Les interventions de la police scientifique suite à des cambriolages: quelle est la perception des lésés et y a-t-il lieu de s'en soucier?

Les cambriolages constituent une délinquence de masse et représentent à cet égard un problème de sécurité prégnant. Les organismes policiers y répondent notamment en faisant intervenir leurs services de police scientifique sur les lieux de cambriolages, dont les missions principales sont de constater l'infraction, de récolter les traces afin d'identifier les auteurs et de les dénoncer à la justice, ainsi que de contribuer au renseignement criminel. Ces objectifs traditionnels occultent toutefois une dimension pouvant s'avérer importante de ce type d'interventions de haut volume, à savoir la relation et la communication entre l'inspecteur de police scientifique et les lésés chez lesquels il intervient. On constate à ce sujet un manque de connaissances quant à la perception que les lésés ont des interventions de la police scientifique. En sont-ils satisfaits ? Les jugent-ils utiles ? S'inquiètent-ils des résultats obtenus et de la résolution de leur cambriolage ? S'estiment-ils suffisamment informés ou conseillés en matière de prévention ? Cette étude aborde ces questions au travers d'un sondage inédit entrepris auprès de 77 lésés de cambriolages chez lesquels le Service forensique de la Police neuchâteloise est intervenu. Les réponses des lésés indiquent qu'ils ont, dans l'ensemble, une très bonne opinion de l'intervention de la police scientifique et de ses différentes composantes. Parallèlement, il ressort que les 14 inspecteurs du Service forensique, également questionnés, projettent sur les lésés une opinion en partie plus pessimiste qu'elle ne l'est en réalité. L'étude permet ainsi d'identifier des points pour lesquels la communication doit être améliorée, par exemple en ce qui concerne les conseils en matière de prévention. L'article est ponctué par une proposition de modèle conceptuel qui étend les rôles et les missions traditionnellement attribués aux services de police scientifique et qui vise à intégrer la participation aux efforts de prévention, de proximité, de réassurance et de prise en charge des lésés.

Recommendations for malaria prevention in moderate to low risk areas: travellers' choice and risk perception.

BACKGROUND: The considerable malaria decline in several countries challenges the strategy of chemoprophylaxis for travellers visiting moderate- to low-risk areas. An international consensus on the best strategy is lacking. It is essential to include travellers' opinions in the decision process. The preference of travellers regarding malaria prevention for moderate- to low-risk areas, related to their risk perception, as well as the reasons for their choices were investigated. METHODS: Prior to pre-travel consultation in the Travel Clinic, a self-administered questionnaire was given to travellers visiting moderate- to low-risk malaria areas. Four preventive options were proposed to the traveller, i.e., bite prevention only, chemoprophylaxis, stand-by emergency treatment alone, and stand-by emergency treatment with rapid diagnostic test. The information was accompanied by a risk scale for incidence of malaria, anti-malarial adverse drug reactions and other travel-related risks, inspired by Paling palettes from the Risk Communication Institute. RESULTS: A total of 391 travellers were included from December 2012 to December 2013. Fifty-nine (15%) opted for chemoprophylaxis, 116 (30%) for stand-by emergency treatment, 112 (29%) for stand-by emergency treatment with rapid diagnostic test, 100 (26%) for bite prevention only, and four (1%) for other choices. Travellers choosing chemoprophylaxis justified their choice for security reasons (42%), better preventive action (29%), higher efficacy (15%) and easiness (15%). The reasons for choosing stand-by treatment or bite prevention only were less medication consumed (29%), less adverse drug reactions (23%) and lower price (9%). Those who chose chemoprophylaxis were more likely to have used it in the past (OR = 3.0 (CI 1.7-5.44)), but were not different in terms of demographic, travel characteristics or risk behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: When travelling to moderate- to low-risk malaria areas, 85% of interviewees chose not to take chemoprophylaxis as malaria prevention, although most guidelines recommend it. They had coherent reasons for their choice. New recommendations should include shared decision-making to take into account travellers' preferences.

La perception du paysage dans les images viatiques des Alpes

Etudiant les images viatiques des Alpes présentes dans la base de données VIATIMAGES, au tournant des XVIIIe-XIXe siècles, l'article montre que la prépondérance du sens de la vue dans la perception des paysages est une construction historique et anthropologique. En analysant plus précisément ces images, on peut y repérer des personnages identifiés aux habitants des lieux visités par les voyageurs. Au-delà des stéréotypes du "berger des Alpes", ces images nous disent quelque chose sur la perception pluri-sensorielle et sur l'immédiateté de la présence au monde des paysans alpins. Cependant, une équivoque demeure, que les sources viatiques ne permettent pas de lever, car les qualités attribuées aux paysans des Alpes sont celles mêmes dont les élites urbaines voyageantes sont privées. Dans les zones de contact que sont les sites touristiques au début du XIXe siècle, le regardant et le regardé mettent en miroir leurs qualités sans les partager.

Extending body space in immersive virtual reality: a very long arm illusion

Recent studies have shown that a fake body part can be incorporated into human body representation through synchronous multisensory stimulation on the fake and corresponding real body part- the most famous example being the Rubber Hand Illusion. However, the extent to which gross asymmetries in the fake body can be assimilated remains unknown. Participants experienced, through a head-tracked stereo head-mounted display a virtual body coincident with their real body. There were 5 conditions in a between-groups experiment, with 10 participants per condition. In all conditions there was visuo-motor congruence between the real and virtual dominant arm. In an Incongruent condition (I), where the virtual arm length was equal to the real length, there was visuo-tactile incongruence. In four Congruent conditions there was visuo-tactile congruence, but the virtual arm lengths were either equal to (C1), double (C2), triple (C3) or quadruple (C4) the real ones. Questionnaire scores and defensive withdrawal movements in response to a threat showed that the overall level of ownership was high in both C1 and I, and there was no significant difference between these conditions. Additionally, participants experienced ownership over the virtual arm up to three times the length of the real one, and less strongly at four times the length. The illusion did decline, however, with the length of the virtual arm. In the C2-C4 conditions although a measure of proprioceptive drift positively correlated with virtual arm length, there was no correlation between the drift and ownership of the virtual arm, suggesting different underlying mechanisms between ownership and drift. Overall, these findings extend and enrich previous results that multisensory and sensorimotor information can reconstruct our perception of the body shape, size and symmetry even when this is not consistent with normal body proportions.

Inducing illusory ownership of a virtual body

We discuss three experiments that investigate how virtual limbs and bodies can come to feel like real limbs and bodies. The fi rst experiment shows that an illusion of ownership of a virtual arm appearing to project out of a person"s shoulder can be produced by tactile stimulation on a person"s hidden real hand and synchronous stimulation on the seen virtual hand. The second shows that the illusion can be produced by synchronous movement of the person"s hidden real hand and a virtual hand. The third shows that a weaker form of the illusion can be produced when a brain-computer interface is employed to move the virtual hand by means of motor imagery without any tactile stimulation. We discuss related studies that indicate that the ownership illusion may be generated for an entire body. This has important implications for the scientific understanding of body ownership and several practical applications.

Human Capital Questionnaire (PHCQ): Assessment of European nurses' perception as indicators of human capital quality

Healthcare accreditation models generally include indicators related to healthcare employees' perceptions (e.g. satisfaction, career development, and health safety). During the accreditation process, organizations are asked to demonstrate the methods with which assessments are made. However, none of the models provide standardized systems for the assessment of employees. In this study, we analyzed the psychometric properties of an instrument for the assessment of nurses' perceptions as indicators of human capital quality in healthcare organizations. The Human Capital Questionnaire was applied to a sample of 902 nurses in four European countries (Spain, Portugal, Poland, and the UK). Exploratory factor analysis identified six factors: satisfaction with leadership, identification and commitment, satisfaction with participation, staff well-being, career development opportunities, and motivation. The results showed the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, which when applied to healthcare organizations, provide a better understanding of nurses' perceptions, and is a parsimonious instrument for assessment and organizational accreditation. From a practical point of view, improving the quality of human capital, by analyzing nurses and other healthcare employees' perceptions, is related to workforce empowerment.

Towards a digital body: the virtual arm illusion

The integration of the human brain with computers is an interesting new area of applied neuroscience, where one application is replacement of a person"s real body by a virtual representation. Here we demonstrate that a virtual limb can be made to feel part of your body if appropriate multisensory correlations are provided. We report an illusion that is invoked through tactile stimulation on a person"s hidden real right hand with synchronous virtual visual stimulation on an aligned 3D stereo virtual arm projecting horizontally out of their shoulder. An experiment with 21 male participants showed displacement of ownership towards the virtual hand, as illustrated by questionnaire responses and proprioceptive drift. A control experiment with asynchronous tapping was carried out with a different set of 20 male participants who did not experience the illusion. After 5 min of stimulation the virtual arm rotated. Evidence suggests that the extent of the illusion was also correlated with the degree of muscle activity onset in the right arm as measured by EMG during this period that the arm was rotating, for the synchronous but not the asynchronous condition. A completely virtual object can therefore be experienced as part of one"s self, which opens up the possibility that an entire virtual body could be felt as one"s own in future virtual reality applications or online games, and be an invaluable tool for the understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying body ownership.

Use and perception of urban green spaces in Barcelona

Background: Although the mechanisms are not well understood yet, evidence exists of the benefits of urban green spaces for human health. As a consequence, one of the concerns of public health interventions must be to promote the use of urban green spaces within cities. Aims: This study aims to explore the citizens’ purposes of use of urban green spaces as well as the elements related to the characteristics of these places that condition their use. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with non-hospitalised people living in different areas of Barcelona, with different socioeconomic status and different residential distance to urban green spaces (n = 20). Thematic content analysis of the qualitative data was performed. Results: Physical pursuits and attention restoration were identified as prominent purposes of use of urban green spaces. The natural features of urban green spaces were identified as the most relevant determiners for the use of these places. Conclusions: To promote the use of urban green spaces, qualitative findings from this study suggest that purpose-built places should be provided. Moreover, natural features of urban green spaces must be particularly taken into account when designing and maintaining them.