The third language in English guidebooks and its translation into Spanish

[EN] This article focuses on a specific feature found in tourist guidebooks –the recurrent use of foreign expressions or “third language”. It presents the findings of a comparative analysis of a parallel corpus made up of twenty guidebooks: ten guidebooks originally written in English and their corresponding translated versions in Spanish, describing different countries and cities (all of them published by Lonely Planet), focusing on those chapters in which the writer includes practical information. The purpose of the study is to analyze the use of the third language in the English and Spanish versions and to determine and identify the translation strategies used by the translators to transfer these linguistic elements from one language to the other.

Dark humour as a culture specific phenomenon: a study in screen translation

The present study aims at analyzing how dark humour as a cinematic genre travels cross-culturally through a specific mode of audiovisual translation, i.e. dubbing. In particular, it takes into consideration the processes involved in dubbing humour from English into Italian as observed in the English- and Italian-language versions of ten British and American dark comedies from the 1940s to the 2000s. In an attempt to identify some of the main mechanisms of the dark humour genre, the humorous content of the films was analyzed in terms of the elements on which specific scenes are based, mainly the non-verbal and verbal components. In the cases in which verbal elements were involved, i.e. the examples of verbally expressed humour, the analysis was concerned with whether they were adapted into Italian and to what effect. Quantification of the different kinds of dark humour revealed that in the sample of dark comedies verbal dark humour had a higher frequency (85.3%) than non-verbal dark humour (14.7%), which partially disconfirmed the first part of the research hypothesis. However, the significance of contextual elements in the conveying of dark humour, both in the form of Nsp VEH (54.31%) and V-V (V+VE) (21.68%), provided support for the hypothesis that, even when expressed verbally, dark humour is more closely linked to context-based rather than purely linguistic humour (4.9%). The second part of the analysis was concerned with an investigation of the strategies adopted for the translation of verbal dark humour elements from the SL (English) into the TL (Italian) through the filter of dubbing. Four translational strategies were identified as far as the rendering of verbal dark humour is concerned: i) complete omission; ii) weakening; iii) close rendering; and iv) increased effect. Complete omission was found to be the most common among these strategies, with 80.9% of dark humour examples being transposed in a way that kept the ST’s function substantially intact. Weakening of darkly humorous lines was applied in 12% of cases, whereas increased effect accounted for 4.6% and complete omission for 2.5%. The fact that for most examples of Nsp VEH (84.9%) and V-AC (V+VE) (91.4%) a close rendering effect was observed and that 12 out of 21 examples of V-AC (PL) (a combined 57%) were either omitted or weakened seemed to confirm, on the one hand, the complexity of the translation process required by cases of V-AC (PL) and V-AC (CS). On the other hand, as suggested in the second part of the research hypothesis, the data might be interpreted as indicating that lesser effort on the translator/adaptor’s part is involved in the adaptation of V-AC (Nsp VEH) and V-V (V+VE). The issue of the possible censorial intervention undergone by examples of verbal dark humour in the sample still remains unclear.

The design of a syllabus for translation students: learning outcomes in the subjects of spanish language

[EN]In the new design of educational programs in European Higher Education Area (EHEA), what defines a subject it is Learning Outcomes (LO). These LO, as explicit and precise declarations, turn into the center of teaching and learning process. Keeping this change is mind, our research examines the Educational Guides (EG) of Spanish Language (SL) through a list of verbs, according to the graduation of educacionational objectives of Bllom's Taxonomy (2014-2015)

A core calculus for the analysis and implementation of biologically inspired languages

The application of Concurrency Theory to Systems Biology is in its earliest stage of progress. The metaphor of cells as computing systems by Regev and Shapiro opened the employment of concurrent languages for the modelling of biological systems. Their peculiar characteristics led to the design of many bio-inspired formalisms which achieve higher faithfulness and specificity. In this thesis we present pi@, an extremely simple and conservative extension of the pi-calculus representing a keystone in this respect, thanks to its expressiveness capabilities. The pi@ calculus is obtained by the addition of polyadic synchronisation and priority to the pi-calculus, in order to achieve compartment semantics and atomicity of complex operations respectively. In its direct application to biological modelling, the stochastic variant of the calculus, Spi@, is shown able to model consistently several phenomena such as formation of molecular complexes, hierarchical subdivision of the system into compartments, inter-compartment reactions, dynamic reorganisation of compartment structure consistent with volume variation. The pivotal role of pi@ is evidenced by its capability of encoding in a compositional way several bio-inspired formalisms, so that it represents the optimal core of a framework for the analysis and implementation of bio-inspired languages. In this respect, the encodings of BioAmbients, Brane Calculi and a variant of P Systems in pi@ are formalised. The conciseness of their translation in pi@ allows their indirect comparison by means of their encodings. Furthermore it provides a ready-to-run implementation of minimal effort whose correctness is granted by the correctness of the respective encoding functions. Further important results of general validity are stated on the expressive power of priority. Several impossibility results are described, which clearly state the superior expressiveness of prioritised languages and the problems arising in the attempt of providing their parallel implementation. To this aim, a new setting in distributed computing (the last man standing problem) is singled out and exploited to prove the impossibility of providing a purely parallel implementation of priority by means of point-to-point or broadcast communication.

The notion of equivalence and lexical cohesion in the translation of political speeches

Abstract This dissertation investigates the notion of equivalence with particular reference to lexical cohesion in the translation of political speeches. Lexical cohesion poses a particular challenge to the translators of political speeches and thus preserving lexical cohesion elements as one of the major elements of cohesion is undoubtedly crucial to their translation equivalence. We rely on Halliday’s (1994) classification of lexical cohesion which comprises: repetition, synonymy, antonymy, meronymy and hyponymy. Other traditional models of lexical cohesion are examined. We include Grammatical Parallelism for its role in creating textual semantic unity which is what cohesion is all about. The study shed light on the function of lexical cohesion elements as rhetorical device. The study also deals with lexical problems resulting from the transfer of lexical cohesion elements from the SL into the TL, which is often beset by many problems that most often result from the differences between languages. Three key issues are identified as being fundamental to equivalence and lexical cohesion in the translation of political speeches: sociosemiotic approach, register analysis, rhetoric, and poetic function. The study also investigates the lexical cohesion elements in the translation of political speeches from English into Arabic, Italian and French in relation to ideology, and its control, through bias and distortion. The findings are discussed, implications examined and topics for further research suggested.

The problems of equivalence in advertising translation: examples from English and Russian

Abstract The academic environment has recently recognized the importance and benefits that an extensive research on the translation of advertising can have for translation studies. Despite the growing interest and increasing research activity in the field it is still difficult to speak about a theory of advertising translation in general. There is a need for further study encompassing different languages and both heterogeneous and homogenous cultures that will give the possibility to receive a more complete map of what the translation of advertising is and should be. Previous studies have been concentrated, for the most part, on Western European language pairs. This study is a research into perfume and cosmetics print advertisements translated from English into Russian where both visual and verbal elements are considered. Three broad translation approaches have been identified in what concerns the verbal message: Translated message, parallel translation, recreated adverts, and three approaches in dealing with the image: similar images, modified images, completely different images. The thesis shows that where Russian advertisements for perfume products tend to have a message, or create one, this is often lacking in the English copy. The article ends by suggesting that perfume advertisements favor the standardization approach when entering Russian market. The attempts to localize the advert have also been noticed although they are obviously less numerous in perfume adverts and are rather instances of adaptation - a mix between the localization and standardization approaches since they keep drawing on the same globally accepted universals about female beauty and concern for ‘woman’s identity’ (we focused our analysis on products designed for female consumers). This study, complementing previous studies, aims to be a contribution to the description of laws and strategies that guide the translation of advertising texts into Russian.

RNA-Strukturen im Hepatitis-C-Virus und ihre Bedeutung für Translation und Replikation

Das Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) ist ein umhülltes Virus aus der Familie der Flaviviridae. Es besitzt ein Plusstrang-RNA Genom von ca. 9600 Nukleotiden Länge, das nur ein kodierendes Leseraster besitzt. Das Genom wird am 5’ und 3’ Ende von nicht-translatierten Sequenzen (NTRs) flankiert, welche für die Translation und vermutlich auch Replikation von Bedeutung sind. Die 5’ NTR besitzt eine interne Ribosomeneintrittsstelle (IRES), die eine cap-unabhängige Translation des ca. 3000 Aminosäure langen viralen Polyproteins erlaubt. Dieses wird ko- und posttranslational von zellulären und viralen Proteasen in 10 funktionelle Komponenten gespalten. Inwieweit die 5’ NTR auch für die Replikation der HCV RNA benötigt wird, war zu Beginn der Arbeit nicht bekannt. Die 3’ NTR besitzt eine dreigeteilte Struktur, bestehend aus einer variablen Region, dem polyU/UC-Bereich und der sogenannten X-Sequenz, eine hochkonservierte 98 Nukleotide lange Region, die vermutlich für die RNA-Replikation und möglicherweise auch für die Translation benötigt wird. Die genuae Rolle der 3’ NTR für diese beiden Prozesse war zu Beginn der Arbeit jedoch nicht bekannt. Ziel der Dissertation war deshalb eine detaillierte genetische Untersuchung der NTRs hinsichtlich ihrer Bedeutung für die RNA-Translation und -Replikation. In die Analyse mit einbezogen wurden auch RNA-Strukturen innerhalb der kodierenden Region, die zwischen verschiedenen HCV-Genotypen hoch konserviert sind und die mit verschiedenen computer-basierten Modellen vorhergesagt wurden. Zur Kartierung der für RNA-Replikation benötigten Minimallänge der 5’ NTR wurde eine Reihe von Chimären hergestellt, in denen unterschiedlich lange Bereiche der HCV 5’ NTR 3’ terminal mit der IRES des Poliovirus fusioniert wurden. Mit diesem Ansatz konnten wir zeigen, dass die ersten 120 Nukleotide der HCV 5’ NTR als Minimaldomäne für Replikation ausreichen. Weiterhin ergab sich eine klare Korrelation zwischen der Länge der HCV 5’ NTR und der Replikationseffizienz. Mit steigender Länge der 5’ NTR nahm auch die Replikationseffizienz zu, die dann maximal war, wenn das vollständige 5’ Element mit der Poliovirus-IRES fusioniert wurde. Die hier gefundene Kopplung von Translation und Replikation in der HCV 5’ NTR könnte auf einen Mechanismus zur Regulation beider Funktionen hindeuten. Es konnte allerdings noch nicht geklärt werden, welche Bereiche innerhalb der Grenzen des IRES-Elements genau für die RNA-Replikation benötigt werden. Untersuchungen im Bereich der 3’ NTR ergaben, dass die variable Region für die Replikation entbehrlich, die X-Sequenz jedoch essentiell ist. Der polyU/UC-Bereich musste eine Länge von mindestens 11-30 Uridinen besitzen, wobei maximale Replikation ab einer Länge von 30-50 Uridinen beobachtet wurde. Die Addition von heterologen Sequenzen an das 3’ Ende der HCV-RNA führte zu einer starken Reduktion der Replikation. In den hier durchgeführten Untersuchungen zeigte keines der Elemente in der 3’ NTR einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Translation. Ein weiteres cis aktives RNA-Element wurde im 3’ kodierenden Bereich für das NS5B Protein beschrieben. Wir fanden, dass Veränderungen dieser Struktur durch stille Punktmutationen die Replikation hemmten, welche durch die Insertion einer intakten Version dieses RNA-Elements in die variable Region der 3’ NTR wieder hergestellt werden konnte. Dieser Versuchsansatz erlaubte die genaue Untersuchung der für die Replikation kritischen Strukturelemente. Dadurch konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Struktur und die Primärsequenz der Loopbereiche essentiell sind. Darüber hinaus wurde eine Sequenzkomplementarität zwischen dem Element in der NS5B-kodierenden Region und einem RNA-Bereich in der X-Sequenz der 3’ NTR gefunden, die eine sog. „kissing loop“ Interaktion eingehen kann. Mit Hilfe von gezielten Mutationen konnten wir zeigen, dass diese RNA:RNA Interaktion zumindest transient stattfindet und für die Replikation des HCV essentiell ist.

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.

The central role of Fyn kinase in axon-glial signalling and translation of myelin proteins

During central nervous system myelination, oligodendrocytes extend membrane processes towards an axonal contact site which is followed by ensheathment resulting in a compacted multilamellar myelin sheath. The formation of this axon-glial unit facilitates rapid saltatory propagation of action potentials along the axon and requires the synthesis and transport of copious amounts of lipids and proteins to the axon-glial contact site. Fyn is a member of the Src family of non receptor tyrosine kinases and inserted into the inner leaflet of the oligodendrocyte membrane by acylation. Fyn activity plays a pivotal role in the maturation of oligodendrocytes and the myelination process. It was suggested previously that Fyn kinase can be stimulated by binding of a neuronal ligand to oligodendroglial F3/ contactin, a glycosyl-phosphatidyl-inositol anchored immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) member protein. It could be shown here, that neuronal cell adhesion molecule L1 binds to oligodendrocytes in an F3-dependent manner and activates glial Fyn. In the search for downstream participants of this novel axon-glial signalling cascade, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2 was identified as a novel Fyn target in oligodendrocytes. HnRNP A2 was known to be involved in the localisation of translationally repressed myelin basic protein (MBP) mRNA by binding to a cis acting A2 response element (A2RE) present in the 3’ untranslated region. Transport of MBP mRNAs occurs in RNA-protein complexes termed RNA granules and translational repression during transport is achieved by hnRNP A2-mediated recruitment of hnRNP E1 to the granules. It could be shown here, that Fyn activity leads to enhanced translation of reporter mRNA containing a part of the 3’ UTR of MBP including the A2RE. Furthermore hnRNP E1 seems to dissociate from RNA granules in response to Fyn activity and L1 binding. These findings suggest a novel form of neuron- glial communication: Axonal L1 binding to oligodendroglial F3 activates Fyn kinase. Activated Fyn phosphorylates hnRNP A2 leading to removal of hnRNP E1 from RNA granules initiating the translation of MBP mRNA. MBP is the second most abundant myelin protein and mice lacking this protein show a severe hypomyelination phenotype. Moreover, the brains of Fyn knock out mice contain reduced MBP levels and are hypomyelinated. Hence, L1-mediated MBP synthesis via Fyn as a central molecule could be part of a regulatory mechanism required for myelinogenesis in the central nervous system.

Integrative Musterbildung kranialer Strukturen

Form und Gestalt kraniofazialer Strukturen sind primär beeinflusst durch die inhärente Integration der unterschiedlichsten Funktionssysteme und externer selektiver Einflüsse. Die Variabilität der Schädel-Morphe ist ein Indikator für solche Einflussfaktoren und damit ein idealer Gegenstand für vergleichende Analysen morphogenetischer Formbildung. Zur Ermittlung morphologisch-adaptiver Trends und Muster wurden sowohl Hypothesen zur morphologischen Differenziertheit als auch zu Korrelationen zwischen modularen Schädelkompartimenten (fazial, neurokranial, basikranial) untersucht. Zusätzlich wurden aus Schichtröntgenaufnahmen (CT) virtuelle Modelle rekonstruiert, welche die Interpretation der statistischen Befunde unterstützen sollten. Zur Berechnung der Gestaltunterschiede wurden mittels eines mechanischen Gelenkarm-Messgerätes (MicroScribe-G2) max. 85 ektokraniale Messpunkte (Landmarks) bzw. dreidimensionale Koordinaten an ca. 520 Schädeln von fünf rezenten Gattungen der Überfamilie Hominoidea (Hylobates, Pongo, Gorilla, Pan und Homo) akquiriert. Aus dem Datensatz wurden geometrische Störfaktoren (Größe, Translation, Rotation) mathematisch eliminiert und die verbleibenden Residuale bzw. ‚Gestalt-Variablen‘ diversen multivariat-statistischen Verfahren unterzogen (Faktoren, Cluster-, Regressions- und Korrelationsanalysen sowie statistische Tests). Die angewandten Methoden erhalten die geometrische Information der Untersuchungsobjekte über alle Analyseschritte hinweg und werden unter der Bezeichnung „Geometric Morphometrics (GMM)“ als aktueller Ansatz der Morphometrie zusammengefasst. Für die unterschiedlichen Fragestellungen wurden spezifische Datensätze generiert. Es konnten diverse morphologische Trends und adaptive Muster mit Hilfe der Synthese statistischer Methoden und computer-basierter Rekonstruktionen aus den generierten Datensätzen ermittelt werden. Außerdem war es möglich, präzise zu rekonstruieren, welche kranialen Strukturen innerhalb der Stichprobe miteinander wechselwirken, einzigartige Variabilitäten repräsentieren oder eher homogen gestaltet sind. Die vorliegenden Befunde lassen erkennen, dass Fazial- und Neurokranium am stärksten miteinander korrelieren, während das Basikranium geringe Abhängigkeiten in Bezug auf Gesichts- oder Hirnschädelveränderungen zeigte. Das Basikranium erweist sich zudem bei den nicht-menschlichen Hominoidea und über alle Analysen hinweg als konservative und evolutiv-persistente Struktur mit dem geringsten Veränderungs-Potential. Juvenile Individuen zeigen eine hohe Affinität zueinander und zu Formen mit einem kleinem Gesichts- und großem Hirnschädel. Während das Kranium des rezenten Menschen primär von Enkephalisation und fazialer Retraktion (Orthognathisierung) dominiert ist und somit eine einzigartige Gestalt aufweist, zeigt sich der Kauapparat als maßgeblich formbildendes Kompartiment bei den nicht-menschlichen Formen. Die Verbindung von GMM mit den interaktiven Möglichkeiten computergenerierter Modelle erwies sich als valides Werkzeug zur Erfassung der aufgeworfenen Fragestellungen. Die Interpretation der Befunde ist durch massive Interkorrelationen der untersuchten Strukturen und der statistisch-mathematischen Prozeduren als hoch komplex zu kennzeichnen. Die Studie präsentiert einen innovativen Ansatz der modernen Morphometrie, welcher für zukünftige Untersuchungen im Bereich der kraniofazialen Gestaltanalyse ausgebaut werden könnte. Dabei verspricht die Verknüpfung mit ‚klassischen’ und modernen Zugängen (z. B. Molekularbiologie) gesteigerte Erkenntnismöglichkeiten für künftige morphometrische Fragestellungen.

High precision swept volume approximation with conservative error bounds

In technical design processes in the automotive industry, digital prototypes rapidly gain importance, because they allow for a detection of design errors in early development stages. The technical design process includes the computation of swept volumes for maintainability analysis and clearance checks. The swept volume is very useful, for example, to identify problem areas where a safety distance might not be kept. With the explicit construction of the swept volume an engineer gets evidence on how the shape of components that come too close have to be modified.rnIn this thesis a concept for the approximation of the outer boundary of a swept volume is developed. For safety reasons, it is essential that the approximation is conservative, i.e., that the swept volume is completely enclosed by the approximation. On the other hand, one wishes to approximate the swept volume as precisely as possible. In this work, we will show, that the one-sided Hausdorff distance is the adequate measure for the error of the approximation, when the intended usage is clearance checks, continuous collision detection and maintainability analysis in CAD. We present two implementations that apply the concept and generate a manifold triangle mesh that approximates the outer boundary of a swept volume. Both algorithms are two-phased: a sweeping phase which generates a conservative voxelization of the swept volume, and the actual mesh generation which is based on restricted Delaunay refinement. This approach ensures a high precision of the approximation while respecting conservativeness.rnThe benchmarks for our test are amongst others real world scenarios that come from the automotive industry.rnFurther, we introduce a method to relate parts of an already computed swept volume boundary to those triangles of the generator, that come closest during the sweep. We use this to verify as well as to colorize meshes resulting from our implementations.

Resezioni epatiche eco-guidate radicali ma conservative simultanee alle resezioni colo-rettali. Un approccio sicuro al cancro colorettale avanzato

Il cancro colorettale (CRC) rimane la prima causa di morte nei paesi occidentali.Dal 15% al 25% dei pazienti affetti da CRC presenta metastasi epatiche sincrone (CRLM) al momento della diagnosi.La resezione epatica radicale rimane l’unica terapia potenzialmente curativa in presenza di CRLM con una sopravvivenza a 5 anni compresa tra il 17% ed il 35% ed a 10 anni tra il 16% e il 23% rispettivamente. La tempistica ottimale per la resezione chirurgica in caso di presentazione sincrona di CRC è controversa.Questo studio intende dimostrare che le resezioni epatiche ecoguidate radicali ma conservative simultanee ad una resezione colorettale rappresentano una tecnica sicura ed efficace nei pazienti con CRC avanzato. 48 pazienti sono stati sottoposti ad una resezione simultanea colorettale ed epatica. L’età media +SD (range) era di 64,2+9,7 (38-84).Un solo paziente è deceduto entro 30 giorni. La mortalità post operatoria è stata complessivamente del 2,1%. Nove pazienti (18,8%) hanno sviluppato una o più complicanza ,4 (8,3%) di grado III-IV sec. Clavien-Dindo e 5 (10,4%) di grado I-II. La durata complessiva dell’intervento chirurgico simultaneo è stata di 486,6+144,0 (153-804) minuti.Questo studio conferma che le resezioni colorettali ed epatiche simultanee possono essere eseguite senza un significativo aumento della morbilità e mortalità perioperatorie, anche in pazienti sottoposti ad una resezione anteriore ultrabassa ed in quelli in cui sia indicato il clampaggio intermittente dell’ilo epatico. L’IOUS è efficace nel ridurre l’estensione della resezione epatica in pazienti sia con CRLM anche multiple e bilobari .Poichè le complicanze maggiori sono frequenti dopo resezioni epatiche maggiori simultanee, riducendo l’estensione della resezione del parenchima epatico si può avere un impatto favorevole sul decorso post operatorio.Le resezioni epatiche ecoguidate radicali ma conservative simultanee ad una resezione colorettale sono una tecnica sicura ed efficace in pazienti con carcinoma colorettale avanzato e andrebbero considerate l’opzione primaria in casi selezionati