Réflexions autour de la reconnaissance juridique de l'horodatage blockchain par le législateur italien

International audienceC'est officiel : le droit positif italien comprend désormais une mesure consacrant l'horodatage blockchain. Mais la rédaction de ce texte ne règle pas toutes les questions qui se posent autour de la preuve blockchain. Loin s'en faut

Sélectionner et cultiver Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni en milieu tempéré : exploration de la variabilité de la teneur et de la composition en glycosides de steviol

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, une herbe vivace de la famille des Asteraceae originaire du Paraguay, est d'un intérêt croissant en tant que source d’édulcorants naturels acoloriques, les glycosides de steviol (SVglys). Ces diterpénoïdes sont organisés autour d’un noyau de steviol et diffèrent par le nombre et la nature d’unités de sucre liées à ce noyau. Ils sont accumulés à des concentrations allant de 4 à 20% de la masse sèche des feuilles, selon le génotype, le stade phénologique et les conditions de croissance. S. rebaudiana apparaît comme une espèce alternative prometteuse en Europe, mais nécessite au préalable une évaluation de ses besoins en culture et un travail de sélection variétale afin d’optimiser la teneur et la composition en SVglys en milieu tempéré. L'objectif de ce travail était d'étudier les sources de variabilité génotypique et environnementale pour l’accumulation en SVglys et la production de biomasse foliaire. Une forte variabilité génotypique a été observée pour la composition en SVglys et, à un degré moindre, pour la teneur en SVglys ainsi que pour des critères morphologiques et de précocité. L’environnement (fertilisation, durée du jour, stade phénologique, âge de la plante) a également eu un effet sur l’élaboration de la biomasse foliaire et sur la teneur en SVglys, alors que la composition en SVglys a été moins affectée par ces facteurs. Ces résultats suggèrent des mécanismes biochimiques et génétiques complexes régissant la voie de biosynthèse des SVglys. Ils laissent également entrevoir des possibilités de sélection variétale et donnent des indications sur les exigences de S. rebaudiana pour sa culture sous nos climats

Sélectionner et cultiver Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni en milieu tempéré : exploration de la variabilité de la teneur et de la composition en glycosides de steviol

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, une herbe vivace de la famille des Asteraceae originaire du Paraguay, est d'un intérêt croissant en tant que source d’édulcorants naturels acoloriques, les glycosides de steviol (SVglys). Ces diterpénoïdes sont organisés autour d’un noyau de steviol et diffèrent par le nombre et la nature d’unités de sucre liées à ce noyau. Ils sont accumulés à des concentrations allant de 4 à 20% de la masse sèche des feuilles, selon le génotype, le stade phénologique et les conditions de croissance. S. rebaudiana apparaît comme une espèce alternative prometteuse en Europe, mais nécessite au préalable une évaluation de ses besoins en culture et un travail de sélection variétale afin d’optimiser la teneur et la composition en SVglys en milieu tempéré. L'objectif de ce travail était d'étudier les sources de variabilité génotypique et environnementale pour l’accumulation en SVglys et la production de biomasse foliaire. Une forte variabilité génotypique a été observée pour la composition en SVglys et, à un degré moindre, pour la teneur en SVglys ainsi que pour des critères morphologiques et de précocité. L’environnement (fertilisation, durée du jour, stade phénologique, âge de la plante) a également eu un effet sur l’élaboration de la biomasse foliaire et sur la teneur en SVglys, alors que la composition en SVglys a été moins affectée par ces facteurs. Ces résultats suggèrent des mécanismes biochimiques et génétiques complexes régissant la voie de biosynthèse des SVglys. Ils laissent également entrevoir des possibilités de sélection variétale et donnent des indications sur les exigences de S. rebaudiana pour sa culture sous nos climats. ABSTRACT : Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, a perennial shrub of the Asteraceae family originating from Paraguay, is of increasing interest as a source of zero-calorie natural sweeteners: the steviol glycosides (SVglys). These diterpenoids differ in the number and the nature of sugar units bound to a steviol skeleton. They accumulate in leaves at concentrations ranging from 4 to 20%, according to genotype, phenological stage, and growth conditions. S. rebaudiana appears as a promising alternative culture in Europe, but requires investigations to assess its cultivation plant requirements and a breeding effort to optimize SVgly content and composition under temperate climate. The objective of this work was to explore the sources of genotypic and environmental variability for SVglys accumulation and leaf biomass production. High genotypic variability has been observed for SVgly composition and, to a lesser extent, for SVgly content as well as for morphological criteria and precocity. Leaf biomass and SVgly content varied also with the environment (fertilization, daylength, phenological stage) and over the years in perennial culture, while SVgly composition was less affected by these factors. These results suggested complex biochemical and genetic mechanisms regulating SVglys biosynthetic pathway. In parallel they revealed breeding potentialities and gave indications on S. rebaudiana requirements for its cultivation under temperate climate

Les apports de la blockchain en matière de droits d'auteur

International audienceLa blockchain doit être perçue comme un soutien aux mutations du droit d’auteur permettant de faire respecter les droits pécuniaires dans la sphère numérique, d’alléger les formalismes avec les smart contracts et de constituer un soutien aux auteurs pour faciliter la preuve deleurs droits. Se référer aux illustrations avec les cas Kodak et Spotify

Les « brevets blockchain » : état des lieux et perspectives

https://www.august-debouzy.com/fr/blog/1191-les-brevets-blockchain-etat-des-lieux-et-perspectivesEn 2017, le nombre total de dépôts de brevets concernant la blockchain s’élevait à 1 248 aux Etats Unis, en Europe, en Chine, au Japon et en Corée du Sud. La blockchain, technologie souvent associée au mouvement libertarien, semble s’opposer, par principe, à une monopolisation par les brevets . Cette opposition initialement étanche entre la liberté des protocoles blockchain et leur réservation par ce type droit de propriété industrielle, n’est plus à ce jour aussi figée. Nous analyserons la compatibilité de cette technologie avec le droit des brevets et l'exploitation de ces derniers dans un avenir proche : coup d'arrêt à la brevetabilité, brevets philanthropes, patent pools ou encore patent thickets

Intermolecular interactions and protein dynamics by solid-state NMR spectroscopy

Understanding the dynamics of interacting proteins is a crucial step toward describing many biophysical processes. Here we investigate the backbone dynamics for protein GB1 in two different assemblies: crystalline GB1 and the precipitated GB1–antibody complex with a molecular weight of more than 300 kDa. We perform these measurements on samples containing as little as eight nanomoles of GB1. From measurements of site-specific 15N relaxation rates including relaxation dispersion we obtain snapshots of dynamics spanning nine orders of magnitude in terms of the time scale. A comparison of measurements for GB1 in either environment reveals that while many of the dynamic features of the protein are conserved between them (in particular for the fast picosecond–nanosecond motions), much greater differences occur for slow motions with motions in the >500 ns range being more prevalent in the complex. The data suggest that GB1 can potentially undergo a small-amplitude overall anisotropic motion sampling the interaction interface in the complex

Invasive termites in a changing climate: A global perspective.

Termites are ubiquitous insects in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions and play an important role in ecosystems. Several termite species are also significant economic pests, mainly in urban areas where they attack human-made structures, but also in natural forest habitats. Worldwide, approximately 28 termite species are considered invasive and have spread beyond their native ranges, often with significant economic consequences. We used predictive climate modeling to provide the first global risk assessment for 13 of the world's most invasive termites. We modeled the future distribution of 13 of the most serious invasive termite species, using two different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, and two projection years (2050 and 2070). Our results show that all but one termite species are expected to significantly increase in their global distribution, irrespective of the climatic scenario and year. The range shifts by species (shift vectors) revealed a complex pattern of distributional changes across latitudes rather than simple poleward expansion. Mapping of potential invasion hotspots in 2050 under the RCP 4.5 scenario revealed that the most suitable areas are located in the tropics. Substantial parts of all continents had suitable environmental conditions for more than four species simultaneously. Mapping of changes in the number of species revealed that areas that lose many species (e.g., parts of South America) are those that were previously very species-rich, contrary to regions such as Europe that were overall not among the most important invasion hotspots, but that showed a great increase in the number of potential invaders. The substantial economic and ecological damage caused by invasive termites is likely to increase in response to climate change, increased urbanization, and accelerating economic globalization, acting singly or interactively

Anticipated climate and land-cover changes reveal refuge areas for Borneo's orang-utans

Habitat loss and climate change pose a double jeopardy for many threatened taxa, making the identification of optimal habitat for the future a conservation priority. Using a case study of the endangered Bornean orang-utan, we identify environmental refuges by integrating bioclimatic models with projected deforestation and oil-palm agriculture suitability from the 1950s to 2080s. We coupled a maximum entropy algorithm with information on habitat needs to predict suitable habitat for the present day and 1950s. We then projected to the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s in models incorporating only land-cover change, climate change or both processes combined. For future climate, we incorporated projections from four model and emission scenario combinations. For future land cover, we developed spatial deforestation predictions from 10 years of satellite data. Refuges were delineated as suitable forested habitats identified by all models that were also unsuitable for oil palm – a major threat to tropical biodiversity. Our analyses indicate that in 2010 up to 260 000 km2 of Borneo was suitable habitat within the core orang-utan range; an 18–24% reduction since the 1950s. Land-cover models predicted further decline of 15–30% by the 2080s. Although habitat extent under future climate conditions varied among projections, there was majority consensus, particularly in northeastern and western regions. Across projections habitat loss due to climate change alone averaged 63% by 2080, but 74% when also considering land-cover change. Refuge areas amounted to 2000–42 000 km2 depending on thresholds used, with 900–17 000 km2 outside the current species range. We demonstrate that efforts to halt deforestation could mediate some orang-utan habitat loss, but further decline of the most suitable areas is to be expected given projected changes to climate. Protected refuge areas could therefore become increasingly important for ongoing translocation efforts. We present an approach to help identify such areas for highly threatened species given environmental changes expected this century

The need for large-scale distribution data to estimate regional changes in species richness under future climate change

Aim: Species distribution models built with geographically restricted data often fail to capture the full range of conditions experienced by species across their entire distribution area. Using such models to predict distribution shifts under future environmental change may, therefore, produce biased projections. However, restricted-scale models have the potential to include a larger sample of taxa for which distribution data are available and to provide finer-resolution projections that are better applied to conservation planning than the forecasts of broad-scale models. We examine the circumstances under which the projected shifts in species richness patterns derived from restricted-scale and broad-scale models are most likely to be similar. Location: Europe. Methods: The distribution of butterflies in Finland, Belgium/Netherlands and Spain was modelled based on restricted-scale (local) and broad-scale (continental) distribution and climate data. Both types of models were projected under future climate change scenarios to assess potential changes in species richness. Results: In Finland, species richness was projected to increase strongly based on restricted-scale models and to decrease slightly with broad-scale models. In Belgium/Netherlands, restricted-scale models projected a larger decrease in richness than broad-scale models. In Spain, both models projected a slight decrease in richness. We obtained similar projections based on restricted-scale and broad-scale models only in Spain because the climatic conditions available here covered the warm part of the distributions of butterflies better than in Finland and Belgium/Netherlands. Main conclusions: Restricted-scale models that fail to capture the warm part of species distributions produce biased estimates of future changes in species richness when projected under climatic conditions with no modern analogue in the study area. We recommend the use of distribution data beyond the boundaries of the study area to capture the part of the species response curves reflecting the climatic conditions that will prevail within that area in the future.Peer reviewe