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Petit aperçu de la pensée économique au fondement des approches sociotechniques
No full textInternational audienc
Innovations pour une gestion concertée et durable de l'eau
No full textLa gestion de l’eau est devenue un enjeu majeur du fait de la pression anthropique croissante et du changement climatique. Elle constitue un domaine particulier d’innovations car l’eau est un bien commun qui circule. L’eau est nécessaire à la vie et à tous les secteurs économiques, et dont la gestion combine des dimensions technologiques, organisationnelles, institutionnelles et sociales. Ce numéro d’Innovations. Revue d’économie et de management de l’innovation précise les enjeux actuels des innovations pour la gestion de l’eau, à travers des articles de synthèse et l’analyse de situations variées : la construction d’une tarification de l’eau ; des innovations low cost ; l’intégration de la télédétection pour gérer la ressource des fleuves ; la valorisation des eaux usées ; les services « Eau, Assainissement, Hygiène » dans les villes africaines… Ces travaux associent « Water Studies » et « Innovation Studies ». Ils mettent aussi en débat les approches jusque-là trop centrées sur les innovations techniques, appelant à développer une vision plus systémique et circulaire, mais aussi responsable et participative
Involvement of Taiman in juvenile hormone signaling controlling sexual maturation in a male moth
No full textInternational audienceIn insects, juvenile hormone (JH) is essential for orchestrating reproductive events. For example, in the male moth Agrotis ipsilon, the behavioral response to female sex pheromone is linked to neuronal sensitivity in the primary olfactory centers (antennal lobes, ALs), and the maturation of accessory sex glands (ASGs) are known to be age-and JH-dependent. The molecular basis of this regulatory action of JH is not fully deciphered, and we show here that the heterodimerizing partner of Methoprene-tolerant called Taiman (Tai) is essential for the sexual maturation of male A. ipsilon. Tai expression in ALs and ASGs is elevated from the third day of adult life and is responsible for the acquisition of behavioral responsiveness to the sex pheromone and ASG maturation. Tai-deficient old males exhibited altered sexual behavior and delayed ASG maturation. Moreover, the expression levels of Tai and Krüppel homolog 1 (Kr-h1), an early JH-induced transcription factor, were reduced in ALs and ASGs of JH-deprived and Tai-deficient old males, respectively. Exogenous JH injection into young males resulted in precocious sexual maturation and this JH induction was suppressed by Tai silencing. Our results demonstrate that Tai is an actor of the JH signaling pathway that operates in ALs and ASGs to promote pheromone information processing and consequently the display of sexual behavior in synchrony with ASG maturation, ultimately optimizing male reproductive success. Thus, this study provides additional insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying hormonal regulation of sexual maturation in insects
Unilateral accessory tragi in a cat
No full textInternational audienceAn accessory tragus-a congenital malformation of part of the external ear-is an abnormal appendage developed from the first pharyngeal (or branchial) arch. In humans, an accessory tragus can be associated with other abnormalities as part of congenital malformative syndromes, most of which are transmitted in an autosomal dominant mode. Three cutaneous exophytic lesions were detected in the right preauricular region of a 2.5-y-old, castrated male European shorthair cat. Two of these lesions were submitted for histologic examination and were diagnosed as accessory tragi. They consisted of a vertical axis of loose collagenous tissue with hair follicles and sebaceous glands covered by a simple fold of epidermis. The epidermis was of normal thickness and slightly hyperpigmented. Only the pretragal lesion contained a central core of well-differentiated elastic cartilage. To our knowledge, accessory tragus has not been reported previously in cats and has been reported only once in veterinary medicine, in a dog with a solitary unilateral lesion. For pathologists, the diagnosis of this rare lesion may not be straightforward, especially if the cartilaginous core is absent or the location of the sample is unknown.</div
The evolution of drought characteristics in semi-arid Africa over the last four decades
No full textInternational audiencetudy regionSemi-arid Africa, covering six subregions: the Mediterranean (MED), Sahel, North Eastern Africa (NEAF), South Eastern Africa (SEAF), Southern Africa (SAF), and Madagascar (MDG).Study focusWe analyse drought duration, intensity, and severity from 1979 to 2024 across semi-arid Africa. Using Climate Prediction Center (CPC, 0.5°) precipitation and temperature, we compute the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Trends are detected with the Mann–Kendall test and Theil–Sen slope estimator. Short-term droughts (3–6 months), strongly influenced by temperature variability, are distinguished from 12-month events driven by cumulative hydrological deficits.New hydrological insightsThree drought episodes emerge: the early 1990s, early 2000s, and the recent period beginning in 2022. Long time-scale indices (SPI-12, SPEI-12) capture the most persistent droughts, whereas short time-scale indices (SPEI-3, SPEI-6) reveal intense temperature-driven episodes. In MED, only 7–25 % of grid cells show significant SPI trends in duration, severity, and intensity, but up to 75 % exhibit drought intensification with SPEI, underscoring strong temperature sensitivity. Across NEAF, SEAF, SAF, and MDG, 25–55 % of pixels show significant increases in drought duration (up to +3 months per decade), severity (+3 units per decade), and intensity (+0.5 units per decade). Parts of the western Sahel and southern Madagascar display decreasing trends. Overall, the study delivers a continent-wide assessment of drought evolution and identifies hotspots where intensifying drought threatens water resources and food security
Stochastic neutral fractions and the effective population size
No full textThe dynamics of a general structured population is modelled using a general stochastic differential equation (SDE) with an infinite decomposability property. This property allows the population to be divided into an arbitrary number of allelic components, also known as stochastic neutral fractions. When demographic noise is small, a fast-slow principle provides a general formula for the effective population size in structured populations. To illustrate this approach, we revisit several examples from the literature, including expansion fronts
Dog therapy for dental care among autistic children: A randomized trial
No full textInternational audienceWe aimed to assess whether the presence of a therapy dog during 2 dental care sessions could facilitate subsequent dog-free dental care for anxious autistic children who had difficulty cooperating. METHODS We conducted a parallel-arm randomized trial: control group using usual behavioral strategies only and experimental group using animal-assisted therapy (AAT) strategies combined with usual behavioral strategies. All patients had 3 dental care sessions. In the experimental group, the therapy dog was present during the first 2 dental sessions, and the third dental session was dog-free. The primary outcome was the mean overall anxiety during the dog-free third treatment session. Generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were also used to account for the correlation of repeated measures. RESULTS A total of 49 patients were enrolled. The most frequently usual behavioral strategies were positive reinforcement (n = 31; 64%), hypnosis (n = 28; 58%), demystification (n = 26; 52%), and in vivo modeling (n = 25; 51%). AAT-specific strategies included imitating dog (n = 18; 69%), positive supportive reinforcement with dog incentives (n = 14; 54%), and distraction or therapeutic touch (n = 11; 42%). Mean anxiety scores were significantly lower in the experimental group during the third session (mean difference, −1.4; 95% CI, −2.43 to −0.37). GEE analysis showed a significant reduction in anxiety over time in the experimental group compared with controls (P = .0001; β = −1.03). CONCLUSION Dog served mainly as an in vivo model and positive reinforcer. Our findings suggest that AAT could play a key role in helping children acclimate to dental procedures, and, consequently, ease the transition back to conventional, animal-free dental treatments.</p
Pulcherriminic acid relay ; a Bacilli route to attack pathogens
No full textInternational audiencePulcherriminic acid (PA) relay is a recently discovered phenomenon in which the Bacillus subtilis employs branching biofilms to relay the antimicrobial pigment, pulcherriminic acid towards the pathogen. PA interacts with the free iron in the environment to form the reddish-pink pigment, pulcherimin, which subsequently accumulates on the pathogen depriving them of the essential iron. In Staphylococcus aureus, the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) system plays a vital role in maintaining iron homeostasis, virulence, and biofilm formation. The perspective article discusses the plausible mechanistic insights on the impact of PA relay in hampering the Fur system. Taken together, these findings highlight PA and PA-producing Bacillus species as a promising alternative for mitigating drug resistant S. aureus infections
Zero-inflated binary Tree Pólya splitting regression for multivariate count data
No full textSpecies distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to assess the effects of environmental factors on speciesdistributions. However, classical SDMs ignore inter-species dependencies. Multivariate SDMs (MSDMs), especially those basedon latent Gaussian fields such as the multivariate Poisson log-normal (MPLN), address this limitation but face challengesrelated to computation, dimensionality, and interpretability. Pólya-splitting (PS) distributions offer an alternative, combininga model for total abundance with a multivariate allocation structure, and have natural interpretations from ecological processmodels. Yet, they lack flexibility in modeling correlation structures. Tree Pólya-splitting (TPS) distributions overcome thisby introducing hierarchical structure such as a phylogenetic tree. In this paper, we extend TPS to account for zero-inflation,leading to the zero-inflated tree Pólya-splitting (Z-TPS) family. We detail its statistical properties, show how standard softwareenables efficient inference, and illustrate its ecological relevance using tree abundance data from over 180 genera across theCongo Basin tropical rainfores
Capturing the positive effects of brain drain through return migration policies: An analysis of the 1980-2022 Moroccan experience
No full textNational audienceThe emigration of highly educated and skilled individuals from low- and middle- to high-income countries has often been synonymous with human capital losses for the countries of origin, a phenomenon known as "brain drain" (Bhagwati and Hamada, 1974). However, under some conditions, these losses can be offset by human capital formation in the source countries precisely due to emigration. In this case, one talks about "beneficial brain drain" and this phenomenon has been coined "brain gain" (Stark et al., 1997, 1998). Using data on the Kingdom of Morocco covering the 1980-2022 period, we investigate the extent to which the government drew economic benefits from an important population of Moroccans living abroad by implementing return migration policies. More specifically, we explore the effects of measures targeting the Moroccan diasporas and their contributions to the Kingdom's economy on (i) the attractiveness of the Kingdom for foreign investors; (ii) the quality and capacity of the country's commercial air and maritime transport infrastructure; and (iii) the level of modernization of its public administration.The data analysis shows that these measures had a positive impact on each of these key dimensions of development, suggesting that this type of policies can be effective in capturing some of the "brain gain" effects that have been highlighted in the empirical literature on the relationship between emigration and development in developing countries (Beine et al., 2001, 2008; Batista et al., 2025)