Measuring theory of mind ::a preliminary analysis of a novel linguistically simple and tablet-based measure for children

This study introduces a novel linguistically simple, tablet-based, behavioral Theory of Mind (ToM) measure, designed for neurotypical (NT) and autistic children aged 4–10 years. A synthesis of five comprehensive reviews of existing ToM measures revealed significant gaps in their designs; the weaknesses include a mismatch between the operational and conceptual definition of ToM, high verbal demands in most measures, materials that are minimally interesting for children, and often a lack of psychometric evaluations. These findings call into question the suitability of most of the currently available ToM measures used in children, both with and without developmental disorders, such as children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). For example, the assessment of ToM in children with ASD may require reduced reliance on complex language or social interaction that can be part of the diagnostic criteria of the condition. This newly designed ToM measure, developed in line with the “Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing” of the American Educational Research Association, is linguistically simple, tablet-based, suitable for children with ASD, and is available in English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. With a sample of 234 participants, including 152 NT children and 82 children with ASD between 4 and 10 years of age, the new ToM measure's psychometric properties were preliminarily evaluated. Descriptive statistics, measures of internal consistency, inter-item correlation, and validity checks were conducted in both groups. Further inspections of the measure's scale- and item-level characteristics were conducted with the help of exploratory factor analyses (EFA), and item response theory (IRT) within the NT children's group. These preliminary evaluations suggest that the newly developed ToM measure possesses good psychometric properties and is both accessible and engaging for children. Further investigation with a larger group of participants is necessary to reinforce these initial results. This will allow item- and scale-level assessments within a wider range of autistic children. For this purpose, the task will be made freely available to the scientific community

Association between the EAT-Lancet Diet, Incidence of Cardiovascular Events, and All-cause Mortality ::results from a Swiss Cohort

Background : An unhealthy diet is a major contributor to several noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the leading cause of death worldwide. Additionally, our food system has significant impacts on the environment. The EAT-Lancet Commission has recommended a healthy diet that preserves global environmental resources. Objective : This prospective study evaluated the associations between adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and the incidence of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in a Swiss cohort. Methods : We analyzed data from the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus cohort study (n = 3,866). Dietary intake was assessed using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. The EAT-Lancet adherence score was calculated based on the recommended intake and reference intervals of 12 food components, ranging from 0 to 39 points. Participants were categorized into low-, medium-, and high-adherence groups according to score tertiles. We used Cox Proportional Hazards regressions to assess the association between diet adherence, incident cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. Results : During a mean follow-up of 7.9 years (SD, ±2.0), 294 individuals (7.6%) from our initial sample experienced a first cardiovascular event, and 264 (6.8%) died. Compared with the low-adherence group, the adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.66–1.17) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.49–0.98) for the medium- and high-adherence groups, respectively (p for trend = 0.04). We observed no association between adherence groups and cardiovascular events. Conclusions : In a Swiss cohort, high adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet was associated with a potential 30% lower risk of overall mortality. However, no association was found between the EAT-Lancet diet and cardiovascular events

(Faire) dire les violences obstétricales ::de l’expérience troublante d’accouchement à son récit médiatique

La médiatisation de la question des violences obstétricales au cours de l’année 2017 en France est marquée par l’abondance de témoignages de femmes faisant le récit de paroles humiliantes, de négligences, d’actes médicaux non consentis ou délétères subis lors de leur accouchement. S’appuyant sur des entretiens avec des victimes ayant témoigné dans des médias généralistes, cet article s’intéresse au processus de prise de parole médiatique dans le cadre d’un problème public en constitution. Il montre que celle-ci nécessite la problématisation, soutenue par des tiers, d’une expérience troublante, puis le rattachement de cette expérience à l’étiquette de « violence obstétricale ». Une fois publiés, les témoignages jouent eux-mêmes un rôle dans ce processus d’étiquetage, permettant la mise en lien de l’expérience singulière et du problème publicisé.Media coverage of the issue of obstetric violence during 2017 in France was marked by an abundance of testimonies from women recounting humiliating words, negligence, non-consensual or deleterious medical acts undergone during childbirth. Based on interviews with victims who have testified in the mainstream media, this article focuses on the process of speaking out in the context of an emerging public problem. It shows that to be labeled as ‘obstetric violence’ the disturbing experience needs to be problematised with the help of third-party victimisers and to find ways to this label. Once published, the testimonials themselves play a role in this labeling process, linking the singular experience to the publicised proble

Scaling and load testing location-based publish and subscribe

The rise of the Internet of things (IoT) poses massive scalability issues for location-based services. More particularly, location-aware publish and subscribe services are struggling to scale out the computation of matches between publications and subscriptions that continuously update their location. In this demonstration paper, we propose a novel distributed and horizontally scalable architecture for location-aware publish and subscribe. Our middleware architecture relies on a multi-step routing mechanism based on consistent hashing and range partitioning. To demonstrate its scalability, we present a traffic data generator, which, in contrast to existing generators, can be used to perform real-time load tests. Finally, we show that our architecture can be deployed on a small 10-node cluster and can process up to 80,000 location updates per second producing 25,000 matches per seconds

Observer le comportement à la croisée des sciences

Dans le contexte de l’après Seconde Guerre mondiale se tiennent de nombreuses réunions internationales dans le domaine scientifique. Le concept de « comportement » (indifférem- ment « behaviour » ou « behavior »), dont l’étude s’applique autant aux animaux humains que non-humains, est discuté dans un nombre important d’entre elles où sont présents des psychobiologistes, des anthropologues, des sociologues, des psychiatres, des psycha- nalystes, des zoologues, des physiologistes ou encore des éthologues... Ce concept se précise aussi bien à partir d’hypothèses théoriques que d’études concrètes, dans la mise en débat de méthodes et de parti-pris d’analyse, dans le choix de lieux et de moyens pour l’observation amenés à varier entre les disciplines et parfois à l’intérieur d’elles. Nous nous proposons ici de pointer certains éléments qui bornent cette histoire sur une durée de dix années, de 1949 à 1958, liée à l’établissement de deux sciences de l’observation du com- portement humain et non-humain : l’éthologie et la communication

Current state of plant conservation translocations across Europe::motivations, challenges and outcomes

Plant translocation is a conservation technique increasingly used around the world. In Europe, numerous unpublished initiatives have resulted in scattered information in grey literature that is difficult to access. This represents a major obstacle to the exchange of information and experience among scientists, practitioners and competent authorities. To help filling this gap, we launched a large-scale questionnaire survey with 39 questions relating to methods, motivations, problems encountered and outcomes, supplemented by a screening of scientific publications, grey literature and national/regional databases. We gathered data on 3211 plant translocations across the European continent carried out on 1166 taxa in 28 countries, which represents the largest dataset of its kind in the world to date. Target translocated species were mainly forbs from grassland habitats and had a conservation status of greater concern nationally than globally. Practitioners mainly used plug plants originating from a single source (the geographically closest to the target site). Weather events and plant diseases were the most often unanticipated problems noticed by respondents. Through monitoring, it was found that most populations flowered but often did not reproduce and could not persist for more than five years, showcasing the challenge that translocations still present for conservationists. This work will be useful in linking conservationists and enabling them to save time and resources by more easily identifying the best practices suited to their target species, with the ultimate aim of improving the science and practice of plant translocations in Europe and beyond

Ponds and Pondscapes ::a technical guide to the use of ponds and pondscapes as nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation

The technical handbook of the PONDERFUL project shows how ponds and pond landscapes can be used as Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to tackle societal challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and water scarcity. Ponds – small standing bodies of water with an area of 1 m² to 5 ha – together form so-called pondscapes, which act as networks of habitats. These habitats not only provide protection for endangered species, but also numerous ecosystem services such as water purification, climate regulation and the promotion of biodiversity

Violence de couple chez les seniors ::une réalité invisibilisée

Pour donner de la visibilité à la violence de couple chez les seniors et faire connaître les ressources d’aide en Suisse, une campagne nationale de sensibilisation a été lancée fin 2023

Does employee training in sustainable practices and food waste influence a restaurant’s level of sustainability-oriented service innovation (SOSI) and brand equity? ::evidence-based research into the ecuadorian catering industry

Restaurant segmentation is an effective tool for decision-making when developing business strategies. The objective of this research is to classify restaurant groups according to the level of employee training in sustainable practices and food waste, and to contrast the differences in the degree of sustainability-oriented service innovation and brand equity, as well as in the implementation of various sustainable practices. A cluster analysis was conducted with 300 restaurants in Guayaquil, Manta, and Portoviejo in Ecuador, based on face-to-face interviews with their managers, and then confirmed with discriminant analysis. Two groups were identified: (1) restaurants with less training in green practices, higher level of food waste, lower level of sustainability-oriented service innovation, and higher brand equity; (2) restaurants with more training in green practices, lower level of food waste, higher level of sustainability-oriented service innovation, and lower brand equity. The most sustainable restaurants claim to have less brand equity, which demonstrates that the Ecuadorian consumer does not particularly value sustainability