Le morcellement informel du foncier en Algérie

Etude originaleInternational audienceThe agricultural reform adopted in Algeria in 1987 dictated the division of the Socialist Agricultural Domains and the creation of Collective and Individual Farms (EAC and EAI), the State keeping land ownership. In spite of the rules imposed by this reform, the obligation of the collective mode of production for the EAC and the banning of tenant farming, the informal division of the farms and farming by tenants have spread very quickly. The qualitative investigation carried out on a sample of 48 farmers in some EAC in the irrigated perimeter of Western Mitidja showed that the failure of the collective production form can be explained by the difficulties encountered by the beneficiaries because of the sudden change from the socialist system to a form of autonomous collective management for which preparation would have been required. Thereafter, the evolution towards an informal division of farms and the development of farming by tenants, both being illegal, resulted in behavioural diversity among the beneficiaries (ten types of behaviours).La réforme agricole adoptée en Algérie en 1987 a décidé le partage des domaines agricoles socialistes (DAS) et la création des exploitations agricoles collectives (EAC) et exploitations agricoles individuelles (EAI), en laissant la propriété de la terre à l'État. En dépit des règles imposées par cette réforme - obligation du mode de production collectif aux EAC et interdiction du mode de faire valoir indirect - le morcellement informel des exploitations et le mode de faire-valoir indirect se sont généralisés très rapidement. L'enquête qualitative réalisée auprès d'un échantillon de 48 agriculteurs dans des EAC du périmètre irrigué de la Mitidja Ouest a montré que l'échec de la forme de production collective s'explique par les difficultés rencontrées par les attributaires à cause du passage brutal du système socialiste à une forme de gestion collective autonome qui aurait nécessité une préparation. Par la suite, l'évolution vers un morcellement informel des exploitations et le développement du mode de faire-valoir indirect, tous deux interdits par la loi, se sont traduits par une diversité comportementale des attributaires (dix types de comportements)

Qu’en est-il des externalités du capital des technologies de l’information? Évidence basée sur le Canada et les États-Unis

Nous appliquons des techniques économétriques aux données par industrie des économies canadiennes et américaines pour examiner s’il existe des externalités associées à la composante technologies de l’information de l’intrant capital. Les résultats issus de la technique conventionnelle de données en panel sont comparés à ceux issus de la méthode d’estimation des données en panel hétérogènes et dynamiques. Comme pour les résultats de la littérature économique, nous trouvons que la méthode conventionnelle des données en panel ne permet pas de montrer un lien positif entre l’intrant capital des technologies de l’information et la production. Ceci traduit l’incapacité de cette technique à rendre compte, à la fois, du caractère hétérogène des données et de l’aspect dynamique du phénomène considéré ici. La méthode dynamique des données en panel permet, en revanche, de trouver un impact positif et significatif de long terme des intrants. Les résultats confirment la présence d’importantes externalités associées aux technologies de l’information pour les États-Unis, reflétant ainsi le rôle de chef de file de ce pays dans ce domaine. Au Canada, en revanche, l’élasticité associée au capital des technologies de l’information est proche de la pondération issue du cadre de la comptabilité de la croissance. De plus, les résultats paramétriques ne permettent pas, dans l’ensemble, de rejeter l’hypothèse de rendements constants au niveau agrégé pour le Canada, justifiant ainsi le bien-fondé du modèle de comptabilité de la croissance.We apply econometric techniques to Canadian and U.S. industry data to ascertain whether information technology capital gives rise to externalities. The results based on standard panel data techniques are compared to those that accommodate heterogeneous and dynamic panel data. Much like the literature, our results indicate the standard panel data method does not show a positive relationship between information technology capital and output. This reflects the difficulty of this technique to accommodate the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of the data considered in this study. In contrast, the dynamic panel data method shows a positive long term impact of inputs. Our results suggest the presence of important externalities ascribed to information technology in the United States, reflecting the leadership of this country in this area. In contrast, in Canada, the elasticity of information technology capital services is close to the share of this input provided by the growth accounting framework. In addition, the parametric results generally support the constant returns to scale hypothesis for Canada at the aggregate level, thereby making sense of the growth accounting framework

SPACE-TIME ESTIMATION AND PREDICTION UNDER FIXED-DOMAIN ASYMPTOTICS WITH COMPACTLY SUPPORTED COVARIANCE FUNCTIONS

We study the estimation and prediction of Gaussian processes with spacetime covariance models belonging to the dynamical generalized Wendland (DGW) family, under fixed-domain asymptotics. Such a class is nonseparable, has dynamical compact supports, and parameterizes differentiability at the origin similarly to the space-time Matern class.Our results are presented in two parts. First, we establish the strong consistency and asymptotic normality for the maximum likelihood estimator of the microergodic parameter associated with the DGW covariance model, under fixed-domain asymptotics. The second part focuses on optimal kriging prediction under the DGW model and an asymptotically correct estimation of the mean squared error using a misspecified model. Our theoretical results are, in turn, based on the equivalence of Gaussian measures under some given families of space-time covariance functions, where both space or time are compact. The technical results are provided in the online Supplementary material

Accessibility Evaluation of Dubai e-Government Websites: Findings and Implications

Most governments today are promoting the transition of their countries towards an information society where e-Government websites are becoming the primary gateways to citizens and businesses for government information and eservice delivery. E-Government can be broadly defined as the unification of information and communication technologies, and administrative practices to provide government e-services to citizens, businesses and other e-Governments (Deakins and Dillon, 2002). The benefits of online government e-services include better efficiency, user convenience and more citizen political involvement (Freeman and Loo, 2009). To enable all citizens to benefit from the full potential of eGovernment services, it is important to secure universal accessibility. This accessibility enables persons with disabilities to take full advantage of the information and services offered by eGovernments; the same way a person with no disability would

Association of Oliguria With Acute Kidney Injury Diagnosis, Severity Assessment, and Mortality Among Patients With Critical Illness.

The current definition and staging of acute kidney injury (AKI) considers alterations in serum creatinine (sCr) level and urinary output (UO). However, the relevance of oliguria-based criteria is disputed. To determine the contribution of oliguria, as defined by the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria, to AKI diagnosis, severity assessment, and short- and long-term outcomes. This cohort study included adult patients admitted to a multidisciplinary intensive care unit from January 1, 2010, to June 15, 2020. Patients receiving long-term dialysis and those who declined consent were excluded. Daily sCr level and hourly UO measurements along with sociodemographic characteristics and severity scores were extracted from electronic medical records. Long-term mortality was assessed by cross-referencing the database with the Swiss national death registry. The onset and severity of AKI according to the KDIGO classification was determined using UO and sCr criteria separately, and their agreement was assessed. Using a multivariable model accounting for baseline characteristics, severity scores, and sCr stages, the association of UO criteria with 90-day mortality was evaluated. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess how missing sCr, body weight, and UO values, as well as different sCr baseline definitions and imputations methods, would affect the main results. Among the 15 620 patients included in the study (10 330 men [66.1%] with a median age of 65 [IQR, 53-75] years, a median Simplified Acute Physiology Score II score of 40.0 [IQR, 30.0-53.0], and a median follow-up of 67.0 [IQR, 34.0-100.0] months), 12 143 (77.7%) fulfilled AKI criteria. Serum creatinine and UO criteria had poor agreement on AKI diagnosis and staging (Cohen weighted κ, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.35-0.37; P < .001). Compared with the isolated use of sCr criteria, consideration of UO criteria enabled identification of AKI in 5630 patients (36.0%). Those patients had a higher 90-day mortality than patients without AKI (724 of 5608 [12.9%] vs 288 of 3462 [8.3%]; P < .001). On multivariable analysis accounting for sCr stage, comorbidities, and illness severity, UO stages 2 and 3 were associated with a higher 90-day mortality (odds ratios, 2.4 [95% CI, 1.6-3.8; P < .001] and 6.2 [95% CI, 3.7-10.5; P < .001], respectively). These results remained significant in all sensitivity analyses. The findings of this cohort study suggest that oliguria lasting more than 12 hours (KDIGO stage 2 or 3) has major AKI diagnostic implications and is associated with outcomes irrespective of sCr elevations

Tumor control and radiobiological fingerprint after Gamma Knife radiosurgery for posterior fossa meningiomas: A series of 46 consecutive cases.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKR) can be a valuable treatment option for posterior cranial fossa meningiomas (PCFM). We retrospectively analyzed outcomes of GKR for PCFM. Were included forty-six patients with 47 PCFM. Primary endpoint was tumor control. Secondary endpoint was clinical improvement. Biologically effective dose (BED) was evaluated in relationship to primary and secondary outcomes. Mean marginal dose was 12.4 Gy (median 12, 12-14). Mean BED was 63.6 Gy (median 65, 49.1-88.3). Mean target volume (TV) was 2.21 cc (range 0.3-8.9 cc). Overall tumor control rate was 93.6% (44/47) after mean follow-up of 47.8 months ± 28.46 months (median 45.5, range 6-108). Radiological progression-free survival at 5 years was 94%. Higher pretherapeutic TVs were predictive for higher likelihood of tumor progression (Odds ratio, OR 1.448, 95% confidence interval - CI 1.001-2.093, p = 0.049). At last clinical follow-up, 28 patients (71.8%) remained stable, 10 (25.6%) improved and 1 patient (2.6%) worsened. Using logistic regression, the relationship between BED and clinical improvement was assessed (OR 0.903, standard error 0.59, coefficient 0.79-1.027, CI -0.10; 0.01; p = 0.14). The highest probability of clinical improvement corresponded to a range of BED values between 56 and 61 Gy. Primary GKR for PCFM is safe and effective. Higher pretherapeutic TV was predictor of volumetric progression. Highest probability of clinical improvement might correspond to a range of BED values between 56 and 61 Gy, although this was not statistically significant. The importance of BED should be further validated in larger cohorts, other anatomical locations and other pathologies

E-Government Web Accessibility: WCAG 1.0 versus WCAG 2.0 Compliance

Most e-governments have traditionally used version 1.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a basis to ensure that their websites are accessible by people with disabilities. This was reflected in their design guidelines, accessibility evaluations, policy-making and legislations. Recently, WCAG 2.0 emerged as an ISO/IEC International accessibility standard that has been recommended for adoption by the W3C WAI. This paper seeks to examine if there is a need for e-governments to reassess their web accessibility conformance, in light of the latest WCAG 2.0 standard. A case study related to the 21 Dubai e-government websites is presented whereby accessibility is evaluated based on the WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0 guidelines and using automated accessibility testing tools. We found that WCAG 2.0 conformance testing identified some notable accessibility issues that were not revealed by WCAG 1.0 conformance testing. Hence we recommend that egovernments should develop and update their web content and accessibility policies to conform to the latest WCAG 2.0 guidelines and success criteria. Additional implications for practice and academic research are also provided

New reference tables and user-friendly Internet application for predicted heart weights.

Knowledge of normal heart weight ranges is important information for pathologists. Comparing the measured heart weight to reference values is one of the key elements used to determine if the heart is pathological, as heart weight increases in many cardiac pathologies. The current reference tables are old and in need of an update. The purposes of this study are to establish new reference tables for normal heart weights in the local population and to determine the best predictive factor for normal heart weight. We also aim to provide technical support to calculate the predictive normal heart weight. The reference values are based on retrospective analysis of adult Caucasian autopsy cases without any obvious pathology that were collected at the University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne from 2007 to 2011. We selected 288 cases. The mean age was 39.2 years. There were 118 men and 170 women. Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship of heart weight to body weight, body height, body mass index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA). The heart weight increased along with an increase in all the parameters studied. The mean heart weight was greater in men than in women at a similar body weight. BSA was determined to be the best predictor for normal heart weight. New reference tables for predicted heart weights are presented as a web application http://calc.chuv.ch/Heartweight#use that enable the comparison of heart weights observed at autopsy with the reference values. The reference tables for heart weight and other organs should be systematically updated and adapted for the local population. Web access and smartphone applications for the predicted heart weight represent important investigational tools