Who Is the Good Boy/Girl? Perspectives of French Handlers in AAI on the Selection of Their Dogs

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are well implemented in various health care settings; however, there is little data on the characteristics of the mediation dogs and their selection, which can influence the well-being of both the dogs and the beneficiaries. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of French mediation dogs and the context in which they are selected to guide future research working on behavioral criteria for mediation dogs and help provide a basis for better selection of dogs in the field. To this end, we interviewed 111 French handlers in AAI, who work with at least one dog, through an online questionnaire about their professional backgrounds, the characteristics of their mediation dogs, and their views of the favorable and prohibitive criteria for a mediation dog. We also examined handlers’ representations of the context of selection of their mediation dog(s). Our data highlighted that (1) mediation dogs do not represent a homogeneous category regarding the age they started to work in AAI, their current ages, their certifications, and their breeds; and that (2) this may be related to the fact that the process of selecting mediation dogs includes the variability of the therapeutic settings as well as the professional backgrounds of the handlers and their personal affinities for a type of dog. There was also variability in handlers’ representations of the favorable and prohibitive criteria for the mediation dogs but with a convergence toward a sociable dog with self-control. The selection of mediation dogs in France requires an individual choice that considers each human–dog team in their relationship and in the context of their work

Lower Llanvirn (Ordovician) Graptolites and Acritarchs from the "Assise de Huy", bande de Sambre-et-Meuse, Belgium

The Huy formation («assise de Huy») is the oldest unit present in outcrops in the Belgian «Bande de Sambre-et-Meuse». Graptolites and acritarchs show that the beds are of early Llanvirn Didymograptus artus Biozone age. The localities of Huy and of Sart-Bernard and the Wépion borehole are reinvestigated and the collection of Maillieux, 1939 is restudied

Finite element modelling of the Scheldt estuary and the adjacent Belgian/Dutch coastal zone with application to the transport of fecal bacteria

A fundamental problem in coastal modelling is the need to simultaneously consider large- and small-scale processes, especially when local dynamics or local environmental issues are of interest. The approach widely resorted to is based on a nesting strategy by which coarse grid large scale model provide boundary conditions to force fine resolution local models. This is probably the best solution for finite difference methods, needing structured grids. However, the use of structured grids leads to a marked lack of flexibility in the spatial resolution. Another solution is to take advantage of the potential of the more modern finite element methods, which allow the use of unstructured grids in which the mesh size may vary over a wide spectrum. With these methods only one model is required to describe both the larger and the smaller scales.Such a model is use herein, namely the Second-generation Louvain-la-Neuve Ice-ocean Model (SLIM, http://www.climate.be/SLIM). For one of its first realistic applications, the Scheldt Estuary area is studied. The hydrodynamics is primarily forced by the tide and the neatest way to take it into account is to fix it at the shelf break. This results in a multi-scale problem since the domain boundary lies at the shelf break, and covers about 1000km of the North Sea and 60km of the actual estuary, and ends with a 100km long section of the Scheldt River until Ghent where the river is not more than 50 m wide.Two-dimensional elements are used to simulate the hydrodynamics from the shelf break to Antwerp (80km upstream of the mouth) and one-dimensional elements for the riverine part between Antwerp and Ghent.For first application we consider the transport of faecal bacteria (Escherichia coli) which is an important water quality indicator.The model will be described in detail and the simulation results will be discussed. This modelling exercise actually falls within the framework of the interdisciplinary project TIMOTHY (http://www.climate.be/TIMOTHY) dedicated to the modelling of ecological indicators in the Scheldt area

The speaking vocabulary of 454 third grade children.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Spatio-temporal dynamics of the attentional switch to autobiographical memory: an iEEG study

editorial reviewe

Timing and placing samplings to optimally calibrate a reactive transport model: exploring the potential for <i>Escherichia coli</i> in the Scheldt estuary

For the calibration of any model, measurements are necessary. As measurements are expensive, it is of interest to determine beforehand which kind of samples will provide the maximum of information. Using a criterion related to the Fisher information matrix, it is possible to design a sampling scheme that will enable the most precise model parameter estimates. This approach was applied to a reactive transport model (based on SLIM) of Escherichia coli in the Scheldt Estuary. As this estuary is highly influenced by the tide, it is expected that careful timing of the samples with respect to the tidal cycle will have an effect on the quality of the data. The timing and also the positioning of samples were optimised according to the proposed criterion. In the investigated case studies the precision of the estimated parameters could be improved by up to a factor of ten, confirming the usefulness of this approach to maximize the amount of information that can be retrieved from a fixed number of samples

Gaze aversion as a facial cue of the cognitive processes involved in autobiographical memory retrieval.

editorial reviewe

The Ordovician of France and neighbouring areas of Belgium and Germany

The Ordovician successions of France and neighbouring areas of Belgium and Germany are reviewed and correlated based on international chronostratigraphic and regional biostratigraphic charts. The same three megasequences related to the rift, drift and docking of Avalonia with Baltica can be tracked in Belgium and neighbouring areas (Brabant Massif and Ardenne inliers), western (Rhenish Massif) and northeastern Germany (Rügen). The remaining investigated areas were part of Gondwana in the Ordovician. The Armorican Massif shares with the Iberian Peninsula a Furongian–Early Ordovician gap (Toledanian or Norman gap), and a continuous Mid–Late Ordovician shelf sedimentation. The Occitan Domain (Montagne Noire and Mouthoumet massifs), eastern Pyrenees and northwestern Corsica share with southwestern Sardinia continuous shelf sedimentation in the Early Ordovician, and a Mid Ordovician ‘Sardic gap’. In the Ordovician, the Maures Massif probably belonged to the same Sardo-Occitan domain. The Vosges and Schwarzwald massifs display compa-rable, poorly preserved Ordovician successions, suggesting affinities with the Teplá-Barrandian and/or Molda-nubian zones of Central Europe.This paper is a contribution to the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) projects 653 "The onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event" and 735 “Rocks and the Rise of Ordovician Life: Filling knowledge gaps in the Early Palaeozoic Biodiversification". The authors are particularly grateful to Annalisa Ferretti, David A.T. Harper and Petr Kraft for their careful and constructive reviews, comments and suggestions, which greatly improved the quality and relevance of the paper