Nowadays, physical inactivity has become a global problem. According to the research, about 5.3 million deaths all over the world in 2008 could be attributed to inactivity [1]. However, it is enough to do a little exercise every day to reduce the risk of premature deaths by as much as 30 percent. Due to the increasing working pressure, people do not have enough time to go to gym and do exercises, which means that the design of multi-functional fitness chair is necessary so that people can do exercise at home at any time.There have already been many similar household fitness products in the market, but most of them take up large space and the training part is very simple. In comparison, the multi-function fitness chair designed in this thesis combines several fitness equipment together in one chair, so it would save a lot of space, and yet provides possibility to perform versatile exercise.The product was designed in Autodesk Inventor 2015, and finite element analysis was performed in Inventor 2015 and for checking the strength and safety of the design.

One of the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a loss of spatial navigation. In this work, we improved an existing screening test for AD that analyzed a patient’s spatial navigation ability. The existing screening test was made more immersive, and therefore more reliable, by integrating support for a leading-edge consumer-targeted Head-Mounted Display (HMD). This integration brought some technical and usability challenges, that were addressed. Furthermore, we investigated the rehabilitative potential of Virtual Reality Navigational (VRN) activities in two case studies: an Early Stage AD (ESA) participant and a Late Stage AD (LSA) participant. We found that the ESA participant was able to significantly improve his navigation skills, and we observed some qualitative improvements in memory and navigation in his personal life. The LSA participant did not improve noticeably at the VRN tasks, but his mood improved after participating in the treatment sessions. These case studies suggested that VRN treatment may be beneficial for people with AD, especially at the onset stage. / February 2017

Empirical knowledge is lacking on reclined seating postures. To unify such data, a biomechanical model is needed that accurately predicts posture, the relative position of the pelvis, the point of load transfer to the seat, internal and external forces, and the motion paths of the support surfaces. The overall aim of this investigation was, therefore, to create and validate a biomechanical model of reclined seating postures, and to evaluate in vivo measured and predicted data. A two-dimensional biomechanical model was developed, validated and applied. A comprehensive set of biomechanical data was collected from fifteen gender and age diverse subjects to examine the foundational principles for reclined seating ergonomics. The model agreed with 98.8% of measured data on posture across the seated test conditions. There was a significant relationship between modelled and measured force (p < .001, r = .92), which improved after normalisation (p < .001, r = .97) with an 8% full scale error. The model was robust across height and gender. Significant differences in interface pressure (peak pressure, average pressure and area), stature, back muscle activity and spinal curvature were found between all of the seated test postures. Significant relationships were found between the model predictions and all of the experimental data. This research is unique in creating a framework around reclined seating postures which connects previously disparate areas of seating research. The biomechanical model, experimental results, and theories developed from this research have potential implications in research, and design, for applications including backcare chairs, seating for long-term care and patients with neuromotor deficits, wheelchairs and airline seating. Furthermore, this study exists at the interface of anthropometric and biomechanical modelling, and therefore may have cross over potential to digital humans, where their integration with biomechanical models is at the cutting edge of the field.

L'objet de ce travail est d'interroger les liens entre philosophie et histoire dans la philosophie de Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Il consiste à questionner une déclaration de ce philosophe qui affirmait que "Saussure pourrait avoir inauguré une nouvelle philosophie de l'histoire". Il s'agit pour nous de savoir quel sens une telle déclaration peut avoir pour Merleau-Ponty. Nous partons de l'hypothèse qu'il y a ici un changement de paradigme de la part de Merleau-Ponty pour la compréhension de l'histoire. Il ne s'agit plus de comprendre l'histoire comme c'était le cas pour Hegel ou Marx comme quelque chose qui aurait une intelligibilité et un sens à partir d'une démarche seulement dialectique, il s'agit de comprendre l'histoire à partir de la linguistique. Notre propos est d'établir comment ce changement peut se justifier. Le travail consiste en trois parties distinctes. Dans la première nous tâchons de montrer qu'il y a eu une philosophie de l'histoire chez Merleau-Ponty avant sa lecture de Saussure et que c'était à partir de la notion de Gestalt que l'histoire pouvait être comprise. Dans notre seconde partie nous voulons néanmoins montrer que la philosophie merleau-pontyenne de l'histoire ne prend son véritable sens qu'avec la lecture de l’œuvre des linguistes et en particulier de Saussure. C'est la notion de signification en tant que "diacritique" qui permet de penser le langage et aussi l'histoire. Cette deuxième partie montre de ce fait la lecture des linguistes comme un moment charnière pour la compréhension de la philosophie merleau-pontyenne de l'histoire. Notre troisième partie montre alors que les interrogations de Merleau-Ponty dans sa dernière philosophie et ce qu'on appelle l'ontologie de la chair gravite autour d'un questionnement sur l'histoire et le langage, ce questionnement amenant Merleau-Ponty à penser l'histoire, la philosophie et son langage dans une nouvelle forme qui s'apparente à une forme quasi littéraire / The aim of this work is to investigate the links between philosophy and history in Maurice Merleau-Ponty's thought. This philosopher stated that "Saussure might have opened a new philosophy of history." I shall enquire what could be the meaning of such a statement to Merleau-Ponty, thus assuming that there is a transformation of the paradigm he used to conceptualise history. History indeed shouldn't be understood, as was the case with Hegel or Marx, as something having intelligibility and meaning only from a dialectical perspective, but should also be understood with the help of linguistics. Our point is to ascertain how such a change can be accounted for. This work is threefold. In the first part, I endeavour to show that Merleau-Ponty had a philosophy of history prior to his reading of Saussure, and that it was grounded in the notion of Gestalt. In a second part, I undertake to show that what is yet most significant in Merleau-Ponty's way of conceiving history comes from his interest in the work of some linguists and chiefly Saussure's. It is the notion of signification "understood as "diacritical"" which enables the conceptualisation of language as well as of history. The reading of linguists can thus be seen as a turning point in the making of his philosophy of history. The third part then goes on to show that the later Merleau-Ponty, and what has been called ontology of the flesh, revolves around a questioning of history and language bringing him to conceive history, philosophy and its language anew - that is: through a quasi-literary form

Ce travail thématique et historique a pour objectif de mettre en lumière les difficultés que l'on peut rencontrer lorsque nous tentons de saisir ce que signifie la vie de l'ego d'un point de vue phénoménologique et scientifique. Les questions qui nous animent sont les suivantes et rythment le travail présent : que signifie précisément dire « Je » ? ; Quelle est la caractérisation de l'ego dans la phénoménologie husserlienne ? Dans quelle mesure la vie de l'ego peut-elle être naturalisée ?Notre cheminement suit les traces du corpus husserlien, en ce que nous considérons qu'il est tout d'abord nécessaire d'éclaircir le sens du terme ego dans l'optique d'une « phénoménologie analytique ». Cela nous a permis de comprendre que l'indexical « Je » peut être la marque d'une « ingénuité descriptive » qui consiste en une incapacité à décrire pleinement une situation ou la subjectivité exprimant un indexical. Seule une entente phénoménologique du « Je » peut modifier cette conception en ce qu'elle induit la présence d'une subjectivité en chair et en os, un Nullpunkt irréductible à quelque réification que ce soit. Le langage phénoménologique, en plus de valoriser la part subjective du vécu (Ichrede), permet en outre de modifier notre conception ontique du sens des termes usités afin de décrire un état de chose d'un point de vue eidétique – la chose comme corrélat.En reprenant cette idée cardinale, nous avons par la suite tenté de résoudre l'énigme du Je d'un point de historique à partir d'une étude comparée entre la phénoménologie husserlienne et celle de ses disciples (Reinach, Ingarden, Sartre). À partir de là, nous étions en mesure d'appréhender le bienfondé des critiques apportées à l'égard du tournant transcendantal de la phénoménologie. Pourtant, ces critiques ne sauraient dépasser ni compromettre la pensée de Husserl en ce qu'elle déborde selon nous le cadre formel et stérile d'une binarité idéalisme-réalisme. Nous avons ainsi voulu mettre en exergue le renouvellement, dès le tournant génétique, de la phénoménologie à partir de ce que nous nommons le « naturalisme phénoménologique » de Husserl, en particulier en ce qui concerne le traitement qu'il a accordé aux sujets comme la naissance, la mort, l'anomalité et l'animalité. Ce faisant, nous avions tous les éléments pour démontrer que Husserl n'était idéaliste qu'en apparence et que son œuvre contenait les germes de l'entreprise naturaliste en développement depuis quelques dizaines d'années.Il fallut dès lors montrer les corrélations entre la phénoménologie « classique » et la naturalisation de la phénoménologie à travers une étude des textes contemporains présentés par des auteurs comme F.Varela, N.Depraz ou J-L Petit. Il nous apparut ainsi que la naturalisation en restait à l'état embryonnaire, mais qu'elle pouvait dans un avenir proche, grâce à des recherches sur l'agentivité, la dépression, ou sur la phénophysique, éclairer les sciences cognitives dans l'optique d'une étude cogénérative et fertile en ce qu'elle joint les perspectives à la première et la troisième personne. Or, il nous semble malgré tout que la naturalisation de la phénoménologie demeure davantage asubjective, au sens que donne Patocka, que pleinement phénoménologique. Nous concluons de la sorte en affirmant qu'il faut distinguer deux types de phénoménologie de même que deux types de naturalisation, tout en avançant qu'il serait judicieux de prendre également en considération le rôle du système nerveux entérique, en plus du cerveau, dans la caractérisation de la vie subjective. / This thematic and historical work aims to highlight the difficulties that can be encountered when we try to grasp what the egological life means from a phenomenological and scientific point of view. The questions that animate us are the following and rhythm the present work: what exactly does it mean to say "I"? ; What is the characterization of the egological life in Husserlian phenomenology? To what extent can the egological life be naturalized?Our path follows the Husserlian corpus for we consider that it is first necessary to clarify the meaning of the term “ego” in the perspective of an “analytic phenomenology”. This allowed us to understand that the indexical “I” can be the mark of a “descriptive ingenuity” which consists in an inability to fully describe a situation or a subjectivity expressing itself. Only a phenomenological understanding of the “I” may modify this conception by inducing that the presence of a subjectivity made of flesh and bones is an irreducible Nullpunkt. The phenomenological language, in addition to valuing the subjective part of live experience (Ichrede), also allows to modify our ontic conception of the meaning of termes used in order to describe a state of things from an eidetic point of view – a thing as correlate.By taking up this cardinal idea, we have subsequently attempted to solve the enigma around the I from a historical point of view on the basis a comparative study between Husserlian phenomenology and what critics made by Husserls disciples such as Reinach, Ingarden and Sartre. From then on, we were able to grasp the depth and validity of some critics made against the transcendental turn of phenomenology. Yet, these critics cannot go beyond or compromise Husserl'sthinking for this latter one overflows in our view the formal and sterile framework of an idealistic-realistic binarity. In this way, we wanted to highlight the renewal of phenomenology from the genetic point of view, starting with what we call the “phenomenological naturalism”, especially in regard to the treatment Husserl accorded to subjects such as birth, death, a(b)no(r)mality and animality. In doing so, we had the evidence to show that Husserl was only apparently an idealist and that his work contains the seeds of the naturalistic enterprise under developent for some decades.It was therefore necessary to show the correlations between the “classical” phenomenology and the naturalization of phenomenology through a study of contempory texts presented by authors such as F. Varela, N. Depraz or J-L Petit. It appeared to us that naturalization was still embryonic, but that it may in the near future, through researches on agentivity, depression or phenophysics, illuminate cognitive sciences from the perspective of a cogenerative and fertile study for it joins the first and third person perspectives. However, it seems to us that the naturalization of phenomenology remains more asubjective, in the sense given by Patocka, than fully phenomenological. In conclusion, we affirm that two types of phenomenology must be distinguished, as well as two types of naturalization, while arguing that it would be also wise to take into consideration the role of the enteric nervous system, in addition to the brain, in the characterization of subjective life.

No description available.

Graphene can be used to create circuits that are almost superconducting, potentially speeding electronic components by as much as 1000 times [1]. Such blazing speed might also help produce ever-tinier computing devices with more power than your clunky laptop [2]. Graphite is a polymorph of the element carbon [3]. Graphite is made up of tiny sheets of graphene. Graphene sheets stack to form graphite with an interplanar spacing of 0.335 nm, which means that a stack of 3 million sheets would be only one millimeter thick. [1] This nano scale 2 dimensional sheet is graphene. Novoselov and Geim's discovery is now the stuff of scientific legend, with the two men being awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010 [4]. In 2004, two Russian-born scientists at the University of Manchester stuck Scotch tape to a chunk of graphite, then repeatedly peeled it back until they had the tiniest layer possible [2]. Graphene has exploded on the scene over the past couple of years. "Six years ago, it didn't exist at all, and next year we know that Samsung is planning to release their first mobile-phone screens made of graphene." - Dr Kostya Novoselov [4]. It is a lattice of hexagons, each vertex tipped with a carbon atom. At the molecular level, it looks like chicken wire [4]. There are two common lattice formations of graphene, armchair and zigzag. The most studied edges, zigzag and armchair, have drastically different electronic properties. Zigzag edges can sustain edge surface states and resonances that are not present in the armchair case Rycerz et al., 2007 [5]. This research focused on the armchair graphene nanoribbon formation (acGNR). Graphene has several notable properties that make it worthy of research. The first of which is its remarkable strength. Graphene has a record breaking strength of 200 times greater than steel, with a tensile strength of 130GPa [1]. Graphene has a Young's modulus of 1000, compared to just that of 150 for silicon [1]. To put it into perspective, if you had a sheet of graphene as thick as a piece of cellophane, it would support the weight of a car. [2] If paper were as stiff as graphene, you could hold a 100-yard-long sheet of it at one end without its breaking or bending. [2] Another one of graphene's attractive properties is its electronic band gap, or rather, its lack thereof. Graphene is a Zero Gap Semiconductor. So it has high electron mobility at room temperature. It's a Superconductor. Electron transfer is 100 times faster than Silicon [1]. With zero a band gap, in the massless Dirac Fermion structure, the graphene ribbon is virtually lossless, making it a perfect semiconductor. Even in the massive Dirac Fermion structure, the band gap is 64meV [6]. This research began, as discussed in Chapter 2, with an armchair graphene nanoribbon unit cell of N=8. There were 16 electron approximation locations (ψ) provided per unit cell that spanned varying Fermi energy levels. Due to the atomic scales of the nanoribbon, the carbon atoms are separated by 1.42Å. The unit vector is given as, ~a = dbx, where d = 3αcc and αcc = 1.42°A is the carbon bond length [5]. Because of the close proximity of the carbon atoms, the 16 electron approximations could be combined or summed with their opposing lattice neighbors. Using single line approximation allowed us to reduce the 16 points down to 8. These approximations were then converted into charge densities (ρ). Poisson's equation, discussed in Chapter 3, was expanded into the 3 dimensional space, allowing us to convert ρ into voltage potentials (φ). Even though graphene is 2 dimensional; it can be used nicely in 3 dimensional computations without the presence of a substrate, due to the electric field lines and voltage potential characteristics produced being 3 dimensional. Subsequently it was found that small graphene sheets do not need to rest on substrates but can be freely suspended from a scaffolding; furthermore, bilayer and multilayer sheets can be prepared and characterized.

La « dromoscopie », terme proposé par Paul Virilio, désigne une conception visuelle du paysage en mouvement. La vision dromoscopique ne se limite pas à celle du pare-brise, mais aussi à celle d’une vitre, d’un hublot ou d’autres dispositifs de véhicule comme machine à vision, à travers lesquels l’image cinématographique ou audiovisuelle montre ce phénomène de perception particulière.Cette thèse a pour objectif de repenser le cinéma à travers cette vision mobile mystérieuse. Il existe une force commune derrière ces défilements du paysage, cette vision omniprésente, fragmentée, et apparemment banale, qui modifie notre perception discrètement et inconsciemment, mais ignorée malgré son énergie visuelle et kinesthésique. Trois effets que la vision dromoscopique provoque chez le spectateur sont explorés : vertige, hypnose, et ivresse. Devant le défilement spatial, le spectateur peut perdre ses repères dans l'illusion du mouvement ; entrer en état de conscience modifié ; ou éprouver une transformation radicale de la perception. La vision frontale provoque le vertige dans la traversée cosmique en voyage d’hyperespace ; la vision latérale hypnotise son observateur avec ses rythmes répétitifs ; l’ivresse des formes s’étend dans l’imagination d’un monde métamorphosé. Cette vision palpe son public de façon cutanée, musculaire, et viscérale.Caché derrière l’espace dramaturgique, le rythme dromoscopique incite discrètement la sensation kinesthésique du spectateur à rejoindre son mouvement, quand la conscience se concentre sur les intrigues. La vision dromoscopique nous emporte dans ses défilements simples et complexes, nous fait ressentir le mouvement, nous fait vivre le cinéma. / "Dromoscopy", a term proposed by Paul Virilio, designates a visual conception of landscape in motion. Not limited to what is seen through a car’s windshield, dromoscopic vision can be through a train or airplane window or other vehicle-as-vision-machine devices through which the cinematographic or audiovisual image portrays this particular phenomenon of perception.This thesis aims to reconsider cinema through this mysterious mobile vision, to find the shared power behind these unspooling landscapes. This ubiquitous, fragmented and seemingly ordinary vision, which discreetly and unconsciously alters our perception, has been ignored despite its visual and kinesthetic energy.Three of dromoscopic vision’s effects on viewers will be explored: dizziness, hypnosis, and intoxication. Faced with a moving landscape, spectators may lose their bearings in the illusion of movement; enter into a modified state of consciousness; or experience a radical transformation of perception. Frontal vision causes dizziness in hyperspace travel; lateral vision hypnotizes observers with its repetitive rhythms; the intoxication of forms" extends into the imagination of a metamorphosed world. This vision probes its audience in a cutaneous, muscular and visceral way.Hidden behind the dramaturgical space, dromoscopic rhythm discreetly summons spectators’ kinesthetic sensations to join the movement, while their consciousness focuses on the plot. Dromoscopic vision carries us away with its simple and complex unspooling motion, makes us feel the movement and experience film (more) fully.

L'alimentation séquentielle (AS), qui consiste à distribuer de manière cyclique deux aliments différents, permet de recréer partiellement les conditions d'une alimentation plus variée. L'objectif de la thèse a été de mieux comprendre comment le poulet nourri en AS adapte son ingestion, en fonction du temps et des caractéristiques énergétique et protéique des aliments. Quatre expériences ont été réalisées avec des poulets de chair mâles à croissance rapide. L'AS a été pratiquée avec des cycles de 48 h et des couples d'aliments variant par leur caractéristiques énergétique (2800 (E-) et 3200 kcal/kg (E+)) et/ou protéique (230 (P+) et 150 g/kg (P-)), et a été comparée à une alimentation complète C (3000 kcal/kg et 190 g/kg de protéines). Une première expérience indique que le poulet n'adapte pas sa consommation à la teneur énergétique de l'aliment à l'échelle de 24h et est très lent à adapter sa consommation à la teneur en protéine (plus d'une semaine). L'âge d'introduction de l'AS (10 et 18 j) n'a pas modifié ces réactions. Nous avons ensuite évalué si les variations d'ingestion sont liées à des préférences alimentaires (Exp. 2 et 3). Le poulet apprend à reconnaître l'aliment le plus énergétique qu'il préfère nettement, contrairement à l'animal naïf. Par ailleurs, il n'exprime pas clairement de préférence entre les aliments variant en protéines. Des interactions entre les propriétés nutritionnelles et sensorielles des aliments pourraient expliquer ces résultats. Enfin, nous avons observé (Exp. 4) que, même si le poulet exprime une préférence pour l'aliment le plus dur, la reconnaissance de l'aliment le plus énergétique ne repose pas uniquement sur cette caractéristique. Le poulet développe ainsi très vite une préférence pour l'énergie, acquise lors d'expositions successives. Cette préférence alimentaire guide la consommation d'un jour à l'autre, aboutissant à un équilibrage du fait de la symétrie des apports. La variation de la teneur en protéines engendre quant à elle des effets plus faibles sur l'ingestion et après une période d'exposition plus longue. Pour adapter leur ingestion, les poulets apprennent à reconnaître les aliments, en associant les caractéristiques sensorielles aux effets post-ingestifs perçus. Ces sensorialités, et notamment celles faisant intervenir la vision et le toucher, ne sont pas encore bien évaluées et nécessitent des investigations supplémentaires.

The purpose of this study was to explore how university department chairs, or equivalent, perceive leadership as it relates to the context of online curriculum delivery in higher education. Three research areas guided the study: (a) nature and context of online environment and how it impacts the leadership, (b) the ways in which leaders conceptualize leadership, and (c) challenges and tensions for leadership. The sample included four participants (chair, director, coordinator, and associate dean) from three Western-Canadian universities. Findings in this study revealed four salient themes and sub-themes: (a) Context The Setting (technology, model of learning, faculty categories, cost-recovery versus cost-sharing); (b) Leadership Preparation (removing barriers and improving leadership preparation); (c) Leadership in General (relational-oriented, vision and direction setting, organizational culture and cultural diversity, ethics); and (d) Challenges and Tensions (past, present, future, organizational realities). The study concludes with a discussion of the implications for practice that include: balance between administrator and scholar, leadership preparation, and degree proposals. Implications for theory include: leadership in the context of online curriculum delivery, cost-recovery, technology, cultural diversity, ethics and equity, as well as organizational change. Finally, based on the findings, conclusions, and implications, several questions that warrant future research into the phenomenon of leadership in higher education are shared. / Educational Administration and Leadership