Technological contribution of MNEs to the growth of energy-greentech sector in the early post-Kyoto period

International audienceWe consider the commitment of large firms with high R&D investments to the development of technologies of climate change mitigation related to the production or storage of energy. We analyse such Climate Change Mitigation Technologies focused on energy production and storage (energy CCMT) across the globe with the aim of assessing whether the Kyoto Protocol fosters the diffusion of inventive activity in energy greentech. Using patents as the key dataset, we give an empirical description of the corporate patenting activity and assess its contribution to the overall energy CCMT inventions across countries and sectors of energy greentech before and after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol (1997). Our observations indicate that climate change issues and greentech development have not been prioritized to the same extent by firms of western countries as opposed to, for example, Japanese firms in the beginning of the 2000s. However, we witness a growing commitment in most of the western countries. US large firms were more prone to gain skills in renewable energy technologies than most of their European counterparts, which continue to heavily invest in traditional energies such as Nuclear energy and Combustion

The internationalization of corporate invention: national and sectoral contributions

ISBN : 978-84-695-7408-9 Disponible en ligne : http://www.euspri-madrid2013.org/pdf/1039.pdfInternational audienc

ÉTALEMENT URBAIN, DYNAMIQUES AGRICOLES ET POLITIQUES PERIURBAINES UNE ANALYSE SPATIALE DU LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON ET DU PORTUGAL

N° ISBN - 978-2-7380-1284-5International audienceFor almost 40 years cities' peripheries and the coastal areas of Languedoc-Roussillon in France and of Portugal have been known important urban dynamics that affect natural spaces, and most particularly the agricultural areas. These dynamics are due to periurbanization, i.e. the increase of urban sprawl and of spatial fragmentation, thus contributing to important decline of the agriculture land. These dynamics are nowadays considered in spatial policies and planning at different scales by developing, among others, the role of agriculture as a way to deal with urban sprawl. This paper is developed in three steps: a) the spatial analysis of the urban dynamics, specially the mutations of the agriculture lands of Languedoc-Roussillon and of Portugal; b) the analysis of spatial policies and planning at different scales, and of how they are dealing with urban dynamics; c) the analysis of two different local projects – one in Languedoc-Roussillon (Lunel) and the other one in Portugal (Guimarães) – that are trying to enhance the periurban agriculture as a way to combat urban sprawl, thus promoting a more urban and periurban sustainable development

Jasmonate and auxin perception : how plants keep F-boxes in check

Phytohormones regulate the plasticity of plant growth and development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Many hormone signal transduction cascades involve ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of proteins by the 26S proteasome. The conjugation of ubiquitin to a substrate is facilitated by the E1 activating, E2 conjugating, and the substrate-specifying E3 ligating enzymes. The most prevalent type of E3 ligase in plants is the Cullin-RING ligase (CRL)-type, with F-box proteins (FBPs) as the substrate recognition component. The activity of these SKP-Cullin-F-box (SCF) complexes needs to be tightly regulated in time and place. Here, we review the regulation of SCF function in plants on multiple levels, with a focus on the auxin and jasmonate SCF-type receptor complexes. We discuss in particular the relevance of protein-protein interactions and post-translational modifications as mechanisms to keep SCF functioning under control. Additionally, we highlight the unique property of SCFTIR1/AFB and SCFCOI1 to recognize substrates by forming co-receptor complexes. Finally, we explore how engineered selective agonists can be used to study and uncouple the outcomes of the complex auxin and jasmonate signaling networks that are governed by these FBPs

DOCUMENTATION OF RISIS DATASETS - RISIS Patent Database

The RISIS Patent database derives from the EPO PATSTAT. The database is designed for the analysis of technological knowledge creation, using patent as a proxy. It thus focuses on ‘priority patents’

Putative Key Role of Inositol Messengers in Endothelial Cells in Preeclampsia

Immunological alterations, endothelial dysfunction, and insulin resistance characterize preeclampsia. Endothelial cells hold the key role in the pathogenesis of this disease. The signaling pathways mediating these biological abnormalities converge on PKB/Akt, an intracellular kinase regulating cell survival, proliferation, and metabolism. Inositol second messengers are involved in metabolic and cell signaling pathways and are highly expressed during preeclampsia. Intracellular action of these molecules is deeply affected by zinc, manganese, and calcium. To evaluate the pathophysiological significance, we present the response of the intracellular pathways of inositol phosphoglycans involved in cellular metabolism and propose a link with the disease

The transcriptional repressor complex FRS7-FRS12 regulates flowering time and growth in Arabidopsis

Most living organisms developed systems to efficiently time environmental changes. The plant-clock acts in coordination with external signals to generate output responses determining seasonal growth and flowering time. Here, we show that two Arabidopsis thaliana transcription factors, FAR1 RELATED SEQUENCE 7 (FRS7) and FRS12, act as negative regulators of these processes. These proteins accumulate particularly in short-day conditions and interact to form a complex. Loss-of-function of FRS7 and FRS12 results in early flowering plants with overly elongated hypocotyls mainly in short days. We demonstrate by molecular analysis that FRS7 and FRS12 affect these developmental processes in part by binding to the promoters and repressing the expression of GIGANTEA and PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4 as well as several of their downstream signalling targets. Our data reveal a molecular machinery that controls the photoperiodic regulation of flowering and growth and offer insight into how plants adapt to seasonal changes

The relationship between salivary C-reactive protein and cognitive function in children aged 11-14 years: Does psychopathology have a moderating effect?

Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), a non-specific biomarker of systemic bodily inflammation, has been associated with more pronounced cognitive impairments in adults with psychiatric disorders, particularly in the domains of memory and executive function. Whether this association is present in early life (i.e., the time at which the cognitive impairments that characterise these disorders become evident), and is specific to those with emerging psychiatric disorders, has yet to be investigated. To this end, we examined the association between salivary CRP and cognitive function in children aged 11- 14 years and explored the moderating effect of psychopathology. The study utilised data from an established longitudinal investigation of children recruited from the community (N=107) that had purposively over-sampled individuals experiencing psychopathology (determined using questionnaires). CRP was measured in saliva samples and participants completed assessments of cognition (memory and executive function) and psychopathology (internalising and externalising symptoms and psychotic-like experiences). Linear regression models indicated that higher salivary CRP was associated with poorer letter fluency (β=-0.24, p=0.006) and scores on the inhibition (β=-0.28, p=0.004) and inhibition/switching (β=-0.36, p<0.001) subtests of the colour-word interference test, but not with performance on any of the memory tasks (working, visual, and verbal memory tasks). Results were largely unchanged after adjustment for psychopathology and no significant interactions between CRP and psychopathology were observed on any cognitive measure. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that elevated salivary CRP is associated with poorer cognitive function in early life, but that this association is not moderated by concurrent psychopathology. These findings have implications for early intervention strategies that attempt to ameliorate cognitive deficits associated with emerging psychiatric disorders. Further research is needed to determine whether salivary CRP levels can be used as a valid marker of peripheral inflammation among healthy adolescents

FRS7 and FRS12 recruit NINJA to regulate expression of glucosinolate biosynthesis genes

The sessile lifestyle of plants requires accurate physiology adjustments to be able to thrive in a changing environment. Plants integrate environmental timing signals to control developmental and stress responses. Here, we identified Far1 Related Sequence (FRS) 7 and FRS12, two transcriptional repressors that accumulate in short-day conditions, as regulators of Arabidopsis glucosinolate (GSL) biosynthesis. Loss of function of FRS7 and FRS12 results in plants with increased amplitudes of diurnal expression of GSL pathway genes. Protein interaction analyses revealed that FRS7 and FRS12 recruit the NOVEL INTERACTOR OF JAZ (NINJA) to assemble a transcriptional repressor complex. Genetic and molecular evidence demonstrated that FRS7, FRS12 and NINJA jointly regulate the expression of GSL biosynthetic genes, and thus constitute a molecular mechanism that modulates specialized metabolite accumulation