920 research outputs found
Low-carbon development for Colombia
Colombia is well-positioned to pursue a low-carbon development path given the country’s already large hydropower production, a model urban transport program, and significant potential to reduce emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land-use (AFOLU). While reducing carbon emissions through these and other activities can demonstrate Colombia’s commitment to addressing global climate change, the primary driver of such activities should be that they are part of the country’s economic and sustainable development agenda. Policymakers need to ensure that public policies for climate mitigation support projects that are economic and achieve macroeconomic goals such as generating income and employment.
Given the importance of hydropower and Colombia’s huge potential for expanding agriculture and forestry, another consideration is that mitigation measures should not increase the country’s vulnerability to climate change impacts—some could actually do that—but should also increase the country’s resilience to natural and manmade disasters. These findings are based on an analysis of Colombia’s climate mitigation options made jointly by the World Bank and the Department of National Planning (DNP)
Low-carbon development for Colombia
Colombia is well-positioned to pursue a low-carbon development path given the country’s already large hydropower production, a model urban transport program, and significant potential to reduce emissions from agriculture, forestry, and other land-use (AFOLU). While reducing carbon emissions through these and other activities can demonstrate Colombia’s commitment to addressing global climate change, the primary driver of such activities should be that they are part of the country’s economic and sustainable development agenda. Policymakers need to ensure that public policies for climate mitigation support projects that are economic and achieve macroeconomic goals such as generating income and employment.
Given the importance of hydropower and Colombia’s huge potential for expanding agriculture and forestry, another consideration is that mitigation measures should not increase the country’s vulnerability to climate change impacts—some could actually do that—but should also increase the country’s resilience to natural and manmade disasters. These findings are based on an analysis of Colombia’s climate mitigation options made jointly by the World Bank and the Department of National Planning (DNP)
Towards Integrated Regional Models of Transboundary River Basins in Southeast Asia: Lessons Launched from Water and Watersheds
Enrelvamento em vinha de encosta não regada: 2 - efeitos no crescimento vegetativo, produção e qualidade do mosto e vinho, casta Cabernet Sauvignon
Grapevine vegetative growth, yield, fruit composition and wine quality were studied in the Estremadura Winegrowing Region of Portugal in a
‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ slopping non-irrigated vineyard. During three seasons three treatments were compared: soil tillage (control), permanent
resident vegetation, and permanent sown cover crop. When compared to soil tillage, the inter-row sward treatments displayed a lower predawn
leaf water potential from bloom to mid-ripening. These differences in vine water status did not affect vine yield or berry sugar accumulation;
however, in the third season after experiment setup it induced a significant reduction in vegetative growth in the sward treatments, compared
to soil tillage. This vegetative growth reduction had a positive effect on grape composition by reducing titratable acidity and increasing berry
skin total phenols and anthocyanins. Those differences were also detected in the wines by the judges who gave a better classification to the
wines from the sward treatments. Our results indicate that cover cropping can be a valuable tool for controlling vigour and enhancing wine
quality in this winegrowing region
Enrelvamento em vinha de encosta não regada: 1 - efeito na composição e dinâmica das infestantes
The influence of two sward treatments and soil cultivation on the composition, the structure, and the evolution of the biomass of vineyard weed
communities was examined. The 3-year study (2002-2004) was carried out in a sloping, non-irrigated vineyard, cv. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’, in
the Estremadura winegrowing region of Portugal. The experimental treatments were: soil tillage (control); permanent sown cover crop - Lolium
perenne ‘Nui’, L. multiflorum ‘BartÃssimo’, Festuca ovina ‘Ridu’, F. rubra ssp. rubra ‘Echo’, Trifolium incarnatum. ‘Red’, T. repens ‘Huie’
and T. subterraneum ‘Claire’; and permanent resident vegetation. Total weed biomass in the spring did not reveal significant differences
between treatments, but varied annually. The management practices – e.g. time and number of soil cultivations and inter-row mowing – were
determinant in weed biomass evolution. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed significant treatment effects on community structure.
Three years after the experiment was set up, in the soil tillage treatment weed composition was dominated by annual broad-leaved species,
namely five Geraniaceae species, Medicago polymorpha and Sonchus oleraceus. The perennial broad-leaved species Oxalis pes-caprae was
also a dominant species in soil tillage. In both sward treatments there was an increase in the perennial broad-leaved and grass species. Compared
to soil tillage, in the resident vegetation treatment there was a significant increase in perennial species, such as Rumex crispus, Veronica
anagallis-aquatica and Polypogon monspeliensis, and in the annuals Melilotus indica and Avena sterilis. The increase in these perennial
species, which are considered to compete with vines, requires more frequent mowing in the summer. In the permanent sown cover crop
treatment, L. perenne and T. repens displayed the ability to re-establish successfully, and their abundance decreased or suppressed most of the
annual and perennial weed species
PREMIVM – improving grape quality with multiparametric field analysis of grapes and leaves in vineyards
European wine industry is a strategic economic sector that is nowadays facing a
growing competition in the international market at the same time it as to deal with
predictable lower support from the CAP. Taking into consideration that the use of ICT
can support the development of new tools and devices that can reduce costs and increase
final product quality/quantity an international consortium that comprises 3 technical
companies and 3 winegrowers together with 3 research groups setup the EU Project
PREMIVM. In this work will present the PREMIVM decision support system that was
developed including the field device for data collection - WINEPEN, the web
information management system for data storage, processing and information
visualization, and the smartphone interface for information deliveryinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Effect of storage on quality features of local onion landrace ‘Vatikiotiko’
‘Vatikiotiko’ is a Greek landrace of Allium cepa L. of the Liliaceae family,
cultivated only in the region of Vatika, in Lakonia prefecture as a short day onion. The
dry bulbs are a quality product highly sought after in Greek market, since this is the
earliest onion that comes out during Spring. However, so far the production is limited
and the potential of this landrace is not fully developed. In the present study we
examined the effect of storage at two temperatures (23±1 and 5±1°C) and 60-70% RH
(relative humidity) on marketability and quality features of dry bulbs of ‘Vatikiotiko’
landrace and ‘Sivan F1’ which is also cultivated in the specific region. The experiments
were carried out at the University of Thessaly, Greece during the period 2014-2015.
The quality features that were recorded during storage included fresh weight loss,
bulb firmness, antioxidants and sugar’s composition. The measurements were taken
at regular intervals and the storage was completed when either bulbs had not
marketable quality or sprouting occurred. So far the results have shown that
‘Vatikiotiko’ onion can be stored for 7 months at both temperatures, whereas at 5±1°C
storage could be prolonged for almost 8 months without significant marketability and
quality loss. Similarly, ‘Sivan F1’ sprouting occurred after 5 and 6 months at 23±1 and
5±1°C, respectively. Therefore, the fact that ‘Vatikiotiko’ landrace is a storage onion
allows for further valorization in order to increase total production and yield, since
the stored product could cover the market needs that arise throughout the year,
whereas breeding is needed in order to minimize the genetic variability of the
landrace and increase uniformity of the final product.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
i-Farm: A exploração vitÃcola inteligente da sociedade da informação e do conhecimento
www.i-Farm.pt.Neste trabalho iremos explorar o potencial das mais recentes inovações
tecnológicas disponÃveis no mercado para construir a i-Farm, a exploração vitÃcola inteligente da sociedade da informação e do conhecimento. O projecto
i-Farm foi financiado pelo Programa DEMTEC da Agência de Inovação, apesar
de passÃvel de ser aplicado em qualquer actividade agrÃcola, é apresentado
para o caso concreto da vinha, pois a viticultura foi considerada estratégicas
no âmbito do Plano Estratégico Nacional para o Desenvolvimento Rural
Português (GPP, 2007), numa lógica de aumento da competitividade do sector
agrÃcola, conforme previsto no Eixo 1 da referida estratégia.
A viticultura, mais concretamente a viticultura de precisão, tem vindo a receber
uma atenção crescente da comunidade cientÃfica e empresarial na medida em
que é efectivamente uma actividade capital intensivo em que a realização de
investimentos em tecnologias de informação e comunicação podem ser
justificados numa análise custo/benefÃcio rigorosa. É hoje possÃvel encontrar
na literatura cientÃfica e nas empresas de prestação de serviços especializados
exemplos concretos da aplicação das mais recentes tecnologias de
monitorização remota sem fios na vinha (Camilli et al., 2007, Morais et al.,
2008, Neto et al. 2007). Neste projecto quisemos ir mais longe na utilização
das tecnologias disponÃveis para construir um sistema integrado de apoio Ã
decisão numa abordagem de Business Intelligence e estudar a utilização de
digital dashboards para suportar a tomada de decisão ao nÃvel da exploraçãoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Influence of ink rheology and post processing in the structural performance of silicon nitride-based ceramics fabricated by robocasting
The fabrication of complex shaped Si3N4 parts by conventional methods is challenging due to its high hardness and mechanical strength. Additive manufacturing (AM) appeared as a competitive way to attain three-dimensional complexity at lower costs. However, most of AM technologies still present limitations in producing high dense ceramics, mainly due to several difficulties in developing proper feedstock. This work presents the fabrication of dense silicon nitride-based ceramics by using an extrusion based additive manufacturing technique (direct ink writing, also known as robocasting) and cold isostatic pressing (CIP) as a post processing step. Silicon-nitride aqueous based inks containing different amounts of solids loading (36, 38 and 39 vol%) and proper rheological characteristics for the printing process were studied. The use of CIP (200 MPa) is suggested to reduce or even eliminate defects and porosity and consequently, to improve mechanical performance of the final parts. Relative density, microhardness and flexural strength increased as solids loading in the inks increased and were further improved when CIP pressing was used. Parts produced by robocasting with an ink containing 39 vol% and cold isostatic pressed at 200 MPa exhibited an average relative density around 99%, 1475 HV2 microhardness value and 650 MPa flexural strength, values similar to those of silicon nitride ceramics fabricated by conventional processing.publishe
Using gamma irradiation to attenuate the effects caused by drying or freezing in Macrolepiota procera organic acids and phenolic compounds
Macrolepiota procera (Scop.) Singer, commonly parasol mushroom, is an appreciated wild edible species. Due to its very perishable nature, M. procera must be processed to extend its shelf life. The chemical changes caused by common processing types should be avoided to maintain the wholesomeness of organoleptic features. Irradiation might be used as a preservation methodology due to its safety, cost effectiveness and ability to ensure hygienic and sensory quality. Furthermore, when combined with other preservation technologies, irradiation exhibits an attenuating effect over the chemical changes caused by some of those treatments per se. Herein, the effects of irradiation of M. procera processed samples (frozen, dried and fresh) were evaluated considering changes in organic acid and phenolic compound profiles. Detected contents of phenolic were much lower than those of organic acids. Differences caused by processing type, specifically the lower levels of total organic acids and phenolic acids in dried and frozen samples, were larger than those observed for stronger irradiation doses, which did not cause remarkable changes, except for a slightly lower content of phenolic acids in non-irradiated samples. This larger effect was statistically confirmed in the performed linear discriminant analysis. Besides its slighter influence, irradiation showed potential usefulness to be used as complementary preservation technology since it attenuated the lowering effects of dehydration and freeze treatment over specific organic acid contents.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support of research centres CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011) and REQUIMTE (PEst-C/EQB/LA0006/2011). Â. Fernandes, A.L. Antonio and J.C.M. Barreira thank FCT, POPH-QREN and FSE for their grants (SFRH/BD/76019/2011, SFRH/PROTEC/67398/2010 and SFRH/BPD/72802/2010, respectively). L. Barros thanks FCT for her researcher contract under “Programa Compromisso com Ciência-2008
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