Characterization of forms of social and economic organizations associated with « firm agriculture » The “AGRIFIRM” project aims to identify and characterize what is commonly referred to as “firm agricultures” and, in particular, the associated practice, forms of organization and types of management of the agricultural trade. Our objective is to account for the emergence of a new type of agriculture hitherto neglected by “rural studies”. The development of a highly capitalist type of agriculture fully integrated into the commodity markets, of new forms of ownership of agricultural capital, and the arrival of new agents, testify to the emergence of social and economic organizations of agriculture at odds with the family-based forms recognised and supported by policy-makers in the second half of the twentieth-century. At the global level, firm agricultures have now emerged beside “family agricultures”. The former are now supported by new investors (food industry, private funds, States) that wish to secure their supply of agricultural commodities and/or new investment opportunities. Our ambition is to combine a sociological approach to agricultures in a globalized world with the analysis propounded by economists, geographers or management scholars. This interdisciplinary perspective derives from our commitment to characterizing “firm agriculture” in a variety of contexts and to approach its responses to new challenges and opportunities: globalization and opening of agricultural markets, uncertainties and controversies surrounding the preservation and management of ecosystems and of energy supplies. This project will allow the consolidation of a network of early-career researchers based in the southwest of France. Its ambition, however, is ultimately to engage and collaborate with a range of stakeholders within and beyond the region such as professional organizations and private enterprises (Groupe Euralis-Pau ; Groupe Champagne-Céréales-Reims, Groupe Terreos-Lille, La Confédération Générale des planteurs de Betteraves-Paris). The objective is to build a common platform to confront categories of analysis with pragmatic imperatives. The action-plan elaborated by the team will address two major challenges: the construction of an interdisciplinary framework of analysis; the elaboration of a comprehensive analysis of new forms of agriculture in France and in the world.

Adhesives and sealants are widely used in many industrial applications, such as in aerospace, automotive and electrical industries. The characterisation, evaluation of their properties and diagnosis is a key-point for the use of these multi-materials: if the usual characterisation techniques allow a good description of the adhesives in the bulk, or their practical adhesion at model interfaces, reliable parameters of thick interphases between the substrates and the adhesives are missing. Then, dielectric spectroscopy is an extremely effective method for characterising the molecular dynamics over a large range of time scales, and a very promising method to study these complex multi-materials. Unfortunately, the resulting curves are very difficult to analyse as many phenomena take place at the same time (or frequency): dipole relaxations, sample conductivity, electrodes polarisation; Then, some modeling has to be done, and the real and imaginary parts of the permittivity have to be simultaneously modelled, which is really rarely done now. As classical tools for the dielectric spectroscopy data fitting are not satisfactory, we will develop new mathematical and simulation tools. The interval analysis method we want to use takes into account the experimental error of each data point in the measured dielectric spectrum in order to find the suitable number of relaxations, and give a confidence interval for every parameter of the dielectric function implemented in the software (Set Inversion Via Interval Analysis applied to DiElectric Spectroscopy). The found result is guaranteed which means that the used algorithm is able to validate or nullify a mathematical model. Then, the number of relaxations in the system characterised, their position and intensity will be determined and guaranteed. On the one hand, this new approach of the polymer and interphase study will lead to a better comprehension of the bonded systems, their ageing and to the determination of their Remaining Useful Life (diagnosis). Of course, this fundamental research in molecular dynamic will be coupled with a strong experimental work in practical adhesion and interphases study. On the other hand, the interval analysis and the developed software will be put into a general use (all kind of fit and peak deconvolution): for example the fit of dynamical mechanical analysis data, or deconvolution of X-Ray diffraction, infra-red spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Using the interval analysis, it will be possible to guarantee the number of Gauss or Lorentz type peaks hidden under a common peak. Just let us remind that the power of the interval analysis is not to use another deconvolution or fitting tool but to guarantee (taking into account the experimental error) the exact number of elementary peaks (relaxations) drawing the experimental curve.

Post-surgery bone infections (orthopedics, cranial and maxillo-facial surgeries, arthoplasty...) represent nowadays a major socio-economical issue, including in Europe. Taking into account the severity of the consequences of bone infections for the patients (prosthesis loosening, risks for amputation, extreme difficulty to eradicate infectious germs within bone tissue...), the prevention of such infections is now being considered by clinicians as a crucial necessity. In this context, the Bio-capabili project aims at elaborating, studying and pre-developing innovative biomaterials for bone tissue engineering, based on novel biomimetic calcium phosphates analogous to bone mineral and capable of inhibiting post-surgery bone infections thanks to the incorporation of intrinsic anti-bacterial properties.

HYPMOBB proposes a new processing way to make biodegradable materials from renewable raw materials. Through high pressure molding, highly resistant materials are obtained without adding any binder. Among advantages of the process: -low cost: use of agricultural by-products, one step process, -nice appearance: to the density targeted bio-based materials gain a nice stone-like appearance interesting for many application domains (furniture and home fashion industry), -environmentally friendly: no by-product, no additive, biodégradable, short life cycle, only one energy input for the molding. The project is divided in two main tasks concerning the: - Compression behavior of natural polymers: realization of PVT diagrams of model carbohydrates (chosen to represent the variety of natural structure found in nature from the crystalline cellulose to amorphous hemicelluloses) according to their moisture content, analysis of the thermal behavior of these polymers in these conditions (glass transition, "fusion"...), specific study of the influence of hydration on biopolymer compressibility and characterization of the microstructure change upon compression. - Molding process: systematic study on the influence of the operating conditions (temperature, pression, moisture content) on the mechanical properties of molded materials, investigation of chemical grafting during molding and proof of concepts at a pre-pilot scale. HYPMOBB is led by Antoine Rouilly, a specialist of thermo-mechanical processing applied to agro-materials and member of the Agromat team, from the Laboratoire de Chimie Agro-Industrielle (LCA), UMR 1010 INRA-INPT, with the particular help of other young researchers from the Institut Carnot CIRIMAT, UMR 5085 CNRS-UPS-INPT and the LCA, who will bring their expertise on powder compressibility and chemical grafting. The project has already granted by AVAMIP to evaluate its industrial liability. The present application concerns the funding of a PhD for the fundamental study of the occuring phenomenon, a 24 months postdoctoral fellowship dedicated to the molding process itself and all associated expenses. Its duration is 3.5 years.

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) can transform the chemical energy from cheap organic compounds directly into electrical energy. The concept was known since the 70s, but with little prospect of industrial development in the short or medium term. A fundamental breakthrough occurred in 2002: the unexpected discovery of microorganisms capable of catalyzing the oxidation process at the surface of graphite electrodes. These microorganisms can attach spontaneously to the surface of materials and form a three-dimensional structure more or less organized called electro-active (EA) biofilm. The electro-active biofilms can be formed artificially in laboratory from pure culture of microorganisms or can develop spontaneously on electrodes immersed in natural environments rich in microorganisms such as sediments or sludge from wastewater treatment plants. With this new type of electro-catalysis assisted by micro-organisms, the MFC technology produce electrical energy by oxidizing a large diversity of organic compounds (acetate, volatile fatty acids, saccharides ...) contained in natural environments. These key advances have been highlighted by teams of microbiologists or environmental engineers, who use currently basic electrode materials based on carbon and conventional experimental systems, poorly adapted to the study of microbial fuel cell. In addition, the low efficiency of the cathodic compartment was rapidly reported as the main drawback of the technology. On this point, the “laboratoire de genie chimique” (LGC) and the BioCathInox project manager (B. Erable) have proposed a decisive answer to lift the problem of the cathode. They described in 2010 a marine EA bacterium (Algoriphagus sp.) colonizing the surface of stainless steel and giving to this material the property to electro-catalyze the reduction of dissolved oxygen, with kinetics comparable to those obtained on the solid platinum. This innovation on the cathodic process may be the answer saving the MFC technology, however, there are still some scientific problems and fundamental processes are not yet understood. The BioCathInox project proposes to develop the research on EA biofilms engineering beyond the current knowledge in two complementary ways: • Building the necessary basic knowledge on "Stainless Steel / electro-active biofilm” interfaces. The tools of microscopy and molecular biology will then be combined to understand how EA biofilms is structuring on the surface of stainless steels. Advanced techniques in electrochemistry at the local level (as SVET for example) will be used to pierce the mysteries of electron transfer between microorganisms and the surface of stainless steel. • Using these fundamental advances in designing optimal microbial cathodes that will lead the MFC technology to a pre-industrial development. The combination of different scales of electrodes structuring (nano- and/or micro- structuring) to promote bacterial adhesion and the electron transfer is an original approach to maximize the calatytic performance of the interfaces. Also, a strategy combining the stabilization of the reaction and the improvement of mass transport inside he biofilm structure should consistently improve the stabilitye of microbial cathodes. The final objective is to achieve a current density of about 10 A/m2 with a stainless steel based microbial cathode formed from the bacterial strain Algoriphagus sp.