bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Electronic Properties of Typical Molecules and the Discharge Mechanism of Vegetable and Mineral Insulating Oils
Authors: Wang Yachao , Wang Feipeng , Li Jian , Liang Suning , Zhou Jinghan
Published: February 2018

Vegetable insulating oil may replace the mineral insulating oil used in large power transformers due to its extraordinary biodegradability and fire resistance. According to component analysis, 1-methylnaphthalene and eicosane are considered the typical molecules in mineral oil. Triolein and tristearin are considered the typical molecules in vegetable oil. The ionization potential (IP) and the variation of highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of typical molecules under an external electric field are calculated using quantum chemistry methods. The calculation results show that the IP of the triolein molecule is comparable to that of the 1-methylnaphthalene molecule. The mechanisms of losing electrons are discussed, based on the analysis of HOMO composition. The insulation characteristics of the triolein and tristearin are more likely to be degraded under an external electric field than those of 1-methylnaphthalene and eicosane. Due to the fact that the number density of low IP molecules groups in vegetable oil is much greater than that in mineral oil, the polarity effect in vegetable oil is more obvious than that in mineral oil. This eventually leads to different streamer characteristics in vegetable oil and mineral oil under positive polarity and negative polarity.
The Impact of Ambient Air Pollution on Daily Hospital Visits for Various Respiratory Diseases and the Relevant Medical Expenditures in Shanghai, China
Authors: Zhang Hao , Niu Yue , Yao Yili , Chen Renjie , Zhou Xianghong , Kan Haidong
Published: February 2018

The evidence concerning the acute effects of ambient air pollution on various respiratory diseases was limited in China, and the attributable medical expenditures were largely unknown. From 2013 to 2015, we collected data on the daily visits to the emergency- and outpatient-department for five main respiratory diseases and their medical expenditures in Shanghai, China. We used the overdispersed generalized additive model together with distributed lag models to fit the associations of criteria air pollutants with hospital visits, and used the linear models to fit the associations with medical expenditures. Generally, we observed significant increments in emergency visits (8.81–17.26%) and corresponding expenditures (0.33–25.81%) for pediatric respiratory diseases, upper respiratory infection (URI), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for an interquartile range increase of air pollutant concentrations over four lag days. As a comparison, there were significant but smaller increments in outpatient visits (1.36–4.52%) and expenditures (1.38–3.18%) for pediatric respiratory diseases and upper respiratory infection (URI). No meaningful changes were observed for asthma and lower respiratory infection. Our study suggested that short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution may induce the occurrences or exacerbation of pediatric respiratory diseases, URI, and COPD, leading to considerable medical expenditures upon the patients.
Evaluation of the Quebec Healthy Enterprise Standard: Effect on Adverse Psychosocial Work Factors and Psychological Distress
Authors: Letellier Marie-Claude , Duchaine Caroline , Aubé Karine , Talbot Denis , Mantha-Bélisle Marie-Michèle , Sultan-Taïeb Hélène , St-Hilaire France , Biron Caroline , Vézina Michel , Brisson Chantal
Published: February 2018

Adverse psychosocial work factors are recognized as a significant source of psychological distress, resulting in a considerable socioeconomic burden. The impact of occupational health standards that aim to reduce these adverse work factors, such as the Quebec Healthy Enterprise Standard (QHES), is of great interest for public health. The aim of this study was to evaluate, for the first time, the effect of QHES interventions targeting adverse psychosocial work factors on the prevalence of these factors and of psychological distress among ten Quebec organizations. These outcomes were assessed by questionnaire using validated instruments before (T1, n = 2849) and 2–3 years following (T2, n = 2560) QHES implementation. Beneficial effects of interventions were observed for two adverse psychosocial work factors: low rewards (ratio of prevalence ratios (PRs) = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.66–0.91) and low social support at work (ratio of PRs = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.77–1.03). Moreover, beneficial effects of interventions were also observed on the prevalence of high psychological distress (ratio of PRs = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.75–0.998). Psychosocial interventions implemented in the context of this standard improved the psychosocial work environment and had beneficial effects on workers’ mental health.
The New Structure of Core Oligosaccharide Presented by Proteus penneri 40A and 41 Lipopolysaccharides
Authors: Palusiak Agata , Maciejewska Anna , Lugowski Czeslaw , Rozalski Antoni , Kaszowska Marta
Published: February 2018

The new type of core oligosaccharide in Proteus penneri 40A and 41 lipopolysaccharides has been investigated by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and chemical methods. Core oligosaccharides of both strains were chosen for structural analysis based on the reactivity of LPSs with serum against P. penneri 40A core oligosaccharide–diphtheria toxoid conjugate. Structural analyses revealed that P. penneri 40A and 41 LPSs possess an identical core oligosaccharide.
Potential Health Benefits of Olive Oil and Plant Polyphenols
Authors: Gorzynik-Debicka Monika , Przychodzen Paulina , Cappello Francesco , Kuban-Jankowska Alicja , Marino Gammazza Antonella , Knap Narcyz , Wozniak Michal , Gorska-Ponikowska Magdalena
Published: February 2018

Beneficial effects of natural plant polyphenols on the human body have been evaluated in a number of scientific research projects. Bioactive polyphenols are natural compounds of various chemical structures. Their sources are mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, roots, bark, leaves of different plants, herbs, whole grain products, processed foods (dark chocolate), as well as tea, coffee, and red wine. Polyphenols are believed to reduce morbidity and/or slow down the development of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer. Biological activity of polyphenols is strongly related to their antioxidant properties. They tend to reduce the pool of reactive oxygen species as well as to neutralize potentially carcinogenic metabolites. A broad spectrum of health-promoting properties of plant polyphenols comprises antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anti-atherogenic, anti-thrombotic, and anti-mutagenic effects. Scientific studies present the ability of polyphenols to modulate the human immune system by affecting the proliferation of white blood cells, and also the production of cytokines or other factors that participate in the immunological defense. The aim of the review is to focus on polyphenols of olive oil in context of their biological activities.
Minoxidil Promotes Hair Growth through Stimulation of Growth Factor Release from Adipose-Derived Stem Cells
Authors: Choi Nahyun , Shin Soyoung , Song Sun , Sung Jong-Hyuk
Published: February 2018

Minoxidil directly promotes hair growth via the stimulation of dermal papilla (DP) and epithelial cells. Alternatively, there is little evidence for indirect promotion of hair growth via stimulation of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). We investigated whether minoxidil stimulates ASCs and if increased growth factor secretion by ASCs facilitates minoxidil-induced hair growth. Telogen-to-anagen induction was examined in mice. Cultured DP cells and vibrissae hair follicle organ cultures were used to further examine the underlying mechanisms. Subcutaneous injection of minoxidil-treated ASCs accelerated telogen-to-anagen transition in mice, and increased hair weight at day 14 post-injection. Minoxidil did not alter ASC proliferation, but increased migration and tube formation. Minoxidil also increased the secretion of growth factors from ASCs, including chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1), platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF), and platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C). Minoxidil increased extracellular signal–regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation, and concomitant upregulation of PD-ECGF and PDGF-C mRNA levels were attenuated by an ERK inhibitor. Subcutaneous injection of CXCL1, PD-ECGF, or PDGF-C enhanced anagen induction in mice, and both CXCL1 and PDGF-C increased hair length in ex vivo organ culture. Treatment with CXCL1, PD-ECGF, or PDGF-C also increased the proliferation index in DP cells. Finally, topical application of CXCL1, PD-ECGF, or PDGF-C with 2% minoxidil enhanced anagen induction when compared to minoxidil alone. Minoxidil stimulates ASC motility and increases paracrine growth factor signaling. Minoxidil-stimulated secretion of growth factors by ASCs may enhance hair growth by promoting DP proliferation. Therefore, minoxidil can be used as an ASC preconditioning agent for hair regeneration.
A Finite Element Solution of Lateral Periodic Poisson–Boltzmann Model for Membrane Channel Proteins
Authors: Ji Nan , Liu Tiantian , Xu Jingjie , Shen Longzhu , Lu Benzhuo
Published: February 2018

Membrane channel proteins control the diffusion of ions across biological membranes. They are closely related to the processes of various organizational mechanisms, such as: cardiac impulse, muscle contraction and hormone secretion. Introducing a membrane region into implicit solvation models extends the ability of the Poisson–Boltzmann (PB) equation to handle membrane proteins. The use of lateral periodic boundary conditions can properly simulate the discrete distribution of membrane proteins on the membrane plane and avoid boundary effects, which are caused by the finite box size in the traditional PB calculations. In this work, we: (1) develop a first finite element solver (FEPB) to solve the PB equation with a two-dimensional periodicity for membrane channel proteins, with different numerical treatments of the singular charges distributions in the channel protein; (2) add the membrane as a dielectric slab in the PB model, and use an improved mesh construction method to automatically identify the membrane channel/pore region even with a tilt angle relative to the z-axis; and (3) add a non-polar solvation energy term to complete the estimation of the total solvation energy of a membrane protein. A mesh resolution of about 0.25 Å (cubic grid space)/0.36 Å (tetrahedron edge length) is found to be most accurate in linear finite element calculation of the PB solvation energy. Computational studies are performed on a few exemplary molecules. The results indicate that all factors, the membrane thickness, the length of periodic box, membrane dielectric constant, pore region dielectric constant, and ionic strength, have individually considerable influence on the solvation energy of a channel protein. This demonstrates the necessity to treat all of those effects in the PB model for membrane protein simulations.
Chinese Medicines in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer: From Formulas to Extracts and Compounds
Authors: Wang Xueni , Fang Gang , Pang Yuzhou
Published: February 2018

In order to fully understand the progresses and achievements in Chinese medicines for the treatment of prostate cancer, we summarize all the available reports on formulas, extracts, and compounds of Chinese medicines against prostate cancer. A number of clinical trials verified that traditional Chinese formulas had some unique advantages in the treatment of prostate cancer. Many Chinese medicine extracts could protect against prostate cancer, and many compounds isolated from Chinese traditional medicines showed a clear anti-prostate cancer effect. However, Chinese medicines are facing many problems regarding their multicomponent nature, complicated mechanisms of action, and high doses required for therapy. Herein, we review the functions of Chinese medicines in prostate cancer and focus on their mechanisms. The review will deepen the understanding of Chinese medicines potential in the anti-prostate cancer field. In addition, we put forward a question concerning the current research on Chinese medicines: in order to better illustrate that Chinese medicines can be used in the clinical treatment of prostate cancer, should our research focus on formulas, extracts, or compounds?
Electrochemical Hydrogen Peroxide Sensor Based on Macroporous Silicon
Authors: Al-Hardan Naif , Abdul Hamid Muhammad , Shamsudin Roslinda , AL-Khalqi Ensaf , Kar Keng Lim , Ahmed Naser
Published: February 2018

Macroporous silicon was prepared through an anodization process; the prepared samples showed an average pore size ranging from 4 to 6 microns, and the depth of the pores in the silicon wafer was approximately 80 microns. The prepared samples were tested for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentrations, which can be used for industrial and environmental sensing applications. The selected H2O2 concentration covered a wide range from 10 to 5000 μM. The tested samples showed a linear response through the tested H2O2 concentrations with a sensitivity of 0.55 μA μM–1∙cm–2 and lower detection limits of 4.35 μM at an operating voltage of 5 V. Furthermore, the electrode exhibited a rapid response with a response time of ca. two seconds. Furthermore, the prepared sensor showed a reasonable stability over a one-month time period.
A Frequency-Domain Multipath Parameter Estimation and Mitigation Method for BOC-Modulated GNSS Signals
Authors: Sun Chao , Zhao Hongbo , Feng Wenquan , Du Songlin
Published: February 2018

As multipath is one of the dominating error sources for high accuracy Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications, multipath mitigation approaches are employed to minimize this hazardous error in receivers. Binary offset carrier modulation (BOC), as a modernized signal structure, is adopted to achieve significant enhancement. However, because of its multi-peak autocorrelation function, conventional multipath mitigation techniques for binary phase shift keying (BPSK) signal would not be optimal. Currently, non-parametric and parametric approaches have been studied specifically aiming at multipath mitigation for BOC signals. Non-parametric techniques, such as Code Correlation Reference Waveforms (CCRW), usually have good feasibility with simple structures, but suffer from low universal applicability for different BOC signals. Parametric approaches can thoroughly eliminate multipath error by estimating multipath parameters. The problems with this category are at the high computation complexity and vulnerability to the noise. To tackle the problem, we present a practical parametric multipath estimation method in the frequency domain for BOC signals. The received signal is transferred to the frequency domain to separate out the multipath channel transfer function for multipath parameter estimation. During this process, we take the operations of segmentation and averaging to reduce both noise effect and computational load. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated and compared with the previous work in three scenarios. Results indicate that the proposed averaging-Fast Fourier Transform (averaging-FFT) method achieves good robustness in severe multipath environments with lower computational load for both low-order and high-order BOC signals.
Principles of Islamic Finance and Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility: What Convergence?
Authors: Franzoni Simona , Ait Allali Asma
Published: February 2018

Islamic Finance, among its other features, figures as a financial and economic model based on principles and ethical values in which sustainable development and social responsibility play an essential role. The aim of this study is to illustrate the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with specific reference to Islamic financial institutions, their principles, values and objectives, in order to understand the underpinning dynamics and identify the convergences between the principles underlying conventional CSR and those of Islamic Finance. Specifically, the ultimate purpose of the comparison is to highlight how CSR may constitute a significant factor of convergence between Islamic and conventional finance systems, going beyond the logic of sustainability in short-term marketing policy and implementing medium- and long-term sustainability. This approach aims at increasing the potential for value creation and the pursuit of economic, social and environmental results for all stakeholders. This convergence should, finally, create conditions favourable to the harmonisation of the regulations and directives relative to CSR in the different countries, and therefore a better integration between Islamic finance institutions and conventional ones in the economic contexts.
Improving Operational Risk Management Using Business Performance Management Technologies
Authors: Pieket Weeserik Bram , Spruit Marco
Published: February 2018

Operational Risk Management (ORM) comprises the continuous management of risks resulting from: human actions, internal processes, systems, and external events. With increasing requirements, complexity and a growing volume of risks, information systems provide benefits for integrating risk management activities and optimizing performance. Business Performance Management (BPM) technologies are believed to provide a solution for effective Operational Risk Management by offering several combined technologies including: work flow, data warehousing, (advanced) analytics, reporting and dashboards. BPM technologies can be integrated with an organization’s Planning & Control cycle and related to strategic objectives. This manuscript aims to show how ORM can benefit from BPM technologies via the development and practical validation of a new maturity model. The B4ORM maturity model was developed following the Design Science Research approach. The maturity model relates specific maturity levels of ORM processes with BPM technologies applicable for a specific maturity stage. There appears to be a strong relationship (0.78) with ORM process maturity and supporting BPM technologies. The B4ORM maturity model as described in this manuscript provides an ideal path of BPM technologies related to six distinctive stages of ORM, leading towards technologies suitable for continuous improvement of ORM processes and organization-wide integration.
Can Environmental Regulations Promote Corporate Environmental Responsibility? Evidence from the Moderated Mediating Effect Model and an Empirical Study in China
Authors: Peng Benhong , Tu Yu , Wei Guo
Published: February 2018

Based on the Stakeholder theory, a moderated mediating effect model is developed to reach the study objective, revealing an important connection that suggests environmental regulations (ERs) influence corporate environmental responsibility (CER) (Porter Hypothesis). In building the model, the validity of the questionnaire data was analyzed with factor analysis. By employing a two-step approach, a regression analysis is utilized to discuss the mediating effect of altruistic motivation and moderating effect of green innovation, and a structural equation model is used to explore the interactive mechanism of different variables. It is found that altruistic motivation plays a medium role in the relationship between ERs and CER, and green innovation engages a positive coordination in the relationship. The empirical study identifies factors affecting enterprises’ willingness to undertake environmental responsibility, including environment policies, corporate culture, and personal characters among others. It is also revealed that altruistic motivation is conducive to forming a community interests among enterprises and enhancing their resistance to market risks, which explains and corroborates the Stakeholder theory; and the higher the level of green innovation, the more willing enterprises are to implement environmentally friendly operations.
Assessment of the Effects of Urban Expansion on Terrestrial Carbon Storage: A Case Study in Xuzhou City, China
Authors: Li Cheng , Zhao Jie , Thinh Nguyen , Xi Yantao
Published: February 2018

Carbon storage is closely connected to the productivities and climate regulation capacities of ecosystems. Assessing the effects of urban expansion on carbon storage has become increasingly important for achieving urban sustainability. This study analyzed the effects of urban expansion on terrestrial carbon storage in Xuzhou City, China during 2000–2025. The cellular automata (CA) model was developed to simulate future urban expansion under three scenarios, namely, the business as usual (BAU), ecological protection (ECO), and planning strengthened (PLS) scenarios. The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model was further applied to explore the consequences of urban expansion on carbon storage. The results show that urban expansion resulted in 6.099 Tg of carbon storage loss from 2000–2015. Moreover, significant differences in the effects of the urban expansion scenarios on carbon storage were identified in terms of both magnitude and spatial pattern from 2015–2025. Compared with the other scenarios, the PLS scenario could be considered as a good option that would allow future development to achieve the objectives of the lowest carbon storage losses. The findings improve the understanding of the effects of urban expansion on carbon storage and may be used to support urban planning and management.
Prospect on China’s Urban System by 2020: Evidence from the Prediction Based on Internal Migration Network
Authors: Lao Xin , Shen Tiyan , Gu Hengyu
Published: February 2018

China’s rapid urbanization has aroused substantial attention all over the world. Though there exists a strong connection between urban system and intercity migration, an overall prediction of China’s urban population of all cities based on migration network has rarely been conducted. This study proposes an extended NEG (New Economic Geography) model to simulate China’s urban system evolution with actual data and further predicts the future development of China’s urban system under three different urbanization scenarios. We discover that China’s future development trend is centralized urbanization dominated by large cities with a population of above 1 million. This prediction result is of great significance to provide scientific evidence for China’s population flow management and new-type urbanization planning.
Model Prediction of Secondary Soil Salinization in the Keriya Oasis, Northwest China
Authors: Seydehmet Jumeniyaz , Lv Guang , Nurmemet Ilyas , Aishan Tayierjiang , Abliz Abdulla , Sawut Mamat , Abliz Abdugheni , Eziz Mamattursun
Published: February 2018

Significant anthropogenic and biophysical changes have caused fluctuations in the soil salinization area of the Keriya Oasis in China. The Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) sustainability framework and Bayesian networks (BNs) were used to integrate information from anthropogenic and natural systems to model the trend of secondary soil salinization. The developed model predicted that light salinization (vegetation coverage of around 15–20%, soil salt 5–10 g/kg) of the ecotone will increase in the near term but decelerate slightly in the future, and that farmland salinization will decrease in the near term. This trend is expected to accelerate in the future. Both trends are attributed to decreased water logging, increased groundwater exploitation, and decreased ratio of evaporation/precipitation. In contrast, severe salinization (vegetation coverage of around 2%, soil salt ≥20 g/kg) of the ecotone will increase in the near term. This trend will accelerate in the future because decreased river flow will reduce the flushing of severely salinized soil crust. Anthropogenic factors have negative impacts and natural causes have positive impacts on light salinization of ecotones. In situations involving severe farmland salinization, anthropogenic factors have persistent negative impacts.
Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
Authors: Stuen Snorre , Okstad Wenche , Sagen Anne
Published: February 2018

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which causes the disease tick-borne fever (TBF), is the most important tick-borne pathogen in European animals. TBF may contribute to severe welfare challenges and economic losses in the Norwegian sheep industry. The bacterium causes a persistent infection in sheep and several other animal species. The objective of this study was to investigate whether intrauterine transmission occurs in persistently infected sheep. The study included thirteen 5–6-month-old unmated ewes, of which twelve were experimentally infected with A. phagocytophilum (GenBank acc. no. M73220). Four to six weeks later, all ewes were mated, and nine became pregnant. Blood samples were collected from these ewes and their offspring. If the lamb died, tissue samples were collected. The samples were analyzed with real-time PCR (qPCR) targeting the msp2 gene. PCR-positive samples were further analyzed by semi-nested PCR and 16S rDNA sequencing. A total of 20 lambs were born, of which six died within two days. Six newborn lambs (30%) were PCR-positive (qPCR), of which one was verified by 16S rDNA sequencing. The present study indicates that intrauterine transmission of A. phagocytophilum in persistently infected sheep may occur. The importance of these findings for the epidemiology of A. phagocytophilum needs to be further investigated.
Quantitative Impact Assessment of Sewer Condition on Health Risk
Authors: Van Bijnen Marco , Korving Hans , Langeveld Jeroen , Clemens François
Published: February 2018

Due to a variety of contaminants in floodwater, exposure to urban pluvial flooding may pose a health risk to humans. In-sewer defects may cause increased pluvial flooding, possibly increasing health risks. This paper addresses the impact of in-sewer defects on urban pluvial flooding and, subsequently, on infection probabilities for humans. As such, it provides a necessary input for risk-informed sewer maintenance strategies in order to preserve the hydraulic performance of a sewer system. Critical locations in sewer networks can be safeguarded through detecting changes in hydraulic properties of the sewer system, by using monitoring equipment or alternative inspection methods. Two combined sewer systems in The Netherlands with different characteristics are studied. The catchment-wide average infection probability was calculated using Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) and flooding frequencies from Monte Carlo simulations with a hydrodynamic model. For the studied catchments, it is concluded that the occurrence of flooding is significantly affected by sediment deposits and, consequently, the infection probability as well. The impact of sediment deposits on infection probabilities depends on sewer systems characteristics and varies within the catchment. The results in this paper also demonstrate that further research on the relationship between flood duration and infection probabilities is required.
Distribution and Abundance of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Sand Settling Reservoirs and Drinking Water Treatment Plants across the Yellow River, China
Authors: Lu Junying , Tian Zhe , Yu Jianwei , Yang Min , Zhang Yu
Published: February 2018

Understanding how antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are distributed in drinking water treatment processes is important due to their potential public health risk. Little is known about the occurrence and distribution of ARGs in typical drinking water treatment processes, such as sand settling reservoirs (SSRs) and drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs), in the Yellow River, especially at the catchment scale. In this study, ARG profiling was investigated from water samples of influent (river water) and effluent (source water) of SSRs and finished water of DWTPs in six cities along the Yellow River catchment using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Seventeen ARGs and two mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were detected, among which aadE, strA, strB, tetA, sulII, intl1, and Tn916 had high detection rates (over 80%). The absolute abundances (gene copies/mL of water) of ARGs were reduced by the SSRs and DWTPs generally, but no reductions were observed for the relative abundances (gene copies/16S rRNA gene) of ARGs. Spatial distributions of ARGs and bacteria were not observed. The distribution of bacterial genera was clustered into four dominant patterns in different water type samples. The bacterial genera Pseudomonas, Massilia, Acinetobacter, Sphingomonas, Methylobacterium, and Brevundimonas dominated the finished water, with Brevundimonas and Methylobacterium being speculated to be potential hosts for two ARGs (strA and strB) through network analysis. The enrichment of these two genera, likely caused by selection of disinfection process, may contribute to the higher relative abundance of ARGs in finished water. This study provides insight and effective assessment of the potential risk of ARGs in drinking water treatment processes at the catchment scale.
Rorövovarorsospoproråkoketot: Language games and Swedish phonology
Authors: Andersson Samuel
Published: February 2018

This paper examines the phonology of language games, using two case studies from the Swedish language game Rövarspråket. The language game forms are analyzed in a rule-based implementation of Substance-Free Phonology. It is shown that Rövarspråket can shed light on problems in Swedish phonology, as well as on issues of general theoretical relevance. Using Rövarspråket data, I argue that the processes of pre-palatal raising and nasal assimilation have been phonologized. The argument illustrates the possibility of using language games to investigate whether a process is phonetic or phonological. The nasal assimilation process is formalized using phonetic underspecification. I also use Rövarspråket to show that a counterfeeding interaction in Swedish is fully productive, suggesting that opacity must be accounted for by our theories of phonology. This is in line with earlier work on language games and opacity, and with other work in phonological theory. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate more work on language games, and on those empirical and theoretical phenomena that they can help us understand.
Quantified exponence constraints and the typology of exponence
Authors: Yang Yifan
Published: February 2018

Both phonologically conditioned suppletive allomorphy (PCSA) and multiple exponence (ME) involve one-to-many mapping between morphosyntactic information and phonological representations. Though they are usually viewed as separate phenomena, the plural marking of Lower Jubba Maay exhibits properties of both PCSA and ME, indicating that they are inherently related. This paper argues that PCSA, ME, and other types of exponence can be analyzed in a unified way given two GEN functions and two novel exponence constraints, i.e. Max-∀LE(F) and Max-∃LE(F), which are used to quantify the number of exponents that are realized in the surface. The proposed mechanism can predict the full range of typology.
Stress avoidance in hiatus
Authors: Lunden Anya
Published: February 2018

Multiple languages avoid stressing the first of two vowels in hiatus. Evidence that this avoidance has a perceptual basis is shown by the results of a perceptual study. Antepenultimate and penultimate stress versions of 40 three-syllable Norwegian nonce words were played to English listeners, who were asked to identify whether stress was on the first or second syllable. It was found that listeners had significantly more trouble correctly identifying penultimate stress in cases of hiatus (that is, where the penultimate vowel was immediately followed by the vowel of the final syllable). Steriade (2012, 2017) has proposed that Interval Theory accounts for the lack of stress in this position because the weight domain is too small to fulfill the requirement to bear stress. While this account is compatible with the perceptual account proposed here, an examination of the possible weight domains of the stimuli used finds a problem for Interval Theory. The onset of a stressed syllable is found to significantly lengthen, but because Interval Theory takes this consonant to be part of the preceding, unstressed interval, interval durations are out of sync with the relative prominence of the weight domains in a word.
Vowel but not consonant identity and the very informal English lexicon
Authors: Tessier Anne-Michelle , Becker Michael
Published: February 2018

This paper studies the phonological properties of shitgibbons, a class of insulting English compounds made up of a monosyllabic obscenity followed by a trochaic innocuous noun. Our experimental data shows that in addition to these categorical prosodic requirements, there are gradient segmental requirements: native speakers judge shitgibbons as more wellformed when their two stressed vowels are identical (e.g. shit-whistle is better than fuck-whistle), but matching word-initial consonants do not improve wellformedness. A corpus study of English compounds shows that both vowel identity and initial consonant identity are overrepresented in the lexicon. Our explanation for the mismatch between the lexicon and the experiment relies on a typological asymmetry: vowels interact across intervening consonants in many languages, but consonants do not selectively interact across other intervening consonants in this way, e.g. the two matching [f]’s in fuck-frisbee cannot be compelled to match while ignoring the intervening coda [k]. The analysis is implemented as a MaxEnt grammar, with a locality bias that prevents assigning weight to the constraint that demands initial consonant matching.
The Contribution of Functional Load on Children’s Vocalic Development
Authors: Cychosz Margaret , Kalt Susan E.
Published: February 2018

Children’s phonology is replete with regular, predictable phenomena that nevertheless differ from adults. Discrepancies between adult and child speech cannot solely be attributed to environmental input, so immature motor development is often cited. Normally-developing children quickly acquire the motor skills and segment planning necessary to avoid these “errors.” But phonological development continues well into late-childhood. For example, age and segment duration/variability are negatively correlated in English and French. Here we present contradictory data from Chuquisaca Quechua that show children producing shorter vowel durations than adults and attribute this to the role of functional load (FL). Interest in FL as an explanatory device for phoneme merger and segment inventories has recently resurfaced, but extension of the metric to phonological acquisition has been limited. FL is an important concept to apply to children’s speech development because children’s relatively smaller lexicons may lead them to make different generalizations regarding the relative importance of certain phonological contrasts. We test this hypothesis in Chuquisaca Quechua, a language where we predict maximal distinctiveness between adult and child lexica due to the language’s morphological structure. We find that FL addresses this developmental pattern in the children’s vowels.
Directionality effects via distance-based penalty scaling
Authors: Inkelas Sharon , Wilbanks Eric
Published: February 2018

In this paper we develop a new proposal for distance-based penalty scaling in Optimality-theoretic analyses, including Harmonic Grammar. We apply this technique to the analysis of two phonological phenomena, both of which have posed challenges to implementation using standard constraint-based methods: directionality effects and bounded domain windows. In the analysis of directionality, we demonstrate how our approach can model challenge directional harmony by applying distance-based penalty scaling in the analysis of Ngore-Kiga sibilant harmony. We then extend our analysis to capture "opposite-edge" effects such as Japanese mimetic palatalization and Selkup stress assignment. Finally, we illustrate how the same mechanisms we outline in the analysis of directionality can be intuitively applied in the generation of bounded domain windows. Specifically, we illustrate how our approach models the generation of metrical stress window systems such as in Macedonian. Taken as a whole, we argue that distance-based penalty scaling handles both directionality and bounded domain window in a straightforward and unified manner.
Jellyfish Identification Software for Underwater Laser Cameras (JTRACK)
Authors: Mariani Patrizio
Published: February 2018

Jellyfish can form erratic blooms in response to seasonal and irregular changes in environmental conditions with often large, transient effects on local ecosystem structure as well as effects on several sectors of the marine and maritime economy. Early warning systems able to detect conditions for jelly fish proliferation can enable management responses to mitigate such effects providing benefit to local ecosystems and economies. We propose here the creation of a research team in response to the EU call for proposal under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund called “Blue Labs: innovative solutions for maritime challenges”. The project will establish a BLUELAB team with a strong cross-sectorial component that will benefit of the expertise of researchers in IT and Marine Biology, Computer Vision and embedded systems, which will work in collaboration with Industry and Policy maker to develop an early warning system using a new underwater imaging system based on Time of Flight Laser cameras. The camera will be combined to machine learning algorithm allowing autonomous early detection of jellyfish species (e.g. polyp, ephyra and planula stages). The team will develop the system and the companion software and will demonstrate its applications in real case conditions.
Les situations de gestion : Entre intentionnalité et problématisation
Authors: Schmitt Christophe
Published: February 2018

La notion de situation est étonnamment très peu mobilisée en management. L’objectif de cet article est de s’interroger sur la pertinence de cette notion pour comprendre la complexité des organisations. Nous montrons aussi que cette notion permet d’envisager les différentes interactions entre les acteurs, leur intentionnalité ou encore la dynamique de ces interactions. Au final, nous proposons une définition de la notion de situation de gestion.
Créer une communauté de personnes pour faciliter la réussite des transferts d’entreprise
Authors: Albert Marie-Noëlle
Published: February 2018

Le transfert de propriété est un processus complexe (Van Teeffelen et al. 2011). L’objet de cet article est de comprendre la complexité de ce transfert au regard des cédants et des repreneurs en tant que personnes (complexes). Se basant sur le paradigme épistémologique constructiviste pragmatique, deux types d’informations empiriques (des entrevues et des autopraxéographies) ont été utilisés. Le travail réflexif réalisé sur le matériau empirique a mis de l’avant que les cédants et les repreneurs ont une vision différente d’un même processus. Or, les difficultés vécues lors de la transition apparaissent essentiellement à cause d’une alchimie qui ne s’opère pas entre les cédants et les repreneurs (Picard & Thévenard-Puthod, 2004). Il serait donc important de mettre en place des moyens favorisant cette alchimie. La création de communauté de personnes à l’aide d’un tiers peut permettre de favoriser le dialogue et contribuer à créer un commun constructif.
Construction d’un modèle pour stimuler et renforcer les coopératives de Mexico. Une stratégie de la triple hélice
Authors: Rivera Igor
Published: February 2018

Parmi les programmes plus importants que le ministère du Travail de Mexico a développés en 2015 et 2016, on trouve « Apoyo para el Desarrollo de Sociedades Cooperativas de la Ciudad de México ». Afin de mener le projet à terme, le ministère du Travail a embauché les services de l’Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) pour donner de la formation et d’accompagnement à 136 sociétés coopératives en 2015 et 281 en 2016. Ce document a l’intention de discuter la mise en place du modèle pour stimuler et développer les sociétés coopératives. À l’effet d’avoir d’arguments solides dans ce document, il a été nécessaire de décrire la relation existante entre le gouvernement (ministère du Travail/STyFE), l’académie (IPN) et le secteur productif dans le programme offert par le ministère du Travail.
« La performance de l’entreprise : un concept complexe aux multiples dimensions »
Authors: Issor Zineb
Published: February 2018

La performance est une notion polysémique, complexe et difficile à définir. Elle s’appuie largement sur les notions d’efficacité et d’efficience et elle est la plupart du temps centrée sur la seule dimension financière. En effet, à une ère où la concurrence s’exerce sur plusieurs facteurs et où les risques se multiplient, la réussite de l’entreprise ne se traduit plus en termes d’augmentation du bénéfice ou du rendement sur capital investi. Ainsi, elle devient un concept multidimensionnel qui intègre différentes dimensions pour la définir et différents indicateurs de mesure.
Le député et son double : l’amitié entre Alexandre Ribot et Georges Foissey
Authors: Badier Walter
Published: February 2018

Cet article vise à interroger la relation très singulière nouée, durant plusieurs décennies, entre l’un des hommes politiques majeurs de la Troisième République, Alexandre Ribot (1842-1923), et un courtier maritime de Calais, Georges Foissey (1825-1914). Bien qu’officiellement peu impliqué dans la politique institutionnelle, le second a transmis au premier sa connaissance du terrain électoral, les rudiments du « métier d’élu » et a assuré, dans la 2 e circonscription de Boulogne-sur-Mer entre 1878 et 1885, la fonction de « député résidant », permettant ainsi à son ami de se consacrer à sa carrière politique nationale.
Extending the Activity Theory Based Model for Serious Games Design in Engineering to Integrate Analytics
Authors: Callaghan Michael , McShane Niall , Eguíluz Augusto Gómez , Savin-Baden Maggi
Published: February 2018

Serious Games (SG) have been shown to have instructional potential and a number of formal models, frameworks and methodologies have emerged to support their design and analysis. The Activity Theory-based Model of Serious Games (ATMSG) facilitates a systematic and detailed representation of educational SG describing how game elements are connected together to contribute to pedagogical goals. This paper proposes and presents an extension to the ATMSG framework to facilitate the identification, selection and integration of analytics into serious games. A practical example of the approach in use in the analysis and design phase of a SG for engineering is demonstrated.
Person-Centered Learning using Peer Review Method – An Evaluation and a Concept for Student-Centered Classrooms
Authors: Dolezal Dominik , Posekany Alexandra , Roschger Christoph , Koppensteiner Gottfried , Motschnig Renate , Pucher Robert
Published: February 2018

Using peer assessment in the classroom to increase student engagement by actively involving the pupils in the assessment process has been practiced and researched for decades. In general, the literature suggests using peer review for project-based exercises. This paper analyzes the applicability of peer assessment to smaller exercises at secondary school level and makes recommendations for its use in computer science courses. Furthermore, a school pilot project introducing student-centered classrooms, called “learning office”, is described. Additionally, a concept for the implementation of peer assessment in such student-centered classrooms is outlined.

We introduced two traditional secondary school classes consisting of a total of 57 students to the peer assessment method within the scope of the same software engineering course. The peer students assessed two of 13 exercises using the Moodle workshop activity. The students evaluated these two exercises using an anonymous online questionnaire. At the end of the course, they rated each of the 13 exercises regarding their learning motivation.

Overall, the anonymous feedback on the peer review exercises was very positive. The students not only obtained more feedback, but also received it in a timelier manner compared to regular teacher assessment. The results of the overall rating of all 13 exercises revealed that the two peer reviewed exercises have been rated significantly better than the other eleven exercises assessed by the teacher. Evidence therefore suggests that peer review is a viable option for small- and medium-sized exercises in the context of computer science education at secondary school level under certain conditions, which we discuss in this paper.
Fault Diagnosis Method for Hydraulic Pump Based on Fuzzy Entropy of Wavelet Packet and LLTSA
Authors: Fei Wang , Liqing Fang , Ziyuan Qi
Published: February 2018

As the vibration signal characteristics of hydraulic pump present non-stationary and the fault features is difficult to extract, a new feature extraction method was proposed .This approach combines wavelet packet analysis techniques, fuzzy entropy and LLTSA (liner local tangent space alignment) which is one of typical manifold learning methods to extracting  fault  feature. Firstly, the vibration signals were decomposed into eight signals in different scales, then the fuzzy entropies of signals were calculated to constitute eight dimensions feature vector. Secondly, LLTSA method was applied to compress the high-dimension features into low-dimension features which have a better classification performance. Finally, the SVM (support vector machine) was employed to distinguish different fault features. Experiment results of hydraulic pump feature extraction show that the proposed method can exactly classify different fault type of hydraulic pump and this method has a significant advantage compared with other feature extraction means mentioned in this paper.
A Web GIS-Based Platform to Harvest Georeferenced Data from Social Networks: Examples of Data Collection Regarding Disaster Events
Authors: Fonte Cidália Costa , Fontes Diogo , Cardoso Alberto
Published: February 2018

Whenever disaster situations occur the civil protection authorities need to have fast access to data that may help to plan emergency response. To contribute to the collection and integration of all available data a platform that aims to harvest Volunteered Geographical Information (VGI) from social networks and collaborative projects was created. This enables the integration of VGI with data coming from other sources, such as data collected by physical sensors in real time and made available through Applications Programming Interface (APIs), as well as, for example, official maps. The architecture of the created platform is described and its first prototype presented. Some example queries are performed and the results are analyzed.
IoT and Smart Manufacturing
Authors: Rehman Aqeel ur , Khan Iqbal Uddin , Murtaza Ahmar , Naz Uzma
Published: February 2018

Internet of things (IoT) is a concept of providing uniquely identifiable objects connectivity to the internet. Under the roof of IoT, it is predicted that above 28 billion devices will be connected to the internet by the year 2020. When billions of things connect, it will be difficult to manage and analyze huge amount of data as each object will send and retrieve data. Smart manufacturing is an emerging concept where the manufacturing process is supported by technology and the required information is made available during the manufacturing process to get the flexibility and the product as per customer changing needs. Internet of things (IoT) may provide a good platform to enhance the manufacturing process into smart manufacturing. The advantages of smart manufacturing include the higher quality of a product, improved productivity, increased energy efficiency, enhanced scalability in manufacturing process, etc. This chapter presents in depth the IoT and smart manufacturing concepts, their requirements, relevance, and available solutions.