Scientific Publications of the University of Toulouse II Le Mirail
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Exploring Livestock Management and Seasonal Rhythms in Early Neolithic Adriatic Communities
No full textInternational audienceThe Adriatic region played a pivotal role in the Neolithization process of the central andwestern Mediterranean, notably marked by the spread of Impressa pottery complex. This"maritime stream" underscores a significant cultural cohesion between the Adriaticcoasts, facilitated by sustained exchanges and shared elements of material culture.Economically, both regions share an emphasis on sheep herding and barley cultivation,although they differ in their use of wild resources, reflecting both local adaptations andcultural preferences. However, knowledge about livestock practices remains limited,particularly regarding animal management and exploitation.This study aims to characterize livestock practices in the Adriatic during the earlyNeolithic, focusing on sheep, the predominant species. By examining mortality profilesfrom sites on both Adriatic coasts, the study seeks to uncover herd demographicmanagement and production orientations. Furthermore, the analysis includes pastoralcalendars from sites such as Tinj and Crno Vrilo (Dalmatia) and Trasano and Rendina(southern Italy), with particular attention to the timing of lambing cycles. This mayprovide insights into potential early practices of autumn lambing deseasoning, a methodstill observed in contemporary Mediterranean contexts.The findings will shed light on the adaptive strategies of these early agropastoralcommunities and their socio-economic organization. This study highlights the Adriatic'scentral role as a cultural and economic nexus in the Mediterranean during the Neolithic,contributing to a broader understanding of the region's impact on the spread anddevelopment of early farming practices
L'enfant de Beaufort : d'une image à l'autre, l'apport de la paléogénomique dans la représentation archéologique
No full textInternational audienceAs they are shaping a mental representation of their discoveries, archaeologists transmit to the general public a vision marked by their own subjectivity. Using the example of the Coste Rouge tomb in Beaufort (Hérault), we propose to examine this subjective dimension in the light of advances in paleogenomics. Analyses in this field show that these interpretations can sometimes prove to be inaccurate, calling into question the collective imaginary associated with ancient societies.The Coste Rouge burial was discovered and excavated in July 2001 under the supervision of Jean Vaquer. It is certainly one of the most remarkable Neolithic tombs in southern France. The skeleton of a single individual, aged between 5 and 7 years, was deposited in a buried sub-Megalithic funerary structure.Attributed to the Late Southern Chassaean period and radiocarbon dated between 3663 and 3400 BCE (ERL 9626; 4743 ± 46 BP), this burial has no regional equivalent. With its elaborate architecture and abundant grave goods, the Beaufort tomb suggests a particular, and probably elevated, status for this child.Carried out as part of three ANR projects (ANCESTRA, LINK (dir. M. Pruvost) and WOMENSOFAR (dir. G. Goude), genomic and isotopic studies of this individual have provided new information on their biological identity and origins. In this presentation, we will discuss the comparison of information obtained using these new techniques with archaeological and anthropological data, and the new perspectives offered by these techniques for representing Neolithic groups, questioning the links between biological and social identities. We will also examine the process of constructing scientific discourse, and in particular the evolution of archaeo-anthropological conceptions based on funerary dotations.Les chercheurs, en façonnant une représentation mentale de leurs découvertes, transmettent au grand public une vision marquée par leur propre subjectivité. À travers l’exemple de la tombe de Coste Rouge à Beaufort (Hérault), nous proposons d'examiner cette dimension subjective à la lumière des avancées en paléogénétique. Les analyses dans ce domaine montrent que ces interprétations peuvent parfois s'avérer inexactes, remettant en question l'imaginaire collectif associé aux sociétés anciennes.La tombe de Coste Rouge a été découverte et fouillée en juillet 2001 sous la direction de Jean Vaquer. Elle constitue certainement l’une des tombes les plus remarquables du Néolithique du Sud de la France. Le squelette d’un seul individu, âgé de 5 à 7 ans, a été déposé dans une structure funéraire submégalithique enterrée.Attribuée au Chasséen méridional récent et datée au radiocarbone entre 3663 et 3400 avant notre ère (ERL 9626 ; 4743 ± 46 BP), cette inhumation ne connaît pas d’équivalent régional. Tant par son architecture élaborée que par son mobilier abondant, la tombe de Beaufort suggère un statut particulier, probablement élevé, de cet enfant. Réalisées dans le cadre de trois projets ANR (ANCESTRA, LINK (dir. M. Pruvost) et WOMENSOFAR (dir. G. Goude), les études génomiques et isotopiques de cet individu ont permis d’apporter de nouvelles informations sur son identité biologique et ses origines. Dans cette présentation, nous discuterons de la confrontation des informations obtenues grâce à ces nouvelles techniques avec les données archéologiques et anthropologiques et les nouvelles perspectives offertes par ces techniques pour représenter les groupes néolithiques, en interrogeant les liens entre identités biologiques et identités sociales. Nous questionnerons également le processus de construction du discours scientifique, notamment l’évolution des conceptions archéo-anthropologiques à partir du mobilier
Male bumblebees adapt foraging to environmental conditions to sustain mate-seeking efforts
No full textMale bumblebees keep searching for mates even when food is scarce, adjusting how they forage to conserve energy. Using 3D tracking in a controlled environment, we found that males reduce foraging effort but maintain reproductive behaviours. This shows how animals balance survival and reproduction in changing environments, offering new insights into pollinator behaviour and resilience
Human performance in the Traveling Salesman Problem is influenced by spatial scale
No full textLike many other animals, we humans frequently face complex route optimization problems when planning journeys between multiple locations. Several strategies can be employed to approach such Traveling Salesman Problems. However, these may be strongly constrained by spatial scales, for instance if the goal is to navigate in a supermarket, in a city, or across a continent. Here, we monitored the route optimization performances of human subjects collecting objects in a video game simulating 3D environments at various spatial scales. Unexpectedly, route optimization performances peaked at intermediate spatial scales, where participants could use global optimization strategies. At very large and very small spatial scales, however, participants predominantly employed less efficient local optimization strategies. At the very large scale, the considerable distances between objects prevented them from being seen all at once, making global planning difficult. At the very small scale, participants reported having chosen the shortest path, although they did not. This mismatch between perceived and actual performances suggests suboptimal alternatives were sufficiently short to be considered equivalent to the optimal route. Spatial scale thus strongly influences route planning in human navigators and may determine the spatial behaviors of a wide range of animals facing similar routing problems in their everyday lives
Des sépultures multiples témoins d’une crise sanitaire tardo-antique dans la nécropole de Saint-Seurin à Bordeaux
No full textInternational audienceExcavation was carried out in 2016-2017 prior to a building development project on the Rue Abbé de l’Épée in Bordeaux, identifying occupation dating from the Late Antique to the Modern period. The remains identified testify to a continuous but evolving occupation of this marginal district, and shed light on the history of Bordeaux’s urban fabric. The southern half of the excavation area revealed burials from Late Antiquity, corresponding to a previously unexplored sector of the Saint-Seurin necropolis. While some of the burials discovered fit in perfectly as a continuition of the remains already known, the excavation also revealed the presence of a highly unusual group of multiple burials indicative of an unprecedented health crisis.Préalablement au lancement d’un programme immobilier situé rue Castéja à Bordeaux (Gironde), une fouille préventive a été menée en 2016-2017, révélant une occupation allant de l’époque tardo-antique à l’époque moderne. Les vestiges témoignent d’une occupation longue et diverse, éclairant l’évolution urbaine de la ville. Les inhumations de l’Antiquité tardive de la moitié sud de l’emprise de fouille correspondent à un secteur jusqu’alors inexploré de la nécropole de Saint-Seurin. Si une partie d’entre elles s’intègre parfaitement aux vestiges déjà connus, l’intervention a également montré la présence d’un ensemble tout à fait original de sépultures multiples relevant d’une crise sanitaire sans précédent
How Coaches Shape Social Identity: The Hidden Dynamics of Team Sports
No full text2024 Impact Factor: 1.8Q2 Health (social science)SJR 2024 0.77International audienceSocial identity plays a pivotal role in sports. Although its importance has been highlighted, little is known about how coaches shape its development through the coach–athlete relationship and motivational climate. This study explores the influence of players’ perceived coach–athlete relationship and motivational climate on social identity in team sports. A total of 210 team sport young elite male athletes ( M age = 16.31, SD age = 1.00) completed an online survey measuring their social identification with the team, perception of the coach-created motivational climate, and quality of relationship with their coach. Linear mixed-effects models revealed that commitment was positively related with ingroup ties ( R 2 p = .03), cognitive centrality ( R 2 p = .05), and ingroup affect ( R 2 p = .03). An empowering motivational climate was also related with ingroup ties ( R 2 p = .05) and ingroup affect ( R 2 p = .02), whereas a disempowering climate had no effect. Interaction effects showed that a medium or low motivational climate strengthened the positive relationship between commitment and ingroup affect ( R 2 p = .06), whereas a low motivational climate generated a negative relation between closeness and ingroup affect ( R 2 p = .02). These findings demonstrate the effect of coaches on athletes’ team identification in building supportive relationships and empowering environments
Sensory room: Naturalistic assessment of auditory and visual perception in developing children
No full textInternational audienceIntroduction: Hearing is essential for language acquisition and understanding the environment. Under-standing how children react to auditory and visual information is essential for appropriate management in case of hearing loss. Objective and subjective assessments can diagnose hearing loss, but do not mea-sure natural perception in children. We developed a "sensory room" for complementary assessment of children's perceptions so as to assess behavioral responses to meaningful natural sounds and visual stimuli in an ecologic environment suited to children.Material and methods: Sixteen normal-hearing children and 10 with congenital hearing loss before cochlear implantation, aged 13 to 32 months, were included in this feasibility study. They perceived 18 environmental sounds and 9 visual stimuli, and their behavioral responses were coded accordingly as: stopping, looking, moving, pointing, language or emotional reactions.Result: All children completed the task, demonstrating its feasibility in children. Percentage responses to auditory versus visual stimuli did not differ in normal-hearing children; those with congenital hearing loss responded like normal-hearing children to visual stimuli, but did not react to auditory stimuli. Progression in normal-hearing children's behavioral responses corresponded to cognitive and linguistic development according to age.Conclusion: The "sensory room" quantified children's responses to various auditory and visual stimuli, providing clinicians with measurable insight into the children's sensory perception and processin
Enhancing deep neural networks through complex-valued representations and Kuramoto synchronization dynamics
No full textInternational audienceNeural synchrony is hypothesized to play a crucial role in how the brain organizes visual scenes into structured representations, enabling the robust encoding of multiple objects within a scene. However, current deep learning models often struggle with object binding, limiting their ability to represent multiple objects effectively. Inspired by neuroscience, we investigate whether synchrony-based mechanisms can enhance object encoding in artificial models trained for visual categorization. Specifically, we combine complex-valued representations with Kuramoto dynamics to promote phase alignment, facilitating the grouping of features belonging to the same object. We evaluate two architectures employing synchrony: a feedforward model and a recurrent model with feedback connections to refine phase synchronization using top-down information. Both models outperform a real-valued baseline and complex-valued models without Kuramoto synchronization on tasks involving multiobject images, such as overlapping handwritten digits, noisy inputs, and out-of-distribution transformations. Our findings highlight the potential of synchrony-driven mechanisms to enhance deep learning models, improving their performance, robustness, and generalization in complex visual categorization tasks *
La permanence de la reconnaissance implicite chez les personnes âgées atteintes d'une maladie neuro-évolutive à un stade sévère
No full textThis doctoral research aims to reconsider the relational capacities of older adults living with advanced-stage neuro-evolutionary diseases (NED). It draws on the concept of implicit recognition, understood as the ability to recognize another person without relying on explicit cognitive processes, through nonverbal, emotional or interactional cues. This approach suggests that, despite significant cognitive impairment, subtle traces of connection may still be expressed through gestures, eye contact or emotional reactions.Study 1 focused on the caregivers’ sense of being recognized while working in long-term care facilities. It explored how professional caregivers identify and interpret nonverbal signs of recognition among residents with NED. The results revealed a differentiated sensitivity to these manifestations depending on the caregiver’s professional role, level of experience, and the closeness of their relationship with the residents. Caregivers most involved in daily care were more likely to detect subtle signs of implicit recognition, which they associated with a sense of relational continuity despite the progression of symptoms.Study 2 explored the experiences of family members (spouses and children) whose relative was living with advanced-stage NED. It examined perceived forms of recognition, the associated emotional responses, and the influence of the prior relationship on how these manifestations were interpreted. The findings showed that families frequently reported signs of implicit recognition, particularly through eye contact, gestures or certain emotional reactions. These experiences, shaped by the history of the relationship, family roles, and relational expectations, often gave rise to ambivalent feelings combining sadness, anger, helplessness and discouragement.Study 3 aimed to assess implicit recognition of the experimenter through a longitudinal protocol involving 40 participants with advanced-stage NED. The analysis of verbal and nonverbal interactions revealed the progressive emergence of recognition behaviors. These manifestations, observed and coded by several independent raters, reflect a relational dynamic based on the regularity of interactions, the presence of emotional cues and the activation of implicit memory. While recognition of the experimenter was significantly more frequent in the positive condition, it was also observed in both emotional valences (positive and neutral), suggesting that relational learning can occur despite explicit memory deficits. This study highlights that, even in severe stages of NED, individuals remain capable of forming new bonds and recognizing a new person, provided they are engaged in a containing relational environment.By combining qualitative, experimental, and clinical approaches, this dissertation invites a rethinking of relational dynamics in individuals living with NED. It underscores the value of preserved relational abilities and advocates for a caregiving stance grounded in implicit recognition as a vector of continuity in care, connection, and subjectivity.Ce travail de thèse s’inscrit dans une démarche visant à reconsidérer les capacités relationnelles des personnes âgées atteintes de MNE à un stade sévère. Il s’appuie sur le concept de reconnaissance implicite, entendu comme la capacité à reconnaître autrui sans recours à des processus cognitifs explicites, perceptibles par des indices non verbaux, émotionnels ou interactionnels. Cette approche invite à reconnaître que, malgré l’altération des fonctions cognitives, certaines traces de lien peuvent encore s’exprimer par des gestes, des regards ou des réactions émotionnelles.L’étude 1 portait sur le sentiment de reconnaissance des soignants travaillant en EHPAD. Elle visait à comprendre comment ces derniers identifient et interprètent les manifestations non verbales de reconnaissance chez les résidents atteints de MNE. Les résultats ont mis en évidence une sensibilité différenciée à ces manifestations selon l’expérience, le rôle professionnel et la proximité relationnelle avec les personnes accompagnées. Les soignants les plus impliqués dans les soins quotidiens semblaient plus enclins à repérer des signes discrets de reconnaissance implicite, qu’ils reliaient à une forme de continuité du lien au-delà de l’évolution des symptômes.L’étude 2 s’intéressait au vécu des familles (conjoints et enfants) dont un proche était atteint d’une MNE à un stade sévère. Elle explorait les formes de reconnaissance perçues, les émotions associées et l’impact de la relation antérieure sur l’interprétation de ces manifestations. Les résultats ont montré que les familles rapportaient majoritairement des signes de reconnaissance implicite en particulier à travers les regards, les gestes ou certaines réactions émotionnelles. Ce vécu, modulé par l’histoire du lien avec le parent / le conjoint atteint de MNE, la place occupée dans la famille et les attentes relationnelles, faisait émerger des sentiments ambivalents mêlant tristesse, colère, impuissance et découragement.L’étude 3 avait pour objectif d’évaluer la reconnaissance implicite de l’expérimentateur à travers un protocole longitudinal mené auprès de 40 participants atteints de MNE à un stade sévère. L’analyse des interactions verbales et non verbales a permis de mettre en avant l’émergence progressive de comportements de reconnaissance. Ces manifestations, observées et codées par plusieurs observateurs indépendants, s’inscrivent dans une dynamique relationnelle impliquant la régularité des interactions, les indices émotionnels ainsi qu’un appui sur la mémoire implicite. Si la reconnaissance de l’expérimentateur s’est révélée significativement plus fréquente en condition positive, elle a néanmoins été observée dans les deux valences (positive et neutre), suggérant l’existence d’un apprentissage relationnel malgré le déficit mnésique explicite. Cette étude met ainsi en évidence que, malgré le stade sévère de la MNE, les personnes âgées demeurent capables de créer de nouveaux liens et de reconnaître une personne nouvelle, dès lors qu’elles évoluent dans un espace relationnel contenant.En articulant approches qualitative, expérimentale et clinique, ce travail de thèse invite à repenser les modalités de lien chez les personnes atteintes de MNE, à valoriser les compétences relationnelles préservées et à promouvoir une posture d’accompagnement fondée sur la reconnaissance implicite comme vecteur de continuité du soin, du lien et de la subjectivité
Comparative impact of proton versus photon irradiation on triple‐negative breast cancer: Role of VEGFC in tumour aggressiveness
No full textThis work was performed using the microscopy (PICMI)and mouse facilities of IRCANLETTER TO THE JOURNAL 7 of 7fund from the Canceropôle PACA, ANR, INCA, theH2020 TheraLymph Grant project ID: 874708, the LigueNationale contre le Cancer (Equipe Labellisée 2019), Fon-dation ARC de la Recherche contre le Cancer ProgrammeLabellisé 2022 and program ARCAGEING2023020006332and postdoc grant ARCPOST-DOC202107000408International audienc