Modes d’expression du matérialisme dans le Rêve de d’Alembert de Diderot

Ce texte est né d’une lecture captivée avant tout par le geste langagier du Rêve de d’Alembert. Au fil d’une analyse du style de Diderot et des procédés d’écriture mis en œuvre dans le Rêve, il m’est devenu de plus en plus évident qu’on ne saurait considérer la « forme » littéraire comme simple enveloppe ou pieuse passeuse du « fond » idéel dans un écrit philosophique si atypique et tant mûri au point de vue de l’intelligence du verbe. Il s’agit donc ci-dessous d’aborder les jeux discursifs de ce dialogue, en tant que tels, comme des actes philosophiques. J’espère ainsi montrer à quel point le matérialisme enchanté de Diderot ne se laisse pas distiller en pures propositions conceptuelles sans perdre par là sa chair et sa vie. Puisse également cet essai avoir été quelque peu contaminé par l’entrain et la jovialité de l’encyclopédiste qui, quand bien même il ne nous gagnerait pas à ses principes, peut toujours nous revivifier dans l’amour de l’invention philosophique.

La participation des parents d'élèves de minorités ethniques à la vie de l'école primaire et secondaire à Sherbrooke

Dans un contexte d'égalité des chances en éducation pour tous les enfants, il s'avère important d'adapter l'école aux besoins éducatifs de sa clientèle. Dans cette optique, des relations respectueuses avec les parents sont essentielles. Ces rapports sont encore plus importants pour les élèves de minorités ethniques qui représentent une nouvelle clientèle avec des besoins diversifiés auxquels l'école doit s'ajuster rapidement. Or, selon plusieurs enquêtes menées à Montréal, les parents d'élèves de minorités ethniques participent moins que les parents québécois de vieille souche. Il est important d'en savoir plus sur les raisons de cette faible participation et sur la situation de leur participation en général. Quelle est donc la situation de la participation des parents de minorités ethniques? Comment perçoivent-ils la participation à la vie de l'école? Comment l'école réagit-elle devant la diversité culturelle de sa clientèle? Comment se présente cette situation dans les écoles de Sherbrooke? À cause de l'existence des élèves de minorités ethniques, l'école à Sherbrooke n'échappe pas à ce problème. Même si leur nombre est restreint, ils ont toutefois des besoins spéciaux qui correspondent à leur culture respective. Et si l'on se fie à la croissance des élèves de minorités ethniques à l'école française, leur nombre croîtra également à Sherbrooke. Cela sera d'autant plus intéressant qu'un sondage récent a été réalisé par la Commission Scolaire Catholique de Sherbrooke sur les perceptions et les attentes des parents face aux écoles qu'elle dessert. On a besoin de cerner également le point de vue des parents de minorités ethniques concernant plusieurs aspects touchés par ce sondage ayant un lien avec la participation des parents. C'est dans le cadre de cette problématique que s'inscrit cette étude qui a pour but principal de recueillir la perception des parents de minorités ethniques au sujet de leur participation à la vie de l'école. Notre recherche est à notre connaissance la première visant un tel but. Ce mémoire comporte trois parties. La première expose l'énoncé de la problématique qui consiste à décrire, à partir d'un inventaire des écrits, la situation de la participation des parents en général et en particulier celle des parents de minorités ethniques au sujet de leur conception de l'éducation, des modes de participation à la vie de l'école, et de l'encadrement de leurs enfants. La deuxième partie présente la méthode de recherche qui a permis la réalisation de cette étude auprès des parents de minorités ethniques à Sherbrooke. La troisième partie porte sur l'analyse et l’interprétation des résultats obtenus lors de la collecte des données.

Attributes of service delivery modes and their impact on consumer satisfaction

Consumersatisfaction is fundamental to organisational success. It is well recognised that personal service is important in achieving consumer satisfaction. However, the application of self-service technology (SST) is widcning and is attennuating traditional exchanges between consumers and service employees. The effect of this reduction of personal service on consumer satisfaction judgements is not well understood. This study addresses this gap by investigating the relative effects of SST and personal service attributes on overall consumer satisfaction. Thc study highlights important service attributes applicable to SST and personal service. The conceptual framework is tested using data collected from 241 leisure and business travellers drawn from premium hotels in a regional area. Structural equation modelling techniques support the conceptual framework. As expected, the attributes of personal service and SST contribute to consumer satisfaction. However, thc impact of personal service attributes 011 consumer satisfaction is much stronger than the effects of SST attributes. Though SST is an important determinant of consumer satisfaction, interactions with staff are critical. These results have applications for the theory and practice of services marketing, and high light avenues for further investigation.

The impact of corporate venturing on a firm's competence modes

In this conceptual paper we investigate how corporate venturing influences an organization's competences. The impact of various types of corporate ventures on the portfolio of strategic options of a firm's competence modes (Sanchez, 2004a; Sanchez & Heene, 2002) will be assessed by distinguishing two fundamentally different dimensions of corporate venturing: technology and product (Block & MacMillan, 1993). We argue that the level of product and factor market dynamism mediates the effect of corporate venturing on a firm's competence modes. Corporate ventures that significantly increase the level of product or factor market dynamics will increase the flexibility in all five competence modes. These ventures have a direct effect on the lower-order competence modes and an indirect, lagged effect on higher-order competence modes through feedback loops. The developed framework and the propositions contribute to managing the ability of a firm to change its coordination, resource, and operating flexibility in order to sustain value creation.

Identification of acoustic emission wave modes for accurate source location in plate-like structures

Acoustic emission (AE) technique is a popular tool used for structural health monitoring of civil, mechanical and aerospace structures. It is a non-destructive method based on rapid release of energy within a material by crack initiation or growth in the form of stress waves. Recording of these waves by means of sensors and subsequent analysis of the recorded signals convey information about the nature of the source. Ability to locate the source of stress waves is an important advantage of AE technique; but as AE waves travel in various modes and may undergo mode conversions, understanding of the modes (‘modal analysis’) is often necessary in order to determine source location accurately. This paper presents results of experiments aimed at finding locations of artificial AE sources on a thin plate and identifying wave modes in the recorded signal waveforms. Different source locating techniques will be investigated and importance of wave mode identification will be explored.

Exposure to ultrafine particles and PM2.5 in four Sydney transport modes

Concentrations of ultrafine (<0.1µm) particles (UFPs) and PM2.5 (<2.5µm) were measured whilst commuting along a similar route by train, bus, ferry and automobile in Sydney, Australia. One trip on each transport mode was undertaken during both morning and evening peak hours throughout a working week, for a total of 40 trips. Analyses comprised one-way ANOVA to compare overall (i.e. all trips combined) geometric mean concentrations of both particle fractions measured across transport modes, and assessment of both the correlation between wind speed and individual trip means of UFPs and PM2.5, and the correlation between the two particle fractions. Overall geometric mean concentrations of UFPs and PM2.5 ranged from 2.8 (train) to 8.4 (bus) × 104 particles cm-3 and 22.6 (automobile) to 29.6 (bus) µg m-3, respectively, and a statistically significant difference (p <0.001) between modes was found for both particle fractions. Individual trip geometric mean concentrations were between 9.7 × 103 (train) and 2.2 × 105 (bus) particles cm-3 and 9.5 (train) to 78.7 (train) µg m-3. Estimated commuter exposures were variable, and the highest return trip mean PM2.5 exposure occurred in the ferry mode, whilst the highest UFP exposure occurred during bus trips. The correlation between fractions was generally poor, and in keeping with the duality of particle mass and number emissions in vehicle-dominated urban areas. Wind speed was negatively correlated with, and a generally poor determinant of, UFP and PM2.5 concentrations, suggesting a more significant role for other factors in determining commuter exposure.

Channel plasmon-polariton modes in V grooves filled with dielectric

We investigated the effect of dielectric filling in a V groove on the propagation parameters of channel plasmon-polariton (CPP) modes. In particular, existence conditions and critical groove angles, mode localization, field structure, dispersion, and propagation distances of CPP modes are analyzed as functions of dielectric permittivity inside the groove. It is demonstrated that increasing dielectric permittivity in the groove results in a rapid increase of mode localization near the tip of the groove and increase of both the critical angles that determine a range of groove angles for which CPP modes can exist. Detailed analysis of the field structure has demonstrated that the maximum of the field in a CPP mode is typically reached at a small distance from the tip of the groove. The effect of rounded tip is also investigated.

Investigation into travel modes of TOD users : impacts of personal and transit characteristics

Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) are often designed to promote the use of sustainable modes of transport and reduce car usage. This paper investigates the effect of personal and transit characteristics on travel choices of TOD users. Binary logistic regression models were developed to determine the probability of choosing sustainable modes of transport including walking, cycling and public transport. Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV) located in Brisbane, Australia was chosen as case study TOD. The modal splits for employees, students, shoppers and residents showed that 47% of employees, 84% of students, 71% of shoppers and 56% of residents used sustainable modes of transport.