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Urbanization is known to spur land modification in the form of conversion of common land to human settlements. This factor, combined with climate variability, can alter the duration, frequency and intensity of storm drain overflows in urban areas and lead to public health risks. In peri-urban regions where these risks are especially high it has been argued that, when domestic wastewater is managed, better prospects for freshwater water savings through swaps between urban water supply and irrigated agriculture may be possible. As a consequence of re-use of domestic wastewater, expenditure on inorganic inputs by farmers may decline and source sustainability of water supply could be enhanced. Given the fact that, at present, approximately 20 million ha of land worldwide is being cultivated by re-using domestic wastewater, this paper draws on evidence from India to explore: (1) the economic costs-benefits of wastewater reuse in the context of hypothesized links to climate variability; (2) the role of local farming practices, market conditions and crop variety in influencing wastewater reuse in agriculture; and (3) the role of inter-governmental financing in influencing the selection of technical adaptation options for collection, treatment and disposal of wastewater.

The necessity to identify and monitor slope movement is of paramount importance to reduce the socio-economic toll that every year is paid in developing as well as in developed countries. From the late 80's Italian and Swiss legislations regarding hydro-geological risks, have identified landslide hazard maps as essential tools to mitigate the risk associated to landslides. Several projects funded by the European Space Agency within the framework of its Data User Program (DUP), have investigated the feasibility and the operational applicability of spaceborne imagery to respond to the needs of governmental institutions that have a mandate in landslide analysis and prevention. Techniques based on SAR interferometry and on the combination of state of the art Remote Sensing observations with CIS modeling have been analysed in order to assess the contribution of Satellite Remote Sensing information in support to the practices of the Geological Risk Services Agencies.

Ecological intensification is a new concept in agriculture that addresses the double challenge of maintaining a level of production sufficient to support needs of human populations and respecting the environment in order to conserve the natural world and human quality of life. This article adapts this concept to fish farming using agroecological principles and the ecosystem services framework. The method was developed from the study of published literature and applications at four study sites chosen for their differences in production intensity: polyculture ponds in France, integrated pig and pond polyculture in Brazil, the culture of striped catfish in Indonesia and a recirculating salmon aquaculture system in France. The study of stakeholders' perceptions of ecosystem services combined with environmental assessment through Life Cycle Assessment and Emergy accounting allowed development of an assessment tool that was used as a basis for co-building evolution scenarios. From this experience, ecological intensifica-tion of aquaculture was defined as the use of ecological processes and functions to increase productivity, strengthen ecosystem services and decrease disservices. It is based on aquaecosystem and biodiversity management and the use of local and traditional knowledge. Expected consequences for farming systems consist of greater autonomy, efficiency and better integration into their surrounding territories. Ecological intensification requires territorial governance and helps improve it from a sustainable development perspective. International audience

Humans have multiple ways to adapt their arm dynamics to the task they have to perform. One way of doing this is through co-contraction of antagonist muscles. In telemanipulation this ability is easily lost due to time delays, quantization effects, bandwidth or hardware limitations. In this work a new concept for telemanipulation is presented. The end-point stiffness of a (simulated) telerobot is controlled via a variable impedance controller. The end effector stiffness scales with an estimate of the co-contraction around the elbow of the teleoperator. The telemanipulation concept was evaluated with ten subjects that performed two telemanipulation tasks in six different conditions. Three impedance levels: Low, high, and variable, and two delay settings. The first task was on positioning accuracy, the second task on impact minimization. We have shown that low and variable impedance performed significantly better on the force task than high impedance. We have also shown that high and variable impedance performed significantly better on the position task than low impedance. This shows that the human ability to control arm stiffness can effectively be transferred to a telemanipulated robot.

International audience; Several demographic factors can produce family structured patches within natural plant populations, particularly limited seed and pollen dispersal and small effective density. In this paper, we used computer simulations to examine how seed dispersal, density, and spatial distribution of adult trees and seedlings can explain the spatial genetic structure (SGS) of natural regeneration after a single reproductive event in a small population. We then illustrated the results of our simulations using genetic (isozymes and chloroplast microsatellites) and demographic experimental data from an Abies alba (silver fir) intensive study plot located in the Southern French Alps (Mont Ventoux). Simulations showed that the structuring effect of limited dispersal on seedling SGS can largely be counterbalanced by high effective density or a clumped spatial distribution of adult trees. In addition, the clumping of natural regeneration far from adult trees, which is common in temperate forest communities where gap dynamics are predominant, further decreases SGS intensity. Contrary to our simulation results, low adult tree density, aggregated spatial distribution of seedlings, and limited seed dispersal did not generate a significant SGS in our A. alba experimental plot. Although some level of long distance pollen and seed flow could explain this lack of SGS, our experimental data confirm the role of spatial aggregation (both in adult trees and in seedlings far from adult trees) in reducing SGS in natural populations

Tsetse eradication continues to be a top priority for African governments including that of Senegal, which embarked on a project to eliminateGlossina palpalis gambiensisfrom the Niayes area, following an area-wide integrated pest management approach with an SIT component. A successful SIT programme requires competitive sterile males of high biological quality. This may be hampered by handling processes including irradiation and the release mechanisms, necessitating continued improvement of these processes, to maintain the quality of flies. A new prototype of an automated chilled adult release system (Bruno Spreader Innovation, (BSI (TM))) for tsetse flies was tested for its accuracy (in counting) and release rate consistency. Also, its impact on the quality of the released sterile males was evaluated on performance indicators, including flight propensity, mating competitiveness, premating and mating duration, insemination rate of mated females and survival of male flies. The BSI(TM)release system accurately counted and homogenously released flies at the lowest motor speed set (0.6 rpm), at a consistent rate of 60 +/- 9.58 males/min. Also, the release process, chilling (6 +/- 1 degrees C) and passing of flies through the machine) had no significant negative impact on the male flight propensity, mating competitiveness, premating and mating durations and the insemination rates. Only the survival of flies was negatively affected whether under feeding or starvation. The positive results of this study show that the BSI (TM) release system is promising for use in future tsetse SIT programmes. However, the negative impact of the release process on survival of flies needs to be addressed in future studies and results of this study confirmed under operational field conditions in West Africa. International audience