861 research outputs found
Assessing the agricultural system and the Carbon cycle under climate change in Europe using a dynamic global vegetation model
Several recent studies predicted changes in the climatic conditions in Europe driven by the increased atmospheric CO2 concentration due anthropogenic activities. The climate change can affect the agriculture through many aspects of crop production over the European continent. Not only plant productivity, but also geographical shifts of cultivation areas, changes in crop phenology, in land use, and in soil carbon stocks have to be taken into account for assessments of the next future. This study provides a potentially powerful baseline to perform integrated assessments on the impacts of the changing climate by assessing crop production with a single integrated framework for large-scale studies. Not only crops and natural vegetation in a single Dynamic Global Vegetation Model, the LPJ-C, but also potential and water-limited crop production are included within the same biosphere scheme. The LPJ-C is extended to simulate not only natural biomes, but also crops. We perform an optimization procedure, which provides a set of crop parameters used in the regional assessment over Europe. Further, we used the resulting modelling framework to study the changes of potential production of maize and wheat together with the shift in their potential growing area. The results show that wheat yield will suffer from a decline, but fertilization due to the CO2 enriched atmosphere will compensate this effect. For maize, cultivation will clearly expand towards north and east. Since maize, as a C4 plant, is mostly unaffected by the CO2 fertilization effect, the shorter growing season will lead to a lower net primary productivity, while the mean over the continent will increase according to the large geographical spread. Furthermore, LPJ-C is able to reproduce the observed relative increase of water use efficiency under water-limited conditions and a CO2 fertilization effect. The improved water use efficiency of wheat leads to a relatively smaller transpiration per unit of biomass, so that precipitation will partially satisfy the transpiration demand. On the other hand, wheat will suffer from an increase of yield variability and a higher frequency of extreme crop failures. Even though maize potential distribution will be enlarged, the yield will be affected by strong losses, unless largely improved irrigation will satisfy the increased water demand. We perform also the coupling of LPJ-C with the land-use model KLUM, as a connection between a profit maximization procedure for land allocation and a process-based description of crop production. The coupled system showed that temperature would play a major role in the soil carbon dynamics over the expected northward shift of crops. However, important changes have to be expected for distribution of "warm" cereals as rice and maiz
FAIR-DB: Function Al dependencies to discover data bias
Computers and algorithms have become essential tools that pervade all aspects of our daily lives; this technology is based on data and, for it to be reliable, we have to make sure that the data on which it is based on is fair and without bias. In this context, Fairness has become a relevant topic of discussion within the field of Data Science Ethics, and in general in Data Science. Today's applications should therefore be associated with tools to discover bias in data, in order to avoid (possibly unintentional) unethical behavior and consequences; as a result, technologies that accurately discover discrimination and bias in databases are of paramount importance. In this work we propose FAIR-DB (FunctionAl dependencIes to discoveR Data Bias), a novel solution to detect biases and discover discrimination in datasets, that exploits the notion of Functional Dependency, a particular type of constraint on the data. The proposed solution is implemented as a framework that focuses on the mining of such dependencies, also proposing some new metrics for evaluating the bias found in the input dataset. Our tool can identify the attributes of the database that encompass discrimination (e.g. gender, ethnicity or religion) and the ones that instead verify various fairness measures; moreover, based on special aspects of these metrics and the intrinsic nature of dependencies, the framework provides very precise information about the groups treated unequally, obtaining more insights regarding the bias present in dataset compared to other existing tools. Finally, our system also suggests possible future steps, by indicating the most appropriate (already existing) algorithms to correct the dataset on the basis of the computed results
Satélites de Monitoramento: CD-ROM para o ensino de sensoriamento remoto.
O CD-ROM Satélites de Monitoramento apresenta textos, figuras, tabelas e mapas que ilustram, a partir de uma interface de fácil acesso, os principais instrumentos de sensoriamento remoto que contribuem para o conhecimento dos diferentes aspectos da agricultura e do meio ambiente do Brasil
Produção e organização de dados agrícolas da região metropolitana de Campinas para apoiar a elaboração de material didático pedagógico.
A Região Metropolitana de Campinas (RMC), importante polo de alta tecnologia no Brasil, congrega uma grande diversidade de culturas agrícolas em seus 19 municípios. Na busca por entender melhor a dinâmica temporal e espacial dessas culturas, realizou-se um detalhado levantamento de dados gerados pelo Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) e pela Coordenadoria de Assistência Técnica Integral (Cati). Esse levantamento resultou na organização de um banco de dados em agropecuária regional. A informação foi organizada em planilhas e mapas que contribuem para a identificação dos principais produtos agrícolas em escalas regionais. O material produzido agrega dados de área cultivada, quantidade produzida e, no caso da pecuária, do tamanho do efetivo de rebanho de animais, assim como informações referentes à evolução temporal desses produtos nos municípios da RMC. O banco de dados foi gerado com o objetivo de oferecer subsídios ao Projeto Geotecnologias como apoio à elaboração de material didático para o ensino fundamental (GeoAtlas). O atlas ambiental escolar, produto resultante do projeto GeoAtlas, utilizará a agropecuária regional como eixo principal de discussão dos conteúdos escolares, e sua elaboração ocorre em parceria com pesquisadores e professores da rede municipal de ensino de Campinas
5-Azacytidine in Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia: Case Report and Review of Literature.
Hypomethylating drugs are useful in the management of Myelodysplastic syndromes, but there are only few reports on chronic myelomonocycitic (CMML) leukemia patients. We describe our experience in 3 CMML patients treated with azacitidine. Two patients obtained partial response after 4 treatment cycles with only minor toxicity and are in continuous partial response, with stable peripheral blood counts, at 29 and 30 cycles from treatment start
Control system for thermoelectric refrigerator
Apparatus including a power supply (202) and control system is provided for maintaining the temperature within an enclosed structure (40) using thermoelectric devices (92). The apparatus may be particularly beneficial for use with a refrigerator (20) having superinsulation materials (46) and phase change materials (112) which cooperate with the thermoelectric device (92) to substantially enhance the overall operating efficiency of the refrigerator (20). The electrical power supply (202) and control system allows increasing the maximum power capability of the thermoelectric device (92) in response to increased heat loads within the refrigerator (20). The electrical power supply (202) and control system may also be used to monitor the performance of the cooling system (70) associated with the refrigerator (20)
Levantamento de dados agropecuários da região metropolitana de Campinas: principais produtos e sua importância para fundamentar o atlas ambiental escolar.
Este trabalho pretende descrever os principais produtos agropecuários presentes na Região Metropolitana de Campinas (RMC). A descrição foi baseada em levantamento e organização de dados primários de acesso público.O trabalho de coleta de dados integra o projeto ?Geotecnologias como apoio à elaboração de material didático para o ensino fundamental: Atlas Ambiental Escolar da Região Metropolitana de Campinas (GeoAtlas)?. Este projeto visa elaborar, em conjunto com professores da rede municipal de Campinas, um material de apoio para estudantes do ensino fundamental com enfoque para a agropecuária como um agente modificador da paisagem (EMBRAPA MONITORAMENTO POR SATÉLITE, 2010). O atlas utilizará a RMC como estudo de caso, inserindo o local de vivência dos alunos em seu aprendizado.A coleta de dados primários é fundamental para a compreensão das atividades agropecuárias presentes na região. O uso de materiais e dados de acesso público permitirá que a metodologia desenvolvida para a elaboração do atlas possa ser disseminada para outros municípios do Brasil.Os dados censitários serão analisados, buscando compreender quais são os produtos agrícolas mais importantes na paisagem dos municípios que integram a RMC
Dinâmica espaço temporal do uso das terras e do carbono aprisionado pela fitomassa da cana-de-açúcar e pastagem na região nordeste do estado de São Paulo.
Este estudo apresenta os resultados obtidos com a avaliação da dinâmica de uso e cobertura das terras e o carbono aprisionado pelos agroecossistemas de cana-de-açúcar e de pastagens. A avaliação da dinâmica dos estoques de carbono em cana-de-açúcar e pastagens, baseado na interpretação de imagens de satélite da região nordeste do estado de São Paulo foi feito em duas épocas distintas: 1988 e 2003. Os resultados mostraram que a fitomassa da cana-de-açúcar é capaz de acumular nove vezes mais carbono em t.hal.ano' que as pastagens cultivadas. A expansão da área cultivada com cana-de-açúcar, com eficiente acúmulo de CO2 por unidade de tempo e de área (107,2 t CO2 naLano"), sobre áreas de pastagens possibilitou a remoção da atmosfera de 128,8 milhões de toneladas em um período de quinze anos. Os resultados obtidos podem ser de extrema importância para a geração de indicadores ambientais e subsídios mais efetivos para posicionar o país nas negociações das commodities da agroenergia frente a outros países, além gerar impactos positivos de valoração ambiental dos sistemas de produção
Engineering REST-Specific Synthetic PUF Proteins to Control Neuronal Gene Expression: A Combined Experimental and Computational Study
Regulation of gene transcription is an essential mechanism for differentiation and adaptation of organisms. A key actor in this regulation process is the repressor element 1 (RE1)-silencing transcription factor (REST), a transcriptional repressor that controls more than 2000 putative target genes, most of which are neuron-specific. With the purpose of modulating REST expression, we exploited synthetic, ad hoc designed, RNA binding proteins (RBPs) able to specifically target and dock to REST mRNA. Among the various families of RBPs, we focused on the Pumilio and FBF (PUF) proteins, present in all eukaryotic organisms and controlling a variety of cellular functions. Here, a combined experimental and computational approach was used to design and test 8- and 16-repeat PUF proteins specific for REST mRNA. We explored the conformational properties and atomic features of the PUF-RNA recognition code by Molecular Dynamics simulations. Biochemical assays revealed that the 8- and 16-repeat PUF-based variants specifically bind the endogenous REST mRNA without affecting its translational regulation. The data also indicate a key role of stacking residues in determining the binding specificity. The newly characterized REST-specific PUF-based constructs act as excellent RNA-binding modules and represent a versatile and functional platform to specifically target REST mRNA and modulate its endogenous expression
Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2: a clinical, pathologic, and genetic study
BACKGROUND: Ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 2 (AOA2) is characterized by
onset between age 10 and 22 years, cerebellar atrophy, peripheral neuropathy,
oculomotor apraxia (OMA), and elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels.
Recessive mutations in SETX have been described in AOA2 patients.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical features of AOA2 and to identify the SETX
mutations in 10 patients from four Italian families.
METHODS: The patients underwent clinical examination, routine laboratory tests,
nerve conduction studies, sural nerve biopsy, and brain MRI. All were screened
for SETX mutations.
RESULTS: All the patients had cerebellar features, including limb and truncal
ataxia, and slurred speech. OMA was observed in two patients, extrapyramidal
symptoms in two, and mental impairment in three. High serum AFP levels, motor and
sensory axonal neuropathy, and marked cerebellar atrophy on MRI were detected in
all the patients who underwent these examinations. Sural nerve biopsy revealed a
severe depletion of large myelinated fibers in one patient, and both large and
small myelinated fibers in another. Postmortem findings are also reported in one
of the patients. Four different homozygous SETX mutations were found (a
large-scale deletion, a missense change, a single-base deletion, and a
splice-site mutation).
CONCLUSIONS: The clinical phenotype of oculomotor apraxia type 2 is fairly
homogeneous, showing only subtle intrafamilial variability. OMA is an inconstant
finding. The identification of new mutations expands the array of SETX variants,
and the finding of a missense change outside the helicase domain suggests the
existence of at least one more functional region in the N-terminus of senataxin
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