Diversification of perennial crops to offset market uncertainties : The case of traditional rubber farming systems in West-Kalimantan, Indonesia

In less that one century Dayak farmers in Indonesia have shifted from traditional hunting and gathering of forest products to slash and burn agriculture with progressive integration of rubber in agroforestry systems called "jungle rubber", to rubber monoculture in the 1980's (based on the use of clonal planting material), and finally to oil palm in the 1990's. Due to different constraints (Imperata cylindica, a weed, and land scarcity), the farming systems used by Javanese transmigrants in official transmigration programs underwent other changes Local farmers have progressively integrated export crops and are now linked with international markets. The recent economic crisis in Indonesia (1997-1999) increased the need for development and technical change. A significant degree of coherence was maintained between technical systems and social systems. The example of the Sintang and Sanggau areas in the province of West Kalimantan (Borneo) allows characterization of the different farming systems, identification of a situational framework and of "pathways for future change". The different strategies are considered here from the perspective of a regional approach to development. Two major challenges characterize the rubber sector: the transformation of existing jungle rubber (2.5 million ha, 85 % of smallholders¿ plantations) into clonal plantations (either in agroforestry or monoculture) and the partial substitution, or complementary activity based on the cultivation of oil palm.. (Résumé d'auteur

L'ancrage territorial des résidences avec services privées en Île-de-France : une géographie d'actifs immobiliers financiarisés?

International audienceThis article offers a snapshot of the serviced apartment market in the Paris region (Île-de-France), which includes four types of establishments: student hostels, senior residences, tourist accommodation, and retirement homes. It shows how these investment products, generally designed for individual investors, are the result of a financialization process affecting metropolitan rental markets. The territorial anchorage of these residences, which balances the preferences of investors, tenants, and producers, is analyzed using several databases (Clameur, Grecam, Sitadel, Census Data), including one specifically developed for this study.Cet article fournit un portrait du marché des résidences avec services privées en Île‑de‑France – catégorie qui recouvre quatre types d'établissements : les résidences pour étudiants, pour seniors, de tourisme et les maisons de retraite. Il montre comment ces produits d'investissement, avant tout destinés aux particuliers, résultent d'un processus de financiarisation des marchés locatifs métropolitains. L'ancrage territorial de ces résidences – au carrefour des logiques des investisseurs, des locataires et des producteurs – est étudié à travers l'exploitation de plusieurs bases de données (SITADEL, GRECAM, CLAMEUR, données censitaires), dont une construite spécifiquement pour cette étude

Les Mots du foncier: dictionnaire critique, 2013, éd. ADEF.Entrées: Immobilier, Financiarisation, Investissement et Lotissement

Entries and Short Bibliographies: Real-Estate, Financialization, Investment and SubdivisionEntrées et bibliographies succinctes: Immobilier, Financiarisation, Investissement et Lotissemen

Sheep in organic vineyards: landmarks for the risk of Chronic Copper Poisoning

- Context & Objectives - Material & Methods - Conclusion & Perspective

Financing the public service broadcasting under European Union law

A protocol annexed to the Amsterdam Treaty, regarding public broadcasting in Member States, provides that Member States are free to fund public service broadcasting as far as it does not affect competition in the European Union to an extent which would be contrary to the common interest. As a result of this condition, the European Commission carries out a proportionality test to check if there is no overcompensation or disproportionate effects of public funding. It nonetheless does so by adopting a global control which considers all public broadcaster programmes as part of the public service remit. Such control is problematic because it does not take into account the distinction between commercial and public service programmes nor the actual quality of programmes. The Commission indeed focuses its control on the advertisement market, making sure that public broadcasters do not take advantage of public funding to lower the price of advertisement rates. The freedom enjoyed by public broadcasters to provide any types of programmes as far as they respect the advertisement market comes out to be contrary to citizen welfare

Lafora progressive myoclonus epilepsy: NHLRC1 mutations affect glycogen metabolism

11 páginas, 8 figuras, 1 tabla.Lafora disease is a fatal autosomal recessive form of progressive myoclonus epilepsy. Patients manifest myoclonus and tonic-clonic seizures, visual hallucinations, intellectual, and progressive neurologic deterioration beginning in adolescence. The two genes known to be involved in Lafora disease are EPM2A and NHLRC1 (EPM2B). The EPM2A gene encodes laforin, a dual-specificity protein phosphatase, and the NHLRC1 gene encodes malin, an E3-ubiquitin ligase. The two proteins interact with each other and, as a complex, are thought to regulate glycogen synthesis. Here, we report three Lafora families with two novel pathogenic mutations (C46Y and L261P) and two recurrent mutations (P69A and D146N) in NHLRC1. Investigation of their functional consequences in cultured mammalian cells revealed that malin(C46Y), malin(P69A), malin(D146N), and malin(L261P) mutants failed to downregulate the level of R5/PTG, a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 1 involved in glycogen synthesis. Abnormal accumulation of intracellular glycogen was observed with all malin mutants, reminiscent of the polyglucosan inclusions (Lafora bodies) present in patients with Lafora disease.Peer reviewe

Screening for genomic rearrangements and methylation abnormalities of the 15q11-q13 region in autism spectrum disorders.

International audienceBACKGROUND: Maternally derived duplications of the 15q11-q13 region are the most frequently reported chromosomal aberrations in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes, caused by 15q11-q13 deletions or abnormal methylation of imprinted genes, are also associated with ASD. However, the prevalence of these disorders in ASD is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of 15q11-q13 rearrangements in a large sample of patients ascertained for ASD. METHODS: A total of 522 patients belonging to 430 families were screened for deletions, duplications, and methylation abnormalities involving 15q11-q13 with multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). RESULTS: We identified four patients with 15q11-q13 abnormalities: a supernumerary chromosome 15, a paternal interstitial duplication, and two subjects with Angelman syndrome, one with a maternal deletion and the other with a paternal uniparental disomy. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that abnormalities of the 15q11-q13 region are a significant cause of ASD, accounting for approximately 1% of cases. Maternal interstitial 15q11-q13 duplications, previously reported to be present in 1% of patients with ASD, were not detected in our sample. Although paternal duplications of chromosome 15 remain phenotypically silent in the majority of patients, they can give rise to developmental delay and ASD in some subjects, suggesting that paternally expressed genes in this region can contribute to ASD, albeit with reduced penetrance compared with maternal duplications. These findings indicate that patients with ASD should be routinely screened for 15q genomic imbalances and methylation abnormalities and that MLPA is a reliable, rapid, and cost-effective method to perform this screening