Quality and efficiency factors in translation

It is the objective of this research to carry out the following: (a) Establish working definitions and terminology of translation, quality and efficiency. (b) Propose a means of evaluating quality and efficiency in translation. (c) Review the process used in the private sector as revealed by investigation. (d) Consider whether the method in (b) is suitable in light of (c). If not, what changes must be made. One of the by-products of this study will be to illustrate the benefits of practicability for appreciating quality control to interested parties (e.g. translators and interpreters in corporations, institutions or freelance) and to propose a model for the assessment of evaluation of the translation agency work. This study will be performed by conducting a survey analysis to evaluate the quality and efficiency of the translation agencies in the private sector. This will be carried out in two countries,: Kuwait and the United Kingdom, where translation plays a vital role in everyday life. The survey will be conducted using 21 translation agencies in Kuwait out of a total of 42. As for those in the United Kingdom, the samples will be taken from all regions in the United Kingdom based on statistical random selection. The sample size will be roughly 20-25% of a total of 1009. The results of this survey will thus enable the researcher to review the current practice in translation and to evaluate the issues affecting its quality and efficiency. In conclusion, any changes required in the self-assessment of a Translation Agency will be suggested

Social and Moral Education Through Drama: A Force For Change

From its organised origins, there has always been a view that drama has had an educational potential. For much of its history drama has been tied to the religious, moral and social aspects of the community in which it has been produced. This dissertation is a consideration of the educational potential of drama and theatre as a social and moral force. It will examine some contemporary educational debates and will provide a broad background of the relationship of drama to social and moral education. The dissertation will also examine the Drama in Education movement in Britain and its relationship with social and moral education. For the purpose of this research, the consideration of both the development of drama and the debate of where best to place drama in relation to theatre, English and other Arts in Britain is examined to draw out conclusions and recommendations for the Kuwaiti context. Given that the Kuwaiti experience is largely about theatre, the renewed relationship between school drama and theatre in Britain will be considered to help to identify not only the development of drama in schools, but also various ways in which aspects of drama have evolved and what lessons can be learnt from the British experience. This will ultimately assist in devising guidelines for drama and theatre to be implemented in the Kuwaiti context. The key focus of this dissertation is not the research on the British experience, but rather on the conclusions that can be drawn from it. The British experience has provided the essential material for identifying trends, key questions, lessons to be learnt and recommendation in the re-evaluation of drama and theatre in Kuwait. The research will conclude with a proposed theoretical and practical framework of how it would be possible to introduce drama, for the first time, into the Kuwaiti education system and as a way to revitalise its theatre movement

A Biochemical Genetic Investigation of Transketolase in the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder most commonly seen as a result of malnutrition associated with chronic alcohol abuse. In its acute form (Wemicke's encephalopathy, WE) it is characterised by ophthalmoparesis, nystagmus, ataxia and an apathetic confusional state. In those that survive this initial phase, over 70% will be left with a specific form of memory impairment with a varying degree of severity. In those most severely affected (~50% Korsakoff s psychosis, KP), the impairment will be such that they are incapable of independent living and many will require long-term institutional care. In Scotland there is good evidence of an increase, over the past two decades, in the number of people suffering from alcohol-related brain damage, of which KP is the major form (Smith & McColl, 1992). As a result the absolute number of patients in long term psychiatric care and suffering from alcoholic KP has grown. They form a small but significant proportion of beds in the refractory wards of mental hospitals. One general argument that has fuelled interest in the possibility of genetic factors in alcoholic KP is the fact that only a small percentage of those who chronically abuse alcohol and become malnourished ever develop the characteristic neuropathology. In 1930 Wagner and Weir reported on the association of the WKS with thiamine depletion. Thiamine exists in three forms, thiamine monophosphate, triphosphate and pyrophosphate (TPP): the last making up 80-90% of total thiamine in cells. TPP is a cofactor for many enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism including pyruvate dehydrogenases, alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase and transketolase (TK). Several studies have implicated TK in the pathogenesis of the WKS. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of TK in the WKS using quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis in patient and control groups. Blood from 30 hospitalized patients with the WKS and 25 normal controls was analysed for erythrocyte transketolase (ETK) activity and stimulated erythrocyte transketolase (ETKs) activity by the addition of TPP using an end point assay. By employing a modified TK assay (Smeets et al., 1971; Bayoumi & Rosalki, 1976), mean ETK activity in 10 normal controls was found to be 0.418 +/- 0.193 lU/mg protein which was not significantly different (p>0.1) from the 20 patients (mean ETK activity 0.406 +/- 0.155 lU/mg protein). The same was true for the ETKs activity in which normal controls had a mean of 0.738 +/- 0.208 IU/mg protein and patients 0.680 +/- 0.190 IU/mg protein. This difference was not statistically significant (p>0.1). A report (Kaczmarek & Nixon, 1983) suggesting the existence of several species of TK was investigated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). TK activity was detected on PAG by specific TK enzyme stain. All normal controls and patient samples were run on PAG and then stained both specifically and generally (Coomassie-Brilliant Blue (CBB) R-250 and silver stain). They yielded two ETK bands which varied in intensity and were cathodal to haemoglobin. Although qualitative analysis strongly suggested ETK to be heterogeneous, it did not provide means of investigating WKS by biochemical analysis. Because the analysis of ETK (quantitatively and qualitatively) showed no apparent differences between the two groups, it was further investigated following the purification of the enzyme. PAGE crosslinked with DHEBA, a form of crosslinker which allows gels to be solubilized under alkaline conditions, provided means of isolating pure fractions of TK from red blood cells of normal controls and patients. These extracted fractions were subjected to analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), isoelectric focusing (lEF) and endpoint assay. Despite confirmation of TK heterogeneity (with respect to ionic strength, isoelectric point (pi) and ETK activity), no differences in electrophoretic profile between patients and controls were revealed. In all samples two distinct bands of varying intensity appeared at pi 7.35 and 6.55 on BEF gels. Further studies on native TK were carried out after purification from white blood cells which had been collected as buffy coats from normal individuals (Mocali & Paoletti, 1989). Enzyme recovery declined as the steps of purification progressed, therefore another purification method was developed from the method of Takeuchi et. al.(1986) (where enzyme recovery was not sufficient for amino acid analysis). The fractions isolated by this method were subjected to fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) on Mono Q column which yielded two peaks containing TK activity. The fractions were also loaded on an SDS-PAGE where the protein band had a molecular weight (MW) of 68kD (kiloDaltons). These results suggested that TK exists in at least two forms varying in ionic strength as revealed by the chromatographic profile from FPLC

Predictors of breastfeeding duration among women in Kuwait: results of a prospective cohort study

The purposes of this paper are to report the prevalence of breastfeeding to six months among women in Kuwait and to determine the factors that are associated with the duration of breastfeeding. A cohort of 373 women recruited from maternity wards in four hospitals in Kuwait city were followed from birth to 26 weeks postpartum. The association of any and full breastfeeding duration and predictor variables were explored using multivariate Cox’s proportional hazards models. At six months, 39% of all infants were receiving some breast milk and only 2% of infants had been fully breastfed to 26 weeks. Women born in other Arab countries were less likely to discontinue breastfeeding than women born in Kuwait. Other factors positively associated with breastfeeding duration were level of maternal education, higher parity, infant being demand fed in hospital and a preference for breastfeeding on the part of the infant’s father and maternal grandmother. The introduction of a pacifier before four weeks of age and the mother intending to return to work by six months were negatively associated with duration. These findings present a number of opportunities for prolonging breastfeeding duration in Kuwait

Brain Gym untuk Meningkatkan Kreativitas dan Konsentrasi Pembelajaran Luring/Daring pada Siswa di Komunitas Mat Peci

Masyarakat di sekitar Sungai Ciliwung merupakan pemukiman penduduk yang padat, memiliki beberapa komunitas diantaranya Komunitas Mat Peci (Masyarakat Peduli Ciliwung dan Lingkungan Hidup). Berdasarkan permasalahan yang ada di komunitas Mat Peci akibat wabah COVID-19, muncul permasalahan terutama pada siswa SD, SMP, dan SMA dalam pembelajaran daring. Pembelajaran dilakukan secara daring atau SFH diimplementasikan oleh guru untuk mengantisipasi penyebaran coronavirus. Menurut Jamaluddin (2020) bahwa pelaksanaan pembelajaran daring memiliki kekuatan dan kelemahan, tantangan, dan hambatan tersendiri. Pembelajaran daring dapat mempertemukan guru dan siswa dengan bantuan internet dalam proses pembelajarannya. Dengan kondisi pandemi yang telah berjalan 2 tahun, terhitung aktif meningkat pada bulan Maret 2020 sampai Februari 2022 menimbulkan rasa jenuh, tidak konsentrasi, dan menurunnya kreativitas bagi siswa. Salah satu solusi untuk meningkatkan kreativitas dan konsentrasi dalam pembelajaran daring/luring pada siswa di Komunitas Ciliwung Mat Peci adalah dengan melakukan Brain Gym yang berguna untuk meningkatkan konsentrasi dan kreativitas karena sebagian sekolah sudah melakukan PTM terbatas. Brain Gym atau senam otak dikenal sebagai serangkaian latihan berbasis gerakan yang dilakukan tubuh untuk merangsang tingkat kinerja otak kiri dan otak kanan secara bersama. Dengan tujuan untuk meningkatkan kinerja otak dalam memudahkan kegiatan belajar mengajar sehingga siswa dapat meningkatkan konsentrasi belajar daring/luring sehingga siswa dapat berprestasi. Kata Kunci: Brain Gym, Kreativitas, Konsentras

Re-sequencing of the APOAI promoter region and the genetic association of the -75G > A polymorphism with increased cholesterol and low density lipoprotein levels among a sample of the Kuwaiti population

BACKGROUND: APOAI, a member of the APOAI/CIII/IV/V gene cluster on chromosome 11q23-24, encodes a major protein component of HDL that has been associated with serum lipid levels. The aim of this study was to determine the genetic association of polymorphisms in the APOAI promoter region with plasma lipid levels in a cohort of healthy Kuwaiti volunteers. METHODS: A 435 bp region of the APOAI promoter was analyzed by re-sequencing in 549 Kuwaiti samples. DNA was extracted from blood taken from 549 healthy Kuwaiti volunteers who had fasted for the previous 12 h. Univariate and multivariate analysis was used to determine allele association with serum lipid levels. RESULTS: The target sequence included a partial segment of the promoter region, 5’UTR and exon 1 located between nucleotides −141 to +294 upstream of the APOAI gene on chromosome 11. No novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were observed. The sequences obtained were deposited with the NCBI GenBank with accession number [GenBank: JX438706]. The allelic frequencies for the three SNPs were as follows: APOAI rs670G = 0.807; rs5069C = 0.964; rs1799837G = 0.997 and found to be in HWE. A significant association (p < 0.05) was observed for the APOAI rs670 polymorphism with increased serum LDL-C. Multivariate analysis showed that APOAI rs670 was an independent predictive factor when controlling for age, sex and BMI for both LDL-C (OR: 1.66, p = 0.014) and TC (OR: 1.77, p = 0.006) levels. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to report sequence analysis of the APOAI promoter in an Arab population. The unexpected positive association found between the APOAI rs670 polymorphism and increased levels of LDL-C and TC may be due to linkage disequilibrium with other polymorphisms in candidate and neighboring genes known to be associated with lipid metabolism and transport

Obesity, diabetes and longevity in the Gulf: is there a Gulf Metabolic Syndrome?

The Gulf is experiencing a pandemic of lifestyle-induced obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with rates exceeding 50 and 30%, respectively. It is likely that T2DM represents the tip of a very large metabolic syndrome iceberg, which precedes T2DM by many years and is associated with abnormal/ectopic fat distribution, pathological systemic oxidative stress and inflammation. However, the definitions are still evolving with the role of different fat depots being critical. Hormetic stimuli, which include exercise, calorie restriction, temperature extremes, dehydration and even some dietary components (such as plant polyphenols), may well modulate fat deposition. All induce physiological levels of oxidative stress, which results in mitochondrial biogenesis and increased anti-oxidant capacity, improving metabolic flexibility and the ability to deal with lipids. We propose that the Gulf Metabolic Syndrome results from an unusually rapid loss of hormetic stimuli within an epigenetically important time frame of 2-3 generations. Epigenetics indicates that thriftiness can be programmed by the environment and passed down through several generations. Thus this loss of hormesis can result in continuation of metabolic inflexibility, with mothers exposing the foetus to a milieu that perpetuates a stressed epigenotype. As the metabolic syndrome increases oxidative stress and reduces life expectancy, a better descriptor may therefore be the Lifestyle-Induced Metabolic Inflexibility and accelerated AGEing syndrome – LIMIT-AGE. As life expectancy in the Gulf begins to fall, with perhaps a third of this life being unhealthy – including premature loss of sexual function, it is vital to detect evidence of this condition as early in life as possible. One effective way to do this is by detecting evidence of metabolic inflexibility by studying body fat content and distribution by magnetic resonance (MR). The Gulf Metabolic Syndrome thus represents an accelerated form of the metabolic syndrome induced by the unprecedented rapidity of lifestyle change in the region, the stress of which is being passed from generation to generation and may be accumulative. The fundamental cause is probably due to a rapid increase in countrywide wealth. This has benefited most socioeconomic groups, resulting in the development of an obesogenic environment as the result of the rapid adoption of Western labour saving and stress relieving devices (e.g. cars and air conditioning), as well as the associated high calorie diet

Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs

Consanguineous marriages have been practiced since the early existence of modern humans. Until now consanguinity is widely practiced in several global communities with variable rates depending on religion, culture, and geography. Arab populations have a long tradition of consanguinity due to socio-cultural factors. Many Arab countries display some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world, and specifically first cousin marriages which may reach 25-30% of all marriages. In some countries like Qatar, Yemen, and UAE, consanguinity rates are increasing in the current generation. Research among Arabs and worldwide has indicated that consanguinity could have an effect on some reproductive health parameters such as postnatal mortality and rates of congenital malformations. The association of consanguinity with other reproductive health parameters, such as fertility and fetal wastage, is controversial. The main impact of consanguinity, however, is an increase in the rate of homozygotes for autosomal recessive genetic disorders. Worldwide, known dominant disorders are more numerous than known recessive disorders. However, data on genetic disorders in Arab populations as extracted from the Catalogue of Transmission Genetics in Arabs (CTGA) database indicate a relative abundance of recessive disorders in the region that is clearly associated with the practice of consanguinity

Induced abortion, pregnancy loss and intimate partner violence in Tanzania: a population based study

BACKGROUND: Violence by an intimate partner is increasingly recognized as an important public and reproductive health issue. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence is associated with induced abortion and pregnancy loss from other causes and to compare this with other, more commonly recognized explanatory factors. METHODS: This study analyzes the data of the Tanzania section of the WHO Multi-Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence, a large population-based cross-sectional survey of women of reproductive age in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania, conducted from 2001 to 2002. All women who answered positively to at least one of the questions about specific acts of physical or sexual violence committed by a partner towards her at any point in her life were considered to have experienced intimate partner violence. Associations between self reported induced abortion and pregnancy loss with intimate partner violence were analysed using multiple regression models. RESULTS: Lifetime physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence was reported by 41% and 56% of ever partnered, ever pregnant women in Dar es Salaam and Mbeya respectively. Among the ever pregnant, ever partnered women, 23% experienced involuntary pregnancy loss, while 7% reported induced abortion. Even after adjusting for other explanatory factors, women who experienced intimate partner violence were 1.6 (95%CI: 1.06,1.60) times more likely to report an pregnancy loss and 1.9 (95%CI: 1.30,2.89) times more likely to report an induced abortion. Intimate partner violence had a stronger influence on induced abortion and pregnancy loss than women's age, socio-economic status, and number of live born children. CONCLUSIONS: Intimate partner violence is likely to be an important influence on levels of induced abortion and pregnancy loss in Tanzania. Preventing intimate partner violence may therefore be beneficial for maternal health and pregnancy outcomes