Competition In Urban Public Transport A World View

Over the past 15 years, a number of nations and urban areas have converted part or all of their public transport systems to competitive mechanisms. At the same time, the competitive market has provided public transport services in other nations for decades. This paper provides an international perspective on the current situation and developments in competitive provision of public transport services. Particular emphasis is placed upon the history of competitive provision in France, the international role of French companies in competition and the prospects for additional competition under new regulations of the European Union. Detailed case studies are provided dealing with urban areas, including London, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Denver, San Diego and Las Vega

The "SAPIN" Legislation and its Effects on Tendering and Competition in Public Transport in France

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies. Faculty of Economics and Business. The University of Sydne

Le delta du Danube : une application de la politique de l'Union européenne pour la protection de la biodiversité et le développement durable en Europe

Le delta du Danube est un des derniers grands espaces naturels de l’Europe. De nombreuses menaces pèsent sur cette zone humide qui abrite la plus grande roselière au monde. Le Danube traversant une dizaine d’États européens, la préservation de son delta passe nécessairement par une gestion intégrée à tous les niveaux d’échelle. L’Union européenne (UE) s’est très tôt mobilisée pour répondre aux enjeux environnementaux du delta, en adoptant une importante législation dans ce domaine. L’application des directives « Habitats » et « Oiseaux » contraint la Roumanie, devenue le 27ème État membre de l’UE en 2007, à prendre des mesures pour garantir un bon état écologique dans le delta. Un débat persiste encore quant au mode de gestion à mettre en œuvre dans les sites du réseau écologique européen Natura 2000. La Commission européenne privilégie l’approche intégrée par l’élaboration d’un plan de gestion, qui garantit selon elle l’application des principes du développement durable. Mots clés : Roumanie – Delta du Danube – Union européenne – Développement durable – Conservation – Politique environnementale – Natura 2000 – Gouvernance – Participation publique – Gestion environnementaleThe Danube Delta is one of the last great natural spaces in Europe. Many threats weigh heavy on this wetland which supports the largest reed bed in the world. As the Danube stretches through ten European countries, preservation of its delta requires an integrated management at all levels of government. The European Union (EU) responded proactively to environmental issues by adopting an important legislation in this area. The “Habitats” and “Birds” directives application forced Romania, which became the 27th Member State of the EU in 2007, to take steps to ensure a sound environmental situation in the Delta. The best management strategy to be implemented in the Natura 2000 European ecological network sites is currently in debate. The European Commission prefers an integrated approach through development of a management plan, which would guarantee according to the Commission an application of the principles of sustainable development. Keywords: Romania – Danube Delta – European Union – Sustainable Development – Conservation – Environmental Policy – Natura 2000 – Governance – Public Participation – Environmental Managemen

Flower numbers, pod production, pollen viability, and pistil function are reduced and flower and pod abortion increased in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under terminal drought

Terminal drought during the reproductive stage is a major constraint to yield of chickpea in many regions of the world. Termination of watering (WS) during podding in a small-seeded desi chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivar, Rupali, and a large-seeded kabuli chickpea cultivar, Almaz, induced a decrease in predawn leaf water potential (LWP), in the rate of photosynthesis, and in stomatal conductance. Compared to well-watered (WW) controls, the WS treatment reduced flower production by about two-thirds. In the WW treatment, about 15% of the flowers aborted and 42% (Rupali) and 67% (Almaz) of the pods aborted, whereas in the WS treatment 37% and 56% of the flowers aborted and 54% and 73% of the pods aborted, resulting in seed yields of 33% and 15% of the yields in WW plants in Rupali and Almaz, respectively. In vitro pollen viability and germination in Rupali decreased by 50% and 89% in the WS treatment, and pollen germination decreased by 80% in vivo when pollen from a WS plant was placed on a stigma of a WW plant. While about 37% of the germinated pollen tubes from WW plants and 22% from the WS plants reached the ovary in the WW plants, less than 3% of pollen grains reached the ovary when pollen from either WS or WW plants was placed on a stigma of a WS plant. It is concluded that, in addition to pod abortion, flower abortion is an important factor limiting yield in chickpea exposed to terminal drought and that water deficit impaired the function of the pistil/style more than the pollen

Genetic and environmental effects on crop development determining adaptation and yield

Slafer, Gustavo Ariel. ICREA - AGROTECNIO - Spain.Kantolic, Adriana Graciela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Appendino, María Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Tranquilli, Gabriela Edith. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Miralles, Daniel Julio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Buenos Aires, Argentina.Savin, Roxana. ICREA - AGROTECNIO - Spain.Crop development is a sequence of phenological events controlled by the genetic background and influenced by external factors, which determines changes in the morphology and/or function of organs (Landsberg, 1977). Although development is a continuous process, the ontogeny of a crop is frequently divided into discrete periods, for instance ‘vegetative’, ‘reproductive’ and ‘grain - filling’ phases (Slafer, 2012). Patterns of phenological development largely determine the adaptation of a crop to a certain range of environments. For example, genetic improvement in grain yield of wheat has been associated with shorter time from sowing to anthesis in Mediterranean environments of western Australia (Siddique et al., 1989), whereas no consistent trends in phenology were found where drought is present but not necessarily terminal, including environments of Argentina, Canada and the USA (Slafer and Andrade, 1989, 1993; Slafer et al., 1994a) (Fig. 12.1). Even in agricultural lands of the Mediterranean Basin where wheat has been grown for many centuries, breeding during the last century did not clearly change phenological patterns (Acreche et al., 2008). This chapter focuses on two major morphologically and hysiologically contrasting grain crops: wheat and soybean. For both species, we have an advanced understanding of development and physiology in general. Wheat is a determinate, long-day grass of temperate origin, which is responsive to vernalization. Soybean is a typically indeterminate (but with determinate intermediate variants), short-day grain legume of tropical origin, which is insensitive to vernalization. Comparisons with other species are used to highlight the similarities and differences. The aims of this chapter are to outline the developmental characteristics of grain crops and the links between phenology and yield, to revise the mechanisms of environmental and genetic control of development and to explore the possibilities of improving crop adaptation and yield potential through the fine-tuning of developmental patterns

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

Drought or/and Heat-Stress Effects on Seed Filling in Food Crops: Impacts on Functional Biochemistry, Seed Yields, and Nutritional Quality

Drought (water deficits) and heat (high temperatures) stress are the prime abiotic constraints, under the current and climate change scenario in future. Any further increase in the occurrence, and extremity of these stresses, either individually or in combination, would severely reduce the crop productivity and food security, globally. Although, they obstruct productivity at all crop growth stages, the extent of damage at reproductive phase of crop growth, mainly the seed filling phase, is critical and causes considerable yield losses. Drought and heat stress substantially affect the seed yields by reducing seed size and number, eventually affecting the commercial trait ‘100 seed weight’ and seed quality. Seed filling is influenced by various metabolic processes occurring in the leaves, especially production and translocation of photoassimilates, importing precursors for biosynthesis of seed reserves, minerals and other functional constituents. These processes are highly sensitive to drought and heat, due to involvement of array of diverse enzymes and transporters, located in the leaves and seeds. We highlight here the findings in various food crops showing how their seed composition is drastically impacted at various cellular levels due to drought and heat stresses, applied separately, or in combination. The combined stresses are extremely detrimental for seed yield and its quality, and thus need more attention. Understanding the precise target sites regulating seed filling events in leaves and seeds, and how they are affected by abiotic stresses, is imperative to enhance the seed quality. It is vital to know the physiological, biochemical and genetic mechanisms, which govern the various seed filling events under stress environments, to devise strategies to improve stress tolerance. Converging modern advances in physiology, biochemistry and biotechnology, especially the “omics” technologies might provide a strong impetus to research on this aspect. Such application, along with effective agronomic management system would pave the way in developing crop genotypes/varieties with improved productivity under drought and/or heat stresses

Comportement du lupin blanc, Lupinus albus L, cv lublanc, en sols calcaires -Seuils de tolerance a la chlorose

National audienceFourty-four fine-textured soils, with total CaCO3 content from 0 to 46%, were sampled from several areas in Burgundy. They were used to study white lupin behaviour in a greenhouse experiment with the cultivar Lublanc. This behaviour was also studied in an additional trial using soils obtained by mixing one of the 44 soils with increasing amounts (0-15%) of a limestone sieved at 2 different sizes. Soil characteristic, which most explained the lupin results (chlorotic leaf symptoms, chlorophyll leaf content, total dry matter yield), was the content of CaCO3 with a size smaller than 50 μm. Total CaCO3 content was nearly as explicative for the natural soils. Lupin results on the contrary were poorly related to DTPA or (COONH4)2-extractable Fe soil content and to water or CaCl2 soil pH. IPC (capacity index for chlorosis) was not so good an indicator of white lupin behaviour as it was of CaCO3 content. From the results of these experiments, 10 °/°°; CaCO3 with a size smaller than 50 μm is a critical level for cultivar Lublanc; 25 °/°°; total CaCO3 can also be considered as critical in fine-textured soils.Quarante quatre sols de textures relativement fines, contenant 0-46% de calcaire total, ont été prélevés dans différentes formations en Bourgogne et utilisés dans un essai de comportement du lupin blanc, cultivar Lublanc. Ce comportement a également été observé, dans un essai complémentaire, sur des sols de mélange obtenus par apport à l’un des sols de doses croissantes (0 à 15%) d’un calcaire tamisé à 2 dimensions. La caractéristique des sols la plus explicative des résultats culturaux (symptômes de chlorose, teneur en chlorophylle, matière sèche produite) a été leur teneur en CaCO3 inférieure à 50 μm. Dans le premier essai, la corrélation entre les variables culturales et la teneur en CaCO3 total a été également forte. Les liaisons avec les teneurs en fer, extrait par 2 réactifs différents, avec les valeurs du pH eau et CaCl2 ont été lâches bien que significatives. Les indices de pouvoir chorosant se sont révélés de moins bons estimateurs du comportement du lupin blanc que les teneurs en CaCO3 Les teneurs critiques à retenir pour Lublanc sont 10 °/°° de CaCO3 inférieur à 50 μm, ou, dans les sols de textures fines au moins, 25 °/°° de CaCO3 total