Reporting the social indicators to the functional unit for food product. Theoretical contribution regarding the collection of relevant data

International audienceSeveral conceptions of social LCA lend on two often implicit hypothesis i)the source of impacts, the stressor would be either from technical origin, either from social one. It stems from it that relating the quantity of impacts to the quantity of functional unit has to be done through the unit processes, as it is done in ELCA. ii) companies are singly and freely choosing their practice, and even imposing social behaviour. We expect pointing out that we may build another representation. The values of the social indicators may be related proportionally to the functional units, if we handle them at the relevant level. Suggestions about the potential levels for picking up the data will conclude this proposal

Fruits and vegetables supply chains specificities and stakes as element of discussion on Social-LCA

International audienceAgri-food supply chains are at the heart of sustainable development concerns. In order to comprehend whole complex parameters and their global impacts, it appeared necessary to adopt a systemic approach, justifying a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), not only from an environmental point of view but from a social and economic one too. Taking into account specificities and stakes of fruits and vegetables (F&V) supply chains in developing countries this paper focus on absences, deficiencies and methodological limits that LCA meets integrating social and economic aspects. The elements presented lead to an in-depth conceptual and theoretical discussion and suggest placing LCA in the perspective of development theory. The proposition is to endow LCA with an approach by capitals, which seems particularly adapted to express sustainable development and well-being

Recent developments in assessing the social impacts of product life cycles

International audienc

Fruits & vegetables supply chains specificities and stakes as element of discussion on Social LCA

International audienc

Evaluation sociale du cycle de vie à trois niveaux : revue de la littérature et besoins de développement

International audienceCe papier reprend la litérature sur les impacts, et non sur les performances sociales. Il examine la nature des impacts sur la santé (en fonction de la cible) au niveau d'une entreprise, d'une entité régionale et d'un état. Il conclut sur les besoins en recherche nécessaires pour répondre à ces besoins d'évaluation

Stability of an ophthalmic micellar formulation of cyclosporine A in unopened multidose eyedroppers and in simulated use conditions

International audienceCyclosporine A eye drops are used at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 20 mg/mL to treat a variety of ophthalmic diseases. Cyclosporine A formulations at high concentrations are difficult to manufacture because of cyclosporine's lipophilicity, and generally require an oil based vector. In this study, we investigated the physicochemical and microbiological stability of two high concentrations (10 mg/mL and 20 mg/mL) of an ophthalmic cyclosporine A micellar solution in a low density polyethylene multidose eyedropper, at two conservation conditions (5 °C and 25 °C), before and with simulated use. Analyses used were the following: visual inspection, cyclosporine quantification by a stability-indicating liquid chromatography method, osmolality and pH measurements and turbidity. A complementary analysis by dynamic light scattering was implemented to evaluate potential particle formation or micelle size change. In the in-use study, cyclosporine quantification was also performed on the drops emitted from the multidose eyedroppers. Our results show that the cyclosporine micellar formulation retains good physicochemical and microbiological stability, as all parameters stayed within acceptable range limits, however a higher variability in cyclosporine concentrations was observed for 20 mg/mL units stored at 25 °C. The in-use study showed that cyclosporine concentrations in the emitted drops were also within acceptable range limits. The micellar formulation presented in this study can therefore be stored at 5 °C or at ≤ 25 °C for up to 6 months

In vitro evaluation of TiO2 nanotubes as cefuroxime carriers on orthopaedic implants for the prevention of periprosthetic joint infections

International audienceObjective: In this study, the influence of several parameters that could impact the use of titanium dioxide nanotubes as cefuroxime carriers was investigated.Method: Cefuroxime loading and release was studied for 90 min with three nano-topography conditions (nano-smooth, nano-rugged and nano-tubular), two cefuroxime loading solution concentrations (150 mg/mL and 25 mg/mL) and two nano-tubular crystalline structures.Results: In all tested conditions, maximum amount of cefuroxime was obtained within 2 min. For both cefuroxime loading solution concentrations, nano-smooth samples released the least cefuroxime, and the nano-tubular samples released the most, and a six-fold increase in the concentration of the cefuroxime loading increased the amount of cefuroxime quantified by more than seven times, for all tested nano-topographies. However, the nano-tubes’ crystalline structure did not have any influence on the amount of cefuroxime quantified.Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the surface nano-topography and loading solution concentration influence the efficiency of titanium dioxide nanotubes as cefuroxime carriers and need to be optimized for use as novel reservoirs for local delivery of cefuroxime to prevent periprosthetic infections

Blurred Segments in Gray Level Images for Interactive Line Extraction

International audienceAbstract. The recognition of discrete straight segments is a significant topic in the field of discrete geometry and for many applications dealing with geometric feature extraction. It can be performed from noisy binary data using the concept of blurred segments [3,2]. However, to our best knowledge, these algorithms have never been defined to directly extract straight segments in gray level images. This article proposes a solution to extend the recognition by using gray level image information. Although initially intended to be implemented within a semi-automatic line selec- tion tool used in an interactive 3D modeling application, it also meets more general parameter extraction requirements

L'évaluation multicritères des systèmes d'élevage pour accompagner leurs évolutions : démarches, enjeux et questions soulevées

National audienceThe emergence of the notion of sustainable development has led to a shift from single-criterion-oriented evaluations to more integrated assessments covering the different dimensions of livestock performance: economics, social, health, welfare and the environment. Many methodological questions arise from the confrontation of these dimensions which have different measurement scales. How to support the evolution of livestock systems with a multicriteria assessment? How to well define the purposes of the evaluation? How to manage the multiplicity of information? How to interpret a set of indicators together when they take opposite values? Which tools to mobilize? Should we use or create our own assessment tools? Livestock farming with its multiple stakes at different scales herd, farm and territory, is particularly concerned with these issues. The participation of the actors in the evaluation process is also a question to be decided: are they co-designers of the method, validators, surveyors or only recipients of the results? These different elements will lead to the definition of the best methods of mathematical data processing. This data processing is intimately linked to how the results are represented and how they are used. This paper discusses the different uses of multicriteria evaluations applied to livestock systems and the key methodological points.L’apparition de la notion de développement durable a conduit à un passage des évaluations orientées selon un seul critère vers des évaluations plus intégrées couvrant différentes dimensions de la performance des élevages : l’économie, le social, le sanitaire, le bien être, l’environnement. De nombreuses questions méthodologiques sont posées par la confrontation de ces différentes dimensions avec leurs échelles de mesure propres. Comment accompagner l’évolution des systèmes d’élevage avec une évaluation multicritère ? Comment bien définir les finalités de l’évaluation ? Comment gérer la multiplicité des informations ? Comment interpréter un ensemble d’indicateurs conjointement lorsqu’ils prennent des valeurs opposées ? Quels outils mobiliser ? Faut-il utiliser ou créer ses propres outils d’évaluation ? L’élevage avec ses enjeux multiples qui s’étagent entre les niveaux des ateliers, des filières et des territoires est particulièrement concerné par ces questions. La participation des acteurs dans la démarche d’évaluation est aussi une question à trancher, sont-ils co-concepteurs de la méthode, validateurs, enquêtés ou seulement destinataires des résultats ? Ces différents éléments conduiront à définir les meilleures méthodes de traitement mathématique des données. Ce traitement des données est intimement lié au mode de représentation des résultats et de leur utilisation. Cet article aborde les différents usages des évaluations multicritères appliquées aux systèmes d’élevage et les points méthodologiques clefs à respecter