Directionality and context effects in word translation tasks performed by conference interpreters

Professional interpreters employed by international institutions usually work into their L1 from their L2, while freelance interpreters tend to work both into and from their L1. A study was devised to see if the long-term interpreting unidirectional prac- tice (in the L2–L1 direction only), in contrast to bidirectional practice (in the L2–L1 and L1–L2 direction), influences the speed of lexical retrieval manifested through shorter translation latencies. Forty-eight professional conference interpreters pro- duced oral translations of nouns presented in isolation, in high context constraint sen- tences and in low context constraint sentences. Contrary to predictions, unidirectional interpreters did not manifest directionality asymmetry and their L2–L1 translation la- tencies were not shorter than L1–L2 translation latencies. Surprisingly, the L2–L1 di- rection advantage was found in the group of bidirectional interpreters. The data sug- gest that the dominant directionality in interpreting practice has little impact on the strength of interlingual lexical links in the interpreter’s mental lexicon or that other factors (such as language use, exposure and immersion) might offset any such im- pact. The study also revealed an expected context effect, which shows that interpret- ers use semantic constraint to anticipate sentence-final words

Meaning and words in the conference interpreter’s mind – effects of interpreter training and experience in a semantic priming study

The aim of the study was to examine how interpreter training and experience influence word recognition and cross-linguistic connections in the bilingual mental lexicon. Sixty-eight professional interpreters, interpreter trainees (tested at the beginning and end of their training) and bilingual controls were asked to complete a semantic priming study. Priming is a psycholinguistic research method used to examine connections between words and languages in the mind. Data analysis conducted by means of linear mixed models revealed that advanced trainees recognised words faster than beginners, but were not outperformed by professionals. A priming effect was found only in the L1-L2 direction, suggesting similar asymmetries between languages irrespective of the interpreting experience. It is the first study to adopt a priming paradigm and a longitudinal design to examine the interpreters’ mental lexicon. The study shows that word recognition is faster due to interpreter training, but is not modulated further by interpreting experience

Emotional agents at the square lattice

We introduce and investigate by numerical simulations a number of models of emotional agents at the square lattice. Our models describe the most general features of emotions such as the spontaneous emotional arousal, emotional relaxation, and transfers of emotions between different agents. Group emotions in the considered models are periodically fluctuating between two opposite valency levels and as result the mean value of such group emotions is zero. The oscillations amplitude depends strongly on probability ps of the individual spontaneous arousal. For small values of relaxation times tau we observed a stochastic resonance, i.e. the signal to noise ratio SNR is maximal for a non-zero ps parameter. The amplitude increases with the probability p of local affective interactions while the mean oscillations period increases with the relaxation time tau and is only weakly dependent on other system parameters. Presence of emotional antenna can enhance positive or negative emotions and for the optimal transition probability the antenna can change agents emotions at longer distances. The stochastic resonance was also observed for the influence of emotions on task execution efficiency.Comment: 28 pages, 19 figures, 3 table

Interpreter identification in the Polish Interpreting Corpus

This paper describes automated identification of interpreter voices in the Polish Interpreting Corpus (PINC). After collecting a set of voice samples of interpreters, a deep neural network model was used to match all the utterances from the corpus with specific individuals. The final result is very accurate and provides a considerable saving of time and accuracy off human judgment.Aquest article descriu la identificació automatitzada de veus d'intèrprets al Corpus d'Intèrprets Polonès (Polish Interpreting Corpus, PINC). Després de recollir un conjunt de mostres de veu de diversos intèrprets, s'ha utilitzat un model de xarxa neuronal profunda per fer coincidir les mostres de parla del corpus amb les de cada individu. El resultat final és molt precís i proporciona un estalvi considerable de temps i de precisió en la interpretació humana.Este artículo describe la identificación automática de voces de intérpretes en el Corpus Polaco de Interpretación. Tras recopilar una serie de muestras de voces de intérpretes, se utilizó un modelo de red neuronal profunda para asociar todas las elocuciones del corpus con individuos específicos. El resultado final es muy acertado, lo cual implica un ahorro considerable de tiempo y análisis humano

Pamięć w tłumaczeniu konsekutywnym

This chapter is devoted to memory as one of the most important assets of a consecutive interpreter. First, it presents the most influencial models of memory, which divide memory generally into sensory, working and long-term memory. Then, applications of various memory types in consecutive interpreting are described: short-term auditory memory in decoding phonetic stimuli, phonological loop in processing complex sentences and long words, visuo-spatial sketchpad in visualisations, semantic long-term memory in tapping into background knowledge and episodic memory when working with previously interpreted speakers. Studies of memory involving interpreters and trainees are briefly reviewed to show that memory training is useful as part of interpreter training. This is followed by a range of exercises involving visualisations to show students if and to what extent imagery can be helpful to them in processing and remembering information when interpreting consecutively. Other exercises focus on long-term memory: students are trained to acquire terminology in short periods of time preceding interpreting in class and are shown how to practice memory individually at home

Novel immunotherapy in the management of advanced urothelial cancer - review of the literature

Bladder neoplasms, with the most common urothelial carcinoma, are responsible for approximately 200,000 deaths annually, which is 2.1% of the total cancer deaths in 2018. Recent decades have brought a steadily growing share of this cancer in the statistics. The 5-year survival rate is 77.1% for the United States and it varies depending on the stage of the diagnosed neoplasm, from 96% for cancer in situ to only 5% for the disseminated form with distant metastases. The treatment of urothelial cancer can be divided depending on the stage and advancement. Three main categories of bladder cancer can be distinguished: non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, treated by surgical approaches, and muscle-invasive bladder cancer, treated with chemotherapeutics, lastly advanced bladder cancer with distant metastases, treated with intensive chemotherapy in the MVAC scheme (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin). Recently introduced checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized the treatment of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma by increasing patient life expectancy, progression-free survival, and durability of clinical response. This review of the literature will discuss the use of immunotherapy in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer

Audiodeskrypcja

Praca naukowa finansowana ze środków na naukę w latach 2009-2014 jako projekt badawczy Ministerstwa Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego nr N N104178236 pt.: „Intersemiotyczny przekład audiowizualny – opracowanie zasad polskiej audiodeskrypcji na podstawie wzorców anglojęzycznych”

A homology model of restriction endonuclease SfiI in complex with DNA

BACKGROUND: Restriction enzymes (REases) are commercial reagents commonly used in recombinant DNA technologies. They are attractive models for studying protein-DNA interactions and valuable targets for protein engineering. They are, however, extremely divergent: the amino acid sequence of a typical REase usually shows no detectable similarities to any other proteins, with rare exceptions of other REases that recognize identical or very similar sequences. From structural analyses and bioinformatics studies it has been learned that some REases belong to at least four unrelated and structurally distinct superfamilies of nucleases, PD-DxK, PLD, HNH, and GIY-YIG. Hence, they are extremely hard targets for structure prediction and homology-based inference of sequence-function relationships and the great majority of REases remain structurally and evolutionarily unclassified. RESULTS: SfiI is a REase which recognizes the interrupted palindromic sequence 5'GGCCNNNN^NGGCC3' and generates 3 nt long 3' overhangs upon cleavage. SfiI is an archetypal Type IIF enzyme, which functions as a tetramer and cleaves two copies of the recognition site in a concerted manner. Its sequence shows no similarity to other proteins and nothing is known about the localization of its active site or residues important for oligomerization. Using the threading approach for protein fold-recognition, we identified a remote relationship between SfiI and BglI, a dimeric Type IIP restriction enzyme from the PD-DxK superfamily of nucleases, which recognizes the 5'GCCNNNN^NGGC3' sequence and whose structure in complex with the substrate DNA is available. We constructed a homology model of SfiI in complex with its target sequence and used it to predict residues important for dimerization, tetramerization, DNA binding and catalysis. CONCLUSIONS: The bioinformatics analysis suggest that SfiI, a Type IIF enzyme, is more closely related to BglI, an "orthodox" Type IIP restriction enzyme, than to any other REase, including other Type IIF REases with known structures, such as NgoMIV. NgoMIV and BglI belong to two different, very remotely related branches of the PD-DxK superfamily: the α-class (EcoRI-like), and the β-class (EcoRV-like), respectively. Thus, our analysis provides evidence that the ability to tetramerize and cut the two DNA sequences in a concerted manner was developed independently at least two times in the evolution of the PD-DxK superfamily of REases. The model of SfiI will also serve as a convenient platform for further experimental analyses

The role of dietary education and vitamin supplementation in the treatment of Allergic Rhinitis

Introduction and purpose Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a widely prevalent condition which affects mainly children. The disease is not as severe as other allergic disorders; however, its symptoms significantly impact the patient's quality of life. The therapeutic options have limited effectiveness and they are burdened with numerous side effects. In addition, AR’s underlying causes are not fully elucidated; thus, there is an urgent need to conduct more large sample studies on this topic. State of knowledge In recent years, research concerning the role of vitamin deficiency in AR pathogenesis gathered pace. Some studies report that children with vitamin A, C and D deficiencies more often suffer from allergic diseases, especially AR and asthma. Furthermore, they are more likely to have severe infections and other disorders caused by immune imbalance. The crucial aspect of vitamins' role in AR is their significant ability to modulate the immune response, especially adaptive, by restoring Th1/Th2 balance. Recent publications reported that vitamin supplementation in AR patients results in an improved clinical course of the disease and restored immune balance. Moreover, vitamins added to the typical treatment improve its effects. Conclusions This review aims to summarize the state of knowledge about the role of vitamin A, C and D deficiency in the pathogenesis of AR. Moreover, we point out the values of education in the field of proper dietary habits among AR patients. In addition, the effects of vitamin supplementation in AR patients are also emphasized