The Maize Seed Industries of Brazil and Mexico: Past Performance, Current Issues, and Future Prospects

This paper describes results of a study of the main factors affecting the development of the maize seed industries in Brazil and Mexico (and, by extension, other developing countries). The authors develop a framework that researchers and policy makers can use to evaluate seed industry performance in developing countries. This framework is used to analyze the seed industries of Brazil and Mexico, where very different sets of circumstances influence seed industry development, efficiency, and structure. The analysis gives special attention to the different maize breeding strategies pursued by the public and private sectors, measures of industry competitiveness and efficiency, and the trade-offs involved in developing and producing different kinds of maize seed, particularly improved open-pollinated maize varieties versus different types of hybrids. The authors identify key seed industry issues for researchers, administrators of national maize programs, and agricultural policy makers in developing countries, especially issues related to the appropriate roles for public and private organizations in maize seed industries in the developing world.Crop Production/Industries,

Preface "Nonlinear processes in oceanic and atmospheric flows"

Nonlinear phenomena are essential ingredients in many oceanic and atmospheric processes, and successful understanding of them benefits from multidisciplinary collaboration between oceanographers, meteorologists, physicists and mathematicians. The present Special Issue on ``Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic and Atmospheric Flows'' contains selected contributions from attendants to the workshop which, in the above spirit, was held in Castro Urdiales, Spain, in July 2008. Here we summarize the Special Issue contributions, which include papers on the characterization of ocean transport in the Lagrangian and in the Eulerian frameworks, generation and variability of jets and waves, interactions of fluid flow with plankton dynamics or heavy drops, scaling in meteorological fields, and statistical properties of El Ni\~no Southern Oscillation.Comment: This is the introductory article to a Special Issue on "Nonlinear Processes in Oceanic and Atmospheric Flows'', published in the journal Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, where the different contributions are summarized. The Special Issue itself is freely available from http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/special_issue103.htm

Temporal disorder in up-down symmetric systems

The effect of temporal disorder on systems with up-down Z2 symmetry is studied. In particular, we analyze two well-known families of phase transitions: the Ising and the generalized voter universality classes, and scrutinize the consequences of placing them under fluctuating global conditions. We observe that variability of the control parameter induces in both classes "Temporal Griffiths Phases" (TGP). These recently-uncovered phases are analogous to standard Griffiths Phases appearing in systems with quenched spatial disorder, but where the roles of space and time are exchanged. TGPs are characterized by broad regions in parameter space in which (i) mean first-passage times scale algebraically with system size, and (ii) the system response (e.g. susceptibility) diverges. Our results confirm that TGPs are quite robust and ubiquitous in the presence of temporal disorder. Possible applications of our results to examples in ecology are discussed

Scaling up from the top down and the bottom up: The impacts and governance of inter-community forest associations in Durango, Mexico

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Public Policy, 2012Mexico's community forestry experiment has become famous as a global model for sustainable forest use and socioeconomic development. However, many Mexican forest communities are facing significant challenges such as weak organization and limited access to markets. Scholars and practitioners have argued that connections across different levels of governance between local communities, inter-community networks, and other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders may help deal with these situations. Yet there are still gaps in our understanding of why these cross-scale arrangements form, their internal governance, their benefits, and the factors that make them successful. This dissertation addresses these gaps by analyzing the economic, political and forest impacts that inter-community forest associations (FAs) -a type of cross-scale governance arrangement- have on forest communities; and the factors that influence FAs' effectiveness. Drawing on collective action and political economy theories applied to common-pool resources, I engaged in a year-long comparative case study of four FAs in the Mexican state of Durango -two organized by communities themselves (bottom-up) and two created by non-community actors (top-down). The results show that FAs often form from in response to community needs, but also as adaptation strategies and responses to national policies and the political-economic context. Throughout their histories, FAs have played a crucial role in helping communities solve regional problems such as improving road infrastructure, preventing and combating forest fires, and improving market access and political representation. The results also underscore FAs' capture by peasant leaders and foresters using the organizations for profit and for escalating into higher political positions. Finally, I show that leadership, financial autonomy, social capital and enforcement of institutions are crucial for the success of these associations

From car to bike. Marketing and dialogue as a driver of change

The Paris Climate Agreement has sent a key message to the international community regarding the need to increase efforts to move towards a low-carbon economy and help slow climate change, while underpinning global long-term economic growth and sustainable development. COP 21 recognizes the social, economic and environmental value of voluntary mitigation actions and their co-benefits for adaptation, health and sustainable development. In this framework, the PTP Cycle project, running from 2013 to 2016 and funded by the European Commission through the Intelligent Energy Europe program, introduces a non-market approach through voluntary participation in the adoption of sustainable transport modes such as cycling, based on marketing to potential customers through Personalized Travel Plans. The medium-sized city of Burgos (Spain) and the cities of Ljubljana, Riga, Antwerp and London (boroughs of Haringey and Greenwich) developed a new policy instrument (Personalized Travel Plans) in order to increase bike patronage. Beyond potential savings of CO2, the results show that PTP as a form of Active Mobility Consultancy is a suitable instrument to influence modal shift to public transport, walking and cycling, and to address the challenges of climate change, while fostering sustainable transportation by changing mobility behaviour. These results, matching with the state-of-the-art of studies and pilot applications in other countries, allows deriving differentiated results for medium-size and large urban areas

Role of Cerebellar Interpositus Nucleus in the Genesis and Control of Reflex and Conditioned Eyelid Responses

The role of cerebellar circuits in the acquisition of new motor abilities is still a matter of intensive debate. To establish the contribution of posterior interpositus nucleus (PIN) to the performance and/or acquisition of reflex and classically conditioned responses (CRs) of the eyelid, the effects of microstimulation and/or pharmacological inhibition by muscimol of the nucleus were investigated in conscious cats. Microstimulation of the PIN in naive animals evoked ramp-like eyelid responses with a wavy appearance, without producing any noticeable plastic functional change in the cerebellar and brainstem circuits involved. Muscimol microinjections decreased the amplitude of reflex eyeblinks evoked by air puffs, both when presented alone or when paired with a tone as conditioned stimulus (CS). In half-conditioned animals, muscimol injections also decreased the amplitude and damped the typical wavy profile of CRs, whereas microstimulation of the same sites increased both parameters. However, neither muscimol injections nor microstimulation modified the expected percentage of CRs, suggesting a major role of the PIN in the performance of eyelid responses rather than in the learning process. Moreover, the simultaneous presentation of CS and microstimulation in well trained animals evoked CRs similar in amplitude to the added value of those evoked by the two stimuli presented separately. In contrast, muscimol-injected animals developed CRs to paired CS and microstimulation presentations, larger than those evoked by the two stimuli when presented alone. It is concluded that the PIN contributes to the enhancement of both reflex and conditioned eyelid responses and to the damping of resonant properties of neuromuscular elements controlling eyelid kinematics