étude du lien entre l'évaluation de la valence et les réponses verbales dans une tache de décision lexicale: Les réponses oui et non sont-elles des réponses affectives?

Evaluation of the positive or negative valence of a stimulus is an activity that is part of any emotional experience that has been mostly studied using the affective priming paradigm. In this study, we use the hypothesis that when a word leads to a positive valence evaluation, this favours a positive verbal response and inversely, a negative valence word favours a negative response. We are testing this hypothesis outside the affective priming paradigm to study to what extent evaluating a word, even when it is not primed, activates both motivational systems and consequently, positive verbal responses for approach and negative responses for avoidance. To validate this hypothesis, we are re-using both versions of the lexical decision task proposed by Wentura (2000). Results show an interaction between the type of response and word valence. It is temporally more onerous to give a no response to positive words than to negative words. This result confirms that there is a direct relation between the evaluation of a valence stimulus and the response to this stimulus, a relation that had up to now been essentially observed with motor behaviours, and more rarely with verbal responses. We propose integrating the existence of this link between evaluation and verbal response (yes and no) in interpreting the effects of affective priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A hybrid genetic algorithm with adaptive diversity management for a large class of vehicle routing problems with time-windows

The paper presents an efficient Hybrid Genetic Search with Advanced Diversity Control for a large class of time-constrained vehicle routing problems, introducing several new features to manage the temporal dimension. New move evaluation techniques are proposed, accounting for penalized infeasible solutions with respect to time-window and duration constraints, and allowing to evaluate moves from any classical neighbourhood based on arc or node exchanges in amortized constant time. Furthermore, geometric and structural problem decompositions are developed to address efficiently large problems. The proposed algorithm outperforms all current state-of-the-art approaches on classical literature benchmark instances for any combination of periodic, multi-depot, site-dependent, and duration-constrained vehicle routing problem with time windows.     

Proposal for a new hybrid control strategy of a solar desiccant evaporative cooling air handling unit

Correctly controlled solar desiccant evaporative cooling is an interesting option for achieving savings in building air-conditioning consumption. The operation of this system (open loop cooling cycle) is strongly influenced by indoor and outdoor air conditions. This influence is characterized using numerical simulations. First the air conditioned room and the cooling system are simulated using a validated model of the desiccant wheel. Then the influence of each parameter of the desiccant air handling unit is evaluated. The third step is to assess the system cooling power for each operating mode with fluctuating outdoor and indoor air conditions. This allows for making relevant choices for a new control strategy taking into account both indoor and outdoor air conditions. This control strategy is tested for a whole cooling season and compared to a reference compression system with promising results, allowing for energy savings of about 40% for French climate.     

émotion et cognition incarnée: La dimension motrice des réponses verbales ?oui? et ?non?.

Theories of embodied cognition make the hypothesis that all cognitive operations, including high-level ones, are fundamentally rooted in the current state of the body and in the sensory-motor systems of the brain. Related experimental work has been concerned solely with the link between automatic cognitive processes and motor responses. This link has never been supposed to result from the production of verbal responses, such as the responses “yes” and “no.” However, a great many tasks require a verbal response along with a motor response. In this study, we have demonstrated that cognitive and automatic evaluation of the valence of words involves a close link with the motor responses of “pull” and “push”, as well as the verbal responses “yes” and “no” when the task requires answering “yes” or “no” whether there is the letter “a” in a word. Moreover, the results obtained show that the verbal responses “yes” and “no” interact with the motor responses of “pull” and “push”. This interaction supports the idea that positive and negative verbal responses present a motor component, as contemplated in embodied cognition theories (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999; Scorolli & Borghi, 2007; Barsalou, 2008). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing the condition number for microlocal discretization problems

In this paper, we analyse the conditioning properties of systems arising from microlocal discretizations. These systems use oscillating basis functions to model wave problems in harmonic regime. Facing severe condition numbers, we first interpret the difficulty as coming from an over-discretization, which creates evanescent waves. The first solution we investigate is to project the problem onto the orthogonal of these modes. This is done on a model problem but it is not a satisfactory solution on real-sized systems. Then we propose to transform the linear system by using a wavelet basis. It appears that this transformation discriminates strongly between small and big matrix coefficients. This allows us to threshold the transformed system to obtain a reduced one which is both better conditioned and smaller. The use of wavelets is original, since the transformation is done in the spectral domain thanks to the microlocal discretization. We finally obtain a method that uses between one and two degrees of freedom by wavelength to simulate scattering problems.     

Characterization of biliary metabolites of 4-n-nonylphenol in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

1. [R-2,6-3H]-4-n-nonylphenol was synthesized and a single dose (5 mg, 1850 KBq) orally administered to rainbow trout. After 48 h, the radioactivity present in the bile amounted 5.5%. More than ten biliary metabolites were separated by hplc and collected for subsequent mass spectrometry analysis. The metabolic profile was totally modified by beta-glucuronidase hydrolysis, showing that most of the metabolites were glucuronic acid conjugates. 2. Conjugated metabolites were identified by lc-ms analysis and their aglycones were analysed by gc-ms analysis as TMS and acetyl derivatives. 3. The major metabolite accounted for 52+/-11% of the biliary radioactivity and was identified as nonylphenol-glucuronide. 4. Nonylphenol was hydroxylated at both omega and omega-1 positions of the alkyl chain, giving 9-hydroxynonylphenol and 8-hydroxynonylphenol. 5. 9-Hydroxynonylphenol was oxidized to the corresponding acid, and subsequently beta-oxidized, yielding 7-(4-hydroxyphenyl)heptanoic acid, 5-(4-hydroxyphenyl)pentanoic acid, 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid and 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propenoic acid.     

Nanostructuring and Microstructuring of Materials from a Single Agropolymer for Sustainable MAP Preservation of Fresh Food

The main objective of the present work was to determine whether a single agropolymer [wheat gluten (WG)] could fit the modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) requirements of a range of six different fresh produce in key terms of oxygen permeation (Pe_O2) and CO₂/O₂ permselectivity (S) values. The required properties for optimal packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables were first evaluated using the Tailorpack MAP modelling software (UMR IATE, Montpellier, France) with packaging dimensions and respiratory and optimal atmosphere data as input parameters. Then, the modelled values obtained were compared with the properties of a range of WG composite films: monolayer self‐supported or multilayer at microscale or nanoscale, cast or thermoplasticised, with different formulations (percentage of plasticisers or nanofillers). The experimental gas transfer properties that could be covered by these materials ranged from 0.05 × 10^?10 to 2.00 × 10^?10 mol/m² s Pa for Pe_O2 and up to 18.0 for S. These ranges are much larger than conventional plastics that exhibit Pe_O2 from 0.10 × 10^?10 to 0.20 × 10^?10 mol/m² s Pa and S up to 4.5. It was demonstrated from a food‐requirements‐driven (Tailorpack modelling) and a multiscale film structuring (WG‐based composites) approaches, that transfer properties of WG‐based films would fit the requirements of the six selected fruits and vegetables better than conventional plastics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carnobacterium maltaromaticum: Identification,isolation tools,ecology and technological aspects in dairy products

Carnobacterium species constitute a genus of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) present in different ecological niches. The aim of this article is to summarize the knowledge about Carnobacterium maltaromaticum species at different microbiological levels such as taxonomy, isolation and identification, ecology, technological aspects and safety in dairy products. Works published during the last decade concerning C. maltaromaticum have shown that this non-starter LAB (NSLAB) could present major interests in dairy product technology. Four reasons can be mentioned: i) it can grow in milk during the ripening period with no competition with starter LAB, ii) this species synthesizes different flavouring compounds e.g., 3-methylbutanal, iii) it can inhibit the growth of foodborne pathogens as Listeria monocytogenes due to its ability to produce bacteriocins, iv) it has never been reported to be involved in human diseases as no cases of human infection have been directly linked to the consumption of dairy products containing this species.     

Protective effects of taurine on human hair follicle grown in vitro

Taurine is a naturally occurring beta-amino acid produced by methionine and cysteine metabolism. It is involved in a variety of physiological functions, including immunomodulatory and antifibrotic. Taking advantage of the ability of human hair follicle grown in vitro to recapitulate most of the characteristic features of normal hair follicle in vivo, we studied (i) taurine uptake by isolated human hair follicles; (ii) its effects on hair growth and survival rate; and (iii) its protective potential against transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1, an inhibitor of in vitro hair growth and a master switch of fibrotic program. We showed that taurine was taken up by the connective tissue sheath, proximal outer root sheath and hair bulb, promoted hair survival in vitro and prevented TGF-beta1-induced deleterious effects on hair follicle.