The international humanitarian sector and language translation in crisis situations: assessment of current practices and future needs

Assessment Focus During major social disruptions, such as civil conflicts, natural disasters, or other crises, access to information is of fundamental importance to response and recovery operations. Ability to understand the language in which information is disseminated is a key marker of social vulnerability to disasters or crises. Assessing the degree to which the service efforts of organizations involved in the humanitarian sector are informed by commitment to multilingual communication and language translation is important to understanding how these organizations contribute to risk reduction and improved community resilience. This short report provides an assessment of the current state of practice and key language access issues in the humanitarian sector. Guiding Questions Assessment of the efforts in the humanitarian sector in crisis relief and recovery work can be understood in the context of the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit’s Grand Bargain commitments to reform aspects of humanitarian organizations’ relief work. Among those goals are key pronouncements on accountability, localization, and participation; language is integral to each. Because of the importance of language access to risk reduction and resilience in crisis situations, the assessment here attempts to address three questions: (1) what is the significance of language access to international humanitarian assistance efforts?; (2) what constitutes effective practices or key challenges at present?; and (3) what is the prospect for humanitarian organizations’ managing language access needs in the future? Key Findings Study subjects voiced near unanimity that providing language access is fundamentally important to humanitarian operations, but, at present, the capacity to formalize or routinize such efforts is limited; There was wide-spread consensus that accommodating language needs is necessary for achieving the Grand Bargain’s aim of two-way communication for greater accountability of operational humanitarian organizations towards affected communities; Accommodating language needs is consistently seen as a complex task; currently, even when there is capacity to address the issue, there is no agreement on how language needs should be accommodated; Language access capabilities may go beyond budget or staff resources and include issues of modality, culture, politics, ownership within the organizations, etc.; Key gaps in practice render service delivery less effective. Implications & Recommendations Findings suggest defined “ownership” of language translation within an organization is key to effective practice; Incorporating more systematic efforts on language translation in humanitarian operations is directly relevant to the Grand Bargain goals of accountability, localization, and participation in serving affected communities; Establishing systematic provision for communication in local languages in humanitarian response plans is crucial as the world is facing increasing hazard vulnerability; Improving humanitarian assistance requires management solutions such as better integration of language access provision with the cluster system

Ethics Recommendations for Crisis Translation Settings

This document is a summary public version of the Ethics Recommendations for Crisis Translation Settings produced by some of the INTERACT project team. INTERACT is the International Network in Crisis Translation, a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 734211. Further information about the project as a whole is available at: https://sites.google.com/view/crisistranslation/hom

Autoantibodies against the glial glutamate transporter GLT1/EAAT2 in Type 1 diabetes mellitus-Clues to novel immunological and non-immunological therapies

: Islet cell surface autoantibodies were previously found in subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), but their target antigens and pathogenic mechanisms remain elusive. The glutamate transporter solute carrier family 1, member 2 (GLT1/EAAT2) is expressed on the membrane of pancreatic β-cells and physiologically controls extracellular glutamate concentrations thus preventing glutamate-induced β-cell death. We hypothesized that GLT1 could be an immunological target in T1DM and that autoantibodies against GLT1 could be pathogenic. Immunoprecipitation and ELISA experiments showed that sera from T1DM subjects recognized GLT1 expressed in brain, pancreatic islets, and GLT1-transfected COS7-cell extracts. We validated these findings in two cohorts of T1DM patients by quantitative immunofluorescence assays. Analysis of the combined data sets indicated the presence of autoantibodies against GLT1 in 32 of the 87 (37%) T1DM subjects and in none of healthy controls (n = 64) (p < 0.0001). Exposure of pancreatic βTC3 cells and human islets to purified IgGs from anti-GLT1 positive sera supplemented with complement resulted in plasma membrane ruffling, cell lysis and death. The cytotoxic effect was prevented when sera were depleted from IgGs. Furthermore, in the absence of complement, 6 out of 16 (37%) anti-GLT1 positive sera markedly reduced GLT1 transport activity in βTC3 cells by inducing GLT1 internalization, also resulting in β-cell death. In conclusion, we provide evidence that GLT1 is a novel T1DM autoantigen and that anti-GLT1 autoantibodies cause β-cell death through complement-dependent and independent mechanisms. GLT1 seems an attractive novel therapeutic target for the prevention of β-cell death in individuals with diabetes and prediabetes

The Association of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy with Metabolic Syndrome is Dependent on Body Mass Index in Hypertensive Overweight or Obese Patients

Overweight (Ow) and obesity (Ob) influence blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). It is unclear whether the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) independently affects echocardiographic parameters in hypertension.380 Ow/Ob essential hypertensive patients (age ≤ 65 years) presenting for referred BP control-related problems. MetS was defined according to NCEP III/ATP with AHA modifications and LVH as LVM/h(2.7) ≥ 49.2 g/m(2.7) in males and ≥ 46.7 g/m(2.7) in females. Treatment intensity score (TIS) was used to control for BP treatment as previously reported.Hypertensive patients with MetS had significantly higher BMI, systolic and mean BP, interventricular septum and relative wall thickness and lower ejection fraction than those without MetS. LVM/h(2.7) was significantly higher in MetS patients (59.14 ± 14.97 vs. 55.33 ± 14.69 g/m(2.7); p = 0.022). Hypertensive patients with MetS had a 2.3-fold higher risk to have LVH/h(2.7) after adjustment for age, SBP and TIS (OR 2.34; 95%CI 1.40-3.92; p = 0.001), but MetS lost its independent relationship with LVH when BMI was included in the model.In Ow/Ob hypertensive patients MetS maintains its role of risk factor for LVH independently of age, SBP, and TIS, resulting in a useful predictor of target organ damage in clinical practice. However, MetS loses its independent relationship when BMI is taken into account, suggesting that the effects on MetS on LV parameters are mainly driven by the degree of adiposity

The Gaia mission

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/gai

The Calipari Case: Political Machinations and Journalistic Manipulations

В данной статье рассматривается case-study, изучающее отношение итальянской прессы к некоторым переводным источникам. Исследуются вопросы перевода, связанные с языковыми средствами манипулирования и затронутые журналистами в профессиональной деятельности.Drawing on critical discourse analysis, this article presents a case study showing the attitude in Italian newspapers towards the translation of sensitive source texts. The texts considered - predominantly a US military report from Iraq on the controversial shooting of the Italian security agent Nicola Calipari - refer to an event that had repercussions on a national and international level and thus represented a struggle between political powers (the United States and Italy, and the Italian government and media). The article reflects on the translation issues raised by the journalistic uses of the target texts, focusing on questions of manipulation and selectivity. It explores the relationship between a sensitive source text and biased manipulations of its target versions in the representation of a tragic event. When commenting on the US report, newspapers introduced further manipulations through their selection of passages in translation, thus contributing to an ideological use of the text and participating in a process of complex political machinations

Translating hazards: multilingual concerns in risk and emergency communication

Communicating the potential impact of local hazards in multilingual contexts reduces risks. Drawing the readers’ attention to the terminology shaping the global disaster risk reduction agenda and underpinning many activities in the international humanitarian sector, the article introduces multiple facets of multilingual risk communication about hazards. Subdivided into three sections, the article presents factors that influence current studies and may advance future research into translating information concerning hazards and the risks they pose, as part of disaster reduction practices. The first section considers relationships between key terms influencing disaster risk reduction practices, as these terms create terminological barriers to enabling a broader understanding of local hazards among at-risk multilingual communities. The second section reflects on risk communication practices around education on hazards in relation to linguistic preparedness. The third section illustrates how key grey literature deems multilingual risk communication important while it struggles to reconcile the need to exploit existing technologies to enhance resources for multilingual communication, with the absolute need for trust in the information. The conclusions map the field and the Special Issue, supported by a References list intended to draw the readers’ attention to key perspectives that may stimulate and encourage future research focused on translating hazards

The Calipari Case: Political Machinations and Journalistic Manipulations

В данной статье рассматривается case-study, изучающее отношение итальянской прессы к некоторым переводным источникам. Исследуются вопросы перевода, связанные с языковыми средствами манипулирования и затронутые журналистами в профессиональной деятельности.Drawing on critical discourse analysis, this article presents a case study showing the attitude in Italian newspapers towards the translation of sensitive source texts. The texts considered - predominantly a US military report from Iraq on the controversial shooting of the Italian security agent Nicola Calipari - refer to an event that had repercussions on a national and international level and thus represented a struggle between political powers (the United States and Italy, and the Italian government and media). The article reflects on the translation issues raised by the journalistic uses of the target texts, focusing on questions of manipulation and selectivity. It explores the relationship between a sensitive source text and biased manipulations of its target versions in the representation of a tragic event. When commenting on the US report, newspapers introduced further manipulations through their selection of passages in translation, thus contributing to an ideological use of the text and participating in a process of complex political machinations

Mediating migration crises: Sicily and the languages of despair

Connected with a broader project on crisis translation, this article presents the results of a small-scale survey of the linguistic response to the arrivals in Sicily of migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea. The contribution focuses on how intercultural mediators, NGO operators working around ports and reception centres in Eastern Sicily, as well as migrants portray their experience of the Italian institutions’ language policies supporting interlingual communication. Firstly, we provide a succinct overview of the Italian legal frameworks regulating language mediation and cultural support to migrants in the early phases of reception. Secondly, we discuss data collected through open-ended questions and observations, conducted in-situ by means of recorded interviews with a range of social actors involved in the linguistic and cultural mediations (including five interviews with intercultural mediators; five with migrants; and five with NGOs personnel and psychologists providing support in the various stages of the reception of migrants). By adopting ethnographic methods, the interview data are analysed here qualitatively and thematically to identify shared concerns and contrasting views on the ways in which immigration laws and policies regulating language mediation are interpreted by practitioners and migrants. Finally, the article reflects on these interpretations against the applicability of the legal framework as perceived by those who implement the policies and guidelines to accommodate language needs of migrants. Cette contribution, connectée avec un projet plus ample sur la traduction de crises, présente les résultats d’une enquête sur la réponse linguistique aux débarquements des migrants qui traversent la Méditerranée arrivant en Sicile. Cet article se concerne de la manière dont les migrants, les médiateurs interculturels et les personnels de ONG, qui travaillent dans les ports et les centres d’accueil en Sicile orientale, dépeignent leurs expériences de l’application des politiques linguistiques italiennes qui soutiennent la communication interlinguale. D’abord, on offre un panoramique sur les cadres légaux italiens réglementant la médiation linguistique et le soutien culturel aux migrants dans les premières phases d’accueil. Depuis, on discute les données à partir de questions ouvertes et d’observations collectées pendant des entretiens enregistrés avec des divers acteurs sociaux impliqués dans les médiations linguistiques et culturelles (5 entretiens avec des médiateurs interculturels, 5 avec des migrants et 5 avec personnels de ONG et psychologues soutenant la première phase de l’accueil des migrants). En adoptant des méthodes ethnographiques, les données des entretiens sont analysées qualitativement et thématiquement pour identifier les préoccupations partagées et les points de vue opposés sur la façon dont les politiques d’immigration italiennes, qui gèrent la médiation linguistique, sont interprétées par les praticiens et les migrants. Enfin, l’article termine en réfléchissant sur ces interprétations par rapport à leur applicabilité autant qu’elle est perçue par ceux qui doivent appliquer ces lignes directrices de la politique linguistique pour soutenir les exigences linguistiques des migrants