Dimensions of compulsive exercise across eating disorder diagnostic subtypes and the validation of the Spanish version of the compulsive exercise test

Objectives: Compulsive exercise in eating disorders has been traditionally considered as a behavior that serves the purpose of weight/shape control. More recently, it has been postulated that there may be other factors that drive the compulsive need to exercise. This has led to the development of the Compulsive Exercise Test (CET); a self-reported questionnaire that aims to explore the cognitive-behavioral underpinnings of compulsive exercise from a multi-faceted perspective. The objectives of this study were threefold: (1) to validate the Spanish version of the CET; (2) to compare eating disorder diagnostic subtypes and a healthy control group in terms of the factors that drive compulsive exercise as defined by the CET; (3) to explore how the dimensions evaluated in the CET are associated with eating disorder symptoms and general psychopathology. Methods: The CET was administered to a total of 157 patients with an eating disorder [40 anorexia nervosa, 56 bulimia nervosa (BN), and 61 eating disorder not-otherwise-specified (EDNOS)] and 128 healthy weight/eating controls. Patients were assessed via a semi-structured interview to reach a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis. Additionally, all participants completed the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90R) and the Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated adequate goodness-of-fit to the original five-factor model of the CET. BN and EDNOS patients scored higher in the avoidance and rule-driven behavior, weight control, and total CET scales in comparison to the healthy controls, and higher across all scales apart from the exercise rigidity scale compared to the anorexia nervosa patients. Mean scores of the anorexia nervosa patients did not differ to those of the control participants, except for the mood improvement scale where the anorexia nervosa patients obtained a lower mean score. Mean scores between the BN and EDNOS patients were equivalent. The CET scales avoidance and rule-driven behavior, weight of control and total CET scores were positively correlated with the clinical assessment measures of the SCL-90R and EDI-2. Conclusion: Compulsive exercise is a multidimensional construct and the factors driving compulsive exercise differ according to the eating disorder diagnostic subtype. This should be taken into account when addressing compulsive exercise during the treatment of eating disorders

Contextual bandits-guided local search for solving air cargo palletisation problem

In this paper, we address the challenges of efficiently assigning items to Unit Load Devices within the air cargo industry. We present a comprehensive formulation of the three-dimensional air cargo palletisation problem, focussing on cost minimisation and incorporating grouping, positioning, and compatibility constraints. We propose a set of 12 resolution approaches that utilise contextual bandits-guided local search heuristics. We conduct a thorough benchmark experiment to evaluate the performance of our proposed methods. Two objective functions, namely unused volume and costs are employed to underscore the significance of cost minimisation in air cargo palletisation. Furthermore, we address instances encompassing grouping, positioning, and compatibility constraints, enabling us to explore the managerial insights these constraints offer and assess the benefits of integrating cost-reduction strategies. The findings provide valuable insights for decision-makers involved in optimising air cargo palletisation operations

La mutualisation des ressources dans les supply chains.

Cycle de Séminaires Ecole Centrale Casablanca. La mutualisation des ressources dans les supply chains. Partie 1: La mutualisation des ressources pour la gestion de la logistique urbaine. Partie 2: Optimisation des tournées de véhicules et gestion intégrée des stocks partagé

A Matheuristic for Solving Inventory Sharing Problems : A corrigendum to experimental results

This document provides a correction of some of values reported in the appendix of our article entitled “A Matheuristic for Solving Inventory Sharing Problems” (Computers & Opera- tions Research, Volume 138, 2022, 105605, ISSN 0305-0548, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2021. 105605). The correction only concerns the results of the experiments performed on the bench- mark of large instances generated for the single and multi-vehicle inventory routing problem. All tables are presented along with the corrected values

Sustainable transportation for all and beyond

Comment nos recherches sont-elles liées à la durabilité ? L’apport de solutions optimales à des problèmes logistiques permet de réduire les externalités négatives de l’activité humaine sur l’environnement, par exemple au travers de la diminution de la consommation d’énergie. Le transport intermodal allie ainsi l’aptitude de la route à couvrir un territoire entier à la capacité d’effectuer des économies d’échelle – et donc des réductions des émissions de GES – via le transport ferroviaire ou fluvial. La logistique collaborative, basée sur le partage de véhicules et de ressources consommables (telles que les stocks de produits ou d’emballages de transport réutilisables, qui circulent dans une chaîne logistique en boucle fermée), permet également une diminution significative de l’impact négatif de la logistique sur l’environnement. Sa gestion est toutefois complexe : chaque partenaire demeure indépendant. Le risque d'opportunisme est dès lors réel : les entreprises partenaires doivent s'entendre sur la stratégie de collaboration, l'affectation des ressources et les indicateurs de performance. La coopération nécessite également un échange intensif de données. Ce sont autant de défis à relever. De plus, chaque ville ou région représente un cadre unique, avec ses propres infrastructures de transport et énergétiques. Il n’existe donc pas de solution simple et identique, réplicable à tous les milieux urbains, pour améliorer la distribution du fret urbain : c’est bien un ensemble de stratégies qu’il faut mener. Les solutions doivent donc être diversifiées. En parallèle, nos recherches se penchent sur les couloirs de biodiversité – connexions écologiques vertes, bleues et noires. La pollution lumineuse rend par exemple nécessaire la réflexion liée aux corridors sombres, afin de protéger la biodiversité durant la nuit. L'objectif est de fournir un modèle permettant de déterminer les points lumineux à éteindre pour préserver au mieux la biodiversité, en fonction de contraintes liées à l'acceptation sociale et à la sécurité routière. Nos résultats ont fait l’objet de plusieurs thèses et publications scientifiques. Nous avons développé des outils d’aide à la décision, destinés aussi bien aux politiques qu’aux entreprises. Par exemple, pour les autorités belges, le projet BRAIN-TRAINS, financé par Belspo (Politique scientifique fédérale), a porté sur l’étude du transport intermodal. Un exemple de projet destiné au secteur privé est le projet City Line, financé par la Région wallonne. Plusieurs projets de coopération sont également menés – notamment avec le Chili sur la logistique urbaine, financé par la WBI, ou encore l’étude des chaînes logistiques du maïs et du soja dans le département du Bourgou au Bénin, financée par l’ARES

Identification and Characterization of Human Observational Studies in Nutritional Epidemiology on Gut Microbiomics for Joint Data Analysis

In any research field, data access and data integration are major challenges that even large, well-established consortia face. Although data sharing initiatives are increasing, joint data analyses on nutrition and microbiomics in health and disease are still scarce. We aimed to identify observational studies with data on nutrition and gut microbiome composition from the Intestinal Microbiomics (INTIMIC) Knowledge Platform following the findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) principles. An adapted template from the European Nutritional Phenotype Assessment and Data Sharing Initiative (ENPADASI) consortium was used to collect microbiome-specific information and other related factors. In total, 23 studies (17 longitudinal and 6 cross-sectional) were identified from Italy (7), Germany (6), Netherlands (3), Spain (2), Belgium (1), and France (1) or multiple countries (3). Of these, 21 studies collected information on both dietary intake (24 h dietary recall, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), or Food Records) and gut microbiome. All studies collected stool samples. The most often used sequencing platform was Illumina MiSeq, and the preferred hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were V3-V4 or V4. The combination of datasets will allow for sufficiently powered investigations to increase the knowledge and understanding of the relationship between food and gut microbiome in health and disease

Genomics of body fat percentage may contribute to sex bias in anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (AN) occurs nine times more often in females than in males. Although environmental factors likely play a role, the reasons for this imbalanced sex ratio remain unresolved. AN displays high genetic correlations with anthropometric and metabolic traits. Given sex differences in body composition, we investigated the possible metabolic underpinnings of female propensity for AN. We conducted sex-specific GWAS in a healthy and medication-free subsample of the UK Biobank (n = 155,961), identifying 77 genome-wide significant loci associated with body fat percentage (BF%) and 174 with fat-free mass (FFM). Partitioned heritability analysis showed an enrichment for central nervous tissue-associated genes for BF%, which was more prominent in females than males. Genetic correlations of BF% and FFM with the largest GWAS of AN by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium were estimated to explore shared genomics. The genetic correlations of BF%male and BF%female with AN differed significantly from each other (p &lt; .0001, δ = -0.17), suggesting that the female preponderance in AN may, in part, be explained by sex-specific anthropometric and metabolic genetic factors increasing liability to AN.</p

Elementary Teachers’ Attitudes towards Teaching of Tamazight Language in Moroccan Elementary Schools

Morocco is a multilingual country with rich antiquity. Seemingly, the sociolinguistic status quo in Morocco is marked by its diverse tongues, which are in regular contact. Given this assortment and variety in its linguistic landscape, Morocco opted for teaching Tamazight language in some of its elementary schools since 2003. The current paper brings to the forepart the status of Tamazight in Moroccan elementary schools to know the attitudes of Moroccan elementary teachers towards the teaching of Tamazight in Moroccan Elementary Schools. This study is based on structured interviews targeting Moroccan elementary teachers in different districts of Morocco, using content analysis as the primary method to process the data of this study. In undertaking the aim of this study, this paper addresses the following research questions: (i) what is the status of Tamazight in Moroccan schools? (ii) What is the nature of Moroccan teachers’ attitudes towards Tamazight in Moroccan elementary schools? To see whether Moroccan elementary teachers clutch favourable or unfavourable attitudes towards the teaching of Tamazight in Moroccan elementary schools and to what extent those teachers are ready for this change that touches upon the instructive Moroccan context. The findings of this study highlight that Moroccan elementary teachers hold positive and strong attitudes toward Tamazight and its use in Moroccan elementary schools. Participants stated that Tamazight witnessed a period of high-spiritedness and vivacity.</jats:p

Modélisation et résolution de problèmes complexes de tournées de véhicules et gestion intégrée des stocks partagés dans les chaines logistiques

The thesis focuses on the development of decision models for managing inventory sharing, integrated with vehicle routing optimisation in supply chains. Specifically, we focus on inventory sharing of finished products and returnable transport items (RTIs) that flow in a closed loop between partners in supply chains. To conduct this research, we start from practical case studies, describing the reality of inventory sharing. We are particularly interested in the distribution of fashion items and spare parts for finished goods and in the management of RTIs in the automotive and food industries while exploiting the paradigm of the Physical Internet. We review the related literature to analyse existing work and clearly highlight our contributions. We develop for each type of shared inventory specific mathematical models, and original solution methods based on the hybridisation of mathematical modeling, co-evolutionary algorithms and deep reinforcement learning. Experiments are conducted to evaluate the relevance of the proposed models, the performance of the resolution approaches, and to analyse the results obtained in order to produce relevant recommendations.La thèse porte sur le développement de modèles de décision pour la gestion des stocks partagés, intégrée à l’optimisation des tournées de véhicules dans les chaînes logistiques. Nous nous concentrons plus particulièrement sur le partage des stocks de produits finis et des supports réutilisables de transport (SRTs) qui circulent en boucle fermée entre les partenaires d’une chaine logistique. Pour mener cette recherche, nous partons d’études de cas pratiques, décrivant la réalité du partage des stocks. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement à la distribution d’articles de mode et de pièces de rechange pour les produits finis et à la gestion des SRTs dans les industries automobile et agroalimentaire tout en exploitant le paradigme de l’Internet Physique. Ce dernier est un concept novateur d’encapsulation des marchandises dans des objets intelligents qui s’inspire de la capacité d’Internet à interconnecter des réseaux hétérogènes pour le transposer aux réseaux logistiques. Nous étudions la littérature connexe pour analyser les travaux existants et mettre clairement en avant nos contributions. Nous développons pour chaque type de stock partagé des modèles mathématiques spécifiques, et des méthodes de résolution originales basées sur l’hybridation de la modélisation mathématique, des algorithmes coévolutifs et de l’apprentissage par renforcement profond. Des expérimentations sont menées pour évaluer la pertinence des modèles proposés, la performance des approches de résolution, et pour analyser les résultats obtenus afin de produire des recommandations pertinentes