Contribution of agronomy to land management issues - A Comparison of five interdisciplinary PhD theses

An introductory literature review highlights the growing attention within the processes taking place at farming region and landscape scale beside the classical spatial scales at cultivated/experimental plot level. This recent evolution in agronomy finds its origin in newly emerging land management issues. Meanwhile, geography and other disciplines are stressing the need for a greater integration of multifunctional agricultural activities into the decision-making processes at the various levels of land management, such as provinces, municipalities or watersheds. This requires also that studies on farmland management include explicitly the different environmental and social contexts influencing farming activities. In this paper we aim to analyse how recent agronomic oriented research are facing and supporting various land management issues. We have compared five interdisciplinary PhD theses examining their definitions and methods of analysis for: the farming system, the local land management issues at stake, the spatial scale selected for the study, the stakeholders' involvement and the interaction with other disciplines. Common issues which emerged from this comparison are delivery of agro-environmental services, sustainable land management and landscape conservation. Multiple spatial levels were considered, which included at least one administrative unit of policy decision/implementation. Consequently, the explicit (re)definition of some agronomic concepts and methods was needed. Regarding the interdisciplinary framework, the theses have stressed the interactions among agronomy, geography and ecology. All theses aimed at delivering tools for decision-making support, mainly in the form of cartography. Nevertheless the participation of local stakeholders was generally included as a final step; herewith the settings of stakeholders' involvement were various. In conclusion, we discuss how the produced knowledge has enhanced the land management issues in local planning tools. On these bases, we stress finally the issues at stake to strengthen the roles and contributions of agronomic oriented education and research to agricultural land management and development. (Résumé d'auteur

Importance of metabolic changes induced by chemotherapy on prognosis of early-stage breast cancer patients: a review of potential mechanisms

International audienceWeight variation has been reported as a side effect of chemotherapy treatment in early breast cancer patients and has been identified as a factor of poor prognosis. Causes of weight variation during chemotherapy and mechanisms involved in the poor prognosis have been little studied. Here is reviewed the current knowledge about the main causes and mechanisms involved in body weight change. Special emphasis is placed on factors associated with weight variation which could potentially be involved in the risk of relapse in breast cancer survivors. In recent decades, some studies have investigated the causes of weight variation by studying energy balance of breast cancer patients during chemotherapy. Weight gain or loss may be the consequence of energy imbalance through different factors linked with chemotherapy, such as poor treatment tolerance, decreased muscle mass and function, or hormonal alterations. This results in body composition modifications in favour of fat gain and/or lean body mass loss. Increased adipose tissue, especially in the abdominal region, could induce metabolic disturbances such as insulin resistance, through various pathways involving adipokines. These molecules have growth properties and could therefore play a role in cancer relapse. Understanding such mechanisms is key to developing preventive strategies for improving the prognosis of early-stage breast cancer patients

Contribution of agronomy to land management issues - A comparison of five PhD thesis

An introductory literature review highlights the growing attention within the processes taking place at farming region and landscape scale beside the classical spatial scales at cultivated/experimental plot level. This recent evolution in agronomy finds its origin in newly emerging land management issues. Meanwhile, geography and other disciplines are stressing the need for a greater integration of multifunctional agricultural activities into the decision-making processes at the various levels of land management, such as provinces, municipalities or watersheds. This requires also that studies on farmland management include explicitly the different environmental and social contexts influencing farming activities. In this paper we aim to analyse how recent agronomic oriented research are facing and supporting various land management issues. We have compared five interdisciplinary PhD theses examining their definitions and methods of analysis for: the farming system, the local land management issues at stake, the spatial scale selected for the study, the stakeholders’ involvement and the interaction with other disciplines. Common issues which emerged from this comparison are delivery of agro-environmental services, sustainable land management and landscape conservation. Multiple spatial levels were considered, which included at least one administrative unit of policy decision/implementation. Consequently, the explicit (re)definition of some agronomic concepts and methods was needed. Regarding the interdisciplinary framework, the theses have stressed the interactions among agronomy, geography and ecology. All theses aimed at delivering tools for decision-making support, mainly in the form of cartography. Nevertheless the participation of local stakeholders was generally included as a final step; herewith the settings of stakeholders’ involvement were various. In conclusion, we discuss how the produced knowledge has enhanced the land management issues in local planning tools. On these bases, we stress finally the issues at stake to strengthen the roles and contributions of agronomic oriented education and research to agricultural land management and development

Agritourisme et constructions territoriales dans les espaces ruraux : quelques pistes de réflexion

Actuellement, la société prête au tourisme vert des capacités de valorisation des territoires ruraux, contribuant à la multiplication des activités récréatives. Parmi celles-ci, l'agritourisme est identifié comme spécifique des espaces ruraux, en particulier ceux de ressources banales (Perrier-Cornet, 2002). Il attire un nombre croissant d'agriculteurs (Perret, Marcelpoil, 2001) et répond à la fois à des objectifs de pérennisation des exploitations agricoles et à des enjeux de développement territorial (Van der Ploeg et al., 2002). Enfin, l'agritourisme s'adapte à la demande en expansion de loisirs dans les campagnes. L'agritourisme est donc un objet de recherche pertinent pour examiner les modalités de construction des territoires ruraux par le tourisme. Au croisement des questionnements sur la valorisation des aménités rurales, la multifonctionnalité de l'agriculture et l'attractivité des territoires, l'agritourisme est interrogé en tant que révélateur de dynamiques socio-spatiales. La communication explore cette problématique en s'appuyant sur les résultats d'un projet de recherche mené dans le cadre de l'UMR Metafort. La présentation creuse la réalité des liens entre la diversité des activités agricoles notamment dans le cadre de la multifonctionnalité de l'agriculture et la diversification croissante des formes d'offres agritouristiques. Ces liens croisés avec l'analyse des représentations paysagères des agriculteurs, nous permettent de caractériser la place et le rôle de ces acteurs dans la construction d'un espace touristique rural. L'étude permet d'avancer dans la connaissance de l'articulation entre les pratiques agricoles et touristiques des agriculteurs, des objectifs sous-jacents au développement de l'agritourisme et sa participation aux nouvelles territorialités du tourisme vert

Structural features and protonation site of epibatidine in the gas phase: an investigation through infrared multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy and computational chemistry

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Supramolecular architectures featuring antenna effect in solid state DSSC

International audienceHybrid artificial antenna systems, with implementation of nature’s basic concept of self-organization of chromophores, attract a vast interest due to their potential application to solar cells. Herein, we report a new supramolecular system comprising of two porphyrins, a free base and its Zinc analogue, bearing diphenylalanine units. The first is grafted on TiO2 surface and plays the role of initiator for the self-assembly of the second, inducing the formation of multi-molecular self-assembled spherical nanostructures. The achieved assemblies display antenna effect and are used as biomimetic chromophore systems for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This selfassembled antenna system gives a proof of concept that multichromophoric supramolecular assemblies based on hydrogen bonds can be of the practical use for photovoltaic application