A highly prevalent filamentous algal endophyte in natural populations of the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima is not detected during cultivation in Northern Brittany

International audienc

A highly prevalent filamentous algal endophyte in natural populations of the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima is not detected during cultivation in Northern Brittany

The sugar kelp Saccharina latissima is cultivated in Europe for food, feed and ultimately the production of chemical commodities and bioenergy. Being cultivated in the open sea, S. latissima is exposed to potentially harmful organisms, such as Laminarionema elsbetiae, a filamentous brown algal endophyte with a very high prevalence in wild populations of European S. latissima. As it was shown previously that S. latissima sporophytes get infected by L. elsbetiae very early in their life, seeding the spores on collectors and keeping them under controlled conditions during the critical time of a possible infection with filamentous endophytes could be advantageous over direct seeding techniques, where the ropes are deployed within days after seeding. We used a qPCR-assay to assess the prevalence of the endophyte L. elsbetiae in S. latissima cultivated during winter in Northern Brittany, comparing individuals from direct-seeded ropes and collector-seeded lines that were kept in laboratory conditions for different time spans. No DNA of the endophyte was detected in the samples, suggesting that either the kelps were not infected or the amount of endophytic filaments were below the detection rate of the qPCR assay. Furthermore, L. elsbetiae could not be detected in the seawater surrounding the kelp farm, indicating that L. elsbetiae is not fertile or disperses at a very small scale in Northern Brittany during the deployment time of young kelps. Our results suggest that infections of cultivated S. latissima with the endophyte L. elsbetiae might be a minor problem in kelp farms in Northern Brittany if the seeding production is kept under controlled conditions without external contamination

European Competition Policy in International Markets

International audienceChanges in the institutional, technological and economic environment raise new challenges to the European competition policy. In this context, it is timely for European authorities to appraise the external dimension of the European competition policy as well as its articulation with current internal reforms. Globalisation can increase the costs of monitoring and seriously reduce the ability of European authorities to tackle cross-border anti-competitive conducts. In addition, conflicts are exacerbated by industrial policy motivations. As it is unlikely that the sole application of the territoriality and extraterritoriality principles to competition rules could yield an optimal international competition system, globalisation calls for higher levels and types of cooperation. Given that bilateral cooperation and especially the implementation of comity principles could be of no value when laws or interests are sources of international conflicts, three main paths could be therefore encouraged: The continuous harmonization of rules through the joint action of OECD and ICN; the higher cooperation in the confidential information exchange; the establishment of global anti-trust institutions. Although WTO is legitimate in judging questions related market access and entry barriers, it is less equipped to assess international hard core cartels or M&A reviews. As a substitute for WTO, a multilevel system, like the EU system, could be promoted. For political and pragmatic reasons, it could be composed in a first step of a hard core of countries like the EU, Japan and the U.S. It could be associated with the creation of an international Court of Justice for competition. In addition to these external reforms, some internal reforms could be required. Competition authorities have to develop further competition advocacy to give a higher priority to competition issues in other EU policies and national regulation. A parallel and complementary reform could consist in making the European competition agency independent from State Members' interference

International and Product Diversification:Which Strategy Suits Family Managers

This paper explores the impact of family and professional managers on performance and how this relationship is affected by international and product diversification. Using a dataset of 262 German firms from 2000 to 2009, we find that an increasing proportion of family managers on the management board is associated with higher performance. This relationship is negatively moderated by higher levels of international diversification but reinforced by increased product diversification due to differences in the human and social capital between family and professional managers. Firms with a significant presence of family members on the top management team (TMT) face a choice of either adopting a corporate strategy that runs counter to “global-focusing” or adjusting the balance of family and professional managers in the TMT. Managerial summary Deciding the extent of family involvement on the executive team is a key strategic decision. While our research supports the general proposition that family managers will enhance performance we show they don't have the same positive impact in all situations. More precisely, we show that family managers are more suited to lead diversification than internationalization. If a family firm wants to go international it therefore is sensible to increase the proportion of professional managers on the executive team. Diversifying into new product markets, however, does not require outside expertise commonly associated with professional managers

A Solve-RD ClinVar-based reanalysis of 1522 index cases from ERN-ITHACA reveals common pitfalls and misinterpretations in exome sequencing

Purpose Within the Solve-RD project (https://solve-rd.eu/), the European Reference Network for Intellectual disability, TeleHealth, Autism and Congenital Anomalies aimed to investigate whether a reanalysis of exomes from unsolved cases based on ClinVar annotations could establish additional diagnoses. We present the results of the “ClinVar low-hanging fruit” reanalysis, reasons for the failure of previous analyses, and lessons learned. Methods Data from the first 3576 exomes (1522 probands and 2054 relatives) collected from European Reference Network for Intellectual disability, TeleHealth, Autism and Congenital Anomalies was reanalyzed by the Solve-RD consortium by evaluating for the presence of single-nucleotide variant, and small insertions and deletions already reported as (likely) pathogenic in ClinVar. Variants were filtered according to frequency, genotype, and mode of inheritance and reinterpreted. Results We identified causal variants in 59 cases (3.9%), 50 of them also raised by other approaches and 9 leading to new diagnoses, highlighting interpretation challenges: variants in genes not known to be involved in human disease at the time of the first analysis, misleading genotypes, or variants undetected by local pipelines (variants in off-target regions, low quality filters, low allelic balance, or high frequency). Conclusion The “ClinVar low-hanging fruit” analysis represents an effective, fast, and easy approach to recover causal variants from exome sequencing data, herewith contributing to the reduction of the diagnostic deadlock

Evaluation de la pertinence de l'utilisation de mélanges d'herbicides pour le contrôle et la gestion des populations d'adventices résistantes

Diplôme : Dr. d'Universit

Efficacité de la stratégie des mélanges d'herbicides pour la gestion des populations de mauvaises herbes résistantes

L'utilisation intensive et répétée d'un même herbicide pour contrôler les populations de mauvaises herbes a engendré l'émergence de mécanismes de résistances. La perte d'efficacité du désherbage, engendrée par ces résistances, devient alors problématique pour les agriculteurs. Cette thèse vise à évaluer dans quelle mesure l'application simultanée d'herbicides à modes d'actions différents, sous forme de mélanges, peut permettre une gestion efficace des populations adventices résistantes. D'un point de vue théorique, les mélanges d'herbicides sont fréquemment préconisés en prévention de l'émergence de résistances. En pratique, les agriculteurs utilisent des mélanges dès lors que l'herbicide habituellement utilisé seul pour contrôler la population, devient inefficace du fait de la présence majoritaire de plantes résistantes. L'association d'une second mode d action permettant de rétablir le contrôle de la population. En modélisant l'évolution d'une résistance sous l'effet d'une telle utilisation de mélanges d'herbicides, nous montrons que quelques situations permettent, en théorie, de réduire la proportion de plantes résistantes d'une génération à l autre. Toutefois, l expérimentation révèle que les conditions associées à ces situations sont très rarement retrouvées au champ. Nous concluons donc que l utilisation de mélanges d herbicides sur des populations en partie résistantes à l un des produits n est pas efficace en tant que stratégie de gestion d une résistance déclarée. La résistance étant l effet d un processus adaptatif inévitable, la meilleure application des mélanges est de retarder son apparition plutôt que de lui faire face.The intensive and repeated use of one unique herbicide to control the weed populations induced the emergence of resistance mechanisms. The progressive lost of weed control induced by the resistance appears as a real problem for growers. The present thesis evaluates the effectiveness of a simultaneous application of two herbicides with two different modes of action in a mixture to manage resistance in weed populations. The literature shows many theoretical studies which recommend the use of herbicide mixtures to prevent or delay the resistance. However, in practice, growers commonly use herbicides mixtures when the current herbicide becomes inefficient because of the abundance of resistant plants. The combination with a second mode of action allows refunding a good control of the population. By modelling the evolution of one frequent resistance in a population treated with one herbicide mixture, we found that few situations theoretically allow a decrease of the proportion of resistant plants over several generations. However, our experiment reveals that the particular conditions describing these situations are seldom encountered in field. We conclude that the use of herbicide mixtures cannot works as a good strategy to manage some weed populations which are partially resistant to one of the two herbicides. As the resistance is an inevitable adaptive process, the best use of herbicide mixtures is to retard its appearance rather than faced it.DIJON-BU Sciences Economie (212312102) / SudocSudocFranceF

sutures in Skin Surgery

peer reviewedDermatologists performing skin surgery mostly use the square knot. Other underused or even forgotten suturing techniques may still be helpful in some instances. We shall emphasize some simple techniques such as the horizontal mattress suture, the “cross stitch”, the “corner stitch” (half buried mattress suture), the buried dermal suture, the buried vertical mattress suture, the continuous mattress suture and the running intradermal suture. In given circumstances, all of them may improve suturing and promote healing. Technical aspects, advantages and disadvantages of each type of suture will be briefly described.La majorité des dermatologues effectuant de la chirurgie dermatologique n’utilisent que le point simple. D’autres techniques de suture sont sous-utilisées ou oubliées, alors qu’elles peuvent être particulièrement utiles dans certaines circonstances. Nous insisterons sur des techniques simples qui améliorent la suture et la cicatrisation comme le point en U, le point en X, le point d’angle, le point dermique à noeud enfoui, le point à appui dermique, le surjet en U et le surjet intradermique. Chacun de ces points est présenté avec son mode de placement, ses avantages et ses inconvénients. Ceux-ci guideront le praticien dans ses choix thérapeutiques

"Dermato-couture": points de suture utiles en chirurgie dermatologique.

Dermatologists performing skin surgery mostly use the square knot. Other underused or even forgotten suturing techniques may still be helpful in some instances. We shall emphasize some simple techniques such as the horizontal mattress suture, the "cross stitch", the "corner stitch" (half buried mattress suture), the buried dermal suture, the buried vertical mattress suture, the continuous mattress suture and the running intradermal suture. In given circumstances, all of them may improve suturing and promote healing. Technical aspects, advantages and disadvantages of each type of suture will be briefly described.English AbstractJournal ArticleReviewinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe