Cognitive remediation therapy in anorexia nervosa: implications for treatment developments and research trials

Though Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) for anorexia nervosa shows promising evidence, questions remain regarding specific mechanisms of change. This mixed methods study aimed to explore both longitudinal patient data (neuropsychological and self-report measures, before and after CRT) and therapist experiences of delivering CRT and their perceptions regarding what it offers. All patients had received treatment in a specialist inpatient unit. Complete data were available for both individual (n=56) and group (n=43) CRT; clinical audit data were also available. Semi-structured interviews of 11 therapists were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Statistically significant improvements were found in cognitive flexibility task performance for individual CRT (medium effect) and in self-reported cognitive flexibility for group CRT (medium effect). Three main themes were identified from the therapist interviews: “Anorexia and its treatment”, “CRT - its characteristics and delivery” and “CRT and its effectiveness”. The quantitative findings replicated some previous results and the therapist interviews provided insights regarding not only CRT’s delivery but adaptations made according to individual need and complexity. Both individual and group CRT appear to be feasible interventions for future trials but questions remain around CRT’s specific effects. Recommendations are made for future research studies on this complex intervention

Radar navigation simulator syllabus for the Algerian Maritime Academy

This paper deals with the radar navigation syllabus in Algeria. Simulation, as an effective and useful tool for the training of mariners, is now used worldwide. Moreover, it covers several disciplines in maritime education and training, such as shiphandling, handling of liquid cargo, radar and navigation. The major causes for ships casualities are due to collisions and groundings, and training on the radar navigation simulator may help to reduce such casualities. One of my reasons for choosing this topic was to become intimately acquainted with the subject matter. As a teacher, I will need to devote much attention to this type of training. However, I would hope that this paper could also be used by young instructors wishing to familiarize themselves with this topic, or moreover, by any institution which may consider launching a similar course. This paper covers the equipment needed for such training, the education and training connected to the radar navigation simulator, and the relevant requirements, both national and international. This paper may appear to be restricted in scope, but this is due to the difficulties I experienced in collecting adequate material. The material I have collected, has come mainly from the World Maritime University (WMU) library, the technical lectures given by the visiting professors, and interviews with radar navigation simulator instructors during my field trips. Every maritime training institution should pay great attention to this course, not only for the benefit it can offer the trainee, in the way of practical experience, but also for its improvement -in the long term- of the safety of navigation. Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Radar navigatio

A bibliographic review of production line design and balancing under uncertainty

This bibliography reviews the solution methods developed for the design and balancing problems of production lines such as assembly and disassembly lines. The line design problem aims in determining the number of workstations along with the corresponding assignment of tasks to each workstation, while the line balancing problem seeks an assignment of tasks, to the existing workstations of the line, which ensures that the workloads are as equal as possible among the workstations. These two optimisation problems can be also integrated and treated as a multi-objective optimisation problem. This review considers both deterministic and stochastic formulations for disassembly lines and is limited to assembly line design and balancing under uncertainty. This bibliography covers more than 90 publications since 1976 for assembly and 1999 for disassembly

Deterministic modeling for transmission of Human Papillomavirus 6/11: impact of vaccination.

International audienceThis paper is devoted to assess the impact of quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine on prevalence of non-oncogenic HPV 6/11 types in French males and females. For this purpose, a non-linear dynamic model of heterosexual transmission for HPV 6/11 types infection is developed, which accounts for immunity due to vaccination in particular. The vaccinated reproduction number Rv is derived using the approach described by Diekmann (2010) called the Next Generation Operator approach. The model proposed is analyzed, with regard to existence and uniqueness of the solution, steady-state stability. Precisely, the stability of the model is investigated depending on the sign of Rv − 1. Prevalence data are used to fit a numerical HPV model, so as to assess infection rates. Our approach suggests that 10 years after introducting vaccination, the prevalence of HPV 6/11 types in females will be halved and that in males will be reduced by one quarter, assuming a sustained vaccine coverage of 30% among females. Using the formula we derived for the vaccinated reproduction number, we show that the non-oncogenic HPV 6/11 types would be eradicated if vaccine coverage in females is kept above 12%. Human Papillomavirus, deterministic epidemic model, equilibrium, stability, reproduction number, vaccination

Système de refroidissement d'un récepteur de système photovoltaïque de haute concentration

International audienceLe système de refroidissement proposé pour traiter la problématique des hauts flux énergétiques des générateurs photovoltaïques de haute concentration combine les caractéristiques des jets impactants et des micro canaux. Ces deux technologies, actuellement utilisées dans le domaine de l'électronique de puissance, présentent un inconvénient pour leur application en concentration solaire : la non uniformité des températures dans le sens de l'écoulement qui provoque la diminution du rendement du récepteur photovoltaïque. Cette étude présente l'effet de la variation des paramètres caractéristiques des deux technologies combinées dans le système proposé sur l'uniformité des températures des cellules photovoltaïques

The Confounding Effect of Population Structure on Bayesian Skyline Plot Inferences of Demographic History

Many coalescent-based methods aiming to infer the demographic history of populations assume a single, isolated and panmictic population (i.e. a Wright-Fisher model). While this assumption may be reasonable under many conditions, several recent studies have shown that the results can be misleading when it is violated. Among the most widely applied demographic inference methods are Bayesian skyline plots (BSPs), which are used across a range of biological fields. Violations of the panmixia assumption are to be expected in many biological systems, but the consequences for skyline plot inferences have so far not been addressed and quantified. We simulated DNA sequence data under a variety of scenarios involving structured populations with variable levels of gene flow and analysed them using BSPs as implemented in the software package BEAST. Results revealed that BSPs can show false signals of population decline under biologically plausible combinations of population structure and sampling strategy, suggesting that the interpretation of several previous studies may need to be re-evaluated. We found that a balanced sampling strategy whereby samples are distributed on several populations provides the best scheme for inferring demographic change over a typical time scale. Analyses of data from a structured African buffalo population demonstrate how BSP results can be strengthened by simulations. We recommend that sample selection should be carefully considered in relation to population structure previous to BSP analyses, and that alternative scenarios should be evaluated when interpreting signals of population size change.Danish Council for Independent Research, Laboratoire d’Excellence (LABEX) grant: (ANR-10-LABX-41)

Équilibrage des lignes de désassemblage sous incertitude en présence de composants polluants

International audienceLe problème d'équilibrage d'une ligne de désassemblage consiste en l'affectation des tâches de désassemblage, I = { 1 , 2 ,..., N } , N ∈ N ∗ , à une séquence de postes de travail, J = { 1 , 2 ,..., M } , M ∈ N ∗ , sous les contraintes de précédence et du temps de cycle, C t . Cer- taines tâches impliquent le désassemblage des composants polluants. Les durées des tâches, ζ i , i ∈ I sont des variables aléatoires indépendantes normalement distribuées avec des paramètres connus i.e. ζ i ∼ N ( μ i ,σ i ) , t i > 0 , i ∈ I . Les contraintes de précédence sont modélisées par un graphe AND/OR, [1]. L'objectif est de minimiser le coût total de la ligne, en minimisant le nombre de postes de travail, ainsi que le nombre de postes sur lesquels le désassemblage des composants polluants est effectué. En même temps, il est nécessaire d'assurer que la probabilité d'arrêt de la ligne à cause d'un dépassement du temps de cycle sur un poste de travail soit inférieur à 1 − α , où α représente un seuil fixé par le décideur (de l'ordre de 5% )

STR-based genetic structure of the Berber population of Bejaia (Northern Algeria) and its relationships to various ethnic groups

Patterns of genetic variation in human populations have been described for decades. However, North Africa has received little attention and Algeria, in particular, is poorly studied, Here we genotyped a Berber-speaking population from Algeria using 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA from the commercially available AmpF/STR Identifiler kit. Altogether 150 unrelated North Algerian individuals were sampled across 10 administrative regions or towns from the Bejaia Wilaya (administrative district). We found that all of the STR loci met Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium expectations, after Bonferroni correction and that the Berber-speaking population of Bejaia presented a high level of observed heterozygosity for the 15 STR system (>0.7). Genetic parameters of forensic interest such as combined power of discrimination (PD) and combined probability of exclusion (PE) showed values higher than 0.999, suggesting that this set of STRs can be used for forensic studies. Our results were also compared to those published for 42 other human populations analyzed with the same set. We found that the Bejaia sample clustered with several North African populations but that some geographically close populations, including the Berber-speaking Mozabite from Algeria were closer to Near-Eastern populations. While we were able to detect some genetic structure among samples, we found that it was not correlated to language (Berber-speaking versus Arab-speaking) or to geography (east versus west). In other words, no significant genetic differences were found between the Berber-speaking and the Arab-speaking populations of North Africa. The genetic closeness of European, North African and Near-Eastern populations suggest that North Africa should be integrated in models aiming at reconstructing the demographic history of Europe. Similarly, the genetic proximity with sub-Saharan Africa is a reminder of the links that connect all African regions.Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Laboratoire d'Excellence (LABEX) entitled TULIP: (ANR-10-LABX-41)