Uso eficiente da água: uma contribuição para o desenvolvimento sustentável da agropecuária

En la mayoria de las áreas agrícolas irrigadas, observamos que el volúmen de água utilizado és superior al necesário para la producción satisfactória de los alimentos. La utilización eficiente del agua podrá  contribuir para solucionar problemas de escasés , reduzir los conflictos entre los usuários y aumentar, estabilizar y garantir la producción.. este trabajo muestra alternativas posibles para el uso con eficiencia del agua en el sistema agropecuário, bseado en experiencias desarrolladas en Europa y Estados Unidos , que buscan establecer critérios adecuados a la realidad brasileña. Luego de estudios participativos  tanto en Europa cuanto en los Estados Unidos  fueron publicadas  Directrizes con orientaciones para  utilizar métodos  de irrigación con reducción del desperdício, indicando tecnologias y formas de gerenciamiento baseados en la medición, información y  el control, irrigación programada,  modernización de las técnicas de irrigación; adecuación de las técnicas de irrigación de acuerdo con el clima; técnicas de manejo del suelo y de las espécies cultivadas y utilización de plantas de cobertura. Existen soluciones tecnológicas y gerenciales que pueden contribuyir para el uso eficiente y la optimización del uso del agua en la agricultura irrigada del Brasil. Para aplicar las técnicas y los métodos propuestos es necesário que se haga un levantamiento de lapotencialidad del cambio y de las mejoras que esas soluciones proponen para nuestro território.In most of the irrigated agricultural areas the volume of water used is higher than actually necessary for the satisfactory production of food. The efficiency in water use can help in solving the problems of scarcity, reduce conflicts between users and increase, stabilize and ensure the production. This paper shows possible alternatives for the water use efficiency in agriculture, based on guidelines developed in Europe and the United States, seeking to establish criteria for appropriate use for Brazilian conditions. After a participatory process of consultation, both in Europe as the U.S. guidelines have been published with orientations for the use of irrigation methods with less waste. The guidelines indicate managements and technological solutions, such as: use of measurement systems, information and control, planning of irrigation, improved irrigation techniques, adequate management of irrigation according to the climate, soil management and the cultivated species, and use of plant coverage. There are technological and managements solutions that can contribute to the efficient use and optimization of water use in irrigated agriculture in Brazil. To implement these solutions it is needed to evaluate the potential for improvement and set targets for the coming years.Na maioria das áreas agrícolas irrigadas o volume de água utilizado é superior ao realmente necessário para a produção satisfatória de alimentos. A eficiência no uso da água pode auxiliar na resolução dos problemas de escassez, diminuir conflitos entre usuários e aumentar, estabilizar e garantir a produção. Este trabalho mostra possíveis alternativas para o uso eficiente da água na agropecuária baseado em diretrizes desenvolvidas na Europa e Estados Unidos, procurando estabelecer critérios de uso adequado para as condições brasileiras. Após um processo de consultas participativo, tanto na Europa quanto nos Estados Unidos foram publicadas diretrizes com orientações como a utilização de métodos de irrigação com menores desperdícios. As diretrizes indicam soluções tecnológicas e gerenciais como a utilização de sistemas de medição, informação e controle, programação da irrigação, aperfeiçoamento das técnicas de irrigação, adequação da gestão da rega de acordo com o clima, manejo do solo e das espécies cultivadas e a utilização de plantas de cobertura. Existem soluções tecnológicas e gerenciais que podem contribuir para o uso eficiente e a otimização da utilização da água na agricultura irrigada no Brasil. Para a aplicação dessas soluções há a necessidade de avaliar o potencial de melhoria e estabelecer metas para os próximos anos

Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19: The PAN-COVID study

Objective To assess perinatal outcomes for pregnancies affected by suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods Prospective, web-based registry. Pregnant women were invited to participate if they had suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1st January 2020 and 31st March 2021 to assess the impact of infection on maternal and perinatal outcomes including miscarriage, stillbirth, fetal growth restriction, pre-term birth and transmission to the infant. Results Between April 2020 and March 2021, the study recruited 8239 participants who had suspected or confirmed SARs-CoV-2 infection episodes in pregnancy between January 2020 and March 2021. Maternal death affected 14/8197 (0.2%) participants, 176/8187 (2.2%) of participants required ventilatory support. Pre-eclampsia affected 389/8189 (4.8%) participants, eclampsia was reported in 40/ 8024 (0.5%) of all participants. Stillbirth affected 35/8187 (0.4 %) participants. In participants delivering within 2 weeks of delivery 21/2686 (0.8 %) were affected by stillbirth compared with 8/4596 (0.2 %) delivering ≥ 2 weeks after infection (95 % CI 0.3–1.0). SGA affected 744/7696 (9.3 %) of livebirths, FGR affected 360/8175 (4.4 %) of all pregnancies. Pre-term birth occurred in 922/8066 (11.5%), the majority of these were indicated pre-term births, 220/7987 (2.8%) participants experienced spontaneous pre-term births. Early neonatal deaths affected 11/8050 livebirths. Of all neonates, 80/7993 (1.0%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Conclusions Infection was associated with indicated pre-term birth, most commonly for fetal compromise. The overall proportions of women affected by SGA and FGR were not higher than expected, however there was the proportion affected by stillbirth in participants delivering within 2 weeks of infection was significantly higher than those delivering ≥ 2 weeks after infection. We suggest that clinicians’ threshold for delivery should be low if there are concerns with fetal movements or fetal heart rate monitoring in the time around infection

No Brasil existem dez hectares cultivados de forma tradicional para cada hectare cultivado com irrigação.

O que fazer para aumentar a área irrigada e aperfeiçoar a agricultura irrigada no Brasil? O que o Mapa tem feito para aumentar a área irrigada e aperfeiçoar a agricultura irrigada no Brasil? Resultados esperados.Ponto de vista

Revisiting causality using stochastics: 2. applications

In a companion paper, we develop the theoretical background of a stochastic approach to causality with the objective of formulating necessary conditions that are operationally useful in identifying or falsifying causality claims. Starting from the idea of stochastic causal systems, the approach extends it to the more general concept of hen-or-egg causality, which includes as special cases the classic causal, and the potentially causal and anti-causal systems. The framework developed is applicable to large-scale open systems, which are neither controllable nor repeatable. In this paper, we illustrate and showcase the proposed framework in a number of case studies. Some of them are controlled synthetic examples and are conducted as a proof of applicability of the theoretical concept, to test the methodology with a priori known system properties. Others are real-world studies on interesting scientific problems in geophysics, and in particular hydrology and climatology

Solid-phase fluoroimmunoassay for the determination of mesotrione - A novel triketone herbicide - In water with direct measurement of the fluorescence onto the solid support

A straightforward, low-cost fluoroimmunoassay (FIA) for the determination of the new triketone herbicide mesotrione has been developed and optimized. The protein-mesotrione conjugate, immobilized on white opaque microtitration wells competes with the mesotrione in the sample or standard for the limited binding sites of a liquid phase anti-mesotrione antibody. The assay is based on the measurement of fluorescence intensity directly onto the solid support, using a fluorescein labeled second antibody and a fluorescence plate reader. To stabilize and enhance the fluorescence signal a glycerine-based treatment of the microtitration wells was included in the protocol. The detection limit of the assay is 40 ng l-1 (4 pg per well), the working range extends up to 9 μg l-1, whereas the within and between run CVs are 0.7-4.2% and 2.1-5.5%, respectively. To evaluate the assay specificity, the cross-reactivities of two mesotrione metabolites: 4-methylsulfonyl-2-nitrobenzoic acid and 2-amino-4-methylsulfonyl-benzoic acid and several other compounds similar in structure to mesotrione such as: fomesafen, prosulfocarb, fluazinam, sulcotrione, 1,2-cyclohexanedione, 1,3-cyclohexanedione, 2-acetyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione were assessed. Most of the substances tested presented very low (<0.05%) cross-reactivity values with the exception of sulcotrione that cross-reacted 23% in the mesotrione assay. The assay was used for the determination of mesotrione in bottled natural waters fortified with the analyte and in a commercial herbicide formulation, namely CALLISTO™