51 research outputs found
Modiano's dark light of remembrance in translation : paratextual mediation of La place de l'étoile in German, Dutch, and English
No full textPatrick Modiano’s first novel, La place de l’étoile (1968), is a provocative work in which the author struggles with the memory of the Occupation in French postwar society. De plaats van de ster, the Dutch translation, had appeared as early as 1973. It was not until 2010 that the German edition of Modiano’s debut saw the light in Elisabeth Edl’s translation. More recently, in 2015, the English translation was published (translated by Frank Wynne). In my contribution I will create a context for the interpretation of this novel on entangled memory related to the French Occupation, Vichy, anti-Semitism, collaboration, and the search of Jewish identity. I will pay attention to the rewritings of the novel undertaken by Modiano, and will comment on the intertextual references to Louis-Ferdinand Céline. I will further try to answer the question of how this already mediated and readapted discourse based on memory, intertextuality and pastiche, deeply rooted in French intellectual life and history, has been translated into Dutch, German, and English. I will pay particular attention to explanatory endnotes and afterwords in order to show the differences in cultural mediation that took place at different moments in time to ensure an afterlife for Modiano’s first novel
Transmission of facial expressions of emotion co-evolved with their efficient decoding in the brain: behavioral and brain evidence
No full textCompetent social organisms will read the social signals of their peers. In primates, the face has evolved to transmit the organism's internal emotional state. Adaptive action suggests that the brain of the receiver has co-evolved to efficiently decode expression signals. Here, we review and integrate the evidence for this hypothesis. With a computational approach, we co-examined facial expressions as signals for data transmission and the brain as receiver and decoder of these signals. First, we show in a model observer that facial expressions form a lowly correlated signal set. Second, using time-resolved EEG data, we show how the brain uses spatial frequency information impinging on the retina to decorrelate expression categories. Between 140 to 200 ms following stimulus onset, independently in the left and right hemispheres, an information processing mechanism starts locally with encoding the eye, irrespective of expression, followed by a zooming out to processing the entire face, followed by a zooming back in to diagnostic features (e.g. the opened eyes in "fear", the mouth in "happy"). A model categorizer demonstrates that at 200 ms, the left and right brain have represented enough information to predict behavioral categorization performance
Reviewing the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (Part II): Priorities for Short-Term Implementation. CEPS Task Force Reports No. 57, 1 March 2006
No full text[From the Introduction]. This report constitutes Part II of the twin reports of the CEPS Task Force on Reviewing the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. The Part I report, which was presented to the UK Presidency on 7 July 2005,1 focused on a number of short-term implementation issues including transparency requirements for the National Allocation Plans (NAPs), the definition of installations, treatment of small installations, new entrants, closure and transfer rules, allocation methodologies, the possibility of opt-ins as well as monitoring, reporting and verification. This follow-up Part II report examines deep-seated topics such as whether the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) contributes to meeting Kyoto Protocol targets, economic impacts, effects on investment and the potential inclusion of aviation. These issues lie at the interface of NAP phase II and the longterm formal 2006 review. Neither of the two reports (Part I or Part II) examines issues related to the formal review of the EU ETS, which the Directive calls for no later than June 2006. Since this formal review, which will lead to an amendment of the Directive by co-decision, is likely to trigger a fundamental and longer-term debate, it is being treated in a separate CEPS Task Force launched in early 2006. After a status report of the ETS and a reminder of some fundamentals in sections 1 and 2, the following sections cover investment incentives (3), competitiveness (4 and 5) and aviation (6). The main findings of the report are contained in the Executive Summary, including Key Messages & Recommendations and an extended Full Summary. Appendix 1 presents a list of members of the Task Force and invited guests and speakers
Development of an Evaluation Framework to Assess Airport Demand Management Strategies
No full textIn the current economy, many airports are operating close to their maximum capacity with high utilisation rates. This raises the need for airports to implement demand management measures. This need is further exacerbated when the capacity is further limited due to weather-based capacity shortfalls. Therefore, the development of an Evaluation Framework enabling the development and assessment of different Airport Demand Management Strategies was the aim of the research performed. The Evaluation Framework includes a dynamic arrival scheduling framework, to be used to assess different Airport Demand Management Strategies under a variety of scenarios. The framework uses Monte Carlo simulation along with the Rolling Time Horizons theory in order to assign an arrival time to each aircraft of a predetermined flight schedule. The weather-based capacity shortfalls are implemented via real-life METAR and TAF weather observations. A set containing both static and dynamic Airport Demand Management Strategies was defined, incorporating different demand management measures, such as ground delay and cancellations. A case study was performed to demonstrate that the Evaluation Framework is capable of assessing these Airport Demand Management Strategies. The case study addresses the arrival scheduling of predetermined flight plans at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, combined with bad weather – and very bad weather scenarios. The case study has confirmed that different Airport Demand Management Strategies can contribute to airports keeping delays at acceptable levels and minimising cancellations during weather-based capacity shortfalls.Aerospace Engineerin
Analysis of public flood risk perception in Zeeland and Limburg in the Netherlands
No full textIn terms of social and economic impacts, floods are the biggest climate-related disasters. Moreover, the severity of floods will increase as climate change intensifies tropical cyclones, accelerates sea level rise, and increases coastal and river flooding. The Netherlands is the world’s second-lowest country, making it vulnerable to flooding, mainly since one-third of the country lies below sea level and is surrounded by water. However, the flood defenses have never been more robust, and the technical knowledge regarding flood measures has grown. Nevertheless, the vulnerability of the Netherlands only increases with the increasing population growth, GDP, and economic value. Therefore, flood risk management plans need to be improved, which requires revising policies...Engineering and Policy Analysi
Parametric study of EEG sensitivity to phase noise during face processing
No full text<b>Background: </b>
The present paper examines the visual processing speed of complex objects, here faces, by mapping the relationship between object physical properties and single-trial brain responses. Measuring visual processing speed is challenging because uncontrolled physical differences that co-vary with object categories might affect brain measurements, thus biasing our speed estimates. Recently, we demonstrated that early event-related potential (ERP) differences between faces and objects are preserved even when images differ only in phase information, and amplitude spectra are equated across image categories. Here, we use a parametric design to study how early ERP to faces are shaped by phase information. Subjects performed a two-alternative force choice discrimination between two faces (Experiment 1) or textures (two control experiments). All stimuli had the same amplitude spectrum and were presented at 11 phase noise levels, varying from 0% to 100% in 10% increments, using a linear phase interpolation technique. Single-trial ERP data from each subject were analysed using a multiple linear regression model.
<b>Results: </b>
Our results show that sensitivity to phase noise in faces emerges progressively in a short time window between the P1 and the N170 ERP visual components. The sensitivity to phase noise starts at about 120–130 ms after stimulus onset and continues for another 25–40 ms. This result was robust both within and across subjects. A control experiment using pink noise textures, which had the same second-order statistics as the faces used in Experiment 1, demonstrated that the sensitivity to phase noise observed for faces cannot be explained by the presence of global image structure alone. A second control experiment used wavelet textures that were matched to the face stimuli in terms of second- and higher-order image statistics. Results from this experiment suggest that higher-order statistics of faces are necessary but not sufficient to obtain the sensitivity to phase noise function observed in response to faces.
<b>Conclusion: </b>
Our results constitute the first quantitative assessment of the time course of phase information processing by the human visual brain. We interpret our results in a framework that focuses on image statistics and single-trial analyses
Mechanical Recycling of Packaging Plastics: A Review
No full textThe current global plastics economy is highly linear, with the exceptional performance and low carbon footprint of polymeric materials at odds with dramatic increases in plastic waste. Transitioning to a circular economy that retains plastic in its highest value condition is essential to reduce environmental impacts, promoting reduction, reuse and recycling. Mechanical recycling is an essential tool in an environmentally and economically sustainable economy of plastics, but current mechanical recycling processes are limited by cost, degradation of mechanical properties, and inconsistent quality products. This review covers the current methods and challenges for the mechanical recycling of the five main packaging plastics; poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and poly(vinyl chloride) through the lens of a circular economy. Their reprocessing induced degradation mechanisms will be introduced and strategies to improve their recycling discussed.Additionally, this review briefly examines approaches to improve polymer blending in mixedplastic waste streams and applications of lower quality recyclate
Innovations for In-Pile Measurements in the Framework of the CEA-SCK•CEN Joint Instrumentation Laboratory
No full textBeyond the emptiness machine: New directions for leadership research in digital and AI-driven work contexts [Author Accepted Manuscript]
No full textIn an era where many individuals have transitioned to hybrid or fully remote work models, often supported or managed by artificial intelligence (AI), and confronted with a seemingly endless stream of tasks, there is a growing fear of being consumed by the “emptiness machine”—a metaphor for the hollow substitute technology creates in place of rich human connections essential for experiencing social influence. These shifts in work design have important implications for leadership: While virtual communication and AI can enhance autonomy and efficiency, they may also weaken relational energy—the “social glue” that supports social influence—potentially contributing to a growing sense of workplace loneliness. Consistently considering contrasting aspects, we examine two key work design shifts that reshape leadership: (1) the structural changes brought by hybrid and remote work models and (2) the content-related shifts in leadership tasks driven by the transformative impact of AI. By offering concrete research questions in these areas and outlining practical implications, we aim to inspire a more holistic understanding of leadership in a technologically transformed world.reviewedacceptedVersio
Microscopical Evaluation of Smears of the Leptomeninges to Predict Meningitis in Piglets
No full textSIMPLE SUMMARY: Meningitis (inflammation of the membranes covering the brain) is a common problem in 3- to 10-week-old piglets. It is often caused by bacteria that are called Streptococcus. Clinical signs such as problems with coordination of the limbs can be observed by the farmer, but it is also possible that piglets die suddenly, before clinical signs are detected. Therefore, examining dead piglets is often performed to establish a diagnosis. Unfortunately, meningitis is often difficult to recognise by the eye. To assist veterinarians in forming a quick diagnosis of meningitis and possible bacterial involvement, a microscopic evaluation of cells taken from the meninges was performed. This examination allowed the prediction of the likely presence of meningitis and the involvement of Streptococcus species in most of the cases. Microscopic findings were compared with bacteriological culture results, and based on this comparison, indications of meningitis and Streptococcal presence seemed correct in 89% and 100% of the cases, respectively. However, if only a few cells indicating meningitis were observed microscopically, no reliable prediction was possible. In conclusion, microscopic evaluation of cells from the meninges of piglets can help swine practitioners in establishing a tentative diagnosis of meningitis more quickly, which allows for better treatment, improves animal welfare, and reduces antimicrobial use. ABSTRACT: Meningitis, caused by bacterial infections such as Streptococcus spp., is a frequently observed cause of death in pigs. In order to implement effective treatment and avoid further losses, it is important to establish this diagnosis quickly. However, this is often difficult because macroscopic lesions may not be visible, and additional laboratory testing may take several days. The present study investigated whether microscopical examination of impression smears of the leptomeninges taken during necropsy can help in establishing a presumptive diagnosis of meningitis in pigs more quickly. In total, 54 pigs suffering from neurological signs and/or (acute) mortality were examined. They were 3 to 10 weeks old and originated from 16 farms. From each pig, bacterial culture was performed on one half of the brain using a swab from the leptomeninges. From the other half, paired cytological impression smears of the leptomeninges were stained with a commercial quick stain dye (Hemacolor(®)) and Gram stain and microscopically evaluated for the abundance of neutrophils and the presence of short-chain coccoid bacteria. Bacterial culture of the leptomeninges was positive in 36/54 cases, in 28 of which Streptococcus spp. were found. The numbers of smears with low, moderate, or high abundance of neutrophils were 19, 17, and 18, respectively. Short-chain coccoid bacteria were detected successfully in 12 pigs in the Gram-stained smear. The positive predictive value of smears with moderate or high abundance of neutrophils for bacterial presence and, therefore, likely meningitis was 89%, whereas the negative predictive value of smears with low abundance of neutrophils was 74%. The positive predictive value of smears with short chains of coccoid bacteria for diagnosis of Streptococcus spp. was 100%, whereas the negative predictive value was 62%. In conclusion, microscopical examination of impression smears of the leptomeninges of piglets with neurological signs and/or (acute) mortality is a feasible procedure that can help swine practitioners in establishing a tentative diagnosis of meningitis more quickly, especially if neutrophils are abundant, and short chains of coccoid bacteria are present
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