English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

5:01 AM

Word of the day: selective reduction (the practice of reducing the number of fetuses in a multiple pregnancy, say quadruplets, to a twin or singleton pregnancy)

5:20 AM

6:06 AM

6:24 AM

Top iPhone model: 159 thousand rubles

Apartments in the Russian city of Vorkuta: 80 000 rubles, 90 000 rubles

6:51 AM

Yashas

9:48 AM

"Popular real-valued targets are: change in denaturation midpoint temperature, denoted by ∆Tm; change in thermal deactivation temperature, denoted by ∆T_50; and change in free energy of folding, denoted by ∆∆G."

Are the usage of colon and semicolons here correct?

"Popular real-valued targets are" is not a complete sentence. Should it be a complete sentence to use a colon?

Q: English Grammar book on 'Voice Change' and 'Narration Change'

12:50 PM

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I want to know the name of some English Grammar books, in which : (1) The Voice Change (Active to Passive and vice-versa) (2) The Narration Change have been discussed in details with examples.

Are there text books that discuss narration choices? That is, something like a text book on syntax, but in the realm of multi-sentence discourse? i.e -not- Strunk and White?

1:09 PM

@Yashas Normally, semicola are indeed used between independent sentences. However, there is an exception for enumerations of which items are very long or have internal commata.

So the usage you found is conventional.

1:45 PM

I got a flu vaccine shot today.

Turns out a single shot works against three different flu strains.

And this fall, a shot was approved in Russia that works against four.

I never had a flu shot before.

Nice.

I'd like to have that shot, too.

But no.

1:59 PM

@Cerberus In Russia, flu shots are free of charge

If one wants to have a particular flu vaccine, it's not free of charge but still comparatively cheap.

The tetravalent newest vaccine is only 800 rubles, and the cost of making the shot is about 200 rubles, thus, about 1000 rubles.

That's less than $20.

And one can always make a shot at home. Although there's a risk of allergic reactions, so I would be afraid to do that. Or at least, if I decided to do that, I would buy some strong injectable drugs to immediately stop a Quinke's edema if it occurs.

Angioedema

Angioedema is an area of swelling (edema) of the lower layer of skin and tissue just under the skin or mucous membranes. The swelling may occur in the face, tongue, larynx, abdomen, or arms and legs. Often it is associated with hives, which are swelling within the upper skin. Onset is typically over minutes to hours.The underlying mechanism typically involves histamine or bradykinin. The version related to histamine is due to an allergic reaction to agents such as insect bites, foods, or medications. The version related to bradykinin may occur due to an inherited problem known as C1 esteras...

A bee once bit me during a jog, right in the neck, and for some time it was hard to breathe. I've been promising to buy some strong injectable anti-angioedema stuff ever since, but postponing.

@CowperKettle For all citizens? Or only those with certain health issues?

@CowperKettle That's cheap! I'd get it at that price if I could.

Here, it is free for people with health issues.

I don't even know whether you can get it otherwise.

Ah, you can, and it's usually about €25 total.

Should I get it?

3:01 PM

@Cerberus For all citizens

@Cerberus Yes, because it might partially protect against covid, and there is research showing that it might decrease the chances of getting Alzheimer's

@CowperKettle Nice.

@CowperKettle That sounds rather speculative...

> A birch bark inscription excavated from Novgorod, circa 1240–1260.

Hii guys , how are you all doing

1) I cannot believe that mullah barabdar has been named as the one of influential people by time.

time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2021/6095986/…

2) This is even interesting. Even the PM of India is named as the influential person but , he is not praised. If he is not praised , then why is his name even there ? time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2021/6096023/…

This is all by time magazine

3:26 PM

@Cerberus At least one flu vaccination was associated with a 17% reduction in Alzheimer’s incidence. More frequent flu vaccination was associated with another 13% reduction in Alzheimer’s incidence.

@Cerberus Yes, the famous boy Onfim

I had a children's book as a kid about these birch scrips

The Republic of Novgorod was rich because it was a trading point.

Goods went back and forth, Europe to Greece, Europe to Asia

There have been Arab coins found in Novgorod.

@S.M.T Hitler was also an 'influential person'.

@CowperKettle Have they examined the mechanism?

Could it be that e.g. educated people are more likely to get the vaccine and also less likely to develop Alzheimer's?

@CowperKettle I had heard of them, but not of those rake hands!

I remember Novgorod. If only it had become the foundation of Russia, rather than the Moscow state.

@Cerberus Yes, thus far it's no more than a correlation, and could be spurious

Right.

I wish newspaper headlines added "no likely mechanism identified; one might not cause the other" to all mention of such studies.

The first case of tetanus in 17 years has been reported in my region. A five-year old boy fell from a bicycle, got a scratch on the leg, spent weeks in coma, has diverse repercussions to his nervous system. e1.ru/text/health/2021/09/16/70138637

The boy has been brought up by a family of staunch antivaxxers.

@Cerberus But that would take up printing space.

or readers' time

3:41 PM

@Mitch Then perhaps there should be no such headline at all.

@CowperKettle Oh, dear.

Here, people normally go to the doctor immediately for a shot, after getting a bad scratch from rusty, wet metal.

Here, people don't, but I guess the tetanus vaccine is compulsory in infancy and that helps

Especially after being pricked by a rusty nail, or getting scratched by something in a canal.

I don't know how long the vaccine lasts. Maybe I should re-vaccinate myself

> Heeft u een diepe of vuile wond? En heeft u (meer dan) 10 jaar geleden voor het laatst een tetanusprik gehad? Dan heeft u mogelijk 1 of meer nieuwe prikken nodig. Bel uw huisarts.

Everyone is vaccinated here as well.

We have the national vaccination schedule for all ages, but the majority of people don't follow it, because the authorities only press you into it when you're having kids. After becoming grown-ups, people forget.

3:44 PM

"Do you have a deep or dirty wound? And was your last tetanus shot more than 10 years ago? Then you may need one or more new shots. Call your doctor."

There should be some system of reminding people to regularly re-vaccinate.

We don't get revaccinated at all, normally.

@Cerberus Ah. So I'll take a tetanus shot just in case.

Do you have a wound?

No.

3:45 PM

You can get the shot after you acquire the wound, or at least that is how everybody does it here.

These should be a gamification system for vaccination. With badges. Coupled with a social network.

And it's what the quotation suggests (it's from a reliable site).

@Cerberus .

That's all you need to know

@CowperKettle Actually, the government does not recommend most possible vaccinations here, because it would be too expensive compared with the benefits, if everybody took them.

@Mitch Good point.

@Cerberus I think that works for some diseases, but not for rabies?

3:47 PM

I don't know, but there is something you can get after a dog bite that helps against rabies.

Don't know what it is.

It is not like Corona, against which little can be done after infection (or after symptoms?).

@Cerberus Aaah man. I agree

My brother got bitten by a nasty Rottweiler as a kid, and had to go and take rabies shots

@CowperKettle Sorry.

In the 1990s, somewhy Rottweilers came into vogue in Russia. They are scary beasts.

I also had got rabies shot last year. I was giving biscuits to a dog & got a cut in my finger from the dogs teeth. As per medical , even if the saliva of dog mixes with your blood. You need to get the shot.

3:51 PM

I'm pretty sure the flu works like covid, once you 'have' it a vaccine doesn't help. Same with rabies. But maybe if you get bitten you do't 'have' it immediately and a vaccine helpds prevent things before the rabies can develop.

I don't know.

Science is hard

@CowperKettle same here.

also pit bulls

4:03 PM

A clinic 1200 meters from my home.

Anti-tetanus vaccine, 350 rubles, that's about $6

doc-plus.ru/services/21/prices

Ah, no. That was just the injection procedure

The vaccines range from 250 to 3500 rubles. The one costing the most is made in Canada.

It's a combined diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus vaccine.

I don't think you have to pay (much) for a tetanus shot here.

People get it as a matter of course.

4:56 PM

> “Vaccinations against pneumonia before age 75 may reduce Alzheimer’s risk later in life, depending on individual genotype,” Ukraintseva said. “These data suggest that pneumococcal vaccine may be a promising candidate for personalized Alzheimer’s prevention, particularly in non-carriers of certain risk genes.”

Oh. There's even a special "pneumonia vaccine". I first heard of it just now.

I'll get it too )))

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive, spherical bacteria, alpha-hemolytic (under aerobic conditions) or beta-hemolytic (under anaerobic conditions), facultative anaerobic member of the genus Streptococcus. They are usually found in pairs (diplococci) and do not form spores and are non motile. As a significant human pathogenic bacterium S. pneumoniae was recognized as a major cause of pneumonia in the late 19th century, and is the subject of many humoral immunity studies. Streptococcus pneumoniae resides asymptomatically in healthy carriers typically colonizing the ...

5:08 PM

> Bacteria are the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), with Streptococcus pneumoniae isolated in nearly 50% of cases.

So by getting a shot, you halve your risk of pneumonia. Neat.

5:22 PM

Nice for old people!

6:04 PM

Cold, damp and dark. Great weather for jogging though.

6:20 PM

Clive Sinclair just died.

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum, made in Yekaterinburg in the early 1990s

That's small.

Documentary - The SInclair ZX80, ZX81, and Timex Sinclair 1000

6:42 PM

It had 16 kb of ROM, with BASIC included.

And 48 kb of RAM

6:56 PM

I played this flight sim a lot

History of the Semitic Languages

9:46 PM