Middle -class immigrant identities: Dominican-Americans in South Florida

Identity studies of immigrants are complex because of multiple influences affecting identity reconstruction during immigration and acculturation: nationality, socio-cultural differences, occupations, education, spatial and geographic locations, age, gender, and personal attributes. Most immigrant identity studies deal with lower-income immigrants, who do not have the resources of middle- and upper-middle-class immigrants. South Florida is “home” to many middle-class immigrants, including Dominican-Americans. This dissertation interviewed sixty-six Dominican immigrants in South Florida, in order to determine their reconstructed identities after immigration/resettlement and to discover what influences contributed to these changes in identities. ^ The research design of this dissertation utilized an inductive, qualitative model, with the “grounded theory” method of data collection, categorization, and analysis. Participants were selected by a snowball sampling and interviewed with an informal questionnaire. Results were transcribed, categorized, tabulated, and analyzed for conclusions and theorization on immigrant identity. ^ The dissertation addressed numerous influences relating to identity reconstruction: the differing circumstances of immigration, the unique resources of middle- and higher-class immigrants, the nurturing environment of South Florida for immigrants with education and professional skills, and the boundary protection offered by suburban spaces. The interviewees displayed a wide range of age, length of residence in the United States, reasons for immigration, entry ports, settlement, relocations, occupations, and claimed identities. Identity was cross-tabulated with the various influences, as a means of invalidating certain influences and indicating possible trends. ^ The dissertation concluded that middle-class immigrant identities are diverse and multiple, as are the related influences. None of these immigrants had become totally assimilated, nor have they retained dual, non-overlapping attachments or frames of reference. Instead, many of the immigrants seemed to have developed or negotiated two or more identities, according to need, context, and personal interest. A cosmopolitan community such as South Florida seems to have encouraged such multiplicity of identity. However, rather than forming free-flowing identities, most of these immigrants eventually developed diverse and hybrid identities that have bounded attachments to various networks, groups, and places in South Florida. ^

Sustentabilidade e gestão da pesca artesanal na costa do Semiárido Potiguar (RN), Brasil

T he socio - economy of the coastal municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte semiarid coast was analyzed th r ou g h by the actors, ant hropogenic implications, fishing environment and composition of its fish fauna, as well as the trend of product ion landed by the artisanal fleet with the aim of identifying the sustainability and management. In this study, were used participatory methodologies, monthly data of rainfall between September 2001 and December 2010; landings of the artisanal fleet during January 2001 to December 2010; and socioeconomic (IBGE, 2002/2010), (IDEMA, 2011/2012), (MPA, 2010; 2012), UNDP and MS (2013). Based on these data, we performed analysis of variance were performed using the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (HAP) and s tatistical models of multiple regression and time series. It was identified that the occupation of the coastal and marine zone through salt industry, tourism, shrimp farming, oil and gas and wind energy reconfigured the environment and attracted new actors . Rainfall influenced the catches, of which 35% occur in the rainy season, 40% in the dry season and 25% independent. Production increased 55%, in the period analyzed , being landed in 31 ports spread over 11 municipalities, cap tured in environments mangrov e/ estuarine (23%), coastal (46%) and oceanic (31%). Despite market up 41 species, were commercialized in the region production concentrated in eight, mainly landed in Macau and Caiçara North, by vessels of small and medium - sized (motorized and sailboats) . Highlights included three species ( Hirundichthys affins , Coryphaena hippurus and Opisthonema oglinum ), which together accounted for 63.3% of the whole volume. It was found that the motorized vessels tripled in number while sailboats reduced by half. Landin gs by different types of vessels tend to increase over time, while the small sailboats vessels, decrease. The introduction of more new motorized vessels and sailboats also tend to increase production. The study concluded that GDP and HDI of coastal countie s increased however inequality persisted. The potential of artisanal fishing is in the stage “ unfavorable ” of development and the trend in fish production is to grow over time and with the entry of more vessels. However, it is urgent that the state actions to promote and enhance planning to restore fish stocks in a sustainable and profitable fisheries standards. Therefore, it is recommend the strategic use of natural resources in a sustainable development perspective.

Noção de simetria na cosmologia de Anaximandro de Mileto

Through the philosophical movements in Ionia and through researches made on phýsis (started by the first wise men in Miletus), we elected Anaximander‟s cosmology as a fertile ground for exploring the Greek notion of symmetry. From a geographical perspective, initially, the Greeks‟ originality towards the notion of a due measure will be questioned, since the astrological and mathematical knowledge were common in Babylon and Egypt. Although the cultural environment on the Milesian commercial ports and its architecture show evidences of a possible eastern impact on the Greek thought, it will be noted (from fragments validated by the Doxography tradition) that the problem with the birthplace of the notion of harmony and of due measure is something specific of the Greek culture and inherent to its remote religiosity. The resumption of these notions refers to the issue of arché and to its divinity assumed by Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes. The divine was not an extrinsic notion to the Milesian thought towards the first element. Therefore, we will have as a result of this investigation some assumptions for which the notion of symmetry in Anaximander, stated in his ápeiron, could be, from the dialogue between philosophy and Orphism, an assimilation of the One, as witnessed in the Derveni papyrus.

Data to Decision in a Dynamic Ocean: Robust Species Distribution Models and Spatial Decision Frameworks

Human use of the oceans is increasingly in conflict with conservation of endangered species. Methods for managing the spatial and temporal placement of industries such as military, fishing, transportation and offshore energy, have historically been post hoc; i.e. the time and place of human activity is often already determined before assessment of environmental impacts. In this dissertation, I build robust species distribution models in two case study areas, US Atlantic (Best et al. 2012) and British Columbia (Best et al. 2015), predicting presence and abundance respectively, from scientific surveys. These models are then applied to novel decision frameworks for preemptively suggesting optimal placement of human activities in space and time to minimize ecological impacts: siting for offshore wind energy development, and routing ships to minimize risk of striking whales. Both decision frameworks relate the tradeoff between conservation risk and industry profit with synchronized variable and map views as online spatial decision support systems.

For siting offshore wind energy development (OWED) in the U.S. Atlantic (chapter 4), bird density maps are combined across species with weights of OWED sensitivity to collision and displacement and 10 km2 sites are compared against OWED profitability based on average annual wind speed at 90m hub heights and distance to transmission grid. A spatial decision support system enables toggling between the map and tradeoff plot views by site. A selected site can be inspected for sensitivity to a cetaceans throughout the year, so as to capture months of the year which minimize episodic impacts of pre-operational activities such as seismic airgun surveying and pile driving.

Routing ships to avoid whale strikes (chapter 5) can be similarly viewed as a tradeoff, but is a different problem spatially. A cumulative cost surface is generated from density surface maps and conservation status of cetaceans, before applying as a resistance surface to calculate least-cost routes between start and end locations, i.e. ports and entrance locations to study areas. Varying a multiplier to the cost surface enables calculation of multiple routes with different costs to conservation of cetaceans versus cost to transportation industry, measured as distance. Similar to the siting chapter, a spatial decisions support system enables toggling between the map and tradeoff plot view of proposed routes. The user can also input arbitrary start and end locations to calculate the tradeoff on the fly.

Essential to the input of these decision frameworks are distributions of the species. The two preceding chapters comprise species distribution models from two case study areas, U.S. Atlantic (chapter 2) and British Columbia (chapter 3), predicting presence and density, respectively. Although density is preferred to estimate potential biological removal, per Marine Mammal Protection Act requirements in the U.S., all the necessary parameters, especially distance and angle of observation, are less readily available across publicly mined datasets.

In the case of predicting cetacean presence in the U.S. Atlantic (chapter 2), I extracted datasets from the online OBIS-SEAMAP geo-database, and integrated scientific surveys conducted by ship (n=36) and aircraft (n=16), weighting a Generalized Additive Model by minutes surveyed within space-time grid cells to harmonize effort between the two survey platforms. For each of 16 cetacean species guilds, I predicted the probability of occurrence from static environmental variables (water depth, distance to shore, distance to continental shelf break) and time-varying conditions (monthly sea-surface temperature). To generate maps of presence vs. absence, Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to define the optimal threshold that minimizes false positive and false negative error rates. I integrated model outputs, including tables (species in guilds, input surveys) and plots (fit of environmental variables, ROC curve), into an online spatial decision support system, allowing for easy navigation of models by taxon, region, season, and data provider.

For predicting cetacean density within the inner waters of British Columbia (chapter 3), I calculated density from systematic, line-transect marine mammal surveys over multiple years and seasons (summer 2004, 2005, 2008, and spring/autumn 2007) conducted by Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Abundance estimates were calculated using two different methods: Conventional Distance Sampling (CDS) and Density Surface Modelling (DSM). CDS generates a single density estimate for each stratum, whereas DSM explicitly models spatial variation and offers potential for greater precision by incorporating environmental predictors. Although DSM yields a more relevant product for the purposes of marine spatial planning, CDS has proven to be useful in cases where there are fewer observations available for seasonal and inter-annual comparison, particularly for the scarcely observed elephant seal. Abundance estimates are provided on a stratum-specific basis. Steller sea lions and harbour seals are further differentiated by ‘hauled out’ and ‘in water’. This analysis updates previous estimates (Williams & Thomas 2007) by including additional years of effort, providing greater spatial precision with the DSM method over CDS, novel reporting for spring and autumn seasons (rather than summer alone), and providing new abundance estimates for Steller sea lion and northern elephant seal. In addition to providing a baseline of marine mammal abundance and distribution, against which future changes can be compared, this information offers the opportunity to assess the risks posed to marine mammals by existing and emerging threats, such as fisheries bycatch, ship strikes, and increased oil spill and ocean noise issues associated with increases of container ship and oil tanker traffic in British Columbia’s continental shelf waters.

Starting with marine animal observations at specific coordinates and times, I combine these data with environmental data, often satellite derived, to produce seascape predictions generalizable in space and time. These habitat-based models enable prediction of encounter rates and, in the case of density surface models, abundance that can then be applied to management scenarios. Specific human activities, OWED and shipping, are then compared within a tradeoff decision support framework, enabling interchangeable map and tradeoff plot views. These products make complex processes transparent for gaming conservation, industry and stakeholders towards optimal marine spatial management, fundamental to the tenets of marine spatial planning, ecosystem-based management and dynamic ocean management.

Testing of Interposer-Based 2.5D Integrated Circuits

The unprecedented and relentless growth in the electronics industry is feeding the demand for integrated circuits (ICs) with increasing functionality and performance at minimum cost and power consumption. As predicted by Moore's law, ICs are being aggressively scaled to meet this demand. While the continuous scaling of process technology is reducing gate delays, the performance of ICs is being increasingly dominated by interconnect delays. In an effort to improve submicrometer interconnect performance, to increase packing density, and to reduce chip area and power consumption, the semiconductor industry is focusing on three-dimensional (3D) integration. However, volume production and commercial exploitation of 3D integration are not feasible yet due to significant technical hurdles.

At the present time, interposer-based 2.5D integration is emerging as a precursor to stacked 3D integration. All the dies and the interposer in a 2.5D IC must be adequately tested for product qualification. However, since the structure of 2.5D ICs is different from the traditional 2D ICs, new challenges have emerged: (1) pre-bond interposer testing, (2) lack of test access, (3) limited ability for at-speed testing, (4) high density I/O ports and interconnects, (5) reduced number of test pins, and (6) high power consumption. This research targets the above challenges and effective solutions have been developed to test both dies and the interposer.

The dissertation first introduces the basic concepts of 3D ICs and 2.5D ICs. Prior work on testing of 2.5D ICs is studied. An efficient method is presented to locate defects in a passive interposer before stacking. The proposed test architecture uses e-fuses that can be programmed to connect or disconnect functional paths inside the interposer. The concept of a die footprint is utilized for interconnect testing, and the overall assembly and test flow is described. Moreover, the concept of weighted critical area is defined and utilized to reduce test time. In order to fully determine the location of each e-fuse and the order of functional interconnects in a test path, we also present a test-path design algorithm. The proposed algorithm can generate all test paths for interconnect testing.

In order to test for opens, shorts, and interconnect delay defects in the interposer, a test architecture is proposed that is fully compatible with the IEEE 1149.1 standard and relies on an enhancement of the standard test access port (TAP) controller. To reduce test cost, a test-path design and scheduling technique is also presented that minimizes a composite cost function based on test time and the design-for-test (DfT) overhead in terms of additional through silicon vias (TSVs) and micro-bumps needed for test access. The locations of the dies on the interposer are taken into consideration in order to determine the order of dies in a test path.

To address the scenario of high density of I/O ports and interconnects, an efficient built-in self-test (BIST) technique is presented that targets the dies and the interposer interconnects. The proposed BIST architecture can be enabled by the standard TAP controller in the IEEE 1149.1 standard. The area overhead introduced by this BIST architecture is negligible; it includes two simple BIST controllers, a linear-feedback-shift-register (LFSR), a multiple-input-signature-register (MISR), and some extensions to the boundary-scan cells in the dies on the interposer. With these extensions, all boundary-scan cells can be used for self-configuration and self-diagnosis during interconnect testing. To reduce the overall test cost, a test scheduling and optimization technique under power constraints is described.

In order to accomplish testing with a small number test pins, the dissertation presents two efficient ExTest scheduling strategies that implements interconnect testing between tiles inside an system on chip (SoC) die on the interposer while satisfying the practical constraint that the number of required test pins cannot exceed the number of available pins at the chip level. The tiles in the SoC are divided into groups based on the manner in which they are interconnected. In order to minimize the test time, two optimization solutions are introduced. The first solution minimizes the number of input test pins, and the second solution minimizes the number output test pins. In addition, two subgroup configuration methods are further proposed to generate subgroups inside each test group.

Finally, the dissertation presents a programmable method for shift-clock stagger assignment to reduce power supply noise during SoC die testing in 2.5D ICs. An SoC die in the 2.5D IC is typically composed of several blocks and two neighboring blocks that share the same power rails should not be toggled at the same time during shift. Therefore, the proposed programmable method does not assign the same stagger value to neighboring blocks. The positions of all blocks are first analyzed and the shared boundary length between blocks is then calculated. Based on the position relationships between the blocks, a mathematical model is presented to derive optimal result for small-to-medium sized problems. For larger designs, a heuristic algorithm is proposed and evaluated.

In summary, the dissertation targets important design and optimization problems related to testing of interposer-based 2.5D ICs. The proposed research has led to theoretical insights, experiment results, and a set of test and design-for-test methods to make testing effective and feasible from a cost perspective.

Les interconnexions électriques entre la France et ses voisins européens depuis 1970 : un vecteur méconnu de l'intégration européenne

Les ouvrages de transport d’électricité ont d’abord été pensés un par un, reliant un excédent de production à un besoin de consommation. Ils ont ainsi parfois très naturellement et dès l’origine traversé les frontières des États pour répondre à leur raison d’être. Les secteurs électriques se structurant fortement lorsque le virage électrique fut pris, les interconnexions entre pays furent conçues par les techniciens comme une mesure élémentaire de sûreté et d’équilibre de ce produit atypique qu’est l’électricité. En France plus particulièrement, lorsque la production électronucléaire se développa à partir des années 1970, ces interconnexions devinrent petit à petit sources de revenus pour l’entreprise nationale, et d’équilibre pour la balance commerciale nationale. L’intérêt grandissant porté au secteur électrique par les institutions européennes à la fin des années 1990 vient ébranler les acteurs économiques géographiques verticaux, et rebat les cartes des enjeux à adresser à une maille plus large que l’État nation. Dans ces transformations successives, les interconnexions aux frontières, et particulièrement aux frontières françaises, jouent ainsi un rôle tout à fait spécifique et de plus en plus structurant pour les économies ouvertes des pays européens. Les réseaux de transport électriques continuent ainsi une mutation entamée dans les années 1970 qui les a conduits de la condition de mal nécessaire à celle de vecteurs indispensables de transformation des économies européennes. L’objet de ce mémoire est d’illustrer la très grande capacité d’adaptation de ces organes industriels, économiques, sociétaux et politiques, dont on pourrait faussement penser qu’ils sont immobilisés par leur nature capitalistique, à travers les enjeux portés par les interconnexions aux frontières françaises. Les sources sont à la fois issues de données des opérateurs techniques, de la documentation – encore peu fréquente – sur ces sujets, ainsi que des statistiques officielles du ministère français. Cette capacité d’innovation et de développement de « couches de services » permet aujourd’hui aux grands réseaux de transport de traverser les époques et la variabilité des orientations de leurs environnements, durablement.

(Table) Content of organic compounds in the bottom sediments of the Volga River estuary

Materials from different spheres of the Earth are ultimately delivered to bottom sediments, which serve as a natural recorder of the functioning of other spheres and originate as a result of the accumulation of their substances. Sedimentary material and species of river-transported elements are subjected to dramatic reworking in marginal filters, where river and sea waters are mixed. These processes are most important for the Caspian Sea, where runoffs of rivers (especially the Volga River) and the intense development and transportation of hydrocarbon fuel by tankers and pipelines (related to the coastal petroleum industry in the Sumgait and Baku ports, Apsheron Peninsula) are potential sources of hydrocarbon pollution. Previously obtained data showed that the total content of hydrocarbon fraction (i.e., the sum of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)) in bottom sediments varied within 29-1820 µg/g. The content of petroleum hydrocarbons in the northeastern Caspian region varied from 0.052 to 34.09 µg/g with the maximum content in the Tengiz field. The content of six polyarenes in the Volga delta sediments was no more than 40 ng/g. To determine the recent HC pollution of bottom sediments and trends in the functioning of the Volga marginal filter, in summer of 2003 and 2004 we analyzed bottom sediments (58 samples) in the river waterway; Kirovsk channel; Bakhtemir and Ikryanoe branches; tributaries of the Kizan, Chagan, and other rivers; and the Caspian seashore.

Are critically endangered fish back on the menu? Analysis of U.K. fisheries data suggest post-ban landings of prohibited skates in European waters

Skates (Rajidae) have been commercially exploited in Europe for hundreds of years with some species’ abundances declining dramatically during the twentieth century. In 2009 it became “prohibited for EU vessels to target, retain, tranship or land” certain species in some ICES areas, including the critically endangered common skate and the endangered white skate. To examine compliance with skate bans the official UK landings data for 2011–2014 were analysed. Surprisingly, it was found that after the ban prohibited species were still reported landed in UK ports, including 9.6 t of common skate during 2011–2014. The majority of reported landings of common and white skate were from northern UK waters and landed into northern UK ports. Although past landings could not be validated as being actual prohibited species, the landings’ patterns found reflect known abundance distributions that suggest actual landings were made, rather than sporadic occurrence across ports that would be evident if landings were solely due to systematic misidentification or data entry errors. Nevertheless, misreporting and data entry errors could not be discounted as factors contributing to the recorded landings of prohibited species. These findings raise questions about the efficacy of current systems to police skate landings to ensure prohibited species remain protected. By identifying UK ports with the highest apparent landings of prohibited species and those still landing species grouped as'skates and rays’, these results may aid authorities in allocating limited resources more effectively to reduce landings, misreporting and data errors of prohibited species, and increase species-specific landing compliance.

Are critically endangered fish back on the menu? Analysis of U.K. fisheries data suggest post-ban landings of prohibited skates in European waters

Skates (Rajidae) have been commercially exploited in Europe for hundreds of years with some species’ abundances declining dramatically during the twentieth century. In 2009 it became “prohibited for EU vessels to target, retain, tranship or land” certain species in some ICES areas, including the critically endangered common skate and the endangered white skate. To examine compliance with skate bans the official UK landings data for 2011–2014 were analysed. Surprisingly, it was found that after the ban prohibited species were still reported landed in UK ports, including 9.6 t of common skate during 2011–2014. The majority of reported landings of common and white skate were from northern UK waters and landed into northern UK ports. Although past landings could not be validated as being actual prohibited species, the landings’ patterns found reflect known abundance distributions that suggest actual landings were made, rather than sporadic occurrence across ports that would be evident if landings were solely due to systematic misidentification or data entry errors. Nevertheless, misreporting and data entry errors could not be discounted as factors contributing to the recorded landings of prohibited species. These findings raise questions about the efficacy of current systems to police skate landings to ensure prohibited species remain protected. By identifying UK ports with the highest apparent landings of prohibited species and those still landing species grouped as'skates and rays’, these results may aid authorities in allocating limited resources more effectively to reduce landings, misreporting and data errors of prohibited species, and increase species-specific landing compliance.

La Comunità ebraica di Shanghai

The Jewish community in Shanghai was among the first to settle in the Treaty Ports which were opened after the Opium war. Jewish population grew until the rendition of the foreign settlements to the Chinese authorities, and its history broadly consists of three periods.The first Jews came to Shanghai in the XIX century were sephardits from Iraq and India. Among those emigrated to Shanghai following the expansion of the British commerce in China were such famous families as Sassoons, Hardoons and Kadoories.The second wave arrived with the White Russians exodus after the October Revolution; they were askanzits Jews who fled from pogroms and the Russian civil war. The third wave were Jews fleeing from central Europe in the 1930s. This group was the largest of the three.The first settlers saw Shanghai as a port of opportunities, while the others came there seeking refuge.The interwar Shanghai could offer protection and a temporary place of residence for Jewish people. In the 1920s and 1930s Jews coming to Shanghai were helped by local Jewish associations, which supported them in the search for accommodations and jobs. This net of associations was effective until WWII. The war, however, made them face increasing number of contraints. In this constrained situation we should remember that the Japanese authorities, occupying the International Settlement, imposed a ban for new Jewish arrivals to settle in the Hongkou district; while the French authorities under the Vichy government imposed a complete ban on Jewish residents in their concession. Finally, the Jewish immigration to Shanghai had stopped completely in 1942, because there were no more ways to get there.Japanese authorities, however, were not interested in applying the racial laws as their priority lay in the conquest of China. And although the Jews were in an enemy's territory, they were not persecuted. In fact, when the war was over they left Shanghai directly to the United States and Israel.

Effektiviseringsmöjligheter avseende fyllnadsgrad : En jämförande analys mellan nuläge och optimerat resultat

The study aims to provide information on efficiency opportunities on SCA's northbound cassettes. It has been made by examining the capacity utilization rate on the northbound cassettes on SCA's vessels for a period of two weeks. The cargo loaded in the ports of Rotterdam and Sheerness consists of external cargo of varying shape. The cargo is shipped northbound to Holmsund and Sundsvall. Measurements have been made on the cargo to the final destinations Sundsvall, Holmsund and Finland. The measurements have been used in a mathematical optimization model created to optimize the loading of the cassettes. The model is based on placing boxes in a grid where the boxes that are placed representing the cargo and the grids representing the cassettes. The aim of the model is to reduce the number of cassettes and thereby increase the capacity utilization rate. The study resulted in an increase in capacity utilization rate for both area and volume to all destinations. The overall improvement for all cassettes examined resulted in an increase in the area capacity utilization rate by 9.02 percentage points and 5.72 percentage points for the volume capacity utilization rate. It also resulted in a decrease of 22 cassettes in total on the four voyages that were examined which indicate that there are opportunities to improve the capacity utilization rate. The study also shows that the model can be used as a basis for similar problems.

BIJAGOS ARCHIPELAGO: Impacts and challenges for environmental sustainability

The Archipelago of Bijagos in Guinea-Bissau is currently subject to numerous external impacts affecting their secular equilibrium. The islands were never contemplated by the colonial development, with the exception of two modest ports in Bubaque and Bolama. The latter place was the capital of the country from 1913 to 1941. The archipelago has attracted increasing interest on the part of economic agents, most of which are incompatible with the guarantee of sustainable development. There has been a general impoverishment as regards the preservation of marine resources, particularly with regard to the internal demographic pressure from a population that has doubled since 1981 and due to other external factors related to the neighboring and subsequent migration depletion of resources not renewable. The article analyzes the main vulnerabilities that the archipelago is currently facing and how natural resources have been preserved. The article follows an interdisciplinary approach between different areas of knowledge especially in projects involving both different academic fields (biology, ecology, geography, anthropology and history), for the nonscientific practices that include actors and institutions.

Les conditions d’émergence de la lutte contre l’obésité

Rendre compte des conditions d’émergence de la lutte contre l’obésité, c’est aussi rendre compte d’un corps socialement attendu. Ce corps socialement attendu, en Occident, prend racine à la Renaissance dans les discours du peintre Alberti et le corps de justes proportions, de l’éducateur Mercurialis et le corps transformable à volonté, et avec le médecin Vésale et le corps réparable : il s’agit là de trois constantes qui traverseront toutes les époques. Ce corps socialement attendu sera fédéré sous la contenance de soi et la gouvernance de soi issues de la Réforme. De là, une image sociale du corps émerge qui se doit d’être contenu et gouverné, d’où les jugements moraux de plus en plus en sévères portés sur le corps en excès de masse adipeuse. Au XVIIe siècle, dans la foulée des traités de civilités, c’est le passage de l’idée d’être un corps à celle d’avoir un corps dont l’individu est personnellement et socialement responsable, qui culminera, au milieu du XIXe siècle, avec l’introduction de l’indice de masse corporelle, du pèse-personne, du miroir et de la mode : l’individu est désormais maître et esclave de son image des pieds à la tête. Cette quantification de soi aura comme impact de confronter directement l’individu à son propre poids et à ses propres comportements, d’où la mise en place d’une batterie d’interventions à déployer sur le corps pour le maintenir dans une fourchette de poids idéal. Au milieu du XXe siècle, avec la montée du complexe agroalimentaire, de la montée de l’industrie de la restauration rapide, de la transformation profonde du tissu urbain, de l’arrivée massive de l’automobile, de la transformation des emplois de plus en plus orientées vers le secteur tertiaire, se met graduellement en place ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler l’infrastructure de la prise de poids qui entraînera dans son sillage tout un discours de la modération. Le XXIe siècle se donnera pour mission non pas de modifier l’infrastructure de la prise de poids mise en place au XXe siècle, mais de donner à l’individu les moyens de lutter contre la prise de poids à travers le discours de la saine alimentation et de la discipline personnelle. L’obèse ou la personne en simple surpoids est désormais totalement responsable de sa propre condition.

Estimates of Total Fuel Consumption in Transporting Grain from Iowa to Major Grain-Importing Countries by Alternative Modes and Routes, 1985

This study measured fuel consumption in transporting grain from Iowa origins to Japan and Amsterdam by alternative routes and modes of transport and applied these data to construct equations for fuel consumption from Iowa origins to alternative final destinations. Some of the results are as follows: (1) The metered tractor-trailer truck averaged 186.6 gross ton-miles per gallon and 90.5 net ton-miles per gallon when loaded 50% of total miles. (2) The 1983 fuel consumption of seven trucks taken from company records was 82.4 net ton-miles per gallon at 67.5% loaded miles and 68.6 net ton-miles per gallon at 50% loaded miles. (3) Unit grain trains from Iowa to West Coast ports averaged 437.0 net ton-miles per gallon whereas unit grain trains from Iowa to New Orleans averaged 640.1 net ton-miles per gallon--a 46% advantage for the New Orleans trips. (4) Average barge fuel consumption on the Mississippi River from Iowa to New Orleans export grain elevators was 544.5 net ton-miles per gallon, with a 35% backhaul rate. (5) Ocean vessel net ton-miles per gallon varies widely by size of ship and backhaul percentage. With no backhaul, the average net ton-miles per gallon were as follows: for 30,000 dwt ship, 574.8 net ton-miles per gallon; for 50,000 dwt ship, 701.9; for 70,000 dwt ship, 835.1; and for 100,000 dwt ship, 1,043.4. (6) The most fuel efficient route and modal combination to transport grain from Iowa to Japan depends on the size of ocean vessel, the percentage of backhaul, and the origin of the grain. Alternative routes and modal combinations in shipping grain to Japan are ranked in descending order of fuel efficiencies.

Analyse comparative du fonctionnement sensori-moteur chez des déficients profonds en fonction de la présence ou de l'absence de troubles lésionnels

Grâce à l'élaboration de sa théorie opératoire du développement cognitif, Jean Piaget fut, sans contredit, l'un des auteurs les plus écoutés dans ce domaine. Il a mis en lumière une série de stades du développement cognitif allant du niveau sensori-moteur en passant par le niveau des opérations concrètes pour finalement aboutir à celui des opérations formelles qui obéissent à des lois précises de construction (Piaget, 1964). Parmi celles-ci, Piaget affirme l'universalité du développement de ces stades en ce sens que tous les sujets passent par la même séquence. Il s'est très peu intéressé aux différences inter-individuelles. Ce qui explique que la très grande majorité de ses travaux ont portés sur l'observation de sujets normaux (Inhelder, 1963). Ce fut donc d'autres chercheurs qui ont tenté d'appliquer la pensée piagétienne à des catégories précises de sujets. Dans cette veine, la présente recherche s'intéresse à l'application de cette pensée aux déficients profonds. C'est là un moyen utile de tester l'universalité de la séquence de développement proposée par Piaget. Le relevé de documentation sur cette question proposée par Klein et Safford (1977) permet de constater qu'il est relativement aisé de trouver des recherches s’intéressant à l'étude du fonctionnement cognitif des déficients mentaux légers atteignant la période des opérations concrètes mais qu'il est beaucoup plus difficile d'en trouver qui s'attardent au fonctionnement cognitif des déficients profonds. Il est pourtant possible d'en trouver quelques-unes (Ciccheti et Sroufe, 1976; Inhelder, 1963; Kahn, 1976; Lambert et Vanderlinden, 1977; Rogers, 1977; Silverstein et al., 1975; Wohlueter et Sindberg, 1975; Woodward, 1959). Les résultats divergent. De plus, une analyse approfondie des méthodologies utilisées suffit à convaincre que le débat demeure ouvert sur cette question. Des améliorations méthodologiques sont apportées dans cette recherche. La présente étude analyse donc le fonctionnement sensori-moteur des déficients profonds en le comparant à celui de sujets normaux de même âge mental qu'eux. Les déficients mentaux sont divisés en deux groupes selon qu'il y ait ou non présence de trouble lésionnel. Tous les sujets font face aux items de l'échelle de la poursuite visuelle et de la permanence de l'objet ainsi que celle des relations entre les objets dans l'espace construits par Uzgiris et Hunt (1975). Les résultats sont ensuite tour à tour présentés et interprétés.