Resisting classical solutions: The creative mind of industrial designers and engineers.

International audienceIndustrial designers and engineers are 2 types of individuals who are typically contrasted with regard to their creative capabilities. Regarding idea-generation processes, studies have shown that individuals use existing elements to generate new ideas, which constrains their creative thinking and leads them to only focus on a narrow scope of solutions. This article explores how industrial designers and engineers behave when generating creative ideas and resisting fixation (i.e., their propensity to focus on a limited set of ideas). We used a creative task in which participants were asked to design a solution that would prevent a hen’s egg from breaking after being dropped from a height of 10 m. Our results show that engineers and industrial designers differ in their creative behaviors when they are asked to generate ideas in a creative task without any constraints. Industrial designers provide more answers and are less fixated than engineers. However, for both engineers and industrial designers, the introduction of an uncreative example reinforced the fixation effect and constrained participants’ fluency. Specifically, industrial designers who were exposed to an uncreative example behaved similarly to engineers who were not exposed to this type of example

The presence of shade-intolerant conifers facilitates the regeneration of Quercus petraea in mixed stands

International audiencePositive productivity-diversity relationships, pest-effect mitigation and increased resilience and stability maintain an ongoing interest for mixed stands in forestry. However, how mixing species affects forest regeneration is yet to be further explored.We used data from the French National Forest Inventory (from 2006 to 2016) to model Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl regeneration cover in pure and mixed Quercus petraea stands; we included the effects of abiotic and biotic factors as well as mixture. We hypothesized that the characteristics of the companion species would prevent or facilitate the regeneration of oak.Quercus petraea regeneration cover in this study responded negatively to total canopy cover and herbivory pressure. Mean July potential evapotranspiration (PET), mean December maximal temperature and soil pH are variables whose spatial variations over a given territory structure regeneration cover; all three of these variables have optimum values. Quercus petraea regeneration cover is linked to the proportion of Quercus petraea in the canopy layer in all mixed stands, except when the oak is mixed with shade-intolerant conifers: in this case, Quercus petraea regeneration is enhanced. The shade tolerance of admixed broadleaved species did not affect the Quercus petraea regeneration. This suggests that oak regeneration was facilitated with a shade-intolerant coniferous companion species due to better light transmittance through the crown or the competitive advantage of Quercus petraea over coniferous shade-intolerant species.These results are of interest for oak mixtures since Quercus petraea regeneration cover benefits from mixtures with shade-intolerant conifers and is at least equal to that of pure stands

L’Atelier Botanique des Barres : une expérience d’herborisation participative dans l’est du département du Loiret (45)

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L'Atelier botanique des Barres : une expérience d'herborisation participative dans l'Est du département du Loiret

International audienceDepuis 2008, chaque lundi, de 12 h à 14 h, les personnels du domaine des Barres (Irstea, IGN, Legta, ONF-Arboretum) se retrouvent pour participer à l'Atelier botanique des Barres (ABB). Prévu pour s'initier et se perfectionner à l'identification de la flore, ce rendez-vous hebdomadaire relève à la fois de la découverte de la nature, de la formation continue, des sciences participatives et de l'entretien des bonnes relations entre organismes d'un même campus. Botanistes professionnels ou d'un jour, chefs ou simples opérateurs, permanents ou temporaires, tout le monde se retrouve sous le soleil ou la pluie mais toujours dans la bonne humeur pour aller herboriser sur les communes environnantes. Au bout de huit années de fonctionnement, à raison de six ou sept en moyenne par séance, ce sont 160 personnes qui ont participé à l'ABB, prospecté 94 communes, identifié 1 085 espèces et transmis 30 700 données pour alimenter la base de données Flora du Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien. Cependant, l'ABB a aujourd'hui besoin d'être redynamisé pour perdurer

Procalcitonin in Preterm Neonates: A Different Threshold and Prolonged Interpretation

International audienceObjectives: To evaluate the positive threshold of PCT for neonates of <32 weeks of gestation for the diagnosis of early-onset sepsis and to determine if the level of PCT collected within 6 h of life could be used. Design: Retrospective and bicentric study from May 2016 to April 2018. Setting: Two groups were established, neonates evaluated for PCT at birth (CordPCT) and within 6 h of life (delPCT). Patients: Two hundred and sixty neonates of <32 weeks of gestation born in Nice and South Paris (Bicêtre) University Hospitals, had been evaluated for PCT level. Main Outcomes Measures: The value of the PCT positive threshold was determined for the total population and each groups thanks ROC curves. Results: The threshold level of PCT for the total population was 0.98 ng/mL. The threshold value of cordPCT group was 1.00 vs. 0.98 ng/mL for delPCT group. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve for PCT sampled in delPCT group was significantly higher than in cordPCT group (0.94 compared to 0.75). Conclusions: The threshold level of PCT was higher in this cohort of neonates of <32 weeks of gestation compared to the value generally described for term neonates. The secondary sampling PCT level seems to be usable in screening algorithm for early-onset neonatal sepsis

Colibactin-producing Escherichia coli enhance resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs by promoting epithelial to mesenchymal transition and cancer stem cell emergence

International audienceHuman colorectal cancers (CRCs) are readily colonized by colibactin-producing E. coli (CoPEC). CoPEC induces DNA double-strand breaks, DNA mutations, genomic instability, and cellular senescence. Infected cells produce a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which is involved in the increase in tumorigenesis observed in CRC mouse models infected with CoPEC. This study investigated whether CoPEC, and the SASP derived from CoPEC-infected cells, impacted chemotherapeutic resistance. Human intestinal epithelial cells were infected with the CoPEC clinical 11G5 strain or with its isogenic mutant, which is unable to produce colibactin. Chemotherapeutic resistance was assessed in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. Expressions of cancer stem cell (CSC) markers in infected cells were investigated. Data were validated using a CRC mouse model and human clinical samples. Both 11G5-infected cells, and uninfected cells incubated with the SASP produced by 11G5-infected cells exhibited an increased resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro and in vivo. This finding correlated with the induction of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), which led to the emergence of cells exhibiting CSC features. They grew on ultra-low attachment plates, formed colonies in soft agar, and overexpressed several CSC markers (e.g. CD133, OCT-3/4, and NANOG). In agreement with these results, murine and human CRC biopsies colonized with CoPEC exhibited higher expression levels of OCT-3/4 and NANOG than biopsies devoid of CoPEC. Conclusion: CoPEC might aggravate CRCs by inducing the emergence of cancer stem cells that are highly resistant to chemotherapy

Le système d’information sur les sols de France : capitaliser, analyser, diffuser, aller vers l’open data

International audienceThe Scientific Interest Group on soil (GIS Sol) was created in 2001 with the mission of designing and coordinating the inventory and monitoring of soils in France. This mission requires capitalizing existing or newly produced data in databases, analyzing them, producing new knowledge and bringing data and knowledge to the attention of users. This article briefly describes the databases and their associated tools for the main data acquisition programmes of the GIS Sol. Then the work of analyzing these data to produce statistics and predictions on soil properties is presented. Finally, the tools and developments for consultation and dissemination of soil data are described. This panorama of tools currently available or under development shows the importance of the efforts made by GIS Sol since 2001.El Grupo de Interés Científico del Suelo (GIS Sol) fue creado en 2001 con la misión de diseñar y coordinar el inventario y seguimiento de suelos en Francia. Esta misión requiere capitalizar datos existentes o recién producidos en bases de datos, analizarlos para producir nuevos conocimientos y devolver datos y conocimientos a los usuarios. Este artículo describebrevemente las bases de datos y sus herramientas asociadas para los principales programas de adquisición de datos del GIS Sol, luego el trabajo de análisis de estos datos para producir estadísticas y predicciones sobre las propiedades del suelo y finalmente las herramientas y desarrollos para la consulta y difusión de datos del suelo. Este panorama de herramientasactualmente disponibles o en desarrollo muestra la importancia del esfuerzo realizado por GIS Sol desde 2001.Le Groupement d’intérêt scientifique sur les sols (GIS Sol) a été créé en 2001 avec la mission de concevoir et de coordonner l’inventaire et la surveillance des sols en France. Cette mission nécessite de capitaliser les données existantes ou nouvellement produites dans des bases de données, de les analyser, de produire de nouvelles connaissances et de restituer données et connaissances aux utilisateurs. Cet article décrit succinctement les bases de données et les outils associés aux grands programmes d’acquisition de données du GIS Sol, puis les travaux d’analyse de ces données pour produire des métriques et des prédictions sur les propriétés du sol dans l’espace et le temps, et enfin les outils et développements pour la consultation et la diffusion des données sur les sols. Ce panorama des outils actuellement disponibles ou en cours de développement montre l’importance des efforts réalisés sur ce plan par le GIS Sol depuis 2001