Qüestionari de trajectòria educativa i capital social acadèmic

Projecte de recerca (EDU2011-25960) Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

Qüestionari de percepció de recolzament social. Context comunitari, educatiu i familiar

Projecte de recerca (EDU2011-25960) Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.

La planification anticipée du projet thérapeutique (P.A.P.T.) auprès des personnes hébergées en établissement médico-social

Introduction Les interventions proposées pour promouvoir les directives anticipées (D.A.) n'ont que partiellement atteint leurs objectifs malgré les bénéfices anticipés. L'expérience internationale montre que, quand bien même l'institutionnalisation des D.A. est importante, les pratiques n'ont que peu évolué au cours des trois dernières décennies avec un taux de rédaction entre 15 à 30 %, variant modestement selon les publics, contextes et stratégies. Ce constat nécessite un changement de paradigme car la question des D.A. a trop fréquemment été conçue dans la perspective d'une allocation de ressources, avec une sélection de traitements à envisager en fonction de l'état de santé. Le déplacement souhaité implique de mettre en oeuvre une intervention de type Planification Anticipée du Projet Thérapeutique (P.A.P.T), centrée sur les objectifs et finalités des soins, selon les valeurs et priorités singulières à chaque patient. But L'étude pilote a permis dans un premier temps de développer et tester l'effet d'une intervention de P.A.P.T. menée par une infirmière auprès de résidants nouvellement admis en établissement médico-social (EMS) et de leurs proches significatifs. Dans un deuxième temps, la faisabilité et l'acceptabilité de cette intervention infirmière pour cette population spécifique a été évaluée. Méthode Au total 44 dyades (âge résidants M = 85,01 ans et proches M = 57,42) ont été recrutées pour participer entre mai 2011 et mai 2012 avec un suivi sur six mois dès l'admission du résidant. Un devis pré-post à groupe unique a évalué la qualité de la communication avec l'infirmière sur les soins à la fin de la vie (résidant/proche), les préférences et options de soins (résidant/proche) et la perception du fardeau chez le proche à l'entrée dans l'étude (semaine 5) et trois mois après l'intervention (semaine 25 après l'admission). L'intervention de P.A.P.T. sous forme de trois entretiens a été conduite par l'infirmière, durant le premier trimestre (semaines 6 à 13). Elle a pris connaissance de l'histoire de vie, des croyances et valeurs générales du résidant, clarifié les dix priorités jugées les plus importantes à la fin de sa vie sélectionnées et classées à l'aide d'un jeu de cartes ; elle a identifié, chez le proche, les représentations qu'il se faisait des préférences du résidant et discuté les options de soins au sein de la dyade. Après l'intervention, l'existence de traces dans les dossiers sur les priorités et souhaits de soins ainsi que la présence de D.A. rédigées ont été colligées. Des analyses descriptives et bivariées des données ont été effectuées. Résultats Aucune différence significative n'a été retrouvée après l'intervention par rapport à la qualité de la communication avec l'infirmière sur les soins à la fin de la vie chez le résidant (p = 0,32) et la similitude globale dans la dyade vis-à-vis des options de soins (p = 0,50). La concordance (degré d'accord mesuré avec l'indice K) entre résidant et proche par scénario vis-à-vis des options de soins s'est améliorée pour un des cinq scénarios et a diminué pour les quatre autres (p < 0,001). Pour le proche il a été constaté une amélioration de la qualité de la communication avec l'infirmière (p = 0,000) et de la perception du fardeau global (p - 0,007). Des traces de la P.A.P.T. ont été identifiées dans deux tiers des dossiers alors que des D.A. sont signalées pour 11 résidants. L'intervention s'est avérée faisable et a été bien acceptée par les dyades et les infirmières ayant conduit les entretiens. Conclusion L'intervention infirmière de P.A.P.T. en EMS parait efficace surtout auprès du proche. D'autres études interventionnelles à large échelle sont nécessaires pour confirmer ces résultats préliminaires chez la dyade.

The impact of communication skills training in oncology: a linguistic analysis.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of a communication skills training (CST) in oncology on clinicians' linguistic strategies. A verbal communication analysis software (Logiciel d'Analyse de la Communication Verbale) was used to compare simulated patients interviews with oncology clinicians who participated in CST (N = 57) (pre/post with a 6-month interval) with a control group of oncology clinicians who did not (N = 56) (T1/T2 with a 6-month interval). A significant improvement of linguistic strategies related to biomedical, psychological and social issues was observed. Analysis of linguistic aspects of videotaped interviews might become in the future a part of individualised feedback in CST and utilised as a marker for an evaluation of training.

Designing pheromone communication in swarm robotics: Group foraging behavior mediated by chemical substance

In swarm robotics, communication among the robots is essential. Inspired by biological swarms using pheromones, we propose the use of chemical compounds to realize group foraging behavior in robot swarms. We designed a fully autonomous robot, and then created a swarm using ethanol as the trail pheromone allowing the robots to communicate with one another indirectly via pheromone trails. Our group recruitment and cooperative transport algorithms provide the robots with the required swarm behavior. We conducted both simulations and experiments with real robot swarms, and analyzed the data statistically to investigate any changes caused by pheromone communication in the performance of the swarm in solving foraging recruitment and cooperative transport tasks. The results show that the robots can communicate using pheromone trails, and that the improvement due to pheromone communication may be non-linear, depending on the size of the robot swarm.

Social evolution: the smell of cheating.

Coercion is a powerful means to enforce altruism and promote social cohesion in animal groups, but it requires the reliable identification of selfish individuals. Experiments in a desert ant provide the first direct proof that a single cuticular hydrocarbon elicits the policing of reproductive workers by other colony members.

Qüestionari de percepció de recolzament social. Context comunitari, educatiu i familiar

Projecte de recerca (EDU2011-25960) Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.

Qüestionari de trajectòria educativa i capital social acadèmic

Projecte de recerca (EDU2011-25960) Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

El dialecte saxó:Presència escrita i prestigi social

El treball següent ofereix una visió global d'un dels dialectes de la llengua alemanya que menys ha estat objecte de recerca i investigació, el saxó, centrant-se en la presència escrita de què gaudeix aquesta varietat actualment i el seu prestigi social a Alemanya a través dels anys

Neural substrates of social emotion regulation: a FMRI study on imitation and expressive suppression to dynamic facial signals.

Emotion regulation is crucial for successfully engaging in social interactions. Yet, little is known about the neural mechanisms controlling behavioral responses to emotional expressions perceived in the face of other people, which constitute a key element of interpersonal communication. Here, we investigated brain systems involved in social emotion perception and regulation, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 20 healthy participants. The latter saw dynamic facial expressions of either happiness or sadness, and were asked to either imitate the expression or to suppress any expression on their own face (in addition to a gender judgment control task). fMRI results revealed higher activity in regions associated with emotion (e.g., the insula), motor function (e.g., motor cortex), and theory of mind (e.g., [pre]cuneus) during imitation. Activity in dorsal cingulate cortex was also increased during imitation, possibly reflecting greater action monitoring or conflict with own feeling states. In addition, premotor regions were more strongly activated during both imitation and suppression, suggesting a recruitment of motor control for both the production and inhibition of emotion expressions. Expressive suppression (eSUP) produced increases in dorsolateral and lateral prefrontal cortex typically related to cognitive control. These results suggest that voluntary imitation and eSUP modulate brain responses to emotional signals perceived from faces, by up- and down-regulating activity in distributed subcortical and cortical networks that are particularly involved in emotion, action monitoring, and cognitive control.

Molecular and social regulation of worker division of labour in fire ants.

Reproductive and worker division of labour (DOL) is a hallmark of social insect societies. Despite a long-standing interest in worker DOL, the molecular mechanisms regulating this process have only been investigated in detail in honey bees, and little is known about the regulatory mechanisms operating in other social insects. In the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, one of the most studied ant species, workers are permanently sterile and the tasks performed are modulated by the worker's internal state (age and size) and the outside environment (social environment), which potentially includes the effect of the queen presence through chemical communication via pheromones. However, the molecular mechanisms underpinning these processes are unknown. Using a whole-genome microarray platform, we characterized the molecular basis for worker DOL and we explored how a drastic change in the social environment (i.e. the sudden loss of the queen) affects global gene expression patterns of worker ants. We identified numerous genes differentially expressed between foraging and nonforaging workers in queenright colonies. With a few exceptions, these genes appear to be distinct from those involved in DOL in bees and wasps. Interestingly, after the queen was removed, foraging workers were no longer distinct from nonforaging workers at the transcriptomic level. Furthermore, few expression differences were detected between queenright and queenless workers when we did not consider the task performed. Thus, the social condition of the colony (queenless vs. queenright) appears to impact the molecular pathways underlying worker task performance, providing strong evidence for social regulation of DOL in S. invicta.

Use of social networks for academic purposes: a case study

Purpose This paper aims to analyse various aspects of an academic social network: the profile of users, the reasons for its use, its perceived benefits and the use of other social media for scholarly purposes. Design/methodology/approach The authors examined the profiles of the users of an academic social network. The users were affiliated with 12 universities. The following were recorded for each user: sex, the number of documents uploaded, the number of followers, and the number of people being followed. In addition, a survey was sent to the individuals who had an email address in their profile. Findings Half of the users of the social network were academics and a third were PhD students. Social sciences scholars accounted for nearly half of all users. Academics used the service to get in touch with other scholars, disseminate research results and follow other scholars. Other widely employed social media included citation indexes, document creation, edition and sharing tools and communication tools. Users complained about the lack of support for the utilisation of these tools. Research limitations/implications The results are based on a single case study. Originality/value This study provides new insights on the impact of social media in academic contexts by analysing the user profiles and benefits of a social network service that is specifically targeted at the academic community.

The establishment of communication systems depends on the scale of competition

How communication systems emerge and remain stable is an important question in both cognitive science and evolutionary biology. For communication to arise, not only must individuals cooperate by signaling reliable information, but they must also coordinate and perpetuate signals. Most studies on the emergence of communication in humans typically consider scenarios where individuals implicitly share the same interests. Likewise, most studies on human cooperation consider scenarios where shared conventions of signals and meanings cannot be developed de novo. Here, we combined both approaches with an economic experiment where participants could develop a common language, but under different conditions fostering or hindering cooperation. Participants endeavored to acquire a resource through a learning task in a computer-based environment. After this task, participants had the option to transmit a signal (a color) to a fellow group member, who would subsequently play the same learning task. We varied the way participants competed with each other (either global scale or local scale) and the cost of transmitting a signal (either costly or noncostly) and tracked the way in which signals were used as communication among players. Under global competition, players signaled more often and more consistently, scored higher individual payoffs, and established shared associations of signals and meanings. In addition, costly signals were also more likely to be used under global competition; whereas under local competition, fewer signals were sent and no effective communication system was developed. Our results demonstrate that communication involves both a coordination and a cooperative dilemma and show the importance of studying language evolution under different conditions influencing human cooperation.

Infant's triangular communication in "two for one" versus "two against one" family triangles: Case illustrations

Infants use their social competence very early to communicate not only in dyads but also in triads, in particular in the triangle they form with their mother and father. The development of this triangular communication is largely shaped by the ways the parents support or undermine each other in relation to their child. Whereas triangular communication is facilitated in "two for one" alliances, it is recruited in the service of regulating the parents' conflicts in "two against one" coalitions. These processes are manifest in toddlerhood and may be traced back to the coparenting alliance in formation during pregnancy.

The Impact of a Character Posture Model on the Communication of Affect in an Immersive Virtual Environment

This paper presents the quantitative and qualitative findings from an experiment designed to evaluate a developing model of affective postures for full-body virtual characters in immersive virtual environments (IVEs). Forty-nine participants were each requested to explore a virtual environment by asking two virtual characters for instructions. The participants used a CAVE-like system to explore the environment. Participant responses and their impression of the virtual characters were evaluated through a wide variety of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Combining a controlled experimental approach with various data-collection methods provided a number of advantages such as providing a reason to the quantitative results. The quantitative results indicate that posture plays an important role in the communication of affect by virtual characters. The qualitative findings indicated that participants attribute a variety of psychological states to the behavioral cues displayed by virtual characters. In addition, participants tended to interpret the social context portrayed by the virtual characters in a holistic manner. This suggests that one aspect of the virtual scene colors the perception of the whole social context portrayed by the virtual characters. We conclude by discussing the importance of designing holistically congruent virtual characters especially in immersive settings.