Emotional plasticity: Conditions and effects of improving emotional competence in adulthood.

This study aimed to investigate (a) whether it is possible to increase emotional competence (EC) in adulthood; (b) whether this improvement results in better mental, physical, and social adjustment; (c) whether this improvement can be maintained 1 year later; and (d) whether these benefits are accompanied by a reduction in stress-hormone secretion (i.e., cortisol). One hundred and thirty-two participants were randomly assigned to an EC-enhancing intervention (in group format) or to a control group. Participants in the intervention group underwent a specifically designed 15-hr intervention targeting the 5 core emotional competencies, complemented with a 4-week e-mail follow-up. Results reveal that the level of emotional competencies increased significantly in the intervention group in contrast with the control group. This increase resulted in lower cortisol secretion, enhanced subjective and physical well-being, as well as improved quality of social and marital relationships in the intervention group. No significant change occurred in the control group. Peer reports on EC and quality of relationships confirmed these results. These data suggest that emotional competencies can be improved, with effective benefits on personal and interpersonal functioning lasting for at least 1 year. The theoretical implications of these results as well as their practical implications for the construction and the development of effective emotional competencies interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oleoyl‐ethanolamide (OEA): A bioactive lipid derived from oleic acid and phosphatidylethanol‐amine

Fatty acid ethanolamides are lipid compounds with biological activities. Among them, oleoyl‐ethanolamide (OEA) has attracted a great deal of interest because of its biological properties. OEA is found in low amount in foodstuffs, but mainly stems from endogenous synthesis. In rodents, intraperitoneal administration of OEA induces satiety and peripheral utilization of lipid substrate. Both in vitro studies and knock‐out animal models have revealed some mechanisms of action, such as PPARα signaling, selected neuron activation and endocrine (ghrelin) signaling. The proximal intestine seems to be a target organ for satiety control. Acute oral administration also induces satiety. Further studies are still required to better address the physiological impact of both oral and intraperitoneal OEA when administrated in the long term.     

Localization-limited exciton oscillator strength in colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets revealed by the optically induced stark effect

2D materials are considered for applications that require strong light-matter interaction because of the apparently giant oscillator strength of the exciton tra...     

Disseminated histoplasmosis: 2 cases in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection in French Guiana

The authors report two cases of disseminated histoplasmosis occurring in HIV-infected patients living in French Guiana. The first case was an acute disseminated histoplasmosis with a rapid fatal evolution. The second case was diagnosed on a mucosal localisation, and improved under itraconazole therapy. These two cases show the diversity of the clinical course of this opportunistic infection. The authors focus on the difficulty of the diagnosis and the need for direct microscopic examination to identify histoplasma and to enable a swift therapeutic intervention.     

Evaluating Learning and Interactions in a Multimedia Environment

An empirical study was undertaken to evaluate second language learning with a videodisc named Vi-Conte. The 78 subjects were post-secondary students and adults and belonged either to a control group, a video-control group or an experimental group. The research methodology is presented as well as analyses of learners' navigational patterns, strategies, gains in vocabulary items, changes in attitude and global evaluation of the videodisc. Suggestions for the development of adaptive learning environments are made based on these findings. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Substrate specificity of the lipase fromCandida parapsilosis

Substrate specificity of the acyltransferase activity of the lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) fromCandida parapsilosis CBS 604 was studied in aqueous media. The specificity toward both acid and alcohol parts of a large number of acylglycerols and aliphatic esters was investigated. This lipase showed a high activity in the presence of esters with long-chain fatty acids and particularly unsaturated fatty acids with acis-Δ9 double bond. It was observed that the activity profile depended not only on the alcohol part of the acyl ester, but also on the temperature of the reactant medium. The best lipid substrates had their melting point between −40 to +20°C, 14 to 18 carbon atoms in the acyl group and 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl group. The enzyme, defined as an acyltransferase in a previous paper, showed a high affinity for primary and secondary alcohols with a short carbon chain (1 to 5 carbon atoms) as acyl acceptors. The influence of free alcohols in the reactant medium on the hydrolysis and alcoholysis activities of the enzyme is discussed. Two phenomena seem to be involved, depending on the alcohol: competition with water for the acyltransfer reaction and lipid substrate dilution when the alcohol places at the oil/water interface.     

Generating shapes by analogies: An application to hearing aid design

3D shape modeling is a crucial component of rapid prototyping systems that customize shapes of implants and prosthetic devices to a patient’s anatomy. In this paper, we present a solution to the problem of customized 3D shape modeling using a statistical shape analysis framework. We design a novel method to learn the relationship between two classes of shapes, which are related by certain operations or transformation. The two associated shape classes are represented in a lower dimensional manifold, and the reduced set of parameters obtained in this subspace is utilized in an estimation, which is exemplified by a multivariate regression in this paper. We demonstrate our method with a felicitous application to the estimation of customized hearing aid devices.