The quality of territorial governance: an assessment of institutional arrangements. The case of the Serrano cheese production in the Campos de Cima da Serra, Southern Brazil

Territorial governance is of growing interest in an endogenous development perspective, in which organizational and institutional arrangements are supplied by the actors themselves to ensure coordination. This study was carried out in the Campos de Cima da Serra in southern Brazil, where the Serrano cheese is produced. It is an informal production. In fact, new consumers’ preferences for young instead of matured cheese, and national hygiene standards that are incompatible with small-scale and artisanal production make the legalization of the sales impossible for the producers. The aim of the study is twofold. First, it brings forward the territorial and value chain governance approaches from French and German-speaking literatures. Second, based on the analysis of institutional arrangements, it assesses the quality of territorial governance processes. For that end, the institutional arrangements implemented in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, in the Campos de Cima da Serra, were analyzed. Results show that two different strategies are adopted: In Santa Catarina, there is a strong coordination between all municipalities, whereas in Rio Grande do Sul, municipalities are acting independently, leading to less effective governance. However, institutional arrangements in both states are facing a lack of dynamism. They suffer especially from little mobilization of producers and little involvement of local authorities. The extension services are the central actors of the collective action, following a top-down model. Thus, the achievement of collective action would require more participatory governance through the integrationof the different actors in the process, as well as support from the larger institutional environment

Quantification of the density of cooperative neighboring synapses required to evoke endocannabinoid signaling

The spatial pattern of synapse activation may impact on synaptic plasticity. This applies to the synaptically-evoked endocannabinoid-mediated short-term depression at the parallel fiber (PF) to Purkinje cell synapse, the occurrence of which requires close proximity between the activated synapses. Here, we determine quantitatively this required proximity, helped by the geometrical organization of the cerebellar molecular layer. Transgenic mice expressing a calcium indicator selectively in granule cells enabled the imaging of action potential-evoked presynaptic calcium rise in isolated, single PFs. This measurement was used to derive the number of PFs activated within a beam of PFs stimulated in the molecular layer, from which the density of activated PFs (input density) was calculated. This density was on average 2.8μm in sagittal slices and twice more in transverse slices. The synaptically-evoked endocannabinoid-mediated suppression of excitation (SSE) evoked by ten stimuli at 200Hz was determined from the monitoring of either postsynaptic responses or presynaptic calcium rise. The SSE was significantly larger when recorded in transverse slices, where the input density is larger. The exponential description of the SSE plotted as a function of the input density suggests that the SSE is half reduced when the input density decreases from 6 to 2μm. We conclude that, although all PFs are truncated in an acute sagittal slice, half of them remain respondent to stimulation, and activated synapses need to be closer than 1.5μm to synergize in endocannabinoid signaling. © 2013 The authors

Reconciling Tradition and Innovation in Traditional Mountain Cheese Value Chains: The Role of Social Capital: The Case of the Artisanal Serrano Cheese Value Chain in Southern Brazil

Globalised and production-oriented agriculture often leads to the exclusion of rural mountain areas and to the marginalisation of their traditional food value chains, of which cheese is particularly interesting. Important elements for such value chains are the valorisation of the product quality and of traditional know-how. Territorial innovations, defined as a response to a problem identified collectively in a territory, allow adaptation to changes. Reconciling tradition with territorial innovation is central for the resilience of the value chain and social capital is the resource that needs to be mobilised to cooperate and innovate. In this contribution, we analyse the history of the artisanal Serrano cheese in southern Brazil. The aim of this article is to analyse strategies for building a resilient artisanal Serrano cheese value chain by studying the role of social capital in the balance between maintaining traditions and the emergence of territorial innovations. In the results, first, we observe that the peasant families are central actors in maintaining tradition by passing on know-how to the next generations through bonding social capital. Second, the agricultural advisory services (EMATER-RS and EPAGRI-SC) are the central actors in the innovation processes by diffusing technical innovations, but also for the emergence of organisational innovations through the creation of producers’ associations. The associations allow connecting the different actors of the value chain through linking and bridging social capital, necessary for territorial innovation to emerge.Globalised and production-oriented agriculture often leads to the exclusion of rural mountain areas and to the marginalisation of their traditional food value chains, of which cheese is particularly interesting. Important elements for such value chains are the valorisation of the product quality and of traditional know-how. Territorial innovations, defined as a response to a problem identified collectively in a territory, allow adaptation to changes. Reconciling tradition with territorial innovation is central for the resilience of the value chain and social capital is the resource that needs to be mobilised to cooperate and innovate. In this contribution, we analyse the history of the artisanal Serrano cheese in southern Brazil. The aim of this article is to analyse strategies for building a resilient artisanal Serrano cheese value chain by studying the role of social capital in the balance between maintaining traditions and the emergence of territorial innovations. In the results, first, we observe that the peasant families are central actors in maintaining tradition by passing on know-how to the next generations through bonding social capital. Second, the agricultural advisory services (EMATER-RS and EPAGRI-SC) are the central actors in the innovation processes by diffusing technical innovations, but also for the emergence of organisational innovations through the creation of producers’ associations. The associations allow connecting the different actors of the value chain through linking and bridging social capital, necessary for territorial innovation to emerge

Contribution à l'étude stratigraphique et tectonique de l'extrémité nord-est du Massif de la Chartreuse ( Plateau de Montagnole, Mont Pellaz, le Drière; prolongement nord du Mont Joigny) - Alpes françaises

pas de résum

L'instabilité de certains versants peut-elle être être liée à la présence de failles non gravitaires ? Exemple du Mont Granier ( massif de Chartreuse) de la crête des Echines ( massif du Giffre), des Posettes ( massif du Mont Blanc), Alpes françaises du nord .

Mémoire HS n° 15 - Géologie Alpine Risques naturels dans le Sud-est de la France - Colloque Association des Géologues du Sud-est - Avignon, 19 et 20 octobre 1989Dans les Alpes du Nord, certains mouvements du sol à l'origine de risques naturels coïncident avec le tracé de failles. Trois exemples sont cités. Le mont Granier est célèbre par l'écroulement qui se produisit au XIlle siècle, mais il est démontré dans cette étude que des accidents plus anciens s'étaient déjà produits dans ce secteur. Aujourd'hui encore, une certaine instabilité de cette montagne se manifeste, liée à la présence de failles . De même, sur le versant nord du massif du Haut Giffre, les calcaires de la crête des Echines ont été entraînés par des tassements ou écroulements anciens et récents . Cette petite arête est séparée du reste du massif par une large fracture ouverte non gravitaire. Dans les assises sédimentaires de la bordure occidentale du massif du Mont-Blanc, la faille transversale des Posettes affecte des terrains allant du Carbonifère au Jurassique. Alors qu'au Nord de cette fracture, la région du col de Balme est stable, le compartiment Sud de la faille porte la trace d'écroulements et glissements antéglaciaires, postglaciaires et actuels. Ces failles actives déterminent des zones localisées d'instabilité permanente où les écroulements ou glissements se renouvellent à intervalles de temps irréguliers

Assessment of radiographic screen-film systems: a comparison between the use of a microdensitometer and a drum film digitiser

A high-end drum film digitiser (Tango, Germany) and a calibrated linear microdensitometer developed by PTB were used to assess the modulation transfer function (MTF) and the noise power spectra (NPS) of 3 mammographic screen film systems at optical density levels of 0.8, 1.5 and 2.5. The use of a drum scanner to assess MTF and NPS data appears to be adequate but requires an appropriate characterisation of the scanner to verify its internal noise level and its MTF. It is further necessary to calibrate the scanner output in terms of visual diffuse optical densities. Processing of two-dimensional digital data of grating images need to be more strictly defined for accurate MTF measurements of screen-film systems. Nevertheless, even now it seems to be feasible to use commercially available high-end and well calibrated scanners to assess screen film systems. This is especially important for quality assurance purposes because important parameters of screen film systems such like MTF and NPS can now be determined without using sophisticated microdensitometers which are not commercially availabl

Étude de l’action collective pour la différenciation des fromages de montagne dans la province de Trente, Alpes italiennes : une approche institutionnelle

L’action collective pour la différenciation de produits de qualité spécifique liés à un territoire est un processus long, qui soulève souvent des problèmes en raison d’un manque de compréhension des dynamiques institutionnelles. Cet article vise à conduire une analyse socio-historique du contexte institutionnel permettant le développement d’une filière fromagère spécifique dans la province de Trente (Alpes italiennes). A partir d’emprunts à l’approche institutionnaliste d’Ostrom, nous avons réalisé une analyse historique des institutions formelles et informelles multiniveaux. Les résultats montrent qu’une économie de subsistance prévalait de 1800 à 1950, entraînant une faible implication des producteurs pour la construction d’organisations collectives, malgré les incitations du gouvernement et de l’église. Dès les années 1950, la « modernisation » de l’agriculture permit de destiner la production au marché, ce qui entraîna le développement de coopératives de producteurs. Ces dynamiques locales ont été soutenues par la province, qui obtint son autonomie en 1948. Depuis cette période, il existe un niveau croissant de confiance entre les acteurs locaux et envers le gouvernement provincial. À partir de 2000, la valorisation de la spécificité des fromages est devenue une stratégie centrale des différents niveaux institutionnels pour faire face à la concurrence. Cependant, nous observons également une intensification de la production, ce qui conduit à une perte du lien entre produit et territoire. Le futur défi est alors de définir des arrangements institutionnels innovants permettant une différenciation durable des fromages

Objective assessment of image quality in conventional and digital mammography taking into account dynamic range

The goal of this work is to develop a method to objectively compare the performance of a digital and a screen-film mammography system in terms of image quality. The method takes into account the dynamic range of the image detector, the detection of high and low contrast structures, the visualisation of the images and the observer response. A test object, designed to represent a compressed breast, was constructed from various tissue equivalent materials ranging from purely adipose to purely glandular composition. Different areas within the test object permitted the evaluation of low and high contrast detection, spatial resolution and image noise. All the images (digital and conventional) were captured using a CCD camera to include the visualisation process in the image quality assessment. A mathematical model observer (non-prewhitening matched filter), that calculates the detectability of high and low contrast structures using spatial resolution, noise and contrast, was used to compare the two technologies. Our results show that for a given patient dose, the detection of high and low contrast structures is significantly better for the digital system than for the conventional screen-film system studied. The method of using a test object with a large tissue composition range combined with a camera to compare conventional and digital imaging modalities can be applied to other radiological imaging techniques. In particular it could be used to optimise the process of radiographic reading of soft copy image