The Surname in Western Europe: Liberty, Equality and Paternity in Legal Systems in the Twenty-First Century

International audienceThis article examines the different transmission systems of the surname in Western Europe. The analysis focuses on the oppositions of Northern and Southern Europe (about single surnames vs. double surnames), on the freedom of uses and the selection criteria, and on the new symbolic hierarchy of patronymic (father's surname), matronymic (mother's surname) and double name. Particular attention is paid to the tension between male and female in contemporary systems compared to traditional naming systems and to the paradoxes of equality and freedom, particularly in the context of homosexual who may face very limited freedoms regarding the process of renaming.Cet article examine les différents systèmes de transmission du nom de famille en Europe occidentale. L'analyse porte sur les oppositions Nord/Sud (noms simples / doubles noms), sur les critères de choix engendrés par la libération des usages, sur le nouvel ordre symbolique des patronymes, matronymes et double nom. Une attention particulière est portée sur la mise en tension du masculin et du féminin dans les systèmes contemporains comme dans les systèmes traditionnels ainsi que sur les paradoxes de l'égalité et de la liberté par rapport aux processus de re-nomination qui se heurtent parfois à des libertés très mesurés, notamment dans le cadre des familles homosexuelles

Computing efficiently the lattice width in any dimension

International audienceWe provide an algorithm for the exact computation of the lattice width of a set of points K in Z2 in linear-time with respect to the size of K. This method consists in computing a particular surrounding polygon. From this polygon, we deduce a set of candidate vectors allowing the computation of the lattice width. Moreover, we describe how this new algorithm can be extended to an arbitrary dimension thanks to a greedy and practical approach to compute a surrounding polytope. Indeed, this last computation is very efficient in practice as it processes only a few linear time iterations whatever the size of the set of points. Hence, it avoids complex geometric processings

Méthodes d'évaluation multicritère des systèmes agricoles et ACV sociale, quelle complémentarité ?

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Revisiting Digital Straight Segment Recognition

This paper presents new results about digital straight segments, their recognition and related properties. They come from the study of the arithmetically based recognition algorithm proposed by I. Debled-Rennesson and J.-P. Reveill\`es in 1995 [Debled95]. We indeed exhibit the relations describing the possible changes in the parameters of the digital straight segment under investigation. This description is achieved by considering new parameters on digital segments: instead of their arithmetic description, we examine the parameters related to their combinatoric description. As a result we have a better understanding of their evolution during recognition and analytical formulas to compute them. We also show how this evolution can be projected onto the Stern-Brocot tree. These new relations have interesting consequences on the geometry of digital curves. We show how they can for instance be used to bound the slope difference between consecutive maximal segments

Issues in evaluating sustainability of farming systems with indicators

The growing concern about side-effects of policies focusing on economic growth or even technological innovations, as well as agriculture intensification leads more and more stakeholders to pay attention to the questions of monitoring and evaluation of agricultural practices. This step of evaluation is now essential in policy decision, in research and design of innovative solutions, in NGOs' development projects, as well as in improvement process in ISO certification. The aim of this article is to review steps in the evaluation of sustainability in agriculture, starting in a first section with the necessity to develop a conceptual indicator framework to precise evaluators' own vision of sustainability. In a second section, we address the necessity to answer preliminary questions that will guide the selection of a set of indicators or an assessment method. In a third section, after discussing the way to categorize indicators, we provide an overview of available indicators for two sustainability themes of the environmental dimension regarding respectively nitrogen management and biodiversity. In a fourth section, we highlight the diversity of evaluation methods of sustainability through six examples in France. Finally we conclude the article with a general discussion on questions that remain to address. (Résumé d'auteur

Tunable Functionality and toxicity studies of Titanium Dioxide Nanotube Layers

In this work, we have developed economic process to elaborate scalable titanium dioxide nanotube layers which show a tunable functionality. The titanium dioxide nanotube layers was prepared by electrochemical anodization of Ti foil in 0.4 wt% hydrofluoric acid solution. The nanotube layers structure and morphology were characterized using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The surface topography and wettability was studied according to the anodization time. The sample synthesized while the current density reached a local minimum displayed higher contact angle. Beyond this point, the contact angles decrease with the anodization time. Photo-degradation of acid orange 7 in aqueous solution was used as a probe to assess the photo-catalytic activity of titanium dioxide nanotube layers under UV irradiation. We obtained better photocatalitic activity for the sample elaborate at higher current density. Finally we use the Ciliated Protozoan T. pyriformis, an alternative cell model used for in vitro toxicity studies, to predict the toxicity of titanium dioxide nanotube layers in biological system. We did not observe any characteristic effect in the presence of the titanium dioxide nanotube layers on two physiological parameters related to this organism, non-specific esterases activity and population growth rate