Accelerated Parameter Estimation with DALEχ\chi

We consider methods for improving the estimation of constraints on a high-dimensional parameter space with a computationally expensive likelihood function. In such cases Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) can take a long time to converge and concentrates on finding the maxima rather than the often-desired confidence contours for accurate error estimation. We employ DALE$\chi$ (Direct Analysis of Limits via the Exterior of $\chi^2$) for determining confidence contours by minimizing a cost function parametrized to incentivize points in parameter space which are both on the confidence limit and far from previously sampled points. We compare DALE$\chi$ to the nested sampling algorithm implemented in MultiNest on a toy likelihood function that is highly non-Gaussian and non-linear in the mapping between parameter values and $\chi^2$. We find that in high-dimensional cases DALE$\chi$ finds the same confidence limit as MultiNest using roughly an order of magnitude fewer evaluations of the likelihood function. DALE$\chi$ is open-source and available at https://github.com/danielsf/Dalex.git

Classic chandler translations published by Barral Editores (Barcelona)

After nearly twenty years of pioneering editorial work at Seix Barral, poet and editor Carlos Barral left the company and founded his own, Barral Editores, in 1970. Barral quickly established his own catalogue, which included new collections and new translations. These works were distributed widely via the collection Ediciones de bolsillo, created under Distribuciones de Enlace, a joint venture of Barral and other Spanish publishing houses. By 1978, when Barral Editores ceased publishing, Carlos Barral had made his mark: many of the translations he commissioned were used widely for many years and several were considered "classic" versions. This is the case of the four Marlowe novels (The Big Sleep; Farewell, My Lovely; The Little Sister and The Long Goodbye) published in the Serie negra policial in 1972 and 1973. Josep Elías's translation of Farewell, My Lovely is a unique example of intensification of slang at a time when the harsh, autocratic Franco regime was slowly loosening its censorial grip. However, the other three translations are much less remarkable: two are plagiarisms and one is an indirect translation from a French target text. I will describe and explain the sociocultural context in which these translations took place in 1972-73, and also the context in which later editions became massively popular during the noir novel publishing boom in post-Franco democratic Spain

The Censorship of Sex: A Study of Raymond Chandl er’s The Big Sleep in Franco’s Spain

During the period when General Francisco Franco ruled Spain (1936-1975), official censorship kept a watch on all books that were published in the country. The main objective of this censorship was to conceal from the Spanish people political manifestations that might be ultimately threatening for the dictatorial government politically. However, under heavy influence of the Catholic Church, the censors also veiled for the moral health of the Spanish people by intervening in all matters of sexual morality, decency, obscenity and vulgarity. Research has shown that during this period censors were as vigilant for sexual content as they were vigilant for political content. In this study I will examine censorship and sex by studying Raymond Chandler’s first novel, The Big Sleep (1939) and the three Spanish-language translations published during this period (1949, 1958, 1972). Chandler’s novel contains no potential political offenses to Franco’s Regime and its allies, but it does contain references to male homosexuals, scenes of female nudity, and sexually suggestive dialogues involving the detective and a female character. All of the Spanish versions were censored, whether by government censors or the translators/editors prior to presenting the manuscript to the censors. I will discuss the government-censored and self-censored passages in the Spanish versions of the novel, and show that all of the references to the homosexual characters, much of the nudity, and many of the sexually-suggestive dialogues have been manipulated and/or suppressed, producing undesirable and often unexpected effects.Pendant la période durant laquelle le général Francisco Franco gouvernait l’Espagne (1936-1975), la censure officielle maintenait un contrôle sur tous les livres publiés dans le pays. Le principal objectif de cette censure était de taire aux Espagnols toute manifestation d’ordre politique qui pouvait représenter une menace directe pour le gouvernement dictatorial. Toujours est-il que, sous la forte emprise de l’Eglise Catholique, les censeurs ont exercé leur vigilance sur la santé morale du peuple espagnol en intervenant sur les questions de moralité sexuelle, de décence, d’obscénité et de vulgarité. Des recherches ont démontré que durant cette période, les censeurs étaient les gardiens du contenu sexuel aussi bien que du contenu politique. Dans cette étude, je vais analyser la censure sexuelle par le biais du premier roman de Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (1939), et ses trois traductions espagnoles publiées durant cette période (1949, 1958, 1972). Le roman de Chandler ne contient pas d’offenses potentielles envers le régime de Franco et ses alliés, mais il contient en revanche des références à des homosexuels, des scènes de nudité féminine, et des dialogues à connotation sexuelle entre le détective et un personnage féminin. Toutes les versions espagnoles ont été censurées, soit par les censeurs officiels, soit par les traducteurs ou éditeurs avant la soumission du manuscrit à la censure. Je traiterai des passages censurés officiellement et des passages autocensurés des versions espagnoles du roman et démontrerai que toutes les références concernant les personnages homosexuels, la plupart des scènes de nudité et une grande partie des dialogues à connotation sexuelle ont été manipulés et/ou supprimés, produisant ainsi des effets indésirables et souvent inattendus

Test Anxiety and Mathematics Teaching Strategies in Youth Mathematics

This literature review analyzes the power of a math aversion, as well as the test anxiety that often coexists. Through the psychology of motivation, researchers have been able to establish correlation between motivation and test anxiety. In addition, research highlights the way in which instruction impacts students perception of mathematics. The review analyzes instructional techniques and how changing of instructional techniques can improve perception of mathematics

Translation problems and translation difficulties : tools for teaching specialized translation

Daniel Linder. "Translation problems and translation difficulties : tools for teaching specialized translation. Translatio : nouvelles de la FIT - newsletter, Vol. 19, No. 04, 2000, p. 375-383[ENG] This article and the exercises proposed below make use of the distinction between translation problems and translation difficulties. Many authors seem to equate these terms in their writings, but severa! authors have used the distinction in very helpful ways. Peter Newmark has used the term "translation problem" more or less as a unit of translation. Newmark defines translation problem as an instance when literal translation becomes inadequate ( 1988: 30-31 ). When this happens, the translator must make a concerted effort to enact all of bis or her skills in order to render the source-language sentence into an adequate target-language sentence. However, he uses "problem" and "difficulty" almost in the same breath. Christiane Nord makes ':l more practica!, pedagogical distinction between the two, first in a short article . ( 1987), and then in her Text Analysis in Translation (1991). She defines "translation problems as those points which prove a challenge for all translators in a pru1icular language combination, while she regards "translation difficulties rooted in the individual t:ranslator as they may arise from his or her educational or cultural background and experience (1991: 150-160)

BIOS 9134 - Stochastic Processes for Systems Biology

This course provides the student with an introduction to stochastic processes with emphasis on Markov chains, The Poisson Process, Brownian Motion and other continuous time processes. The theory developed will be used to model and simulate complex biochemical reaction networks and perform network inference given data from the stochastic trajectory of a biological process, typically arising from microarray or next generation sequencing experiments