Crecimiento, rendimiento y calidad de semillas de tres cv de Cenchrus ciliaris bajo condiciones de salinidad

La salinidad es uno de los mayores factores limitantes para la expansi��n de la frontera agr��cola, afecta a m��s de 30 millones de hect��reas principalmente en las regiones ��ridas y semi��ridas, donde es una de las principales limitaciones ed��ficas para la producci��n de plantas forrajeras. Cenchrus ciliaris (Poaceae), es una especie perenne, nativa de ��frica y de la mitad este de Asia de conocida tolerancia a condiciones de sequ��a y elevadas temperaturas. Sin embargo la informaci��n sobre la tolerancia a condiciones de salinidad es escasa por lo que el objetivo general de este trabajo fue aportar conocimientos sobre los efectos de la salinidad en el rendimiento de forraje y semilla de Cenchrus ciliaris y algunos de los mecanismos fisiol��gicos subyacentes. Para esto se utilizaron tres cv Americana, Biloela y Texas, que se cultivaron en containers de 1000 litros sobre arena lavada durante dos temporadas. Este sistema de cultivo permiti�� controlar los niveles de salinidad en el sustrato, similar a una hidropon��a, pero mantener a las plantas en condiciones de campo en cuanto a temperatura, radiaci��n, humedad, vientos etc. Haciendo as�� que los resultados sean mucho m��s pr��ximos y extrapolables a una condici��n real de cultivo. Los tratamientos consistieron en riegos con soluciones de NaCl de 8, 13 y 18 dS/m, sobre una base de soluci��n nutritiva. El control consisti�� solamente en la mencionada soluci��n nutritiva (3 dS/m). Para evitar la acumulaci��n de sales en el perfil se dise���� un sistema de drenaje que permiti�� monitorear diariamente el lixiviado de riego y mantener el sistema estable. Los efectos de los tratamientos se evaluaron sobre variables de crecimiento y de rendimiento reproductivo. Tambi��n se realizaron mediciones de potencial h��drico, osm��tico, contenido relativo de agua (RWC)y acumulaci��n de iones en l��mina foliar. Para determinar si la semillas obtenidas de plantas estresadas toleran mejor condiciones de estr��s durante la germinaci��n, estas se incubaron en soluciones de NaCl de -0.5, -1, -1.5, -2, -2.5 y -3 MPa. Los resultados mostraron que los tres cv responden de manera similar frente al estr��s, disminuyendo el crecimiento vegetativo y el rendimiento conforme aumenta la salinidad. Como respuesta general a los tratamientos salinos el crecimiento disminuy�� al igual que lo observado para condiciones de estr��s h��drico. De todas las etapas del ciclo ontog��nico estudiadas la m��s susceptible fue la inicial que comprendi�� plantas que estaban iniciando la etapa reproductiva, siendo el cv Biloela el m��s susceptible. Luego hacia el final de la temporada de crecimiento las diferencias entre el control y el tratamiento menos salino (8 dS/m)desaparecieron. Esto indica que el cultivo es m��s sensible a la salinidad en la etapa vegetativa y el inicio de la etapa reproductiva. De las componentes del rendimiento reproductivo s��lo el n��mero de espigas por planta y el peso de 100 cariopses se vieron afectados. Con respecto a las variables h��dricas los tres cv modificaron tanto el potencial h��drico como el osm��tico y mantuvieron su RWC constante. Los iones adicionados con los tratamientos Na+ y Cl- se acumularon en hoja conforme aument�� la conductividad de las soluciones de riego. El an��lisis de K+ para cada cv mostr�� que en todos los casos los niveles de este ion fueron significativamente mayores en el control que en los tratamientos. En los tres cv estudiados se observ�� que semillas provenientes de plantas que crecieron en condiciones de salinidad germinaron en mayor cantidad y m��s r��pido que las provenientes del control. En el cv Texas estas diferencias son especialmente marcadas, as�� semillas provenientes del tratamiento con mayor nivel de salinidad (18 S/m)germinaron casi un 50 por ciento m��s que las provenientes del control. El efecto de la salinidad durante el desarrollo de las semillas increment�� los niveles de germinaci��n en los controles (0 Mpa)y en condiciones moderadas de salinidad (-0,5 a -1,5 MPa)

Uso del Geometricks en Did��ctica de la Matem��tica: tri��ngulo equil��tero y fractales

La introducci��n de las nuevas Tecnolog��as de la Informaci��n y la Comunicaci��n (TIC) en la sociedad actual y en la Educaci��n es hoy una realidad. En Educaci��n se ha incorporado la tecnolog��a multimedia como un elemento m��s del proceso de ense��anza-aprendizaje. En Matem��ticas, existen numerosas aplicaciones inform��ticas dise��adas expresamente para favorecer el aprendizaje o la construcci��n de determinados conceptos. En este trabajo se presenta un software de geometr��a din��mica, el Geometricks. Tras describir el uso del software y su potencialidad en el aula, se proponen unas actividades para su uso en el aula.

El papel como material did��ctico en la construcci��n de la geometr��a plana

La geometr��a en el curr��culo de secundaria se introduce con la intenci��n de proporcionar al alumno una mayor capacidad de comprensi��n de la organizaci��n espacial del mundo que nos rodea, exigiendo para ello un aprendizaje sistematizado. Con este prop��sito, el ``Grupo PI' trabaja en el desarrollo de actividades para el aula utilizando un material econ��mico y de f��cil adquisici��n como es el papel. El objetivo es proporcionar al profesor un material eficaz para el trabajo en el aula y aproximar a los alumnos a la Geometr��a Plana a trav��s de una serie de tareas estructuradas que logran una mayor significatividad del proceso de aprendizaje. Se emplear��n axiomas del origami para crear secuencias que permitan la construcci��n de representaciones significativas en los procesos de aprendizaje. Por ��ltimo, intentaremos mostrar a los profesores la utilidad del papel como material did��ctico en la construcci��n de conocimiento geom��trico.

Multiphysics modelling for electronics design

The future of many companies will depend to a large extent on their ability to initiate techniques that bring schedules, performance, tests, support, production, life-cycle-costs, reliability prediction and quality control into the earliest stages of the product creation process. Important questions for an engineer who is responsible for the quality of electronic parts such as printed circuit boards (PCBs) during design, production, assembly and after-sales support are: What is the impact of temperature? What is the impact of this temperature on the stress produced in the components? What is the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) associated with such a design? At present, thermal, stress and EMC calculations are undertaken using different software tools that each require model build and meshing. This leads to a large investment in time, and hence cost, to undertake each of these simulations. This paper discusses the progression towards a fully integrated software environment, based on a common data model and user interface, having the capability to predict temperature, stress and EMC fields in a coupled manner. Such a modelling environment used early within the design stage of an electronic product will provide engineers with fast solutions to questions regarding thermal, stress and EMC issues. The paper concentrates on recent developments in creating such an integrated modeling environment with preliminary results from the analyses conducted. Further research into the thermal and stress related aspects of the paper is being conducted under a nationally funded project, while their application in reliability prediction will be addressed in a new European project called PROFIT.

Property development: Appraisal and finance

The book provides an overview to the context of property development so that academics, students and professionals can examine the stages of development in the process - from initial consideration, to site finding, general appraisal, valuation, funding, construction and marketing, with a focus on two key areas of the process: appraisal and finance. The Second Edition reflects the developing research interests of the authors by putting property development and appraisal in a wider economic environment and the appraisal process was treated in a more holistic manner. Secondly, more case studies were included and the chapters framed with clear objectives key terms and summaries. Thirdly, this edition examined in more detail the property development and appraisal process in relation to sustainability and other key issues such as climate change, the changing financial environment, planning design and global influences. Research on appraisal techniques is incorporated in chapters 3-5. Research on property finance based on the original Property Lending Surveys carried out by the author and incorporated in other texts (Property Finance, 1994, 2003) is included in chapters 6-8. Research on property companies and their capital structures in included in chapter 8. Analysis of the relationship between sustainability and design is included in chapter 9. This is a key text in the area of property development, sales of the First Edition and Second Edition have been in the thousands globally to academics, students and practitioners.

Trade credit linkages along the supply chain: evidence for the Italian textile sector

We examine the trade credit linkages among firms within a supply chain to reckon the effect of such linkages on the propagation of liquidity shocks from downstream to upstream firms. We choose a sample appropriate for this task, consisting of a large data set of Italian firms from the textile industry, a well known example of a comprehensive manufacturing cluster featuring a large number of small and specialized firms at each level of the supply chain. The results of the analysis indicate that the level of trade credit that firms provide to their suppliers is positively related to the level of trade credit granted to their clients: when the level of trade credit granted to clients divided by sales goes up by 1, the level of trade credit provided to suppliers divided by cost-of goods-sold goes up by an amount that varies between 0,22 and 0,52. Since all firms along the chain are linked by trade credit relationships, an increase in the level of trade credit granted by wholesalers generates a liquidity cascade throughout the chain. We designate the overall increase in the level of trade credit among all firms in the chain as a result of a unitary impulse in the level of trade credit granted by wholesalers as the multiplier effect of trade credit for the industry chain. We estimate such multiplier to vary between 1.28 and 2.04. We also investigate the effect of final demand on the level of trade credit sourced by firms at various levels of the chain and, in particular, whether such effect is amplified for firms further up in the chain as a result of liquidity propagation via trade credit linkages. We uncover evidence of such amplification when the links of liquidity transmission along the chain are individually modeled and estimated. An unitary increase in wholesalers��� sales is found to produce an effect on trade payables among firms at the top of the chain (i.e., Preparers and Spinners) that is more than twice as big as the corresponding effect among firms at the bottom of the chain (i.e., Wholesalers).

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) (I): Toxicity, population exposure and involved foods

Food is one of the main exogenous sources of genotoxic compounds. In heated food products, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a priority group of genotoxic, mutagenic and/or carcinogenic chemical pollutants with adverse long-term health effects. People can be exposed to these compounds through different environments and via various routes: inhalation, ingestion of foods and water and even percutaneously. The presence of these compounds in food may be due to environmental contamination, to industrial handling and processing of foods and to oil processing and refining. The highest levels of these compounds are found in smoked foods, in seafood which is found in polluted waters, in grilled meats and, to a lesser extent, in vegetable fats and oils. Lower levels of PAHs are found in vegetables and in cereals and its products.

Intercultural competence in the area of drug dependencies

This article takes a multidimensional or biopsychosocial conception of drug dependency as its starting point. Within this analytical framework, we advocate making the intercultural dimension more visible, since it is essential for the design and implementation of integral intervention processes. We propose intercultural competence as a working model that can increase the capacities of institutions and professionals ���a particularly important consideration in the case of social work��� in order to effectively address the aforementioned cultural dimension. After an extensive review of the scientific literature, we have defined five processes that can contribute to strengthening an institution���s intercultural competence and four processes that can do the same for a professional���s intercultural competence. Though selected for application in the area of drug dependencies, all these processes can also prove useful in improving attention to any other kind of culturally diverse group or person.

Linking Research and Marketing: A Pharmaceutical Innovation

This chapter describes in very general terms the integration of clinical research and marketing, drawing on books by marketers and recent cases that have come to the public eye. The tools that have been used to accomplish this integration over the past half-century are various, but they all stem from a realization that in a rational world centered on health there need be no intrinsic divide between research and marketing. Most obviously, marketing drugs to physicians, who are professionals acting within their own spheres, depends crucially on research. Physicians respond, and need to see themselves as responding, to fact, figures, and studies. The well-chosen images and vehicles for marketing campaigns must be subordinated to research. Yet at the same time research is a means of increasing sales.

Ireland's Innovation Performance: 1991-2005

In this paper we use data from the five waves of the Irish Innovation Panel (IIP) to profile the innovation performance of manufacturing plants in Ireland and Northern Ireland over the period 1991 to 2005. Despite considerable public sector investment on both sides of the border levels of innovation activity have remained broadly similar throughout this period although somewhat different trends are evident in Ireland and Northern Ireland. In terms of product innovation for example, the proportion of manufacturing plants making product changes has increased 5 per cent in Ireland and just over 7 per cent in Northern Ireland. In terms of process innovation a decline of almost 7 per cent in Ireland has been accompanied by a 7 per cent increase in Northern Ireland. These trends provide some evidence of convergence in innovation performance over the 1991 to 2005 period. This is evident in the narrowing gap between the proportion of product innovators in Ireland and Northern Ireland, convergence in the proportion of plants undertaking process innovation and in terms of the increasingly similar proportions of sales derived from innovative products. Looking in more detail at the determinants of manufacturing innovation emphasises the importance of R&D and backwards supply chain linkages as sources of new knowledge for innovation. Other external linkages prove less important suggesting the value of policy initiatives designed to promote knowledge sharing. We also find a significant negative innovation effect from legislative restrictions on plants��� product innovation. Public support for both product and process innovation are having positive effects on innovation outputs at the level of the individual plant. Future research interest centres on the contrast between this strong positive result at firm level and the more modest increases in innovation among the population of firms in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Perils of Moviegoing in America, 1896-1950

The Perils of Moviegoing in America is a film history that examines the various physical and (perceived) moral dangers facing audiences during the first fifty years of film exhibition.<br/><br/>Chapter 1: ���Conflagration���<br/>As early as 1897, a major fire broke out at a film exhibition in San Francisco, with flames burning the projectionist and nearby audience members. From that point until the widespread adoption of safety stock in 1950, fires were a very common movie-going experience. Hundreds of audience members lost their lives in literally thousands of theatre fires, ranging from early nickelodeons to the movie palaces of the thirties and forties. <br/><br/>Chapter 2: ���Thieves Among Us���<br/>Bandits robbed movie theatres on hundreds of occasions from the early days of film exhibition through the end of the Great Depression. They held up ticket booths, and they dynamited theatre safes. They also shot theatre managers, ushers, and audience members, as a great many of the robberies occurred while movies were playing on the screens inside. <br/><br/>Chapter 3: ���Bombs Away���<br/>Bombings at movie theatres became common in small towns and large cities on literally hundreds of occasions from 1914 to the start of World War II. Some were incendiary bombs, and some were stench bombs; both could be fatal, whether due to explosions or to the trampling of panicked moviegoers<br/><br/>Chapter 4: ���It���s Catching���<br/>Widespread movie-going in the early 20th century provoked an outcry from numerous doctors and optometrists who believed that viewing films could do irreparable harm to the vision of audience members. Medical publications (including the Journal of the American Medical Association) published major studies on this perceived problem, which then filtered into popular-audience magazines and newspapers. <br/><br/>Chapter 5: ���The Devil���s Apothecary Shops���<br/>Sitting in the dark with complete strangers proved worrisome for many early filmgoers, who had good reason to be concerned. Darkness meant that prostitutes could easily work in the balconies of some movie theatres, as could ���mashers��� who molested female patrons (and sometimes children) after the lights were dimmed. That was all in addition to the various murderers who used the cover of darkness to commit their crimes at movie theatres. <br/><br/>Chapter 6: ���Blue Sundays���<br/>Blue laws were those regulations that prohibited businesses from operating on Sundays. Most communities across the US had such legislation on their books, which by the nickelodeon era were at odds with the thousands of filmgoers who went to the movies every Sunday. Theatre managers were often arrested, making newspaper headlines over and over again. Police sometimes even arrested entire film audiences as accomplices in the Blue Law violations.<br/><br/>Chapter 7: ���Something for Nothing���<br/>In an effort to bolster ticket sales, many movie theatres in the 1910s began to hold lotteries in which lucky audience members won cash prizes; by the time of the Great Depression, lotteries like ���Bank Night��� became a common aspect of the theatre-going enterprise. However, reception studies have generally overlooked the intense (and sometimes coordinated) efforts by police, politicians, and preachers to end this practice, which they viewed as illegal and immoral gambling. <br/>

The role of proximity in university-business cooperation for innovation

The potential for universities to contribute positively to business innovation has received much attention in recent years. While the determinants of university-business cooperation have been examined extensively, less attention has been given to the mediating influence of proximity in this relationship. The analysis in this paper builds on theUKbusiness innovation survey (2002���2005) by incorporating measures of the university research environment for each of the 16,500 businesses surveyed. These measures allow us to look beyond business-level characteristics as determinants of the geography of university cooperation and account for the character of the local university environment. Measures include the distance from each business to its nearest university, the quality of local university research and the density of the university research environment. The findings suggest that significant differences exist between those businesses that cooperate with local universities and those that cooperate with non-local universities. These differences relate to business size, sales profile, location, absorptive capacity and innovation activity. In addition, we also find that if a business is located close to a research excellent university, cooperation tends to remain local, however, the distance between businesses and the nearest university is not a significant determinant of university-business cooperation and further, the higher the concentration of universities in the business locale, the more likely businesses are to cooperate with non-local universities.

Why and how FDI stocks are a biased measure of MNE affiliate activity

Many international business (IB) studies have used foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks to measure the aggregate value-adding activity of multinational enterprises (MNE) affiliates in host countries. We argue that FDI stocks are a biased measure of that activity, because the degree to which they overestimate or underestimate affiliate activity varies systematically with host-country characteristics. First, most FDI into countries that serve as tax havens generate no actual productive activity; thus FDI stocks in such countries overestimate affiliate activity. Second, FDI stocks do not include locally raised external funds, funds widely used in countries with well-developed financial markets or volatile exchange rates, resulting in an underestimation of affiliate activity in such countries. Finally, the extent to which FDI translates into affiliate activity increases with affiliate labor productivity, so in countries where labor is more productive, FDI stocks also result in an underestimation of affiliate activity. We test these hypotheses by first regressing affiliate value-added and affiliate sales on FDI stocks to calculate a country-specific mismatch, and then by regressing this mismatch on a host country's tax haven status, level of financial market development, exchange rate volatility, and affiliate labor productivity. All hypotheses are supported, implying that FDI stocks are a biased measure of MNE affiliate activity, and hence that the results of FDI-data-based studies of such activity need to be reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]<br/>

Corruption and subsidiary profitability: US MNC subsidiaries in the Asia Pacific region

Would multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries be more profitable in host countries where corruption is less severe? Would MNC subsidiaries be more profitable in less corrupt countries if they focus on local sales? This paper examines the impact of the level of corruption on the profitability of US MNCs in the Asia Pacific region. Using foreign direct investment (FDI) data archived by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis and corruption data reported by the World Bank, we find that MNC subsidiaries located in countries with a lower level of corruption are more profitable. In addition, MNC subsidiaries with a greater focus on local sales are more profitable when the corruption level is low. This study contributes to the literature by showing that when local sales are important to MNC subsidiaries, a lower level of corruption by host countries positively affects the profitability of the MNC subsidiaries.

The influence of evidence-based medicine training on decision-making in relation to over-the-counter medicines: a qualitative study

Objectives<br/>To explore the role of evidence of effectiveness when making decisions about over-the-counter (OTC) medication and to ascertain whether evidence-based medicine training raised awareness in decision-making. Additionally, this work aimed to complement the findings of a previous study because all participants in this current study had received training in evidence-based medicine (unlike the previous participants).<br/> <br/>Methods<br/>Following ethical approval and an e-mailed invitation, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with newly registered pharmacists (who had received training in evidence-based medicine as part of their MPharm degree) to discuss the role of evidence of effectiveness with OTC medicines. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Following transcription, all data were entered into the NVivo software package (version 8). Data were coded and analysed using a constant comparison approach.<br/> <br/>Key findings<br/>Twenty-five pharmacists (7 males and 18 females; registered for less than 4 months) were recruited and all participated in the study. Their primary focus with OTC medicines was safety; sales of products (including those that lack evidence of effectiveness) were justified provided they did no harm. Meeting patient expectation was also an important consideration and often superseded evidence. Despite knowledge of the concept, and an awareness of ethical requirements, an evidence-based approach was not routinely implemented by these pharmacists. Pharmacists did not routinely utilize evidence-based resources when making decisions about OTC medicines and some felt uncomfortable discussing the evidence-base for OTC products with patients.<br/> <br/>Conclusions<br/>The evidence-based medicine training that these pharmacists received appeared to have limited influence on OTC decision-making. More work could be conducted to ensure that an evidence-based approach is routinely implemented in practice<br/>