(Re)constructing the model of interpreting professionalism through institutional work : the perceived impact of agencies on interpreters' work practices

The changing British economic climate and the austerity-led contractualism across public services have brought the role of interpreting agencies to the fore. Drawing on conceptual frameworks derived from the sociology of professions, knowledge-based organisations and institutional theory, this study documents the institutional work of a number of interpreter-turned-managers aimed at creating new practices against the corporatisation logic in the field of public service interpreting (PSI). Through closely observing the everyday managerial operations of interpreting work processes, these findings reveal that interpreters’ ‘professional project’ at the local level is carried out through the institutionalisation of their professional jurisdictions and knowledge claims. The micro-tactics employed by frontline managers constitute important forces of resistance against the procurement logic and sharply contrasts against the outcome of senior-level professionalisation strategies. Therefore, this thesis has made the following contributions. Theoretically, it challenges the traditional ‘association-centred approach’ to modelling the trajectory of PSI and highlights the role of commercial agencies in engineering the work practices of interpreters and the formation of organisational professionalism. It argues that agencies have gone beyond the traditional role of an information broker to a key institutional gatekeeper and central arena for inducing field-level change. An alternative hybrid model is proposed in order to reflect that PSI is changing from a technical profession towards a managed profession, in which traditional values are increasingly merged with business principles and market tenets. Empirically, it provides novel insights into the organisation of interpreting services in practice and opens up the unexplored field of interpreting agencies as a fruitful research site. A wider implication of the research is the need to extend the notion of the interpreting workplace beyond the space where communication-mediation tasks are performed, to where interpreting services are planned, organised and managed. Importantly, professional interpreters should be consulted in the procurement process rather than being treated as numbers by mainstream agencies for contract-bidding purpose

Hepatic expression of cholesterol responsive genes and blood PCSK9 in Zucker rats fed a high fat (HF) diet or the HF diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid (HF-LA) for 30 days.

<p>(A) low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLr) mRNA; (B) (B) low density lipoprotein receptor protein abundance; (C) 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase mRNA (HMG-CoAr); (D) Nuclear sterol regulatory element binding protein abundance (SREBP2); (E) Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 mRNA (PCSK9); and (F) Serum PCSK9 concentrations (ng/mL). *, denotes a significant difference (p<0.05). All data normalized to β-actin and expressed relative to HF group; n = 8/group.</p

Targets of hepatic triglyceride synthesis/VLDL production regulators in Zucker rats fed a high fat (HF) diet or the HF diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid (HF-LA) for 30 days.

<p>Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) mRNA expression; (D) Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) mRNA expression; n = 8/group.</p

Hepatic fatty acid composition (% total fatty acids), triglyceride (mmol/g tissue), and cholesterol concentration (mg/g tissue) in Zucker rats fed a high fat (HF) diet or the HF diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid (HF-LA) for 30 days.

1<p>HF, high fat diet.</p>2<p>HF-LA, high fat diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid.</p>3<p>normalized to internal standard, heptadecanoic acid.</p><p>*p<0.05; values are mean ± SE (n = 8/group).</p

Expression of skeletal muscle fatty acid uptake and oxidation markers in Zucker rats fed a high fat (HF) diet or the HF diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid (HF-LA) for 30 days.

<p>(A) Total lipase activity in serum and muscle total protein tissue extracts (n = 6 HF; 5 LA); (B) carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT1β). *, denotes a significant difference (p<0.05). All data normalized to β-actin and expressed relative to HF group; n = 8/group.</p

Blood lipid, lipoprotein, glucose and insulin responses in Zucker rats fed a high fat (HF) diet or the HF diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid (HF-LA) for 30 days.

<p>(A) Plasma lipids including total cholesterol (TC), non-HDL cholesterol (n-HDL-C), direct low density lipoprotein cholesterol (d-LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG); (B) LDL particle number; (C) HDL particle number; (D) VLDL particle number; (E) lipoprotein particle size; and (F) glucose and insulin. *, denotes a significant difference (p<0.05); n = 8/group.</p

Formulation of high fat and LA-supplemented diets fed to Zucker rats.

1<p>% composition.</p>2<p>HF, high fat diet.</p>3<p>HF-LA, high fat diet supplemented with 0.25% α-lipoic acid.</p