Ce travail de thèse porte sur l’exploitation des données temporelles en présence d’imperfections. Il s’agit de définir, concevoir et développer un système intelligent pour l’interrogation des bases de données temporelles où la dimension temps (des relations ou des entités) est définie d’une manière imprécise et floue. Ce type de base de données se manifeste fréquemment dans les applications issues du domaine médical, de l’historique et de l’archive, de la planification, etc.Nous rappelons tout d’abord les différents formalismes utilisés dans le traitement des informations temporelles, puis, nous présentons les travaux antérieurs qui ont abordé la problématique de la gestion et de traitement de l’information temporelle imparfaite dans le domaine des bases de données. Nous décrivons ensuite une première contribution apportée sur la définition d’un nouveau modèle de représentation de données temporelles entachées d’imprécision. Des relations d’Allen étendues ont été introduites ainsi qu’un ensemble de règles de composition permettant de raisonner. Cette contribution a permis de développer un premier prototype nommé Fuzz-TIME pour le traitement des requêtes contenant des critères temporels flous/imprécis. Un des points forts de ce système est qu’il possède un module de raisonnement lui permettant de traiter, d’une manière intelligente, une famille de requêtes temporelles de nature complexe.La plupart des travaux menés sur l’exploitation et la manipulation des informations temporelles considèrent que les entités temporelles (i.e., intervalles) sont définies d’une manière précise (non floue). Or dans le monde des applications réelles, les bornes des intervalles de temps manipulés sont souvent entachées d’imprécision. Nous avons ainsi proposé une nouvelle sémantique des relations temporelles d’Allen (i.e., relations d’Allen tolérantes) dans ce contexte. L’élément clé de cette sémantique est une relation de tolérance convenablement choisie. Une troisième partie de notre travail est consacrée à la modélisation d’une nouvelle extension des relations temporelles d’Allen où les intervalles de temps sont interprétés d’une manière conjonctive. Enfin, nous décrivons l’architecture du système Fuzz-TIME et discutons l’étude expérimentale menée pour valider les contributions proposées. / This work focuses on the exploitation of temporal data in presence of imperfections. The aim is to define, design and develop an intelligent system for the interrogation of temporal databases where the time dimension (of relationships or entities) is defined in an imprecise and fuzzy way. This type of databases is frequently found in applications from the medical field, history and archive, planning, etc.We first recall the different formalisms used in the processing of temporal in formation, and then we present the previous work which has addressed the problem of managing and processing of imperfect temporal information in the field of databases.We describe then a first contribution related to the definition of a new model for the representation of imprecise temporal data. Extended Allen relations have been introduced as well as a set of composition rules for reasoning. This contribution has allowed developing a first prototype called Fuzz-TIME for processing queries containing fuzzy /imprecise time criteria. One of the major interests of this system is that it exhibits a reasoning module to intelligently process a family of temporal queries of a complex nature.Most work on the exploitation and manipulation of temporal in formation considers that the temporal entities (i.e.,intervals) are defined in a precise (non-fuzzy) manner. ln the world of real applications, the bounds of the manipulated time intervals are often pervaded by imprecision. We have proposed a new semantics of Allen's temporal relations (i .e., Allen Tolerant Relations) in this context. The key element of this semantics is a suitably chosen relationship of tolerance. A third part of our work is devoted to the modeling of a new extension of Allen's temporal relations where the time intervals are interpreted in a conjunctive way. Finally, we describe the architecture of the Fuzz-TIME system and discuss the experimental study carried out to validate the proposed contributions.

Understanding temporal relations among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom dimensions has received increasing attention in research. However, current findings in this area are limited by group-level approaches, which are based on inter-individual variation. PTSD is a heterogeneous syndrome and symptoms are likely to vary across individuals and time. Thus, it is important to examine temporal relations among PTSD symptom dimensions as dynamic processes and at the level of intra-individual variation. The aim of the present study was to capture temporal dynamics among PTSD symptom dimensions at an individual level using unified structural equation modeling (uSEM). World Trade Center (WTC) 9/11 responders (N = 202) oversampled for current PTSD (18.3% met criteria in past month) were recruited from the Long Island site of the WTC health program. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), PTSD symptoms were assessed three times a day over seven consecutive days. The person-specific temporal relations among PTSD symptom dimensions were estimated with individual-level uSEM. For the sample as a whole, hyperarousal played a key role in driving the other three symptom dimensions longitudinally, with the strongest effect in intrusive symptoms. However, daily temporal relations among PTSD symptoms were idiosyncratic. Although hyperarousal was a strong predictor of subsequent symptom severity, only 33.95% of the sample showed this predictive effect while others showed more evident temporal relations between intrusion and avoidance. Implications for personalized health care and recommendations for future research using individual-level uSEM in psychopathology are discussed.

Temporala bisatser är ett av flera sätt att ange tid, de andra sätten är bland annat tempus och temporala adverb. Genom att undersöka temporala bisatser i svenska och bulgariska är det möjligt att illustrera likheter och skillnader i användning och funktion av temporala bisatser. I och med att svenska och bulgariska är inte nära besläktade språk finns det flera kontraster mellan språken som är intressanta att utforska, t.ex. kontrasten mellan bulgarisk aspekt och avsaknad av aspekt på svenska. Studiens syfte är att undersöka användning och funktion av temporala bisatser på svenska och bulgariska som utförs genom att ta reda på temporala relationer, tempus och aspekt, expletiv negation, polysemi och frekvens hos temporala subjunktioner i temporala bisatser. Studiens syfte undersöks med hjälp av parallella texter och ordböcker på svenska och bulgariska. Resultatet visar både likheter och skillnader i användning och funktion av temporala bisatser i de två språken. Bland annat undersöks om motsvarande satser har samma eller olika temporala relationer i temporala satser på svenska och bulgariska. I det undersökta materialet är temporala bisatser något mer frekventa på svenska än på bulgariska. / Temporal subordinate clauses are one of several ways to specify time. Other possible ways are for instance tense and temporal adverbs. By investigating temporal subordinate clauses in Swedish and Bulgarian, it is possible to illustrate similarities and differences in the use and function of these clauses. Since Swedish and Bulgarian are not closely related languages, there are several contrasts between them that are interesting to explore, for instance the contrast between the Bulgarian aspect category and the lack of aspect as a grammatical category in Swedish. The aim of the study is to investigate the use and function of temporal subordinate clauses in Swedish and Bulgarian. To achieve this I investigate temporal relationships, tense and aspect, expletive negation, polysemy, and frequency of temporal subordinators in temporal subordinate clauses using parallel texts and dictionaries in Swedish and Bulgarian. The results show both similarities and differences in the use and function of temporal subordinate clauses. In corresponding sentences, the same or different temporal relationships are observed in clauses in Swedish and Bulgarian. In the material considered, temporal subordinate clauses are somewhat more frequent in Swedish than in Bulgarian.

The study provides a theoretical account for the representation of apartheid in South African fiction. Narrative strategies employed in the post-apartheid novels The innocence of roast chicken (Richards, 1996), The smell of apples (Behr, 1996), All we have left unsaid (Case, 2006) and Thirteen cents (Duiker, 2011) reveal that depictions of the past contribute to narrative structure and the production of meaning. Genettean temporal relations, namely narrative order, duration and frequency are a systematic method to analyse the selected novels, since it enables a contrast between the narrative past as the histoire, and the narrative present as the récit. Retrospective events are constructed as memories, thereby are complemented by Bergson’s psychological and philosophical theory in the analysis and interpretation of the dualistic interaction between the apartheid and post-apartheid temporal centres adopted within the novels. The representation of apartheid may be seen as sub-themes and time as configurations of temporal zones. / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Theory of Literature)

The study provides a theoretical account for the representation of apartheid in South African fiction. Narrative strategies employed in the post-apartheid novels The innocence of roast chicken (Richards, 1996), The smell of apples (Behr, 1996), All we have left unsaid (Case, 2006) and Thirteen cents (Duiker, 2011) reveal that depictions of the past contribute to narrative structure and the production of meaning. Genettean temporal relations, namely narrative order, duration and frequency are a systematic method to analyse the selected novels, since it enables a contrast between the narrative past as the histoire, and the narrative present as the récit. Retrospective events are constructed as memories, thereby are complemented by Bergson’s psychological and philosophical theory in the analysis and interpretation of the dualistic interaction between the apartheid and post-apartheid temporal centres adopted within the novels. The representation of apartheid may be seen as sub-themes and time as configurations of temporal zones. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M. A. (Theory of Literature)