Ecofog - Gagner en compétitivité et réduire les impacts environnementaux de la filière foie gras

On a worldwide scale, France is the leading producer of foie gras. To maintain this leadership, the sector must remain competitive and control its production costs while meeting specific societal and environmental expectations such as preservation of product quality, respect for animal welfare or limited use of natural resources. The aim of the project was to develop innovative production systems that would limit the impacts of feed and its surrounding practices on the competitiveness of the sector and the environment. An experimental approach was associated with a multi-criteria sustainability assessment (farm level), complemented by an analysis of production cost (farm level) and environmental impacts (product level). Two domains were studied: one related to feed, and the other related to ambient conditions during breeding and force-feeding. Several issues have been identified to progress. Reducing the amount of food distributed (-10%) appears as a possible solution to reduce feeding costs during rearing. The use of sorghum is also of interest but its use should be limited to the rearing phase. Lastly, semi-open air system, compared to open-air system, helps to improve IC (Consumption Index) and reduces animal heterogeneity and mortality. This project also provided original results related to the understanding of mechanisms involved in body temperature regulation of ducks on the one hand and on the other hand to LCA results of different innovations. Lastly, it contributed to the creation of two tools: one to drill ventilation ducts and another to calculate production costs. The results were disseminated to the professionals throughout the project in order to make all data available.À l’échelle mondiale, la France est le premier producteur de foie gras. Afin de conserver ce leadership, la filière doit rester compétitive et maîtriser ses coûts de production tout en répondant à des attentes sociétales et environnementales spécifiques telles que la préservation de la qualité des produits, le respect du bien-être animal ou la gestion économe des ressources. Le projet ECOFOG avait pour objectif de développer des systèmes de production innovants, permettant de limiter l’impact de l’alimentation des canards et des pratiques qui l’entourent pour gagner en compétitivité de la filière et diminuer l’impact environnemental de la filière. La démarche expérimentale a été associée à une démarche d’évaluation multicritère de la durabilité à l’échelle de l’atelier, complétée par une analyse des coûts de production à l’échelle de l’atelier et des impacts environnementaux à l’échelle du produit. Deux axes d’étude ont en particulier été développés : l’un autour de l’aliment, et l’autre autour des conditions d’ambiance en élevage et en gavage.Plusieurs pistes ont été identifiées pour progresser. La réduction de la quantité d’aliment distribué (-10%) est une solution possible pour réduire les coûts d'alimentation. L’utilisation de sorgho présente par ailleurs un intérêt environnemental mais son utilisation devrait être limitée à la phase d’élevage. En termes de bâtiments enfin, le système semi plein-air, comparé au système plein-air, contribue à améliorer l’IC (Indice de Consommation) et réduit les écarts de poids entre les animaux et la mortalité. Ce projet a permis d’obtenir des résultats originaux sur les mécanismes impliqués dans la régulation de la température corporelle des canards. Il a aussi permis d’évaluer les impacts environnementaux de la production de foie gras, et d’analyser les conséquences des différents systèmes de production innovants sur les performances, les coûts et la durabilité de la production. Il a enfin contribué à la création de deux outils utiles pour la filière : un outil d’aide au perçage des gaines de ventilation en atelier de gavage et un outil de calcul du coût de production. Ces résultats ont été largement diffusés vers les professionnels afin de rendre l’ensemble de ces données disponibles

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

304L stainless steel oxidation in carbon dioxide: An XPS study

International audienceFrom the early beginning of the oxidation of 304L stainless steel in carbon dioxide at 1273K (1 min, for a weight gain of 0.02mgcm−2), the surface of the alloy was entirely covered by oxides: magnetite Fe3O4, chromia Cr2O3 and traces of wüstite Fe1−xO. Later on, for weight gains approaching 1mg cm−2, magnetite remained at the outer interface, with traces of hematite (Fe2O3), above a thick layer of wüstite Fe1−xO. Magnetite and wüstite may favour adhesion of thermal plasma protective coatings such as alumina

High temperature compressive creep of spark plasma sintered zirconium (oxy-)carbide

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Towards a surface functionalisation and grafting of a polycarbosilane onto zirconium carbide particles for the development of hybrid core-shell structures

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Synthesis of SiCNAl(O) pre-alloyed nanopowders by pyrolysis of an aluminosilazane aerosol

International audienceA liquid aluminosilazane precursor, with various Al contents, was synthesized by direct reaction between hexamethyldisilazane and trimethylaluminum at room temperature. Mass spectrometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed respectively a methane evolution and the formation of Al N bonds. Thermal-spray pyrolysis of this precursor was realized under different conditions: temperature (1200–1400 ◦C), pyrolysis atmosphere (Ar, Ar/NH3) and gaseous flow rate (1 and 3 L min−1). SEM micrographs revealed spherical SiCNAl(O) nanopowders which size (20–180 nm in diameter) depending on the residence time duration of the product in the furnace. Pyrolysis under argon led to a high C content, and then to the presence of free carbon and amorphous SiC phase detected by XRD and NMR analysis. Introduction of ammonia in the pyrolysis atmosphere induced an important decrease of C content in the pre-alloyed nanopowders, correlated with an increase of N and Al.With this process, multielement nanopowders with an adjustable composition exhibit a higher thermal stability than powders processed by laser-spray pyrolysis with an equivalent precursor

Dynamics of thermal heat acclimatization in force-fed ducks

During force-feeding period, Mule ducks received increasing amounts of feed to force steatosis of the liver. The intensive lipogenesis is associated with high amount of energy to export as heat. The effects of ambient temperature on heat production and energy metabolism were tested on Mule ducks housed in an open-circuit respiration chamber. The metabolizable energy intake tended to be lower when ambient temperature was higher than 22 °C whereas total heat production was lower when ambient temperature was lower than 15 °C or higher than 22 °C, because ducks have reached their maximal ability of heat vaporization even at the lowest ambient temperature. Alternating periods of intense lipogenesis after the meal with periods of resting metabolism helps the ducks to adapt to high ambient temperature

A simple route for organic covalent grafting onto zirconium carbide particles

International audienceStarting from core-shell zirconium carbide powders, a covalent grafting was described, using a directnucleophilic substitution in diethyl ether. Thus, two different organic molecules were attached onto thesurface of the ceramic, through Si O Zr and C O Zr bonds. The materials were characterized by meansof TEM and XPS characterizations. These new systems could represent an original route to elaboratezirconium carbide-based hybrid material

Adhesion of ceramic coating on thin and smooth metal substrate : a novel approach with a nanostructured ceramic interlayer

International audienceThe adhesion of plasma-sprayed coating is, to a large extent, controlled by the cleanness and roughness of the surface on which the coating is deposited. So, most of the plasma spray procedures involve surface pretreatment by grit-blasting to adapt the roughness of the surface to the size of the impacting particles. This preparation process brings about compressive stresses that make it inappropriate for thin substrates. The present works aim to elaborate a thick ceramic coating (about 0.5 mm thick) on a thin metal substrate (1 mm thick) with a smooth surface (Ra of about 0.4 lm). The coating system is intended for use in a Generation-IV nuclear energy system. It must exhibit a good adhesion between the ceramic topcoat and the smooth metal substrate to meet the specifications of the application. Our approach consisted of depositing the ceramic topcoat by air plasma spraying on a few micrometers thick ceramic layer made by suspension plasma spraying. This nanostructured layer played the role of a bond coat for the topcoat and made it possible to deposit it on the as-received substrate. The adhesion of the nanostructured layer was measured by the Vickers indentation cracking technique and that of the ceramic duplex coating system by tensile test