Cost-Effectiveness of Water Conservation Measures: A Multi-level Analysis with Policy Implications

Groundwater in Spain, as in other arid or semiarid countries worldwide, has been intensely used for the expansion of irrigated agriculture. This booming development has induced a remarkable socioeconomic development in many rural areas but has produced far-reaching environmental problems. In the Spanish Western La Mancha Aquifer, the excessive, and sometimes illegal, water abstraction for irrigation agriculture has resulted in the Aquifer’s overexploitation and has been responsible of the degradation of the associated wetlands “Tablas de Daimiel”, an internationally reputed, Ramsarnominated aquatic ecosystem. To undertake this analysis, a mathematical programming model has been developed to simulate farmers’ behaviour and their responses to different water policy scenarios. Specifically, the policy simulations selected are: alternative water pricing schemes (uniform volumetric and block-rate water tariffs), water use quota systems and water rights market. Results show that controlling illegal water mining is a necessary condition but it is not sufficient to recover the aquifer. Consequently, other measures will be necessary for an effective water management in this area. Among these, the block-rate water pricing scheme seems the most cost-effective system to reach the goal of aquifer sustainability but will entail important income losses in several farms. Therefore, we cannot conclude that a unique water conservation policy instrument will be the best overall solution for all types of holdings that will respond to efficiency as well as to equity considerations. It seems reasonable to make a combination of the tools proposed, even including additional measures that promote an environmental protection and develop sustainable agricultural systems.Environmental degradation, water policies, cost-effectiveness analysis, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Bioensayos con Cucumis sativus para el estudio de la toxicidad de suelos contaminados con metales. Evaluación de potenciales biomarcadores de exposición a metales

[ES] La contaminación de los suelos por metales supone un peligro para la supervivencia de los organismos a todos los niveles tróficos, afectando incluso a los seres humanos. En este sentido, los bioensayos con plantas son una herramienta integradora y eficaz para la detección de potenciales efectos ecotóxicos a través de biomarcadores de fitotoxicidad. Tradicionalmente, los bioensayos se realizan a corto plazo (horas) y con metales en disolución. Sin embargo, en este trabajo se apuesta por bioensayos a medio/largo plazo (días/meses) y con suelos contaminados con vistas a una evaluación del riesgo ambiental que recoja los efectos ecológicos más relevantes bajo condiciones reales. Así, en este trabajo se evaluó la toxicidad de suelos contaminados con Cu, Zn, Cd (de forma individual y combinada) a 0, 50, 100, 200 y 300 ppm tras 15 y 30 días de exposición mediante biomarcadores biométricos (desarrollo fenológico y biomasa), bioquímicos (contenido en α-tocoferol) y génicos (expresión del gen ASN1) utilizando la planta modelo Cucumis sativus (n. com. pepino). Los resultados de este estudio resaltan la importancia de las propiedades físicas (granulometría) y químicas (contenido en materia orgánica, carbonatos y pH) del suelo ya que afectan directamente sobre la biodisponibilidad de los metales, que influye, a su vez, en el potencial efecto tóxico que éstos tienen sobre las plantas. La baja biodisponibilidad de los tres metales (<1 ppm), asociada a la alta concentración de carbonatos y alto pH del suelo, no provocó un efecto tóxico notable sobre las plantas de C. sativus, a excepción del tratamiento polimetálico donde se observó un retraso en el desarrollo fenológico, la progresiva disminución de la biomasa y la sobreexpresión del gen ASN1 en la raíz tanto a 15 como a 30 días. Asimismo, este estudio ha permitido establecer qué tejidos son los de mayor interés ecotoxicológico en función del tiempo de exposición. En los primeros 15 días fue la raíz el tejido que se desarrolló de forma exponencial y, por lo tanto, el más sensible y con mayor potencial diagnóstico. En cambio, a tiempos más largos (30 días) fueron las hojas las que adquirieron mayor relevancia y, en consecuencia, serán el tejido más propicio para determinar los biomarcadores de ecotoxicidad. Este tipo de bioensayos a largo plazo con suelos contaminados pueden ser una aproximación útil para la toma de decisiones en la gestión de suelos

Tratamiento del queratocono. Análisis de la eficacia y los resultados de las diferentes técnicas disponibles en la actualidad

El queratocono es una ectasia bilateral no inflamatoria de la córnea, la cual se encontrará anormalmente adelgazada y adoptará en su región central o periférica una forma cónica irregular. Esta ectasia es la responsable de una pérdida progresiva de visión, debido al aumento de la curvatura corneal provocando un crecimiento miópico y astigmático, que evoluciona hasta una pérdida total de la transparencia corneal en los casos más graves. Las opciones terapéuticas dependerán del grado de adelgazamiento, así como a la deformidad corneal, y van desde el uso o adaptación de gafas y/o lentillas hasta la aplicación de métodos más invasivos como pueden ser el crosslinking, los anillos intraestromales, la queratectomía fotorefractiva y las queratoplastias. El objetivo de este trabajo de carácter bibliográfico será evaluar en qué casos procederemos a la aplicación de un tratamiento u otro, así como la efectividad que estos obtienen. Por ello, se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica de artículos que incluyeran las siguientes palabras claves: “tratamiento no quirúrgico para el queratocono”, “crosslinking corneal”, “anillos intraestromales para el queratocono”, “PRK en pacientes con queratoconos” y “queratoplastias”. Gracias a los resultados obtenidos en la búsqueda, se llegó a la conclusión de que los tratamientos no quirúrgicos están relegados en un segundo plano. Estas técnicas deberían ser más tenidas en cuenta, sobre todo en casos de queratoconos estables, en las que deberían ser la primera opción de tratamiento. En los casos en los que esté certificada la evolución y dependiendo del estadio en el que se encuentre, se debería optar en primer lugar por el CXL, para estadios más iniciales, con el objetivo de estabilizar o frenar la evolución de la ectasia. En segundo lugar, los anillos, cuyos beneficios son más evidentes en estadios más avanzados, para regularizar la forma de la córnea. Después, son precisos más estudios que avalen la conveniencia de la técnica del PRK, para mejorar el error refractivo de los pacientes estables. Y, por último, dependiendo del estado de la córnea y cuando otros tratamientos han fracasado, la aplicación de queratoplastiasKeratoconus is a non‐inflammatory disorder of the cornea that produces corneal thinning, which causes a progressive increase in the curvature of the cornea. This disease produces an increase of myopia and irregular astigmatism (optical defects that cause an important loss of vision). The cases more serious will suffer a loss of corneal transparency. The therapeutic options depend on the greater or lesser extent of the thinning and corneal deformation and can range from the use of glasses or contact lenses, implementation of Crosslinking, implantation of intracorneal rings, photorefractive keratectomy and corneal transplantation. The objective of this bibliographic work will be to evaluate in which cases we will use a treatment or another, as well as the effectiveness that they obtained. For get this objetive we searched articles that include the following keywords: "non‐surgical treatment for Keratoconus", "corneal crosslinking", "intrastromal rings for Keratoconus", "PRK in Keratoconus patients" and "keratoplasty". Thanks to these results we have obtained that non‐surgical treatments are relegated in the background. These techniques should keep in mind in cases of stable Keratoconus, and this should be the first choice of treatment. In cases where evolution is certified and depending on the grade in which it is found, it should opt first for the CXL, for grades more initials in order to stabilize the evolution of ectasia. Secondly, the intraestromal rings, whose profits are most evident in advanced stages, to regulate the shape of the cornea. Then, we need more studies wich support the benefit of the PRK technique, to improve the refractive error of the stable patients. And, finally, depending on the State of the cornea and when other treatments had failed, the application of keratoplastyUniversidad de Sevilla. Grado en Óptica y Optometrí

INTEGRATED ECONOMIC-HYDROLOGIC ANALYSIS OF POLICY RESPONSES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE WATER USE UNDER CHANGING CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Modelado conceptual de aplicaciones adaptivas y proactivas en OO-H

Comunicación presentada en las VII Jornadas de Ingeniería del Software y Bases de Datos (JISBD 2002), dentro del II Taller sobre Ingeniería del Software Orientada al Web (Web Engineering) WebE'2002, El Escorial, Madrid, 19 noviembre 2002.La personalización de entornos ha suscitado un gran interés desde el punto de vista de los métodos de modelado conceptual de aplicaciones web. Ello es debido al efecto que tienen las políticas de personalización sobre todo el ciclo de desarrollo de la aplicación, desde la recogida de requisitos a la propia arquitectura de ejecución. La inclusión de estrategias de personalización dinámica es una cuestión no resuelta a nivel de modelado conceptual. Desde OO-H (Object Oriented Hypermedia) creemos que el tratamiento de las propiedades relevantes que guían la construcción de un modelo conceptual con soporte de personalización es el camino más adecuado para diseñar este tipo de característica en aplicaciones web. Actualmente, la mayoría de los esfuerzos en este sentido se plantean a nivel de implementación proporcionando soluciones ad-hoc. Este artículo propone ciertas extensiones a nivel de modelado conceptual que, embebidas en los modelos de navegación y presentación de OO-H, permiten capturar una especificación XML en base a la cual se definen las reglas de personalización dinámica de una aplicación web. A partir de esta especificación, una arquitectura de ejecución dinámica basada en un motor de reglas es capaz de interpretar la parte variable de la aplicación

A prototype tool for the automatic generation of adaptive websites

This paper presents AWAC, a prototype CAWE tool for the automatic generation of adaptive Web applications based on the A-OOH methodology. A-OOH (Adaptive OO-H) is an extension of the OO-H approach to support the modeling of personalized Websites. A-OOH allows modeling the content, structure, presentation and personalization of a Web Application. The AWAC tool takes the A-OOH design models of the adaptive Website to generate as an input. Once generated, the adaptive Website also contains two modules for managing the personalization which, at runtime, analyze the user browsing events and adapt the Website according to the personalization rule(s) triggered. These personalization rules are specified in an independent file so they can be updated without modifying the rest of the application logic

Handgrip strength and all-cause dementia incidence and mortality: findings from the UK Biobank prospective cohort study

We thank UK Biobank participants. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource (application No 7155). The authors of this manuscript certify that they comply with the ethical guidelines for authorship and publishing in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle.40Background This study aimed to investigate the associations of grip strength with incidence and mortality from dementia and whether these associations differ by sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Methods A total of 466 788 participants of the UK Biobank (median age 56.5 years, 54.5% women). The outcome was all-cause dementia incidence and mortality and the exposure was grip strength. Grip strength was assessed using a Jamar J00105 hydraulic hand dynamometer. Results Excluding the first 2 years of follow-up (landmark analysis), mean follow-up was 9.1 years (inter-quartile range: 8.3; 9.7) for incidence and 9.3 (inter-quartile range: 8.7; 10.0) for mortality. During this time, 4087 participants developed dementia, and 1309 died from it. Lower grip strength was associated with a higher risk of dementia incidence and mortality independent of major confounding factors (P < 0.001). Individuals in the lowest quintile of grip strength had 72% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.55; 1.92] higher incident dementia risk and 87% [95% CI: 1.55; 2.26] higher risk of dementia mortality compared with those in the highest quintile. Our PAF analyses indicate that 30.1% of dementia cases and 32.3% of dementia deaths are attributable to having low grip strength. The association between grip strength and dementia outcomes did not differ by lifestyle or sociodemographic factors. Conclusions Lower grip strength was associated with a higher risk of all-cause dementia incidence and mortality, independently of important confounding factors.715

Ab initio, VTST and QCT study of the 1 2A'' potential energy surface of the N(2D) + O2(X3 Σg-) → O(3P) + NO(X2Π) reaction

An ab initio study based on the CASSCF ~Complete Active Space Self-Consistent Field! and CASPT2 (Second-Order Perturbation Theory on a CASSCF wave function) methods has been carried out on the ground 2A' potential energy surface (PES) involved in the relevant atmospheric reaction between N(2D) and O2 to produce O(3P) and NO. Also, some intersections between PES have been studied. The stationary points have been characterized and a grid of more than 800 points have been fitted to an analytical function. This analytical representation of the PES has been used to obtain kinetic and dynamic properties of the reaction. The rate constant of this reaction has been calculated at different levels of theory [variational transition state theory (VTST) and quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) methods] and has been compared with the experimental values (overall rate constant including physical electronic quenching) obtaining a good agreement. The QCT method has also been employed to study the properties of products from both the abstraction and insertion microscopic mechanisms. The vibrational distribution of NO arising from the reaction at 100 K has also been calculated and compared with the experimental ones. In this case, the agreement between the theoretical and the experimental results is not so good, the experimental vibrational distribution being less excited. Future work is necessary to determine the origin of this differenc

Ab initio, variational transition state theory and quasiclassical trajectory study on the lowest 2A' potential enegy surface involved in the N(2D) + O2(X3Σg-) → O(3P) + NO(X2Π) atmospheric reaction

A CASSCF and CASPT2 ab initio study has been carried out for the lowest 2A′ potential energy surface (2 2A′ PES) that correlates reactants and products of the N(2D)+O2→O(3P)+NO reaction. All the stationary points have been characterized and along with a grid of more than 600 ab initio points have been fitted to an analytical function. Afterwards, this analytical PES has been employed to study the kinetics [variational transition state theory (VTST) and quasiclassical trajectory (QCT) methods] and dynamics (QCT method) of the reaction. Concerning the rate constants, a good agreement with the experimental values corresponding to the global deactivation of N(2D) has been obtained. This suggests that this reaction is responsible of most of the reactivity of the N(2D)+O2 system. NO vibrational distributions have also been calculated. Although there is not a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental values, preliminary results show that they can become quite close by taking into account the contribution of the 1 2A″ PES

Assessment of Socio-Economic and Climate Change Effects on Water Resources and Agriculture in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries. MEDPRO Technical Paper No. 28/March 2013

This study aims at assessing the socio-economic and environmental effects of different societal and human development scenarios and climate change in the water-scarce southern and eastern Mediterranean. The study develops a two-stage modelling methodology that includes an econometric analysis for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region as a whole and a detailed, integrated socioecological assessment focusing on Jordan, Syria and Morocco. The results show that water resources will be under increasing stress in future years. In spite of country differences, a future path of sustainable development is possible in the region. Water withdrawals could decrease, preserving renewable water resources and reversing the negative effects on agricultural production and rural society. This, however, requires a combination across the region of technical, managerial, economic, social and institutional changes that together foster a substantive structural change. A balanced implementation of water supply-enhancing and demand-management measures along with improved governance are key to attaining a cost-effective sustainable future in which economic growth, a population increase and trade expansion are compatible with the conservation of water resources