Lower bound of Schr{\"o}dinger operators on Riemannian manifolds

We show that a weighted manifold which admits a relative Faber Krahn inequality admits the Fefferman Phong inequality V $\psi$, $\psi$ $\le$ CV $\psi$ 2 , with the constant depending on a Morrey norm of V , and we deduce from it a condition for a L 2 Hardy inequality to holds, as well as conditions for Schr{\"o}dinger operators to be positive. We also obtain an estimate on the bottom of the spectrum for Schr{\"o}dinger operators

De la difficulté à être reconnus « capables » et « compétents » : des adolescents et jeunes adultes désignés handicapés mentaux en quête d’autonomie

International audienceDepuis deux décennies, le législateur français s'attache à promouvoir l'autonomie des personnes en situation de handicap en leur permettant, notamment, d'accroitre leur pouvoir d'agir sur leur environnement par autodétermination. A cet égard, nombre de dispositifs dont elles sont la cible témoignent de cette volonté de soutenir l'autonomie des personnes désignées handicapées mentales définies traditionnellement en termes de dépendance et d'incapacités. À partir d'une enquête ethnographique, cette contribution examine les dynamiques paradoxales qui traversent la politique publique d'inclusion, à visée émancipatrice, au sein d'un dispositif Ulis. Elle décrit la difficulté que rencontre un groupe d'adolescents et jeunes adultes désignés handicapés mentaux scolarisés dans un lycée professionnel à être reconnu « capable » et à s'inscrire dans un processus d'autonomisation. L'analyse des expériences vécues par ces jeunes montre qu'ils doivent faire face à un soupçon d'incompétence et à un processus d'infantilisation qui tiennent moins à leurs incapacités réelles qu'à la manière dont ils sont catégorisés, en tant que jeunes désignés « handicapés mentaux »

Towards a Naturalistic Animal Model of Depression? A Study on Horses

International audienceBACKGROUND: Recent reviews question current animal models of depression and emphasise the need for ethological models of mood disorders based on animals living under natural conditions. Domestic horses encounter chronic stress, including potential stress at work, which can induce behavioural disorders (e.g. "apathy"). Our pioneering study evaluated the potential of domestic horses in their usual environment to become an ethological model of depression by testing this models' face validity (i.e. behavioural similarity with descriptions of human depressive states).METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We observed the spontaneous behaviour of 59 working horses in their home environment, focusing on immobility bouts of apparent unresponsiveness when horses displayed an atypical posture (termed withdrawn hereafter), evaluated their responsiveness to their environment and their anxiety levels, and analysed cortisol levels. Twenty-four percent of the horses presented the withdrawn posture, also characterized by gaze, head and ears fixity, a profile that suggests a spontaneous expression of "behavioural despair". When compared with control "non-withdrawn" horses from the same stable, withdrawn horses appeared more indifferent to environmental stimuli in their home environment but reacted more emotionally in more challenging situations. They exhibited lower plasma cortisol levels. Withdrawn horses all belonged to the same breed and females were over-represented.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Horse might be a useful potential candidate for an animal model of depression. Face validity of this model appeared good, and potential genetic input and high prevalence of these disorders in females add to the convergence. At a time when current animal models of depression are questioned and the need for novel models is expressed, this study suggests that novel models and biomarkers could emerge from ethological approaches in home environments

How Useful Are Existing Protocols in the Quick Assessment of the Welfare of Semi-Feral Horses? Pilot Study on Konik Polski Horses Living in the Forest Sanctuary

Scientifically validated and standardised methods for the evaluation of the welfare of free-living horses are urgently needed by both the owners and managers of these populations and those responsible for implementing national welfare legislation. The aim of the study was to test the feasibility and usefulness of two welfare protocols that could be applied to semi-feral populations: a prototype of welfare assessment template (WAT) for Carneddau semi-feral ponies and the IFCE/INRAE Horse Welfare Protocol. Additionally, the body condition scale designed by Henneke (BCS-H) was employed. The study took place in July/August 2022 and April 2023 to evaluate the welfare of a pilot population of nineteen semi-feral Konik polski horses. The horses scored high or satisfactory under indicators across both protocols; only body condition scores were significantly lower in early spring (BCS-WAT: 1.11 ± 0.57; BCS-H: 3.84 ± 1.17) than in the summer (BCS-WAT: 1.58 ± 0.61; BCS-H: 5.63 ± 1.01). Our study confirmed the feasibility of utilising most of the WAT and IFCE/INRAE welfare indicators in semi-feral horses. Some adaptations, such as considering validation of scales, positive welfare indicators and animals’ free-choice of conditions, have been suggested for future in-field application

Multiple handlers, several owner changes and short relationship lengths affect horses’ responses to novel object tests

Peer reviewe

Le mal-être active les gènes codant pour l'inflammation

Les chevaux agressifs ne sont pas simplement des chevaux mal éduqués ou caractériels. Cette agressivité peut révéler des souffrances physiques et un état de mal-être qui peuvent être profonds. Cet état de mal-être va jusqu’à modifier l’expression de certains de leurs gènes : ceux impliqués dans la réponse immunitaire et au stress, et la mort cellulaire programmée. Cela montre à quel point ce trouble ne doit pas être pris à la légère. Les chevaux qui présentent un trouble agressif doivent être pris en charge afin de faire évoluer leurs conditions de vie et de travail vers une meilleure prise en compte de leur bien-être

Priming for welfare: gut microbiota is associated with equitation conditions and behavior in horse athletes

We simultaneously measured the fecal microbiota and multiple environmental and host-related variables in a cohort of 185 healthy horses reared in similar conditions during a period of eight months. The pattern of rare bacteria varied from host to host and was largely different between two time points. Among a suite of variables examined, equitation factors were highly associated with the gut microbiota variability, evoking a relationship between gut microbiota and high levels of physical and mental stressors. Behavioral indicators that pointed toward a compromised welfare state (e.g. stereotypies, hypervigilance and aggressiveness) were also associated with the gut microbiota, reinforcing the notion for the existence of the microbiota-gut-brain axis. These observations were consistent with the microbiability of behaviour traits (> 15%), illustrating the importance of gut microbial composition to animal behaviour. As more elite athletes suffer from stress, targeting the microbiota offers a new opportunity to investigate the bidirectional interactions within the brain gut microbiota axis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Prospects in equine research: continuity and innovation

The Scientific Committee of the French National Studs works in partnership with the main research organisms to adapt equine research to the needs of the industry. Three main objectives have been defined: - strengthen research in areas such as doping, molecular genetics, or disease prevention, and redefine the needs in other fields, such as reproduction, while using existing facilities; - establish multidisciplinary networks to tackle particularly complex subjects, such as genetic improvement associating geneticists, ethologists and biomechanics specialists, or prevention of juvenile osteochondrosis associating locomotion specialists, nutritionists, osteogenesis specialists, epidemiologists and geneticists; - create new teams and facilities to investigate new areas of research, i.e. behaviour and social sciences still in their early days, or economic sciences not yet tackled.Sous l'impulsion du Comité d'orientation scientifique et technique (COST) des Haras nationaux et en partenariat avec les grands organismes de recherche, l'évolution stratégique de la recherche équine, marquée par le souci de mieux répondre aux besoins de la filière, se décline en trois problématiques d'intervention : - des recherches à conforter (lutte contre le dopage, génétique moléculaire, prévention des pathologies) ou à réorienter (reproduction) dans le cadre de dispositifs en place, - des réseaux de recherche pluridisciplinaires à constituer pour aborder des thématiques particulièrement complexes (amélioration génétique associant des généticiens, des éthologues et des biomécaniciens ; prévention des troubles ostéoarticulaires juvéniles associant des pathologistes de la locomotion, des nutritionnistes, des spécialistes de l'ostéogénèse, des épidémiologistes et des généticiens), - des équipes et des dispositifs à créer pour aborder de nouveaux champs de recherche (comportement et sciences sociales qui démarrent ; sciences économiques non abordées à ce jour)

Adult neural stem cells and multiciliated ependymal cells share a common lineage regulated by the Geminin family members

Adult neural stem cells and multiciliated ependymalcells are glial cells essential for neurological func-tions. Together, they make up the adult neurogenicniche. Using both high-throughput clonal analysisand single-cell resolution of progenitor division pat-terns and fate, we show that these two componentsof the neurogenic niche are lineally related: adult neu-ral stem cells are sister cells to ependymal cells,whereas most ependymal cells arise from the termi-nal symmetric divisions of the lineage. Unexpectedly,we found that the antagonist regulators of DNA repli-cation, GemC1 and Geminin, can tune the proportionof neural stem cells and ependymal cells. Our find-ings reveal the controlled dynamic of the neurogenicniche ontogeny and identify the Geminin familymembers as key regulators of the initial pool of adultneural stem cells

Multiple handlers, several owner changes and short relationship lengths affect horses’ responses to novel object tests

Despite numerous studies emerging on the human-horse relationship, significant gaps exist in the identification of the horse and handler factors that influence the quality of their relationship. Here, we explore key factors affecting human-animal relationships: the number of regular handlers an animal has, the length of the relationship with the handler, the number of owner changes, and the familiarity of the handler. A total of 76 horses participated in two novel object tasks (walking on novel surfaces and being touch with a novel object) to determine whether horses react differently to novel situations depending on whether they are handled by a familiar or an unfamiliar person. We observed that having multiple regular handlers negatively affected the horse reluctance towards novel surfaces and novel object. In horses used to be handled by multiple persons, 68% were showed reluctant behaviours towards the novel surfaces while 75% of the horses handled by only one person did not show reluctant behaviours. Similarly, 26% of the horses with multiple regular handlers refused to be touched with a novel object while only 13% of the horses with only one regular handler refused to be touched with the object. The relationship length between the horse and the familiar handler decreased the horse reluctance towards the novel surfaces and the novel object. The longer the relationship the less reluctant were the horses. Horses sold more than once were also more reluctant to the novel object. These horses had higher chances to refuse to be touched with the novel object than the horses still owned by their breeder or their first buyer. Finally, older horses (> 18 yo) had higher success at walking on the surface when led by someone familiar (87%) compared to led by someone unfamiliar (15%). Our findings suggest that the horse-human relationship may take time to develop as it is shaped by multiple factors involving the horse’s previous and current interactions with humans that affect their everyday life.</p