Images rhétoriques & visions de l'Univers dans la vulgarisation scientifique

Cette thèse a pour objectif premier d’analyser les images rhétoriques (procédant par analogie) contenues dans un corpus d’ouvrages de vulgarisation scientifique ayant trait à la physique (astrophysique et physique quantique). Privilégiant une optique pluridisciplinaire, cet ouvrage s’applique à constituer - puis démontrer - l’extrême importance de ce cadre référentiel. Cette étude met également en lumière la caractéristique essentielle de la vulgarisation francophone, tout en insistant sur la nécessité de développer l’entreprise de vulgarisation scientifique. Les différentes visions proposées par les scientifiques eux-mêmes concernant notre monde, la valeur de leur imagerie ou de la composante épistémologique dans tout acte de connaissance font également partie intégrante de cette «réflexion», «véritable» reflet de notre savoir.

[Future cardiac pacemakers – technical visions].

Cardiac pacemakers are routinely used for the treatment of bradyarrhythmias. Contemporary pacemakers are reliable and allow for a patient specific programming. However, pacemaker replacements due to battery depletion are common (~25 % of all implantation procedures) and bear the risk of complications. Batteryless pacemakers may allow overcoming this limitation. To power a batteryless pacemaker, a mechanism for intracorporeal energy harvesting is required. Such a generator may consist out of subcutaneously implanted solar cells, transforming the small amount of transcutaneously available light into electrical energy. Alternatively, intravascular turbines may harvest energy from the blood flow. Energy may also be harvested from the ventricular wall motion by a dedicated mechanical clockwork converting motion into electrical energy. All these approaches have successfully been tested in vivo. Pacemaker leads constitute another Achilles heel of contemporary pacemakers. Thus, leadless devices are desired. Miniaturized pacemaker circuits and suitable energy harvesting mechanisms (incorporated in a single device) may allow catheter-based implantation of the pacemaker in the heart. Such miniaturized battery- and leadless pacemakers would combine the advantages of both approaches and overcome major limitations of today’s systems.

Promoting local innovation - a tool for sustainable rural development

Change, be it socio-cultural, political, institutional, technological, economic or ecological motivates local communities and farming families to mobilise and increase their innovation potential in order to create ways of life and production that match their own visions and priorities. In spite of the growing recognition of the potential of local innovations, they are hardly being integrated into development plans and projects; as a consequence, their diffusion within and between communities is limited. therefore interactive and participatory methods for supporting and strengthening the innovative potential of local actors are valuable inputs for sustainable rural development. the article presents an approach to promote local innovations.