Sustainable Water Use in Agriculture: A Review of Worldwide Research

Sustainability of water use in agriculture is a line of research that has gained in importance worldwide. The present study reviewed 25 years of international research on sustainable water use in agriculture. A bibliometric analysis was developed to sample 2084 articles. Results indicate exponential growth in the number of articles published per year, with research in this field having acquired a global scale. Environmental Science and Agricultural and Biological Sciences are the main categories. Three journals—Agricultural Water Management, Water Resources Management and Nongye Gongcheng Xuebao Agricultural Engineering—published the most of the articles. China, the U.S., Australia, India and Germany produced the most research. The three institutions that published the most articles were all Chinese (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Agricultural University and Northwest A&F University). The most cited authors were Ridoutt, Hoekstra and Zhang. The keywords most frequently used include: water-use, irrigation, water-management, water-supply, and sustainability. A network map shows three clusters that focus on the environmental, agronomic and management aspects. The findings of this study can assist researchers in this field by providing an overview of research on the sustainability of hydric resources

Risk analysis in the pharmaceutical industry: Development of a standardized operating procedure in a pharmaceutical company in Costa Rica

El objetivo del estudio fue desarrollar un procedimiento operativo estandarizado para una empresa farmacéutica de Costa Rica. Para esto, se efectuó una entrevista personal no estructurada con la gerente de Control de Calidad. Posteriormente, se realizó una búsqueda de información en distintas bases de datos, para conocer sobre el análisis y el manejo de riesgos, y la utilización del Análisis Modal de Fallos y Efectos. Se desarrolló el documento relacionado con su uso, a través de la generación y la revisión de seis versiones distintas. Para finalizar, se brindó una capacitación a 10 personas de la empresa. Como resultado se obtuvo que uno de los elementos que exige mayor trabajo para la implementación del procedimiento es la definición adecuada de los parámetros de severidad, probabilidad de ocurrencia y probabilidad de detección. Además, la presencia de personas de distintos departamentos es necesaria, dado que aportan una perspectiva distinta a partir de la cual se puede abordar un riesgo dado.The study's objective was to develop a standardized operating procedure for a pharmaceutical company in Costa Rica. For this, an unstructured personal interview was carried out with the Quality Control manager. Subsequently, a search for information was carried out in different databases to learn about the analysis and management of risks and the use of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. The document related to its use was developed through the generation and revision of six different versions. Finally, 10 people from the company were trained. As a result, it was obtained that one of the elements that require more work for the implementation of the procedure is the adequate definition of the parameters of severity, probability of occurrence and probability of detection. Also, the presence of people from different departments is necessary since they provide a different perspective from which a given risk can be addressed.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacéuticas (INIFAR

Gestión del conocimiento. Perspectiva multidisciplinaria. Volumen 17

El libro “Gestión del Conocimiento. Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria”, Volumen 17 de la Colección Unión Global, es resultado de investigaciones. Los capítulos del libro, son resultados de investigaciones desarrolladas por sus autores. El libro es una publicación internacional, seriada, continua, arbitrada, de acceso abierto a todas las áreas del conocimiento, orientada a contribuir con procesos de gestión del conocimiento científico, tecnológico y humanístico. Con esta colección, se aspira contribuir con el cultivo, la comprensión, la recopilación y la apropiación social del conocimiento en cuanto a patrimonio intangible de la humanidad, con el propósito de hacer aportes con la transformación de las relaciones socioculturales que sustentan la construcción social de los saberes y su reconocimiento como bien público

Marine Protected Areas and Key Biodiversity Areas of the Alboran Sea and adjacent areas

Postprin

Switching TNF antagonists in patients with chronic arthritis: An observational study of 488 patients over a four-year period

The objective of this work is to analyze the survival of infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab in patients who have switched among tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists for the treatment of chronic arthritis. BIOBADASER is a national registry of patients with different forms of chronic arthritis who are treated with biologics. Using this registry, we have analyzed patient switching of TNF antagonists. The cumulative discontinuation rate was calculated using the actuarial method. The log-rank test was used to compare survival curves, and Cox regression models were used to assess independent factors associated with discontinuing medication. Between February 2000 and September 2004, 4,706 patients were registered in BIOBADASER, of whom 68% had rheumatoid arthritis, 11% ankylosing spondylitis, 10% psoriatic arthritis, and 11% other forms of chronic arthritis. One- and two-year drug survival rates of the TNF antagonist were 0.83 and 0.75, respectively. There were 488 patients treated with more than one TNF antagonist. In this situation, survival of the second TNF antagonist decreased to 0.68 and 0.60 at 1 and 2 years, respectively. Survival was better in patients replacing the first TNF antagonist because of adverse events (hazard ratio (HR) for discontinuation 0.55 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.84)), and worse in patients older than 60 years (HR 1.10 (95% CI 0.97-2.49)) or who were treated with infliximab (HR 3.22 (95% CI 2.13-4.87)). In summary, in patients who require continuous therapy and have failed to respond to a TNF antagonist, replacement with a different TNF antagonist may be of use under certain situations. This issue will deserve continuous reassessment with the arrival of new medications. © 2006 Gomez-Reino and Loreto Carmona; licensee BioMed Central Ltd