Paris West University Nanterre La Défense

About: Paris West University Nanterre La Défense is a education organization based out in Paris, France. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Politics. The organization has 895 authors who have published 1430 publications receiving 21712 citations.

Impairment and Compensation in Dexterous Upper-Limb Function After Stroke. From the Direct Consequences of Pyramidal Tract Lesions to Behavioral Involvement of Both Upper-Limbs in Daily Activities

Abstract: Impairments in dexterous upper limb function are a significant cause of disability following stroke. While the physiological basis of movement deficits consequent to a lesion in the pyramidal tract is well demonstrated, specific mechanisms contributing to optimal recovery are less apparent. Various upper limb interventions (motor learning methods, neurostimulation techniques, robotics, virtual reality, and serious games) are associated with improvements in motor performance, but many patients continue to experience significant limitations with object handling in everyday activities. Exactly how we go about consolidating adaptive motor behaviors through the rehabilitation process thus remains a considerable challenge. An important part of this problem is the ability to successfully distinguish the extent to which a given gesture is determined by the neuromotor impairment and that which is determined by a compensatory mechanism. This question is particularly complicated in tasks involving manual dexterity where prehensile movements are contingent upon the task (individual digit movement, grasping, and manipulation…) and its objective (placing, two step actions…), as well as personal factors (motivation, acquired skills, and life habits…) and contextual cues related to the environment (presence of tools or assistive devices…). Presently, there remains a lack of integrative studies which differentiate processes related to structural changes associated with the neurological lesion and those related to behavioral change in response to situational constraints. In this text, we shall question the link between impairments, motor strategies and individual performance in object handling tasks. This scoping review will be based on clinical studies, and discussed in relation to more general findings about hand and upper limb function (manipulation of objects, tool use in daily life activity). We shall discuss how further quantitative studies on human manipulation in ecological contexts may provide greater insight into compensatory motor behavior in patients with a neurological impairment of dexterous upper-limb function.

The Ritz – Sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation approach for piezoelectric composite plates

Abstract: This paper extends to composite plates including piezoelectric plies the variable kinematics plate modeling approach called Sublaminate Generalized Unified Formulation (SGUF). Two-dimensional plate...

The Governance of Intangibles: rethinking financial reporting and the Board of Directors

Abstract: When capital markets are assumed to be (informationally) efficient and the firm a mere collection of marketable resources, corporate governance and accounting are expected to be primarily concerned with making corporate insiders sensitive to external pressure: financial reporting and the board should replicate the market in the context of the firm. In particular, no firm-specific information is required to perform an effective control: independence of board members is the best quality to assure the monitoring of corporate insiders. However, whenever intangibles become significant, firm-specific information becomes as important as market prices to gauge the past and future performance of the business firm. Specific knowledge of the firm is then required to both disclose high-quality information and monitor corporate executives. This argues for the role of improved historical-cost accounting systems coupled with non-independent, proficient board members.