Pucelle : the epic of Joan of Arc

A thesis comprising a creative component in the form of an epic about the history of Joan of Arc and an exegetical component concerned with redefining the epic genre and exploring the author's project.

Feasibility of repeated 24-h dietary recalls combined with a food-recording booklet, using EPIC-Soft, among preschoolers

Background/Objectives: This study evaluates the feasibility among preschoolers of the 224-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) method combined with a food-recording booklet (FRB), using EPIC-Soft pc-program for the 24-HDR (the software developed to conduct 24-HDRs in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study).
Subjects/Methods: A total of 20 and 25 (4- to 5-year-old) children were recruited, as a convenience sample, through worksites or day or healthcare in Denmark and Spain, respectively. One parent (or both parents together) completed two face-to-face 24- HDR, combined with an optional use of a FRB. Feasibility was evaluated by evaluation questionnaires completed by parents and interviewers.
Results: The face-to-face interviews were primarily conducted with the mothers. The FRB was used by 90% of the participants, and proxy persons, other than the parent, were also involved; involvement of proxy persons seems necessary in a majority of the recalls in both the countries.
Conclusions: The results suggest that 224-HDR with one parent combined with a FRB is feasible for registering preschoolers’ diet. An FRB and/or information from proxy persons, other than the parent, is needed for a majority of the parents. In future studies, it may be beneficial to develop the FRB more like a structured food record (FR), which might, in principle, change the method to a one-day FR method from more than a 24-HDR method. It is recommended then to further investigate the use of EPIC-Soft as a data-entry tool.

The association of cycling with all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality: findings from the population-based EPIC-Norfolk cohort

Objectives
To investigate associations between modest levels of total and domain-specific (commuting, other utility, recreational) cycling and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Design
Population-based cohort study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study-Norfolk).

Setting
Participants were recruited from general practices in the east of England and attended health examinations between 1993 and 1997 and again between 1998 and 2000. At the first health assessment, participants reported their average weekly duration of cycling for all purposes using a simple measure of physical activity. At the second health assessment, participants reported a more detailed breakdown of their weekly cycling behaviour using the EPAQ2 physical activity questionnaire.

Participants
Adults aged 40–79 years at the first health assessment.

Primary outcome measure
All participants were followed for mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer) until March 2011.

Results
There were 22 450 participants with complete data at the first health assessment, of whom 4398 died during follow-up; and 13 346 participants with complete data at the second health assessment, of whom 1670 died during follow-up. Preliminary analyses using exposure data from the first health assessment showed that cycling for at least 60 min/week in total was associated with a 9% reduced risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.99). Using the more precise measures of cycling available from the second health assessment, all types of cycling were associated with greater total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; however, there was little evidence of an association between overall or domain-specific cycling and mortality.

Conclusions
Cycling, in particular for utility purposes, was associated with greater moderate-to-vigorous and total physical activity. While this study provides tentative evidence that modest levels of cycling may reduce the risk of mortality, further research is required to confirm how much cycling is sufficient to induce health benefits.

XMM-Newton EPIC and OM observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen)

We report the results from the temporal and spectral analysis of an XMMNewton observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen). We detect a period at 3.51 +/- 0.4 h in the EPIC data and at 4.0 +/- 0.8 h in the Optical Monitor (OM) data. The X-ray spectrum is consistent with the emission from an absorbed thin thermal plasma with a temperature distribution given by an isobaric cooling flow. The maximum temperature of the cooling flow model is keV. Such a high temperature can be reached in a shocked region and, given the periodicity detected, most likely arises in a magnetically channelled accretion flow characteristic of intermediate polars. The pulsed fraction of the 3.51-h modulation decreases with energy as observed in the X-ray light curves of magnetic cataclysmic variables, possibly due either to occultation of the accretion column by the white dwarf body or phase-dependent to absorption. We do not find the 57-s white dwarf spin period, with a pulse amplitude of 4 mmag, reported by Woudt et al. in either the OM data, which are sensitive to pulse amplitudes ?0.03 mag, or the EPIC data, sensitive to pulse fractions p? 14 +/- 2 per cent.

Le sfide traduttive dei sintagmi nominali con modificatori in posizione prenominale nell'interpretazione simultanea dall'inglese in italiano: uno studio sul corpus Epic

Questa ricerca si concentra sulla gestione dei sintagmi nominali complessi nell’interpretazione simultanea in italiano dei discorsi inglesi del corpus elettronico EPIC (European Parliament Interpreting Corpus). EPIC contiene le trascrizioni di discorsi pronunciati al Parlamento europeo in inglese, italiano e spagnolo e le rispettive interpretazioni nelle altre due lingue. Per quest’analisi sono stati utilizzati due sottocorpora: I discorsi originali inglesi e i rispettivi discorsi interpretati in italiano. L’obiettivo del progetto era estrarre i sintagmi nominali complessi dal sottocorpus dei discorsi inglesi e confrontarli con le rispettive traduzioni in italiano per studiare le strategie adottate dagli interpreti. L’ipotesi iniziale era che i sintagmi nominali complessi sono una sfida traduttiva. I sintagmi analizzati erano stringhe di parole formate da una testa nominale preceduta da due o più modificatori, che potevano essere aggettivi, sostantivi, avverbi, numeri cardinali e genitivi. Nel primo capitolo sono state descritte le caratteristiche dei modificatori sia in inglese che in italiano. Il secondo capitolo espone lo stato dell’arte degli studi di interpretazione basati sui corpora, con una sezione dedicata agli studi svolti su EPIC. Il terzo capitolo si concentra sulla metodologia utilizzata. I dati sono stati estratti automaticamente con tre espressioni di ricerca e poi selezionati manualmente secondo dei criteri di inclusione e di esclusione. I sintagmi nominali scelti sono stati confrontati con le corrispondenti traduzioni in italiano e classificati secondo il modello teorico delle relazioni traduttive di Schjoldager (1995). Il quarto capitolo contiene I dati raccolti, che sono stati analizzati nel quinto capitolo sia da un punto di vista quantitativo che qualitativo. I sintagmi nominali in tutto il sottocorpus sono stati confrontati con i sintagmi nominali di gruppi specifici di testi, suddivisi secondo la velocità di eloquio e la modalità di presentazione. L’ipotesi iniziale è stata in parte confermata e sono state descritte le strategie traduttive adottate dagli interpreti.

Active Translation into English and Italian of Hosseini's adaptation of the Persian epic,"Shahname"

This thesis proposes a translation from Persian into Italian and English of an ancient Persian epic called Shahname, or literally “The Book of Kings,” by Ferdosi, first published in the 11th century CE. The translation proposed, however, is not based on the original book by Ferdosi, which is written all in verse, but rather, an edited, shorter, and simplified version written in prose, by Mohamad Hosseini, first published in 2013. Nonetheless, in his version, Hosseini included some of the verses from the original poems in order to show the value and the beauty of Ferdosi’s writing. Many translations of Ferdosi’s book have been made into English, but only one translation has been made into Italian, by one Italo Pizzi, in 8 volumes, all in verse, in 1886. This thesis analyses and discusses the choices made for the two translations presented into English and Italian. My project is not only to propose translations of Hosseini’s version, but to also introduce the reader to the Persian culture, and to the life of the most famous Iranian epic writer, Ferdosi, and his masterpiece, Shahname.