Capturing Voice and Place in Translation: The translation of three twentieth-century French writers steeped in the landscape, mores, traditions and language of the south of France

In this thesis I explore the question of how a translator approaches the task of capturing the ‘voice’ of a writer when the voice of the writer is steeped in a particular region including its mores, traditions, culture, and language variants. I translate an autobiographical novel, Chronique d’un été cévenol, by the contemporary French novelist René Barral and compare and contrast my approach with that taken to the translation of an autobiographical novel by André Chamson and an early novel of Jean Giono. The works selected for comparison by these two eminent French twentieth-century authors are anchored in the same region, historical era and socio-economic class as that evoked by Barral. I compare and contrast the style and voice of Barral with these authors, one of whom, André Chamson, was raised in the same département of France (the Gard) and the other, Jean Giono, who lived and worked in neighbouring Haute Provence. Each of the three authors has chosen a different creative approach to portraying rural peasant protagonists, to the rendition of dialogue and dialect and to capturing a distinctive regional, social and tonal register. The variation in the creative approaches adopted in the source texts necessitates a similarly differentiated approach on the part of the translator. My thesis reviews the concept of voice as elaborated in Translation Studies literature and develops my own conceptual approach. I consider some theoretical approaches to translating ‘voice’, which I see, inter alia, as embracing the elusive qualities of style and register. René Barral’s novel has generated considerable readership appeal precisely because it is redolent of its particular context. The yarns and vignettes evoke a uniquely harsh and rugged landscape, a historical era, a socio-cultural class and lively episodes in the life of a typical mountain village. I provide a commentary on the challenges Barral’s novel poses for a translator which focuses inter alia, on the difficulties involved in capturing the strong sense of place embodied in his novel and the challenges involved in translating dialogue, dialect and colloquialisms informed by the theoretical observations of Levy, Chukovsky and Leighton. I consider the sources of translation loss and apply this theoretical analysis to my translation. I also review and evaluate the strategies adopted to address these dilemmas by the respective English-language translators of the selected works by Chamson and Giono

The current understanding of precision medicine and personalised medicine in selected research disciplines:study protocol of a systematic concept analysis

INTRODUCTION: The terms ‘precision medicine’ and ‘personalised medicine’ have become key terms in health-related research and in science-related public communication. However, the application of these two concepts and their interpretation in various disciplines are heterogeneous, which also affects research translation and public awareness. This leads to confusion regarding the use and distinction of the two concepts. Our aim is to provide a snapshot of the current understanding of these concepts. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Our study will use Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis to systematically examine the current understanding of the concepts ‘precision medicine’ and ‘personalised medicine’ in clinical medicine, biomedicine (incorporating genomics and bioinformatics), health services research, physics, chemistry, engineering, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and to identify their respective attributes (clusters of characteristics) and surrogate and related terms. A systematic search of the literature will be conducted for 2016–2022 using databases relevant to each of these disciplines: ACM Digital Library, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, F1000Research, IEEE Xplore, PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science. These are among the most representative databases for the included disciplines. We will examine similarities and differences in definitions of ‘precision medicine’ and ‘personalised medicine’ in the respective disciplines and across (sub)disciplines, including attributes of each term. This will enable us to determine how these two concepts are distinguished. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Following ethical and research standards, we will comprehensively report the methodology for a systematic analysis following Rodgers’ concept analysis method. Our systematic concept analysis will contribute to the clarification of the two concepts and distinction in their application in given settings and circumstances. Such a broad concept analysis will contribute to non-systematic syntheses of the concepts, or occasional systematic reviews on one of the concepts that have been published in specific disciplines, in order to facilitate interdisciplinary communication, translational medical research and implementation science

A randomised controlled trial of six weeks of home enteral nutrition versus standard care after oesophagectomy or total gastrectomy for cancer: report on a pilot and feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Poor nutrition in the first months after oesophago-gastric resection is a contributing factor to the reduced quality of life seen in these patients. The aim of this pilot and feasibility study was to ascertain the feasibility of conducting a multi-centre randomised controlled trial to evaluate routine home enteral nutrition in these patients. METHODS: Patients undergoing oesophagectomy or total gastrectomy were randomised to either six weeks of home feeding through a jejunostomy (intervention), or treatment as usual (control). Intervention comprised overnight feeding, providing 50 % of energy and protein requirements, in addition to usual oral intake. Primary outcome measures were recruitment and retention rates at six weeks and six months. Nutritional intake, nutritional parameters, quality of life and healthcare costs were also collected. Interviews were conducted with a sample of participants, to ascertain patient and carer experiences. RESULTS: Fifty-four of 112 (48 %) eligible patients participated in the study over the 20 months. Study retention at six weeks was 41/54 patients (76 %) and at six months was 36/54 (67 %). At six weeks, participants in the control group had lost on average 3.9 kg more than participants in the intervention group (95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.6 to 6.2). These differences remained evident at three months (mean difference 2.5 kg, 95 % CI -0.5 to 5.6) and at six months (mean difference 2.5 kg, 95 % CI -1.2 to 6.1). The mean values observed in the intervention group for mid arm circumference, mid arm muscle circumference, triceps skin fold thickness and right hand grip strength were greater than for the control group at all post hospital discharge time points. The economic evaluation suggested that it was feasible to collect resource use and EQ-5D data for a full cost-effectiveness analysis. Thematic analysis of 15 interviews identified three main themes related to the intervention and the trial: 1) a positive experience, 2) the reasons for taking part, and 3) uncertainty of the study process. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that home enteral feeding by jejunostomy was feasible, safe and acceptable to patients and their carers. Whether home enteral feeding as 'usual practice' is a cost-effective therapy would require confirmation in an appropriately powered, multi-centre study. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UK Clinical Research Network ID 12447 (main trial, first registered 30 May 2012); UK Clinical Research Network ID 13361 (qualitative substudy, first registered 30 May 2012); ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01870817 (first registered 28 May 2013)

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway

Vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. The emergence of hypermutated, increasingly transmissible variants of concern (VOCs) threaten this strategy. Omicron (B.1.1.529), the fifth VOC to be described, harbours multiple amino acid mutations in spike, half of which lie within the receptor-binding domain. Here we demonstrate substantial evasion of neutralization by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in vitro using sera from individuals vaccinated with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. These data were mirrored by a substantial reduction in real-world vaccine effectiveness that was partially restored by booster vaccination. The Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 did not induce cell syncytia in vitro and favoured a TMPRSS2-independent endosomal entry pathway, these phenotypes mapping to distinct regions of the spike protein. Impaired cell fusion was determined by the receptor-binding domain, while endosomal entry mapped to the S2 domain. Such marked changes in antigenicity and replicative biology may underlie the rapid global spread and altered pathogenicity of the Omicron variant

Shoshonitic magmatism and the formation of the Northparkes porphyry Cu-Au deposits, New South Wales

Four economic porphyry Cu-Au deposits occur at Northparkes, New South Wales: Endeavour 22 (E22), E26, E27 and E48. Mineralisation is centred on thin, pipe-like Late Ordovician to Early Silurian quartz monzonite porphyry complexes. Nine intrusive phases have been recognised, with a common sequence of emplacement recognised in all deposits. Pre-mineralisation intrusions include coarse-grained, equigranular monzodiorite and equigranular to weakly porphyritic biotite-quartz monzonite (U-Pb SHRIMP age 444.2 ± 4.7 Ma). Three variably felsic quartz monzonite porphyry phases comprise the mineralised intrusive complexes: (i) volumetrically minor early and late mineralisation biotite-phyric quartz monzonite porphyry dykes; (ii) abundant synmineralisation K-feldspar-phyric quartz monzonite porphyry intrusions; and (iii) less abundant syn- to late mineralisation augite-biotite K-feldspar-phyric quartz monzonite porphyry intrusions. Post-mineralisation basaltic trachyandesite dykes and augite-phyric monzonite porphyry dykes are also present (U-Pb SHRIMP age 436.7 ± 3.3 Ma), as are younger mafic dykes. The regional volcanic and intrusive rocks define systematic geochemical trends consistent with high-temperature magmatic fractionation of basaltic trachyandesite through trachyte. However, the trace-element compositions and REE patterns of the mineralising intrusions cannot be explained by crystal fractionation alone because there is a return to more mafic compositions in the waning stages of intrusive activity. The intrusive complexes are interpreted to have formed due to the emplacement of mafic alkaline melts into the base of a crystallising, zoned, monzodiorite to monzonite magma chamber. Shallow crustal fault ruptures above the magma chamber probably caused instantaneous depressurisation and simultaneous egress of quartz monzonite porphyry and exsolved aqueous fluid into dilatant zones. Localised fracturing and additional volatile exsolution from the quartz monzonite melt is thought to have led to the formation of the quartz monzonite porphyry complexes and associated Cu-Au-bearing stockwork veins and related orthoclase alteration. Volatile-rich aqueous fluid partitioned LREE preferentially to MREE and HREE resulting in the development of distinctive U-shaped REE patterns of the ore-related intrusions

Personalizing medicine and technologies to address the experiences and needs of people with multiple sclerosis

There is enormous variation in the manifestations of disease experienced by people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). While this variation makes personalized medicine an attractive goal, there are many challenges to be overcome before this opportunity can be realized. Personalized medicine often focuses on targeted therapies and detailed monitoring, but we also need to recognize that there will be variation in acceptance of these approaches by different PwMS. In other words, deep personalization of medicine will encompass targeted therapy, precision monitoring, tailored to variation in personal attitudes to these transformations in health care. In order to meet the promise of personalized medicine for MS, understanding the experiences of PwMS is necessary both to aid in the uptake of personalized medicine, and to ensure that personalized approaches to monitoring disease and treatment provide a net benefit to PwMS rather than placing additional burdens and stressors on them. Here, we describe recent research that identified five experiential themes for PwMS, and then interpret these themes according to the foundations of personalized medicine to provide a road map for implementation of personalized medicine solutions for PwM

An introduction to neutron techniques in catalysis

Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) are rapidly evolving species-specific natural killer cell receptors associated with protection against multiple different human viral infections. We report that the activating receptor KIR2DS2 directly recognizes viral peptides derived from conserved regions of flaviviral superfamily 2 RNA helicases in the context of MHC class I. The peptide LNPSVAATL, from the HCV helicase, binds HLA-C*0102 leading to NK cell activation through engagement of KIR2DS2. Similarly, HLA-C*0102 presentshighly conserved peptides from the helicase motif 1b region of related flaviviruses, including dengue, Zika, yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis viruses, to KIR2DS2. These flaviviral peptides all contain an “MCHAT” motif, which is present in 61 out of 63 flaviviruses. LNPSVAATL is also highly conserved across HCV genotypes and mutation of this epitope is poorly tolerated by HCV. KIR2DS2 recognizes endogenously presented helicase peptides and KIR2DS2 is sufficient to inhibit HCV and dengue virus replication in the context of HLAC*0102. Targeting short, but highly conserved, viral peptides provide non-rearranging innate immune receptors with an efficient mechanism to recognize multiple, highly variable pathogenic RNA viruses