Thresholds and What Seems to Be: Munro’s First Sentences

This paper provides an overview of Alice Munro’s first sentences from her 149 stories published in her 14 collections. Despite the epithet “Munroesque,” there is a remarkable variety to the typical Munro story and Munro’s style. Many of her stories begin with short, mundanely declarative sentences of a few words; many other first sentences stretch over several lines; many foreground time or, more accurately, time past. The variety of these first sentences might lead the cataloguer to despair or to proclaim fatuously that the Munroesque quality of her fiction lies in how different it all is …. Though generalizations are dangerous, there is one constant: for all their stylistic diversity, Munro’s first sentences tend to establish a tension between what is realistic and tangible and the seeming, what lies beneath or hidden

Cultural Awareness among First-Year Undergraduate Students of English and Translation

The article presents the results of a culture quiz that was administered among undergraduate students of English and Translation at the University of Maribor in 2019. Comprising twenty items from five domains of culture that the respondents had to identify, the results of the quiz showed that that the students were most familiar with items from the domains of technology and its closely related vocabulary, followed by sports, politics and high culture (drama, literature, ballet). The study also suggested some differences based on respondents’ gender and their high school grade performance in English. The results partly overlap with the results of a similar study from 2007, corroborating that popular culture remains the most recognizable cultural domain among the surveyed students

Cultural Awareness among First-Year Undergraduate Students of English and Translation

The article presents the results of a culture quiz that was administered among undergraduate students of English and Translation at the University of Maribor in 2019. Comprising twenty items from five domains of culture that the respondents had to identify, the results of the quiz showed that that the students were most familiar with items from the domains of technology and its closely related vocabulary, followed by sports, politics and high culture (drama, literature, ballet). The study also suggested some differences based on respondents’ gender and their high school grade performance in English. The results partly overlap with the results of a similar study from 2007, corroborating that popular culture remains the most recognizable cultural domain among the surveyed students

Prevajalce poučujemo jezik drugače, mar ne?

Kompetenčni okvir EMT (2022) jezikovno zmožnost (v navezi s kulturno) opisuje kot temelj vseh drugih zmožnosti poklicnih prevajalcev. Njen razvoj je zato v ospredju bolonjskih dodiplomski prevajalskih programov, medtem ko za magistrske prevajalske programe Kompetenčni okvir EMT določa, da študenti za vpis potrebujejo visoko raven jezikovne zmožnosti v najmanj dveh delovnih jezikih oziroma raven učinkovitosti C1 ali več po Skupnem evropskem jezikovnem okviru (SEJO). Poučevanje maternega in tujega jezika prihodnjih prevajalcev (in tolmačev) bi moralo biti zato prilagojeno njihovim specializiranim potrebam, s čimer se v številnih pogledih uvršča v okvir jezikov stroke (Cerezo Herrero 2018, Koletnik 2019). Na Oddelku za prevodoslovje Univerze v Mariboru zato že od leta 2012 ob začetku študija preverjamo jezikovno zmožnost študentov angleškega programa, od leta 2013 pa tudi obseg besedišča, in rezultate upoštevamo pri načrtovanju jezikovnega pouka. Medtem ko so bile v preteklosti že objavljene delne analize uspešnosti tako prilagojenega poučevanja (prim. Koletnik 2020 v povezavi z razvijanjem prevajalske zmožnosti, Koletnik in Tement 2020 za razvijanje besedišča), celostna analiza doslej še ni bila izvedena. Prav tako je deziderat primerjava oziroma korelacija izhodiščne zmožnosti s splošnim uspehom študentov pri jezikovnih predmetih na prevajalskem študiju, ki jo prinaša pričujoči članek. Dosedanje analize so sicer pokazale, da se za dodiplomski prevajalski študij angleškega jezika na Univerzi v Mariboru odločajo študenti z visoko razvito jezikovno zmožnostjo, kar predstavlja dodaten izziv pri snovanju učnih aktivnosti in materialov, obenem pa je dobra popotnica za magistrski študij prevajanja in tolmačenja

Translating in Theory and Action: Contemporary Contexts in Translation

The guest editors' objective was to open up a space for researchers to reflect on and rethink the role of different categories of translation and interpreting in contemporary contexts, engaging with both theory and practice.

Prediction of Human Intestinal Absorption by GA Feature Selection and Support Vector Machine Regression

QSAR (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships) models for the prediction of human intestinal absorption (HIA) were built with molecular descriptors calculated by ADRIANA.Code, Cerius2 and a combination of them. A dataset of 552 compounds covering a wide range of current drugs with experimental HIA values was investigated. A Genetic Algorithm feature selection method was applied to select proper descriptors. A Kohonen's self-organizing Neural Network (KohNN) map was used to split the whole dataset into a training set including 380 compounds and a test set consisting of 172 compounds. First, the six selected descriptors from ADRIANA.Code and the six selected descriptors from Cerius2 were used as the input descriptors for building quantitative models using Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis and Support Vector Machine (SVM) Regression. Then, another two models were built based on nine descriptors selected by a combination of ADRIANA.Code and Cerius2 descriptors using PLS and SVM, respectively. For the three SVM models, correlation coefficients (r) of 0.87, 0.89 and 0.88 were achieved; and standard deviations (s) of 10.98, 9.72 and 9.14 were obtained for the test set

Neonatal Mortality Levels for 193 Countries in 2009 with Trends since 1990: A Systematic Analysis of Progress, Projections, and Priorities

Mikkel Oestergaard and colleagues develop annual estimates for neonatal mortality rates and neonatal deaths for 193 countries for 1990 to 2009, and forecasts into the future

How Can We Advance Integrative Biology Research in Animal Science in 21st Century?:Experience at University of Ljubljana from 2002 to 2022

In this perspective analysis, we strive to answer the following question: how can we advance integrative biology research in the 21st century with lessons from animal science? At the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Animal Science, we share here our three lessons learned in the two decades from 2002 to 2022 that we believe could inform integrative biology, systems science, and animal science scholarship in other countries and geographies. Cultivating multiomics knowledge through a conceptual lens of integrative biology is crucial for life sciences research that can stand the test of diverse biological, clinical, and ecological contexts. Moreover, in an era of the current COVID-19 pandemic, animal nutrition and animal science, and the study of their interactions with human health (and vice versa) through integrative biology approaches hold enormous prospects and significance for systems medicine and ecosystem health

The Future of General Systems Research: Obstacles, Potentials, Case Studies

This paper attempts to provide an evaluative and prescriptive overview of the young field of systems science as exemplified by one of its 'specialties' general systems theory (GST). Subjective observation and some data on seven vital signs are presented to measure the progress of the field over the last two decades. Thirty-three specific obstacles inhibiting current research in systems science are presented. Suggestions for overcoming these obstacles are cited as a prescription for improved progress in the field. A sampling of some of the potential near-term developments that may be expected in the three rather distinct areas of research on systems isomorphics, improvement of systems methodologies, and the utility of systems applications are illustrated with mini-case studies. Throughout, there is an attempt to identify 'key' questions and practical mechanisms that might serve as a stimulus for research. Finally, a set of criteria defining a general theory of systems is suggested and illustrated with a case study. The paper concludes with a projection of the long-term contributions that systems science may make toward a resolution of the growing chasm between high-tech solutions and high-value needs in human systems

Emerging themes to support ambitious UK marine biodiversity conservation

Healthy marine ecosystems provide a wide range of resources and services that support life on Earth and contribute to human wellbeing. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are accepted as an important tool for the restoration and maintenance of marine ecosystem structure, function, health and ecosystem integrity through the conservation of significant species, habitats, or entire ecosystems. In recent years there has been a rapid expansion in the area of ocean designated as an MPA. Despite this progress in spatial protection targets and the progressive knowledge of the essential interdependence between the human and the ocean system, marine biodiversity continues to decline, placing in jeopardy the range of ecosystem services benefits humans rely on. There is a need to address this shortcoming. Ambitious marine conservation:• Requires a shift from managing individual marine features within MPAs to whole-sites to enable repair and renewal of marine systems;• Reflects an ambition for sustainable livelihoods by fully integrating fisheries management with conservation (Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management) as the two are critically interdependent;• Establishes a world class and cost effective ecological and socio-economic monitoring and evaluation framework that includes the use of controls and sentinel sites to improve sustainability in marine management; and• Challenges policy makers and practitioners to be progressive by integrating MPAs into the wider seascape as critical functional components rather than a competing interest and move beyond MPAs as the only tool to underpin the benefits derived from marine ecosystems by identifying other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) to establish synergies with wider governance frameworks