The law pertaining to food issues and natural resources exploitation and trade

12 pagesInternational audienceThe link between natural resources and food is too obvious to have to be proven right. Every one of us can experience it in everything we eat that comes from the earth's resources. It follows that food issues concerning trade in natural resources also seem obvious. What is not obvious, however, is the way the connection may be made between the various forms of natural resources exploitation and trade on the one hand and the worldwide consequences in terms of food supplies on the other hand

Echec des négociations de l'OMC, de la FAO et de Copenhague en novembre et décembre 2009: Analyse et proposition de "feuille de route" pour le Programme Lascaux

5 pagesAprès le dernier échec des négociations sur le commerce des produits agricoles à l'OMC en décembre 2009, l'échec du sommet de la FAO à Rome sur la sécurité alimentaire en novembre 2009, et l'échec du sommet de Copenhague sur le réchauffement climatique en décembre 2009, quelles leçons pouvons-nous tirer de ces échecs successifs et quelles questions nous conduisent-ils à poser dans la mise en œuvre du programme Lascaux

Analyse de la contribution du Secrétariat de la FAO pour la définition des objectifs et les possibles décisions du Sommet mondial des 16, 17 et 18 novembre 2009 sur la sécurité alimentaire

3 pagesLes propositions commentées du Secrétariat de la FAO sont destinées à venir complètement à bout de la faim dans le monde en 2025 et à permettre de nourrir le monde à échéance de 2050. Les objectifs sont donc extrêmement ambitieux. Les décisions préconisées sont-elles à la hauteur de ces objectifs ? Rien n'est moins sûr. Il est en tout cas nécessaire de les analyser

La production et la commercialisation des denrées alimentaires et le droit du marché : propos liminaires

Intervention dans le cadre des 1res Journées Louis Lorvellec. 3 pages.International audienceDe l'importance de croiser agriculture, d'une part, et marché, d'autre part, pour appréhender des phénomènes concurrentiels depuis divers observatoires complémentaires (droit, économie, sociologie, etc.), et instaurer un véritable dialogue entre disciplines sur un objet commun

Decision Tools Regarding Time Constraints Violation in Manufacturing Workshops

This paper is dedicated to the study of constraints violation in manufacturing workshops with time constraints. In such systems, every operation duration is included between minimal and maximal values. P-time Petri nets are used for modeling. A new theorem is introduced, constituting a decision tool about the occurrence of constraints violation at the level of a synchronization transition when various types of time disturbances occur. It shows the robustness properties of a manufacturing system on a range that may include delay and advance disturbances. The theoretical result is illustrated step by step on a given workshop. Two other lemmas are elaborated contributing to the study of the constraints violation problem. The final goal is to generalize the robustness property towards simultaneous occurrence of two delays at two points of the system, each having its own robustness range

USING COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCANNING TECHNOLOGY TO EXTRACT VIRTUAL WOOD CORES, DERIVE WOOD DENSITY RADIAL PATTERNS, AND TEST HYPOTHESIS ABOUT DIRECTION, CORE SIZE, AND YEAR OF GROWTH

Computed tomography (CT) scanning technology was used to collect millions of three-dimensional data called “CT numbers”, on two sets of white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss) wood disks. Data collected were then converted to wood density estimates using a calibration equation for wood. Virtual wood cores with three different sizes (i.e., 1 voxel – the smallest volumetric unit on which a CT number was computed, 5 mm and 12 mm in diameter) were extracted from pith to bark and in four orthogonal directions. This made it possible to test the effects of core direction and size on the wood density estimates obtained. The average values as well as the radial patterns of wood density as estimated from CT scanning data were found to be typical of the values and patterns reported for the white spruce tree species in the literature, especially in relation to cambial age as the experimental trees were of different ages. In conclusion, wood science application of CT scanning technology allows extracting data subsets in 3D to perform density estimation, pattern analysis and hypothesis testing, and the results are valuable complements to those obtained with other technologies such as X-ray densitometry

Novel solvothermal approach to hydrophilic nanoparticles of late transition elements and its evaluation by nanoparticle tracking analysis

Solvothermal treatment of late transition metal acetylacetonates in a novel medium composed either of pure acetophenone or acetophenone mixtures with amino alcohols offers a general approach to uniform hydrophilic metal nanoparticles with high crystallinity and low degree of aggregation. Both pure metal and mixed-metal particles can be accesses by this approach. The produced materials have been characterized by SEM-EDS, TEM, FTIR in the solid state and by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis in solutions. The chemical mechanisms of the reactions producing nanoparticles has been followed by NMR. Carrying out the process in pure acetophenone produces palladium metal, copper metal with minor impurity of Cu2O, and NiO. The synthesis starting from the mixtures of Pd and Ni acetylacetonates with up to 20 mol% of Pd, renders in minor yield the palladium-based metal alloy along with nickel oxide as the major phase. Even the synthesis starting from a mixed solution of Cu(acac)2 and Ni(acac)2 produces oxides as major products. The situation is improved when aminoalcohols such as 2-aminoethanol or 2-dimethylamino propanol are added to the synthesis medium. The particles in this case contain metallic elements and pairs of individual metals (not metal alloys) when produced from mixed precursor solutions

Confocal Raman data analysis enables identifying apoptosis of MCF-7 cells caused by anticancer drug paclitaxel

Confocal Raman microscopy is a noninvasive, label-free imaging technique used to study apoptosis of live MCF-7 cells. The images are based on Raman spectra of cells components, and their apoptosis is monitored through diffusion of cytochrome c in cytoplasm. K-mean clustering is used to identify mitochondria in cells, and correlation analysis provides the cytochrome c distribution inside the cells. Our results demonstrate that incubation of cells for 3 h with 10 mu M of paclitaxel does not induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. On the contrary, incubation for 30 min at a higher concentration (100 mu M) of paclitaxel induces gradual release of the cytochrome c into the cytoplasm, indicating cell apoptosis via a caspase independent pathway. (C) 2013 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.JBO.18.5.056010

Growth Rate Effects on Temporal Trajectories of Ring Width, Wood Density, and Mean Tracheid Length in Norway Spruce (Picea Abies (L.) Karst.)

The study reported was conducted on 20 fast-grown and 20 slow-grown Norway spruces (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) from an even-aged, plantation-grown stand near Rendeux, Belgian Ardennes. The objective was to test whether increasing the growth rate of Norway spruce by heavy thinnings had an effect on the temporal trajectories (i.e., fluctuations from year to year) of ring width, wood density, and mean tracheid length, all measured yearly from pith to bark. Since the data were chronologies (i.e., time series of yearly measurements), time had to be considered as a factor (i.e., the calendar year of ring formation) in the statistical analysis of the within-tree variation (repeated measures analysis of variance).While the effects of the growth category and its interaction with the year were highly significant after first thinning for ring width, a significant decrease in the wood density of fast-grown trees was observed in many years during that growing period; the decrease was small in magnitude, once averaged over years (-0.033 g/cm3). Tracheids were longer for the slow-grown trees after first thinning; although constant in sign and magnitude over years, the difference in mean tracheid length between growth categories was not statistically significant. In summary, increasing the growth rate in circumference of Norway spruce from 1.7 to 2.7 cm/year by heavy thinnings induced a limited decrease in wood density and mean tracheid length. These results support the statement that stand productivity might be improved without sensible loss of wood quality