Brazilian maize genotypes sensitivity to water deficit estimated through a simple crop yield model

The objective of this work was to determine the sensitivity of maize (Zea mays) genotypes to water deficit, using a simple agrometeorological crop yield model. Crop actual yield and agronomic data of 26 genotypes were obtained from the Maize National Assays carried out in ten locations, in four Brazilian states, from 1998 to 2006. Weather information for each experimental location and period were obtained from the closest weather station. Water deficit sensitivity index (Ky) was determined using the crop yield depletion model. Genotypes can be divided into two groups according to their resistance to water deficit. Normal resistance genotypes had Ky ranging from 0.4 to 0.5 in vegetative period, 1.4 to 1.5 in flowering, 0.3 to 0.6 in fruiting, and 0.1 to 0.3 in maturing period, whereas the higher resistance genotypes had lower values, respectively 0.2-0.4, 0.7-1.2, 0.2-0.4, and 0.1-0.2. The general Ky for the total growing season was 2.15 for sensitive genotypes and 1.56 for the resistant ones. Model performance was acceptable to evaluate crop actual yield, whose average errors estimated for each genotype ranged from -5.7% to +5.8%, and whose general mean absolute error was 960 kg ha-1 (10%).

Access to Recovery Iowa: Provider Manual, October 2014

Access to Recovery - Iowa (ATR) is a three year grant awarded to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA) in October 2014. ATR provides funding to individuals to purchase services and supports linked to their recovery from substance abuse. ATR emphasizes client choice and increases the array of available community-based services, supports, and providers.

Transpiration response of upland rice to water deficit changed by different levels of eucalyptus biochar

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of eucalyptus biochar on the transpiration rate of upland rice 'BRSMG Curinga' as an alternative means to decrease the effect of water stress on plant growth and development. Two-pot experiments were carried out using a completely randomized block design, in a split-plot arrangement, with six replicates. Main plots were water stress (WS) and no-water stress (NWS), and the subplots were biochar doses at 0, 6, 12 and 24% in growing medium (sand). Total transpirable soil water (TTSW), the p factor - defined as the average fraction of TTSW which can be depleted from the root zone before water stress limits growth -, and the normalized transpiration rate (NTR) were determined. Biochar addition increased TTSW and the p factor, and reduced NTR. Consequently, biochar addition was able to change the moisture threshold (p factor) of the growing medium, up to 12% maximum concentration, delaying the point where transpiration declines and affects yield.

Travailleuses du sexe: un accès aux soins limité ? [Sex workers: limited access to healthcare ?].

Les travailleuses du sexe constituent un groupe hétérogène qui cumule les facteurs de vulnérabilité, comme l'instabilité géographique, la migration forcée, les addictions et la précarité du permis de séjour. Leur accès aux soins dépend notamment des lois régissant le "marché du sexe" et de la politique migratoire du pays d'accueil. Dans cet article, nous passons en revue diverses stratégies sanitaires européennes destinées à ce groupe vulnérable et présentons les résultats préliminaires d'une étude pilote réalisée auprès de 50 travailleuses du sexe pratiquant dans les rues de Lausanne. Les résultats sont préoccupants : 56% n'ont pas d'assurance maladie, 96% sont migrantes et 66% sans permis de séjour. Ces résultats préliminaires devraient sensibiliser les décideurs politiques à améliorer l'accès aux soins des travailleuses du sexe. [Abstract] Sex workers constitute a heterogeneous group possessing a combination of vulnerability factors such as geographical instability, forced migration, substance addiction and lack of legal residence permit. Access to healthcare for sex workers depends on the laws governing the sex market and on migration policies in force in the host country. In this article, we review different European health strategies established for sex workers, and present preliminary results of a pilot study conducted among 50 sex workers working on the streets in Lausanne. The results are worrying: 56% have no health insurance, 96% are migrants and 66% hold no legal residence permit. These data should motivate public health departments towards improving access to healthcare for this vulnerable population.

UPCommons: global access to Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) knowledge

Programa de mà lliurat en la presentació del pòster 'UPCommons', exposat al primer COMMUNIA Workshop on Technology and the Public Domain, celebrat a Torí (Itàlia) el 18 de gener de 2008.

Physiological parameters to select upland rice genotypes for tolerance to water deficit

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of using physiological parameters for water deficit tolerance, as an auxiliary method for selection of upland rice genotypes. Two experiments - with or without water deficit - were carried out in Porangatu, in the state of Goiás, Brazil; the water deficit experiment received about half of irrigation that was applied to the well-watered experiment. Four genotypes with different tolerance levels to water stress were evaluated. The UPLRI 7, B6144F-MR-6-0-0, and IR80312-6-B-3-2-B genotypes, under water stress conditions, during the day, showed lower stomatal diffusive resistance, higher leaf water potential, and lower leaf temperature than the control. These genotypes showed the highest grain yields under water stress conditions, which were 534, 601, and 636 kg ha-1, respectively, and did not differ significantly among them. They also showed lower drought susceptibility index than the other genotypes. 'BRS Soberana' (susceptible control) was totally unproductive under drought conditions. Leaf temperature is a easy-read parameter correlated to plant-water status, viable for selecting rice genotypes for water deficit tolerance.

Identifying the Role of Final Consumption in Structural Path Analysis: An Application to Water Uses

The complexity of the connexions within an economic system can only be reliably reflected in academic research if powerful methods are used. Researchers have used Structural Path Analysis (SPA) to capture not only the linkages within the production system but also the propagation of the effects into different channels of impacts. However, the SPA literature has restricted itself to showing the relations among sectors of production, while the connections between these sectors and final consumption have attracted little attention. In order to consider the complete set of channels involved, in this paper we propose a structural path method that endogenously incorporates not only sectors of production but also the final consumption of the economy. The empirical application comprises water usages, and analyses the dissemination of exogenous impacts into various channels of water consumption. The results show that the responsibility for water stress is imputed to different sectors and depends on the hypothesis used for the role played by final consumption in the model. This highlights the importance of consumers’ decisions in the determination of ecological impacts. Keywords: Input-Output Analysis, Structural Path Analysis, Final Consumption, Water uses.

Controlling Access to Personal Information

Tässä diplomityössä käsitellään henkilökohtaisen tiedon saannin kontrollointia ja tiedon kuvaamista. Työn käytännön osuudessa suunniteltiin XML –malli henkilökohtaisen tiedon kuvaamiseen. Henkilökohtaisten tietojen käyttäminen mahdollistaa henkilökohtaisen palvelun tarjoamisen ja myös palvelun automatisoinnin käyttäjälle. Henkilökohtaisen tiedon kuvaaminen on hyvin oleellista, jotta palvelut voivat kysellä ja ymmärtää tietoja. Henkilökohtaiseen tietoon vaikuttaa erilaisia tekijöitä, jotka on myös otettava huomioon tietoa kuvattaessa. Henkilökohtaisen tiedon leviäminen eri palveluiden tarjoajille tuo mukanaan myös riskejä. Henkilökohtaisen tiedon joutuminen väärän henkilön käsiin saattaa aiheuttaa vakaviakin ongelmia tiedon omistajalle. Henkilökohtaisen tiedon turvallisen ja luotettavan käytettävyyden kannalta onkin hyvin oleellista, että käyttäjällä on mahdollisuus kontrolloida kenelle hän haluaa luovuttaa mitäkin tietoa.

Differential growth responses to water balance of coexisting deciduous tree species are linked to wood density in a Bolivian tropical dry forest

A seasonal period of water deficit characterizes tropical dry forests (TDFs). There, sympatric tree species exhibit a diversity of growth rates, functional traits, and responses to drought, suggesting that each species may possess different strategies to grow under different conditions of water availability. The evaluation of the long-term growth responses to changes in the soil water balance should provide an understanding of how and when coexisting tree species respond to water deficit in TDFs. Furthermore, such differential growth responses may be linked to functional traits related to water storage and conductance. We used dendrochronology and climate data to retrospectively assess how the radial growth of seven coexisting deciduous tree species responded to the seasonal soil water balance in a Bolivian TDF. Linear mixed-effects models were used to quantify the relationships between basal area increment and seasonal water balance. We related these relationships with wood density and sapwood production to assess if they affect the growth responses to climate. The growth of all species responded positively to water balance during the wet season, but such responses differed among species as a function of their wood density. For instance, species with a strong growth response to water availability averaged a low wood density which may facilitate the storage of water in the stem. By contrast, species with very dense wood were those whose growth was less sensitive to water availability. Coexisting tree species thus show differential growth responses to changes in soil water balance during the wet season. Our findings also provide a link between wood density, a trait related to the ability of trees to store water in the stem, and wood formation in response to water availability.

Patterns of primary growth increments in otoliths of Sparus aurata larvae in relation to water temperature and food consumption

Sparus aurata larvae reared under controlled water-temperature conditions during the first 24 days after hatching displayed a linear relationship between age (t) and standard length (SL): SL = 2.68 + 0.19 t (r2 = 0.91l). Increments were laid down in the sagittae with daily periodicity starting on day of hatching. Standard length (SL) and sagittae radius (OR) were correlated: SL(mm) = 2.65 + 0.012 OR(mm). The series of measurements of daily growth increment widths (DWI), food density and water temperature were analyzed by means of time series analysis. The DWI series were strongly autocorrelated, the growth on any one day was dependent upon growth on the previous day. Time series of water temperatures showed, as expected, a random pattern of variation, while food consumed daily was a function of food consumed the two previous days. The DWI series and the food density were correlated positively at lags 1 and 2. The results provided evidence of the importance of food intake upon the sagittae growth when temperature is optimal (20ºC). Sagittae growth was correlated with growth on the previous day, so this should be taken into account when fish growth is derived from sagittae growth rates.

Social insurances system's shortcomings : the example of the low-income young retirees' access to healthcare [Imperfections du système d'assurances sociales : l'exemple de l'accès aux soins des jeunes retraité(e)s à revenu modeste]

This article presents the results of a study involving 2445 recently retired persons from the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland who choose to forego health care. These persons of modest means barely qualify for government assistance programs and do not benefit from the social safety net that is provided to the truly destitute. 17.9% of the respondents to the questionnaire said that they forego health care for financial reasons. Interviews reveal the complex reasons that lie behind such a choice, as well as the compensation strategies that are sometimes used to get medical treatment. These strategies show that the people are able to act when the circumstances require them to do so. Despite that, their situation remains insecure. Cet article analyse les résultats d'une étude sur le renoncement aux soins menée auprès de 2445 Vaudois∙e∙s récemment retraité∙e∙s. Ces personnes de situation modeste sont proches des limites d'accès aux aides étatiques et ne bénéficient pas du même filet de protection sociale que d'autres plus démunies. 17.9% des répondant∙e∙s au questionnaire déclarent renoncer à des soins pour raisons financières. Des entretiens mettent en évidence la complexité du renoncement, ainsi que les stratégies compensatoires que les personnes adoptent pour accéder à certains soins. Ces dernières démontrent une capacité d'agir en situation qui reste toutefois précaire.