Fossile dépendance

Décembre 2009, tous les projecteurs sont braqués sur Copenhague. Les Etats du monde y discutent de l’avenir climatique de la planète. En dépit de progrès limités, les plus gros pollueurs de la planète (ils représentent au total 80% des émissions) se sont accordés sur la nécessité d’agir pour limiter le réchauffement global à maximum 2°C au-dessus de la température pré-industrielle. [...

Ressignificação dos papéis sociais de mulheres na agricultura familiar de base agroecológica

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Agroecossistemas, Florianópolis, 2016.Esta dissertação analisa as ressignificações havidas na posição e no papel social das mulheres inseridas no contexto da transição de um modelo de produção convencional para a agroecologia. A partir de uma fundamentação teórica que buscou correlacionar os conceitos de gênero e agroecologia, objetivou-se analisar até que ponto a participação das agricultoras familiares em atividades orientadas por princípios agroecológicos redefine as relações entre os gêneros, ressignificando os papéis sociais desempenhados pelas mulheres. Do ponto de vista metodológico, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa com a aplicação de entrevistas semiestruturadas envolvendo 18 agricultoras familiares residentes em localidades da região do Meio Oeste de Santa Catarina. Destarte, praticamente todos os processos de transição para a agroecologia iniciados pelas agricultoras foram conflituosos e marcados por violências de gênero. A interligação de fatores que, no geral, causou à opção pela agroecologia, engloba questões de viabilização da permanência das famílias no rural e a obtenção de renda diferenciada a partir de uma atividade já desenvolvida por elas. No que diz respeito à autonomia profissional, técnica e de conhecimento construída pelas entrevistadas, foi verificado que espaços de formação agricultora-agricultora têm sido ocupados e que trocas de experiências têm sido realizadas por elas de forma contínua. Assim, a agroecologia tem sido construída como um processo coletivo de aprendizagem que conta, principalmente, com o apoio de outras famílias agroecologistas e de determinados agentes externos ligados à agricultura familiar de base agroecológica. No geral, foi verificada a saída da invisibilidade da esfera do trabalho produtivo para a posição de chefia do empreendimento agroecológico por parte das agricultoras familiares. Em parte, pelo maior reconhecimento da mulher pela sociedade, devido à produção de alimentos saudáveis, por serem livres de agrotóxicos. E, ainda, pelo aumento da circulação da mulher no espaço público, pelo acesso à renda e pelo deslocamento do homem como única figura representativa da família no âmbito público. Desta maneira, ficou evidenciado que oportunidades de questionamento das relações de gênero, por parte das mulheres podem ser criadas no contexto da transição para modelos de produção de base agroecológica. E ainda que tal contexto funciona como uma poderosa ferramenta para a construção de igualdade de oportunidades para as mulheres no meio rural.Abstract : This dissertation analyzes the ressignifications that have occurred in social status and role of women in the context of transition of a conventional production model to the agroecology. Starting from a theoretical foundation that sought to correlate the concepts of gender and agroecology, is aimed to of analyze till what point the participation of the women in family agriculture realizing activities guided by the agroecological principles redefine the relation between genders, resignificating the social roles played by this women. From a methodological point of view, it was realized semi-structured interviews with 18 female family agricultural workers from the mid-west of Santa Catarina. In this manner, almost every transition processes for agroecology initiated by women farmers were conflictual and marked by gender violence. The interconnection of factors that, in general, caused the option for agroecology, includes feasibility issues of families stay in rural and obtaining differentiated income from an activity already developed by them. In respect to professional autonomy, technical and knowledge built by the interviewes, it was verified that farmer-farmer training spaces have been occupied and experience exchanges have been made by them continuously. So agroecology has been built as a collective learning process that counts, especially with the support of other agroecologists families and certain external agents linked to family farming agroecological base. Overall, the output of the sphere of the invisibility of the productive work for the leading position of agroecological project by the family farmers has been verified. In part, the increased recognition of women by society due to the production of healthy foods, because they are free agrochemicals. And yet, the increase in women's circulation in public space, the access to income and the man displacement as the only representative figure of the family in the public sphere. In this manner, it was evident that opportunities questioning of gender relations, by women can be created in the context of transition to agroecological production models. And that this context serves as a powerful tool for building equal opportunities for women in the rural field

The phyogenetic principles of mma: A hypothetical biostratigraphic model

Two erectoid hominids from Sarstedt prompted a detailed examination of the course of the impressions of the Arteria meningea media and their characteristics within the line of hominidae

A Palm fossil closely related to <i>Chamaerops humilis</i> L. from the Lower Miocene of Sardinia

This paper deals with the anatomical and histological study of a silicified specimen of a palm consisting of a part of the trunk surrounded by roots. The sample comes from the Lower Miocene of North West Sardinia. The comparison with fossil species and existing species leads to the conclusion that the specimen belongs to a new fossil species closely related to Chamaerops humilis L., widespread throughout the Mediterranean area. Paleo-environmental considerations confirm the presence in Sardinia, in the epoch in question, of formations of Mediterranean forest corresponding in part to forest existing in North Africa today. Viene presentato lo studio anatomo-istologico di un reperto silicizzato di palma costituito da una parte di fusto con un rivestimento esterno di radici. Il campione proviene da formazioni attribuite al Miocene basale della Sardegna Nord-Occidentale. Il confronto con specie fossili e attuali ha permesso di accertare che si tratta di una nuova specie fossile che presenta notevole affinità con Chamaerops humilis L. e che viene perciò indicata come Palmoxylon homeochamaerops. Le considerazioni di ordine paleoambientale confermano la presenza all'epoca di formazioni di foresta mediterranea corrispondenti in parte a quelle che attualmente si rinvengono nell'Africa settentrionale ed in particolare nel Sud del Marocco

Substitution of labour and energy in agriculture and options for growth

Viewed from the technical angle, labour and energy may be considered the basic resources for production. Methods to compute the requirement of energy and labour for the production processes from raw material to the product at the farm gate are discussed. It is shown that limited amounts of added energy and labour are required to achieve the maximum possible production per hectare. The form of the functions that relate the requirement for these resources with the level of production is considered in two limiting situations. These concern the minimum amount of added labour that is required when energy is abundantly available and the minimum amount of added energy that is required when labour is abundantly available. By means of these functions and the added energy and added labour used in the actual farm situation, iso-yield functions are constructed. These functions identify the possibilities for substitution of energy and labour during the production process at various yield levels. The shape of the expansion paths indicate that there may be a considerable range of production situations where the yield per unit of added energy, the yield per unit of added labour and the yield per unit of surface increase with increasing use of added labour and energy per hectare, whereas the added energy use per unit of added labour decreases at the same time. Some resulting options for growth, with special reference to the situation in the Netherlands, are discussed

METÁFORAS QUE FAZEM ALUSÃO À FLORESTA AMAZÔNICA

O objeto central deste estudo são três metáforas que fazem referência à Floresta Amazônica e foram utilizadas por autoridades que representam o atual governo federal brasileiro. Objetiva-se analisar a interferência de fatores semânticos e pragmáticos no processo de interpretação dessas metáforas. Este estudo suscita um diálogo entre versões teóricas sobre a metáfora e exemplos metafóricos atuais e reais que dizem respeito à Floresta Amazônica, trata-se de um estudo bibliográfico e descritivo-analítico. A análise dos dados coletados é realizada com base em teorias clássicas sobre a metáfora, especialmente com base na teoria da interação semântica desenvolvida por Max Black (1962, 1993) e nos estudos sobre a metáfora desenvolvidos sob um âmbito pragmático por John Searle (1995). Os resultados parciais apontam que na interpretação dessas metáforas que fazem alusão à Floresta Amazônica estão envolvidos fatores linguísticos, cognitivos e extralinguísticos/intencionais

A record of fossil shallow-water whale falls from Italy

Twenty-five Neogene-Quaternary whales hosted in Italian museum collections and their associated fauna were analysed for evidence of whale-fall community development in shallow-water settings. The degree of bone articulation, completeness of the skeleton and lithology of the embedding sediments were used to gather information on relative water depth, water energy, sedimentation rate and overall environmental predictability around the bones. Shark teeth and hard-shelled invertebrates with a necrophagous diet in close association with the bones were used as evidence of scavenging. Fossil bone bioerosion, microbially mediated cementation and other mollusc shells in the proximity of the remains informed on past biological activity around the bones. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that shallow-water whale falls differ from their deep-water counterparts. Taphonomic pathways are more variable on the shelf and whale carcasses may not go through all steps of the ecological succession as recognised in the deep sea. Whilst the mobile scavenger and the enrichment opportunistic stages are well represented, chemosynthetic taxa typical of the sulphophilic stage were recovered only in one instance. The presence of a generalist fauna among the suspension feeding bivalves and carnivorous gastropods, and the extreme rarity of chemosynthetic taxa, suggest that predatory pressure rules out whale-fall specialists from shallow shelf settings as in analogous cold seep and vent shallow-water communities. © 2014 The Lethaia Foundation

Comparison and Simulation of Salt-Ceramic Composites for Use in High Temperature Concentrated Solar Power

Due to the inherently intermittent nature of solar energy caused by cloud cover among other sources, thermal storage systems are needed to make solar energy more consistent. This same technology could be used to prolong the daily number of useful hours of solar energy power plants. Salt-ceramic materials are a relatively new prospect for heat storage, but have been researched mostly with magnesium oxide and several different carbonate salts. Salt ceramics are a phase change material where the salt changes phase inside the ceramic structure allowing for the system to use the sensible heat of both materials and the latent heat of the salt to store thermal energy. Capillary forces within the ceramic structure hold in the salt when the salt melts. The focus here is on the possibility of creating a low-cost salt-ceramic storage material for high temperature solar energy applications. A theoretical analysis of the resulting materials is performed. While most of the existing salt ceramics have been made from magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide is more readily available from various companies in the area. Magnesium oxide is often considered a custom ceramic, so it is more expensive. A cost and material property comparison has been completed between these two materials to determine which is better suited for solar storage. Many of the existing salt-ceramics use carbonate salts, but nitrate salts are commonly used in graphite/salt composites. Therefore, a cost and theoretical performance comparison is between these materials also. For comparisons\u27 sake, zirconia and graphite have also been analyzed as the filler in the composite. Each combination of salt and ceramic or graphite has been analyzed. In order to make the use of salt-ceramics more cost-effective and available to Nevada\u27s energy providers, research has been done into which ceramics have high availability in Nevada, low cost, and the best material properties for this application. The thermal properties and cost of these materials have been compared to the price that Nevada\u27s energy utilities are willing to pay per unit of stored energy, which was approximated through a survey conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF)- Experimental Project to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The surveys were completed on Nevadan energy purveyors concerning climate change attitudes, but included questions regarding the usefulness and cost of solar storage. The cost per unit of energy has also been calculated and whether the utilities would be willing to pay for each combination will be determined using information obtained from the surveys mentioned above. This information will dictate which combination will be best for use in the state of Nevada at solar energy power plants

Il DNA svela i segreti… della nostra bocca!

Nella placca fossile è possibile ricostruire il microbioma orale delle popolazioni umane del passat