Formal and informal translation and interpretation for immigrants and asylum seekers

As of 2011 there were over 50,000 migrants, who speak a language other than English or Irish at home, residing in Northern Ireland. Many of these individuals do not possess adequate levels of English language proficiency in order to access services. Research funded by the Northern Ireland Inclusion and Diversity Service was conducted to determine the home-school connections of culturally and linguistically diverse families in Northern Ireland. It revealed that there are a wide variety of ways that translation and interpretation services are offered for families not fluent in English within the school settings. Drawing upon the findings from the research in Northern Ireland, this presentation provides an overview of the types of translation and interpretation taking place in Northern Ireland; the advantages and disadvantages of each; and recommendations for agencies utilizing both formal and informal translation and interpretation. The presentation also includes references to work in this area in other contexts, as well as specific guidelines for agencies using both formal and informal translation and interpretation. These guidelines help ensure that the translations are conducted in a professional manner for all agencies providing services.

Measuring the sustainability of a national economy. The application of three measures of sustainability to Ireland

An assessment of the sustainability of the Irish economy has been carried out using three methodologies, enabling comparison and evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of each, and potential synergies among them. The three measures chosen were economy-wide Material Flow Analysis (MFA), environmentally extended input-output (EE-IO) analysis and the Ecological Footprint (EF). The research aims to assess the sustainability of the Irish economy using these methods and to draw conclusions on their effectiveness in policy making both individually and in combination. A theoretical description discusses the methods and their respective advantages and disadvantages and sets out a rationale for their combined application. The application of the methods in combination has provided insights into measuring the sustainability of a national economy and generated new knowledge on the collective application of these methods. The limitations of the research are acknowledged and opportunities to address these and build on and extend the research are identified. Building on previous research, it is concluded that a complete picture of sustainability cannot be provided by a single method and/or indicator.

Ordering Quantiles through Confidence Statements

Ranking variables according to their relevance to predict an outcome is an important task in biomedicine. For instance, such ranking can be used for selecting a smaller number of genes to then apply other sophisticated experiments only on genes identified as important. A nonparametric method called Quor is designed to provide a confidence value for the order of arbitrary quantiles of different populations using independent samples. This confidence may provide insights about possible differences among groups and yields a ranking of importance for the variables. Computations are efficient and use exact distributions with no need for asymptotic considerations. Experiments with simulated data and with multiple real -omics data sets are performed and they show advantages and disadvantages of the method. Quor has no assumptions but independence of samples, thus it might be a better option when assumptions of other methods cannot be asserted. The software is publicly available on CRAN.

Crack propagation in non-homogenous materials: Evaluation of mixed-mode SIFs, T-stress and kinking angle using a variant EFG method

A new variant of the Element-Free Galerkin (EFG) method, that combines the diffraction method, to characterize the crack tip solution, and the Heaviside enrichment function for representing discontinuity due to a crack, has been used to model crack propagation through non-homogenous materials. In the case of interface crack propagation, the kink angle is predicted by applying the maximum tangential principal stress (MTPS) criterion in conjunction with consideration of the energy release rate (ERR). The MTPS criterion is applied to the crack tip stress field described by both the stress intensity factor (SIF) and the T-stress, which are extracted using the interaction integral method. The proposed EFG method has been developed and applied for 2D case studies involving a crack in an orthotropic material, crack along an interface and a crack terminating at a bi-material interface, under mechanical or thermal loading; this is done to demonstrate the advantages and efficiency of the proposed methodology. The computed SIFs, T-stress and the predicted interface crack kink angles are compared with existing results in the literature and are found to be in good agreement. An example of crack growth through a particle-reinforced composite materials, which may involve crack meandering around the particle, is reported.

Balancing cultural diversity and social cohesion in education: The potential of shared education in divided contexts

This article considers how the education systems of divided societies have been shaped in response to the experience of ethnic and religious conflict. The analysis identifies two competing priorities in such contexts – the development of social cohesion and the protection of cultural, ethnic and religious identities - and explores how these may be reconciled through a model of ‘shared education’. Drawing on research evidence and recent experience of shared education in relation to Northern Ireland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Cyprus, we reflect on the advantages and challenges of this model in areas experiencing conflict and division.