L’écriture des Caves du Vatican s’accomplit dans une époque où la physiognomonie est extrêmement présente dans la presse et dans les tribunaux qu’André Gide fréquente en qualité de juré d’assises. Et, c’est dans le contexte d’une période troublée mais portée par le progrès qu’il édifie cette sotie, dans laquelle coexistent la mutique franc-maçonnerie, une Église dévoyée, et de bruyantes sciences expérimentales qui claironnent leurs avancées. Gide, qui connaît le célèbre ouvrage de Lavater, La physiognomonie ou l’art de connaître les hommes par la physionomie, choisit de parodier certains aspects de la physiognomonie tout en taisant son nom. Aussi, n’est-ce qu’à la faveur d’une lecture approfondie des Caves du Vatican que se dévoilent l’enjeu et la posture esthétique de cette oeuvre, qui prend le parti d’imiter la physiognomonie afin de la tourner en dérision, cela, sans jamais la citer. L’auteur traite du corps et de ses particularités, en jouant d’une configuration littérale, qui s’attache à décrire, à rendre compte des gestes de ses personnages en les exagérant, pour mieux scruter les âmes qui habitent ces corps. Par-delà la comédie, la sotie gidienne est un « lieu de significations et d’interrogations multiples », qui échappe aux analyses physiognomoniques réductrices et donne à voir l’être humain dans toute sa complexité et sous toutes ses formes, l’aventurier comme le criminel. / The writing of the Vatican cellars is being done at a time when physiognomony is extremely present in the press and in the courts that André Gide attends as a juror at the Assize Court. It is in the context of a troubled period but driven by progress that he builds its sotie, in which coexist the mute Freemasonry, a misguided Church, and the noisy experimental sciences, which trumpet their progress. Gide, who knows Lavater's famous Essays on physiognomy, chooses to parody certain aspects of physiognomy while silencing its name. It is only a thorough reading of the Vatican cellars that reveals the stake and the aesthetic posture of this work, which imitate the physiognomy to make a mockery of it, without ever quoting it. The author deals with the body and its peculiarities, playing with a literal configuration, which attempts to describe, to account for the gestures of its characters by exaggerating them, to better scrutinize the souls that inhabit these bodies. Beyond comedy, the Gidienne sotie is a "place of multiple meanings and interrogations", which escapes the reductive physiognomic analyzes and gives to see the human being in all its complexity and in all its forms, the adventurer as the criminal.

The investigations in this dissertation oscillate between objective and subjective notions in order to engage with reflective questioning. Mental projections are superimposed onto reality when the act of architecture takes place. It is my belief that space is the synthesis of subject and object. It is the middle ground we search for. The marginal context of the Pretoria West inhabits the middle ground through a paradoxical survival. A very strong experience of timelessness in the context is played off onto images and structures of time. The perception of meaning and triviality enhances this timeless nature.It is within this enigma that architecture can nurture idiosyncrasy and collectivity. Treadmill is a haptic machine superimposed as a mental projection onto the existing silos of the Pretoria West Milling Complex along Mitchell Street. Public swimming pools become a medium through which the self is explored and create a platform for objective or unprejudiced collective interaction. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / A video accompanying this dissertation is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzSCy7y7Oqs&feature=youtu.be / A video accompanying this dissertation is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzSCy7y7Oqs&feature=youtu.be / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

The major aim of this thesis is to characterize the use of diminutive forms in Mexican Spanish and to analyze it in the corpora. Secondarily, a series of activities is proposed so that the topic could be worked with in the classes of Spanish as a foreign language. The thesis consists of two main parts, a theoretical and an empirical one, and an appendix. In the theoretical introduction, the concept of the diminutive is described, as well as its morphological and semantic-pragmatic features, its peculiar use in American varieties of Spanish and, especially, its implementation in Mexican Spanish. Possible explanations of its idiosyncratic use are given; in particular, the Mexican society and the influence of Náhuatl are analyzed. The empirical part is divided into two sections. The main analysis focuses on the use of the diminutive in Mexican Spanish from the socio-linguistic and morfo-semantic point of view. The analysis is realized in the Corpus Sociolingüístico de la Ciudad de México. In the secondary analysis, the most frequent diminutives are investigated in the Corpus de Referencia del Espaňol Actual and the Corpus Diacrónico del Espaňol. The appendix presents various dynamic and communicatively-oriented activities, proposed both to practice the diminutive and to introduce the socio-cultural element, essential in the language teaching.

The diffusion of sales force automation (SFA) systems has enabled a far more systematic approach to sales force management. This opens new avenues for the academic study of the industrial selling process as well: new arenas for investigation, new windows into salesperson behavior, and new methodological pitfalls. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a better understanding of SFA from an academic perspective, and then apply these insights to resolve gaps in our understanding of how sales forces behave and how they might be better managed. To do this, three areas of analysis are explored: methodological, behavioral, and theoretical.

La thèse montre les résultats du projet de recherche doctorale intitulé « Colonialisme, conflit armé et luttes pour la mémoire. Une étude anthropologique de la région du Magdalena Medio, Colombie, Amérique du Sud ». Le projet fut réalisé dans le Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Sociale LAS – Collège de France et l’École Doctorale en Anthropologie Sociale et Ethnologie (ED286) de l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales de Paris EHESS, sous la direction de Mme. Tassadit Yacine-Titouh. La région du Magdalena Medio s’étend sur le bassin moyen du fleuve Magdalena, une vaste vallée entre la Cordillère oriental et la Cordillère central, deux chaînes de montagnes des Andes Septentrionales en Colombie (Amérique du Sud). Jusqu'à récemment, la région du Magdalena Medio fut une frontière intérieure d’une apparence sauvage, qui hébergeait les survivants des anciens peuples indigènes de filiation Karib ou Caraïbe ainsi que certains vieux hameaux et villages d’origine espagnole appauvries. La région était une enclave par l’absence de moyens de communication, un refuge fréquente des groupes séditieux, dissidents ou insurgés et un territoire ouvert tant pour la colonisation des paysans pauvres que pour l’acquisition de terrains de la part des grandes entreprises commerciales. De la même manière, cette région était historiquement connue pour abriter quelques unes de plus grandes richesses du pays: les principales mines de l’or et d’émeraudes, les exploitations forestières comme la quinquina, les cultures tropicales comme la canne à sucre, le tabac, l’indigo, le café et le palmier à huile, l’élevage de bétail dans les plaines, les industries du gaz et pétrole et, plus récemment, les cultures de coca et de pavot. La coexistence de marginalité et richesse fut déterminant pour que la région du Magdalena Medio ait été l’épicentre de la violence colombienne au cours du dernier siècle : la violence des partis politiques libéral et conservateur depuis les années 1930, la violence des bandes des bandits (ou bandoleros) depuis les années 1950, la violence associée à l’apparition des guérillas de gauche depuis les années 1960, la violence déclenchée par les groupes de justice privée depuis les années 1970 et la violence provoquée par les paramilitaires depuis les années 1980. Dans le contexte de ces violences furent commis certains des crimes le plus horribles de la longue histoire de la violence colombienne. Cette recherche doctorale eut pour objectif principal de clarifier quel rôle joua la culture de chaque province de la région du Magdalena Medio dans la production et la reproduction d’une violence de caractères « quasi » endémiques et ses implications en la construction d’une mémoire régionale. / The thesis exposes the results of the project titled “Colonialism, armed conflict and the disputes for memory. An anthropological study of Magdalena Medio, Colombia (South America)”. The project was made from Laboratory of Social Anthropology – Collège de France and Doctoral School of Anthropology [ED286] at The School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS in French) under the direction of Tassadit Yacine-Titouh. The region of Magdalena Medio is located on middle basin of Magdalena River, a wide valley between the Cordillera Oriental and Cordillera Central, two mountain ranges of the Northern Andes in Colombia (South America). Until a few decades ago, the region of Magdalena Medio was an interior border, with wild appearance, which was the lodging the last survivors of the indigenous peoples Caribes or Karibs and the jurisdiction of ancient villages and towns of Spanish origin (16th-17th centuries) and new settlements arose from recent colonization (19th-20th centuries). The region was an enclave due to the absence of roads and highways, a frequent refuge of seditious, dissident and rebel groups, and an open territory for both peasant colonization and the occupation of big capitalist companies. The region is also historically known for having the most important national wealth: the mines of gold and emeralds, the forest exploitation as the quinine, the tropical agriculture of sugarcane, tobacco, indigo, coffee and oil palm, the livestock farming on the plains, the gas and petrol industries and, more recently, the coca and poppy cultivations. The coexistence of wealth and poverty turned the Magdalena Medio in one of the nation’s most violent regions. The region of Magdalena Medio was the epicenter of violence between political parties since the 1930’s, the violence of bandits or bandoleros since the 1950’s, the violence of leftist guerillas since the 1960’s, the violence of private justice groups since the 1970’s and the violence of paramilitary forces since the 1980’s. In these contexts were perpetrated some of the most shameful facts of the Colombian history. The project tried to clarify the role of culture in each province in the production and reproduction of a violence of “quasi” endemic character and their implications en the construction of an regional memory.

The skin cancer is the abnormal and uncontrolled growth of the cells that compose the skin, disposing in formats different from borders, colors, sizes and symmetry creating different types. In general lines, the forms of the stains are geometrically irregular. As many forms in the nature cannot be explained in the molds of the conventional geometry, scientists developed the geometry fractal to classify certain objects that don't possess dimension whole, but fractional. The dimension fractal can characterize group or object, for the first it is the number that informs us how densely the group it occupies the metric space where he meets and for the second, the irregularity of your contour. The illustrations can be also differentiated through the index of compactness, in the index of variation of colors and your way through the first idiosyncrasy of the ellipse. This group of parameters was applied for the differentiation of skin stains. In this work grew a software to esteem the dimension fractal of skin stains (benign and malignant) using the called method Box Counting for the estimate of the dimension fractal, the index of variation of colors to quantify the number of colors of the stain, the index of compactness to evaluate the existent relationship between the area of the illustration and the area of the circle with same perimeter of the illustration and the first idiosyncrasy of the ellipse for comparison with a circumference. The parameter that allowed to differentiate the skin stains was the dimension fractal. / O câncer de pele é o crescimento anormal e descontrolado das células que compõem a pele. Dispõe-se em formatos diferentes de bordas, cores, tamanhos e simetria, dando origem a diferentes tipos. As formas das manchas de pele são geometricamente irregulares. Como muitas formas na natureza não podem ser explicadas nos moldes da geometria convencional, cientistas desenvolveram a geometria fractal para classificar certos objetos intrincados que não possuem dimensão inteira, mas sim fracionária. A dimensão fractal pode caracterizar conjunto ou objeto, para o conjunto é o número que nos informa o quão densamente o conjunto ocupa o espaço métrico onde ele se encontra e, para o segundo objeto, a irregularidade do seu contorno. As figuras podem ser também diferenciadas por meio do índice de compacidade, do índice de variação de cores e sua forma por meio da primeira excentricidade da elipse. Este conjunto de parâmetros aplicou-se para a diferenciação de manchas de pele. Neste trabalho desenvolveu-se um software para estimar a dimensão fractal de manchas de pele (benignas e malignas), estruturado na aplicação do método chamado Box Counting para a estimativa da dimensão fractal, o índice de variação de cores para quantificar o número de cores da mancha, o índice de compacidade para avaliar a relação existente entre a área da figura e a área do círculo com mesmo perímetro da figura e a primeira excentricidade da elipse para comparação com uma circunferência. O parâmetro que permitiu diferenciar quantitativamente as manchas de pele foi a dimensão fractal.

Upbringing and psychological make-up inspire individual norms for beauty and cuteness. The mannerist approach in my work is a product of the figural liberties found in cartooning, illustration and art history. By altering facial and bodily features, I relate the proportions of an infant to cuteness and innocence. However, I tailor the photographs to empower the subjects all the while mirroring trends in contemporary pop culture. I'm interested in themes of everyday life, vitality and emotion placed in obscure, imaginary or exaggerated venues. I fictionalize subjects of my reality to compel viewers to identify with and fancy emotions, circumstances, moods and relationships. The intent is to amplify, yet be truer to their existence and idiosyncrasies through figural adaptations.