Academic authors employ various language means in order to construct and disseminate knowledge, to sound persuasive, to undergird their arguments, but also to seek agreement within the academic community. The aim of this paper is to analyse a selected group of rhetorical strategies used by Anglophone and Czech authors of Linguistics research articles (RAs) and research theses (RTs). These strategies are assumed to vary in both academic genres since the position of their writers within the academic community differs. Even though authors of RAs have to meet reviewers’ requirements in order for their article to be published, so their relative position may be lower than that of the reviewers’, authors of RAs may have the same “absolute status” as the reviewers may be just as expert in that particular field. By contrast, the status of research students is lower than that of their evaluators both in relative and absolute terms. Even though students may gain some learned authority in presenting an original contribution, their assessors command both learned and institutional authority, hence are endowed with a higher status. Apart from comparing rhetorical strategies used in RAs and RTs, the paper focuses on cross-cultural differences between Anglophone and Czechacademic writing traditions.
Metadiscourse has been extensively studied in various genres, e.g. newspaper discourse, casual conversation, textbooks, advertisements, and research articles. Studies focusing on metadiscourse in research articles often omit analysing abstracts and traditionally investigate research articles only according to the IMRAD structure. This paper explores metadiscoursive elements in Czech and English research article abstracts in philosophy and medicine at two levels of analysis, interlingual and interdisciplinary. The aim is to investigate whether scientific writers of research article abstracts identify more with their cultural identity or whether their identity is rather discipline-specific. The theoretical framework adopted in this study is a tax-onomy of metadiscourse markers proposed by Dafouz-Milne (2008) since it takes into account a functional differentiation of metadiscourse elements. The interlingual analysis reveals no major cultural distinctions, the interdisciplinary analysis proves that metadiscourse is more prevalent in humanities. Thus, we can conclude that academic writers of RA abstracts identify more with their disciplinary culture.
Participants in a conversational exchange may express their viewpoints in a number of ways, or put more precisely, they use various ways of expressing their viewpoints. When employing phrases such as It is likely that ..., perhaps ..., actually ..., it is possible that..., and I think that ..., etc., speakers modify the meaning, or the illocutionary force, of the utterances they make. This feature, which has been called ‘modality’, is present, among others, in the genre of political interview and serves various functions. The present contribution offers an inquiry into the linguistic means that politicians utilize to modify their involvement in, or their detachment from, the proposition and in this way they alter the meaning of their statements.
The ground source of drinking water for the village of Skalice nad Svitavou is located 35 km North of Brno (Czech Republic). An evaluation of developments in selected indicators of water quality in this groundwater source in the period 2013–2017 was the essence of this work. The data was provided by Vodárenská akciová společnost, a.s., i.e. the operator. At the same time, annual monitoring of water quality in the Úmoří stream, which flows through the catchment area and can affect the quality of groundwater, was carried out. Water samples were collected in 2017–2018 from 6 profiles on the Úmoří stream and its two tributaries. Raw water from the groundwater source does not meet the requirements for drinking water in some indicators and needs to be treated. Monitoring of surface water shows that the most problematic indicator is total phosphorus, the concentration of which exceeded limit values on all sampling profiles. The highest values were found in the tributaries, where total phosphorus concentrations exceeded 10 mg∙dm–3. There are 12 municipalities in the area of interest, only two of which have their own sewage treatment plant. It is clear from the results that wastewater in some municipalities is discharged directly into the recipient and is the cause of above-limit concentrations of both phosphorus and nitrogen. Intensively used agricultural land is another major source of pollution. Based on an analysis of sources of pollution, corrective measures have been proposed to improve the quality of surface and groundwater in the area.
Chromosome numbers for 15 taxa of Hieracium L. s.str. from Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Poland, Romania
and Slovakia are given and their metaphase plates are illustrated. Chromosome numbers are published for the
first time for H. vagneri Pax s.str. (2n = 4x = 36), H. wiesbaurianum subsp. herculanum Zahn (2n = 4x = 36),
H. wiesbaurianum subsp. kelainephes Nyár. & Zahn (2n = 3x = 27), as well as for two undescribed species
of hybrid origin between H. umbellatum L. and H. wiesbaurianum s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and between H. sparsum
Friv. and H. schmidtii s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and for three undescribed species of the H. djimilense agg.
(2n = 3x = 27), H. heldreichii agg. (2n = 3x = 27), and H. sparsum agg. (2n = 3x = 27). Furthermore, the chromosome
numbers of two undescribed species of hybrid origin between H. umbellatum L. and H. wiesbaurianum
s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27), and between H. sparsum Friv. and H. schmidtii s.lat. (2n = 3x = 27) are given. A new,
tetraploid chromosome number is given for H. barbatum Tausch from the northernmost locality of the species
in Europe.
The article discusses "Rules for using the point rating scales for assessing the technical condition and usability of road engineering objects – second edition", which were introduced by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) Regulation No. 1/2019. The main objective of "Rules..." was to standardize the method of point rating assessment of technical condition and usability, and in the second edition, to take into account the latest construction and material solutions. Because the results of inspections are analyzed and compared not only at the regional but also at the national level, it is very important for all inspectors in the country to evaluate the technical condition and usability in an analogous manner. While developing the 2nd edition, the authors maintained the assumptions of continuity of inspection system, including adaptation to the inspection manuals, algorithms, and software supporting the management of bridges.
The study presents the results of research on the development of composite zones in castings based on the intermetallic phase of Ni3Al. Composite zones were obtained by placing packets with substrates for the reaction of titanium carbide in a foundry mould. To provide a variable carbides content in the composite zone, two compositions of the packets were prepared. The first packet contained only substrates for the reaction of TiC synthesis; the second one also contained a filler. The resulting composite zones in castings were examined for the filler effect on changes in the volume fraction, size and morphology of carbides in the zone. In addition, the effect of filler on the mechanical properties of the zone was verified, observing changes of Vickers hardness in this area. It was found that the presence of filler in the composition of the packet for synthesis reduced the content of carbides, as well as their size and morphology. Lower surface content of carbides reduced hardness of the zone, which enabled smooth control of the mechanical properties. At the same time, the use of the selected filler did not disturb the course of the TiC carbide synthesis.