bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evénement de langage, situation sociolinguistique et validité des interprétations
Authors: Poutignat Philippe
Published: November 2011

Poutignat Philippe - "Language events, sociolinguistic situations and the validity of interpretations".

Styles and registers in the interpretation of language choice are studied within the framework of on-going research on the indegenous norm of French in Africa. Normative representations Unking scenic components (Brown and Frazer) to the variability of choices only insufficently explain how situations are negociated. They presuppose the organization of language practises which are not themselves part of such representations. Indigenous French is here considered in the light of functionalisation (Wald), confronted to and distinguished from marking (Scotton). In attempt to not "neglect the situation", one is forced to go further than methodology and to consider the situation as an object for research.
La loi dans la langue, loi de langue
Authors: Tournier Maurice
Published: November 2011

La science étymologique est la proie d'une contradiction : d'une part elle occulte l'histoire et la société, de l'autre elle leur donne trop d'importance. La moralité dominante, à chaque pas de l'histoire, consciemment ou non, persévère ou renonce à l'emploi d'un terme, accepte ou non les intrus, modélise ou stigmatise, selon les règles d'un "bon français" qui séparent de la langue acceptable ces déchets de parlure repoussés vers les mots populaires ou vulgaires, dans les jargons ou les argots, et qui régentent la circulation du lexique à coups de sens permis et interdits. L'historien de la langue se trouve donc pris dans une contradiction puisqu'il lui faut à la fois refuser la hiérarchisation sociale dans la prise en compte de ses objets et l'intégrer à titre explicatif dans leur analyse sociolinguistique ; le Code des codes, la Loi, en fournit un excellent exemple.
Sois belette et tais-toi ! ou la mégère répudiée
Authors: Mesnil Marianne , Popova Assia
Published: November 2011

Mesnil, Marianne et Assia Popova — « Be Beastly and shut up, or the repudiation of the Shrew. The weaving weasel. ».

Etiological European narratives lend the weasel of human ancestry: a rebellious young woman falls victim to a curse that transforms her into an animal. In the Balkans, the human ancestor of the weasel is a young wife who is a bad weaver. Narratives and rituals surround an object, the distaff, pivot of the textile-textual metaphor by which the symbols of marriage and weaving intert-wine. The character of the weasel is opposed to Sainte-Vendredi, patron of marriage and weaving. In Western Europe (see the Bestiaries), the weasel's human ancestoris a young, mendacious woman. Turned into an animal, she is doomed to conceive through the mouth and give birth through the ear. The Western counterpart of Sainte- Vendredi-anti- Weasel is the Virgin Mary, mother of the divine Word.
Etude du contenu de la notion "entreprise"
Authors: Collot-Trognon Andrée , Desbrousses Hélène , Peloille Bernard
Published: November 2011

La décennie écoulée a vu le retour en force de l'apologétique de "l'entreprise", méconnaissant largement les représentations communes de ses acteurs effectifs, tant salariés qu'entrepreneurs. En posant l'entreprise au moyen de concepts de l'économie politique classique, les représentations communes la font apparaître, et pourraient faire apparaître son apologétique, comme pièce dans les rapports sociaux intelligibles en eux et par eux. L'étude a été menée à partir de l'analyse de contenu de 76 entretiens semi-directifs recueillis en 1990-1991. Elle permet de dégager et d'analyser cinq thèmes : le lieu de travail, le groupe et les rapports de classe, la communication, la concurrence, le rendement et la productivité.
De la production d'identité dans la mise en récit d'une action carnavalesque
Authors: Bres Jacques
Published: November 2011

Bres Jacques - "Producing identity by the telling of a camivalesque action".

Oral narrative is a tale of identity: whilst developing the plot of an event and in relation to the interaction which the narrator sketches with his listeners, the teller talks about his identities which he contributes to produce in the process. Two narratives of an identical camivalesque action related by two different narrators are studied: in the first, the sexual identity of the female narrator supports the social identity production in relation to the camivalesque script ; in the second, the sexual identity of the male narrator neutralises this production by condemning it.
Tabou et français calédonien. Un exemple de variation lexicale du français en francophonie
Authors: Darot Mireille , Pauleau Christine
Published: November 2011

Le français des Calédoniens d'origine européenne se caractérise par l'usage de "gros mots" (désignant l'organe sexuel masculin ou référant à l'homosexualité passive) comme insultes et interjections, marqueurs de solidarité entre locuteurs masculins, démarcatifs et supports de différentes locutions. Relevant du stéréotype, leur emploi contribue à définir une identité linguistique au sein de la francophonie. Leur valeur est envisagée en termes de continuum dans la variation du français en France et hors de France. Elle est en relation avec l'origine bagnarde de nombre d'ancêtres des francophones de Nouvelle-Calédonie et avec des pratiques langagières de sociétés à tradition orale comme les "parentés à plaisanterie".
Routine conversationnelle et comportement langagier
Authors: Lüger Heinz-Helmut
Published: November 2011

Les conversations réglées par une institution se caractérisent par certaines restrictions qui se manifestent, entre autres, dans les séquences d'ouverture et de clôture, dans la répartition des tours de parole, la façon d'assurer la compréhension mutuelle et aussi dans la réalisation du schéma d'action centraLOn ne se limite pas à décrire les influences d'un cadre institutionnel déterminé. Sur un plan méthodologique sera traitée également la question de savoir si une approche inductive (du type "analyse conversationnelle") ou une approche deductive (du type "grammaire», de dialogue") est plus appropriée pour l'analyse du comportement langagier. Un corpus de renseignements d'horaires servira de document de base.
L'étude ethnocontrastive des actes de parole
Authors: Lindenfeld Jacqueline
Published: November 2011

Qu'entend-on par étude ethnocontrastive des actes de parole ? Comment ce domaine de recherche se distingue-t-il de ceux qui en sont proches, en particulier l'analyse contrastive, la théorie des actes de parole et l'ethnographie de la communication ? Quels en sont les objectifs et les méthodes ? Ce sont là les questions auxquelles nous tentons d'apporter quelques réponses. Après un rappel des travaux de Coulmas, Manes et Wolfson, et Herbert, nous présentons une application à la comparaison des appels de vendeurs sur les marchés en France et en Californie, qui met en oeuvre une méthodologie permettant d'étudier l'insertion des structures verbales dans le tissu socioculturel.
Le discours rapporté dans les fabriques d'opinions
Authors: Fiala Pierre
Published: November 2011

Fiala, Pierre - Reported discourse in opinion manufactures.

Reported speech is an essential mechanism in the referential construction of media discourse, which is dominated by the patterns of clarity, explanation, transparency and seduction which are linked to the attempt to reach an audience and influence public opinion. In periods of serious international crises, the functions and effects of formal properties stand out more sharply. Reported speech, which is a general language fact, appears as an essential media mechanism for fashioning political space, organizing representations and giving media exposure to conflicts to the benefit of social strategies. This article highlights the general mechanisms of reported speech in the political press ; it includes a recapitulative bibliography.
Les "mondes lexicaux" et leur 'logique" à travers l'analyse statistique d'un corpus de récits de cauchemars
Authors: Max Reinert
Published: November 2011

Reinert Max - "Lexical worlds" and their "logic" through the statistical study of a body of nightmare narratives.

The French school of data analysis, strongly influenced during the seventies by the work of J.P. Benzécri, owes much to his interest in language data. The development of desk-top publishing and the spreading of texts thanks to computers have revitalized this line of research by what is usually called the "statistical analysis of textual data" (Lebart, Salem, 1988). In this article, the author presents his work and questions in the field : the Alceste method and the notion of lexical worlds (which are central to the proposed strategy). The presentation is backed up by a specific application: the analysis of a body of 212 accounts of nightmares.
Quelques considérations sur le nom propre
Authors: Christian Vandendorpe
Published: November 2011

Vandendorpe Christian - A few thoughts about proper nouns.

The categories common nouns/proper nouns stem from an obvious grammatical distinction that goes back to our first school-years. The idea that proper nouns contain no meaning is widely shared. By critically re-reading two special issues of Langages (1982) and Langue Française (1992), the author proposes a cognitive hypothesis according to which it is the different ways of construing sense by accumulating the uses of a word which separate the two categories. If the initial naming act is the same in both cases, proper nouns do not filter data but accumulate them while remaining constant ; whereas common nouns function along the mode of transitivity and equivalence. This does not exclude proper names from the associative chains of a connotative nature.
Hans, Jean et Joannes ou les langues du prénom
Authors: Marie-Claude Casper
Published: November 2011

L'étude diachronique de l'éventail des prénoms attribués dans un village alsacien, entre 1793 et 1936, met en évidence une disparition des prénoms traditionnels autour des années 1920. Dans le contexte social et linguistique complexe de l'Alsace, cette fracture pose la question des rapports du prénom aux langues qui l'énoncent. A partir des témoignages recueillis, le prénom se révèle dans sa fonction de marqueur identitaire en ce qu'il représente une appartenance culturelle et sociale dans un lien étroit à la langue d'usage qui couramment l'exprime, l'alsacien, face au français et à l'allemand.
Éléments pour une phénoménologie des systèmes linguistiques
Authors: Poche Bernard
Published: November 2011

Les langues en tant que phénomènes sociaux sont structurellement liées à des groupes et/ou à des espaces définis, et constituent des éléments majeurs du lien social. Bien que certaines approches raisonnent dans un cadre monolingue, l'analyse sociologique montre que le multilinguisme n'a pas changé de nature. Ce "système multilinguistique" n'est pas homogène : il se compose d'un "code linguistique à usage d'intercommutation" et d'un certain nombre de langues-langages qui correspondent à des agrégations d'intersubjectivités qui définissent des groupes à statut de plus en plus diffus à mesure que leur rapport commun au monde est plus faible. Ce schéma est appliqué au rapport langue macro-régionale, langue nationale, langue régionale, langue locale. L'Etat joue sur une langue utilitaire à norme unique, les sociétés continuent à parler leurs propres langues, leurs membres utilisant le code lorsqu'ils y sont contraints. Les sociétés civiles, enfin, produisent ce que l'on pourrait appeler des néo-langues.
Interventions gouvernementales en faveur du français au Québec et en Ontario
Authors: Mougeon Raymond
Published: November 2011

Un bilan des francophonies québécoise et ontarienne évalue l'impact des mesures favorables au fançais et s'interroge sur leur justifications politiques et philosophiques. Au Québec, elles ont créé un environnement favorable. La position démographique, économique et psycho-sociologique du français s'est améliorée, même si plusieurs inégalités ne sont pas redressées. La communauté franco-québécoise développe avec le (reste du) Canada des rapports moins conflictuels. Cette meilleure entente ne vaut pas pour les rapports avec sa minorité anglophone. En Ontario, où la communauté était dans une situation encore plus alarmante, les mesures favorables au français ont augmenté sa valeur instrumentale, lui ont conféré un prestige relatif et les Franco-Ontariens peuvent désormais assurer leur reproduction linguistique et culturelle. Si, sans elles, l'assimilation se serait accélérée, les perspectives de maintien du français y restent pourtant moins prometteuses, et le processus d'assimilation à la majorité anglophone se poursuit.
Malaises et mal à l'aise dans la langue de l'autre
Authors: Perrefort Marion
Published: November 2011

Pour saisir l'insécurité linguistique due à l'usage d'une langue étrangère dans sa construction interactive, on analyse : des enquêtes quantitatives auprès d'étudiants germanistes sur leur représentation de l'allemand ; des discours métalinguistique d'Allemands et de Français ; des enregistrements de cours de langue en milieu rural ; des enregistrements de conversations en groupe national et binational lors de rencontres franco-allemandes et des pratiques langagières en situation de contact. Notre public a un niveau moyen en langue étrangère, acquise en milieu institutionnel, mais peu de vécu langagier en milieu naturel. La maîtrise imparfaite de la langue et les problèmes d'intercompréhension sont source d'insécurité, d'autant que l'identité du sujet est touchée. Les interactants ont à gérer la part du phantasme et la part du réel, à définir le statut de

l'insécurité dans le sens de la divergence ou du rapprochement, dans une orientation dynamique ou, au contraire, d'enfermement dans des formes figées.
Unité et pluralité de l'analyse de discours
Authors: Seguin Eve
Published: November 2011

Séguin Eve - Unity and plurality of discourse analysis.

The notion of conditions of production has been used for a long time to define discourse. This notion seems to have vanished, nevertheless it still exerts a profound influence on discourse analysis (DA). In the first instance, the paper underlines the weaknesses of the notion and shows that it is unable to acknowledge the current diversity of DA. In a second step, an alternative definition of discourse is suggested. The main purpose being to account for the unity and plurality of DA.
Le clivage du signe selon E. Benveniste
Authors: Derycke Marc
Published: November 2011

According to this author, the sign is a semiotic unit, it belongs to the system, the constituent relation dominates, consequently it signifies and that is all. Meaning belongs to the semantic order whose basic unit is the sentence. Between these two orders there is a "hiatus", not a relation, but both are part of discourse. Filling the gap between the two, the word is the institutionalized sum of its contextual values, its status covering up its instability
L'argumentation dans le discours : argumenter n'est pas justifier
Authors: Carel Marion
Published: November 2011

Argumentation in everyday speech is generally analyzed as a demonstration process. Though sometimes vague in its expression, or incomplete in its assumptions, it seems to preserve the structure of a mathematical demonstration: what is at stakes is to show, by means of an argument interpreted and justifiable in itself, that the conclusion is true. In fact, the natural use of done differs from its mathematical counterpart, not qualitatively but structurally. Argument and conclusion cannot be interpreted independently and spoken argumentation cannot even be considered an incomplete demonstration. Put positively, it means injecting into discourse ordinary expressions and common place ideas, contained in the very meaning of the words and developped by the way they are strung together. From this point of view, done is no longer the privileged mark of argumentation: pourtant differently but just as directly, makes it possible;
Le jeune tel qu'on en parle
Authors: Boyer Henri
Published: November 2011

Le français des jeunes fait depuis quelques années déjà l'objet d'une médiatisation assidue dans les magazines, au travers de "lexique(s)" et de "guide(s) pratique(s)" (également dans la publicité).

Ce journalisme linguistique, parfaitement ancré dans une tradition française d'observation et de contrôle de la variation/déviance sociolinguistique, tend en fait à domestiquer, à normaliser, un phénomène langagier multiforme (mais d'ampleur limitée) qui, fondamentalement, relève de la transgression.
Ou plutôt : la langue, c'est du ciné !
Authors: Lefranc Yannick
Published: November 2011

Yannick Lefranc - OU PLUTOT : language, it's an act !

The cinenunciative analysis of "X OU plutôt Y" sequences shows how the interpretation of a segment, and its re-interpretation from the segment following, produce argumentative and categorial shifts. The so-called emptyword "ou plutôt" puts on the stage a non-neutral "technical" correction. In so doirig, the reading / rereading process makes the practical circumstances of decoding more complicated, which creates a semantic continuum : circumstances are made such that the interpretation confuses "to accept the rejection of X" and "to accept the argumentation of x ou PLUTÔT Y". In showing how semantiafe/wsions are made possible and legitimized by the langue itself, a dynamic and playful conception of language is capable of integrating illu- sionism as one of the inherent dimensions of language activity.
Les corrigés des Annales du Brevet : un prêt-à-penser ou réflexions sur l'écrit argumentatif scolaire
Authors: Touchard Yvonne
Published: November 2011

Yvonne Touchard - Corrections of the Annales du Brevet : Ready-made thinking, or reflexions on how to argue a point in school.

The study analyzes texts submitted by various publishers of the Annales du Brevet as "correct versions" of argumentative texts. Written by adults (teachers), these texts imitate the way pupils are supposed to write. The enunciative, discursive, syntaxic and lexical characteristics are studied. From the point of view of enunciation, they are polyphonic, since the writer adds his/her own adult voice to that of the pupil he is supposed to be imitating. They apply the rules usually taught in middle schools to argue a point, showing an expertise that makes these texts into "models", thus demonstrating what the ideal discursive norms are taken to be. The points chosen for the argument also inform us as to the values propounded by the school system.
De la façon de "se dire" quand on est dépendant : analyse interactive et énonciative
Authors: Carcassonne Rouif Marie
Published: November 2011

Carcassonne Rouif, Marie - How does a dependent person speak of him/herself ? An analysis of interaction and enunciation.

This comparative study of the beginning of three clinical research interviews between a psychiatrist and persons at risk ("ordalie") due to some problem of dependence (anorexia-bulimia, drug-addiction, delinquency) focuses on two central issues : 1- Observing the way a speaker interacts with the interviewer and with him /herself (dialogue between self and self and between self and other) gives rise to hypotheses about how such an interview functions. 2- Based mainly on the affinities and markings (or not) of the sources of enunciation, the analysis tries to point out the similarities and differences in the wording and phrasing of the people questioned (all of whom are talking about themselves), thus allowing their style of speech to be characterized.
Dynamique plurilingue et imaginaire linguistique au Mali : entre adhésion et résistance au bambara
Authors: Canut Cécile
Published: November 2011

Dans un contexte plurilingue comme celui du Mali, la complexité des dynamiques linguistiques et des tensions diglossiques entre les langues nécessite une approche étudiant à la fois les facteurs intra- et extra-linguistiques. En terme d'appropriations linguistiques, l'adhésion ou la résistance à la langue dominante (le bambara) dépend en grande partie de l'ambivalence de l'imaginaire linguistique des locuteurs qui se traduit par des instabilités dans les usages et influent progressivement sur les systèmes linguistiques en présence. L'exemple du malinké (zone mandingue) montre que les choix de code résultent bien d'une redéfinition constante des positions sociales en fonction des interlocuteurs et des situations d'énonciation. Les effets de ces choix agissent enfin sur la délimitation des codes eux-mêmes.
Les élèves "étrangers" dans les discours des institutions et des instituteurs
Authors: Varro Gabrielle
Published: November 2011

Varro, Gabrielle - How "foreign" pupils are referred to by schoolteachers and in official reports.

Though the stereotyped representations of immigrants in the French media are well known, when broaching actual language practices in the field, the question is far from being so well documented. This paper confronts an official report and a set of interviews of teachers working in underprivileged areas, and compares the images of the school population that emerge from each. The comparison shows that the qualifier "immigrant", frequent in the report, is practically non-existent in the interviews, and how ordinary words such as "child" or "pupil" end up specializing and becoming acts of segregation or integration in themselves.
Une énonciation en trompe-l'œil. L'annonce de la candidature Balladur par Paris-Match
Authors: Mouillaud Maurice
Published: November 2011

Mouillaud Maurice - An enunciative trompe-l'œil.

Paris-Match announces Balladur will run.

The author studies a problem of enunciative strategy in an issue of Paris- Match published just when, during the 12995 presidential campaign in France, Mr. Balladur announced he would run. Mouillaud shows how the magazine played a double game with time, prentending it owned the exclusive rights to a first interview (which took place before Mr. Balladur declared he was running). The specific position of the weekly gives it leeway to wrap up in a timeless present the before and after of the event. An implicit contract is thus signed between the magazine and the politician, whose bonus is that his timeless candidacy goes without saying.
Étude du processus de désénonciation du film d'information télévisé
Authors: Battestini Anne
Published: November 2011

Battestini Anne - A study of the process of "dis-enunciation" in TV news films.

These analysis of TV news films pressents the intricate form involving visual and enunciative aspect typical of this type of discourse. It stufies the connections between the journalist and the images and texts of the film, as well as the relationship he/she builds up with the TV viewers. The concept of dis-enunciation (dis-involvement of the journalist) shows up the process by which he/she takes a back seat within his/her own discourse, the way he/she takes cover behind the camera and other peoples' eyes and words.
Du colinguisme dans le Dictionnaire universel dit de Trévoux
Authors: Wionet Chantal
Published: November 2011

Wionet Chantal - Colingualism in the Dictionnaire Universel ("de Trévoux ").

In this paper, we propose a classification of the relationships between Latin and French (and vice-versa) in Trévoux's Encyclopedia Dictionaries, which were the most important dictionaries of the first half of the 18th century. This analysis enables us to take stock of a crucial moment in the history of the French language, particularly concerning that of linguistic representations.
Après que... ou la fluctuation des modes en français parlé
Authors: Canut Cécile , Ledegen Gudrun
Published: November 2011

Canut Cécile et Gudrun Ledegen - Après que... or the fluctuation of the moods in spoken french.

This paper considers a syntactic variant which contrasts with the standard construction : the subjunctive mode after après que instead of the indicative one. The analysis of the use of mood following the conjunction shows a lot of fluctuation in spoken as well as in written usage. The authors discuss the notion of syntactic variation in the light of the discussion about the existence of pure syntactic synonyms, and show that in this case the explanatory elements are both extralinguistic and intralinguistic (the explanations usually proposed seem partly inadequate). We adopt Jean Stefanini's perspective, who continues the approach of Gustave Guillaume, explaining the differences between the moods in terms of " aims ".
Pierre Achard, maître d'œuvre. Langage et société 1977-1997
Authors: Jaulin Dolores
Published: November 2011

Cet article retrace vingt ans d'histoire de Langage et société et les étapes qui ont marqué l'évolution de la revue depuis le Bulletin de papiers de travail des débuts jusqu'à la revue scientifique avec comité de lecture. On décrit ce parcours en s'appuyant sur les textes éditoriaux successifs. Sont aussi évoqués les débats, les rencontres annuelles et les groupes de travail organisés par l'équipe de Langage et société qui ont nourri en retour la revue et contribué à en définir le champ. L'article rend hommage à P. Achard en soulignant son rôle dans un projet qu'il voulait collectif, mais dont il a été le maître d'œuvre.
Des innovations et des fonctionnements de langue rapportés à des genres
Authors: Branca-Rosoff Sonia
Published: November 2011

BRANCA-ROSOFF Sonia - Innovative and functional aspects of language and the question of genre.

The author considers the place of genre in a sociolinguistic approach of the history of language. An example is given: prepositional expressions such as suite à, which authors of official reports use to go from the ordinary user's story to the argumentation that bureaucracy requires. Next, the discrepancy between the external definition of genre and formal markers (the use of vulgarity or the allergy to form letters contained in the appeals the administration receives) is analyzed. In this case, the receivers may consider, either that such missives are only a stylistic variation, or that they belong to a different genre altogether (letters of insult /letters of complaint).
Parler en marchant. Pour une écologie dynamique des échanges de paroles
Authors: Relieu Marc
Published: November 2011

RELIEU Marc - Talking while walking. Toward a dynamic ecology of talk-in-interaction.

Conversation Analysis points to the temporal organization of talking-interaction, a forgotten dimension of social theory. Used with video, CA throws a new light on the spatial embeddness of talk. This paper offers a detailed video analysis of a spate of talk produced while walking. Building turns at talk while walking involves a reflexive analysis of visual information. Spatial positions, visual orientations and turn constructional units reflexively elaborate each other.
Le foulard entre tchador et mantille : enquête de voisinage dans le tissu journalistique
Authors: Oger Claire
Published: November 2011

OGER Claire - The scarf between chadorand mantilla.

Building up an event in the daily press means setting up an argumentative decor of which certain aspects will be more closely studied, mainly those that in various forms concern the problem of amalgamation. The fact that the « affair of the scarves » re-emerged in the French media in January 99 is a good case in point. It allows us to examine, after looking at the lexical concatenation of scarf and chador, verbal enunciation and page make-up, two parameters which are remarkably close in many ways. This method leads to questioning how the editorial conditions surrounding a newspaper article participate in what the reader will subsequently make of it.
Quelques interrogations à propos de l' "objet" d'une analyse de discours de type statistique et de la réponse "Alceste"
Authors: Max Reinert
Published: November 2011

Dans cet article, le créateur d'Alceste essaie de montrer en quoi sa méthode se situe en continuité avec ce qu'il appelle l'approche Harissienne de Jean-Paul Benzécri et en quoi elle s'en démarque. Il évoque d'abord le modèle propositionnel qui a conduit Benzécri à s'intéresser à des tableaux de données du type "sujets x prédicats". Il tente ensuite d'élargir la notion de proposition logique, reflet d'un état de chose, à une unité de discours plus pragmatique (avec une référence marquée aux travaux de Charles Sanders Peirce) pour enfin présenter ses propres hypothèses à la base de sa méthode de découpage du corpus en "unités de contexte".
From Integration to Alignment
Authors: Gattorna John
Published: November 2011

Supply chain integration in its various forms has been talked about in the literature for nearly two decades. But the impediments to improved integration have been difficult to overcome, and progress has therefore been painfully slow. This chapter examines three of the most powerful obstacles to integration: terminology/definitions; organization design; and, systems/IT; and traces developments in these areas since the mid-1990s.
Integration Strategies for Electronic Device Supply Chains
Authors: Wagner Claudia-Maria , Ryan Colm
Published: November 2011

The growth in the manufacture and distribution of electronic devices is one of the most significant sources of continuing innovation of the last half-century. These products are notable in that they integrate physical elements (i.e. hardware) and virtual elements (e.g. software) to deliver value to customers. This chapter examines the role of innovation in electronic product supply chains by exploring the commonalities and differences between the distribution models of digital and physical elements and examining alternative frameworks from which digital and physical distribution methods can be merged. A number of contemporary case studies are presented that highlight how the different elements can work together to deliver continuously innovative value to customers.
Using Sensor-Based Measurement Technology to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Perishable Goods
Authors: Ilic Alexander , Staake Thorsten , Fleisch Elgar
Published: November 2011

Perishable goods are still a major challenge for supply chains. Temperature fluctuations and other disruptions can occur at various stages of a distribution network. Without sensor technologies, these disruptions are often not detectable in early stages of the supply chains. As a result, losses accumulate at the end of supply chains where a lot of energy as already invested for delivering these goods up to this point. This chapter shows how sensor technologies can enable a new way of data-driven decision making at the distribution stage of a supply chain. It demonstrates when and how sensors can be used for smart removal and sorting decisions. The results indicate that these decisions can reduce the environmental impact and even increase profits significantly.
Intelligent Freight Transportation System
Authors: Stefansson Gunnar
Published: November 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to identify the necessary components of Intelligent Freight Transportation System (IFTS) and analyze the potential effects on transport operations performances in all the three pillars of sustainability, namely the economics, environmental and social impacts. In order to achieve this objective, a literature study was conducted, looking for relevant up-to-date literature within the fields of transportation, logistics, and information and communication technology (ICT) and environmental impacts of freight transportation. In addition, two separate rounds of empirical studies were made. From literature, as well as from part of the empirical data collection, a requirement analysis was done to understand issues and problems in transport operations that can be addressed with more sophisticated information and communication systems. The second round of empirical data collection was done to identify potential solutions of the identified issues. Finally an analysis was made to understand the functionalities of possible IFTS solutions. Many effects were found that can contribute to increased performance of transport operations including automatic item identification, safety and security prevention, real-time navigation, traffic situation notification and carbon footprint registration.
Improving the Sustainability of Road Freight Transport by Relaxing Truck Size and Weight Restrictions
Authors: McKinnon Alan
Published: November 2011

Increasing legal limits on the size and weight of trucks allows companies to achieve a higher degree of load consolidation. This reduces the total number of vehicle-kilometres required to distribute a given quantity of goods, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. Proposals to legalise longer and heavier vehicles, (LHVs) have, nevertheless, generated intense debate, particularly in Europe where they are strongly resisted by railway and environmental organisations. This chapter reviews recent studies on this subject, presents an analytical framework and focuses on three critical issues: the extent to which loads can be consolidated in LHVs, their effect on the freight modal split and the possibility that the resulting reduction in road freight costs will stimulate additional traffic growth. Most of the recent studies support the development of LHVs, particularly those based on actual experience of their use in countries such as Australia, Sweden and the United States.
Energy Efficiency and Reliability Considerations of a Compressive Sensing Technique in Wireless Visual Sensor Networks
Authors: Ding Yinhao , Lim Cheng-Chew
Published: November 2011

This chapter focuses on the energy efficiency and reliability issues when applying the novel compressive sensing technique in wireless visual sensor networks. An explanation is given for why compressive sensing is useful for visual sensor networks. The relationships between sparsity control and compression ratio, the effect of block-based sampling on reconstruction quality, complexity consideration of reconstruction process for real-time applications, and compensation for packets missing in network flows are discussed. We analyse the effectiveness of using the 2-dimensional Haar wavelet transform for sparsity control, the difference between compressive sampling in spatial and frequency domains, and the computation of the prime-dual optimisation method and the log barrier algorithm for reconstruction. The effectiveness of the approach on recovered image quality is evaluated using Euclidean distance and variance analysis.
Wireless Video Sensor Networks
Authors: Elamin Abdelrahman , Jeoti Varun , Belhouari Samir
Published: November 2011

Wireless Video Sensors Networks (WVSNs) generally suffer from the constraint that their sensor nodes must consume very little power. In this rapidly emerging video application, the traditional video coding architecture cannot be used due to its high encoding complexity. Thankfully, some theorems from Information Theory suggest that this problem can be solved by shifting the encoder tasks, partially or totally, to the decoder. These theorems are employed in the design of so-called Distributed Video Coding (DVC) solutions, the subject matter of this chapter. The chapter not only introduces the DVC but also reviews some important developments of the popular Stanford Wyner-Ziv coding architecture and caps it with latest research trends highlighting a Region-Based-Wyner-Ziv video codec that enables low-complexity encoding while achieving high compression efficiency.
Low Level Representation of Data for Visual Sensor Network
Authors: Aguilar-Ponce Ruth , Tecpanecatl-Xihuitl J. Luis , Alba-Cadena Alfonso
Published: November 2011

Wireless Sensor Network future direction is going towards more complex sensor such as camera sensor. Therefore, a very active research field is Visual Sensor Network. This type of network brings new challenges such as processing and transmitting a massive amount of data generated by the camera sensor. The efforts into decreasing the amount of data to be transmitted are going towards two directions: data encoding and data filtering. This chapter introduces an algorithm for each direction. Visual data encoding is performed by means of Predictive Video Encoding using Phase-Only Correlation function to achieve motion estimation. Visual data filtering is done at the lowest level of abstraction and is performed in three phases: pixel classification, background update and detection. The algorithms involved in each phase are light in terms of complexity and memory resources.
Visual Human Tracking in Wireless Cameras Networks A SURF-Based Approach
Authors: Zhou Yi , Snoussi Hichem , Zheng Shibao , Smach Fethi
Published: November 2011

In wireless camera networks, the communication load between cameras is a major concern for visual tracking. To save the bandwidth, traditional applications transfer the spatial coordinates under the precondition of camera calibration, which is computationally unreasonable for large and mobile camera networks. In this chapter, we exploit the use of distinctive and fast to compute local features to represent the non-rigid targets. Transmission of feature descriptors between cameras is done without any calibration. Combining the haar-like patterns and relative color information, our local features succeed to re-identify and relocate the target among the distributed cameras. Furthermore, efficient interest point detection and matching scheme are proposed for the visual tracking under real-time constraints.
High-Level Information Fusion in Visual Sensor Networks
Authors: Gómez-Romero Juan , García Jesús , Patricio Miguel A. , Molina José M. , Llinas James
Published: November 2011

Information fusion techniques combine data from multiple sensors, along with additional information and knowledge, to obtain better estimates of the observed scenario than could be achieved by the use of single sensors or information sources alone. According to the JDL fusion process model, high-level information fusion is concerned with the computation of a scene representation in terms of abstract entities such as activities and threats, as well as estimating the relationships among these entities. Recent experiences confirm that context knowledge plays a key role in the new-generation high-level fusion systems, especially in those involving complex scenarios that cause the failure of classical statistical techniques –as it happens in visual sensor networks. In this chapter, we study the architectural and functional issues of applying context information to improve high-level fusion procedures, with a particular focus on visual data applications. The use of formal knowledge representations (e.g. ontologies) is a promising advance in this direction, but there are still some unresolved questions that must be more extensively researched.
Quantized Variational Filtering for Bayesian Inference in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Mansouri Majdi , Snoussi Hichem , Teng Jing , Ilham Ouachani , Richard Cédric
Published: November 2011

Simulation results demonstrate the significantly improved performance of our approach.
FPGA Technology for Implementation in Visual Sensor Networks
Authors: Chia Wai Chong , Ngau Wing Hong , Ang Li-Minn , Seng Kah Phooi , Chew Li Wern , Yeong Lee Seng
Published: November 2011

A typical configuration of Visual Sensor Network (VSN) usually consists of a set of vision nodes, network motes, and a base station. The vision node is used to capture image data and transmit them to the nearest network mote. Then, the network motes will relay the data within the network until it reaches the base station. Since the vision node is usually small in size and battery-powered, it restricts the resources that can be incorporated onto it. In this chapter, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation of a low-complexity and strip-based Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stage (MIPS) architecture is presented. In this case, the image data captured by the vision node is processed in a strip-by-strip manner to reduce the local memory requirement. This allows an image with higher resolution to be captured and processed with the limited resources. In addition, parallel access to the neighbourhood image data is incorporated to improve the accessing speed. Finally, the performance of visual saliency in using the proposed architecture is evaluated.
Visual Sensor Network Processing and Preventative Steganalysis
Authors: Jainsky Julien Sebastien , Kundur Deepa
Published: November 2011

In this chapter, we discuss the topic of security in wireless visual sensor networks. In particular, attention is brought to steganographic security and how it can be discouraged without challenging the primary objectives of the network. We motivate the development and implementation of more lightweight steganalytic solutions that take into account the resources made available by the network’s deployment and its application in order to minimize the steganalysis impact on the WVSN workload. The concept of preventative steganalysis is also introduced in this chapter as a means to protect the network from the moment it is deployed. Preventative steganalysis aims at discouraging any potential steganographic attacks by processing the WVSN collected data such that the possibility of steganography becomes very small and the steganalysis leads to high rate of success.
Review of obstetric fistulas in a rural hospital in South-South Nigeria
Authors: Umoiyoho Aniefiok J. , Abasiattai Aniekan M. , Akaiso Okon E.
Published: November 2011

Background. Obstetric fistula is a devastating medical condition associated with adverse social, psychological and reproductive health consequences. This study was carried out to review the pattern of presentation and outcome of patients with obstetric fistulas in a rural health facility in South-South Nigeria. Design and Method. A retrospective review of case notes of 51 patients with obstetric fistula that were managed at the Family Life Center, Mbribit Itam, in Itu, Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Results. During the study period, 51 obstetric fistulas were repaired in the hospital. The ages of the patients ranged from 15 to 50 years with median age of 25.8 years and modal age group of 21-30 years (45.1%). The majority of the patients were of low parity (72.5%), 56.9% had no formal education and 27.5% were traders. Thirty four patients (66.7%) had their fistulas for between 1 and 6 years, 19.6% of the patients had juxta-cervical fistulas, while eight (15.7%) had circumferential loss of the urethra. Thirty-seven (72.5%) of them where unbooked and thus had no antenatal care, while 4 (7.8%) booked and had antenatal care in conventional health facilities. Thirty-four patients (66.7%) remained dry twenty-one days after surgery, thirteen (23.5%) were still wet, while 4 patients (7.8%) had stress incontinence despite repair. Conclusion. Obstetric fistulas are found most commonly among young, poorly educated women of low parity who do not avail themselves of orthodox ANC in our environment. Government, community and religious leaders must make concerted efforts to ensure women obtain formal education and when pregnant, have access to emergency obstetric care even if resident in the rural areas. Government, relevant non-Governmental organisations, community leaders and health workers should through relevant health messages enlighten women in the community about obstetric fistulas and the dangers of delivering in unorthodox health facilities. More medical personnel should be trained as the first attempt at repair is the one that is most likely to succeed.
Morphological changes in the fast vs slow fiber profiles of the urethras of diabetic pregnant rats
Authors: Marini Gabriela , Pascon Barbosa Angélica M. , Damasceno Débora C. , Michelin Matheus Selma M. , De Aquino Castro Rodrigo , Castello Girão Manoel João B. , Cunha Rudge Marilza V.
Published: November 2011

Background. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that diabetes and pregnancy detrimentally affect the normal function of urethral striated muscles in rats, providing a model for additional studies related to urinary incontinence. The aim of this study was to evaluate morphological alterations in the urethral striated muscles of diabetic pregnant rats. Design and methods. Twenty female Wistar rats were distributed into four experimental groups of five rats as follows: virgin, pregnant, diabetic virgin, and diabetic pregnant. Diabetes was induced using streptozotocin administration (40 mg/kg i.v.). The rats were lethally anesthetized, and the urethra and vagina were extracted as a unit. Cryostat sections (6 µm thick) were cut and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, and immunohistochemical procedures were performed and subjected to morphological and semi quantitative analysis. Results. The urethral striated muscle from the diabetic pregnant rats presented with the following variations: thinning and atrophy, disorganization and disruption associated with the colocalization of fast and slow fibers and a steady decrease in the proportion of fast vs slow fibers. Conclusion. Diabetes and pregnancy impair the urethral striated muscle and alter its fiber type distribution.
What do the heavens declare? On the Old Testament motif of God’s beauty in creation
Authors: Loader James Alfred
Published: November 2011

The paradox in the famous declaration of Psalm 19 that the heavens ‘narrate’ the glory of God and that this message of nature is ‘inaudible’ prompts the question as to the sense of speaking about a striking divine appearance without words (pun intended). In the light of the equally paradoxical presence of the motif of not-seeing in Old Testament theophanies where God himself appears, it seems that wordless speaking and unseen beauty need to be examined in association with each other, especially because the theophanies of Exodus and 1 Kings associate the motifs of not-seeing and silence with both the appearance and the speaking of God. This article investigates the cluster of ideas in Psalm 19 in the light of the theophanies and other texts. It then proposes a way in which this may be understood, notably that God’s own beauty is visible in that which he has created beautifully, that is, nature. It is argued that, if this proclaims God’s [foreing font omitted; refere to PDF], the latter must be a divine quality observable in nature.
Prospective Association between Dieting and Smoking Initiation among Adolescents
Authors: Maldonado-Molina Mildred M. , Komro Kelli A. , Prado Guillermo
Published: November 2011

Purpose.

To examine the relation between dieting and smoking initiation among adolescents.

Design.

Prospective data from a nationally representative study were used.

Setting.

Two waves (1994 to 1996) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

Subjects.

The sample included 7795 non-Latino Caucasian and non-Latino African-American adolescents.

Measures.

Dieting status was the independent variable and trying smoking and initiation of regular smoking were the dependent variables. Covariates included age, ethnicity, overweight status, false self-perception about being overweight, and availability of cigarettes at home.

Analysis.

Logistic regression and latent transition analyses were used.

Results.

Females had a higher prevalence of dieting (55%) when compared with males (25%). Dieting initiation was a significant predictor for initiation of regular smoking among females (OR = 1.94, p = .010), but not among males. Inactive dieting was a significant predictor among males (OR = 1.74, p = .031), but not among females. Compared to nondieters, initiating and consistent female dieters reported a higher probability of trans itioning to having tried regular smoking, although results from logistic regression suggested that the association between consistent dieting and initiation of regular smoking was not significant.

Conclusions.

There is a positive relation between initiating dieting and initiating regular smoking among females, but among males it is the inactive dieters who show a positive relationship. Results illustrate the importance of examining the association between dieting and the initiation of regular smoking.