Multilingual Legislation in the European Union. EU and National Legislative-Language Styles and Terminology

One approach is to consider a specific piece of EU text in a range of languages and consider how the text is reproduced in each language in terms of structure and terminology. Since the original draft is frequently made by non-native speakers and then translated into the other EU languages, which are bound by the structure of the base version, we obtain little information from it about divergent national linguistic and legislative methods. However, if the EU text is a directive which is transposed into national law, we should be able also to look at the national implementing legislation intended to implement the directive. The implementing texts are produced within the national legal context and, one assumes, aim at similar results, as laid down by the directive. Thus it could be expected that they should provide vehicles for study between the national systems and between each national system and the EU legal order. The paper explores these ideas to see where they lead

PROFILOWANIE PRAWNO-JĘZYKOWE W OSADZENIU INSTYTUCJONALNYM – NA PRZYKŁADZIE PRACOWNICZYCH ORGANÓW PRZEDSTAWICIELSKICH W UE

This paper applies a structured legal-linguistic profiling approach to EU “staff representation bodies” as a way to access domains that lie behind the public face of EU institutions and their texts concerning translation, language and terminology. The study commences with a legal-linguistic analysis of EU texts for references to “staff”, “staff representation” and “employment” in order to identify specific texts and bodies of relevance to the study. This approach leads to two broad categories: staff committees and trade unions. Information is sought from EU institutions about these bodies and their translation and language arrangements, and a list is made of websites available to the general public. These sites are then examined as part of the legal-linguistic profiling approach.W niniejszym artykule zastosowano ustrukturyzowane podejście do profilowania prawno-językowego do „unijnych organów reprezentujących pracowników” jako sposobu dostępu do obszarów poza oficjalnym obliczem instytucji UE oraz ich tekstów dotyczących tłumaczeń, języka i terminologii. Badanie rozpoczyna się od analizy prawno-językowej tekstów UE pod kątem odniesień do „pracowników”, „reprezentacji pracowników” i „zatrudnienia” w celu zidentyfikowania konkretnych tekstów i organów mających znaczenie dla badania. Takie podejście prowadzi do dwóch kategorii, ujmowanych szeroko: komitetów pracowniczych i związków zawodowych. Instytucje UE poszukują informacji na temat tych organów oraz ich tłumaczeń i ustaleń językowych. Sporządzono także listę stron internetowych dostępnych dla ogółu społeczeństwa, które następnie są badane w ramach profilowania prawno-językowego

Euler Characteristic in Odd Dimensions

It is well known that the Euler characteristic of an odd dimensional compact manifold is zero. An Euler complex is a combinatorial analogue of a compact manifold. We present here an elementary proof of the corresponding result for Euler complexes

Numerical simulation of the airflow–rivulet interaction associated with the rain-wind induced vibration phenomenon

Rain-wind induced vibration is an aeroelastic phenomenon that occurs on the inclined cables of cable-stayed bridges. The vibrations are believed to be caused by a complicated nonlinear interaction between rivulets of rain water that run down the cables and the wind loading on the cables due to the unsteady aerodynamic flow field. Recent research at the University of Strathclyde has been to develop a numerical method to simulate the influence of the external air flow on the rivulet dynamics and vice versa, the results of which can be used to assess the importance of the water rivulets on the instability. The numerical approach for the first time couples a Discrete Vortex Method solver to determine the external flow field and unsteady aerodynamic loading, and a pseudo-spectral solver based on lubrication theory to model the evolution and growth of the water rivulets on the cable surface under external loading. The results of the coupled model are used to assess the effects of various loading combinations, and importantly are consistent with previous full scale and experimental observations of rain-wind induced vibration, providing new information about the underlying physical mechanisms of the instability

A Bayesian space-time model for discrete spread processes on a lattice

Funding for this work was provided by GEOIDE through the Government of Canada’s Networks for Centres of Excellence program.In this article we present a Bayesian Markov model for investigating environmental spread processes. We formulate a model where the spread of a disease over a heterogeneous landscape through time is represented as a probabilistic function of two processes: local diffusion and random-jump dispersal. This formulation represents two mechanisms of spread which result in highly peaked and long-tailed distributions of dispersal distances (i.e., local and long-distance spread), commonly observed in the spread of infectious diseases and biological invasions. We demonstrate the properties of this model using a simulation experiment and an empirical case study - the spread of mountain pine beetle in western Canada. Posterior predictive checking was used to validate the number of newly inhabited regions in each time period. The model performed well in the simulation study in which a goodness-of-fit statistic measuring the number of newly inhabited regions in each time interval fell within the 95% posterior predictive credible interval in over 97% of simulations. The case study of a mountain pine beetle infestation in western Canada (1999-2009) extended the base model in two ways. First, spatial covariates thought to impact the local diffusion parameters, elevation and forest cover, were included in the model. Second, a refined definition for translocation or jump-dispersal based on mountain pine beetle ecology was incorporated improving the fit of the model. Posterior predictive checks on the mountain pine beetle model found that the observed goodness-of-fit test statistic fell within the 95% posterior predictive credible interval for 8 out of 10. years. The simulation study and case study provide evidence that the model presented here is both robust and flexible; and is therefore appropriate for a wide range of spread processes in epidemiology and ecology.PostprintPeer reviewe

stampr : Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Moving Polygons in R

The R package stampr implements functions for analyzing movement in mapped polygon data. Methods described in this paper include deriving change events based on spatial relationships, plotting change events, summarizing measures of distance and direction of movement, characterizing changes in polygon shape shape changes, and characterizing sequences of polygons over time using graphs. Two examples are used to demonstrate the core functionality available in the stampr package.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Insomnia symptoms as a cause of type 2 diabetes incidence: a 20 year cohort study

Background: Insomnia symptoms are associated with type 2 diabetes incidence but are also associated with a range of potential time-varying covariates which may confound and/or mediate associations. We aimed to assess whether cumulative exposure to insomnia symptoms has a causal effect on type 2 diabetes incidence. Methods: A prospective cohort study in the West of Scotland, following respondents for 20 years from age 36. 996 respondents were free of diabetes at baseline and had valid data from up to four follow-up visits. Type 2 diabetes was assessed at the final visit by self-report, taking diabetic medication, or blood-test (HbA1c ≥ 6.5% or 48 mmol/mol). Effects of cumulative insomnia exposure on type 2 diabetes incidence were estimated with traditional regression and marginal structural models, adjusting for time-dependent confounding (smoking, diet, physical inactivity, obesity, heavy drinking, psychiatric distress) as well as for gender and baseline occupational class. Results: Traditional regression yielded an odds ratio (OR) of 1.34 (95% CI: 1.06-1.70) for type 2 diabetes incidence for each additional survey wave in which insomnia was reported. Marginal structural models adjusted for prior covariates (assuming concurrently measured covariates were potential mediators), reduced this OR to 1.20 (95% CI: 0.98-1.46), and when concurrent covariates were also included (viewing them as potential confounders) this dropped further to 1.08 (95% CI: 0.85-1.37). Conclusions: The association between cumulative experience of insomnia and type 2 diabetes incidence appeared confounded. Evidence for a residual causal effect depended on assumptions as to whether concurrently measured covariates were confounders or mediators

Effects of drinking-water filtration on Cryptosporidium Seroepidemiology, Scotland

Continuous exposure to low levels of Cryptosporidium oocysts is associated with production of protective antibodies. We investigated prevalence of antibodies against the 27-kDa Cryptosporidium oocyst antigen among blood donors in 2 areas of Scotland supplied by drinking water from different sources with different filtration standards: Glasgow (not filtered) and Dundee (filtered). During 2006–2009, seroprevalence and risk factor data were collected; this period includes 2007, when enhanced filtration was introduced to the Glasgow supply. A serologic response to the 27-kDa antigen was found for ≈75% of donors in the 2 cohorts combined. Mixed regression modeling indicated a 32% step-change reduction in seroprevalence of antibodies against Cryptosporidium among persons in the Glasgow area, which was associated with introduction of enhanced filtration treatment. Removal of Cryptosporidium oocysts from water reduces the risk for waterborne exposure, sporadic infections, and outbreaks. Paradoxically, however, oocyst removal might lower immunity and increase the risk for infection from other sources

Sunlight and mental wellbeing: evidence of links from social housing in Glasgow, Scotland [Conference abstract]

Paper accepted for presentation at VELUX Daylight Symposium 2015 (London