PROFINTEG: A TOOL FOR REAL-LIFE ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING IN PATIENTS WITH COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

in Psychologica Belgica (2013), 53(1), 3-22

Although there are many instruments for assessing activities of daily living (IADL) in brain injured patients, few instruments specifically target cognitive impairment and its impact on IADL. The present ... [more ▼]

Although there are many instruments for assessing activities of daily living (IADL) in brain injured patients, few instruments specifically target cognitive impairment and its impact on IADL. The present study presents the development of the Profinteg instrument, a tool for real-life assessment as well as rehabilitation of IADL in patients with cognitive impairment. This two-stage instrument covers over 90 activities. Psychometric properties of the different Profinteg measures were explored in twenty-five patients with mild to severe cognitive difficulties and twenty-five caregivers. The feasibility of the Profinteg rehabilitation procedure was explored in three patients. Excellent interrater reliability (r > 0.90, p < 0.01) was observed for all measures. Good sensitivity to changes in IADL disability over time was also observed (T = 2.37, p < 0.02). Significant improvement of IADL functioning was found after rehabilitation guided by Profinteg assessment. The Profinteg instrument detects with precision the difficulties patients encounter in their real-life setting via (1) assessment of a large number of activities and (2) detailed decomposition of activities into sub-activities. The Profinteg tool also provides promising results for guidance of IADL rehabilitation in the patient’s real-life environment. [less ▲]

Avantages et inconvénients d’une forêt communautaire

Poster (2013)

Le poster présente de façon didactique les avantages et inconvénients pour une communauté villageoise de démarrer un processus de forêt communautaire au Gabon

Lithic industries as chronological data: the example of Grotte du Renne VII

Conference (2013)

Emissions of NH3 and greenhouse gases from pig houses: Influencing factors and mitigation techniques

Conference (2013)

When mobility concerns material culture. Subjectivation of Moroccan migrant women in Italy through food practices.

Scientific conference (2013)

Stemmed from an ethnographic research conducted in Milan suburbs (Italy), my paper addresses the mobility of culinary objects and practices related to Moroccan migrant women. Basing on a praxeological ... [more ▼]

Stemmed from an ethnographic research conducted in Milan suburbs (Italy), my paper addresses the mobility of culinary objects and practices related to Moroccan migrant women. Basing on a praxeological approach to subjectivation (Warnier 2001), I analyse the processes of definition of female selves through the embodiment and the performing of material culture. In particular, dealing with everyday practices exerted in context of migration, I try to highlight how supplying goods from their country of origin, the women considered mobilize resources to resist to the superimposed order (De Certeau 1980) represented by the mainstream society. Mobile objects and practices related to food serve as tools to creatively act within social constraints and to cross the borders imposed to migrants’ expression in the receiving country, so allowing them to affirm their agency in an artistic way (Gell 1998). The flowing of goods through informal and formal networks, design trajectories of meanings which let migrants shape their subjectivity in a proper style, dynamically dialoguing with the peculiarities of the daily background. My presentation will be supported by images and videos collected on the one hand by doing participant observation of the handwork of such women, both in private and public contexts; on the other hand by visiting bazaars (Arabic goods shops) and Moroccan restaurants and interviewing their owners. [less ▲]

Potential of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) and corn (Zea mays L.) for phytoremediation of dredging sludge contaminated by trace metals

in Biodegradation (2013)

The potential of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinusL.) and corn (Zea mays L.) for accumulation of cadmium and zinc was investigated. Plants have been grown in lysimetres containing dredging sludge, a substratum ... [more ▼]

The potential of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinusL.) and corn (Zea mays L.) for accumulation of cadmium and zinc was investigated. Plants have been grown in lysimetres containing dredging sludge, a substratum naturally rich in trace metals. Biomass production was determined. Sludge and water percolating from lysimeters were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry.No visible symptoms of toxicity were observed during the three- month culture. Kenaf and corn tolerate trace metals content in sludge. Results showed that Zn and Cd were found in corn and kenaf shoots at different levels,2.49 mg/kg of Cd and 82.5 mg/kg of Zn in kenaf shoots and2.1mg/kgofCdand10.19mg/kgincornshoots. Quantities of extracted trace metals showed that decontamination of Zn and Cd polluted substrates is possible by corn and kenaf crops. Tolerance and bioaccumulation factors indicated that both species could be used in phytoremediation. [less ▲]

Fish larvae prefer coral over algal water cues: implications of coral reef degradation

in Marine Ecology. Progress Series (2013), 475

Enhancing the salience of fluency improves recognition memory performance in mild Alzheimer’s disease

in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease [=JAD] (2013), 33

Recognition memory can rely on recollection (recall of the details from the encoding episode) and familiarity (feeling that some information is old without any recollection). In Alzheimer’s disease (AD ... [more ▼]

Recognition memory can rely on recollection (recall of the details from the encoding episode) and familiarity (feeling that some information is old without any recollection). In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), whereas there is a clear deficit of recollection, the evidence regarding familiarity is mixed, with some studies showing preserved familiarity and others reporting impairment. The current study examined whether recognition memory performance can be improved in AD when the use of familiarity is facilitated by the salience of processing fluency due to an earlier encounter with the information. Fifteen AD patients and 16 healthy controls performed a verbal recognition memory task where the salience of fluency was manipulated by means of letters overlap. Studied and unstudied words were constituted of either two separate sets of letters (no-overlap condition, high fluency salience) or the same set of letters (overlap condition, low fluency salience). The results showed that, although performance was globally poorer in AD patients than in the controls, both groups performed significantly better in the no-overlap condition than in the overlap condition. This suggests that AD patients benefited as much as the controls from the salience of fluency. [less ▲]

Trompeuses séductions. La Chute d’Icare des Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique à Bruxelles

in CeROArt : Conservation, Exposition, Restauration d'Objets d'Art (2013)

The scientific examination of the Fall of Icarus of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels leads to the conclusion that the work is not by the hand of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, as with a ... [more ▼]

The scientific examination of the Fall of Icarus of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels leads to the conclusion that the work is not by the hand of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, as with a second version in the Van Buuren Museum (Brussels). The painting is no doubt a copy after a lost original by the artist. The analysis of a cross-section of the paint layer and radiocarbon dating of the canvas suggest that it is an old copy. Under the worn and retouched paint layer, camouflaged by a yellowed varnish, the infrared reflectogram reveals a studious and clumsy underdrawing that is neither characteristic of Pieter Bruegel the Elder nor of Pieter Brueghel the Younger, his elder son and primary copyist. The poor condition of the painting hinders any attempt at attribution, but this should not prevent its admirers from continuing to savour its mysterious charms. [less ▲]

Importance of identification and typing of Brucellae from West African cattle: a review

in Veterinary Microbiology (2013)