Géographie de la médiatisation de la biodiversité dans ses relations à l’agriculture : étude de la presse nationale et régionale française du début du XXIe siècle

La conservation de la biodiversité est un problème public dont les contours se dessinent par la confrontation d’acteurs au sein d’arènes publiques parmi lesquelles les médias jouent un rôle important. Porter attention aux différentes modalités de médiatisation des relations entre la biodiversité et l’agriculture permet d’apporter un regard nouveau sur les transformations des relations homme-nature. À travers l’étude de sept journaux nationaux et d’un journal régional français (Le Progrès) entre 1999 et 2017, nous confirmons qu’agriculture et biodiversité forment un problème public majeur. Le nombre important d’articles régionaux depuis 2003 montre que la globalisation du problème de la biodiversité s’accompagne également d’un traitement local. Contrastant avec la presse nationale, plus encline à évoquer la crise de la biodiversité, la presse régionale trace les contours d’une image positive de l’agriculture. La dimension spatiale de la relation biodiversité-agriculture est devenue incontournable. Cependant, l’exposition médiatique forte des territoires urbains et naturels rend difficile la mise en lumière des espaces agricoles qui deviennent pourtant aujourd’hui le lieu de nouvelles mesures de conservation.Biodiversity conservation is a major issue of our society and the confrontation of actors in public spheres outlines this public problem. The media plays a role in the agenda-setting and analyzing the media coverage of the relations between agriculture and biodiversity is a fresh look on human-nature relationships. We analyze seven national French newspapers and one regional French newspaper (Le Progrès) from 1999 to 2017. We confirm that agriculture and biodiversity constitute a major public problem. The high number of regional press articles since 2003 shows that the globalization of the biodiversity problem is completed by a local care. On regional newspapers, the articles introduce a positive view of agriculture. The spatial dimension between biodiversity and agriculture is dominant in the last articles. The media exposure of urban and natural territories makes the media coverage of agricultural areas difficult while agricultural landscapes become nowadays the place of news biodiversity conservation measures

Tree cover in Central Africa: Determinants and sensitivity under contrasted scenarios of global change

Tree cover is a key variable for ecosystem functioning, and is widely used to study tropical ecosystems. But its determinants and their relative importance are still a matter of debate, especially because most regional and global analyses have not considered the influence of agricultural practices. More information is urgently needed regarding how human practices influence vegetation structure. Here we focused in Central Africa, a region still subjected to traditional agricultural practices with a clear vegetation gradient. Using remote sensing data and global databases, we calibrated a Random Forest model to correlatively link tree cover with climatic, edaphic, fire and agricultural practices data. We showed that annual rainfall and accumulated water deficit were the main drivers of the distribution of tree cover and vegetation classes (defined by the modes of tree cover density), but agricultural practices, especially pastoralism, were also important in determining tree cover. We simulated future tree cover with our model using different scenarios of climate and land-use (agriculture and population) changes. Our simulations suggest that tree cover may respond differently regarding the type of scenarios, but land-use change was an important driver of vegetation change even able to counterbalance the effect of climate change in Central Africa. (Résumé d'auteur

Trajectoires résidentielles, construction des espaces de vie et ancrage dans le périurbain. Enquête au nord de l’agglomération parisienne

International audienceThis article focuses on the links between residential trajectories, building living spaces, and territorial anchoring in suburban areas. It follows recent studies that qualify certain homogenizing representations of suburban residents. It uses the results of a survey conducted in the suburban area north of the greater Paris region. This survey consisted of around one hundred interviews with households of varied social positions, concerning their residential and biographical history, their practices, and representations of their living space. Beyond the image of the dual income family leaving the dense city to buy a house in an improved living environment, the article reflects the diversity of the types of inhabitants’ residential trajectories and of the logic explaining their residential choice. It not only stresses that the living spaces of suburban inhabitants are characterized by proximity to, and the use of, local resources, but, in addition, points out that previous places of residence are also resource sites for individuals, indicating a “multi-polarization” of practices and a “multi-anchoring” of individuals.Cet article aborde les liens entre trajectoires résidentielles, construction des espaces de vie et ancrage territorial dans les espaces périurbains. Il s’inscrit dans la lignée de travaux récents qui nuancent certaines représentations tendant à homogénéiser les habitants du périurbain. Il exploite les résultats d’une enquête menée dans le périurbain au nord de l’agglomération parisienne, qui a consisté en une centaine d’entretiens avec des ménages aux positions sociales variées, portant sur leurs parcours résidentiel et biographique, leurs pratiques et représentations de leur espace de vie. Au-delà de la figure du couple bi-actif qui quitte la ville dense pour acheter une maison dans un cadre de vie valorisé, l’article rend compte de la diversité des types de trajectoires résidentielles de ces habitants et des logiques expliquant leur choix résidentiel. Il souligne également que les espaces de vie des habitants du périurbain sont caractérisés par la proximité et le recours aux ressources locales, mais que les lieux de résidences antérieures constituent des lieux de ressources pour les individus, ce qui induit une « multipolarisation » des pratiques et un « multi-ancrage »

Impact of sex and sex hormones on pathophysiology and progression of aortic stenosis in a murine model

The lesions observed in AS have been shown to be sex specific, with women presenting extensive fibrotic remodeling while men developing more calcification deposit. We thus aimed to evaluate the influence of sex and sex hormones on the pathophysiology of aortic valve stenosis (AS) in our mouse model of AS. LDLr-/- ApoB100/100 IGF-II+/- mice (n = 210) were separated in six different groups: (1) intact male (IM), (2) intact female (IF), (3) castrated male (CM), (4) ovariectomized females (OF), (5) CM with testosterone supplementation (CMT), and (6) OF with 17β-estradiol supplementation (OFE). Mice were fed a high-fat/high-sucrose/high-cholesterol diet for 6 months. Hemodynamic progression of AS was followed by transthoracic echocardiography (at 12 and 36 weeks) and analyzed in all mice alive at 36 weeks. Aortic valves were collected for histological and digital droplet PCR* analysis. Increases in peak velocity were comparable in IF and IM (24.2 ± 5.7 vs. 25.8 ± 5.3 cm/s; p = 0.68), but IF presented with less severe AS. Between the three groups of male mice, AS progression was more important in IM (increase in peak velocity: 24.2 ± 5.7 cm/s; p < 0.001) compared to CM (6.2 ± 1.4; p = 0.42), and CMT (15.1 ± 3.5; p = 0.002). In the three groups of female mice, there were no statistical differences in AS progression. Digital PCR analysis revealed an important upregulation of the osteogenic gene RunX2 in IM (p < 0.0001) and downregulation of the pro-calcifying gene ALPL in IF (p < 0.05). Male sex and testosterone play an important role in upregulation of pro-calcifying genes and hemodynamic progression of AS. However, female mice appeared to be protected against calcification, characterized by downregulation of pro-osteogenic genes, but presented a similar AS hemodynamic progressio

Electroencephalographic Abnormalities in a Patient Suffering from Long-Term Neuropsychological Complications following SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Introduction: Emotional apathy has recently been identified as a common symptom of long COVID. While recent meta-analyses have demonstrated generalized EEG slowing with the emergence of delta rhythms in patients hospitalized for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, no EEG study or dopamine transporter scintigraphy (DaTSCAN) has been performed in patients with long COVID presenting with apathy. The objective of this case report was to explore the pathophysiology of neuropsychological symptoms in long COVID. Case Presentation: A 47-year-old patient who developed a long COVID with prominent apathy following an initially clinically mild SARS-CoV-2 infection underwent neuropsychological assessment, cerebral MRI, DaTSCAN, and resting-state high-density EEG 7 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The EEG data were compared to those of 21 healthy participants. The patient presented with apathy, cognitive difficulties with dysexecutive syndrome, moderate attentional and verbal episodic memory disturbances, and resolution of premorbid mild gaming disorder, mild mood disturbances, and sleep disturbances. His MRI and DaTSCAN were unremarkable. EEG revealed a complex pattern of oscillatory abnormalities compared to the control group, with a strong increase in whole-scalp delta and beta band activity, as well as a decrease in alpha band activity. Overall, these effects were more prominent in the frontal-central-temporal region. Conclusion: These results suggest widespread changes in EEG oscillatory patterns in a patient with long COVID characterized by neuropsychological complications with prominent apathy. Despite the inherent limitations of a case report, these results suggest dysfunction in the cortical networks involved in motivation and emotion

Multimorbidity in bipolar disorder and under-treatment of cardiovascular disease: a cross sectional study

Background: Individuals with serious mental disorders experience poor physical health, especially increased rates of cardiometabolic morbidity and premature morbidity. Recent evidence suggests that individuals with schizophrenia have numerous comorbid physical conditions which may be under-recorded and under-treated but to date very few studies have explored this issue for bipolar disorder. Methods:We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a dataset of 1,751,841 registered patients within 314 primary-care practices in Scotland, U.K. Bipolar disorder was identified using Read Codes recorded within electronic medical records. Data on 32 common chronic physical conditions were also assessed. Potential prescribing inequalities were evaluated by analyzing prescribing data for coronary heart disease (CHD) and hypertension. Results: Compared to controls, individuals with bipolar disorder were significantly less likely to have no recorded physical conditions (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.54-0.63) and significantly more likely to have one physical condition (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.16-1.39), two physical conditions (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.30-1.62) and three or more physical conditions (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.30-1.64). People with bipolar disorder also had higher rates of thyroid disorders, chronic kidney disease, chronic pain, chronic obstructive airways disease and diabetes but, surprisingly, lower recorded rates of hypertension and atrial fibrillation. People with bipolar disorder and comorbid CHD or hypertension were significantly more likely to be prescribed no antihypertensive or cholesterol-lowering medications compared to controls, and bipolar individuals with CHD or hypertension were significantly less likely to be on 2 or more antihypertensive agents. Conclusions: Individuals with bipolar disorder are similar to individuals with schizophrenia in having a wide range of comorbid and multiple physical health conditions. They are also less likely than controls to have a primary-care record of cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension and atrial fibrillation. Those with a recorded diagnosis of CHD or hypertension were less likely to be treated with cardiovascular medications and were treated less intensively. This study highlights the high physical healthcare needs of people with bipolar disorder, and provides evidence for a systematic under-recognition and under-treatment of cardiovascular disease in this group

Banque de graines du sol et déterminants de la germination du tali, Erythrophleum suaveolens (Guill. & Perr.) Brenan

peer reviewedCette étude évalue l’abondance des graines d’Erythrophleum suaveolens dans la banque du sol des forêts denses humides d’Afrique centrale. Les travaux ont été menés au Nord-Congo dans deux types forestiers : la forêt à Celtis sur des sols argilo-sableux à sablo-argileux et la forêt à Manilkara sur des sols sableux. Les tiges d’E. suaveolens (dhp ≥ 10 cm) ont été inventoriées dans deux parcelles de 400 ha, et les structures diamétriques de leurs populations ont été comparées. En outre, 80 fosses (2 x 40 fosses par type de forêt) ont été creusées aux pieds de 20 arbres (10 par forêt), sur trois couches contiguës de 10 cm chacune, soit à une profondeur totale de 30 cm, et l’abondance des graines dans la banque du sol a été évaluée. La dormance des graines récoltées a été testée par des essais de germination après traitement au H2SO4 et cinq graines prélevées jusqu’à une profondeur de 20 cm dans la forêt à Celtis ont été utilisées pour estimer leur âge par Spectroscopie de Masse par Accélérateur (SMA). La comparaison des structures diamétriques indique une plus grande proportion de tiges de faible diamètre dans la forêt à Celtis. Alors que les densités de tiges (dhp ≥ 10 cm) sont proches, avec 0,85 et 1,05 tige/ha respectivement, dans la forêt à Celtis et la forêt à Manilkara, les densités de graines sont significativement plus élevées dans la forêt à Celtis (8,55 graines/m2) que dans la forêt à Manilkara (0,15 graine/m2). Le pourcentage maximum de germination obtenu était de 19,1 % pour des graines n’ayant subi aucun traitement. Les lots traités à l’acide ont présenté de moindres taux de germination. Ces graines pourraient se conserver une dizaine d’années dans la banque du sol. Les facteurs pouvant influencer les variations de densité des graines sont discutés et des recommandations sylvicoles sont formulées