Contact-induced Phonological Mergers: Transfer or Approximation

Sound changes in a language are considered nearly inevitable consequences of language death. The literature on sound change in obsolescencing languages has focused on whether the changes are internally or externally motivated, between convergent and divergent change and, therefore, the difference between categorical sound shifts and gradient phonetic effects has been overlooked. This paper examines the acoustic correlates of voicing distinctions in the Kurmanji language that investigate the subphonemic variation within a category. The results of a cross-generational acoustic study of Kurmanji showed that unaspirated initial voiceless stops have undergone phonetic change convergent with Persian, the dominant language. This paper argues that sound change in obsolescing languages may manifest substitution or approximation/expansion of phonological categories in the moribund languag

Grid-based Model for Recovery of Lost Connectivity in Wireless Sensor and Actor Network

Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks (WSAN) are basically a collection of actors and sensors collaborating via a wireless medium to perform designated tasks. Maintaining inter-actor connectivity is critical to a WSAN, as failure at one point may result in communication loss amongst nodes or in a network disjoint. To recover from an actor node failure, optimal re-localization and coordination techniques should be in place. However, existing recovery schemes suffer from high degrees of actor node relocation overhead as well as network overhead. In this paper, we introduce a Grid-based Mathematical Model for efficient Actor Recovery by Determining Forwarding Capacity (GMMFC). The proposed model aims to provide effective monitoring and actor failure detection mechanism supported by an efficient actor recovery algorithm. GMMFC presents an innovative concept in actor node recovery while proposing improvements in WSAN QoS performance using RSSI Message information. The proposed solution is compared with state-of-the-art algorithms. The experimental results manifest better performance over delay, throughput, packet delivery ratio, energy consumption as well as for messages exchanged between sensor and actor nodes. Thus, the proposed model demonstrates improvements in QoS parameters

Prise en charge conservatrice des hématomes puerpéraux de gros volume: À propos de 3 cas

L'hématome puerpéral est une complication rare parfois grave du  post-partum. Sa prise en charge reste encore non consensuelle. L'objectif denotre travail est de discuter la possibilité et l'intérêt d'une prise en charge conservatrice en cas d'hématome de gros volume sous couvert de certaines conditions. Ainsi nous rapportons 3 cas d'hématomes péri- génitaux de taille supérieure à 8cm pour lesquels un traitement conservateur a été préconisé. L'évolution était favorable pour les 3 patientes

Antiviral activity of Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist extracts grown in Tunisia

Ethyl acetate, chloroform, butanol and methanol extracts of the aerial parts of Conyza Canadensis L. Cronquist were investigated for their antiviral activity against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) AD-169 and Cox-B3 viruses by modification of the widely used shell-vial assay. The results showed that butanol and methanol extracts had the most potent antiviral activity against HCMV and Cox-B3 viruses.Key words: Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist, antiviral activity, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), Coxsackie B virus type 3 (CoxB-3)

Radon Concentration in Urban Areas in the North and West of Morocco

Radon is a colorless, odorless radioactive gas produced by the decay of uranium and radium. It is the second cause of cancer of the lungs after smoking. It has been present in Earth's crust since the creation of Earth. Uranium-rich rocks in the deep crust are the main source of radon. Its emanation from the ground surface varies from one point to another depending on the physical characteristics of the terrain crossed as observed in this study between North and West Morocco. A dosimetric study of those emanations was performed by using the LR-115 solid-state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) which was subsequently processed by techniques developed and calibrated in the laboratory. The study revealed high concentrations of this gas in confined spaces at ground level and, in particular, in basements and less-ventilated ground floor rooms. In order to reduce these concentrations of radon and the probability of carcinogenic attacks by these accumulations of this gas, it is recommended to ventilate these premises well. Good air circulation allows the removal of this harmful gas

Influence of gravel and adjuvant on the compressive strength and water absorption of concrete.

Concrete is the most commonly used material in civil engineering, given its economic cost and ease of manufacture. Its strength depends on the characteristics of its constituents. A good mix makes it possible to build solid, durable and economical structures. The present work aims to characterize the gravel of the Eastern region (quarry of eastern Morocco) by granulometric analysis and water absorption. Then, the studied gravel is used to produce three types of concrete (B20, B25 and B30), which were assessed in terms of water absorption and compressive strength. The last step is to study the effect of an adjuvant, more specifically a water reducer, on mechanical characteristics of local concrete. B25 concrete was chosen for the last step since it is the most used type in the region. Results show that adding a water reducer adjuvant, in this case 'Chrysoplast', can improve the compressive strength of concrete if the percentage added is accurately determined

Quantification and Identification of Road Organic Matter in an Absorbing Storm Basin, RN 20 Olivet-Orléans, France.

The deterioration of the quality of superficial and subsurface waters by motorway organic pollution is a problem of great concern nowadays. The absorption of road runoff waters through sinkhole clay filled in a karstic area has been proposed as a way to the attenuation pollution. The groundwaters near of surface are very vulnerable at this pollution. The study of the storm basin of Belle-Croix (RN 20 Loiret) indicates a diminution of DOC levels through the first meter of infiltration in sinkhole, and then little change occurs down 5 meters. However only the > 10 KD (10 nm) organic fraction is retained. This fraction is weakly fluorescent and should correspond to black carbon (BC) matter associated to clays as it is suggested by Electron Microscopy in Transmission EMT observation. The < 10 KD fraction which are the more fluorescent account for up to 80 % of total DOC at 5 meter depth, at the contact with the limestone

Évaluation de la qualité des eaux souterraines pour l’utilisation dans l’eau potable et l’agriculture : plaine de Tadla, Maroc

La plaine de Tadla fait partie du bassin de l’oued Oum Erbia situé au centre du Maroc. Ses ressources en eau souterraine sont développées pour l’approvisionnement en eau potable, industrielle et agricole. Afind'évaluer la qualité des eaux souterraines dans la zone d’ d'étude, 25 échantillons d'eau souterraines ont été prélevés et différents paramètres ont été analysés sur le plan physico-chimique et bactériologique:température, conductivité électrique, pH, TDS, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, HCO-3, SO2-4, NO-3, NH+4, FeT, streptocoques fécaux, coliformes fécaux et coliformes totaux. L'indice chimique tel que le coefficient d’absorption du sodium (SAR) et l'indice de perméabilité (IP) ont également été déterminés. Les résultats obtenus montrent que les eaux souterraines du bassin sont généralement dure à très à dure. Les concentrations sont classées comme suit : Na+ &gt; Ca2+ &gt; Mg2+ &gt; K+ et Cl- &gt; HCO3- &gt; SO42- &gt; NO-3. Les faciès chimiques trouvés sont le bicarbonaté calcique et le Chloruré sodique avec une prédominance de ce dernier. La qualité des eaux souterraines est liée à la lithologie du secteur. Les valeurs de l'indice de saturation (calculés par le programme PHREEQC) montre que presque tous les échantillons d'eau sont saturés à sous-saturés en carbonate et sous saturés en sulfate. Le rapport d’adsorption du sodium (SAR)nous a permis de qualifier les eaux souterraines destinées à l’irrigation. L’analyse hydrochimique a montré la mauvaise qualité des eaux se traduisant par des valeurs importantes en chlorures, en nitrites et nitrates.Ainsi que la contamination de tous les puits par les germes de la  contamination fécale. Il ressort de cette analyse que les eaux souterraines sont chimiquement non appropriées à la consommation humaine et auxusages agricoles.Mots-clés : plaine de Tadla, hydrochimie, qualité des eaux souterraines, hydrogéologie, type d’eau