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The development of early numeracy skills in preschoolers is an important predictor of future academic performance. A multiplicity of tasks or tests measure early numeracy skills in the English-language. Nevertheless, no tools are currently in French for evaluating and monitoring the development of young children's early numeracy skills. The present study addressed this situation by creating a set of early numeracy tasks in French. In addition to examining the psychometric properties of those early numeracy tasks, we used multiple regression analyses to examine possible links between early numeracy skills and children's characteristics (sex, age, socioeconomic status). Results obtained on a sample of 167 French kindergarten students (Mean = 5.17 years, Standard Deviation = 0.59) showed the tests to have good psychometric properties. Moreover, model fit for our data were better for a single-factor model than for a two-factor model. In addition, we found links between different dimensions of early numeracy and both children's age and socioeconomic status.

Children develop early literacy and numeracy skills from an early age. The primary aim of the current study is to examen links between early literacy skills and early numeracy skills during preschool education in France. This study involves 313 kindergarten students (152 girls and 161 boys), aged between 3.44 and 7.02 years (mean age = 5.07 years, standard deviation = 0.88). Regression analyses accounting for children's characteristics and early literacy skills revealed that letter knowledge was a significant predictor of numeral identification and verbal counting in the three years of French école maternelle. Children's characteristics (age and socioeconomic status) have an impact on early numeracy skills but only for the youngest students in school (petite section). These findings suggest that young children's early numeracy skills are related to the acquisition of early literacy skills and to children's characteristics. Implications for future research are discussed.

Background: When older adults (OAs) can no longer live independently at home, they have the option to choose from various types of geriatric care institutions, such as residential facilities or nursing homes. For several years now, thanks to the development of interactive television (iTV), social link functions have been accessible directly on televisions, tools that are already integrated into residents' rooms. The acceptance of technologies specifically targeting older users, as well as iTV, has been widely documented in the literature, incorporating factors from the innovation resistance model., Objective: This research aims to enrich the acceptance of existing models of innovation by OAs living in different settings., Methods: User tests were carried out to evaluate OAs' experiences with iTV and identify the factors involved in its acceptance. A total of 32 OAs living at home, in nursing homes, or in residential facilities in France were interviewed between November 2022 and June 2023. iTV acceptance was examined using an interview grid based on the technology acceptance model and included the following factors: intention to use, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, user resistance, anxiety, facilitating conditions, and user characteristics., Results: The deductive qualitative analysis based on the technology acceptance model helped to identify 33 concepts., Conclusions: This study has contributed to the literature on the acceptance of iTV by OAs living at home and in geriatric institutions, particularly by enriching existing models and proposing new avenues for reflection., (©Bérangère Naudé, Anne-Sophie Rigaud, Maribel Pino. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 02.12.2024.)

Interconnection between hospital and outpatient care is crucial to enhancing continuity of care for patients, particularly those with chronic illnesses. The systems currently in place in France, such as territorial hospital groups, the return-to-home program, the mobile palliative care teams, the shared medical record and territorial healthcare professional communities, are meeting the main challenges associated with this coordination. Their aim is to optimize care trajectories, reduce re-hospitalization and improve the quality of care., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The main aim of this study was to test the effect of an emotionally-focused educational program on the language and emotional skills of children aged 9-11. Sixty seven pupils were divided randomly into an experimental group who received teaching on emotions in an oracy context, and into a control group who completed a learning sequence unconnected with the emotions and in a traditional educational oral context. The emotional and non-emotional language skills of the two groups were assessed in the pretest and the posttest. While it is noticeable that levels of vocabulary and comprehension improved for all pupils in the post test, only those who had completed the education programme on emotions displayed significantly improved skills in general oral production. The results highlight the fact that educational practices encouraging oracy in natural situations contribute to the development of oral language and listening and empathy skills.

Parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PRCNEs), a type of emotion socialization, has been theorized to shape children's socioemotional development. Few studies have examined cultural variations in PRCNE among Western/Minority World cultures. The present study used a cross-cultural, preschool-based sample of 101 parent–child dyads (child age = 36–79 months, 42% females; parent age = 19–58 years, 89% mothers) from two countries: U.S. (n = 33, 58% White/European American, 87% with college or above education) and France (n = 68, 61% French or other European origin, 40% with college or above education). Parents self-reported PRCNEs across 12 hypothetical scenarios. Children's behavioral problems and prosocial behaviors were rated by parents and preschool teachers. Children's emotion knowledge was measured by a behavioral task. We examined (1) cultural group variations in PRCNEs, and (2) the relations between PRCNE and children's socioemotional outcomes. Controlling for demographics, French parents endorsed more non-supportive PRCNE than U.S. parents. Across both cultures, parents' higher use of distress and punitive reactions were linked to lower parent-rated child prosocial behaviors. These findings revealed differences and similarities in PRCNEs between French and U.S. families and have implications for early childhood education practices promoting socioemotional competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The development of early literacy skills in preschoolers is an important predictor of future academic performance. Four main domains of early literacy are currently observed: letter knowledge, vocabulary, phonological awareness and oral comprehension. A multiplicity of tasks or tests measures these domains in English language. However, there are currently no French-language tools for evaluating and monitoring the early literacy abilities of young children in francophone contexts. Methods: This paper addresses this lack by presenting a new French-language scale -- the Echelle Préscolaire de Littératie Emergente (EPLE) -- for assessing the early literacy skills of preschoolers. In addition to examining the EPLE's psychometric properties, we used path analysis to determine possible links between different dimensions of early literacy and children's characteristics (sex, age and socioeconomic status). Results: This study involves 167 French preschoolers (mean = 5.17 years, standard deviation = 0.59) attending kindergarten. All the participants were tested individually, and a specific entry in the tasks was proposed depending on the age of the children. First, the EPLE had good psychometric properties. Then, factor analysis of the data collected revealed a similar hierarchical factor structure as found in the literature. In addition, we found links between the four dimensions of early literacy measured by the EPLE and both children's age and socioeconomic status. Conclusion: The EPLE creates several new opportunities for early literacy research in French-speaking contexts. First, this tool reduces the gap in the field of testing young children skills. Then, it allows the comparison with worldwide researches. Moreover, this tool proposes pedagogical implications. In the next few years, the EPLE will be used by teachers or school psychologists to test the early competences of French children.

The start of university life requires a period of adaptation, which can sometimes have an impact on the mental health of students. The latest results from the Observatoire National de la Vie Etudiante (OVE, 2013) show that more that 40% of university students report symptoms of psychological fragility (sleep problems, fatigue, depression, stress or loneliness), which can impact their level of wellbeing and performance. Beyond Savoirs [knowledge], Savoir Faire [knowing what to do], the role of Savoir Être [knowing how to be] referring to a set of emotional competencies, is crucial in sustaining human capital in a broad sense, personal development and health (Gendron 2004). During the Initiatives d'Excellence en Formations Innovantes (IDEFI) Programme, [Initiatives of Excellence in Innovative Training] 132 first year university students of education underwent an intervention (a minimum of six workshops of four hours) aimed at developing their emotional capital. Using two approaches PIA2 (European Management and Project Management Methodology) and ACT Training derived from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) the objective was to develop trainees' social and personal emotional competencies such as self-esteem, self-knowledge, empathy and conflict management. Using an interdisciplinary approach drawing on educational theory, theory of human resources and positive psychology, the results show that emotional capital, developed using positive psychology tools, can improve wellbeing and contribute to a holistic personal development.

Previous studies have mostly focused on the socialisation role of parents on adolescents' prosocial behaviours and there is relatively less work focusing on peers who are important socialisation agents for the development of prosocial behaviours in adolescence. Further, simultaneously examining the socialisation roles of multiple socialisation agents in prosocial behaviours and empathy development is even rarer. Thus, in the current study, we examined supportive and poor relationships with three socialisation agents (i.e., parents, peers in class, and peers in extracurricular activities) on adolescents' prosocial behaviours, considering whether empathy mediates these relations. Additionally, we examined the links between supportive and poor relationships with peers in the class and extracurricular activities and adolescents' prosocial behaviours, and the mediating role of empathy. The sample was 676 French adolescents (50% female, M age = 14.35 years). Supportive relationships and poor relationships models were tested separately. We examined the relative strengths of three socialisation agents using three-socialiser and two-socialiser models. In the three-socialiser model, supportive relationships with parents and peers in the extracurricular activities were positively linked to adolescents' empathy a year later, which, in turn, was positively linked to helping and caring behaviours. Additionally, poor relationships with parents were negatively linked to adolescents' empathy a year later, which, in turn, was positively linked to helping and caring behaviours. In the two-socialiser model, both supportive relationships with peers in class and extracurricular activities were positively linked to adolescents' empathy 1 year later, which, in turn, was positively linked to helping and caring behaviours but only for early adolescents. Lastly, in the two-socialiser model, poor relationships with peers in extracurricular activities were negatively linked to adolescents' empathy 1 year later, which, in turn, was positively linked to helping and caring behaviours. In general, these results were robust across adolescents' gender and age. Overall, results make several important contributions to the literature on the role of multiple socialisation agents and adolescents' prosocial behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the present study are: (1) to examine the contribution that vocabulary makes to reading comprehension in the Simple View of Reading model in French‐speaking children aged from 7 to 10 years based on the use of an index of efficiency (i.e., speed‐accuracy index); and (2) to investigate the extent to which the contribution of vocabulary to reading comprehension might change according to children's school grade level. Measures of vocabulary depth, word reading (i.e., three levels of word representations, namely orthography, phonology, semantics), listening, and reading comprehension were collected using computer‐based assessments in children from Grades 2 to 5 (N = 237). We examined the contribution of vocabulary in two contrasted groups: a younger group consisting of children from Grades 2–3 and an older group with children from Grades 4–5. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that vocabulary is a factor separate from word reading, listening and reading comprehension. Moreover, the results from a structural equation modeling analysis showed that word reading and listening comprehension fully mediated the relation between vocabulary and reading comprehension. Consequently, vocabulary had an indirect effect via word reading on reading comprehension in both groups. Finally, word reading had a greater effect on reading comprehension than listening comprehension in both groups. The results suggest that word reading plays a central role in reading comprehension and is underpinned by the influence of vocabulary. We discuss the results in the light of the lexical quality hypotheses taken together with reading comprehension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implemented on a massive scale during the Covid-19 pandemic, telework is now an established form of work organization, but its effects on workers' well-being remain a subject of debate. Drawing on data from a longitudinal survey representative of the French population (EpiCov), this article uses sequence analysis to retrace the work patterns of almost 40,000 people in paid employment and their recourse to telework during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic in France. It also uses regressions to examine the repercussions on people's work-life balance and mental health during a period of calm in the pandemic (summer 2021) when working conditions returned almost to normal. In this context, teleworking had a strongly positive impact on the work-life balance, with beneficial effects that increased with the number of days spent working from home. The benefits were greater for women and for parents, and were independent of telework experience before the pandemic. On average, telework does not seem to have affected the risk of depression or anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Satisfaction, well-being, pleasure or happiness are some of the terms used by researchers who attempt to characterize the positive emotions and experiences of teachers in their professional practice. Without choosing between these different conceptual frameworks, this article aims to identify the determinants of this "happiness", particularly in relation to the expectations upon entering the profession. It emphasizes the importance of student-related factors, in particular the quality of the relationship that teachers have with their students and the quality of learning, and their reciprocal influence. Training courses to strengthen teachers' skills in these two areas are then seen as a way to increase the happiness of learning and teaching. The article finally insists on the importance of the evaluation of the trainings, by presenting a currently under development device to evaluate a training action aiming at reinforcing the psychosocial skills of 1st grade students, which is carried out in a school district of the Paris region. This device uses the CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System) tool, not yet well known in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Medical opinion leaders represent a marketing tool whose effectiveness is well documented in France and worldwide. They are less distrusted than pharmaceutical representatives, but this trust declines when they declare their ties. In France, the public database "Transparence-Santé" presents the financial ties of each professional with the health industries since 2012. These ties must be declared at the beginning of any public intervention since 2002 to improve the transparency of healthcare stakeholders., Objectives: This study assessed the compliance with the obligation to disclose conflicts of interests at the Congress of General Medicine France 2020. Its secondary objective was to assess the financial ties of French physicians attending the congress using the data listed in "Transparence-Santé" through the Eurosfordocs project., Method: Prospective cross-sectional observational study of all the interventions available on the congress' internet platform. All speakers, making either an oral or a written and commented presentation, who must declare their conflicts of interest, were included. A descriptive analysis of "Transparence-Santé" data was carried out for the doctors attending the congress., Results: Among 253 interventions, 34% complied with the disclosure requirement. The doctors participating in symposiums links of interests represented 92% of the global amount of congress' links of interests, with an average of 11,2k€/year, significantly higher than the 126€/year of other physicians., Conclusion: The legal obligation to declare one's conflict of interest at congresses is little respected in France. Involvement of the organizers and using pre-established disclosure formats would improve transparency. It is necessary to develop the independence of speakers to improve research and medical expertise., (Copyright © 2021 Société française de pharmacologie et de thérapeutique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

European directives stipulate that French employers take all available measures to reduce the use of carcinogenic agents. Our study explores the links between regulations on chemicals and the effective implementation of collective protection measures in France to occupational exposure to carcinogenic chemicals. Individual data from the French national cross-sectional survey of occupational hazards, conducted in 2017, were analysed. We investigated whether stricter regulations and longer exposures were associated with a higher level of collective protection using multivariate logistic regressions. In 2017, any collective protection measures were implemented for 35% of occupational situations involving exposure to a carcinogen. A total of 21% of exposure situations benefited from source-based controls (e.g., isolation chamber and local exhaust ventilation) and 26% from general ventilation, for which the effect is limited as collective protection. Our regressions showed that longer exposure durations were associated with more collective protection. Exposure situations to chemicals classified as proven carcinogens by the European Union (category 1A) benefited more from collective protections, which is not the case for products only classified as suspected carcinogens (category 1B). Exposures to products with a Binding Occupational Exposure Limit Value benefited more from source-based controls. Nonetheless, the time spent on the IARC list of carcinogens did not appear to influence the implementation of collective protection measures, except for local exhaust ventilation. At a time when efforts to improve the implementation of protective measures in order to drastically reduce the risks of occupational cancers are still necessary, stricter European and national regulations, but above all, better coordination with the work of the IARC and its classification, are avenues to pursue.

The development of early numeracy skills in preschoolers is an important predictor of future academic performance. A multiplicity of tasks or tests measure early numeracy skills in the English-language. Nevertheless, no tools are currently in French for evaluating and monitoring the development of young children's early numeracy skills. The present study addressed this situation by creating a set of early numeracy tasks in French. In addition to examining the psychometric properties of those early numeracy tasks, we used multiple regression analyses to examine possible links between early numeracy skills and children's characteristics (sex, age, socioeconomic status). Results obtained on a sample of 167 French kindergarten students (Mean = 5.17 years, Standard Deviation = 0.59) showed the tests to have good psychometric properties. Moreover, model fit for our data were better for a single-factor model than for a two-factor model. In addition, we found links between different dimensions of early numeracy and both children's age and socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistance of the human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus to antifungal agents is on the rise. However, links between patient infections, their potential acquisition from local environmental sources, and links to global diversity remain cryptic. Here, we used genotyping analyses using nine microsatellites in A. fumigatus , in order to study patterns of diversity in France. In this study, we genotyped 225 local A. fumigatus isolates, 112 azole susceptible and 113 azole resistant, collected from the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region (Eastern France) and sampled from both clinical ( n = 34) and environmental ( n = 191) sources. Azole-resistant clinical isolates ( n = 29) were recovered mainly from cystic fibrosis patients and environmental isolates ( n = 84) from market gardens and sawmills. In common with previous studies, the TR 34 /L98H allele predominated and comprised 80% of resistant isolates. The genotypes obtained for these local TR 34 /L98H isolates were integrated into a broader analysis including all genotypes for which data are available worldwide. We found that dominant local TR 34 /L98H genotypes were isolated in different sample types at different dates (different patients and types of environments) with hospital air and patient's isolates linked. Therefore, we are not able to rule out the possibility of some nosocomial transmission. We also found genotypes in these same environments to be highly diverse, emphasizing the highly mixed nature of A. fumigatus populations. Identical clonal genotypes were found to occur both in the French Eastern region and in the rest of the world (notably Australia), while others have not yet been observed and could be specific to our region. Our study demonstrates the need to integrate patient, healthcare, and environmental sampling with global databases in order to contextualize the local-scale epidemiology of antifungal resistant aspergillosis., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Rocchi, Sewell, Valot, Godeau, Laboissiere, Millon and Fisher.)

Police violence during protests occurs worldwide with varying levels ranging from physical abuse to lethal use of force. Although prior research has investigated the health consequences of exposure to police violence (EPV), EPV's relationship with protesters' mental health has not yet been examined. Therefore, we designed a cross-sectional study which included measures of self-reported EPV, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. The computerized survey was disseminated among a large sample of Yellow Vests protesters in France (N = 523; average protest attendance = 18). Overall, 49% of protesters displayed severe symptoms of depression and 15.5% met the criteria for provisory post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses. Subsequent analyses revealed, as expected, positive associations between EPV, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms in our sample (.30 < d <.63). These were robust to adjustment on several potential confounds (e.g., physical injuries, demographics, political extremism) and similar when analyzing provisory diagnoses rates (1.65 < OR < 3.02). This study is the first to assess potentially detrimental effects of EPV on mental health during protests. Furthermore, prevalence rates for both provisory depression and PTSD diagnoses were comparable with those found among war-refugee populations. We call for further research on EPV among various protester samples and use longitudinal designs to investigate a potent risk factor for mental health issues among civilian populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire for Adolescents (MCQ-A) measures individual differences of metacognitive beliefs and monitoring thought to be involved in the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders, especially in those involving anxiety. This assessment tool has been employed in research and clinical settings involving French-speaking adolescents, but appropriate validation has yet to be conducted. This article aims to first validate the francophone version of the MCQ-Af using measures sensitive to the expression of anxiety, and secondly, to examine the influence of age and gender on metacognitive beliefs, anxiety and their links., Method: 214 adolescents (114 females) between 13 and 17 completed the MCQ-Af (French version) as well as the Revised-Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (R-CMAS), French version, to assess anxiety manifestations. Structural validity was examined with confirmatory factor analyses. Three models were compared to the higher order five factor model proposed in the original validation study. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also performed. Student's t tests as well as simple and stepwise regressions were conducted to assess for age and gender., Results: The five correlated factors retained in the original version of the MCQ were replicated, and confirmatory factor analyses yielded comparable fit indices for a covariate factor model, as well as for a bifactor model. The bifactor model was privileged for theoretical reasons. Analyses were performed on a shortened questionnaire of 27 items as 3 items (2, 12 and 14) had non-significant loadings in prior path analyses. Age and gender differences were found in specific sub-factors of the MCQ-Af; positive and negative metacognitive beliefs seem to increase with age; girls seem to score higher on the negative metacognitive beliefs and thought control dimensions. The study further reports specific links between anxiety manifestation and negative and positive metacognitive beliefs, as well as confidence in one's memory. A modest influence of age and gender on this link was also highlighted., Conclusion: The present research provides the first evidence that the MCQ-Af is a valid and reliable instrument to assess individual differences of metacognitive beliefs in French-speaking adolescents. Nevertheless, it highlights that caution should be taken in regards of 3 items in particular (items 2, 12 and 14). Furthermore, age and gender in assessed samples of adolescents might influence the scores of the different dimensions of the questionnaire., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Concerns about water scarcity and management have focused attention on the relationship between agriculture and other competing water uses. This research aims to evaluate the perceptions of and preferences for irrigation use and management in a rural area, and it does so through an analysis of stakeholder attitudes in a large irrigation system in Southern France: the Neste System. The stakeholder analysis approach and the governance model approach are applied in combination with a new form of graphical representation to evaluate the conflicting points of view between stakeholder's profiles, which are called TIMA. Results revealed that there are heterogeneities between the preferences of stakeholder groups regarding water resources management, agricultural practices, and irrigation challenges. Qualitative and graphical results highlight the competing topics, the stakeholder relationships and the ability to secure permanent agreements by promoting participatory development and good governance. These results can be used by the relevant authorities to customize their interventions, knowing beforehand and in a well-structured form which are the different stakeholders' priorities. In this way, more effective avenues of communication can be established in the decision-making processes regarding irrigation challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The French social system offers many kinds of allowances and support (in work, everyday life and social life fields) to persons with disabilities. People with severe mental disorders are often considered as having less access than other disabled persons to the various forms of compensation offered by the national solidarity system. Purpose of research : Our objective was to study, for people with diverse kinds of mental disorders, those who are frequent users of support devoted to disability., Methods: By proceeding to an ascending hierarchical classification from the data of the Disability and Health National survey of 2008-2009 and by studying the characteristics of these groups with regards to the available resources of the disability field we wished to clarify the determinants of recourse., Results: Two groups who very frequently have both various kinds of mental disorders (including mental retardation) and physical disorders have a very high rate of using solidarity support linked to disability. A third group, whose recourse to the field of the disability system is less high without being negligible includes people with different medical and social profiles, having signs of social difficulties and physical troubles which may precede or follow their mental problems instead of belonging to a same complex pattern., Conclusions: This self-reported data survey inevitably comprises approximate data as regards to diagnoses and impairments, but no other survey brings such diversified information and it usefully highlights that people with mental disorders should not be considered has having only mental disorders as long as they use the French disability system.

Copyright of Socialinių Mokslų Studijos is the property of Mykolas Romeris University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article lists several links on topics related to violence and international relations including the terrorist attacks in Paris, France in 2015, the spread of the Islamic State (ISIS), a terrorist group, in the Middle East, and the status of Syrian refugees.

The distance and dissension that characterized the relations between the internal and external resistance movements have had a deep and lasting impact on memories of the Second World War. For decades, the French 'maquis' played a central role in maintaining this dichotomy between the two Resistances. There were nonetheless links between them. The British, American and French archives reveal that some of the Free French worked tirelessly to support the internal Resistance and its maquis. Their negotiations on behalf of the internal Resistance during summit meetings are well known. This paper addresses a lower level of the hierarchy, examining how the Free French in charge of liaisons with the internal Resistance fulfilled their task. Therefore, the networks between Free France, the French maquis and the Allies are the focus of this study. By investigating the identities of those involved in this cooperation, it sheds light on the connections and solidarity which were built among the French maquis, London and Algiers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin des bibliothèques de France is the property of ENSSIB and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The dynamic of articulation between higher education and secondary education in England and Wales, the Netherlands, France, West Germany, and Sweden is examined from historical and administrative perspectives. (MSE)

The past few years have seen a 'deflation' in the value of the French baccalaureate degree, partially due to the development of mass education. More stringent selection/admission procedures are suggested. (MLW)

Objectives The majority of research examining the relationship between the coach-created motivational and athlete motivation has relied on self-report measures. Grounded in Duda’s (2013) theoretically integrated model, the present study examined: (1) athletes', coaches' and observers' reports of the multidimensional motivational coaching environment in four European countries, (2) the interrelationships of these different perspectives of the motivational environment, and (3) links between the multidimensional environment and athletes' autonomous, controlled and amotivation. Design We employed a cross-sectional study design and utilized mixed methods to tap the variables of interest. Both descriptive and more sophisticated multi-level statistical analyses were employed to test our hypotheses. Methods Seventy-four grassroots soccer coaches and 882 youth athletes from England, France, Greece and Spain were recruited. Coaches were video-recorded during a training session and observers rated the degree to which the coaching climate was autonomy supportive, controlling, task-involving, ego-involving and relatedness supportive. Athletes and coaches completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of the coach created climate in relation to the aforementioned dimensions of the environment. Athletes also completed measure of their sport-based motivation regulations. Results A profile of the motivational environment and athlete motivation was presented actoss four countries. There were weak associations found between different perspectives of the multidimensional coaching environment. However, athletes', coaches' and observers' reports of features of the motivational environment emerged as significant predictors of athletes' autonomous, controlled and amotivation. Conclusions Results provide partial support for findings of previous studies examining athlete motivation correlates of the motivational environment relying solely on self-report measures. Findings also point to the value of adopting a mixed-methodological approach and including athletes', coaches' and observers' reports of the environment when time and resources allow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the impact of readers' visuo-spatial (VS) capacity on their incidental learning of page links during the exploration of simple hierarchical hypertextual documents. Forty-three university students were asked to explore a series of hypertexts for a limited period of time. Then the participants were asked to recall the layout and the contents of the pages. We found that low VS capacity readers had more difficulty recalling the links located at a deeper level in the page hierarchy. A content map included in half the trials had a limited effect on recall accuracy. We conclude that reading networked digital documents taps VS working memory, possibly due to readers’ attempts to construct a topological representation of the network that coexists with the semantic representation of the contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Preeclampsia is one of the most frequent and most serious complications of pregnancy. Its occurrence is around 5% of the pregnancies. Its pathophysiology is complex and includes several hypotheses. Preeclampsia is inconsistently associated with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). The determinants that explain the variability of this association are unknown. The objective of our study was to identify in a population of French patients who had preeclampsia and/or HELLP syndrome, incidence and risk factors of IUGR to isolate specific characteristics of these women., Patients and Methods: We studied 578 pregnant women treated for preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome according to the presence or absence of IUGR (database compiled since 1996). Comparisons between the groups were done with Wilcoxon test (quantitative data) or Fisher's exact test (qualitative data)., Results: We found that pre-eclampsia appeared earlier and was more severe in the group with IUGR. In addition foetal issues were more defavorable when IUGR was associated with preeclampsia., Conclusion: Combination of IUGR and pre-eclampsia or HELLP syndrome is a criterion of severity for both the mother and the fetus. Our data do not allow distinguishing physiopathological mechanism to explain these differences., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

What are young people's links with radio? What role does radio play in the lives of adolescents? By focusing on the situation in France -- where radio programmes mix `free radio' in the evening with music, and are highly listened-to by young people -- this article examines the structure of youth listening reception. The links listeners make with presenters and with people who phone in, as revealed by the study, suggest the `in-between' status of radio for youth. On radio, adolescents find a space to express `youth problems' (sic) and to learn about others' experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The silicon trackers of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva) use optical links for data transmission. An upgrade of the trackers is planned for the Super LHC (SLHC), an upgrade of LHC with ten times higher luminosity. We investigate the radiation-hardness and bandwidth of various components for possible application in the data transmission upgrade. For the electrical connection between the front-end electronics and the optical link, we study the possible use of a micro twisted-pair cable. The bandwidth is measured to be 640Mb/s for transmission up to 1.4m and 320Mb/s for transmission up to 4m if the signal is pre-emphasized. For the optical devices, we irradiated Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) and GaAs PIN arrays from three vendors and silicon PIN arrays from one vendor. All arrays can be operated up to the SLHC dosage except for the GaAs PIN arrays, which have very low responsivities after irradiation. We have also demonstrated the feasibility of fabricating a novel optical package for housing VCSEL and PIN arrays with BeO (beryllium oxide) as the substrate for efficient removal of heat. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

France is one of the first countries to have passed specific legislation concerning “mental harassment” (In French the term used in the legislation is “harcèlement moral” referring to harassment or bullying leading to mental or psychological distress.) in the workplace. However, the definition of mental harassment at work remains fairly vague. It is, indeed, a complex issue, since no objective and precise consensual definition has been given so far. The objective of this study is to clarify the criteria that French judges consider as characteristic of mental harassment, and to check whether the specific links between mental harassment at work and PTSD pointed to in recent international studies have been taken into account. This study proposes the main lines for debate in countries that have not yet adopted legal clauses on mental harassment at work. Our study is based on a sample of 22 people who were legally recognised as having been mentally harassed at work; this sample is taken as representative of all court decisions passed on harassment and published as such on the French Ministry of Justice website. To establish whether they were considering a case of harassment, the judges based their decisions on the nature of the accusations. In all cases (22/22), the charges brought against the defendant had to do with offences against the employee’s dignity. Five cases out of 22 dealt with an offence infringing their rights, 10 cases out of 22 related to the employee’s future within the company being compromised, while half of the cases (11/22) concerned a deterioration in the person’s health. In more than half of the cases, the judges also looked for other factors, such as repetition and duration of the period of harassment. Whenever the judges noted a deterioration in the victim’s mental health, they also referred to medical certificates reporting anxio-depressive syndromes or psychological disorders without providing further detail. No PTSD-like symptomatology was mentioned among these cases, although several studies have shown that many victims of mental harassment at work have specific symptoms of PTSD. This study is the first study to be carried out on mental harassment at work and to refer to court decisions since the law was promulgated in France (2002). It appears that, in order to be recognised as a victim of mental harassment at work, numerous proofs of harassment or bullying need to be produced. It must have been repeated and have led to consequences in several domains. Several attestations and documents are required demonstrating clearly that harassment or bullying did indeed occur. Further to this, although to date judges have not considered PTSD to be an element contributing to the presumption of harassment, connections between bullying or harassment and clinical signs of PTSD have been attested by several studies that confirm that bullied victims can suffer from PTSD-like symptoms, although they do not necessarily match the strict DSM-IV criteria (absence of A1 criterion). It would seem advisable to request psychiatric examination in cases of harassment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of the present study were to validate measures of young children's eating difficulties and maternal feeding practices in a French sample, as well as to assess the links between these practices and children's eating difficulties. Mothers (n=502) of French children aged 20-36 months completed four questionnaires that were validated using a Structural Equation Modelling approach. Links between children and maternal components were investigated using a PLS regression. The Children's Eating Difficulties Questionnaire yielded a 4-dimension solution: Neophobia, Pickiness, Low Appetite and Low Enjoyment in food. The Feeding Style Questionnaire assessed three dimensions: Authoritarian, Authoritative and Permissive Styles. The Feeding Strategy Questionnaire, designed to evaluate strategies used by mothers to make their child taste rejected foods, resulted in four factors: Coercion, Explanation, Contingency and Preference. The Questionnaire relating to Parental Motivations when buying food for children presented a 6-dimension solution: Convenience, Weight-control, Natural, Health-concern, Preference and Price. The factors associated positively with the four dimensions of the Children's Eating Difficulties Questionnaire were on the one hand Permissive Style and Practices to fulfil child's desires, and on the other hand Authoritarian Style, Contingent and Coercive Practices aimed at forcing children to taste rejected foods., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The level of cooperation between legal and healthcare professionals in psychiatry has increased significantly as a result of the greater emphasis on safety and security and the increasing tendency to place mental disorders in a judicial or legal context. As a result of the many new laws that have been passed since 1998, psychiatrists are increasingly required "to treat criminal recidivism and prevent violent behavior". These issues have been highlighted by the scientific, medical and legal community, though without ever resulting in any action by the public authorities. Based on an examination of the care provided to a prisoner before, during and after incarceration, this study suggests that despite the existing regulatory framework and the abundance of data on the provision of care (including psychiatric care), a comprehensive review of the current system is required. To what extent is care management effective and consistent? Are the stated economic objectives achievable? This paper argues that in a prison context the range of healthcare options needs to be clearly defined and laid out in order to provide mental health patients and mental health professionals with a realistic vision of care provision.

Numerous studies have increasingly suggested that medical history and lifestyle factors could be involved in the increase of cancer risk in adults. The issue whether psychological factors can influence the development of cancer has been discussed for many years. In the field of brain cancer, psychological stress has not so far been investigated. We conducted a French case-control pilot study with 122 adult incident cases and 122 controls free of any cancer diagnosis, matched for age and gender, to investigate links between malignant primitive brain tumours (MPBT) and medical history, private habits and psychological stress. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires, and person-to-person interviews. To complete the psychological stress assessment, 100-mm visual analog scales were used. After adjustment for confounders, we found no significant effect of head trauma, aspartame, tobacco or alcohol consumption, place (rural or urban) of residence, sociodemographic data, and experience of psychological stress at work/home. Our results showed a significant association between MPBT risk and major life events over the past 5 years before diagnosis (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.13-3.20), family histories of cancer (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.12-3.22), fresh vegetable and fruit intake (OR = 0.29, 95% CI 0.09-0.95), and skipped meals several times per week (OR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.16-0.77). The present study suggests the role of genetic factors in glioma risk, and also suggests that an acute and sudden psychological stress might influence MPBT appearance. Additional large clinical studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Prior studies extensively examined the way sports club membership can lead to beneficial affective outcomes. Prior experiments also found that team sports, intensive sports, and sports that are frequently pursued can lead to even more affective benefits. However, no prior studies examined the differences between the affective benefits of specific sports. Based on prior results, we supposed that certain sports that meet all the previously set criteria—will provide the greatest affective benefits. The present large-scale investigation examined the data of adolescents (N = 12,849, female = 5,812, aged between 10 and 18, M age = 12.56 years, and SD age = 2.00) and aimed to fill this gap. Firstly, the results showed that—although differences in affect can be found between the lack of club membership and most of the sports club memberships—the differences between the specific sports are less striking. Secondly, the sports that are associated with the highest level of positive and the lowest level of negative affectivity are not necessarily the ones expected. Finally, adolescents who practice athletics, reported the lowest means of negative, and the highest means of positive affect. However, it did not differ significantly from the results regarding the most practiced sport in France: soccer. Our results suggest that soccer as the most practice sport among French adolescents was associated with more positive affects than the majority of the 10 most licensed members French sports practiced by teens between 2008 and 2019. All in all, being a member of a sports club is associated with affective benefits, and some specific sports clubs can have some extra benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: The purpose of the study was to analyze links between personality, time perspective, and intention to practice physical activity during cancer treatment.Method: One hundred forty-three patients participated in survey by questionnaire. Intention to practice physical activity, time perspective using Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, and personality with the Big Five Inventory were measured. Structural equation models using Lisrel were developed to examine hypothetical links between the variables.Results: The adjusted model evidenced an excellent fit (comparative fit index = 0.92; root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.076; P = .014). Results showed that intention to practice exercise was positively linked with openness to experience and negatively with present fatalist time perspective. Moreover, conscientiousness and neuroticism were found to be linked with future time perspective, which was positively related with intention to practice physical activity.Conclusion: The present exploratory study with patients suffering from cancer underlined the importance of considering jointly time perspective dimensions and personality factors for health behavior recommendations. Based on our results, we propose some reflections on practice to help nurses and physicians increase patient's motivation to be physically active. Taking into account patients' personality and time perspective, we would be able to propose specific awareness messages and offer short interventions to have an impact on patients' motivation to practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Ageing is due to a progressive loss of the person's adaptation capability, whereas during this period environmental aggression increases. In the elderly, life events re-present a psychological traumatism that overwhelms the old person and related family, disrupting and fragilising homeostatic balance. A number of authors have suggested a possible link between life traumatisms and the dementia processes. The aim of this study is to reveal the presence of life traumatisms preceding the apparition of the dementia syndrome., Method: This is a retrospective and comparative work based on the PIXEL study on complaints and demands from the principle informal caregivers of Alzheimer patients. It includes 565 patients presenting the criterion of dementia as defined by the DSM IV, and questionnaires filled out by the principle caregivers. One item of the questionnaire referred to life events which could have played a part in the development of the disorder. In a second stage, the reported events were classified into 4 distinct categories: loss, repeated or prolonged stress, psychotraumatism and depression-inducing events. The statistics were produced using SAS and Stat 10 software. Student's test, ANOVA and chi2-test were used., Results: 372 caregivers answered the first item (65%); 76 of them believed there was no event while 296 related the disorder to one or several life events (79% of responders, 52% of the sample). These results confirm Persson and Clement's study which evidenced a higher frequency of stressing life events for subjects afflicted with dementia as compared with older people without any psychic disorder. Reported events and their respective frequency: spouse death (15.39%), parents' death (15%), familial difficulty (10.08%), anaesthesia (8.49%), child's death (4.42%), somatic disturbance (4%), depression (3.89%), retirement (3.89%), financial problems (2.65%), loneliness (2.65%), removal (1.76%), fall (1%), alcohol (0.8%), traumatism (0.53%), spouse care (0.35%), leaving for home care, storm and caregiver change in life (0.17%). Regrouping the data: 82.71% of the answers can be connected to prolonged stress, 62.85% to real or symbolic loss, 39% to a psychotraumatic event and finally, most of these events can potentially induce depression., Discussion: Some of the events refer to difficulties concerning people close to the subject (death of a close relation, hospitalisation of husband or wife) in a period when the loss of autonomy or handicap means greater dependence on surrounding people. General anaesthesia is mentioned by 48 caregivers. In fact, this usually implies surgery, the presence of organic pathology or the need for hospitalisation, which we know has a destabilizing effect in the elderly. It is therefore not surprising that 23 answers mentioned somatic disorders (4% of the sample). According to Leger, it's mostly a loss type event which is implied in the elderly. Such losses would induce a weakening of cognitive stimulation which could decompensate an infraclinical dementia or accelerate an emerging dementia process. Antecedents of depressive illness are considered as an element of risk for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Depression is spontaneously mentioned by 22 caregivers. We must add the many reported life events which are well known to induce depression in older people. Most of the events considered in this study are liable to provoke manic mood swings. Depression resulting from life events can be considered either as an affection occurring along with dementia or as the aggravating factor of an infraclinical process or, finally, as an additional factor of vulnerability. With older people, many events may constitute a trauma because of the proximity of death and because of their sudden onset (fall, hospitalisation, somatic illness). Several studies have pointed out that a particularly traumatic event could enhance the risk of dementia. Life events associated with chronic or repeated stress are characterized by their permanence or their repetition. According to a general psychosomatic biological pattern, psychic distress will engender a series of degradations or an acute or chronic response to an early trauma. According to this hypothesis, prolonged exposure to an excess of glucocorticosteroids at the time of a disadaptative stress would have deleterious effects on the hippocampus. Indeed, the hippocampus plays a part in a number of functions affected by dementia such as memory, learning process and emotional adjustment. This study takes into account stress factors ("stressors") but not factors influencing their impact on the subject such as an individual predisposition (genetic, psychopathologic, coping abilities) and social support. The force of the impact of these events on older people and what is really experienced by them remain unknown. This study strengthens a number of others evincing an unusual frequency of life events in dementia processes. According to an integrative pattern, repeated or prolonged stress could be a deciding factor in the degenerative process or a factor of decompensation with older people presenting a genetic, biological or psychological vulnerability to dementia. The impact of such life events would vary according to the subject's pre-morbid personality, coping abilities and the support he/she can rely on., Conclusion: Some life events may be involved in the dementia process as shown by the results of this study, but this relationship does not imply direct causality. It's difficult to appreciate whether these results are not a consequence of the greater attention paid to the patient after the appearance of the first symptoms, leading to a closer observation. Stress could trigger the degenerative process. This argues for the necessity of an early diagnosis taking into account a traumatic event of life either precocious or late.

Background: Evidence for an increased prevalence of candidaemia and for high associated mortality in the 1990s led to a number of different recommendations concerning the management of at risk patients as well as an increase in the availability and prescription of new antifungal agents. The aim of this study was to parallel in our hospital candidemia incidence with the nature of prescribed antifungal drugs between 1993 and 2003., Methods: During this 10-year period we reviewed all cases of candidemia, and collected all the data about annual consumption of prescribed antifungal drugs., Results: Our centralised clinical mycology laboratory isolates and identifies all yeasts grown from blood cultures obtained from a 3300 bed teaching hospital. Between 1993 and 2003, 430 blood yeast isolates were identified. Examination of the trends in isolation revealed a clear decrease in number of yeast isolates recovered between 1995-2000, whereas the number of positive blood cultures in 2003 rose to 1993 levels. The relative prevalence of Candida albicans and C. glabrata was similar in 1993 and 2003 in contrast to the period 1995-2000 where an increased prevalence of C. glabrata was observed. When these quantitative and qualitative data were compared to the amount and type of antifungal agents prescribed during the same period (annual mean defined daily dose: 2662741; annual mean cost: 615,629 euros) a single correlation was found between the decrease in number of yeast isolates, the increased prevalence of C. glabrata and the high level of prescription of fluconazole at prophylactic doses between 1995-2000., Conclusion: Between 1993 and 2000, the number of cases of candidemia halved, with an increase of C. glabrata prevalence. These findings were probably linked to the use of Fluconazole prophylaxis. Although it is not possible to make any recommendations from this data the information is nevertheless interesting and may have considerable implications with the introduction of new antifungal drugs.

Abstract: The inter-annual to multi-decadal winter variability (DJFM) of precipitation on the Seine River watershed (France) was analysed using continuous wavelet transform analysis and compared to the winter North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI). Nine weather stations were used over the 1951 to 2004 period and confirmed the homogeneity of inter-annual fluctuations for all stations but one. Wavelet coherence between SLP over the Icelandic and Azores regions and precipitation highlighted coherence for different scales of variability according to the centre of action considered. Segmentation and wavelet analysis and coherence between precipitation and NAOI over a long period of time (1873–2004) showed: i) increasing variability across the last century at most time scales, especially for NAOI; ii) the existence of change points for the mean and variance of both signals; iii) overall discontinuity of the coherence whatever the scale considered, especially between ∼1910 and ∼1955 for inter-decennial to pluri-decennial scales. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Peat initiation during the Late-Holocene was studied in the eastern part of the Massif Central in France from the analysis of numerous conventional and AMS radiocarbon dates obtained in the basal layers of 83 mires, representative of old, thick deposits, but also of younger and marginal mire areas. Radiocarbon dates were calibrated to calendar years BP in order to generate probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates. Only the oldest dates from each mire were used for this statistical analysis. It appears that the Late-Holocene was one of the two most intensive periods of peat initiation since the end of the glacial period. Peat initiation began around 4500cal. BP, following a complete halt in the formation of mires from 5300 to 4500cal. BP. By contrast, peat initiation increased significantly since 2400cal. BP. This history of Late-Holocene peat initiation is not in agreement with chronologies of climatic change in Western Europe. The hypothesis is that peat initiation during the last 4500 years was a consequence of agricultural expansion in the Massif Central in France, which is supported by pollen and archaeological data. Nevertheless, the possible role of climate in certain periods, for example during the Little Ice Age, is not discounted. In term of conservation, the demonstration of a human origin of certain mires leads to a new interest in these ecosystems, and provide a huge argument in order to protect them. Indeed, because of their existence, they testify to the history of agricultural expansion, and some mires are therefore the object of archaeological studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The role of psychosocial factors in the development of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders has now been clearly demonstrated. However, only a few studies have analysed the association between the organisational work environment and musculoskeletal disorders in health care workers. The main goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that some specific organisational constraints may be related to upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms experienced by registered nurses, independently of the effort/reward imbalance model and major confounding factors. In 2006, 2194 female registered nurses in 7 French teaching hospitals, recruited from the baseline screening of an epidemiological cohort study (the ORSOSA study), responded to valid self-report questionnaires (ERI [effort–reward imbalance], Nordic-style questionnaire). The organisational work environment was assessed by the self-rated Nursing Work Index—Extended Organisation scale. Multilevel models were used for analyses. We found that 2 organisational health care constraints: low level of shared values about work between members in the unit and lack of support from the administration were significantly associated with upper limb symptoms, independently of ERI perceptions. This study identified and quantified specific health care organisational factors that have an impact on nurses’ upper limb symptoms, sometimes independently of ERI perception. A prospective study is needed to clarify the causal role of psychosocial and organisational work factors in upper limb injury in nurses. Organisational approaches may be more effective in improving health at work and may also have a longer-lasting impact than individual approaches. Specific health care organisational factors measured by a new tool (Nursing Work Index—Extended Organisation) have an effect on nurses’ upper limb symptoms, independently of effort–reward imbalance perception. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]