Analysing the implication of the EU 20-10-20 targets for world vegetable oil production

The European Commission proposes a minimum of 10 % biofuels in the total transport fuel use by 2020. The new 10% minimum target in 2020 is combined with the existing regulation, which fixes the target at 5.75% in 2010. This paper will in particular investigates how a full implementation of the 20- 10-20 targets would affect production and trade of oil plants in the EU and its main trade partners on this commodity markets, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia. The global general equilibrium model GLOBE is used to carry out the policy scenarios and to assess the effects on oil palm plantation area in Malaysia and Indonesia. The results show that the increased EU bio-diesel target will not significantly influence the expansion of palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia.Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Tests of achromatic phase shifters performed on the SYNAPSE test bench: a progress report

The achromatic phase shifter (APS) is a component of the Bracewell nulling interferometer studied in preparation for future space missions (viz. Darwin/TPF-I) focusing on spectroscopic study of Earth-like exo-planets. Several possible designs of such an optical subsystem exist. Four approaches were selected for further study. Thales Alenia Space developed a dielectric prism APS. A focus crossing APS prototype was developed by the OCA, Nice, France. A field reversal APS prototype was prepared by the MPIA in Heidelberg, Germany. Centre Spatial de Li\`ege develops a concept based on Fresnel's rhombs. This paper presents a progress report on the current work aiming at evaluating these prototypes on the SYNAPSE test bench at the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France

The Effect of Music on Cognitive Tasks Among College Students: A Factorial Experiment

Music has been around since time immemorial, and it has both positive and negative effects. This study aimed to investigate the effect of different music presentations on the different cognitive tasks among college students. This study utilized an experimental within-subject 4x3 factorial design. The participants are twenty-one (21) college students. They undergo three memory tasks: memory, verbal, and arithmetic tasks while exposed to four (4) different music conditions: no music, instrumental music, English lyric music, and foreign lyric music. The researchers performed a two-way analysis of variance for repeated measures. Results showed no significant treatment main effect for music, F(3, 60) = 1.649, p < .188, ŋp²=.076 but has a significant treatment main effect for cognitive tasks, F(2,40) = 118.448, p < .000, ŋp²= .86, and significant interaction effect between music and cognitive tasks F(5.35,105) = 2.629, p < .036, ŋp²=.12. The significant interaction showed increased scores across different types of music in memory and verbal tasks but decreased scores in arithmetic tasks except with English lyric music and the no music conditions. Furthermore, simple main effects show that English lyric and foreign lyric music are best for memory and verbal task, respectively.Keywords: music, cognitive tasks, instrumental, English lyrics, foreign lyric

NAV-VIR: an audio-tactile virtual environment to assist visually impaired people

International audienceThis paper introduces the NAV-VIR system, a multimodal virtual environment to assist visually impaired people in virtually discovering and exploring unknown areas from the safety of their home. The originality of NAV-VIR resides in (1) an optimized representation of the surrounding topography, the spatial gist, based on human spatial cognition models and the sensorimotor supplementation framework, and (2) a multimodal orientation-aware immersive virtual environment relying on two synergetic interfaces: an interactive force feedback tablet, the F2T, and an immersive HRTF-based 3D audio simulation relying on binaural recordings of real environments. This paper presents NAV-VIR functionalities and its preliminary evaluation through a simple shape and movement perception task

Impact of olive saplings and organic amendments on soil microbial communities and effects of mineral fertilization

Plant communities and fertilization may have an impact on soil microbiome. Most commercial olive trees are minerally fertilized, while this practice is being replaced by the use of organic amendments. Organic amendments can both fertilize and promote plant growth-promoting organisms. Our aims were (i) to describe the changes in soil bacterial and fungal communities induced by the presence of young olive trees and their interaction with organic amendments and (ii) to compare the effects of mineral and organic fertilization. We set up two parallel experiments in pots using a previously homogenized soil collected from a commercial olive orchard: in the first one, we grew olive saplings in unamended and organically amended soils with two distinct composts and compared these two soils incubated without a plant, while in the second experiment, we comparatively tested the effects of organic and mineral fertilization. OTUs and the relative abundances of bacterial and fungal genera and phyla were analyzed by 16S rRNA and ITS1 gene amplicon using high-throughput sequencing. Basal respiration and substrate-induced respiration were measured by MicroRespTM. The effects of the different treatments were analyzed in all phyla and in the 100 most abundant genera. The presence of olive saplings increased substrate-induced respiration and bacterial and fungal richness and diversity. Organic amendments greatly affected both bacterial and fungal phyla and increased bacterial richness while not affecting fungal richness. Mineral fertilization increased the relative abundance of the less metabolically active bacterial phyla (Actinobacteria and Firmicutes), while it reduced the most metabolically active phylum, Bacteroidetes. Mineral fertilization increased the relative abundance of three N2-fixing Actinobacteria genera, while organic fertilization only increased one genus of Proteobacteria. In organically and minerally fertilized soils, high basal respiration rates were associated with low fungal diversity. Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota relative abundances positively correlated with basal respiration and substrate-induced respiration, while Ascomycota correlated negatively. Indeed, the Ascomycota phyla comprised most of the fungal genera decreased by organic amendments. The symbiotrophic phylum Glomeromycota did not correlate with any of the C sources. The relative abundance of this phylum was promoted by the presence of plants but decreased when amending soils with composts

Un établissement rural à enclos fossoyé de La Tène C2/D1 en Val de Loire : le site du “ Vivier ” à Saint-Laurent-Nouan (Loir-et-Cher)

En 2008, une surface de près de 3,5 ha a été fouillée à Saint-Laurent-Nouan (Loir-et-Cher), commune située entre Loire et Sologne. Plusieurs occupations ont été découvertes, dont les vestiges attribués de La Tène C2 au début de La Tène D1 présentés ici. Ils concernent un établissement rural qui est caractérisé par la présence d’enclos formant trois espaces distincts et cinq bâtiments, dont quatre greniers surélevés. La description de ces structures et l’étude du mobilier donnent l’image d’un ensemble très modeste, mais qui s’intègre bien dans le corpus des sites connus dans le centre de la France.In 2008, an excavation was conducted over near 42 000 square yards at Saint-Laurent-Nouan (Loir-et-Cher), in the Loire valley. Several sites were identified but only the La Tène C2 to the beginning of La Tène D1 finds will be considered in the present paper. They are related to a rural settlement materialized by five houses and four attics in three distinct spaces enclosed within a large ditch. The study of the site reveals a very modest settlement which perfectly fits with the corpus of Iron Age enclosed sites known in the Center of France

Exploitation de la marmotte dans le niveau Magdalénien de La Chênelaz (Hostiaz, Ain, France)

Bien qu’occasionnelle, l’exploitation de la marmotte à but alimentaire ou artisanal (travail des fourrures), a été bien documentée en Europe notamment dans les Alpes au cours des temps préhistoriques. C’est aussi le cas sur les hauts plateaux jurassiens qui se caractérisent par des conditions géomorphologiques et écologiques spécifiques permettant au Magdalénien la mise en place de systèmes de subsistance saisonniers. Cet article présente une étude archéozoologique (représentation squelettique, profil de mortalité, saisonnalité d’abattage, traces de découpe) des restes de marmottes de la grotte de la Chênelaz dans le sud du Jura (Hostiaz, Ain) montrant ainsi la place de cet animal dans l’économie locale au Magdalénien.Although occasional, the exploitation of the marmot for food, but also for fur, has been well documented in Europe especially in the Alps during prehistoric times. This is also the case in the Jura highlands, which are characterized by specific morphological and ecological conditions that make it possible for the Magdalenian to set up a seasonal subsistence system. This article presents an archaeozoological study (skeletal representation, mortality profile, slaughter season, butchery marks) of the marmot remains from the Chênelaz cave in the Jura (Hostiaz, Ain) thus showing the important place of this animal in the local economy during the Magdalenian

CRF-Based Context Modeling for Person Identification in Broadcast Videos

International audienceno abstrac

Impact of strabismus and binocular dysfunctions in the developmental eye movement test and test of visual perception skills: A multicentric and retrospective study

Purpose To compare the performance in the Developmental Eye Movement test (DEM) and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS) between three groups: individuals with strabismus and amblyopia, patients with binocular and accommodative dysfunctions, and subjects with normal binocular and accommodative function. Methods A multicentric, retrospective study including 110 children aged 6–14 years old was conducted to investigate the potential impact of strabismus, amblyopia, and different binocular conditions in DEM results (adjusted time in vertical and horizontal parts) and TVPS (percentiles in the seven sub-skills). Results No significant differences were found in the different subtests of the vertical and horizontal DEM and all the sub-skills in the TVPS between the three groups of the study. We found high variability of performance in the DEM test between participants with strabismus and amblyopia compared with binocular and accommodative problems. Conclusion DEM and TVPS scores have not been found to be influenced by the presence of strabismus with or without amblyopia, nor by binocular and accommodative dysfunctions. A slightly correlation tendency with horizontal DEM and degree of exotropia deviation was observed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft