Urbanism and Ecological Rationality

The chapter explores the relation between “urbanism”, the practice of urban and territorial design, and “ecological rationality” - a form of rationality that has deeply permeated the urbanistic discourse over the past decades. The aim of this text is to reveal, by deconstructing some design hypotheses, discourses and representations, the role and consequences of “ecological rationality” for the shaping of an original body of knowledge regarding cities and territories. Such an analysis is especially important because cities and urban regions are radically changing today, even in the European context, and ecological rationality introduces fundamental concepts and tools to interpret and design them. Three main themes, accompanied by case studies, will help identify issues, scales, types of urban organization and hypothesis. From zoning to systems illustrates the emergence of ecological rationality in an urbanistic systemic approach. Territorialism: inside a new form of megacity contains three hypothesis connected by the renewed importance of the territorial scale and form to understand the contemporary city. The last theme, The porous city, a project for the “after Kyoto metropolis”, emphasizes porosity, as concept and metaphor, as a tool to reconceive natural and social relations into the space of the metropolis

Andalusite and Na- and Li-rich cordierite in the La Costa pluton, Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina: textural and chemical evidence for a magmatic origin

The La Costa pluton in the Sierra de Velasco (NW Argentina) consists of S-type granitoids that can be grouped into three igneous facies: the alkali-rich Santa Cruz facies (SCF, SiO2 *67 wt%) distinguished by the presence of andalusite and Na- and Li-rich cordierite (Na2O = 1.55–1.77 wt% and Li2O = 0.14–0.66 wt%), the Anillaco facies (SiO2 *74 wt%) with a significant proportion of Mn-rich garnet, and the Anjullo´n facies (SiO2 *75 wt%) with abundant albitic plagioclase. The petrography, mineral chemistry and whole-rock geochemistry of the SCF are compatible with magmatic crystallization of Na- and Li-rich cordierite, andalusite and muscovite from the peraluminous magma under moderate P–T conditions (*1.9 kbar and ca. 735C). The high Li content of cordierite in the SCF is unusual for granitic rocks of intermediate composition

Response and recovery of grapevine to water deficit : from genes to physiology

International audienceGrapevine is a crop of global economic importance which is often cultivated in dry Mediterranean climates. In the context of climatic change, periods of drought could increase and become more intense. Growers will face increasing pressure to increase irrigation efficiently and/or adopt new grapevine varieties with increased drought resistance and water use efficiency. Adapting viticulture to these challenges requires an improved understanding of how grapevines behave under drought to enable sustainable management strategies and develop new varieties and rootstocks. This chapter summarizes our current understanding of the changes in physiology, signaling, metabolism, and gene expression that mediate grapevine’s response and adaptation to drought