Consorciação de cana-de-açúcar e canola em clima tropical.

Resumo: A consorciação de culturas agrícolas apresenta potencialidade frente ao cenário futuro de escassez de terras agricultáveis e aumento da demanda mundial por alimentos. O desempenho da consorciação de cana-de-açúcar e canola foi avaliado durante três anos em Piracicaba (SP). O experimento foi delineado em blocos casualizados com 4 repetições e 5 tratamentos: cana-de-açúcar + canola Hyola 61; cana-de-açúcar + canola Hyola 401 ou Hyola 571; cana-de-açúcar em monocultivo; canola Hyola 61 monocultivo; canola Hyola 401 ou Hyola 571 monocultivo. A cana-de-açúcar em consórcio com a canola apresentou resultado similar ao seu monocultivo, com produtividade de colmos de 51,0 a 117,0 ton ha-1. A canola consorciada com cana-de-açúcar também apresentou produtividade de grãos similar ao seu monocultivo, de 1.026 a 1.567 kg ha-1. O sistema consorciado resultou em eficiência de uso da terra de 1,74 a 1,87 vezes superior ao monocultivo

Impact of ENSO-related rainfall variability on soybean yield in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Abstract: Rio Grande do Sul (RS) presents a known year-on-year unevenness for soybean production, mainly due to water availability. This study aimed to assess the climate effects, with special focus on rainfall during 25 soybean-growing seasons. Eleven sites were clustered according to soybean yield. The effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was considered in association with soil water balance. Neutral ENSO phases occurred in 32% of the years, while El Niño and La Ninã in 36% and 32%, respectively. No season presented difference of rainfall among Clusters under Neutral conditions. The limit of 800 mm rainfall for significant yield increments were only achieved in El Niño seasons. The combined effect of rainfall and soil type on soybean yield, represented by the actual soybean yields-water deficit relationship, led to a water cost from -3.7 to -15.2 kg mm-1 ha-1

Public servants and regulator capture in energy and environmental governance

The rapid pace of change, uncertainty, and social contest associated with emerging regulatory spaces create challenges for public servants. In particular, their capacity to act in the public interest may be constrained as contesting interests vie for influence in nascent regulatory environs. This chapter explores these issues and the potential for regulatory capture in the context of unconventional gas and its regulation. Empirically based case studies of regulators in Texas and Colorado in the USA and Queensland, Australia, are relied on. The existing regulatory frameworks governing unconventional gas in each state are considered to enable a thorough examination of the landscape of which public servants and their regulatory agencies are a part. The chapter demonstrates that the speed at which unconventional gas exploration is taking place creates challenges for public servants and regulatory agencies, as laws may not be aligned to practice. The chapter draws on its findings to reflect on the specific regulatory practices that are needed to ensure the accountability and legitimacy of the public sector in such contested spaces, including reforming state regulatory systems and pursuing alternative governance pathways in which relationships between industry, government, and society might be reconfigured

Regulation of disease-associated gene expression in the 3D genome

Genetic variation associated with disease often appears in non-coding parts of the genome. Understanding the mechanisms by which this phenomenon leads to disease is necessary to translate results from genetic association studies to the clinic. Assigning function to this type of variation is notoriously difficult because the human genome harbours a complex regulatory landscape with a dizzying array of transcriptional regulatory sequences, such as enhancers that have unpredictable, promiscuous and context-dependent behaviour. In this Review, we discuss how technological advances have provided increasingly detailed information on genome folding; for example, genome folding forms loops that bring enhancers and target genes into close proximity. We also now know that enhancers function within topologically associated domains, which are structural and functional units of chromosomes. Studying disease-associated mutations and chromosomal rearrangements in the context of the 3D genome will enable the identification of dysregulated target genes and aid the progression from descriptive genetic association results to discovering molecular mechanisms underlying disease