Direct marketing of beef in organic suckler cattle farms: economic results and impact on breeding system management

In response to the bovine crises of 1996 and 2000, and also to the poorly structured organic beef market chain, direct marketing of beef to consumers by the farmer has developed. We studied the impact of this marketing system on economic performance and farming practices. The results show that direct marketing can generate added value, despite the extra costs. Farmers have made the necessary changes to their practices, and have adapted their herd management. Through strengthening the link between the farm and the outside world, direct marketing offers an alternative to the expansion of farms, making it possible to support a greater workforce with the same structure

Monitoring and control of spacecraft systems using procedural reasoning

Research concerned with automating the monitoring and control of spacecraft systems is discussed. In particular, the application of SRI's Procedural Reasoning System (PRS) to the handling of malfunctions in the Reaction Control System (RCS) of NASA's Space Shuttle is examined. Unlike traditional monitoring and control systems, PRS is able to reason about and perform complex tasks in a very flexible and robust manner, somewhat in the manner of a human assistant. Using various RCS malfunctions as examples (including sensor faults, leaking components, multiple alarms, and regulator and jet failures), it is shown how PRS manages to combine both goal-directed reasoning and the ability to react rapidly to unanticipated changes in its environment. In conclusion, some important issues in the design of PRS are reviewed and future enhancements are indicated

PROSKILL: A formal skill language for acting in robotics

Acting is an important decisional function for autonomous robots. Acting relies on skills to implement and to model the activities it oversees: refinement, local recovery, temporal dispatching, external asynchronous events, and commands execution, all done online. While sitting between planning and the robotic platform, acting often relies on programming primitives and an interpreter which executes these skills. Following our experience in providing a formal framework to program the functional components of our robots, we propose a new language, to program the acting skills. This language maps unequivocally into a formal model which can then be used to check properties offline or execute the skills, or more precisely their formal equivalent, and perform runtime verification. We illustrate with a real example how we can program a survey mission for a drone in this new language, prove some formal properties on the program and directly execute the formal model on the drone to perform the mission

La brièveté des inscriptions médiévales: d’une contrainte à une esthétique

Les inscripcions són conegudes per la seva brevetat, fins al punt que aquesta característica participa en la definició del discurs epigràfic. Malgrat això, els mitjans lingüístics i gràfics els quals permeten als textos ser curts, no han estat estudiats. Es tracta doncs d'entendre com i per què aquests textos són breus, més enllà de la restricció material fins a crear una veritable estètica. Seleccionar les informacions, condensar la proposició gràcies a recursos retòrics, el ritme de la paraula, evocar i suggerir les idees més que de desenvolupar-les, tals són els verbs que guien els autors d'inscripcions. La brevetat epigràfica no és pas una conseqüència del suport, de la matèria, de l'espai o inclús del cost. Ella permet per altra banda a la inscripció d'exercir millor la seva funció de comunicació i de publicitat universal i durable. Aquesta recerca de concisió s'explica tant sobre un plà lingüístic com a nivell gràfic. Aquesta doble recerca confereix aleshores a l'escriptura epigràfica - entesa en sentit ampli - una veritable estètica.Inscriptions are known for their brevity and this characteristic participates in the definition of the epigraphic discourse. Nevertheless, the linguistic and graphic means which allow these texts to be short have not been studied. Our goal is thus to understand how and why these texts are brief, beyond the material constraint, until create a real esthetics. Select the information, condense the words thanks to rhetorical processes, give rhythm to the speech, evoke and suggest the ideas rather than to develop them, such are the verbs which guide the authors of inscriptions. The epigraphic brevity is not only a consequence of the support, the material, the space or still the cost. On the contrary, it allows inscriptions to exercise at best their function of communication and universal and long-lasting advertisement. This research for conciseness is visible both on a linguistic and graphic plan. It confers then on the epigraphic writing —in the broad sense— a specific esthetics.Les inscriptions sont connues pour leur brièveté, à tel point que cette caractéristique participe à la définition du discours épigraphique. Néanmoins, les moyens linguistiques et graphiques qui permettent à ces textes d’être courts n’ont pas été étudiés. Il s’agit donc de comprendre comment et pourquoi ces textes sont brefs, au-delà de la contrainte matérielle, jusqu’à créer une véritable esthétique. Sélectionner les informations, condenser le propos grâce à des procédés rhétoriques, rythmer le discours, évoquer et suggérer les idées plutôt que de les développer, tels sont les verbes qui guident les auteurs d’inscriptions. La brièveté épigraphique n’est pas qu’une conséquence du support, de la matière, de l’espace ou encore ducoût. Elle permet au contraire à l’inscription d’exercer au mieux sa fonction de communication et de publicité universelle et durable. Cette recherche de concision s’exprime tant sur un plan linguistique qu’au niveau graphique. Cette double recherche confère alors à l’écriture épigraphique —entendue au sens large— une vraie esthétique

Satisfaction with care among patients with non-metastatic breast cancer: development and first steps of validation of the REPERES-60 questionnaire

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The care itinerary for cancer involves difficulties that occur in several different areas, whether in the diagnostic procedures, in surgery, or in adjuvant treatment. The aim of this work was to obtain a valid instrument measuring satisfaction among patients with breast cancer and exploring their care itinerary overall.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>Development phase</it>: Patient focus groups were implemented in two French regions in order to identify areas of satisfaction in relation to the different phases of care provision in breast cancer. On the basis of the literature and the themes and wordings derived from the focus groups, the patients identified several areas of satisfaction, which they found to be partially covered in an American satisfaction measure that has been validated in the French general population (the Consumer Satisfaction Survey in its French version, CSS-VF, 39 items). The patient focus groups suggested adaptation of certain dimensions of this instrument to the potential care providers (37 items) and produced 45 new items in six areas.</p> <p><it>Validation phase</it>: Using a large sample of patients (cohort of 820 women with invasive non-metastatic breast cancer) approached one month after treatment, this phase selected items that were comprehensible (non-response rate < 10%), non-redundant (r < 0.80) and reproducible (test-retest conducted on a sub-sample of 166 patients). The dimensions were identified by factor analysis on the selected items. Divergent and discriminant validity were assessed (relationships with quality of life questionnaire, comparisons between extreme groups).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results were in favour of not inserting additional broken-down items into the CSS-VF and retaining 21 new items. The factor analysis found the initial structure of the CSS-VF (39 items in 9 dimensions) and the 21 new items divide up into four dimensions (listening abilities and information provided by doctors, organisation and follow-up of medical care provision, psychological support, material environment). No redundancy was observed between new items and CSS-VF items. Internal consistency was high. Divergent and discriminant validity were satisfactory.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Adding four new dimensions to the CSS-VF yielded a valid 60-item instrument for assessment of care provided in breast cancer. These promising results now require further investigations of its responsiveness and its robustness in other linguistic, cultural and healthcare settings.</p