Use of isotopes for studying nitrogen processes in a wetland within the Venice Lagoon watershed

The present study is based on the use of isotopes for evaluating the efficiency of nutrients removal of a wetland, in particular nitrogen and nitrates, also between the different habitats present in the wetland. Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, normally distributed as fertilizers, are among the principal causes of diffuse pollution. This is particularly important in the Adriatic Sea, which is frequently subjected to eutrophication phenomena. So it is very crucial requalification of wetland, in which there are naturally depurative processes such as denitrification and plant uptake, which allow the reduction of pollutant loads that flow in water bodies. In this study nutrient reduction is analyzed in the wetland of the Comuna drain, which waters flow in the Venice lagoon. Chemical and isotopical analyses were performed on samples of water, vegetation, soil and sediments taken in the wetlands of the Comuna drain in four different periods of the year and on data of nitrogen and phosphorus concentration obtained by the LASA of the University of Padova. Values of total nitrogen and nitrates were obtained in order to evaluate the reduction within the different systems of the wetland. Instead, the isotopic values of nitrogen and carbon were used to evaluate which process influence more nitrogen reduction and to understand the origin of the nutrient, if it is from fertilizers, waste water or sewage. To conclude, the most important process in the wetland of the Comuna drain is plant uptake, in facts the bigger percentage of nitrogen reduction was in the period of vegetative growth. So it is important the study of isotopes in plant tissues and water residence time, whose increase would allow a greater reduction of nutrients.

Tradurre la letteratura per l'infanzia: Little lou à Paris di Jean Claverie

La letteratura per l’infanzia è da molto tempo, ormai, oggetto di riscritture e traduzioni per permettere ai piccoli lettori di leggere, così come avviene per gli adulti, storie provenienti da ogni parte del mondo. La traduzione della letteratura per l’infanzia viene, però, ancora troppo spesso sottovalutata e subordinata in ordine di importanza e, soprattutto, di difficoltà alla traduzione letteraria vera e propria. L’origine di questo elaborato deriva, così, dalla mia volontà di approfondire la mia conoscenza di questo ambito della letteratura e di affrontare in prima persona tutte le sfide e le difficoltà con cui un traduttore di libri per l’infanzia è costretto a confrontarsi. Al centro del mio studio e del mio lavoro di traduzione vi è il libro per bambini Little Lou à Paris di Jean Claverie. Ciò che mi ha immediatamente colpita e affascinata di questo libro è lo stretto legame che l’autore, attraverso rapide pennellate color seppia, riesce a creare tra parole e immagini, tra ciò che viene raccontato e i tratti delicati dei disegni, ma soprattutto il modo in cui è qui rappresentato e descritto lo sguardo di un bambino sul mondo, su un mondo per lui nuovo e sconosciuto. La tesi si compone di quattro capitoli. Nel primo capitolo presenterò l’autore e la sua opera, seguirà, poi, nel secondo, un’analisi del testo di partenza e delle sue caratteristiche. Il terzo capitolo contiene la mia proposta di traduzione dell’intero libro di Jean Claverie, e infine, nel quarto ed ultimo capitolo, dopo aver illustrato i tratti principali della letteratura per l’infanzia e della sua traduzione, commenterò la mia proposta di traduzione spiegando e analizzando particolari scelte fatte nel corso del processo traduttivo.

Tradurre il genere documentario : Due proposte di sottotitolaggio del documentario Little Land a confronto

The aim of this thesis is to discuss the main translation issues encountered while performing a double version of the subtitles of the documentary “Little Land” from English into Italian. The main motivation behind my choice is a personal interest in the subtitling field applied to the documentary filmic genre. This project is divided into two parts. The first part constitutes the theoretical basis of the thesis and is divided in three chapters. The first chapter introduces the documentary “Little Land” and analyses its main features and characteristics. The second chapter is devoted to documentary studies and theory of documentary, including the historical overview of the changes of this filmic genre and an overview of its market potential in order to meet both the audience and the director’s requirements. The third chapter deals with audiovisual translation as a discipline, and analyses the main translation techniques adopted for the documentary genre: dubbing, voice-over and subtitling. The subtitling section is particularly rich, and a discussion of the use of double and pivot subtitles and the possibilities of subtitling for accessibility issues is included. The second part constitutes the practical development of the theories introduced and dealt with in the first part. Chapter four provides an overview of the history of the Cineteca di Bologna, for whom I worked as a subtitler, and explains the guide lines and equipment required in order to perform the manual launch of the subtitles during their festival Human Rights Nights. The fifth and final chapter provides an analysis of the second version of the subtitles, meant for TV broadcasting, and highlights the main issues encountered during the translation process, both from a structural and a lexical point of view. A discussion of the different translation strategies adopted is provided, in a constant comparison with the first version of the subtitles. The function of self-reflection and self-observation in translation is also examined. Appendix A and B contain the interviews with “Little Land”’s director and protagonist respectively, Appendix C contains the subtitles table.