Critical feature analysis of a radiotherapy machine

The software implementation of the emergency shutdown feature in a major radiotherapy system was analyzed, using a directed form of code review based on module dependences. Dependences between modules are labelled by particular assumptions; this allows one to trace through the code, and identify those fragments responsible for critical features. An `assumption tree' is constructed in parallel, showing the assumptions which each module makes about others. The root of the assumption tree is the critical feature of interest, and its leaves represent assumptions which, if not valid, might cause the critical feature to fail. The analysis revealed some unexpected assumptions that motivated improvements to the code.

O MOVIMENTO DIRETAS JÁ PELA ÓTICA DE JANIO DE FREITAS NA FOLHA DE S.PAULO

O presente trabalho verificou como o jornalismo pode ser parceiro e fonte para a história por meio da reprodução e análise dos fatos político-econômicos brasileiros nas páginas dos jornais impressos diários. Nessa perspectiva, as colunas escritas nos últimos 25 anos (1983-2009) por Janio de Freitas, no jornal Folha de S.Paulo, significam interpretação e análise dessa história. Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa qualitativa e está ancorada nos Estudos Culturais. O corpus desta pesquisa é composto de um recorte de 47 comentários sobre as Diretas Já , de janeiro até abril de 1984, período em que ocorreram as principais mobilizações da sociedade civil pela eleição direta para a Presidência da República e culminou com a votação e a rejeição da emenda Dante de Oliveira pelo Congresso Nacional. No desenvolvimento do trabalho foram utilizadas as ferramentas da Análise de Conteúdo a partir das categorias analíticas criadas Personagens, Votação da Emenda Dante de Oliveira e Movimento Diretas Já nas ruas , para descrever o conteúdo textual das colunas. Para que se pudesse efetuar uma análise aprofundada do corpus da pesquisa foi utilizado o referencial teórico da ACD Análise Crítica do Discurso em nove das 47 colunas selecionadas. O critério de escolha para essas colunas foi a identificação daquelas que no título já traziam uma referência explícita à Campanha pelas Diretas Já , Às mobilizações nas ruas , A votação da emenda Dante de Oliveira , Ao processo de sucessão presidencial ou as que tinham o seu conteúdo integral sobre um dos temas. Este estudo constata a hipótese de que o jornalista é um historiador do cotidiano e que é possível fazer uma leitura da história da Campanha das Diretas Já por meio das colunas de Janio de Freitas. Ao tecer em suas colunas o cenário da época, desnuda para a história e para os historiadores o xadrez político personagens, acordos políticos, votação da emenda e a campanha nas ruas que envolveu o processo. Dessa forma, a partir de suas lentes, oferece elementos para a construção da memória coletiva sobre esse período da história brasileira.(AU)

Discourse analysis for translation and translator training: status, needs, methods

Editorial

Political discourse analysis from the point of view of translation studies

Political discourse very often relies on translation. Political Discourse Analysis (PDA), however, has not yet taken full account of the phenomenon of translation. This paper argues that the disciplines of Translation Studies (TS) and PDA can benefit from closer cooperation. It starts by presenting examples of authentic translations of political texts, commenting on them from the point of view of TS. These examples concern political effects caused by specific translation solutions; the processes by which information is transferred via translation to another culture; and the structure and function of equally valid texts in their respective cultures. After a brief survey of the discipline of Translation Studies, the paper concludes with outlining scope for interdisciplinary cooperation between PDA and TS. This is illustrated with reference to an awareness of product features, multilingual texts, process analysis, and the politics of translation.

Women beware women: detective fiction and critical discourse stylistics

This article examines the work of four contemporary writers of detective fiction (P.D. James, Amanda Cross, Sara Paretsky and Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine) from a critical discourse stylistics perspective with the objective of raising the reader’s awareness of the ideological processes that are manifested in the language of these texts. It considers how these writers deal with stereotypical assumptions, how they cope with socially-determined traditional roles and verify whether their choices result in the articulation of an alternative discourse. The investigation arrives at some identifiable cultural and linguistic characteristics which may be singular to this new group of writers. We suggest that by challenging traditional representations of women, these writers may be offering a reconstruction of the genre.

The role of discourse analysis for translation and translator training

It has been widely recognised that an in-depth textual analysis of a source text is relevant for translation. This book discusses the role of discourse analysis for translation and translator training. One particular model of discourse analysis is presented in detail, and its application in the context of translator training is critically examined.

Articulating discursive and materialist conceptions of practice in the logics approach to critical policy analysis

In this article it is argued that while Glynos and Howarth’s logics of critical explanation (LCE) offers an important and promising contribution to critical policy analysis, it, along with other approaches that focus on the meaning of social action, faces a growing challenge in the form of a so-called new materialist turn in social and political theory. The article argues that there is much to be gained for the logics approach in paying closer attention to the materiality of practices in terms not only of lending greater clarity to the conception and role of social practices in the logics approach but also in enabling it fully to deliver on its critical ambition. The article explores an alternative materialist approach to the study of social practices, which hails from the post-actor–networktheory tradition and which has ontological affinities with post-structuralism. The article begins with a brief analysis of the new materialist turn in its various guises. It then critically examines the logics approach, and, in particular its conception of practice. It then explores an alternative materialist and ethnographic reading of practice, focusing on medical and care practices. It concludes with an examination of the implications for a more materialist conception of practices for the LCE’s broad deconstructive, psychoanalytic and onto-political ambitions.

Unknown agents in translated political discourse

This article investigates the role of translation and interpreting in political discourse. It illustrates discursive events in the domain of politics and the resulting discourse types, such as jointly produced texts, press conferences and speeches. It shows that methods of Critical Discourse Analysis can be used effectively to reveal translation and interpreting strategies as well as transformations that occur in recontextualisation processes across languages, cultures, and discourse domains, in particular recontextualisation in mass media. It argues that the complexity of translational activities in the field of politics has not yet seen sufficient attention within Translation Studies. The article concludes by outlining a research programme for investigating political discourse in translation. ©2012 John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Risks and benefits of selective (re)presentation of interviewees' talk:some insights from discourse analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality of evidence collected during interview. Current UK national guidance on the interviewing of victims and witnesses recommends a phased approach, allowing the interviewee to deliver their free report before any questioning takes place, and stipulating that during this free report the interviewee should not be interrupted. Interviewers, therefore, often find it necessary during questioning to reactivate parts of the interviewee's free report for further elaboration. Design/methodology/approach: The first section of this paper draws on a collection of police interviews with women reporting rape, and discusses one method by which this is achieved - the indirect quotation of the interviewee by the interviewer - exploring the potential implications for the quality of evidence collected during this type of interview. The second section of the paper draws on the same data set and concerns itself with a particular method by which information provided by an interviewee has its meaning "fixed" by the interviewer. Findings: It is found that "formulating" is a recurrent practice arising from the need to clarify elements of the account for the benefit of what is termed the "overhearing audience" - in this context, the police scribe, CPS, and potentially the Court. Since the means by which this "fixing" is achieved necessarily involves the foregrounding of elements of the account deemed to be particularly salient at the expense of other elements which may be entirely deleted, formulations are rarely entirely neutral. Their production, therefore, has the potential to exert undue interviewer influence over the negotiated "final version" of interviewees' accounts. Originality/value: The paper highlights the fact that accurate re-presentations of interviewees' accounts are a crucial tool in ensuring smooth progression of interviews and that re-stated speech and formulation often have implications for the quality of evidence collected during significant witness interviews. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.