Academic literature on the topic 'Communication homme/animal'

The article presents data from a study whose purpose was to establish whether there is a connection between the needs of a person in communicating with other people and the reasons for which he gets a pet, and also to determine whether there are differences in interpersonal needs in people who voluntarily and happily become the owner of a home animal and those who do not see themselves as owners. To determine the main reasons underlying the interaction of humans with animals, an author’s questionnaire was developed. As a result of mathematical data processing, significant relationships were established between different types of social needs and the reasons for animal ownership. In addition, the differences between the social needs of those who cannot imagine their life without pets and those who do not see themselves as owners of animals were analyzed.

During 1970-74, radio transmitters were attached to five adult and four juvenile dingoes trapped on the escarpment 50 km east ofArmidale, N.S.W. These animals were radio-tracked for a total of 515 (10-83) days, and 4058 fixes (6-1248 per animal) were obtained. Some of the animals were tracked almost continuously for periods of 100 h. The dingoes exhibited two types of movement: one, dubbed searching movement, appeared to be associated with hunting; the other, dubbed exploratory movement, was used when shifting the hunting locality and in traverses of the home range. These traverses are postulated to be related to maintaining communication between animals. The dingoes were active throughout the day with peaks of activity at dawn and dusk. The distances travelled per hour in the diurnal and nocturnal periods were equal. Activity periods were short (65% <1 hour) and interspersed with shorter rest periods. During the radio-tracking period, the average home range of adults was 2700 ha. There was evidence that this size of range did not increase over periods longer than the radio-tracking. The implications of this for control programs are discussed.

Mechanistic home range analysis (MHRA) is a highly effective tool for understanding spacing patterns of animal populations. It has hitherto focused on populations where animals defend their territories by communicating indirectly, e.g. via scent marks. However, many animal populations defend their territories using direct interactions, such as ritualized aggression. To enable application of MHRA to such populations, we construct a model of direct territorial interactions, using linear stability analysis and energy methods to understand when territorial patterns may form. We show that spatial memory of past interactions is vital for pattern formation, as is memory of ‘safe’ places, where the animal has visited but not suffered recent territorial encounters. Additionally, the spatial range over which animals make decisions to move is key to understanding the size and shape of their resulting territories. Analysis using energy methods, on a simplified version of our system, shows that stability in the nonlinear system corresponds well to predictions of linear analysis. We also uncover a hysteresis in the process of territory formation, so that formation may depend crucially on initial space-use. Our analysis, in one dimension and two dimensions, provides mathematical groundwork required for extending MHRA to situations where territories are defended by direct encounters.

PurposeUsing the family activity of hobby stock-keeping (“petstock”) as a context, this paper aims to extend singularization theory to model the negotiations, agencies and resistances of children, parents and petstock, as they work through how animals become food within the boundaries of the family home. In doing so, the authors present an articulation of this process, deciphering the cultural biographies of petstock and leading to an understanding of the emergent array of child animal food-product preferences.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from petstock-keeping parents through a mixture of ethnographic, in-depth interviewing and netnographic engagements in this qualitative, interpretive study; with parents offering experiential insights into animal meat and food-product socialization behaviours played out within the family environments.FindingsThe findings discuss the range of parental behaviours, motivations and activities vis-à-vis petstock, and their children’s responses, ranging from transgression to full compliance, in terms of eating home-raised animal food-products. The discussion illustrates that in the context of petstock, a precocious child food preference agency towards animal meat and food products is reported to emerge.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has empirical and theoretical implications for the understanding of the development of child food preference agency vis-à-vis animal food products in the context of family petstock keeping.Practical implicationsThe research has the potential to inform policy makers around child education and food in regard to how child food preferences emerge and can inform marketers developing food-based communications aimed at children and parents.Originality/valueTwo original contributions are presented: an analysis of the under-researched area of how children’s food preferences towards eating animal food products develop, taking a positive child food-choice agency perspective, and a novel extension of singularization theory, theorizing the radical transformation, from animal to food, encountered by children in the petstock context.

Animals therapy is one of the types of therapy, which includes the use of animals as a means of treatment. The purpose of such therapy is to improve the patient's social, emotional, or cognitive functions. It is distinguished directed animal therapy (the use of specially trained animals for developed therapeutic programs) and non-directional (interaction with animals at home). Animal therapy methods, in contrast to other rehab techniques, allow not only to reduce muscle tone, increase the volume of passive movements, acquire new active motor skills, and, in addition to kinesiological rehabilitation effects, is intended to perform the following functions: psycho-physiological function; psychotherapeutic function; rehabilitation function; function of satisfaction of the need for competence; self-realization function; communication function. Hypotherapy is one of the most effective methods of animal therapy. The restorative effect of horse riding for patients is based on the use of the function of motion, which has for man not only biological, but also social significance. Hippotherapy combines kinesitherapy, physiotherapy, cognitive action on the emotions and the psyche of the patient, contributes to the destruction of pathological efferent impulses. Dolphin therapy for the rehabilitation of children with post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, emotional disorders, diseases of the locomotorium, etc., is actively developing in many countries, especially in the coastal countries, including Ukraine, since the 70s of the last century. The positive effect of felinotherapy in children with enuresis, logoneurosis, neurasthenia was established. Felinotherapy helps to lower blood pressure, normalizes the work of the heart, relieves articular and headaches. Cats accelerate recovery after injuries, cure internal inflammatory diseases. Canisterapy (treatment by dogs) is indicated for gout, rheumatism, liver and bladder disorders. In canisterapy, the breeds of companion dogs are most often used: labradors, collie, pugs etc. In addition to the described methods, there are still many methods of animal therapies. These are human contacts with reptiles, a dream on bees of honey bees, and others.

Disorders of communication, social relationships, and psychomotricity are often characterized by cognitive impairment, which hinders daily activities and increases the risk of falls. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an animal-assisted therapy (AAT) program in an institutionalized geriatric population with cognitive impairment. The variables evaluated included level of communication and changes in gait and/or balance. We performed a two-arm, parallel controlled, open-label, nonrandomized cluster clinical trial in two nursing home centers from an urban area. Patients in the two centers received 12 weekly sessions of physiotherapy, but the experimental group included AAT with a therapy dog. The study included a total of 46 patients (23 Control Group [CG], 23 Experimental Group [EG]) with a median age of 85.0 years. Of these, 32.6% had mild–moderate cognitive decline (Global Deterioration Scale of Reisberg [GDS] 2–4) and 67.4% severe cognitive decline (GDS 5–6). After the intervention, patients in the CG and EG showed a statistically significant improvement in all the response variables. When comparing both groups, no statistically significant differences were found in any of the Tinetti scale results (measuring gait and balance). However, the communication of patients in the EG, measured on the Holden scale, showed a statistically significant greater improvement postintervention than that of patients in the CG. AAT can be useful as a complementary, effective treatment for patients with different degrees of cognitive decline.

Purpose Medeiros et al. (2001) estimate 3.5 million cases of foodborne illness in the USA annually are associated with inadequate cooking of animal foods or cross-contamination from these foods. Past research shows home food handling practices can be risk factors for foodborne illness. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the communication of food safety guidance, specifically safe endpoint temperatures and cross-contamination risk reduction practices, in popular cookbook recipes. Design/methodology/approach Recipes containing raw animal ingredients in 29 popular cookbooks were evaluated through content analysis for messages related to safe endpoint temperature recommendations and reducing cross-contamination risks. Findings Of 1,749 recipes meeting study criteria of cooking raw animal ingredients, 1,497 contained a raw animal that could effectively be measured with a digital thermometer. Only 123 (8.2 percent) of these recipes included an endpoint temperature, of which 89 (72.3 percent) gave a correct temperature. Neutral and positive food safety behavior messages were provided in just 7.2 percent (n=126) and 5.1 percent (n=90) of recipes, respectively. When endpoint temperatures were not included, authors often provided subjective and risky recommendations. Research limitations/implications Further research is needed on the effect of these results on consumer behavior and to develop interventions for writing recipes with better food safety guidance. Practical implications Including correct food safety guidance in cookbooks may increase the potential of reducing the risk of foodborne illness. Originality/value Popular cookbooks are an underutilized avenue for communicating safe food handling practices and currently cookbook authors are risk amplifiers.

Lorsqu’ils s’adressent à leur chien beaucoup de propriétaires ont une modalité vocale particulière : le discours adressé à l’animal de compagnie. Ce registre de communication ressemble beaucoup à celui utilisé par les parents lorsqu’ils s’adressent à leurs nourrissons. Ce qui suggère des soubassements communs. Ces deux registres partagent des caractéristiques qui les distinguent du discours adressé à l’adulte, comme une fréquence fondamentale plus élevée et une modulation plus importante. Une série d’expériences réalisées à l’Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, nous a permis d’étudier comment le discours adressé à l’animal de compagnie intervient dans l’interaction homme-chien. Le premier chapitre montre que les caractéristiques acoustiques et verbales du discours adressé à l’animal de compagnie varient en fonction du contexte de l’interaction. Le deuxième chapitre s’intéresse à la manière dont le chien traite l’information vocale humaine, nos résultats suggèrent de manière générale un biais en faveur de l’hémisphère droit. Le troisième chapitre indique que le discours adressé à l’animal de compagnie augmente significativement l’attention du chien. Ce phénomène n’est pas perçu par les observateurs humains comme le montre le quatrième chapitre. A travers l’ensemble de ces études, essentiellement centrées sur le discours adressé à l’animal de compagnie, nous mettons en lumière la complexité de la communication homme-chien
When addressing their dogs, owners often use a special speech register called pet-directed-speech. This communication modality is very similar to infant-directed-speech used by parents when speaking to young children, which suggests common bases. These two types of speech share characteristics that differ from those of adult-directed-speech, such as a higher fundamental frequency and greater modulations. A series of experiments carried out at the National Veterinary School of Alfort allowed us to explore how pet-directed-speech occurs in the human-dog interaction. The first chapter shows that acoustic and verbal features of pet-directed-speech vary according to the interaction context. The second chapter aims to highlight how dogs process human vocal information; overall, our results reveal a right hemispheric advantage. The third chapter indicates that pet-directed-speech increases significantly dogs’ attentional state. This phenomenon is not perceived by human observers, as it is shown in chapter four. Together, these studies which mainly focused on pet-directed-speech bring to light the complexity of the human-dog communication

La relation homme-animal se construit à partir des interactions entre chacun des partenaires qui se transmettent des informations via les signaux sensoriels. Mieux comprendre l’effet de ces interactions passe par la détermination de la sensibilité des animaux aux signaux émis par l’homme. Les interactions vocales entre l’homme et le porc domestique ont été peu étudiées, alors que ce canal est utilisé par l’homme dans les pratiques d’élevage.La thèse a donc cherché à déterminer (1) la sensibilité des porcelets aux variations du signal vocal, (2) les effets de son utilisation dans la mise en place de la relation homme-animal et (3) son utilisation dans la communication référentielle avec l’animal. Les réponses des porcs ont été évaluées (1) dans des tests de discrimination de stimuli vocaux, (2) lors de la mise en place de la relation et de tests de réponse à la présence humaine et (3) lors de tests de choix en présence de signaux humains.Les porcelets se sont révélés sensibles à la voix féminine neutre, sans montrer d’attirance particulière pour cette voix. Néanmoins, une voix féminine aigüe et parlant lentement les a attirés physiquement. Associée à la présence répétée de l’homme, la voix féminine aigüe et lente est associée par l’animal à une valence positive. Les résultats suggèrent que la voix pourrait être impliquée dans la reconnaissance de l’homme par les animaux. Enfin, il est possible d’apprendre aux animaux à utiliser les propriétés référentielles de la voix, mais uniquement lorsqu’elle est combinée à des signaux visuels (pointage du doigt statique et dynamiq
The human-animal relationship is based on the exchange of information via sensorial signals between both partners. Identifying the sensitivity of animals to human signals would help understanding the effect of these interactions. Although auditory interactions are common in breeding practices, vocal interactions between humans and pigs were poorly studied.This thesis studied (1) the sensitivity of piglets to vocal signal variations, (2) the effect of their use during the development of the humPiglets were sensitive to a neutral feminine voice, without showing a specific attraction for it. Nevertheless, a high-pitched feminine voice, slowly speaking attracted them physically. Combined with a repeated human presence, the high-pitched-slow-feminine voice was associated to a positive valence by piglets. Piglets could use the voice to recognize humans, as suggested by our results. Eventually, animals can learn to use the referential property of the voice but only when it is combined to visual referential signals (dynamic and static pointing gestures). Our results offer promising opportunities for the use of human voice while working with animals

Ce travail de thèse se présente comme une enquête sur les modalités de l’agir-ensemble interspécifique. L’idée qui a présidé à sa mise en œuvre repose sur la volonté d’élargir les questionnements classiques en sociologie de l’action (comment décrire le vivre-ensemble, quelle forme prend l’ordre social) et en linguistique (comment communique-t-on intelligiblement) à un objet sortant de leurs préoccupations traditionnelles : les interactions sociales entre hommes et chiens. Pour cela, nous analysons des données recueillies lors d’interactions ordinaires et quotidiennes entre chiots en éducation et éducateurs canins, ou entre chiens-guides d’aveugles et personnes non-voyantes.Il s’agit d’un travail empirique de recherche sur les ressources utilisées par hommes et chiens pour agir ensemble et communiquer. Pour cela, nous montrons que les actions communes dans lesquelles ils s’engagent sont réalisées de manière ordonnée, et sont séquentiellement organisées – de sorte qu’elles sont descriptibles avec une certaine systématicité. Cette systématicité, qui exhibe le caractère ordonné des interactions, est traitée comme l’indice d’une forme de socialité qui s’incarne dans l’ajustement mutuel. De ce point de vue, cette thèse se présente également comme un travail théorique sur les formes de la socialité interspécifique. De manière incidente, elle se veut en outre le lieu d’une réflexion épistémologique sur la prise en charge par les sciences humaines et la linguistique d’un objet par tradition réservé aux sciences dites naturelles
« Non human » is an analytical category that has now entered the realm of sociology. The fact that domestic animals might be agents, and relevant interactants has been evoked and investigated in the most recent literature. The originality of our study does not lie in these arguments. It takes them for granted, and analyzes with systematicity some of the resources used by dogs and their human co-interactants (be they educators or visually impaired persons) to communicate with intelligibility, and make each other’s actions mutually accountable. The study is structured by a leading question: what kind of sociality is at stake between dogs and humans ?The dissertation is divided into two introductory theoretical chapters, and three analytical parts. The first chapter establishes the state of the art, as far as human/animal interaction is concerned. After briefly commenting on the Animal Studies and its opposition to the so-called cartesian position, it ends by introducing the ethnomethodological program as a relevant approach to shed a new light on my object. The second chapter offers an epistemological reflection on the analytical ‘naturalist’ framework worth adopting in order to investigate dog-human sociality. It gives an occasion to discuss the transcription format usually used in CA as an adequate frame to shed light on the sequentiality of actions, as well as on conditional relevance. The three next chapters are grounded on these reflections and are more strictly empirical and analytical. Chapter 3 describes the resources used by dogs and humans to interact with intelligibility and to share perceptive knowledge. It analyzes procedures of shared attention, and mutual orientation (for instance, by mutually orienting toward a relevant object for the ongoing action). Chapter 4 goes further into the analysis of participants’ procedural competencies, and observes the systematicity of sequential formats. Chapter 5 is grounded on these analyses and addresses a “topos” as far as human-animal interaction is concerned: issues of cognition. Drawing on the EM program, it proposes a praxeological approach to cognition that does not focus on dog’s capacities or skills but on the way ordinary practices of practical reasoning are accomplished.The PhD dissertation offers an empirical work on human-animal modalities of living and acting together. It aims at showing that mutual actions participants engage in are orderly accomplished and sequentially organized – and therefore descriptible with systematicity.This systematicity, by exhibiting the orderly character of interactions, is treated as a cue of a form of sociality, embodied in mutual adjustment. In this regard, this thesis offers also some theoretical thoughts on forms of interspecific sociality.At the same time, and more incidentally, it develops epistemological considerations about the reflexive relationships between social sciences, linguistics, and natural sciences in the treatment of this “hybrid” objet

Le chien est le meilleur ami de l'homme et lui rend de nombreux services. L'association Handi'Chiens forme des chiens d'assistance pour des personnes à mobilité réduite. Ces chiens aident ces personnes dans leur vie quotidienne et ont un fort impact socialisant. Les personnes se sentent rapidement dépendantes de leur chien et par peur de le perdre, malgré sa formation rigoureuse, elles peuvent ne pas lui laisser suffisamment de liberté ce qui a des conséquences néfastes sur son équilibre. Ces travaux répondent à la question "Comment améliorer la situation du chien, grâce à la technologie actuelle, en augmentant les capacités de communication entre un chien d’assistance et son maître en situation de handicap ?". Afin de répondre à cette problématique, plusieurs prototypes de harnais et de colliers électroniques ont été développés et testés avec succès. Les expérimentations ont notamment montré qu'un chien est capable de répondre à des commandes provenant d'un dispositif électronique, même en l’absence de son maître. Afin de permettre aux personnes en situation de handicap de piloter de tels dispositifs, une interface mobile accessible a également été développée et testée
Dogs are the best friends of people and return them numerous services. The Handi'Chiens association trains assistance dogs for persons with reduced mobility. These dogs help disabled people in their daily lives and a strong socializing impact. People quickly feel dependent on their dog, and by fear of losing it despite its rigorous training, might not leave it enough freedom which results in negative consequences on its health. This work answers the question "How to improve the situation of the dog, with current technology, by increasing communication between a service dog and his handler with disabilities?" To address this issue, several electronic harnesses and collars prototypes have been developed and successfully tested. Experiments have shown that a dog is able to respond to commands from an electronic device, even in the absence of its handler. To allow people with disabilities to control such devices, an accessible mobile interface has also been developed and tested

Nous nous sommes proposés de mieux comprendre les systèmes de communication interspécifiques, maitre-chien domestique, et intra spécifiques, chien domestique-chien domestique. Nous avons privilégié l'observation des animaux en milieu urbain, qu'ils soient accompagnés de leur maitre ou non. Nous avons notamment analyse les comportements de dépôt de déjections et de secrétions glandulaires réalises par le chien en considérant différentes caractéristiques des individus observes et de l'environnement. L'échantillon étudié est compose de 736 chiens accompagnes de leur maitre et de 94 chiens vagabonds. Une analyse des enchainements de comportements, des variables individuelles et écologiques, a permis d'établir des correspondances entre les variables considérées. Notre travail apporte des données nouvelles sur les processus d'adaptation du chien domestique en milieu urbain. Canis familiaris présente une utilisation sélective de l'environnement et une régulation comportementale permanente au comportement du maitre. Cependant, il conserve l'essentiel du répertoire comportemental du canidé sauvage

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária
A comunicação é imprescindível na prática clínica veterinária e é uma das capacidades mais utilizadas no dia-a-dia de um veterinário. A importância de uma boa comunicação veterinário – dono surge pelo aumento da expectativa por parte do cliente no cuidado e no tratamento do seu animal. A ligação homem – animal resulta em benefícios no bem-estar emocional, social, psicológico e físico de quem possui um animal. Este facto é cada vez mais reconhecido, sendo uma das causas do aumento da população que cria uma ligação afectiva com o seu animal de companhia. Neste trabalho, a elaboração de um inquérito distribuído à população de donos de animais presente em dois estabelecimentos veterinários permitiu concluir que muitos dos portugueses consideram o seu animal de companhia como um membro da família. Regras que podem ajudar a melhorar a comunicação, assim como a relação veterinário - dono, são descritas ao longo desta dissertação. A capacidade de comunicar pode e deve ser aprendida por todos os profissionais, pois a sua utilização é benéfica para a sua relação com o cliente, assim como para a saúde e bem-estar do próprio animal. Sendo o veterinário confrontado, diariamente, com situações que requerem uma boa comunicação com o cliente, este trabalho procura também demonstrar a aplicação das regras de comunicação em várias situações vividas por médicos veterinários de uma clínica de pequenos animais. Os dilemas éticos, a eutanásia e a comunicação com determinados estratos da população, como por exemplo as crianças, foram os exemplos apresentados.
ABSTRACT - COMMUNICATION IN SMALL ANIMAL VETERINARY PRACTICE - Communication is inevitable in small animal practice, being one of the most common skills employed in a day of a veterinarian. With increasing expectations of pet owners for the highest quality medical care for their companion animals as well as compassionate care comes the need to apply an effective communication between the veterinarian and his client. The human – animal bond has several emotional, social and psychological benefits to the owners, as well as medical benefits. These benefits may be one of the reasons for the increasing number of people who build an extremely strong bond with their pets. During this study, a questionnaire was distributed among pet owners who attended two veterinary facilities. From the results we can conclude that the majority of the respondents consider their pet as a family member. Several ways of how to improve communication skills as well as the veterinarian – owner relationship, are described in this study. Learning how to communicate effectively is something that all the professionals can and, in some cases, should do in order to improve the relationship with their clients and the health and welfare of the animal itself. A veterinarian is daily confronted with situations that require the use of his ability to communicate. In order to demonstrate how these professionals can apply the rules of communication, three cases with reference to those situations are described in this thesis. Furthermore, ethical dilemma, euthanasia, and communication with children are the issues discussed in those three cases.

Les besoins croissants en formation et en entrainement au travail d’équipe ont motivé l’utilisationd’Environnements de réalité Virtuelle Collaboratifs de Formation (EVCF) qui permettent aux utilisateurs de travailler avec des agents autonomes pour réaliser une activité collective. L’idée directrice est que la coordination efficace entre les membres d’une équipe améliore la productivité et réduit les erreurs individuelles et collectives. Cette thèse traite de la mise en place et du maintien de la coordination au sein d’une équipe de travail composée d’agents et d’humains interagissant dans un EVCF.L’objectif de ces recherches est de doter les agents virtuels de comportements conversationnels permettant la coopération entre agents et avec l’utilisateur dans le but de réaliser un but commun.Nous proposons une architecture d’agents Collaboratifs et Conversationnels, dérivée de l’architecture Belief-Desire-Intention (C2-BDI), qui gère uniformément les comportements délibératifs et conversationnels comme deux comportements dirigés vers les buts de l’activité collective. Nous proposons un modèle intégré de la coordination fondé sur l’approche des modèles mentaux partagés, afin d’établir la coordination au sein de l’équipe de travail composée d’humains et d’agents. Nous soutenons que les interactions en langage naturel entre les membres d’une équipe modifient les modèles mentaux individuels et partagés des participants. Enfin, nous décrivons comment les agents mettent en place et maintiennent la coordination au sein de l’équipe par le biais de conversations en langage naturel. Afin d’établir un couplage fort entre la prise de décision et le comportement conversationnel collaboratif d’un agent, nous proposons tout d’abord une approche fondée sur la modélisation sémantique des activités humaines et de l’environnement virtuel via le modèle mascaret puis, dans un second temps, une modélisation du contexte basée sur l’approche Information State. Ces représentations permettent de traiter de manière unifiée les connaissances sémantiques des agents sur l’activité collective et sur l’environnement virtuel ainsi que des informations qu’ils échangent lors de dialogues.Ces informations sont utilisées par les agents pour la génération et la compréhension du langage naturel multipartite. L’approche Information State nous permet de doter les agents C2BDI de capacités communicatives leur permettant de s’engager pro-activement dans des interactions en langue naturelle en vue de coordonner efficacement leur activité avec les autres membres de l’équipe. De plus, nous définissons les protocoles conversationnels collaboratifs favorisant la coordination entre les membres de l’équipe. Enfin, nous proposons dans cette thèse un mécanisme de prise de décision s’inspirant de l’approche BDI qui lie les comportements de délibération et de conversation des agents. Nous avons mis en oeuvre notre architecture dans trois différents scénarios se déroulant dans des EVCF. Nous montrons que les comportements conversationnels collaboratifs multipartites des agents C2BDI facilitent la coordination effective de l’utilisateur avec les autres membres de l’équipe lors de la réalisation d’une tâche partagée
Growing needs of educational and training requirements motivate the use of collaborative virtual environments for training (CVET) that allows human users to work together with autonomous agents to perform a collective activity. The vision is inspired by the fact that the effective coordination improves productivity, and reduces the individual and team errors. This work addresses the issue of establishing and maintaining the coordination in a mixed human-agent teamwork in the context of CVET. The objective of this research is to provide human-like conversational behavior of the virtual agents in order to cooperate with a user and other agents to achieve shared goals.We propose a belief-desire-intention (BDI) like Collaborative Conversational agent architecture(C2BDI) that treats both deliberative and conversational behaviors uniformly as guided by the goal-directed shared activity. We put forward an integrated model of coordination which is founded on the shared mental model based approaches to establish coordination in a human-agent teamwork. We argue that natural language interaction between team members can affect and modify the individual and shared mental models of the participants. Finally, we describe the cultivation of coordination in a mixed human-agent teamwork through natural language conversation. In order to establish the strong coupling between decision making and the collaborative conversational behavior of the agent, we propose first, the Mascaret based semantic modeling of human activities and the VE, and second, the information state based context model. This representation allows the treatment of semantic knowledge of the collaborative activity and virtual environment, and information exchanged during the dialogue conversation in a unified manner. This knowledge can be used by the agent for multiparty natural language processing (understanding and generation) in the context of the CEVT. To endow the communicative capabilities to C2BDI agent, we put forward the information state based approach for the natural language processing of the utterances. We define collaborative conversation protocols that ensure the coordination between team members. Finally, in this thesis, we propose a decision making mechanism, which is inspired by the BDI based approach and provides the interleaving between deliberation and conversational behavior of the agent. We have applied the proposed architecture to three different scenarios in the CVET. We found that the multiparty collaborative conversational behavior of C2BDI agent is more constructive and facilitates the user to effectively coordinate with other team members to perform a shared task

Le premier objectif de ce travail de thèse était de développer la méthodologie d’étude des postures basée sur la morphométrie géométrique. Cela nécessitait un perfectionnement de la méthodologie déjà existante sur la ligne du dos du cheval afin d’obtenir une méthode précise, quantifiable, objective et reproductible, permettant de discriminer des populations. Pour cela, plusieurs améliorations méthodologiques (ajout de marqueurs pour dessiner le contour de laligne du dos du cheval, analyse de contour, annulation de la rotation de l’encolure) ont été testées sur un important jeu de données et finalement retenues. Cette méthodologie retenue a ensuite été utilisée afin de valider sa pertinence, et de rechercher des postures associées à des états de mal-être et à des conditions de travail différentes. Nos résultats ont tout d’abord mis en évidence l’existence d’une posture atypique, dans l’ensemble plate, voire creuse, associée à des marqueurs de mal-être parmi les chevaux de centre équestre. D’une part des chevaux issus de différentes disciplines équestres, et d’autre part des individus entrainés pour les courses de galop par plusieurs entraineurs, aux pratiques distinctes, ont permis d’observer un effet du type de travail sur la ligne du dessus notamment sur la forme de la croupe, del’encolure et du garrot. La méthodologie ainsi validée, il était possible de proposer un protocole de mesure de la posture par morphométrie géométrique chez l’humain, pour une application à l’étude de la communication non verbale, à la constitution d’un répertoire de postures « normales », ou encore pour le diagnostic de pathologies physiques (e.g. contextesportif) ou psychologiques
The first goal of this thesis work was to develop the study methodology of the posture based on geometric morphometrics. This required an upgrading of the already existing methodology using the upper line of the horse in order to obtain a precise, quantifiable, unbiased and reproducible method which allows to discriminate populations. To achieve this, manymethodological improvements (addition of markers for the modelling of the contour of horse upper line, contour analyses, cancellation of the neck rotation) has been tested on a very large dataset and retained. Then this adopted methodology has been used to validate its relevance, and searching for postures associated with poor welfare and different working conditions. Our results has first brought to light the existence of an atypical posture, globally flat, even hollow, related to poor welfare indicators among the population of riding school horses. On one side horses from different equestrian disciplines, and on the other side individuals trained for horseracing by several trainers with distinct practices, has allowed to observe an impact of the type of work on the upper line, notably on the shape of the croup, neck and withers. This methodology thereby validated, it was possible to propose a protocol for the measure of the posture through geometric morphometrics on humans, for an application in the non-verbal communication research, the creation of a repertoire of « normal » postures, or for the diagnosis of psychological or physical pathologies (e.g. in the sport context)

Chemical communication is an essential item for insects’ survivals that qualify them to adapt their behavior depending on the surrounding environment. Semiochemicals defined as informative molecules (M) mainly play an important role that conveys specific chemical messages between insect and insect and plant and insect. Olfaction mechanism in insects is a key point of chemical communication between the same and different insect species. Discrimination of various odors through the olfaction system depends only on the evolutionary pressures of the molecules which stimulate the development of specific binding proteins (BPs) and specific receptor sites present on individual chemosensory neurons. Pheromones are defined as species-specific chemical signals which enable communication between life-forms of the same species. Recently, semiochemicals become as alternative or complementary components to insecticide approaches in integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. Pheromones are secreted by insects causing a specific reaction, for example, either a definite behavior or a developmental process. Pheromones have been classified into eight various types: aggregation pheromones, alarm pheromones, oviposition-deterrent pheromones, home recognition pheromones, sex pheromones, trail pheromones, recruitment pheromones, and royal pheromones. Pheromones are promising and can be used singly or in integration with other control strategies for monitoring and controlling insect pests in agricultural systems.

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has shaped me as a scientist by providing a collaborative environment and the opportunity to take a long-term, large-scale perspective in my research. I share this perspective with students by incorporating the principles, questions, and data from such research into my teaching. Working at an LTER site, and one that is based in Puerto Rico, has allowed me to increase the diversity of my laboratory and our graduate program by facilitating the recruitment of women and minority students. Personal experiences with science and data management in the LTER program, particularly the bad experiences, have helped me to improve as a communicator in the broadest sense. Although being a scientist in the LTER program has contributed to my career in many positive ways, it has also presented challenges to my work–life balance. To maintain its leadership role, the LTER program needs to remain an open network welcoming new scientists, new ideas, and thus new potential for discovery. I grew up, professionally speaking, in the LTER program. In 1989 as a new PhD student, I was strongly encouraged (i.e., told in no uncertain terms!) to explore research opportunities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico. My mentors had developed a graduate field course in Puerto Rico that I participated in and later helped teach. Puerto Rico was their first venture into the tropics, one that was made easier by the fact that Puerto Rico is part of the United States and provides almost all of the conveniences of home. As one of my professors, Tom Siccama, liked to remark, Puerto Rico was “just like Connecticut, only different!” Puerto Rico was not, however, my first venture into the tropics. I had traveled, studied, and worked in Central and South America and the Pacific since my sophomore year of college and considered myself to be a tropical veteran. I felt at home in tropical rain forests, and had envisioned my PhD research taking place at some remote field site, in a foreign country, far from civilization: just me, my tent, the jungle, and the animals.