Scientific controversies and popular science in translation: rewriting, transediting or transcreation?

Over the centuries, the circulation of scientific ideas has been granted in one or a limited number of languages. Despite the advantages of avoiding a scientific Babel, popular science is largely communicated to the public using their first language(s), and is often the result of translation from other languages \u2013 most notably English. While science may partly be communicated to the public for information, at the leading edge of research it is often popularised for its newsworthiness and/or to involve the public in debates concerning social issues or political decisions. The question addressed in this paper is how the \u2018news\u2019 elements in popular science are mediated in the target language and culture and to what extent processes such as rewriting, transediting and transcreation are at work. Methods and strategies for science communication are compared and contrasted using an Italian and English parallel/comparable corpus of newspaper, magazine and news agency articles reporting on the recent scientific controversy over vaccines. Corpus articles are collected using the LexisNexis database. Data are checked against a small monitor corpus of key articles collected as the controversies developed. Within corpus texts, mediating strategies are tested and issues concerning the achievement of intended effects in scientific controversy popularizations are considered. The discourse of controversies will be investigated in translation as a test case for rewriting, transediting or transcreation with an eye to different audiences, while bearing in mind that the ease of communication and circulation of ideas may have blurred cultural specificities and impacted the presentation of scientific topics to some extent

Snapshots of the EYES project

The EYES project (IST-2001-34734) is a three years European research project on self-organizing and collaborative energy-efficient sensor networks. It addresses the convergence of distributed information processing, wireless communications, and mobile computing. The goal of the project is to develop the architecture and the technology which enables the creation of a new generation of sensors that can effectively network together so as to provide a flexible platform for the support of a large variety of mobile sensor network applications. This paper provides a broad overview of the EYES project and highlights some approaches and results of the architecture

Subchondroplasty in the treatment of bone marrow lesions of the knee: Preliminary experience on first 15 patients

Purpose The aim of this prospective study was to assess the effectiveness in terms of pain relief and functional improvement of the Subchondroplasty procedure in the treatment of osteoarthritis-related bone marrow lesions (BMLs) of the knee. Methods The study included first 15 consecutive patients undergone to Subchon-droplasty procedure for the treatment of chronic degenerative BMLs in which previous conservative treatment have failed. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Scores (KOOS), and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores were obtained preoperatively and at 1, 6, and 12 months of follow-up. Results WOMAC scores significantly improved from 39.7 \ub1 20.2 before surgery to 26.8 \ub1 16.1 at the 1-month follow-up (p = 0.045). A further significant improvement to 15.5 \ub1 12.7 (p = 0.02) and to 8.6 \ub1 3.1 (p <0.01) was obtained both at 6-month and at 1-year follow-up. KOOS scores improved significantly from 47.5 \ub1 16.6 before surgery to 65.4 \ub1 14.9 at 1 month (p = 0.013) and to 80.4 \ub1 15.1 at 6-month follow-up (p = 0.01). A further improvement to 85.6 \ub1 15.1 was recorded 1 year postoperatively, although nonsignificant. VAS score showed a significant improvement from 55.8 \ub1 20.5 preoperatively to 36.2 \ub1 16.9 at 1 month (p = 0.008) and to 18.2 \ub1 17.3 at 6-month follow-up (p = 0.005). This further improved to 12.8 \ub1 17.9 at 1-year follow-up, although not significantly. Conclusion Subchondroplasty procedure represents a safe and valid surgical option in the treatment of osteoarthritis-related BMLs of the knee, providing an improvement in terms of pain relief and functional recovery. Longer studies are required to evaluate how long these improvements may last. Level of Evidence Therapeutic case-series, Level IV study

SiPM and front-end electronics development for Cherenkov light detection

The Italian Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is involved in the development of a demonstrator for a SiPM-based camera for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) experiment, with a pixel size of 6$\times$6 mm$^2$. The camera houses about two thousands electronics channels and is both light and compact. In this framework, a R&D program for the development of SiPMs suitable for Cherenkov light detection (so called NUV SiPMs) is ongoing. Different photosensors have been produced at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), with different micro-cell dimensions and fill factors, in different geometrical arrangements. At the same time, INFN is developing front-end electronics based on the waveform sampling technique optimized for the new NUV SiPM. Measurements on 1$\times$1 mm$^2$, 3$\times$3 mm$^2$, and 6$\times$6 mm$^2$ NUV SiPMs coupled to the front-end electronics are presentedComment: In Proceedings of the 34th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2015), The Hague, The Netherlands. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1508.0589

Family's History Based on the CDH1 Germline Variant (c.360delG) and a Suspected Hereditary Gastric Cancer Form

Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer (HDGC) is a cancer susceptibility syndrome caused by germline pathogenic variant in CDH1, the gene encoding E-cadherin. The germline loss-of-function variants are the only proven cause of the cancer syndrome HDGC, occurring in approximately 10-18% of cases and representing a helpful tool in genetic counseling. The current case reports the family history based on a CDH1 gene variant, c.360delG, p.His121Thr in a suspected family for hereditary gastric cancer form. This frameshift deletion generates a premature stop codon at the amino acid 214, which leads to a truncated E-cadherin protein detecting it as a deleterious variant. The present study expands the mutational spectra of the family with the CDH1 variant. Our results highlight the clinical impact of the reported CDH1 variant running in gastric cancer families

Connexin-Mediated Signaling in Nonsensory Cells Is Crucial for the Development of Sensory Inner Hair Cells in the Mouse Cochlea

Mutations in the genes encoding for gap junction proteins connexin 26 (Cx26) and connexin 30 (Cx30) have been linked to syndromic and nonsyndromic hearing loss in mice and humans. The release of ATP from connexin hemichannels in cochlear nonsensory cells has been proposed to be the main trigger for action potential activity in immature sensory inner hair cells (IHCs), which is crucial for the refinement of the developing auditory circuitry. Using connexin knock-out mice, we show that IHCs fire spontaneous action potentials even in the absence of ATP-dependent intercellular Ca(2+) signaling in the nonsensory cells. However, this signaling from nonsensory cells was able to increase the intrinsic IHC firing frequency. We also found that connexin expression is key to IHC functional maturation. In Cx26 conditional knock-out mice (Cx26(Sox10-Cre)), the maturation of IHCs, which normally occurs at approximately postnatal day 12, was partially prevented. Although Cx30 has been shown not to be required for hearing in young adult mice, IHCs from Cx30 knock-out mice exhibited a comprehensive brake in their development, such that their basolateral membrane currents and synaptic machinery retain a prehearing phenotype. We propose that IHC functional differentiation into mature sensory receptors is initiated in the prehearing cochlea provided that the expression of either connexin reaches a threshold level. As such, connexins regulate one of the most crucial functional refinements in the mammalian cochlea, the disruption of which contributes to the deafness phenotype observed in mice and DFNB1 patients. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The correct development and function of the mammalian cochlea relies not only on the sensory hair cells, but also on the surrounding nonsensory cells. Although the nonsensory cells have been largely implicated in the general homeostasis in the mature cochlea, their involvement in the initial functional differentiation of the sensory inner hair cells is less clear. Using mutant mouse models for the most common form of congenital deafness in humans, which are knock-outs for the gap-junction channels connexin 26 and connexin 30 genes, we show that defects in nonsensory cells prevented the functional maturation of inner hair cells. In connexin knock-outs, inner hair cells remained stuck at a prehearing stage of development and, as such, are unable to process sound information

Polymorphisms in Pepsinogen C and miRNA Genes Associate with High Serum Pepsinogen II in Gastric Cancer Patients

Background: Pepsinogen (PG) II (PGII) is a serological marker used to estimate the risk of gastric cancer but how PGII expression is regulated is largely unknown. It has been suggested that PGII expression, from the PGC (Progastricsin) gene, is regulated by microRNAs (miRNA), but how PGII levels vary with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and miRNAs genotype remains unclear. Methods: Serum levels of PGI and PGII were determined in 80 patients with gastric cancer and persons at risk for gastric cancer (74 first-degree relatives of patients, 62 patients with autoimmune chronic atrophic gastritis, and 2 patients with dysplasia), with and without H. pylori infection. As control from the general population, 52 blood donors were added to the analyses. Associations between PGII levels and genetic variants in PGC and miRNA genes in these groups were explored based on H. pylori seropositivity and the risk for gastric cancer. The two-dimensional difference in gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and the NanoString analysis of messenger RNA (mRNAs) from gastric cancer tissue were used to determine the pathways associated with increased PGII levels. Results: PGII levels were significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer, and in those with H. pylori infection, than in other patients or controls. A PGI/PGII ratio 3 was found better than PGI < 25 ng/mL to identify patients with gastric cancer (15.0% vs. 8.8%). For two genetic variants, namely rs8111742 in miR-Let-7e and rs121224 in miR-365b, there were significant differences in PGII levels between genotype groups among patients with gastric cancer (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively), but not among other study subjects. Moreover, a strict relation between rs9471643 C-allele with H. pylori infection and gastric cancer was underlined. Fold change in gene expression of mRNA isolated from gastric cancer tissue correlated well with polymorphism, H. pylori infection, increased PGII level, and pathway for bacteria cell entry into the host. Conclusions: Serum PGII levels depend in part on an interaction between H. pylori and host miRNA genotypes, which may interfere with the cut-off of PGI/PGII ratio used to identify persons at risk of gastric cancer. Results reported new findings regarding the relation among H. pylori, PGII-related host polymorphism, and genes involved in this interaction in the gastric cancer setting

Evaluation of botanical insecticides to control whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) and tomato flee (Halticu ssp) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.), in Nicaragua

El complejo mosca blanca (Bemisia tabaci)-Geminivirus y Halticus sp son las principales plagas causantes de pérdidas económicas en el cultivo de tomate (Solanum lycopersicum Mill) en el municipio de Tisma-Masaya. En base a esta situación se realizó un estudio para evaluar la efectividad que tiene para controlar estas y otras plagas secundarias los tratamientos botánicos: chile + ajo + jabón, madero negro, crisantemo, extracto alcohólico + chile, extracto alcohólico + chile + ajo y testigo en el período comprendido entre diciembre 2013 a febrero 2014. De los tratamientos evaluados, el menor número de moscas blancas por planta y el menor porcentaje de severidad a los cien después de trasplante lo obtuvo el tratamiento extracto alcohólico + chile + ajo. El tratamiento madero negro presentó la mayor efectividad en el manejo de poblaciones de Halticus sp. El mayor rendimiento se obtuvo con extracto alcohólico + chile + ajo con 34 685.18 kg ha-1 seguido del tratamiento chile + ajo + jabón con 30 614.28 kg ha-1. De acuerdo al análisis de tasa de retorno marginal, el tratamiento chile+ajo+jabón es el que obtuvo la mejor tasa de retorno marginal con 1 476%, es decir, USD 14.76 por cada dólar invertido. Además el análisis de biotipo de mosca blanca realizado en la Universidad de Tucson, Arizona muestra que un 66.66% corresponde a la mosca blanca autóctona (biotipo A), y el 33.33% corresponde al biotipo B, el cual es más agresivo que el A. Según el análisis de los begomovirus se determinó: enrollamiento severo de la hoja de tomate (ToSLCV) con al menos 96% de identidad en las muestras y el virus del mosaico dorado de la chiltoma (PepGMV) con un 98% de identidad.The whitefly-virus complex (Bemisia tabaci)-Geminivirus and Halticus sp. are the main cause of economic losses in tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum Mill) in the municipality of Tisma, Masaya. Due to this situation, a study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of botanical insecticides such as: Chile + Garlic + Soap, Madero Negro, Chrysanthemum, alcoholic extract + Chili and alcoholic extract + Chili + Garlic in the period from December 2013 to February 2014. Of the treatments evaluated, the lowest number of whiteflies per plant and lower percentage of severity at one hundred days after transplanting was obtained with the treatment Alcoholic extract+Chili+Garlic. The treatment Madero Negro had the highest effectiveness in managing populations of Halticus sp. The economic analysis showed that the highest yield was obtained by the Alcoholic extract+Chili+Garlic with 34 685.18 kg/ha-1 followed by the treatment Chili+Garlic+Soap with 30 614.28 kg/ha-1. According to the marginal return analysis, this proved that the treatment Chili+Garlic+Soap is the one who obtained the best marginal rate of return with 1 476 %, which means that USD 14.76 is obtained for every dollar invested. According to samples of tomato tissue and whiteflies insect samples sent for analysis to at the University of Arizona in Tucson, this determined that the 66.66% of white flies samples from Tisma are indigenous whitefly, biotype “A”, and the 33.33% corresponds to the “B” biotype, the one that is more aggressive than “A”. The Begomoviruses analysis found that severe curl leaf tomato (ToSLCV) with at least 96% and golden mosaic virus of pepper (PepGMV) with 98% identity were identified in this stud