Deaf Interpreters’ Perception of Themselves as Professionals in Ireland: A Phenomenological Study

In the extensive literature on sign language interpreting, very little attention has been given to deaf interpreters’ understanding of themselves as professionals. This gap may be due to the fact that professional sign language interpreting is often seen to be synonymous with hearing people. The research therefore set out to gain an insight into how deaf interpreters’ view themselves as professionals, what their understanding of ‘being a professional’ is, and what issues are of concern to them. The authors present and discuss findings from an analysis, informed by professionalism theory, of data derived from interviews with 5 deaf interpreters in Ireland who agreed to participate in the study. A key finding is that deaf interpreters struggle with the idea of themselves as professionals due to a number of factors: First, the stigma of the sign language interpreting profession being a hearing dominion; Second, the lack of professional interpreting courses and qualifications available for deaf interpreters; and finally, the low number of interpreting assignments given to deaf interpreters. A second key finding is that deaf interpreters see themselves as autonomous professionals based on expert knowledge. These issues have implications for the recruitment and retention of deaf interpreters into the sign language interpreting profession in Ireland. We suggest that sign language interpreting agencies and institutions develop and facilitate professional training courses for deaf interpreters as an addition to existing programs of professional training and qualifications being offered to hearing students

Prediction of university students’ academic achievement by linear and logistic models

University students’ academic achievement measured by means of academic progress is modeled through linear and logistic regression, employing prior achievement and demographic factors as predictors. The main aim of the present paper is to compare results yielded by both statistical procedures, in order to identify the most suitable approach in terms of goodness of fit and predictive power. Grades awarded in basic scientific courses and demographic variables were entered into the models at the first step. Two hypotheses are proposed: (a) Grades in basic courses as well as demographic factors are directly related to academic progress, and (b) Logistic regression is more appropriate than linear regression due to its higher predictive power. Results partially confirm the first prediction, as grades are positively related to progress. However, not all demographic factors considered proved to be good predictors. With regard to the second hypothesis, logistic regression was shown to be a better approach than linear regression, yielding more stable estimates with regard to the presence of ill-fitting patterns.Se estudia el efecto de dos tipos de factores sobre el rendimiento de estudiantes universitarios: variables académicas de rendimiento previo y variables demográficas, mediante modelos lineales y logísticos. El principal objetivo del trabajo es comparar los resultados obtenidos con ambas técnicas estadísticas, para determinar cuál de ellos es más adecuado en términos de ajuste y capacidad predictiva cuando se pretende explicar y predecir el rendimiento académico, en función de variables de rendimiento previo y factores sociodemográficos. Como medida del rendimiento a predecir se empleó el avance en la carrera. Las hipótesis planteadas son: 1) El avance está directamente relacionado con las calificaciones en materias básicas de primer año y con variables demográficas y 2) Los modelos logísticos son más adecuados que los modelos lineales, ya que presentan mayor capacidad predictiva. Los resultados permiten confirmar la primera hipótesis en su primera parte, ya que el rendimiento previo está directa y significativamente asociado al avance en la carrera. Pero se cumple de forma parcial por lo que se refiere al efecto factores demográficos. Con respecto a la segunda hipótesis, la regresión logística mostró ser más adecuada que la lineal, pues arroja estimaciones más estables en relación con la presencia de patrones de mal ajuste

Evaluating purifying selection in the mitochondrial DNA of various mammalian species

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the circular DNA molecule inside the mitochondria of all eukaryotic cells, has been shown to be under the effect of purifying selection in several species. Traditional testing of purifying selection has been based simply on ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous mutations, without considering the relative age of each mutation, which can be determined by phylogenetic analysis of this non-recombining molecule. The incorporation of a mutation time-ordering from phylogeny and of predicted pathogenicity scores for nonsynonymous mutations allow a quantitative evaluation of the effects of purifying selection in human mtDNA. Here, by using this additional information, we show that purifying selection undoubtedly acts upon the mtDNA of other mammalian species/genera, namely Bos sp., Canis lupus, Mus musculus, Orcinus orca, Pan sp. and Sus scrofa. The effects of purifying selection were comparable in all species, leading to a significant major proportion of nonsynonymous variants with higher pathogenicity scores in the younger branches of the tree. We also derive recalibrated mutation rates for age estimates of ancestors of these various species and proposed a correction curve in order to take into account the effects of selection. Understanding this selection is fundamental to evolutionary studies and to the identification of deleterious mutations

Translating deaf culture: an ethnodrama

This ethnodrama is a script writing project based on qualitative research that explores deaf people’s experience of working as interpreter in Ireland. A collection of interview data was used to develop the ethnodrama by constructing scenes that reveal a series of interactive moments that capture the challenges faced by deaf interpreters. Framed within Sontag’s (1997) conceptualization of “translation,” the authors offer a critique of the term translation and discuss its significance from the perspective of deaf interpreters. Participants were invited to read and comment on aspects of the scenes and contribute to the script writing process. Their statements were integrated into the script to generate meaningful dialogue which appear in the final part of the play. The discussion indicated a positive response to this ethnodrama which was generally successful in producing realistic dramatized scenarios which stimulated reflective discussions in the epilogue

Understanding fish larvae’s feeding biology to improve aquaculture feeding protocols

Knowing that food ingestion and digestion are processes under neuroendocrine regulation, it is important to understand how fish larvae regulate these processes, when the digestive system itself is under development. This study aimed to analyze how gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) larval feeding incidence and intensity were affected by time, light, and water temperature, through the analysis of gut content and how this affected cholecystokinin (CCK) content. Three short-term experiments were done: (A) 27 and 42 days post-hatch (DPH) larvae were analyzed at different intervals for 80 min, after feeding; (B) 38 and 48 DPH larvae were kept under different light intensities (0, 400, 1000 lux) for 30 min; (C) 41 DPH larvae were kept at 17, 19, 25 °C for 30 min. Feeding incidence below 100% was observed for 27 DPH larvae, and for 38 DPH larvae fed at 0 lux. Feeding intensity was several fold higher at older ages. However, the number of prey in the gut was lower at 0 lux, and higher at 25 °C. Overall, no clear pattern was observed for CCK, but at older ages increasing gut content resulted in higher CCK content. In conclusion, until 38 DPH light is important for gilthead sea bream larval feeding ability, and maturing functionality of CCK was only observed at later stages.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Integrating Research-Based Learning into the Undergraduate Curriculum: Challenges and Solutions

Integrating undergraduate research into introductory level courses can improve student accessibility, inclusion, and retention. Herein, we discuss two one-on-one research projects that are being scaffolded into the undergraduate curriculum. We will describe the design and application of CUREs (course-based undergraduate research experiences) in forensic biology as well as physics and astronomy degree programmes. The forensic biology CURE includes trace evidence analysis and models the experimental methods, techniques, and instrumentation students will use in their future careers. In the Eclipsing Binaries CURE, students are introduced to coding and computational physics through modelling spectroscopic and photometric data. The lessons learned through scaling up these interdisciplinary models can apply to other fields of study

Marina Samuel Noble, gloria del deporte cubano.

En 1984, ingresa al claustro de profesores del Instituto Superior de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana una joven mujer de pequeña estatura, jovial y dinámica, respetada y querida por todos,  La gacela de Morón, atleta de renombre nacional  e internacional de nuestro país. Marina Samuel Noble nace el 14 de  diciembre de 1947 en el seno de una familia de origen campesino, en una colonia cañera del Central Punta Alegre, término municipal de Morón; sus padres Alfredo y Luisa trabajadores del campo, de nacionalidad jamaicana. Crece rodeada de limitaciones económicas.  Con solo 11 años participa activamente en las tareas de la Revolución, alfabetiza y  se integra a los CDR y la FMC

Apuntes para la historia de la Salud Pública en el Municipio de Boyeros. Ciudad de la habana.

El municipio de Boyeros adquirió su fisonomía actual, a partir de 1976, en que se estableció la nueva división política administrativa. Es uno de los municipios de  Ciudad Habana,  tiene una extensión territorial de 134,2 km2 con una población de 187006 habitantes, limita al Norte con el municipio Cerro, al Sur con los municipios Bejucal y San Antonio de los Baños de provincia Habana, al Este con el municipio Arroyo Naranjo y al Oeste con los municipios de La Lisa y de Marianao.  Es un municipio rico por su historia y tradiciones, acercarse a ellas y en particular a la historia del desarrollo de la Salud Pública es importante porque la memoria es una de las fuentes esenciales para la formación de los valores que  identifican a los integrantes de un pueblo, de una nación,  fundamentalmente a sus jóvenes. Por ello estos apuntes para  la historia de la Salud Pública del municipio Boyeros referirán los hitos más significativos de ese proceso desde la Colonia hasta la actualidad.   Palabras clave: Municipio de Boyeros, historia, Salud Públic

Antimicrobial activity of poly(ester urea) electrospun fibers loaded with bacteriophages

The capacity to load bacteriophages into electrospun nanofibers of two representative biocompatible polymers has been evaluated, paying special attention to the possibility of preserving their antibacterial activity. Specifically, the work involves the following steps: (a) Evaluation of the effect of the applied electrical field on the phage activity; (b) evaluation of the activity when a lyophilization process could be avoided by using water soluble polymers (e.g., poly(ethylene glycol); (c) evaluation of the activity when dissolution of the polymer requires an organic solvent and lyophilization is theoretically necessary. In this case, a poly(ester urea) (PEU) derived from the natural L-leucine amino acid has been considered. Adsorption of commercial bacteriophage preparations into calcium carbonate particles was demonstrated to be a promising methodology to avoid lyophilization and keep the initial bactericide activity at a maximum. Phagestaph and Fersis bacteriophage commercial preparations have been selected for this study due to their spPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version