bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Calibration and Validation of Landsat Tree Cover in the Taiga−Tundra Ecotone
Authors: Montesano Paul , Neigh Christopher , Sexton Joseph , Feng Min , Channan Saurabh , Ranson Kenneth , Townshend John
Published: June 2016

Monitoring current forest characteristics in the taiga−tundra ecotone (TTE) at multiple scales is critical for understanding its vulnerability to structural changes. A 30 m spatial resolution Landsat-based tree canopy cover map has been calibrated and validated in the TTE with reference tree cover data from airborne LiDAR and high resolution spaceborne images across the full range of boreal forest tree cover. This domain-specific calibration model used estimates of forest height to determine reference forest cover that best matched Landsat estimates. The model removed the systematic under-estimation of tree canopy cover >80% and indicated that Landsat estimates of tree canopy cover more closely matched canopies at least 2 m in height rather than 5 m. The validation improved estimates of uncertainty in tree canopy cover in discontinuous TTE forests for three temporal epochs (2000, 2005, and 2010) by reducing systematic errors, leading to increases in tree canopy cover uncertainty. Average pixel-level uncertainties in tree canopy cover were 29.0%, 27.1% and 31.1% for the 2000, 2005 and 2010 epochs, respectively. Maps from these calibrated data improve the uncertainty associated with Landsat tree canopy cover estimates in the discontinuous forests of the circumpolar TTE.
Creating a Regional MODIS Satellite-Driven Net Primary Production Dataset for European Forests
Authors: Neumann Mathias , Moreno Adam , Thurnher Christopher , Mues Volker , Härkönen Sanna , Mura Matteo , Bouriaud Olivier , Lang Mait , Cardellini Giuseppe , Thivolle-Cazat Alain , Bronisz Karol , Merganic Jan , Alberdi Iciar , Astrup Rasmus , Mohren Frits , Zhao Maosheng , Hasenauer Hubert
Published: June 2016

Net primary production (NPP) is an important ecological metric for studying forest ecosystems and their carbon sequestration, for assessing the potential supply of food or timber and quantifying the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. The global MODIS NPP dataset using the MOD17 algorithm provides valuable information for monitoring NPP at 1-km resolution. Since coarse-resolution global climate data are used, the global dataset may contain uncertainties for Europe. We used a 1-km daily gridded European climate data set with the MOD17 algorithm to create the regional NPP dataset MODIS EURO. For evaluation of this new dataset, we compare MODIS EURO with terrestrial driven NPP from analyzing and harmonizing forest inventory data (NFI) from 196,434 plots in 12 European countries as well as the global MODIS NPP dataset for the years 2000 to 2012. Comparing these three NPP datasets, we found that the global MODIS NPP dataset differs from NFI NPP by 26%, while MODIS EURO only differs by 7%. MODIS EURO also agrees with NFI NPP across scales (from continental, regional to country) and gradients (elevation, location, tree age, dominant species, etc.). The agreement is particularly good for elevation, dominant species or tree height. This suggests that using improved climate data allows the MOD17 algorithm to provide realistic NPP estimates for Europe. Local discrepancies between MODIS EURO and NFI NPP can be related to differences in stand density due to forest management and the national carbon estimation methods. With this study, we provide a consistent, temporally continuous and spatially explicit productivity dataset for the years 2000 to 2012 on a 1-km resolution, which can be used to assess climate change impacts on ecosystems or the potential biomass supply of the European forests for an increasing bio-based economy. MODIS EURO data are made freely available at ftp://palantir.boku.ac.at/Public/MODIS_EURO.
An Efficient Interactive Model for On-Demand Sensing-As-A-Servicesof Sensor-Cloud
Authors: Dinh Thanh , Kim Younghan
Published: June 2016

This paper proposes an efficient interactive model for the sensor-cloud to enable the sensor-cloud to efficiently provide on-demand sensing services for multiple applications with different requirements at the same time. The interactive model is designed for both the cloud and sensor nodes to optimize the resource consumption of physical sensors, as well as the bandwidth consumption of sensing traffic. In the model, the sensor-cloud plays a key role in aggregating application requests to minimize the workloads required for constrained physical nodes while guaranteeing that the requirements of all applications are satisfied. Physical sensor nodes perform their sensing under the guidance of the sensor-cloud. Based on the interactions with the sensor-cloud, physical sensor nodes adapt their scheduling accordingly to minimize their energy consumption. Comprehensive experimental results show that our proposed system achieves a significant improvement in terms of the energy consumption of physical sensors, the bandwidth consumption from the sink node to the sensor-cloud, the packet delivery latency, reliability and scalability, compared to current approaches. Based on the obtained results, we discuss the economical benefits and how the proposed system enables a win-win model in the sensor-cloud.
Strategic Decision-Making Learning from Label Distributions: An Approach for Facial Age Estimation
Authors: Zhao Wei , Wang Han
Published: June 2016

Nowadays, label distribution learning is among the state-of-the-art methodologies in facial age estimation. It takes the age of each facial image instance as a label distribution with a series of age labels rather than the single chronological age label that is commonly used. However, this methodology is deficient in its simple decision-making criterion: the final predicted age is only selected at the one with maximum description degree. In many cases, different age labels may have very similar description degrees. Consequently, blindly deciding the estimated age by virtue of the highest description degree would miss or neglect other valuable age labels that may contribute a lot to the final predicted age. In this paper, we propose a strategic decision-making label distribution learning algorithm (SDM-LDL) with a series of strategies specialized for different types of age label distribution. Experimental results from the most popular aging face database, FG-NET, show the superiority and validity of all the proposed strategic decision-making learning algorithms over the existing label distribution learning and other single-label learning algorithms for facial age estimation. The inner properties of SDM-LDL are further explored with more advantages.
High-Precision Hysteresis Sensing of the Quartz Crystal Inductance-to-Frequency Converter
Authors: Matko Vojko , Milanović Miro
Published: June 2016

A new method for the automated measurement of the hysteresis of the temperature-compensated inductance-to-frequency converter with a single quartz crystal is proposed. The new idea behind this method is a converter with two programmable analog switches enabling the automated measurement of the converter hysteresis, as well as the temperature compensation of the quartz crystal and any other circuit element. Also used is the programmable timing control device that allows the selection of different oscillating frequencies. In the proposed programmable method two different inductances connected in series to the quartz crystal are switched in a short time sequence, compensating the crystal’s natural temperature characteristics (in the temperature range between 0 and 50 °C). The procedure allows for the measurement of the converter hysteresis at various values of capacitance connected in parallel with the quartz crystal for the converter sensitivity setting at selected inductance. It, furthermore, enables the measurement of hysteresis at various values of inductance at selected parallel capacitance (sensitivity) connected to the quartz crystal. The article shows that the proposed hysteresis measurement of the converter, which converts the inductance in the range between 95 and 100 μH to a frequency in the range between 1 and 200 kHz, has only 7 × 10−13 frequency instability (during the temperature change between 0 and 50 °C) with a maximum 1 × 10−11 hysteresis frequency difference.
Silica-gel Particles Loaded with an Ionic Liquid for Separation of Zr(IV) Prior to Its Determination by ICP-OES
Authors: Marwani Hadi , Alsafrani Amjad , Asiri Abdullah , Rahman Mohammed
Published: June 2016

A new ionic liquid loaded silica gel amine (SG-APTMS-N,N-EPANTf2) was developed, as an adsorptive material, for selective adsorption and determination of zirconium, Zr(IV), without the need for a chelating intermediate. Based on a selectivity study, the SG-APTMS-N,N-EPANTf2 phase showed a perfect selectivity towards Zr(IV) at pH 4 as compared to other metallic ions, including gold [Au(III)], copper [Cu(II)], cobalt [Co(II)], chromium [Cr(III)], lead [Pb(II)], selenium [Se(IV)] and mercury [Hg(II)] ions. The influence of pH, Zr(IV) concentration, contact time and interfering ions on SG-APTMS-N,N-EPANTf2 uptake for Zr(IV) was evaluated. The presence of incorporated donor atoms in newly synthesized SG-APTMS-N,N-EPANTf2 phase played a significant role in enhancing its uptake capacity of Zr(IV) by 78.64% in contrast to silica gel (activated). The equilibrium and kinetic information of Zr(IV) adsorption onto SG-APTMS-N,N-EPANTf2 were best expressed by Langmuir and pseudo second-order kinetic models, respectively. General co-existing cations did not interfere with the extraction and detection of Zr(IV). Finally, the analytical efficiency of the newly developed method was also confirmed by implementing it for the determination of Zr(IV) in several water samples.
Quantum Random Number Generation Using a Quanta Image Sensor
Authors: Amri Emna , Felk Yacine , Stucki Damien , Ma Jiaju , Fossum Eric
Published: June 2016

A new quantum random number generation method is proposed. The method is based on the randomness of the photon emission process and the single photon counting capability of the Quanta Image Sensor (QIS). It has the potential to generate high-quality random numbers with remarkable data output rate. In this paper, the principle of photon statistics and theory of entropy are discussed. Sample data were collected with QIS jot device, and its randomness quality was analyzed. The randomness assessment method and results are discussed.
Game Theory Meets Wireless Sensor Networks Security Requirements and Threats Mitigation: A Survey
Authors: Abdalzaher Mohamed , Seddik Karim , Elsabrouty Maha , Muta Osamu , Furukawa Hiroshi , Abdel-Rahman Adel
Published: June 2016

We present a study of using game theory for protecting wireless sensor networks (WSNs) from selfish behavior or malicious nodes. Due to scalability, low complexity and disseminated nature of WSNs, malicious attacks can be modeled effectively using game theory. In this study, we survey the different game-theoretic defense strategies for WSNs. We present a taxonomy of the game theory approaches based on the nature of the attack, whether it is caused by an external attacker or it is the result of an internal node acting selfishly or maliciously. We also present a general trust model using game theory for decision making. We, finally, identify the significant role of evolutionary games for WSNs security against intelligent attacks; then, we list several prospect applications of game theory to enhance the data trustworthiness and node cooperation in different WSNs.
Amperometric Non-Enzymatic Hydrogen Peroxide Sensor Based on Aligned Zinc Oxide Nanorods
Authors: Al-Hardan Naif , Abdul Hamid Muhammad , Shamsudin Roslinda , Othman Norinsan , Kar Keng Lim
Published: June 2016

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) have been synthesized via the hydrothermal process. The NRs were grown over a conductive glass substrate. A non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), based on the prepared ZnO NRs, was examined through the use of current-voltage measurements. The measured currents, as a function of H2O2 concentrations ranging from 10 μM to 700 μM, revealed two distinct behaviours and good performance, with a lower detection limit (LOD) of 42 μM for the low range of H2O2 concentrations (first region), and a LOD of 143.5 μM for the higher range of H2O2 concentrations (second region). The prepared ZnO NRs show excellent electrocatalytic activity. This enables a measurable and stable output current. The results were correlated with the oxidation process of the H2O2 and revealed a good performance for the ZnO NR non-enzymatic H2O2 sensor.
A Proof-of-Concept for Semantically Interoperable Federation of IoT Experimentation Facilities
Authors: Lanza Jorge , Sanchez Luis , Gomez David , Elsaleh Tarek , Steinke Ronald , Cirillo Flavio
Published: June 2016

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) is unanimously identified as one of the main pillars of future smart scenarios. The potential of IoT technologies and deployments has been already demonstrated in a number of different application areas, including transport, energy, safety and healthcare. However, despite the growing number of IoT deployments, the majority of IoT applications tend to be self-contained, thereby forming application silos. A lightweight data centric integration and combination of these silos presents several challenges that still need to be addressed. Indeed, the ability to combine and synthesize data streams and services from diverse IoT platforms and testbeds, holds the promise to increase the potentiality of smart applications in terms of size, scope and targeted business context. In this article, a proof-of-concept implementation that federates two different IoT experimentation facilities by means of semantic-based technologies will be described. The specification and design of the implemented system and information models will be described together with the practical details of the developments carried out and its integration with the existing IoT platforms supporting the aforementioned testbeds. Overall, the system described in this paper demonstrates that it is possible to open new horizons in the development of IoT applications and experiments at a global scale, that transcend the (silo) boundaries of individual deployments, based on the semantic interconnection and interoperability of diverse IoT platforms and testbeds.
Development of a Calibration Strip for Immunochromatographic Assay Detection Systems
Authors: Gao Yue-Ming , Wei Jian-Chong , Mak Peng-Un , Vai Mang-I. , Du Min , Pun Sio-Hang
Published: June 2016

With many benefits and applications, immunochromatographic (ICG) assay detection systems have been reported on a great deal. However, the existing research mainly focuses on increasing the dynamic detection range or application fields. Calibration of the detection system, which has a great influence on the detection accuracy, has not been addressed properly. In this context, this work develops a calibration strip for ICG assay photoelectric detection systems. An image of the test strip is captured by an image acquisition device, followed by performing a fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering algorithm and maximin-distance algorithm for image segmentation. Additionally, experiments are conducted to find the best characteristic quantity. By analyzing the linear coefficient, an average value of hue (H) at 14 min is chosen as the characteristic quantity and the empirical formula between H and optical density (OD) value is established. Therefore, H, saturation (S), and value (V) are calculated by a number of selected OD values. Then, H, S, and V values are transferred to the RGB color space and a high-resolution printer is used to print the strip images on cellulose nitrate membranes. Finally, verification of the printed calibration strips is conducted by analyzing the linear correlation between OD and the spectral reflectance, which shows a good linear correlation (R2 = 98.78%).
Spatiotemporal Changes in Rural Settlement Land and Rural Population in the Middle Basin of the Heihe River, China
Authors: Shi Manjiang , Xie Yaowen , Cao Qi
Published: June 2016

Understanding the relationship between the spatiotemporal expansion of rural settlement land and the variation of rural population is the foundation of rational and specific planning for sustainable development. Based on the integration of Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI images and demographic data, using mathematical models, landscape indexes, and a decoupling model, the spatiotemporal changes of the rural settlement land area and its decoupling relationship with the rural registered population were analyzed for the middle basin of the Heihe River in China. During the period 1986–2014, the following changes occurred: (1) The study area experienced increases of 124.94%, 55.16%, and 1.56% in rural settlement land area, number of patches, and rural registered population, respectively; (2) Edge-expansion, dispersion, and urban encroachment were the dominant patterns of dynamic changes in the studied rural settlement land. Among these, edge-expansion was the most prevalent development pattern; it contributed more than half of the total increase in the number of patches and the total area growth; (3) The annual growth rate of the rural registered population increased from 0.7% in 1986–2002 to −0.5% in 2002–2014. By that time the rural settlement land area had undergone a gentle increase from 3.4% to 3.6%. Generally, the rural registered population and rural settlement land has experienced a shift from weakly decoupled in 1986–2009 to strongly decoupled in 2009–2014; (4) From 1986 to 2014, rural urbanization and modernization were the main causes that led to the decline in the rural registered population; however, economic growth promoted the expansion of rural settlement land during this same period. We believe that with the rapid development of urbanization, the decoupling relationship between the rural settlement land area and the reduction in the rural registered population cannot be completely reversed in the short term. It is recommended that the government should enhance the role of planning rural settlement land during the process of urbanization.
Viral Inhibition of the IFN-Induced JAK/STAT Signalling Pathway: Development of Live Attenuated Vaccines by Mutation of Viral-Encoded IFN-Antagonists
Authors: Fleming Stephen
Published: June 2016

The interferon (IFN) induced anti-viral response is amongst the earliest and most potent of the innate responses to fight viral infection. The induction of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activation of transcription (JAK/STAT) signalling pathway by IFNs leads to the upregulation of hundreds of interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) for which, many have the ability to rapidly kill viruses within infected cells. During the long course of evolution, viruses have evolved an extraordinary range of strategies to counteract the host immune responses in particular by targeting the JAK/STAT signalling pathway. Understanding how the IFN system is inhibited has provided critical insights into viral virulence and pathogenesis. Moreover, identification of factors encoded by viruses that modulate the JAK/STAT pathway has opened up opportunities to create new anti-viral drugs and rationally attenuated new generation vaccines, particularly for RNA viruses, by reverse genetics.
A Novel Approach for Estimating the Recurrence Intervals of Channel-Forming Discharges
Authors: Ward Andy , Moran Molly
Published: June 2016

Channel-forming discharges typically are associated with recurrence intervals less than five years and usually less than two years. However, the actual frequency of occurrence of these discharges is often several times more frequent than the statistical expectation. This result was confirmed by using the Log-Pearson Type 3 statistical method to analyze measured annual series of instantaneous peaks and peak daily means for 150 catchments in six states in the North Central Region of the United States. Discharge records ranged from 39 to 102 years and catchment sizes ranged from 29 to 6475 km2. For each state, mean values of the ratio of the calculated to the expected occurrences exceeded 1.0, for recurrence intervals from two years to 100 years with R-squared values varying from 0.64 to 0.97, respectively. However, catchment-by-catchment variability was too large for the relationships for each state to be useful. We propose a method, called Full Daily Distribution (FDD), which used all of the daily values for the available period of records. The approach provided ratios of calculated to expected occurrences that were approximately 1.0. For recurrence intervals less than five years, the FDD calculated discharges were much greater than those obtained by using the Log-Pearson Type 3 approach with annual series of instantaneous peaks or peak daily means. The method can also calculate discharges for recurrence intervals less than one year. The study indicates a need to enhance the Log-Pearson Type 3 method to provide better estimates of channel-forming discharges and that the proposed FDD could be a useful tool to this purpose.
Polyploidy and sexual system in angiosperms: Is there an association?
Authors: Glick Lior , Sabath Niv , Ashman Tia‐Lynn , Goldberg Emma , Mayrose Itay
Published: June 2016

PREMISE OF THE STUDY:

Flowering plants display a variety of sexual systems, ranging from complete cosexuality (hermaphroditism) to separate‐sexed individuals (dioecy). While dioecy is relatively rare, it has evolved many times and is present in many plant families. Transitions in sexual systems are hypothesized to be affected by large genomic events such as whole‐genome duplication, or polyploidy, and several models have been proposed to explain the observed patterns of association.

METHODS:

In this study, we assessed the association between ploidy and sexual system (separate or combined sexes). To this end, we assembled a database of ploidy levels and sexual systems for ∼1000 species, spanning 18 genera and 15 families. We applied several phylogenetic comparative approaches, including Pagel's coevolutionary framework and sister clade analyses, for detecting correlations between ploidy level and sexual system.

KEY RESULTS:

Our results indicate a broad association between polyploidy and sexual system dimorphism, with low evolutionary stability of the diploid‐dioecious condition observed in several clades. A detailed examination of the clades exhibiting this correlation reveals that it is underlain by various patterns of transition rate asymmetry.

CONCLUSIONS:

We conclude that the long‐hypothesized connection between ploidy and sexual system holds in some clades, although it may well be affected by factors that differ from clade to clade. Our results further demonstrate that to better understand the evolutionary processes involved, more sophisticated methods and extensive and detailed data sets are required for both broad and focused inquiry.
Synergistic chiral iminium and palladium catalysis: Highly regio- and enantioselective [3 + 2] annulation reaction of 2-vinylcyclopropanes with enals
Authors: Zhu Haipan , Du Peile , Li Jianjun , Liao Ziyang , Liu Guohua , Li Hao , Wang Wei
Published: June 2016

A cooperative catalytic strategy of chiral iminium catalysis by regioselective activation of the C=C bond in enals and a transition metal promoting to open the 2-vinylcyclopropanes for highly regio- and enantioselective [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 2-vinylcyclopropanes with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes has been developed.
Deriving Reduplicants in Prosodic-Morphology Typologies
Authors: DelBusso Natalie
Published: June 2016

Prosodic factors affect morpheme form. Reduplicative morphemes often take the shape of the prosodic units syllable, foot, or prosodic word, regardless of the size of the base to which they attach. Some reduplicants also vary depending on the shape of the base. McCarthy & Prince's (1986, 1993, 1995) work in Prosodic Morphology argues that such effects follow from the interaction of prosodic and morphological constraints without direct reference to reduplicant size.In this study, I determine the assumptions that are required to produce uniform reduplicative paradigms with the three basic types, syllable, foot and total, from the interaction of constraints in a prosodic system. 'Uniform' refers to a reduplicant that is the same size across reduplicative bases of different lengths. I systematically analyze the ranking structure of three complete factorial typologies of reduplication built on a basic stress system with well-studied properties (nGX, Alber & Prince, in prep.). Each subsequent system adds a single constraint to CON. A uniform one-syllable reduplicant is obtainable from pure prosody along with the requirement in GEN that morphemes be overtly realized. Total reduplication requires a single constraint referring to the reduplicant and requiring that it be total (BR.Max). Uniform bisyllabic foot reduplication only arises when the system includes a constraint relating prosodic and morphological constituents through alignment of their edges. These reduplication patterns emerge in the typologies along with a variety of non-uniform, base-dependent patterns.
Usage-based phonology and simulations as means to investigate unintuitive voicing behavior
Authors: Bruni Jagoda , Duran Daniel , Dogil Grzegorz
Published: June 2016

Prosodic factors affect morpheme form: reduplicative morphemes often take the shape of the prosodic units syllable, foot, or prosodic word, regardless of the size of the base to which they attach. Some reduplicants vary depending on the shape of the base. McCarthy & Prince's (1986, 1993, 1995) work in Prosodic Morphology argues that such effects follow from the interaction of prosodic and morphological constraints without direct reference to reduplicant size.
French loanwords in Vietnamese: the role of input language phonotactics and contrast in loanword adaptation
Authors: Kang Yoonjung , Phạm Andrea Hòa , Storme Benjamin
Published: June 2016

This study examines the adaptation of French vowels in Vietnamese focusing on adaptation patterns that seem to defy a straightforward analysis based on native phonotactic restrictions or comparison of phonetic input-output similarity. A proper analysis requires reference to knowledge of the input language phonology. In the first case study, we observe that Vietnamese adapters extend the French phonotactic tendencies, i.e., Loi de Position, to loan adaptation productively. Such “intrusion” of L2 phonology knowledge may arise when phonetics underdetermines the adaptation and the adapters look to their knowledge of L2 phonology to arrive at adaptation. It is also notable that the L2 knowledge employed in adaptation is not native-like as the adaptation is not always isomorphic to the French input. In the second case study, the contrast of L2 phonology (/ʁ/ vs. /k/) is neutralized due to an L1 phonological restriction (i.e., no /ʁ/ in Vietnamese coda) but the Vietnamese adaptation systematically retains the contrast in the quality and length difference in the preceding vowel. There is plausible phonetic motivation for this adaptation pattern, but phonetically faithful mapping underdetermines the attested adaptation pattern, and reference to knowledge of L2 phonological contrasts is necessary. These findings illustrate the complexity of the loanword adaptation process, where a variety of different factors including L1 phonological restrictions, phonetic similarity, and L2 phonological knowledge, interact to affect adaptation.
Selectional Effects in Allomorph Competition
Authors: Danner Samantha Gordon
Published: June 2016

This paper uses English demonyms – the name for inhabitants of a particular region, such as Californian or Icelander – to investigate a combination of phonological and non-phonological factors that drive conditioned allomorphy. A corpus study of English demonyms found that hypothesized phonological conditioning factors of demonym allomorphy such as base stress and base syllable count did not fully account for alternation in demonym allomorphy. In a related experiment that tested native English speakers’ preferences for demonym allomorphs among real and fictional place names, additional non-phonological factors such as familiarity and frequency were also considered. The experiment results showed that place names noted as unfamiliar by participants had different conditioning factors than phonologically similar place names from the corpus study. The corpus study and experimental results highlight the need to consider both phonological factors and non-phonological factors in the study of conditioned allomorphy.
When the Local Minimum is not Enough: Incorporating Lexical Selection into Harmonic Serialism
Authors: McCarvel Miranda K.
Published: June 2016

This paper argues that Harmonic Serialism must include the lexical listing of allomorphs to fully account for certain cases of phonologically conditioned allomorphy. The variation seen in the Jersey Norman French (Jèrriais) plural definite article presents problems for Harmonic Serialism and Harmonic Serialism with Optimal Interleaving unless Lexical Selection is adopted. I propose the incorporation of Lexical Selection into the Harmonic Serialism framework, which I term HS/LS. To account for phonologically conditioned allomorphy in the Jèrriais plural definite article, I propose and HS/LS analysis where allomorphs are lexically listed and partially ordered.
The Development of Perceptual Sensitivity to Polish Sibilants at First Exposure
Authors: Shoemaker Ellenor
Published: June 2016

The current study examines the development of non-native phoneme discrimination in the very first hours of exposure to a second language. Thirty-six native speakers of French received a total of 14 hours of oral input in Polish over a 10-day period. None of the participants had previously studied Polish or another Slavic language and the input included no explicit phonological instruction. Participants completed an AX discrimination task at three intervals: T1 (0 hours of input), T2 (4.5 hours of input) and T3 (10.5 hours of input). Stimuli consisted of pairs of CV non-words including six sibilant fricatives from the Polish phonemic inventory. Discrimination of non-native phonemes showed a main effect of Test Interval in accuracy scores, suggesting that participants’ discrimination improved significantly as a function of input. Post-hoc analyses showed, however, that the difference was only significant between T1 and T3 and between T2 and T3, suggesting that 4.5 hours of input was not sufficient for participants to begin to establish new phonemic categories. Nonetheless, the current results show a significant increase in the ability of participants to discriminate non-native sounds after very limited acoustic input in the target language, shedding light on the developmental course of adult phonological acquisition.
When Unnecessary Repairs Become Necessary: The Case of Nasal Insertion in Standard Mandarin Loanwords
Authors: Huang Ho-Hsin , Lin Yen-Hwei
Published: June 2016

[Abstract not available]
A PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATING THE INFLUENCE OF ROAD CONTEXT ON DRIVERS’ VISUAL BEHAVIOUR
Authors: Bongiorno Nicola , Bosurgi Gaetano , Pellegrino Orazio
Published: June 2016

In this paper, we investigated drivers’ visual behaviour while travelling a road regularly opened to traffic in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the traditional scientific models and propose, at the same time, further measures useful for understanding the complex phenomenon. As is known, drivers acquire the necessary information for knowing the road geometry by visually detecting certain areas of the surrounding context. Some models in the literature have shown in a simple and convincing way these mechanisms, but they are valid only with specific assumptions, often very restrictive, such as a two-lane road, horizontal sign clearly visible and no interaction with other vehicles. For this reason, in this study we wanted to investigate different conditions, by estimating the visual strategy of some regular drivers on a three-lane road in presence of other vehicles. The visual behaviour was surveyed with the Tobii Glasses Eye Tracker and the resulting raw data were further manipulated by us to extract more useful information for our purposes. In particular, we quantified the driver’s dedicated attention to the various elements present inside the environmental context, both static (road edges, road signs, dashboard, etc.) and dynamic (other vehicles), meaning by this term those that could potentially collide with the trajectories of our vehicle. The achieved results, highlighting the limits of validity of some recent studies, contain some proposed indexes useful to give a better understanding of the visual behaviour in order to detect any eventual weakness of the road.
FIELD MEASUREMENTS ON RUNWAY FRICTION DECAY RELATED TO RUBBER DEPOSITS
Authors: Luca Mario De , Abbondati Francesco , Yager Thomas J. , Dell’Acqua Gianluca
Published: June 2016

Surfaces of airport pavements are subject to contamination that can be very dangerous for the movement of aircraft particularly on the runway. A recurrent problem is represented by the deposits of vulcanized rubber of aircraft tires in the touchdown area during landings and lesser during take-offs. This causes a loss of grip that compromises the safety of aircraft movements in take-off and landing operations. This study deals with the surface characteristics decay phenomenon related to contamination from rubber deposits. The experiment was conducted by correlating the pavement surface characteristics, as detected by Grip Tester, to air traffic before and after de-rubberizing operation and two models were constructed for the assessment of functional capacity of the runway before and after the operations de-rubberizing.
APPRAISAL OF TAKAGI–SUGENO TYPE NEURO-FUZZY NETWORK SYSTEM WITH A MODIFIED DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION METHOD TO PREDICT NONLINEAR WHEEL DYNAMICS CAUSED BY ROAD IRREGULARITIES
Authors: Taghavifar Hamid , Motlagh Asad Modarres , Mardani Aref , Hassanpour Ali , Hosseinloo Ashkan Haji , Taghavifar Leyla , Wei Chongfeng
Published: June 2016

Wheel dynamics play a substantial role in traversing and controlling the vehicle, braking, ride comfort, steering, and maneuvering. The transient wheel dynamics are difficult to be ascertained in tire–obstacle contact condition. To this end, a single-wheel testing rig was utilized in a soil bin facility for provision of a controlled experimental medium. Differently manufactured obstacles (triangular and Gaussian shaped geometries) were employed at different obstacle heights, wheel loads, tire slippages and forward speeds to measure the forces induced at vertical and horizontal directions at tire–obstacle contact interface. A new Takagi–Sugeno type neuro-fuzzy network system with a modified Differential Evolution (DE) method was used to model wheel dynamics caused by road irregularities. DE is a robust optimization technique for complex and stochastic algorithms with ever expanding applications in real-world problems. It was revealed that the new proposed model can be served as a functional alternative to classical modeling tools for the prediction of nonlinear wheel dynamics.
HIV Therapy with Unknown HBV Status is Responsible for Higher Rate of HBV Genome Variability in Ethiopia
Authors: Belyhun Yeshambel , Maier Melanie , Liebert Uwe Gerd
Published: June 2016

Background

In Ethiopia, HBV and HIV are co-circulating. Since patients are not routinely tested for HBV, the use of antiretroviral drugs could contribute to unintended HBV drug resistance and surface gene variability during HIV coinfection.

Methods

A total of 161 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive sera from 58 HIV-coinfected and 103 drug-naive HBV-monoinfected individuals were characterized for HBV drug resistance and immune escape HBsAg variants. HBV polymerase/surface gene fragment of 716 bp was analysed by direct sequencing.

Results

In 34 out of 161 study subjects (21.1%) HBV drug resistance mutations (DRMs) were detected with a frequency of 3.1% rtL80F/I, 0.6% rtA181V, 1.2% rtT184S, 6.2% rtV173L, 10.6% rtL180M, 10.6% rtM204V/I and 8.1% rtI233V. The prevalence of the major DRMs in HBV–HIV-coinfected individuals was significantly higher than monoinfected individuals (41.4% versus 10.7%). Lamivudine selected DRMs, that is, rtL180M (29.3%) and rtM204V/I (29.3%) and rtV173L (15.5%) were more prevalent in HBV–HIV-coinfected individuals but absent in HBV-monoinfected individuals. Despite the finding that rtL180M and rtM204V/I were higher among ART-experienced individuals, the overall prevalence of DRMs (48.0% versus 36.4%) showed no significance difference among antiretroviral therapy (ART) status. The study also revealed higher frequency and heterogeneity of putative and known immune escape HBsAg mutations both in the major hydrophilic region (MHR; 68.3%) and outside the MHR (82.5%) of the surface gene. In particular, the ‘a’ determinant surface gene mutations (sT125S, sA128V, sQ129H/R, sT131I, sC137S, sT143M, sD144D/E, sG145R, sT148P) and the majority of clustered/multiple as well as drug selected immune escape HBsAg mutations were more prevalent in HBV–HIV-coinfected individuals.

Conclusions

HIV therapy without HBV co-management in Ethiopia fosters emergence and circulation of HBV variants of public health importance. It is highly recommended to include HBV testing and co-management as part of routine HIV care programmes for a better ART selection.
Charge de travail, justice, soutien et résilience : quels effets sur l’épuisement professionnel des travailleurs sociaux et quelles médiations par la satisfaction des besoins ?
Authors: Bouterfas Naouële , Desrumaux Pascale , Leroy-Fremont Nathalie , Boudenghan Méthode
Published: June 2016

Cette étude tente de vérifier le rôle médiateur de la satisfaction des 3 besoins fondamentaux dans la relation entre les inducteurs organisationnels (justices distributive, procédurale, interpersonnelle, informationnelle, les soutiens hiérarchique et des collègues), les inducteurs liés au travail (charge de travail et charge émotionnelle), l’inducteur personnel (résilience) et l’épuisement professionnel des travailleurs sociaux (N=369). L’opérationnalisation du modèle de médiation est essentiellement basée sur le modèle de santé psychologique au travail (Boudrias et al., 2011 ; Desrumaux et al, 2015). D’abord, les résultats des analyses de médiation suggèrent que la satisfaction du besoin d’autonomie médiatise partiellement le lien entre la justice procédurale, le soutien hiérarchique, la charge de travail, la résilience et l’épuisement émotionnel. Quant à la satisfaction du besoin de compétence, d’une part, elle médiatise partiellement le lien entre le soutien hiérarchique et la dépersonnalisation. D’autre part, elle médiatise le lien entre la charge émotionnelle, la résilience et l’accomplissement personnel. Enfin, la satisfaction du besoin d’affiliation sociale médiatise partiellement le lien entre le soutien hiérarchique et la dépersonnalisation
La pauvreté insaisissable
Authors: Duvoux Nicolas , Rodriguez Jacques
Published: June 2016

Résumé Dans cette introduction au dossier de Communications consacré aux « pauvretés », on évoque la pluralité des configurations historiques et sociales dans lesquelles se déploie une notion qui n’est en rien univoque. À partir d’un ancrage dans les pays occidentaux, et plus particulièrement d’Europe et des États-Unis, l’article pointe les métamorphoses des formes et significations de la pauvreté. Il fait apparaître un effacement de cette notion au profit de celles de travailleur ou de citoyen, sous les auspices de l’État social, effacement qui a précédé un renouveau de sa centralité depuis trois décennies. Il souligne l’importance cognitive, sociale et politique que revêt désormais la pauvreté en tant que catégorie d’action publique. Celle-ci est en effet le pivot d’une transformation de l’État social dans le contexte néolibéral. En tant que telle, elle occulte la diversité du phénomène et la pluralité des mécanismes qui le produisent.
La pauvreté au prisme du genre
Authors: Périvier Hélène
Published: June 2016

Résumé Le genre permet d’interroger les canaux par lesquels la pauvreté affecte les femmes et les hommes. Pendant longtemps la figure de l’« homme pauvre » a été incarnée par celui qui ne disposait pas de ressources suffisantes pour subvenir à ses propres besoins et à ceux de sa famille, tandis que la « femme pauvre » était celle qui ne pouvait pas compter sur les ressources d’un conjoint. Aujourd’hui encore, les mères isolées ont un risque de pauvreté plus élevé que les autres configurations familiales. Cet article propose une analyse économique, sexuée et genrée de la pauvreté et des minima sociaux.
L’espace de la mission au miroir de la BD belge d’aventures des années 1920-1950
Authors: Delisle Philippe
Published: June 2016

Portée par des milieux catholiques, la BD belge d’aventures a souvent mis en scène des missionnaires. Mais elle accorde nettement moins de place à l’espace d’évangélisation. Les « missions » sont en général présentées furtivement et avant tout comme des lieux de « civilisation ». Un tel discours se retrouve dans certaines revues missionnaires. Mais la BD d’aventures, qui privilégie les personnages et le mouvement, semble nettement l’accentuer, même si quelques exceptions existent.
La Hongrie : un pays de transit vers l’Europe de l’Ouest ou une nouvelle patrie pour les Mineurs (Isolés) Étrangers ?
Authors: Tarafás Laura
Published: June 2016

Le nombre de demandeurs d’asile a explosé en Hongrie : 18900 demandeurs d’asile en 2013, contre 2157 en 2012. La Hongrie reste la principale porte d’entrée dans l’espace Schengen. Elle a notamment accueilli la plupart des demandeurs d’asile mineurs arrivant en Europe Centrale en 2013, dont 170 mineurs isolés étrangers. Placé dans un foyer pour enfants handicapés à Fót, ces jeunes sont souvent confrontés à l’incompréhension et à des réactions désagréables de la part des professionnels. Le discours dominant critique « le manque de motivation de ces jeunes à s’intégrer dans la société hongroise. » Dans un pays qui reste encore assez mono-ethnique, on a souvent du mal à penser l’altérité. Cependant, les associations qui fournissent de l’aide sociale et juridique et l’accompagnement psychologique, mènent une bataille sans merci contre le racisme et l’indifférence. Dans cet article, je tente de donner un bref aperçu concernant la situation des mineurs demandeurs d’asile, de partager leurs témoignages et de mettre en question nos contre-attitudes collectives, qui influencent la manière dont on accueille l’autre.
De la gestion de l’information RH à la gestion de la citoyenneté organisationnelle (CO) : pratiques managériales et réactions des salariés dans les entreprises gabonaises
Authors: Mamboundou Jean-Paul
Published: June 2016

Le présent article s’intéresse aux pratiques de gestion des comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle (CO). Partant du constat que la littérature sur la question a davantage mis l’accent sur l’identification de ses antécédents que sur les mécanismes de sa gestion, la recherche se focalise sur les trois aspects suivants : le design du système d’information (SI) RH, le dispositif d’incitations / récompenses mis en œuvre et la réaction des salariés porteurs de ces comportements. Un positionnement épistémologique guide l’ensemble de la réflexion : ce sont les comportements de CO, qui une fois constatés, poussent les responsables à réagir. La phase ultime de ce processus est la réaction des salariés. Afin d’apporter un éclairage sur ce phénomène RH, l’exploration est retenue pour servir de base à la démarche d’investigation. Celle-ci a permis de mener des entretiens auprès de 28 entreprises gabonaises de différentes tailles et ayant des structures de propriétés variées. L’analyse narrative des discours des enquêtés met en évidence le caractère complexe desdits comportements. Elle débouche ainsi sur une typologie contextualisée des comportements de CO initiés soit par le salarié, soit par l’organisation ; chaque type nécessitant un management contingent. Le premier repose sur le contrat psychologique caractérisé par des attentes de l’individu vis-à-vis de son employeur. Le second s’apparente, quant à lui, au management des talents. Mais quel que soit le cas, des mécanismes d’incitation appropriés, reposant sur des « grappes » des pratiques RH, ainsi que le souligne l’école de la configuration du Management Stratégique des Ressources Humaines, doivent être implémentés, au risque de faire disparaître la CO. Des implications théoriques et méthodologiques sont proposées et les limites de l’étude sont soulignées.
La genèse de l’accord du 14 juillet 2015 sur le nucléaire iranien
Authors: Fabius Laurent
Published: June 2016

En mai 2012, au lendemain de l’élection présidentielle française, le dossier nucléaire iranien, défi majeur tant pour la sécurité régionale que pour les efforts globaux de lutte contre la prolifération nucléaire, était caractérisé par une impasse diplomatique, un arsenal de sanctions et un état d’avancement préoccupant du programme nucléaire iranien, justifiant les craintes d’une intervention militaire pour y porter un coup d’arrêt. La France décidait alors de mettre en œuvre une politique de « fermeté constructive », dans le but de négocier et de conclure un accord solide et vérifiable, qui traduise un réel progrès et donne confiance à la communauté internationale dans le fait que l’Iran renonce réellement à l’arme nucléaire. Ce texte constitue une description précise de la genèse de cet accord majeur par l’un de ses principaux acteurs.
Les réfugiés en Afrique : de la protection précaire au cercle vicieux
Authors: Nguembock Samuel
Published: June 2016

Cet article envisage la notion de protection précaire dans un contexte d’explosion du nombre de réfugiés en Afrique. La notion de protection précaire semble pertinente pour bien comprendre et rendre compte du développement inquiétant du nombre de réfugiés sur le continent. Elle permet notamment d’en ressortir les facteurs structurants et explicatifs les plus pertinents allant des processus internes aux États à la gestion internationale des réfugiés. Après avoir présenté l’évolution inquiétante du nombre de réfugiés au cours des dernières années, cet article met la hausse du nombre de réfugiés en relation avec, d’une part, la faiblesse des politiques de prévention et de gestion des conflits et, d’autre part, les lacunes observées au niveau de la coordination internationale. L’ensemble de ces écueils et dysfonctionnements, ainsi que le traitement précaire voire l’hostilité dans les pays d’accueil plongent la gestion et la protection des réfugiés dans un cercle vicieux qui nécessite, pour être détruit, de briser les codes du souverainisme des États et l’autisme politique suicidaire des autorités politiques nationales et internationales.
L’excellence décalée, ou comment subvertir l’institution scolaire sans en sortir
Authors: Lignier Wilfried , Pasquali Paul
Published: June 2016

Pourquoi et comment émergent, au sein d’une institution donnée, des critères et des lieux d’excellence qui sont décalés par rapport à ceux qui y dominent habituellement ? Cet article répond à cette question sur le terrain de l’institution scolaire, à partir d’enquêtes ayant porté sur deux cas de décalage : l’excellence méritante et l’excellence psychologique, associées respectivement à un dispositif d’ « ouverture sociale », et à une filière pour enfants « intellectuellement précoces ». Au-delà des logiques induites par l’évolution du système scolaire, nous insistons sur le rôle des intérêts professionnels à ce type de décalages. Ils perm ettent en effet de redéfinir les tâches, les carrières et les statuts, sans qu’il soit nécessaire de payer le prix d’une mise en cause radicale de l’ordre institutionnel ordinaire.