Modeling musicological information as trigrams in a system for simultaneous chord and local key extraction

In this paper, we discuss the introduction of a trigram musicological model in a simultaneous chord and local key extraction system. By enlarging the context of the musicological model, we hoped to achieve a higher accuracy that could justify the associated higher complexity and computational load of the search for the optimal solution. Experiments on multiple data sets have demonstrated that the trigram model has indeed a larger predictive power (a lower perplexity). This raised predictive power resulted in an improvement in the key extraction capabilities, but no improvement in chord extraction when compared to a system with a bigram musicological model

Improving the key extraction performance of a simultaneous local key and chord estimation system

In this paper, significant improvements of a previously developed key and chord extraction system are proposed. The major improvement is the introduction of a separate acoustic model, designed to verify local key hypotheses. The conducted experimental evaluation shows that the presented system improves the state of the art in local key estimation. Our experimental study further demonstrates that the chord estimation performance is already quite robust, whereas the key estimation performance still happens to be sensitive to a number of factors. In particular, we present figures that illustrate the significant impact of the embedded musicological model and the duration of the processed excerpt on the key estimation accuracy

Le trafic d’ êtres humains de la Bulgarie vers la Belgique – un apprentissage proactif : développements 2002–2009

The paper discusses the mechanisms of proactive learning in the Bulgaro-Belgian human trafficking business between 2002 and 2007 through three profiles, starting each time with a case study. The profiles and cases are the result of an in-depth study of 16 Belgian court files. The study reveals three profiles: post-violent entrepreneurship in prostitution (2002–2005), international and inter-ethnic entrepreneurship in prostitution (2004), and labour exploitation (2004–2005). Each time one can identify learning processes in the minds of the entrepreneurs when comparing their activities with those of their predecessors, as described in previous articles by the same researchers. The image that comes to the fore from our analysis is one of organisations that are successful in all sorts of ways at covering themselves against police and judicial investigations, and that at the same time in many places and many ways – both in the regions of origin and in the country in which the activities take place – manage to infiltrate the economy.U radu se raspravlja o mehanizmima proaktivnog učenja u bugarsko-belgijskom trgovanju ljudima između 2002. i 2007. putem tri profila, svaki put počinjući studijom slučaja. Profili i slučajevi rezultat su dubinske analize šesnaest belgijskih sudskih spisa. Analiza otkriva tri profila: naknadno nasilno poduzetništvo u prostituciji (2002. – 2005.), međunarodno i međuetničko poduzetništvo u prostituciji (2004.) i izrabljivanje rada (2004. – 2005.). Svaki se put u poduzetnikâ može primijetiti napredak u učenju usporedimo li njihove aktivnosti s onima njihovih prethodnika opisanim u prijašnjim radovima istih istraživača. Iz te se analize izdvaja predodžba da je riječ o jednoj od organizacija koje se na sve načine uspješno štite od policijskih i sudskih istraga, a da se istodobno na mnogim mjestima i na mnogo načina – kako u regijama porijekla tako i u zemlji u kojoj se odvijaju te aktivnosti – uspijevaju infiltrirati u gospodarstvo.L’article explique les mécanismes d’apprentissage proactif au sein des trafics bulgaro-belges produits entre 2002 et 2007, à travers trois profils découlant chacun d’une étude de cas. Les données de l’article reposent sur une étude approfondie de seize dossiers judiciaires belges. L’on distingue trois profils: un entrepreneuriat violent développé dans la prostitution (2005–2005), un entreprenariat international et interethnique lié à la prostitution (2004) et un entreprenariat d’exploitation nette du travail (2004–2005). Dans chacun des cas est visible l’évolution des entrepreneurs par rapport aux activités de leurs prédécesseurs, décrites par les mêmes chercheurs dans des articles antérieurs. Dits profils laissent transparaître de véritables mécanismes d’apprentissage et donnent l’image d’organisations très performantes ayant appris à s’assurer une protection efficace contre toutes sortes d’actions policières et judiciaires. Elles y parviennent de diverses façons, aussi bien dans leur pays d’origine que de destination – là où elles opèrent – et réussissent à infiltrer l’économie locale

Creative Adaptive Criminal Entrepreneurs from Africa and Human Trafficking in Belgium: Case Studies of Traffickers from Nigeria and Morocco

Abstract: The article is based on 48 Belgian judicial files (27 Nigerian and 21 Moroccan ones), that concern the practices that created victims of human trafficking from Nigeria and Morocco in Belgium and some neighbouring countries. We discover that the most efficient criminal entrepreneurs are the very flexible ones, who continuously adapt, learn, dare to diversify, and sometimes also to internationalize (but mostly with African partners). An important difference with the Eastern European criminals whom we studied in former research, is that the Africans most of the time do not look for coverage of their practices through legal firms. Their learning practice remains re-active; until 2012 it does not really become pro-active. There is no pro-active longer term vision and no intention to create legal structures that hide their praxis

Krijumčarenje ljudi na istočnobalkanskoj ruti i ruti na istočnim granicama Europe

The authors propose an analysis of the developments in migrants’ smuggling (and indirectly also in transit migrations) on the Eastern Balkan (Bulgaria–Romania) and Eastern Borders (Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus) routes from around 2015. For some transit migrants (and migrants’ smugglers), with the severe controls on the Western Balkan route and after the EU–Turkey deal of April 2016, the new routes, each with its own already decennia-long smuggling tradition, have become a possible alternative for the Western Balkan route. Starting from the statistics, the authors show that there surely is a partial integration of both new routes, but that it is not very clear in which proportion and how it may happen. They provide the figures about what is already known today. But at the same time, one discovers that, due to the problems of official labelling and to a lack of an all-inclusive approach, for which only partial pieces of the routes are taken in consideration, it is difficult to come to a good understanding of the processes and of the complexity of the Smuggling of Migrants (SoM) business. Instead of only putting partial findings together, it should be possible to follow the processes from the destination to the arrival countries. In most cases, the countries on the Eastern Balkan and Eastern Borders routes only function as transit countries. The structure as a whole remains out of sight. To show the importance of this all-inclusive approach, the authors analyse some files from one of the possible destination countries (Belgium). They conclude with suggestions for further research.Autori predlažu analizu zbivanja povezanih s krijumčarenjem migranata (a neposredno i s tranzitnim migracijama) na istočnobalkanskoj ruti (Bugarska – Rumunjska) i ruti na istočnim granicama (Moldavija, Ukrajina i Bjelorusija) otprilike od 2015. godine. S obzirom na ozbiljne kontrole na zapadnobalkanskoj ruti i nakon dogovora EU-a i Turske iz travnja 2016., nove rute, od kojih svaka ima vlastitu desetogodišnju tradiciju krijumčarenja, za određene migrante u tranzitu (i krijumčare migranata) predstavljaju moguću alternativu zapadnobalkanskoj ruti. Počevši od statističkih podataka, autori pokazuju da će se nove rute sigurno djelomično integrirati, ali i da nije dovoljno jasno u kojoj se mjeri i kako to događa. Navode podatke o dosadašnjim spoznajama. Istodobno postaje jasno da je teško shvatiti procese i složenost aktivnosti krijumčarenja migranata uslijed problema povezanih sa službenim označivanjem i nedostatka sveobuhvatnog pristupa, zbog kojeg se u obzir uzimaju samo određeni dijelovi ruta. Umjesto povezivanja djelomičnih podataka trebalo bi omogućiti praćenje procesa od odredišnih do polazišnih zemalja. U većini slučajeva zemlje u okviru istočnobalkanske rute i rute na istočnim granicama samo su tranzitne zemlje. Cijela struktura ostaje izvan dosega. Kako bi istaknuli važnost sveobuhvatnog pristupa, autori analiziraju određene dokumente iz jedne od mogućih odredišnih zemalja (Belgije). U zaključku iznose prijedloge za buduća istraživanja

Analiza nekih visoko strukturiranih mreža krijumčarenja ljudi i trgovanja ljudima iz Albanije i Bugarske u Belgiju

The authors examine the logistic ecology of 30 large-scale networks that were active in human smuggling and trafficking from Albania and Bulgaria to Belgium (1995–2003). Ten networks were studied in greater detail in order to determine three final profiles of networks, based on their use of structural and operational intermediary structures. They are called the “individual infiltration” and the “structural infiltration” human smuggling patterns, and the “violent-control prostitution” trafficking pattern. It should be noted that the business is organized in such a way that the organizers of the logistical support are never inculpated.Autori istražuju logističku ekologiju 30 opsežnih (masovnih) mreža koje su sudjelovale u krijumčarenju ljudi i trgovanju ljudima iz Albanije i Bugarske u Belgiju (1995–2003). Detaljnije je istraženo deset mreža kako bi se odredila tri konačna profila mreža na temelju uporabe strukturnih i operativnih posredničkih struktura. One su nazvane obrascem »individualne infiltracije« i »strukturne infiltracije« krijumčarenja ljudima te obrascem trgovanja »nasilno kontroliranom prostitucijom«. Valja primijetiti da je biznis organiziran na taj način da organizatori logističke podrške nikad nisu optuženi