Innovation in the Agri‐Food sector: Exploiting opportunities for Industry 4.0

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Innovation in the Agri‐Food sector: Exploiting opportunities for Industry 4.0, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12418. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Agri‐Food producers have a responsibility to provide safe, secure and sustainable food in a world characterized by disruption and increasing intolerance of waste along supply chains. As such, it is critical that they adopt new technologies to ensure efficient and effective management of their responsibility. While Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies can underpin process innovation opportunities, there is a gap in research‐based understanding of how they influence innovation practice and outcomes in Agri‐Food. In this paper, we investigate how I4.0, as a set of enabling technologies, influences core process innovation practice and product innovation outcomes in Agri‐Food firms. We present case studies of two Spanish firms processing fresh food products, competing in two important subsectors of the industry, meat and fruit and vegetables. We used secondary material and semi‐structured interviews as data sources. The findings describe how, in the two cases, I4.0 has enabled responses to new customers requirements through process innovations resulting in enhanced functionality, aesthetics and meaning of the delivered products. Our paper contributes a framework identifying for researchers and managers how I4.0 technologies act as enablers of the core innovation processes and competitive outcomes

Milk digestion in the young rabbit: methodology and first results

[EN] This study aims to determine the digestibility of milk by the young rabbit (21-25 d old), taking into account the increment of digesta content and urine excretion. Nineteen litters of 9 young rabbits 21 to 25 d old were used: 12 litters (S group) fed exclusively with milk using controlled suckling, and 7 litters (Control group) with free suckling and access to the pelleted feed of the doe. The faecal digestibility of milk dry matter (DM) was measured between 21 and 25 d of age, for S litters housed from 15 d of age in a metabolism cage separately from their mother. Between 21 and 25 d, the milk intake, faeces and urine excretion were controlled daily, and the mean increment in digesta content was measured by comparing digesta weight of the whole tract at 21 and 25 d of age (one kit per litter). The increment in digesta content from 21 to 25 d averaged 77% (+8.5 g), sourcing mainly from stomach and caecum contents increase (+57 and +120% respectively). The mean increase for the dry content of the gut (from 21 to 25 d) was 1.75 g DM/kit, and was considered as non-digested to calculate the digestibility coefficient of the milk. The milk intake averaged 30 g/d/kit (7.9 g DM/d kit). No faecal excretion was recorded between 21 and 25 d. From the milk intake and increment in digesta content, the corrected digestibility of the milk dry matter reached 94% (minimum=92.9%, maximum=95.6%). The daily urine excretion averaged 5.1 mL/kit, corresponding to 1.2 g DM/kit. Therefore, the corrected DM retention coefficient of the milk was 79.5%. The quantity of nitrogen excreted in urine was low (0.06 g/d kits), thus the corrected nitrogen retention coefficient for milk reached 82% and the nitrogen retained (corrected) reached 0.44 g/d kit. Accordingly, the amount in metabolisable protein for the milk was 90 g/kg (fresh). The corrected energy retention coefficient was estimated to 95.8%, for a crude energy concentration estimated at 28.14 MJ/kg DM for the milk. Thus, the energy retained (corrected) reached 223 kJ/d kit and the content in metabolisable energy for the milk was 26.94 MJ/kg DM.The authors thank INRA PHASE division for the financial support. The authors would also like to thank the technicians involved in the experiment at the INRA UE PECTOUL (Patrick Aymard, Jacques De Dapper & Jean De Dapper) and in the GenPhySE laboratory (Véronique Tartié).Gidenne, TN.; Bannelier, C.; Gallois, M.; Segura, M.; Lambrecht, V. (2018). Milk digestion in the young rabbit: methodology and first results. World Rabbit Science. 26(4):269-276. doi:10.4995/wrs.2018.10061SWORD269276264Alstin F., Nilsson M. 1990. The Soxtec®hydrolysis system improves the official methods for determining total fat content. Ind. Alim. Agric., 107: 1271-1274.Carabaño R., Piquer J., Menoyo D., Badiola I. 2010. The digestive system of the rabbit, In: De Blas C., Wiseman J. (Eds.), Nutrition of the rabbit, CABI; Wallingford; UK, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845936693.0001EGRAN. 2001. Technical note: Attempts to harmonise chemical analyses of feeds and faeces, for rabbit feed evaluation. World Rabbit Sci., 9: 57-64. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2001.446Gallois M., Gidenne T., Fortun-Lamote F., Le Hueron-Luron I., Lallès J.P. 2005. An early stimulation of solid feed intake slightly influences the morphological gut maturation in the rabbit. Reprod. Nutr. Develop., 45: 109-122. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731108001730Gallois M., Fortun-Lamothe L., Michelan A., Gidenne T. 2008. Adaptability of the digestive function according to age at weaning in the rabbit: II. Effect on nutrient digestion in the small intestine and in the whole digestive tract. Animal, 2: 536-547. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731108001730Gidenne T., Debray L., Fortun-Lamothe L., Le Huerou-Luron I. 2007. Maturation of the intestinal digestion and of microbial activity in the young rabbit: Impact of the dietary fibre:starch ratio. Comp. Bioch. Physiol. - Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 148: 834-844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.08.025Gidenne T., Lebas F., Savietto D., Dorchies P., Duperray J., Davoust C., Fortun-Lamothe L. 2015. Nutrition et alimentation, In: Gidenne T. (Ed.), Le lapin. De la biologie à l'élevage, Quae éditions, pp. 152-196.Lebas, F. 1971. Composition chimique du lait de lapine évolution au cours de la traite et en fonction du stade de lactation. Ann. Zootech., 20: 185-191. https://doi.org/10.1051/animres:19710205Maertens L., Lebas F., Szendrő Zs. 2006. Rabbit milk: a review of quantity, quality and non-dietary affecting factors. World Rabbit Sci., 14: 205-203. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2006.565Orengo J., Gidenne T. 2007. Feeding behaviour and caecotrophy in the young rabbit before weaning: An approach by analysing the digestive contents. App. Anim. Behav. Sci., 102: 106-118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2006.03.010Parigi Bini R., Cesselli P. 1976. Estimate of energy excreted in urine by growing rabbits. In: 1st World Rabbit Congress, Dijon, France, Comm. 20, 6.Parigi Bini R., Xiccato G., Cinetto M., Dalle Zotte A. 1991. Digestive efficiency and energy and protein retention in suckling and weanling rabbits. Zootec. Nutr. Anim., 17: 167-180.Savietto D., Cervera C., Blas E., Baselga M., Larsen T., Friggens N.C., Pascual J.J. 2014. Environmental sensitivity differs between rabbit lines selected for reproductive intensity and longevity. Animal, 7: 1969-1977. https://doi.org/10.1017/S175173111300178XUbilla E., Rebollar P.G., Pazo D., Esquifino A., Alvariño J.M.R. 2000. Effects of doe-litter separation on endocrinological and productivity variables in lactating rabbits. Livest. Prod. Sci., 67: 67-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0301-6226(00)00196-2Udert K.M., Larsen T.A., Biebow M., Gujer W.P. 2003. Urea hydrolysis and precipitation dynamics in a urinecollecting system. Water Res., 37: 2571-2582. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(03)00065-4Zhang Y.K., Cui H.X., Sun D.F., Liu L.H., Xu X.R. 2018. Effects of doe-litter separation on intestinal bacteria, immune response and morphology of suckling rabbits. World Rabbit Sci., 26: 71-79. https://doi.org/10.4995/wrs.2018.591

Moving towards grapevine genotypes better adapted to abiotic constraints

Vitis spp., both in their cultivated and wild forms, have been growing in a large diversity of environments for thousands of years. As a result, they have developed many adaptive mechanisms controlled by a range of regulatory processes. The cultivated species, Vitis vinifera, is quite well adapted to semi-arid conditions and its cultivation can be used to produce crops on marginal lands. However, this is threatened by climate change, which is associated with increased temperature and CO2 atmospheric content, changes in water availability and an increased likelihood of extreme events, such as heat waves and early spring frosts. Indirect effects of climate change on solar radiation and soil minerals are also expected. Consequently, cultivated grapevines will presumably face more abiotic constraints occurring concomitantly or successively over one or more growing cycles. In addition to climate change, worldwide viticulture must reduce the use of pesticides. Adapting to climate change and reducing pesticide use are challenging, and increase the need to create new grapevine varieties that are more resistant to diseases and better adapted to abiotic constraints. For this purpose, the adaptive mechanisms of wild and cultivated Vitis spp. must be exploited. While major advances have already been made in exploiting wild alleles for disease resistance, the polygenic nature of adaptation to abiotic factors has slowed down research progress. To tackle this limitation, ambitious integrative strategies need to be undertaken from collection and characterization of genetic resources, investigations on genetic architecture and identification of underlying genes (including those involved in epigenetic regulation), to the implementation of new breeding technologies and the development of genomic selection. An update on the state-of-the-art regarding these aspects is presented

Exosomes: Looking back three decades and into the future

Exosomes are extracellular membrane vesicles whose biogenesis by exocytosis of multivesicular endosomes was discovered in 1983. Since their discovery 30 years ago, it has become clear that exosomes contribute to many aspects of physiology and disease, including intercellular communication. We discuss the initial experiments that led to the discovery of exosomes and highlight some of the exciting current directions in the field

A resource-based game theoretical approach for the paradox of the plankton

PRAC and VM are partially supported by the Brazilian research agencies CNPq. PRAC received financial support from Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE) Proj. No. APQ-0464-1.05/15. FFF is supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Proj. No. 2013/18942-2. WH received funding from Cancer Research UK (No. TBYG1P5R) and the Max Planck Society. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter