The interaction between scientific translation and english as a lingua franca, and the role of non-native-english-speaking translators

This project aims to focus on the identification of the interaction between scientific translation and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), and on the role of non-native English translators in this area. The project is divided into two main sections, a practical part, consisting of the translation of texts related to the field of science, and a commentary dedicated to the analysis and contextualisation of the translations and a theoretical reflection on some of the issues arising from them. All the texts translated belong to the area of medicine, but present different characteristics, depending on their textual genre. The translation was undertaken in accordance with functionalist theories and is mainly focused on the target text, its context and purposes. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of the phenomenon of English as a Lingua Franca in the academic and translation context, with the aim of defining the peculiarities and innovations it has introduced to the international community, and support the claim that nowadays non-native English speakers (NNES) can be fully proficient translators and take part in the technical and scientific translation marketO presente Trabalho de Projecto pretende focar-se na interação entre a tradução científica e o inglês como língua franca (English as a Lingua Franca ou ELF), e no papel dos tradutores não nativos neste âmbito. O Trabalho encontra-se dividido em duas secções principais, uma secção prática de tradução de textos relacionados à área científica, e um comentário teórico de análise e contextualização. Todos os textos traduzidos pertencem à area de medicina, mas apresentam caraterísticas diferentes dependendo do genro textual deles. A análise é baseada nas teorias funcionalistas e maioritariamente focada no texto de chegada, no seu contexto e nos seus objectivos. Dedica-se uma atenção especial à análise do fenomeno do Inglês como Lingua Franca no contexto académico e tradutório, com o objectivo de definir as peculiaridades e as inovações por ele introduzidas na comunidade internacional, e de apoiar a alegação de que os tradutores não nativos de Inglês têm hoje em dia as qualidades necessárias para fazer parte do mercado de tradução técnica e científic

Digital Interaction and Machine Intelligence

This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access. This book presents the Proceedings of the 9th Machine Intelligence and Digital Interaction Conference. Significant progress in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its wider use in many interactive products are quickly transforming further areas of our life, which results in the emergence of various new social phenomena. Many countries have been making efforts to understand these phenomena and find answers on how to put the development of artificial intelligence on the right track to support the common good of people and societies. These attempts require interdisciplinary actions, covering not only science disciplines involved in the development of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction but also close cooperation between researchers and practitioners. For this reason, the main goal of the MIDI conference held on 9-10.12.2021 as a virtual event is to integrate two, until recently, independent fields of research in computer science: broadly understood artificial intelligence and human-technology interaction

Using Cultural Cognition for Learning English: A Mexican Immigrant Family\u27s Perspective

The research problem focused on the 11 million Mexican immigrant families in the United States who speak little or no English. Their stated needs for English literacy, socioeconomic and academic success, and the increasing calls for xenophobic legislation throughout the nation indicated a need to investigate alternative pedagogies to compel positive social change through language fluency. In this case study, Mexican immigrant second-language learners and their descendants were asked how they wanted to learn English and if using native culture as a learning tool would help in achieving their literacy goals. Prior researchers had not asked those questions. Three adults from a 3-generation Mexican immigrant family living in Florida gave interviews to address this gap. The participants, 2 of whom were native Spanish speakers, were recruited via a Facebook call for participation, and interviews were conducted by telephone. Cultural theory served as a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between culture and language, and for interpreting and respecting participants\u27 articulations of their experiences and opinions. Analyses of interviews and language background questionnaires were completed using pattern matching and SPSS, respectively. The key finding was that participants agreed a cultural pedagogy would be helpful in learning English. A recommendation is made to implement an experimental teaching study using cultural pedagogy as its framework. Achieving positive social change begins with removing the barriers of cultural language discrimination and allowing immigrants to reach their stated goals without loss of their cultural heritage

Metodología para la caracterización de imágenes en el reconocimiento de lenguaje de señas colombiano y su traducción al español

El lenguaje de señas según la OMS es utilizado por 360 millones de personas en el mundo que presentan pérdida parcial o total de la audición. Por medio de este tipo de lenguaje logran expresar sus ideas y sentimientos. Este tipo de personas cuentan con un obstáculo a la hora de estudiar o realizar alguna labor ya que el mundo actual está diseñado para personas que se comunican por medio de lenguaje hablado. Debido a esto y a los avances tecnológicos, varios centros de investigación y universidades han desarrollado metodologías para traducir de lengua de señas a lenguajes hablados y viceversa, para esto se han utilizado sensores de electromiografía, masa inercial y cámaras. Con estos sensores se captura la información de movimiento y se extraen características mecánicas, como ángulos, velocidad, energía, aceleración, entre otros. Con la información obtenida por medio de estos sensores se utilizan técnicas de aprendizaje de máquina como redes neuronales artificiales, máquinas de vectores de soporte, árboles de decisiones, entre otros. En este documento se muestra la implementación de una metodología para el reconocimiento de lengua de señas y su traducción al español. Para esto se creó una base de datos con seis personas, cuatro hombres y dos mujeres que presentan diferentes medidas antropométricas. Dentro de los actores que realizaron las señas, cinco son hablantes nativos y uno es intérprete

Engineering Dynamics and Life Sciences

From Preface: This is the fourteenth time when the conference “Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications” gathers a numerous group of outstanding scientists and engineers, who deal with widely understood problems of theoretical and applied dynamics. Organization of the conference would not have been possible without a great effort of the staff of the Department of Automation, Biomechanics and Mechatronics. The patronage over the conference has been taken by the Committee of Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland. It is a great pleasure that our invitation has been accepted by recording in the history of our conference number of people, including good colleagues and friends as well as a large group of researchers and scientists, who decided to participate in the conference for the first time. With proud and satisfaction we welcomed over 180 persons from 31 countries all over the world. They decided to share the results of their research and many years experiences in a discipline of dynamical systems by submitting many very interesting papers. This year, the DSTA Conference Proceedings were split into three volumes entitled “Dynamical Systems” with respective subtitles: Vibration, Control and Stability of Dynamical Systems; Mathematical and Numerical Aspects of Dynamical System Analysis and Engineering Dynamics and Life Sciences. Additionally, there will be also published two volumes of Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics entitled “Dynamical Systems in Theoretical Perspective” and “Dynamical Systems in Applications”

ATHENA Research Book, Volume 2

ATHENA European University is an association of nine higher education institutions with the mission of promoting excellence in research and innovation by enabling international cooperation. The acronym ATHENA stands for Association of Advanced Technologies in Higher Education. Partner institutions are from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovenia: University of Orléans, University of Siegen, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Niccolò Cusano University, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Maribor. In 2022, two institutions joined the alliance: the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University from Poland and the University of Vigo from Spain. Also in 2022, an institution from Austria joined the alliance as an associate member: Carinthia University of Applied Sciences. This research book presents a selection of the research activities of ATHENA University's partners. It contains an overview of the research activities of individual members, a selection of the most important bibliographic works of members, peer-reviewed student theses, a descriptive list of ATHENA lectures and reports from individual working sections of the ATHENA project. The ATHENA Research Book provides a platform that encourages collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects by advanced and early career researchers

Fado and its voices: contribution to the prevention of occupational voice disorders

Singing is an activity practiced by many people, both from a professional or recreational standpoint. When a person sings, his/her vocal tract behaves in a way different to speech. Occupational voice disorders in singers are known for their hugely negative impact on their career. Fado is a Portuguese urban folk song having deep roots in the popular culture. An increased risk of voice disorders among these professionals. Some risk examples are to sing without formal training, to perform frequently with no amplification system, to sing in venues with unsuitable characteristics, etc. As an expected outcome, this thesis intends to diminish the gap between professional practices and scientific research in this field. Research on the singing voice was mapped to trace research patterns, to compare the amount of published research and its journals, to analyze trend topics. Descriptive statistics, text mining, and clustering were used. The amount of published papers per annum has been continuously increasing since the first indexed study, in 1949. The major topics highlighted by this study were: voice quality, occupational demands, acoustic analysis, training effects, musical perception and electroglottography. The prevalence of self-reported dysphonia in singers was calculated through a systematic review and a meta-analysis. Eleven studies met the established criteria and grouped according styles and roles. The overall prevalence of self-reported dysphonia was 46.09% (95%CI: 38.16-54.12) – singing teachers showed the highest prevalence (55.15%), followed by non-classical singers (46.96%), classical singers (40.53%) and singing students (21.76%). These results suggest that singers are more prone to report dysphonia comparing to the general population. Fado singers were explored from an epidemiological perspective. First, a population size calculation was done to make this possible. No regulatory institution to handle the professionalization of singers was found in Portugal. A database was created with subjects who met the following criteria: to sing Fado de Lisboa; to be alive; to have recorded, at least, one phonogram. Four hundred and eleven were identified, even though the panel of recruited experts believes that there are much more. A comprehensive self-administered questionnaire was built to find the prevalence and impact of voice disorders in singers, as well as to identify risk or protective factors. It was applied to 111 singers with a convenience and snowball sampling. The overall prevalence of self-reported voice disorders was 39.6%, significantly higher in females. Vocal fold nodules were the most common diagnosis; vocal fatigue and hoarseness were the most common reported symptoms. Nearly half of the singers had to cancel shows due to voice disorders. Significant risk factors were found through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis: nose related disorders, decongestants or antihistamines usage (OR=5.5; 95%CI: 1.6-20.8); oral contraceptive or hormone replacement therapy (OR=4.9; 95%CI: 1.2-20.3); previous smoking habits (OR=4.0; 95%CI: 1.5-10.5); and vocal fatigue after performances (OR=2.9; 95%CI: 1.2-7.1). The use of corticosteroids was found to be near the significance, as a protective factor. To sing Fado was found to increase the risk of developing voice disorders – further research is required to compare this population with other singing styles. The last study aimed to conduct the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the instrument “Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily” (EASE) into the European Portuguese version “Avaliação da Capacidade para Cantar com Facilidade” (EASE-PT). One hundred and twenty-two Fado and Choir singers were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling to fill the final version of the instrument. High internal consistency was found to prove its reliability (alpha of Cronbach=0.900 and 0.905 for Fado and Choir singers, respectively).Cantar é uma actividade praticada por muitas pessoas, quer seja de um ponto de vista profissional ou recreativo. Quando uma pessoa canta, o seu trato vocal comporta-se de forma diferente da fala. As perturbações vocais no cantor são conhecidas pelo enorme impacto que têm nas suas carreiras. O Fado é uma música popular urbana Portuguesa com raízes profundas na cultura popular. Foi hipotetizado um risco aumentado para o desenvolvimento de perturbações vocais entre estes profissionais. Podem ser considerados alguns exemplos: cantar sem treino formal, atuar com frequência sem sistemas de amplificação, cantar em locais com características inadequadas, etc. Como resultado expectável, esta tese pretende diminuir a lacuna entre as práticas profissionais e a investigação científica nesta área. A investigação em voz cantada foi mapeada para traçar padrões de investigação, para comparar a quantidade de publicações e os seus jornais, para analisar tópicos com maior tendência. Recorreu-se a estatística descritiva, text mining, e clustering. A quantidade de estudos publicados por ano tem crescido continuamente desde a primeira indexação, em 1949. Os tópicos estudados mais identificados neste estudo foram: qualidade vocal, exigências ocupacionais, análise acústica, efeitos do treino, perceção musical e eletroglotografia. A prevalência da disfonia auto-relatada foi calculada através de uma revisão sistemática e meta-análise. Onze estudos cumpriram os critérios e foram agrupados de acordo com o estilo do canto e funções profissionais. A prevalência global estimada de disfonia auto-relatada foi de 46,09% (IC95%: 38,16-54,12) – os professores de canto apresentaram a prevalência maior (55,15%), seguidos pelos cantores não-clássicos (46,96%), pelos cantores clássicos (40,53%), e pelos estudantes de canto (21,76%). Estes resultados sugerem que os cantores estão mais susceptíveis a reportar disfonia, quando comparados com a população geral. Os cantores de Fado foram estudados de uma perspectiva epidemiológica. Primeiro, foi feito o cálculo do tamanho da população. Não foi encontrada em Portugal qualquer instituição reguladora que gerisse a profissionalização dos cantores. Foi criada uma base de dados com sujeitos que cumprissem os seguintes critérios: cantar Fado de Lisboa; estar vivo; ter, pelo menos, uma gravação. Foram encontrados 411 cantores apesar de o painel de peritos recrutado acreditar que há muitos mais. De seguida, um questionário compreensivo auto-administrado foi criado para descobrir a prevalência e o impacto das perturbações de voz, assim como identificar os factores de risco ou de proteção. Foi aplicado a 111 cantores com uma técnica de amostragem de conveniência e bola-de-neve. A prevalência global de perturbações vocais auto-relatadas foi 39,6%, significativamente mais alta nas mulheres. Os nódulos vocais foram o diagnóstico mais comum; a fadiga vocal e a rouquidão foram os sintomas mais reportados. Quase metade dos cantores cancelaram espetáculos por causa de perturbações da voz. Foram encontrados fatores de risco significativos através da análise de regressão logística univariada e mutivariada: perturbações relacionadas com o nariz, uso de descongestionantes ou antihistamínicos (OR=5,5; 95%CI:1,6-20,8); contracetivos orais ou terapia hormonal de substituição (OR=4,9; 95%CI:1,2-20,3); hábitos tabágicos prévios (OR=4,0; 95%CI:1,5-10,5); e fadiga vocal após as atuações (OR=2,9; 95%CI:1,2-7,1). O uso de corticoesteróides esteve perto da significância enquanto factor protetivo. Cantar Fado aumenta o risco de desenvolver perturbações da voz – são necessárias mais publicações para comparar esta população com outros estilos de canto. No último estudo fez-se a adaptação transcultural e a validação do instrumento “Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily” (EASE) para a versão em Português Europeu “Avaliação da Capacidade para Cantar com Facilidade” (EASE-PT). Foram recrutados 122 cantores de Fado e cantores de Coro, através de uma técnica de amostragem de conveniência e bola-de-neve, para preencher a versão final do instrumento. A fiabilidade do instrumento foi obtida através de uma elevada consistência interna (alfa de Cronbach=0,900 e 0,905 para Fadistas e Coralistas, respectivamente)

Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications

The MAVEBA Workshop proceedings, held on a biannual basis, collect the scientific papers presented both as oral and poster contributions, during the conference. The main subjects are: development of theoretical and mechanical models as an aid to the study of main phonatory dysfunctions, as well as the biomedical engineering methods for the analysis of voice signals and images, as a support to clinical diagnosis and classification of vocal pathologies