Bouturage de Cola acuminata (P. Beauv.) Schott & Endl.: Influence du substrat, de la longueur et de la surface foliaire sur l’enracinement de boutures à Kisangani, RD Congo

Objectifs: Le colatier est arbre fruitier d’importance capital en RD Congo en général et à Kisangani en particulier. Les personnes impliquées dans sa filière (producteurs, commerçants) se procurent des revenus non négligeables. Les noix de kola, appréciées dans le milieu, sont pour la plupart tirées des arbres dans la forêt qui pour l’ensemble est menacée par les activités anthropiques. Il serait donc souhaitable de préserver cette espèce dans le milieu par la domestication. Pour cette fin, cette étude vise la multiplication de C. acuminata par bouturage.Méthodologie et résultats: Les facteurs type des substrats, surface foliaire, longueur de la tige des boutures et l’emploi d’auxine Acide Indole Butyrique (AIB) ont été expérimentés. Les substrats utilisés sont le sable de rivière, la sciure de bois, les balles de riz ainsi que leurs combinaisons deux à deux. Les surfaces foliaires 25 et 37,5cm² et les longueurs de tiges 3 ; 5 et 7cm ont été mis en comparaison. Deux essais ont été conduits, le premier testant les types de substrats dans un dispositif monofactoriel en blocs complets randomisés, les autres facteurs conduits, au second essai, dans un dispositif tri-factoriel, split plot. Le substrat sable a permis d’avoir plus de boutures enracinées (81,11±11,67%). Les combinaisons longueurs de tiges de boutures 7cm avec surface foliaire 37,5cm²-auxine AIB et surface foliaire 25cm²-sans auxine AIB sont meilleures, soit 70% des boutures enracinées.Conclusion et application de résultats: L’espèce C. acuminata s’accommode bien à la technique de multiplication végétative par bouturage. On a atteint jusqu’à 81% de boutures qui se sont enracinées. Le facteur type de substrat influence considérablement le taux d’enracinement. Les autres facteurs n’ont pas influencé significativement ce paramètre. Les boutures s’étant enracinées, les travaux ultérieurs devraient se focaliser sur les suivis in situ de la croissance et du développement des boutures enracinées. Par cette technique, il est possible d’obtenir suffisamment des plantules, à mettre à la disposition des producteurs, en vue de la domestication de Cola acuminata.Mots clés: Bouturage, enracinement, Cola acuminata, substrats, longueur des tiges, surface foliaireEnglish Title: Cutting of Cola acuminata (P. Beauv.) Schott & Endl. : Influence of substrate, length and leaf area on the rooting of cuttings in Kisangani, DR CongoEnglish AbstractObjectives: The Cola is fruit tree of capital importance in The Democratic Republic of Congo in general and in Kisangani in particular. The people involved in its sector (producers, traders) earn a significant income. The kola nuts, appreciated in the country, are mostly taken from the trees in the forest which are currently threatened by the anthropic activities. It would therefore be desirable to preserve this species in the environment by domestication. For this purpose, this study aims at the multiplication of C. acuminata by cuttings.Methodology and results: Substrate type factors, leaf area, stem length of cuttings and the Idol Butyric Acid (IBA) auxin were experimented. The substrates used are river sand, sawdust, rice husks and their combinations in pairs. The leaf surfaces 25 and 37.5cm² and the stems lengths 3; 5 and 7 cm were compared. Two tests were carried out, the first testing the substrates types in a monofactorial device in randomized complete block, the other factors conducted, in the second trial, in a tri-factorial device, split plot. The sand substrate allowed more of cuttings rooted (81.11 ± 11.67%). The combinations lengths of cuttings 7cm with leaf area 37,5cm²- AIB auxin and leaf area 25cm²-without AIB auxin are better, 70% of rooted cuttings.Conclusion and application of results: The species C. acuminata adapts well to the technique of vegetative propagation by cuttings. Up to 81% of cuttings were rooted. The substrate type factor greatly affects the rooting rate. The other factors did not significantly influence this parameter. Since the cuttings were rooted, subsequent work should focus on in situ monitoring of the growth and development of rooted cuttings. By this technique, it is possible to obtain sufficient seedlings, to be made available to producers, for the domestication of Cola acuminata.Keywords: Cutting, rooting, Cola acuminata, substrates, stem length, leaf are

Formal methods with a touch of magic

Machine learning and formal methods have complimentary benefits and drawbacks. In this work, we address the controller-design problem with a combination of techniques from both fields. The use of black-box neural networks in deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) poses a challenge for such a combination. Instead of reasoning formally about the output of deep RL, which we call the wizard, we extract from it a decision-tree based model, which we refer to as the magic book. Using the extracted model as an intermediary, we are able to handle problems that are infeasible for either deep RL or formal methods by themselves. First, we suggest, for the first time, a synthesis procedure that is based on a magic book. We synthesize a stand-alone correct-by-design controller that enjoys the favorable performance of RL. Second, we incorporate a magic book in a bounded model checking (BMC) procedure. BMC allows us to find numerous traces of the plant under the control of the wizard, which a user can use to increase the trustworthiness of the wizard and direct further training

Bit-rate saving in multichannel sound:using a band-limited channel to transmit the center signal

A method is proposed to achieve full-frequency-range three-channel (left, right, and center) sound reproduction in systems that have only two full-range sound channels and some band-limited commentary channels. The low-frequency part of the center signal, which matches the bandwidth of the commentary channels, is added to the (multilingual) speech signals in each of the commentary channels. The remaining high-frequency part is added in the left and right channels as in conventional mixdowns. Sound reproduction of this signal by a conventional two-channel receiver remains unaltered. The low-frequency part of the center signal is mixed to the left and right signals together with the speech once the user has selected a commentary channel. Three-channel reproduction is obtained by routing the selected commentary channel to a central loudspeaker. Listening tests revealed that sound reproduction according to the proposed scheme could not be distinguished from original three-channel reproduction. This scheme can be applied to proposed standards such as D2MAC and MPEG2.</p

Eliciting Intelligence With the Scharff Technique:Interviewing More and Less Cooperative and Capable Sources

The objective was to compare the efficacy of the Scharff technique (conceptualized as 5 tactics) with the direct approach (open and direct questions) as a means of eliciting intelligence from human sources. The interview techniques were used with 4 different types of sources varying in their levels of both cooperation and capability to provide information as follows: (a) less willing/less able, (b) less willing/ more able, (c) more willing/less able, and (d) more willing/more able. The sources (N ﰁ 200) were given information about a notional planned terrorist attack and instructed to strike a balance between not revealing too much or too little information in a subsequent interview. Overall, the Scharff technique resulted in significantly more new information than the direct approach, particularly for the less cooperative sources. Furthermore, sources interviewed with the Scharff technique had a more difficult time reading the interviewer’s information objectives and consistently underestimated how much new information they revealed. The study substantiates the Scharff technique as an effective human- intelligence gathering tool

Immunotherapy With the SQ Tree SLIT-tablet in Adults and Adolescents With Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis

Purpose: The SQ tree sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT)-tablet containing allergen extracts with the major allergen Bet v 1 from birch pollen is currently being developed for the treatment of tree pollen induced allergic rhinitis/conjunctivitis with or without asthma. The aim of this Phase II trial was to investigate the dose-related efficacy and safety of the SQ tree SLIT-tablet. Methods: This study was a randomized, parallel group, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-national trial conducted in Europe. A total of 637 participants were randomized equally to receive placebo or treatment with the SQ tree SLIT-tablet in doses of 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 7, or 12 development units (DU). Treatment was initiated 16 weeks before onset of the 2013 birch pollen season (BPS) and was continued throughout the BPS with a total duration of at least 6 months. During the BPS and tree pollen season (TPS), subjects assessed rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms and medication use on a daily basis in an electronic diary; weekly assessments of rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life were also made. Findings: Analysis of the average daily symptom score during the BPS and the TPS showed that the difference between active treatment and placebo was statistically significant for the 7 DU group (BPS, P = 0.02; TPS, P = 0.03), with no clear dose response relationship. All doses of the SQ tree SLIT-tablet induced changes from baseline in birch-specific IgE and IgG(4) that were statistically significant compared with placebo at all time points assessed (P = 95%) being mild or moderate in severity. The most frequently reported treatment related adverse events were generally related to the sublingual administration of the tablet (ie, they occurred in the oral cavity). (C) 2018 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

A Time-Domain Binaural Signal Detection Model and its Predictions for Temporal Resolution Data

Summary This paper discusses the application of a time-domain binaural signal-detection model in the context of estimates of the temporal resolution of the binaural auditory system. It is demonstrated that the optimal detector which is present in the model is crucial to account for specific temporal detection phenomena. In particular, the model can account for the apparent differences in the estimates of binaural time constants found with different experimental paradigms. It is argued that the differences in temporal-window estimates stem from listeners ability to listen off-time, whenever this enhances detection performance

Development and application of metamaterial-based half-wave plates for the NIKA and NIKA2 polarimeters

Context. Large field-of-view imaging and polarimetry instruments operating at millimetre and sub-millimetre wavelengths are fundamental tools to understand the role of magnetic fields in channelling filament material into prestellar cores, providing unique insight in the physics of galactic star-forming regions. Among other topics, at extra-galactic scales, polarisation observations of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) will allow us to constrain the possible physical conditions of the emitting plasma from the jets and/or explore the physics of dust inside supernova remnants. The kilo-pixel New IRAM KIDs Array 2 (NIKA2) camera, installed today at the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m telescope, represents one of the best tools available to astronomers to produce simultaneous intensity and polarimetry maps over large fields at 260 GHz (1.15 mm). Aims. The polarisation measurement, in NIKA and NIKA2, is achieved by rapidly modulating the total incoming polarisation. In the end, this allows one to safely isolate the small science signal from the large, un-polarised, and strongly variable, atmospheric background. Methods. The polarisation modulation is achieved by inserting a fast rotating half-wave plate (HWP) in the optical beam. In order to allow wide field-of-view observations, the plate has to be large, with a diameter of 250 mm. The modulation of the polarised signal at 12 Hz also requires the waveplate to be sufficiently light. In addition, this key optical element has to exhibit optimal electromagnetic characteristics in terms of transmission and differential phase-shift. For this purpose, three metamaterial HWPs have been developed using the mesh-filter technology. The knowledge acquired in developing the first two single-band HWPs was used to achieve the more challenging performance requirements of the last dual-band HWP. The first and the third waveplates met the requirements for both the NIKA and NIKA2 instruments. Results. We first illustrate the design, the technical developments, the fabrication, and laboratory characterisation of the three mesh-HWPs. The deployment of two such elements in the NIKA and NIKA2 instruments at the 30-metre telescope is then described. We conclude with representative examples of astrophysical maps integrating polarimetry

Visualizing internetworked argumentation

In this chapter, we outline a project which traces its source of inspiration back to the grand visions of Vannevar Bush (scholarly trails of linked concepts), Doug Engelbart (highly interactive intellectual tools, particularly for argumentation), and Ted Nelson (large scale internet publishing with recognised intellectual property). In essence, we are tackling the age-old question of how to organise distributed, collective knowledge. Specifically, we pose the following question as a foil: In 2010, will scholarly knowledge still be published solely in prose, or can we imagine a complementary infrastructure that is ‘native’ to the emerging semantic, collaborative web, enabling more effective dissemination and analysis of ideas