L'Institut Agro Dijon

Abstract Finding more sustainable ways to produce food is a major challenge for humanity in the face of biodiversity extinction and climate change. Consequently, research on the ability of agroecosystems to provide multiple functions is growing. In this regard, the relative importance of organic farming and landscape‐scale measures for improving multifunctionality has recently been debated. We investigated the effects of farming system (conventional vs. organic) at field scale, total length of hedgerows in the landscape and their interaction on the multifunctionality of 40 winter cereal fields in Brittany (France). Our multifunctionality assessment integrated 21 indicators of five agroecosystem goods: biodiversity conservation, nutrient cycling and soil structure, pest and disease regulation, food production and socio‐economic performance. Many indicators of biodiversity conservation, pest and disease regulation, and socio‐economic performance were higher in organic than in conventional systems. However, indicators of nutrient cycling and soil structure did not improve and food production was much lower in organic systems. Total hedgerow length in the landscape had less influence than organic farming on indicators, although we observed positive interactions. Granivorous carabid abundance and semi‐net margin were highest in organic fields located in well‐preserved hedgerow landscapes. Synthesis and applications. Our study suggests that field‐scale organic farming is necessary to promote biodiversity conservation and associated ecological functioning in crop fields, whereas landscape‐scale preservation of semi‐natural habitats alone is likely insufficient. Preservation of hedgerows in the landscape brings additional ecological and socio‐economic benefits for organic systems without compromising agricultural production. More broadly, our results call for more ambitious research into the myriad possible combinations of farming practices and agri‐environmental measures at both field and landscape scales, to improve both below‐ground and above‐ground functioning.

The need for early diagnosis biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is growing. Only few studies have reported gustatory dysfunctions in AD using subjective taste tests. The main purpose of the study was to explore gustatory functions using subjective taste tests and recordings of gustatory evoked potentials (GEPs) for sucrose solution in patients with minor or major cognitive impairment (CI) linked to AD, and to compare them with healthy controls. The secondary objective was to evaluate the relationships between GEPs and the results of cognitive assessments and fasting blood samples. A total of 45 subjects (15 healthy subjects, 15 minor CI patients, 15 major CI patients) were included to compare their gustatory functions and brain activity by recording GEPs in response to a sucrose stimulation. CI groups were combined in second analyses in order to keep a high power in the study. Correlations were made with cognitive scores and hormone levels (ghrelin, leptin, insulin, serotonin). Increased P1 latencies and reduced N1 amplitudes were observed in minor or major patients compared to controls. GEPs were undetectable in 6 major and 4 minor CI patients. Thresholds for sucrose detection were significantly higher in the major CI group than in controls or the minor CI group. No correlation was found with hormone levels. The cortical processing of sensory taste information seems to be altered in patients with minor or major CI linked to AD. This disturbance was identifiable with subjective taste tests only later, at the major CI stage.

Multivariate longitudinal data are used in a variety of research areas not only because they allow to analyze time trajectories of multiple indicators, but also to determine how these trajectories are influenced by other covariates. In this article, we propose a mixture of longitudinal factor analyzers. This model could be used to extract latent factors representing multiple longitudinal noisy indicators in heterogeneous longitudinal data and to study the impact of one or several covariates on these latent factors. One of the advantages of this model is that it allows for measurement non-invariance, which arises in practice when the factor structure varies between groups of individuals due to cultural or physiological differences. This is achieved by estimating different factor models for different latent classes. The proposed model could also be used to extract latent classes with different latent factor trajectories over time. Other advantages of the model include its ability to take into account heteroscedasticity of errors in the factor analysis model by estimating different error variances for different latent classes. We first define the mixture of longitudinal factor analyzers and its parameters. Then, we propose an EM algorithm to estimate these parameters. We propose a Bayesian information criterion to identify both the number of components in the mixture and the number of latent factors. We then discuss the comparability of the latent factors obtained between subjects in different latent groups. Finally, we apply the model to simulated and real data of patients with chronic postoperative pain.

Abstract Although intended to control pests, pesticides affect a phylogenetically diverse range of non-target species contributing to global biodiversity declines1–7. However, the magnitude of this risk is only partly understood. Here, we show that pesticides negatively affect non-target organisms across the tree of life. We analyzed 26,096 effect sizes from 1,705 studies reporting effects of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides on growth, reproduction, behaviour, and other biomarkers of non-target terrestrial and aquatic taxa. Pesticides negatively affected invertebrate and vertebrate animals, seed and spore-producing plants, as well as bacteria and fungi. Pesticides formulated to target a particular taxon negatively affected phylogenetically distant groups, e.g. insecticidal neonicotinoids impacted amphibians, fish, mammals and monocotyledonous plants. The effects were evident for field-realistic exposures, were more pronounced in temperate than tropical regions, and were consistent in magnitude for exposure in aquatic and terrestrial environments. The detection of strong detrimental effects of pesticides across a wide range of non-target organisms questions current regulatory practices. Adoption of sustainable management practices (e.g. agricultural ecological intensification, integrated pest management, and non-pesticide control) may help balance food security alongside reducing dependencies on pesticide with their associated risks to nature.

Berries of blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) are popular for their strong and complex aroma and their benefits for health. In Burgundy (France), the most famous blackcurrant cultivar is the “Noir de Bourgogne”. A blackcurrant breeding program was conducted to obtain new varieties, more resistant to infections and climate changes. The cultivar “Noir de Bourgogne” was crossed with seven other varieties in order to create a hybrid with good agronomic properties and organoleptic properties close to the ones of “Noir de Bourgogne”. Several hybrids were created, and their aromatic profiles studied. Berries of eight cultivars, among which Noir de Bourgogne and hybrids resulting from crossings, were harvested during the summer of 2020. Volatile compounds of berries were analyzed by HS-SPME-GC-MS, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used as the most useful chemometric technique. The profiles in volatile compounds of hybrids were either different from those of the two parental varieties or close to that of varieties other than Bourgogne black. In all cases, the overall aroma strength of the hybrid did not equal that of the Noir de Bourgogne cultivar.

Food waste is becoming a growing and important concern at both local and global levels. One-third of all food production is lost or wasted globally. It is necessary to look for alternatives that allow the use of agri-food waste or byproducts and that can provide value to other foodstuffs. The utilization of beetroot byproducts for producing value-added third generation (3G) snacks was the main aim of this work. These snacks are obtained by indirect expansion by extrusion and later heat expansion. In order to achieve this aim, a corn grits base was used and the influence of water content and beetroot byproduct content effect was studied on expansion kinetics by microwave energy and on texture, colour, extrusion parameters and bioactive compounds of expanded 3G snacks. The microwave expansion kinetics study determined the appropriate time to expand the formulations studied. Samples with higher water content in the mixtures needed more expansion time. In terms of expansion, all samples presented acceptable values; however, samples with 25% water in the mixtures showed better results. Furthermore, these snacks showed more crunchiness and less hardness. Beetroot byproduct incorporation provided additional functional value to the snacks. The betalains and phenols contained in the beetroot byproduct were presented in the expanded snacks and increased the antioxidant capacity of the snacks. With this study, it can be recommended to use 25% water content and 10% beetroot byproduct in corn mixture to obtain a third-generation snack with added value.