Documents found
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2761.More information
The purpose of this study is to characterize the distribution of the woody flora and the spatio-temporal dynamic of the woody vegetation cover on the periphery of Waza National Park. The study was organized around two main complementary methods : (i) botanical inventories which made it possible to detect the organization and the structure of the woody vegetation ; (ii) the processing and analysis of satellite imagery (Landsat) with the aim of characterizing land use and its evolution between 1987 and 2016. The study reveals that woody species that are endangered in this area are more likely to outside the park and more particularly in home gardens, where the populations protect the few remaining individuals, given their importance. On the other hand, the spatial distribution of woody flora is a function of the anthropogenic pressure gradient. However, factors such as insufficient controls and high livestock carrying capacity on the periphery may result in illegal incursions into the park and the consequence may be the reversal of this gradient. The study also shows that Waza National Park and its periphery have lost an average of 478 ha of woody cover each year since 1987, and that the bare soil area increases by an average of 319 ha per year. Finally, it proposes a redefinition of zoning not only to bring it into line with the requirements of the biosphere reserves, but also to make the park management strategy more efficient.
Keywords: dynamique, flore ligneuse, pression anthropique, parc national de Waza, dynamic, woody flora, anthropogenic pressure, Waza National Park
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2762.More information
The French philosopher Jean Vioulac appears to be a meteorite in the space of contemporary thought. Not only because he writes from outside the university, but especially because he formulates a vertiginous theorization of our capitalist and industrial world, whose understanding is rooted in a stimulating interpretation of the history of Western civilization and even of mankind. The following article is meant to offer a first synthesis – necessarily incomplete – of this massive, deep and crucial work.
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2763.More information
Long before the formation of the first Italian communities in Canada, notable Italian navigators played a key role in the so-called “discovery of the Americas.” Suffice it to think of names like Cristoforo Colombo and Giovanni Caboto, who sailed to North America in 1492 and 1497 as part of European exploration journeys to the “new world.” The history of colonization in Canada and North America in general is therefore inextricably linked to these names, although Italian responsibilities in the occupation of Canada are not always acknowledged as such. On the contrary, celebratory traces of this history are still visible in the names of streets, squares, lakes, rivers, mountains, etc., as well as in public holidays and commemorative monuments. The present article aims at addressing the power of names in the creation of cultural memory. More specifically, the article explores the role that place-names and other commemorative practices linked to the Italian presence in Canada play in the commemoration of the colonial past and in the production of a narrative that celebrates the Italian contribution to its colonial occupation. Naming places, people, or holidays is not just a matter of choosing one name over another, but it reveals ideological stances and narratives. Similarly, the presence of celebratory monuments turning Caboto and Colombo into national myths and symbols of Italian Canadians ends up affecting the relationships between local Italian-Canadian communities and Indigenous peoples. Possible alternatives may change attitudes towards Indigenous peoples, thus promoting a new solidarity with the Italian-Canadian communities across the country.
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2764.More information
Heeding the call in the literature on access to justice issues for researchers to extend their gaze beyond official sources of law, this article describes research detailing the use of social media for legal research and information sharing. While it is possible to look at social media as behind-the-scenes spaces for legislative and judicial activity, this research shows that they are above all else places for the reception and production of juridical information, bringing to the centre ground the voices and practices of citizens often neglected in legal research. However, such informal fora bring to the fore not only the speech, but also the legal know-how of the unitiated, local know-how because of its nature and the way it comes into being, know-how that is every bit as neglected in the legal research. This question of the recognition of the legal know-how of citizens, however fraught it may be, is undoubtedly deserving of further consideration in research and policy on access to justice. Ultimately, it is a matter of trying to understand the different types of legal know-how that underlie and provide the basis for the institution or potential institution of legal proceedings by members of the public.
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2766.More information
The internet has become an essential resource for social interaction among children, but it brings with it both advantages and disadvantages that depend in part on how it is used. This study, which is anchored in social learning theory, employed a desktop review of existing literature that focused on Kenya but covered global and other regional levels as well. The study found a number of benefits of the internet for children: updating family and friends on new developments in the children’s lives, reviewing photos and other records of past events, engaging in online interactions, and increasing their capacity for learning. Nonetheless, there are also internet-specific risks, such as access to inappropriate content and unsafe interactions with other children or adults. Other risks include “digital kidnapping” and contact with perpetrators who encourage children to engage in sexual activity. Although some countries have policies on internet usage, few have specific policies or guidelines addressing children’s vulnerability when sharing their pictures online. Moreover, most such policies are not applied in practice, especially in African countries. The study recommends developing and implementing policy frameworks to protect children online and using privacy settings to protect their information.
Keywords: technopanic, real risk, children’s pictures
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2767.More information
The sociology of collective beliefs is a little discussed sub-discipline in France. Gérald Bronner, whose specialty it is, is in line with Max Weber-Raymond Boudon and intends to add the contribution of cognitive sciences to produce a cognitive sociology that aims to be rationalist. However, some perceive it above all as a form of scientific activism or neo-scientism. In this, we will see that it is out of step with the different methodological postures of sociologists of religions or other researchers. It also raises the thorny question of the relationship between social sciences and cognitive sciences. This article contains many quotes from interviews with Bronner on these topics.
Keywords: Gérald Bronner, sociologie des croyances collectives, sociologie des religions, sciences cognitives, rationalisme, individualisme méthodologique, agnosticisme méthodologique, militantisme scientifique, Gérald Bronner, Sociology of Collective Beliefs, Sociology of Religions, Cognitive Sciences, Rationalism, Methodological Individualism, Methodological Agnosticism, Science Activism
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2768.More information
Artificial Intelligence (AI) designers try to mimic human brain capabilities with “self-learning” neural networks trained by selection processes. Yet decades on, AI still fails the Turing Test. While computers use codes and develop algorithms apart from contexts, living cells use signs and develop semiotic habits within contexts. This difference, I argue, is partly due to the collective activities of biological neurons that produce traveling waves, which, in turn, further constrain neural activity. It appears wave patterns function as contexts shaping the content of the local connections. At the time of his death, Alan Turing was investigating the organizing role of emergent wave patterns on biological development. Had he lived to continue this work, he might have reoriented AI research, which instead has become merely a tool for stereotyping and regularizing, not thinking.
Keywords: Semiotics Habits, Emergence of Semiosis, Alan Turing, Biological Computation, Poiesis, Habitudes sémiotiques, émergence de la sémiose, Alan Turing, calcul biologique, poièsis
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2769.More information
Objective - The objective of this study was to analyze trends in academic library reference chat transcripts with nursing themes, in order to improve all library services and resources based on the findings. Methods - In Fall 2018, health science liaison librarians performed a qualitative study by analyzing 60 nursing chat transcripts from LibraryH3lp. These chats were tagged, anonymized, coded, and then analyzed in Atlas TI to identify patterns and trends. Results - Chat analysis showed that librarians staffing chat are meeting the research needs of nursing patrons by helping them find full-text articles and suggesting the appropriate library databases. In order to further improve these virtual services, workshops were offered to Library and Information Science (LIS) interns and staff who answer reference chats. Nursing online tutorials and research guides were also improved based on the results. Conclusion - This study will help academic libraries improve and expand services into the virtual realm, to support library employees and patrons during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Virtual reference chat is not going away; in the current academic environment it is needed more than ever. Using these library chats as the basis for additional chat staff training can reduce staff anxiety and prepare them to better serve patrons.
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2770.More information
Facing the transformation of communication and learning modes in which the image has an increasingly important place (Bleed, 2005; North Central Regional Educational Laboratory & Metiri Group, 2003), the development of specific skills in visual literacy is essential to face the challenges that await students in the contemporary world. Yet, these skills and their development in and out of school remains under studied, hence the creation of a study to achieve the following goal: identifying and describing the formal and informal learning practices in visual literacy of undergraduate students. The results of this study highlight the use, in formal and informal contexts, of communication tools in which the image has an important place among the students surveyed. Moreover, the use of the visual mode in learning media, as well as the emphasis of skills related to visual literacy and the sense of competence of the students with regard to these skills, was also apparent. Two important findings emerge from this study: learning practices are differentiated depending on the context in which they are implemented (personal life vs. academic life) and these practices illustrate that the image is taken into account more and more (but still too often partially) as a mode of communication and learning.
Keywords: littératie visuelle, technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC), pratiques d'apprentissage, apprentissage informel, apprentissage formel, enseignement supérieur, Visual literacy, information and communication technology, learning practices, informal learning, formal learning, higher education