bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using Light Attenuation to Estimate Leafy Spurge Impacts on Forage Production
Authors: Rinella Matthew J. , Sheley Roger L. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Rangeland managers often must decide whether to suppress dicotyledonous weed populations with expensive and time-consuming management strategies. Often, the underlying goal of weed suppression efforts is to increase production of native forage plants. Many managers suppress weeds only when they feel the unwanted plants are substantially impacting their forage base. Currently, intuition and guesswork are used to determine whether weed impacts are severe enough to warrant action. We believe scientific impact assessments could be more effective than these casual approaches to decision making. Scientific approaches will necessitate data on weed abundances because the severity of a weed’s impact is highly correlated with its abundance. The need for weed abundance data poses major obstacles because gathering these data with readily available techniques is time consuming. Most managers cannot or will not spend a lot of time gathering vegetation data. In this paper, we explore a rapidly measured index (<2 minutes per sample location) that is highly correlated with weed (i.e., leafy spurge Euphorbia esula L.) abundance per unit area. This index is based on the light attenuation leafy spurge causes. After measuring light attenuation in plots planted to leafy spurge and grasses, we developed a probabilistic model that predicts leafy spurge impacts on forage production. Data from experiments where herbicides suppressed leafy spurge provided an opportunity to evaluate prediction accuracy of the model. In each case herbicide experiment data fell within the range of values (i.e., credibility intervals) the model predicted, even though the model development experiments were separated from the herbicide experiments by several hundred kilometers in space and 4 years in time. Therefore, we conclude that the model successfully accounts for spatial and temporal variation. We believe light attenuation could help natural resource managers quickly quantify some kinds of weed impacts.
Experimental Use of Remote Sensing by Private Range Managers and Its Influence on Management Decisions
Authors: Betterfield Scott H. , Malmstrom Carolyn M. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Although remote sensing has many potential applications for range management, its use by range managers thus far has been limited. To investigate the factors that encourage use of remote sensing and to examine its influence on decision making by individuals who manage privately owned rangeland, we evaluated the decision-making processes of 3 ranch owners and 1 professional ranch manager who were introduced to remote sensing while collaborating with us in a rangeland stewardship program in California. Two of the participants had extensive ranching experience (11 to > 20 years) and managed large cattle ranches (1 000 to > 2 000 ha), and 2 had less experience and managed smaller sheep ranches (< 200 ha). During the 5-year program, the participants implemented a series of new management practices, including prescribed burning, rotational grazing, and seeding of native grasses, with the aim of reducing noxious weeds and increasing productivity. We used remote sensing to quantify the effect of these practices and provided ranch-wide remote sensing analyses to each manager on a password-protected Web site. Using case study methodologies, we found that managers of larger, commercially active ranches found the experimental use of remote sensing to be a highly positive experience that convinced them that this technology could help address difficult management situations and increase ranch profitability. This suggests that the broad use of remote sensing by managers of privately held, commercial rangelands may be limited in part by the simple lack of opportunity to test these technologies. Programs that assist ranchers in obtaining appropriate remote sensing products thus may be a cost-effective way to enhance conservation on private rangelands. Our findings suggest that voluntary self-analysis by ranchers of the landscape dynamics of their own properties is likely to lead to more engaged conservation efforts than will top- down prescriptions.
Biological Control of Leafy Spurge: Utilization and Implementation
Authors: Hodur Nancy M. , Leistritz Larry F. , Bangsund Dean A. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Leafy spurge is an exotic, noxious, perennial weed which is widely established in the north central United States and is an especially serious problem in the northern Great Plains. In 1997, the Agricultural Research Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, US Department of Agriculture, initiated a major Integrated Pest Management (IPM) research and demonstration project, The Ecological Area-wide Management (TEAM) Leafy Spurge (TLS), to develop and demonstrate ecologically based IPM strategies that can produce effective, affordable leafy spurge control. A key component of the TLS project was expanding the use of biological control agents. To assess the level of insect utilization and implementation and the level of current and perceived future control of leafy spurge as a result of biological control agents, a mail survey of 468 individuals that obtained biological control agents (insects) at TLS-sponsored events and of all the county weed boards in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming was conducted. Forty-six percent of the landowner/land managers and 70% of the county weed boards responded to the questionnaire. Respondents reported basic information about the number and characteristics of release sites, and characteristics of the leafy spurge stands, as well as the level of control to date and perceived level of eventual control.
Detection of Flowering Leafy Spurge With Satellite Multispectral Imagery
Authors: Hunt E. Raymond , Parker Williams Amy E. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

The distribution and abundance of flowering leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) can be determined with hyperspectral remote sensing, but the availability of hyperspectral sensors is limited. Hence, the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and System Pour d’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) 4 imagery were acquired to test the ability of these sensors to detect leafy spurge. The green:red band ratio was the vegetation index with the highest correlations to flowering leafy spurge cover, but the correlations were weak and not useful for predictions. With Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data, the green:red band ratio was also weakly correlated to flowering leafy spurge cover, although the output from a hyperspectral unmixing algorithm was highly correlated with cover using the same data, indicating simple indices have limited power for detecting leafy spurge. Canopy reflectance modeling using the Scattering by Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves (SAIL) model suggests the weak correlations were caused by variations in leaf area index. It is important to develop spectral libraries in order to use canopy reflectance simulation models that can reduce the time and effort of remote sensing analysis for detecting leafy spurge and other invasive weeds.
Integrated Management of Leafy Spurge-Infested Rangeland
Authors: Jacobs Jamea S. , Sheley Roger L. , Borkowski John J. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Leafy spurge is an invasive Eurasian weed on pastures and rangeland in North America where it reduces grass forage production. Our objective was to determine the effects of multispecies grazing combined with Aphthona flea beetles on leafy spurge-infested rangeland. On two western North Dakota sites divided into four 25- to 79-ha pastures, two grazing duration treatments were applied: season-long with 7 to 10 cow pairs and 20 to 25 sheep from late May through mid-September, and rotation with 18 to 21 cow calf pairs and 45 to 60 sheep for 3 weeks twice per year. Grazing treatments started in 1998 and continued through 2002. Aphthona spp. were released beginning 1991 and were widespread in both pastures by 1998. Four grazing enclosures were randomly located in each pasture in the spring of 1998. Cover of leafy spurge, grass, and forbs, as well as density of vegetative and flowering leafy spurge stems were measured in July 1998 through 2002. Aphthona densities were counted July 1999 through 2002. Grazing initially increased leafy spurge vegetative stem density, but grazing decreased vegetative stem density from 104 in 1999 to 20 stems m-2 in 2002. Season-long grazing reduced vegetative stem density by over 30 stems m-2 compared to rotation grazing. Leafy spurge flowering stems decreased from 80 stems m-2 to 4 stems m-2 in 2002 in all treatments. The decrease was more rapid when grazing was combined with Aphthona. Initially, Aphthona densities were greater in the grazed areas than the exclosures, but by 2002 more Aphthona were found in the exclosures than the grazed areas. Grazing reduced grass cover and increased forb cover. Results suggest combining multispecies grazing and Aphthona when restoring spurge-infested grasslands produces a synergistic effect.
Potential Impact of Two Aphthona spp. on a Native, Nontarget Euphorbia Species
Authors: Wacker Stefanie D. , Butler Jack L. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Flea beetles (Aphthona spp.) are biological control agents introduced from Eurasia to reduce the cover and density of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.). The potential for the introduced beetles to use alternate hosts for feeding and development in North America is slight; however, it is possible. Species at highest risk are native species closely related, ecologically and taxonomically, to leafy spurge. A native spurge, Euphorbia brachycera Engelm. is consubgeneric and sympatric with leafy spurge throughout the northern Great Plains of the United States, and was not included in prerelease host-specificity testing for Aphthona nigriscutis or Aphthona lacertosa. The objective of this study was to evaluate the actual and potential ecological overlap among leafy spurge, flea beetles, and E. brachycera. Wide-ranging and intensive field surveys indicate that E. brachycera is found well within the range of leafy spurge and flea beetles. E. brachycera occurs infrequently, in low densities, in areas with a high percentage of bare ground, and with a root system dissimilar to leafy spurge. Flea beetles released directly into populations of E. brachycera failed to persist beyond a single field season and plants showed no evidence of feeding by beetles. Our results suggest that the potential for flea beetles to host-shift is low due to differences in growth habit and root morphology between E. brachycera and leafy spurge.
Strategic and Tactical Prediction of Forage Production in Northern Mixed-Grass Prairie
Authors: Andales Allan A. , Derner Justin D. , Ahuja Lajpat R. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Predictions of forage production derived from site-specific environmental information (e.g., soil type, weather, plant communitycomposition, and so on) could help land managers decide on appropriate stocking rates of livestock. This study assessed the applicability of the Great Plains Framework for Agricultural Resource Management (GPFARM) forage growth model for both strategic (long-term) and tactical (within-season) prediction of forage production in northern mixed-grass prairie. An improved version of the model was calibrated for conditions at the USDA-ARS High Plains Grasslands Research Station in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Long-term (1983-2001) simulations of peak standing crop (PSC) were compared to observations. Also, within-season (1983) forecasts of total aboveground biomass made for 1 March onward, 1 April onward, 1 May onward, and 1 June onward were compared to observations. The normal, driest, and wettest weather years on record (1915-1981) were used to simulate expected values, lower bounds, and upper bounds of biomass production, respectively. The forage model explained 66% of the variability in PSC from 1983 to 2001. The cumulative distribution function (CDF) derived from long-term simulated PSC overestimates cumulative probabilities for PSC.1 500 kg ha-1. The generated CDF could be used strategically to estimate long-term forage production at various levels of probability, with errors in cumulative probability ranging from 0.0 to 0.16. Within-season forecasts explained 77%-94% of biomass variability in 1983. It was shown that monthly updating of the forage forecast, with input of actual weather to date, improves accuracy. Further development and testing of the forage simulation model will focus on the interactions between forage growth, environmental perturbations (especially drought), and grazing.
Influence of Plant Material Handling Protocols on Terpenoid Profiles of One-Seed Juniper Saplings
Authors: Utsumi Santiago A. , Cibils Andrés F. , Estell Rick E. ,   Society for Range Management
Published: June 2016

Accurate estimation of one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma [Engelm.] Sarg.) intake by herbivores often requires harvesting, transporting, and storing plant material that is later used in pen experiments. Such manipulation could alter terpenoid profiles and modify herbivory levels significantly. We used gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to analyze the terpenoid profile of leaves from 10 short (0.5 m +/- 0.05, mean +/- SE) and 10 tall (1.14 m +/- 0.06) one-seed juniper saplings subjected to 3 handling protocols: a) placed on dry ice after clipping and stored after 5 hours at –80 degreesC for 3 weeks (Control); b) kept at ambient temperature for the first 24 hours and then frozen at –80 degreesC for 3 weeks; or c) kept at ambient temperature for the first 24 hours, and then stored at 8 degreesC for 3 weeks. Juniper saplings contained 51 terpenoids, 3 of which were unknown compounds. Fourteen terpenoids accounted for 95% of the total amount of volatiles. The most abundant compound was a-pinene, which accounted for 65% of total terpenoids present. Handling protocols were not associated with detectable differences in total terpenoid content (Means +/- SE, Control: 21.68 +/- 1.42 mg g-1 dry matter [DM]; Frozen after 24 hours: 19.55 +/- 1.08 mg g-1 DM; Refrigerated after 24 hours: 18.80 +/- 1.13 mg g-1 DM). However, total terpenoid amount and concentration of a few major compounds tended to decrease with increasing storage temperature. Handling protocols induced detectable variations in a small number of minor terpenoids. We observed large among-plant variation in terpenoid profiles that was not fully explained on the basis of sapling size. This study suggests that the length of storage period of one-seed juniper branches should not exceed 3 weeks and that storage refrigeration temperatures should be kept below 8 degreesC to prevent significant alterations in terpenoid profiles.
Measurement Properties of Instruments for Measuring of Lymphedema: Systematic Review
Authors: Hidding Janine T. , Viehoff Peter B. , Beurskens Carien H.G. , van Laarhoven Hanneke W.M. , Nijhuis-van der Sanden Maria W.G. , van der Wees Philip J.
Published: June 2016

Background

Lymphedema is a common complication of cancer treatment, resulting in swelling and subjective symptoms. Reliable and valid measurement of this side effect of medical treatment is important.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to provide best evidence regarding which measurement instruments are most appropriate in measuring lymphedema in its different stages.

Data Sources

The PubMed and Web of Science databases were used, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed.

Study Selection

Clinical studies on measurement instruments assessing lymphedema were reviewed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) scoring instrument for quality assessment.

Data Extraction

Data on reliability, concurrent validity, convergent validity, sensitivity, specificity, applicability, and costs were extracted.

Data Synthesis

Pooled data showed good intrarater intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) (.89) for bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) in the lower extremities and high intrarater and interrater ICCs for water volumetry, tape measurement, and perometry (.98–.99) in the upper extremities. In the upper extremities, the standard error of measurement was 3.6% (σ=0.7%) for water volumetry, 5.6% (σ=2.1%) for perometry, and 6.6% (σ=2.6%) for tape measurement. Sensitivity of tape measurement in the upper extremities, using different cutoff points, varied from 0.73 to 0.90, and specificity values varied from 0.72 to 0.78.

Limitations

No uniform definition of lymphedema was available, and a gold standard as a reference test was lacking. Items concerning risk of bias were study design, patient selection, description of lymphedema, blinding of test outcomes, and number of included participants.

Conclusions

Measurement instruments with evidence for good reliability and validity were BIS, water volumetry, tape measurement, and perometry, where BIS can detect alterations in extracellular fluid in stage 1 lymphedema and the other measurement instruments can detect alterations in volume starting from stage 2. In research, water volumetry is indicated as a reference test for measuring lymphedema in the upper extremities.
Optimization of dye removal by activated carbon prepared from sawdust
Authors: Mahrous Yasser Sh. , El-Midany Ayman A.
Published: June 2016

Industrial dyes disposal represents one of the major environmental problems. Although the different techniques were used for its removal, the adsorption technique proved to be the most effective. In the current paper, removal of the disperse dye using activated carbon was investigated. The controlling factors of the removal process were studied by experimental design. Initially, the parameters; namely: dye concentration, pH value, etching time, agitation speed, carbon concentration and organic to aqueous solution ratio were screened using Placket Burman design. Then the significant factors resulting from screening design were investigated using full factorial design to find the optimum removal conditions. The results indicated that dye concentration, carbon concentration and organic to aqueous solution ratio are the most significant factors among the screened ones. The complete dye removal can be achieved for low dye concentration, while for high dye concentration, the dye removal depends on the activated carbon concentration where the removal percent ranges from 51.7 up to 97 %.
Test procedure for fatigue investigations regarding structured sheet metal joints
Authors: Kazak Fedor , Weiß Sabine
Published: June 2016

The topic of fatigue strength of joints of flat and honeycomb-structured thin sheets has not yet been adequately studied. This concerns, for example, the development of an appropriate test method. In many cases, there is still a lack of information, how effective joints of flat and structured sheet metals are in comparison with reference joints of flat sheets. Combinations of resistance spot-welded specimens of flat and honeycomb-structured thin sheets of deep-drawing steel DC04 with a thickness of 0.5 mm were examined. Adopted clamping plates were applied for the testing. Joined smooth specimens were used as a reference material. The analysis of the frequency [1] was applied for comparison. The fatigue limit of a joint of a flat and a structured sheet metal is not significantly affected by spot welding. The fatigue limit of these spot-welded joints is comparable to that of an unjoined honeycomb-structured sheet. By means of frequency or stiffness analysis, stability and damage mechanisms of differently shaped joints were explained. The joining of bridges of the structure shows a better stability than the combination of honeycombs. The stiffness analysis is a favored method for the clarification of the damage mechanisms in a spot-welded joint. The reasons for the low fatigue strength values of the joined flat-structured specimens compared to flat-flat joints are strong notch effects in the bridge area and momentum effects by the structure height of the studied honeycomb structure. The spot weld with a pronounced indentation also affected the fatigue strength of both flat and structured joined sheet metals.
Health-related quality of life outcomes and level of evidence in pediatric neurosurgery
Authors: Hansen Daniel , Vedantam Aditya , Briceño Valentina , Lam Sandi K. , Luerssen Thomas G. , Jea Andrew
Published: June 2016

OBJECTIVE

The emphasis on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes is increasing, along with an emphasis on evidence-based medicine. However, there is a notable paucity of validated HRQOL instruments for the pediatric population. Furthermore, no standardization or consensus currently exists concerning which HRQOL outcome measures ought to be used in pediatric neurosurgery. The authors wished to identify HRQOL outcomes used in pediatric neurosurgery research over the past 10 years, their frequency, and usage trends.

METHODS

Three top pediatric neurosurgical journals were reviewed for the decade from 2005 to 2014 for clinical studies of pediatric neurosurgical procedures that report HRQOL outcomes. Similar studies in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics were also used as a benchmark. Publication year, level of evidence, and HRQOL outcomes were collected for each article.

RESULTS

A total of 31 HRQOL studies were published in the pediatric neurosurgical literature over the study period. By comparison, there were 55 such articles in Pediatrics. The number of publications using HRQOL instruments showed a significant positive trend over time for Pediatrics (B = 0.62, p = 0.02) but did not increase significantly over time for the 3 neurosurgical journals (B = 0.12, p = 0.5). The authors identified a total of 46 different HRQOL instruments used across all journals. Within the neurosurgical journals, the Hydrocephalus Outcome Questionnaire (HOQ) (24%) was the most frequently used, followed by the Health Utilities Index (HUI) (16%), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) (12%), and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) (12%). Of the 55 articles identified in Pediatrics, 22 (40%) used a version of the PedsQL. No neurosurgical study reached above Level 4 on the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (OCEBM) system. However, multiple studies from Pediatrics achieved OCEBM Level 3, several were categorized as Level 2, and one reached Level 1.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of studies using HRQOL outcomes in pediatric neurosurgical research has not increased over the past 10 years. Within pediatric neurosurgery, high-quality studies and standardization are lacking, as compared with contemporary studies in Pediatrics. In general, although the HOQ, HUI, PedsQL, and SF-36 instruments are emerging as standards in pediatric neurosurgery, even greater standardization across the specialty is needed, along with the design and implementation of more rigorous studies.
Status of some Trace Elements in Type-2 Diabetic Patients and its Relationship with Lipid Profile
Authors: Yeasmin Roksana , Muttalib MA , Sultana Naznin , Bhuiyan Nizamul Hoque , Alam Rashedul
Published: June 2016

Investigation of the serum level of copper, zinc, magnesium and manganese in type-2 diabetes mellitus and their possible association with lipid profile was carried out. The comparative study included 100 type-2 diabetic patients in Gr-II and 100 non-diabetic as control in (Gr-I). Results indicated that there is a significant lower level (p < .001) of serum Zn, Cu, Mg and Mn in diabetic patients compared with the control group, showing p value < .001. In type-2 DM patients (Gr-II) there were significant correlations between serum Zn and TAG (r = 0.209) and between Zn and HDL-C level (r = .199) showing p value <.05. Non significant relationships were found in between Zn and lipid profile (TAG, Cholesterol, HDL-C and LDL-C) of control (Gr-I) group. Significant correlation was found between serum magnesium and TAG of control (Gr-I) where p < .01 and non significant correlations were found in serum Mg and total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C of both type-2 diabetic (Gr-II) and control (Gr-I). Significant correlations were also found in between serum of Cu and Mn and TAG of control (Gr-I) where p < .05 and non significant correlations were found in other component of lipid profile of both cases (Gr-II) and control (Gr-I).Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 40, No. 1, 79-85, 2016
Large Scale Applications Using FBG Sensors: Determination of In-Flight Loads and Shape of a Composite Aircraft Wing
Authors: Nicolas Matthew , Sullivan Rani , Richards W.
Published: June 2016

Technological advances have enabled the development of a number of optical fiber sensing methods over the last few years. The most prevalent optical technique involves the use of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. These small, lightweight sensors have many attributes that enable their use for a number of measurement applications. Although much literature is available regarding the use of FBGs for laboratory level testing, few publications in the public domain exist of their use at the operational level. Therefore, this paper gives an overview of the implementation of FBG sensors for large scale structures and applications. For demonstration, a case study is presented in which FBGs were used to determine the deflected wing shape and the out-of-plane loads of a 5.5-m carbon-composite wing of an ultralight aerial vehicle. The in-plane strains from the 780 FBG sensors were used to obtain the out-of-plane loads as well as the wing shape at various load levels. The calculated out-of-plane displacements and loads were within 4.2% of the measured data. This study demonstrates a practical method in which direct measurements are used to obtain critical parameters from the high distribution of FBG sensors. This procedure can be used to obtain information for structural health monitoring applications to quantify healthy vs. unhealthy structures.
Identification of the Structural Features of Guanine Derivatives as MGMT Inhibitors Using 3D-QSAR Modeling Combined with Molecular Docking
Authors: Sun Guohui , Fan Tengjiao , Zhang Na , Ren Ting , Zhao Lijiao , Zhong Rugang
Published: June 2016

DNA repair enzyme O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), which plays an important role in inducing drug resistance against alkylating agents that modify the O6 position of guanine in DNA, is an attractive target for anti-tumor chemotherapy. A series of MGMT inhibitors have been synthesized over the past decades to improve the chemotherapeutic effects of O6-alkylating agents. In the present study, we performed a three-dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (3D-QSAR) study on 97 guanine derivatives as MGMT inhibitors using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) methods. Three different alignment methods (ligand-based, DFT optimization-based and docking-based alignment) were employed to develop reliable 3D-QSAR models. Statistical parameters derived from the models using the above three alignment methods showed that the ligand-based CoMFA (Qcv2 = 0.672 and Rncv2 = 0.997) and CoMSIA (Qcv2 = 0.703 and Rncv2 = 0.946) models were better than the other two alignment methods-based CoMFA and CoMSIA models. The two ligand-based models were further confirmed by an external test-set validation and a Y-randomization examination. The ligand-based CoMFA model (Qext2 = 0.691, Rpred2 = 0.738 and slope k = 0.91) was observed with acceptable external test-set validation values rather than the CoMSIA model (Qext2 = 0.307, Rpred2 = 0.4 and slope k = 0.719). Docking studies were carried out to predict the binding modes of the inhibitors with MGMT. The results indicated that the obtained binding interactions were consistent with the 3D contour maps. Overall, the combined results of the 3D-QSAR and the docking obtained in this study provide an insight into the understanding of the interactions between guanine derivatives and MGMT protein, which will assist in designing novel MGMT inhibitors with desired activity.
A Flexible Arrayed Eddy Current Sensor for Inspection of Hollow Axle Inner Surfaces
Authors: Sun Zhenguo , Cai Dong , Zou Cheng , Zhang Wenzeng , Chen Qiang
Published: June 2016

A reliable and accurate inspection of the hollow axle inner surface is important for the safe operation of high-speed trains. In order to improve the reliability of the inspection, a flexible arrayed eddy current sensor for non-destructive testing of the hollow axle inner surface was designed, fabricated and characterized. The sensor, consisting of two excitation traces and 28 sensing traces, was developed by using the flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) technique to conform the geometric features of the inner surfaces of the hollow axles. The main innovative aspect of the sensor was the new arrangement of excitation/sensing traces to achieve a differential configuration. Finite element model was established to analyze sensor responses and to determine the optimal excitation frequency. Experimental validations were conducted on a specimen with several artificial defects. Results from experiments and simulations were consistent with each other, with the maximum relative error less than 4%. Both results proved that the sensor was capable of detecting longitudinal and transverse defects with the depth of 0.5 mm under the optimal excitation frequency of 0.9 MHz.
3. Dit et non dit idéologique : à propos du «Supplément au Voyage de Bougainville»
Authors: Benrekassa Georges
Published: June 2016

3. Georges Benrekassa : The spoken and the unspoken : With regard to

Supplément au voyage de Bougainville.

The proposition here is to show, taking as basis Diderot's Supplément au voyage de Bougainville , how a work cannot be analysed by putting end to end ideological statements, more or less organised into " themes ". Nor can the work be reduced to an unambiguous ideological discourse ; rather it is constructed on the distance separating distinct ideological discourses, and it is its structuring that must be investigated to see how every ideological utterance supposes a suppressed utterance, how the problems, or the statements it conceals, are, as it were, the condition of those it formulates explicitly.
7. Propositions pour une réflexion sur l'épistémologie des recherches dix-huitiémistes
Authors: Goulemot Jean-Marie
Published: June 2016

7. Jean-Marie Goulemot : Proposals for reflection on the epistemology

of research into the eighteenth century.

The paper given by J.-M. Goulemot at the Congrès des Lumières at Nancy in July 1971, tended not only to shake the ideological roots of generally accepted truths, to express the methodological doubts of the younger generation of eighteenth century scholars, but also to outline the prolegomena of future research, concentrating more on defining its object than on tracing over and over again the contours of its field, more conscious of the exact weight and importance of the thorny problem of ideology. J.-M. Goulemot proposes that an archeology be constituted, not to be confused with Foucault's, and, perhaps, a non-ideological and non-sociological return to Marx.
12. «Jacques le Fataliste» et la critique contemporaine. Le texte et le sens
Authors: Roelens Maurice
Published: June 2016

12. Maurice Roelens : Jacques le Fataliste and contemporary criticism :

the text and its meaning.

Starting out from an analysis of various " readings " of Jacques le Fataliste put forward in the last twenty years, M. R. shows that contemporary criticism is obsessed by the idea of a unifying principle, present in the work in spite of its rhapsodic appearance. This tradition was shaken for the first time by R. Mauzi in 1964. But M. R. goes much further in his doubts concerning methodology. He follows R. Barthes in questioning the very notion of text, " defined as a structured totality and substitutes for it that of a terrain on which " signifiant " and " signifié " do battle. Following S. Lecointre and J. Le Galliot, he believes that one should concern oneself less with the meaning than with the conditions in which the meaning is formulated : " It is no longer a question of going from the surface of a work towards a kernel hidden away inside, towards the heart of thought and meaning revealing themselves (by concealing themselves) within it, but rather, beginning with the text itself, of defining the conditions in which a specific production of meaning is possible, conditions which are always complex, often frought with conflicts and contradictions, constantly overdetermined, wich govern the game of writing and the production of the text and which are opposed to all readings which work by reduction M. R. wonders whether the " fundamental key contradiction " is not to be found at the very heart of Diderot's materialism and his conception of the whole which is finalistic and deistic, in spite of himself.
14. L'archéologie du savoir et le problème de la périodisation
Authors: Verley Étienne
Published: June 2016

14. Etienne Verley : L'Archéologie du savoir and the problem of periodisation.

In his research on L'Histoire de la folie , La Naissance de la clinique , first of all, but more particularly in Les Mots et les choses, Foucault proposed a radical change in the traditional division into periods of the history of ideas from the 16th century onwards. L'Archéologie du savoir sets out to be a reflection upon the method of analysis employed in these works. But the investigation of the method leads on to new problems and appears, in many points, notably that of division into periods, to constitute a critical revision of the works to which it refers. On what is based this shift of thought, what effects can one pinpoint behind l'Archéologie du savoir , such is the intention of the study undertaken in this article.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau vu par un visiteur anglais en août 1776
Authors: France Peter
Published: June 2016

Peter France : Jean-Jacques Rousseau seen by an English visitor, august

1776.

In August 1776 Thomas Bentley, the associate of Josiah Wedgwood, visited Paris and went to see Rousseau, taking him books and letters from English admirers. His recently discovered diary includes an account of their conversation, which is here presented in translation. First the two men discuss the books brought by Bentley ; these concern the American question and English attempts to set up a philosophical liturgy inspired by Benjamin Franklin. The conversation then moves to the difference between goodness and virtue, the superiority of animals to men and questions concerning education, clothing, natural science, geology, the origins of the earth and atheism. Bentley's account closes with an enthusiastic sketch of Rousseau's character.
La correspondance d'Helvétius (avec une lettre inédite d'Helvétius à Schouvalov)
Authors: Smith David W.
Published: June 2016

D. W. Smith : Helvetius's correspondence.

The need has long been felt for a new edition of the complete works of Claude Adrien Helvétius (1715-1771). No edition of his works has appeared since 1818 and the so-called " standard " edition (Paris, 1795, 14 vols) is demonstrably corrupt. Helvétius's correspondence, in particular, needs to be collected and critically edited, since editions of his works contain at most a dozen letters by Helvétius, though at least two hundred have survived in manuscript or in various scattered publications. The letters of Madame Helvétius are more numerous and interesting than is generally realized and deserve to be edited with those of her husband. To remedy this situation a team of six researchers at the University of Toronto is preparing a new critical edition in French of Helvétius's works, starting with the correspondence which should be ready for publication in 1974. This article describes the interest and importance of these letters, includes an edited letter of Helvétius which has never before been published in the original, and concludes with an inventory of all letters written or received by Helvétius or his wife. Holders of further Helvétius letters not listed here are invited to contact the general editor, D. W. Smith.
Nature, métaphysique et histoire chez les idéologues
Authors: Plongeron Bernard
Published: June 2016

Bernard Plongeron : Nature, metaphysics and history among the ideologists.

Is Man nature and history ? Here is the question which puzzles the scientists of the " Institut de France " after the thermidorian reaction. Men of " the enlightment era ", having taken part in all political feuds since 1789, they want to endow the world with a " social art ", capable of ensuring the safeguard of individual rights in a society founded on a republican form of happiness. Condillac, they thought, had found a method for the true scientific anthropology, cleared of all metaphysics, either platonician or christian. Their researches in political science, in education in philosophy and even in literary art, compel them, under the Empire, to invent new metaphysics, in order to save the destiny of Man, in his liberty, that is, in his history, source of his " nature
Deux manuscrits de Montesquieu retrouvé à Genève
Authors: Gagnebin Bernard
Published: June 2016

Bernard Gagnebin : Two Montesquieu manuscripts discovered in Geneva.

On the occasion of the discovery of the manuscripts : Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains and Considérations sur les Richesses de l'Espagne, the author presents the recent history of the Montesquieu manuscripts.
Roman libertin et réaction aristocratique
Authors: Huet Marie-Hélène
Published: June 2016

Libertine Novels and Aristocratic Reaction in the Eighteenth century.

Crébillon, Duclos, and Louvet, among others, contributed to a tradition of autobiographical novels in which the hero recalls his discovery of love and pleasure and his initiation into the conventions of aristocratic society, before retirement to the country and an idyllic marriage. Such a conclusion does not seem to be simply a cliché based on moral and literary conventions but the ultimate step towards maturity, a liberation from social restraints and domineering mistresses, and a return both to the innocence which preceded the initiation into society, and to an outdated form of ideal love. It represents the reaction of the Eighteenth Century aristocracy which, in the face of the absolute monarchy's demand of total submission, looked back to its history to revive a greater political role. These novels therefore capture the image of a threatened society looking back to its past to save its precarious heritage.
Des Lumières à la Contre-Révolution : un drame écartelé, la Mélanie de La Harpe
Authors: Landy Rémy
Published: June 2016

From Enlightenment to Counter-revolution : Contradictions in the Structure of La Harpe's " Mélanie ".

Mélanie, La Harpe's version of la Religieuse, was perhaps the literary event of 1770. It reads like an explicit attack on enforced vows, and monastic vows in general. But it also expresses, implicitly, the struggle of a particular rising social group, the ' noblesse de robe against its own guilty conscience. This play, impossible to stage under the Ancien Régime, had difficulty in achieving the success which the Revolution seemed to offer it ; in 1791-92 the violent acting of Monvel could not disguise its ideological timidity. In 1802, La Harpe, now reactionary and religious, rewrote his play. He replaced its social tragedy by an existential tragedy, and Mélanie finally found, in the Counter-Revolution, a coherence which the Enlightenment had been unable to give it.
Phèdre corrigée sous la Révolution
Authors: Sergi Antonino
Published: June 2016

" Phedre " during the Revolution.

After describing the changed conditions of theatrical life in France during the early years of the Revolution, and showing how revolutionary censorship corrected classical plays to make them conform with revolutionary ideology, the author studies the copy of Phèdre, corrected by hand, which the actors used for the productions of this play in 1793 and 1794 ; this unique copy is preserved in the library of the Comédie française. The author gives the original lines of Racine opposite the lines as altered by the revolutionary censor. He concludes that the corrections are fewer and less fundamental than one might have expected, and that without them it would not have been possible to present Racine's play during the Revolution.
La Société d'Auteuil et la Révolution
Authors: Moravia Sergio
Published: June 2016

The ' Société d'Auteuil ' and the Revolution.

The author analyses the political role played by a group of intellectuals gathered together in a country house near Paris belonging to Madame Helvetius, wife of the well-known French philosopher, following his death in 1771 . These men (Volney, Garat, Chamfort, Mirabeau, Sieyès, Condorcet etc.) constituted the intellectual and political group most directly connected with the per¬ petuation of Enlightenment. Their activity, during the revolution, revealed both the revolutionary spirit and the uncertainties and weaknesses of the group, following the rapid sequence of events. The study of this activity by means of the diversity of individual attitudes permits a comparison to be made of the relationship between enlightenment and revolution to that between theory and practice.
Houdar de La Motte : une lettre oubliée à Voltaire
Authors: Raynaud Jean-Michel
Published: June 2016

A Letter from Houdar de la Motte to Voltaire.

The author presents and reproduces the forgotten letter, answering Voltaire (Besterman, D 116) written, in the name of the Cardinal Dubois, by Antoine Houdar de La Motte. Some precise details are given about textual and dating problems in the correspondence of 1722 and about Voltaire's journey Cambrai and Brussels.
Lettres inédites de Voltaire
Authors: Lizé Émile
Published: June 2016

Some unpublished Letters of Voltaire.

An examination of some of the known manuscripts of the Correspondance littéraire de F. M. Grimm has already brought to light a certain number of unpublished letters written by Voltaire. E. M. publishes here some hitherto unknown letters and passages discovered in the Gotha and Stockholm manuscripts and written by Voltaire to Desmahis, Huerne de la Motte, Grimm, and Linguet. The first letter is addressed to Desmahis and dated 15 December 1757. The last letter refers to a letter to Linguet dated 14 March 1767.
Le nouveau manuel épistolaire de Chaudon et la correspondance de Voltaire. Lettres oubliées, variantes et notes critiques
Authors: Magnan André
Published: June 2016

Chaudon's Nouveau Manuel épistolaire and Voltaire's Correspondance

A description and inventory of the Nouveau Manuel épistolaire attributed to Louis-Mayeul Chaudon. It revealed at its date of publication (1785-1787) a good number of unknown letters from XVIIIth Century writers — Montesquieu, Trublet, Diderot, d'Alembert, Voltaire, etc. — , most of which have since been discovered in other sources. However one can still extract from it four unknown letters of Voltaire and one adressed to him, as well as numerous indications relative to other texts of Voltaire's Correspondence : variants, details of datation and identification, etc.
Deux Amis à la cour de Versailles. Une correspondance inédite de Beaumarchais et Dubois de Fosseux
Authors: Berthe L.-N.
Published: June 2016

Two friends at the Court of Versailles, Beaumarchais and Dubois de Fosseux.

From the rich archives of the château de Fosseux in Artois it has been discovered that the author of the Mariage de Figaro and F. Dubois de Fosseux, the secretary of the Academy of Arras (where he was to have Robespierre and Carnot as colleagues and Carnot as a correspondant) knew each other well. They lived at close quarters for weeks, even months. One was equerry at the court of Versailles while the other, as secretary of the King's household, gave harp lessons to the daughters of Louis XV and organised highly appreciated concerts for them. The two liked each other and continued this friendship in a correspondence. One letter in particular, dated 12th December 1763 — the earliest of the three extant letters from Beaumarchais to his young friend — shows clearly how close was their friendship.
Notes sur L'Ami des enfants de Berquin et la littérature enfantine en France aux alentours de 1780
Authors: Martin Angus
Published: June 2016

Notes on L'ami des enfants by Berquin, and Children's literature in France around 1780.

This article points out some research problems in a much neglected field of literary study in France — the history of children's books. The problems refer, in this instance, to the little known work of Arnaud Berquin, the creator of the first periodical for children in France (1782-1785). A. M. examines Berquin's debt to his German predecessor, C. F. Weisse, editor of Kinder-freund and reveals the conditions under which Berquin's periodical was edited and circulated. In conclusion he expresses a wish to see a more profound study made of the content and form of Berquin's written texts for children. Numerous bibliographical references to be found in his notes could be of immense value to those interested in the history of children's literature.
La première critique d'art écrite par un Polonais : la Lettre d'un étranger sur le salon de 1787, de Stanislas Kostka Potocki
Authors: Zoltowska Maria Evelina
Published: June 2016

The first Art Criticism written by a pole : " Letter from a Foreigner on the Salon of 1787 " by Stanislaw Kostka

Potocki.

This article studies the striking personality of St. K. Potocki and the ' Salon ' he published anonymously in 1787. One of the greatest and most progressive Polish statesmen and thinkers of his day, he wrote his Letter in order to condemn the French School of Boucher's period, and to praise the new artistic revolution led by David. Although Potocki had written widely on art in Polish and introduced Winckelmann's theories in his country, nobody knew that he was the author of the ' Salon ' analysed here in full for the first time since 1787.
Dans les «registres» de l'Ancien Régime : des réponses officielles à Rameau, Diderot et Voltaire.
Authors: Pappas John
Published: June 2016

John Pappas : Unpublished letters from the Registers of the Ancien

Régime.

While searching for d'Alembert letters in the Registres of the Old Régime for the years 1743-1783, I discovered numerous unpublished letters, not only to d'Alembert, but also to many of the major figures of 18th-century France. This article presents a sampling of these inédits with critical comments : six letters from the Minister to Voltaire, one to Diderot, and one to Rameau concerning his nephew. It further indicates the wealth of material available for a better understanding of everyday life in France during that period (e.g. information concerning the Jewish and Protestant colonies in the provinces and their difficulties with the authorities), and suggests that a systematic indexing of the Registres by a team of scholars, as has been done in France for periodicals, would make them more accessible to researchers.
St John ou Crèvecœur ? L'ambiguïté des Lettres d'un cultivateur américain
Authors: Aubéry Pierre
Published: June 2016

Pierre Aubéry : St. John or Crèvecœur ? The Ambiguity of the Letters

from an American Farmer.

M. G. J. de Crèvecœur, born in Caen in 1735 wrote, under the pen-name of J. Hector St. John, the Letters from an American Farmer, which, adapted by the author himself, became Lettres d'un cultivateur américain. Far better known and appreciated in America than Europe, this work is famous for the answer it gives to the question : " What is an American ? " This article attempts to assess whether its success was due to its documentary content, style, composition, to the essential questions posed about the identity and ideology of Americans, or to the attraction and curiosity of Europe for the New World, where humanity was making a new start. The author concludes that it is basically a literary exercise, drawing more on Rousseau and Raynal than on the author's own experience.