Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France

Objectives Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly being used for sports purposes, including tactical learning. However, the instructional efficiency of this emerging technology remains unclear, especially when considering learners’ cognitive abilities, such as visuospatial abilities (VSA). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of VSA in memorizing soccer tactics under immersive (VR) and non-immersive (animation) conditions. Methods The experiment involved a group of 52 adult male soccer beginners. Initially, participants’ VSA were assessed using six computerized tasks. Subsequently, participants were tasked with memorizing and reproducing tactical soccer scenes in VR and animation formats. Results The results revealed a significant interaction, indicating that beginners with high-VSA were more efficient at memorizing scenes through animation than VR, supporting the ability-as-enhancer hypothesis. Conversely, those with low-VSA benefited equally from both visualizations, despite being more accurate in recalling scenes through VR. Conclusions Findings suggest that coaches should pay attention when using new technologies such as VR and consider individuals’ levels of VSA to improve their communication and learning sessions.

Polylactide polymers (PLA) are widely used for coatings, semi-finished products, or finished components in various industrial applications. However, PLA polymers developed by 3D printing require functional performance related to the properties of their finished surfaces. Therefore, it is essential to master the 3D printing process for better performance and quantities of surface roughness. Thus, the choice of criteria for optimization and qualification of finished surfaces is crucial to guarantee the expected functional performance for a given industrial application. In the present work, we assume that the average amounts of arithmetic roughness (Ra) and profile irregularity (Rz) are not sufficient to correctly qualify a finite surface in terms of wear resistance or microstress concentration. Hence, the originality of this work lies in incorporating asymmetry (Rsk) and surface flattening (Rku) into the optimization of 3D printing conditions for PLA polymers. The response surface methodology (RSM) is adopted using a four-factor Box-Behnken (BBD) design. The results of the step-by-step iterative ANOVA regression analysis allowed us to fit the predictive models whose selectivity criteria are arithmetic roughness, profile irregularity, asymmetry and surface flattening. Considering its four selectivity criteria, the surface quality of PLA polymer samples has improved by more than 67%, with a multi-objective optimization achieving a desirability of approximately 96.34%. The study proved that multi-objective optimization is needed to identify the best combinations of process conditions. Thus, the optimal 3D printing conditions have been established for a printing temperature of 218 °C, a printing speed of 65.12 mm/s, a layer thickness of 0.12 mm and a ventilation rate of 80%. The combination of roughness (Ra), irregularity (Rz), asymmetry (Rsk), and surface flattening (Rku) has proven effective in enhancing wear resistance and reducing micro-stress concentrations on finished surfaces.

Background Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) have gait disorders. The efficiency of treadmill training on walking distance is debatable. Objective This study evaluated the efficacy of a 6-week treadmill training program at heart rate at the first ventilatory threshold (HR VT1 ) on walking distance compared with a control group in PwMS. Methods This prospective, multicenter study included 46 PwMS with moderate disability which randomized into training group (TG) and control group (CG). Patients performed cardiopulmonary exercise test to determine HR VT1 . TG realized walking treadmill training program at HR VT1 : 18 sessions (3 sessions/week) over 6 weeks. The distance on the six-minute walk test (6MWT), Timed 25 foot walk, patient-reported walking ability, berg balance scale, fatigue scale, the HR at the end of the 6MWT (HR 6MWT ) were collected at baseline, 6 weeks and 12 weeks. Results The 6MWT distance showed a significant overall group effect (30.6 m; 95%CI = (6.6; 54.6); p = 0.017). The perceived impact of walking was significantly decreased in the TG (−6.1; 95% CI = (−9.2; −2.9); p = 0.0006). No correlation was found between HR VT1 and HR 6MWT . Conclusion Aerobic treadmill training significantly enhanced walking distance and reduced perceived walking difficulties in PwMS.

Sampled-data control of heterogeneous fractional-order (FO) multiagent systems (MASs) under nonidentical denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and time delays is investigated in this study. Based on the received acknowledgments, the designed channel-dependent resilient binary sampled-data scheme adjusts the sampling period following two geometric progressions in the absence and presence of DoS attacks. This provides finer adjustments in sampling periods and ensures a lower average sampling rate compared with traditional periodic sampling schemes. Moreover, the upper and lower bounds of sampling intervals in different channels are heterogeneous, in which only the lower bounds are constrained by inequalities associated with the coefficients of DoS attacks. The impact of DoS attacks is observed from the viewpoint of the overall communication network topology. Observation of the joint recovery time series, defined as those time instants that the joint union of the sampling-based communication graphs under asynchronous DoS attacks can recover to the original topology graph, measures the effectiveness of the designed sampling scheme in restoring the connectivity of communication network under DoS attacks. Heterogeneous memory fusion controllers are used to achieve consensus of FO MASs with time delays based on the distributed asynchronous gradient algorithm. An example is presented to illustrative the validity of the theoretical analysis.

Objectives Intending to facilitate learning from narrated tactical diagrams, this study investigates how drawing influences the memorization of soccer scenes given individuals’ visuospatial abilities (VSA). Methods Fifty-four male university students, all novices in soccer domain were randomly assigned to two groups. First group, without-drawing, viewed a pre-drawn diagram while listening to a concurrent oral explanation. Second group, with-drawing, listened to the same description while observing the coach simultaneously drawing the diagram. All participants conducted a control test to assess their VSA level and completed the main test, which included rating their overall mental effort and recalling/reconstructing the tactical scene. Results The principal results indicate an interaction between VSA and drawing: individuals with high-VSA particularly benefited better from the with-drawing condition, while those with low-VSA did not, thereby confirming the ability-as-enhancer hypothesis. Conclusions Overall, this study underscores the importance of aligning the choice of drawing formats with individual characteristics, especially VSA, to enhance memorization from narrated tactical diagrams.

The Earth’s climate system naturally adjusts to maintain a balance between the energy received from the Sun and the energy reflected back into space, a concept known as the “Earth’s radiation budget”. However, this balance has been disrupted by human activities, leading to global warming. Starting from the energy balance model proposed by Budyko and Sellers, and considering a time-dependent diffusion coefficient, we prove the null-controllability of non-autonomous degenerate parabolic problems, in the sense that the Earth achieves a desired temperature, by finding new Carleman estimates for the non-homogeneous adjoint problems. At the degeneracy point, we impose Robin boundary condition which is appropriate for modeling heat transfer at the Earth’s surface. Moreover, we provide the equivalence between null-controllability and observability inequality for the non-autonomous case. At the end, we present some extensions and open problems.

Surfaces are the privileged places of interaction between physical phenomena and objects. Roughness studies, especially when performing multiscale analysis, are tools of choice to understand physical phenomena and their scales of application. However, profilometers, especially optical systems, must compromise between field of measurement and resolutions. Stitching is an assembling technique aiming to solve this compromise by combining elementary maps, such as images or topographies. Stitching generates high resolution over a large field of measurement maps, which increases the measurable scale range and facilitates the correct identification of physical phenomena at their scales of application. This article proposes a review of 3D topography stitching algorithms. After explanations on the use cases of 3D topography stitching, the stitching procedure from elementary maps acquisition to the obtention of the stitched map is described step-by-step. Secondly, errors in measurement and stitching are presented with the sources of errors and the error evaluation methods. Lastly, the mathematical modelling of 3D topography is detailed to better understand the optimization process used in the in-plane and out-of-plane registration steps of the stitching algorithms. Comparison of algorithms involved in stitching are proposed so that researchers might find the most suitable algorithm to their needs. Overall, this work aims at introducing researchers and metrologists to important multidisciplinary notions for the use and design of 3D topography stitching algorithms and offers a tutorial-based approach.

Software quality models have increasingly emphasized human factors and user needs. In 2011, ISO/IEC 25010 introduced the quality‐in‐use (QinU) model, designed to evaluate software quality as an outcome of a user utilizing a system through the evaluation of five characteristics: effectiveness, efficiency, freedom from risk, satisfaction, and context coverage. As a generic reference, this standard has been customized for various software types (e.g., web portals and artificial intelligence systems). This article presents a customization for context‐aware software systems (CASSs), which are software systems that interpret and use context information (regarding the user, the software application features, and the environment) to adapt their functionalities. We are particularly interested in CASS for pervasive, or ubiquitous, environments. To address this goal, each QinU characteristic was analyzed by professionals from the academy and industry, taking into account the CASS features for pervasive/ubiquitous environments. A cyclical process of definition, revision, and improvement based on measurement theory was carried out before empirical validation in case studies. As the main result, a novel set of QinU measures specifically tailored for CASSs in a pervasive environment is provided, considering not only the classic explicit user interactions (e.g., mouse clicks and text input) but also the implicit interactions during everyday activities (e.g., walking or driving), captured through sensors and processed to support the user (e.g., recommending nearby museums and providing driving guidance). This set of measures supports CASS assessment and improvements, offering more accurate and context‐sensitive quality measurement.

Transformational leadership has entered the doctrines of many militaries and has become a fundamental aspect of military training and an aspiration in military practice. However, prior research has not sought to analyze the in situ doing of leadership on combat zone service. To address this research gap, using video and audio-recordings of Danish soldiers on combat service in Afghanistan in 2018, this article takes an inductive and qualitative discursive approach to leadership. More specifically, it investigates the extent to which behaviors associated with transformational leadership are observable in the in situ practice of army teams. We present this article as exploratory research which analyzes what is happening in a limited number of cases to come up with tentative conclusions that suggest avenues for further research that may be investigated in more extensive studies.

We investigate the problem of guaranteed state estimation and robust fault detection of uncertain Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy systems with unmeasured nonlinearities. The effects of both unknown-but-bounded disturbances and faults are taken into account in the state bounding observer design via zonotopic representation of sets, which aims to reduce set operations to simple matrix calculations. Based on the P −radius criterion, the size of the state bounding observers can be minimized via L∞ performance to mitigate the effect of unknown-but-bounded disturbances. Moreover, for fault detection purposes, H− performance is taken into account to increase the fault sensibility. The proposed multiobjective H−/L∞ state bounding observer design is reformulated as an optimization problem under linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). As a result, the tradeoff between robustness with respect to uncertainties and fault sensibility can be effectively achieved using standard solvers for LMI constraints. Numerical experiments and suitable comparative studies are performed with a nonlinear autonomous vehicle system to demonstrate the effectiveness and the practical interests of the proposed state bounding TS fuzzy observer design method.

Background: Burnout is a major problem for physical and mental health of medical residents. The key for maintaining well-being and quality of care of residents is the assessing tool. The study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) among Tunisian medical residents by assessing its factor structure, construct validity, reliability, and gender invariance. Methods: A total of 552 residents, aged 27.01 ± 1.92, 219 males (39.7%) and 333 females (60.3%) completed the Arabic version of the A-MBI-MR. The exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor (CFA) analyses were performed to identify the factor structure, with assessments of internal consistency of the model, including gender measurement invariance. Results: The results indicate a high average variance extracted (AVE > 0.50) and factor loading of the scale, signifying robust construct validity and clearly suggesting that the items serve as essential indicators for assessing several dimensions of burnout. The reliability analysis demonstrates excellent and acceptable internal consistency across all areas of emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, and depersonalization (Cronbach’s α = 0.95, 0.98, and 0.871) respectively. The CFA confirmed the three-factor structure of the A-MBI-MR, with fit indices indicating an adequate model fit: CFI = 0.945, TLI = 0.938, GFI = 0.951, RMSEA = 0.074, RMSEA CI (0.066, 0.081), RMSEA p-value= 0.000, SRMR = 0.044. Results from the measurement invariance analysis of the MBI scale demonstrated robust invariance between male and female participants. Conclusions: The MBI-MR in Arabic for medical residents is reliable, valid, and effective for measuring burnout levels in Arabic-speaking regions.

We study the asymptotic properties of a continuous Timoshenko linear beam model immersed in a three-dimensional space and used in the analysis of tower buildings. Assume that the bending and axial behaviors are coupled on the one hand, while the shear and torsional behaviors are coupled on the other hand. If the displacement vector is totally damped and the rotational vector is undamped, or if the rotational vector is totally damped and the displacement vector is undamped, then the system is proved to be exponentially stable, under some assumptions on the physical parameters involved in the problem. We also consider the case when the bending and axial behaviors and/or the shear and torsional behaviors are uncoupled. In this situation, the stability properties are different if the rotational or the displacement vector is damped or not: the system can be exponentially stable, polynomially stable or even unstable.

This letter presents a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approach for joint time allocation and power control in a cognitive Internet of Things (CIoT) system with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). The CIoT transmitter autonomously manages energy harvesting (EH) and transmissions using a learnable time switching factor while optimizing power to enhance throughput and lifetime. The joint optimization is modeled as a Markov decision process under small-scale fading, realistic EH, and interference constraints. We develop a double deep Q-network (DDQN) enhanced with an upper confidence bound. Simulations benchmark our approach, showing superior performance over existing DRL methods.

Circular supply chains (CSCs) aim to minimize ecological footprints by closing the loop on resource use. However, safety concerns in CSCs, especially in activities like recycling and remanufacturing, present significant barriers. Current safety management systems in CSCs are often reactive and limited in scope, failing to address safety concerns in inter-organizational complexities. Therefore, we explore how generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) can revolutionize safety management in CSCs by providing proactive monitoring, predictive analysis, and enhanced training. Nevertheless, integrating this technology requires addressing technical, data security, operational, trust, and ethical issues. Future research and practices should focus on overcoming these barriers to harness Gen AI's potential for enhancing safety in CSCs.

Accessibility evaluation is essential to determine how accessible a Web system is so that any user can access its content regardless of their limitations. In this context, this work presents a literature survey focused on the accessibility of Web systems, targeting users with visual impairments, emphasizing the importance of including accessibility from the initial phases to the completion of system development. Based on systematic procedures, we seek to provide a current view of the resources available in the technical literature for evaluating Web accessibility, with the primary goal of identifying and bringing together a variety of attributes, methods, metrics, and tools for accessibility improvement of Web systems. We analyzed 1245 papers in the literature; among them, 52 studies demonstrated available resources for evaluating systems by developers. We found that manual evaluation, evaluation with expert users, evaluation with end-users, and heuristic evaluation are the most recurrent accessibility evaluation types. We also cataloged 22 automatic tools, 16 attributes, 15 manual or automatic approaches, and seven heuristics for evaluating accessibility in Web systems. From our findings, it is possible to observe which resources have been used to maintain compliance with accessibility standards, helping professionals to include accessibility in their projects.

The present work focuses on the dynamic crushing response of 2D re-entrant auxetic honeycomb by extending previous published models in order to include more design parameters (specific geometric ratios and/or material properties). If the crushing velocity is constant, the energy absorption occurs at the constant plateau stage upto densification of the structure. An analytical equation based on the shock wave propagation analogy in a rigid, perfectly plastic, locking material model is deduced from the study of periodic collapse of the structure. Our analysis enables us to theoretically predict the dynamic crushing strength. The formulation not only depends on the geometric and material characteristics of the auxetic but also on the impact velocity. Two series of Finite Element simulations of quasi-static and dynamic compressive test of the auxetic structure were carried out using the RADIOSSTM explicit solver. The first simulation series consists of a crushing plate loading the structure at a constant imposed velocity (0.5 m/s up to 100 m/s). Results show good accordance between analytical and Finite Element results. The time history of the cell-strain (ratio of deformed cell height to initial cell height) in the crushing direction shows that the peaks observed in the stress–strain curve of the entire structure are linked to complete crushing of each unit cell within a row. The second simulation series replicates the impact of the plate on the structure (initial plate velocities 50 m/s up to 100 m/s). The numerical simulations presented in this study, make it possible to relate the cell-strain, energy absorption and geometrical/material parameters of the auxetic structure.

Freedom of association has been an important fundamental right in France since a landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court in 1971. In that decision, the Court not only ruled that freedom of association was a constitutional right that was not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, but also that the Constitutional Court could overrule an Act of Parliament if it was incompatible with such a fundamental constitutional right. That kind of ‘Marbury v Madison’ decision was a small revolution in France. In 1971, it was the first time that a piece of legislation was annulled by the Constitutional Court because it was incompatible with a fundamental right when Parliament wanted to change the system of declaration of associations into a system of authorisation. Nevertheless, since 2017, there has never been such a high number of dissolutions of associations. Moreover, since the statute against separatism in August 2021, there has been a new ground to dissolve associations that “provoke armed demonstrations or acts of violence against persons or property.” The change in the law in 2021 has led to a marked increase in the number of dissolutions, which might lead one to believe that freedom of association is under threat in France.