Les « Études psychologiques sur moi-même » de Gabriel Tarde. Faire science de soi, la genèse d’une méthode de travail

Les 18 cahiers inédits des « Études psychologiques sur moi-même » écrits entre 1862 et 1876 sont caractéristiques de ces écritures de l’intime qui connaissent un déploiement certain dans la sphère privée et un succès éditorial dans la sphère publique au XIXe siècle. Premières écritures tardiennes, si ces cahiers représentent pour Tarde un support matériel pour une écriture et une lecture de soi, ils nous plongent aussi dans le laboratoire intérieur de Tarde où la pratique d’une introspection à visée scientifique se construit et s’affirme comme la genèse d’une véritable méthode de travail de la pensée tardienne en devenir.The 18 unpublished notebooks of “Psychological Studies on Myself” written between 1862 and 1876 are characteristic of those intimate accounts which, in the 19th century, enjoyed considerable circulation in the private sphere as well as success when published in the public sphere. These early notebooks represented for Tarde a material support for writing about and reading oneself. They also plunge us into Tarde’s inner laboratory where the practice of introspection for scientific purposes was developed and affirmed itself as the genesis of a true method for following the evolution of Tarde’s thought

Metabolite Profiling of the Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi To Examine Links Between Calcification and Central Metabolism

Coccolithophores are single-celled marine phytoplankton, which produce intricate calcium carbonate platelets or ‘coccoliths’. Emiliania huxleyi is the most abundant and widespread coccolithophore, and is one of the most productive calcifying species on earth, playing a key role in global carbon, carbonate and sulphur cycles. Despite much research into coccolithophore biology, the underlying function of their coccoliths is still unknown. The main aim of the research reported in this thesis was to examine the impact of calcification on metabolism in coccolithophores. Calcification is a significant global process, so it is important to discover what effect it has on the metabolism of cells. The major metabolites each have different costs and benefits to the cell, which will vary depending on the habitat and environmental conditions the cell is in. By comparing the metabolite profiles of different strains, including calcifying, non-calcifying, haploid and diploid cells, differences in metabolite composition and potential patterns related to cell type were investigated. Low molecular weight (LMW) metabolites were characterised using a combination of metabolomic techniques. In agreement with previous research, dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) was the most abundant compound, followed by mannitol and glycine betaine (GBT). Less abundant sugars, polyols and amino acids were also identified. Environmental factors were manipulated to investigate how the principal metabolites were affected by salinity, different light intensities and nutrient (phosphate and nitrate) limitation. The data revealed a striking difference between haploid and diploid cells of the same strain, with the haploid containing lower concentrations of most of the major metabolites. Thus it is proposed that haploid cells have a different osmoregulatory strategy from the diploid cells. A negative correlation was found between DMSP and mannitol, suggesting that mannitol has a dual function, not only as a major storage compound but also as a principal compatible solute. Untargeted metabolite profiling is becoming a popular tool to investigate phenotypes and varying environmental conditions. LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS analyses of a wide range of metabolites showed that it is an effective method to identify differences and similarities between E. huxleyi strains grown in different conditions. Strain and growth phase appear to be the more important factors in differentiating metabolite profiles. Surprisingly there were no obvious metabolite profiling differences between calcifying and non-calcifying cells. Untargeted analysis can, however, be used to identify the compounds that did display differences, and which may be important biomarkers, so warrant further investigation. A range of metabolite profiling techniques highlighted important differences between strains, which will hopefully lead onto further research into the metabolome of E. huxleyi, and the unravelling of important metabolic pathways. There has been little research into the LMW metabolites of E. huxleyi, and especially comparisons between strains. Thus the use of metabolomics is a novel way to investigate the difference between cell types and the possible functions of calcification.NERC & Marine Biological Association, Plymout

Reliability of Hand-Held Dynamometry for Measuring Force Production in People with Parkinson’s Disease

Purpose: People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have impaired force production, which is associated with decreased mobility and falls risk. Reliable measurement of force production is important. Design: A repeated-measures, intra- and inter-rater reliability study was undertaken. Participants: 24 people with mild PD were measured by one or two raters. Outcome measures: Isometric force of the major upper and lower limb muscle groups was measured using hand-held dynamometry. Results: Fourteen participants were measured by the same rater on two occasions to determine intra-rater reliability. Ten participants were measured on two occasions by two different raters to determine inter-rater reliability. The intra-rater reliability of hand-held dynamometry was excellent in every muscle group, except the dorsiflexors. Intra-rater reliability was highest when measuring wrist extensors (ICC(2,1) = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.94 to 0.99) and lowest when measuring ankle dorsiflexors (ICC(2,1) = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.43 to 0.97). Inter-rater reliability was variable ranging from poor (wrist flexors: ICC(2,2) = -0.15, 95% CI: -1.14 to 0.60) to excellent (grip strength: ICC(2,2) = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.88 to 0.99). Conclusion: Hand-held dynamometry has good to excellent intra-rater reliability, but poor inter-rater reliability, for measuring force in the upper and lower limb in people with mild PD

End-user experiences with two incident and injury reporting systems designed for led outdoor activities - challenges for implementation of future data systems

Background: Injury and incident (near miss) prevention is heavily dependent upon robust and high-quality data systems. Evaluations of surveillance systems designed to report factors associated with incidents and injuries are essential to understand their value, as well as to improve their performance and efficiency. Despite, this there have been few such evaluations published in the peer-review literature. Methods: The attitudes and experiences of industry representatives who used one of two variants of an incident and injury surveillance system to collect injury and incident data for the led outdoor activity setting were obtained through an online self-report survey following a 12-month trial. Survey respondents were 18 representatives of 33 organisations who were users of a comprehensive incident reporting and surveillance system - the Understanding and Preventing Led Outdoor Accidents Data System Software Tool (UPLOADS-ST) - and six out of 11 users of a modified system (UPLOADS-Lite). The survey collected information on user experiences in relation to system training, accessibility, ease of use, security, feedback and perceived value to the sector of collating and reporting data across organisations. Findings: Only four UPLOADS-ST responding users found the system easy to use and just three considered entering incident reports to be easy. However, many considered the training on reporting incidents to be sufficient and that the incident reports contained relevant details. Fewer than half of respondents (seven for UPLOADS-ST, three for UPLOADS-Lite) believed entering data was a good use of staff time and resources. Nonetheless, a majority of respondents (seven for UPLOADS-ST, five for UPLOADS-Lite) found the reporting format easy to read and felt the information provided was useful for their organisation. Conclusions: Usability barriers to incident reporting were identified, particularly for UPLOADS-ST, including time constraints and user friendliness. The majority of users believed aggregating and reporting incident and injury data across organisations would be of value in making the led outdoor activity sector safer. Improving the utility of the surveillance systems will assist in ensuring their sustainability in the led outdoor activity sector

Family and home correlates of television viewing in 12–13 year old adolescents: The Nepean Study

BACKGROUND: Few young people meet television viewing guidelines. PURPOSE: To determine the association between factors in the family and home environment and watching television, including videos and DVDs, in early adolescence. METHODS: Cross-sectional, self-report survey of 343 adolescents aged 12–13 years (173 girls), and their parents (338 mothers, 293 fathers). Main measures were factors in the family and home environment potentially associated with adolescents spending ≥ 2 hours per day in front of the television. Factors examined included family structure, opportunities to watch television/video/DVDs, perceptions of rules and regulations on television viewing, and television viewing practices. RESULTS: Two-thirds of adolescents watched ≥ 2 hours television per day. Factors in the family and home environment associated with adolescents watching television ≥ 2 hours per day include adolescents who have siblings (Adjusted Odds Ratio [95%CI] AOR = 3.0 [1.2, 7.8]); access to pay television (AOR = 2.0 [1.1, 3.7]); ate snacks while watching television (AOR = 3.1 [1.8, 5.4]); co-viewed television with parents (AOR = 2.3 [1.3, 4.2]); and had mothers who watched ≥ 2 hours television per day (AOR = 2.4 [1.3, 4.6]). CONCLUSION: There are factors in the family and home environment that influence the volume of television viewed by 12–13 year olds. Television plays a central role in the family environment, potentially providing a means of recreation among families of young adolescents for little cost. Interventions which target family television viewing practices and those of parents, in particular, are more likely to be effective than interventions which directly target adolescent viewing times

Brief Metacognitive Therapy for Emotional Distress in Adult Cancer Survivors

Background: Adult cancer survivors often experience substantial psychological morbidity following the completion of acute cancer treatment. Unfortunately, current psychological interventions are of limited efficacy. This study explored if metacognitive therapy (MCT); a brief transdiagnostic psychological intervention was potentially efficacious and could be delivered effectively to adult cancer survivors with psychological morbidity.Methods: An open trial with 3- and 6-month follow-up evaluated the treatment effects of MCT in 27 consecutively referred individuals to a clinical psychology health service specializing in psycho-oncology. Each participant received a maximum of six 1-hour sessions of MCT. Levels of anxiety, depression, fear of cancer recurrence, post-traumatic stress symptoms, health related quality of life, and metacognitive beliefs and processes were assessed using self-report questionnaires.Results: MCT was associated with statistically significant reductions across all outcome measures which were maintained through to 6-month follow-up. In the ITT sample on the primary treatment outcome measure, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Total, 59% of participants met recovery criteria at post-treatment and 52% at 6-month follow-up, respectively. No participants significantly deteriorated. In the completer sample (N = 20), 80% recovered at post-treatment and 70% at 6-month follow-up. MCT was acceptable to patients with approximately 75% of patients completing all treatment sessions.Conclusion: MCT, a brief transdiagnostic psychological intervention can be delivered effectively to a heterogenous group of cancer survivors with promising treatment effects. Examining the efficacy of brief MCT against the current gold standard psychological intervention would be a valuable advance toward improving the quality of life of cancer survivors

Data integration - the foundation stone for measuring portfolio development impact

International donors and investors need to monitor the progress of their individual investments and the alignment with their internal strategies in order to show their impact. To demonstrate overall impact, they need to have a harmonized portfolio level view of those individual investments in order to support future decision making. Through the monitoring work with our donor, we have developed Theories of Change and Action models to derive appropriate metrics to measure their portfolio impact. However, this requires integrating and collating data from multiple implementing partners (grantees) to harmonize to a set of standard metrics. Working with different grantees, each with their own individual data systems, creates challenges, often the biggest being people and processes. We have developed processes to facilitate interoperability and integration of disparate data sets, part of working towards FAIR data (findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability). We have written code based on an adaptor design pattern to convert grantee data to a standard portfolio format and harmonized grantee data to standard terms (e.g. livestock disease names). Through close partnerships with grantees, we have explained the significance of this work and worked together to map data to a standard portfolio format. Instead of requiring a common portfolio format, grantees submit data in a format that is specific to their organisation. This reduces the risk of data errors and saves grantees time in data preparation. As such, this is an equitable process that supports those grantees not having in-house data capacity and ultimately produces higher quality metrics. Interactive dashboards are used to disseminate the data which can be disaggregated by country, or domain specific terms. Metrics are based on both measured and modelled results, modelling is used to populate metrics where it is either not cost-effective or practical to gather specific field data or if impact is expected to occur in the future, so requires foresight and prediction. For example, we model the net economic impact of specific animal vaccines or therapeutics used by small-scale livestock producers. Gaps in available data to parameterise models are filled by literature and/or elicitation of expert opinion. Uncertainty in the data populating the metrics is communicated through a color-coded scheme. Clearly, the developmental and scientific rationale for the data collection and analytics are fundamental for an understanding of the socio-economic context of the portfolio, for which data integration lays the foundation