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Weighted horn clause: Extending SWRL to model antecedents’ importance and handle missing data
No full textInternational audienceOntologies are formal and explicit specifications of shared conceptualisations. Horn clause (HC) rules may enrich an ontology for modelling complex knowledge and enhancing its expressiveness. While the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) offers a human-readable syntax for incorporating HC into an ontology, it is often too rigid for specific applications, lacking the reasoning nuances needed by domain experts. Additionally, SWRL struggles to handle missing data when inferring new axioms. To address these issues, we propose Weighted Horn Clauses (WHC), an extension of SWRL that incorporates weights to model the importance of antecedent atoms, allowing for more flexible reasoning. WHC syntax and model-theoretical semantics are detailed. We also show how WHC handles missing data when inferring new knowledge in backward and forward chaining strategies. Finally, we propose an open-source prototype reasoner for WHC rules, which is evaluated against SWRL through qualitative and quantitative evaluations. These evaluations illustrate the relevance and feasibility of WHC
Impacts of Agricultural Intensification on Weed Floral and Competitive Traits: A Spatiotemporal Study in French Vineyards and Annual Crops
No full textWeeds play a dual role in agroecosystems, offering both ecosystem services and disservices. Agricultural intensification, particularly herbicide use, has reshaped weed communities, with distinct effects in annual and perennial systems. However, how intensification influences weed multifunctionality—especially in terms of competition and pollination—remains limited.This study explores how weed communities respond to agricultural intensification along spatial and temporal gradients, focusing on traits related to competition and pollination. We examine (1) variation in floral and competitive traits across cropping systems, (2) their responses to management practices, especially herbicides, using national weed surveys from annual crops and vineyards, and (3) long-term changes in floral functional diversity, using two diachronic weed survey datasets.Our results show that vineyards support weed communities more favourable to pollinators than annual crops. While herbicides reduce floral resources in annual systems, practices such as tillage and mowing in vineyards can help maintain floral diversity. In contrast, competitive traits showed no consistent response to herbicide use, highlighting context-dependent effects.Over time, we observed diverging trends in weed floral diversity: a decline in annual crops from the 1970s to 2020s, and an improvement in vineyards from the 1980s onward. These results underscore the importance of considering both functional roles of weeds and their management context. To fully grasp the contribution of weeds to agroecosystem multifunctionality, long-term monitoring of weed–pollinator interactions and farming practices is essential
« Provoquer » des genèses instrumentales du dialogue pour franchir des frontières dans l’organisation : quelles perspectives d’intervention pour une ergonomie développementale ?
No full textInternational audienceThis communication is based on research conducted as part of an intervention aimed at developing professional dialogue as a lever for transforming work and its organization within a local authority. We analyze how the methods implemented have helped to trigger instrumental geneses of dialogue, fostering the development of individual and collective activity through a dialogue centered on conflicts of criteria regarding work quality. This process has led to boundary crossings by collectives within the organization, signaling an organizational genesis. This contribution is part of a broader symposium discussion on development issues in ergonomics.Cette communication s’appuie sur une recherche menée dans le cadre d’une intervention visant à développer le dialogue professionnel comme levier de transformation du travail et de son organisation formelle au sein d’une collectivité territoriale. Nous analysons comment les méthodes mises en œuvre ont permis de provoquer des genèses instrumentales du dialogue, c’est-à-dire un développement de l’activité des sujets et des collectifs au moyen d’un dialogue centré sur les conflits de critères sur la qualité du travail. Ce processus a conduit à des franchissements de frontières par les collectifs dans l’organisation, témoignant d’une genèse organisationnelle. Cette contribution s’inscrit dans la réflexion d’un symposium qui aborde plus largement les questions du développement en ergonomie
Long-term effect of repeated application of pig slurry digestate on microbial communities in arable soils
No full textInternational audienceAnaerobic digestion represents an opportunity for converting organic waste (OW) into valuable products: renewable energy (biogas) and a fertilizer (digestate). However, the long-term effects of digestates on soil biota, especially microorganisms, need to be better documented to understand the impact of digestate on soil ecosystem functioning and resilience. This study assessed the cumulative effect of repeated pig slurry digestate applications on soil microbial communities over a decade, using an in-situ approach to compare digested feedstock with undigested feedstock and other fertilization treatments. Conducted from 2012 to 2022 at an experimental field site in France, the study involved plots with identical agricultural soil management practices, differing only in fertilization treatments: mineral fertilizer, three different OW (cattle manure, pig slurry, pig slurry digestate), and a control with no organic or mineral fertilizer input. Changes in soil microbial communities were analyzed through molecular microbial biomass and diversity assessments using high-throughput sequencing targeting 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA genes. DNA extraction and molecular analyses were performed on soil samples collected at the start of the trial in 2012 and subsequently in 2017 and 2022. The long-term effects of annual digestate application over a decade include a higher soil microbial diversity in digestate-treated plots than in pig slurry-treated plots, and changes in the soil's microbial community structure and taxonomic composition resembling those observed with mineral fertilizer. Differential abundance analysis at the phylum level revealed few significant differences between digestate- and mineral fertilizer-treated plots for both prokaryotic and fungal communities. Only plots amended with cattle manure exhibited higher soil organic carbon content. Agricultural practices, along with climatic and environmental fluctuations, can significantly influence the response of soil microbial communities, thereby buffering the effects of fertilization treatments. Further research is needed to better understand the effects on soil microbial communities, considering the interactions between repeated digestate applications, different pedological contexts, and agricultural practices
Effects of High-Protein Concentrates with Different Rumen Undegradable-to-Degradable Protein Ratios on Performance and Carcass Traits in 26-Month-Slaughtered Hanwoo Steers
No full textInternational audienceObjective: This study investigated the effects of high-protein concentrates with two different rumen undegradable protein (RUP)-to-degradable protein ratios on the performanceand carcass characteristics of Hanwoo steers reared for 26 months.Methods: Thirty-two Hanwoo steers (217±13 kg) were randomly allocated to eight pens(four animals/pen) and assigned to one of two concentrate treatments (four pens/treatment), low-RUP concentrate (LRUP; RUP ratio of 37:63) or high-RUP concentrate(HRUP; RUP ratio of 47:53), with a dietary crude protein (CP) content of 20% dry matter(DM) during the growing stage (8 to 17 months) and 18% DM during the fattening stage(18 to 26 months).Results: Increasing the RUP ratio in the concentrate reduced (p = 0.062) rumen ammonia(NH3-N) levels during the growing stage. A decrease (p<0.05) in the molar proportions ofacetate and valerate, and an increase (p = 0.097) in the proportions of iso-valerate, wasobserved in the HRUP group. Significant improvements (p<0.05) in the average daily gainand the feed conversion ratio were observed in the HRUP group during the fattening stage.Although there were no significant group differences in carcass yield or characteristics insteers slaughtered at 26 months, a trend (p = 0.081) toward an increased rib-eye area wasobserved in the HRUP group. Relative mRNA expression profiling revealed higher lipidbiosynthesis and lipolysis in the HRUP group at slaughter. However, no effects onintramuscular fat content was detected.Conclusion: Raising the RUP level improved performance and intramuscular fatmetabolism in Hanwoo steers. The final body weight of the steers in the HRUP group wascomparable to that of Hanwoo steers raised under the conventional 30-month fatteningperiod. Overall, feeding a high-CP concentrate with a higher RUP proportion (47% CP)may be a beneficial strategy to shorten the feeding period
Response to the letter by Xiaoming Zou on “Earthworms as mutualists rather than predators of soil microorganisms”
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Do lactating ewes guide lambs to their teats by smell? Perinatal change in inguinal wax composition and lambs’ reaction to it
No full textInternational audienceAmongst the array of sensory cues maternal ewes provide to their lambs, the role of odors still remains unclear in Ovis aries . Specifically, the communicatory potential on lambs of the scent released by the ewes’ perimammary inguinal glands is little studied. It is thus worthy to increase our insight about the adaptive value of ovine inguinal glands, the chemical nature of their secretion (i.e., inguinal wax, IW) and their communicative function in the success of initial suckling episodes. A first study explores whether IW from late pregnancy ewes differs from that of postparturient ewes in macroconstituents (lipids, proteins, water) as a proxy to changes in inguinal glands’ activity at the time when lambs’ teat searching and sucking are initiated. Then, the composition in volatile constituents is compared between IWs sampled at both physiological stages using solid-phase micro-extraction of the headspace and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, allowing to identify 22 odor-active compounds. A second study assessed whether newly-born lambs discriminate the odor of IW from late-pregnancy ewes from that of IW from postparturient ewes (not their own mothers). While late-gestation IW tended to differ from postpartum IW in macroconstituents and in some volatile constituents, lambs seemed to respond indiscriminately in a behavioral test of choice between paired odors although they detected them. Thus, IW of any peripartum ewe (excluding the mother) is potent to elicit olfactory attraction in lambs ahead of the first suckling experience. Ovine IW is therefore in a good position to convey odor cues or a specific chemomessage that guides lambs toward the inguinal-mammary region of their mother
Data fusion of HS-SPME-GCMS, NIRS, and fluorescence, using chemometrics, has the potential to explore the geographical origin of gentian rhizomes
No full textInternational audienceGentiana lutea rhizomes are known for their bitter tasting properties conferred by its unique biochemical content. They are currently of interest in phytotherapy, animal nutrition, food processing, cosmetic applications and agroecology. In this study, a NIRS, fluorescence and HS-SPME-GCMS dataset of 55 rhizomes from four different French mountains (Alpes, Jura, Massif Central and Pyrénées) was collected with the aim of assessing the variability of Gentiana lutea composition at different scales. The feasibility of data fusion strategies was demonstrated to be effective in distinguishing the geographical origin of Gentiana lutea roots over a wide area. The results suggest that data fusion methods have the potential to be more effective in the quality of separation of studied sites of Gentiana lutea roots than individual decisions obtained from individual analytical tools. However, to guarantee the geographical origin of Gentiana lutea roots within a single massif using these techniques, environmental factors must be considered
Concevoir des LMS capacitants : une démarche pédagogique et ergonomique
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Do lambs differentiate the odor of their mother from that of an alien ewe? Focus on inguinal wax
No full textInternational audienceEwes bear scent glands located near the udder which smelly secretion is interesting to newly-born lambs searching a teat to suck on. This glands’ secretion – inguinal wax (IW) – was found to be reactogenic to lambs before they initiate suckling from the dam. The present study aimed to further assess whether IW odor affects two vital aspects of newborn lambs’ behaviour: orienting and engaging suckling. First, forty-six lambs were tested in two-choice odor tests contrasting i) own mother's Inguinal Wax (IW-M) vs. unfamiliar mother's Inguinal Wax (IW-nM), ii) IW-M vs. control and iii) IW-nM vs. control, to measure their differential orientation to maternal IW odor presented against either IW from another dam or a control. Second, a bottle-feeding test (n = 41 lambs) assessed lambs’ elicitation of suckling from IW-odorized vs. control bottles. Relative to the control, IW odor enhanced lambs' orientation during the two-choice odor test, but without differentiation of maternal IW from non-maternal IW. Otherwise, lambs did not engage more suckling on a bottle when odorized with maternal IW relative to a control bottle. Some aspects of lambs’ responses were differentiated by sex, but this effect was independent on odor condition. In sum, this preliminary study indicates that ovine IW is somehow inherently attractive to lambs before they associate it with suckling