Probabilistic approaches in civil engineering: generation of random fields and structural identification with genetic algorithms

The inherent stochastic character of most of the physical quantities involved in engineering models has led to an always increasing interest for probabilistic analysis. Many approaches to stochastic analysis have been proposed. However, it is widely acknowledged that the only universal method available to solve accurately any kind of stochastic mechanics problem is Monte Carlo Simulation. One of the key parts in the implementation of this technique is the accurate and efficient generation of samples of the random processes and fields involved in the problem at hand. In the present thesis an original method for the simulation of homogeneous, multi-dimensional, multi-variate, non-Gaussian random fields is proposed. The algorithm has proved to be very accurate in matching both the target spectrum and the marginal probability. The computational efficiency and robustness are very good too, even when dealing with strongly non-Gaussian distributions. What is more, the resulting samples posses all the relevant, welldefined and desired properties of “translation fields”, including crossing rates and distributions of extremes. The topic of the second part of the thesis lies in the field of non-destructive parametric structural identification. Its objective is to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of constituent bars in existing truss structures, using static loads and strain measurements. In the cases of missing data and of damages that interest only a small portion of the bar, Genetic Algorithm have proved to be an effective tool to solve the problem.

mRNAs translation and tumorigenesis

Translational control has a direct impact on cancer development and progression. Quantitative and qualitative changes of cap-dependent translation initiation contribute to neoplastic transformation and progression. However, the idea that “alternative” mechanisms of translation initiation, such as IRES-dependent translation, can be involved in the tumorigenesis is emerging. Because the relevance of this kind of translation initiation in cancer progression is not so well clarified, the purpose of my work was to study the impact of IRES-dependent mRNA translation on tumourigenesis and cancer progression with particular regard for breast cancer. The data obtained clarify the function of cap-independent translation in cancer. Particularly they suggested that the deregulation of IRES-dependent translation can be considered a sort of pro-oncogenic stimulus characterized by the inhibition of the expression of some proteins that block cell growth and proliferation and by the over expression of other proteins that contributed to cell survival. In addition, under stress condition, such as a hypoxia, in immortalized epithelial cell lines, changes in cap-independent translation are associated with an induction of expression of stem cell markers, and with the selection of a sub group of cells that have an increased ability to self-renewing and therefore in the acquisition of a more aggressive phenotype.

Lingue meno diffuse e corpora: studio empirico sulla terminologia amministrativa ladina

This study aims to the elaboration of juridical and administrative terminology in Ladin language, actually on the Ladin idiom spoken in Val Badia. The necessity of this study is strictly connected to the fact that in South Tyrol the Ladin language is not just safeguarded, but the editing of administrative and normative text is guaranteed by law. This means that there is a need for a unique terminology in order to support translators and editors of specialised texts. The starting point of this study are, on one side the need of a unique terminology, and on the other side the translation work done till now from the employees of the public administration in Ladin language. In order to document their efforts a corpus made up of digitalized administrative and normative documents was build. The first two chapters focuses on the state of the art of projects on terminology and corpus linguistics for lesser used languages. The information were collected thanks to the help of institutes, universities and researchers dealing with lesser used languages. The third chapter focuses on the development of administrative language in Ladin language and the fourth chapter focuses on the creation of the trilingual Italian – German – Ladin corpus made up of administrative and normative documents. The last chapter deals with the methodologies applied in order to elaborate the terminology entries in Ladin language though the use of the trilingual corpus. Starting from the terminology entry all steps are described, from term extraction, to the extraction of equivalents, contexts and definitions and of course also of the elaboration of translation proposals for not found equivalences. Finally the problems referring to the elaboration of terminology in Ladin language are illustrated.

Kraus e/o Shakespeare. Intertestualità in prospettiva: tradurre, citare, inscrivere

The thesis focuses on Karl Kraus’s rewritings of some Shakespeare plays and copes with the concepts of “translation” and “quotation” as commensurable forms of intertextuality. Building his Shakespeare’s Bearbeitungen as a montage of quotations of previous German translations, Karl Kraus creates a new kind of hybrid intertextuality that goes beyond the boundaries between quotation and translation. In my opinion, Karl Kraus understands quotation and translation as spatial concepts: in his rewritings he puts Shakespeare’s text into his geometrical and critical “perspective”. The thesis focuses also on the evolution of quotation and translation in Karl Kraus’s work: even maintaining their satirical and destruens function, they develop an “affirmative” role and are used in order to redefine the literary canon. The thesis investigates this form of intertextuality from a comparative point of view, referring to the translation studies (Hermans, Bassnett, Lefevere, Apel, Berman, Meschonnic), theories of intertextuality (Genette, Barthes, Worton, Orr), studies on quotation and montage (Compagnon; Möbius, Hage), and studies on Karl Kraus (Kraft, Ribeiro, Scheichl, Fischer, Timms, Canetti and the famous essay of Walter Benjamin). It also contains a survey of Theater der Dichtung’s historical framework and several comparisons between Karl Kraus’s and other early 20th translations of Shakespeare’s plays.

Creazione e sviluppo di corpora multimediali. Nuove metodologie di ricerca nella traduzione audiovisiva

The construction and use of multimedia corpora has been advocated for a while in the literature as one of the expected future application fields of Corpus Linguistics. This research project represents a pioneering experience aimed at applying a data-driven methodology to the study of the field of AVT, similarly to what has been done in the last few decades in the macro-field of Translation Studies. This research was based on the experience of Forlixt 1, the Forlì Corpus of Screen Translation, developed at the University of Bologna’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in Translation, Languages and Culture. As a matter of fact, in order to quantify strategies of linguistic transfer of an AV product, we need to take into consideration not only the linguistic aspect of such a product but all the meaning-making resources deployed in the filmic text. Provided that one major benefit of Forlixt 1 is the combination of audiovisual and textual data, this corpus allows the user to access primary data for scientific investigation, and thus no longer rely on pre-processed material such as traditional annotated transcriptions. Based on this rationale, the first chapter of the thesis sets out to illustrate the state of the art of research in the disciplinary fields involved. The primary objective was to underline the main repercussions on multimedia texts resulting from the interaction of a double support, audio and video, and, accordingly, on procedures, means, and methods adopted in their translation. By drawing on previous research in semiotics and film studies, the relevant codes at work in visual and acoustic channels were outlined. Subsequently, we concentrated on the analysis of the verbal component and on the peculiar characteristics of filmic orality as opposed to spontaneous dialogic production. In the second part, an overview of the main AVT modalities was presented (dubbing, voice-over, interlinguistic and intra-linguistic subtitling, audio-description, etc.) in order to define the different technologies, processes and professional qualifications that this umbrella term presently includes. The second chapter focuses diachronically on various theories’ contribution to the application of Corpus Linguistics’ methods and tools to the field of Translation Studies (i.e. Descriptive Translation Studies, Polysystem Theory). In particular, we discussed how the use of corpora can favourably help reduce the gap existing between qualitative and quantitative approaches. Subsequently, we reviewed the tools traditionally employed by Corpus Linguistics in regard to the construction of traditional “written language” corpora, to assess whether and how they can be adapted to meet the needs of multimedia corpora. In particular, we reviewed existing speech and spoken corpora, as well as multimedia corpora specifically designed to investigate Translation. The third chapter reviews Forlixt 1's main developing steps, from a technical (IT design principles, data query functions) and methodological point of view, by laying down extensive scientific foundations for the annotation methods adopted, which presently encompass categories of pragmatic, sociolinguistic, linguacultural and semiotic nature. Finally, we described the main query tools (free search, guided search, advanced search and combined search) and the main intended uses of the database in a pedagogical perspective. The fourth chapter lists specific compilation criteria retained, as well as statistics of the two sub-corpora, by presenting data broken down by language pair (French-Italian and German-Italian) and genre (cinema’s comedies, television’s soapoperas and crime series). Next, we concentrated on the discussion of the results obtained from the analysis of summary tables reporting the frequency of categories applied to the French-Italian sub-corpus. The detailed observation of the distribution of categories identified in the original and dubbed corpus allowed us to empirically confirm some of the theories put forward in the literature and notably concerning the nature of the filmic text, the dubbing process and Italian dubbed language’s features. This was possible by looking into some of the most problematic aspects, like the rendering of socio-linguistic variation. The corpus equally allowed us to consider so far neglected aspects, such as pragmatic, prosodic, kinetic, facial, and semiotic elements, and their combination. At the end of this first exploration, some specific observations concerning possible macrotranslation trends were made for each type of sub-genre considered (cinematic and TV genre). On the grounds of this first quantitative investigation, the fifth chapter intended to further examine data, by applying ad hoc models of analysis. Given the virtually infinite number of combinations of categories adopted, and of the latter with searchable textual units, three possible qualitative and quantitative methods were designed, each of which was to concentrate on a particular translation dimension of the filmic text. The first one was the cultural dimension, which specifically focused on the rendering of selected cultural references and on the investigation of recurrent translation choices and strategies justified on the basis of the occurrence of specific clusters of categories. The second analysis was conducted on the linguistic dimension by exploring the occurrence of phrasal verbs in the Italian dubbed corpus and by ascertaining the influence on the adoption of related translation strategies of possible semiotic traits, such as gestures and facial expressions. Finally, the main aim of the third study was to verify whether, under which circumstances, and through which modality, graphic and iconic elements were translated into Italian from an original corpus of both German and French films. After having reviewed the main translation techniques at work, an exhaustive account of possible causes for their non-translation was equally provided. By way of conclusion, the discussion of results obtained from the distribution of annotation categories on the French-Italian corpus, as well as the application of specific models of analysis allowed us to underline possible advantages and drawbacks related to the adoption of a corpus-based approach to AVT studies. Even though possible updating and improvement were proposed in order to help solve some of the problems identified, it is argued that the added value of Forlixt 1 lies ultimately in having created a valuable instrument, allowing to carry out empirically-sound contrastive studies that may be usefully replicated on different language pairs and several types of multimedia texts. Furthermore, multimedia corpora can also play a crucial role in L2 and translation teaching, two disciplines in which their use still lacks systematic investigation.

Cesare Garboli traduttore di Measure for Measure di Shaskespeare per le compagnie di Luca Ronconi e di Carlo Cecchi

La tesi si occupa della traduzione di Measure for Measure di Shakespeare scritta da Cesare Garboli e pubblicata nel 1992 con Einaudi nella collana «Scrittori tradotti da scrittori». La traduzione fu concepita per il Teatro Stabile di Torino diretto da Luca Ronconi, che debuttò al teatro Carignano nel 1992 e venne successivamente ripresa, con alcune varianti, dalla compagnia di Carlo Cecchi nel 1998, per una nuova messinscena al teatro Garibaldi di Palermo. A partire dagli esiti più recenti dei Translation Studies, il lavoro sviluppa uno studio comparato, dal punto di vista linguistico e sotto il profilo ermeneutico, fra la traduzione di Garboli, il testo originale nelle due edizioni Arden e Cambridge e le traduzioni italiane di Measure for Measure pubblicate nel Novecento. La parte finale della tesi è dedicata alle messinscene a Torino e a Palermo: un confronto per evidenziare gli elementi che in entrambe appartengono alla strutturazione del testo tradotto e i caratteri specifici degli universi di finzione raffigurati dai due registi.

Epos orale russo tra oralità e scrittura: problemi e proposte di traduzione

In the present thesis, I discuss the role of orality in translation, taking into account the problems arising while translating Russian folk epics. I investigate the meaning of orality in the context of folkloristic translation, trying to define a concept of oral poetry, and exploring its consequences for translation. In the first chapter, I try to identify the main differences between written literature and oral modes of expression, with special reference to folklore. Oral verbal art is performed, sung or recited, and based on a vital and dynamic interrelation between kinesics, sound, speech and gestures. According to Muhawi (2006), performance provides an interpretive frame enabling a correct interpretation of the message conveyed beyond the literal meaning. Transposing certain performance elements into print is one of the most controversial problems in folklore studies. However, formulas and formal stylistic devices may be rendered in transcription, building a bridge between oral and written elements. In the translation of oral poetry in transcription, this interconnection between orality and literacy might be emphasized, thus creating a hybrid dimension where oral and literary features coexist. In the second chapter, I introduce and describe the genre of Russian folk epics, transmitted orally, and transcribed between the 19th and 20th centuries, from a historical, linguistic and stylistic point of view. In the third and fourth chapters, I explore the issue of translation of Russian oral poetry. I first analyse existing Italian translations of Russian epics, and then present and discuss my own translation, based on a philological, scholarly approach. Thus, in my translation, which is followed by a rich commentary, I try to focus on the rendering of formulas as one of the most relevant aspects of Russian epics. At the same time, oral devices combine with literary features, thus creating a sort of frozen orality.

Yves Bonnefoy traduttore di Shakespeare: il poeta e la prova del dialogo

Contemporary French poet Yves Bonnefoy has always been attracted by English poetry, especially by Shakespeare’s work. Translating Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets has been a fundamental experience for him. The contact with a different culture, a different language and a different sort of poetry has been an important moment in his poetic experience. The dialogue between the French and the Elizabethan poet, which started in the 1950s, hasn't stopped yet and it offers some interesting perspectives to study Bonnefoy's work from a new point of view. Translation – which is first of all a poetic experience to him – is in fact the chance to get in touch with somebody else's poetry and to establish a dialogue with his poetic universe. Such a dialogue requires on the one hand an ‘ethic’ attitude on the translator's part, that is an attentive listening and a deep understanding of the original text. However, Bonnefoy has to create a new ‘poetic’ text in his own language. This is why the ‘seeds’ of his own poetry are also present in his translated texts, in which it is possible to clearly distinguish both the presence of the French poet’s own voice and his attempt to open his ‘speech’ to the specific quality of the Shakespearean poetry. On the other hand, such a deep contact with Shakespeare's work has changed the French poet, contributing to the development and maturity of his own poetry. Indeed, the Elizabethan poet is present in his work in different ways, in his critical essays as well as in his poems. Against this background, the aim of the present study is to define the complex dialogic forms and the osmotic relationships between the poetic experience and the experience of translation, which are considered two different moments of the same ontological research by the French poet.

Genetic Manipulation, Gene Silencing and Biomarker Development in Multiple Experimental Models.

The thesis is set in three different parts, according to the relative experimental models. First, the domestic pig (Sus scrofa) is part of the study on reproductive biotechnologies: the transgenesis technique of Sperm Mediated Gene Transfer is widely studied starting from the quality of the semen, through the study of multiple uptakes of exogenous DNA and lastly used in the production of multi-transgenic blastocysts. Finally we managed to couple the transgenesis pipeline with sperm sorting and therefore produced transgenic embryos of predetermined sex. In the second part of the thesis the attention is on the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) and on its derived cell line: the S2 cells. The in vitro and in vivo models are used to develop and validate an efficient way to knock down the myc gene. First an efficient in vitro protocol is described, than we demonstrate how the decrease in myc transcript remarkably affects the ribosome biogenesis through the study of Polysome gradients, rRNA content and qPCR. In vivo we identified two optimal drivers for the conditional silencing of myc, once the flies are fed with RU486: the first one is throughout the whole body (Tubulin), while the second is a head fat body driver (S32). With these results we present a very efficient model to study the role of myc in multiple aspects of translation. In the third and last part, the focus is on human derived lung fibroblasts (hLF-1), mouse tail fibroblasts and mouse tissues. We developed an efficient assay to quantify the total protein content of the nucleus on a single cell level via fluorescence. We coupled the protocol with classical immunofluorescence so to have at the same time general and particular information, demonstrating that during senescence nuclear proteins increase by 1.8 fold either in human cells, mouse cells and mouse tissues.

La didattica della traduzione specializzata dallo spagnolo in italiano: competenza traduttiva, genere testuale e nuove tecnologie

Il progetto di ricerca che presentiamo nasce dalla virtuosa combinazione di teoria e prassi didattica nello spirito della ricerca-azione. Scopo del presente lavoro è elaborare un percorso didattico di formazione alla traduzione specializzata in ambito medico-scientifico, tecnico ed economico-giuridico per la combinazione linguistica spagnolo-italiano all’interno della cornice istituzionale concreta dell’università italiana oggi. La nostra proposta formativa si fonda su tre elementi: la ricognizione del mercato attuale della traduzione per la combinazione linguistica indicata, l’individuazione degli obiettivi formativi in base al modello di competenza traduttiva scelto, l’elaborazione del percorso didattico per competenze e basato sull’enfoque por tareas di traduzione. Nella progettazione delle modalità didattiche due sono gli aspetti che definiscono il percorso proposto: il concetto di genere testuale specializzato per la traduzione e la gestione delle informazioni mediante le nuove tecnologie (corpora, banche dati terminologiche e fraseologiche, memorie di traduzione, traduzione controllata). Il presente lavoro si articola in due parti: la prima parte (quattro capitoli) presenta l’inquadramento teorico all’interno del quale si sviluppa la riflessione intorno alla didattica della traduzione specializzata; la seconda parte (due capitoli) presenta l’inquadramento metodologico e analitico all’interno del quale si elabora la nostra proposta didattica. Nel primo capitolo si illustrano i rapporti fra traduzione e mondo professionale; nel secondo capitolo si presenta il concetto di competenza traduttiva come ponte tra la formazione e il mondo della traduzione professionale; nel terzo capitolo si ripercorrono le tappe principali dell’evoluzione della didattica della traduzione generale; nel quarto capitolo illustriamo alcune tra le più recenti e complete proposte didattiche per la traduzione specializzata in ambito tecnico, medico-scientifico ed economico-giuridico. Nel quinto capitolo si introduce il concetto di genere testuale specializzato per la traduzione e nel sesto capitolo si illustra la proposta didattica per la traduzione specializzata dallo spagnolo in italiano che ha motivato il presente lavoro.

«L’impero portatile» dei portoghesi: articolazione e figure narrative nell’immaginario coloniale portoghese.

A partire da una ricognizione storica sull’ultimo impero coloniale portoghese, la tesi intende analizzare come il mito dell’impero abbia contribuito a definire l’identità nazionale del Portogallo e il suo patrimonio culturale e letterario. Il mito viene indagato in particolar modo nella sua componente linguistica e discorsiva, come modalità peculiare di costruire “costellazioni” di immagini. In questo contesto la letteratura assume una rilevanza specifica, poiché le sue risorse formali le permettono di contrapporre alla fissità del mito una potente articolazione in grado di scardinare gli automatismi legati ad una translatio imperii volta a reiterare l’immaginazione del centro. L’analisi di un corpus letterario afferente a quella che potremmo chiamare la letteratura “dei retornados”, che si concentra soprattutto sulla definizione della focalizzazione narrativa e sulla rielaborazione delle figure narrative, intende ricercare le diverse forme di assumere criticamente il canone imperiale e di oltrepassarlo.

Luis Cernuda: la realizzazione del desiderio

Le traduzioni di Luis Cernuda, poeta spagnolo della Generazione del '27, da testi poetici di autori francesi, tedeschi ed inglesi, la cui scelta è dettata da ragioni di coerenza artistica, non hanno valore secondario rispetto alla produzione poetica autoriale. Nel presente studio si delinea l'uniformità del percorso creativo di Luis Cernuda nel ruolo duplice ed apparentemente contraddittorio di poeta-traduttore, attraverso un tracciato spazio-temporale, al contempo realistico e metaforico, che si svolge lungo gran parte della vita del misconosciuto poeta sivigliano. Ad una preliminare presentazione analitica del concetto di traduzione, della funzione che la stessa riveste nel genere letterario specifico della poesia e nell'attività creativa di Cernuda, segue l'analisi comparativa delle traduzioni cernudiane con le rispettive fonti straniere. L'argomento si svolge in tre capitoli successivi, organizzati rispettando lo svolgimento cronologico del percorso traduttorio cernudiano, svolto in parallelo alla produzione poetica personale. Il secondo capitolo verte sulla traduzione da testi poetici in francese. Il terzo capitolo, sul periodo immediatamente successivo agli anni della sperimentazione francese, analizza lo studio della poesia tedesca e della sperimentazione in traduzione. Tale incontro si propone anche come momento di scissione definitiva dalla lirica romanza, piuttosto esornativa, e di accostamento alla più essenziale lirica germanica. Il quarto capitolo raccoglie le versioni poetiche da autori inglesi, che si contraddistinguono per la grande somiglianza alla poesia di Cernuda nelle scelte contenutistico-formali. Le conclusioni vertono sulla coesione perseguita nel tradurre, per cui contenuto e forma acquisiscono pari importanza nella “ricreazione poetica” realizzata da Cernuda.

Tradurre il discorso riportato. Le versioni italiane di "Nana" di Emile Zola (1880-2010)

Il nostro lavoro si inserisce tra i contributi che si rifanno a quella branca di studi traduttologici nota come critica della traduzione; l’elemento di raccordo tra il testo di partenza e la successione dei testi di arrivo su cui baseremo l’analisi è il discorso riportato, un fenomeno complesso, che trova la sua naturale collocazione nei delicati rapporti che intercorrono tra orale e scritto.

Poetiche della traduzione: le esperienze di Ungaretti-Jaccottet e Char-Sereni

La traduzione poetica viene affrontata sul piano empirico dell'analisi testuale. Una breve introduzione presenta le riflessioni più importanti sulla traduzione del testo poetico, da Benjamin e Steiner fino alle teorie più recenti di Meschonnic, Apel, Berman e Mattioli. Alla luce di queste teorie vengono analizzate le opere di due coppie di poeti e poeti-traduttori. Nel primo esempio troviamo il poeta svizzero (francofono) Philippe Jaccottet alle prese con l'intera opera di Ungaretti; nel secondo il rapporto travagliato di Vittorio Sereni con la poesia di René Char. Oltre a indagare la natura problematica della traduzione poetica come pratica e come esperienza, questa tesi di Letteratura Comparata vuole presentare la traduzione come strumento ermeneutico e come meccanismo rienunciativo: il suo ruolo nella dialettica delle influenze e dell'evoluzione letteraria è da considerarsi infatti essenziale. La vocazione originariamente etica della traduzione è sfondo costante della trattazione.

La revisione della traduzione editoriale dall'inglese all'italiano tra ricerca accademica, professione e formazione: stato dell'arte e prospettive future

Quando si parla di traduzione, si pensa spesso solo al risultato di un processo, valutato e analizzato come tale. Sembra ci si dimentichi del fatto che, prima di arrivare a quel risultato finale, il traduttore applica più o meno consapevolmente tutta quella serie di strumenti di analisi, critica, correzione, rilettura, riformulazione e modifica che rientrano nell’attività di revisione. A questa prima fase, di cui ogni traduttore fa esperienza nel lavorare alla propria traduzione, segue di norma una fase successiva in cui la traduzione è rivista da un’altra figura professionale della filiera editoriale (di solito, e auspicabilmente, un altro traduttore) e infine altre fasi ancora del processo di lavorazione e pubblicazione del testo tradotto. Oltre a essere un’attività cruciale di ogni attività di traduzione e processo editoriale, la revisione riveste anche un fondamentale ruolo didattico nella formazione dei traduttori. L’idea alla base di questo progetto di ricerca nasce dal bisogno di triangolare riflessioni e dati concreti sulla revisione provenienti dalla ricerca accademica, dalla pratica professionale e dall’esperienza didattico-formativa, in un triplice approccio che informa l’intero progetto, di cui si illustrano i principali obiettivi: • formulare una nuova e chiara definizione sommativa del termine “revisione” da potersi utilizzare nell’ambito della ricerca, della didattica e della prassi professionale; • fornire una panoramica tematica, critica e aggiornata sulla ricerca accademica e non-accademica in materia di revisione; • condurre un’indagine conoscitiva (tramite compilazione di questionari diversificati) sulla pratica professionale della revisione editoriale in Italia, allo scopo di raccogliere dati da traduttori e revisori, fornirne una lettura critica e quindi individuare peculiarità e criticità di questa fase del processo di lavorazione del libro tradotto; • presentare ipotesi di lavoro e suggerimenti su metodi e strumenti da applicare all’insegnamento della revisione in contesti didattici e formativi.