Délégation Normandie

Temperature is considered as the major factor determining virus inactivation in the environment. Food industries, therefore, widely apply temperature as virus inactivating parameter. This review encompasses an overview of viral inactivation and virus genome degradation data from published literature as well as a statistical analysis and the development of empirical formulae to predict virus inactivation. A total of 658 data (time to obtain a first log(10) reduction) were collected from 76 published studies with 563 data on virus infectivity and 95 data on genome degradation. Linear model fitting was applied to analyse the effects of temperature, virus species, detection method (cell culture or molecular methods), matrix (simple or complex) and temperature category (<50 and ≥50°C). As expected, virus inactivation was found to be faster at temperatures ≥50°C than at temperatures <50°C, but there was also a significant temperature-matrix effect. Virus inactivation appeared to occur faster in complex than in simple matrices. In general, bacteriophages PRD1 and PhiX174 appeared to be highly persistent whatever the matrix or the temperature, which makes them useful indicators for virus inactivation studies. The virus genome was shown to be more resistant than infectious virus. Simple empirical formulas were developed that can be used to predict virus inactivation and genome degradation for untested temperatures, time points or even virus strains.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of attachment in consumer brand relationships and its links with constructs such as trust, satisfaction, commitment and behavioural loyalty. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on exploratory and confirmatory studies that provide a model that explains the relationship between brand attachment and its outcomes. A structural equation modelling is used to assess the hypothetical links. Findings The findings of the structural model confirm the majority of the hypothesised relationships. Brand attachment is considered as an important input to brand commitment for utilitarian products. Originality/value Few studies have attempted to model the relationship between brand attachment and its antecedents and outcomes. This research also focused on a particular utilitarian product that is not – apparently – affect laden.

Aligning supply chain decisions of separate entities with independent objectives can be considered to be one of the difficulties of supply chain management. This difficulty becomes worse if the supply chains are characterised by an asymmetrical distribution of information. Although considerable research has recently been devoted to supply chain coordination, less attention has been paid to different information asymmetry settings to the mechanisms underlying it. This research attempts to help fill this gap by reviewing and classifying the literature based on supply chain features, applied methodology, coordination mechanisms, and types of information asymmetry. The proposed classification is used to highlight the ongoing issues in the area and identify the direction for future research.

International audience

In vitro studies have demonstrated leptin-positive effects on the osteoblast lineage and negative effects on osteoclastogenesis. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that leptin may prevent tail-suspension-induced bone loss characterized by an uncoupling pattern of bone remodeling, through both mechanisms. Female rats were randomly tail-suspended or not and treated either with ip administration of leptin or vehicle for 3, 7, and 14 d. As measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, tail-suspension induced a progressive decrease in tibia-metaphysis bone mineral density, which was prevented by leptin. Histomorphometry showed that this was related to the prevention of the transient increase in osteoclast number observed with suspension at d 7. These effects could be mediated by the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB-ligand (RANKL)/osteoprotegerin (OPG) pathway since we observed using direct RT-PCR, a suspension-induced increase in RANKL gene expression in proximal tibia at d 3, which was counterbalanced by leptin administration with a similar 3-fold increase in OPG expression and a RANKL to OPG ratio close to nonsuspended conditions. In addition, leptin prevented the decrease in bone formation rate induced by tail-suspension at d 14. The latter could be related to the role of leptin in mediating the reciprocal differentiation between adipocytes and osteoblasts, because leptin concurrently blunted the disuse-induced increase in bone marrow adipogenesis. In summary, these data suggest that peripheral administration of leptin could prevent disuse-induced bone loss through, first, a major inhibitory effect on bone resorption and, second, a delayed effect preventing the decrease in bone formation.

Abstract. A growing number of studies are using specific primary sugar species, such as sugar alcohols or primary saccharides, as marker compounds to characterize and apportion primary biogenic organic aerosols (PBOAs) in the atmosphere. To better understand their annual cycles, as well as their spatiotemporal abundance in terms of concentrations and sources, we conducted a large study focusing on three major atmospheric primary sugar compounds (i.e., arabitol, mannitol, and glucose) measured in various environmental conditions for about 5300 filter samples collected at 28 sites in France. Our results show significant atmospheric concentrations of polyols (defined here as the sum of arabitol and mannitol) and glucose at each sampling location, highlighting their ubiquity. Results also confirm that polyols and glucose are mainly associated with the coarse rather than the fine aerosol mode. At nearly all sites, atmospheric concentrations of polyols and glucose display a well-marked seasonal pattern, with maximum concentrations from late spring to early autumn, followed by an abrupt decrease in late autumn, and a minimum concentration during wintertime. Such seasonal patterns support biogenic emissions associated with higher biological metabolic activities (sporulation, growth, etc.) during warmer periods. Results from a previous comprehensive study using positive matrix factorization (PMF) based on an extended aerosol chemical composition dataset of up to 130 species for 16 of the same sample series have also been used in the present work. The polyols-to-PMPBOA ratio is 0.024±0.010 on average for all sites, with no clear distinction between traffic, urban, or rural typology. Overall, even if the exact origin of the PBOA source is still under investigation, it appears to be an important source of particulate matter (PM), especially during summertime. Results also show that PBOAs are significant sources of total organic matter (OM) in PM10 (13±4 % on a yearly average, and up to 40 % in some environments in summer) at most of the investigated sites. The mean PBOA chemical profile is clearly dominated by contribution from OM (78±9 % of the mass of the PBOA PMF on average), and only a minor contribution from the dust class (3±4 %), suggesting that ambient polyols are most likely associated with biological particle emissions (e.g., active spore discharge) rather than soil dust resuspension.

Receptor-oriented models, including positive matrix factorization (PMF) analyses, are now commonly used to elaborate and/or evaluate action plans to improve air quality. In this context, the SOURCES project has been set-up to gather and investigate in a harmonized way 15 datasets of chemical compounds from PM10 collected for PMF studies during a five-year period (2012–2016) in France. The present paper aims at giving an overview of the results obtained within this project, notably illustrating the behavior of key primary sources as well as focusing on their statistical robustness and representativeness. Overall, wood burning for residential heating as well as road transport were confirmed to be the two main primary sources strongly influencing PM10 loadings across the country. While wood burning profiles, as well as those dominated by secondary inorganic aerosols, present a rather good homogeneity among the sites investigated, some significant variabilities were observed for primary traffic factors, illustrating the need to better characterize the diversity of the various vehicle exhaust and non-exhaust emissions. Finally, natural sources, such as sea salts (widely observed in internal mixing with anthropogenic compounds), primary biogenic aerosols and/or terrigenous particles, were also found as non-negligible PM10 components at every investigated site.

Abstract Motivated by the growing attention on climate change and the ethical role that board characteristics and ownership may play in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, this paper investigates the relationship between institutional ownership and GHG emissions. Using an extensive dataset from the UK and the USA, we show that institutional ownership is associated with less GHG emissions – a one standard deviation increase in the proportion of institutional ownership reduces carbon emissions by 1.02 metric tons. Our findings are robust when using alternative measures, econometric specifications and several approaches to address endogeneity. Further, we find no evidence for a stronger effect in the UK compared with the USA, as expected from our discussion of the governance contexts in the two countries. We also test the possible channel (i.e. exit and selection) through which institutional investors affect GHG emissions. In a set of additional analyses, we show that litigation risk and board gender diversity moderate the relationship between institutional ownership and GHG emissions. Finally, we also document a positive effect of the stewardship codes on the relationship between institutional ownership and GHG emissions. Our findings make significant theoretical and regulatory contributions.

Abstract This study examines the link between product market competition and labour investment efficiency. We find that competitive pressure distorts the efficiency of corporate employment decisions by creating an underinvestment problem. This finding withstands a battery of robustness checks and remains unchanged after accounting for endogeneity concerns. Additional analysis shows that the relationship between product market competition and labour investment efficiency is stronger for firms facing higher competitive threats, greater financial constraints, higher information asymmetry and higher labour adjustment costs. Our results suggest that as competition increases bankruptcy risk, it leads managers to underinvest in labour to avoid incurring labour‐related costs.

The CARA program has been running since 2008 by the French reference laboratory for air quality monitoring (LCSQA) and the regional monitoring networks, to gain better knowledge—at a national level—on particulate matter (PM) chemistry and its diverse origins in urban environments. It results in strong collaborations with international-level academic partners for state-of-the-art, straightforward, and robust results and methodologies within operational air quality stakeholders (and subsequently, decision makers). Here, we illustrate some of the main outputs obtained over the last decade, thanks to this program, regarding methodological aspects (both in terms of measurement techniques and data treatment procedures) as well as acquired knowledge on the predominant PM sources. Offline and online methods are used following well-suited quality assurance and quality control procedures, notably including inter-laboratory comparison exercises. Source apportionment studies are conducted using various receptor modeling approaches. Overall, the results presented herewith underline the major influences of residential wood burning (during the cold period) and road transport emissions (exhaust and non-exhaust ones, all throughout the year), as well as substantial contributions of mineral dust and primary biogenic particles (mostly during the warm period). Long-range transport phenomena, e.g., advection of secondary inorganic aerosols from the European continental sector and of Saharan dust into the French West Indies, are also discussed in this paper. Finally, we briefly address the use of stable isotope measurements (δ15N) and of various organic molecular markers for a better understanding of the origins of ammonium and of the different organic aerosol fractions, respectively.

Abstract Corporate environmental sustainability requires two complementary types of green practices—environmental protection hardware (EPH) and environmental protection software (EPS). Stakeholder greening pressures drive implementation; however, corporate responses vary, often lacking the balance and intensity of EPS and EPH needed. This paper explores the role of green human resource management (GHRM) in explaining variations in the implementation of EPH and EPS in response to stakeholders' pro‐environmental pressures. Drawing on stakeholder theory and the ability, motivation, and opportunity (AMO) framework, a mediating role is hypothesized. Empirical findings from Brazil using structural equation modeling reveal that increased green pressure from stakeholders drives the adoption of both types of green practices through a partial mediating role of GHRM that is stronger for EPH than for EPS. The value of this study lies in the consideration of EPH and EPS practices in the same model and expanding stakeholder theory on how stakeholders can improve environmental protection through GHRM. Implications are that organizations can level the field for the balanced application of EPS and EPH with a system of green human resource management practices—training, assessment, rewards, and teamwork—to channel the translation of stakeholder pressures into workplace green outcomes. Limitations, future research ideas, and policy and practice implications are detailed.

Abstract. The primary sugar compounds (SCs, defined as glucose, arabitol, and mannitol) are widely recognized as suitable molecular markers to characterize and apportion primary biogenic organic aerosol emission sources. This work improves our understanding of the spatial behavior and distribution of these chemical species and evidences their major effective environmental drivers. We conducted a large study focusing on the daily (24 h) PM10 SC concentrations for 16 increasing space scale sites (local to nationwide), over at least 1 complete year. These sites are distributed in several French geographic areas of different environmental conditions. Our analyses, mainly based on the examination of the short-term evolutions of SC concentrations, clearly show distance-dependent correlations. SC concentration evolutions are highly synchronous at an urban city scale and remain well correlated throughout the same geographic regions, even if the sites are situated in different cities. However, sampling sites located in two distinct geographic areas are poorly correlated. Such a pattern indicates that the processes responsible for the evolution of the atmospheric SC concentrations present a spatial homogeneity over typical areas of at least tens of kilometers. Local phenomena, such as the resuspension of topsoil and associated microbiota, do no account for the major emissions processes of SC in urban areas not directly influenced by agricultural activities. The concentrations of SC and cellulose display remarkably synchronous temporal evolution cycles at an urban site in Grenoble, indicating a common source ascribed to vegetation. Additionally, higher concentrations of SC at another site located in a crop field region occur during each harvest periods, indicating resuspension processes of plant materials (crop detritus, leaf debris) and associated microbiota for agricultural and nearby urbanized areas. Finally, ambient air temperature, relative humidity, and vegetation density constitute the main effective drivers of SC atmospheric concentrations.

Les conditions de travail contemporaines incitent les milieux professionnel et académique à se pencher sur la question du bien-être au travail. Les outils de mesure de cet état psychologique particulier demeurent toutefois perfectibles : ils révèlent généralement des dérives sémantiques, un défaut d’enracinement dans les expériences vécues par les acteurs, et/ou une forte propension à utiliser des indicateurs de mesure secondaires au grand dam de la psychologie positive. En appliquant le « paradigme de Churchill » auprès de 1178 répondants, nous présentons dans cet article une nouvelle échelle de mesure positive du bien-être au travail (EPBET) à la fois formative, fiable et valide. Elle s’organise autour de quatre rapports : aux autres, à soi, aux temps et à l’environnement de travail.

The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly unpredictable; however, its impacts are limited to neither a single sector nor a single country. This study evaluates the performance and efficiency of 49 Islamic banks across 10 countries during 2019-2020 to assess how those banks can preserve their performance and remain resilient in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the conventional inverse data envelopment analysis (InvDEA) approach, we show that because of reductions in their outputs, 31 out of the 49 banks studied would need to reduce their inputs so that their efficiency can remain unchanged. However, we show that only 10 banks need to make such adjustments to maintain their efficiency levels using our proposed InvDEA efficiency model. The adjustment for those 10 banks would help in reducing more inputs, suggesting more cost savings, and improving the overall efficiency of the examined banks, compared with the other 31 banks.

Purpose The purpose of the research is to utilize and expand on existing knowledge on organizational value‐based innovativeness, towards the development of the “strategic reflexivity” concept, for businesses competing in the contemporary ever‐modulating business environments. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based partly on primary qualitative research and partly on theoretical research. The former consists of a six month long in‐house observation and data gathering of a large company (OPERACOM Group) innovation process and on 45 semi‐directive interviews of practitioners and experts. Findings The findings descriptively portray the varying competitive conditions as intolerant of conventional strategic marketing planning; and unable to sustain any lasting competitive advantage. Prescriptively, the research proposes a change of strategic philosophy and practice, through a shift from orthodox planning to the design of value‐based reflexive mechanisms that automatically adapt to change. The paper finally presents a preliminary model for the proposed strategic reflexivity process. Research limitations/implications The paper, though scientific, it is in parallel a conceptual one. The “strategic reflexivity” concept and its consequent model therefore, are presented, not as a definitive answer to the concerns of contemporary businesses; but rather as a scientifically‐based proposition towards further practical and scholarly development. Originality/value The research value rests on a tripod of original contributions: it adds to the voices calling executives to give up on conventional tactical strategic means, counter‐proposing strategic redevelopment that is explicitly value‐based; it identifies the value‐based innovational elements deemed critical in the strategic redevelopment of businesses in hypercompetitive environments; and it develops the “strategic reflexivity” concept and process within the above context towards theoretical development and practical implementation.

BACKGROUND: Bovine paratuberculosis is a contagious disease, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP), with adverse effects on animal welfare and serious economic consequences. Published results on host genetic resistance to MAP are inconsistent, mainly because of difficulties in characterizing the infection status of cows. The objectives of this study were to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to MAP in Holstein and Normande cows with an accurately defined status for MAP. RESULTS: From MAP-infected herds, cows without clinical signs of disease were subjected to at least four repeated serum ELISA and fecal PCR tests over time to determine both infected and non-infected statuses. Clinical cases were confirmed using PCR. Only cows that had concordant results for all tests were included in further analyses. Positive and control cows were matched within herd according to their birth date to ensure a same level of exposure to MAP. Cows with accurate phenotypes, i.e. unaffected (control) or affected (clinical or non-clinical cases), were genotyped with the Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip. Genotypes were imputed to whole-genome sequences using the 1000 Bull Genomes reference population (run6). A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of MAP status of 1644 Holstein and 649 Normande cows, using either two (controls versus cases) or three classes of phenotype (controls, non-clinical and clinical cases), revealed three regions, on Bos taurus (BTA) chromosomes 12, 13, and 23, presenting significant effects in Holstein cows, while only one of those was identified in Normande cows (BTA23). The most significant effect was found on BTA13, in a short 8.5-kb region. Conditional analyses revealed that only one causal variant may be responsible for the effects observed on each chromosome with the ABCC4 (BTA12), CBFA2T2 (BTA13), and IER3 (BTA23) genes as good functional candidates. CONCLUSIONS: A sequence-based GWAS on cows for which resistance to MAP was accurately defined, was able to identify candidate variants located in genes that were functionally related to resistance to MAP; these explained up to 28% of the genetic variance of the trait. These results are very encouraging for efforts towards implementation of a breeding strategy aimed at improving resistance to paratuberculosis in Holstein cows.

A versatile and practical methodology to access β-amino and β-hydroxy α,α-difluoro carbonyl compounds using indium metal is described. This methodology has been successfully applied to a broad range of substrates including aldehydes, ketones, and imines, affording the corresponding and highly valuable gem-difluoro esters. The wide substrate scope highlights the chemoselectivity of the process.

Drawing on cultural phenomenology, this paper extends the literature on ethnicity by investigating its embodied dimensions and by studying infra-national referents (e.g., regionalism in France). Findings show the central role of embodiment in ethnicity. Three dimensions of ethnicity are outlined: embodied ethnicity (being-in-the-world), embodied ethnic imaginary (remembering being-in-the-world), and embodied ethnic interactions (being-in-the-world with others). This analysis extends the post-assimilationist model by adding an embodied dimension, highlights the specificities of local ethnicity, and questions the concept of habitus.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING THE STUDY: The Réseau d'Epidémio-Surveillance en Pathologie Equine (RESPE, the French epidemiological network for equine diseases) is a network for epidemio-surveillance of major equine diseases based around sentry veterinarians in France. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of RESPE to efficient surveillance of equine influenza virus (EIV) in France. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. METHODS: From November 2005 to October 2010, epidemiological and phylogenetic studies were performed on 1426 nasopharyngeal swabs received at the Frank Duncombe Laboratory. Detection was performed by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using original primers and probes designed in the matrix protein gene. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out on the HA1 part of haemagglutinin gene amplified from 47 positive-testing samples. Epidemiological information was provided with the majority of samples submitted through RESPE. RESULTS: Of the 920 samples submitted by RESPE-associated veterinarians, 121 (13.1%) from 42 premises were positive for EIV, compared to 26 (5.1%) of the 607 samples received from non-RESPE associated veterinarians. The most extensive outbreak was observed between February and May 2009, affecting 70 horses on 23 premises, 15 of which were managed by RESPE-associated veterinarians. All strains belonged to the American lineage, Florida sublineage, Clade 1 and Clade 2. Clade 1 was identified only during the Grosbois episode. CONCLUSION: RESPE improved detection of EIV in France, enabled characterisation of the virus strains, yielded valuable information relating to the epidemiology of the disease and identified vaccine breakdown. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Implementation of a similar surveillance network in other countries may reduce the economic losses associated with outbreaks of EIV.

Pyridinium and bis-pyridinium aldoximes are used as antidotes to reactivate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibited by organophosphorus nerve agents. Herein, we described a series of nine nonquaternary phenyltetrahydroisoquinoline-pyridinaldoxime conjugates more efficient than or as efficient as pyridinium oximes to reactivate VX-, tabun- and ethyl paraoxon-inhibited human AChE. This study explores the structure-activity relationships of this new family of reactivators and shows that 1b-d are uncharged hAChE reactivators with a broad spectrum.