An Interactive Approach to the Central Facility Location Problem: Locating Pediatric Hospitals in Warsaw

Most of the conventional approaches to the central facility location problem neglect the interaction of analyst and decision-maker during the locational choice process. This paper presents a new interactive approach to the central facility location problem. It is assumed that the problem is formulated by an analyst as a multiobjective optimization problem. Then the decision-maker searches for a satisfactory solution working directly with the computer system. The interactive procedure was implemented on IBM-PC XT/AT as the decision support system DINAS (Dynamic Interactive Network Analysis System) which enables the solution of various multiobjective location-allocation problems. DINAS has been successfully used for solving a real-world planning problem, namely for finding locations for pediatric hospitals in the Warsaw region.     

Revue d’histoire des sciences humaines

Vie Scientifique

Revue d’histoire des sciences humaines     

Beyond Boundaries: Nature,Culture and a Holistic Approach to Domestication in the Levant

The main objective of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach for the investigation of domestication in the Levant. First, basic data regarding domestication in the Levant are presented. Then the various traditional approaches towards domestication in the prehistoric Levant, labeled (1) environmental, (2) social and anthropological, and (3) cognitive, are briefly reviewed. This discussion forms the basis for a proposal of a “holistic approach,” in which domestication is regarded as a long-term, multidimensional and multirelational phenomenon, including many elements—such as plants, animals, humans, material culture and ancestors—with increasing human manipulation of these various constituents. After a presentation of the theoretical framework, a growth metaphor is used to reconstruct the process of domestication (ca. 20,000–6500 B.P.) as a number of phases: (1) germination in the Kebaran; (2) development in the Early Natufian; (3) retreat/dormancy in the Late/Final Natufian; (4) growth in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A; (5) florescence in the Early- and Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B: (6) further development in the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B; (7) dispersal in the Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B and the Pottery Neolithic. In each of these phases, relations between the various elements are dealt with, special attention being paid to symbolical relations, as evidenced by “art” and ritual.     

An Alternative Way Towards Food Production: The Perspective from the Libyan Sahara

Food production originated in various ways in different parts of the world. Plant domestication with the adoption of agriculture has been successful in some areas, but not in others, where animal domestication with nomadic pastoralism proved to be more effective. Likewise, the preceding phases of pre-adaptation and development of a broad spectrum of wild resource exploitation followed different pathways, according to the locally available resources, climatic and geographic conditions, and social organizations. Northern Africa greatly contributed to the understanding of the origin of food production under preconditions that differed from those in the Fertile Crescent. Apart from a narrow strip along the Nile valley, northern African lands are arid and scarcely productive for agriculture. Nevertheless, early studies interpreted northern African archaeological records of the Early and Middle Holocene according to the traditional north-western Mediterranean and Near Eastern frames of reference. Consequently, terms such as Epipalaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic were uncritically applied to northern African contexts. This paper compares and discusses the evidence for food production in the Near East and northern Africa, considering the question of introduction or local breeds of domesticated animals in the Maghreb and the Sahara. It then reviews the relevant data for long-held diffusionist models of pastoralism into Africa to provide a different perspective and the proper means of interpretation of the northern African archaeological records. Finally, it examines some recent findings from the Tadrart Acacus, in the Libyan Sahara, which contribute to clarification of distinctive African pathways and propose an alternative model for the beginnings of food production.     

Émile Meyerson,d'après sa correspondance

Building upon Emile Meyerson's correspondence and other personal papers, all of them hosted by the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem, this article presents a mainly personal portrait of the philosopher (1859–1933). Thus this article describes his family circle in Lublin (Poland), his higher education (in Germany) and his professional course: settled in France, he worked first in chemistry, then get a job as foreign news editor and later took an important position at the Jewish Colonization Association. This article deals also with Meyerson's contacts with the French and international intellectuel milieu (scientists as well as writers).     

Singulières archives

Archives, although fundamental to historical research, are rarely appreciated in terms of their place in epistemology. The concept of «archive»-usually given in the singular-has, however, been treated by several philosophers, including most recently Paul Ric?ur. This paper focuses on Ric?ur's latest work,La Mémoire, l'histoire, l'oubli, to analyse Ric?ur's use of the term «archive» and its resonances with the work of Michel Foucault and Michel de Certeau. It investigates, as well, how the concept of archive, closely linked to that of witnessing or testimony, presents certain difficulties from the vantage point of historical epistemology, and proposes another use of the term, one involving greater attention to the historicity and materiality of the «archive» in the interests of a more textual and hermeneutic interpretation.     

The Irish Sí Tradition: Connections Between the Disciplines,and What’s in a Word?

One of the most prominent features of the Irish landscape is the great multitude of megalithic sites which date back to the Neolithic. In this paper, I will attempt to demonstrate that the understanding of these sites in Ireland can be enhanced by referencing the native tradition, including the Irish word for the sites, sí, and the sís powerful cultural tradition attested to throughout native Irish folklore, literature, onomastics, and traditional knowledge. In doing so, I will explore the difficulties and the potentials of interdisciplinary communication between archaeology and folkloristics, and the related issues regarding communication between official and unofficial discourses.     

An Archaeological Survey of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,Las Cruces—El Paso

Archaeologists from New Mexico State University surveyed El Camino Real, the earliest long-distance trail established by European colonists in North America, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, to El Paso, Texas. Our goal was to determine the location and condition of this historic trail within a strip of land that has witnessed significant agricultural, suburban, and urban development in recent years. Due to this development, many scholars have assumed that all physical traces of the Camino Real have been destroyed. Results of our research, however, suggest that not all remnants of the trail and related campsites have been lost.     

The intuitions of higher dimensional algebra for the study of structured space

Higher dimensional algebra frees mathematics from the restriction to a purely linear notation, in order to improve the modelling of geometry and so obtain more understanding and more modes of computation. It gives new tools for noncommutative, higher dimensional, local to global problems, through the notion of «algebraic inverse to subdivision». We explain the way these ideas arose for the writters, in extending first the classical notion of abstract group to abstract groupoid, in which composition is only partially defined, as in composing journeys, and which brings a spatial component to the usual group theory: An example from knot theory is used to explain how such algebra can be used to describe some structure of a space. The extension to dimension 2 uses compositions of squares in two directions, and the richness of the resulting algebra is shown by some 2-dimensional calculations. The difficulty of the jump from dimension 1 to dimension 2 is also illustrated by the comparison of the commutative square with the commutative cube-discussion of the latter requires new ideas. The importance of category theory is explained, and a range of current and potential applications of higher dimensional algebra indicated.     

Territorial Keys for Bringing Closer the Territorial Agenda of the EU and Europe 2020

The recent developments of the economic theory suggest that due attention to territorial context increases efficiency and improves delivery of the policies. This in turn calls for better linkages between spatial and socio-economic efforts. The paper analyses the concept of policy territorialization and proposes policy tools for that purpose. The relevant theoretical models are used, mainly evolutionary economics and new economic geography. The key outcome is a set of territorial keys supposed to enhance territorial approach in developmental policies. Also some plausible ways of making use of those keys are proposed and then tested using Polish territory as a case study.