IRRIGATION PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS WITH WATER-CAPITAL SUBSTITUTION

The dynamics of biomass growth implies that the yield of irrigated crops depends, in addition to the total amount of water applied, on irrigation scheduling during the growing period. Advanced irrigation technologies relax constraints on irrigation rates and timing, allowing to better adjust irrigation scheduling to the varying needs of the plants along the growing period. Irrigation production functions, then, should include capital (or expenditures on irrigation equipment) in addition to aggregate water. We derive such functions and study their water-capital substitution properties. Implications for water demand and adoption of irrigation technologies are investigated. An empirical application confirms these properties.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Transmission of trisomy decreases with maternal age in mouse models of Down syndrome, mirroring a phenomenon in human Down syndrome mothers

Genotyping Tc1. An example picture of a gel used during genotyping. Two lines refer to a Tc1 positive trisomic pup. One line refers to a disomic pup. (EPS 1781 kb

Linking bacterial population dynamics and nutrient removal in the granular sludge biofilm ecosystem engineered for wastewater treatment

Intensive nutrient removal from wastewater in anaerobic-aerobic systems using granular sludge should rely on optimal balances at biofilm and microbial ecology levels. This study targets the impacts of reactor characteristics and fluctuations in operation conditions on nutrient removal and bacterial community structures by means of microbial and numerical ecology methods. The dynamics of both predominant and accompanying populations were investigated with high resolution on temporal and phylogenetic scales in two reactors operated during 5 months with synthetic wastewater. Multivariate analyses highlighted significant correlations from process to microbial scales in the first reactor, whereas nitrification and phosphorus removal might have been affected by oxygen mass transfer limitations with no impact at population level in the second system. The bacterial community continuum of the first reactor was composed of two major antagonistic Accumulibacter-Nitrosomonas-Nitrospira and Competibacter-Cytophaga-Intrasporangiaceae clusters that prevailed under conditions leading to efficient P- (> 95%) and N-removal (> 65%) and altered P- (< 90%) and N-removal (< 60%), respectively. A third cluster independent of performances was dominated by Xanthomonadaceae affiliates that were on average more abundant at 25 °C (31 ± 5%) than at 20 °C (22 ± 4%). Starting from the physiological traits of the numerous phylotypes identified, a conceptual model is proposed as a base for functional analysis in the granular sludge microbiome and for future investigations with complex real wastewate

Action Research and Collaborative Management Research: More than Meets the Eye?

"Action research and collaborative management research emerge from different traditions and each begins from a different foundational position in regard to action and to collaboration. Both are different from the traditional research, evaluative research or practitioner research orientations. From a grounding in a philosophy of practical knowing as social science, this article engages in a comparative theoretical exploration of action research and collaborative management research through a focus on the operations of human knowing which yield a general empirical method. It reviews the origins of each approach and how they differ significantly from each other in the context in which they operate, with consequent differences in how the research is implemented and how the relationship between the parties is structured. The general empirical method provides a critical perspective on assessing the quality of action research and collaborative management research in terms of dimensions of real-life action, the quality of collaboration, the quality of inquiry in action and sustainability. The aim is to develop understanding of how these two approaches relate to one another so as to advance knowledge of the different modalities or expressions that comprise the broad field of action- and collaborativeoriented research as a social science of practical knowing." (author's abstract

The Distal Human myoD Enhancer Sequences Direct Unique Muscle-Specific Patterns of lacZ Expression during Mouse Development

AbstractTransgenic mice carrying the bacterial lacZ reporter gene under the control of the regulatory elements of the human myoD gene have been produced. The developmental expression of the myoD reporter transgene in somites, limb buds, visceral arches, and cephalocervical regions was studied in transgenic embryos by β-gal staining. In somites, the spatiotemporal pattern of transgene expression was different from other muscle-specific regulatory and structural genes and revealed that myoD-expressing cells arise in distinct patterns in somites that are dependent on position along the anterior-posterior (AP) body axis (occipital and cervical vs thoracic and more posterior myotomes). Transgene expression did not follow a strict anterior to posterior sequence of activation and therefore was not strictly correlated with somite developmental age. Moreover, the pattern of transgene expression along the dorsal-ventral myotomal axis was dependent on somite position along the anterior-posterior axis. While myoD expression is first detected after the myotome is well-formed, transgene expression in the dorsal and ventral medial lips of the dermatome suggests a function for myoD in the expansion of the myotome. Whole-mount in situ hybridization confirmed that these unique patterns of transgene expression in somites, as well as expression in limb buds, visceral arches, and other myogenic centers, are concordant with the distribution of endogenous myoD transcripts. These results shed new light on the developmental differences between myotomes at different positions along the AP and DV axis and demonstrate a unique axial pattern of somitic myoD expression, suggesting a specific role of myoD in myotome lineage determination and differentiation

To Sport Program After Lower Extremity Injury

Introduction 8.6 million sports and recreation related injury episode per year Inadequate rehabilitation and premature return to play identified as risk factors for multiple lower extremity injuries Objective Assess the effectiveness of a return to sport program established for patients with lower extremity injuries. Methods Outcome Measures: IKDC, TSK-11 Performance based tests for pre and post assessment: Single leg timed hop, triple crossover hop Results Statistically significant changes from pre- to post-ASCEND in: 6 meter single-leg timed hop, triple crossover hop, IKDC, TSK-11 Conclusion The ASCEND return to sport program elicits statistically significant change in single leg timed hop, triple crossover hop, IKDC, and TSK-11. Clinical Relevance A high density return to sport program can elicit change through agility, plyometrics, strength, core, and endurance training