A statistical analysis of regional variation in adverb position in a corpus of written Standard American English

This paper investigates whether the position of adverb phrases in sentences is regionally patterned in written Standard American English, based on an analysis of a 25 million word corpus of letters to the editor representing the language of 200 cities from across the United States. Seven measures of adverb position were tested for regional patterns using the global spatial autocorrelation statistic Moran’s I and the local spatial autocorrelation statistic Getis-Ord Gi*. Three of these seven measures were indentified as exhibiting significant levels of spatial autocorrelation, contrasting the language of the Northeast with language of the Southeast and the South Central states. These results demonstrate that continuous regional grammatical variation exists in American English and that regional linguistic variation exists in written Standard English.

Translating specialised texts:an overview of key factors involved in translator training for specialized translation

Translators wishing to work on translating specialised texts are traditionally recommended to spend much time and effort acquiring specialist knowledge of the domain involved, and for some areas of specialised activity, this is clearly essential. For other types of translation-based, domain-specific of communication, however, it is possible to develop a systematic approach to the task which will allow for the production of target texts which are adequate for purpose, in a range of specialised domains, without necessarily having formal qualifications in those areas. For Esselink (2000) translation agencies, and individual clients, would tend to prefer a subject expert who also happens to have competence in one or more languages over a trained translator with a high degree of translation competence, including the ability to deal with specialised translation tasks. The problem, for the would-be translator, is persuading prospective clients that he or she is capable of this. This paper will offer an overview of the principles used to design training intended to teach trainee translators how to use a systematic approach to specialised translation, in order to extend the range of areas in which they can tackle translation, without compromising quality or reliability. This approach will be described within the context of the functionalist approach developed in particular by Reiss and Vermeer (1984), Nord (1991, 1997) inter alia.

Hijacked then lost in translation:the plight of the recombinant host cell in membrane protein structural biology projects

Membrane protein structural biology is critically dependent upon the supply of high-quality protein. Over the last few years, the value of crystallising biochemically characterised, recombinant targets that incorporate stabilising mutations has been established. Nonetheless, obtaining sufficient yields of many recombinant membrane proteins is still a major challenge. Solutions are now emerging based on an improved understanding of recombinant host cells; as a 'cell factory' each cell is tasked with managing limited resources to simultaneously balance its own growth demands with those imposed by an expression plasmid. This review examines emerging insights into the role of translation and protein folding in defining high-yielding recombinant membrane protein production in a range of host cells.

Ideological aspects of the translation of business annual reports in Oman (English-Arabic)

The socioeconomic context in the renaissance era in Oman has resulted in the development of new forms of discursive prastises and thus, in the introduction of new genres. One of these new genres is the business annual report, which in Oman exists in English and Arabic. This thesis examines the role of translation in the production of annual reports. This research makes a contribution to the field of Translation Studies by examining institutional translation in order to gain insights into translation agents, processes, practises and underlying policies with reference to national business institutions in their sociopolitical and historical and institutional contexts .Business reports are still largely under-researched as a genre in Translation Studies. The thesis starts with an overview of relevant aspects of Translation Studies to arrive at a theoretical framework which informs the analysis. The empirical analysis is based on sixty seven reports produced by different Oman-based companies which vary in size and organisational patterns. Annual reports are characterised as a genre in terms of function and structure at the macro-level as well as the micro-level. They have an informative and a persuasive function, as they are produced by different companies in their attempt to promote and fulfil their respective business interests and objectives.The thesis presents the sociocultural and political contexts of the production of the English and Arabic versions of the annual reports, focusing on the underlying functions and principles of institutions and agents. The next chapter illustrates the textual profiles of the English and the Arabic versions, identifying typical translation strategies. The discussion here operates within the framework of product-oriented Descriptive Translation Studies (Lambert and van Gorp 1985). It is argued that the two language versions reflect aspects of ideology, political affiliation and power relations at both the macro and micro- structural levels. These ideological aspects can be seen in particular in the addition, omission and change of specific expressions which refer to religious or interpersonal aspects. These strategies signal the aim to appeal to wider Arab readers and to fulfil the agendas of different agents (government, companies, chairpersons, directors, etc.). The description of the texts is followed by an account of these aspects in terms of sociopolitical and institutional conditions in the production of the translations. For this explanation, reference is made to sociological approaches to translation, mainly building on the work of Bourdieu (1991). This thesis emphasises that the translation of annual reports is a collective effort which takes place in a particular institutional context. Consequently, the translation strategies are regulated by the objectives of the institution within which translators and other agents operate. The translations are prepared in order to meet the expectations and needs of the intended Arabic language addressees; in addition, the generic features of the reports reveal a progression of transmission and development over the course of time in the spheres of business and economy in Oman. This thesis demonstrates that business companies too can be seen as institutions which contribute significantly to disseminating business terms and concepts and promoting investment opportunities domestically and internationally through translation work.

Microfluidics based manufacture of liposomes simultaneously entrapping hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs

Despite the substantial body of research investigating the use of liposomes, niosomes and other bilayer vesicles for drug delivery, the translation of these systems into licensed products remains limited. Indeed, recent shortages in the supply of liposomal products demonstrate the need for new scalable production methods for liposomes. Therefore, the aim of our research has been to consider the application of microfluidics in the manufacture of liposomes containing either or both a water soluble and a lipid soluble drug to promote co-delivery of drugs. For the first time, we demonstrate the entrapment of a hydrophilic and a lipophilic drug (metformin and glipizide respectively) both individually, and in combination, using a scalable microfluidics manufacturing system. In terms of the operating parameters, the choice of solvents, lipid concentration and aqueous:solvent ratio all impact on liposome size with vesicle diameter ranging from ∼90 to 300 nm. In terms of drug loading, microfluidics production promoted high loading within ∼100 nm vesicles for both the water soluble drug (20–25% of initial amount added) and the bilayer embedded drug (40–42% of initial amount added) with co-loading of the drugs making no impact on entrapment efficacy. However, co-loading of glipizide and metformin within the same liposome formulation did impact on the drug release profiles; in both instances the presence of both drugs in the one formulation promoted faster (up to 2 fold) release compared to liposomes containing a single drug alone. Overall, these results demonstrate the application of microfluidics to prepare liposomal systems incorporating either or both an aqueous soluble drug and a bilayer loaded drug.