Combining intersemiotic and interlingual translation in training programmes: A functional approach to museum audio description

This paper seeks to put forward a didactic proposal focused on museum audio description (AD) to be implemented with post-graduate students attending a translation studies course within a Languages and Communication programme. The aim is to raise students’ awareness of translation and accessibility practices in the cultural and creative industries and train specialised translators and describers. The proposal includes two different but complementary levels. On a more theoretical side, museum AD is introduced, both as a form of intersemiotic translation and as an interpretative tool in the museum’s wider communication framework. From a practical point of view, we draw on Mazur (2020), who exploited the functional model proposed by Nord (2018 [1997]) with her translation-oriented text analysis in the context of screen AD training. We suggest that it may also be adapted to serve as a guiding methodology for prospective museum translators and describers. In doing so, intersemiotic translation is combined with interlingual translation to train students to (1) audio describe specific artworks/artefacts in their first language (L1) and (2) translate the produced ADs into their second language (L2)

Optimization of VR application in texturing cultural heritage

The research question underlying this short essay refers to the possibility of realizing through a well-established workflow a high level of immersivity in the VR representation of Cultural Heritage to be used as a working tool by architects and renovators as well as heritage scholars. At present active or passive 3D scanning techniques are a known reality where the choice of data acquisition system depends both on the final purpose and characteristics of the object to be surveyed. With the maturity achieved in point cloud acquisition, post processing phases and the development of BIM-based systems, the model has given the possibility to become a repository of information related to the existing, to be used for maintenance or renovation processes. If the model can represent the existing with a certain level of detail, it can be assumed that a differentiated Level of Immersivity can be organized depending on the specific needs it intends to fulfil. In the context of renovation or preservation of Cultural Heritage, the potential offered by VR becomes more interesting when it can provide a realistic portrait not only of the geometry, but also of the materiality and state of preservation of the buildings. This research opens new possibilities to develop tools to aid designers and renovators in degradation analysis, intervention projects, and scheduled maintenance. The research question starts analyzing the possibility of creating photorealistic immersive environments that are easy to access, organized based on surveys of existing heritage buildings using specific datasets

Floor response spectra in RC frame structures designed according to Eurocode 8

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Nonstructural components (NSCs) should be subjected to a careful and rational seismic design, in order to reduce the economic loss and to avoid threats to the life safety, as well as what concerns structural elements. The design of NSCs is based on the evaluation of the maximum inertia force, which is related to the floor spectral accelerations. The question arises as to whether Eurocode 8 is able to predict actual floor response spectral accelerations occurring in structures designed according to Eurocode 8. A parametric study is conducted on five RC frame structures in order to evaluate the floor response spectra. The structures, designed according to Eurocode 8, are subjected to a set of earthquakes, compatible with the design response spectrum. Time-history analyses are performed both on elastic and inelastic models of the considered structures. Eurocode formulation for the evaluation of the seismic demand on NSCs does not well fit the numerical results. Some comments on the target spectrum provided by AC 156 for the seismic qualification of NSC are also included

Potential gain from including major gene information in breeding value estimation

Two indexes were compared for the selection of a quantitative trait in the case of a mixed inheritance. The first index did not consider the major genotype information (standard method) whereas the second index took this information into account (modified method). Two types of selection scheme were considered: individual selection and selection based on a progeny test. The model for the estimation of genetic progress and evolution of allele frequencies takes overlapping generations into account. All of the effects studied suggested a large number of interactions. However, it can be concluded that information about the major gene should be put into the selection indexes when the heritability is low, the major gene effect high and its initial frequency small, in particular for a recessive major gene. The selection pressure has little influence on the results. In the short term, the modified method is of more value in the case of individual selection than in the case of selection based on a progeny test. On the whole, the extra genetic gain of the modified method is limited and considering the major genotypes in the selection indexes without any change of the selection scheme is probably not the best way to use this information.Le but de l’étude est de comparer l’application de deux indices dans le cas d’une sélection sur un caractère quantitatif soumis à l’effet d’un gène majeur. Dans le premier cas, l’indice ne prend pas en compte l’information sur le génotype au locus majeur (méthode standard) alors que le deuxième indice prend en compte cette information (méthode modifiée). Deux types de schémas sont considérés : sélection individuelle et sélection sur descendance. Le calcul du progrès génétique et de l’évolution des fréquences alléliques est réalisé pas à pas en considérant des générations chevauchantes. Tous les effets étudiés sur la supériorité de la méthode modifiée sur la méthode standard suggèrent de nombreuses interactions. Cependant, il ressort que la prise en compte de l’information sur le gène majeur dans l’indexation est avantageuse dans les cas de faible héritabilité, de fort effet du gène majeur et de faible proportion initiale de l’allèle favorable surtout lorsque cet allèle est récessif. Le taux de sélection n’a que peu d’influence sur les résultats. Enfin, l’intérêt de la méthode modifiée est plus visible et plus rapide dans la sélection individuelle que dans la sélection sur descendance. Il n’en demeure pas moins qu’en dehors des conditions extrêmes précédemment citées, l’intérêt de la méthode modifiée sur la méthode standard reste pour le moins limité et la prise en compte de l’information sur les génotypes au locus majeur dans l’indice de sélection, sans modification du schéma de sélection, ne constitue sûrement pas le meilleur outil de valorisation de cette information pour la sélection

Entropy and Wigner Functions

The properties of an alternative definition of quantum entropy, based on Wigner functions, are discussed. Such definition emerges naturally from the Wigner representation of quantum mechanics, and can easily quantify the amount of entanglement of a quantum state. It is shown that smoothing of the Wigner function induces an increase in entropy. This fact is used to derive some simple rules to construct positive definite probability distributions which are also admissible Wigner functionsComment: 18 page

Social contact structures and time use patterns in the Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: Patterns of person-to-person contacts relevant for infectious diseases transmission are still poorly quantified in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where socio-demographic structures and behavioral attitudes are expected to be different from those of more developed countries. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a diary-based survey on daily contacts and time-use of individuals of different ages in one rural and one peri-urban site of Manicaland, Zimbabwe. A total of 2,490 diaries were collected and used to derive age-structured contact matrices, to analyze time spent by individuals in different settings, and to identify the key determinants of individuals' mixing patterns. Overall 10.8 contacts per person/day were reported, with a significant difference between the peri-urban and the rural site (11.6 versus 10.2). A strong age-assortativeness characterized contacts of school-aged children, whereas the high proportion of extended families and the young population age-structure led to a significant intergenerational mixing at older ages. Individuals spent on average 67% of daytime at home, 2% at work, and 9% at school. Active participation in school and work resulted the key drivers of the number of contacts and, similarly, household size, class size, and time spent at work influenced the number of home, school, and work contacts, respectively. We found that the heterogeneous nature of home contacts is critical for an epidemic transmission chain. In particular, our results suggest that, during the initial phase of an epidemic, about 50% of infections are expected to occur among individuals younger than 12 years and less than 20% among individuals older than 35 years. CONCLUSIONS: With the current work, we have gathered data and information on the ways through which individuals in SSA interact, and on the factors that mostly facilitate this interaction. Monitoring these processes is critical to realistically predict the effects of interventions on infectious diseases dynamics