The objective of this paper is to contribute to progress in the choices of strategies for further development of goat farming in the 21st century. During the last 20 years, the number of goats around ...the world increased (by about 60%) not only in the countries with low income (75%) but also in those with high (20%) or intermediate (25%) income. This situation is due to the capacity for adaptation by goats to very different environments, to the development of goat farming in developing countries where subsistence farming, barter economy and community culture are important, and where the market economy is relatively limited, and to the ecological image of goat farming and products in developed countries. Goat farming is in a good position to pursue its development in the 21st century, if a satisfactory policy is applied tactfully. For that, the factors explaining goat farming success during the end of the 20th century must be maintained and developed as the social aspects of goat farming in developing and developed countries, particularly in land management and the sociological integration into an economically sustainable life. Moreover we have to improve or maintain the good image of goat products. The two main improvements to bring into goat farming in the 21st century concern research organisations, which must encounter the needs of goat farmers and be well adapted to different production systems in order to lower the research deficit in the goat sector, and investments for better supplies particularly to the poor goat farmers.
European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, has started a program to develop the largest aircraft ever built, the Airbus A380, which would be able to carry between 550 to 800 passengers on two decks. The ...six components of the airplane are to be produced in different European cities. They need to be transported from these cities to Toulouse, France, for assembly, and several means of transportation have been investigated. The sizes of the freights, the length of the itinerary, and the narrowness of the critical passages constitute a challenge that classical transportation techniques in the domain of oversized convoys cannot easily overcome. Therefore, Airbus and the French national agency in charge of road management launched a research and development project divided into two parts. The objective of the first part is to adapt functions first to develop for mobile robots to the complex kinematics of trailer-truck systems and integrating these functions into a software platform. The second part of the project aims to define and develop a computer-aided driving system on board the vehicles in order to help the drivers carry out their task. This paper provides a brief overview of the state of the art in trajectory planning for mobile robots and vehicles, and discusses the development of original solutions to address both the kinematic complexity of one of the vehicles and the need to optimize the distance to obstacles.
Les brûlés graves nécessitent une prise en charge multidisciplinaire dans des centres hautement spécialisés. La rareté de ces centres impose souvent le transport aérien médicalisé longue distance. ...Cependant, il y a peu de données publiées sur ces transferts. Dans cette mise au point, pour optimiser la prise en charge des brûlés dès qu’un transport aérien est décidé ou même seulement envisagé, nous proposons d’extraire de cette littérature limitée des principes simples s’appuyant aussi sur l’expérience pratique du Service de Santé des Armées françaises. Nous décrivons d’abord comment les contraintes aéronautiques peuvent affecter le transport de brûlés graves à bord d’aéronefs. Nous abordons ensuite la régulation de ces missions, en analysant les risques associés au transport aérien des brûlés graves et leurs implications sur les indications, la chronologie et les modalités du transport. Enfin, nous développons la conduite de la mission, comprenant la préparation du matériel et des consommables avant le vol, l’évaluation et la mise en condition du patient avant l’embarquement, et la poursuite de la prise en charge en vol.
Sheep meat is the most expensive meat in developed countries. Consumption is dependent on cultural factors and will be increasing as populations and incomes grow. In the main exporting countries (New ...Zealand and Australia), sheep numbers are decreasing as the market for wool is declining. Sheep meat production will develop in small and medium scale commercial systems, close to their markets.
Localised animal food systems tend to be perceived as more environmentally sustainable than non-localised systems. However, these initiatives span a diverse array of projects, and the way ecological ...issues are considered may vary greatly depending on the actors and systems involved. With re-localisation of food chains considered a way of fostering sustainable development, this diversity should prompt a closer look at the real environmental dimension of sustainable development through livestock farming. In order to understand better how food system re-localisation trends can support environmentally sustainable development, this paper analyses the importance and place that the environmental issues may hold in localised animal food systems. We mobilize the concept of ‘ecological embeddedness’ to help consider how, why and to what extent natural environment influences development and shapes relationships between agents within food networks. We use the analytical framework developed by Morris and Kirwan (2011) to compare five initiatives designed to differentiate animal food products by linking their qualities to the place of production in three countries: France, Morocco, and Senegal. The comparison of the way food-systems stakeholders understand, realise, utilise, and negotiate the ecological dimensions of food production shows three different forms of ecological embeddedness depending on the way the ecological dimensions of production are linked with environmental protection issues. The first form corresponds to the Moissac case in which practices linked with ecology are very consciously highlighted as environmentally-friendly practices. The second form reflects cases in which environmentally-friendly practices and values associated to ecology exist and are highlighted through their impact on products quality, not as participating in environment protection. The third form concerns the Senegalese case in which food systems seem to be engaged in a process of ecological ‘dis-embeddedness’. Finally, the comparison of different cases underlines the non-systematic coexistence between Localised Food Systems and ecological embeddedness. The “broad” systemic approach adopted here also unlocks insight into the ecological embeddedness of food systems. This analysis of collective initiatives involving different stakeholders led to consider the roles they can play in shaping the ecological embeddedness of the livestock food systems.
•Ecological embeddedness helps consider how, why and to what extent natural environment influences food networks.•Localised animal food-systems are heterogeneously ecologically-embedded.•Localisation of animal food-systems may induce ecological “dis-embeddedness”.
To update the French guidelines on the management of trauma patients with spinal cord injury or suspected spinal cord injury.
A consensus committee of 27 experts was formed. A formal ...conflict-of-interest (COI) policy was developed at the outset of the process and enforced throughout. The entire guidelines process was conducted independently of any industrial funding (i.e. pharmaceutical, medical devices). The authors were advised to follow the rules of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE®) system to guide assessment of quality of evidence. The potential drawbacks of making strong recommendations in the presence of low-quality evidence were emphasised.
The committee studied twelve questions: (1) What are the indications and arrangements for spinal immobilisation? (2) What are the arrangements for pre-hospital orotracheal intubation? (3) What are the objectives of haemodynamic resuscitation during the lesion assessment, and during the first few days in hospital? (4) What is the best way to manage these patients to improve their long-term prognosis? (5) What is the place of corticosteroid therapy in the initial phase? (6) What are the indications for magnetic resonance imaging in the lesion assessment phase? (7) What is the optimal time for surgical management? (8) What are the best arrangements for orotracheal intubation in the hospital environment? (9) What are the specific conditions for weaning these patients from mechanical ventilation for? (10) What are the procedures for analgesic treatment of these patients? (11) What are the specific arrangements for installing and mobilising these patients? (12) What is the place of early intermittent bladder sampling in these patients? Each question was formulated in a PICO (Patients, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) format and the evidence profiles were produced. The literature review and recommendations were made according to the GRADE® Methodology.
The experts’ work synthesis and the application of the GRADE method resulted in 19 recommendations. Among the recommendations formalised, 2 have a high level of evidence (GRADE 1+/−) and 12 have a low level of evidence (GRADE 2+/−). For 5 recommendations, the GRADE method could not be applied, resulting in expert advice. After two rounds of scoring and one amendment, strong agreement was reached on all the recommendations.
There was significant agreement among experts on strong recommendations to improve practices for the management of patients with spinal cord injury.
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