This thesis examines the effects of de-industrialisation on the lives of adult learners attending adult education programmes in the former coal mining and steel working communities of County Durham. It presents the outcomes of a qualitative study of life history stories which are 'person centred'. Focusing on the subjective experiences of learners, both past and present, was an appropriate way in which the learner voice could be heard as well as helping to understand their experiences and views on the effects that de- industrialisation has had on their lives, and if lifelong learning was improving their life chances. The importance of social class and gender in configuring and understanding adult learner experiences are critical factors whilst, at the same time, the collective resources of these working class communities have been systematically undermined. Furthermore, the provision of publically funded adult education has declined dramatically since the 1980s. Through the prism of learners' lives the study explores experiences of employability skills programmes and community adult education programmes on shaping the position, disposition and identity of learners who have experienced a major trauma to their communities, their families and themselves. Ontological insecurity, a product of de-industrialisation, has a critical impact on the lives of these adults. The thesis adopts Hirschman's (1970) framework of 'Exit, Loyalty and Voice', originally used to frame the responses of workers confronting the possibility of job losses in a firm, as a way of understanding the reactions of adult learners to the impact of de-industrialisation on communities. In Hirschman's framework the relationship between exit, loyalty and voice followed a distinctive pattern. Loyalty, for example, was the opposite of voice, as people in a firm stayed silent in order to be saved from job loss. In this study, loyalty to the community has enabled individuals to benefit from support and community provision, which has given them a lifeline for survival and a step on the way to finding a voice. Exit, in the original framework, involved proactive workers getting 'ahead of the curve' by finding alternative employment before others. In this study, employability skills training - as a resource for exit - does not deliver. Instead, it systematically demoralises individuals and undermines their capacity to act. It involves churning learners between welfare and more training programmes and, where and when available, into short-term work. The overall impact has resulted in the social exclusion of these learners from the labour market and from the community - the opposite of agency. It is argued that this is a paradox given that social and economic inclusion was an aim of lifelong learning policies. The thesis challenges the claim of neoliberal ideology that purports to promote the freedom of individuals to determine their own fate. Those attending employability skills programmes are expected to find solutions to structural problems, and are subjected to coercive methods through psychological interventions that are expected to bring about attitudinal behaviour changes to achieve employability. It is argued that this is a paradox given deficient labour market conditions which are beyond the control of the learner. Attention is given to public sector community adult education that once offered liberating models of adult education, but have now been subjected to the logic of neoliberal governmentality. This is creating new 'subjectivities' for educators, who are being coerced to deliver learning for the economy rather than social purpose education. What has emerged is a new role of the employability trainer.

Introdução - Apesar da rápida expansão dos Programas de Transferência Condicionada de Renda (PTCR) no Brasil, ainda são poucas as avaliações que aquilatam os avanços e os desafios ainda a serem enfrentados e os impactos e repercussões nas condições de saúde e nutrição da população. Objetivo - Avaliar o impacto dos PTCR sobre o estado nutricional de crianças e adultos, na Região Nordeste, área urbana e rural, em 2002-2003. Metodologia - A amostra foi constituída por 18.643 famílias da Região Nordeste entrevistadas pela Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiar POF 2002-2003, estudo transversal de abrangência nacional, de base domiciliar. Para avaliação do impacto, foram estudadas 5.267 crianças de 6 a 59 meses e 18.806 adultos de 20 a 59 anos, com renda mensal per capita inferior a R$ 200,00. Realizou-se análise de regressão logística múltipla, construindose modelos específicos para área urbana e rural. Foram testadas no modelo a variável de exposição renda transferida (valor anual familiar per capita) e de controle variáveis socioeconômicas, idade e sexo. A variável resposta foi o estado nutricional. Foram classificadas desnutridas as crianças com índice peso para idade < -2 escores z em relação ao Padrão de Crescimento da OMS (2006). Para a classificação do estado nutricional de adultos, foi utilizado o índice de massa corpórea (IMC), e os pontos de corte propostos pela OMS (1995). Todas as análises consideraram a estrutura complexa da amostra. Resultados - Em 2002-2003 os PTCR atendiam 20% das famílias nordestinas e estavam direcionados para as famílias em piores condições econômicas e sociais e, principalmente, àquelas residindo na área rural. Entretanto, atendiam apenas 40% da população elegível. O programa apresentou efeito protetor em relação à desnutrição para as crianças na faixa etária 6 a 23 meses, na área urbana, mas somente quando o valor da transferência era superior ao valor mínimo estipulado pelos programas (OR=0,26; p=0,037). Entre os adultos, a transferência de renda agiu como fator protetor em relação ao sobrepeso somente entre os homens da área urbana e quando os valores eram inferiores à mediana de renda transferida para o grupo (OR=0,67; p=0,001). Conclusão - Os resultados sugerem que o efeito do programa difere entre os grupos analisados na Região Nordeste e que os valores transferidos para as famílias eram baixos e insuficientes para produzirem o impacto esperado, principalmente entre os adultos e crianças mais velhas, e aquelas vivendo na área rural. Ressalta-se a importância de articular a transferência de renda com ações de promoção à saúde e à alimentação saudável, bem como com outras ações estruturais e de apoio às famílias para que o seu impacto seja efetivo e sustentável. / Introduction - Despite the rapid growth of conditional cash transfer programs (PTCR) in Brazil, there are still few assessments which appraise the advancements, the challenges that still have to be met and the impact and results of the PTCR on the nutritional and health status of the population. Objective - Evaluate the impact of PTCR on the nutritional status of children and adults in the northeast region of Brazil, in both rural and urban areas in 2002-2003. Methodology - The sample was composed of 18,643 families of the northeast region who were interviewed by the Family Budget Survey POF 2002-2003, a national cross section home study. To evaluate the impact, 5,267 children aged 6 to 59 months and 18,806 adults aged 20 to 59 with a per capita monthly income of less than R$200.00 were studied. A logistic multiple regression analysis was made, having two distinctive models for urban areas and rural areas. The exposure variable transferred income (per capita yearly family value) and the control variables socioeconomic variables, age and sex were tested in the model. The response variable was the nutritional status. The children with weight-for-age < -2 z scores in relation to the WHO Child Growth Standards (2006) were considered underweight. To establish the nutritional status of adults the body mass index (BMI) and the cut-points proposed by WHO (1995) were used. The analysis took into account the complex structure of the sample. Results - In 2002- 2003 the PTCR assisted 20% of the northeastern families and were directed to the families who had the worst social and economic conditions and who lived in the rural areas. However, the programs only assisted 40% of the eligible population. The programs showed a protective effect in relation to underweight in children aged 6 to 23 months, in urban areas, but this was true only if the transferred value was superior to the minimum value set by the programs (OR=0.26; p=0,037). Among adults, the cash transfer acted as a protective factor for overweight only among men in urban areas and when the values were inferior to the median income transferred to the group (OR=0.67; p=0.001) Conclusion - The results suggest that the effect of the program varies among the groups who were studied in the northeast regions and that the values that were transferred to the families were too low or insufficient to produce the desired result, mainly among older adults and children and those living in rural areas. It is necessary to underscore the importance of associating the cash transfer programs with actions to promote health and healthy eating habits as well as any other actions to support the families in order to have and effective and sustainable effect.

L’évolution d’une économie industrielle vers une économie de la connaissance et du savoir a propulsé la propriété intellectuelle sur le devant de la scène. Désormais les droits intellectuels s’intègrent à tous les domaines de la vie moderne. De ce fait, le besoin de les protéger efficacement par des règles juridiques appropriées et d’inciter en conséquence les créateurs à produire de nouvelles créations est devenu une nécessité de premier ordre. Cependant, la spécificité de la nature de l’œuvre protégée par la propriété intellectuelle exige la prise en considération de multiples intérêts antagonistes. C’est pourquoi le législateur a cherché, au nom de l’intérêt général, à créer un juste équilibre interne entre les principaux intérêts présents au sein du régime de la propriété intellectuelle. Or, l’exercice des prérogatives octroyées par le régime de propriété intellectuelle effectué par le titulaire de droit a généré une importante expansion de ses intérêts au détriment des autres intérêts concurrents – présents dans la matière. Cette situation a provoqué, en conséquence, une rupture de l’équilibre interne de ce système, préétabli en amont par le législateur. Or, l’intérêt général peut jouer un rôle central dans le rétablissement d’un équilibre en la matière. Dans cette perspective, le juge peut, grâce à son pouvoir créateur de règles jurisprudentielles, se servir de l’intérêt général comme d’une ligne directrice servant à rétablir ce juste équilibre dans le système de la propriété intellectuelle. L’intérêt général justifie donc, tout autant que les limites intrinsèques aux droits de la propriété intellectuelle, les limites extrinsèques à ces droits / The evolution of the industrial economy towards the economy of knowledge has propelled intellectual property to the forefront. Intellectual property has become integrated in all the domains of the modern life. As a result, it has become a necessity to protect it effectively through appropriate legal rules that encourage creators to continue to provide new creations. However, the specificity of the nature of the work protected by intellectual property requires the consideration of multiple conflicting interests. As such, the legislator has sought, in the name of the general interest, to create a fair internal balance between the main interests present within the system of intellectual property rights. Nevertheless, the exercise of the prerogatives granted by the intellectual property system, carried out by the owner of intellectual property, has caused an important expansion of the interests of this owner, to the detriment of other concurrent interests. This has consequently caused a break in the internal balance of the system, instigated by the legislator. Nonetheless, the general interest can play a key role in restoring balance through the application of external rules to the intellectual property regime. In this perspective, the judge can, by using his creative power of jurisprudence, use the general interest as a guideline to restore balance in the intellectual property system. The general interest justifies thus, as well as the intrinsic limits to intellectual property rights, the extrinsic limits to these rights

Dû à la complexité des algorithmes de traitement d’images récents et dans le but d'accélérer la procédure de la conception des MPSoCs, méthodologies de prototypage rapide sont nécessaires pour fournir différents choix pour le programmeur de générer des programmes parallèles efficaces. Ce manuscrit présente les travaux menés pour proposer une méthodologie de prototypage rapide permettant la conception des architectures MPSOC ainsi que la génération automatique de système matériel / logiciel dédié un circuit reprogrammable (FPGA). Pour faciliter la programmation parallèle, l'approche MPSoC proposée est basée sur l’utilisation de Framework « CubeGen » qui permet la génération des différentes solutions envisageables pour réaliser des prototypes dans le domaine du traitement d’image. Ce document décrit une méthode basée sur le concept des squelettes générés en fonction des caractéristiques d'application afin d'exploiter tous les types de parallélisme des algorithmes réels. Un ensemble d’expérimentations utilisant des algorithmes courants permet d’évaluer les performances du flot de conception proposé équivalente à une architecture basé des processeurs hardcore et les solutions traditionnels basé sur cibles ASIC. / Due to the complexity of image processing algorithms and the restrictions imposed by MPSoC designs to reach their full potentials, automatic design methodologies are needed to provide guidance for the programmer to generate efficient parallel programs. In this dissertation, we present a MPSoC-based design methodology solution supporting automatic design space exploration, automatic performance evaluation, as well as automatic hardware/software system generation. To facilitate the parallel programming, the presented MPSoC approach is based on a CubeGen framework that permits the expression of different scenarios for architecture and algorithmic design exploring to reach the desired level of performance, resulting in short time development. The generated design could be implemented in a FPGA technology with an expected improvement in application performance and power consumption. Starting from the application, we have evolved our effective methodology to provide several parameterizable algorithmic skeletons in the face of varying application characteristics to exploit all types of parallelism of the real algorithms. Implementing such applications on our parallel embedded system shows that our advanced methods achieve increased efficiency with respect to the computational and communication requirements. The experimental results demonstrate that the designed multiprocessing architecture can be programmed efficiently and also can have an equivalent performance to a more powerful designs based hard-core processors and better than traditional ASIC solutions which are too slow and too expensive.

The aim of the study is to determine the nature and utilisation of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in a white-collar work environment, and, more specifically, in a South African context. Information about the research topic was obtained from accumulate records of the Standard Bank's Employee Well-being Programme (EWP), structured interviews which were conducted with eleven EWP practitioners and a union representative, and from self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a sample of 153 of the bank's employees. The study includes an in-depth literature review on EAPs in general and issues such as the nature and scope of the bank's EWP, the extent to which the EWP addresses employees' needs, the nature and extent of the marketing of the EWP, and the extent to which the workforce is utilising the programme, were explored and described. The main findings are that the EWP shows evidence of acceptance by employees as well as a degree of utilisation that compares favourably with local and international trends. It also shows an incongruence between marketing and employee orientation and training initiatives and reveals that programme evaluation efforts are insufficient and could be significantly improved. Accordingly, recommendations have been made pertaining to the needs of employees, employee and union involvement, a multi-disciplinary approach to case management, marketing, training and evaluation with regard to the EWP, an EWP database, and a post-treatment follow-up. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

Community participation is a key feature of major global health declarations and a fundamental principle of health strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the frequency with which it is espoused belies the complexities associated with its practical application. Engaging communities in primary health care programmes designed to improve their health has been identified as a major challenge. This study’s objective was to explore community members’ perspectives of participation within a health development programme. The programme chosen aimed to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of targeted population groups, including M ori, Pacific peoples, and low income earners. A qualitative instrumental case study approach was adopted to examine the programme and investigate what influenced, constrained, and sustained community participation. Data collection included fieldwork over an eighteen-month period. Two programme projects were selected as the study foci: a communityled project involving distributions of thousands of free heritage variety plants; and, instigated by health services, a project establishing community gardens. These projects provided markedly different pictures of participation occurring within the same programme. The plant distributions had widespread appeal, while the community garden faltered. Community participation fitted within a description of ‘focused social action’. Participation was motivated by needs, values, and interests. While some were personal and family based, the programme also became an imagined vehicle for addressing wider health, social justice, and environmental sustainability goals. Ongoing challenges related to defining targeted communities and groups, varying degrees and types of participation, and different perspectives of participation, especially as health sector staff worked from an equity mandate and community members spoke of equality. Programme groups established as mechanisms to foster community participation had contradictory effects, engaging some as advisors, while failing to reach communities targeted for the programme. The complexities of health sector bureaucracy both enabled and constrained the programme and community participation. This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the complexities of community participation in action, the contradictory effects of contexts enveloping programmes, and the resolve of community members. It increases our understandings of how community members perceive health programmes and community participation, which are critical factors in improving population health.

Community participation is a key feature of major global health declarations and a fundamental principle of health strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the frequency with which it is espoused belies the complexities associated with its practical application. Engaging communities in primary health care programmes designed to improve their health has been identified as a major challenge. This study’s objective was to explore community members’ perspectives of participation within a health development programme. The programme chosen aimed to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of targeted population groups, including M ori, Pacific peoples, and low income earners. A qualitative instrumental case study approach was adopted to examine the programme and investigate what influenced, constrained, and sustained community participation. Data collection included fieldwork over an eighteen-month period. Two programme projects were selected as the study foci: a communityled project involving distributions of thousands of free heritage variety plants; and, instigated by health services, a project establishing community gardens. These projects provided markedly different pictures of participation occurring within the same programme. The plant distributions had widespread appeal, while the community garden faltered. Community participation fitted within a description of ‘focused social action’. Participation was motivated by needs, values, and interests. While some were personal and family based, the programme also became an imagined vehicle for addressing wider health, social justice, and environmental sustainability goals. Ongoing challenges related to defining targeted communities and groups, varying degrees and types of participation, and different perspectives of participation, especially as health sector staff worked from an equity mandate and community members spoke of equality. Programme groups established as mechanisms to foster community participation had contradictory effects, engaging some as advisors, while failing to reach communities targeted for the programme. The complexities of health sector bureaucracy both enabled and constrained the programme and community participation. This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the complexities of community participation in action, the contradictory effects of contexts enveloping programmes, and the resolve of community members. It increases our understandings of how community members perceive health programmes and community participation, which are critical factors in improving population health.

En 150 ans, des bouleversements profonds ont affecté les relations entre grandeurs et nombres dans les mathématiques savantes et enseignées, et dans la vie courante. Nous voulons comprendre le statut actuel de ces relations à l'école primaire française et envisageons d'autres statuts pour demain. Notre cadre théorique de référence est la théorie anthropologique du didactique.<br />Nous avons approfondi l'étude de l'enseignement du système métrique, de la numération de position des entiers et de l'articulation entre les deux ; et entamé celle des relations entre opérations (sens, technique, types de nombres) et grandeurs (notamment la longueur et les représentations utilisant des schémas cotés).<br />Notre étude se développe selon trois axes qui se répondent :<br />- les liens entre grandeurs, nombres, opérations et pratiques pour la vie courante avant la réforme des mathématiques modernes ; les ruptures qu'elle a provoquées dans ces liens. Notre corpus est constitué par des textes du 20e siècle : programmes, manuels scolaires du CE (2P et 3P) ;<br />- les savoirs savants. Il s'agit d'une part de repérer les savoirs transposés à différentes époques, d'autre part d'identifier des conditions pour des théories mathématiques (éventuellement à formuler) susceptibles de servir de référence pour l'enseignement des grandeurs, nombres et opérations. Pour cela, nous prenons en compte des besoins mathématiques et didactiques : notamment tâches, discours justificatifs destinés aux élèves, cohérence des savoirs, continuité des apprentissages ;<br />- les connaissances des élèves actuels (277 en 5P). Il s'agit de mieux cerner d'éventuels ruptures et manques apparus avec l'étude des liens et des savoirs savants.

I. Presentation du traducteur PIAFTRAD : le système PIAF, adaptation du système PIAF à la traduction, fonctionnement du traducteur.<br />II. Description des problèmes de traduction : définitions et notations de base. Problèmes liés à la structure de la machine. Problèmes liés au langage. <br />III. Evaluation : résultats, perspectives d'optimisation

Cette thèse d'HDR en anglais, présente l'essentiel de mes travaux de 1996 à 2005. Voir le résumé anglais pour plus de détails.