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The establishment of effective national agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS) became a European policy imperative in the 2010s, lodged in a political ideology which emphasised the importance of innovation to economic growth. We argue that the recent deployment of the AKIS concept in EU policy presents important opportunities for the agricultural sector and associated academic research but has significant weaknesses in terms of the scale of analysis (over emphasis on national levels) and disconnection from academic thinking on innovation processes. In this paper we progress the AKIS approach by utilising assemblage theory. We argue that assemblage concepts – in line with other ‘more-than-human’ approaches - offer mechanisms for recognising and integrating the role of non-human actants in innovation processes. Inclusion of these actants highlight the co-constructed nature of farm knowledge and associated transition processes. Assemblage concepts of historicity and rupture demonstrate how the path dependencies of farming are embedded in the material conditions of production, and the learning processes which occur when path dependencies are interrupted. We illustrate these contentions with empirical case studies of the ‘microAKIS’ – self-assembled farmer knowledge networks and associated processes - characterising four innovations across Europe: the introduction of a new commodity (avocado) in Greece, mainstreaming of robotic milking in Norway, retro-innovation of direct marketing in Latvia, and outsourcing of (dehumanised) farm labour in France.

Although the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union has broadened its objectives to integrate social issues, several hard-to-reach groups of farmers and workers continue to be ignored by advisory services and associated policies. Connecting with these groups has a strong potential to increase the economic and social cohesion of European agricultures. We interviewed over 1,000 farmers across Europe and identified features of these groups that are often overlooked by advisory services. We critically reflected on the social cohorts omitted from advisory services and how they could be better reached; they include farm labourers, new entrants or ‘career changers’, and later adopters. We clarify the different types of advisors in the advisory landscape, distinguishing between those who are linked to or independent from sales of inputs or technologies. We make concrete recommendations about how to engage advisors with hard-to-reach groups, with approaches suited to different national contexts of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS); thus contributing to the ‘AKIS dimension of National Strategic Plans of the next Common Agricultural Policy, 2023–2027. We argue for the more effective use of advances in the social sciences through a better understanding of advice as social interaction which can bolster the inclusiveness of public policies.

International audience; CONTEXTSo far, digital technology development in agriculture has mainly dealt with precision agriculture, often associated with conventional large-scale systems. The emergence of digital agriculture - based on the triptych of “new data sources / new processing methods / new inter-connection capacities (internet)” - opens up prospects for mobilizing digital technologies to accelerate the deployment of other forms of agriculture, such as agroecology. A specific research agenda must therefore be built to redirect researchers specialized in digital technologies towards these new issues. This construction is significant because digital technology and agroecology are disruptive innovations that shake up the actors' practices, agricultural innovation ecosystems, and value chains.OBJECTIVEAn interdisciplinary group of INRAE researchers (covering 10 scientific departments) was mandated to carry out this reflection, with the objective of developing a research agenda to better couple digitalization and agroecology, in order to pave the way for responsible digital farming. The group used the framework of responsible research and innovation.METHODOver 18 months, the group met monthly by video-conference, to overcome the interdisciplinarity barrier, and at three face-to-face seminars, where creative design exercises were carried out (based on a world café format, and “remember the future” method). This work gave rise to three prospective lines of research aimed at putting digitalization at the service of agroecology and local food systems. These topics prioritize research that fosters innovations in digital technology, as well as organisations and policies that (1) accelerate the agroecological transition on the farm and in the territories, (2) manage the territories as commons, (3) empower farmers and consumers. Then, the group examined these three prospective lines of research from an RRI perspective as well as three current research topics on digital agriculture (digital soil mapping, precision agriculture, technologies for food wastage reduction).RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSThis work allowed us to highlight the gaps between current research on digital agriculture and the RRI expectations, and the tensions (between rationalization and diversity of farming systems, between complexity of agroecological systems and the need for simplification of models, and finally between data speculation and frugality). We were also able to refine the specific scientific questions of each prospective line of research and finally to draw attention to the key levers that will have to be integrated if these research efforts are to be approached from an RRI perspective.SIGNIFICANCEThis contribution shows RRI can be used not only to reflect on research practices but also as a framework to build a research agenda paving the way for responsible digital agriculture.

International audience; Given the negative environmental effects of conventional agricultural techniques, the need for biodiversity-friendly agriculture systems that rely more on ecosystem services and less on chemical inputs is becoming increasingly urgent. In this paper, we focus on crop protection strategies that are alternatives to the use of pesticides. Diversification of the plant component of agricultural areas at different space and time scales has been presented as a powerful socio-economic and agro-ecological mechanism for the sustainable control of pests. Our interdisciplinary group of scientific experts examined the literature on the ecological effects of plant diversification on pests and their natural enemies, as well as the social science literature on the conditions for farmers to adopt the corresponding practices, to assess the potential offered by plant diversification.We developed a conceptual framework that connects the agro-ecological and socio-economic components of an agricultural landscape in a dynamic loop accounting for interactions among elements at different spatial and temporal scales and their feedback effects. This article presents this framework and illustrates its application to the case of wheat production and protection. By explicitly connecting each level of agro-ecological organization with the potential socio-economic drivers and limitations underpinning the adoption and implementation of plant diversification in landscapes, this framework makes it possible to ana yse the synergies and antagonisms between different modes of diversification and the conditions of their deployment. Exploring this framework is a prerequisite to the identification of opportunities and key feed-back loops for designing diversification strategies that unlock the agro-ecological potential of f uture production systems. We conclude that there is a need for interdisciplinary research in experimental landscapes involving farmers and other local stakeholders to design sustainable future agricultural landscapes that deliver high levels of biological control services..

International audience; By studying a case of environmental innovation, variety mixture in the cereal supply chains, this paper shows that the adoption of this type of innovation is not limited to the integration of a new product or process. Environmental innovations can require a profound change in the knowledge base of economic actors. Furthermore, these innovations are based on an ecosystem involving a diversity of actors operating along the supply chain who need to explore new knowledge to understand, test and evaluate their potential. Such exploration needs are studied in detail on the basis of interdisciplinary research. The case studied here reflects innovation “in the making”. Several development scenarios are possible, leading to a more or less pronounced redistribution of the roles of the actors in innovation. Beyond the actors’ exploration needs, we show that current market regulations and standards can constitute obstacles to exploration. Thus, the development of such systemic innovations requires both an exploration of new knowledge by the actors of the sector and an evolution of market standards.

International audience; Two major agricultural transformations are currently being promoted worldwide: digitalisation and ecologisation, that include different practices such as organic farming and sustainable intensification. In literature and in societal debates, these two transformations are sometimes described as antagonistic and sometimes as convergent but are rarely studied together. Using an innovation system approach, this paper discusses how diverse ecologisation pathways grasp digitalisation in the French agricultural sector; and do not discriminate against organic farming. Based on interviews with key representatives of conventional agriculture, organic agriculture and organisations that promote or develop digital agriculture, we explore how these actors perceive and participate in digital development in agriculture. We show that although all the actors are interested and involved in digital development, behind this apparent convergence, organic and conventional actors perceive neither the same benefits nor the same risks and consequently do not implement the same innovation processes. We conclude that digitalisation has different meanings depending on the actors’ paradigm, but that digital actors fail to perceive these differences. This difference in perception should be taken into account if digital development is to benefit all kinds of agriculture and not discriminate against organic farming and more widely, against agroecology.

Les Organismes nationaux à vocation agricole et rurale (Onvar) représentent des structures collectives très originales au service du développement durable intégré des territoires. Une grille issue de l’économie institutionnelle d’appréciation de la valeur ajoutée territoriale est appliquée à un matériau empirique original (rapport d’évaluation d’activités et enquêtes). Il est montré que les projets territorialisés des Onvar apportent une valeur ajoutée en termes de coordination intersectorielle et de partenariats entre Onvar (avec un sentier de dépendance encore fort pour cette dernière dimension). A contrario, les coordinations avec les autres partenaires majoritaires du développement agricole et rural (chambres consulaires, instituts techniques) restent en retrait. La prise en compte de l’agroécologie demeure également modeste. The Onvar (National Organizations for Agricultural and Rural Development) represent very original collective structures. Their aim is to improve integrated sustainable development of territories. A grid from institutional economics is applied to an original empirical material (evaluation report and surveys) for assessing territorial added value. It is shown that Onvar’s local projects bring added value in terms of intersectoral coordination and partnerships between Onvar (with a still strong path of dependence for this last dimension). Conversely, coordination with other major stakeholders in agricultural and rural development (consular chambers, technical institutes) remains weak. The consideration of agroecology is also modest.

Agricultural advisory services (AAS) have regained importance for policy makers worldwide and especially in the European Union (EU), because of increased attention to food production and related innovation processes in rural areas. However, a systematic overview of AAS in the EU is missing, and there is a lack of evidence about their diversity and organisational pluralism. With this paper, we systematically explore the variety of advice providing bodies in Europe regarding organisational features, characteristics of service provision and the targeted client groups. The results show a pluralism of organisations that is a widely represented phenomenon across the EU. It implies a variation of service provision quality and targeted clients within and among countries. Moreover, we identify groups among the farming population that apparently are not served by any type of provider. We conclude on impacts of organisational pluralism and especially privatisation of AAS for various client groups, and point out further research needs with the evaluation of AAS performance in general and the potential of farmer-based organisations in particular.

Product diversification is often presented as an evolution of farm production systems that could contribute to a more sustainable development of agriculture (Kremen and Miles, 2012). Diversifying products at farm level may come with benefits for farmers, and beyond, for society at large, by enabling a more efficient use of natural resources. But diversification also raises complex issues at farm level, with multiple dimensions: technological, process, marketing and organisational. It is thus a complex change for farmers, not only in terms of internal management of resources within the farms, but also in terms of relations with their socio-technical environment, both with actors of the supply chains and with actors of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKIS). Such deep changes can induce situations of strong uncertainty for farmers regarding diversification options: uncertainty about the costs and benefits of diversification, but also about the paths towards diversification. Thus, reducing uncertainty might be a key step towards diversification. The question of the role of uncertainty in technological choices such as product diversification has gained an increasing attention among scholars in economics and social sciences (see for instance Marra et al., 2003; Knowler and Bradshaw, 2007; Chavas and Di Falco, 2012). This is true both in the field of micro-level analyses within standard economics and of meso-level analyses within institutional economics. Our contention in this paper is twofold: i) to show that these two fields of economic studies can be associated with different forms of public intervention for the support of diversification; ii) to open a debate on the need to better integrate and combine these different forms of public interventions. The chapter is organised as follows. In a first section, we present insights from a micro-economic perspective on the costs and benefits of product diversification. In a second section, we present insights from institutional economics on technological transitions towards diversification. In both sections, we present the type of policy instruments associated with these theories. In a third section, we propose some illustrations of these policies based on a description of instruments of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). It highlights the need for more pluralistic and open debates about the instruments derived from various economic theories. A better dialogue could help prioritizing the instruments that would have the most impact according to the contexts of agricultural production.

Farm advisory services have returned to both the academic and the political agenda. Commercialisation—charging a fee for an advisory service—is a trend observed not only in private advisory organisations, but to some extent also in public and other types of organisations. This paper explores how commercialisation of farm advice impacts on the quality of services. Based on key informant interviews and a unique data set from a survey of 227 advisory organisations across four European countries, both the front-office and the back-office dimension were investigated. The paper compares private organisations that draw income from charging for their services with non-private organisations (public, non-governmental and farmer-based organisations). We found that the private organisations are typically small and medium size enterprises that employ fewer advisors than non-private organisations. Their services are more personalised, that is, they have a higher proportion of 1:1 advice and they have a lower ratio of farms per advisor. With regard to the back office dimension, they differ little from non-private organisations in terms of training their advisors but have considerably lower levels of investment in research and development, and tend to rely on peer-to-peer networks and cooperation with other private consultancies and public authorities. We conclude that commercialised advice has several advantages but favours affluent clients. It is essential for commercial advisory services to be complemented with other services that reach different types of farmers, and that public support is available to improve the knowledge flows between public research and private organisations.

The article is based on a literature review of research related to the French Regulation Theory (RT) and applied to agriculture and food. It analyzes the changes in this sector and proposes a new research agenda. In the first part we examine research findings embedded in RT in the 1980’s and 1990’s, focusing on the emergence and crisis of the economic regime of agriculture of industrialised countries during the fordist period. In the second part we show how this body of research continues the analysis of different dimensions of agricultural transformation, and progressively combines with other research programs. However, we argue that the new international context of agriculture and food is an opportunity to renew RT research on this sector and to understand its different economic regimes and their transitions in various national contexts. L’article s’appuie sur une revue des travaux de recherche français inscrits dans la théorie régulationniste (TR) et appliqués à l’agriculture et l’agroalimentaire, pour analyser les transformations de ce secteur et contribuer à l’élaboration d’un nouvel agenda de recherche. Dans une première partie, nous rappelons les travaux d’une période fondatrice, au cours des années 1980 et 1990, centrée sur l’analyse de l’émergence puis de la crise du modèle agricole de la période fordiste. Dans une deuxième partie, nous montrons comment ces travaux, en poursuivant l’analyse des différentes dimensions des transformations agricoles et agroalimentaires, se sont ensuite combinés avec d'autres programmes de recherche. Pour autant, nous défendons l’idée que le nouveau contexte international de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation offre une opportunité pour relancer les travaux de la TR sur ce secteur et pour comprendre les régimes et les transitions agricoles dans différents contextes nationaux. El artículo se apoya en una revisión de los trabajos de investigación inscriptos en la teoría regulacionista (TR) y aplicada a la agricultura y al sector agroalimentario, para analizar las transformaciones de este sector y contribuir a la elaboración de una nueva agenda de investigación. En una primera parte, nosotros recordamos los trabajosa de un periodo fundacional, en el curso de los años 1980 y 1990, centrado en el análisis de la emergencia y luego la crisis de un modelo fordista en la agricultura. En una segunda parte, nosotros mostramos como esos trabajos, prosiguiendo el análisis de las diferentes dimensiones de las transformaciones agrícolas y agroalimentarias, se han combinado luego con otros programas de investigación. Por ello, nosotros defendemos la idea de que el nuevo contexto internacional de la agricultura y de la alimentación ofrece una oportunidad para volver a emprender trabajos de la TR sobre ese sector y comprender los diferentes regímenes de funcionamiento que están asociados en diversos contextos nacionales y sus transiciones.

JEL classification : B49 - Economic Methodology - Other H83 - Public Administration; Public Sector Accounting and Audits Q18 - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy Q58 - Environmental economics - Government Policy; All stakeholders are urged to pay more attention to the quality of evidence used and produced during the evaluation process in order to select appropriate evaluation methods. A ‘theory of evidence for evaluation’ is needed to better address this issue. This article discusses the relationships between the three main goals of evaluation (to learn, measure and understand) and the various types of evidence (evidence of presence, of difference-making, of mechanism) which are produced and/or used in the evaluation process. It argues for the need to clearly distinguish between this approach and that of levels of evidence, which is linked to data collection and processing methods (e.g. single case observations, difference methods, randomized controlled trials…). The analysis is illustrated by examples in the field of agro-environmental policymaking and farm advisory services.

Ce dossier reunit six articles issus d’une selection de communications presentees au colloque « Renouveler les approches institutionnalistes sur l’agriculture et l’alimentation : la “grande transformation” 20 ans apres », organise a Montpellier les 16 et 17 juin 2014, ainsi qu’un entretien avec Harriet Friedmann (universite de Toronto). Ces articles proposent une serie de coups de projecteur sur les nouvelles regulations des secteurs agricoles et agro-alimentaires. Ils mettent plus particulie...

L’article s’appuie sur une revue des travaux de recherche français inscrits dans la théorie régulationniste (TR) et appliqués à l’agriculture et l’agroalimentaire, pour analyser les transformations de ce secteur et contribuer à l’élaboration d’un nouvel agenda de recherche. Dans une première partie, nous rappelons les travaux d’une période fondatrice, au cours des années 1980 et 1990, centrée sur l’analyse de l’émergence puis de la crise du modèle agricole de la période fordiste. Dans une deuxième partie, nous montrons comment ces travaux, en poursuivant l’analyse des différentes dimensions des transformations agricoles et agroalimentaires, se sont ensuite combinés avec d'autres programmes de recherche. Pour autant, nous défendons l’idée que le nouveau contexte international de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation offre une opportunité pour relancer les travaux de la TR sur ce secteur et pour comprendre les régimes et les transitions agricoles dans différents contextes nationaux., The article is based on a literature review of research related to the French Regulation Theory (RT) and applied to agriculture and food. It analyzes the changes in this sector and proposes a new research agenda. In the first part we examine research findings embedded in RT in the 1980’s and 1990’s, focusing on the emergence and crisis of the economic regime of agriculture of industrialised countries during the fordist period. In the second part we show how this body of research continues the analysis of different dimensions of agricultural transformation, and progressively combines with other research programs. However, we argue that the new international context of agriculture and food is an opportunity to renew RT research on this sector and to understand its different economic regimes and their transitions in various national contexts., El artículo se apoya en una revisión de los trabajos de investigación inscriptos en la teoría regulacionista (TR) y aplicada a la agricultura y al sector agroalimentario, para analizar las transformaciones de este sector y contribuir a la elaboración de una nueva agenda de investigación. En una primera parte, nosotros recordamos los trabajosa de un periodo fundacional, en el curso de los años 1980 y 1990, centrado en el análisis de la emergencia y luego la crisis de un modelo fordista en la agricultura. En una segunda parte, nosotros mostramos como esos trabajos, prosiguiendo el análisis de las diferentes dimensiones de las transformaciones agrícolas y agroalimentarias, se han combinado luego con otros programas de investigación. Por ello, nosotros defendemos la idea de que el nuevo contexto internacional de la agricultura y de la alimentación ofrece una oportunidad para volver a emprender trabajos de la TR sobre ese sector y comprender los diferentes regímenes de funcionamiento que están asociados en diversos contextos nacionales y sus transiciones.

Resume But Faire le point sur la prise en charge d’une tumeur rare : le teratome pur du testicule (TPT). Materiel et methodes Une etude retrospective multicentrique a ete realisee a partir des cas de TPT de la base de donnees de Midi-Pyrenees et de l’hopital d’instruction des armees du Val-de-Grâce (plus de 1000 patients au total). Entre 1987 et 2003, 20 patients avec un diagnostic de TPT ont ete recenses (4 % de l’ensemble des tumeurs germinales du testicule). Les pieces d’orchidectomie ont ete relues par deux uropathologistes et une reevaluation clinique et paraclinique de tous les patients a ete realisee. Resultats La relecture histologique a revele des contingents non teratomateux chez trois patients sur 20 (exclus de la suite de l’analyse). Concernant les TPT localises (huit patients) : quatre patients ont ete surveilles apres l’orchidectomie, les quatre autres ont eu une chimiotherapie en adjuvant. Aucun patient n’a eu de curage retroperitoneal de stadification. Tous les patients presentant un TPT metastatique ont eu une chimiotherapie suivie par une chirurgie des masses residuelles. Sur l’ensemble de la population, avec un recul moyen de 125 mois, 85 % n’ont pas eu de rechute apres traitement et tous les patients etaient vivants sans maladie evolutive au dernier contact. Conclusion Le TPT est une tumeur maligne de bon pronostic dont la prise en charge differe de celle des autres tumeurs germinales non seminomateuses testiculaires. Le diagnostic de TPT doit donc etre un diagnostic de certitude. L’etude d’une serie historique montre des ecarts dans la prise en charge des TPT par rapport aux recommandations actuelles. Cette tumeur rare de l’homme jeune, du fait de ses specificites, devrait etre prise en charge dans des centres de reference.

Resume Objectifs Analyser les innovations techniques, leurs resultats et l’evolution de la legislation en France concernant la chirurgie du deferent a visee sterilisante ou contraceptive. Materiel et Methodes Une recherche bibliographique a ete realisee en utilisant les mots cles : malelcontraception/vas deferens. Parmi les 332 articles obtenus de la recherche PUBMED, nous avons selectionnes 54 articles pour leur qualite methodologique et l’importance de leurs resultats. Resultats La vasectomie reste la seule technique chirurgicale deferentielle validee. Bien que les techniques microchirurgicales reconstructrices aient permis d’ameliorer le taux de repermeabilisation, la vasectomie doit etre consideree comme une methode de sterilisation (definitive). Les autres techniques chirurgicales du deferent a visee contraceptives (reversibles) n’ont pas donne les garanties necessaires a leur utilisation en dehors de protocoles. Cependant, les resultats encourageants de certaines d’entre elles pourraient favoriser leur developpement a moyen terme. D’un point de vue legal, depuis la reforme relative aux chirurgies sterilisantes contenue dans l’article L2123- 1 du code de la Sante Publique, la realisation de la vasectomie est autorisee dans un cadre reglementaire. Conclusion L’assouplissement de la legislation et les avancees techniques dans le domaine des chirurgies deferentielles a visee contraceptives pourraient contribuer a moyen terme au developpement de la contraception masculine deferentielle en France. La diffusion de ces techniques passe par l’information du grand public et la sensibilisation de la communaute urologique.

Resume Buts Etudier les resultats de la nephrectomie partielle realisee en chirurgie ouverte par clampage parenchymateux renal selectif en utilisant un nouveau clamp parenchymateux renal, le Reniclamp™. Materiel et Methodes 37 patients ont eu une nephrectomie partielle en utilisant le Reniclamp™. L’indication etait imperative chez 7 patients (reins solitaires) et elective chez 30 patients. La tumeur etait polaire dans 22 cas et au niveau du bord externe du rein dans 15 cas. La taille moyenne de la tumeur etait de 29 mm (10-60). Resultats Le temps operatoire moyen etait de 147 minutes, et le temps de clampage de 25 minutes. Les pertes sanguines etaient en moyenne de 191 ce (50-450), et aucun patient n’a ete transfuse. Il n’y a pas eu de glissement du clamp ou de lesion parenchymateuse due au clamp. Les complications: une fistule urinaire traitee par endoscopie et un caillotage de la voie excretrice qui a necessite un traitement endoscopique et une embolisation selective. Les marges chirurgicales etaient negatives dans tous les cas. Conclusion La nephrectomie partielle par clampage parenchymateux est une alternative a la technique avec clampage pediculaire dans presque tous les cas de tumeurs, a l’exception des lesions centro-renales. Le Reniclamp TM permet de distribuer la pression de maniere homogene en evitant sur le bord proximal la lesion du parenchyme par exces de pression, et en distalite le saignement par defaut de pression.

Recently, Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKISs) have gained considerable attention in scientific and political forums in the European Union (EU). AKIS is considered a key concept in identifying, analysing and assessing the various actors in the agricultural sector as well as their communication and interaction for innovation processes. Using qualitative expert interviews and organizational mapping, the features of national AKISs were investigated in selected EU member states (Belgium, France, Ireland, Germany, Portugal and the UK). The authors present the different national AKISs and compare them qualitatively with regard to their institutional settings, their overall policy frameworks and their coordinating structures. Conclusions are drawn with regard to AKIS appraisal in general and the usefulness of the AKIS concept, particularly for the understanding and evaluation of policy-induced innovation in agriculture.

Le cancer du testicule est le premier cancer de l’adulte jeune et son incidence augmente dans la quasi-totalite des pays industrialises. Le taux de survie apres cancer du testicule est de 95%, tous stades confondus, cependant un groupe de patients a mauvais pronostic continue a echapper aux therapeutiques. Le delai diagnostique est defini comme le temps en mois entre la perception du premier symptome de cancer du testicule par le patient et le diagnostic par le medecin de la maladie. L’objectif de cette etude est de determiner si le delai diagnostique a une valuer pronostique, en particulier s’il est correle avec le stade de la maladie et la survie. Le delai diagnostique a ete etudie chez 542 patients ayant eu un diagnostic de cancer du testicule entre 1983 et 2002 dans la region Midi-Pyrenees. L’information concernant la maladie et les traitements contenus dans les dossiers medicaux a ete colligee sur un document synthetique. Le delai diagnostique a ete correle avec les parametres pronostiques, dont le stade et la survie. Le delai diagnostique etait de 3,7±5,1 mois et etait plus long pour les seminomes (4,9±6,1 mois) que pour les tumeurs germinales non seminomateuses (TGNS) (2,8±4,0 mois). La duree du delai diagnostique etait correlee avec le stade de la maladie et la survie a 5 ans, sur l’ensemble de la population et dans le groupe des TGNS, mais non dans le groupe des seminomes. La precocite du diagnostic conserve une valeur pronostique (correlation avec le stade de la maladie et le taux de survie a 5 ans). Les mesures de sensibilisation et d’information du cancer du testicule sont donc a considerer.

WHEATAMIX Project : Increasing within-field wheat diversity to foster ecosystem services in the Parisian basin. 3. International Conference on Biodiversity and the UN Millennium Development Goals,Biodiversity and Food Security – From Trade-offs to Synergies

DOI: 10.4000/economierurale.4068; International audience; Ce numero special est issu d'une selection de communications presentees pour la premiere fois lors du colloque "Conseiller en agriculture : acteurs, marches, mutations" organise a Dijon les 14 et 15 octobre 2010 par la Societe francaise d'economie rurale (SFER). Ce colloque a ete initie a la suite du constat des profondes transformations que connait aujourd'hui le conseil agricole. Ces transformations se realisent dans un contexte singulier ou, tout a la fois, emergent de nouvelles attentes v...

To assess whether the expression of connexins (Cx) by keratinocytes is altered under conditions of abnormal epidermal differentiation, we have compared Cx26, Cx32, Cx37, Cx40, and Cx43 in the epidermis of 11 psoriatic patients who had not been treated for at least 1 mo and of seven healthy individuals. In all samples of fully mature psoriatic plaques, we have observed a massive expression of Cx26, as judged at both the transcript level (northern blot) and the protein level (immunofluorescence). This protein became consistently detected between keratinocytes of the basal and granular layers at the periphery of psoriatic plaques and in all layers of fully developed psoriatic epidermis, except in regions of parakeratosis. None or a minimal amount of Cx26 was observed in both control and nonlesional regions of psoriatic epidermis. Psoriatic plaques also contained Cx43, the prominent gap junction protein in the interfollicular epidermis of normal human skin. The levels of this protein appeared to be slightly higher in psoriatic than in control skin, as judged at both the transcript level (northern blot) and the protein level (immunofluorescence). Three other connexins (Cx32, Cx37, and Cx40), which are not observed in control interfollicular epidermis, were not induced in either nonlesional or lesional regions of psoriatic skin. The data indicate that selective changes in the normal expression of connexins by keratinocytes are associated with the changes in the proliferation and differentiation program that these cells undergo in psoriasis.

Comme annoncé dans l’éditorial du numéro 333, une nouvelle équipe est désormais en charge de la gestion éditoriale et de l’animation scientifique de la revue. Nous tenons à remercier Bernard Roux et les membres de l’équipe précédente pour tout le travail accompli au sein du Comité de rédaction et du secrétariat éditorial. La nouvelle équipe affiche, dès sa composition, la volonté réaffirmée de la revue d’embrasser non seulement la diversité des approches et des champs thématiques de « l’écono...

Small-scale farming involves millions of households in the EU and plays an important role in the rural economy. A significant percentage of these farms produce commodities for the market. This productive dimension is often overlooked, however, as is the technical support needed by these farms. The privatization of national farm advisory systems (NFAS) has an impact on small-scale farming that should be better assessed. This paper, which looks at the characteristics of intangible services, helps demonstrate how the privatization of advisory services may have unexpected adverse effects on small farms. The dismantling of coordinating authorities has made these farms less visible as a target client. Less direct interaction with advisors makes it more difficult to co-produce knowledge that is relevant to their needs. In addition, back office activities such as scientific monitoring, building and updating databases and scientific experiments have been restructured in a way which does not support their interests.

Ce numéro spécial est issu d’une sélection de communications présentées pour la première fois lors du colloque « Conseiller en agriculture : acteurs, marchés, mutations » organisé à Dijon les 14 et 15 octobre 2010 par la Société française d’économie rurale (SFER). Ce colloque a été initié à la suite du constat des profondes transformations que connaît aujourd’hui le conseil agricole.