Sharing the vision:representing the matters of concern for design-led fledgling companies in Scotland

Design is being performed on an ever-increasing spectrum of complex practices arising in response to emerging markets and technologies, co-design, digital interaction, service design and cultures of innovation. This emerging notion of design has led to an expansive array of collaborative and facilitation skills to demonstrate and share how such methods can shape innovation. The meaning of these design things in practice can't be taken for granted as matters of fact, which raises a key challenge for design to represent its role through the contradictory nature of matters of concern. This paper explores an innovative, object-oriented approach within the field of design research, visually combining an actor-network theory framework with situational analysis, to report on the role of design for fledgling companies in Scotland, established and funded through the knowledge exchange hub Design in Action (DiA). Key findings and visual maps are presented from reflective discussions with actors from a selection of the businesses within DiA's portfolio. The suggestion is that any notions of strategic value, of engendering meaningful change, of sharing the vision of design, through design things, should be grounded in the reflexive interpretations of matters of concern that emerge

Hypotyposis and Objectification of the Horrible Scene: Stylizing the Figure of Reality in Some Contemporary Francophone African Novels

This study shows that it is simplistic to argue that the narrative dynamics in contemporary Francophone African novel is monotonous. It then consists in demonstrating that it is rather indicative of a striking realism that it sometimes offers to see horrific scenes of life exhibited such that the reader immediately succumb to the temptation to share the worldview of author in review through the characters involved. Based on the operationalization of the explicit-implicit duality as structured in Pierre Barberis’s sociocriticism framework, the study postulates, in two parts, that hypotyposis is a fertile and multiple variable figure which is spread at the same time like the modalisation of an event, a relevant semiological sign, a figure of the transcendence convened by the novelist in order to collect the attention of the reader by touching his psyche and causing in him a certain number of emotions such as the feeling of horror.La présente étude montre qu’il est réducteur de soutenir que la dynamique de narration dans le roman africain francophone contemporain est monocorde. Il s’agit alors de la monstration qu’elle est plutôt révélatrice d’un réalisme si saisissant qu’il offre parfois à voir des scènes de vie horribles exhibées telles que le lecteur succombe immédiatement à la tentation de partager la vision du monde de l’auteur en examen par le biais des personnages mis en jeu. Fondée sur l’opérationnalisation du diptyque explicite-implicite structuré à travers la sociocritique de Pierre Barbéris, l’étude postule, en deux parties, que l’hypotypose est une figure féconde à variable multiple qui se déploie à la fois comme la modalisation d’un événement, un signe sémiologique pertinent, une figure de la transcendance convoquée par le romancier en vue de capter l’attention du lecteur et de toucher sa psyché en suscitant en lui un certain nombre d’émotions, par exemple le sentiment de l’horrible

La revitalisation des espaces centraux : enjeux et voies d’avenir pour les villes moyennes

Cette publication est une contribution à la réflexion sur la revitalisation intégrée des espaces centraux des villes moyennes. Elle réunit les textes de chercheurs et de praticiens présentés lors du colloque La revitalisation intégrée des espaces centraux : enjeux et voies d’avenir pour les villes moyennes tenu les 18 et 19 novembre 2010 à l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. On y a examiné les enjeux de l’aménagement et du développement social, culturel, économique et environnemental des centres urbains des villes moyennes selon la perspective de la revitalisation intégrée. Centré sur les villes petites ou moyennes, ce livre met l’accent sur la participation, la mobilisation et l’action démocratique, composantes nécessaires des solutions aux difficultés que connaissent ces villes. Les praticiens du développement, les étudiants et les chercheurs y trouveront matière à poursuivre leurs pratiques et leurs réflexions

Evaluation of early tissue reactions after lumbar intertransverse process fusion using CT in a rabbit

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate tissue reactions such as bone genesis, cartilage genesis and graft materials in the early phase of lumbar intertransverse process fusion in a rabbit model using computed tomography (CT) imaging with CT intensity (Hounsfield units) measurement, and to compare these data with histological results. Materials and methods: Lumbar intertransverse process fusion was performed on 18 rabbits. Four graft materials were used: autograft bone (n = 3); collagen membrane soaked with recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2) (n = 5); granular calcium phosphate (n = 5); and granular calcium phosphate coated with rhBMP-2 (n = 5). All rabbits were euthanized 3weeks post-operatively and lumbar spines were removed for CT imaging and histological examination. Results: Computed tomography imaging demonstrated that each fusion mass component had the appropriate CT intensity range. CT also showed the different distributions and intensities of bone genesis in the fusion masses between the groups. Each component of tissue reactions was identified successfully on CT images using the CT intensity difference. Using CT color mapping, these observations could be easily visualized, and the results correlated well with histological findings. Conclusions: The use of CT intensity is an effective approach for observing and comparing early tissue reactions such as newly synthesized bone, newly synthesized cartilage, and graft materials after lumbar intertransverse process fusion in a rabbit mode

A uniform analysis of HD209458b Spitzer/IRAC lightcurves with Gaussian process models

We present an analysis of Spitzer/IRAC primary transit and secondary eclipse lightcurves measured for HD209458b, using Gaussian process models to marginalise over the intrapixel sensitivity variations in the 3.6 micron and 4.5 micron channels and the ramp effect in the 5.8 micron and 8.0 micron channels. The main advantage of this approach is that we can account for a broad range of degeneracies between the planet signal and systematics without actually having to specify a deterministic functional form for the latter. Our results do not confirm a previous claim of water absorption in transmission. Instead, our results are more consistent with a featureless transmission spectrum, possibly due to a cloud deck obscuring molecular absorption bands. For the emission data, our values are not consistent with the thermal inversion in the dayside atmosphere that was originally inferred from these data. Instead, we agree with another re-analysis of these same data, which concluded a non-inverted atmosphere provides a better fit. We find that a solar-abundance clear-atmosphere model without a thermal inversion underpredicts the measured emission in the 4.5 micron channel, which may suggest the atmosphere is depleted in carbon monoxide. An acceptable fit to the emission data can be achieved by assuming that the planet radiates as an isothermal blackbody with a temperature of $1484\pm 18$ K.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables. Accepted by MNRA

Psychopédagogie du jeu de simulation pour l'apprentissage en histoire

GlossaireÉgalement disponible en version papier.Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 27 janv. 2010)Bibliogr

Psychopédagogie du jeu de simulation pour l'apprentissage en histoire

GlossaireÉgalement disponible en version papier.Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 27 janv. 2010)Bibliogr

Plasma organochlorine concentrations and bone ultrasound measurements: a cross-sectional study in peri-and postmenopausal Inuit women from Greenland

BACKGROUND: Inuit women are highly exposed through their traditional seafood based diet to organochlorine compounds, some of them displaying endocrine disrupting properties. We hypothesized that this exposure might be related to bone characteristics that are altered in osteoporosis, because hormone deficiency is a known risk factor for the disease. METHODS: We measured quantitative ultrasound parameters (QUS) at the right calcaneum of 153 peri- and postmenopausal Inuit women (49–64 year old) from Nuuk, Greenland, and investigated the relation between these parameters and plasma organochlorine concentrations. We used high-resolution gas chromatography with electron capture detection to analyze plasma samples for 14 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) congeners and 11 chlorinated pesticides and metabolites. We analysed morning urine samples for cadmium, a potential confounder, by atomic absorption spectrometry. We used a validated questionnaire to document dietary and lifestyle habits as well as reproductive and medical histories. RESULTS: Concentrations of PCB 153, a surrogate of exposure to most organochlorines present in plasma samples, were inversely correlated to QUS parameters in univariate analyses (p < 0.001). However, PCB 153 concentrations were not associated with QUS values in multivariate analyses that comprised potential confounding factors such as age, body weight, former oral contraceptive use and current hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use, which were all significant predictors of bone stiffness (total R(2 )= 0.39; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Overall we found little evidence that organochlorines exposure is related to osteoporosis in Greenlandic Inuit women, but the hypothesis that exposure to dioxin-like compounds might be linked to decreased bone quality and osteoporosis deserves further attention

La vision des acteurs de l'économie sociale au Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean

Depuis l’émergence d’une multitude d’entreprises d’économie sociale au début des années 1990, de nombreux chercheurs se sont appliqués à documenter cette forme de pratique. Ce rapport finalise une première étude quantitative menée en 2010 auprès des entreprises d’économie sociale de la région du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. Il constitue la deuxième phase du portrait de l’économie sociale de cette région. Cette étude se singularise par le fait qu’elle donne la parole aux acteurs de l’économie sociale, en l’occurrence les entreprises d’économie sociale et les organismes de soutien à l’économie sociale