Histoire de la logique floue une approche sociologique des pratiques de démonstration

Starting from an historical case study, this article addresses the general issue of the development of a social history of mathematics and logic. It aims at giving an account of certain features of recent history of fuzzy logic. For this purpose, it develops an approach based on a sociology of methods of demonstration and on the material analysis of logical activity, in particular of writing and reading activities. The formation of a social history of forms of demonstration is outlined.     

UNDERSTANDING SPATIAL INERTIA: CENTER OF GRAVITY,POPULATION DENSITIES,THE WEBER PROBLEM,AND GRAVITY POTENTIAL*

ABSTRACT. In this paper we attempt to clarify the theoretical links between the concepts of “center of gravity” and “point of maximum population density” which describe the present, and the concepts of “minimum of the comprehensive Weber problem” and “maximum comprehensive gravity potential” which guide the future. Critical values of the characteristic parameters of the relevant functions are estimated. Implications for the understanding of spatial inertia are discussed.     

Spatial Cluster Detection in Spatial Flow Data

As a typical form of geographical phenomena, spatial flow events have been widely studied in contexts like migration, daily commuting, and information exchange through telecommunication. Studying the spatial pattern of flow data serves to reveal essential information about the underlying process generating the phenomena. Most methods of global clustering pattern detection and local clusters detection analysis are focused on single‐location spatial events or fail to preserve the integrity of spatial flow events. In this research we introduce a new spatial statistical approach of detecting clustering (clusters) of flow data that extends the classical local K‐function, while maintaining the integrity of flow data. Through the appropriate measurement of spatial proximity relationships between entire flows, the new method successfully upgrades the classical hot spot detection method to the stage of “hot flow” detection. Several specific aspects of the method are discussed to provide evidence of its robustness and expandability, such as the multiscale issue and relative importance control, using a real data set of vehicle theft and recovery location pairs in Charlotte, NC.     

Palaeochannels of the Balkh river (northern Afghanistan) and human occupation since the Bronze Age period

In 2002, the unexpected discovery of Hellenistic architectural blocks, buried in 8 m of alluvium, found displaced in a former bed of the river of Balkh, brought about a programme of surveys and excavations under the aegis of the French Archaeological Mission in Bactria. The geoarchaeological side of the programme focused on the drawing of a regional geomorphological map then on the identification, mapping and dating of the palaeochannels of the river of Balkh. We established the chronology of several fluvial channel generations by association with archaeological settlements of different eras (Bronze Age, Bactro-Achaemenid period, Kushan period, Islamic period) and with optically stimulated luminescence dating carried out on alluvium deposits. The present riverbed leading up to Aqcha was formed during the Islamic period. We suspect the primary agent of this change in the river channel to, be tectonic activity and the activation of a blind fault crossing the floodplain. We identified a northern Bactro-Achaemenid aqueduct, currently located in the desert area separating the plain of Balkh from the Amu Darya.     

Homeless at Home in East Durham

Abstract: This paper contributes to research on homelessness and home, focusing on the experiences of young, working class women living in privately rented or social housing in the former coalfields of East Durham in north east England. Although the women had a place to live, they rarely felt “at home” because they lived in the most deprived areas of East Durham, or too far away from family and friends, or in substandard accommodation. The women were denied the “normative values of home” that should be, as Iris Marion Young (1997) argued, accessible to everyone. While most of the women were on a waiting list for social housing, home was experienced in the emotional space of imagining and hoping to move house while living with the frustration of not moving. They often felt homeless. The paper sets the young women's experiences of home(lessness) against a changing housing policy context.