Lessons from Chinese History: Translation as a Collaborative and Multi-Stage Process

This paper examines how the development of translation practice under the influence of Buddhism, and also in the late Qing (1890-1911), serve to highlight two neglected areas of research in Translation Studies. First, there is the issue of the extent to which translation is a collaborative process. In both time periods, collaboration among 2 to 1000 people was the norm. Yet the models proposed in “classic” Translation Studies in the twentieth century theorized the translation process as being accomplished by a lone individual. The recent growth of translation companies has shown that collaboration is still common today, yet this remains a “black hole” in terms of research. Second, in both periods in China, relay translation through “pivot” languages played a vital role in the translation process. Again, this is a phenomenon that has been downplayed in Translation Studies; relay has been seen as a necessary evil, in a sense replicating the stigma attached to translation itself. These two phenomena thus deserve further study and have implications for translation pedagogy.L’étude des pratiques de traduction en usage pendant deux périodes de l’histoire chinoise – la première lors de l’influence du bouddhisme et la deuxième vers la fin de la dynastie Qing (1890-1911) – révèle que la traductologie a négligé deux domaines de recherche. Il s’agit tout d’abord de la traduction comme pratique collective. Durant les deux périodes précitées, la traduction résultait de la collaboration d’au moins deux et jusqu’à mille personnes. Telle était la norme. Or, les théories développées au XXe siècle par la traductologie « classique » représentent la traduction comme une pratique individuelle. La multiplication récente des entreprises de traduction prouve que la pratique collaborative reste courante, sans attirer pour autant l’attention des chercheurs. C’est ensuite la traduction-relais passant par des langues « pivots » qui, durant les deux mêmes périodes de l’histoire chinoise, a joué un rôle essentiel dans le processus de traduction. La traductologie a également négligé ce phénomène. Le relais, ou recours à une traduction intermédiaire, a été vu comme un mal nécessaire, reproduisant en quelque sorte le stigmate imposé à la traduction elle-même. Ces deux phénomènes méritent d’être approfondis étant donné aussi leurs implications pour la pédagogie de traduction

“He ‘catch no ball’ leh!” Globalization versus localization in the Singaporean Translation Market

Despite the existence of local versions of English and Mandarin Chinese in Singapore, these non-standard languages are not widely used by translators and interpreters. Simultaneous court interpretation and (some) drama prove by their exception to this rule that Singapore’s translation market is driven mainly by foreign, not local demand. Further, local demand by the government and the media points to the continued prestige of “standard” English and Mandarin, where those standards are London and Beijing, respectively. Training for local translators and interpreters, then, must continue to provide students with “standard” models of these languages if they are to compete successfully for jobs in the marketplace.S’il existe bel et bien un anglais et un chinois de Singapour, ni l’une ni l’autre de ces langues régionales n’est vraiment utilisée par les interprètes ou les traducteurs. L’exception confirmant la règle, on trouve parfois ces variantes en interprétation judiciaire ou dans les traductions pour le théâtre. Cela démontre bien combien le marché repose davantage sur des forces extérieures que sur les besoins de la région. Qui plus est, localement, les autorités gouvernementales et les médias contribuent à maintenir le statut prestigieux de l’anglais britannique et du mandarin en exigeant ces formes canoniques dans leurs traductions. En conséquence, il faut enseigner les idiomes de Londres et de Beijing aux futurs traducteurs de Singapour si l’on veut qu’ils soient concurrentiels sur le marché de l’emploi

The Battleground of Translation: Making Equal in a Global Structure of Inequality

In her interview published in the Cairol based journal ALIF, Lydia H. Liu reflects on the centrality of translation to the circulation of all knowledge. She emphasizes, in particular, new ways of understanding translation beyond semantics: What role does the supersign play in the making of concepts in translation? How do we analyze the logic of equivalency that simultaneously determines the "translables" and "untranslables"? Why is nonsense inseparable from sense? How do we analyze the conditions of the universal in translation? etc

Large scale international replication and meta-analysis study confirms association of the 15q14 locus with myopia. The CREAM consortium

Myopia is a complex genetic disorder and a common cause of visual impairment among working age adults. Genome-wide association studies have identified susceptibility loci on chromosomes 15q14 and 15q25 in Caucasian populations of European ancestry. Here, we present a confirmation and meta-analysis study in which we assessed whether these two loci are also associated with myopia in other populations. The study population comprised 31 cohorts from the Consortium of Refractive Error and Myopia (CREAM) representing 4 different continents with 55,177 individuals; 42,845 Caucasians and 12,332 Asians. We performed a meta-analysis of 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on 15q14 and 5 SNPs on 15q25 using linear regression analysis with spherical equivalent as a quantitative outcome, adjusted for age and sex. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) of myopia versus hyperopia for carriers of the top-SNP alleles using a fixed effects meta-analysis. At locus 15q14, all SNPs were significantly replicated, with the lowest P value 3.87 × 10 -12 for SNP rs634990 in Caucasians, and 9.65 × 10 -4 for rs8032019 in Asians. The overall meta-analysis provided P value 9.20 × 10 -23 for the top SNP rs634990. The risk of myopia versus hyperopia was OR 1.88 (95 % CI 1.64, 2.16, P < 0.001) for homozygous carriers of the risk allele at the top SNP rs634990, and OR 1.33 (95 % CI 1.19, 1.49, P < 0.001) for heterozygous carriers. SNPs at locus 15q25 did not replicate significantly (P value 5.81 × 10 -2 for top SNP rs939661). We conclude that common variants at chromosome 15q14 influence susceptibility for myopia in Caucasian and Asian populations world-wide. © The Author(s) 2012

New loci associated with birth weight identify genetic links between intrauterine growth and adult height and metabolism.

Birth weight within the normal range is associated with a variety of adult-onset diseases, but the mechanisms behind these associations are poorly understood. Previous genome-wide association studies of birth weight identified a variant in the ADCY5 gene associated both with birth weight and type 2 diabetes and a second variant, near CCNL1, with no obvious link to adult traits. In an expanded genome-wide association meta-analysis and follow-up study of birth weight (of up to 69,308 individuals of European descent from 43 studies), we have now extended the number of loci associated at genome-wide significance to 7, accounting for a similar proportion of variance as maternal smoking. Five of the loci are known to be associated with other phenotypes: ADCY5 and CDKAL1 with type 2 diabetes, ADRB1 with adult blood pressure and HMGA2 and LCORL with adult height. Our findings highlight genetic links between fetal growth and postnatal growth and metabolism

Genome-wide association analysis identifies six new loci associated with forced vital capacity

Forced vital capacity (FVC), a spirometric measure of pulmonary function, reflects lung volume and is used to diagnose and monitor lung diseases. We performed genome-wide association study meta-analysis of FVC in 52,253 individuals from 26 studies and followed up the top associations in 32,917 additional individuals of European ancestry. We found six new regions associated at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10−8) with FVC in or near EFEMP1, BMP6, MIR129-2–HSD17B12, PRDM11, WWOX and KCNJ2. Two loci previously associated with spirometric measures (GSTCD and PTCH1) were related to FVC. Newly implicated regions were followed up in samples from African-American, Korean, Chinese and Hispanic individuals. We detected transcripts for all six newly implicated genes in human lung tissue. The new loci may inform mechanisms involved in lung development and the pathogenesis of restrictive lung disease

Multiple Loci Are Associated with White Blood Cell Phenotypes

White blood cell (WBC) count is a common clinical measure from complete blood count assays, and it varies widely among healthy individuals. Total WBC count and its constituent subtypes have been shown to be moderately heritable, with the heritability estimates varying across cell types. We studied 19,509 subjects from seven cohorts in a discovery analysis, and 11,823 subjects from ten cohorts for replication analyses, to determine genetic factors influencing variability within the normal hematological range for total WBC count and five WBC subtype measures. Cohort specific data was supplied by the CHARGE, HeamGen, and INGI consortia, as well as independent collaborative studies. We identified and replicated ten associations with total WBC count and five WBC subtypes at seven different genomic loci (total WBC count—6p21 in the HLA region, 17q21 near ORMDL3, and CSF3; neutrophil count—17q21; basophil count- 3p21 near RPN1 and C3orf27; lymphocyte count—6p21, 19p13 at EPS15L1; monocyte count—2q31 at ITGA4, 3q21, 8q24 an intergenic region, 9q31 near EDG2), including three previously reported associations and seven novel associations. To investigate functional relationships among variants contributing to variability in the six WBC traits, we utilized gene expression- and pathways-based analyses. We implemented gene-clustering algorithms to evaluate functional connectivity among implicated loci and showed functional relationships across cell types. Gene expression data from whole blood was utilized to show that significant biological consequences can be extracted from our genome-wide analyses, with effect estimates for significant loci from the meta-analyses being highly corellated with the proximal gene expression. In addition, collaborative efforts between the groups contributing to this study and related studies conducted by the COGENT and RIKEN groups allowed for the examination of effect homogeneity for genome-wide significant associations across populations of diverse ancestral backgrounds

Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci. However, the nature and mechanisms of these pleiotropic effects remain unclear. We performed analyses of 232,964 cases and 494,162 controls from genome-wide studies of anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Genetic correlation analyses revealed a meaningful structure within the eight disorders, identifying three groups of inter-related disorders. Meta-analysis across these eight disorders detected 109 loci associated with at least two psychiatric disorders, including 23 loci with pleiotropic effects on four or more disorders and 11 loci with antagonistic effects on multiple disorders. The pleiotropic loci are located within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes. These findings have important implications for psychiatric nosology, drug development, and risk prediction.Peer reviewe

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio