Language barriers and the speed of international knowledge diffusion.

The purpose of this case study was to learn how US patent policy requirements differ for the Software and Pharmaceutical Industries, specifically if United States Patent Policy adequately protects intellectual property rights [1] for two divergent industries while still encouraging research and development (R & D) investment sufficient to increase profits and innovation. Data for this study consisted of 38 witness testimonies delivered to US Congress between the years 2005 and 2010 by experts representing the two industries of interest: pharmaceutical and software. Key findings from the data analysis of these 38 testimonies revealed both within industry differences and between industry differences in patent law protection. Within industry differences showed variance based on size of the company and the degree to which they relied on their own R & D. Between industry differences reflected divergent ‘products’ with Pharmaceutical Industries needing long-term protection to recover R & D expenditures that include expenses for human trials research to proceed from patent application to market. Software industry, on the other hand, uses follow-on innovation of others to continue technological advancement by constantly improving upon existing software. The data show that these two industries use patent policy protection in different ways for different reasons. This information will enable Policymakers to develop another form of product protection in lieu of the current patent law to better meet the needs of these two industries rather than try to modify the existing law.

The majority of Vietnamese Australians migrated to Australia as refugees to escape a war and this unique migration background may affect their ability to access and utilize healthcare services in Australia. Inability to utilize dementia services is associated with higher levels of caregiver burden, higher rates of morbidities and mortality and hospitalization. The aim of the study was to explore the perceived challenges of dementia care from Vietnamese family caregivers and Vietnamese care workers. Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics was used to interpret and describe the experiences of the participants. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with six Vietnamese family caregivers and a focus group with Vietnamese care workers using purposive sampling. Participants were recruited from a Vietnamese community care organization in South Australia. Five themes were identified from the data analysis namely: (1) a need for culturally and linguistically appropriate dementia education programs; (2) a willingness and unwillingness to seek help; (3) poor knowledge of health care service availability related to dementia; (4) the effect of language barrier in accessing services; and (5) the main sources of services utilized. The study revealed that Vietnamese family caregivers and Vietnamese care workers held different views on the association of stigma with dementia. Findings also revealed factors that impacted accessing and utilizing dementia services. These findings facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of Vietnamese family caregivers' needs and have implications for developing individualized support for family caregivers and for consumer-directed dementia services in Australia.

BackgroundLanguage barriers have a major impact on both the quality and the costs of health care. While there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the detrimental effects of language barriers on the quality of health care provision, less is known about their impact on costs. This purpose of this study was to investigate the association between language barriers and the costs of health care.MethodsThe data source was a representative set of asylum seekers whose health care was provided by a Swiss Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO). A cross-sectional survey was conducted: data was collected on all the asylum seekers' health care costs including consultations, diagnostic examinations, medical interventions, stays in the clinic, medication, and interpreter services. The data were analysed using path analysis.ResultsAsylum seekers showed higher health care costs if there were language barriers between them and the health professionals. Most of these increased costs were attributable to those patients who received interpreter services: they used more health care services and more material. However, these patients also had a lower number of visits to the HMO than patients who faced language barriers but did not receive interpreter services.ConclusionLanguage barriers impact health care costs. In line with the limited literature, the results of this study seem to show that interpreter services lead to more targeted health care, concentrating higher health care utilisation into a smaller number of visits. Although the initial costs are higher, it can be posited that the use of interpreter services prevents the escalation of long-term costs. A future study specially designed to examine this presumption is needed.

Firms in the developing countries transfer technology predominantly produced in the developed economies through different modes namely market-mediated channels including trade in goods and services, foreign direct investment, licensing or non-market channels like employees turnover. Multitude of host country’s factors (locational and policy related) influences the mode-choice decision of multinational enterprises among exports, FDI and licensing to work in a host country. Among these factors, provision for the protection of patent rights reduces transactions costs that lead to externalization in form of arm’s-length licensing against FDI. India has made patent policy changes during the post globalization period to comply with Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. Accordingly, this study attempts to find the influence of the patent policy changes on licensing strategy of the Indian manufacturing industry. This paper is based on panel data of 51 industries for period 1989-90 to 2009-10. We have checked each panel data regression for the presence of heteroscedasticity, contemporaneous correlation and serial correlation. In case of the presence of heteroscedasticity and contemporaneous correlation the results are based on heteroskedastic panels corrected standard errors and correlated panels corrected standard errors. As the modeling is based on macro-panel data having large number of industries (N) and time period (T) each data series is checked for unit-root using panel data unit-root tests. The study uses Fisher type test. We estimate the model after controlling for the general policy changes in India following the liberalization, privatization and globalization of the economy. We are able to establish a substitutable relationship between licensing from international market and in-house R&D. The removal of licensing regulations of different industries has a positive influence on the firm’s decision to license. We also find a complementary relationship between capital goods import and licensing. Thus, policy makers should allow for easy capital imports to facilitate technology transfers. The study indicates that patent policy influences technology transfer to India albeit negatively and limited to patent-sensitive industries confirming the monopoly power effect for such industries. Thus, policy makers have to use regulatory approach to facilitate transfers instead of merely relying on the market approach. Moreover, with respect to patent-sensitive industries there is need to closely watch the licensing behavior of the technology owners for anti-competitive practices.

Language matters, and it is an overwhelming stylized fact that language translation is an unavoidable part of global business. In this paper, we quantify the impact of translation difficulty reflected by the presence of multiple-meaning words in the original text. We focus on international patent applications because patent prosecution is nation-based. An inventor who seeks patent protection in a foreign jurisdiction with a different official language will need to file a translated version of the same document. Our estimates show that applications with more ambiguous original (English) text, are up to 25 percentage points less likely to receive a grant in the non-English jurisdictions (China, Japan, and South Korea). The results suggest that language translation difficulty can serve as a potential source of distortion in the global patent system. Ultimately, such translation difficulty may reduce the level of investment in global innovation activities, potentially leading to significant welfare loss. These findings serve to illustrate why international businesses should have adequate language translation strategy to address any translation difficulty arising from the presence of ambiguous words even when the deal involves the cross-border transfer of highly codified knowledge such as patents.

At a conference in Paris, in March, 1967, I heard Polish and French poets and translators discuss the problems of translation. Their immediate theme was three anthologies of recent Polish poetry translated into English, French, and German respectively. But they went, of course, quickly and far out beyond the topic at hand. To their efforts at discussing the problems of translation was added a strik ing piquancy: that much of the conference's discussion of translation was car ried on by means of translation. That situation made the whole event more meaningful than I could quite analyze. The discussers were thereby put into an unusual position. Some of their analyses were communicated to one another in a medium or form which was an example of the thing they were discussing. The conditions of their act of communication were the most eloquent comment to be made on the contents of their communication. Not only the difficulty of translation was illustrated, by that situation; but also the fact that even in talking about translation we go out be yond our analyses, and forget how difficult it is for us even to discuss the diffi culty of understanding one another across language barriers. It is in various ways worth thinking about what kinds of alleviation trans lation can be, to the burden of language barriers. We often think it can provide equivalents, in a new language, for what was written in another language. This concept of equivalents or equivalence needs a close look, for it opens the door to a flock of confusions. I have fought with the idea already, but it is well worth returning to here. 'Equivalence' usually means, in the kind of case I am thinking of, 'value in a new language which is like and worth the value of that from which the trans lation was made, the original.' I have already examined some of the roots?onto logical and political?of this conviction: here I simply state it. Sometimes this conviction joins with the belief that translations can deal very freely with their originals, and sometimes with the opposite belief, that translations must be very, as it is called, 'literal.' Either of these views, and a spectrum of possibilities lying between them, can be supported by the kind of equivalence-conviction I describe. These opposed views have in common, in the present case, the conviction that they represent ways of establishing equivalence. There is an alternative to this definition, or at least another way of looking at it; a view of translation which if not original is at least unorthodox, which is backed up by many contexts, and which has the merit of describing translation's relation to the main landmass of meaningful uses of language.

PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the further integration of machine translation technologies with cross language information access in providing web users the capabilities of accessing information beyond language barriers. Machine translation and cross language information access are related technologies, and yet they have their own unique contributions in handling information in multiple languages. This paper aims to demonstrate that there are many opportunities to further integrate machine translation with cross language information access, and the combination can greatly empower web users in their information access.Design/methodology/approachUsing English and Chinese as the language pair for studying, this paper looks at machine translation in query translation‐based cross language information access at multiple important aspects, which include query translation, relevance feedback, interactive cross language information access, out‐of‐vocabulary term translation, and data fusion. The goal is to obtain more insights about the wide range usages of machine translation in cross language information access, and to help the community to identify promising future directions for both machine translation and cross language access.FindingsMachine translation can be applied effectively in many places in the whole cross language information access process. Queries translated by a machine translation system are high quality and are more robust in handling potential untranslated terms. Translation enhancement, a relevance feedback method using machine translation generated returned documents, is not only a valid technique by itself, but also helps to generate more robust cross language information access performance when combined with other relevance feedback techniques. Machine translation is also found to play a significant role in resolving untranslated terms and in data fusion.Originality/valueThis set of comparative empirical studies on integrating machine translation and cross language information access was performed on a common evaluation framework, and examined integration at multiple points of the cross language access process. The experimental results demonstrate the value of further integrating machine translation in cross language information access, and identify interesting future directions for both machine translation and cross language information access research.

In today’s interconnected global economy, effective communication is critical for successful international business ventures. However, language barriers pose significant challenges to effective international business communication. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature, this study explores various approaches, technologies, and techniques that organisations can employ to enhance communicative effectiveness and foster successful business relationships in a multilingual environment. The study examines various literature sources, explores real-life case studies, and presents recommendations for organisations to enhance their intercultural communication practices. This study also investigates various strategies utilised by organisations and professionals to address language-related challenges, highlighting their efficacy, limitations, and implications for effective cross-cultural communication. The findings provide practical insights for businesses seeking to enhance their intercultural communication and succeed in the global marketplace. This research study can significantly contribute to the development of effective communication strategies in international business settings. It also highlights the importance of language proficiency, cultural understanding, technology, translation, and intercultural communication skills in addressing language barriers and promoting successful international business communication.

BackgroundEvidence networks facilitate the exchange of information and foster international relationships among researchers and stakeholders. These networks are instrumental in enabling the integration of scientific evidence into decision-making processes. While there is a global emphasis on evidence-based decision-making at policy and organisational levels, there exists a significant gap in our understanding of the most effective activities to exchange scientific knowledge and use it in practice. The objective of this rapid review was to explore the strategies employed by evidence networks to facilitate the translation of evidence into decision-making processes. This review makes a contribution to global health policymaking by mapping the landscape of knowledge translation in this context and identifying the evidence translation activities that evidence networks have found effective.MethodsThe review was guided by standardised techniques for conducting rapid evidence reviews. Document searching was based on a phased approach, commencing with a comprehensive initial search strategy and progressively refining it with each subsequent search iterations. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement was followed.ResultsThe review identified 143 articles, after screening 1135 articles. Out of these, 35 articles were included in the review. The studies encompassed a diverse range of countries, with the majority originating from the United States (n = 14), followed by Canada (n = 5), Sweden (n = 2), and various other single locations (n = 14). These studies presented a varied set of implementation strategies such as research-related activities, the creation of teams/task forces/partnerships, meetings/consultations, mobilising/working with communities, influencing policy, activity evaluation, training, trust-building, and regular meetings, as well as community-academic-policymaker engagement.ConclusionsEvidence networks play a crucial role in developing, sharing, and implementing high-quality research for policy. These networks face challenges like coordinating diverse stakeholders, international collaboration, language barriers, research consistency, knowledge dissemination, capacity building, evaluation, and funding. To enhance their impact, sharing network efforts with wider audiences, including local, national, and international agencies, is essential for evidence-based decision-making to shape evidence-informed policies and programmes effectively.

Participating in the exemplar landscapes of the Developing and Promoting Market-Based Agroforestry and Forest Rehabilitation Options for Northwest Vietnam project has had positive impacts on ethnic women, such as increasing their networks and decision-making and public speaking skills. However, the rate of female farmers accessing and using project extension material or participating in project nurseries and applying agroforestry techniques was limited. This requires understanding of the real needs and interests grounded in the socio-cultural contexts of the ethnic groups living in the Northern Mountain Region in Viet Nam, who have unique social and cultural norms and values. The case studies show that agricultural activities are highly gendered: men and women play specific roles and have different, particular constraints and interests. Women are highly constrained by gender norms, access to resources, decision-making power and a prevailing positive-feedback loop of time poverty, especially in the Hmong community. A holistic, timesaving approach to addressing women’s daily activities could reduce the effects of time poverty and increase project participation. As women were highly willing to share project information, the project’s impacts would be more successful with increased participation by women through utilizing informal channels of communication and knowledge dissemination. Extension material designed for ethnic women should have less text and more visuals. Access to information is a critical constraint that perpetuates the norm that men are decision-makers, thereby, enhancing their perceived ownership, whereas women have limited access to information and so leave final decisions to men, especially in Hmong families. Older Hmong women have a Vietnamese (Kinh) language barrier, which further prevents them from accessing the project’s material. Further research into an adaptive framework that can be applied in a variety of contexts is recommended. This framework should prioritize time-saving activities for women and include material highlighting key considerations to maintain accountability among the project’s support staff.

The population of older Americans is increasingly diverse. To keep pace with this demographic shift and advance gerontological research, it is critical that research samples reflect this diversity, so findings are generalizable and representative. However, there are barriers to engaging individuals from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, such as a mistrust of government institutions, historical precedence of unethical research, language barriers, and logistical challenges that often impede participation. There are some general recommendations for expanding diversity of research samples and overcoming these barriers, but there is a need to understand more about best practices for older adults with disabilities, which is a population that can be especially challenging to reach. We interviewed Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who had direct experience (professional or personal) engaging older adults and/or people with disabilities from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Black/African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino American, and Native American). Participants (N = 13) included researchers, clinicians, and advocacy group leaders. The SMEs shared insights on effective strategies for recruitment, outreach, study design, and knowledge dissemination. Their recommendations had key themes including establishing reciprocal community partnerships, involving community members on the research team, offering flexible ways to participate, and carefully considering terminology when referring to disability, race, and ethnicity. These interviews with SMEs provided important insights and actionable solutions to improve the diversity and inclusivity of research samples. Ensuring that participant samples reflect the range of persons who will use a product, technology, intervention, or community program will contribute to successful implementation, ultimately improving quality of life for older adults.

Does knowledge spread more quickly when firms are geographically closer? Focusing on knowledge diffusion from multinational enterprises (MNEs) subsidiaries in the context of the US semiconductor industry, our analysis suggests that the broader MNE patents are, in terms of the knowledge sources they draw on, the slower the speed of knowledge diffusion to more spatially proximate firms, compared to more distant ones. Moreover, our findings suggest that this outcome could be attributed to a greater reliance on knowledge sources that are internal to the MNE network or located geographically distant. We provide interpretative cues for these findings and provide policy recommendations in line with our results.

Using an Opinion Poll to Build an Obesity-Prevention Social Marketing Campaign for Low-Income Asian and Hispanic Immigrants: Report of Findings

A Qualitative Exploration of Spanish-Speaking Latina Women’s Experiences Participating in WIC Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background. Songs in the field of film publishing play an important role in the understanding of the main characters’ emotions and thoughts, conveying a specific atmosphere, or even serving as a substitute for dialogues and words. But in most cases, songs are not translated into other languages during the release of the film, forgetting that the song lyrics can play a key role or even carry the inherent opinion of the producer. Due to the great need for film art now, its development in society and further prospects, there is a problem with the appropriate translation of songs and with insufficient research and materials on this topic. The purpose of the article is to identify difficulties in translating songs and analyze translation transformations using the example of the lyrics of the song «How Far I'll Go» from the cartoon «Moana». Methods. Classification and comparative method for determining difficulties in translation; generalization of the received information; practical analysis of translation methods on the example of a song from the cartoon «Moana»; synthesis of translation difficulties with translation methods and classification of ways to translate a song in films and cartoons. Results. The most common difficulties in translating songs are lexical difficulties: correctly understand the latest words in the original language, choose a synonymous word or meaning from the translation language, and determine the correct interpretation of texts with abbreviations. It is also important to preserve the main meaning of the text, its rhyming, and take into account cultural features when translating a song. The translator also needs to have knowledge in the field of poetics and music to accurately translate the song text while preserving the opinion of the author of the original song and the musical drawing. Insufficient theoretical base forces translators not to translate the original song and leave it in the original, which leaves the viewer without understanding the song and its role in the film, which also causes the loss of emphasizing the feelings of the scenes and the main idea of the author. Discussion. Studying this topic of translating songs from cartoons allows us to conclude that songs are an important part of cinema, which studios in most cases neglect when translating films into other languages. Only knowledge of the theory of Translation Studies is not enough for translators for professional and adequate translation, so there is a problem of insufficient number of professional and qualified translators. The study also found that lexical constructions are used by translators quite often when translating songs and are the main translation tool. The need for knowledge of ways and methods of correct translation of song texts in the film industry requires scientists and researchers to draw attention to this problem and engage in active research in the direction of song translation, which means a great prospect for creating a new direction in the field of translation studies due to the demand and necessity of song translations in the film industry.