Challenges in creating a 3D participatory platform for urban development ::a case study

This paper aims at underling difficulties regarding the establishment of citizen engagement processes. The specificity of citizen engagement processes lies in their evolution over time where objectives, constraints, and latitudes of a given project influence the relevance of the tools offered to citizens. Three categories of urban projects (trans-urban, major metropolitan, architectural design) have been described. These classes range from a local space with short deadlines to a regional space spread over several decades. Furthermore, the use of 3D platforms for a broad public is influenced by the users’ preferences, perception, and expertise. Throughout this study, major challenges that have been experienced during the design a 3D participatory platform are identified. They range from the issues of implementing adequate tools according to the project (temporal and spatial scalability), the participation forms (passive, consultative or interactive), to the difficulties of convincing the authorities to use new bottom-up methods. Finally, a conceptual framework for the creation of a 3D participatory platform has been introduced. It can be summarized by three major steps: (1) Meeting the needs of a decision maker, (2) Designing the participation tool in accordance with the context, (3) Translating collected raw data in order to respond to the initial request

Auto-filtering validation in citizen science biodiversity monitoring ::a case study

Data quality is the primary concern for researchers working on citizen science projects. The collected data by citizen science participants are heterogeneous and therefore must be validated. There are several validation approaches depending on the theme and objective of the citizen science project, but the most common approach is the expert review. While expert validation is essential in citizen science projects, considering it as the only validation approach can be very difficult and complicated for the experts. In addition, volunteers can get demotivated to contribute if they do not receive any feedback regarding their submissions. This project aims at introducing an automatic filtering mechanism for a biodiversity citizen science project. The goals of this project are to first use an available historical database of the local species to filter out the unusual ones, and second to use machine learning and image recognition techniques to verify if the observation image corresponds with the right species type. The submissions that does not successfully pass the automatic filtering will be flagged as unusual and goes through expert review. The objective is on the one hand to simplify validation task by the experts, and on the other hand to increase participants’ motivation by giving them real-time feedback on their submissions. Finally, the flagged observations will be classified as valid, valid but uncommon, and invalid, and the observation outliers (rare species) can be identified for each specific region

Using and Reporting the Delphi Method for Selecting Healthcare Quality Indicators: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE: Delphi technique is a structured process commonly used to developed healthcare quality indicators, but there is a little recommendation for researchers who wish to use it. This study aimed 1) to describe reporting of the Delphi method to develop quality indicators, 2) to discuss specific methodological skills for quality indicators selection 3) to give guidance about this practice. METHODOLOGY AND MAIN FINDING: Three electronic data bases were searched over a 30 years period (1978-2009). All articles that used the Delphi method to select quality indicators were identified. A standardized data extraction form was developed. Four domains (questionnaire preparation, expert panel, progress of the survey and Delphi results) were assessed. Of 80 included studies, quality of reporting varied significantly between items (9% for year's number of experience of the experts to 98% for the type of Delphi used). Reporting of methodological aspects needed to evaluate the reliability of the survey was insufficient: only 39% (31/80) of studies reported response rates for all rounds, 60% (48/80) that feedback was given between rounds, 77% (62/80) the method used to achieve consensus and 57% (48/80) listed quality indicators selected at the end of the survey. A modified Delphi procedure was used in 49/78 (63%) with a physical meeting of the panel members, usually between Delphi rounds. Median number of panel members was 17(Q1:11; Q3:31). In 40/70 (57%) studies, the panel included multiple stakeholders, who were healthcare professionals in 95% (38/40) of cases. Among 75 studies describing criteria to select quality indicators, 28 (37%) used validity and 17(23%) feasibility. CONCLUSION: The use and reporting of the Delphi method for quality indicators selection need to be improved. We provide some guidance to the investigators to improve the using and reporting of the method in future surveys

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Influence de la stimulation cérébrale sous-thalamique et de la L-dopa sur le seuil nociceptif dans la maladie de Parkinson

La douleur constitue un signe non moteur fréquent et invalidant dans la maladie de Parkinson. Certaines douleurs pourraient résulter d'une altération de la perception douloureuse avec modifications du seuil nociceptif. Nous avons évalué l'effet de la stimulation cérébrale de la région sous-thalamique sur le seuil nociceptif, à l'aide d'une étude croisée randomisée en double aveugle portant sur 20 patients parkinsoniens. Les seuils nociceptifs (seuils de douleur et de tolérance) ont été étudiés à l'aide de stimulations cutanées douloureuses mécanique et thermique, en comparant les seuils sous 3 conditions : sevrage médicamenteux et stimulation en OFF, prise de L-dopa et stimulation en OFF, sevrage médicamenteux et stimulation en ON. Nous avons retrouvé que la stimulation cérébrale élevait de manière significative le seuil de douleur testé par stimulation cutanée mécanique. Ce résultat constitue une piste intéressante pour la prise en charge thérapeutique des douleurs des parkinsoniens.CLERMONT FD-BCIU-Santé (631132104) / SudocPARIS-BIUM (751062103) / SudocSudocFranceF

A study of genetic progress due to selection reveals a negative effect of climate change on bread wheat yield in France

International audienceIn France, a stagnation of bread wheat yield has been observed since the middle of the 1990s, and the possibility of a decline in breeding progress has been questionned. To investigate this hypothesis, we have considered 2 independent long time series of yield data: one corresponding to the registration trials conducted in France from 1976 to 2010, and the other corresponding to trials from the INRA bread wheat breeding program along the 1970-2010 period. These raw data related to potential bread wheat yield in France, exhibited the same trend to stagnation as observed on national yield in the farms. However, after correction of the "year" effects, the corrected yields appeared to have increased regularly from the 1970s up to now, with quite a high rate in intensive conditions (from 0.065 t ha(-1) yr(-1) to 0.137 t ha(-1) yr(-1)). This linear trend for genetic progress was even higher without fungicide (from 0.097 t ha(-1) yr(-1) to 0.158 t ha(-1) yr(-1)), which could indicate that breeding efforts for productivity and for resistance to diseases tended to have additive results. The corrected yields also enabled us to point out a marked degradation of the agro-climatic potential of the different years. As our registration and breeding trials were as free as possible from agronomic limiting factors, it appeared that climatic factors constituted the main explanation to this degradation. Thus, our study demonstrated that since the end of the 1980s, genetic progress has been partly or totally counterbalanced by the adverse effects of climate change. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved