26 research outputs found
La communication internationale à l’épreuve de la crise écologique. Contours d’un modèle de la double présence
No full textCet article porte sur l’essor de la thématique environnementale
dans les discours et les espaces institutionnels traditionnellement reliés à la
communication internationale. S’appuyant sur une analyse de contenu d’un corpus
de travaux théoriques et de documents institutionnels remontant aux années 1970,
l’auteur retrace les étapes importantes de l’essor de l’environnement comme
objet de préoccupation dans la recherche en communication internationale. Il
apparaît que les questions de développement et d’environnement y ont émergé avec
un certain décalage temporel et que la dimension communicationnelle est
longtemps restée périphérique pour les problématiques environnementales alors
qu’elle a rapidement été centrale pour les enjeux de développement.
S’intéressant à la mobilisation historique de la question des « ressources »,
l’auteur montre que si elle est aujourd’hui centrale pour le paradigme du
« développement durable », sa généalogie est cependant plus ancienne puisqu’elle
a auparavant structuré les enjeux autour des flux d’information (paradigme
informationnel : C4D) et des orbites et des fréquences (paradigme
télécommunicationnel : ICT4D), avant de s’appliquer à la question
environnementale (paradigme écologique). L’auteur s’appuie sur cette généalogie
critique de la constitution épistémique et institutionnelle du champ de
recherche pour suggérer un modèle normatif s’appuyant sur une éthique de la
responsabilité (inspirée par Hans Jonas) et sur deux métaconditions : un
principe horizontal de participation (communicationnel) et un principe de
résilience (écologique).This article focuses on the rise of the environmental theme in
international communication institutions and discourses. Through a content
analysis of a body of theoretical work and institutional documents dating back
to the 1970s, the author traces the main stages of the rise of environment as an
object of concern in international communication research. It appears that
development and environmental issues have emerged with a certain time lag and
that the communication dimension has long remained peripheral for
environmental issues while it was quickly central to development issues.
Focusing on the historical mobilization of the question of “resources”, the
author shows that, while it is central today for the paradigm of “sustainable
development”, its genealogy is older since it has previously structured the
stakes around information flows (information paradigm: C4D) and orbits and
frequencies (telecommunication paradigm: ICT4D) before applying to the
environmental question (ecological paradigm). The author relies on this critical
genealogy of the epistemic and institutional constitution of the field of
research to suggest a normative model based on an ethic of responsibility
(inspired by Hans Jonas) and on two metaconditions: a horizontal principle of
participation (communicative) and a principle of resilience (ecological)
Bridging Research and Expertise: Dominant West African Trends in Communication Studies
No full text West Africa, in this article, is used as an analytical framework for examining communication research from a diachronic perspective. The text is based on a literature review through which the author analyzed a corpus on West African work (articles in scientific journals, grey literature, and books on African communication research). After briefly sketching scientific production trends at the continental level, the author provides a historiography of West African communication research from the 1940s onwards. The substantial contribution of the subfield of philosophy of communication and the foundational orientation that it has lent to research, especially in the 1980s, are then reviewed in greater detail. Particular attention is paid to Francophone communication and gender research. Finally, the article identifies the discernible trends guiding the future agenda of communication research. </jats:p
Dureedubaa
No full textThe entire manuscript is available for download as a PDF file(s). Higher-resolution images may be available upon request. For technical assistance, please contact [email protected]. Fieldwork Team: Dr. Fallou Ngom (Pricipal Investigator; Director, African Studies Center), Ablaye Diakité (Local Project Manager), Mr. Ibrahima Yaffa (General Field Facilitator), and Ibrahima Ngom (photographer). Technical Team: Professor Fallou Ngom (Principal Investigator, Project Director and former Director of the African Studies Center at Boston University)), and Eleni Castro (Technical Lead, BU Libraries). This collection of Mandinka Ajami materials is copied as part of the African Studies Center’s African Ajami Library. This is a joint project between BU and the West African Research Center (WARC), funded by the British Library/Arcadia Endangered Archives Programme. Access Condition and Copyright: These materials are subject to copyright and are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are fully cited using the information below. For use, distribution or reproduction beyond these terms, contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]). Citation: Materials in this web edition should be cited as: Ngom, Fallou, Castro, Eleni, & Diakité, Ablaye. (2018). African Ajami Library: EAP 1042. Digital Preservation of Mandinka Ajami Materials of Casamance, Senegal. Boston: Boston University Libraries: http://hdl.handle.net/2144/27112. For Inquiries: please contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]). For technical assistance, please contact [email protected] / Custodial history: The owner inherited it from his father, Al-hadji Lamine Cisse. His father inherited it from his father Arfang Aliou Cisse. Aliou Cisse was born in Woy-Manambu in present-day Guinea Bissau and died in Yiracounda. He was a famous Mandinka religoius scholar. His community commemorates his life every year.The manuscript, called Dureedubaa by its owner, provides a local history of Sufi writings and training. It celebrates scholars who devoted their lives to the quest and expansion of mystical Sufi knowledge. The manuscript is written in Arabic with glosses in Arabic and Soninke Ajami
Marshall McLuhan et la théorie médiatique : genèse, pertinence et limites d’une contribution contestée
No full textLe sens aigu des aphorismes et l’hermétisme de Marshall McLuhan ont probablement nui à la réception scientifique de ses travaux. Néanmoins, les écrits de l’auteur canadien continuent de susciter critiques et dithyrambes. Dans cet article, nous effectuons à partir des sciences de la communication un bilan succinct de sa contribution. Après avoir passé en revue quelques-uns de ceux envers qui McLuhan lui-même est redevable, nous abordons la postérité de ses écrits et évoquons les critiques les plus récurrentes qui lui ont été adressées. L’article conclut en évoquant la manière dont McLuhan a importé de manière homologique dans l’analyse des media les approches mobilisées en théorie littéraire dans les années 1930 et en appelant en renfort l’approche de Harold Innis pour compléter celle de McLuhan.The hermeticism and aphoristic style of Marshall McLuhan probably affected the scientific reception of his work. Nevertheless, the writings of the Canadian author still continue to attract both criticisms and praise. In this paper, we provide a brief account of his contribution. After reviewing some of the ideas of thinkers to whom McLuhan himself is indebted, we address the posterity of his writings and evoke the most recurrent criticisms of his work. The paper ends by mentioning how McLuhan imported approaches mobilized in literary theory in the 1930s into media analysis and by calling on Harold Innis’ approach to complement that of McLuhan.Sobre la base de las ciencias de la comunicación, el presente artículo propone un sucinto balance de la contribución de Marshall McLuhan. Probablemente, el sentido agudo de los aforismos y del hermetismo de este autor ha afectado negativamente a la recepción de sus trabajos entre los científicos. También se puede establecer que los escritos del autor canadiense continúan suscitando críticas y laudatorios.Tras señalar algunos autores que influenciaron a McLuhan, se analizan diferentes textos y se evocan las críticas más recurrentes que le han sido destinadas. Finalmente, se concluye evocando la forma en que McLuhan ha importado, de manera homológica, las aproximaciones de teoría literaria en los años 1930, en el análisis de los medios. También se rescata la teoría de Harold Hinnis que completa la labor de McLuhan
Violence and Trauma in Selected African Literature
No full textViolence and Trauma in African Literature focuses on representations of violence in African literature. The study starts with violence that emerged in the context of post-independence Africa plagued by the rule of tyranny after many African states failed to create viable institutions to spearhead national integration and sustainable socio-economic development. In this section, the author explores various aesthetic features—neo-baroque style, intertextuality, and narrative techniques—used by Sony Labou Tansi in La vie et Demie, Henri Lopes in The Laughing Cry, and Ahmadou Kourouma in Waiting for the Wild beasts to Vote to expose and deride despotic violence in the African postcolony. The study then turns to the ways in which protagonists resist two other forms of violence: racist violence in Alex Laguma’s works. A Walk in the Night, In the Fog of the season’s End, and Time of the Butcherbird and gendered violence in Nawal El Saadawi’s fiction Woman at Point Zero. Alex Laguma’s novels underscore the need for the emergence of collective consciousness to defeat the Apartheid system. In Nawal El Saadawi’s novel, multifarious patriarchal assaults against the main female protagonist pave her way to assumed agency in the face of death.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/facbooks/1020/thumbnail.jp
Communication studies, disciplination and the ontological stakes of interdisciplinarity: a critical review
No full textBuilding on an in-depth analysis of the core literature grappling with the philosophical problematization of communication, this article examines the oft-asserted interdisciplinary nature of communication studies by assessing some of its underlying presuppositions at the ontological and epistemological levels. The article evaluates the coherence of our fragmented discipline through the articulation of the categories of the One and the Multiple in ontological and epistemological directions. In doing so, the recurrent conception of communication studies as an interdiscipline is criticized while recognizing the importance of undertaking interdisciplinary research within the field. Are especially considered the historical roots of interdisciplinary advocacies, namely the institutional demands for interdisciplinarity that have often resulted in conceptions of communication studies by communication scholars themselves as a crossroads or a service discipline. Building from Ernst Cassirer’s developments regarding the “theory of the concept’’, the author contends in the final section of the paper that the solution to the lack of coherence of the field lies in the necessity for communication studies to discipline themselves in order for the research undertaken within the field to acquire a common framework of intelligibility
Seed value chains for Sorghum and Millet in Mali: A state-based system in transition
No full text"This paper reviews the structure and performance of the sorghum and millet seed sector in Mali. The Sahel is the origin of pearl millet and sorghum, seed selection and management of these crops is embedded in local cultures, and most producers of these crops are subsistence oriented. Despite seed sector reform, no certified seed of these crops is sold in local markets and farmers prefer to rely on themselves or each other for seed. The dominant source of certified seed is the national seed service. Certified seed is multiplied by contracted farmers and seed producer groups, and supplied to farmers through farmers' associations, development organizations, and extension services. The informal sector supplies farmers with non-certified seed directly and indirectly through village grain markets. There is no consensus about whether it is lack of effective demand or supply that constrains farmer use of certified sorghum and millet seed, but researchers generally conclude that the process of certifying seed is too lengthy, some mechanism must be established for production and trade of locally-adapted landraces, and Mali's highly structured farmers' associations could play an even stronger role in testing and promoting demand for certified seed. Recommendations have included the use of small packs and seed auctions where market infrastructure is sparse, and in more commercialized areas, involvement of agro-input dealers, shopkeepers and traders. Still, estimated adoption rates for improved millet (under 10 percent of crop area) and sorghum seed (under 20 percent of crop area) could be as high as can be expected in this challenging natural environment and institutional context." from Author's AbstractSeeds, Formal sector, Informal sector, Millet, Sorghum, Seed markets, Biodiversity,
Development of Comprehensive Experimental, Analytical and, Numerical Methods for Predicting Rubber Friction and Wear under Thermomechanical Conditions
No full textViscoelastic materials have been used widely in different applications, such as constructing tires, artificial joints, shoe heels, and soles. A study on the different characteristics of viscoelastic materials has always been a matter of interest in order to improve their properties for various applications.
In the automotive industry, rubber, as a viscoelastic material, has been used in several subsystems, such as vehicle interior, suspension, steering joints, and tires. The tire and terrain's contact characteristics are among the essential factors for assessing the performance of the tire and the vehicle in general. Friction and tread wear are two of these contact characteristics. Considering the tire's functionality, for most applications, it is desired to have higher friction to have better traction and a lower wear rate to minimize the material loss of the tread.
The friction coefficient and the rubber's wear rate depend on various parameters such as rubber material properties, terrain characteristics, temperature (tread and the environment), and the load. To obtain the wear rate and friction of a viscoelastic material, three approaches have been used for this study: Experimental, Analytical, and Numerical. The results obtained using these approaches have been compared and validated.
Several test setups have been designed and implemented to study the wear and friction of the rubber experimentally. Also, a new linear friction tester has been designed and manufactured by the author to achieve this project's objectives. The new test setup has several advantages over existing test setups in this field, such as covering a higher range of velocities while maintaining high precision. The designed Linear Friction tester and the modified dynamic friction tester at the CenTiRe laboratory at Virginia Tech were used to measure the rubber's friction and wear for different testing conditions such as different normal loads, different velocities, and various surfaces such asphalt and sandpaper. The data collected by the experiment will later be used for the validation of the developed models.
In order to obtain the wear rate of the rubber using the analytical approach, the real contact area and friction of the rubber were calculated using Persson's model. The simulation has created the surface to obtain the friction coefficient and the real contact area. After obtaining the friction coefficient and the real contact area, the rubber's wear rate was calculated using a novel approach by combining the Persson Powdery Rubber Wear model with the Crack Propagation model. The results from the improved model compare well with the results from the original model.
For the last step of this project, a Finite Element approach was used for modeling a tread block and round rubber sample. A new semi-empirical model for wear was developed by improving the Archard wear model. The novel approach was implemented to Abaqus by using the Umeshmotion subroutine and adaptive mesh motion (ALE) and subroutine UFric and UFric_Coef in two categories: The Node base method and the Ribbon base method. For finite element modeling, the visco-hyper elastic material model has been used to define the rubber's material properties.Doctor of PhilosophyViscoelastic materials have been used widely in different applications, such as constructing tires, artificial joints, shoe heels, and soles. Therefore, studying the different characteristics of viscoelastic materials has always been a matter of interest in improving their properties for various applications.
In the automotive industry, rubber, as a viscoelastic material, has been used in several subsystems, such as vehicle interior, suspension, steering joints, and tires. The tire and terrain's contact characteristics are among the essential factors for assessing the performance of the tire and the vehicle in general. Friction and tread wear are two of these contact characteristics. Considering the tire's functionality, for most applications, it is desired to have higher friction to have better traction and a lower wear rate to minimize the material loss of the tread.
This study used different approaches such as experimental, analytical, and numerical methods to predict the friction and wear of the rubber sample in contact with different surfaces. For the experimental parts, the author designed and manufactured a linear friction test setup. For the numerical parts, a new semi-empirical model was created to predict rubber samples' wear accurately
Genetic Diversity within Schistosoma haematobium: DNA Barcoding Reveals Two Distinct Groups
No full textWebster, Bonnie L. Emery, Aiden M. Webster, Joanne P. Gouvras, Anouk Garba, Amadou Diaw, Oumar Seye, Mohmoudane M. Tchuente, Louis Albert Tchuem Simoonga, Christopher Mwanga, Joseph Lange, Charles Kariuki, Curtis Mohammed, Khalfan A. Stothard, J. Russell Rollinson, DavidBackground - Schistosomiasis in one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases, affecting millions of people and animals in developing countries. Amongst the human-infective species S. haematobium is one of the most widespread causing urogenital schistosomiasis, a major human health problem across Africa, however in terms of research this human pathogen has been severely neglected.
Methodology/principal findings - To elucidate the genetic diversity of Schistosoma haematobium, a DNA 'barcoding' study was performed on parasite material collected from 41 localities representing 18 countries across Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Surprisingly low sequence variation was found within the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (cox1) and the NADH-dehydrogenase subunit 1 snad1). The 61 haplotypes found within 1978 individual samples split into two distinct groups; one (Group 1) that is predominately made up of parasites from the African mainland and the other (Group 2) that is made up of samples exclusively from the Indian Ocean Islands and the neighbouring African coastal regions. Within Group 1 there was a dominance of one particular haplotype (H1) representing 1574 (80%) of the samples analyzed. Population genetic diversity increased in samples collected from the East African coastal regions and the data suggest that there has been movement of parasites between these areas and the Indian Ocean Islands.
Conclusions/significance - The high occurrence of the haplotype (H1) suggests that at some point in the recent evolutionary history of S. haematobium in Africa the population may have passed through a genetic 'bottleneck' followed by a population expansion. This study provides novel and extremely interesting insights into the population genetics of S. haematobium on a large geographic scale, which may have consequence for control and monitoring of urogenital schistosomiasis.Copyright: © 2012 Webster et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor
