Reconsidering translation and language in an international business context: beyond an instrumental approach.

International;

Developing language strategies for international companies: the contribution of translation studies.

This article introduces translation studies in order to theorize about the ways in which multiple languages in international companies can be combined. Its purpose is to develop different language strategies based on different theoretical perspectives within translation studies. Considering the historical developments in this discipline, we identify three perspectives each with a different conception of translation and language use. These conceptions are the theoretical basis on which we develop three language strategies: a mechanical, cultural and political language strategy. For each strategy, we discuss the selection of language(s), the role of translators and the validation method, and formulate proposition about the types of texts being produced. These propositions indicate that, through their international communication process, international companies become scripted as a particular type of multilingual organization, be it a uniform, a culturally sensitive or a hybrid text.Strategy; International; Companies; Studies; Selection; Validation; Text; Communication; Processes;

Proprioceptive changes impair balance control in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Copyright @ 2013 Janssens et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Introduction: Balance deficits are identified as important risk factors for falling in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the specific use of proprioception, which is of primary importance during balance control, has not been studied in individuals with COPD. The objective was to determine the specific proprioceptive control strategy during postural balance in individuals with COPD and healthy controls, and to assess whether this was related to inspiratory muscle weakness. Methods: Center of pressure displacement was determined in 20 individuals with COPD and 20 age/gender-matched controls during upright stance on an unstable support surface without vision. Ankle and back muscle vibration were applied to evaluate the relative contribution of different proprioceptive signals used in postural control. Results: Individuals with COPD showed an increased anterior-posterior body sway during upright stance (p=0.037). Compared to controls, individuals with COPD showed an increased posterior body sway during ankle muscle vibration (p=0.047), decreased anterior body sway during back muscle vibration (p=0.025), and increased posterior body sway during simultaneous ankle-muscle vibration (p=0.002). Individuals with COPD with the weakest inspiratory muscles showed the greatest reliance on ankle muscle input when compared to the stronger individuals with COPD (p=0.037). Conclusions: Individuals with COPD, especially those with inspiratory muscle weakness, increased their reliance on ankle muscle proprioceptive signals and decreased their reliance on back muscle proprioceptive signals during balance control, resulting in a decreased postural stability compared to healthy controls. These proprioceptive changes may be due to an impaired postural contribution of the inspiratory muscles to trunk stability. Further research is required to determine whether interventions such as proprioceptive training and inspiratory muscle training improve postural balance and reduce the fall risk in individuals with COPD.This work was supported by the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) grants 1.5.104.03, G.0674.09, G.0598.09N and G.0871.13N

Impaired Postural Control Reduces Sit-to-Stand-to-Sit Performance in Individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract Background: Functional activities, such as the sit-to-stand-to-sit (STSTS) task, are often impaired in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The STSTS task places a high demand on the postural control system, which has been shown to be impaired in individuals with COPD. It remains unknown whether postural control deficits contribute to the decreased STSTS performance in individuals with COPD. Methods: Center of pressure displacement was determined in 18 individuals with COPD and 18 age/gender-matched controls during five consecutive STSTS movements with vision occluded. The total duration, as well as the duration of each sit, sit-to-stand, stand and stand-to-sit phase was recorded. Results: Individuals with COPD needed significantly more time to perform five consecutive STSTS movements compared to healthy controls (1966 vs. 1364 seconds, respectively; p = 0.001). The COPD group exhibited a significantly longer stand phase (p = 0.028) and stand-to-sit phase (p = 0.001) compared to the control group. In contrast, the duration of the sit phase (p = 0.766) and sit-to-stand phase (p = 0.999) was not different between groups. Conclusions: Compared to healthy individuals, individuals with COPD needed significantly more time to complete those phases of the STSTS task that require the greatest postural control. These findings support the proposition that suboptimal postural control is an important contributor to the decreased STSTS performance in individuals with COPD

Integrability of central extensions of the Poisson Lie algebra via prequantization

We present a geometric construction of central S^1-extensions of the quantomorphism group of a prequantizable, compact, symplectic manifold, and explicitly describe the corresponding lattice of integrable cocycles on the Poisson Lie algebra. We use this to find nontrivial central S^1-extensions of the universal cover of the group of Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms. In the process, we obtain central S^1-extensions of Lie groups that act by exact strict contact transformations

Cultuur en Human Resource Management: operationele en ethische principes.

Human resource management; Management; Resource management;

Review of the IMF's lending framework

In an effort to adapt to changes in its environment, the IMF has over the years adjusted its lending framework. Lending facilities have been created, abolished or modified, according to changing global circumstances. Nevertheless, these adaptations have often been made on an ad hoc basis. The article examines the current structure of IMF lending facilities and the policies governing them. It illustrates how some of the Fund’s lending facilities may have lost their relevance, that gaps could be perceived in the current lending framework and why the framework seems fragmented and overly complex. These issues can affect the credibility of the Fund’s lending framework and hence the perceived legitimacy of the institution. In order to address these issues, a comprehensive review of the IMF lending framework is direly needed. In fact, the Fund is currently reviewing its lending instruments and access policies in the context of its ongoing overall strategic review. This article seeks to provide an input into this process and, within this context, suggests three options for modernising the Fund’s lending framework. Under the first option, the spirit of the current multi-facility framework would be maintained, with a different facility for each type of financing need. In order to make this new multi-facility framework less complex and more internally consistent than the current set-up, a number of modifications are put forward to the policies governing it. A second option would involve the most far-reaching adjustment of the Fund’s lending framework, as it would replace the whole arsenal of IMF facilities with a single, flexible, SBA-type facility. Such a system is appealing for its simplicity, transparency and because it avoids the problem of having to analyse ex ante the type and expected duration of a member’s balance of payments needs. On the other hand, in order to be workable and to ensure uniformity of treatment, each lending decision would need to be based on clear rules and with due regard to precedents and the merits and requirements of each case. As an intermediary solution, the third option suggests replacing the current lending framework with a dual framework. Such a structure would comprise two facilities ; one facility for short- and one for medium- to longterm access or, alternatively, one facility for normal access and one for exceptional access to IMF resources.financial facilities, IMF, official lending, review

Systematics of heavy-ion fusion hindrance at extreme sub-barrier energies

The recent discovery of hindrance in heavy-ion induced fusion reactions at extreme sub-barrier energies represents a challenge for theoretical models. Previously, it has been shown that in medium-heavy systems, the onset of fusion hindrance depends strongly on the "stiffness" of the nuclei in the entrance channel. In this work, we explore its dependence on the total mass and the $Q$-value of the fusing systems and find that the fusion hindrance depends in a systematic way on the entrance channel properties over a wide range of systems.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett., 5 pages, 3 figure