Polish metaphorical perceptions of the translator and translation

The paper offers a comprehensive overview of the Polish metaphorics of translation. It starts by examining the Polish linguistic image of translating, followed by a survey of metaphorical descriptions of the translator and translation from the 18th century, representing the pre-scientific era in reflection on translation. Most attention is devoted to metaphors found in contemporary Polish discourse on translation, centered around: (1) the nature of translation; (2) the relationship between the source and target text, and between the author and translator; and (3) the role of the translator. It is demonstrated that the Polish context offers a rich repertoire of metaphorical depictions of translating, which reflects its distinctive historical and cultural setup.

Olfactory discrimination in the western lowland gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla

The olfactory abilities of great apes have been subject to little empirical investigation, save for a few observational reports. This study, using an habituation/dishabituation task, provides experimental evidence for a core olfactory ability, namely, olfactory discrimination, in the gorilla. In Experiment 1, six zoo-housed western lowland gorillas were individually presented with the same odour on four trials, and with a novel odour on the fifth trial. Odours (almond and vanilla) were presented on plastic balls, and behavioural responses of sniffing and chewing/licking the balls were recorded. A second experiment presented the same odour on four trials and no odour on the fifth to examine whether any dishabituation was due to the presence of a new odour or the absence of the familiar odour. Gorillas habituated their behaviour with repeated presentation of the same odour, but dishabituated, i. e. increased sniffing and chewing/licking, when presented with the novel odour. No dishabituation was noted when using water as the stimulus across all trials or when used as the novel odour. Overall, results show that gorillas are able to discriminate between odours. © 2012 Japan Monkey Centre and Springer.

A 50,000-year record of Late Pleistocene tropical vegetation and human impact in lowland Borneo.

There has been considerable uncertainty about the nature of Pleistocene environments colonised by the first modern humans in Island SE Asia, and about the vegetation of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in the region. Here, the palynology from a series of exposures in the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, spanning a period from ca. 52,000 to 5000 BP is described. Vegetation during this period was climate-driven and often highly unstable. Interstadials are marked by lowland forest, sometimes rather dry and at times by mangroves. Stadials are indicated by taxa characteristic of open environments or, as at the LGM, by highly disturbed rather open forest. Stadials are also characterised by taxa now restricted to 1000-1600 m above sea level, suggesting temperature declines of ca 7-9 C relative to present, by comparison with modern lapse rates. The practice of biomass burning appears associated with the earliest human activity in the cave.

Anthelmintic resistance in Northern Ireland (II): Variations in nematode control practices between lowland and upland sheep flocks

A questionnaire to obtain information on nematode control practices and sheep management was sent to over 1000 farmers in Northern Ireland. Replies were received from 305 flock owners, and data from 252 of them were analysed. Farms were divided into lowland and upland areas. Sizes of pasture and stocking rates on lowland and upland farms were 59.5 hectares, 6.99 sheep/hectare and 62.9 hectares and 10.01 sheep/hectare, respectively. Mean drenching rates for lambs and adults were 2.33 and 2.44, respectively, in lowland flocks and 2.73 and 2.71, respectively, in upland flocks. Between 2008 and 2011, the most frequently identified compounds in use were benzimidazoles and moxidectin in lowland flocks, and benzimidazoles and avermectins in upland flocks. Over the same period the most frequently identified commercial formulations were Tramazole (R), Panacur (R) and Allverm (R) (white drench), Levacide (R) (yellow drench), Oramec (R) (clear drench; avermectin), Cydectin (R) (clear drench; moxidectin) and Monepantel (R) (orange drench).

Most respondents (56.35%) treated their lambs at weaning and the most common time to treat ewes was identified to be pre-mating (67.86% of respondents).

The results of the questionnaire survey revealed that lowland annual drench frequency was 233 and 2.44 in lambs and ewes, respectively, although drench frequencies were higher in upland flocks: 2.73 and 2.71 for lambs and ewes, respectively.

Annual drench rotation was practiced by 43.96% of flock owners, but whether this was true rotation or pseudo-rotation (i.e., substitution of one anthelmintic product by another product belonging to the same chemical group of anthelmintics) could not be explicitly determined. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Polish Competition Authority Submits a Draft Amendment to the Polish Competition Act: Revolution or Fine-Tuning?

This piece highlights and offers a brief analysis of the most important of the
proposed changes to Polish competition law. The draft proposal envisages introduction of, inter alia, financial penalties for individuals, two-stage merger review process, important changes to the leniency program (including introduction of leniency plus), as well as such new tools as remedies and settlements.

The Polish Competition Authority Publishes its Annual Report for 2012

In May 2013 the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), the Polish Competition Authority, published its Annual Report for 2012. This piece provides an overview of the reported activities within the competition law & policy domain, and comments on some of them.

Localized Flux Maxima of Arsenic, Lead, and Iron around Root Apices in Flooded Lowland Rice

In wetland-adapted plants, such as rice, it is typically root apexes, sites of rapid entry for water/nutrients, where radial oxygen losses (ROLs) are highest. Nutrient/toxic metal uptake therefore largely occurs through oxidized zones and pH microgradients. However, the processes controlling the acquisition of trace elements in rice have been difficult to explore experimentally because of a lack of techniques for simultaneously measuring labile trace elements and O2/pH. Here, we use new diffusive gradients in thin films (DGT)/planar optode sandwich sensors deployed in situ on rice roots to demonstrate a new geochemical niche of greatly enhanced As, Pb, and Fe(II) mobilization into solution immediately adjacent to the root tips characterized by O2 enrichment and low pH. Fe(II) mobilization was congruent to that of the peripheral edge of the aerobic root zone, demonstrating that the Fe(II) mobilization maximum only developed in a narrow O2 range as the oxidation front penetrates the reducing soil. The Fe flux to the DGT resin at the root apexes was 3-fold higher than the anaerobic bulk soil and 27 times greater than the aerobic rooting zone. These results provide new evidence for the importance of coupled diffusion and oxidation of Fe in modulating trace metal solubilization, dispersion, and plant uptake.