Consumer rapport to luxury : Analyzing complex and ambivalent attitudes

The very nature of luxury goods, the variety of consumption situations and the everlasting philosophical debate over luxury lead to particularly complex and ambivalent consumer attitudes, as evidenced by a first study based on the content analysis of in-depth interviews. A second study, based on surveys in twenty countries using finite mixture modeling, identifies three types of consumer rapport to luxury.luxury; ambiguity; attitude measurement; consumer behavior

How do consumers overcome ambivalence toward hedonic purchases ? a typology of consumer strategies

Purchase decisions for hedonic products and services are often characterized by ambivalence -sensory benefits make them attractive, but consumers may feel guilty about bying them. To overcome this ambivalence, consumers frequently adopt strategies that allow them to enloy hedonic benefits while limiting their negative feelings. Combining an extensive literature review with an interpretive study, the authors identify 23 consumer strategies and propose a typology in four groups on the basis of strategy antecedents: two groups of objective strategies (obtaining consumption benefits without purchasing, objectively contining purchasing costs) and two groups of subjective strategies (manipulating the mental accounting of costs and benefits, relinquishing responsability).consumer behavior; hedonic purchase; consumer strategies

Prevention of chronic renal failure in the adult

peer reviewedChronic renal failure is an unrecognised disease, with an insidious and rather silent development, for which the general practitioners are too often passive. This review would like to insist on the detection of people at risk or with early abnormalities, on the optimal guidelines to slowdown the evolution to more severe and irreversible stages, on the prevention of uremic and cardiovascular complications and on the preparation to end stage renal treatments

New Potential Model for Molecular Dynamic Simulation of liquid HF. II -Parameter Optimization for Repulsion-Dispersion potential

International audienceIn order to build a complete potential model to perform classical molecular dynamic simulations of liquid HF, a new optimization method is proposed to obtain transferable parameters for repulsion-dispersion potential on the basis of ab initio reference data. This process is decomposed into two steps. The first step, using the force-matching method, consists in exploring the parameter space and selecting a first potential used as a start point for the second step. This last step consists in optimizing the parameters of the selected potential in order to reproduce reference thermodynamic and structural data. The obtained potential correctly reproduces the radial distribution functions and the pressures of HF liquid over a large range of thermodynamic states

Molecular Simulations of Hugoniots of detonation products mixtures at chemical equilibrium: Microscopic calculation of the Chapman-Jouguet State

International audienceIn this work, we used simultaneously the Reaction Ensemble Monte Carlo (ReMC) method and the Adaptive Erpenbeck Equation Of State (AE-EOS) method to directly calculate the thermodynamical and chemical equilibrium of mixtures of detonation products on the Hugoniot curve. The ReMC method (W. R. Smith and B. Triska, J. Chem. Phys. 100, pp 3019-3027 (1994)) allows to reach the chemical equilibrium of a reacting mixture, and the AE-EOS method (J. J. Erpenbeck, Phys. Rev. A, 46, p 6406 (1992)) constrains the system to satisfy the Hugoniot relation. Once the Hugoniot curve of the detonation products mixture is established, the CJ state of the explosive can be determined. Performing a NPT simulation at P(CJ) , T(CJ) , we then calculate the direct thermodynamic properties and the following derivative properties of the system using a fluctuation method: calorific capacities, sound velocity and Gruneisen coefficient. As the composition fluctuates, and the number of particles is not necessarily constant in this ensemble, a fluctuation formula has been developed to take into account the fluctuations of mole number and composition. This type of calculation has been applied to several usual energetic materials: nitromethane, tetranitromethane, hexanitroethane, PETN and RDX

Charcoal kilns and environmental history in the eastern Pyrenees (France). A methodological approach

International audienceSince 15 years, an interdisciplinary research program on long-term forest history and the impact of metallurgy has been undertaken in the eastern Pyrenees. The objective is to describe the spatial evolution of forests and pastoral landscapes and the principal historical events and their causes. Our methodology is based on large-scale regressive studies of various characteristic sites (in valleys or forests) and includes the application of history, phytogeography, palynology, anthropology and archaeology. Remains of charcoal kilns are numerous in the mouton forest areas, wether these are actual or potential, all over the eastern Pyrenees and in particular in Ariege and in the Catalan mountains. Charcoal kilns can thus be used as tool for reconstructing environmental history and ancient woodlands. Two different methods are described here : (i) an anthraco-biogeographic method, based on a geosystemic approach, comparative studies and spatialisation of results ; (ii) an archeo-environmental method, that allows a precise diachronic study of limited forest units and charcoal kilns sites.Un programme interdisciplinaire de recherche est conduit depuis 15 ans sur l'histoire des forêts et l'impact de la métallurgie au bois dans les Pyrénées de l'est. L'objectif est de décrire l'évolution spatiale des paysages forestiers et pastoraux et de saisir les principaux seuils historiques et leurs causes. La méthodologie est basée sur l'étude régressive à grande échelle de sites caractéristiques (vallée ou unités forestières), en utilisant la phytogéographie, la palynologie, l'anthracologie et l'archéologie. Dans toutes les Pyrénées de l'est, en particulier dans les montagnes ariégeoises et catalanes, les restes d'anciennes charbonnières sont innombrables dans l'ensemble de l'aire de la forêt, actuelle ou potentielle. Les charbonnières ont donc été utilisées en tant qu'outil pour l'histoire de l'environnement et la reconstitution des forêts du passé. Deux méthodes sont décrites ici : (i) la méthode anthraco-biogéographique qui est basée sur une démarche géosystémique et permet une approche comparative et spatialité ; (ii) la méthode archéo-environnementale qui permet une étude diachronique précise d'unités forestières limitées et des sites de charbonnage

The Wess-Zumino Consistency Condition For p-Form Gauge Theories

The general solution of the antifield-independent Wess-Zumino consistency condition is worked out for models involving exterior form gauge fields of arbitrary degree. We consider both the free theory and theories with Chapline-Manton couplings. Our approach relies on solving the full set of descent equations by starting from the last element down ("bottom").Comment: latex 2.09, 46 pages, no figures, requires multibox style, available at ftp://ftp.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex209/contrib/misc/multibox.sty -- misquotes in references correcte