Benthic macroinvertebrates and degradation of phytomass as indicators of ecosystem functions in flooded rice cropping.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the ecosystem functions of a natural wetland and of artificially flooded rice areas, managed under organic and conventional systems, by phytomass degradation and by the colonization of this material by benthic macroinvertebrates. The experiment was carried out in a natural wetland area, and in two flooded rice areas managed under organic and conventional systems. Twenty-five decomposition bags filled with 10 g of dry vegetation were installed in each site. At 14, 28, 42, 56, and 70 days after the beginning of the experiment, five bags from each site were collected. Macroinvertebrates were identified and classified by functional trophic group. The number of species of benthic macroinvertebrates increased: natural wetland > organic system > conventional system. The Chironomidae group was present in all areas, confirming its food plasticity and adaptability to different substrates and environmental stress situations. The Amphipoda group was present only in the artificially flooded rice area, and the Acari, only in the natural wetland. The diversity of species in the natural wetland area was higher than in the artificially flooded rice area. Nutrient cycling, provided by phytomass decomposition, is affected by the management system, and the delay in this process causes a reduction of the ecosystem functions in the conventional system.Título em português: Macroinvertebrados betônicos e degradação da fitomassa como indicadores de funções ecossistêmicas em arroz irrigado por inundação

Levantamento da comunidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos presentes em duas lavouras orgânicas de arroz irrigado do extremo sul do Rio Grande do Sul.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo descrever a comunidade de macroinvertebrados bentônicos presentes em lavouras orgânicas de arroz irrigado no extremo sul do Rio Grande do Sul

Change in incidence rates for psychosis in different ethnic groups in south London: findings from the Clinical Record Interactive Search-First Episode Psychosis (CRIS-FEP) study

Background: A higher incidence of psychotic disorders has been consistently reported among black and other minority ethnic groups, particularly in northern Europe. It is unclear whether these rates have changed over time. Methods: We identified all individuals with a first episode psychosis who presented to adult mental health services between 1 May 2010 and 30 April 2012 and who were resident in London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. We estimated age-and-gender standardised incidence rates overall and by ethnic group, then compared our findings to those reported in the Aetiology and Ethnicity of Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (ÆSOP) study that we carried out in the same catchment area around 10 years earlier. Results: From 9109 clinical records we identified 558 patients with first episode psychosis. Compared with ÆSOP, the overall incidence rates of psychotic disorder in southeast London have increased from 49.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) 43.6–55.3) to 63.1 (95% CI 57.3–69.0) per 100 000 person-years at risk. However, the overall incidence rate ratios (IRR) were reduced in some ethnic groups: for example, IRR (95% CI) for the black Caribbean group reduced from 6.7 (5.4–8.3) to 2.8 (2.1–3.6) and the ‘mixed’ group from 2.7 (1.8–4.2) to 1.4 (0.9–2.1). In the black African group, there was a negligible difference from 4.1 (3.2–5.3) to 3.5 (2.8–4.5). Conclusions: We found that incidence rates of psychosis have increased over time, and the IRR varied by the ethnic group. Future studies are needed to investigate more changes over time and determinants of change

Banco de dados geograficos de macroinvertebrados bentônicos em áreas úmidas ao longo do extremo sul da planície costeira do Rio Grande do Sul.

O trabalho teve como objetivo construir um banco de dados espacializando variáveis abióticas e bióticas, representadas pela distribuição dos macroinvertebrados bentônicos em áreas úmidas ao longo do extremo sul da planície costeira do Rio Grande do Sul

Banco de dados geograficos da ictiofauna em áreas úmidas ao longo do extremo sul da planície costeira do Rio Grande do Sul.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi a construção de um banco de dados, espacializando as variáveis abióticas e da ictiofauna ao longo do município de Santa Vitoria do Palmar, na planície costeira do Rio Grande do Sul

The Nexus of Political Violence and Economic Deprivation: Pakistani Migrants Disrupt the Refugee / Migrant Dichotomy

There have been discussions about how the labels “forced migrants,” related to political violence, and “voluntary migrants,” associated with economic factors, cannot be understood in categorical ways. However, there has been less focus on the specificities of the asylum-migrant nexus from the perspective of migrants. This essay discusses how such factors intersect as understood by Pakistani migrants residing in Germany. Through enacting a critical view of Pakistan, the migrants demonstrate how aspects of corruption, economic deprivation, and political violence come to intersect so that is becomes impossible to classify asylum seekers in binary/dichotomous ways

Distant Event, Local Effects? Fukushima and the German Housing Market

The Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan in March 2011 caused a fundamental change in Germany's energy policy which led to the immediate shut down of nearly half of its nuclear power plants. This paper uses data from Germany's largest internet platform for real estate to investigate the effect of Fukushima on the German housing market. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that Fukushima reduced house prices near nuclear power plants that were in operation before Fukushima by almost 6%. House prices near sites that were shut down right after the accident even fell by 10.8%. Our results suggest that economic reasons are of prime importance for the observed fall in house prices near nuclear power plants.Der Unfall im japanischen Atomkraftwerk Fukushima Daiichi im März 2011 führte zu einer fundamentalen Änderung der deutschen Energiepolitik. Kurzfristig wurden nahezu die Hälfte aller deutschen Atomkraftwerke geschlossen. Dieses Papier nutzt Daten von Deutschlands größter Internet-Plattform für Immobilien, um die Effekte von Fukushima auf den deutschen Immobilienmarkt zu untersuchen. Mit einem Differenz-von-Differenzen-Ansatz wird gezeigt, dass Fukushima und die damit verbundene Veränderung der deutschen Energiepolitik die Hauspreise im Umkreis von Atomkraftwerken, die vor dem Fukushima-Vorfall in Betrieb waren, um fast 6% reduziert hat. Die Preise für Häuser in der Nähe von Kernkraftwerken, die unmittelbar nach dem Vorfall geschlossen wurden, sanken sogar um 10,8%. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass für die sinkenden Immobilienpreise in der Nähe von Atomkraftwerken vor allem ökonomische Gründe verantwortlich sind