Governance of the Agri-food Chains as a Vector of Credibility for Quality Signalization in Europe

For many agricultural products, the quality of the final products strongly depends on different stages of the productive chain. This stresses the importance of relationships between quality signal owners and suppliers in the vertical chain. Based on a New Institutional Economics analysis, the goal of this paper is twofold: (i) to design a framework to study the links between quality signaling, coordination in the supply chains and the institutional environment, (ii) to conduct a comparative analysis to identify, compare and explain the modes of organization implemented for the governance of different quality signs. The general hypothesis is that, in order to assure the credibility of a quality signal, there must be an efficient alignment between quality characteristics and governance of the supply chain. To test this general hypothesis, we have conducted a comparative analysis of 42 case studies in 3 sectors (processed meat, cheese, fruit and vegetable sectors) from 7 European countries. This diversity allows us to compare the organizations designed to govern different quality signals in different institutional environments and to test the matching between quality signals and governance structures.alignment, credibility, governance structures, quality signals, Agribusiness, L14, L15, L22,

Linking marketing innovation and territorial resources: the example of Porcilin Saveurs en’Or a regional brand with nutritional attribute

Abstract This paper discusses development and marketing of local agri food products in a context of sustainable regional development. This is illustrated by the example of “The Porcilin Saveurs en’Or†(Le Porcilin) case, which is a marketing segmentation and innovative product differentiation based upon local resources and know-how. Porcilin Saveurs en’Or program is an interesting case of territorial food marketing which put together marketing innovation and regional development. Indeed, Porcilin Saveurs en’Or is a combination of two initiatives: The Porcilin brand a nutritional brand associated with a local product (pork meat) which means pork with linen; and Saveurs en’Or, a collective regional label developed to promote local agri food products and resources in the North Pas de Calais region in France. The Porcilin was initiated by a group of pork producers in the North Pas de Calais Region to secure market by developing product with a quality differentiation, specific attributes for pig meat in connection with the origin area (pigs were born, raised and processed in the region). The study identified that successful promotion of local products depends on several parameters including the mix-marketing strategy (product characteristics regarding its innovation, quality and safety specifications, therefore the valorisation of the product itself; price, place (distribution: the notion of proximity); promotion and communication in that depends the recognition of local consumers. An important parameter for the success of this strategy is the organization of the chain, in other words the chain governance through the different relationships of coordination and cooperation (partnerships, convention, trust, contractual agreements) between the various parties involved in the program. Another success factor is the supporting organization (institutional organization, association of promotion) that promotes the local industries and plays a significant role in the sustainable development of regional chains by coordinating collective action, training for local operators, managing funding, and grant. Keywords: Local agrifood product, sustainable regional development, Porcilin Saveurs en’Or, product differentiation, marketing, innovation, nutritional brand, pork meat, governance.

Food safety implementation in the perspective of network learning

The food sector frequently faces difficulties in implementing food safety standards. Indeed, there are many barriers to appropriation of quality management standards which make effective implementation difficult for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), such as limited access to information, lack of financing and cognitive resources, food hazard perception, and insufficient access to adequately trained personnel. Consequently, one fundamental objective for practitioners such as managers, public bodies and development agencies is to help these food SMEs in improving their implementation capacity, which is usually done through the launch of different forms of collective initiatives such as associations, clubs, learning platforms, regional actions and other forms of collaboration. Globally speaking, the objective of these initiatives typically is to develop a step by step approach providing guidance on good practices associated with the implementation of these systems. The objective of the article is to explore and test the validity of this hypothesis, rooted in a general idea of “organizational network learning”: the capacity of SMEs to adopt new food safety schemes is seen as a whole and necessitates mobilizing, at the same time, 1) formal innovation networks, which bring cognitive resources and institutional credibility, and 2) the practice by managers of informal network activities through interactive exchanges of information, benchmarking, knowledge transfer and translation, and experiential learning

Optical techniques for 3D surface reconstruction in computer-assisted laparoscopic surgery

One of the main challenges for computer-assisted surgery (CAS) is to determine the intra-opera- tive morphology and motion of soft-tissues. This information is prerequisite to the registration of multi-modal patient-specific data for enhancing the surgeon’s navigation capabilites by observ- ing beyond exposed tissue surfaces and for providing intelligent control of robotic-assisted in- struments. In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), optical techniques are an increasingly attractive approach for in vivo 3D reconstruction of the soft-tissue surface geometry. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art methods for optical intra-operative 3D reconstruction in laparoscopic surgery and discusses the technical challenges and future perspectives towards clinical translation. With the recent paradigm shift of surgical practice towards MIS and new developments in 3D opti- cal imaging, this is a timely discussion about technologies that could facilitate complex CAS procedures in dynamic and deformable anatomical regions

Associations among hypertension, dementia biomarkers, and cognition: The MEMENTO cohort

Introduction Approximately 40% of dementia cases could be delayed or prevented acting on modifiable risk factors including hypertension. However, the mechanisms underlying the hypertension–dementia association are still poorly understood. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis in 2048 patients from the MEMENTO cohort, a French multicenter clinic-based study of outpatients with either isolated cognitive complaints or mild cognitive impairment. Exposure to hypertension was defined as a combination of high blood pressure (BP) status and antihypertensive treatment intake. Pathway associations were examined through structural equation modeling integrating extensive collection of neuroimaging biomarkers and clinical data. Results Participants treated with high BP had significantly lower cognition compared to the others. This association was mediated by higher neurodegeneration and higher white matter hyperintensities load but not by Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. Discussion These results highlight the importance of controlling hypertension for prevention of cognitive decline and offer new insights on mechanisms underlying the hypertension–dementia association. Highlights Paths of hypertension–cognition association were assessed by structural equation models. The hypertension–cognition association is not mediated by Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. The hypertension–cognition association is mediated by neurodegeneration and leukoaraiosis. Lower cognition was limited to participants treated with uncontrolled blood pressure. Blood pressure control could contribute to promote healthier brain aging.Stopping cognitive decline and dementia by fighting covert cerebral small vessel diseas

Diabetes Mellitus and Cognition: A Pathway Analysis in the MEMENTO Cohort

OBJECTIVE: To assess the role of biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), neurodegeneration and small vessel disease (SVD) as mediators in the association between diabetes mellitus and cognition. METHODS: The study sample was derived from MEMENTO, a cohort of French adults recruited in memory clinics and screened for either isolated subjective cognitive complaints or mild cognitive impairment. Diabetes was defined based on blood glucose assessment, use of antidiabetic agent or self-report. We used structural equation modelling to assess whether latent variables of AD pathology (PET mean amyloid uptake, Aβ(42)/Aβ(40) ratio and CSF phosphorylated tau), SVD (white matter hyperintensities volume and visual grading), and neurodegeneration (mean cortical thickness, brain parenchymal fraction, hippocampal volume, and mean fluorodeoxyglucose uptake) mediate the association between diabetes and a latent variable of cognition (five neuropsychological tests), adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: There were 254 (11.1%) participants with diabetes among 2,288 participants (median age 71.6 years; 61.8% women). The association between diabetes and lower cognition was significantly mediated by higher neurodegeneration (standardized indirect effect: -0.061, 95% confidence interval: -0.089; -0.032), but not mediated by SVD and AD markers. Results were similar when considering latent variables of memory or executive functioning. CONCLUSION: In a large clinical cohort in the elderly, diabetes is associated with lower cognition through neurodegeneration, independently of SVD and AD biomarkers

Dynamique de la concurrence dans l'industrie avicole française

[fre] Dans le contexte d'industrialisation de l'alimentation, c'est-à-dire de l'importance croissante du marketing, de l'essor de la grande distribution en libre service et l'internationalisation de la demande, les filières agroalimentaires connaissent un profond mouvement de restructurations. Dans le secteur avicole, ces restructurations ont abouti à la constitution d'une dizaine de groupes industriels intervenant à tous les stades de la filière et se caractérisant par des projets productifs spécifiques déterminées par les nouvelles conditions de la demande. Ainsi les conditions de la concurrence sectorielle se trouvent radicalement modifiées. Celles-ci se définissent de plus en plus à l'intérieur de deux ensembles stratégiques, les groupes industriels et les entreprises traditionnelles, séparés par des barrières à la mobilité du capital. [eng] In today's context of the industrialization of the food trade, in other words the increasing role of marketing, the growth of mass retailing, the internationalization of demand, the food production chains are facing profound restructurations. In the poultry sector these restructurations have led to the creation of ten industrial groups which are involved at every level of food production and which are characterized by strategic project due to the new conditions of demand. Thus the conditions of competition have completely changed. They are more and more defined within two strategic groups separated by mobility barriers : industrial groups and traditional firms.