Aporias in Literary Translation: A Case Study of The Prophet and Its Translations

Literary translation is one of the most challenging tasks in the field of translation. This paper focuses on the aporias in literary texts written and/or translated into Arabic, French, Italian, and English. I contend that some terms/phrases are difficult to render in the target text. This argument is bolstered by examples extracted from The Prophet of the Arabo-American author Gibran Kahlil Gibran. I selected this particular oeuvre given its immense success in terms of vast cultural diffusion and translation into various languages. Also, The Prophet, has been translated several times into the same target languages in addition to the large number of languages to which it has been rendered. I will discuss the translator’s dilemma when undertaking the task of faithfully conveying the aesthetics of the original text into the same, or into the closest version of the original. This paper concentrates on the cultural differences between languages by emphasizing on untranslatability and various retranslations. It analyzes how these elements were rendered into the target culture and language. The argument put forth in this paper attempts to shed light on the importance of literary translation, as one of the most critical discourses of translation

“The UN-Touchables Humans Rights Discourses and the Challenges of Emancipatory Politics in Lebanese Women\u27s Movements”

This thesis is a process of questioning and understanding. It is also an invitation to begin by tackling social problems in a different way: by asking questions rather than looking at the world as if it is static, where one solution can be the answer. Through this research I try to unpack the complexity of activism under neoliberalism. Moreover I try to problematize the forces of gender governance that via its international institutions constantly attempt to absorb feminist collectives by limiting possibilities to rupture hegemonic narratives of the UN, global legal imaginations that at this moment in history articulate, arbitrate and define justice, assigning ongoing problems of justice to issues of local implementation. This discourse of the UN disregards the social and economic situations that produce the injustices UN legal infrastructures presume to fight against. Thus this thesis is an attempt to push beyond these discourses and unpack the social and economical situations that produce injustices

The Dynamics of COVID-19 spread: Evidence from Lebanon

We explore the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Lebanon by adopting two different approaches: the STEIR model, which is a modified SEIR model accounting for the effect of travel, and a repeated iterations model. We fit available daily data since the first diagnosed case until the end of June 2020 and we forecast possible scenarios of contagion associated with different levels of social distancing measures and travel inflows. We determine the initial reproductive transmission rate in Lebanon and all subsequent dynamics. In the repeated iterations (RI) model we iterate the available data of currently infected people to forecast future infections under several possible scenarios of contagion. In both models, our results suggest that tougher mitigation measures would slow down the spread of the disease. On the other hand, the current relaxation of measures and partial resumption of international flights, as the STEIR reveals, would trigger a second outbreak of infections, with severity depending on the extent of relaxation. We recommend strong institutional and public commitment to mitigation measures to avoid uncontrolled spread.Comment: The final preprint of the published paper that covers data from February 21 until July 1, 2020 and incorporates travel effects. 15 pages, 7 figure

Elucidating the Contribution of the BAF A12T Mutation to Cellular Mechanisms of Premature Aging

The nuclear envelope is a dynamic structure and organizing hub for cell structure and function. The underlying nuclear lamina is composed of a thick network of intermediate filaments, Lamin A/C and B, and inner nuclear membrane-associated proteins such as Lap2, Emerin and Man1. BAF, a central organizing protein, is a small, dimeric, essential protein that binds to dsDNA, proteins of the inner nuclear membrane and Lamin A. Cells with perturbations of the nuclear lamina display dysmorphic nuclei which have the potential to lead to altered gene expression, increased DNA damage events, and premature cellular senescence. In this study, we address a single amino acid substitution from Alanine 12 to Threonine (A12T) in BAF that gives rise to a nuclear morphology defect. At the clinical level, patients who inherit a homozygous BAF A12T mutation have a rare premature aging syndrome called Nestor Guillermo Progeria Syndrome (NGPS) with symptoms such as osteolysis, adipolysis and craniofacial defects that present at approximately two years of age and progress rapidly, ultimately shortening patient lifespan significantly. Tissues of mesenchymal origin appear to be most severely impacted in this disease, leading to the hypothesis that mesenchymal stem cells are preferentially affected. To address the cellular and organismal pathology of NGPS, we used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to establish BAFA12T/BAFA12T human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). A12T BAF iPSCs appeared normal, however when differentiated to induced mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs), A12T BAF cells exhibited a marked increase in cellular senescence and an elevated cellular stress response. The mechanism of A12T BAF’s contribution of this cell-type specific pathology was not well understood. Our data indicate that A12T BAF ‘s binding to Lamin A is greatly diminished, thereby weakening the Lamin A network of the nuclear lamina and the structural integrity of the nuclear envelope. Mechanosensitive iMSCs are unable to withstand this weakened network and the nuclei appear to rupture, thereby causing cellular stress and ultimately, senescence. Our results indicate that the A12T BAF mutation is necessary but not sufficient to cause premature cellular aging. All cell types expressing BAFA12T/BAFA12T have dysmorphic nuclei, however cells derived from BAFA12T/BAFA12T mice are viable and primary dermal fibroblasts are not senescent, nor do they demonstrate elevated levels of DNA damage. Furthermore, A12T BAF mice do not have shortened lifespans nor do they have defects in mesenchymal derived tissue. These data highlight the nuances of this mutation’s effect both at the cellular and organismal level and elucidates a new role for BAF at the nuclear envelope as a key player in cell mechanosensitivity and the network of the nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton

Impacts of Empagliflozin (EMPA) Treatment on Skeletal Muscle Microvasculature in Type 1 Diabetic Rats

In individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and models of the disease, hyperglycemia is associated with microvascular complications, including reduced capillary ratio in skeletal muscle (SM). We investigated whether a blood glucose lowering drug, empagliflozin (EMPA), has any impact on the microvasculature in SM. T1D was induced in eight-week-old male rats using streptozotocin (65 mg/kg, n=21). Twenty-one rats were given daily insulin and 11 of 21 rats also consumed EMPA (30 mg/kg/day) for 14 days. Twelve healthy non-diabetic rats served as controls. Capillary content and angiogenic factors were assessed in three separate leg muscles. EMPA+insulin treated rats exhibited better glycemic control, but capillary to fibre ratio and VEGFa mRNA was not impacted by EMPA+insulin treatment in the tibialis anterior. PECAM mRNA and VEGFa protein expression was also not impacted by EMPA+insulin treatment. EMPA has no obvious impact on the vasculature of SM in type 1 diabetic rodents

Tips for First Time Teaching Assistants: A Personal Narrative

The TA experience may be something new to many graduate students. Sharing the experiences of one TA can assist others who are new to this responsibility. This paper provides broad guidelines for TAs based on my personal experience of being a teaching assistant for three different courses over one academic year. It provides TAs with tips on important topics such as: their relationships with course instructors, their relationships with students, grading of student papers, session evaluations, teaching methodology, as well as the proper ways of introducing change, particularly in the use of technology

Impacts of Empagliflozin (EMPA) Treatment on Skeletal Muscle Microvasculature in Type 1 Diabetic Rats

In individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and models of the disease, hyperglycemia is associated with microvascular complications, including reduced capillary ratio in skeletal muscle (SM). We investigated whether a blood glucose lowering drug, empagliflozin (EMPA), has any impact on the microvasculature in SM. T1D was induced in eight-week-old male rats using streptozotocin (65 mg/kg, n=21). Twenty-one rats were given daily insulin and 11 of 21 rats also consumed EMPA (30 mg/kg/day) for 14 days. Twelve healthy non-diabetic rats served as controls. Capillary content and angiogenic factors were assessed in three separate leg muscles. EMPA+insulin treated rats exhibited better glycemic control, but capillary to fibre ratio and VEGFa mRNA was not impacted by EMPA+insulin treatment in the tibialis anterior. PECAM mRNA and VEGFa protein expression was also not impacted by EMPA+insulin treatment. EMPA has no obvious impact on the vasculature of SM in type 1 diabetic rodents

Emotional arousal in moral decision making

Treballs Finals del Màster de de Recerca en Comportament i Cognició, Facultat de Psicologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2014-2015, Tutor: Guillem Feixas ViaplanaIn a previous study it was reported that patients with vmPFC damage had more tendency than people with no lesions to have more utilitarian responses, (i.e., deciding that is acceptable to make a harmful act in order to maximize overall utility) Moretto (2009). Our study included only healthy individuals in order to differentiate between the three types of conditions (personal moral, impersonal moral and non-moral dilemmas). The study included 21 participants that responded to personal as well as impersonal moral dilemmas while skin conductance response (SCR) was recorded as a physiological index of affective state. All participants were college students from University of Barcelona. As for gender, 11 of the subjects were female and 10 were male. Mean age of the subjects was 23.09, ranging from 18 to 30. Later, the results showed that when decisions involve more emotions like in personal moral dilemmas, healthy individuals took more time to answer (Response Time) and their SCR was high only when reading a personal dilemma but on average their responses were non-utilitarian. These findings support the hypothesis that the proportion of utilitarian responses will be lower in the personal moral situations in comparison with impersonal moral and non-moral situations and that SCR would be higher in participants exhibiting fewer utilitarian choices than in those with a higher rate of utilitarian responses