancer group, humor coping was correlated with the coping subscales of self-distraction, positive reframing, planning, and active coping. In the control group, humor coping was correlated with the coping sub-scales of self-distraction, positive reframing, planning, venting, and using instrumental support. These results suggest either that humor coping is not a stable variable or that whether humor is a positive or negative coping technique depends partly on the population under study.

Eicosapentenoic Acid Attenuates Allograft Rejection in an HLA-B27/EGFP Transgenic Rat Cardiac Transplantation Model.

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Liu, Zhong; Hatayama, Naoyuki; Xie, Lin; Kato, Ken; Zhu, Ping; Ochiya, Takahiro; Nagahara, Yukitoshi; Hu, Xiang; Li, Xiao-Kang

2012-01-01

The development of an animal model bearing definite antigens is important to facilitate the evaluation and modulation of specific allo-antigen responses after transplantation. In the present study, heterotopic cardiac transplantation was performed from F344/EGFPTg and F344/HLA-B27Tg rats to F344 rats. The F344 recipients accepted the F344/EGFPTg transplants, whereas they rejected the cardiac tissue from the F344/HLA-B27Tg rats by 39.4 ± 6.5 days, due to high production of anti-HLA-B27 IgM- and IgG-specific antibodies. In addition, immunization of F344 rats with skin grafts from F344/HLA-B27Tg rats resulted in robust production of anti- HLA-B27 IgM and IgG antibodies and accelerated the rejection of a secondary cardiac allograft (7.4 ± 1.9 days). Of interest, the F344 recipients rejected cardiac grafts from double transgenic F344/HLA-B27&EGFPTg rats within 9.0 ± 3.2 days, and this was associated with a significant increase in the infiltration of lymphocytes by day 7, suggesting a role for cellular immune rejection. Eicosapentenoic acid (EPA), one of the ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish oil, could attenuate the production of anti-HLA IgG antibodies and B-cell proliferation, significantly prolonging double transgenic F344HLA-B27&EGFPTg to F344 rat cardiac allograft survival (36.1 ± 13.6 days). Moreover, the mRNA expression in the grafts was assessed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), revealing an increase in the expression of the HO-1, IL-10, TGF-β, IDO, and Foxp3 genes in the EPA-treated group. Hence, our data indicate that HLA-B27 and/or GFP transgenic proteins are useful for establishing a unique animal transplantation model to clarify the mechanism underlying the allogeneic cellular and humoral immune response, in which the transplant antigens are specifically presented. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that EPA was effective in the treatment of rat cardiac allograft rejection and may allow the development of

Does humor in radio advertising affect recognition of novel product brand names?

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Berg, E M; Lippman, L G

2001-04-01

The authors proposed that item selection during shopping is based on brand name recognition rather than recall. College students rated advertisements and news stories of a simulated radio program for level of amusement (orienting activity) before participating in a surprise recognition test. Humor level of the advertisements was varied systematically, and content was controlled. According to signal detection analysis, humor did not affect the strength of recognition memory for brand names (nonsense units). However, brand names and product types were significantly more likely to be associated when appearing in humorous advertisements than in nonhumorous advertisements. The results are compared with prior findings concerning humor and recall.

Friendship, Intimacy and Humor

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Gordon, Mordechai

2014-01-01

A review of the literature in philosophy in the past 20 years indicates that relatively little has been written on the connection between friendship, intimacy and humor. This article is intended to begin to address the neglect of this topic among philosophers by focusing on some interesting aspects of the relationship between friendship, intimacy…

The Humor Continuum: From Text to Smart Environments (Keynote Paper)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijholt, Antinus

Humor is important in our daily life, whether our activities are at home, at work, or in public spaces, for example during sports or other recreational and entertainment activities. Until now, computational humor, the research area that investigates rules and algorithms to understand and to generate

O humor na literatura infantil: um estudo sobre leitura e apropriação de recursos humorísticos por crianças dos anos iniciais

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Iara Tatiana Bonin

2012-09-01

Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-795X.2012v30n3p869 O trabalho baseia-se na articulação entre o campo da literatura infantil e os estudos sobre humor e  investiga as formas como alunos  dos anos iniciais se apropriam de alguns recursos humorísticos em sua própria produção textual e imagética, após a realização de atividade com uma obra de literatura infantil (“Os chifres de Filomena”, de David Small que  incorpora elementos de humor.  No estudo, aborda-se a questão do humor na literatura infantil, caracteriza-se a obra escolhida,  descreve-se o trabalho realizado e interpreta-se a produção dos alunos, identificando-se, nela, a recriação de algumas estratégias de humor. Especula-se que tanto o caráter desafiador das atividades propostas quanto as características da obra, com seu final aberto, podem ter proporcionado a  grande variedade de cenários, tramas e desfechos constatada nas produções das crianças.

Immunoglobulin M antibodies against CRA and FRA recombinant antigens of Trypanosoma cruzi in chronic chagasic patients.

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Vasconcelos, Romero H T; Azevedo, Elisa A N; Cavalcanti, Maria G A M; Silva, Edimilson D; Ferreira, Antonio G P; Morais, Clarice N L; Gomes, Yara M

2011-05-01

Previous works of our research group have demonstrated aspects of the humoral immune response of chronic Chagas disease using the cytoplasmatic repetitive antigen (CRA) and the flagellar repetitive antigen (FRA) of Trypanosoma cruzi. The aim of this work was to analyze the presence of specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies in chronic chagasic patients using these recombinant antigens of T. cruzi. The positivity of IgM in chronic chagasic patients against CRA and FRA antigens was determined by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We reported no statistical significant differences between the levels of IgM for both recombinant antigens and the different chronic clinical forms of Chagas disease. However, a small proportion of chronic chagasic patients analyzed in this study was positive for this antibody isotype. The findings of this study indicate that the IgM antibodies cannot be used to elucidate the differences in the profile of humoral immune response among chronic chagasic patients with different clinical forms using the CRA and FRA recombinant antigens of T. cruzi. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reconsidering language teaching through a focus on humor

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Nancy Bell

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Formal language education is often predicated on a series of modernist fictions that greatly simplify the nature of language and the process of communication. Acts of linguistic creativity involving humor and language play are frequently either ignored or considered deviant. In this paper, we contribute to ongoing efforts to re-conceptualize language education in ways that make use of more robust (and less modernist theories of language and communication. We revisit calls for more pedagogical focus on humor and language play and illustrate how more attention to these types of language might help us to move away from some of the classroom fictions that currently constrain teachers and learners alike. Specifically, we present recent conceptions of language and of communication, and discuss how, in light of these, humor and language play can be used to increase learners’ metalinguistic awareness and expand their communicative/interpretive repertoires.

Humor: The "Witting" Edge in Business.

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Scriven, Jolene; Hefferin, Linda

1998-01-01

Humor contributes to teamwork, creative problem solving, mental flexibility, and risk taking in the workplace. As a classroom tool, it increases student attentiveness and retention of information. (SK)

The influence of humor styles in coping strategies in Entre Ríos

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Pablo Roberto Lillo

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Over the last years there has been a growing interest in the study of the resources that people use from face to a problem. The interest in the study of the characteristics related to the humor has gone in increase, especially for the influence of the development of a new concept in psychology that derives in the call positive psychology (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Zinder and McCullog 2000, in Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, Weir, 2003 which is centered in adaptive strengths such as optimism, faith, courage, as well as humor (Martin 2003, quoted in Martin et al., 2003. Sense of humor has been considered as an unidimensional construct (Omar, 1995 and the consequencies has been some errors in the assesment, as a result of a problem of validity. The present study seeks to introduce certain aspects that have not been considered in the past, so much the potential beneficial effects, as the deleterious forms of the sense of humor as for the psychological well-being. Four dimensions of the sense of humor were assesed (Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, Weir, 2003, version Lillo, 2006 relating to the uses or functions in everyday life and the ways of people cope (Fridenberg and Lewis, 1991, version Richaud de Minzi. 2003. They were also significant relationships among styles of humor and ways of coping that could explain the importance of the construct sense of humor, as an important resource to be used. Although it is necessary to highlight that it is not sought to embrace all the components of the sense of humor, but rather it is focused in the interpersonal functions and intrapsíquicas that adolescents use in daily life. These functions are considered most relevant to the well-being. Measuring these aspects of the humor, it is expected that they can explain a greater proportion of the variance as for the ways of people cope. 

Relationship of Humor Sense with Quality of Life in Cancer Patients

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z Nikmanesh

2014-09-01

Conclusion: In refer to role of Sense of humor in quality of life in cancer patients, it is suggested that necessary interventions be applied by using humor for promoting quality of life in cancer patients.

Stimulus Characteristics Affect Humor Processing in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome

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Samson, Andrea C.; Hegenloh, Michael

2010-01-01

The present paper aims to investigate whether individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) show global humor processing deficits or whether humor comprehension and appreciation depends on stimulus characteristics. Non-verbal visual puns, semantic and Theory of Mind cartoons were rated on comprehension, funniness and the punchlines were explained. AS…

Ridiculed death and the dead: Black humor on the epitaphs and epigrams of the ancient Greece

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Stevanović Lađa

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Theories about black humor usually regard that it as a contemporary phenomenon and a culmination of the literary modernism and beginning of post-modernism. My intent in this paper is to refute the thesis that the black humor is a modern invention. I am going to prove its existence still in Greek antiquity, quoting and analyzing humorous epitaphs and black humor epigrams. Putting in relation black humor with the joy and humor in religious (fertility and funeral rituals, I am also going to set a question about the attitude to death and life inherent for this kind of humor, arguing that its origin should be searched in the folk tradition.

The Humor Styles Questionnaire in Italy: Psychometric Properties and Relationships With Psychological Well-Being

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Saulo Sirigatti

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ and the relation between humor and psychological well-being within the context of Italy. A total of 293 (178 females, 115 males Italian high school and undergraduate university students – whose ages ranged from 14 to 25 years – completed the Italian versions of the HSQ and the Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being scales (RPWB. The HSQ scale reliabilities were generally acceptable, and intercorrelations among the scales were rather low; the confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor structure. Males reported significantly more use of Aggressive humor than did females; no differences were found between adolescents and young adults in the use of humor styles. Affiliative and Self-enhancing humor styles were positively associated with the six dimensions of the RPWB, whereas Self-defeating humor was negatively correlated with the RPWB scales. SEM analysis showed a significant and positive relationship between humor as measured by the HSQ and psychological well-being as assessed by the RPWB. Overall, the findings supported the theoretical structure and usefulness of the HSQ in an Italian context and the differential role of humor components in the various dimensions of psychological well-being.

The Relationship of Self Esteem and Humor Styles in First Class Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

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Soner Cakmak

2015-12-01

Material and Methods: Two hundred three medical students (107 males, 96 females were included this study. Self-esteem was measured with the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale and humor style was measured with Humor Styles Questionnaire. Results: The rate of students who have mild or high self-esteem levels was 89.7%. In Humor Styles Questionnaire, the average scores of affiliative and self-enhancing humor were significantly higher than the average scores of aggressive and self-defeating humor. Male students were using humor, especially aggressive and self-defeating humor styles more commonly than female students. A positive correlation was found between self-esteem and affiliative and self-enhancing humor styles. Conclusion: The present study revealed a positive correlation between self-esteem and positive humor styles. There is a need to develop educational models that would bolster self-esteem and positive humor in medical students. [Cukurova Med J 2015; 40(4.000: 782-793

The Relationship between Instructor Humor Orientation and Students' Report on Second Language Learning

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Ziyaeemehr, Ali; Kumar, Vijay

2014-01-01

Humor is an integral component of any language and therefore has an impact on the way languages are acquired/learned. Numerous studies have investigated the role of instructor humor in teaching/learning processes; however, there is little empirical research on the relationship between instructor humor and learning of a second language. This paper…

Hope, Laughter, and Humor in Residents and Staff at an Assisted Living Facility.

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Westburg, Nancy G.

2003-01-01

Assesses and compares hope levels and laughter and humor experiences of 24 elderly residents and 21 staff at an assisted living facility. Residents and staff reported numerous benefits from humor and laughing, but differences arose between the two groups about the source and frequency of humor and laughter. Implications for mental health…

Humor in Literature about Children with Disability: What Are We Seeing in Literature?

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McGrail, Ewa; Rieger, Alicja

2014-01-01

This article explores instances of humor in literature as it relates to children with disabilities and offers ways to help children and adolescents build an authentic understanding of disability and disability humor. The prevalent message in the books reviewed is that children with disability not only appreciate humor but also can produce various…

[Research Progress of Vitreous Humor Detection Technique on Estimation of Postmortem Interval].

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Duan, W C; Lan, L M; Guo, Y D; Zha, L; Yan, J; Ding, Y J; Cai, J F

2018-02-01

Estimation of postmortem interval （PMI） plays a crucial role in forensic study and identification work. Because of the unique anatomy location, vitreous humor is considered to be used for estima- ting PMI, which has aroused interest among scholars, and some researches have been carried out. The detection techniques of vitreous humor are constantly developed and improved which have been gradually applied in forensic science, meanwhile, the study of PMI estimation using vitreous humor is updated rapidly. This paper reviews various techniques and instruments applied to vitreous humor detection, such as ion selective electrode, capillary ion analysis, spectroscopy, chromatography, nano-sensing technology, automatic biochemical analyser, flow cytometer, etc., as well as the related research progress on PMI estimation in recent years. In order to provide a research direction for scholars and promote a more accurate and efficient application in PMI estimation by vitreous humor analysis, some inner problems are also analysed in this paper. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.

Aqueous Humor Antimicrobial Activity: In Vitro Analysis after Topical 0.5% Chloramphenicol Application.

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Cagini, Carlo; Dragoni, Annalisa; Orsolini, Giampaolo; Fiore, Tito; Beccasio, Alfredo; Spadea, Leopoldo; Moretti, Amedeo; Mencacci, Antonella

2017-06-01

To assess aqueous humor antimicrobial activity in vitro after topical 0.5% chloramphenicol application. This investigation included 63 eyes from 65 cataract surgery patients. The study group of 48 eyes received preoperatively four topical applications of 0.5% chloramphenicol. The control group of 15 eyes was given no topical applications. Aqueous humor samples were collected for in vitro antimicrobial analysis using Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Pasteurella multocida organisms by means of disk diffusion test. No inhibition halo was observed around all aqueous humor samples from all chloramphenicol-treated patients, irrespective of the sample quantity added to the paper disks, with no significant difference from aqueous humor from untreated control patients. Aqueous humor displayed no bactericidal effect against any of the microorganisms evaluated after topical 0.5% chloramphenicol application.

Personality modulates amygdala and insula connectivity during humor appreciation: An event-related fMRI study.

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Berger, Philipp; Bitsch, Florian; Nagels, Arne; Straube, Benjamin; Falkenberg, Irina

2017-11-12

Previous research and theory implicate that personality traits, such as extraversion and neuroticism, influence the processing of humor, as indicated by alterations in the activation of fronto-temporal and mesocorticolimbic brain regions during humor processing. In the current study, we sought to complement these findings by testing whether inter-individual differences in functional connectivity of humor-related brain regions are modulated by stable personality characteristics during humor processing. Using fMRI techniques, we studied 19 healthy subjects during the processing of standardized humorous and neutral cartoons. In order to isolate the specific effects of humor appreciation, subjective funniness ratings, collected during the scanning procedure, were implemented in the analysis as parametric modulation. Two distinct clusters in the right amygdala and the left insula were identified. Seed-to-voxel connectivity analysis investigating the effects of personality on inter-individual differences in functional connectivity revealed that amygdala and insula connectivity with brain areas previously related to humor comprehension (e.g. middle temporal gyrus) and appreciation (e.g. caudate nucleus) were significantly modulated by personality dimensions. These results underscore the sensitivity of humor processing to moderating influences, such as personality, and call attention to the importance of brain connectivity measures for the investigation of inter-individual differences in the processing of humor.

Humor adds the creative touch to CQI teams.

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Balzer, J W

1994-07-01

The health care industry is looking to continuous quality improvement as a process to both improve patient care and promote cost effectiveness. Interdisciplinary teams are learning to work together and to use data-driven problem solving. Humor adds a creative and welcome touch to the process that makes it easier and more fun to work in teams. The team leader or facilitator who uses humor along the journey sanctions the risk-taking behavior that accompanies creative solutions to tough problems.

Nitric oxide levels of aqueous humor after photorefractive keratectomy.

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Adiguzel, U; Bilgihan, K; Ozdek, S C; Sancak, B; Hasanreisoglu, B

2004-01-01

To measure the nitric oxide (NO) levels of aqueous humor in rabbits after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and to evaluate the alterations of NO levels according to the PRK surgery steps, ablation depth, and time. Fifty eyes of 25 New Zealand white rabbits were included in the study. One eye was later randomly excluded from the study in order to equalize the number of eyes in groups. Eyes were divided into seven groups, each comprising seven eyes: unwounded control (Group 1), epithelial scrape (Group 2; aqueous humor samples taken at the 4th hour), superficial PRK (Group 3; samples taken at the 4th hour), deep PRK (Group 4; samples taken at the 4th hour), epithelial scrape (Group 5; samples taken at the 24th hour), superficial PRK (Group 6; samples taken at the 24th hour), and deep PRK (Group 7; samples taken at the 24th hour). The corneal epithelium was mechanically removed in surgical groups. The authors performed superficial corneal ablation (59 microm) in Groups 3 and 6 and deep corneal ablation (99 microm) in Groups 4 and 7. Aqueous humor samples were taken at the 4th hour (Groups 2-4) or 24th hour (Groups 5-7) after corneal surgeries. NO measurements were performed indirectly by using the Griess reaction with a spectrophotometer. Aqueous humor NO levels 4 hours after corneal surgery were statistically significantly lower than the control group (p0.05). At the 24th hour, the deep PRK group had significantly lower NO levels than both the control group and Groups 5 and 6 (p0.05) but remained stable at lower levels in deep PRK groups (p<0.05). Corneal surgery caused low NO levels in aqueous humor 4 hours after surgery. However, 24 hours after surgery, NO levels normalized following epithelial scrape and superficial PRK and were stable at lower levels in the deep PRK group. Complications of deep PRK application are possibly induced by low NO existence in the aqueous humor.

The strategic use of humor in political discourse of Silvio Berlusconi

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Kamila Miłkowska-Samul

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to illustrate some of the mechanisms existing in political discourse which employ emotions and humor as a persuasive means. The study is based on authentic texts produced by Silvio Berlusconi. The importance of emotions and humor in political speech is viewed in the light of changes taking place in public communication due to the development of mass media and Internet, leading to, among others, ever more frequent use of the comical aspect of communication as a method of gaining and maintaining political power. That is why the use of emotions and humor in Berlusconi’s speech is analyzed as a strategic choice and a powerful instrument of political struggle. The article highlights the role of emotions and humor in creating a positive self-image of the politician.

Humor, laughter, and the cerebellum: insights from patients with acute cerebellar stroke.

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Frank, B; Andrzejewski, K; Göricke, S; Wondzinski, E; Siebler, M; Wild, B; Timmann, D

2013-12-01

Extent of cerebellar involvement in cognition and emotion is still a topic of ongoing research. In particular, the cerebellar role in humor processing and control of laughter is not well known. A hypermetric dysregulation of affective behavior has been assumed in cerebellar damage. Thus, we aimed at investigating humor comprehension and appreciation as well as the expression of laughter in 21 patients in the acute or subacute state after stroke restricted to the cerebellum, and in the same number of matched healthy control subjects. Patients with acute and subacute cerebellar damage showed preserved comprehension and appreciation of humor using a validated humor test evaluating comprehension, funniness and aversiveness of cartoons ("3WD Humor Test"). Additionally, there was no difference when compared to healthy controls in the number and intensity of facial reactions and laughter while observing jokes, humorous cartoons, or video sketches measured by the Facial Action Coding System. However, as depression scores were significantly increased in patients with cerebellar stroke, a concealing effect of accompanying depression cannot be excluded. Current findings add to descriptions in the literature that cognitive or affective disorders in patients with lesions restricted to the cerebellum, even in the acute state after damage, are frequently mild and might only be present in more sensitive or specific tests.

That's not funny! - But it should be: effects of humorous emotion regulation on emotional experience and memory.

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Kugler, Lisa; Kuhbandner, Christof

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory, compared to non-humorous rational reappraisal and a non-reappraisal control condition. Replicating previous findings, humorous reappraisal reduced evoked negative valence and arousal levels very effectively, and the down-regulation of experienced negative emotions was even more pronounced after humorous compared to rational reappraisal. Regarding later memory for emotion-eliciting stimuli, both humorous and rational reappraisal reduced free recall, but recognition memory was unaffected, with memory strength being stronger after humorous than after rational reappraisal. These results indicate that humor seems to be indeed an optimal strategy to cope with negative situations because humor can help us to feel better when confronted with negative stimuli, but still allows us to retrieve stimulus information later when afforded to do so by the presence of appropriate contextual features.

VIOLENCE DRESSED IN HUMOR: COMEDIC VIOLENCE IN ADVERTISING

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Camelia Gradinaru

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the concepts of humor and violence and their complex relationships contextualised in the advertising domain. Thus, the main theories of humor and the most important elements from media violence paradigms are critically pointed out. The effects of comedic violence in advertising may be positive (great involvement with the ad message, retention of brand information, higher pass-along probability, and also negative (offending the audience, desensitization, damaging the reputation and the brand equity. A lot of factors change the perception of comedic violent ads (gender, social norm beliefs etc., so that a multidimensional analysis of consumer perceptions is needed if we want to draw a more accurate picture of this phenomenon. The analysis of the specific ad that I developed in the second part of this paper showed clearly the interplay between perceived humor and perceived violence and also the relevance of the cultural background in its interpretation.

Using the Pecha Kucha Speech to Analyze and Train Humor Skills

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Waisanen, Don

2018-01-01

Courses: Public speaking; communication courses requiring speeches. Objective: Students will learn how to apply humor principles to speeches through a slideshow method supportive of this goal, and to become more discerning about the possibilities and pitfalls of humorous communication.

He Who Laughs First: The Importance of Humor to Young Children.

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Krogh, Suzanne

1985-01-01

Reviews current theories of humor development, discusses the interaction of humor with other developmental areas (including cognitive development, personality development, creativity, and moral development), and suggests ways in which research can be applied in the early childhood classroom. (Author/DST)

STRATEGI PRAGMATIK BAHASA HUMOR DALAM ACARA “MARIO TEGUH GOLDEN WAYS” DI METRO TV

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Enie Hendrajati

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Speech humor in MTGW program is assumed as a "good practice" of pragmatic strategy to entertain, inspire and motivate audience. The focus and objective of this study is to get a description of the pragmatic strategy of harmonizing word choice, sentence, and humorous language in MTGW program. How pragmatic strategies have implications for the use of words, sentences, and language styles so that the audience feel entertained and laughed. This research uses desciptive qualitative approach. Data in the form of humorous languages is collected by listening and recording. The method of analysis is padan and agih. The word data, sentence, and style of the humorous language are linked and compared to other words, sentences, and language styles in terms of humorous sense between sentences produced and comparator sentences. As a result, the pragmatic strategy MT uses in the MTGW program on Metro TV is to harmonize between lingual units of words, sentences, and language styles with humor and courtesy. MT uses a locusive and illocusive strategy with humorous tones and politeness in choosing, organizing and producing every word, sentence, and style of humor. Through the choice of words, sentences, and language style, the MT uses pragmatic strategies in conveying his message as a motivator and the perlocutionary effect is that the audience becomes interested or entertained.

Humor Appreciation Involves Parametric and Synchronized Activity in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus.

Science.gov (United States)

Iidaka, Tetsuya

2017-12-01

Humor perception is a ubiquitous phenomenon in human societies. In theories of humor perception, three factors, non-seriousness, social context, and incongruity, have been implicated in humor. In another theory, however, elaboration and reinterpretation of contexts are considered to play a role in eliciting humor. Although the neural correlates of humor appreciation have been investigated using neuroimaging methods, only a few studies have conducted such experiments under natural conditions. In the present study, two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments, using a comedy movie as a stimulus, were conducted to investigate the neural correlates of humor under natural conditions. The subjects' brain activity was measured while watching and enjoying a movie. In experiment 1, a parametric analysis showed that the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and hippocampus/amygdala had a positive relationship with the subjective rating of funniness. In experiment 2, intersubject correlation was analyzed to investigate synchronized activity across all participants. Signal synchronization that paralleled increased funniness ratings was observed in the MPFC and hippocampus. Thus, it appears that both parametric and synchronized activity in the MPFC and hippocampus are important during humor appreciation. The present study has revealed the brain regions that are predominantly involved in humor sensation under natural condition. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The evolution of humor from male aggression

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Shuster S

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Sam ShusterNewcastle University, Newcastle Upon Type, NE1 7RU, UKAbstract: The response to seeing a man riding a unicycle was reported to be consistently related to the viewer's sex and stage of physical development. To see if this observation was universal, observations of responses were collected from 23 male and 9 female unicyclists aged 15–69 years, with 2–40 years cycling experience across four continents. With two exceptions among men, the findings were the same as those originally reported: children showed interest and curiosity, young girls showed little interest, while adult women showed a kindly, concerned, praising response. By contrast, boys showed physical aggression, which became more verbal, merging in the later teens to the snide, aggressive, stereotyped humorous response shown by adult males, which became less frequent in elderly men. The universality of the response across different individuals, environments, and dates of observation suggests an endogenous mechanism, and the association with masculine development relates this to androgen. The theoretical consequences are discussed. It is concluded that humor develops from aggression in males and is evolutionarily related to sexual selection.Keywords: humor evolution, male aggressive behavior

Examining Teachers' Motivation Level According to School Principals' Humor Styles

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Recepoglu, Ergun; Kilinc, Ali Cagatay; Cepni, Osman

2011-01-01

The purpose of this research is to examine the motivation level of teachers according to school principals' humor styles. The humor styles survey and job motivation scale were used to gather data from 305 randomly selected teachers employed in primary schools in Karabuk. Results indicated that 141 of the teachers claimed school principal had…

Does Sense of the Humor Make Sense in the Classroom?

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Freddy Antonio González-Ynfante

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the importance of humor as a teaching strategy in the classroom, considering the usual lack of motivation and boredom. To analyze whether the “happy teaching and happy learning” may increase effectiveness in the teaching-learning process, the author will discuss how, despite the many benefits it may bring, humor is not used in the classroom due to prejudices and fears. The idea is not for teachers to play the role of a comedian or a clown, but to intervene and get closer to the group with a teaching, didactic purpose through humor. Plato (1992 thought about this; he used to say that sometimes a joke may help, where seriousness put up resistance.

The Use of Humor in Serious Mental Illness: A Review

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Marc Gelkopf

2011-01-01

Full Text Available There is now a relatively good understanding of the broad range of direct and indirect effects of humor and laughter on perceptions, attitudes, judgments and emotions, which can potentially benefit the physical and psychological state. This article presents a review and discussion of the use of humor and laughter in treating people with serious mental illness, distinguishing between clinical papers on individual and group psychotherapy, and empirical research reports describing humor and laughter interventions. In spite of the exponential growth of the field over the last 30 years, I conclude that empirical studies are still lacking, the studies that do exist have major methodological shortcomings, and the field is in dire need of further investigation.

El humor desde las ciencias sociales. El humor como herramienta resistencia en movimientos sociales; El caso del 15M.

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Isabel Casado Muñoz

2017-06-01

Full Text Available En la actualidad, el humor está empezando a expandirse con una gran rapidez en sus aplicaciones, ha entrado en el mundo empresarial y educativo como estrategia para armonizar conflictos y crear sentimiento de grupo y en el nivel clínico y terapéutico (2008, Rod Martin. Estas aplicaciones recortarían el plano social del humor, al relegarlo a espacios privados o cerrados, lo que contrastaría con la concepción de la risa popular o colectiva en lugares públicos y abiertos, lo cual Bajtin ( Bakhtin en 1940 ya exponía en su obra sobre el carnaval renacentista. El humor es una emoción pero también un proceso social, estaría presente en protestas sociales no únicamente como herramienta a través de la que trasmitir un discurso de forma eficaz, sino que tendría un uso político, actuando en la práctica como un hecho performativo que implicaría una actitud de resistencia política en concordancia con el discurso emitido por el 15M.

Effects of Humor on Teacher Stress, Affect, and Job Satisfaction

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Shirley, Jacqueline Dena

2013-01-01

Teachers are at high risk for stress, negative emotion, and job dissatisfaction, which has been linked with health problems and early attrition. Humor has been found to relieve various forms of stress. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding humor effects on teacher stress and its related consequences. The purpose of this quantitative,…

Radionuclide diagnosis of allograft rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, E.A.

1982-01-01

Interaction with one or more anatomical and physiopathological characteristics of the rejecting renal allograft is suggested by those radioagents utilized specifically for the diagnosis of allograft rejection. Rejection, the most common cause of declining allograft function, is frequently mimicked clinically or masked by other immediate or long term post transplant complications. Understanding of the anatomical pathological features and kinetics of rejection and their modification by immunosuppressive maintenance and therapy are important for the proper clinical utilization of these radioagents. Furthermore, in selecting these radionuclides, one has to consider the comparative availability, preparatory and procedural simplicity, acquisition and display techniques and the possibility of timely report. The clinical utilities of radiofibrinogen, /sup 99m/Tc sulfur colloid and 67 Ga in the diagnosis of allograft rejection have been evaluated to a variable extent in the past. The potential usefulness of the recently developed preparations of 111 In labeled autologous leukocytes and platelets are presently under investigation

Is There a Place for Humor in Hospice Palliative Care? Volunteers Say "Yes"!

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Claxton-Oldfield, Stephen; Bhatt, Anamika

2017-06-01

A survey was conducted to examine the frequency, acceptability, and functions of humor between hospice palliative care volunteers and their patients, from the volunteers' perspective. Thirty-two volunteers completed the survey, which was developed for this study. The results revealed that most patients and volunteers initiated humor either "often" or "sometimes" in their interactions. Over half of the volunteers considered humor to be either "very important" or "extremely important" in their interactions with patients (42% and 13%, respectively), with the patient being the determining factor as to whether and when it is appropriate or not (ie, volunteers take their lead from their patients). Volunteers mentioned a number of functions that humor serves within their patient interactions (eg, to relieve tension, to foster relationships/connections, and to distract). Laughter and humor fulfills one of the main goals of hospice palliative care, namely, improving patients' overall quality of life.

Preemptive scheduling with rejection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogeveen, H.; Skutella, M.; Woeginger, Gerhard

2003-01-01

We consider the problem of preemptively scheduling a set of n jobs on m (identical, uniformly related, or unrelated) parallel machines. The scheduler may reject a subset of the jobs and thereby incur job-dependent penalties for each rejected job, and he must construct a schedule for the remaining

Preemptive scheduling with rejection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogeveen, J.A.; Skutella, M.; Woeginger, G.J.; Paterson, M.

2000-01-01

We consider the problem of preemptively scheduling a set of n jobs on m (identical, uniformly related, or unrelated) parallel machines. The scheduler may reject a subset of the jobs and thereby incur job-dependent penalties for each rejected job, and he must construct a schedule for the remaining

Levels of aqueous humor trace elements in patients with open-angle glaucoma.

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Hohberger, Bettina; Chaudhri, M Anwar; Michalke, Bernhard; Lucio, Marianna; Nowomiejska, Katarzyna; Schlötzer-Schrehardt, Ursula; Grieb, Pawel; Rejdak, Robert; Jünemann, Anselm G M

2018-01-01

Trace elements might play a role in the complex multifactorial pathogenesis of open-angle glaucoma. The aim of this study was to analyze concentrations of trace elements in aqueous humor samples of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG). Thirty-three aqueous humor samples were obtained from patients undergoing cataract surgery: 12 patients with POAG (age 65.3±10.50, female 8, male 4), 10 patients with PEXG (age 65.9±11.27, female 6, male 4) and 11 patients without glaucoma (age 69.5±13.70, female 7, male 4) serving as controls. Aqueous humor levels of cadmium, iron, manganese, cobalt, copper and zinc were measured by Flow-Injection-Inductively-Coupled-Plasma-Mass-Spectrometry (FI-ICP-MS). From the statistical evaluation, we observed that patients with POAG had significantly higher aqueous humor levels of zinc (p=0.006) compared to controls. Increased aqueous humor levels of zinc were also observed in patients with PEXG in relation to control (p=0.0006). For iron we observed a significantly reduction in PEXG compared to control (p=0.002) and a significant difference between POAG and PEXG (p=0.0091). No significant differences were observed in aqueous humor levels of manganese, cobalt, copper, cadmium between glaucoma and control patients. No differences were seen for iron (POAG vs. controls). Analysis of trace element ratios was added. Significant differences in aqueous humor levels of zinc and iron between glaucoma and control patients support the hypothesis that these trace elements are involved in the pathogenesis of open-angle glaucoma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Depresión (humor deprimido en los mayores residentes en la comunidad Depression (depressed humor among the elderly residents in the community

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Mª. Gorete Reis

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Los mayores están sujetos a riesgos acrecentados por el poco compromiso con la vida, el aislamiento, la precariedad de recursos y la enfermedad, entre otros. Hoy, la depresión es considerada la perturbación mental con mayor crecimiento, repercutiendo en los cambios en el estilo de vida y en la salud. Nos cuestionamos sobre el estado de humor deprimido de los mayores que viven en la comunidad. El objetivo es evaluar la depresión e identificar los factores relacionados con ella. Estudio descriptivo correlacional. Conclusión: Hay un número elevado de personas con humor deprimido. Ser mujer y estar enferma revela relaciones con la depresión, así como tener limitaciones para ejecutar las actividades.Old people are submit to risk factors that increase from life disengagement; loneliness, decrease in income and in resources and also from diseases, among others. Today depression is considered a mental disturb in a growing process which affects life style and health. That's why we questioned old people living in community, about depressed humor. The aim of this study is to evaluate depression's level nd associate factors. It's a descriptive, correlate study. Conclusions: There are a great number of people with depressed humor and, be woman, have diseabilities are factors relate to depression.

Chronic blood irradiation: a new approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hungate, F.P.; Riemath, W.F.; Bunnell, L.R.; Gillis, M.F.

1976-01-01

Extracorporeal irradiation of blood is beneficial in suppressing early rejection of renal allografts and in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Previously, nearly all blood irradiation has involved brief intermittent exposures with high dose rates. The small amount of data available involving chronic irradiation suggests that doses given chronically at lower rates are more effective in suppressing graft rejection. However, no suitably portable device has been available to permit chronic irradiation. This work has been directed toward developing a fully portable irradiator. After preliminary testing of a variety of source materials, 170 Tm was selected for its favorable beta energy, low cost, and compatibility with the fabrication requirements. The body of the irradiator is cast from polyfurfuryl alcohol with subsequent high-temperature conversion to vitreous carbon. By sequential layering of the alcohol and suspending of 169 Tm 2 O 3 in the midlayer, a unit is produced without any radiation exposure and with the source material contained on both a macro and a micro scale. Exposure of the unit to reactor neutrons produces 170 Tm without activation of the vitreous carbon. A 170 Tm irradiator giving a transit dose of 16 rads (100 ml/min flow) was connected in a carotid--jugular shunt on a 20-kg goat. Lymphocyte levels decreased to about 15 percent of the preexposure level during the first week and thereafter slowly rose to about 50 percent of preexposure levels 2 months after exposure. Reciprocal skin grafts made at the end of irradiation (12 days) were rejected at 12 days on the nonirradiated control and at 24 days on the irradiated goat. These results are consistent with data reported on chronically irradiated baboons even though the dose rate for the present test was only about one-fourth that for the baboons

Humor techniques: from real world and game environments to smart environments

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Nijholt, Antinus; Streitz, Norbert; Markopoulos, Panos

In this paper we explore how future smart environments can be given a sense of humor. Humor requires smartness. Entering witty remarks in a conversation requires understanding of the conversation, the conversational partner, the context and the history of the conversation. We can try to model

HUMOR NO ESPAÇO ORGANIZACIONAL: UM ESTUDO INTERPRETATIVO EM UM CALL-CENTER

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Raphaela Reis Conceição Castro Silva

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Humor é um elemento importante da interação humana; portanto, tem um impacto sobre grupos de trabalho. Este trabalho é produto de uma reflexão sobre o humor e tem como objetivo analisar seu surgimento em espaços organizacionais. O olhar cuidadoso durante o estudo, configurado pelas observações registradas no Diário de Campo e pelas entrevistas realizadas, possibilitou o entendimento sobre o papel do humor nos espaços organizacionais. Dessa forma, a pesquisa evidencia que o humor não se limita à diversão, mas atua também como recurso de mediação do processo de interação, facilitando a coesão do grupo e promovendo o enfrentamento do estresse.

Learning to Laugh at Ourselves: Humor, Self-Transcendence, and the Cultivation of Moral Virtues

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Gordon, Mordechai

2010-01-01

In this essay Mordechai Gordon begins to address the neglect of humor among philosophers of education by focusing on some interesting connections between humor, self-transcendence, and the development of moral virtues. More specifically, he explores the kind of humor that makes fun of oneself and how it can affect educational encounters. Gordon…

Bimatoprost Effects on Aqueous Humor Dynamics in Monkeys

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David F. Woodward

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The effects of bimatoprost on aqueous humor dynamics were quantified in monkey eyes. Uveoscleral outflow was measured by the anterior chamber perfusion method, using FITC-dextran. Total outflow facility was determined by the two-level constant pressure method. Aqueous flow was measured with a scanning ocular fluorophotometer. Uveoscleral outflow was 0.96±0.19 L min−1 in vehicle-treated eyes and 1.37±0.27 L min−1 (=6; <.05 in eyes that received bimatoprost 0.01% b.i.d. × 5 days. Bimatoprost had no effect on total outflow facility, which was 0.42±0.05 L min−1 at baseline and 0.42±0.04 L min−1 after bimatoprost treatment. Bimatoprost had no significant effect on aqueous humor flow. This study demonstrates that bimatoprost increases uveoscleral outflow but not total outflow facility or aqueous humor flow, indicating that it lowers intraocular pressure in ocular normotensive monkeys by a mechanism that exclusively involves uveoscleral outflow.

Oral genres of humor : On the dialectic of genre knowledge and creative authoring

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Kotthoff, Helga

2006-01-01

The article discusses humorous conversational activities (e.g. jokes, teasing, joint fantasizing) in the context of genre theory. The high degree of creativity, emergent construction and artistry typical of humor call for a flexible concept of genre which makes sense of modifications and transgressions in communicative processes. Some forms of conversational humor are generic, for example, standardized jokes, joint fantasizing or teasing. Other forms exploit our knowledge of serious genres an...

Statistics? You Must Be Joking: The Application and Evaluation of Humor when Teaching Statistics

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Neumann, David L.; Hood, Michelle; Neumann, Michelle M.

2009-01-01

Humor has been promoted as a teaching tool that enhances student engagement and learning. The present report traces the pathway from research to practice by reflecting upon various ways to incorporate humor into the face-to-face teaching of statistics. The use of humor in an introductory university statistics course was evaluated via interviews…

Humor and Comparatives in Ads for High- and Low-Involvement Products.

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Wu, Bob T. W.; And Others

1989-01-01

Investigates the effectiveness of humor in advertising, comparative advertising, and consumer involvement with the product. Finds that humorous ads are more eye catching but less impressive and less sufficient in information than nonhumorous ads. Finds the performance of comparative ads is generally negative and especially so in the high…

7 CFR 58.136 - Rejected milk.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Rejected milk. 58.136 Section 58.136 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards... Milk § 58.136 Rejected milk. A plant shall reject specific milk from a producer if the milk fails to...

Getting the Joke: Insight during Humor Comprehension - Evidence from an fMRI Study.

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Tian, Fang; Hou, Yuling; Zhu, Wenfeng; Dietrich, Arne; Zhang, Qinglin; Yang, Wenjing; Chen, Qunlin; Sun, Jiangzhou; Jiang, Qiu; Cao, Guikang

2017-01-01

As a high-level cognitive activity, humor comprehension requires incongruity detection and incongruity resolution, which then elicits an insight moment. The purpose of the study was to explore the neural basis of humor comprehension, particularly the moment of insight, by using both characters and language-free cartoons in a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. The results showed that insight involving jokes elicited greater activation in language and semantic-related brain regions as well as a variety of additional regions, such as the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the middle temporal gyrus (MTG), the superior temporal gyrus (STG), the temporoparietal junctions (TPJ), the hippocampus and visual areas. These findings indicate that the MTG might play a role in incongruity detection, while the SFG, IFG and the TPJ might be involved in incongruity detection. The passive insight event elicited by jokes appears to be mediated by a limited number of brain areas. Our study showed that the brain regions associated with humor comprehension were not affected by the type of stimuli and that humor and insight shared common brain areas. These results indicate that one experiences a feeling of insight during humor comprehension, which contributes to the understanding of humor comprehension.

Use of tacrolimus in rescue therapy of acute and chronic rejection in liver transplantation Uso de tacrolimus na terapia de resgate de rejeições agudas e crônicas no transplante de fígado

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Fabricio Ferreira Coelho

2003-01-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: To study the indications and results of tacrolimus as rescue therapy for acute cellular or chronic rejection in liver transplantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighteen liver transplant recipients who underwent rescue therapy with tacrolimus between March 1995 and August 1999 were retrospectively studied. The treatment indication, patients, and graft situation were recorded as of October 31st, 1999. The response to tacrolimus was defined as patient survival with a functional graft and histological reversal of acute cellular, or for chronic rejection, bilirubin serum levels decreasing to up to twice the upper normal limit. RESULTS: Fourteen cases (77.8% presented a good response. The response rate for the different indications was: (1 acute cellular + sepsis - 0/1 case; (2 recurrent acute cellular - 1/1 case; (3 OKT3-resistant acute cellular - 2/2 cases; (4 steroid-resistant acute cellular + active viral infection - 3/3 cases; (5 chronic rejection - 8/11 cases (72.7% response rate. The 4 patients who did not respond died. CONCLUSION: Tacrolimus rescue therapy was successful in most cases of acute cellular and chronic rejection in liver transplantation.OBJETIVO: Estudar os critérios de indicação e o resultado do uso de tacrolimus na terapia de resgate de rejeições agudas ou crônicas no transplante de fígado. CASUÍSTICA E MÉTODO: Foram estudados 18 pacientes transplantados de fígado, submetidos a terapia de resgate com tacrolimus entre março de 1995 e agosto de 1999. Foram registradas a indicação do tratamento e a situação de pacientes e enxertos em 31/10/1999. Considerou-se "respondendores" pacientes vivos, com enxerto funcionante e regressão histológica da terapia de resgate de rejeições agudas, ou com bilirrubina até 2 vezes o valor normal, no caso de terapia de resgate de rejeições crônicas. RESULTADO: Observou-se resposta em 14 casos (77,8%. A taxa de resposta nas diferentes indicações foi: (1 terapia de resgate

The power of humor and play as nursing interventions for a child with cancer: a case report.

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Frankenfield, P K

1996-01-01

Many benefits of humor and play have been documented in the literature. The purpose of this Case Report was to assess the benefits of humor and play with a 5-year-old retinoblastoma patient in an ambulatory care setting. The use of humor in the forms of tickling, joke-telling, play on words, funny movies, silly stickers, and medical play was found to be helpful in decreasing the anxiety of a pediatric oncology patient during insertion of his Infusaport needle. This article reviews the benefits of humor and play and provides a brief discussion of the developmental aspects of humor and play theory. Implications for further nursing research in the area of humor interventions are also discussed. The promotion of appropriate humor and play use by all health care professionals is encouraged.

A type I interferon signature characterizes chronic antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplantation.

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Rascio, Federica; Pontrelli, Paola; Accetturo, Matteo; Oranger, Annarita; Gigante, Margherita; Castellano, Giuseppe; Gigante, Maddalena; Zito, Anna; Zaza, Gianluigi; Lupo, Antonio; Ranieri, Elena; Stallone, Giovanni; Gesualdo, Loreto; Grandaliano, Giuseppe

2015-09-01

Chronic antibody-mediated rejection (CAMR) represents the main cause of kidney graft loss. To uncover the molecular mechanisms underlying this condition, we characterized the molecular signature of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and, separately, of CD4(+) T lymphocytes isolated from CAMR patients, compared to kidney transplant recipients with normal graft function and histology. We enrolled 29 patients with biopsy-proven CAMR, 29 stable transplant recipients (controls), and 8 transplant recipients with clinical and histological evidence of interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy. Messenger RNA and microRNA profiling of PBMCs and CD4(+) T lymphocytes was performed using Agilent microarrays in eight randomly selected patients per group from CAMR and control subjects. Results were evaluated statistically and by functional pathway analysis (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) and validated in the remaining subjects. In PBMCs, 45 genes were differentially expressed between the two groups, most of which were up-regulated in CAMR and were involved in type I interferon signalling. In the same patients, 16 microRNAs were down-regulated in CAMR subjects compared to controls: four were predicted modulators of six mRNAs identified in the transcriptional analysis. In silico functional analysis supported the involvement of type I interferon signalling. To further confirm this result, we investigated the transcriptomic profiles of CD4(+) T lymphocytes in an independent group of patients, observing that the activation of type I interferon signalling was a specific hallmark of CAMR. In addition, in CAMR patients, we detected a reduction of circulating BDCA2(+) dendritic cells, the natural type I interferon-producing cells, and their recruitment into the graft along with increased expression of MXA, a type I interferon-induced protein, at the tubulointerstitial and vascular level. Finally, interferon alpha mRNA expression was significantly increased in CAMR compared to control

Heat Shock Protein 90α Is a Potential Serological Biomarker of Acute Rejection after Renal Transplantation.

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Takeshi Maehana

Full Text Available Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90, a molecular chaperone associated with the activation of client proteins, was recently reported to play an important role in immunologic reactions. To date, the role of HSP90 in solid organ transplantations has remained unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum HSP90α levels and acute allograft rejection after organ and tissue transplantation using serum samples from kidney allograft recipients, an in vitro antibody-mediated rejection model, and a murine skin transplantation.Serum HSP90α levels were significantly higher in kidney recipients at the time of acute rejection (AR than in those with no evidence of rejection. In most cases with AR, serum HSP90 decreased to baseline after the treatment. On the other hand, serum HSP90α was not elevated as much in patients with chronic rejection, calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity, or BK virus nephropathy as in AR patients. In vitro study showed that HSP90α concentration in the supernatant was significantly higher in the supernatant of human aortic endothelial cells cocultured with specific anti-HLA IgG under complement attack than in that of cells cocultured with nonspecific IgG. In mice receiving skin transplantation, serum HSP90α was elevated when the first graft was rejected and the level further increased during more severe rejection of the second graft.The results suggest that HSP90α is released into the serum by cell damage due to AR in organ and tissue transplantation, and it is potentially a new biomarker to help detect AR in kidney recipients.

A Review of Humor for Computer Games: Play, Laugh and More

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Dormann, Claire; Biddle, Robert

2009-01-01

Computer games are now becoming ways to communicate, teach, and influence attitudes and behavior. In this article, we address the role of humor in computer games, especially in support of serious purposes. We begin with a review of the main theories of humor, including superiority, incongruity, and relief. These theories and their…

All Kidding Aside: Humor Increases Learning at Knowledge and Comprehension Levels

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Hackathorn, Jana; Garczynski, Amy M.; Blankmeyer, Katheryn; Tennial, Rachel D.; Solomon, Erin D.

2011-01-01

It has been argued that humor is beneficial in the classroom because it increases social bonding between instructor and student, salience of information, and ultimately recall and retention. The current study sought to add to the literature by empirically testing some assumptions about humor as a pedagogical tool. Specifically, we predicted that…

Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck Humor and the Boundaries of Middle-Class American Whiteness

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J. David Thomas

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Recent studies examine the use of rhetorical boundaries to produce intra-racial othering within whiteness. I expand this project by exploring the textual and social codes in Jeff Foxworthy humor that demarcate the boundaries between the redneck and the non-redneck. Such boundaries are complex, porous fault-lines that use symbolic pollution embedded in humor to stigmatize White outsiders. Social codes referencing symbolic pollution establish boundaries to define and insulate a normative, mainstream White identity from the intra-racial threat of redneck identity. This project provides a novel addition to whiteness studies by taking redneck humor analytically seriously and concludes by drawing comparisons between codes found in Foxworthy humor and those levied against rural Whites during the eugenics era.

Immune response to UV-induced tumors: mediation of progressor tumor rejection by natural killer cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streeter, P.R.; Fortner, G.W.

1986-01-01

Skin tumors induced in mice by chronic ultraviolet (UV) irradiation are highly antigenic and can induce a state of transplantation immunity in syngeneic animals. In the present study, the authors compared the in vitro cytolytic activity of splenic lymphocytes from mice immunized with either regressor or progressor UV-tumors. The results of this comparison implicated tumor-specific cytolytic T (Tc) lymphocytes in rejection of regressor UV-tumors, and revealed that immunization with the progressor UV-tumor 2237 failed to elicit detectable levels of progressor tumor-specific Tc cells even as the tumors rejected. Following in vitro resensitization of spleen cells from either regressor or progressor tumor immune animals, the authors found NK-like lymphocytes with anti-tumor activity. As the authors had not detected cells with this activity in splenic lymphocyte preparations prior to in vitro resensitization, the authors examined lymphocytes from the local tumor environment during the course of progressor tumor rejection for this activity. This analysis revealed NK lymphocytes exhibiting significant levels of cytolytic activity against UV-tumors. These results implicate NK cells as potential effector cells in the rejection of progressor UV-tumors by immune animals, and suggests that these cells may be regulated by T lymphocytes

Humorous Videos and Idiom Achievement: Some Pedagogical Considerations for EFL Learners

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Neissari, Malihe; Ashraf, Hamid; Ghorbani, Mohammad Reza

2017-01-01

Employing a quasi-experimental design, this study examined the efficacy of humorous idiom video clips on the achievement of Iranian undergraduate students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Forty humorous video clips from the English Idiom Series called "The Teacher" from the BBC website were used to teach 120 idioms to 61…

Between two worlds medical student perceptions of humor and slang in the hospital setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, G N; Kinsman, S B; Bosk, C L; Sankar, P; Ubel, P A

2001-08-01

Residents frequently use humor and slang at the expense of patients on the clinical wards. We studied how medical students react to and interpret the "appropriateness" of derogatory and cynical humor and slang in a clinical setting. Semistructured, in-depth interviews. Informal meeting spaces. Thirty-three medical students. Qualitative content analysis of interview transcriptions. Students' descriptions of the humorous stories and their responses reveal that students are able to take the perspective of both outsiders and insiders in the medical culture. Students' responses to these stories show that they can identify the outsider's perspective both by seeing themselves in the outsider's role and by identifying with patients. Students can also see the insider's perspective, in that they identify with residents' frustrations and disappointments and therefore try to explain why residents use this kind of humor. Their participation in the humor and slang--often with reservations--further reveals their ability to identify with the perspective of an insider. Medical students describe a number of conflicting reactions to hospital humor that may enhance and exacerbate tensions that are already an inevitable part of training for many students. This phenomenon requires greater attention by medical educators.

Bilingual Humor, Authentic Aunties, and the Transnational Vernacular at Gezi Park

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Perin Gurel

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Mass-mediated American culture and the English language became raw materials for vernacular protest humor alongside images of headscarf-wearing middle-aged “aunties” during antigovernment protests in Turkey in the summer of 2013. Focusing on posts shared on Facebook and Twitter by Turkish protestors and their supporters in the first two months of the protests, this article studies the complex linguistic and visual humor that developed around Gezi Park and relates it to the identity politics mobilized during the resistance. Exploring how the protestors projected themselves as both cosmopolitan (through the use of American mass culture and the English language and locally rooted (through the use of auntie humor, the essay delineates how “America” can function in local Middle Eastern politics even in the absence of actual US intervention on the ground. Humor at Gezi demonstrates how closely analyzing transculturated vernacular communication can help us modify Western-derived academic theories about culture and power, making the case for incorporating the study of folklore into transnational American Studies.

Infant Humor Perception from 3- to 6-months and Attachment at One Year

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Mireault, Gina; Sparrow, John; Poutre, Merlin; Perdue, Brittany; Macke, Laura

2012-01-01

Infancy is a critical time for the development of secure attachment, which is facilitated by emotionally synchronous interactions with parents. Humor development, which includes shared laughter and joint attention to an event, emerges concurrently with attachment, but little is known regarding the relationship, if any, between humor development and attachment in the first year. Thirty 3-month-old infants were videoed at home each month until they were 6-months old while their parents attempted to amuse them. Frequency of infants’ smiles and laughs served as a measure of “state humor”, and the smiling/laughing subscale of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised served as a measure of “trait humor”. State and trait humor were not correlated. Lower trait humor as 6 months predicted higher attachment security on the Attachment Q-sort at 12-months (r=. 46), suggesting that less good-humored infants elicit greater parental engagement, which works to the benefit of attachment, or vice versa. Future studies should examine the importance of smiling and laughter as they relate to other developmental phenomena in the first year. PMID:22982281

MR imaging of renal transplant rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanna, S.; Helenon, O.; Legendre, C.; Chichie, J.F.; Di Stefano, D.; Kreis, H.; Moreau, J.F.; Hopital Necker, 75 - Paris

1991-01-01

The results of 62 consecutive MR examinations were correlated with the subsequent clinical course and histologic results. Twenty-six cases of rejection showed a marked diminution of cortico-medullary differentiation (CMD). The renal parenchymal vascular pattern and visibility of renal sinus fat were not markedly altered in rejection and there was no difference between normal and rejected allograft shape. The ability of MR imaging to diagnose renal transplant rejection is only based on CMD, which, however, is non-specific. In 2 cases of severe rejection, T2 weighted images showed an abnormal signal intensity of the cortex due to renal infarction. Our preliminary results in 8 patients with Gd-DOTA injection showed 2 cases with necrosis seen as areas with absent contrast enhancement. This technique seems to be promising in the detection of perfusion defects. (orig.)

Memória, humor e emoção Memoria, humor y emoción Memory, mood and emotion

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Giovanni Kuckartz Pergher

2006-04-01

Full Text Available O número de estudos que visam compreender as interações entre processos cognitivos e afetivos vem aumentando nos últimos anos, principalmente em função das suas inúmeras implicações práticas, com destaque para a psicoterapia e a área forense. O presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar algumas das possíveis interações entre processos afetivos e a memória. Inicialmente são assumidas definições para os termos emoção, humor e afeto. Depois, são abordadas as relações entre humor, emoção e memória, descrevendo-se os principais fenômenos investigados nessas áreas. Para cada fenômeno descrito, são expostos fundamentos empíricos e teorias explicativas. Ao final, são discutidas limitações e implicações dos estudos sobre as relações entre humor, emoção e memória, apontando-se para a necessidade de um maior consenso entre os pesquisadores da área.El número de estudios que visan comprender las interacciones entre procesos cognitivos y afectivos viene aumentando en los últimos años, principalmente en función de sus incontables implicaciones prácticas, con destaque para la psicoterapia y el área forense. El presente artículo tiene por objetivo presentar algunas de las posibles interacciones entre procesos afectivos y la memoria. Inicialmente se asumen definiciones para los términos emoción, humor y afecto y para los sistemas de memoria. Enseguida, se abordan los fenómenos de la memoria congruente con el humor, memoria dependiente del humor, memorias autobiográficas súper generalizadas y del impacto de la emoción/estrés sobre los sistemas de memoria semántica y autobiográfica. También se exponen algunos hallazgos experimentales y teorías explicativas de tales fenómenos. Al final, se discuten implicaciones de las investigaciones en el área de emoción vs. cognición.The number of studies that aim to understand the interactions between the cognitive and affective processes has been increasing over

That’s not funny! – But it should be: effects of humorous emotion regulation on emotional experience and memory

Science.gov (United States)

Kugler, Lisa; Kuhbandner, Christof

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory, compared to non-humorous rational reappraisal and a non-reappraisal control condition. Replicating previous findings, humorous reappraisal reduced evoked negative valence and arousal levels very effectively, and the down-regulation of experienced negative emotions was even more pronounced after humorous compared to rational reappraisal. Regarding later memory for emotion-eliciting stimuli, both humorous and rational reappraisal reduced free recall, but recognition memory was unaffected, with memory strength being stronger after humorous than after rational reappraisal. These results indicate that humor seems to be indeed an optimal strategy to cope with negative situations because humor can help us to feel better when confronted with negative stimuli, but still allows us to retrieve stimulus information later when afforded to do so by the presence of appropriate contextual features. PMID:26379608

Humor Styles and Their Relationship to Well-Being among the Gifted

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Dijkstra, Pieternel; Barelds, Dick; Ronner, Sieuwke; Nauta, Arnolda

2011-01-01

The present study examined the extent to which a sample of 202 gifted individuals (members of Mensa) engaged in four humor styles and the extent to which these humor styles were related to their well-being. These results were compared to a comparative population sample (n = 265). Results showed that gifted individuals most often used positive…

Laughing off the Stereotypes: Age and Aging in Seniors' Online Sex-Related Humor.

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Nimrod, Galit; Berdychevsky, Liza

2017-05-17

Focusing on sex, the most salient topic featured in ageist jokes, this study aims at exploring the extent to which seniors' own humor reflects common ageist stereotypes or rather echoes contemporary consumer society representations of seniors' sexuality. The study was based on a quantitative content analysis of 300 humorous sex-related messages posted during one full year by members of 14 leading online communities for seniors. Findings indicated that whereas the portrayal of older adults in humor typically relied on negative ageist stereotypes, their representation in seniors' online sex-related humor depended on the social identity of the butt of this humor. If it was an in-group member (oneself, another community member, or the community as a whole), the portrayal was rather positive, but when the butt belonged to the out-group (older adults in general), the depiction was far more ageist. Nonetheless, the representation of older butts of humor was generally more positive than that of the younger ones. These findings suggest that seniors tend to identify with current cultural representations of sexuality in later life and use sex-related humor as a personal means of resisting ageism. They apply two principal strategies: Distancing-reproducing certain ageist stereotypes by ascribing them to other older adults, but less so to their own group and even less than that to themselves-and equalizing older and younger individuals, even according the former an advantage regarding sexuality. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Entextualized Humor in the Formation of Scientist Identities among U.S. Undergraduates

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Bucholtz, Mary; Skapoulli, Elena; Barnwell, Brendan; Lee, Jung-Eun Janie

2011-01-01

Studies of the socialization of novices into scientific cultures typically emphasize official knowledge-making activities. However, scientific socialization is also accomplished informally through humor. As entextualized humor, formulaic jokes enable U.S. undergraduate students in science to claim scientist identities both through a displayed…

El humor político en la Web, un discurso de resistencia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LILIANA XIMENA GONZÁLEZ GOYENECHE

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Este artículo describe el proceso metodológico desarrollado en la propuesta monográfica titulada El humor. Un discurso de resistencia política: análisis crítico multimodal, tesis de la Maestría en Lingüística de la Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. Trabajo que surge del interés por ver cómo, por medio del discurso humorístico, se construye un discurso de resistencia a los discursos hegemónicos, identificando las estrategias discursivas que utiliza el humor para la construcción de un discurso político de resistencia; también, a través del análisis de videos humorísticos de corte político: productos multimodales mediatizados desde la Web en el portal YouTube. El corpus seleccionado fue la serie animada El Pequeño Tirano creada por Santiago Rocha, Simón Wilches y Santiago Rivas en el año 2008, que tematiza alrededor del mandato presidencial de Álvaro Uribe Vélez. Serie animada representativa del fenómeno del humor político en Colombia, de su significado y sus implicaciones en la vida social y cultural del país.

Was That Levity or Livor Mortis? Crime Scene Investigators' Perspectives on Humor and Work

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Vivona, Brian D.

2012-01-01

Humor is common and purposeful in most work settings. Although researchers have examined humor and joking behavior in various work settings, minimal research has been done on humor applications in the field of crime scene investigation. The crime scene investigator encounters death, trauma, and tragedy in a more intimate manner than any other…

Serum and Aqueous Humor Levels of Fetuin-A in Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome.

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Yuksel, Nilay; Takmaz, Tamer; Ozel Turkcu, Ummuhani; Ergin, Merve; Altinkaynak, Hasan; Bilgihan, Ayse

2017-10-01

To evaluate serum and aqueous humor levels of fetuin-A in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEXS) in comparison with those of age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. This prospective study included 25 patients with PEXS and 25 control subjects who were undergoing cataract surgery without any systemic or ocular disease. Aqueous humor and serum fetuin-A levels were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The mean age of the PEXS group (14 males, 11 females, n = 25) was 57.7 ± 6.9 years, and the control group (13 males, 12 females, n = 25) was 58.1 ± 5.7 years. There was no difference between the groups in terms of age (p = 0.77) and sex (p = 0.83). The mean serum fetuin-A level of the PEXS group did not differ from that of the control group (p = 0.53). The mean aqueous humor level of the PEXS group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p = 0.032). There were no significant correlations between aqueous humor and serum fetuin-A levels among patients with PEXS and control group (p > 0.05). Increased levels of fetuin-A in aqueous humor of patients with PEXS may show the local effect of fetuin-A on the anterior segment. With considering the wide range of possible biological functions of fetuin-A in the pathogenesis of PEXS, further studies are needed to clarify the clinical relevance of these findings.

The effectiveness of humor in persuasion: the case of business ethics training.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyttle, J

2001-04-01

In this study, persuasion theory was used to develop the following predictions about use of humor in persuasive messages for business ethics training: (a) cartoon drawings will enhance persuasion by creating liking for the source, (b) ironic wisecracks will enhance persuasion by serving as a distraction from counterarguments, and (c) self-effacing humor will enhance persuasion by improving source credibility. Canadian business students (N = 148) participated in 1 of 4 versions of "The Ethics Challenge," a training exercise used by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. Three versions were modified by adding or removing cartoon drawings (of cartoon characters Dilbert and Dogbert) and humorous responses (Dogbert's wisecracks). Removing the cartoon drawings had little effect on persuasiveness. Removing ironic wisecracks had more effect, and interfering with the self-effacing combination of cartoons and wisecracks had the strongest effect. The results suggest that researchers should ground their predictions in existing theory and that practitioners should differentiate among humor types.

Women Gossip and Men Brag: Perceived Gender Differences in the Use of Humor by Romanian Older Women

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Ioana Schiau

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The present study investigates perceived gender differences in the producion and social use of humor in the interpersonal communication of Romanian older women, aged 60 and above. The study is a qualitative investigation, based on semi-structured interviews. The aim was to understand the perceptions and motivations that women have when using humor in social interactions, and to explore the functions that humor serves in their day-to-day communication. A previous quantitative investigation found statistically significant gender differences between Romanian older men and women on a sense of humor scale, and suggested that the use of humor in interpersonal communication had stronger social benefits for women (Schiau, 2016a. Drawing on these findings, and keeping in mind other studies that discuss the different use of humor by men and women, this study aims to investigate specific gender differences in the production of humor, as perceived by the participants.

That’s Not Funny! – But It Should Be: Effects of Humorous Emotion Regulation on Emotional Experience and Memory

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Lisa eKugler

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory, compared to non-humorous rational reappraisal and a non-reappraisal control condition. Replicating previous findings, humorous reappraisal reduced evoked negative valence and arousal levels very effectively, and the down-regulation of experienced negative emotions was even more pronounced after humorous compared to rational reappraisal. Regarding later memory for emotion-eliciting stimuli, both humorous and rational reappraisal reduced free recall, but recognition memory was unaffected, with memory strength being stronger after humorous than after rational reappraisal. These results indicate that humor seems to be indeed an optimal strategy to cope with negative situations because humor can help us to feel better when confronted with negative stimuli, but still allows us to retrieve stimulus information later when afforded to do so by the presence of appropriate contextual features.

A Spoonful of Humor Makes the Math Go Down.

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Penland, C.

2017-12-01

As a mature science, geophysics often employs abstract mathematical ideas in the development of methods to query the physical system. Since abstract mathematics is not usually part of the traditional meteorological education, it is sometimes necessary to communicate these ideas in a manner that not only explains but also demystifies them. Humor is an ideal tool for allowing an audience to develop a degree of comfort with unfamiliar concepts. I will give several examples where abstract ideas are made concrete in the context of stochastic climate modeling by use of humorous presentations.

Humor Ability Reveals Intelligence, Predicts Mating Success, and Is Higher in Males

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Greengross, Gil; Miller, Geoffrey

2011-01-01

A good sense of humor is sexually attractive, perhaps because it reveals intelligence, creativity, and other "good genes" or "good parent" traits. If so, intelligence should predict humor production ability, which in turn should predict mating success. In this study, 400 university students (200 men and 200 women) completed…

Aqueous humor tyrosinase activity is indicative of iris melanocyte toxicity.

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Mahanty, Sarmistha; Kawali, Ankush A; Dakappa, Shruthi Shirur; Mahendradas, Padmamalini; Kurian, Mathew; Kharbanda, Varun; Shetty, Rohit; Setty, Subba Rao Gangi

2017-09-01

Antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones (FQLs) are commonly used to treat ocular infections but are also known to cause dermal melanocyte toxicity. The release of dispersed pigments from the iris into the aqueous humor has been considered a possible ocular side effect of the systemic administration of FQLs such as Moxifloxacin, and this condition is known as bilateral acute iris transillumination (BAIT). Bilateral acute depigmentation of iris (BADI) is a similar condition, with iris pigment released into the aqueous, but it has not been reported as a side effect of FQL. Iris pigments are synthesized by the melanogenic enzyme tyrosinase (TYR) and can be detected but not quantified by using slit-lamp biomicroscopy. The correlation between dispersed pigments in the aqueous and the extent of melanocyte toxicity due to topical antibiotics in vivo is not well studied. Here, we aimed to study the effect of topical FQLs on iris tissue, the pigment release in the aqueous humor and the development of clinically evident iris atrophic changes. We evaluated this process by measuring the activity of TYR in the aqueous humor of 82 healthy eyes undergoing cataract surgery following topical application of FQLs such as Moxifloxacin (27 eyes, preservative-free) or Ciprofloxacin (29 eyes, with preservative) or the application of non-FQL Tobramycin (26 eyes, with preservative) as a control. In addition, the patients were questioned and examined for ocular side effects in pre- and post-operative periods. Our data showed a significantly higher mean TYR activity in the aqueous humor of Ciprofloxacin-treated eyes compared to Moxifloxacin- (preservative free, p iris melanocytes. However, the reduced TYR activity in the aqueous of Moxifloxacin-treated eyes was possibly due to the presence of a higher drug concentration, which inhibits TYR activity. Consistently, immunoblotting analysis of the aqueous humor from both Ciprofloxacin- and Moxifloxacin-treated eyes showed the presence of soluble

Preventing Rejection

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... After the transplant Preventing rejection Post-transplant medications Types of immunosuppressants Switching immunosuppressants Side effects Other medications Generic and brand name drugs Post-transplant tests Infections and immunity Lifestyle changes Health concerns Back to work or ...

Gestionando con humor: un paso más hacia un liderazgo de excelencia

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Franco Lotito Catino

2015-03-01

Full Text Available En toda investigación que se lleva a cabo en torno a la incidencia del humor en la gestión y administración de una empresa, los autores destacan la relevancia de este factor en los buenos resultados que obtienen aquellas empresas, cuyos líderes están en condiciones de darle un espacio y uso apropiado al humor, razón por la cual, el objetivo principal de este artículo apuntará a destacar la relevancia de este elemento en la organizaciones, avalado por el grato ambiente laboral que prima en dichas empresas, así como por las observaciones y experiencias del autor del artículo, cuyas conclusiones demuestran que el buen humor no sólo “produce” más, sino que también mantiene más sanos y contentos a los trabajadores al bajar los niveles de estrés. In every research conducted on the use of humor in the management of a company, authors emphasize the importance of this factor in the good results obtained. This article aims to highlight the importance of humor in the organizations resulting in a pleasant working atmosphere. The author’s observation and experiences are also included. Conclusions show that humor not only results in higher e ciency but also in happier and healthier workers by lowering stress levels.

Dark Humor in Sula%《秀拉》与黑色幽默

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

周静琼

2012-01-01

Dark humor is defined as a stylistic feature with irony at its core. The weapon for the powerless, dark humor always targets those in power. In Sula, Toni Morrison employs irony to satirize African American stereotypes established by racism and sexism. To survive, African Americans ann themselves with humor. Humor implies hope. The （dark） humor in Sula brings spiritual comfort to the victims of racism and sexism, strengthens the Bottom, the black community, challenges the grand narrative of the U.S. history, and proves an essential component of American humor.%黑色幽默是一种文体，反讽是其常用的技巧。黑色幽默是草根的武器，权势是黑色幽默的靶子。在《秀拉》中，莫里森采用反讽，嘲讽种族主义者设定的美国黑人刻板形象，条分缕析地抨击种族歧视和性别歧视。哪里有幽默，哪里就有希望。幽默不但令黑人取得了精神上的胜利，而且挑战美国官方历史的宏大叙事，更为美国幽默增添了多元视角。

Heterosexual Rejection and Mate Choice: A Sociometer Perspective

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Lin eZHANG

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Previous studies about the effects of social rejection on individuals’ social behaviors have produced mixed results and tend to study mating behaviors from a static point of view. However, mate selection in essence is a dynamic process, and therefore sociometer theory opens up a new perspective for studying mating and its underlying practices. Based on this theory and using self-perceived mate value in the relationship between heterosexual rejection and mate choice as a mediating role, this current study examined the effects of heterosexual rejection on mate choice in two experiments. Results showed that heterosexual rejection significantly reduced self-perceived mate value, expectation, and behavioral tendencies, while heterosexual acceptance indistinctively increased these measures. Self-perceived mate value did not serve as a mediator in the relationship between heterosexual rejection and mate expectation, but it mediated the relationship between heterosexual rejection and mating behavior tendencies towards potential objects. Moreover, individuals evaded both rejection and irrelevant people when suffering from rejection.

Humor in advertising: a review on use of television radio and print advertising media

OpenAIRE

S, venkatesh; N, senthilkumar

2015-01-01

Television advertising is a most common commercial activity used in advertising medium. Humor in advertising contains an important aspect on changing attitude of the consumer, improves buying behavior and creates new patterns for buying any goods and services. Humor in television advertising is the effective and convenient way to attract the any consumers because they are emotional based content and makes the consumer to special for satisfaction. Compared to all emotions humor advertising is ...

Developing Pre-Service English Language Teachers' Comprehension of Texts with Humorous Elements

Science.gov (United States)

Yangin Ersanli, Ceylan; Çakir, Abdulvahit

2017-01-01

Humour is a universal phenomenon and has been studied in many fields of research such as literature, linguistics, psychology, sociology and philosophy. Humour is often expressed through language and it is little wonder that failure to understand humorous language causes breakdowns in communication. What is humorous might be culturally defined, and…

It's in the way that you use it: attachment and the dyadic nature of humor during conflict negotiation in romantic couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Winterheld, Heike A; Simpson, Jeffry A; Oriña, M Minda

2013-04-01

In a behavioral observation study with dating couples, we examined (a) how attachment orientations predict humor use and (b) how people respond to their partners' use of humor. Couples were videotaped while trying to resolve a relationship conflict. Each discussion was rated on several theoretically relevant dimensions. Highly avoidant individuals used more aggressive humor and less affiliative humor during their discussions, whereas highly anxious individuals used more self-defeating humor. Individuals also tailored their humor use to partners who were highly anxious and distressed. Aggressive humor was received more negatively by partners who sought more care. Affiliative humor was favorably received, especially when partners were more distressed, whereas self-defeating humor elicited negative responses from highly distressed partners. Both highly anxious and avoidant individuals reacted unfavorably when they were the recipients of the humor styles they used most often. The implications of these results for our understanding of relationships and humor are discussed.

A shift in the collagen V antigenic epitope leads to T helper phenotype switch and immune response to self-antigen leading to chronic lung allograft rejection.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiriveedhi, V; Angaswamy, N; Brand, D; Weber, J; Gelman, A G; Hachem, R; Trulock, E P; Meyers, B; Patterson, G; Mohanakumar, T

2012-01-01

Immune responses to human leucocyte antigen (HLA) and self-antigen collagen V (Col-V) have been proposed in the pathogenesis of chronic rejection (bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, BOS) following human lung transplantation (LTx). In this study, we defined the role for the shift in immunodominant epitopes of Col-V in inducing T helper phenotype switch leading to immunity to Col-V and BOS. Sera and lavage from BOS(+) LTx recipients with antibodies to Col-V were analysed. Two years prior to BOS, patients developed antibodies to both Col-V,α1(V) and α2(V) chains. However, at clinical diagnosis of BOS, antibodies became restricted to α1(V). Further, lung biopsy from BOS(+) patients bound to antibodies to α1(V), indicating that these epitopes are exposed. Fourteen Col-V peptides [pep1-14, pep1-4 specific to α1(V), pep5-8 to α1,2(V) and pep9-14 to α2(V)] which bind to HLA-DR4 and -DR7, demonstrated that prior to BOS, pep 6, 7, 9, 11 and 14 were immunodominant and induced interleukin (IL)-10. However, at BOS, the response switched to pep1, 4 and 5 and induced interferon (IFN)-γ and IL-17 responses, but not IL-10. The T helper (Th) phenotype switch is accompanied by decreased frequency of regulatory T cells (T(regs) ) in the lavage. LTx recipients with antibodies to α1(V) also demonstrated increased matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activation with decreased MMP inhibitor, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP), suggesting that MMP activation may play a role in the exposure of new Col-V antigenic epitopes. We conclude that a shift in immunodominance of self-antigenic determinants of Col-V results in induction of IFN-γ and IL-17 with loss of tolerance leading to autoimmunity to Col-V, which leads to chronic lung allograft rejection. © 2011 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Immunology © 2011 British Society for Immunology.

Chronic Renal Allograft Dysfunction: Risk Factors, Immunology and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with ... and immunosupression therapy, long-term graft survival has not been consistent. ... include chronic active antibody-mediated and T cell-mediated rejection.

Vitreous Humor Changes Expression of Iron-Handling Proteins in Lens Epithelial Cells

Science.gov (United States)

Goralska, Malgorzata; Fleisher, Lloyd N.; McGahan, M. Christine

2017-01-01

Purpose In humans, vitrectomy is associated with development of nuclear cataracts. Iron catalyzes free radical formation causing oxidative damage, which is implicated in cataract formation. This study was designed to determine if vitreous humor, which can initiate differentiation of lens epithelial cells, would have an effect on iron-handling proteins. Methods Cultured canine lens epithelial cells were treated with collected canine vitreous humor. Lysates of treated and control cells were separated by SDS-PAGE. Ferritin H- and L-chains, transferrin receptor 1, and aquaporin 0 were immunodetected and quantitated with specific antibodies. Morphologic changes in treated cells were assessed. Results Treatment of lens epithelial cells with a 33% (vol/vol) solution of vitreous humor changed the morphology of lens cells and induced expression of aquaporin 0, a marker of fiber cell differentiation that was undetectable in control cells. Treatment did not modify the size of iron-handling proteins but significantly increased content of ferritin from 2.9- to 8.8-fold over control and decreased levels of transferrin receptor by 37% to 59%. Conclusions Vitreous humor may significantly limit iron uptake by transferrin/transferrin receptor pathway, and by increasing ferritin levels could profoundly increase the iron-storage capacity of ferritin in lens cells. Vitreous humor may play a significant protective role against iron-catalyzed oxidative damage of lens epithelial cells and therefore in the formation of cataracts. PMID:28245299

Laugh Away the Fat? Therapeutic Humor in the Control of Stress-induced Emotional Eating

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Elizabeth S. Bast

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This review explores the potential overlap between the fields of nutrition and therapeutic humor, together with the role of humor as a possible tool for aiding those in whom emotions, particularly negative ones, trigger eating as a means to improve mood. We review emotional eating, obesity, and the hypothesized mechanisms of emotional eating. We then review the field of therapeutic humor and its ability to de-stress individuals, possibly through endorphin and opioid systems, both of which are also involved in eating behavior. Finally, we present a novel hypothesis that people may be trained to use humor as a “food substitute” at best, or to blunt hunger stimuli, to achieve similar advantages, without the side effect of weight gain.

Laugh Away the Fat? Therapeutic Humor in the Control of Stress-induced Emotional Eating

Science.gov (United States)

Bast, Elizabeth S.; Berry, Elliot M.

2014-01-01

This review explores the potential overlap between the fields of nutrition and therapeutic humor, together with the role of humor as a possible tool for aiding those in whom emotions, particularly negative ones, trigger eating as a means to improve mood. We review emotional eating, obesity, and the hypothesized mechanisms of emotional eating. We then review the field of therapeutic humor and its ability to de-stress individuals, possibly through endorphin and opioid systems, both of which are also involved in eating behavior. Finally, we present a novel hypothesis that people may be trained to use humor as a “food substitute” at best, or to blunt hunger stimuli, to achieve similar advantages, without the side effect of weight gain. PMID:24498514

Semblanzas deportivas: humor, deporte y terror en Fontanarrosa

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Cristian Palacios

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Este artículo analiza el uso del humor negro del caricaturista Fontanarrosa en su serie Semblanzas Deportivas, definiendo, a la vez que deslindando, lo humorístico y lo cómico. Se aborda también el lugar que ocupa la obra de Fontanarrosa en la cultura popular, en donde destacan sobre todo temas deportivos como: fútbol, boxeo, atletismo y lucha libre. Se observa el uso de la literatura borgeana en Fontanarrosa y cómo, a partir de la exageración en imágenes de los rasgos de sus personajes, se consigue elaborar una crítica sin que sea necesario recurrir a la abierta oposición.

La grata dominación del humor publicitario

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Lic. Elena del Carmen Pérez

2000-01-01

Full Text Available El presente trabajo se propone dar cuenta de las estrategias con que el humor hace emerger, en el contexto general de los discursos, aquellos fragmentos omitidos por el decir oficial. Por su naturaleza de articulador ideológico, el texto publicitario (como todo texto remite a lo ya dicho en un estado dado de sociedad. En este sentido, resulta interesante observar qué fragmentos del discurso social recoge la publicidad humorística, con qué retórica los hace risibles y quiénes son aquellos sobre los que recae la risa. Se comentan avisos que son emitidos actualmente por canales de cable o aire en la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina.

[Application of Mixed-effect Model in PMI Estimation by Vitreous Humor].

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Yang, M Z; Li, H J; Zhang, T Y; Ding, Z J; Wu, S F; Qiu, X G; Liu, Q

2018-02-01

To test the changes of the potassium （K⁺） and magnesium （Mg²⁺） concentrations in vitreous humor of rabbits along with postmortem interval （PMI） under different temperatures, and explore the feasibility of PMI estimation using mixed-effect model. After sacrifice, rabbit carcasses were preserved at 5 ℃, 15 ℃, 25 ℃ and 35 ℃, and 80-100 μL of vitreous humor was collected by the double-eye alternating micro-sampling method at every 12 h. The concentrations of K⁺ and Mg²⁺ in vitreous humor were measured by a biochemical-immune analyser. The mixed-effect model was used to perform analysis and fitting, and established the equations for PMI estimation. The data detected from the samples that were stoned at 10 ℃, 20 ℃ and 30 ℃ with 20, 40 and 65 h were used to validate the equations of PMI estimation. The concentrations of K⁺ and Mg²⁺ [f（ x , y ）] in vitreous humor of rabbits under different temperature increased along with PMI （ x ）. The relative equations of K⁺ and Mg²⁺ concentration with PMI and temperature under 5 ℃~35 ℃ were f K⁺ （ x , y ）=3.413 0+0.309 2 x +0.337 6 y +0.010 83 xy -0.002 47 x ² （ P PMI estimation by K⁺ and Mg²⁺ was in 10 h when PMI was between 0 to 40 h, and the time of deviation was in 21 h when PMI was between 40 to 65 h. the ambient temperature range of 5 ℃-35 ℃, the mixed-effect model based on temperature and vitreous humor substance concentrations can provide a new method for the practical application of vitreous humor chemicals for PMI estimation. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.

Humor, Laughter & Happiness in the Daily Lives of Recently Bereaved Spouses

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Lund, Dale A.; Utz, Rebecca; Caserta, Michael S.; de Vries, Brian

2008-01-01

The positive psychology movement has created more interest in examining the potential value of experiencing positive emotions (e.g. humor, laughter and happiness) during the course of bereavement. This study of 292 recently widowed (5-24 weeks) men (39%) and women (61%) age 50 and over examined both the perceived importance of and actual experience of having positive emotions in their daily lives and how they might impact bereavement adjustments. We found that most of the bereaved spouses rated humor and happiness as being very important in their daily lives and that they were also experiencing these emotions at higher levels than expected. Experiencing humor, laughter and happiness was strongly associated with favorable bereavement adjustments (lower grief and depression) regardless of the extent to which the bereaved person valued having these positive emotions. PMID:19227000

Comparison of renal allograft (AG) biopsy diagnosis and temporal quantitation of Tc-99m sulfur colloid (SC) in clinically suspected AG rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, E.A.; Brown, W.N.; Carney, K.; Naidu, R.G.; Palmer, D.C.

1984-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of temporal quantitation of SC compared to tissue diagnosis of AG needle biopsy (Bx). The principal clinical criteria for patient selection were sequential or persistent reduction (at least 40-50%) of AG function as determined by serial serum creatinine levels. Thirty-four AG recipients were examined with SC and subsequent AG Bx in 37 instances. %SC AG accumulation and bone marrow extraction were interpreted in view of the significant sequential of persistent reduction of Ag function. Each AG Bx was collected from multiple needle aspirates and processed for light microscopy and immunoflorescent staining. Bx and SC exam were evaluated for acute rejection (AR), chronic rejection (CR) or other, non-rejection pathology. Acute tissue changes superimposed on chronic were regarded as AR. Acute tissue changes and % SC AG accumulation in the rejection range were graded as mild, moderate and marked. In AR there was 28/28 agreement of Bx and SC diagnosis; of which 7/28 were superimposed on CR. In Cr Bx and SC agreed in 3/7 instances, in 3/7 SC Dx was AR and in 1/7 SC exam was normal. Sensitivity and specificity of the SC diagnosis in this series was 100% and 63% for AR, 43% and 100% for CR and 97% and 100% in all instances of rejection. Bx and SC grading of AR agreed in 64%. In conclusion, temporal quantitation of SC demonstrated overall good correlation with AG Bx diagnosis in this series. The poor sensitivity of 43% of SC in Cr and only 64% correlation in grading AR may be due to inherent Bx sampling and SC data analysis error

Economics with a Sense of Humor.

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Keenan, Diane

1985-01-01

In this humorous dialogue that can be read and acted out as a play in high school economics classes, Karl Marx, a spokesman for communism, and Adam Smith, the father of capitalism, debate (1) whether an economy should produce designer jeans and (2) who should own McDonald's restaurant. (RM)

LONELINESS, SOCIAL INTERACTIONS AND SENSE OF HUMOR. A QUANTITATIVE STUDY COMPARING ROMANIAN STUDENTS AND OLDER ADULTS

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Ioana Schiau

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The current study explores social and emotional loneliness, social interactions and humor in a sample of Romanian students, departing from the Schiau 2016 study that found the production and social use of humor to be correlated to a reduced social loneliness in a sample of Romanian older adults. Studies indicate that loneliness can be experienced at any age, and that humor can act as a coping mechanism with life’s difficulties, triggering positive emotions. The current study replicates findings in the literature, indicating that younger adults experience less loneliness than older adults, and use more humor than older adults. Young women in the sample had a significantly more positive attitude towards humor than the men. This study has useful implications for a number of fields, including the economic and marketing sectors. The current student population represents a growing market, and studies indicate that the use of humor by service providers may intervene with any negative feelings that could cause clients to withdraw their engagement and cooperation in the service endeavor (Locke, 1996. Therefore, we argue that, for the retail and service sector, it is important to understand the different approach towards humor by the different age and gender groups discussed in this study.

"Last Professor Standing!": Powerpoint Enables All Faculty to Use Humor in Teaching

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Berk, Ronald A.

2014-01-01

There are two major global educational trends that have changed the form and execution of humor in the classroom and in professional conferences: (1) the burgeoning instructional technology, especially PowerPoint, which can provide a vehicle for several forms of low risk humor anyone can present; and (2) the diversity of classroom demographics,…

The Potency of Humor and Instructional Self-Efficacy on Art Teacher Stress

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Evans-Palmer, Teri

2010-01-01

This quantitative study was sparked by a keen interest in art teachers who practice humor in challenging school environments. Stressors unique to art education can cause teachers to lose heart in such a way that their ability to perform is compromised. To teach effectively, teachers must maintain resilience to cope with stress. Pedagogical humor,…

The Role of Humor in Learning Physics: A Study of Undergraduate Students

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Berge, Maria

2017-01-01

We all know that they do it, but what do students laugh "about" when learning science together? Although research has shown that students do use humor when they learn science, the role of humor in science education has received little attention. In this study, undergraduate students' laughter during collaborative work in physics has been…

Social Causes and Consequences of Rejection Sensitivity

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London, Bonita; Downey, Geraldine; Bonica, Cheryl; Paltin, Iris

2007-01-01

Predictions from the Rejection Sensitivity (RS) model concerning the social causes and consequences of RS were examined in a longitudinal study of 150 middle school students. Peer nominations of rejection, self-report measures of anxious and angry rejection expectations, and social anxiety, social withdrawal, and loneliness were assessed at two…

Fluorophotometric determination of aqueous humor flow rates in red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis).

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Jones, Michael P; Ward, Daniel A

2012-04-01

To determine aqueous humor flow rate (AHFR) in an avian species by use of anterior segment fluorophotometry. 9 healthy red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis; 4 males and 5 females) that ranged from 8 months to 8 years of age. A protocol was developed for fluorophotometric determination of AHFR. Topical administration of 10% fluorescein was used to load the corneas, and corneal and aqueous humor fluorescein concentrations were measured approximately 5, 6.5, and 8 hours later. Concentration-versus-time plots were generated, and slopes and cornea-to-aqueous humor concentration ratios from these plots were used to manually calculate flow rates. Mean ± SD AHFRs for the right eye, left eye, and both eyes were 3.17 ± 1.36 μL/min (range, 1.67 to 6.21 μL/min), 2.86 ± 0.88 μL/min (range, 2.04 to 4.30 μL/min), and 2.90 ± 0.90 μL/min (range, 1.67 to 4.42 μL/min), respectively. The AHFRs were similar for right and left eyes. These flow rates represented a mean aqueous humor transfer coefficient of 0.0082/min, which is similar to that of mammalian species. The AHFR in red-tailed hawks was similar to that of most mammalian species, and the fractional egress was almost identical to that of other species. This information will allow a greater understanding of aqueous humor flow in avian eyes, which is crucial when evaluating diseases that affect avian eyes as well as medications that alter aqueous humor flow.

Comparative evaluation of renal transplant rejection with radioiodinated fibrinogen, /sup 99m/Tc--sulfur colloid, and 67Ga-citrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

George, E.A.; Codd, J.E.; Newton, W.T.; Haibach, H.; Donati, R.M.

1976-01-01

The diagnostic accuracy, ease, and technical feasibility of imaging with 131 I- or 125 I-fibrinogen, 99 /sup m/Tc-sulfur colloid, and 67 Ga-citrate in renal transplant rejection are compared. Radiofibrinogen data resulted from literature review, radio-colloid data from 125 studies in 52 transplant patients, and gallium citrate data from 24 examinations in seven renal transplant patients performed simultaneously with the radiocolloid studies. Specificity of graft labeling during rejection appears to be similar with radiofibrinogen, 99 /sup m/Tc-sulfur colloid, and 67 Ga-citrate. For routine clinical use 99 /sup m/Tc-sulfur colloid surpasses radiofibrinogen and radiogallium because of its better imaging qualities with a permissible radiation dose, leading to better separation of positive and negative results. The 99 /sup m/Tc-sulfur colloid accumulates in areas of intravascular fibrin thrombosis in acute and chronic rejecting renal transplants. Hence, the mechanisms for accumulation of 99 /sup m/Tc-sulfur colloid and labeled fibrinogen in rejecting transplants would seem to be similar. Such physiologic properties as rapid blood clearance and such physical properties as short physical half-life combine to produce reliable graft visualization with adequate definition, thus favoring 99 /sup m/Tc-sulfur colloid as the single agent of choice for clinical evaluation of renal transplant rejection at this time

Utility of angiotensin-converting enzyme activity in aqueous humor in the diagnosis of ocular sarcoidosis.

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Mihailovic-Vucinic, Violeta; Popevic, Ljubica; Popevic, Spasoje; Stjepanovic, Mihailo; Aleksic, Andjelka; Stanojevic-Paovic, Anka

2017-10-01

Many studies include elevated activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in serum in sarcoidosis and in ocular sarcoidosis as well, but there are only a few analyzing ACE activities in aqueous humor. The aim of this study is to illuminate the diagnostic value of ACE in aqueous humor in patients with ocular sarcoidosis. We analyzed twenty patients with ocular sarcoidosis and 18 patients with nonocular involvement. All patients have biopsy-positive sarcoidosis of the lungs and/or mediastinal lymph nodes. Blood samples for ACE serum levels were obtained from all patients. Aqueous humor samples were taken by paracentesis with a 25-gauge needle in local anesthesia. With appropriate statistical tests, we compared ACE activity in serum and aqueous humor in patients with and without ocular sarcoidosis. The majority of our patients with ocular sarcoidosis were female (12/20), also in the group with systemic sarcoidosis and without ocular involvement (12/6). Mean age of the whole analyzed group of sarcoidosis patients was 45 ± 6 years. There is no statistically significant difference in ACE activity in serum between two groups of patients (with and without ocular sarcoidosis). There is statistically significant difference in ACE activity in aqueous humor among patients with ocular and nonocular sarcoidosis. ACE activity in aqueous humor is significantly higher in patients with ocular sarcoidosis. Increased ACE activity in aqueous humor can point to a diagnosis of ocular sarcoidosis, without the need for ocular biopsy.

Peer Group Rejection and Children's Outgroup Prejudice

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Nesdale, Drew; Durkin, Kevin; Maass, Anne; Kiesner, Jeff; Griffiths, Judith; Daly, Josh; McKenzie, David

2010-01-01

Two simulation studies examined the effect of peer group rejection on 7 and 9 year old children's outgroup prejudice. In Study 1, children (n = 88) pretended that they were accepted or rejected by their assigned group, prior to competing with a lower status outgroup. Results indicated that rejected versus accepted children showed increased…

The Attitudes of University Faculty toward Humor as a Pedagogical Tool: Can We Take a Joke?

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Huss, John; Eastep, Shannon

2016-01-01

Faculty members in a College of Education responded to a mixed methods questionnaire regarding their attitudes toward the use of humor as a pedagogical tool. Quantitative data and coding of open response questions revealed that instructors overall considered humor to be an integral part of their teaching plan and that humor relaxes students,…

THE BENEFITS OF SURFING HUMOR ON INTERNET TO INCREASE ENGLISH COMPETENCE AND CROSS CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENTS IN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OF UNNES

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Farah Firgia Lutfi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Surfing humor on internet has got a lot of negative responses although the doers claim that it is fun. This research is focusing on the humor which is using English as the main language. However, previous researches have confirmed that there are witty and social sides of humor. Those two sides are important foundations to learn English further. The present paper aims to spot beneficial effects of self -humor exposure from Internet towards English competence and cross cultural understanding of students in English Department of Semarang State University. The way to ‗get‘ a humor content is divided into two, humor comprehension and humor perception. Humor comprehension has cognitive benefits that increase English competence. Humor appreciation has sociological benefits to increase cross cultural understanding. Thus, we are comparing English ability and social behavior of students with different intensity of self-humor exposure. Data were collected through interview. Students with high intensity and interest to self-humor exposure showed relatively higher English competence and tolerance to different ideas. The explanation will give broader idea of how learning English through humor brings positive values. Further research about the effects of humor in studying English is needed.

Risk of renal allograft rejection following angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heideman, M.; Claes, G.; Nilson, A.E.

1976-01-01

In a retrospective study of 173 immediately functioning primary kidney transplants, correlation between angiography and renal allograft rejection was studied during the first 14 days. It was found that rejection was more frequent in kidneys undergoing angiography than in those not undergoing angiography. It was also found that in kidneys undergoing angiography an overwhelming number of the rejections started the day after angiography. These differences in rejection frequency could not be explained by differences in HLA matching or the origin of the kidneys. These findings suggest a possible connection indicating that the angiography might elicit an acute rejection episode. A possible mechanism for starting this reaction might be activation of the complement system which was found in 50 percent of the patients undergoing angiography in peripheral blood and in 100 percent when studied in vitro

On the Effects of Teacher’s Sense of Humor on Iranian’s EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability

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Fateme Ghanei Motlagh

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Teacher’s sense of humor is like a miracle in creating effective teaching and learning environments where there is no place for stress and anxiety but instead intrinsic motivation is enhanced. The present study aims mainly, to explore the effects of teachers’ sense of humor of EFL intermediate learners' reading comprehension ability. Having administered a test of reading proficiency, 58 learners are selected and assigned into control and experimental groups. Also two English language teachers, based on TOEFL and Humor Questionnaire, are selected to teach these learners. The process of teaching and the materials were the same for both groups. But participants in humor class were taught in a well-defined humorous environment managed by the teacher. Considering the control group, the process of teaching reading texts was conducted in a normal manner. To measure the relationship between EFL teachers’ sense of humor and EFL learners' intrinsic motivation in reading comprehension ability, an Intrinsic Motivation in Reading Questionnaire (IMERQ including reading curiosity, is given to experimental participants both at the outset and at the end of the course. Finally based on the data, it was found that teachers’ sense of humor was effective in improving learners' reading comprehension ability and enhancing intrinsic motivation. The findings can also provide pedagogical implications for considering teachers’ sense of humor as an intrinsically motivating learning tool.

Relationships between Humor Styles and Family Functioning in Parents of Children with Disabilities

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Rieger, Alicja; McGrail, J. Patrick

2015-01-01

The humor styles and family functioning of parents of children with disabilities are understudied subjects. This study seeks to shed quantitative light on these areas. Seventy-two parents of children with disabilities completed the "Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales" (FACES IV) and the "Humor Styles…

Soluble CD30 in patients with antibody-mediated rejection of the kidney allograft.

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Slavcev, Antonij; Honsova, Eva; Lodererova, Alena; Pavlova, Yelena; Sajdlova, Helena; Vitko, Stefan; Skibova, Jelena; Striz, Ilja; Viklicky, Ondrej

2007-07-01

The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate the clinical significance of measurement of the soluble CD30 (sCD30) molecule for the prediction of antibody-mediated (humoral) rejection (HR). Sixty-two kidney transplant recipients (thirty-one C4d-positive and thirty-one C4d-negative patients) were included into the study. Soluble CD30 levels were evaluated before transplantation and during periods of graft function deterioration. The median concentrations of the sCD30 molecule were identical in C4d-positive and C4d-negative patients before and after transplantation (65.5 vs. 65.0 and 28.2 vs. 36.0 U/ml, respectively). C4d+ patients who developed DSA de novo had a tendency to have higher sCD30 levels before transplantation (80.7+/-53.6 U/ml, n=8) compared with C4d-negative patients (65.0+/-33.4 U/ml, n=15). Soluble CD30 levels were evaluated as positive and negative (>or=100 U/ml and sCD30 estimation with regard to finding C4d deposits in peritubular capillaries were determined. The sensitivity of sCD30+ testing was generally below 40%, while the specificity of the test, i.e. the likelihood that if sCD30 testing is negative, C4d deposits would be absent, was 82%. C4d+ patients who developed DSA de novo were evaluated separately; the specificity of sCD30 testing for the incidence of HR in this cohort was 86%. We could not confirm in our study that high sCD30 levels (>or=100 U/ml) might be predictive for the incidence of HR. Negative sCD30 values might be however helpful for identifying patients with a low risk for development of DSA and antibody-mediated rejection.

Hippocrates' humoral pathology in nowaday's reflections.

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Bujalkova, M; Straka, S; Jureckova, A

2001-01-01

Ancient medicine integrated three components: experience (empirical observation), religion/magic and speculations of natural philosophers. The Greek medicine out-achieved medicine of other ancient nations in starting to investigate the true causes of health and diseases and thus laying foundations for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Hippocrates, the most famous physician of the ancient times, made a synthesis of existing philosophical opinions from the point of view of a physician. His 58 writings were preserved in the collection "Corpus Hippocraticum". The most relevant writing in it--"Peri fyseos anthropu" (On the nature of man)--is ascribed to Hippocrates' son-in-law Polybos to whom we are grateful for the ancient humoral-pathological theory. In explaining human organism and its processes the author integrated ancient teachings on 4 basic humors (humoral theory), elements and qualities with observations of manifestations of health and disease. Normal condition (health) was defined as balance between the body fluids (eukrasia) and external environment. If this balance is disturbed, the result is dyskrasia, i.e. disease studied by pathology. According to Hippocrates disease causes can be understood only through empirical study. A man has a power to overcome disease, but to achieve it the right diet is necessary to keep harmony in body fluids of an organism. The role of a physician was just to support the nature. "Prognosis", another writing included in "Corpus Hippocraticum", reflects Hippocrates' understanding of prognosis as a necessary development of diagnosis based on past knowledge (anamnesis) and present observation. Ideas of Hippocrates and his medical school are still valuable and inspiring especially for today's very sophisticated medicine--concept of fighting diseases by natural means: maintaining healthy lifestyle and harmony within the organism, or an effort for perfect understanding of human creature and for humanization of medicine. (Fig. 3

Humor Climate of the Primary Schools

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Sahin, Ahmet

2018-01-01

The aim of this study is to determine the opinions primary school administrators and teachers on humor climates in primary schools. The study was modeled as a convergent parallel design, one of the mixed methods. The data gathered from 253 administrator questionnaires, and 651 teacher questionnaires was evaluated for the quantitative part of the…

Humor as Camouflage of Televised Violence.

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Potter, W. James; Warren, Ron

1998-01-01

Contributes to research on schema theory and media effects by examining how violence is portrayed in comedy programs. Finds a high rate of violence (especially verbal forms) on comedy programs; and the combination of humor, minor acts of violence, and program context tend to trivialize its presence. Suggests that viewers' schema for comedy uses…

Antioxidant status of dog aqueous humor after extracapsular lens extraction

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Barros P.S.M.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available We determined the antioxidant status of the aqueous humor after extracapsular lens extraction in 14 mongrel dogs weighing about 10 kg. The animals were examined by slit lamp biomicroscopy, applanation tonometry and indirect ophthalmoscopy. One eye was submitted to conventional extracapsular lens extraction and the other was used as control. Samples of aqueous humor were obtained by anterior chamber paracentesis before and at days 1, 2, 3, 7 and 15 after surgery. Total antioxidant status was determined as the capacity of aqueous humor to inhibit free radical generation by 2,2-azobis(2-amidopropane chlorine. Ascorbic acid concentration was measured by HPLC with UV detection. Protein content was determined with the biuret reagent. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA followed by the Tukey-Kramer test. Protein concentration increased from 0.61 to 22 mg/ml 24 h after surgery. These levels were maintained and returned to normal at day 7. Total antioxidant capacity was reduced from 50 to about 30 min until day 3 and at day 7 it was equal to control. Ascorbic acid levels were reduced from 252 to about 110 µM and then returned to control values at day 15. Considering the importance of ascorbic acid concentration in aqueous humor for the maintenance of the antioxidant status of the anterior segment of the eye, the decrease of antioxidant defenses suggests that the surgical procedures promote an oxidative stress condition in the eye.

Clinical and immunological relevance of antibodies in solid organ transplantation.

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Mehra, N K; Baranwal, A K

2016-12-01

The two important issues affecting recipients of solid organ transplants and of importance to immunologists are (i) sensitization of the recipient to HLA antigens and the resultant humoral immune response leading to the development of anti-HLA antibodies; and ii) development of robust assays for early detection of humoral rejection post-transplant. Evidence from several studies clearly indicates that presence of circulating anti-HLA antibodies especially donor specific leads to early graft loss and high titres of DSA may even lead to hyperacute or accelerated acute rejection. Long-term graft survival too is adversely affected by the presence of either pre- or post-transplant DSA. HLA matching status of the recipient - donor pair - is an important factor in the modulation of humoral response following transplantation and in a way affects de novo development of DSA. Data collected over the past decade clearly indicate significantly lower level of DSAs in optimally matched donor-recipient pairs. HLA mismatches especially those on HLA-DR and HLA-C loci have wider implications on post-transplant graft survival. The presence of circulating anti-HLA antibodies leads to endothelial damage in the newly grafted organ through complement dependent or independent pathways. Although detection of C4d deposition in renal biopsies serves as an important indicator of humoral rejection, its absence does not preclude the presence of DSAs and humoral rejection, and hence, it cannot be relied upon in every case. The emergence of epitope-based screening for anti-HLA antibodies on Luminex platform with high degree of sensitivity has revolutionized the screening for anti-HLA antibodies and DSAs. Studies indicate that humoral response to non-HLA antigens might also have a detrimental effect on allograft survival. High titres of such circulating antibodies may even lead to hyperacute rejection. Pre-emptive testing of solid organ recipients, especially kidney transplant recipients for anti

Very Good Medicine: Indigenous Humor and Laughter

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Mala, Cynthia Lindquist

2016-01-01

Humor is not only instinctive and a basic human need, but it also is very good medicine. Laughter boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, and is linked to healthy functioning organs. [This article was written with Mylo Redwater Smith.

Microbiological assay of ampicillin in serum and aqueous humor of patients given ampicillin-sulbactam injection

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Madhavan Hajib

1998-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial growth inhibitory activities of ampicillin in aqueous humor and serum of patients administered ampicillin-sulbactam combination intramuscularly prior to cataract surgery. 43 patients received a combination of both antibiotics intramuscularly at varying periods (60-140 minutes prior to surgery. Aqueous humor and venous blood were collected at the beginning of the surgery. For microbiological assay, spores of Bacillus subtilis were incorporated in the agar. The test sample and the standard solutions (calibrators of ampicillin and ampicillin-sulbactam combination were placed in 3 mm wells in the agar. The diameter zones of growth inhibitory activities of ampicillin of the calibrators and the test samples measured in mm were extrapolated to the standard curve and were recorded as ampicillin activity in (μg/ml. The results of the assay were placed in 5 groups according to the time intervals between injection and collection of serum and aqueous humor (≤70, 75, 80, 90, >90 minutes. Ampicillin activities in sera and aqueous humor of group 5 (>90 minutes were significantly higher than the others (p<0.001. The ratio of ampicillin activities of sera and aqueous humor in group 5 patients was significantly lower indicating higher concentration of ampicillin activity in aqueous humor during this period. Bacterial growth inhibitory activities of ampicillin-sulbactam combination were adequate in aqueous humor of all patients with highest activity being 90 minutes after intramuscular administration indicating the potential usefulness of this antibiotic combination as chemoprophylaxis prior to cataract surgery.

T cell-derived Lymphotoxin is Essential for anti-HSV-1 Humoral Immune Response.

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Yang, Kaiting; Liang, Yong; Sun, Zhichen; Xue, Diyuan; Xu, Hairong; Zhu, Mingzhao; Fu, Yang-Xin; Peng, Hua

2018-05-09

B cell-derived lymphotoxin (LT) is required for the development of follicular dendritic cell clusters for the formation of primary and secondary lymphoid follicles, but the role of T cell-derived LT in antibody response has not been well demonstrated. We observed that lymphotoxin-β-receptor (LTβR) signaling is essential for optimal humoral immune response and protection against an acute HSV-1 infection. Blocking the LTβR pathway caused poor maintenance of germinal center B (GC-B) cells and follicular helper T (Tfh) cells. Using bone marrow chimeric mice and adoptive transplantation, we determined that T cell-derived LT played an indispensable role in the humoral immune response to HSV-1. Up-regulation of IFNγ by the LTβR-Ig blockade impairs the sustainability of Tfh-like cells, thus leading to an impaired humoral immune response. Our findings have identified a novel role of T cell-derived LT in the humoral immune response against HSV-1 infection. IMPORTANCE Immunocompromised people are susceptible for HSV-1 infection and lethal recurrence, which could be inhibited by anti-HSV-1 humoral immune response in the host. This study sought to explore the role of T cell-derived LT in the anti-HSV-1 humoral immune response using LT-LTβR signaling deficient mice and the LTβR-Ig blockade. The data indicate that the T cell-derived LT may play an essential role in sustaining Tfh-like cells and ensure Tfh-like cells' migration into primary or secondary follicles for further maturation. This study provides insights for vaccine development against infectious diseases. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

Don't Tease Me, I'm Working: Examining Humor in a Midwestern Organization Using Ethnography of Communication

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Ojha, Ajay K.; Holmes, Tammy L.

2010-01-01

Within organizations, the communicative phenomenon of humor is commonplace. Humorous talk is just as important and frequent to regular discourse that takes place between organizational members. In this inquiry we examine humor as a particular way of communicating between members of a small Midwestern United States organization. Specifically, we…

Experimental sepsis impairs humoral memory in mice.

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Christian Pötschke

Full Text Available Patients with sepsis are often immune suppressed, and experimental mouse models of sepsis also display this feature. However, acute sepsis in mice is also characterized by a generalized B cell activation and plasma cell differentiation, resulting in a marked increase in serum antibody concentration. Its effects on humoral memory are not clearly defined. We measured the effects of experimental sepsis on long-term immunological memory for a defined antigen: we induced colon ascendens stent peritonitis (CASP 8 weeks after 2 rounds of immunization with ovalbumin. Four weeks later, the antigen-specific bone marrow plasma cell count had doubled in immunized non-septic animals, but remained unchanged in immunized septic animals. Sepsis also caused a decrease in antigen-specific serum antibody concentration. We conclude that sepsis weakens humoral memory by impeding the antigen-specific plasma cell pool's development, which is not complete 8 weeks after secondary immunization.

O humor entre os povos Jê: cotidiano e ritual

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Dias, Lucília da Glória Alves

2015-01-01

O objetivo do presente trabalho é refletir sobre o riso e o humor na experiência das sociedades indígenas jê, Brasil Central. Com base na análise da etnografia sobre povos jê produzida entre as décadas de 1970 e 2010, a presença do humor é tratada aqui em dois contextos específicos: as relações interpessoais chamadas pela antropologia clássica de “relações jocosas” e a presença em rituais de figuras cômicas ou “palhaços”. O primeiro conjunto é abordado principalmente da perspectiva da “conviv...

[Neuropsychology of humor: an introduction Part 1. Psychological data].

Science.gov (United States)

Derouesné, Christian

2016-03-01

Humor is, from a psychological point of view, a complex process involving cognitive, affective, interspersonal and social elements in a interpersonal context. Its cognitive core is based on the perception of incongruity between two related inconsistent or contradictory mental representations. The total or partial resolution of incongruity in a playful frame is associated with a specific positive emotion, which characteristics and intensity are determined by the structure of the humoristic stimulus more than its content, and the personal and social contexts. Main theories of humor are reviewed as well as its development, its cognitive and affective correlates, and the influence of genre, age and personality.

Rejection Sensitivity, Jealousy, and the Relationship to Interpersonal Aggression.

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Murphy, Anna M; Russell, Gemma

2018-07-01

The development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships lead individuals to risk rejection in the pursuit of acceptance. Some individuals are predisposed to experience a hypersensitivity to rejection that is hypothesized to be related to jealous and aggressive reactions within interpersonal relationships. The current study used convenience sampling to recruit 247 young adults to evaluate the relationship between rejection sensitivity, jealousy, and aggression. A mediation model was used to test three hypotheses: Higher scores of rejection sensitivity would be positively correlated to higher scores of aggression (Hypothesis 1); higher scores of rejection sensitivity would be positively correlated to higher scores of jealousy (Hypothesis 2); jealousy would mediate the relationship between rejection sensitivity and aggression (Hypothesis 3). Study results suggest a tendency for individuals with high rejection sensitivity to experience higher levels of jealousy, and subsequently have a greater propensity for aggression, than individuals with low rejection sensitivity. Future research that substantiates a link between hypersensitivity to rejection, jealousy, and aggression may provide an avenue for prevention, education, or intervention in reducing aggression within interpersonal relationships.

Corneal Graft Rejection: Incidence and Risk Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alireza Baradaran-Rafii

2008-12-01

Full Text Available

PURPOSE: To determine the incidence and risk factors of late corneal graft rejection after penetrating keratoplasty (PKP. METHODS: Records of all patients who had undergone PKP from 2002 to 2004 without immunosuppressive therapy other than systemic steroids and with at least one year of follow up were reviewed. The role of possible risk factors such as demographic factors, other host factors, donor factors, indications for PKP as well as type of rejection were evaluated. RESULTS: During the study period, 295 PKPs were performed on 286 patients (176 male, 110 female. Mean age at the time of keratoplasty was 38±20 (range, 40 days to 90 years and mean follow up period was 20±10 (range 12-43 months. Graft rejection occurred in 94 eyes (31.8% at an average of 7.3±6 months (range, 20 days to 39 months after PKP. The most common type of rejection was endothelial (20.7%. Corneal vascularization, regrafting, anterior synechiae, irritating sutures, active inflammation, additional anterior segment procedures, history of trauma, uncontrolled glaucoma, prior graft rejection, recurrence of herpetic infection and eccentric grafting increased the rate of rejection. Patient age, donor size and bilateral transplantation had no significant influence on graft rejection. CONCLUSION: Significant risk factors for corneal graft rejection include

"Everyone's a Comedian." No Really, They Are: Using Humor in the Online and Traditional Classroom

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Smith, Victoria D.; Wortley, Amy

2017-01-01

The effects of the incorporation of instructor humor in both the traditional and online classroom settings was examined. Students react to instructor humor in positive ways that demonstrate both increased engagement with the material and increased information recall following the use of instructor humor in lecture. Challenges of instructor and…

Thallium kinetics in rat cardiac transplant rejection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barak, J.H.; LaRaia, P.J.; Boucher, C.A.; Fallon, J.T.; Buckley, M.J.

1988-01-01

Cardiac transplant rejection is a very complex process involving both cellular and vascular injury. Recently, thallium imaging has been used to assess acute transplant rejection. It has been suggested that changes in thallium kinetics might be a sensitive indicator of transplant rejection. Accordingly, thallium kinetics were assessed in vivo in acute untreated rat heterotopic (cervical) transplant rejection. Male Lewis rats weighing 225-250 g received heterotopic heart transplants from syngeneic Lewis rats (group A; n = 13), or allogeneic Brown Norway rats (group B; n = 11). Rats were imaged serially on the 2nd and the 7th postoperative days. Serial cardiac thallium content was determined utilizing data collected every 150 sec for 2 hr. The data were fit to a monoexponential curve and the decay rate constant (/sec) derived. By day 7 all group B hearts had histological evidence of severe acute rejection, and demonstrated decreased global contraction. Group A hearts showed normal histology and contractility. However, thallium uptakes and washout of the two groups were the same. Peak thallium uptake of group B was +/- 3758 1166 counts compared with 3553 +/- 950 counts in the control group A (P = 0.6395); The 2-hr percentage of washout was 12.1 +/- 1.04 compared with 12.1 +/- 9.3 (P = 1.0000); and the decay constant was -0.00002065 +/- 0.00001799 compared with -0.00002202 +/- 0.00001508 (P = 0.8409). These data indicate that in vivo global thallium kinetics are preserved during mild-to-severe acute transplant rejection. These findings suggest that the complex cellular and extracellular processes of acute rejection limit the usefulness of thallium kinetics in the detection of acute transplant rejection

Danish Humor in Cross-Cultural Professional Settings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundquist, Lita Sander

2014-01-01

, with no limits or taboos. These characteristics of Danish humor are analyzed here using two different theoretical frameworks: linguistics – where an explanation is found in certain type-specific features of the Danish language, namely the dialogical particles typical of the Nordic languages in general...

Humor e ficção na produção de conteúdos audiovisuais

OpenAIRE

Noras, Francisco Miguel Raimundo

2014-01-01

O presente relatório de estágio reflete sobre a produção de conteúdos audiovisuais no Canal Q, com base no Humor e na Ficção. A ele adjacente, encontramos uma reflexão teórica sobre o poder do Humor, enquanto instrumento de comunicação, ao longo da história. Este trabalho pondera a relação partilhada entre o riso, Humor e, em última ...

Reject/repeat analysis and the effect prior film viewing has on a department's reject/repeat rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, P.A.; Hogg, P.

2003-01-01

Purpose: Achieving cost-effectiveness within the NHS is an old initiative but one that has again been highlighted by recent government policies (The New NHS-Modern and Dependable, Stationary Office, London, 1997). It has been reiterated that it is the responsibility of individual Trusts to devise means to provide such a service. Reject/repeat analyses have long been the primary tool used to assess the cost-effectiveness of radiography departments (Quality Assurance in Diagnostic Radiology, WHO, Geneva, 1982). This research paper examines an in-house initiative (viewing patients' previous films) commonly employed in other Health Trusts in order to reduce departmental repeat/reject rates. Method: Three hundred orthopaedic patients with hip, knee and ankle prostheses were included in a reject/repeat analysis. The aim was to investigate whether or not viewing patient's previous relevant radiographs would be advantageous to the practicing radiographer. This was done through an audit cycle consisting of two audit periods each lasting for 3 months. The primary audit period recorded the baseline repeat/reject rate, with the secondary audit period recording the repeat/reject rate under an experimental condition of viewing the relevant radiographs. Results: The baseline audit revealed repeat rates of 33% in orthopaedic patients with hip, knee and ankle prostheses. The availability of prior film viewing to the radiographer reduced this repeat rate to 10.6%. Conclusion: Prior film viewing dramatically reduced the department's repeat/reject rate by 22.4%. This provides scope for significant patient dose reductions as well as reducing departmental film expenses. This is an underestimated initiative and should be used appropriately in routine clinical practice

Illness Identity in Adults with a Chronic Illness.

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Oris, Leen; Luyckx, Koen; Rassart, Jessica; Goubert, Liesbet; Goossens, Eva; Apers, Silke; Arat, Seher; Vandenberghe, Joris; Westhovens, René; Moons, Philip

2018-02-21

The present study examines the concept of illness identity, the degree to which a chronic illness is integrated into one's identity, in adults with a chronic illness by validating a new self-report questionnaire, the Illness Identity Questionnaire (IIQ). Self-report questionnaires on illness identity, psychological, and physical functioning were assessed in two samples: adults with congenital heart disease (22-78 year old; n = 276) and with multisystem connective tissue disorders (systemic lupus erythematosus or systemic sclerosis; 17-81 year old; n = 241). The IIQ could differentiate four illness identity states (i.e., engulfment, rejection, acceptance, and enrichment) in both samples, based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. All four subscales proved to be reliable. Rejection and engulfment were related to maladaptive psychological and physical functioning, whereas acceptance and enrichment were related to adaptive psychological and physical functioning. The present findings underscore the importance of the concept of illness identity. The IIQ, a self-report questionnaire, is introduced to measure four different illness identity states in adults with a chronic illness.

Relations of Dispositions toward Ridicule and Histrionic Self-Presentation with Quantitative and Qualitative Humor Creation Abilities

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Renner, Karl-Heinz; Manthey, Leonie

2018-01-01

Previous research has shown that humor and self-presentation are linked in several ways. With regard to individual differences, it turned out that gelotophilia (the joy of being laughed at) and katagelasticism (the joy of laughing at others) are substantially associated with the histrionic self-presentation style that is characterized by performing explicit As-If-behaviors (e.g., irony, parodying others) in everyday interactions. By contrast, gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) shows a negative correlation with histrionic self-presentation. In order to further contribute to the nomological network, we have explored whether the three dispositions toward ridicule and laughter as well as histrionic self-presentation are related to humor creation abilities. In doing so, we have assessed the four constructs in a study with 337 participants that also completed the Cartoon Punch line Production Test (CPPT, Köhler and Ruch, 1993, unpublished). In the CPPT, subjects were asked to generate as many funny punch lines as possible for six caption-removed cartoons. The created punch lines were then analyzed with regard to quantitative (e.g., number of punch lines) and qualitative (e.g., wittiness of the punch lines and overall wittiness of the person as evaluated by three independent raters) humor creation abilities. Results show that both gelotophilia and histrionic self-presentation were positively correlated with quantitative and qualitative humor creation abilities. By contrast, gelotophobia showed slightly negative and katagelasticism no associations with the assessed humor creation abilities. These findings especially apply to the subgroup of participants that created punch lines for each of the six cartoons and partly replicate and extend the results of a previous study by Ruch et al. (2009). Altogether, the results of our study show that individual differences in humor-related traits are associated with the quantity and quality of humorous punch lines. It is

Relations of Dispositions toward Ridicule and Histrionic Self-Presentation with Quantitative and Qualitative Humor Creation Abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Renner, Karl-Heinz; Manthey, Leonie

2018-01-01

Previous research has shown that humor and self-presentation are linked in several ways. With regard to individual differences, it turned out that gelotophilia (the joy of being laughed at) and katagelasticism (the joy of laughing at others) are substantially associated with the histrionic self-presentation style that is characterized by performing explicit As-If-behaviors (e.g., irony, parodying others) in everyday interactions. By contrast, gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) shows a negative correlation with histrionic self-presentation. In order to further contribute to the nomological network, we have explored whether the three dispositions toward ridicule and laughter as well as histrionic self-presentation are related to humor creation abilities. In doing so, we have assessed the four constructs in a study with 337 participants that also completed the Cartoon Punch line Production Test (CPPT, Köhler and Ruch, 1993, unpublished). In the CPPT, subjects were asked to generate as many funny punch lines as possible for six caption-removed cartoons. The created punch lines were then analyzed with regard to quantitative (e.g., number of punch lines) and qualitative (e.g., wittiness of the punch lines and overall wittiness of the person as evaluated by three independent raters) humor creation abilities. Results show that both gelotophilia and histrionic self-presentation were positively correlated with quantitative and qualitative humor creation abilities. By contrast, gelotophobia showed slightly negative and katagelasticism no associations with the assessed humor creation abilities. These findings especially apply to the subgroup of participants that created punch lines for each of the six cartoons and partly replicate and extend the results of a previous study by Ruch et al. (2009). Altogether, the results of our study show that individual differences in humor-related traits are associated with the quantity and quality of humorous punch lines. It is

The humor after of the humor: concepts around Pablo Holberg´s Eden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Turnes

2012-08-01

Full Text Available At the beginning of 21st century comics production in Argentina have experienced the emergence of new methods of publication, promotion and circulation consisting of a series of devices whose complex relationship has redefined the authorial figureas well as a new reading audience. The passage from the Internet and digital formats to the book has established itself as post-industrial strategy in the context of the reconstitution of a diverse comics field, where the national tradition of humor serves as example of the mentioned changes

Emotion and the humors: scoring and classifying major characters from Shakespeare's comedies on the basis of their language.

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Whissell, Cynthia

2010-06-01

The theory of humors, which was the prevalent theory of affect in Shakespeare's day, was used to explain both states (moods, emotions) and traits (personalities). This article reports humoral scores appropriate to the major characters of Shakespeare's comedies. The Dictionary of Affect in Language was used to score all words (N = 180,243) spoken by 105 major characters in 13 comedies in terms of their emotional undertones. These were translated into humoral scores. Translation was possible because emotional undertones, humor, and personality (e.g., Eysenck's model) are defined by various axes in the same two-dimensional space. Humoral scores differed for different types of characters, e.g., Shakespeare's lovers used more Sanguine language and his clowns more Melancholy language than other characters. A study of Kate and Petruchio from The Taming of the Shrew demonstrated state-like changes in humor for characters as the play unfolded.

Cell-Free DNA and Active Rejection in Kidney Allografts.

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Bloom, Roy D; Bromberg, Jonathan S; Poggio, Emilio D; Bunnapradist, Suphamai; Langone, Anthony J; Sood, Puneet; Matas, Arthur J; Mehta, Shikha; Mannon, Roslyn B; Sharfuddin, Asif; Fischbach, Bernard; Narayanan, Mohanram; Jordan, Stanley C; Cohen, David; Weir, Matthew R; Hiller, David; Prasad, Preethi; Woodward, Robert N; Grskovic, Marica; Sninsky, John J; Yee, James P; Brennan, Daniel C

2017-07-01

Histologic analysis of the allograft biopsy specimen is the standard method used to differentiate rejection from other injury in kidney transplants. Donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) is a noninvasive test of allograft injury that may enable more frequent, quantitative, and safer assessment of allograft rejection and injury status. To investigate this possibility, we prospectively collected blood specimens at scheduled intervals and at the time of clinically indicated biopsies. In 102 kidney recipients, we measured plasma levels of dd-cfDNA and correlated the levels with allograft rejection status ascertained by histology in 107 biopsy specimens. The dd-cfDNA level discriminated between biopsy specimens showing any rejection (T cell-mediated rejection or antibody-mediated rejection [ABMR]) and controls (no rejection histologically), P rejection at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 61% and 84%, respectively. The AUC for discriminating ABMR from samples without ABMR was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.97). Positive and negative predictive values for ABMR at a cutoff of 1.0% dd-cfDNA were 44% and 96%, respectively. Median dd-cfDNA was 2.9% (ABMR), 1.2% (T cell-mediated types ≥IB), 0.2% (T cell-mediated type IA), and 0.3% in controls ( P =0.05 for T cell-mediated rejection types ≥IB versus controls). Thus, dd-cfDNA may be used to assess allograft rejection and injury; dd-cfDNA levels rejection (T cell-mediated type ≥IB or ABMR) and levels >1% indicate a probability of active rejection. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Characterization of the effect of Cr(VI) on humoral innate immunity using Drosophila melanogaster.

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Pragya, P; Shukla, A K; Murthy, R C; Abdin, M Z; Kar Chowdhuri, D

2015-11-01

With the advancement of human race, different anthropogenic activities have heaped the environment with chemicals that can cause alteration in the immune system of exposed organism. As a first line of barrier, the evolutionary conserved innate immunity is crucial for the health of an organism. However, there is paucity of information regarding in vivo assessment of the effect of environmental chemicals on innate immunity. Therefore, we examined the effect of a widely used environmental chemical, Cr(VI), on humoral innate immune response using Drosophila melanogaster. The adverse effect of Cr(VI) on host humoral response was characterized by decreased gene expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in the exposed organism. Concurrently, a significantly decreased transcription of humoral pathway receptors (Toll and PGRP) and triglyceride level along with inhibition of antioxidant enzyme activities were observed in exposed organism. This in turn weakened the immune response of exposed organism that was manifested by their reduced resistance against bacterial infection. In addition, overexpression of the components of humoral immunity particularly Diptericin benefits Drosophila from Cr(VI)-induced humoral immune-suppressive effect. To our knowledge, this is the first report regarding negative impact of an environmental chemical on humoral innate immune response of Drosophila along with subsequent protection by AMPs, which may provide novel insight into host-chemical interactions. Also, our data validate the utility and sensitivity of Drosophila as a model that could be used for screening the possible risk of environmental chemicals on innate immunity with minimum ethical concern that can be further extrapolated to higher organisms. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Hippocampus: The Effects of Humor on Student Achievement and Memory Retention

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McCartney Matthews, Melissa Lee

2011-01-01

Research literature relating to the use of humor as a teaching method or curricula specifically designed to include humor was reviewed to investigate the effects of humor on student learning in various environments from elementary schools to post-secondary classrooms. In this multi-method study, four instruments and a humor treatment were selected…

Clinical implication of triamcinolone in aqueous humor after depository sub-Tenon application.

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Xu, Xu; Han, Yin; Kong, Liping; Ding, Xiaoxu; Liu, Fang; Cheng, Lingyun

2017-11-01

To determine the triamcinolone concentration in the aqueous humor after anterior sub-Tenon injection versus posterior sub-Tenon injection and the possible association between the levels of triamcinolone in the aqueous and the elevation in intraocular pressure (IOP). University teaching hospitals at Wenzhou and Shanghai, China. Prospective case series. The aqueous humor was sampled and triamcinolone quantitated after anterior sub-Tenon injection or posterior sub-Tenon injection in a cohort of patients and in experimental rabbits. Patients' IOPs were measured before and up to 3 months after triamcinolone acetonide injection. The study comprised 46 patients and 18 rabbits. The mean aqueous humor triamcinolone concentration in rabbit eyes and human eyes was significantly higher after an anterior sub-Tenon injection than that after a posterior sub-Tenon injection (rabbit eye: anterior sub-Tenon injection, 2.67 ng/mL ± 0.78 [SD] and posterior sub-Tenon injection 1.38 ± 0.48 ng/mL; human eye: 133.8 ± 149.2 ng/mL and 10.2 ± 10.9 ng/mL, respectively) (both P humor was significantly higher in human eyes than in rabbit eyes (133.8 ± 149.2 ng/mL versus 11.0 ± 8.1 ng/mL) (P = .0003). The levels of triamcinolone in the human aqueous humor had a significant positive association with the elevation in IOP (β = 0.12, P = .026). The triamcinolone level in aqueous humor was associated with IOP elevation after sub-Tenon application. Posterior sub-Tenon injection with a small injection volume of concentrated suspension offered a better targeted delivery and might significantly reduce steroid-associated IOP elevation. Copyright © 2017 ASCRS and ESCRS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Peer victimization and peer rejection during early childhood

Science.gov (United States)

Godleski, Stephanie A.; Kamper, Kimberly E.; Ostrov, Jamie M.; Hart, Emily J.; Blakely-McClure, Sarah J.

2014-01-01

Objective The development and course of the subtypes of peer victimization is a relatively understudied topic despite the association of victimization with important developmental and clinical outcomes. Moreover, understanding potential predictors, such as peer rejection and emotion regulation, in early childhood may be especially important to elucidate possible bi-directional pathways between relational and physical victimization and rejection. The current study (N = 97) was designed to explore several gaps and limitations in the peer victimization and peer rejection literature. In particular, the prospective associations between relational and physical victimization and peer rejection over the course of 3.5 months during early childhood (i.e., 3- to 5- years-old) were investigated in an integrated model. Method The study consisted of 97 (42 girls) preschool children recruited from four early childhood schools in the northeast of the US. Using observations, research assistant report and teacher report, relational and physical aggression, relational and physical victimization, peer rejection, and emotion regulation were measured in a short-term longitudinal study. Path analyses were conducted to test the overall hypothesized model. Results Peer rejection was found to predict increases in relational victimization. In addition, emotion regulation was found to predict decreases in peer rejection and physical victimization. Conclusions Implications for research and practice are discussed, including teaching coping strategies for peer rejection and emotional distress. PMID:25133659

Humor-A Rehabilitative Tool in the Post-Intensive Care of Young Adults With Acquired Brain Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Reilly, Kate

The aim of the study was to describe how paid carers use humor in providing compassionate post-intensive rehabilitation care to young adults with acquired brain injury (ABI) who are unable to perform or direct their own care. This is a qualitative study underpinned by symbolic interactionism. Paid carers in a residential aged care facility were interviewed. Interview data were analyzed using grounded theory methods of coding, comparative analysis, memoing, and theoretical sampling. With young adult's assent, paid carers appropriately used humor, at times even crude humor, as a rehabilitative tool to activate and elicit responses from young people with ABI who could not perform or direct their own care. The use of humor while caring for this population demonstrated that compassion still exists within nursing; however, it may not always be reverent. Humor may be an effective way to provide compassionate care and can be used as a rehabilitative tool to elicit responses from young people with ABI who have no means of verbal communication.

Humoral and cellular immunity in women with infertility (dynamic observation after Chernobyl accident)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubchak, A.Je.

2000-01-01

The influence of low-dose radiation on the state of humoral and cellular immunity in women with infertility of inflammatory origin during a dynamic study was studied. The data of the dynamic study of cellular and humoral immunity in women with inflammatory infertility evacuated from Chernobyl and Pripyat and in those constantly residing on the controlled territories compared to those living in Poltava, the differences suggesting unfavorable influence of harmful factors (including low-dose radiation) on the organism of the woman have been revealed. In the evacuated women the changes in cellular and humoral immunity were observed during the first years after the accident, while in those residing in the controlled territories 4-5 years after the accident

Understanding maladaptive responses to rejection: Aggression with an audience.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBono, Amber; Layton, Rebekah L; Freeman, Nicholas; Muraven, Mark

2017-01-01

Logically, responding aggressively to rejection is maladaptive because one is unlikely to seek a relationship with an aggressor. We predict that when concealed, the illogical aggressive response to rejection is more likely, whereas when the rejected individuals' aggressive responses are perceived as public, the aggressive acts may be reduced. Participants were rejected by others (Experiment 1) or were either accepted or rejected during an online ball-tossing game (Experiment 2) and were then given an opportunity to aggress publicly or privately. Across experiments, when the opportunity to aggress was made public, rejected participants exhibited less aggressive behavior. When concerned about the perception of their public aggressive responses by others, rejected individuals' aggressive responses diminished compared with those whose actions were private. Crucially, this extended to aggression visible only to neutral others, suggesting that effects cannot solely be due to fear of retribution.

Elevated lipocalin-2 level in aqueous humor of patients with central retinal vein occlusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Koban, Yaran; Sahin, Seda; Boy, Fatih; Kara, Fatih

2018-03-23

To assess the concentrations of lipocalin-2 (LCN2) in the serum and the aqueous humor of patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). The concentrations of LCN2 in the serum and aqueous humor of 16 cataract patients and 16 patients with CRVO with macular edema were compared. Collection of aqueous samples was conducted in the operating theater under sterile conditions and just prior to intravitreal ranibizumab injection or cataract surgery. LCN2 levels in serum and aqueous humor samples were measured using a commercial kit (human lipocalin-2/NGAL PicoKine ELISA Kit, MyBioSource Inc., USA; Catalog No: MBS175829) based on standard sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technology. The concentrations of LCN2 in the aqueous humors of the CRVO group were higher than those of the control group (p = 0.021). There was no significant difference in serum LCN2 level between the two groups (p = 0.463). Concentrations of LCN2 in aqueous humor are increased in CRVO. LCN2 may be part of a pro-catabolic phenotype, and it may play an important role in the dreaded complications of CRVO, such as macular edema, macular ischemia, and neovascularization, which lead to blindness.

Predicting outcome of acute kidney transplant rejection using

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rekers, Niels Vincent

2014-01-01

Acute kidney transplant rejection is an important risk factors for adverse graft outcome. Once diagnosed, it remains difficult to predict the risk of graft loss and the response to anti-rejection treatment. The aim of this thesis was to identify biomarkers during acute rejection, which predict the

The Neural Basis of Recollection Rejection: Increases in Hippocampal-Prefrontal Connectivity in the Absence of a Shared Recall-to-Reject and Target Recollection Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Caitlin R; Dennis, Nancy A

2016-08-01

Recollection rejection or "recall-to-reject" is a mechanism that has been posited to help maintain accurate memory by preventing the occurrence of false memories. Recollection rejection occurs when the presentation of a new item during recognition triggers recall of an associated target, a mismatch in features between the new and old items is registered, and the lure is correctly rejected. Critically, this characterization of recollection rejection involves a recall signal that is conceptually similar to recollection as elicited by a target. However, previous neuroimaging studies have not evaluated the extent to which recollection rejection and target recollection rely on a common neural signal but have instead focused on recollection rejection as a postretrieval monitoring process. This study utilized a false memory paradigm in conjunction with an adapted remember-know-new response paradigm that separated "new" responses based on recollection rejection from those that were based on a lack of familiarity with the item. This procedure allowed for parallel recollection rejection and target recollection contrasts to be computed. Results revealed that, contrary to predictions from theoretical and behavioral literature, there was virtually no evidence of a common retrieval mechanism supporting recollection rejection and target recollection. Instead of the typical target recollection network, recollection rejection recruited a network of lateral prefrontal and bilateral parietal regions that is consistent with the retrieval monitoring network identified in previous neuroimaging studies of recollection rejection. However, a functional connectivity analysis revealed a component of the frontoparietal rejection network that showed increased coupling with the right hippocampus during recollection rejection responses. As such, we demonstrate a possible link between PFC monitoring network and basic retrieval mechanisms within the hippocampus that was not revealed with

Exposure to Sexist Humor and Rape Proclivity: The Moderator Effect of Aversiveness Ratings

Science.gov (United States)

Romero-Sanchez, Monica; Duran, Mercedes; Carretero-Dios, Hugo; Megias, Jesus L.; Moya, Miguel

2010-01-01

The aim of this study is to explore the effect of exposure to sexist humor about women on men's self-reported rape proclivity. Earlier studies have shown that exposure to this type of humor increases rape proclivity and that funniness responses to jokes are a key element to consider. However, the role of aversiveness responses has not been…

That’s not funny! – But it should be: effects of humorous emotion regulation on emotional experience and memory

OpenAIRE

Kugler, Lisa; Kuhbandner, Christof

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that humorous reappraisal can reduce elicited negative emotions, suggesting that humor may be a functional strategy to cope with emotionally negative situations. However, the effect of humorous reappraisal on later memory about the emotion-eliciting situation is currently unknown, although this is crucial for more adaptive responding in future situations. To address this issue, we examined the effects of humorous reappraisal on both emotional experience and memory,...

Prevalence and characteristics of foal rejection in Arabian mares.

Science.gov (United States)

Juarbe-Díaz, S V; Houpt, K A; Kusunose, R

1998-09-01

Separate surveys of Thoroughbred, Paint, and Arabian mare owners revealed a higher than expected rate of foal rejection in Arabian mares. A behavioural history form was submitted by owners of foal rejecting and nonrejecting Arabian mares, and maternal behaviour and management practices compared. Four generation pedigrees of rejecting and nonrejecting Arabian mares were also examined. Foal rejecting mares were more likely to avoid, threaten, squeal at, chase, bite, and kick their foals post partum than nonrejecting mares. Nonrejecting mares were more likely to lick, nicker and defend their foals post partum than rejecting mares. No statistically significant relationship was found between foal rejection and the type of breeding method (natural vs. artificial insemination), the presence of people at birth, the presence of nearby horses at birth, or assistance of the first nursing bout. The presence at least once of 1 of 2 related sires was statistically higher in the pedigrees of rejecting vs. nonrejecting mares. Inherited and learned or environmental factors are likely to affect the expression of foal rejection behaviour.

Stomaching rejection: Self-compassion and self-esteem moderate the impact of daily social rejection on restrictive eating behaviours among college women.

Science.gov (United States)

Beekman, Janine B; Stock, Michelle L; Howe, George W

2017-11-01