Encouraging Investors to Enable Corporate Sustainability Transitions: The Case of Responsible Investment in France

This paper studies the case of the socially responsible investment (SRI) industry in France. This case accounts for how the SRI category and practices have successfully moved from the margins of the industry in the late 1990s to become mainstream over two decades. We bring to the forefront the importance of three complementary factors in the process of causing corporations to transition toward more sustainable businesses: the role of investors and, in particular, institutional investors; the importance of the presence of a clear category definition and of intermediary organizations, providing ratings, scores, and other calculative devices; and the role of governments and regulators. With other studies, this case stresses the fundamental influence of investors in how corporations manage sustainability transitions

Muscle atrophy phenotype gene expression during spaceflight is linked to a metabolic crosstalk in both the liver and the muscle in mice

Human expansion in space is hampered by the physiological risks of spaceflight. The muscle and the liver are among the most affected tissues during spaceflight and their relationships in response to space exposure have never been studied. We compared the transcriptome response of liver and quadriceps from mice on NASA RR1 mission, after 37 days of exposure to spaceflight using GSEA, ORA, and sparse partial least square-differential analysis. We found that lipid metabolism is the most affected biological process between the two organs. A specific gene cluster expression pattern in the liver strongly correlated with glucose sparing and an energy-saving response affecting high energy demand process gene expression such as DNA repair, autophagy, and translation in the muscle. Our results show that impaired lipid metabolism gene expression in the liver and muscle atrophy gene expression are two paired events during spaceflight, for which dietary changes represent a possible countermeasure

Calculability as politics in the construction of markets: the case of socially responsible investment in France

This paper examines some of the processes by which power constitutes calculability and, in so doing, shapes the construction of markets. We combine insights from performativity studies about calculability with Lukes’ ‘radical view of power’ to investigate how multiple facets of power are mobilized to influence the creation and activities of calculative agencies in the process of market construction. An in-depth longitudinal study of the French socially responsible investment market shows how organizations acting as calculative agencies become sites of power through calculability. We identify how power is exercised over, through and against these calculative agencies by a variety of actors in order to build their position in the socially responsible investment market. Our results complement the broader question of the ‘government of economic life’ by showing how micro-level power games interact with the macro-politics of market building through calculative agencies. In so doing, our paper sheds light on neglected aspects of the changing geopolitics of calculative power in market construction and suggests approaching ‘calculability as politics’ when studying the construction of markets

Urinary amine and organic acid metabolites evaluated as markers for childhood aggression : the ACTION biomarker study

Biomarkers are of interest as potential diagnostic and predictive instruments in personalized medicine. We present the first urinary metabolomics biomarker study of childhood aggression. We aim to examine the association of urinary metabolites and neurotransmitter ratios involved in key metabolic and neurotransmitter pathways in a large cohort of twins (N = 1,347) and clinic-referred children (N = 183) with an average age of 9.7 years. This study is part of ACTION (Aggression in Children: Unraveling gene-environment interplay to inform Treatment and InterventiON strategies), in which we developed a standardized protocol for large-scale collection of urine samples in children. Our analytical design consisted of three phases: a discovery phase in twins scoring low or high on aggression (N = 783); a replication phase in twin pairs discordant for aggression (N = 378); and a validation phase in clinical cases and matched twin controls (N = 367). In the discovery phase, 6 biomarkers were significantly associated with childhood aggression, of which the association of O-phosphoserine (beta = 0.36; SE = 0.09; p = 0.004), and gamma-L-glutamyl-L-alanine (beta = 0.32; SE = 0.09; p = 0.01) remained significant after multiple testing. Although non-significant, the directions of effect were congruent between the discovery and replication analyses for six biomarkers and two neurotransmitter ratios and the concentrations of 6 amines differed between low and high aggressive twins. In the validation analyses, the top biomarkers and neurotransmitter ratios, with congruent directions of effect, showed no significant associations with childhood aggression. We find suggestive evidence for associations of childhood aggression with metabolic dysregulation of neurotransmission, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism. Although replication is required, our findings provide starting points to investigate causal and pleiotropic effects of these dysregulations on childhood aggression

Farmland biodiversity and agricultural management on 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions

Farmland is a major land cover type in Europe and Africa and provides habitat for numerous species. The severe decline in farmland biodiversity of the last decades has been attributed to changes in farming practices, and organic and low-input farming are assumed to mitigate detrimental effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. Since the farm enterprise is the primary unit of agricultural decision making, management-related effects at the field scale need to be assessed at the farm level. Therefore, in this study, data were collected on habitat characteristics, vascular plant, earthworm, spider, and bee communities and on the corresponding agricultural management in 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions. In 15 environmental and agricultural homogeneous regions, 6–20 farms with the same farm type (e.g., arable crops, grassland, or specific permanent crops) were selected. If available, an equal number of organic and non-organic farms were randomly selected. Alternatively, farms were sampled along a gradient of management intensity. For all selected farms, the entire farmed area was mapped, which resulted in total in the mapping of 11 338 units attributed to 194 standardized habitat types, provided together with additional descriptors. On each farm, one site per available habitat type was randomly selected for species diversity investigations. Species were sampled on 2115 sites and identified to the species level by expert taxonomists. Species lists and abundance estimates are provided for each site and sampling date (one date for plants and earthworms, three dates for spiders and bees). In addition, farmers provided information about their management practices in face-to-face interviews following a standardized questionnaire. Farm management indicators for each farm are available (e.g., nitrogen input, pesticide applications, or energy input). Analyses revealed a positive effect of unproductive areas and a negative effect of intensive management on biodiversity. Communities of the four taxonomic groups strongly differed in their response to habitat characteristics, agricultural management, and regional circumstances. The data has potential for further insights into interactions of farmland biodiversity and agricultural management at site, farm, and regional scale

Ontogenetic sucession and the ant mosaic : an empirical approach using pioneer trees

International audienc

Overview of the INEX 2011 books and social search track

Abstract. The goal of the INEX 2011 Books and Social Search Track is to evaluate approaches for supporting users in reading, searching, and navigating book metadata and full texts of digitized books. The investigation is focused around four tasks: 1) the Social Search for Best Books task aims at comparing traditional and user-generated book metadata for retrieval, 2) the Prove It task evaluates focused retrieval approaches for searching books, 3) the Structure Extraction task tests automatic techniques for deriving structure from OCR and layout information, and 4) the Active Reading task aims to explore suitable user interfaces for eBooks enabling reading, annotation, review, and summary across multiple books. We report on the setup and the results of the track.

Early detection and spatial monitoring of an emerging biological invasion by population genetics and environmental DNA metabarcoding

Rapid management responses against invasive species soon after their establishment are the most efficient way to limit their biological and economic impacts. Early detection and reliable monitoring is however challenging when cryptic taxa are involved. Here we show how environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of water samples efficiently unveiled an emerging invasion of Italian crested newts (Triturus carnifex), one of the most successful amphibian invaders in Europe. We compared and validated an eDNA survey by multilocus population genetics of wild‐caught individuals. Both approaches consistently mapped a localized T. carnifex invasion in northwestern Switzerland, most likely following imports from the Italian Po Plain. We found evidence of gene flow with the indigenous and endangered Triturus cristatus in nearby populations, suggesting a potential expansion. Yet the currently small invasive range should be efficiently contained by future eradication programs. This textbook case emphasizes the implementation of eDNA metabarcoding to screen aquatic communities for exotic species, from which targeted studies can be designed on emerging biological invasions