General Translation Research Articles

The role of altered translation in intellectual disability and epilepsy.

A very high proportion of cases of intellectual disability are genetic in origin and are associated with the occurrence of epileptic seizures during childhood. These two disorders together effect more than 5% of the world's population. One feature linking the two diseases is that learning and memory require the synthesis of new synaptic components and ion channels, while maintenance of overall excitability also requires synthesis of similar proteins in response to altered neuronal stimulation. Many of these disorders result from mutations in proteins that regulate mRNA processing, translation initiation, translation elongation, mRNA stability or upstream translation modulators. One theme that emerges on reviewing this field is that mutations in proteins that regulate changes in translation following neuronal stimulation are more likely to result in epilepsy with intellectual disability than general translation regulators with no known role in activity-dependent changes. This is consistent with the notion that activity-dependent translation in neurons differs from that in other cells types in that the changes in local cellular composition, morphology and connectivity that occur generally in response to stimuli are directly coupled to local synaptic activity and persist for months or years after the original stimulus.

Translating the sacred

Abstract One of the contentious issues in religious translation since the legendary St. Jerome is the degree of the translator’s agency. The point of contention has been whether the translator can exercise agency and freedom in translating sacred texts or they should strictly adhere to the form and attend to what St. Jerome called the “mysterious syntax” of the sacred text. Using a stylistic approach (Abdul-Raof 2001 and 2006; Abdel Haleem 1992), we address the issue of the translator’s agency in religious translation by examining the translations of a unique rhetorical feature, namely the verb-noun alternation, by seven key translators in Verses 59, 64, 69 and 72 of Chapter 56, Al-Wāqi‘ah. Despite the general assumption that religious translation is highly constrained and that the translators of this type of text have little freedom, the findings of this paper show that religious translators, in fact, do exercise agency in their translation, whether in the form of adapting the source text to the target text readers or in the form of reproducing the grammatical patterning of the source text for cultural or ideological reasons.

Transcriptional Role of the Cdk8 Kinase Module with Protein Synthesis Machinery Before and After Nitrogen Starvation

Translation is tightly coupled to growth status. Efficient protein synthesis is necessary for cell growth in nutrient rich environments, while global translation inhibition combined with selective translation of stress‐responsive mRNAs helps limit growth in times of stress. How does the cell alter protein synthesis machinery to survive in stress such as nutrient deprivation? A few mechanisms in nitrogen starvation include selective degradation of specific mRNA‐binding translation factors, inhibition of activators of genes whose products are required for general translation, and the primarily cap‐independent selective translation of mRNAs necessary for the stress response. How and when these occur, however, have remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that the highly conserved Cdk8 kinase module (CKM) of the mediator complex (cyclin C, Cdk8, Med13, and Med12) transcriptionally upregulates genes encoding 60S ribosome proteins and cap‐dependent initiation factors such as eIF4G1 in physiological conditions. Yeast CKM is known to predominantly repress stress response genes (SRG), and our previous findings revealed that SRG suppression is relieved through the degradation of Med13 and cyclin C following both cell survival and death cues. Our recent data suggest that degradation of the CKM following nitrogen starvation may play a transcriptional role in altering the levels of proteins no longer needed for general translation. Additionally, while cyclin C has a secondary role of promoting mitochondrial fragmentation in the cytoplasm following oxidative stress, we have previously found that Med13 goes to the cytoplasm to be degraded via autophagy following nitrogen starvation. Our preliminary data also shows Med13 associating with proteins involved in translation regulation in nitrogen starvation, suggesting it may also have a more direct role in controlling translation. The CKM is thus a multi‐faceted hub that can provide insight to how the cell adapts to stress on both the level of transcription and translation.

α-Phenylalanyl tRNA synthetase competes with Notch signaling through its N-terminal domain

The alpha subunit of the cytoplasmic Phenylalanyl tRNA synthetase (α-PheRS, FARSA in humans) displays cell growth and proliferation activities and its elevated levels can induce cell fate changes and tumor-like phenotypes that are neither dependent on the canonical function of charging tRNAPhe with phenylalanine nor on stimulating general translation. In intestinal stem cells of Drosophila midguts, α-PheRS levels are naturally slightly elevated and human FARSA mRNA levels are elevated in multiple cancers. In the Drosophila midgut model, elevated α-PheRS levels caused the accumulation of many additional proliferating cells resembling intestinal stem cells (ISCs) and enteroblasts (EBs). This phenotype partially resembles the tumor-like phenotype described as Notch RNAi phenotype for the same cells. Genetic interactions between α-PheRS and Notch suggest that their activities neutralize each other and that elevated α-PheRS levels attenuate Notch signaling when Notch induces differentiation into enterocytes, type II neuroblast stem cell proliferation, or transcription of a Notch reporter. These non-canonical functions all map to the N-terminal part of α-PheRS which accumulates naturally in the intestine. This truncated version of α-PheRS (α-S) also localizes to nuclei and displays weak sequence similarity to the Notch intracellular domain (NICD), suggesting that α-S might compete with the NICD for binding to a common target. Supporting this hypothesis, the tryptophan (W) residue reported to be key for the interaction between the NICD and the Su(H) BTD domain is not only conserved in α-PheRS and α-S, but also essential for attenuating Notch signaling.

Approximations and Appropriations

The article explores the suitability of the terms approximation and appropriation for describing source–target relations in song translations. It is argued that the terms are fit and flexible enough to serve the variability of sung target texts, the many contexts and genres songs appear in, and the fact a song must be performed to be a song. They can be understood simply as ‘coming or getting near’ and ‘making it your own,’ respectively, but they can also be used to recognize different kinds of approximation (textual, musical, stylistic-aesthetic, visual, etc.) and signs of appropriation (discoursal, sociocultural, ethnic, etc.). The terms have been used in previous research in music and translation but less so in general translation studies, perhaps because of a perceived connotation of imperfection or controversy. The variability of song translation is discussed through diverse examples: two hit tunes, a music video, a hymn, a scout song, and an opera aria. A song translation can (only) deliver an approximation of some qualities of a source song, but it will also (often) change some of those qualities in an appropriation for a new situation.

Analysis of Alternative Splicing During the Combinatorial Response to Simultaneous Copper and Iron Deficiency in Arabidopsis Reveals Differential Events in Genes Involved in Amino Acid Metabolism.

Copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) constitute fundamental nutrients for plant biology but are often limited due to low bioavailability. Unlike responses to single Cu or Fe deprivation, the consequences of simultaneous Cu and Fe deficiency have not yet been fully deciphered. Previously, it was demonstrated that Cu and Fe deficiency applied in combination imposes transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome changes different from those triggered under each deficiency individually. Here, we evaluated the effect of alternative splicing (AS) on the transcriptome of rosette leaves under single and simultaneous Cu and Fe deficiency. Differentially spliced genes (DSGs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) coincided in number (2,600 approx.) although the overlapping fraction was minimal (15%). Functional annotation of changes exclusively detected under simultaneous Cu and Fe deficiency revealed that DEGs participated in general stress responses and translation, while DSGs were involved in metabolic reactions, especially amino acid biosynthesis. Interestingly, transcripts encoding central features for tryptophan (Trp) and asparagine (Asn) synthesis – two significantly altered metabolites under simultaneous Cu and Fe deficiency – underwent exclusive intron retention events under the double deficiency. However, transcript and protein amounts for these enzymes did not correlate with Trp and Asn concentration. In consequence, we propose that AS might act as a regulatory mechanism to modify the stability and/or functionality of the enzymes and therefore fine-tune amino acid production during the combinatorial response to simultaneous Cu and Fe deficiency.

Audio description and subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing

Abstract This paper presents the teaching innovation project AUDIOSUB, which aimed at assessing the didactic potential of audio description (AD) and subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) in foreign language education. Within an online setting, 25 undergraduates of English Studies in a Spanish university worked collaboratively for two months and a half, in groups of five, so as to provide accessibility to complete short films. To that end, they were provided with a number of ad hoc tutorials and guidelines on technical issues related to AD and SDH, the two media accessibility modes used for this proposal. A pre-experiment was designed for data collection: pre- and post- writing and oral production tests, as well as general translation pre- and post- tests, were administered, and quantitative data were exploited using SPSS; pre-and post- questionnaires and observation were also used to triangulate and complement the analysis. The results show evidence of improvement both in written production and in general translation skills thanks to the pedagogical application of media accessibility and point towards a more systematic exploitation of didactic SDH and AD in the foreign language learning context.

“A good translator can be androgynous”: an interview with Niaz Zaman

ABSTRACT Niaz Zaman, a renowned academic, translator, editor, essayist, and writer, has been translating Bengali literature into English for a long time. Her translation works, which are widely read, are critically acclaimed as well. She has translated numerous books and anthologies, and edited a great number of short story collections. Well known as a translator of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh, she has also carried across classical, modern, and contemporary voices of Bengali literature. An inspiring figure of literary translation, she promotes emerging translators from Bangladesh, showcasing their work in various anthologies. In this interview, Zaman addresses various issues of translation in general and literary translation in particular, giving an account of her wide range of translation works. The interview, conducted online during May, June, and July 2021, also focuses on her individual strategies and techniques of translation, her inspirations and a long journey in the realm of literary translation, and her general observations and comments on translation.

Drosophila Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) Assays In Vitro and In Vivo.

Wildtype or mutant proteins expressed beyond the capacity of a cell's protein folding system could be detrimental to general cellular function and survival. In response to misfolded protein overload in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), eukaryotic cells activate the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) that helps cells restore protein homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). As part of the UPR, cells attenuate general mRNA translation and activate transcription factors that induce stress-responsive gene expression.UPR signaling draws research interest in part because conditions that cause chronic protein misfolding in the ER or those that impair UPR signaling underlie several diseases including neurodegeneration, diabetes, and cancers. Model organisms are frequently employed in the field as the UPR pathways are generally well-conserved throughout phyla. Here, we introduce experimental procedures to detect UPR in Drosophila melanogaster.

A Translating Decision-Making Process Study of Newly Discovered Chinese Translation <i>On the Exercise of Judgementin Literature</i> by Yan Fu from Translation Sociological Framework

The English master copy of On the Exercise of Judgement in Literature, a book by W. Basil Worsfold, a British aesthetician, and its Chinese version translated by Yan Fu, have been revealed. As the only general aesthetic translation in the late Qing Dynasty, the book has not received the attention of academic circles so far, mostly because the translation is incomplete and has not been published. How Worsfold’s ideas were presented to the Chinese audience is an interesting case study in intellectual diffusion. The newly discovered unfinished manual scripts on the margins of the original text by Yan are additions to a text with the intention of providing greater clarity for specific interpretive decisions. The paper reassesses Yan’s agenda and position in translating and constructing literary esthetic modernity by scrutinizing how manual scripts interacted with the source text. It also argues specifically the use of manuscript material to investigate the various stages in the construction of the translation product—translated esthetic thoughts, literary criticism, artistic conception into China. The paper holds the value of this research material which has been drastically under-exploited in translation studies to date in investigating the mind-processing and decision-making of the translator and how it might complement and interact with other sources.

Book Review. A New Contribution to the Treasury of Translation Theory

Book Review. A New Contribution to the Treasury of Translation Theory

The Translation Theory of the dGe lugs pa School Seen in the <i>Dag yig mkhas pa’i ’byung gnas</i>, the Authorized Tibetan-Mongolian Dictionary of Buddhist Terminology by lCang skya rol pa’i rdo rje

The Dag yig mKhas pa’i ’byung gnas （abbr. DKh） compiled by lCan skya rol pa’i rdo rje （1717-1786） is characterized by the doctrinal tenets of the dGe lugs pa school, which give priority to the views of the prasaṅgika Madhyamaka. This dGe lugs pa scholastic tradition is not necessarily accepted by other schools, nor would its interpretation be applicable to the original Tibetan texts, and so it would not necessarily be valid as a general translation theory. This paper explores the degree to which that rule was adopted. There is an invocation of reverence to lCang skya, the author of DKh, in each of the colophons of the Mongolian translations of the Madhyamakāvatārabhāṣya （Candrakīrti） and Madhyamakāvatāraṭikā （Jayānanda）. Therefore, it can be assumed that the translator knew the author of DKh.

Frameshifting at collided ribosomes is modulated by elongation factor eEF3 and by integrated stress response regulators Gcn1 and Gcn20.

Ribosome stalls can result in ribosome collisions that elicit quality control responses, one function of which is to prevent ribosome frameshifting, an activity that entails the interaction of the conserved yeast protein Mbf1 with uS3 on colliding ribosomes. However, the full spectrum of factors that mediate frameshifting during ribosome collisions is unknown. To delineate such factors in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we used genetic selections for mutants that affect frameshifting from a known ribosome stall site, CGA codon repeats. We show that the general translation elongation factor eEF3 and the integrated stress response (ISR) pathway components Gcn1 and Gcn20 modulate frameshifting in opposing manners. We found a mutant form of eEF3 that specifically suppressed frameshifting, but not translation inhibition by CGA codons. Thus, we infer that frameshifting at collided ribosomes requires eEF3, which facilitates tRNA–mRNA translocation and E-site tRNA release in yeast and other single cell organisms. In contrast, we found that removal of either Gcn1 or Gcn20, which bind collided ribosomes with Mbf1, increased frameshifting. Thus, we conclude that frameshifting is suppressed by Gcn1 and Gcn20, although these effects are not mediated primarily through activation of the ISR. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between eEF3-mediated frameshifting and other quality control mechanisms, finding that Mbf1 requires either Hel2 or Gcn1 to suppress frameshifting with wild-type eEF3. Thus, these results provide evidence of a direct link between translation elongation and frameshifting at collided ribosomes, as well as evidence that frameshifting is constrained by quality control mechanisms that act on collided ribosomes.

Deficiency of ER Ca2+ sensor STIM1 in AgRP neurons confers protection against dietary obesity.

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is pivotal in maintaining intracellular Ca2+ level and cell function; however, its role in obesity development remains largely unknown. Here, we show that the stromal interaction molecule 1 (Stim1), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+ sensor for SOCE, is critically involved in obesity development. Pharmacological blockade of SOCE in the brain, or disruption of Stim1 in hypothalamic agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-producing neurons (ASKO), significantly ameliorates dietary obesity and its associated metabolic disorders. Conversely, constitutive activation of Stim1 in AgRP neurons leads to an obesity-like phenotype. We show that the blockade of SOCE suppresses general translation in neuronal cells via the 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetase 3 (Oas3)-RNase L signaling. While Oas3 overexpression in AgRP neurons protects mice against dietary obesity, deactivation of RNase L in these neurons significantly abolishes the effect of ASKO. These findings highlight an important role of Stim1 and SOCE in the development of obesity.

Do Fragile X Syndrome and Other Intellectual Disorders Converge at Aberrant Pre-mRNA Splicing?

Fragile X Syndrome is a neuro-developmental disorder caused by the silencing of the FMR1 gene, resulting in the loss of its protein product, FMRP. FMRP binds mRNA and represses general translation in the brain. Transcriptome analysis of the Fmr1-deficient mouse hippocampus reveals widespread dysregulation of alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs. Many of these aberrant splicing changes coincide with those found in post-mortem brain tissue from individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) as well as in mouse models of intellectual disability such as PTEN hamartoma syndrome (PHTS) and Rett Syndrome (RTT). These splicing changes could result from chromatin modifications (e.g., in FXS, RTT) and/or splicing factor alterations (e.g., PTEN, autism). Based on the identities of the RNAs that are mis-spliced in these disorders, it may be that they are at least partly responsible for some shared pathophysiological conditions. The convergence of splicing aberrations among these autism spectrum disorders might be crucial to understanding their underlying cognitive impairments.

Human oncoprotein 5MP suppresses general and repeat-associated non-AUG translation via eIF3 by a common mechanism.

eIF5-mimic protein (5MP) is a translational regulatory protein that binds the small ribosomal subunit and modulates its activity. 5MP is proposed to reprogram non-AUG translation rates for oncogenes in cancer, but its role in controlling non-AUG initiated synthesis of deleterious repeat-peptide products, such as FMRpolyG observed in fragile-X-associated tremor ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), is unknown. Here, we show that 5MP can suppress both general and repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation by a common mechanism in a manner dependent on its interaction with eIF3. Essentially, 5MP displaces eIF5 through the eIF3c subunit within the preinitiation complex (PIC), thereby increasing the accuracy of initiation. In Drosophila, 5MP/Kra represses neuronal toxicity and enhances the lifespan in an FXTAS disease model. These results implicate 5MP in protecting cells from unwanted byproducts of non-AUG translation in neurodegeneration.

General Translation and Covid-19 Terminologies

This article titled ‘General Translation and its texts', is based on the notion of general translation, the composition of its texts and some COVID19 terminologies as a practical example of General Translation especially in the traditional African language, example of Khana. This communication wants to examine general translation and its texts in the pragmatic framework of translation. Study deals with reevaluating the different information misinterpreted in the field of General Translation and its Texts and thus the difference between the concept of general translation and specialized translation within the framework of pragmatic translation. The article then wants to re-establish critical difference in their specificities appropriate to this class of translation with some illustrative documents that we have chosen. The methodology of this study will be documentary hence involves published journals stored in the libraries and on the internet, carrying relevant information to our work. This article offers definitions and proper classification to general translation and its texts in the context of pragmatic translation, because in the study of translation, the notion of general translation and its text is not well structured as a category of translation among the genres and genres of texts in translation and especially in the treatment of translation typologies and text typologies.

Three-dimensional nonlocal-surface energy-based statics, dynamics, and divergence instability of movable cable-like nanostructures with arbitrary translational motion

Previous studies were concerned with transverse vibrations of axially moving nanowires; however, their statics as well as lateral and transverse vibrations and potential instabilities for the most general form of the translational motion in the presence of axially, laterally, and transversely distributed and pointed loads have not been explained yet. To scrutinize this interesting problem simply, but effectively, the authors develop a fairly comprehensive cable-like model for three-dimensionally moving pretensioned wire-like nanostructures in vacuum under static loads accounting for both nonlocality and surface energy. By decomposing the total deformations into the statics and dynamics parts, the continuum-based governing equations pertinent to purely linear static and dynamic states are presented for the first time. The explicit expressions of static deformations and potential divergence instability of the movable nanowire with general translation motion are displayed and discussed. Subsequently, Galerkin methodology based on admissible modes is employed for dynamic analysis of laterally loaded nanowires in the movable manner. The influences of crucial factors on the free vibration response as well as dynamic instability are investigated for various types of motions.

Card-Based Cryptography Meets Formal Verification

Card-based cryptography provides simple and practicable protocols for performing secure multi-party computation with just a deck of cards. For the sake of simplicity, this is often done using cards with only two symbols, e.g., clubsuit and heartsuit . Within this paper, we also target the setting where all cards carry distinct symbols, catering for use-cases with commonly available standard decks and a weaker indistinguishability assumption. As of yet, the literature provides for only three protocols and no proofs for non-trivial lower bounds on the number of cards. As such complex proofs (handling very large combinatorial state spaces) tend to be involved and error-prone, we propose using formal verification for finding protocols and proving lower bounds. In this paper, we employ the technique of software bounded model checking (SBMC), which reduces the problem to a bounded state space, which is automatically searched exhaustively using a SAT solver as a backend. Our contribution is threefold: (a) we identify two protocols for converting between different bit encodings with overlapping bases, and then show them to be card-minimal. This completes the picture of tight lower bounds on the number of cards with respect to runtime behavior and shuffle properties of conversion protocols. For computing AND, we show that there is no protocol with finite runtime using four cards with distinguishable symbols and fixed output encoding, and give a four-card protocol with an expected finite runtime using only random cuts. (b) We provide a general translation of proofs for lower bounds to a bounded model checking framework for automatically finding card- and run-minimal (i.e., the protocol has a run of minimal length) protocols and to give additional confidence in lower bounds. We apply this to validate our method and, as an example, confirm our new AND protocol to have its shortest run for protocols using this number of cards. (c) We extend our method to also handle the case of decks on symbols clubsuit and heartsuit , where we show run-minimality for two AND protocols from the literature.

Distinct features of the Leishmaniacap-binding protein LeishIF4E2 revealed by CRISPR-Cas9 mediated hemizygous deletion.

Leishmania parasites cycle between sand-fly vectors and mammalian hosts adapting to alternating environments by stage-differentiation accompanied by changes in the proteome profiles. Translation regulation plays a central role in driving the differential program of gene expression since control of gene regulation in Leishmania is mostly post-transcriptional. The Leishmania genome encodes six eIF4E paralogs, some of which bind a dedicated eIF4G candidate, and each eIF4E is assumed to have specific functions with perhaps some overlaps. However, LeishIF4E2 does not bind any known eIF4G ortholog and was previously shown to comigrate with the polysomal fractions of sucrose gradients in contrast to the other initiation factors that usually comigrate with pre-initiation and initiation complexes. Here we deleted one of the two LeishIF4E2 gene copies using the CRISPR-Cas9 methodology. The deletion caused severe alterations in the morphology of the mutant cells that became round, small, and equipped with a very short flagellum that did not protrude from its pocket. Reduced expression of LeishIF4E2 had no global effect on translation and growth, unlike other LeishIF4Es; however, there was a change in the proteome profile of the LeishIF4E2(+/-) cells. Upregulated proteins were related mainly to general metabolic processes including enzymes involved in fatty acid metabolism, DNA repair and replication, signaling, and cellular motor activity. The downregulated proteins included flagellar rod and cytoskeletal proteins, as well as surface antigens involved in virulence. Moreover, the LeishIF4E2(+/-) cells were impaired in their ability to infect cultured macrophages. Overall, LeishIF4E2 does not behave like a general translation factor and its function remains elusive. Our results also suggest that the individual LeishIF4Es perform unique functions.