Soil quality and farm profitability: A win-win situation

Farmers are more likely to adopt and adapt improved soil management strategies if their efforts lead to an immediate economic benefit. An encouraging policy environment, as well as farmer organisation also stimulates the adoption of conservation practices. In Mexico, farmers are adapting their maize-based cropping systems to conservation agriculture, leading to both higher profits and soil conservation

Pedagogical Use of Automatic Graders

Non

Mesorhizobium olivaresii sp. nov. isolated from Lotus corniculatus nodules

16 páginas, 3 figuras, 2 tablas. -- The definitive version is available at http://www.elsevier.comIn this study four Mesorhizobium strains isolated from Lotus corniculatus nodules in Granada (Spain) were characterized. Their 16S rRNA gene sequences were closely related to those of M. albiziae LMG 23507T and M. chacoense Pr5T showing 99.4 and 99.2% similarity values, respectively. The analysis of concatenated rpoB, recA, atpD and glnII genes showed they formed a cluster with internal similarities higher than 97%. The closest species also were M. albiziae LMG 23507T and M. chacoense Pr5T showing similarity values lower than 92% in rpoB, recA and glnII genes and lower than 96.5% in the atpD gene. These results indicated that the L. corniculatus strains belong to a new species of genus Mesorhizobium which was confirmed by DNA-DNA hybridization and phenotypic characterization. Therefore a new species with the name Mesorhizobium olivaresii sp. nov. is proposed, and the type strain is CPS13T (LMG 29295T = CECT 9099T).This work was supported by the EU-INCO project LOTASSA (J.S.) and Junta de Andalucía (Spain). JDFF is recipient of a predoctoral fellowship from Universidad de Salamanca.Peer reviewe

Statistical study of user perception of smart homes during vital signal monitoring with an energy saving algorithm

Sensor networks are deployed in people’s homes to make life easier and more comfortable and secure. They might represent an interesting approach for elderly care as well. This work highlights the benefits of a sensor network implemented in the homes of a group of users between 55 and 75 years old, which encompasses a simple home energy optimization algorithm based on user behavior. We analyze variables related to vital signs to establish users’ comfort and tranquility thresholds. We statistically study the perception of security that users exhibit, differentiating between men and women, examining how it affects the person’s development at home, as well as the reactivity of the sensor algorithm, to optimize its performance. The proposed algorithm is analyzed under certain performance metrics, showing an improvement of 15% over a sensor network under the same conditions. We look at and quantify the usefulness of accurate alerts on each sensor and how it reflects in the users’ perceptions (for men and women separately). This study analyzes a simple, low-cost, and easy-to-implement home-based sensor network optimized with an adaptive energy optimization algorithm to improve the lives of older adults, which is capable of sending alerts of possible accidents or intruders with the highest efficiency

Un sistema ampliado de desplegado/plegado para la síntesis de programas funcionales

Proponemos una extensión, para la síntesis de funciones, del sistema de transformación de desplegado/plegado. Se amplía no tanto el lenguaje de programación funcional como el sistema de transformación. El lenguaje ampliado permite relaciones (Es decir, restricciones) que expresan precondicinoes y poscondicinoes, pero que no pueden usarse para construir funciones ejecutables, sino que su uso está limitado al proceso transformador. El sistema de transformación también se amplía para tratar restricciones e igualdades generales, resultando un sistema de cinco reglas, potente pero sencillo. Hemos estudiado principalmente su aplicación a la síntesis de funciones inversas de otras existentes. El sistema resulta especialmente útil y natural cuando se combina con una forma poderosa de especificar inversas de funciones, llamada patrones generalizados. En el papel ilustramos estas ideas con la aplicación del sistema a varios problemas, destacando la síntesis de una función que reconstruye un árbol binario a partir de sus recorridos en preorden y en inorde.Eje: TeoríaRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Un sistema ampliado de desplegado/plegado para la síntesis de programas funcionales

Proponemos una extensión, para la síntesis de funciones, del sistema de transformación de desplegado/plegado. Se amplía no tanto el lenguaje de programación funcional como el sistema de transformación. El lenguaje ampliado permite relaciones (Es decir, restricciones) que expresan precondicinoes y poscondicinoes, pero que no pueden usarse para construir funciones ejecutables, sino que su uso está limitado al proceso transformador. El sistema de transformación también se amplía para tratar restricciones e igualdades generales, resultando un sistema de cinco reglas, potente pero sencillo. Hemos estudiado principalmente su aplicación a la síntesis de funciones inversas de otras existentes. El sistema resulta especialmente útil y natural cuando se combina con una forma poderosa de especificar inversas de funciones, llamada patrones generalizados. En el papel ilustramos estas ideas con la aplicación del sistema a varios problemas, destacando la síntesis de una función que reconstruye un árbol binario a partir de sus recorridos en preorden y en inorde.Eje: TeoríaRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

EXERCITA: una base de datos de material para prácticas de programación

Presentamos en este artículo el diseño y realización de una base de datos de materiales y herramientas para la práctica de la programación. El núcleo de dicha base de datos es el lenguaje eXercita, cuya descripción, implementación y uso se explican en estas páginas. Se expone igualmente la organización del contenido de la base de datos (principalmente ejercicios y prácticas), que da cuenta de sus posibilidades, flexibilidad y amplitud. Estas herramientas permiten distribuir el material en papel o en formato electrónico, ya sea mediante CD-ROM o a través de Internet

The time-scales probed by star formation rate indicators for realistic, bursty star formation histories from the FIRE simulations

Understanding the rate at which stars form is central to studies of galaxy formation. Observationally, the star formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies are measured using the luminosity in different frequency bands, often under the assumption of a time-steady SFR in the recent past. We use star formation histories (SFHs) extracted from cosmological simulations of star-forming galaxies from the FIRE project to analyze the time-scales to which the H${\alpha}$ and far-ultraviolet (FUV) continuum SFR indicators are sensitive. In these simulations, the SFRs are highly time variable for all galaxies at high redshift, and continue to be bursty to z=0 in dwarf galaxies. When FIRE SFHs are partitioned into their bursty and time-steady phases, the best-fitting FUV time-scale fluctuates from its ~10 Myr value when the SFR is time-steady to >~100 Myr immediately following particularly extreme bursts of star formation during the bursty phase. On the other hand, the best-fitting averaging time-scale for H${\alpha}$ is generally insensitive to the SFR variability in the FIRE simulations and remains ~5 Myr at all times. These time-scales are shorter than the 100 Myr and 10 Myr time-scales sometimes assumed in the literature for FUV and H${\alpha}$, respectively, because while the FUV emission persists for stellar populations older than 100 Myr, the time-dependent luminosities are strongly dominated by younger stars. Our results confirm that the ratio of SFRs inferred using H${\alpha}$ vs. FUV can be used to probe the burstiness of star formation in galaxies.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, accepted to MNRA

Integrating gender perspective in interpreter training: a fundamental requirement in contexts of gender violence

This chapter aims to present the importance of specialization and acquisition of gender competence for the practice of interpretation in contexts of gender-based violence. The arguments are of a political and technical nature, such as compliance with legislation or improvement of the efficiency and quality of the services available. However, there are also ethical considerations. Gender training equips interpreters with an interpretative framework from which to focus on violence as a structural and systematic phenomenon. This conceptualization removes any normalization or justification of violence. It also enables interpreters to develop critical awareness of their own actions that help them identify or recognize cultural prejudices and stereotypes that are internalized and rooted in society and that hinder the scrupulous technical neutrality and ethical commitment required