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This study aims to contribute to the analysis of specific words entering a target language (TL) from a source one (SL), through intermediary languages (IL). In particular, this paper will analyse a selection of borrowings that entered Italian (TL) from Russian (SL) and vice-versa, focusing on the role played by IL ​​with respect to the ‘features’ the borrowing shows when entering a TL. The analysis will develop over three main phases: (i) brief excursus about theoretical studies on ‘contact linguistics’; (ii) analysis on the way a selection of both direct & indirect borrowings entered, alternatively, one of the two TLs, at different lexical and grammatical levels; (iii) a case study: the Russianism ‘boiar(d)o’ entering Italian. Some conclusions will be drawn in relation to the importance of a transversal approach, both linguistic and historical, in the analysis of interference phenomena.

Abstract Background Apoptosis is a critical biological phenomenon, executed under the guidance of the Apoptotic Machinery (AM), which allows the physiologic elimination of terminally differentiated, senescent or diseased cells. Because of its relevance to BioMedicine, we have sought to obtain a detailed characterization of AM Omics in Homo sapiens, namely its Genomics and Evolution, Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Interactomics, Oncogenomics, and Pharmacogenomics. Methods This project exploited the methodology commonly used in Computational Biology (i.e., mining of many omics databases of the web) as well as the High Throughput biomolecular analytical techniques. Results In Homo sapiens AM is comprised of 342 protein-encoding genes (possessing either anti- or pro-apoptotic activity, or a regulatory function) and 110 MIR-encoding genes targeting them: some have a critical role within the system (core AM nodes), others perform tissue-, pathway-, or disease-specific functions (peripheral AM nodes). By overlapping the cancer type-specific AM mutation map in the fourteen most frequent cancers in western societies (breast, colon, kidney, leukaemia, liver, lung, neuroblastoma, ovary, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, thyroid, and uterus) to their transcriptome, proteome and interactome in the same tumour type, we have identified the most prominent AM molecular alterations within each class. The comparison of the fourteen mutated AM networks (both protein- as MIR-based) has allowed us to pinpoint the hubs with a general and critical role in tumour development and, conversely, in cell physiology: in particular, we found that some of these had already been used as targets for pharmacological anticancer therapy. For a better understanding of the relationship between AM molecular alterations and pharmacological induction of apoptosis in cancer, we examined the expression of AM genes in K562 and SH-SY5Y after anticancer treatment. Conclusion We believe that our data on the Apoptotic Machinery will lead to the identification of new cancer genes and to the discovery of new biomarkers, which could then be used to profile cancers for diagnostic purposes and to pinpoint new targets for pharmacological therapy. This approach could pave the way for future studies and applications in molecular and clinical Medicine with important perspectives both for Oncology as for Regenerative Medicine.

This essay aims to give a brief overview of the findings of my research on translation strategies, especially when it is necessary to transfer meanings and uses of the so-called realia from a source language to a target one, which, for the sake of brevity, we will respectively call SL (Russian) and TL (Italian). After an introduction on the concept of realia and possible strategies to convey their meaning, it will be pointed out, through the analysis of some proto-typical examples, how (i) there exist many solutions the translator-lexicographer should take into account each time, according to a series of different parameters, (ii) to what extent these choices can vary with respect to narrative texts or lexicography and (iii) the absence of homogeneity in translation strategies, not only when comparing different monolingual or bilingual dictionaries, but also within the same dictionary. Although the theory of translation of realia has been a matter of interest and study in narrative, as well as in monolingual lexicography, it still seems little research has been conducted to test or compare approaches in bilingual lexicography.

Background: Apoptosis is a critical biological phenomenon, executed under the guidance of the Apoptotic Machinery (AM), which allows the physiologic elimination of terminally differentiated, senescent or diseased cells. Because of its relevance to BioMedicine, we have sought to obtain a detailed characterization of AM Omics in Homo sapiens, namely its Genomics and Evolution, Transcriptomics, Proteomics, Interactomics, Oncogenomics, and Pharmacogenomics., Methods: This project exploited the methodology commonly used in Computational Biology (i.e., mining of many omics databases of the web) as well as the High Throughput biomolecular analytical techniques., Results: In Homo sapiens AM is comprised of 342 protein-encoding genes (possessing either anti- or pro-apoptotic activity, or a regulatory function) and 110 MIR-encoding genes targeting them: some have a critical role within the system (core AM nodes), others perform tissue-, pathway-, or disease-specific functions (peripheral AM nodes). By overlapping the cancer type-specific AM mutation map in the fourteen most frequent cancers in western societies (breast, colon, kidney, leukaemia, liver, lung, neuroblastoma, ovary, pancreas, prostate, skin, stomach, thyroid, and uterus) to their transcriptome, proteome and interactome in the same tumour type, we have identified the most prominent AM molecular alterations within each class. The comparison of the fourteen mutated AM networks (both protein- as MIR-based) has allowed us to pinpoint the hubs with a general and critical role in tumour development and, conversely, in cell physiology: in particular, we found that some of these had already been used as targets for pharmacological anticancer therapy. For a better understanding of the relationship between AM molecular alterations and pharmacological induction of apoptosis in cancer, we examined the expression of AM genes in K562 and SH-SY5Y after anticancer treatment., Conclusion: We believe that our data on the Apoptotic Machinery will lead to the identification of new cancer genes and to the discovery of new biomarkers, which could then be used to profile cancers for diagnostic purposes and to pinpoint new targets for pharmacological therapy. This approach could pave the way for future studies and applications in molecular and clinical Medicine with important perspectives both for Oncology as for Regenerative Medicine.