Concrete Reference Research Articles

The Politics of Differentiated Integration: What do Governments Want? Country Report - Luxembourg

This report examines the politics of differentiated integration (DI) in Luxembourg between 2004 and 2020. It looks at the salience of DI in government discourse at the conceptual level and also in terms of more concrete references to DI mechanisms and instances. The report aims to define the position of the government of Luxembourg – understood broadly as the set of all political actors. The report relies on quantitative text analysis and qualitative analysis of the salience of DI and Luxembourg’s position on it. Overall, references to DI concepts are rare, although the idea of a multi-speed Europe has been debated. References to DI mechanisms (enhanced cooperation and opt-outs) and specific instances are more frequent than conceptual references in parliamentary debates. The government of Luxembourg generally adopts a neutral or positive position on DI (concepts, mechanisms and instances). Luxembourg supports DI when it refers to a multi-speed Europe in which the country can act as an example of European integration and incentivise other Member States to follow its path. In accordance, Luxembourg tends to reject opt-out mechanisms for Member States in EU law while supporting (and joining) most instances of enhanced cooperation. In general, Luxembourg participates in most mechanisms that can put the country at the vanguard of European integration. In stark contrast, Luxembourg opposed one important instance of enhanced cooperation which it considered would hurt its core financial interests (the Financial Transaction Tax).

Lexical Bundles across levels of Proficiency in Portuguese as a Second Language

Formulaic sequences are known for being measures of foreign language fluency for learners. Research in language processing suggests that native speakers as well as learners process these sequences as a single word (ELLIS, 1996). Nevertheless, little is known about the use of formulaic sequences in Portuguese and, even fewer studies have examined the use of formulaic sequences in learners of Portuguese. Therefore, in this study, we sought to investigate the textual function of lexical bundles extracted from a corpus of learners of Portuguese as a Second Language (PSL). Lexical bundles are sequences of three or more words that occur with larger than expected frequency in a specific corpus. In this study, we used corpus linguistics tools to extract lexical bundles that occur frequently at two levels of proficiency – beginner and intermediate – in Portuguese. These bundles were, then, classified according to their textual function. Results indicate that beginner level students use more bundles associated with concrete references, while intermediate learners use more bundles associated with textual organization and stance. This study contributes to the description of Portuguese acquisition at these two levels of proficiency. In addition, the results can foster classroom activities where the PSL teachers introduce new functions of lexical bundles to students. Finally, we hope that this study motivates more research describing the language used at different stages of Portuguese acquisition.

Brick Debris Dust as an Ecological Filler and Its Effect on the Durability of Asphalt Mix.

Brick debris is one of the main construction wastes obtained from demolition of buildings. However, this material can be successfully used in the recycling process. The purpose of the study was to determine the brick dust addition effect on asphalt surface service life. An asphalt concrete reference mix was designed for bonding layer and prepared using a Marshall compacting device. In addition, three mixes with combined lime-brick filler were prepared as well as one mix containing only brick filler. The samples were tested for their volumetric properties—density, bulk density, air void content, resistance to water and frost and stiffness modulus with varying test temperatures. It was found that 25% of brick dust addition to the filler did not considerably change the properties of the tested samples, while in the case of 50% filler the replacement stiffness and frost resistance decrease; however, the minimum required value is maintained. It can be concluded that the lime filler can be replaced with up to 50% of brick dust without a negative impact on the properties of asphalt mix. The proposed solution fits into the idea of sustainable development indicating a way of brick debris management.

Sul ruolo dell’ente nel contrasto alla corruzione: un moderno Atlante

Lo scritto analizza il ruolo assegnato dal legislatore all’ente nella lotta alla corruzione, dedicando particolare attenzione alla previsione contenuta nel comma 5-bis dell’art. 25 (concussione, induzione indebita a dare o promettere utilità e corruzione) d. lgs. 8 giugno 2001, n. 231. Di questa disposizione si segnalano le criticità applicative di natura pratica e le loro principali cause, tra cui la crescente tendenza a sovraccaricare l’ente di oneri cooperativi non sufficientemente ricompensati, che, anche secondo una lettura costituzionalmente orientata, dovrebbero, quanto meno, essere egualmente ripartiti con le autorità pubbliche. La soluzione prospettata è quella raccomandata dal vertice G20 di Los Cabos (Messico) del 17 giugno 2012: elaborare un framework di riferimento chiaro e concreto che disciplini esattamente i presupposti, i termini e i vantaggi della cooperazione dell’ente nelle indagini dell’autorità giudiziaria, sì da garantire un equilibrato e accettabile bilanciamento tra efficienza preventivo-repressiva ed esigenze di libertà per l’ente e all’interno dell’ente.

Nominal and Pronominal Referring Terms in Speech of an Arabic-English Bilingual Child: A Case Study

This study was designed to trace the developmental path of the nominal and pronominal referring systems in the production of an English-Arabic bilingual child. The child’s spontaneous speech was recorded and data were analyzed. Data sets were clustered into 5 age spans starting from 1;9 to 3;9. The study was conducted under the framework of the semantic complexity hypothesis embedding 3 psychological principles of acquisition (i.e., ease of observability of referent, meaningfulness of referent, and distinctiveness of the sound signal that indicates the referent). The person-role hypothesis was also used as a framework to explain the development of the pronoun systems of both languages. Findings provide further evidence for the early advantage of nouns as referring expressions. They also reveal the early emergence of nouns with concrete referents as well as nouns of meaningful referents. These findings confirm the importance of the person-role hypothesis in the sequence of acquiring pronominal referring expressions.

Evaluation of business models of urban IoT-applications for a medium sized city

Digitalization of the public sector is being driven by a number of factors. In particular, the concept of "Smart Cities" has become an important driver of this development. This relies heavily on an intelligent infrastructure including the Internet of Things (IoT). But does it make sense for small and medium-sized municipalities to develop this? Is it justified to invest in IoT? (How) can a mediumsized city benefit from it? This paper presents the application of an evaluation scheme for business models of urban IoT applications to answer these questions. The research question focuses on how best practices of urban IoT applications in general and in particular can be evaluated. In order to establish a concrete practical reference we evaluated ten chosen IoT applications for the German city of Herrenberg.

From Antifascism to Human Rights. Politics of Memory in the West German Campaigns Against the Chilean and Argentinean Military Regimes, 1973–1990

This article reassesses the emergence of human rights advocacy in 1970s West Germany from the perspective of memory politics. Focusing on the campaigns against political violence in South America, the article first traces the boom and bust of antifascist activism against the Chilean junta in the early 1970s. It then analyzes the displacement of abstract antifascist discourses by a more humanitarian human rights talk closely intertwined with concrete references to National Socialist crimes. Taking the perspective of grassroots advocates, this article explores how and why activists referenced the crimes of Nazism to defend human rights in the present. Finally, the article moves beyond the claim that human rights politics were minimalistic and even anti-antifascist, by showing how some human rights activists continued to think of themselves as antifascists. They infused antifascism with entirely new meanings by recovering the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt against Hitler as an acceptable example of anti-government violence.

The Politics of Differentiated Integration: What do Governments Want? Country Report – France

This report investigates the politics of Differentiated Integration (DI) in France between 2004 and 2020. It looks at the salience of DI in government discourse, on conceptual grounds and on more concrete references. The report also aims to define the position of the French government (broadly understood as a set of institutional actors) on differentiated integration over time and to assess its stances on specific mechanisms and instances of differentiated integration. It shows that the salience of differentiated integration (DI) has increased over time in France. Notably, Emmanuel Macron engages more than his predecessors with European issues and DI in terms of concepts and models. On the other hand, DI mechanisms are more salient in parliamentary debates, particularly during two EU institutional crises: the 2012 eurocrisis and the 2016-2018 Brexit crisis. In both cases, the emphasis put on enhanced cooperation or opt-outs relates to economic issues. Conceptual references to differentiated integration in political discourse in France are generally neutral or positive. Two factors seem to be shared by all the French presidents: a need for enhanced cooperation on strategic issues (defence, foreign affairs, economic issues) and an emphasis put on Franco-German cooperation. Debates in parliamentary committees on differentiated integration and different models of it reflect a consensual position: DI is desirable, but needs to be debated with caution. To this end, multi-speed Europe is generally connoted negatively, while references to multi-end Europe are more positive. Positions on DI mechanisms follow a pro-European line: the French government (in the broad sense) usually views enhanced cooperation positively and opt-outs negatively. In particular, the French government seems to actively promote enhanced cooperation on economic issues. It is noteworthy that opt-outs are usually associated with a critique of the British influence on European integration.

Concrete produced with recycled aggregate: a durability analysis for structural use

abstract: Construction and Demolition waste (CDW) is already used in many European countries as recycled aggregates to produce concrete for structural purposes. In Brazil, its use is still restricted to concretes with no structural function. The consumption of aggregates for the production of concrete is very large, and enabling the use of recycled aggregates in the production of concrete is essential to transform the civil construction industry into a more sustainable one. This work aimed to study the parameters that affect the durability of C30 grade concrete, produced with different types of recycled aggregate. We defined four types of coarse aggregates for carrying out this work: the natural (AN), the concrete (ARCO), the cementitious materials (ARCI) and the treated cementitious materials (ARCI Treated). We adopted 30% substitution content of natural aggregate for recycled aggregates. The treatment of the ARCI aggregate consisted of the application of water and cement solution, aiming to reduce its water absorption capacity. We determine the physical and mechanical characteristics of the concrete, in addition to carrying out indirect measurement tests of durability, by determining the permeability to air, penetration and migration of chloride ions, and determination of the carbonation depth. The results indicate that the concrete using the ARCO type aggregate, produced with 100% crushed concrete, presented characteristics like the reference concrete, indicating the possibility that it can be applied to reinforced concrete structures. As for the ARCI type aggregate, it presented inferior results when compared to the concrete reference for the tests of indirect measurement of durability, however, the concrete displayed good mechanical properties. The concrete produced with the treated ARCI did not perform better than the concrete with ARCI for most of the evaluated characteristics, indicating that the proposed treatment was not adequate.

The subjects of the offenses to the norms on safety and health at work and the social and organizational effects specific to companies conducting mining activities

The offenses concerning safety and health at work have no material object, their constitutive content including: the object and subject of the offense, the objective and subjective side of the offense. The active subjects of an offense have a legal obligation to apply and control the implementation of occupational safety and health measures and the passive subjects will bear the consequences of the occurrence of specific events. The existence of some uncertainties in the current legislation, also affecting mining companies, creates legal disputes especially in relation to the issues concerning active subjects. As for the passive subjects, the legal loophole refers to the situation of the day-labourers who may be involved in accidents at work and occupational illnesses. The authors consider it is necessary to formulate new law articles for clarification and even to draw up a future law with concrete reference to day-labourers, but also to some new risk sensitive social groups. Thus, the egal work relationships: the manner of performing the work, its remuneration and subordination to the beneficiary carrying out mining activities, will also be specified.

Degree and not type of iconicity affects sign language vocabulary acquisition.

Lexical iconicity-signs or words that resemble their meaning-is overrepresented in children's early vocabularies. Embodied theories of language acquisition predict that symbols are more learnable when they are grounded in a child's firsthand experiences. As such, pantomimic iconic signs, which use the signer's body to represent a body, might be more readily learned than other types of iconic signs. Alternatively, the structure mapping theory of iconicity predicts that learners are sensitive to the amount of overlap between form and meaning. In this exploratory study of early vocabulary development in American Sign Language (ASL), we asked whether type of iconicity predicts sign acquisition above and beyond degree of iconicity. We also controlled for concreteness and relevance to babies, two possible confounding factors. Highly concrete referents and concepts that are germane to babies may be amenable to iconic mappings. We reanalyzed a previously published set of ASL Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) reports from 58 deaf children learning ASL from their deaf parents (Anderson & Reilly, 2002). Pantomimic signs were more iconic than other types of iconic signs (perceptual, both pantomimic and perceptual, or arbitrary), but type of iconicity had no effect on acquisition. Children may not make use of the special status of pantomimic elements of signs. Their vocabularies are, however, shaped by degree of iconicity, which aligns with a structure mapping theory of iconicity, though other explanations are also compatible (e.g., iconicity in child-directed signing). Previously demonstrated effects of type of iconicity may be an artifact of the increased degree of iconicity among pantomimic signs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Research on Customer Satisfaction of Budget Hotels Based on Revised IPA and Online Reviews

Online reviews are the emotional expressions of customers after product or service experience. Compared with survey questionnaires, they can more truly reflect customers' perception of product or service. Therefore, combined with online reviews and importance-performance analysis (IPA), managers can make corresponding corporate strategic according to the priority of features. This research uses the Meituan.com hotel online reviews of budget hotels as an example. First, we uses natural language processing technology to preprocess online reviews, and uses K-means to build a feature lexicon. Second, based on the sentiment dictionary, we perform fine-grained sentiment analysis on “feature-view pairs” to obtain feature satisfaction scores. Third, combined with the revised IPA, we obtain implicitly derived importance, and then the priority of each feature improvement is determined. The conclusions show that (1) service, location, and price are the advantages of budget hotels. Managers should maintain a competitive advantage and ensure the supply of resources. (2) Catering and room facilities are the main disadvantages of budget hotels. Managers should improve these two features to improve customer satisfaction as soon as possible. This study implements the method of managing IPA through online reviews, which replaces the previous questionnaire method. At the same time, revised IPA provides more realistic and concrete reference for hotel managers when making decisions.

Accountability for sexual and reproductive health and rights in development practice: building synergies

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the culmination of 25 years of global efforts to embed human rights in the development discourse. Epitomising the principle of Leaving No-one Behind, the 2030 Agenda contains concrete references to the realisation of human rights as the ultimate purpose of sustainable development as well as to governments’ accountability towards citizens. Despite this compelling narrative, the information produced by States in reviewing progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reveals a gap between rhetoric and practice. Voluntary National Review (VNR) reports have emerged as a central tool to inform and guide the national and global reviews of SDGs progress. The UN system recommends that States build upon information from existing platforms, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and UN Treaty Bodies, in order to reduce reporting burdens. However, an analysis of information on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in VNR reports from 12 countries shows that States are missing the opportunity to build on the wealth of information they themselves have produced in their engagement with human rights mechanisms. Although many first generation VNRs did not come across as very substantive, their emphasis on participation and multi-stakeholder dialogue has created important, and sometimes unprecedented, national political traction for civil society. This engagement can be built upon to inject a human rights perspective towards the achievement of more equitable development outcomes.

How abstract concepts emerge from metaphorical images: The metonymic way

While concrete concepts can be graphically represented within the pictorial mode by showing the referent that they designate, abstract concepts lack concrete referents that can be easily depicted. Nonetheless, in verbo-pictorial metaphors viewers are typically invited to construct comparisons between entities and this process often involves abstract concepts.This paper investigates the role of metonymy in abstract concepts representation within the pictorial mode. By means of qualitative and quantitative analyses we show how various types of metonymy, extracted from existing lists of metonymies identified within the cognitive linguistic literature, can motivate the emergence of abstract concepts in the analysis of verbo-pictorial metaphors.We discuss the results in relation to abstract concepts' cognitive grounding, proposing the Abstraction by Metonymy principle.

Measurement-device-independent quantum secret sharing and quantum conference based on Gaussian cluster state

Cluster state is the basic resource for one-way quantum computation and a valuable resource for establishing quantum network, because it has a flexible and varied composition form. We present measurement-device-independent quantum secret sharing (QSS) and quantum conference (QC) schemes based on continuous variable (CV) four-mode cluster state with different structures. The users of the protocol prepare their own Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) states, respectively. One mode of these EPR states is sent to an untrusted relay where a generalized Bell measurement creates different types of CV cluster states among four users, while the other mode is kept at their own station. We show that a shared secret key for QSS and QC schemes is distilled based on the shared quantum correlation among four users. QC and four users QSS are implemented based on the star shape CV cluster state. QSS with three users are implemented based on the linear or square shape CV cluster states. The results show that the secure transmission distance for an asymmetric network, where the transmission distances between the users and relay are different, is longer than that of a symmetric network, where the transmission distances between the users and relay are the same. The presented schemes provide concrete references for establishing quantum network with the CV cluster state.

Sociality to Reach Objects and to Catch Meaning.

Sociality influences both concrete and abstract concepts acquisition and representation, but in different ways. Here we propose that sociality is crucial during the acquisition of abstract concepts but less for concrete concepts, that have a bounded perceptual referent and can be learned more autonomously. For the acquisition of abstract concepts, instead, the human relation would be pivotal in order to master complex meanings. Once acquired, concrete words can act as tools, able to modify our sensorimotor representation of the surrounding environment. Indeed, pronouncing a word the referent of which is distant from us we implicitly assume that, thanks to the contribution of others, the object becomes reachable; this would expand our perception of the near bodily space. concepts would modify our sensorimotor representation of the space only in the earlier phases of their acquisition, specifically when the child represents an interlocutor as a real, physical “ready to help actor” who can help her in forming categories and in explaining the meaning of words that do not possess a concrete referent. Once abstract concepts are acquired, they can work as social tools: the social metacognition mechanism (awareness of our concepts and of our need of the help of others) can evoke the presence of a “ready to help actor” in an implicit way, as a predisposition to ask information to fill the knowledge gaps.

Opción preferencial por los jóvenes de las clases populares: la experiencia de la Universidad Salesiana de Bolivia (USB)

Un sujeto social en construcción, tanto en su integridad individual y grupal, con grupos de referencia concretos e imaginarios, es centro de las reflexiones políticas, económicas, sociales y educativas de un país, aunque las instituciones en la que éste se desenvuelve hagan poco por él. Hoy en día, los jóvenes representan un gran porcentaje de la población global total. Se estima que hay más de mil millones de jóvenes entre las edades de 15 a 24 años, constituyendo casi un quinto de la población mundial. En nuestro país, Bolivia, un poco más de dos millones se encuentra entre los 12 y 25 años, gran parte de ellos no encuentra una fuente de trabajo y tampoco un centro de estudios. Este grupo social conocido como los “ni-ni” (jóvenes que ni trabajan ni estudian) en Bolivia llegan a los 200 mil, pero, a diferencia de las grandes ciudades, adoptan esta situación no tanto por decisión propia, sino porque no encuentran una oportunidad. Es este panorama, se suma que estos jóvenes no tienen experiencia de trabajo ni formación o entrenamiento. Este contexto político, económico y social, sumado a los cambios de las últimas décadas, influye decisivamente en la conducta y decisiones de los jóvenes de nuestro país. Es en este conjunto de fenómenos interrelacionados que este artículo se propone profundizar.

Life cycle assessment of a geopolymer mixture for fireproofing applications

Alkali-activated materials, also known as geopolymers, are considered promising assets in the sustainable materials industry. Given the excellent properties in terms of thermal stability and low thermal conductivity, geopolymer-based matrices can effectively substitute cementitious binders in the preparation of passive fire protection (PFP) systems. The present study aims at evaluating the environmental footprint of a newly proposed geopolymer-based fireproofing material. The results are compared to a reference commercial lightweight cement-based coating with equal PFP performance. The boundaries of the system assessed were based on a cradle-to-grave life cycle. A preliminary scale-up of the laboratory protocol allowed the evaluation of the industrial production of the geopolymer-based PFP mix. An ancillary life cycle analysis was performed, comparing the environmental footprint of a geopolymer-based concrete block to the relevant literature studies for the same system in order to validate the approach of the present study. The functional unit of the main study was defined, taking into account the material performance in terms of resistance to heat exposure, allowing a functional comparison with lightweight cement-based PFP. The impact assessment phase used the CML-IA methodology as a characterization method. The ancillary LCA confirmed the alignment of the assumptions of the current study with previous analyses. The analyzed geopolymer-based fireproofing material exhibited a life cycle impact which is 27% lower than the lightweight concrete reference in terms of the global warming indicator, mainly thanks to the avoided CO2 emissions from the clinker process in cement manufacturing. Therefore, the greenhouse gas reduction described in previous studies on geopolymer application as a strong environmental advantage of the geopolymer technologies is also confirmed in this case. However, the other considered impact categories, such as resource depletion, acidification, eutrophication, and human toxicity, resulted in indicator values higher than the reference, as a consequence of the energy-intensive production process for the alkali activators (in particular, sodium silicate). Though the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is confirmed, the overall sustainability of geopolymers for PFP applications is hindered by the relevant environmental footprint of the sodium silicate production process. However, a substantial reduction of the impacts could be achieved by selecting the production process of sodium silicate which takes advantage of renewable energy supplies (e.g., hydrothermal route) or by reducing the amount of sodium silicate in the geopolymer recipe in favor of waste-based alkali activators.

La presencia de Virgilio en la obra de Carlos Montemayor

<p>La nutrida obra de Carlos Montemayor ha sido objeto de análisis, reflexiones y discusiones en los diferentes entornos y ámbitos en los que el autor participó. Su trabajo en las humanidades y artes ha sido reconocido por la diversidad de temas tratados en sus distintas obras, las cuales cuentan con amplias y concretas referencias a la época de los clásicos griegos. La trayectoria de Carlos Montemayor le permite ser una referencia importante para escritores e investigadores. En este ensayo, analizo particularmente la figura metafórica de Virgilio a través de la traducción que hace el mismo Montemayor de la Égloga IV, así como de los poemas contenidos en su obra póstuma "Apuntes del exilio", donde nuestro autor construye, a partir de las características que reconoce en los escritores clásicos y en el mismo Virgilio, un poemario de profundidad y sagacidad para el lector más dotado y también para el menos experimentado.</p>

Culvert Prototype Made with Seawater Concrete: Materials Characterization, Monitoring, and Environmental Impact

Abstract Recent developments in concrete research have considered the possible advantages related to the use of seawater as mixing water for concrete production. Specifically, the SEACON-INFRAVATION project investigated the performance of seawater concrete for the construction of sustainable and durable reinforced concrete structures. Besides laboratory activities aimed at characterizing the performance of seawater concrete and corrosion behavior of various types of embedded reinforcements, a demonstration project was executed in Italy. The prototype consisted of a concrete culvert built along the A1 motorway, close to the city of Piacenza, Italy. The demonstration activities led to testing of the on-site use of seawater and assessment of the corrosion conditions of the embedded reinforcements, allowing a thorough understanding of long-term durability and sustainability. For this purpose, the prototype culvert was divided into six segments; each segment was representative of a combination of type of concrete (reference, seawater, and recycled-asphalt-pavement concrete) and type of reinforcement (carbon steel, austenitic and duplex stainless steels, and glass fiber–reinforced polymer). This article presents concrete mix designs, materials characterization, embedded probes used to monitor the corrosion of the reinforcements, and test results obtained at various stages of execution and service conditions. In addition, a sampling campaign, one year from construction, is included. Finally, mention is made of the life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analyses performed to quantify the long-term benefits of seawater concrete combined with corrosion-resistant reinforcement.