bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Active distribution network expansion planning integrating dispersed energy storage systems
Authors: Xing Haijun , Cheng Haozhong , Zhang Yi , Zeng Pingliang
Published: October 2015

This study proposes the convex model for active distribution network expansion planning integrating dispersed energy storage systems (DESS). Four active management schemes, distributed generation (DG) curtailment, demand side management, on‐load tap changer tap adjustment and reactive power compensation are considered. The optimisation of DESS for peak shaving and operation cost decreasing is also integrated. The expansion model allows alternatives to be considered for new wiring, new substation, substation expansion and DG installation. The distribution network expansion planning (DNEP) problem is a mixed integer non‐linear programming problem. Active management and uncertainties especially with the DG integration make the DNEP problem much complex. To find the suitable algorithm, this study converts the DNEP problem to a second‐order cone programming model through distflow equations and constraints relaxation. A modified 50‐bus application example is used to verify the proposed model.
Synthesis of multiple‐pattern planar arrays with A hybrid generalised iterative fast Fourier transform algorithm
Authors: Li Wen Tao , Hei Yong Qiang , Yang Jing , Shi Xiao Wei
Published: October 2015

This study investigates the synthesis of multiple‐pattern periodic phase‐only control planar arrays. A hybrid generalised iterative Fourier technique is proposed to iteratively derive the array element excitations efficiently from the prescribed array factor, in which the two‐dimensional Woodward–Lawson method is employed in order to generate good initial values. During the synthesis process, the phase‐only control reconfigurable array is obtained by changing the corresponding phase for different array patterns while keeping the excitation amplitude constant. The robustness of the proposed algorithm has been testified by investigating the sensitivity of the radiation pattern affected by the amplitude and phase errors. Furthermore, three totally different types of reconfigurable numerical examples are discussed to validate the proposed method. Simulation results reveal the superior performance, the efficiency and the robustness of the proposed algorithm in dealing with multiple‐pattern arrays.
Performance enhancement by aperture averaging in terrestrial and satellite free space optical links
Authors: Viswanath Anjitha , Gopal Pooja , Jain Virander Kumar , Kar Subrat
Published: October 2015

In this study, characterisation of atmospheric turbulence in terrestrial and satellite free space optical links is presented. For these links, usage of aperture averaging for performance enhancement is discussed. It is observed that aperture averaging is effective only in terrestrial links and satellite downlink. In the case of uplink, aperture averaging is non‐practical due to large value of spatial coherence radius. On evaluating the link performance for different intensity modulation schemes, the performance of 8‐pulse position modulation (PPM) scheme is found to be the best followed by 8‐differential PPM (DPPM), 2 × 4‐pulse amplitude and position modulation (PAPM), on–off keying (OOK) and 2 × 4‐differential amplitude PPM (DAPPM) schemes at low turbulence conditions. However, the performance of 8‐PPM, 8‐DPPM and 2 × 4‐PAPM schemes degrade more than that of OOK and 2 × 4‐DAPPM schemes, with increase in ground level turbulence and zenith angle implying cross‐over of error curves for some schemes. The computed results on the effect of aperture averaging for a point‐to‐point terrestrial link shows that it is most effective for 8‐PPM, followed by 8‐DPPM, 2 × 4‐PAPM, OOK and 2 × 4‐DAPPM.
Impact of nanowire geometry on the carrier transport in GaN/InGaN axial nanowire light‐emitting diodes
Authors: Zhang Shaofei , Laleyan David Arto , Wang Qi , Mi Zetian
Published: October 2015

The authors have investigated the impact of nanowire geometry on the carrier transport in axial indium gallium nitride and gallium nitride (InGaN/GaN) nanowire light‐emitting diodes (LEDs). The results reveal that hole transport depends critically on the nanowire geometry. With identical material parameters, the carrier transport process can be varied with different nanowire geometry designs, which lead to different overall device performance. This study offers important insight into the design and epitaxial growth of high‐performance nanowire LEDs.
Dynamic characterization of crystalline and glass phases of deuterated 1,1,2,2 tetrachloroethane
Authors: Pérez Silvina C. , Zuriaga Mariano , Serra Pablo , Wolfenson Alberto , Negrier Philippe , Tamarit Josep Lluis
Published: October 2015

A thorough characterization of the γ, β, and glass phases of deuterated 1,1,2,2 tetrachloroethane (C2D2Cl4) via nuclear quadrupole resonance and Molecular Dynamic Simulations (MDSs) is reported. The presence of molecular reorientations was experimentally observed in the glass phase and in the β phase. In the β phase, and from MDS, these reorientations are attributed to two possible movements, i.e., a 180°  reorientation around the C2 molecular symmetry axis and a reorientation of the molecule between two non-equivalent positions. In the glass phase, the spin-lattice relaxation time T1 is of the order of 16 times lower than in the crystalline phase and varies as T−1 below 100 K in good agreement with the strong quadrupolar relaxation observed in amorphous materials and in the glassy state of molecular organic systems. The activation energy of molecular reorientations in the glass phase (19 kJ/mol) is comparable to that observed in the glassy crystal of a “molecular cousin” compound, Freon 112 (C2F2Cl4), for the secondary β-relaxation. Moreover, the on-site orientational motion of tetrachloroethane molecules offers a new indirect evidence of the prominent role of such orientational disorder in glassy dynamics.
Abnormal thermal expansion, multiple transitions, magnetocaloric effect, and electronic structure of Gd6Co4.85
Authors: Zhang Jiliang , Zheng Zhigang , Shan Guangcun , Bobev Svilen , Shek Chan Hung
Published: October 2015

The structure of known Gd4Co3 compound is re-determined as Gd6Co4.85, adopting the Gd6Co1.67Si3 structure type, which is characterized by two disorder Co sites filling the Gd octahedral and a short Gd-Gd distance within the octahedra. The compound shows uniaxial negative thermal expansion in paramagnetic state, significant negative expansion in ferromagnetic state, and positive expansion below ca. 140 K. It also exhibits large magnetocaloric effect, with an entropy change of −6.4 J kg−1 K−1 at 50 kOe. In the lattice of the compound, Co atoms at different sites show different spin states. It was confirmed by the X-ray photoelectron spectra and calculation of electronic structure and shed lights on the abnormal thermal expansion. The stability of such compound and the origin of its magnetism are also discussed based on measured and calculated electronic structures.
Excitation of surface modes by electron beam in semi-bounded quantum plasma
Authors: Mohamed B. F. , Elbasha N. M.
Published: October 2015

The excitation of the TM surface modes due to the interaction of electron beam with a semi-bounded quantum magnetized plasma is investigated. The generated current and the perturbed densities of the electron beam and plasma are obtained. The wave equation that describes the excited fields has been solved to obtain the dispersion relation for these modes. It is found that the quantum effects play important role for frequencies less and bigger than plasma frequency such that the phase velocity of modes increases with increasing the quantum effects compared to the classical case. It has also been displayed that in the absence of external magnetic field, the surface modes appear in the all regions of the wavelength while they have been only excited for high wavenumber in the presence of the magnetic field. Besides, it has been shown that the dispersion curves of the modes depend essentially on the density ratio of beam and plasma.
Negative spontaneous magnetization and semi-spin glass magnetic order in mixed spinel Co0.6Zn0.4Fe1.7Mn0.3O4
Authors: Gupta Arti , Tandon R. P. , Shinde A. B. , Krishna P. S. R. , Chatterjee Ratnamala
Published: October 2015

In this paper, we establish the negative spontaneous magnetization in Mn and Zn substituted cobalt ferrite Co0.6Zn0.4Fe1.7Mn0.3O4 (CZFMO). It is suggested that the origin of negative spontaneous magnetization is due to the substitution of small sized Mn+4 ions (compared to Fe+3 ions) at the octahedral B site in compound Co0.6Zn0.4 Fe2O4. The low value of Poisson's ratio ∼0.202 for this compound possibly contributes towards the easy distortion in the bond length and bond angle, causing increase in Fe-O bond distance/decrease in Fe-O-Fe bond angle with Mn substitution, leading to considerably weak Fe-O-Fe superexchange interaction at the octahedral B site. The neutron diffraction data clearly illustrated the significant reduction in ordered magnetic moment at the B site, with the resultant negative spontaneous magnetization (M = MB − MA) in this mixed spinel system. The spin disorder also gives rise to an interesting semi-spin glass behavior in CZFMO.
The quest for inorganic fullerenes
Authors: Pietsch Susanne , Dollinger Andreas , Strobel Christoph H. , Park Eun Ji , Ganteför Gerd , Seo Hyun Ook , Kim Young Dok , Idrobo Juan-Carlos , Pennycook Stephen J.
Published: October 2015

Experimental results of the search for inorganic fullerenes are presented. MonSm− and WnSm− clusters are generated with a pulsed arc cluster ion source equipped with an annealing stage. This is known to enhance fullerene formation in the case of carbon. Analogous to carbon, the mass spectra of the metal chalcogenide clusters produced in this way exhibit a bimodal structure. The species in the first maximum at low mass are known to be platelets. Here, the structure of the species in the second maximum is studied by anion photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and scanning tunneling microcopy. All experimental results indicate a two-dimensional structure of these species and disagree with a three-dimensional fullerene-like geometry. A possible explanation for this preference of two-dimensional structures is the ability of a two-element material to saturate the dangling bonds at the edges of a platelet by excess atoms of one element. A platelet consisting of a single element only cannot do this. Accordingly, graphite and boron might be the only materials forming nano-spheres because they are the only single element materials assuming two-dimensional structures.
Evaluation and comparison of the levelized cost of tidal, wave, and offshore wind energy
Authors: Astariz S. , Vazquez A. , Iglesias G.
Published: October 2015

In the current context of environmental degradation and depletion of fossil fuels, marine energy has emerged as an alternative to traditional energy resources. However, being in an initial step of development, extracting energy from the ocean is often regarded as difficult and uneconomical. The existing models for assessing marine energy costs are often oversimplified, leading to uncertainties that may hold investors back and slow down the market penetration of this renewable. Therefore, an accurate prediction of marine energy costs is fundamental to drawing conclusions about its competitiveness. Among the different possibilities of marine energy, this paper focuses on the economic analysis of tidal, wave, and offshore wind energy. The individual costs involved in the construction of these offshore energy parks and operation and maintenance tasks during their lifetime are determined. With this information, the levelized cost (€/MW h) is calculated for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy (€165/MW h, €225/MW h and €190/MW h, respectively). It is found that these renewables have a higher energy cost than traditional energy sources; however, considering factors such as the learning rate or externalities enhances their competitiveness. In the second part of this paper, combined energy systems, such as hybrid converters, are presented as a future solution to boost the development of marine energies. The synergies between these renewables are outlined, as well as the cost savings that can be achieved through diversified energy systems.
Temperature effects on carrier formation dynamics in organic heterojunction solar cell
Authors: Yonezawa Kouhei , Yasuda Takeshi , Moritomo Yutaka
Published: October 2015

The femto-second time-resolved spectroscopy was performed on the heterojunction (HJ) solar cell which consists of prototypical low-band gap donor (D), poly[[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′] dithiophene-2,6-diyl][3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b] thiophenediyl]] (PTB7), and the C70 acceptor (A). We spectroscopically determined the absolute number of donor exciton (nD*), acceptor exciton (nA*), and carrier (nD+) per an absorbed photon against the delay time (t). At 300 K, we found that the decay time (τdecay = 3.5 ps) of A* is much longer than the carrier formation time (τform = 1.1 ps), indicating that the late A* component does not contribute to the carrier formation process. The elongated τform (=1.5 ps) at 80 K is ascribed to the exciton migration process, not to the exciton dissociation process.
The Concentration of Capital in UK Grocery Retailing
Authors: Wrigley N
Published: October 2015

‘Postmodernisation’ is introduced as a unifying concept for the set of processes which characterise the development of the space economy in the 1980s. The concept consists in effects which include: an increase in the unevenness of developmental potential between ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ British regions, growing polarisation in income and unemployment indices over space, a shift towards economies of scope by producers, a growing dynamism in localities with large service-class components displaying a privatistic consumption culture, and a growth of casualised and informal labour-market opportunities at the expense of ‘lifetime’ employment. This contrasts with a set of processes characteristic of what may be termed the ‘modernisation’ period circa 1945–1975 in which there was a relatively even spread of developmental opportunities across regional space, there was income and employment convergence, production pursued volume markets and economies of scale, collective consumption provision was socially predominant and employment was relatively secure. It is suggested that this change is consistent with but by no means fully explained by the recent monetarist shakeout of the British economy.
Urban Environmental Quality in Two Belgian Cities, Evaluated on the Basis of Residential Choices and GIS Data
Authors: Reginster Isabelle , Goffette-Nagot Florence
Published: October 2015

Our objective in this paper is to analyse empirically the effects of environmental quality on residential location choices in two Belgian cities, using a detailed description of the urban environment derived from remotely sensed data and using GIS tools. According to urban models which include amenities, environmental quality may influence land rents and location by income in the city. In order to test these relations, average land rents and mean income per district are regressed on distance to the centre and several environmental characteristics, using the instrumental variables method in order to take account of endogeneity. Fourteen environmental variables, representing socioeconomic facilities and natural attributes are obtained from aerial photographs, satellite images, and ancillary data. Their spatial representations are constructed using GIS functions. The empirical results confirm the impact of greenery on location choice and the existence of a higher environmental quality at the periphery than near the centre of the two cities. They also reveal that the impact of environmental quality components on residential location depends on the shape and history of the cities and on the relative scarcity of the environmental attributes.
Changing Patterns of Uneven Regional Development and Forms of Social Reproduction in Greece
Authors: Hadjimichalis C , Vaiou D
Published: October 2015

The period 1970–73 was a turning point after which certain intermediate regions and cities in Greece stopped declining and began to develop new productive activities. After 1974, the slowdown of economic growth rates coincided with the increasing economic, social, and political dynamism of these intermediate areas. These phenomena are poorly explained by many liberal and Marxist regional development approaches. Their almost exclusive attention to industrial production, to capital–labour movements or to the ‘basic’ formal, full-time, skilled, male industrial employment in an area, reproduces a production determinism which seems inadequate for the present period of crisis and deep restructuring. These approaches neglect certain key features of modern Greek capitalism such as the widespread pattern of multiple employment, the growing role of informal activities, the new function of the household in relation to outworking, and the gender dimension. It is hypothesised that these features reproduce a new mode of social reproduction in Greece which is illustrated in three short case studies: in Mesolóngion–Agrinion area in west–central Greece, in Kastoria in northwest Macedonia, and in Náxos in the Cyclades Islands.
Realpolitik, Reality and Rhetoric in Rio
Authors: Hecht S B , Cockburn A
Published: October 2015

As Rio prepared for the 1992 Earth Summit by paving the road to the airport and placing in detention the young street kids regularly assassinated by death squads, the inhabitants of Rio, one of Brazil's most depressed cities in a disintegrating economy, positioned themselves for the windfall of 30000 participants in need of services ranging from taxis to transvestites. The Rio conference was one where the average citizen was excluded in no uncertain terms from the formal conference by a phalanx composed of Brazilian troops and UN peace-keeping forces. The ‘cordon militaire’ and spatial isolation of the Rio Centro conference site reflected the larger social and economic contours of the current environmental arena.
After the pop-up games: London's never-ending regeneration
Authors: Vijay Ameeth
Published: October 2015

This paper examines the temporality of urban planning in contemporary London, especially with regard to the 2012 Olympic Games. I argue that planners and officials deployed a rhetoric of permanence to validate not only the Games themselves, but also the costly development and infrastructural changes in the city as well as human displacements. Specifically, a decentralized network of planners, officials, consultants, and administrators used temporal concepts such as ‘legacy’, ‘sustainability’, and ‘regeneration’ in describing the benefits of hosting the Games, all of which purposely ignored the temporary and unsustainable nature of the two-week sporting event. I further argue that this rhetoric could be sustained only through an implication that the Olympic site—and East London as a whole—was in a state of ruin, a state which could be ameliorated through the production of this sporting ‘mega-event’. Above all, the Olympics attempt to rhetorically mitigate their own temporary, ‘pop-up’ quality for the sake of an urban settler colonialism.
Visual Proprioception and Postural Stability in Infancy. A Developmental Study
Authors: Butterworth George , Hicks Linda
Published: October 2015

The effect of conflicting visual, and mechanical proprioceptive information on postural stability was compared in two groups of infants. The older group could sit or stand unsupported, while the younger group could sit but could not yet stand. The results suggest that visual proprioception functions to maintain postural stability before infants have learned to stand.
Shrinkage and Expansion by Amodal Completion: A Critical Review
Authors: Vezzani Stefano
Published: October 2015

The whole literature on the so-called dimensional effects of amodal completion (shrinkage of a partially occluded figure and expansion of modally visible parts of the same figure) is critically reviewed. It is claimed that phenomenal shrinkage is the sum of at least two illusions independent of figure – ground distinction: (1) shrinkage of spaces divided into a few parts, and (2) shrinkage of empty spaces. It is also shown that a partially occluded figure can widen, rather than shrink. It is concluded that the stratification in two phenomenally superimposed figures accompanies the shrinkage effect, but is irrelevant to its generation. Further experiments are needed in order to draw a well-grounded conclusion on the expansion effect.
Characterisation of the Misalignment and Misangulation Components in the Poggendorff and Corner-Poggendorff Illusions
Authors: Ninio Jacques , O'Regan J Kevin
Published: October 2015

In the Poggendorff illusion, two colinear segments abutting obliquely on an intervening configuration (often consisting of two long parallel lines) appear misaligned. We report here the results of a component analysis of the illusion and several of its variants, including in particular the ‘corner-Poggendorff’ illusion, and variants with a single arm. Using a nulling method, we determined an ‘orientation profile’ of each configuration, that is, how the illusions varied as the configuration was rotated in the plane of the display. We were able to characterise a pure-misalignment component (having peaks and dips around the ±22.5° and ±67.5° orientations of the arms) and a pure misangulation component of constant sign, having peaks at the ±45° orientations of the arms. Both these components were present in both the classic and the corner-Poggendorff configurations. Thus, the misangulation component appears clearly in the classic Poggendorff illusion, once the misalignment component is partitioned out. Similarly, the corner-Poggendorff configuration, which essentially estimates a misangulation component, contains a misalignment component which becomes apparent once the misangulation is nulled. While our analysis accounts for much of the variability in the shapes of the profiles, additional assumptions must be made to explain the relatively small misangulation measured in the corner-Poggendorff configuration (1.5°, on average, at peak value), and the relatively large illusion measured in the configurations with a single arm (above 6°, on average, at peak values). We invoke the notion that parallelism and colinearity detectors provide counteracting cues, the first class reducing misangulation in the corner-Poggendorff configuration, and the second class reducing the illusion in the Poggendorff configurations with two arms.
Auditory Coding of Visual Patterns for the Blind
Authors: Arno Patricia , Capelle Christian , Wanet-Defalque Marie-Chantal , Catalan-Ahumada Mitzi , Veraart Claude
Published: October 2015

Recognition tasks of simple visual patterns have been used to assess an early visual – auditory sensory-substitution system, consisting of the coupling of a rough model of the human retina with an inverse model of the cochlea, by means of a pixel – frequency relationship. The potential advantage of the device, compared with previous ones, is to give the blind the ability to both localise and recognise visual patterns. Four evaluation sessions assessed the performance of twenty-four blindfolded sighted subjects using the device. Subjects had to recognise twenty-five visual patterns, one at a time, using a head-mounted small camera and interpreting the corresponding sounds given by the device. Half the subjects were trained by means of a correction feedback procedure during ten one-hour training sessions embedded in between the evaluation sessions. Results revealed extremely successful training effects. Performance of trained subjects significantly increased with practice compared with the untrained control group. The improvement was also observed for new patterns, demonstrating a learning-process generalisation. The negative correlation observed between scores and processing time showed that the subjects' response accuracy was related to their speed. In conclusion, simple pattern recognition is possible with a fairly natural vision-to-audition coding scheme, given the possibility for the subjects to have sensory-motor interactions while using the device.
An Examination of a Temporal Anisotropy in the Visual Integration of Spatial Frequencies
Authors: McSorley Eugene , Findlay John M
Published: October 2015

Three pairs of experiments were conducted to investigate the importance of spatial-frequency-processing delays imposed by the visual system on the efficacy of their subsequent integration. In the first pair of experiments filtered versions of a natural image were found to be easily discriminable from the full-bandwidth image. These images were then placed into triplets and presented sequentially. Subjects were required to detect the presence of a full-bandwidth target image within the sequence. As with previous results a low-to-high progression of spatial-frequency information did increase the number of errors of full-bandwidth-image detection within the triplets where it was not present. However, this was not found across all conditions and was suggested to be due to the increased discriminability of the constituent images which form the image triplets. The second experiment was a repetition of the first with more confusable component images. Again the weak order effect on target detection was found. It was suggested that this may be due to the nature of the stimulus used. The third pair of experiments repeated the design of the first pair of experiments but with Gabor patches which provide localised spatial-frequency information. It was found that a low-to-high progression of spatial frequencies resulted in more false detections of the target. The results are interpreted as supporting an integration mechanism which operates with greater efficacy when the presentation of spatial-frequency information mirrors that naturally imposed by the neural delays involved in the processing of spatial frequencies.
Do 9-Month-Olds Perceive Causation-at-a-Distance?
Authors: Schlottmann Anne , Surian Luca
Published: October 2015

Humans understand mechanical events to involve physical bodies interacting by contact, but intentional events involve agents that can also interact at a distance. We investigated infant sensitivity to causality in a simple event in which one agent appears to react to another without contact. Infants 9 months old were habituated to one of two events involving a computer-animated red square moving nonrigidly—like a caterpillar—towards a green square. In the ‘reaction event’, the green object moved in turn before the red one stopped, while in the ‘pause event’ the green object moved after the red one stopped. After habituation, each infant saw the habituation movie played in reverse. This test involved identical spatiotemporal changes for reaction and pause event, but the reversed reaction additionally involved a change in the causal roles. Infants dis-habituated to reversal of the reaction but not the pause event, a result which suggests sensitivity to causation-at-a-distance. This ability could support development of social cognition and theory of mind.
Test of Petter's Rule for Perceived Surface Stratification
Authors: Masin Sergio Cesare
Published: October 2015

Petter's rule applies to two-dimensional patterns formed by two overlapping surfaces that alternately appear in front of one another. It states that the surface with the shorter contours in the region where the surfaces look superimposed has a greater probability of appearing in front of the other surface. An experiment is reported the results of which show that Petter's rule is valid for chromatically homogeneous and for uniformly dense dotted patterns, and invalid for different kinds of chromatically inhomogeneous patterns. Petter's rule has been found to be valid when the overlapping surfaces have contours with gaps. It is proposed that Petter's rule derives from the dynamics of filling-in of contour gaps.
The Effect of Central and Peripheral Field Stimulation on the Rise Time and Gain of Human Optokinetic Nystagmus
Authors: Abadi Richard V , Howard Ian P , Ohmi Masao , Lee Ellen E
Published: October 2015

We wished to examine the spatial (gain) and temporal (rise time) properties of human optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) as a function of stimulus velocity and field location. Stimuli were either M-scaled random dots or vertical stripes that moved at velocities between 20–80 deg s−1. Three field conditions were examined: full field; a 20 deg central field; and a 12.5 deg central-field mask. OKN gain was found to be significantly affected by stimulus velocity and stimulus location, with the higher stimulus velocities and the 12.5 deg central-field mask giving lower gains. Steady-state gains for all three field conditions were not found to be affected by prior adaptation to stationary or moving stimuli. The 63% rise time was found to be significantly affected by the stimulus velocity, whereas this was not the case for the 90% rise time. Neither rise time was found to be significantly affected by the field location. These results indicate that, although the effectiveness (gain) of peripheral retina is lower than that of the central retina during optokinetic stimulation, the peripheral retina has access to common mechanisms responsible for the fast component of OKN.
To See or Not to See: Effects of Visual Feedback on Performance and Intuitions of Quarterbacks in American Football
Authors: Shaffer Dennis M , Maynor Andrew B
Published: October 2015

We investigated the ability of quarterbacks in American football to intercept a moving receiver with a football in occluded and normal viewing conditions, and whether they can accurately predict their own success. Quarterbacks were successful in almost 80% of the trials in the occlusion condition, statistically as successful as in the normal viewing condition. Quarterbacks' predictions of their own success accounted for little variance in actual success. We propose that quarterbacks may attempt to generate a constant target-heading angle between where the football is thrown and the receiver, which may explain the high success rate in the occlusion condition.
Modelling the Mach Bands Illusion by Means of a Diffusion Model
Authors: Geier Janos , Hudák Mariann
Published: October 2015

First, we criticize the validity of the principle of lateral inhibition. Second, on the basis of illusory phenomena and stabilized retinal images, we point out that the retina does not code the absolute luminance; the retina forwards a relative luminance sketch towards higher levels of the visual system. However, at the level of conscious processing the perceptual counterpart of absolute luminance, brightness, is available. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that a reconstruction process is carried out by the visual system, which recovers the inner representation that corresponds to the retinal light distribution from the coded relative luminance sketch. We provide an illustrative description of a computational model of this reconstruction process. The basis of the reconstruction is a mathematically provable theorem, according to which if image P is produced from image I by Laplacian filtering, and then P is used as the sources and sinks of a homogeneous linear diffusion process, then the equilibrium of the diffusion will be identical to the original image I. We have illustrated this by a one-dimensional heat diffusion example, and by a series of test tubes connected to each other, also in one dimension. Brightness illusions are considered as a side effect of this diffusion-based reconstruction process. If the diffusion process deviates from the principle of homogeneous linearity, then the result of the reconstruction will deviate from the original image I. We showed a concrete illustration of this with regards to the Mach bands illusion: Here we violated the principle of homogeneous linearity by means of inserting a small vertical tube serving as a serial resistance between each test tube and the horizontal connecting tube. This violation resulted in a change of water level in the source and the sink test tubes corresponding to the Mach bands illusion.
Coevolution of parasite virulence and host mating strategies
Authors: Ashby Ben , Boots Michael
Published: October 2015

Significance

It is well understood that parasitism may help to explain the evolution of mating strategies, but host behavior is, in turn, critical to the transmission and therefore the evolution of parasites. Despite this clear reciprocity, we lack a coevolutionary theory of mate choice and parasite virulence. We show how coevolution leads to a wide range of dynamics, including cycling and stable strategies, and that this resolves a key criticism of the role of parasites in mate choice: that parasites will evolve to be avirulent, thus reducing their impact on mating strategies. Coevolution also leads to new predictions for the role of several host and parasite traits on selection for mate choice that will guide future experimental and comparative work.
E1 of α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase defends
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
against glutamate anaplerosis and nitroxidative stress
Authors: Maksymiuk Christina , Balakrishnan Anand , Bryk Ruslana , Rhee Kyu Y. , Nathan Carl F.
Published: October 2015

Significance

These studies shed light on the role of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(Mtb) 2-ketoglutarate (α-KG) dehydrogenase in fulfillment of noncanonical functions: defense against toxic aldehydes during glutamate anaplerosis and participation by two of its three enzymes in a previously undescribed antinitrosative defense. Analysis of the latter pathway revealed a peroxidase activity, which can be inferred to function as a peroxynitrite reductase as well. Heretofore, antioxidant enzyme systems were known to depend on electrons derived from the oxidant itself in dismutation reactions or derived directly or indirectly from NADPH or NADH. Here, electrons derived from the oxidative decarboxylation of central carbon metabolites α-KG and pyruvate to succinyl CoA (SucCoA) and acetyl CoA (AcCoA), respectively, serve as sources of reducing power.
Teachers’ beliefs in multilingual education in the Basque country and in Friesland
Authors: Arocena Egaña Elizabet , Cenoz Jasone , Gorter Durk
Published: October 2015

In this article we analyze teachers’ beliefs about learning different languages in multilingual education, which include forms of immersion in the minority and the majority languages. In this study interviews were held with 51 primary school teachers from the Basque Country (Spain), and Friesland (The Netherlands). In both regions three languages are taught: majority, minority and English. Based on the teachers’ views we obtain interesting insights into the native speaker ideal, pupils as multilingual speakers, and the proficiency levels for each language. The teachers also expressed their ideas on teaching through the minority language and through English, as well as their beliefs on cross-linguistic use of languages and how that is related to the multilingual repertoire. The social context is believed to have an important influence through the parents, the media, and the status of the languages in society. The article concludes that beliefs are still largely monolingual and seem to only gradually change to more multilingual views.
Language attention in content-based instruction
Authors: Arias de la Cruz Andrés , Izquierdo Jesús
Published: October 2015

Subject-matter specialists teaching content via a foreign/second language in higher education often exhibit a meaning-based pedagogy, unsystematically attending to inaccurate language. This observational study examined whether two foreign-language-teaching-trained instructors teaching content in English in a Mexican undergraduate program would emulate these instructional patterns, or would attend to language favouring language-and-content-integrated pedagogy. In the study, over 400 instructional episodes, video-recorded during 18 hours of regular-classroom teaching, were analyzed using the COLT observation scheme (Spada & Fröhlich, 1995). Results showed that the foreign-language educators favoured content, erratically attending to inaccurate language during communication breakdowns. Language attention occurred reactively through word translations, lexical-gap scaffolding, and isolated explanations for non-target phonological forms. These instructional patterns may result from the language teachers’ newly assumed content-based instructional roles. To favour language attention during subject-matter teaching, language instructors need training and curricular support that helps them draw on their foreign language teaching experience as they deliver content.
Examining immigrants’ English and French proficiency in French immersion
Authors: Mady Callie
Published: October 2015

Demographic changes in the Canadian population have also brought a more diverse community of learners to French immersion programs. This study responds to the changes in the immersion student population by comparing the French and English proficiency of three groups: Canadian-born English-speaking students, Canadian-born multilingual students and immigrant multilingual students in Grade 6 early French immersion. The quantitative data from English and French tests showed that the immigrant group outperformed the Canadian-born English speaking and the Canadian-born multilingual groups on French proficiency measures of reading, writing, and speaking, whereas there were no significant differences among the groups on the English test components.
Conceptualizing the interaction between language and mathematics
Authors: Berger Angela
Published: October 2015

This article describes the interaction between mathematics and language, based on an analysis of how individual learners solve word problems in English as a foreign language (L2). It reports on a study conducted to investigate how the L2 influences mathematical thinking and learning in the process of solving word problems and how the construction of meaning unfolds. The research generated the Integrated Language and Mathematics Model (ILMM), which facilitates the description of the interplay between mathematics and language. The empirical results show, inter alia, that CLIL learners tend to use the given text more profoundly for stepwise deduction of a mathematical model, and conversely, mathematical activity can lead to more intense language activity. Furthermore, effective mathematical activity depends on successful text reception, and problem solving in a L2 provides additional opportunities for reflection, both linguistically and conceptually. The ILMM makes a major contribution to conceptualising content and language integration.
Dehumanizing metaphors in UK immigrant debates in press and online media
Authors: Musolff Andreas
Published: October 2015

Some Internet genres, in particular Weblogs and discussion fora, have a dubious reputation for giving voice to strongly polemical discourses or hate-speech. This paper investigates the use of dehumanizing metaphors, specificallyparasitemetaphors, in British debates about immigration. It compares the range of metaphors used in Blogs with that used in online fora and in mainstream newspaper coverage and concludes that despite substantial variation, they can be categorised into four main scenarios, of which one includes dehumanizing metaphors such as depictions of immigrants asparasites, leeches,orbloodsuckers. Whilst this kind of stigmatizing imagery occurs across the three different media genres, the samples also show significant quantitative and qualitative differences: dehumanizing metaphors occur most often and their potential for aggressive argumentation and polemics is exploited in more detail in Blogs than in the fora, and least in the mainstream press. It is then asked what cognitive import this differential usage has in view of a) the discourse histories of such metaphors and b) their most likely present-day semantic motivation. The paper concludes that while it is unlikely that present-day users have detailed knowledge of the etymological and conceptual histories of such metaphors, it is also improbable to assume a wholly “unconscious” or “automatic” use or reception in the respective community of practice, and that instead it is more likely that they are used with a high degree of “deliberateness” and a modicum of discourse-historical awareness.
Nominal architecture in Jamaican Creole
Authors: Durrlemann Stéphanie
Published: October 2015

Our study shows that the extended projection of nominals in Jamaican Creole (JC) is composed of a rich array of hierarchically organized functional projections, in line with cartographic research (Cinque 2002, Rizzi 2004, Belletti 2004). The functional material identified strikes parallelisms with that previously reported for the clausal domain of JC, both in their distributive and interpretative properties and their tendency to overtly realize either their specifier or their head (Durrleman 2001, 2005, 2015). We argue that the identified nominal architecture, coupled with the last resort phenomenon of doubly filling both head and specifier positions (Chomsky & Lasnik 1977, Koopman 1993, Dimitrova-Vulchanova & Giusti 1998, Starke 2004), has implications for another construction in Creole, namely ‘bare sentences’ (Dechaine 1991). These sentences give rise to telicity effects depending on, amongst other things, properties of the internal argument, whose high functional structure must be made visible by respecting the doubly filled XP filter.
Institutional power in and behind discourse
Authors: Zhang Meifang , Pan Hanting
Published: October 2015

This article takes a critical approach to the study of the SARS notices and their translations from the perspective of discourse analysis. Drawing upon the insights of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and critical discourse analysis (CDA), this study explores how language is used by different governmental institutions in shaping their social power and hierarchy. By conducting a comparative study of the SARS notices and their translations, focusing on speech roles, speech functions, modality types and modality orientation, the authors argue that choices made in producing the texts reflect the institutions’ social roles and their relationship with each other and with the audience. They also argue that the application of concepts from SFL in detailed text analysis and from CDA in the overall discussion may better reveal how different models of discourse analysis can supplement each other and be applied to translation studies.
Engagement and graduation resources as markers of translator/interpreter positioning
Authors: Munday Jeremy
Published: October 2015

This article examines the application of appraisal theory (Martin and White 2005) to the analysis of translation. It develops the findings inMunday (2012), which focused on attitudinal meanings, and explores the potential for the use of engagement resources and graduation as a means of determining translator/interpreter positioning. Using a range of examples from texts of international organizations, it discusses the translation of reporting verbs and intensification as a signal of the translator’s/interpreter’s degree of ‘investment’ in a proposition and control over the text receiver’s response. This is framed within the concept of ‘discourse space theory’ (Chilton 2004) to provide a reference for future work in this field.
(Un)stable sources, translation and news production
Authors: Valdeón Roberto A.
Published: October 2015

This article discusses the distinction stable versus unstable sources, which Hernández Guerrero has suggested in her book on news translation. It starts with a short overview of news translation as a subfield within the discipline of translation studies, emphasizing the role of translation in news production since the emergence of the journalistic profession. The next section discusses the concepts of ‘stable’ and ‘unstable’ sources, and moves on to introduce framing, a key concept in communication studies, defined as the central organizing idea that allows news consumers to make sense of events. The term will be related to the mechanisms that journalists resort to in order to produce source texts, which, in turn, can also affect the selection and de-selection processes undertaken by news producers when relying on articles published in other languages. The final sections will consider the translated economic columns of Paul Krugman, originally published in the New York Times and in Spanish by the daily El País, to reflect on the usefulness of the binary opposition stable versus unstable sources, and will show that, in some media, certain unstable texts can turn stable.
Conflicting discourses of translation assessment and the discursive construction of the ‘assessor’ role in cyberspace
Authors: Kang Ji-Hae
Published: October 2015

This article explores the ways in which translation assessment is discursively constructed by readers participating in an online translation debate. Focusing on a controversy over the Korean translation of Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Steve Jobs, it examines how readers participating in a translation debate in Daum Agora, the largest online discussion forum in South Korea, enact the ‘assessor’ role in evaluating the translation. Drawing on the concepts of ‘social role,’ ‘activity role,’ and ‘discourse role,’ I argue that online translation assessors perform the discourse roles of ‘expert-judge,’ ‘activist,’ and ‘assessment evaluator.’ The findings suggest that translation assessment in cyberspace is a subjective, contextualizing process where value, meaning, and function are often a matter of uptake. Furthermore, discourse-based approaches may play critical roles in examining translation assessment in cyberspace as a socially situated act that involves an intricate negotiation of meaning, complex workings of power, and a reconstitution of local social positioning within global cultural flows.
Chum Salmon Genetic Diversity in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean Assessed with Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs): Applications to Fishery Management
Authors: Small Maureen P. , Rogers Olive Serena D. , Seeb Lisa W. , Seeb James E. , Pascal Carita E. , Warheit Kenneth I. , Templin William
Published: October 2015

We examined genetic diversity patterns among 55 collections of Chum Salmon from the northeastern Pacific Ocean using 89 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The distribution of Chum Salmon samples extended from the Nass River along the coast of British Columbia and along the coast of Washington as far south as the Columbia River. Chum Salmon represented three previously defined run-groups: fall (primarily), summer, and winter. Genetic variation at SNP loci, as measured by FST, ranged from 0.002 to 0.279 over all collections and averaged 0.062 over all loci. Similar to the genetic patterns detected with microsatellites and allozymes, genetic variation followed a regional structure along geographic distance, with genetic diversity being highest in the north and decreasing southward, then increasing in and near the Columbia River. Within Puget Sound, Washington, genetic variation was structured further according to run timing (fall, summer, and winter) and shared ancestry. Simulations indicated that this suite of SNPs is powerful for identifying regional components in a Chum Salmon mixed fishery. Because of the transferability of SNP data, the growing SNP baseline for Chum Salmon will be useful for multiple agencies managing Chum Salmon around the Pacific Rim.

Received December 19, 2014; accepted May 20, 2015